Red Moscow

  Chapter 462 Sneak into the city

  Sokov lay on the camp bed and slept from noon until evening. When he woke up, he felt that his body had fully recovered. He tried to get off the camp bed without any help, and walked a few steps in the house. Except for a little dizziness in the head and the feeling of stepping on cotton when walking, the rest has almost returned to normal.

  Sidolin and Belkin tried to step forward to help him, but he waved his hand and refused: "No, I can do it myself."

  He walked to the table and sat down. After taking a few breaths, he looked at Sidolin and asked, "Chief of Staff, how is the situation in the city?"

  Sidorin didn't know what Sokov wanted to ask, so he could only say vaguely: "Our troops are still fighting the enemy, holding fast to every street and building."

   "Don't give me an official tone," Sokov asked straight to the point: "I want to ask, what is the current situation of the building where Sergeant Vasily is sticking to?"

  Sokov's question stunned Sidolin for a moment, and he thought to himself that now the commander of the third battalion is gathering the defeated troops in the city, and is fighting the enemy on different streets. The first thing the brigade commander did after waking up was not asking about Captain Andrei's situation, but about the building they were standing on to Vasily. It was really strange. Although he did not understand Sokov's intentions, he replied truthfully: "The enemy launched several attacks on the building where Sergeant Vasily was standing, but they were all repelled."

   "I want to have a look at Vasily." Unexpectedly, as soon as Sidolin finished speaking, Sokov said unexpectedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, help me arrange it."

"What, you want to go to the city?" Sidolin broke out in a cold sweat when he heard Sokov say this, and quickly dissuaded him, saying: "No, Comrade Brigadier, you can't enter the city at this time. The situation is too dangerous.”

"That's right, the Chief of Staff is right." As soon as Sidolin had finished speaking, Belgin chimed in and said, "The situation in the city is very complicated now. The defense lines of the enemy and ours are intertwined. In the buildings on the same street, our army The Germans occupy a different floor, as long as there are pedestrians walking on the street, whether it is a German or ours, they will be shot. Comrade Brigadier, you can't go to the city to take risks in this situation! "

"The building occupied by Sergeant Vasily is located next to the January 9th Square. The geographical location is extremely important." Although Sidolin and Belkin are trying to persuade themselves not to go to the city, Sokov still insists. : "As long as we hold it firmly, it will be equivalent to driving a wedge into the German defense line. When the big counter-offensive starts in the future, we can use it as the starting point of the attack and shorten our attack distance."

Seeing that Sokov was so stubborn, Belkin knew that it was useless to persuade him, so he could only give in: "Well, Comrade Brigadier, since you said so, I will not stop you anymore. But your body , can you walk that far?"

   "Don't worry," Sokov replied with a wry smile, "Although the soles of my feet seem to be stepping on cotton when I walk now, but after a while of rest, I want to walk a few kilometers, and there should be no problem."

   "Misha," Sokov just finished speaking, Yakov appeared at the door, he asked curiously: "Your health is not good yet, where are you planning to go?"

   "Go to the city, Yakov." Sokov said casually: "Go to inspect a more important defensive support point."

   "An important defensive support point?!" Yakov raised his eyebrows, and then asked tentatively, "Misha, how about I go with you?"

   "Ah, you want to go too?" Regarding Yakov's request, Sokov said with some embarrassment: "The city is too dangerous, I have no right to risk your life."

"You are not afraid, I have nothing to be afraid of." Seeing that Sokov disagreed, Yakov immediately took the initiative to say: "Misha, don't forget that I am also a soldier. Since the outbreak of the war, I have In fighting the Germans, I have rich combat experience and know how to avoid risks on the battlefield..."

Seeing Yakov talking non-stop, Sokov murmured to himself: "If I hadn't led people to rescue you from the prisoner-of-war camp, you would have died in the Saxon concentration camp next May. If this Follow me to the city this time, and if anything goes wrong, Stalin will probably tear me to pieces."

Just when Sokov was considering how to refuse Yakov to go with him, he accidentally heard him say: "Misha, don't forget, I was a construction engineer before the war, and when I arrived at the fire support you mentioned After that point, I might be able to give you some suggestions for improvement."

  Yakov once worked as an engineer, Sokov is not very clear, but at the moment Yakov said it himself, so the credibility is quite high. But just to be on the safe side, he still looked at Yakov and asked, "Yakov, so you are an expert in construction?"

   "It goes without saying that I am a construction engineer." When talking about his profession, Yakov said a little excitedly: "Before the war, I led the construction of several residential buildings in Smolensk..."

"Comrade Major," Sidolin interrupted Yakov before he could finish, "now is not a good time to build a house. It is just built today, and it may be bombed by German planes or artillery tomorrow. destroyed,…"

"I understand your opinion, Comrade Chief of Staff." Yakov turned his head to look at Sidolin and said, "I not only know how to build a house, but also know very well about fortification. Do you know fortification? It is building fortifications , trenches, long-term fire points and obstacles. During the battle to defend Smolensk, the fire points, fortifications and trenches in the defensive area of ​​​​our division were completed with my help."

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't need to say any more." Seeing that Sidolin seemed to be about to refute Yakov, Sokov quickly stopped him: "I think Yakov's ability can completely help us strengthen the city. fortifications."

"Comrade Brigadier, I believe that Major Yakov has this ability, but..." Sidolin approached Sokov's ear and whispered, "Don't forget his identity and who he is. Whose son. Once something happens to him in the city, let alone you and me, I am afraid that even Comrade Commander will not be able to bear this responsibility."

  Sokov originally wanted to ignore Yakov's identity and just take him to the city for a walk and then come back. Nothing should happen. But at this moment when Sidolin reminded him, he couldn't help but start to worry about Yakov's identity again. Although Stalin didn't favor this son, if he was really injured, he would definitely not be able to escape responsibility, and he would even implicate Chuikov. .

