Red Moscow

"What factory?" Sokov's question stopped Mensov again. He scratched the back of his head and replied sheepishly: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I don't know. After all, I just transferred here not long ago." , I’m not very familiar with the surrounding environment here.”

We know that if we don’t figure out what kind of factory the building in front of us belongs to, it will have a negative impact on the subsequent offensive operations. Seeing that he couldn't get the answer he wanted from Menshov, Sokov turned sideways and asked the soldiers lying nearby: "Comrade soldiers, do any of you know what kind of factory this building used to be?"

"Comrade General," upon hearing Sokov's question, a soldier bent over and ran over, saying with some emotion, "I know where this place is."

"Oh, you know?!" Sokov asked in surprise: "Tell me quickly, what kind of factory is it?"

"It turned out to be a clothing factory." The soldier obviously knew the situation here, so he said in detail: "The Jews captured by the Germans were here day and night producing military uniforms for the German army. Every two or three Within months, the Germans will shoot all the Jews inside and replace them with a new batch of garment workers.”

"How many workers are there?" Menshov asked.

"There are more than a hundred people."

"What, more than a hundred people?" Mensov looked at the building in the distance and said with some surprise: "Are you mistaken? I don't think the area of ​​​​this building is large. How can it accommodate so many people?" Where are the garment workers?”

"That's right, Comrade Captain." Seeing that Menshov didn't believe him, the soldier took the initiative to explain to him: "This building doesn't look big from the outside, but it can indeed accommodate more than a hundred workers and more than a dozen people inside." A guard who watches over them.”

Sokov agreed with the soldier's statement. In his later life, he saw an underground garment factory run by Vietnamese in the Moscow market. A house of more than 40 square meters accommodated more than 50 workers at the same time. There are people who sew clothes, people who iron clothes, and there are even two people who are responsible for packing the produced clothes and stacking them in the corner of the house. The usable area upstairs and downstairs of the building in the distance is no less than 100 square meters, so there is no problem in accommodating more than 100 garment workers.

Seeing the two arguing about how many workers there were in the factory, Sokov quickly interrupted the two, and then asked the soldier: "Is there a basement in the garment factory?"

"No." The soldier shook his head and said in a positive tone: "It's just the first floor and the first two floors. There is no basement. The reason why I am familiar with this building is because my unit once occupied it. "

Sokov originally wanted to ask the soldier how he knew the situation in the garment factory. After hearing what he said, he felt that there was no need to ask again. The information he provided would definitely be correct. So Sokov turned to Menshov and asked: "Comrade Captain, how many artillery shells do you have left? If the information provided by this soldier is accurate, I think the 82mm mortar is enough to destroy this building." ”

"No more, Comrade General, not a single shell is gone." Menshov said with a sad face: "When we entered the battle, I was worried that the gangsters would rush onto the train, so I ordered the gunners to shoot out all the shells."

"Your decision is correct." Sokov remembered that it only took five minutes from the reinforcements' attack to the bandits' retreat. It seemed that Captain Menshov's tactic of using artillery fire to open the way was very correct. After appreciating the other party, he then asked: "Have you contacted the nearby friendly forces? If so, let's see if they can send you some artillery shells."

"Wait a minute, I'll ask the radio operator." Menshov said, "See if he has made contact with nearby friendly forces."

"Go, go." Sokov gestured to Menshov and reminded him: "Be safe!" Although it was more than a hundred meters away from the building, the gangsters hiding inside were nowhere to be seen even if they fired. You have to be able to hit Menshov, but it never hurts to play it safe.

A few minutes later, Menshov returned to Sokov dejectedly.

When Sokov saw this, his heart sank, and he secretly wondered if there were no other troops nearby? "Comrade Captain, are there no troops of ours nearby?"

"No, Comrade General." Menshov shook his head and said, "There is one of our artillery units."

"Oh, the artillery unit?" Sokov's mood suddenly improved: "Since it is the artillery unit, there shouldn't be any problem if you let them support you with some artillery shells."

Menshov said hesitantly: "They are a heavy artillery regiment and they don't have any mortars at all."

"The heavy artillery regiment is great." Sokov became even more happy when he learned that it was the heavy artillery regiment. "It's perfect for dealing with gangsters hiding in buildings."

Hearing what Sokov said, Menshov had a surprised expression on his face: "Can we still use heavy artillery to bombard the building in front?"

"What's wrong? After two rounds of artillery fire, there was a ruin." Sokov said carelessly: "It's a pity that we can't find the rocket launcher. Otherwise, I would like to see what the building will look like after being bombarded by the rocket launcher." Case."

After Menshov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he still asked in an uncertain tone: "Is it really possible to bombard that building with heavy artillery?"

"Of course." After Sokov gave Menshev a positive answer, he ordered him: "Hurry up and contact the artillery regiment and ask them to bring two heavy artillery over!" Seeing Menshev's hesitation, He added, "You can tell the other party's commander my name and rank, saying that this is my order. If there are any adverse consequences, I will be responsible for them alone."

Seeing that Sokov was willing to assume the responsibility of mobilizing artillery, Menshov did not dare to neglect, and quickly returned to the radio operator to contact the heavy artillery unit through him.

When the commander of the heavy troops learned that Menshov and his men wanted to use heavy artillery to eliminate the bandits hiding in the building, he reluctantly said: "Comrade Captain, there is no affiliation between my troops and your garrison. We I have no obligation to support you in your battle. Do you understand?"

