Red Moscow

  Chapter 364 Return to Mamayev Post

   This battle was won, but the victory was a fluke, and the price paid was not small. If it weren't for the logistical problems of the German army, it would be a dream to destroy the enemy's dozens of tanks and the same number of artillery.

Once the supply of the German army returns to normal and a new attack is discovered, Sokov does not think that his troops can block the ferocious German offensive in such a simple field fortification, so when he received this telegram from Chuikov, he said nothing. Without saying anything, he immediately ordered the troops to retreat. Since both the 3rd Battalion and the 149th Brigade were disabled in the battle, Gorokhov's 124th Brigade was handed over to the task of breaking up.

  In the evening, Sokov came to Chuikov's headquarters, ready to report to him on the progress of the battle throughout the day. Unexpectedly, as soon as they met, Chuikov gave him a warm hug, and kept saying, "Well done, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you and your subordinates are doing well."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Chief of Staff Krylov said with a smile on his face as he shook hands with Sokov, "Thanks to your active and decisive actions, you have opened a gap in the German encirclement, allowing the first Among the besieged troops of the 62nd Army, more than a dozen divisions and brigades successfully escaped from the encirclement of the German army and returned to Stalingrad smoothly."

   It was beyond Sukov's expectation that more than a dozen troops organized into divisions and brigades could successfully break through. He looked at Krylov and said in surprise: "I really didn't expect that so many troops successfully broke through."

"Don't look at the numbers of more than a dozen divisions and brigades, but after a long period of fighting, there are not many people left in these troops." Cuikov sighed and said: "For example, the infantrymen who retreated into the urban area The 244th Division originally belonged to the 57th Group Army, but now there are only 1,500 people left in the division, and the number of infantry is at best equivalent to a full infantry battalion."

"Comrade Commander, please allow me to speak bluntly." From Chuikov's tone of voice, Sokov judged that although there were many numbers of troops retreating into the urban area, the number was definitely far less than Chuikov and the others expected, so he said bluntly : "It is far from enough to defend Stalingrad by relying on these troops retreating into the urban area..."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I understand what you want to express." Before Sokov could finish speaking, Krylov interrupted him, "But if the enemy cannot enter our city at all, you Do you still think these troops are small?"

   "The enemy can't enter our city?" Krylov's words confused Sokov, and Sokov thought to himself: Don't you see that the enemy is already approaching the city? If it weren't for the counterattack implemented today, the enemy's forwards must have rushed into Stalingrad. So he asked back puzzledly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't quite understand what you mean? The enemy is only one step away from the city, but you said that the enemy will not rush into the city. Can we still have strength? Yes Did the enemy take any countermeasures?"

"Come here to the map." Chuikov walked to the map by the wall, picked up the explanatory stick leaning against the wall, pointed to the northwest of Stalingrad, and said to Sokov: "Our army will be in Stalingrad in the near future. To the north of Le, three units, including the 1st Guards Army, 24th and 66th Army, were used to launch a powerful counterattack against the enemy. The main purpose of the campaign was to destroy the German 16th Armored Division, 3rd and 66th Armored Division. The corridor to the Volga created by the 60th Motorized Rifle Division completely eliminated the enemy's threat to Stalingrad."

   "There are three whole group armies. This is the largest force that our army can assemble at present." Krylov said excitedly: "I believe that under the command of General Zhukov, we will definitely be able to achieve a great victory like the Battle of Moscow."

For the counterattack organized by General Zhukov, as Sokov from later generations, he is very clear about the final result: due to the short preparation time given by the Supreme Command, the counterattack troops did not gather enough troops and lacked the necessary heavy equipment , especially the very limited number of artillery. Although the commanders and fighters performed bravely and tenaciously in the counterattack, they still failed to break through the corridor established by the German army, and the tragic counterattack ended in failure.

Seeing that both Chuikov and Krylov were overjoyed, Sokov couldn't bear to pour cold water on them, so he changed the topic: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, what is the next task of the northern cluster? "

After hearing Sokov's question, Chuikov exchanged glances with Krylov next to him, and then said apologetically, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, in view of your excellent completion of the mission, you have restored the 62nd The connection between the Army Group and the city, so the Northern Group was officially disbanded. As for your arrangement, after our careful research, we still let you return to Mamayev Post and continue to serve as the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade."

  Although he was dismissed from his post in less than 24 hours as the commander of the Northern Group, Sokov did not complain at all. He thought to himself: instead of commanding a few unfamiliar troops in a hurry, it would be better to go back to Mamayev Gang, where besides having familiar troops, it could also help him to become famous all over the world.

