Red Moscow

  Chapter 326 The Lost General

  After Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin served as the chief of staff of the infantry brigade, Sokov had another way to understand the battlefield situation. The new chief of staff can communicate with the headquarters of the 64th Army through the radio station of the brigade headquarters to obtain the latest battle reports in a timely manner.

On the fourth day of Sidolin's tenure, Sokov and Belkin were discussing in the tent when to move all the troops into the tunnel, but they saw Sidolin hurried in with a telegram in his hand. . He said to Sokov with a serious expression: "Comrade Brigadier, something has happened."

   "What happened?" As the German army was getting closer to Stalingrad, Sokov was also highly nervous at the moment, fearing that one day he would wake up early in the morning and find that the German army had already appeared in front of him. Therefore, as soon as he heard Sidolin say that something had happened, he wondered if the German army had already approached Mamayev Post. "Have the Germans already appeared near Mamayev Kurgan?"

"That's not true," Sidolin hesitated, handed the telegram to Sokov, and said, "This is a telegram from General Shumilov, the deputy commander of the 64th Army. General Chuikov was ordered He formed the Southern Group to prevent the German army from approaching Stalingrad, but since last night, he has lost contact with the Army Group Command."

"What, General Chuikov lost contact with the Army Group Command?" Hearing the shocking news, Sokov remained calm, while Belgin jumped up from his seat, looked at Sokov, He said cautiously: "Comrade Brigadier, tell me, there will be no accidents with General Chuikov, right?"

  Sokov did not answer Belkin's question, but removed the sundries covered on the map, looked at Sidolin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, where did General Chuikov disappear?"

Sidolin walked to the table, leaned over the map for a while, pointed to a location and said to Sokov, "It's right here, Comrade Brigadier Commander. General Chuikov is just north of the Aksai River, where he lost his position with the Army Group Command." connect."

Sokov gestured with his hand, "From here to the Aksay River, it is no more than fifty kilometers." He stood up, adjusted his military uniform, and said resolutely: "We will immediately send troops to find General Chuikov. "

"Comrade Brigadier," Belgin quickly reminded him when he heard Sokov say, "General Chuikov is the headquarters of the 64th Army Group, and our brigade is under the control of the 62nd Army Group. Is it inappropriate to take action?"

  When Sidolin learned that Sokov planned to send troops to search for Chuikov's whereabouts, he couldn't help but feel happy, but when he heard what Belkin said, his smile froze on his face. That's right, the political commissar was right. Now that the infantry brigade belongs to the 62nd Army, it's really inappropriate to set out to search and rescue the commander of the friendly army without the order of the superior.

"Comrade Commissar," Sokov said to Belkin carelessly, "Our brigade is a member of the Stalingrad Front, and General Chuikov is the senior commander of the Front. , How can he refuse to save him? This matter has been decided, and I will immediately lead a battalion to search and rescue him. If the superior wants to blame him, I will bear all the responsibilities."

   "Comrade Brigadier, and me." Sukov's words made Sidolin feel his blood boil, and he added emotionally: "If the superior wants to blame, I am willing to take responsibility together with you."

"Well, since you all decided to send troops to search and rescue General Chuikov, then I will not object any more." Belkin stood up, and said to the two of them helplessly: "In any case, this is the decision of our brigade military committee. If the higher-ups want to be held accountable for the decision, we will bear it together.”

  After the three reached an agreement, Sidolin then asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, which battalion do you plan to take to the Axe River?"

"The third battalion of Captain Andrei." Sokov replied without hesitation: "When the commanders and fighters of this battalion were in Kursk, they had fought against the German 297th Infantry Division and had certain combat experience. They rushed to the Aksai River, and even if they encountered German troops, they would have the strength to fight."

  The distance of 50 kilometers is close, but it is not close. If all the commanders and fighters go there by car, they can reach the destination in at most two hours; but if not, they will have to walk for a day anyway. By the time they arrive at the place, the day lily is probably cold. In view of this, Sokov specifically told Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, immediately call Major Ozor to see how many trucks he can dispatch. We must find a way to transport the Fourth Battalion there as soon as possible."

"Comrade Brigadier," when Belkin picked up the phone on the table and called Andrei, the commander of the Third Battalion, Sidolin reminded Sokov again: "The Third Battalion is now stationed on the northern **** of Mamayev Kurgan. After they leave, will Captain Briski's Fourth Battalion take over their defense?"

"Yes." Regarding Sidolin's proposal, Sokov readily nodded and agreed: "Anyway, it will take some time for Major Ozor to mobilize the trucks, so we will use this time to switch the third and fourth battalions. "

   During the battle to defend Kursk, the third battalion experienced a large number of attrition, and now there are only more than 800 people left in the whole battalion. After confirming the number of people to be transported, Ozor used his connections to get forty trucks, loaded them with all the commanders and fighters of the third battalion and their equipment, and headed to the Aksay River area.

Sokov was worried that he would be attacked by the German army along the way. Before setting off, he specifically told the platoon leaders of each company to arrange an observation post for each vehicle. Once an enemy plane was found, it would immediately use the whistle to warn, so that the convoy could be carried out in a timely manner. Evasion to avoid enemy air strikes.

   However, the situation did not seem to be as bad as Sokov imagined. Apart from seeing a small group of troops retreating sparsely along the way, and refugees supporting the old and the young, there was no danger.

  When he arrived near the Aksay River, Sokov saw that the road ahead was crowded with retreating troops, so he ordered the driver to stop. He got out of the car, stood on the side of the road and asked the soldiers passing by loudly: "Comrades, what part are you from and where are you going?"

