Red Moscow

After settling Sokov, Koshkin turned and left to help with the admission procedures.

Sokov, who was sitting alone in the classroom, began to look at the surrounding environment. In front of the classroom is a podium that is slightly higher than the ground. On the wall of the podium is a huge blackboard, where the teacher will stand and give lessons to the students. The desks and chairs in the classroom are arranged in six rows of ten rows, which means that if the classroom is full, it can accommodate sixty students.

Sokov thought to himself: the training class must be excellent young commanders, but he doesn't know what kind of teachers the academy arranges for everyone.

"Hello, friend." Just as Sokov was meditating, he suddenly heard someone calling out to him, and quickly turned his head to look, and found that it was a medium-sized naval captain with freckles on his face, standing in front of him. .

"Hello, Comrade Captain of the Navy." Sokov smiled at the other party and asked politely, "Is this the same training class for you?"

"That's right, that's right, I was assigned to this training class." The lieutenant was obviously a talkative person, and while shaking hands with Sokov, he said, "I'm Sukharev, from the Baltic Fleet. "

"I'm Sokov," Sokov hesitated, and then said, "I was wounded when I broke through the defense line of the Dnieper River, and I was sent to Moscow to recuperate."

Knowing that Sokov was injured in the battle to break through the Dnieper River, Sukharev immediately became interested: "Lieutenant Sokov, I don't know where your unit made the breakthrough?"

"Klemenchug."

"Kremenchug?!" Sukharev said with some surprise: "I heard that the troops that broke through the Dnieper River defense line from the Klemenchug area were General Sokov's 27th Army. Your surname is also Sokov. Cove, are you two relatives?"

Sokov really wanted to tell the other party that I am Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army Group, but thinking that he would try to keep a low profile when he came here to study, he shook his head and said, "We are not relatives."

"By the way, Captain Sukharev." Sokov didn't want the other party to know his identity, so he changed the subject in time: "Are you a navy or a marine?"

"I'm in the Marine Corps."

"I know several officers of the Marine Corps. They are from the Northern Fleet." Sokov knew that the Soviet Navy was divided into four fleets: the Pacific Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet and the Northern Fleet. The Arctic Ocean escorted merchant ships, which belonged to the weakest fleet. He was afraid that Sukharev would not pay attention to it, and he specifically emphasized: "I once fought side by side with them in Stalingrad."

Hearing Sokov mention that he fought in Stalingrad with the marines of the Northern Fleet, Sukharev barely aroused some interest: "Captain Sokov, I don't know their names, maybe I am in the Naval Academy. I saw them when I was studying here."

"Captain Shamrikh, Captain Shapovalenko, and Captain Yakuda." After Sukov announced the names of the three commanders of the Marine Battalion in one breath, he asked back: "Captain Sukharev, what are you doing?" Do you know them?"

After hearing this, Sukharev shook his head, "I've never heard of it." He paused for a moment, and added, "You know, a fleet can range from tens of thousands of people to as many as a hundred or two hundred thousand. They are not in the same fleet, so it’s normal not to know each other.”

"I heard that during the battle to defend Leningrad, many sailors from the Baltic Fleet went ashore to join the army." Sukov continued to ask: "Captain, your unit must have participated in many battles." fight?"

"You're right." To Sokov's question, Sukharev nodded and said, "My Marine Corps did fight in many parts of Leningrad. Among them, Mo Over the small plateau on the Neva River."

This time it was Sokov's turn to be interested in his words: "Captain, can you tell me about the small plateau by the Neva River?"

Seeing that Sokov was interested in the small highlands beside the Neva River, Sukharev did not keep it secret, so he began to tell him: "At the beginning Leningrad was besieged by the German army and cut off its relationship with the outside world. In order to break through the German army's Encircled, the defenders in the city launched a battle to break the siege.