Seeing Sokov's hesitant look, Yakov immediately guessed what he was worried about, and quickly said: "Okay, Misha, don't worry about my safety. Since I offered to follow If you go to the city, it means that I have prepared for the worst, and even if something happens to me in the future, it will not implicate any of you."

"Major Yakov," Belkin said with a smile after Yakov finished speaking, "Since you understand that your identity is more sensitive, then don't make things difficult for us. In my opinion, you should stay in the Here, after the statistics of the new rockets are calculated, you can take people back to the other side."

"Comrade Commissar, thank you for your kindness." After expressing his gratitude to Belkin, Yakov said to the three of them: "I understand what you mean. You are worried that I will be in danger after entering the city. I will tell you now Let me keep a secret. Before leaving Moscow, my father called me to his office and specifically told me that this trip was extremely dangerous and asked me to be more careful. But at the same time reminded me that if it is necessary, I should not be afraid of danger. No matter how dangerous the place is, you have to go, and you must not embarrass him."

  Yakov's words are equivalent to telling everyone that he has obtained Stalin's permission to go to the city, and even if something happens, he will not let others take responsibility for himself. Sidolin did not speak, but cast his eyes on Belkin to see what else he had to say. But Belkin looked at Sokov and asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigadier, I want to hear your opinion."

  Since Stalin has considered that Yakov will encounter danger when he comes to Stalingrad here, he will take him to the city by himself, no matter whether he will encounter danger or not, he does not have to worry about censure from his superiors. Moreover, in real history, Chuikov and Military Commissar Gurov also went to the Pavlov Building in person. From this incident, it can be seen that even if Yakov and himself go to the Vasily Building, in terms of security, It is also guaranteed.

  Since everyone is only looking forward to his own horse, Sokov simply replied: "Since Yakov is also willing to go to the city, then after dark, come into the city with me."

  Seeing that Sokov agreed to enter the city by himself, Yakov couldn't help being overjoyed. But he was happy for a moment, then stared at Sokov with some doubts and asked, "Misha, can your body hold it up?"

"No problem." Sokov tried his best to say in a calm tone: "I have been lying on the bed for a few days, and I have received so many anti-inflammatory drugs. I should have recovered. When it gets dark, I guess I will be able to recover. condition, and then we can set off for the city."

  At ten o'clock in the evening, Sokov felt that his physical strength had almost recovered, so he was ready to set off, but Belkin stopped him. Belkin took his hand and said: "Comrade Brigadier, it's not possible yet, you have to wait."

   "Why?" Sokov asked inexplicably: "I think my physical strength has almost recovered. If I don't start now, when will I have to wait?"

"In my opinion, it's better to wait until one o'clock in the morning before starting." Belkin glanced at Yakov who was sitting next to him, and said, "By that time, the German snipers should have rested. There should be no danger when the defense line is controlled by both sides."

   If what Sokov fears most on the battlefield is neither shelling nor bombing, but the elusive German snipers. If you are targeted by a sniper, no matter how well you hide, you may lose your life. Therefore, as soon as Belkin mentioned the sniper, he decisively decided to change the departure time to after one o'clock in the morning.

  After a long wait, it was finally time to set off. A guard squad set off with Sokov and Yakov. This guard squad consisting of 20 people is equipped with MP40 submachine guns and carries two bases of ammunition. Even if they encounter the German army on the road, they still have enough strength to protect themselves.

After leaving Mamayev Post, Yakov, who was walking side by side with Sokov, suddenly asked, "Misha, there are no outsiders here, can you tell me why you have to go to Sergeant Vasily's guards?" building?"

   "I just think that is an important fire support point. If you hold it firmly, you can separate the enemy's defense line..."

"Come on, Misha." Before Sokov could finish speaking, Yakov interrupted him: "It's okay to deceive the chief of staff and political commissar with these words, but don't talk nonsense in front of me. .”

   "What I said is true." Hearing Yakov say this, Sokov said with a guilty conscience: "Where am I talking nonsense, don't you talk nonsense?"

Yakov sneered twice, and then said: "I remember that after I came to Mamayev Hill and told you the number of new weapons you brought, when you distributed, except for the two hill positions in the north and south, there was only this The building that Sergeant Vasily is holding on to has been allocated several new rockets. I think you must have your own plans for this allocation. Why, are you still unwilling to tell me?"

   Seeing Yakov's posture of breaking the casserole and asking the end, Sokov began to hesitate in his heart, whether he should tell Yakov the real situation. But after thinking about it, no, if he said so, Yakov would definitely ask: Why are you so sure that the building occupied by Vasily and the others can last for such a long time under the siege of the German army? At that time, how should I answer?

  Yakov was very displeased when he saw Sokov not speaking for a long time, and he couldn't help but get angry when he spoke: "Why, Misha, don't you even trust me as an old friend?"

"No, Yakov, you misunderstood." Seeing that Yakov was angry, Sokov hurriedly said: "Actually, the reason why I said that the building occupied by Sergeant Vasily and the others is an important firepower The support point, and specially assigned new rockets to them, it all depends on the location of the building."

  After hearing what he said, Yakov asked half-believingly, "Misha, are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true, do you think I'll tell you a lie?" After Sokov said this, he felt his face burn. Fortunately, it was dark and Yakov couldn't see clearly. to hide the past.

  Sokov's words really deceived Yakov, he nodded, and said thoughtfully: "So that's the case, it seems that I thought too much."

   "That's right, that's right," Sokov quickly followed his words, "It was you who were thinking wildly. When we get to the place and you see the building with your own eyes, you will know whether what I said is true or not."

  (end of this chapter)