Red Moscow

  Chapter 386 Winter Clothes (Part 2)

Sokov entertained Maria in the headquarters for a while to have dinner, and drank tea for a while. He felt that Chuikov's new headquarters should be almost ready, so he said to Maria: "Comrade Maria, it's almost time, let's set off. Go to headquarters."

Maria nodded, but she didn't get up immediately, but said to Sokov: "Comrade commander, can you find me a set of our own military uniform? I can't wear a German uniform to see myself your superior?"

  After Maria reminded him, Sokov realized that he was also wearing a German uniform. If he wore this uniform and went to see Chuikov, he might be killed by a patrol on the way as a German. He hurriedly ordered someone to bring a set of military uniform to Maria, while he went to the small resting room next to him and changed into the original military uniform.

  The jeep came to Pushkin Avenue. Although no one was leading the way, the driver still drove the car familiarly to a building with barbed wire and sandbags. As soon as the car stopped, a lieutenant officer on duty came from the door, and he said loudly, "No parking here!"

Sokov hurriedly opened the car door, bent down and got out of the car. After he stood up straight, he said to the officer: "I am Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. I have something important to see. Commander."

Regardless of the fact that the number of times Sokov came to the headquarters can be counted on one's fingers, this star officer had followed Cuikov to work in the southern cluster. He naturally knew Sokov, the acting chief of staff at that time, and saluted him quickly: "You All right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel."

After Sokov raised his hand to return the salute, he turned and told the guard who had just got off the car: "Comrade soldier, remove the things on the car." After finishing speaking, he raised his leg and was about to walk inside. He was stopped by the star officer. He said with some displeasure: "Comrade officer, is there anything else?"

The officer on duty pouted at Maria, who was following Sokov, and said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is the headquarters of the Army Group, and not everyone can enter. This lesbian, let me see it." She stays outside and waits for you."

   "Comrade Lieutenant," Maria, who was wearing an inappropriate uniform, took a step forward and said to the officer on duty, "I am Second Lieutenant Maria from the Reconnaissance Division. I have just returned from a mission behind enemy lines and I need to report to the Director of Reconnaissance immediately."

Hearing what Maria said, the officer on duty did not stop her, but turned his body to the side to make way for a passage, and at the same time said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you follow the road on the right side of the building." Go down the tunnel, walk forward more than ten meters along the passage, and then turn back, you can see many adjacent rooms, the commander's office is the third on the left."

   "Understood, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov star officer nodded and said with a smile on his face, "Thank you!"

After entering the tunnel and walking not far ahead, Maria saw an acquaintance from the reconnaissance office, stopped him quickly, asked where the reconnaissance office was, and said to Sokov: "Comrade commander, I want to go back to the The reconnaissance office is going to report to work, thank you for bringing me back from the enemy's rear." After speaking, he took the initiative to extend his hand to Sokov, "We will meet later."

  Sokov held Maria's hand, and suddenly felt an inexplicable sadness in his heart. He didn't know whether he would have a chance to see her again after they separated this time. After all, the job she was engaged in was very dangerous. Before letting go, he said sincerely: "You have to pay more attention to safety, I hope we can all live to see the day of victory."

   After separating from Maria, Sokov followed the guidance of the officer on duty and came to the room where Chuikov was. As soon as he entered the door, he heard Chuikov saying to Krylov and Gurov: "...Damn it, how can this ill-prepared counterattack help solve the current predicament Stalingrad is facing? I know that the organization of this counterattack was very hasty, and there was no necessary material supply to support the counterattack. Therefore, I think that even if Zhukov commanded the troops to fight, it would not be able to achieve the effect envisioned by the Supreme Command.”

   "Comrade Commander," Gusev said before Chuikov finished speaking, "The German army has already captured the city of Stalingrad. If we don't take decisive counterattacks, the city may not be able to defend..."

"Comrade Military Commissar, I don't agree with your statement." Chuikov raised his voice and said, "Going to the city and capturing the city are two different things. Our troops are still stubbornly resisting the Germans in the suburbs, effectively slowing down their progress. Retreat To put it another way, even if the enemy invades the city, they will not be able to capture the city, and they will be caught in street fighting and unable to extricate themselves."

  From the conversation between the two, Sokov heard that they were discussing the counterattack that Zhukov was organizing north of the city. For Sokov, who is familiar with history, the counterattack had limited effects, and instead consumed the vital strength he had accumulated with great difficulty, which was not worth the candle.

Krylov saw Sokov standing at the door, and quickly raised his hand to stop Chuikov and Gusev who were about to start arguing: "Commander, Comrade Military Commissioner, we will discuss this issue later. Sokov The principal is here, and it seems that he has some information to report to us."

   Seeing that Krylov had seen him, Sokov hurriedly stepped forward, raised his hand and gave a ring salute to the three of them. After putting down his hand, he turned his head and said to the guard standing outside the door, "Bring the things in."