The offensive troops took the lead in breaking through the German defenses at a place called Dubolovka on the banks of the Neva River, trying to join the 54th Army from this opened gap. But unfortunately, this attempt of our army was discovered by the Germans. They concentrated their heavy troops and frantically launched a counterattack against Dubolovka, trying to drive the breakout troops in the city into the Neva River.

The battle lasted for several months. Although the enemy compressed our army into a small area, they were unable to drive our army into the river. Although our army has tried many attacks and paid huge sacrifices, it is still unable to continue to expand the breakthrough. In order to reduce unnecessary sacrifices, the commander of the Leningrad Front decided to stop the attempt to break through, leaving only a part of the troops to contain the enemy there. "

"Captain, from what you said, the battle must have been very brutal." Sokov asked tentatively, "You also participated in the battle here?"

"Yes, the battle was very fierce." Sukharev said with a painful expression: "We put in a regiment of troops, and they would be wiped out in half a day, and then we would send new troops from the city to fight again. I It was under these conditions that I fought, and it is a pity that I was wounded by German shelling as soon as the battle started and I quit the battle."

Sokov is also a person who has been on the battlefield, so he can naturally imagine how tragic the battle was at that time. He nodded and said, "Captain, it is also a good thing to be able to survive such a battle."

"Lieutenant Sokov, I just heard from you that you once defended Stalingrad together with the sailors of the Marine Corps." Sukharev asked tentatively: "It is said that the survival period of the soldiers who entered the city is only 24 hours. And the officer was only three days old. Your rank at that time was not as high as it is now, right?"

"Yes, I was promoted to a military rank after the Battle of Stalingrad."

"You can survive, it seems that your luck is really good."

"I was injured once, and I was still lying in the hospital for a month."

"Where was the lot you were defending at that time?"

"Mamayev Post."

"My God." Sukharev said in surprise when he learned that Sokov fought in the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamayev Hill, "As far as I know, it was called by the Germans." It is an insurmountable high ground, no matter how many troops they invest and what scale of attack they launch, they will not be able to seize the high ground from the defenders."

When Sukharev said this, he gave Sokov a thumbs up: "You are really amazing."

"The reason why we were able to hold the high ground was entirely because the defense of Stalingrad began, and we built defenses on Mamayev Hill." Sokov explained to Sukharev: "We built a complete underground defense. Tunnel, as soon as the enemy’s shelling started, we hid in the tunnel to avoid the German shelling. As soon as the enemy’s shelling stopped, we came out of the tunnel and entered the defensive position to block the enemy’s attack.”

"Oh, you actually built a tunnel on the Mamayev Hill." Sukharev said with some surprise, "I said why the Germans were unable to conquer this small highland for so long, so that's the way it is."

"During the defense of Stalingrad, the German army had an advantage both in the air and on the ground." Sokov said to Sukharev with a smile: "If we don't build tunnels to avoid the German shelling and bombing, I'm afraid it will be impossible. When the enemy's ground attack begins, our commanders and fighters will suffer heavy losses."

Sokov’s words gave Sukharev a feeling: “The cliffs next to the small plateau by the Neva River, where the assembled troops and the wounded were evacuated, are hidden there. As long as the Germans don’t launch planes, no matter how violent the shelling is, It also cannot pose any threat to the troops hiding under the cliff."

"Captain, the cliff you mentioned is a kind of reverse slope." Sokov added: "The enemy's artillery can only bombard the front slope. As long as we hide on the reverse slope, even if the enemy uses curved guns to bombard, but It is also very difficult for them to hit the target due to the occlusion of the line of sight."

"Sukharev, you are actually here." When the two were having a speculative conversation, another voice sounded in the classroom. Sokov looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a major striding in. He pointed at Sukharev and said, "I said, why did you disappear in a blink of an eye? He hid here."

"Victor, let me introduce you to a new friend." Sukharev introduced Sokov to the major with a smile: "This comrade, the captain, was wounded in the battle to break through the defense line of the Dnieper River and returned to Moscow." Come to recuperate, and now we are classmates."

