Red Moscow

  Chapter 629 Return to Command

  Where did Sokov know the password, he stopped quickly, raised his right hand high above his head, and signaled the troops behind to stop advancing. But he quickly realized that this approach was wrong. It was so dark that the sailors and soldiers behind could not see it, so he quickly added: "All listen to my password and stop advancing!"

After the troops stopped, he took two steps forward and said loudly to the sentinel hiding in the darkness: "I am Brigadier Sokov, are you from the 192nd Battalion?" He did not say his military rank. , because I don’t want to spend more time to clear up misunderstandings.

  After hearing Sokov's answer, the other party hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Are you really Brigadier Commander Sokov?"

   "Yes, I am Sokov." In order for the other party to confirm his identity as soon as possible, Sokov added specifically: "If anyone among you knows me, let him come over to confirm."

   "No need, Comrade Brigadier Commander." An old voice suddenly came from the opposite side: "I know your voice, and I can't mistake it."

  Hearing this voice, Sokov suddenly remembered that there was a nearly sixty-year-old man in the 192nd Battalion, and he should be the one who spoke. Fortunately, Sokov still remembered the person's name, so he asked tentatively, "Is the opposite is Master Peterjevic?"

   "It's me, it's me, Comrade Brigadier." Hearing Sokov stop his order, the speaking Peterjevic said emotionally, "I am Peterjevic."

   After finishing speaking, Sokov heard a rush of footsteps. It didn't take long for Peterjevic, an elderly gentleman he knew, to appear in front of him. The master stopped in front of Sukov and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Brigadier Commander, I'm glad to see you."

  Sokov took the other person's hand, shook it vigorously twice, and asked, "Peterjevic, how many of you are on duty in this direction tonight?"

   "Report to Comrade Brigadier Commander, including me, there are five people in total." After Peterjevic answered this question, he tilted his head and glanced behind Sokov. Although the sky was very dark and the colors of the uniforms of the soldiers could not be seen clearly, Peterevich could clearly see the rifles in their hands and the bullet belts crossed on their chests, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade Brigadier , Are these soldiers behind you all sailors?"

"Yes, these are the reinforcements sent by our superiors. They will help us defend the Mamayev Post together." Sokov didn't intend to chat too much with an ordinary gentleman here, so he asked directly: "Where is your battalion commander?"

   "In the battalion command post." Peterevich said respectfully: "Comrade brigade commander, let me take you to the battalion commander."

   "Comrade Brigadier!" Seeing that Sokov was about to leave with Master Peterjevic, Guchakov asked quickly, "How should these sailors be arranged?"

Sokov considered that after a long period of fighting, the entire brigade had suffered a serious reduction in personnel. Whether it was the North Mount or the South Mount, there was enough space to accommodate these newly arrived troops, so he casually ordered: "Take them into the tunnels of the North Mount and find them. a place to put them."

When Sokov entered the battalion command post, Golia, who was chatting with several subordinates, hesitated for a moment when he saw Sokov walking in, then stood up from his seat and walked quickly to Sokov. After raising his hand to salute, he asked in surprise: "Comrade Brigadier, why are you covered in water? Could it be that you swam from the other side of the Volga River?"

"Comrade Captain, this joke of yours is not funny at all." If the troops had not been bombarded by the Germans when they crossed the river, maybe Sokov would have joked with the other party, but at this moment when he heard Goria say this, he But he said with a straight face: "When we were crossing the river, we were intercepted by German artillery fire, and the troops suffered a lot of losses."

  Although Goria is a subordinate of Sokov, he is only a battalion commander, and the information he can know is limited. He only knew that Sokov led the fourth battalion and the first battalion to stand firm at the Red October factory. He didn't know that Sokov led his troops to Orlovka, let alone that Sokov and the others broke out from the north. , the matter of rendezvous with friendly forces. So he asked strangely: "Didn't you lead the troops at the Red October Factory? How did you come from the other side of the Volga River?"

