Red Moscow

  Chapter 367 Shelling and diversion

Since he was staying in the tunnel fortification, he couldn't hear the sound of guns and artillery from the battle site in the distance. Belkin couldn't sit still, and he offered to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, anyway, we can't sit here. Nothing to do, why not go to the observation post at the top of the slope, maybe you can see the scene of our army's defeat."

  Although Sokov knew very well in his heart that Mamayev Hill was a commanding height, but it was not easy to see clearly the battlefield at a distance of more than ten kilometers. However, considering that there is really nothing to do in the brigade headquarters, even if you can't see anything at the observation post above, it's good to hear something.

  The two came to the observation post at the top of the slope. The soldiers who were performing observation tasks inside instinctively turned their heads to take a look when they heard someone coming in. When it looked like the brigade commander and the political commissar, they quickly turned around and straightened up to salute.

   "How is the situation?" Sokov asked casually, "Can you see the fighting area?"

  The observation post shook his head and replied: "I didn't see anything except the black smoke rising in the distance."

   "You must be tired after observing here for so long." Belgin waved his hand at the observation post and said kindly, "Go for a walk and find a place to smoke a cigarette."

  The observation post saluted, then turned and walked out of the observation post. But he didn't go far, but sat next to a bush in Sokov's field of vision.

"Comrade Brigadier," seeing the position of the observation post, more than ten meters away from here, he and Sokov would not hear the questioning, so Belgin asked boldly: "Do you really think that what our army has done today? Is the attack launched, unable to succeed?"

"Yes," although Sidolin had asked this question a long time ago, and Sokov had already answered the other party, but at this moment when Belkin asked, Sokov patiently explained: "Yes, I think This time the counterattack was organized too hastily. After the troops came to a new place, they rushed to attack without even knowing the terrain. Coupled with the lack of effective cooperation between artillery and tank troops, they wanted to break through the three-dimensional defense of the German army. , I find it very difficult."

The two were talking in the observation station, when there was a strange screaming sound in the air. After hesitating for two seconds, Sokov suddenly realized that it was the sound of shells flying in the air, and quickly shouted: " Not good, shelling, quickly cover up."

  However, before they could make any reaction, the shell had landed on the hillside and exploded. In the earth-shattering explosion, Sokov was knocked to the ground by the huge shock wave. He struggled to get up, pulled Belkin and was about to run into the tunnel. Before leaving the observation post, he glanced at the location of the observation post, and found that there was only one bomb crater still emitting green smoke, and the soldier had long since disappeared.

The two fled along the passage into the tunnel, and Sokov stumbled into the command post and shouted at Sidolin standing there: "Chief of Staff, the enemy has started shelling us, order the battalions to take cover Work."

  Before Sokov entered the tunnel, Sidolin heard the sound of artillery from outside. He was quite puzzled at the time, guessing where the sound of the artillery came from, and why did he feel that the landing point was so close to here? Before he could figure out why, he saw Sokov rushing into the headquarters in a panic and giving orders to himself. Sidolin didn't dare to neglect, and quickly picked up the microphone on the table to convey Sokov's order to the battalion commanders.

   "Comrade Brigadier, what's going on here?" Belkin, who was still in shock, looked at Sokov and asked, "Why did the Germans suddenly fire at Mamayev Post?"

  Although Sokov and Belkin fled back to the tunnel shortly after the shelling started. But based on his experience, there were at least three regiments of German artillery shelling Mamayev Gang, and an ominous thought suddenly flashed in his heart: "Could it be that the enemy is using the tactic of drawing salaries from the bottom to relieve the pressure on the troops in the north of the city?" ? As long as they concentrate their forces and capture Stalingrad, our army's offensive in the north will be meaningless."

  Sokov thought of the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion between the north and south slopes, and quickly asked Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, have you called the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion?"

   "No." Sidolin shook his head and said, "Comrade Brigadier, the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion only cooperates with our brigade in combat and is not affiliated with our brigade, so they will not accept our command."

   "Even if they are not under our command." Sokov said with a serious expression: "You have to call them and let them find a suitable place to hide."

"Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier." Regarding Sokov's worries, Sidolin said with a smile: "After learning the lesson from last time, the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion has learned to be smart. They dug a lot near the air defense positions. Once they are bombarded by the Germans, they will quickly hide."

  Sokov didn't know whether the enemy was bombarding Mamayev Gang or the entire city. He felt that he needed to report the situation here to Chuikov immediately, so he called the army headquarters. The person who answered the phone was Krylov. After hearing Sokov's voice, he asked first: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, according to the report from our observation post, the enemy is conducting heavy shelling on Mamayev Post. How is it, is your loss big?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, such a large-scale bombardment, the loss must be inevitable." Sokov, who was staying in the tunnel, knew nothing about the situation outside at the moment, but since the Chief of Staff of the Army Group asked about this matter, I always have to give the other party an answer: "Since I ordered the troops to enter the tunnel fortifications long ago, and only set up some sentry posts on the surface position, I believe they have withdrawn to the tunnel when the shelling started. In this way, even if there is a loss, There won't be too many casualties."

"Very good, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you have done a good job." After praising Sokov, Krylov suddenly said: "The Front Army Command may withdraw to the left bank of the Volga River after the shelling stops. .I hope you can send troops to ensure the safety of the front army headquarters during the transfer process."

"Will the Front Command be withdrawn to the other bank of the Volga River?" In the most difficult days of the Battle of Stalingrad, Yeremenko and Khrushchev placed the Front Command on the east bank of the Volga River. very clear. But hearing what Krylov said at this moment, Sokov still felt a sense of being abandoned. He said into the microphone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, we will ensure the safety of the Front Army Command during the transfer process."