The major named Victor came in front of Sokov. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Sokov's face clearly. He couldn't help being shocked. Then he stood at attention and raised his hand to his forehead. His voice was slightly He said tremblingly: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Major Victor, Commander of the Second Battalion of the 546th Regiment of the 182nd Division. I follow your orders, please instruct!"

Sukharev on the side was confused by Victor's actions. He looked at him and asked, "Hey, old man, when did Captain Sokov become your commander? When did you sing?" out?"

"Sukharev," Victor didn't even let go of his hands, he turned his head to look at Sukharev, and said in a reproachful tone, "He is the commander, General Sokov, whom I often tell you."

"No way." Sukharev looked at Sokov, then at Victor, with a puzzled expression on his face: "If he is your commander, why is he wearing the rank of captain? ?”

Victor didn't know why Sokov wore the rank of captain, so he could only cast a puzzled look at Sokov, trying to figure out what was going on.

Seeing that his identity had been found out, Sokov laughed dryly, and then said to Victor: "Colonel Victor, put your hand down, you've held it up long enough."

"Yes!" Viktor agreed loudly, put his hand down, and asked Sokov puzzled, "Comrade Commander, why are you wearing a captain's uniform?"

"The reason is very simple." Seeing that there were only Viktor and Sukharev here, Sokov did not hide anything, but told them truthfully: "I entered the Frunze Military Academy this time to study Start learning from elementary theory. If you are wearing a general uniform and sitting among you to study, I am afraid that you will feel pressure, which will affect your learning effect. Therefore, after negotiation, when I was in the elementary training class, I took the identity of a captain Come to learn, so as not to cause psychological burden to everyone.”

"So this is ah."

Although the two people in front of him knew their true identities, Sokov didn't want more people to know about it, so he specifically told them: "Colonel Victor, Captain Sukharev, I hope you can Keep this a secret, don't tell others my identity, can it be done?"

"It can be done!" The two replied in unison: "We will never reveal your identity."

Sokov, who got the promise from the two, nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Victor and asked, "Colonel Victor, are you a subordinate of Lieutenant Colonel Goryachkin?" There are few troops, but Sukov remembers the names of all the officers above the regiment level.

"Yes, Comrade Commander," replied Viktor respectfully; "my commander is indeed Lieutenant Colonel Goryachkin."

"How is your teacher doing?"

"Not very good." Victor shook his head and said, "Since you were injured and left, and a new commander took over your position, the situation has changed. In the past, we were always able to achieve the maximum at the minimum cost." The results. But now, every battle is fought very hard, not to mention the casualties of the troops, and the results obtained are very limited."

After briefly introducing the current situation of the troops, Victor continued: "Comrade Commander, I don't know when you will be able to return to the army. All commanders and fighters are looking forward to your return."

"I guess I won't go back to the 27th Army." Sokov shook his head and said, "Maybe after I recover from my injuries, my superiors will send me to another army."

Knowing that Sokov would not return to the 27th Army, Victor's face was full of disappointment, and he asked unwillingly: "Comrade Commander, I don't know which unit you will be transferred to, I want to follow you Let's go together."

Victor's words reminded Sokov that no matter which army he would go to in the future, he would always need some well-trained commanders. During the period of training at the Frunze Military Academy, I will definitely know many outstanding students, and I must find a way to recruit them to my army.

After thinking about this, Sokov smiled and said to Victor: "Comrade Major, don't worry. I'm afraid I'll have to wait a few months before I'm discharged from the hospital. Some experienced commanders passed by."

Hearing what Sokov said, Victor's face suddenly showed joy: "Great, this is really great."

"Major, cherish the time of training here." Sokov said to Victor: "With your ability, you may be able to become a general in the future."

Taking advantage of Victor's smiling face, Sokov specially warned: "In order to prevent my identity from being exposed, you will call me Captain Sokov from now on, remember?"

"remember!"