Red Moscow

On the day the vehicle transporting the wounded left, Sokov received a call from Chuikov himself: "Colonel Sokov, I have something important to ask you."

Although Sokov didn't know what it was, since Chuikov himself called, it proved that the matter was very important, and he asked quickly, "Comrade Commander, please give me an order."

"My original chief of staff, General Krylov, is going to be the commander of the 21st Army, you should already know about it?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I already know." Chuikov recalled that in the phone call a few days ago, he had mentioned that Krylov was about to pass through his defense zone and rush to the headquarters of the 21st Army to take up his post: " In addition to General Krylov as the commander of the army, I also know that Major General Vasiliev will become his deputy and serve as the military commissar of the army."

"That's right, your information is very accurate." Chuikov casually praised Sokov, and then continued: "They will pass through your division's defense zone at two o'clock in the afternoon. safety. How, can it be done?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Knowing that Chuikov called himself in order to let him send someone to protect the safety of Krylov and Vasilyev, Sokov quickly and loudly replied: "I will definitely Keep them safe."

"Colonel Sokov, although the Lugansk area is your division's defense zone, you can't take it lightly." Cuikov reminded Sokov on the phone: "But there must be German troops lurking nearby. You must be vigilant. The tragedy of Colonel Ivanov must never happen again."

Ivanov's sacrifice was a great shame to the 41st Guards Division. Hearing Chuikov mention this matter, Sokov felt the blood vessels in his head throbbing. After taking a deep breath, he replied: "I will send the most capable troops to protect Krylov and Vasiliev. Both generals, ensure their safety."

After hanging up the phone, Sokov said to Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Commander just said on the phone that General Krylov and General Vasilyev will pass through our division's defense zone at two o'clock in the afternoon. Immediately dispatch capable personnel to protect along the way."

"The defense area of ​​the 124th Guards Regiment is the closest to the crossing road." Sidolin suggested to Sokov: "I think I should call Lieutenant Colonel Starcha and ask him to send two companies to guard the road. Mission, to ensure the safety of the two generals."

After supplementing the troops, the strength of each regiment is very sufficient. There are about 500 people in the two companies, which is equivalent to a battalion of other divisions. Using this kind of strength as a guard should ensure that nothing will happen. Sokov nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, assign tasks to Lieutenant Colonel Starcha and ask him to arrange manpower to perform security tasks."

Sidolin quickly dialed the regiment command post of the 124th Guards Regiment and said to the person who answered the phone: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, the chief of staff, let Lieutenant Colonel Starcha speak."

Soon Stalcha's voice came from the receiver: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff! This is Lieutenant Colonel Stalcia, do you have any orders?"

"That's right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sidolin said bluntly: "At two o'clock in the afternoon, the convoy of Generals Krylov and General Vasilyev will pass through the section of the transit road controlled by your regiment. Immediately send two companies to guard there to ensure the safety of the generals. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." Lieutenant Colonel Starcha replied readily, "I immediately sent two companies to rush over and set up guards on the road to ensure that the generals' convoy passed smoothly."

Thinking of Chuikov's reminder to him, Sokov hurried over to take the microphone, and told Starcha, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, before the convoy arrives, you must send someone to search the vicinity to prevent the enemy from hiding nearby. Remember, the tragedy of the deputy teacher must not be repeated again."

Although Starcha is now Sokov's subordinate, but before that, he was Ivanov's old subordinate, and Ivanov's sacrifice made him very sad. Hearing Sokov's mention of Ivanov at this moment, he quickly patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, if I can't ensure that the two generals pass through our regiment's defense zone smoothly, you will send me to the military." court."

"Finish the mission well, don't think about any military court." Sokov said into the microphone: "I hope each of you can live to see the day of victory."

…………

Just when Starcha mobilized his troops and was about to go to the transit road to perform security tasks, the convoy of Krylov and Vasilyev had already approached this area.

Vasilyev, who was sitting next to Krylov, said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, the weather today is good and the road is going smoothly. I estimate that we will be able to reach the headquarters before dark."