  After Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin asked anxiously: "What, the Front Army Command is going to retreat? Where are they going to retreat?"

"Where else can we retreat?" Sokov pointed in the direction of the Volga River with his hand, and said, "Of course it is to retreat to the opposite bank of the Volga River, where a new headquarters will be established to command the troops in the city to fight. "

"Comrade Brigadier, what they did was a cowardly act." As a political worker, Belkin usually gave people a very calm impression, but when he heard that the headquarters of the Front Army was going to be transferred to the other side of the Volga River, he also felt very calm. Can't help getting angry: "The troops are fighting the enemy in the city, but our headquarters is far away on the other side of the Volga River. If our soldiers know all this, what will they think?"

   Hearing what Belkin said, Sokov thought to himself: Even if the soldiers have complaints, they will not have a chance to vent. Because in this tragic battle, the survival time of soldiers is only 24 hours, and the survival time of officers is only 72 hours. According to statistics, Chuikov's 62nd Army had more than 100,000 people at the beginning of the battle, but after the end of the Stalingrad Defense War, there were only more than 200 people left.

"Comrade Commissar," in order to prevent Belkin's emotions from shaking the morale of the army, Sokov quickly took over his topic and said, "I think it is absolutely necessary to transfer the Front Army Command. If the Front Army Command continues to stay in the Inside the city, it will soon become the target of enemy shelling or bombing. Once there is something wrong with the headquarters, the troops of the entire front army will lose their unified command, become a mess, and finally be defeated by the German army one by one."

As soon as Belgin was appeased, the phone on the desk rang. This time the call was from Khrushchev himself, and he asked in the microphone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I got a precious , is it true that the enemy is bombarding your Mamayev Kurgan?"

  Sokov knew that if the Front Army Command wanted to leave the city, it had to board a ship at the pier behind Mamayev Post. In order to prevent the other party from misjudging, he replied respectfully: "Yes, Comrade Military Commissar, the enemy is bombarding Mamayev Post with heavy artillery fire."

   "Can the enemy's shell hit the dock?" Khrushchev asked with some concerns: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, please tell me the truth no matter what."

  Sokov hurriedly covered the microphone with his hand, and asked Sidolin who was standing in front of him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar, did you hear all the questions asked? Can the enemy's artillery fire reach the pier?"

"Comrade Brigadier, don't worry. We have an observation post behind the Mamayev Post." Sidolin said, picked up another phone, and said to Sokov, "I'll ask them, Let's see what's going on at the pier."

While Sidolin was on the phone, Sokov smiled and said to Khrushchev: "Comrade Military Commissar, I will ask my chief of staff to find out right away. Please don't hang up the phone, I will get back to you as soon as possible." You answered."

Sidoliner and others were surprisingly efficient. In less than two minutes, he ended the call and reported to Sokov confidently: "Comrade Brigadier, the observation post reported that sporadic water columns appeared on the river. It should be the German army. shells fell into the Volga."

After getting the exact news, Sokov hurriedly reported to Khrushchev: "Comrade Military Commissar, my observation station reported that a column of water would rise from time to time on the Volga River, and it should be from the Mamayev Gang. The shells that flew over fell into the Volga."

   "I see, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." After listening to Sokov's reply, Khrushchev said very politely: "Thank you!"

  Sokov didn't ask the other party stupidly: "Are you planning to transfer?" If you ask this way, even if Khrushchev doesn't say anything, he will be deducted points in his mind. So he said cautiously: "Comrade Military Commissar, from all indications, the Germans are planning to attack Mamayev Post."

"No, it won't be." Khrushchev heard Sukov say this, and said in a panic: "Zhukov's troops are conducting counterattacks against the enemy in the north of Stalingrad today. It stands to reason that the enemy is in this kind of attack." At that time, the main forces should be concentrated in the north, why did they suddenly bombard Mamayev Post?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, according to my estimation. The Germans may be worried that the troops stationed at Mamayev Post will stab him in the back while they are fighting with the 1st Guards Army." Sokov told Kh Ruchev analyzed: "Therefore, they launched attacks from two directions at the same time, so that we can only divide our forces to meet the enemy in order to defuse the threat they face."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what you said has some sense." Khrushchev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, nodded his head and said, "I will relay what you said to the commander. Comrade Comrade. By the way, once the enemy's shelling stops, remember to notify us as soon as possible. I wish you victory!"

  After the German shelling lasted for about forty minutes, it finally stopped. Somehow, after the shelling stopped, the German army did not use ground troops to attack, and there was silence in front of the Mamayev Post, which was billowing with thick smoke.

   Regarding the report from the observation post, Sokov didn't quite believe it. If the Germans didn't plan to attack their own place, why would they bombard the highland for a long time? So he came to the surface position that was bombed out of shape alone, raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, hoping to see the German army ready to go, so that he could ask the artillery company to drag the artillery to the top of the **** and bombard it fiercely. For a while, avenge the soldiers who died under his command.

However, he looked through the binoculars for a long time, but there was no trace of the German army in his field of vision. He whispered in his heart: "What the **** are the Germans trying to do? Why did they bombard us with so many shells, but did not send infantry to attack? Could it be that they are brewing some conspiracy?"

  Just as Sokov was about to return to the tunnel, he saw Assia and several health workers coming out of the cave. He quickly grabbed Assia and asked with concern: "Assia, where are you going?"

   "The Germans were bombarding our position just now, and there must have been many casualties." Assia stopped, looked at Sokov and said, "We came out to rescue the wounded."

   After giving Asiya a hug, Sokov said with concern: "You must be more careful and pay attention to your own safety!"

  Asiya nodded vigorously, "You too!" After speaking, she quickly kissed Sokov on the face, then turned and ran away, chasing after colleagues from the health team.

  (end of this chapter)