   "It's a long story, and I can't explain it in a few words." Sokov didn't want to waste any more time here, so he asked straight to the point: "Has the German army launched an attack on Beigang in the past few days?"

   "No." Golia shook his head and said, "It's strange to say that the enemy stationed opposite us during the day yesterday not only did not attack us, but actually marched northward."

   "Even if the enemy is going north, you can't take it lightly." Knowing that the enemy in front of Mamayev Post has gone north, Sokov still didn't dare to take it lightly. He then asked, "How many troops do you have?"

   "There are still about 200 people." Golia replied: "Due to our serious shortage of troops, many wounded were reorganized into combat troops before their injuries recovered."

"I brought two hundred sailors." Sokov originally planned to take the sailors to Nangang to strengthen the defense there, but he heard Golia said that there were only two hundred soldiers left under his command, and there were still many wounded who had not recovered from their injuries. At that time, he temporarily changed his mind: "I will leave them all and strengthen your defense here."

"Great, this is really great." Goria naturally knew that the combat effectiveness of the sailors was far stronger than that of the army, and the combat effectiveness of two hundred sailors was no less than that of an infantry battalion, so he repeatedly expressed his thanks to Sokov: "Thank you You, Comrade Brigadier Commander, with this new force, we will be more confident in holding the northern post of Mamayev Post."

   After leaving all the sailors he brought with Goliath, Sokov took Guchakov alone to the south hill through the tunnel connecting the two hills. Although it was already early in the morning, they still encountered many soldiers who hadn't fallen asleep along the way. Seeing the reappearance of their legendary brigade commander, the soldiers couldn't help exclaiming: "Brigade commander, it's comrade brigade commander!"

   "Comrade Brigadier is back!"

  The voices of these soldiers woke up the soldiers resting in the house. They rushed to the door one after another, waved and greeted Sokov who passed by the door. All of a sudden, the entire tunnel became lively.

Vitkov, who was drowsy at the brigade command post, heard the noise outside. After opening his eyes, he ordered a communication soldier not far away: "Go out and see what happened, why is it so noisy?" ?”

  The communications soldier agreed, got up and walked out of the headquarters. With little effort, the communications corps ran back to the command post and excitedly reported to Vitkov: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, it's the brigade commander, it's the brigade commander who is back!"

"What, the brigade commander is back?!" Belkin, who was lying on the camp bed in the corner, heard that Sokov was back, turned over and got out of bed, without even bothering to put on his shoes, and ran out barefoot to meet Sokov .

  Belkin rushed out of the headquarters, and saw Sokov walking towards him along the corridor, followed by a group of soldiers. He rushed forward quickly, and when he was still seven or eight steps away, he opened his arms and said excitedly, "Comrade Brigadier, welcome back!"

   After a warm hug from Sokov and Belkin, he walked towards the headquarters with his shoulders crossed. He asked curiously, "Comrade political commissar, are you the only one in the headquarters?"

Belkin knew very well that Sokov asked if he was alone, not the number of people in the headquarters, but in a disguised form asking if Vitkov and Sidolin were also in the headquarters, and why they didn't come out to greet him . He quickly explained to him: "Comrade deputy brigade commander is in the headquarters at the moment, and the chief of staff is not there."

"The chief of staff is not here?" Hearing that Sidolin was not there, Sokov couldn't help but think: In real history, Sidolin died in the Battle of Stalingrad. Could it be? Did he die on the battlefield during the few days he left?

Belkin saw Sokov's doubts, and quickly said: "Comrade Brigadier, it's not what you imagined. Because we stayed in the damp tunnel for a long time, the chief of staff was infected with eczema. There is no work at the moment. He went to the health team to apply medicine."

   Knowing that Sidolin went to the health team to apply the medicine instead of being sacrificed, Sokov's heart hanging in his throat was put back into his belly again. He went on to ask: "How is the situation here on Mamayev Post recently? Is the enemy's offensive violent?"

  (end of this chapter)