  The guard nodded, and struggled to bring in a bunch of wooden blocks, and placed them near the door. After doing all this, he straightened his body and saluted, then turned and walked out.

  Chuikov walked up to the pile of wooden piers and asked Sukov curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what is this?"

   "It's a fur wooden pier." Sokov grinned and said to Chuikov, "We got it behind the enemy lines. I thought the weather was getting colder, so I brought some of them here for you."

Sokov's words reminded Chuikov, he turned his head and asked Krylov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Sokov is right, the weather is getting colder and colder, but our commanders and fighters are still wearing summer clothes. When can I change into winter clothes?"

Regarding Chuikov's question, Krylov hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Comrade commander, I don't know too well. Why don't you call General Lobov over and ask, he is the logistics chief of the army group, these things should be very clear gone."

While Krylov was on the phone, Chuikov went on to say: "I ordered you to go behind the enemy lines to find the missing female scout. You have done a good job and deserve praise. By the way, have you heard anything?" Valuable information?"

Hearing Chuikov's question, Sokov immediately remembered the German headquarters occupying the fur processing factory, and quickly replied: "Comrade commander, we have discovered a divisional headquarters of the German army behind enemy lines. If we can send the air force to bomb it, It will cause considerable damage to the enemy."

   "The divisional headquarters of the German army?" Sokov's words really aroused Chuikov's interest, and he asked eagerly, "Where is it exactly?"

Sokov walked to the table, looked down at the map for a while, pointed to a place and said to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, this is the place. It used to be a fur processing factory. After the German army came, it was changed to a fur factory. became the headquarters."

   "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." After looking at the location Sokov knew for a while, Cuikov raised his head and asked, "How do you know this is the division headquarters of the German Army? Who told you?"

"Comrade Commander, we once drove past the gate of the German Army Command." Sokov replied in an affirmative tone: "Although we passed the gate for a short time, some soldiers saw clearly the small man parked in the yard." Cars and three-wheeled motorcycles, and there are several antennas on the roof..."

"I think this information needs to be verified." Krylov, who had just finished the phone call, happened to hear a few words from Sokov, and said cautiously: "It would be bad if we fell into the enemy's trap." .”

   After finishing speaking, Krylov picked up the phone and said into the microphone: "Get me to the scouting office."

"Reconnaissance Office? I'm Krylov." After a moment of silence, Krylov said into the microphone again: "I just received information that the Germans are... what?! What did you say?... Repeat it again ...it's nothing, we have nothing to say..."

After Krylov put down the phone, a surprised expression appeared on his face. He said to Chuikov: "The reconnaissance office said that the female scout Maria has gone back and brought an important piece of information." Having said that, he I couldn't help but glanced at Sokov, "The content of the intelligence is the same as Lieutenant Colonel Sokov said. They discovered the German headquarters in the fur processing factory."

  Sokov couldn't help laughing to himself, thinking that Maria was sitting next to him at the time, and what she saw and the analysis she made were not the same as his own. However, he felt that it was very impolite to interrupt Krylov at such a time, so he wisely chose to remain silent.

  Chuikov waited for Krylov to finish speaking, but did not speak, but remained silent, as if he was thinking about what measures to take. After a while, he said: "Report this matter to the headquarters of the front army, and ask them to dispatch planes to bomb the headquarters of the German army."

   As soon as Cuikov finished speaking, he heard someone asking at the door: "May I come in?"

   Everyone turned their heads and saw that it was Major General Lobov, the logistics chief of the group army. Chuikov said quickly: "Please come in, General Lobov, we are waiting for you."

  Chuikov greeted Lobov to sit down and asked, "General Lobov, the weather is getting colder. I would like to ask, when will the winter clothes needed by the troops be distributed?"

"Comrade Commander," Lobov said, looking up at Chuikov, "at present, there are about 50,000 cotton coats stored on the left bank of the Volga River. However, due to the recent transportation force, they are busy transporting troops and weapons and ammunition, so it is temporarily impossible to take them to the left bank of the Volga River. Bring the winter clothes over."

"Comrade Minister of Logistics," Chuikov waited for Lobov to finish, and immediately said with a straight face: "Russia's climate has dropped to zero at night since mid-September. Non-combat attrition. If our commanders and fighters are all frostbitten, when the Germans rush into the city, who will fight them?"

Facing Chuikov's accusation, Lobov stood up quickly and said with a blushing face: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I didn't think carefully. Starting tomorrow, I will arrange a special ship to deliver winter clothes to the troops. I will strive to deliver winter clothes to the troops in September. Before the middle of the month, it will be distributed to every soldier."

"Sit down, General Lobov." Chuikov walked to his side, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder twice, and said, "I understand your difficulty, the winter clothes must be delivered as soon as possible, but at the same time, it must not affect to the transportation of troops and ammunition."

  (end of this chapter)