Red Moscow

When the commanders and fighters on the ground lost contact with Zina, they thought she had died.

So this news was reported to Sokov layer by layer.

Knowing that Zina died, Sokov was so angry that he thumped the table hard, and said angrily, "It's all my fault. How could you send female soldiers to such a dangerous place?"

He told Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, tell Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, after the battle is over, you must send someone to find Zina's body and bury her properly."

"Understood." After Sidolin agreed, he said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, did you hear what the division commander said? As soon as the battle is over, send someone to find Sergeant Zina's body and put She was buried well."

Unexpectedly, less than a quarter of an hour later, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko called again. This time he said excitedly in the microphone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have good news for you. Zina is fine, she is still alive."

"What, Zina is still alive?" Sidolin, who answered the phone, glanced at Sokov quickly, and seeing that the other party wanted to figure out what was going on, he asked, "Didn't you just say that the place where she hides is Was it flattened by enemy tanks?"

"I made a mistake." Papchenko reported on the phone: "Zina didn't stay with the other snipers, but hid in a crater more than a hundred meters away. Since she was well concealed So much so that none of the soldiers on our ground found her. Just now she leaned out again and wiped out a dozen or twenty German soldiers before our soldiers discovered that she was still alive."

Knowing that Zina was still alive, Sokov became happier. Just when he was about to speak, he suddenly thought of a serious problem, so he walked to Sidolin's side and took the microphone in his hand: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, there is something I want to criticize you for."

"Comrade Commander," Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko couldn't help being shocked when he heard Sokov say this, and quickly asked, "What's the matter?"

"You just said that when Zina moved the position, your soldiers in the position did not notice it." Sokov said into the microphone: "If it was not Zina who moved the shooting position, but the Germans, what would happen to you?" What kind of loss did you cause? Have you thought about this?"

When Papchenko heard what Sokov said, he broke out in a cold sweat. If there were really German snipers lurking in front of the position, then the opponent would be able to calmly kill the commander on the position. Lost a unified command, and fell into chaos.

He quickly replied: "Comrade commander, thank you for reminding me. After this battle is over, I will urge the commanders and fighters below to strengthen their vigilance, and absolutely prevent the enemy from touching the front of our position."

"We'll talk about this after the battle." Sokov interrupted the other party's words: "How about it, can your regiment repel the German attack?"

"No problem, Comrade Division Commander." To Sokov's question, Papchenko confidently replied: "The commanders and fighters of the first battalion fought very tenaciously. They have successfully destroyed eight German tanks and killed the upper class. Hundreds of German officers and soldiers. According to my estimation, the battle will be resolved in half an hour at most."

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Bely asked curiously: "Misha, if it was another division commander who heard that the west side was fighting, he could not sit still in the headquarters for a long time, and he would definitely go to the front in person. Supervising the battle. But you are fine, just sitting here and reading the battle report, occasionally calling to check the situation ahead, not at all nervous, what is going on here?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov replied with a slight smile, "Because the troops fighting ahead are the 1st Battalion of the 122nd Regiment under the command of Captain Vasily. Half of the more than 1,000 people in the battalion are from the infantry brigade. Commanders and fighters. Tell me, why do I worry about my direct troops fighting the enemy? Besides, they still have enough new rockets and rockets in their hands. Let alone a battalion of Germans, it is considered a regiment , don’t even try to break through their defense.”

Seeing Sokov's confidence, Chief of Staff Sidolin also said: "Yes, the original commanders and fighters of the infantry brigade are stronger than other troops in terms of technical and tactical levels because of the influence of the division commander. What's more, The commanders and fighters of this battalion also rescued the division commander a few days ago."

There was not much suspense in the battle in the west of the city. Although Sokov did not dispatch a tank brigade or send other regiments to support him, he relied on the existing strength of the 122nd Regiment to repel the German attack. The German army, which failed to attack, left eleven burning tanks and armored vehicles, as well as the corpses of nearly two hundred officers and soldiers, and retreated to the west in desperation.

After cleaning the battlefield, Papchenko asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, when cleaning the battlefield, we collected a batch of German weapons that can still be used. I would like to ask, how should we dispose of them?"

If it was before, the captured German weapons were undoubtedly used to equip the downsizing regiment commanded by Belkin. But now the downsized regiment is no longer there, and the commanders and fighters in the regiment have been dispersed to various regiments. In order to facilitate the supply in the rear, they have all switched to Soviet-style equipment. That's why Papchenko called Sokov for instructions after cleaning the battlefield.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, send someone to send all these weapons to the division headquarters immediately." Now the whole division only has the guard battalion equipped with all German equipment, and these seized weapons are naturally for their use: "Give it to the guard battalion Major Tenev, he will dispose of these weapons."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Papchenko quickly replied, "I will send someone to send the weapons over immediately."

When Sidolin heard that Sokov ordered Papchenko to send the weapons to the division headquarters, he quickly picked up a phone next to him, connected to the guard camp, and said into the microphone: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin , please tell Major Tenev that comrades from the 122nd Regiment will send a batch of German weapons over later, and let him arrange manpower to receive them."

After saying these words, Sidolin did not immediately put down the microphone, but turned around and asked Sokov: "Comrade commander, do you have anything else to explain?"

"If Zina comes back, let her come to me." Sokov said with a smile: "She has made great achievements on the battlefield today, and I think we should show it."

"Please tell Major Tenev," Sidolin continued into the microphone, "if Zina returns to the guard camp, order her to report to the division headquarters immediately."

Anisimov, who was sitting beside him, couldn't help asking curiously when he heard this: "Comrade Commander, today Zina has made a lot of achievements. Tell me, how should we commend her?"

"Comrade political commissar, it's your job to apply for a commendation order from your superiors." Sokov said with a smile: "I think you should sort out her materials as soon as possible, and report to the army headquarters as soon as possible to apply for awards and honors for her." Bar."