Under the leadership of the deputy factory director, Sokov and his team arrived at the assembly workshop north of the factory. Along the way, they encountered several posts. The militia at the post saw that it was the deputy factory director who led the way and did not check at all, so they let them pass.
After passing five or six posts, Brisky smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, fortunately, the deputy director personally served as a guide for us this time, otherwise it would take a lot of time to pass these posts."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," the deputy factory director heard Brisky's words and quickly explained to Sokov: "These posts have just been established to prevent the Germans from sneaking into the factory."
Sokov carefully calculated on the way to come. It was basically three to five hundred meters. There was a sentry like this, and each place had a squad of troops. Even if the enemy really touched it, these sentry would have at least a time to issue an alarm. He said, "Comrade Deputy Factory Director, your sentry arrangement is very reasonable. The two sentry are several hundred meters apart and can be seen from each other. Even if the German army sent people to touch the sentry, and when one sentry is attacked, the other sentry can provide timely support. There is a squad on each sentry. Facing the enemy's attack, it should be fine to support for a few minutes."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are right." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, the deputy factory director echoed: "After the comrades of the Guard Division came, they personally arranged such a post for us. The reasons they said were the same as what you just said."
When I arrived at the assembly workshop, the workshop director Cousto was already waiting at the door. He and the deputy factory director first hugged each other and said politely to Sokov: "Hello, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, on behalf of all the comrades in the assembly workshop, I welcome you."
When Sokov shook hands with Kusto, he asked casually: "Comrade Kusto, I want to ask, how many workers are there in your workshop?"
"There are 823 workers and cadres in the workshop." Cousto replied: "There are 539 workers with guns in their hands."
Sokov didn't expect that there were so many people in an assembly workshop. He couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise and said in surprise: "There are so many people in a workshop?"
After looking at each other, the deputy director and Cousto looked at each other and said with a laugh: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the workers in the assembly workshop are not the largest in the entire Red October tractor factory, and the largest number of people, there are a total of two thousand people."
Sokov thought silently that there were more than 500 armed workers in this workshop, plus the 300 people he brought, and he could form two battalions. As long as the factory here is solid and there is no problem to block the attack of one battalion of the German army. Thinking of this, he immediately asked Cousto: "Comrade Cousto, I want to ask, is your factory here solid? In addition, have any fortifications been built?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our workshop is a solid fortification." Cousto replied confidently: "The basement of the workshop is the cover when we were bombarded and bombed. The windows on the ground floor of the factory are blocked with bricks, leaving only some necessary shooting holes. There are two permanent fire points around the factory, and anti-tank guns or heavy machine guns can be placed. These permanent fire points are all made of reinforced concrete structures, and ordinary German artillery fire cannot be destroyed..."
"Comrade Kusto, I have a question." Sokov and others asked the workshop fortifications and asked: "Since you have so many armed workers and such strong fortifications, why not assist the fighter battalion in driving away the enemies who broke into the factory?"
Regarding Sokov's question, Cousto did not answer, but turned his attention to the deputy factory director who asked for help. After seeing the gaze of Cousto, the deputy factory director coughed gently, and then explained to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, here is more than 800 meters away from the breakthrough during the day. Our firepower cannot hit the enemy at all. In addition, Comrade Cousto did not receive the order to attack, so when the battle was at its most intense, they could only watch from the side."
"Yes, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Cousto said with a red face: "We are assembling workshops, and we assemble T-34 tanks to friendly forces every day. If they are occupied by the Germans, the consequences will be unimaginable. Therefore, we cannot attack casually until we obtain permission from our superiors."
After listening to the statements of the deputy factory director and Cousto, Sokov did not want to continue to get involved in this matter. After all, his task was to assist in defense, but to hold Bai Tian accountable. He asked: "Comrade Cousto, since the assembly workshop is so important, it will definitely be air strikes by enemy planes. Have you established an air defense position?"
"Yes, there are air defense positions." Cousto pointed at the top with his hand and said, "On the roof, we have deployed six M1939 37mm anti-aircraft guns, and the female anti-aircraft gun troops are responsible for air defense."
When Sokov learned that there was a female anti-aircraft artillery unit deployed on the roof, he immediately became interested. He asked Cousto tentatively: "Comrade Cousto, can you take me up and see?" He was afraid that the other party would refuse, so he added, "The anti-aircraft artillery you mentioned weighs two tons per one. I want to see how it was moved up?"
Cousto glanced at Sokov in surprise and explained: "This is easy to deal with. Just disassemble the anti-aircraft guns and put the parts on and reassemble them in batches."
"Oh oh oh, so that's it." Sokov didn't expect that the other party would dismantle the anti-aircraft guns and reassemble them when they were moved to the roof. This made him more interested. "Comrade Cousto, can we go to the roof to see?"
"Yes, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Cousto did not make things difficult for him as Sokov imagined, but answered readily: "I will go up with you." After that, Cousto called a deputy and asked him to arrange the commanders and fighters of the Fourth Battalion, and took Sokov and the deputy factory manager to climb the fire stairs to the roof.
Sokov and his team climbed up the roof as soon as they heard a woman shouting loudly: "Don't move, command!"
Sokov looked up and saw a female soldier in uniform holding a rifle, aiming at the three of them, posing as if he could shoot at any time. Before Sokov could speak, Cousto said first: "It's me, Cousto. The deputy factory director and a commander are here. I'll take them up to see the air defense position."
"Oksala, what happened?" A voice came from behind the female soldier that made Sokov feel familiar: "Who climbed up the fire ladder?"
"Comrade Lieutenant," the female soldier known as Oksala, heard the voice, quickly put away the gun in her hand, turned her head and rushed to the back and said, "It's Director Cousto. He said he would bring the deputy factory director and a commander to come and take a look."
A female officer wearing a steel helmet walked out from behind Oksala and said to Cousto, who was still standing on the fire ladder: "Please come up, Director Cousto."
After seeing the female officer's face clearly, Sokov couldn't help but exclaim: "Lieutenant Ulanova, is it you?"
"Who are you?" Suddenly someone called her name, and the person was not Cousto whom she was familiar with. Ulanova couldn't help but ask vigilantly: "How do you know my name?" After asking this, she felt a little regretful and felt that she shouldn't ask. After all, the other party came up with Cousto before, and it was not surprising that she knew her life and military rank.
"It's me!" Sokov jumped from the fire staircase to the roof, walked a few steps towards Ulanova, raised his voice and said, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
Chapter completed!