Red Moscow

  Chapter 438 Retreat or escape?

Sokov and Belkin returned to the command post, and Sidolin immediately went up to him and asked: "The brigade commander, the political commissar, just now the observation post on the top of the hill reported to me that a plane landed on our position. I'm freaking out, are you all okay?"

"It's okay." Sokov waved his hands and said, "It was a crashed plane of our army. Although it hit the ring fortification on the top of the hill, fortunately there was no explosion. Except for the pilot being knocked unconscious, There were no casualties."

"The pilot is still alive?" According to Sidolin's idea, the plane fell from the sky. If the pilot hadn't parachuted, he would have been smashed to pieces. The tone of the pilot is really nice."

Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. It had been almost half an hour since the soldiers carried Lugansky to the health team. Regardless of whether Lugansky was dead or alive, there should be accurate news, so he took He picked up the phone and asked the messenger to connect to the health team, and when he heard someone talking, he asked bluntly: "I'm Sokov, how is the pilot who just sent to the health team, is he awake? "

The health worker who answered the phone quickly replied: "Hello, Comrade Brigadier Commander, Military Doctor Pavlov is treating him. The pilot only suffered a slight concussion and some bruises on his body. It is not life-threatening. He will be fine after two days of observation. "

  After putting down the phone, Sokov felt that this matter should be reported to Cuikov. After all, it is more appropriate for the Army Command to come forward to contact the Air Force than himself. He picked up the microphone and wanted to call the headquarters. After hearing Krylov's voice from the receiver, he immediately said, "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm Sokov."

   "It's Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Krylov asked politely, "Do you have anything to do?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation is like this." Sokov reported to Krylov: "Two fighter planes of our army were shot down while competing with enemy planes for air supremacy over the Volga River. On our hill. Thankfully the plane didn't explode when it went down, the pilot survived luckily and is now non-life threatening except for minor concussions and contusions. I would like you to contact the Air Force and put Their pilots took it back."

  Knowing that Sokov and the others had rescued a pilot, Krylov quickly picked up a pen and began to record: "Do you know his name and which aviation regiment he belongs to?"

   "Sergei Danilovich Lugansky, captain of the Air Force." Sokov replied: "He is a squadron leader of the 270th Fighter Aviation Regiment."

After recording what Sokov said, Krylov repeated: "...is a squadron leader of the 270th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I will contact his unit immediately Before that, let him stay with you to recuperate."

  Sidorin waited for Sokov to put down the phone, and proposed to him: "Comrade Brigadier, let's go to the health team to visit the pilot named Lugansky?"

   "To visit the pilot?" Sokov was surprised by Sidolin's proposal. He asked in puzzlement, "Chief of Staff, what are we going to visit the pilot for?"

"Comrade Brigadier, you don't know something." Sidolin explained: "If this Stalingrad defense battle cannot end quickly, our place will become a key area for the German army to compete for. They will not only use artillery bombardment, but also It is very difficult to use aircraft to bomb. It is very difficult for artillery to destroy our mine tunnels; Good relationship, let them expel those enemy planes trying to bomb Mamayev Gang for us, presumably they are still willing to do it."

  Sidorin's statement, not only did Sokov not feel alarmist, on the contrary, he also felt that it was very reasonable. Some time ago, when the enemy planes bombed the high ground, I was always worried. I was afraid that one or two bombs would break through the soil layer and fall directly into the tunnel to explode. You must know that when the bomb explodes in a closed space, the power produced will be multiplied, causing huge losses to the defenders in the tunnel. But if we have a good relationship with the Air Force and let them strengthen the fight for air supremacy over Mamayev Hill, this will effectively reduce the bombing of high ground by enemy planes.

  Thinking of this, Sokov nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff. We will go to the health team to visit the injured pilot after dark."

   "Comrade Brigadier, why don't you go now?" Sidolin asked puzzledly, "Why wait until night?"

"Captain Lugansky has a slight concussion and is resting now. I think it is very inappropriate for us to disturb him at this time." Sokov said: "When his health improves in the evening , it is undoubtedly the most appropriate for us to visit again."

   "Okay, Comrade Brigadier." Hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin did not refute, but nodded and said, "Then let's wait until after dark before visiting Captain Lugansky."

   However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. After dark, when Sokov and Sidolin were about to go to the health team to visit Captain Lugansky, they suddenly received a call from Rodimtsev. The commander of the Guards Division hurriedly said on the phone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the situation is not good. The chief of staff of the division just sent me a telegram, saying that the German army has once again occupied the station and the expert building. The 92nd Infantry Brigade was routed."

   "What, the 92nd Infantry Brigade was defeated?" Sokov was shocked by the unexpected news, and he quickly asked, "Comrade General, is this news reliable?"

"My chief of staff informed me of the information." Rodimtsev said in a positive tone on the phone: "He saw with his own eyes the sailors of the 92nd Infantry Brigade retreating. Due to the retreat of the 34th and 39th Guards Regiments They are still in the process of gathering and gathering, and it will be difficult for them to be used in a short time. I order you now, immediately send people to find out the situation there, and if necessary, organize troops to take the station back from the enemy's hands. "

A few hours ago, Sokov and Sidolin were still worried that if the war continued, the troops in his hands would be stretched. Now that he heard Rodimtsev's order, he couldn't help but said in embarrassment: "Comrade General , Although our brigade has five or six thousand commanders and fighters, we have suffered heavy casualties during the fighting in the past few days. If we mobilize our forces to capture the station, it will definitely weaken the defensive strength of Mamayev Gang.”

Rodimtsev knew that what Sokov said was the truth, so he couldn't continue to push him any further, so he could only sigh and say, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I understand the situation of your brigade. The troops in your brigade were dispatched After capturing the station and driving the enemy away, you must leave your troops behind to stand firm, and this will certainly weaken your strength on Mamayev Post."