When a sergeant heard Sokov's shout, he stopped in his tracks and said with a blank expression: "Comrade commander, we are from the 138th Infantry Division, and there are some from the 157th Infantry Division over there. We also I don't know where to go, but I'm going along this road anyway, maybe Stalingrad is our destination."

   After the sergeant finished speaking, he planned to move on, but was stopped by Sokov. Sokov asked a little excitedly: "You are from the 138th Infantry Division. Where is the division commander, Colonel Lyudnikov?"

  Hearing Sokov's question, the sergeant couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you know our teacher?"

   "Yes, I have known Comrade Colonel for a long time." Naturally, Sokov would not tell the other party that he had only heard of Lyudnikov's name, but had never met the real person. In order to obtain accurate information, he could only pretend that he was familiar with Lyudnikov: "Comrade Sergeant, do you know where he is?"

The sergeant turned his head and pointed to the back: "Half an hour ago, I saw him with Colonel Kuropatenko, the commander of the 157th Infantry Division, and I guess he will be here soon." After the sergeant finished speaking, he straightened up. The body asked Sokov, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, allow me to leave?"

   "Allowed!" Sokov nodded several times, and said to the sergeant: "I wish you a safe journey, and you can reach Stalingrad as soon as possible."

After the sergeant left, Sokov turned around and said to Andrei, who was coming from behind, and several company commanders: "Let the soldiers get out of the car and walk, there are so many troops retreating on the road ahead, our car There is no way to drive through."

  The soldiers of the Infantry Brigade got off the vehicle and walked forward in a neat formation along the road. The soldiers retreating from the south, seeing such a valiant and high-spirited army, hurriedly made way for them. The troops walked forward for about one kilometer, and several commanders surrounded by soldiers suddenly appeared in front of them. With sharp eyes, Sokov could clearly see that there were several school officers and a major general inside.

"The troops stop!" Seeing a commander with a higher rank than himself appeared in front of him, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop his subordinates, then trotted forward, raised his hand to salute the general, and said politely: "Comrade general , Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, reports to you that our brigade is marching towards the Aksee River, please give instructions!"

"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." The general raised his hand in return, and said, "I am Major General Dmitriev, Deputy Commander of Artillery of the 51st Army." He pointed to the two colonels beside him, "They are Colonel Lyudnikov, commander of the 138th Infantry Division, and Colonel Kuropatenko of the 157th Infantry Division." After the generals such as Sokov finished the introduction, they raised their hands to salute the two division commanders.

  Dmitriev waited for Sokov to salute the other two division commanders, and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, where are your troops going?"

"Report to Comrade General." Sokov only knew that Chuikov was missing in this area, but he didn't know the exact location. He was worried that it would be difficult to find Chuikov with his own strength, so he truthfully reported to Dmitriev. : "We have received news that General Chuikov has disappeared around here, so I brought troops here to search for his whereabouts."

   "What, General Chuikov is missing?" Dmitriev was taken aback by the news, and he hurriedly asked, "When did it happen?"

   "Yesterday," Sokov replied briefly, "suddenly lost contact with him since yesterday."

"This is troublesome." Dmitriev frowned and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you have also seen the surrounding environment, there are grasslands everywhere, maybe his car got lost on the grassland and accidentally Break into the enemy's defense zone."

"Comrade General, this is impossible." After Dmitriev finished speaking, Lyudnikov said before Sokov had time to speak: "How could General Chuikov fall into the hands of the enemy. "

"It's entirely possible, Comrade Colonel." Dmitriev said with a sigh: "In the past two months, many of our commanders have disappeared on the grassland. In the end, it was found that they were either sacrificed or killed by the Germans." People were taken prisoner. I think General Chuikov lost his whereabouts here, and it may be the same fate.”

"No, it is absolutely impossible." Sokov waited for Dmitriev to finish speaking, and said firmly: "General Chuikov is absolutely impossible to sacrifice, and he will not fall into the hands of the enemy. I think He lost contact with Army Group Command, probably because of unexpected events."

   "Then what are you going to do, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel?" Dmitriev looked at Sokov and asked, "Are you planning to lead troops to search for his whereabouts in this area?"

   "That's right, Comrade General." Sokov nodded and replied, "Even if there is only a thousandth chance, I still want to find General Chuikov's whereabouts."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, although the hope of finding General Chuikov is slim, I also hope to help you." Dmitriev said, turning to Lyudnikov and Kuropatenko: "Both Comrade Commander, why don't you ask your soldiers to help out and look for General Chuikov's whereabouts nearby."

"Comrade General," Sokov always felt in his heart that nothing would happen to Chuikov, but because of some special reason, he was temporarily unable to get in touch with the Army Command, so he said tactfully to Dmitriev: "Look for As for General Chuikov, my troops are adequate. On the contrary, I feel that there are not enough fortifications on the Aksai River to withstand the German attack. Comrade General, I suggest that you organize troops and build fortifications on the river to protect against any German forces that may appear in the area."

   Before Dmitriev could make any decision, they heard someone in the distance asking loudly: "Which department do you belong to, and where is your commander?"

   "Chuikov, it's Chuikov." Hearing this voice, Sokov couldn't help but shine his eyes, and said inwardly, "I don't know where he came from."

  A jeep passed through the retreating soldiers and stopped near Sokov and Dmitriev. Chuikov opened the door and got out of the car, walking towards them. After a few steps, he said loudly to Dmitriev, "Isn't this General Dmitriev of the 51st Army? I didn't expect to meet you here."

   After Chuikov and Dmitriev saluted each other, there was a warm hug. Then, he shook hands with Radnik and Kuropatenko one by one. Finally, he came to Sokov, looked him up and down, then looked at the long line behind him, and asked curiously, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, why are you here?"

  (end of this chapter)