  ...

When Sokov returned to the brigade headquarters on Mamayev Hill, Belkin, who was sitting inside, was taken aback for a moment, then got up to greet him, and asked in surprise: "Comrade brigade commander, are you not serving as the commander of the northern group now?" Are you a member? Why do you have time to come back to us?"

   Before Sokov could answer, Sidolin asked tentatively: "Comrade brigade commander, is it possible that the superior is planning to transfer our brigade outside the city to stop the enemy?"

"Our troops stationed on Mamayev Post was approved by the Supreme Command. Unless the entire brigade is exhausted, no one can transfer us from here." Sokov said casually: "In addition, I have been relieved of command of the Northern Group by General Chuikov."

   "What, you were dismissed?" Belkin's voice alarmed several staff officers and communications soldiers sitting in the corner, causing them to look over. Belkin noticed his gaffe, and in order not to embarrass Sokov in front of his subordinates, he turned his head and said to those people: "You go out first!" The staff officer and signal officer immediately stood up when they heard what Belkin said. , Filed out of the headquarters.

   When there were only three people left in the room, Belgin asked anxiously: "Comrade Brigadier, what happened, okay, why were you suddenly dismissed?"

Seeing Belgin and Sidolin's nervous expressions, Sokov realized that he hadn't made his words clear, which caused them to misunderstand, and quickly explained to them: "The purpose of forming the Northern Cluster was to restore The connection between the 62nd Army and the Front Army. The 124th and 149th Brigades under my command have now successfully completed their missions, and it is perfectly normal for them to be disbanded, so it is only natural for them to be dismissed.”

  Belkin breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Sokov's words, and said, "I thought you made some mistake to be dismissed by Commander Chuikov. It turned out to be like this. It was a false alarm."

   After figuring out that it was an own goal, Sidolin also felt at ease. Although he has served as the brigade chief of staff for a long time, his control over the troops is very limited. It's like this time when Sokov went to serve as the commander of the northern group, he just made a phone call to the third battalion, and the third battalion commander, Captain Andrei, ran over with his troops and didn't even say hello to himself when he left. hit one. He couldn't imagine that once Sokov was dismissed as brigade commander or something happened, who would be able to command this infantry brigade? Fortunately, it was a false alarm, and Sokov was about to return to command the troops again.

  Sokov remembered that shortly after the failure of the counterattack organized by Zhukov, the German army launched a fierce attack on Stalingrad and captured Mamayev Post on September 15. Fortunately, Rodimtsev's 13th Guards Division came to Stalingrad and launched a counterattack on Mamayev Hill in time to retake the hill. Now that his own troops are stationed here and have built relatively complete fortifications, it is naturally impossible for the Germans to occupy Mamayev Hill again.

   Therefore, Sokov announced his first order after returning to the brigade headquarters: "Chief of Staff, notify all commanders above the company level to come here for a meeting."

  But before the commanders for the meeting arrived, an unexpected person came. Sokov was standing by the table, pointing to the map on the table, and briefing Sidolin and Belkin on the current situation between the enemy and us, but he heard someone shouting his order: "Misha, Misha, you are here!" where?"

  Sokov recognized Asiya's voice, and just as he turned around, someone threw himself into his arms and hugged his waist tightly. Assia asked with tears: "Misha, what happened, why were you dismissed? Did you make any mistakes?"

  Assia asked a series of questions, and Sokov immediately realized that someone among the staff officers and communications soldiers who had just been kicked out by Belkin must have tipped her off. The reason why she came so quickly was that she was treating the soldiers in a nearby tunnel, so she hurried over as soon as she got the news.

Sokov put his arms around Asya, patted her on the back with his right hand, and said with a smile: "Little fool, what are you thinking, how could your husband be dismissed by his superiors because of his mistakes? "

   "But, but..." Assia looked up at Sokov, and asked in a crying voice, "Misha, since you did nothing wrong, why did they dismiss you?"

"The reason why the superior wants to dismiss me is because the unit was disbanded after completing the mission." Sokov smiled and said to Asiya: "Think about it, since the unit no longer exists, you still need me. What is this poor commander doing?"

  After listening to Sokov's explanation, Assia still asked dubiously, "Are you really all right?"

"It's really fine." Sokov said with a chuckle: "If there is something wrong, will the superior let me come back and continue to be the brigade commander?" Seeing the commanders coming in one after another, he hugged Asiya Walking out of his shoulders, he said, "Assia, we are going to hold a military meeting soon. If you are fine, go back to the health team first."

  (end of this chapter)