Red Moscow

  Chapter 640 Lost Troops

   Sokov and Belkin got out of the tunnel and came to the trench, looking down from a high position. I saw hundreds of sailors and soldiers, armed with bayonet-mounted rifles, lined up in front of the position, staring vigilantly at the enemy officers and soldiers carrying corpses halfway up the mountain and at the foot of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain is a row of covered trucks neatly parked, the rears of which are facing the hill. Countless soldiers in khaki uniforms and gas masks on their heads shuttle among the piles of corpses. For the corpse, two teams of two carried the corpse to the truck and handed it over to the soldiers standing by the truck, who put the corpse into the truck.

   "Comrade soldier," Sokov called a sailor soldier and asked, "Do you know where Captain Shamrih is?"

  The soldier looked around, pointed forward obliquely, and said, "Comrade Captain is there."

   "Call him over, please," Sokov worried that the soldier didn't know who he was, and added a special sentence: "Let's say that Colonel Sokov, the brigade commander, has something to do with him."

  Sokov's judgment was accurate, the sailor soldier really didn't know him. Hearing that he said that he was a colonel, he even glanced at his collar badge, and after seeing clearly that it was the rank of lieutenant colonel, he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face. But no matter whether the officer standing in front of him is a colonel or a lieutenant colonel, since he has already issued an order, he can only execute it. The soldier quickly agreed, crawled out of the trench on hands and feet, and went to find Shamrih.

  Belkin looked at the corpses all over the hillside, and couldn't help saying with emotion: "I really didn't expect that the battle in Beigang would be so tragic. Fortunately, our soldiers stubbornly repelled the enemy's attack."

   "But in order to crush the enemy's attack, the price we paid was really too high." Sokov said sadly: "If the enemy launches another such attack, our northern post will have no soldiers to defend."

   "Isn't the superior planning to launch a new counterattack?" Belkin checked that there were no outsiders around him, and the nearest guard was five or six steps away, but he still asked in a low voice, "Aren't you going to give us additional troops?"

   "Comrade political commissar, have you forgotten that the Marine Battalion is the troops replenished by our superiors." Sokov sighed and said, "I think it is unrealistic to get other supplements in a short time."

   "Then what kind of troops should we use to participate in the counterattack?" Belkin asked.

"We can only find a way to replenish our troops." Sokov thought of returning to check the strength of the troops this time, and found that the third battalion with the most troops was actually the third battalion that he was least optimistic about. If he wanted to replenish his troops, he should learn from Captain Andre , "In addition to adding the recovered wounded to the army, we can also absorb some urban residents to join our army."

"Is this appropriate?" Belkin directly objected to Sokov's idea: "The residents of the city have not undergone systematic military training. If they are forced into the army, once they go to the battlefield, they will see the enemy When you rush towards them, you may be a deserter."

"Comrade Commissar, I understand what you mean." Sokov explained to Belkin: "There is no way to add residents to the army. If they can't leave the city, then no matter where they stay, It’s not safe, maybe the Germans will occupy the place where they live. Once they fall into the hands of the Germans, do you think the Germans will provide them with food, medicine and daily necessities?”

"I don't think so." Belkin said in an uncertain tone: "The supply situation of the Germans is actually not much better than ours. If they are responsible for the daily necessities of the city residents, I am afraid it will not be possible. Yes. In other words, the residents in the enemy-occupied area are entirely likely to die due to lack of food and medicine..."

  Sokov nodded and continued: "Adding male residents of the right age to the army can at least ensure that they can obtain the necessary food supplies so that they and their families can continue to live."

"Comrade Brigadier, you are right." Hearing what Sokov said, Belkin also realized the seriousness of the problem: "Until the fighting in the city is completely over, it is impossible for all the shops to open their doors. In this way, the residents who stay in the city will not be able to obtain the food and daily necessities they need. You say that, it kills two birds with one stone, which not only solves the shortage of troops, but also reduces the pressure of survival for the residents."