When Sokov heard what Rodimtsev said, he thought to himself: "Since you know, why do you need to draw troops from us?" He secretly made up his mind that even if Rodimtsev moved Chuikov Come out, I will not deploy troops to compete with the German army for the station, that will exhaust the vitality in my hands.

"How about this, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Rodimtsev said hesitantly: "I think it is really difficult for you to send troops at this time. Why don't you send someone to find out what happened? Why is the defense line of the 92nd Infantry Brigade so easily broken by the Germans?"

  Seeing that Rodimtsev no longer insisted on sending troops to fight for the station, the boulder that Sokov was hanging on finally fell to the ground. For him, it should not be difficult to find out why the 92nd Rifle Brigade retreated, so he stated to Rodimtsev: "Don't worry, Comrade General. I will immediately take someone to find out what happened. It's all right, just wait for my news."

  As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he called Seryozha in and told him: "Comrade Lieutenant, gather the guard company immediately, and I will take you to perform combat missions."

  Seryozha now obeys Sokov. When he heard that there was a combat mission, he turned around and left the headquarters without saying a word, and went outside to gather people. And Sidolin said worriedly: "Comrade Brigadier, since the Germans can defeat the 92nd Infantry Brigade composed of sailors, it means that their strength is very strong. If you lead a small force out at this time , might be in danger."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidolin: "The German army has occupied the station and the expert building, which will pose a great threat to our flanks, so I must find out the enemy's strength in the shortest possible time. The situation. This matter is of great importance, and I don’t feel comfortable entrusting it to others, so I need to make a trip myself.”

Fortunately, both Sidolin and Belgin were used to Sokov's character, and they knew it would be useless to persuade him any more. They could only tell him to pay attention to safety, and then watched him and the soldiers of the guard company leave. .

  Sokov and the others had just left Mamayev Post. Under the bright moonlight, he saw groups of sailors running towards his position. Sokov hurriedly said to Seryozha: "Seryozha, bring someone to stop them."

  Seryozha nodded, and then shouted at the soldiers behind him: "Follow me!"

  When the retreating sailors were stopped, Sokov yelled at them angrily: "Who told you to abandon the position without authorization?"

   Facing Sokov's question, the sailors looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally a courageous sailor replied, "Our superiors ordered us to retreat."

   Someone took the lead, and the rest of the sailors also echoed, saying, "That's right, we gave up our position and withdrew after receiving the order to retreat."

   Sokov quickly looked among the sailors, but he didn't see anyone wearing a big-brimmed hat, so he raised his voice and asked, "Where's your commander?"

   "Sacrificed." A soldier raised his voice and replied, "Our company commander and instructor died in the battle."

   "What about your battalion commander?"

   "I don't know." The sailors replied neatly: "We were fighting well, but suddenly we received an order from the brigade headquarters to let us abandon our current position and move towards the ferry."

   "Sailors and soldiers," Sokov shouted at the sailors: "Stalingrad has reached the most dangerous moment, and no one is allowed to retreat, understand?"

   Before the sailors could speak, there was some commotion in the crowd in the distance, and then Sokov saw several officers wearing big-brimmed hats walking towards him. Still far away, the man shouted loudly: "Why are you all standing here without moving? Didn't you receive my order? Now I order you to continue on your way."

  Sokov saw clearly that the person shouting was Colonel Tanasorov, the commander of the 92nd Infantry Brigade. He hurriedly went up to him and asked loudly, "Comrade Colonel, where are you planning to take the troops?"

   "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Tanasorov said in a panic, "German tanks have rushed into the station. If we don't retreat, our entire army is in danger of being wiped out..."

"Stop, stop all of you." Sokov heard a familiar voice from the crowd: "Whoever allows you to leave the position without authorization, go back to me, if you hear it, go back to your respective battles post."

"The retreat is my order," Tanasorov said righteously to the caller, "Comrade Vlasov, didn't you just see that the enemy's tanks are only a few miles away from my headquarters? The distance is less than two hundred meters. If you hadn’t led someone to blow it up by chance, my headquarters would have been taken away by the enemy.”

  Sokov had already seen clearly that the person chasing him was Vrasov, director of the political department of the brigade. He didn't know what happened, so he stood there quietly as a bystander. Vlasov stopped Tanasov with both hands, and said in a stern tone: "Comrade Colonel, in the navy, the commander is the last to abandon the ship. As the person who commands the sailors, you should understand this!"

Political commissar Andreev came over to Tanasov and said: "Comrade Vlasov, I think it is necessary to remind you that the situation you mentioned is in the navy, but now you are not the navy, but It's an army under our command."

When his political commissar finished speaking, Tanasov yelled at Vlasov again: "Comrade Vlasov, listen to me, we are not afraid of death, we are not running away from battle, but we want to command the brigade We withdrew to the sandbank of the Volga River. We did this to better command the troops." After speaking, he pushed Vlasov away who was standing in front of him, and continued to walk in the direction of the Volga River.

  Vlasov quickly chased after him and asked, "Really? But Colonel, how can you command the troops there?"

Tanasorov stopped, turned around and approached Vlasov, and said bluntly: "According to the regulations, the commander's order does not need to be discussed, so hurry up and execute the order!" He stopped and walked towards the river again, as if he wanted to get out of this place of right and wrong immediately.

Vlasov took another step forward and expressed his attitude loudly: "Comrade Colonel, even if you all escape, the people from our Political Department will not go anywhere, and we will stay here and continue to hold our ground." After finishing speaking, he shouted to the sailors standing around, "Comrades, we sailors will never run away in battle. Anyone who is not afraid of death, come back with us and drive the enemy away from the station!"

  (end of this chapter)