Red Moscow

  Chapter 98 Shelling in the city

As soon as the two lay down, they heard an earth-shattering explosion not far away. The huge explosion shocked Sokov's eardrums so painfully, it was as if someone had stabbed him hard with an awl. As if at once. The explosion of the heavy artillery shell blasted a huge crater on the gravel road, and the gravel lifted by the air wave splashed everywhere. A few falling stones hit Sokov's helmet and body, making a jingling sound, making him grin his teeth in pain.

   "Misha," Assia, who was pressed under him, asked anxiously, "Are you okay?"

  Although Asiya was almost speaking next to his ear, the voice Sokov heard was very soft. If you didn't listen carefully, you wouldn't be able to hear what Asiya was saying. He knew that his ears were not working well due to the explosion just now, so he said loudly, "It's okay, I'm fine! And you, Asiya, are you not injured?"

  Unexpectedly, Assia was crushed to the ground by Sokov, and her hands were scratched because of the heavy fall. But in order not to make Sokov worry about herself, she pretended to be okay and said, "Misha, I'm fine. You are too heavy, don't press me down, I can hardly breathe."

  Sokov quickly moved to his body, lying side by side with Assia on the side of the road, listening to the shrieking sound of the shells passing through the air, judging where they landed, and deciding whether to move.

  Amidst the sound of explosions one after another, Assia leaned close to Sokov's ear and asked loudly, "Misha, where did the shells come from?"

   "North, definitely north." Sokov figured out the direction of the shells in the shortest time, "Only that direction is still under the control of the Germans."

   "Misha," Assia continued to ask, "Have you noticed that the German shells basically fell on the streets and rarely hit houses. Do you think there are German spies lurking in the city?"

  Hearing what Asiya said, Sokov couldn't help raising his head and looking forward, he saw that the German artillery fire was extending, and at the other end of the street, clouds of explosion smoke were rising. But the situation was just as Asiya observed. Most of the shells landed on the streets and exploded, and rarely hit buildings directly.

   Is it true that there are German spies hiding in the city to provide shooting parameters for the German artillery outside the city? Thinking of this, Sokov couldn't help sitting up, looking at the surrounding buildings, trying to figure out where the German spies would be hiding. But when I turned around, I saw two tankers sitting with their backs against the tank. One tanker was bandaging the two of them with a first aid kit. The tanker who had asked Assia for a mailing address just now was lying motionless on the ground. Was stunned, or sacrificed.

  Although Sokov was full of dissatisfaction with the tank soldier hooking up with Asia. But at this moment, seeing that several tank soldiers were injured, he quickly reached out and shook Assia. Seeing that the other party responded, he pointed at the tank with his hand and said to her: "Assia, a tanker is injured. , hurry up and help them."

  Axia leaned up, looked at the tank soldier, couldn't help but exclaimed, hurriedly got up from the ground, and trotted over. She first bent down to check the tank soldier lying on the ground, felt his pulse with her hand, then shook her head at Sokov, indicating that he was hopeless. Then he got up again, bent over and ran to the tank, helping the tanker bandage the wounded.

  Seeing that the enemy's shelling center of gravity has gradually turned to the direction where the headquarters is located, Sokov saw. Worried that Chernyshev might be in danger, he leaned close to Asya's ear and said loudly to her: "Asya, I'm going to the division headquarters, and you stay here to take care of the wounded. I understand. ?"

  Sokov knew Assia's character very well, and knew that if he directly said to go to the division headquarters, she would definitely go with him. In order not to let her take risks with him, he specifically told her to stay and take care of the wounded. Hearing what Sokov said, Asiya, who was busy treating the wounded, nodded and said loudly, "Misha, you have to be more careful!"

  Sokov walked along the street, and as soon as he ran to the street where the division headquarters was, he was blinded by the pungent and choking gunpowder smoke drifting down the street. Covering his nose and mouth with his sleeves, he moved forward cautiously.

   "Hey, Comrade Captain, where are you going?" Sokov was walking forward when he suddenly heard someone calling himself, turned his head and saw no one. He thought he heard it wrong, and when he was about to move forward again, he heard someone shouting impatiently: "Hey, Comrade Captain, are you deaf or something, didn't you hear me calling you?"

   Sokov looked in the direction of the sound for a while, only to find that there was a square hole on the ground outside a nearby building, and an officer wearing a helmet was waving desperately at him. Sokov hurriedly bent over and ran over, and jumped into the square hole.

After jumping in, Sokov discovered that it was a long traffic trench, but because it was covered with a thick layer of wooden boards, and there were a lot of mud piled up on the wooden boards, so that Sokov did not wait. discover its existence in time. Seeing Sokov coming in, the officer asked with displeasure: "Comrade Captain, what part do you belong to? Why do you run around when the enemy is shelling? Are you not afraid of being killed by enemy shells?"

Sokov glanced at the other party's collar badge, and found that it was a major, and quickly straightened his body and replied, "Comrade major, I am the battalion commander of the Istria Battalion, and I am going to the division headquarters to find Commander Chernyshov... "

   "Who wants to find me?" Before Sokov finished speaking, a familiar voice sounded from the other end of the traffic trench: "Come here!"

  Sokov agreed, bent forward and walked forward. With the help of the light coming in through the gaps in the planks, he saw that the ground of the traffic trench was full of commanders and fighters. When he passed, everyone put their feet forward so that they would not trip him.

Seeing Sokov coming in front of him, Chernyshov, who was sitting on the ground, raised his hand and pressed down on him, saying: "Comrade Captain, what do you want to say? Sit down, the space in the traffic trench is too short. You can't stand up straight." Seeing that Sokov obeyed his order and sat down in front of him, he asked again, "Captain Sokov, what do you want from me?"

   "Comrade Commander." Sokov quickly replied, "I am following your order to send the captured howitzers to the city."

"That's right, that's right, I did order you to send all the captured howitzers to the city." Chernyshov said with a smile, "But I didn't order you to come to the city!" He paused After a while, he continued, "I remembered, you sent a group of wounded to the field hospital yesterday, and there was a beautiful female health worker with you. If I guessed correctly, you may have taken advantage of the plan to send howitzers , came to the city specially to see her?"

  Sokov didn't speak, but just grinned, acquiescing to the matter. He paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered the bombardment that was going on in the city, so he tentatively asked Chernyshov: "Comrade commander, I think the German artillery fire is very evil, and the targets of their bombardment are all on the streets, not buildings. After a period of shelling, their targets gradually turned to our headquarters, and I think there must be German spies in the city, who are constantly providing various design parameters for the German artillery outside the city."

"Sokov, I agree with what you said. If there was no one to guide the German artillery, they would not be able to shoot so accurately." Chernyshov raised his head and glanced through the gap between the wooden boards. In the smoke of gunpowder outside, he said helplessly: "But in this case, we can't do anything. We can only send people to search after the shelling is over."

  (end of this chapter)