  The two were talking, and Shamrich, who was notified, trotted over with a rifle in hand. After he jumped into the trench, he straightened his body and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, the Marine Battalion is performing a security mission, please give instructions!"

  According to the regulations, Sokov should answer: "Continue to perform the mission!" Unexpectedly, he frowned and said: "Comrade Captain, I want to ask you, why are so many soldiers sent to serve as guards?"

Shamrikh heard the dissatisfaction in Sokov's tone, and quickly explained: "Comrade Brigadier, the enemy sent to collect the corpses is a bit too many, there are about two hundred people, if we don't send more troops to guard, I'm worried ..."

   "Are you worried? What are you worried about?!" Sokov impatiently interrupted him: "Are you still worried that these Romanians will take advantage of the opportunity to collect the corpses and come to attack you?"

   "Ah, no, no!" Shamrih replied in a panic, "I just took precautions, so I sent so many people as guards."

"After your trenches were bombarded by the enemy, they were uneven everywhere. Instead of arranging manpower to rush to repair the trenches and reinforce the fortifications, you used all your manpower to serve as guards. Don't you want to wait for the enemy to attack again? Are our soldiers standing on the hillside as targets for the enemy?" Sokov pointed to the trench where he was, and said in an orderly tone: "Twenty soldiers will remain on guard, and the rest will be withdrawn. Come."

   "Yes, Comrade Brigadier!" Facing Sokov's stern order, Shamrich replied with some helplessness: "I will immediately withdraw everyone to rush to repair the fortifications."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Captain." Just as Shamrikh turned around and was about to climb out of the trench, Sokov stopped him and asked, "Have all the remains of our wounded and soldiers been packed?"

  Shamrih nodded and replied: "Yes, the wounded have been sent to the Nangang health team, and the remains of the soldiers have been carried to the burial."

   "Have they been carried away for burial?" Sokov said a little puzzled, "There are hundreds of martyrs, how many pits will be dug? Do you have so many people under your command?"

   "No, I don't have many troops left." Shamrih shook his head and said, "It's the city staff who organized a group of residents to help us bury the sacrificed soldiers."

   "Comrade Captain," Sokov said to Shamrih after being silent for a moment, "As soon as possible, organize personnel to repair the fortifications. Maybe the enemy will launch an attack on you again as soon as the corpses are removed."

   "Comrade Brigadier," Shamrikh jumped out of the trench and said to Sokov, "There is one more important thing that I haven't had time to report to you."

   "What's the matter, tell me!"

  "Just when the enemy came to clean up, a Romanian officer came to me. Taking the opportunity of examining the corpse, he quietly approached me and whispered a secret to me."

   "What secret?" Sokov asked curiously.

"He said that the Romanian army's battle plan is to first use the crowd tactics to capture the North Hill, and when we draw reinforcements from the South Hill, they will attack the South Hill." Shamrich said to Sokov: "They The reason why they did not launch an attack on Nangang later was because they saw that Nangang never sent troops to support Beigang, but there were troops pouring out of the tunnels in Beigang, and they were bombarded and machine gunned from Nangang. They can't figure out the details of our army, so they can only choose to retreat."

   "I see." Sokov didn't express his opinion after hearing this, but just waved at Shamrich, "Go and do your work."

After Shamrih was sent away, Sokov couldn't help but secretly rejoiced in his heart. Fortunately, he mobilized his troops through the tunnel connecting the two hills. As a result, he gave Romania a false impression that the North Hill had sufficient troops, so that They had to temporarily change their offensive plan.

"Comrade Brigadier," Sokov figured out the crux of the problem, but it didn't mean that Belgin could figure it out. He said to Sokov with a serious expression, "tell me why the Romanian officer asked Captain Shamrich Telling such important information, could this be a conspiracy?"

"Comrade Commissar, you think too much." Seeing that Belkin had misunderstood, Sokov quickly waved his hand at him and said, "Didn't you hear clearly just now? When we transferred troops to Beigang, we thought we had enough troops, so we took the initiative to withdraw from the battle."