"I hope so." Krylov looked out through the car window while speaking: "Although this is close to the defense zone of the Sokov division, we still need to be more vigilant, because there is nowhere hidden The enemy's stragglers."

"Comrade Commander, you are too neurotic." Then Vasilyev dismissed Krylov's caution: "Now the enemy has already fled in a hurry under the heavy blow of our Voronezh Front Army and Southwest Front Army. How could it be here on the other side of the Dnieper River?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, don't be careless." Seeing Vasilyev's nonchalant expression, Krylov specially reminded him: "Colonel Ivanov, the deputy commander of the 41st Guards Division, is just a short distance away. Not far away, they were killed by enemy snipers."

"Comrade Commander, I am very clear about what you said." Vasilyev said: "At that time, the 41st Guards Division had not yet entered Luhansk, and there was only one company of defenders in the city. It was difficult to maintain order in the city." It is difficult, and there is no need to take care of the enemies outside the city. But now that the 41st Guards Division has moved into the city and built fortifications nearby, I am afraid that the enemies hiding nearby have long since heard of the news and fled."

The two were talking in the car when they suddenly heard a crisp voice from outside. Krylov frowned, and asked the adjutant sitting in the co-pilot's seat alertly: "What's going on, what's the noise outside?"

"It seems to be a whip," the adjutant said thoughtfully while looking outside, "Maybe someone is driving a carriage nearby."

"Damn it, we didn't see anyone along the way. There is no carriage." Krylov realized that something was wrong, and quickly ordered the adjutant, "Immediately send a signal to stop all the vehicles."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the window glass snap, and then a bullet flew in from the window, shattered the window glass, got into the adjutant's forehead, and flew out from the back of his head with blood foam . The splashed blood splashed Krylov and Vasilyev's faces.

"No, it's a sniper!" Even though Krylov was almost always in the headquarters during the entire Stalingrad defense battle, it didn't mean that he didn't understand what a German sniper was like. He pushed open the door on the left side, shouted: "Jump the car!" Then he jumped out, rolled twice on the snow-covered road, and hid behind a snowdrift.

The drivers of the front and rear vehicles heard the sudden gunshots and knew that they had encountered the enemy, so they also stopped on the side of the road. The commanders and fighters in the carriage immediately jumped out of the carriage, and using the carriage or snowdrifts as cover, they fired back at positions where enemy snipers might be hiding. Countless bullets hit the snow on the side of the road like boiling.

Seeing that their whereabouts were discovered by the Soviet army, two German soldiers hiding behind the snowdrifts on the road stood up, raised their weapons and shot at the Soviet army, but as soon as they fired a shot, they were smashed into a sieve by random guns. , fell face up on the snow, and the blood that flowed out stained the white snow red.

Although the accompanying guards used powerful firepower to suppress the place where the Germans were hiding, the enemy sniper did not seem to be hiding there. He was still shooting at a leisurely pace, and every shot would hit a soldier. The bullets fell, some were shot in the head, and some were shot in the abdomen.

Krylov, who was hiding behind the snowdrift, looked nervously at the opposite snowfield, trying his best to find out where the German snipers were hiding, but unfortunately, he only saw a vast expanse of white snowfield. to the location where the enemy is hiding.

After killing more than a dozen Soviet soldiers, the German sniper targeted the jeep parked between the two trucks. He felt that the vehicle escorted by so many people must be a Soviet soldier. important task. He sensed at least two or three people on the other side of the jeep, but his bullets couldn't hit the people on the other side because of the jeep's cover.

In order to achieve better results, he stopped sniping ordinary soldiers, but aimed his gun at the jeep, quietly waiting for important targets to appear. After waiting for about two or three minutes, the Soviet army stopped shooting at the snow, and the surrounding area suddenly became quiet. The snipers hiding in the snow did not move, and the Soviet commanders hiding behind trucks or snowdrifts also stayed still, and the two sides fell into a silent stalemate.

A few minutes later, where the hood of the jeep was, a man in a helmet slowly poked his head out, trying to see what was going on outside. The German sniper immediately pulled the trigger without hesitation, and the person who had just emerged immediately fell to the ground, his back in the snow.