"Take the initiative to withdraw from the battle!" Belkin repeated Sukov's last sentence, and said with a sneer: "If they have the ability to seize the Beigang position, why don't they continue to fight. Instead, as soon as they are attacked by us After bombardment and machine gun fire, they retreated hastily."

   Sokov looked at the Romanian army collecting the corpses outside. After a long time, they took away less than one-third of the corpses. It would probably be dark when they finished collecting. He was not interested in continuing to read here, so he turned to Belkin and said, "Comrade Political Commissar, let's go back to the brigade headquarters. Shamrich and Goria will be in charge of the work here."

   The two left Beigang and returned to the brigade headquarters. As soon as he entered the door, Sokov saw Sidolin, who was looking at the map with his back to the door, and couldn't help feeling a little guilty in his heart. Chuikov proposed to let him be the deputy brigade commander, but he refused without hesitation. If Xidolin knew about this, I don't know if he would have any emotions.

Belkin naturally didn't know what was going on in the headquarters. Seeing Sokov standing at the door in a daze, he gave him a light push from behind and asked curiously, "Comrade Brigadier, why are you standing at the door?" go in?"

Sidolin, who was looking at the map, heard a voice behind him, turned his head, and found that the brigade commander and the political commissar had returned. He quickly stood up straight, turned around, and said with a smile to the two: "Brigade commander, political commissar, you came back!"

   "I'm back!" Sokov replied with a guilty conscience, and then asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you up to?"

   "Comrade Brigadier, I have some good news for you."

   "Good news?!" Sokov looked at Sidolin with some surprise and asked: "Chief of Staff, what good news? Has the superior replenished our soldiers and ammunition?"

"Not long ago, I received a call from the logistics department of the group army, saying that after dark, a batch of ammunition for German weapons will be provided to us. As for the soldiers, I think you should also know the situation of the group army. Under the circumstances, it is impossible to replenish our troops." Sidolin said: "The good news I am talking about is something else."

   "What else?" Sokov urged anxiously: "Chief of Staff, come and listen!"

   "Not long ago, I just received a telegram." Sidolin reported to Sokov: "This telegram was sent by Lieutenant Grisa, he said..."

"Lieutenant Grisa?!" When Sokov heard the name, he couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and then thought of the fourth company commander, Lieutenant Grisa, who was leading the troops to move behind the enemy's rear and suddenly lost contact. He hurriedly asked: "The staff officer Commander, is the Lieutenant Grisa you are talking about the fourth company commander who has lost contact with us for a long time?"

"That's right, it's him." Sidolin continued: "He said in the telegram that they encountered a large enemy force during the transfer process, and because all the rockets they carried were used up, they could not fight with them." To contend with an enemy possessed by troops, we can only retreat while fighting to get rid of the enemy's pursuit."

"If I remember correctly, they carry several radio stations." Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help asking angrily, "During the transfer, why didn't he send us a telegram to report their news to me?" Condition?"

"Comrade Brigadier, don't be angry." Seeing Sukov's displeasure, Sidolin hastily persuaded him, "It's not that he didn't want to report to you, but the conditions at the time did not allow it. The enemy has been chasing after him. Listen to their radio signals, before the telegram is sent, the enemy has already appeared nearby."

   After Sidolin’s explanation, Sokov finally understood Griza’s difficulties, so he no longer blamed the other party, but asked with concern: “Where are they now?”

   "After days of retreating, they finally got rid of the enemy's pursuit." Sidolin pointed to the map and replied: "Griza has repeatedly confirmed that they are now located in Karachi on the east bank of the Don River."

"What, they are in Karachi now?" Sokov couldn't help but secretly worried after learning the location of Grisa. It was too far away from Mamayev Post. If he wanted to withdraw, he still had to go through the enemy's There are several blockades, and it is still unknown how many people will come back alive by then. Thinking of this, he told Sidolin: "Call Grisa back and ask him to report in detail the deployment of the troops and the surrounding German troops so that we can decide where they should go next."

  (end of this chapter)