After the gunshot, everything returned to calm. No one showed up behind the jeep, and the guard soldiers did not shoot blindly as before because they did not find the exact location of the sniper.

Time passed by every minute and every second, and both sides were competing for patience to see who couldn't hold on. The German sniper remembered that he had an incendiary bomb, so he quietly replaced an ordinary bullet with an incendiary bomb, aimed at the fuel tank of the jeep and fired a shot. The incendiary bomb just hit the fuel tank, and the entire jeep was instantly blown into a fireball. A moment later, a man covered in fire stumbled out from behind the jeep. Seeing this, the German sniper immediately fired a shot at the running Pyroman, knocking him down in the snow.

With the fall of the fire man, the sharp-eyed soldier finally found the hiding place of the German sniper, pointed with his finger, and shouted loudly: "The German sniper is hiding in the snowdrift under that tree." He said. After finishing, holding the Bobosha submachine gun in his hand, aiming in that direction, he fired violently.

The German sniper, who was discovered in his hiding place, didn't even have time to move his position before he was beaten to pieces by a storm of bullets. Seeing the blood oozing quickly in the snow, everyone knew that someone was indeed hiding there. In order to avenge the sacrificed comrades, some soldiers put on a new drum after finishing playing a drum, and continued to aim and shoot there.

The troops ordered to serve as security were commanded by Major Mihiga, commander of the third battalion of the 124th Guards Regiment. When he heard the gunshots in the distance, he screamed inwardly, then called his younger brother Vovga, and said to him: "Listen to the gunshots, it should be from General Krylov and General Vasilyev." The convoy encountered the enemy's stragglers. In this way, you lead two platoons and detour through the forest. I will take the rest and rush along the road to support."

By the time Mihiga arrived at the place of engagement, the battle was over.

After he asked the troops to set up security, he came to Krylov, straightened his body and reported: "Comrade General, I am Major Mihiga, the commander of the third battalion of the 124th Guards Regiment. I am ordered to come here to protect the troops." You are safe."

"Why didn't you come here until now?!" Krylov looked down at a row of corpses covered in white camouflage suits, and asked through gritted teeth, "Didn't you say that you should be on guard here at twelve o'clock?"

"Comrade General," Mishiga cried out immediately upon hearing what Krylov said, "but we received an order to set up defenses at two o'clock in the afternoon, and now I have arrived more than an hour earlier."

After listening to Mishiga's explanation, Krylov immediately realized that he had misunderstood the other party. It may be that the message from the higher-ups was wrong, and the twelve o'clock was said to be two o'clock in the afternoon, which led to the tragedy.

"Comrade General," seeing that Krylov remained silent, Mishiga continued, "I have ordered my younger brother to lead two platoons into the forest to search for possible enemies hidden inside."

"Can he find it?"

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Mishiga explained to Krylov: "Not long ago we were partisans, and it was our housekeeping skill to search for hidden enemies in the forest. Just wait and see, as long as the forest has Enemy, my younger brother will definitely be able to find them out one by one."

"That's good." Krylov gritted his teeth and said, "I want these damned Germans to pay for the sacrificed comrades."

"Comrade General," Mihiga saw nearly thirty corpses covered in white camouflage suits on the ground, and he couldn't help asking with some trepidation, "Did any important people die?"

Krylov replied with a heavy heart: "My military commissar, General Vasilyev, died."

"What, General Vasilyev died." Mishiga was frightened by Krylov's words. The task he accepted was to protect the safety of Krylov and Vasiliev. Now, although Krylov It was fine, but Vasilyev died. For a moment, he was in a state of confusion, not knowing how to report to Lieutenant Colonel Starcha after returning home.

"Comrade Major," a soldier ran out of the forest and reported to Mihiga, "We captured five German soldiers in the forest. The deputy battalion commander asked for instructions, how should we deal with them?"

"Shoot, shoot all these damned Germans." Cleveland roared: "Let them avenge our fallen soldiers."

Seeing the soldier's bewildered look, Mishiga said loudly to him: "Didn't you hear the general's order? Tell Volfga immediately to shoot all the captured Germans on the spot. We Do not accept their surrender."