Menshov actually knew in his heart that Sokov's request was a bit excessive, but the official level was overwhelming. Since the other party gave him an order, he had no choice but to carry it out. After he waited for the other commander to finish speaking, he said hesitantly: "Comrade commander, I also know that asking your artillery to help us eliminate the gangs is a bit out of order. But this was a general named Sokov on the train that was attacked. Proposed..."

"What, Comrade Captain, what did you say?" Unexpectedly, the commander on the other end of the radio suddenly said emotionally: "What is the surname of the general you are talking about?"

"Sokov!"

The other commander's voice became urgent: "Is he General Sokov who once served as the commander of the 27th Group Army?"

Menshov was stunned by this question. He and Sokov had not known each other for a long time. The topics they talked about all revolved around the annihilation of gangs. He really didn’t know what positions Sokov had held in the past. : "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I'm not sure."

Seeing that Menshov couldn't get the answer he wanted, the other commander didn't worry. Instead, he asked patiently: "How old is he?"

Menshov thought for a while and replied: "Looks very young, probably less than thirty years old."

"Well, I understand, Comrade Captain. Thank you!" the other party's commander said, "I will personally bring two heavy artillery to join you."

After Menshov ended the call, he immediately returned to Sokov and reported to him the artillery commander's promise to personally send heavy artillery. But Menshov did not pay attention to the fact that the other party's attitude changed after hearing Sokov's name, so he did not report it to Sokov.

Sokov didn't know what happened while Menshov was on the phone. He only cared about when the heavy artillery would arrive, and then a few shots would destroy the building opposite.

An hour later, two tracked armored vehicles towing two heavy guns followed a jeep and appeared in the field of vision of Sokov and others.

"Comrade Captain," Sokov saw the heavy artillery that appeared. He visually checked the caliber and found that it was actually a 152-caliber howitzer. If these two shots were fired, the building opposite, no matter how strong it was, would probably collapse, and the gangsters hiding inside would They will be crushed into pieces by the falling masonry and rubble. He patted Menshov on the shoulder and said to him: "Let's go over and meet them."

When Sokov led Menshov and several soldiers towards the artillery, he saw the small convoy stopped in the distance. First, three officers walked out of the jeep, and one of them shouted something at the armored vehicle behind. Artillery soldiers sitting in armored vehicles got out of the vehicle one after another and lined up next to the vehicle.

When the officer was giving orders to the soldiers behind him, Sokov saw a strange scene. The other two officers tidied up their military appearance and trotted towards him. That action was just like the reaction of a junior officer when he saw his superior.

Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Menshev beside him, thinking that these two officers could not be Menshev's subordinates, right? But the next moment, he denied his suspicion because he saw the same puzzled expression on Mensov's face.

Soon, two officers arrived five or six meters away from Sokov. The two stopped, stood at attention, raised their hands to salute Sokov, and said: "Comrade Commander, former commander of the 296th Regiment of the 98th Guards Division, Lieutenant Colonel Shamrih, and regimental political commissar Major Shapovarenko. Reporting to you, we have been ordered to help you eliminate the gangs that are harming the railway lines. We are at your command, please give us your instructions!"

Sokov stared at the two people opposite him and did not speak for a long time. You must know that these two commanders have been with him since the Battle of Stalingrad. However, they are from the naval system, so they use Is a naval rank. But the two people standing in front of him now wore army military ranks, so he did not recognize each other immediately.

It took a while before Sokov came back to his senses. However, he did not raise his hand to return the salute, but opened his arms to greet him: "So it's the two of you. When did you become the Army? I didn't even recognize you!"

After Shamrih and Shapovalenko hugged Sokov, they replied: "Comrade Commander, after you were injured, a new commander was appointed. He said that since we are commanding the Army Guards Division, As a member of the military, it was inappropriate to wear the navy rank, so he changed it to the army rank for us.”

"Oh, so that's it." Sokov nodded and asked curiously: "But why have you become artillerymen again?"

"It's a long story. I'll report it to you slowly when I have the opportunity in the future." Shamrih tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the gangsters you want to eliminate are hiding in that building." In the building?"

"Yes, the surviving gangsters are all hiding in the building." The artillery commander Sokov met was his old subordinate, which saved him a lot of unnecessary talk. "I have already understood the situation. The building There is no basement in the building. As long as a few shells are fired and the building collapses, the gangsters hiding inside will be smashed to pieces by the falling masonry and rubble. "

Shamrih visually measured the distance and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we are all using 152mm howitzers. It only takes a few shots to blow the building into rubble. But I saw our people , some are no more than 150 meters away from the building. Once the gun is fired later, it is easy to accidentally injure one's own people. "

Although Sokov was not an artilleryman, he also knew that during heavy artillery bombardment, the troops needed to keep a safe distance from the explosion point, so he turned around and ordered Menshov: "Comrade Captain, go over and inform your subordinates to retreat to a distance of two meters from the building." A hundred meters away to avoid being accidentally injured by artillery fire.”

After Menshov left, Shapovarenko curiously asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, why are you here?"

"It's like this. Marshal Zhukov invited me to Berlin and said he hoped I could cooperate with him in his work." When Sokov said this, he shrugged, "Unexpectedly, I encountered a gang attack on the way. If I'm lucky, I can hold on until the reinforcements led by Captain Mensov arrive."

Shapovalenko glanced at the assault rifle Sokov slung on his shoulder and said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, it's been a long time since I saw you personally pick up a weapon and go to the battlefield. There must have been many gangsters who fell to you. Let’s get under the gun.”

Sokov did not count how many gangsters fell under his gun. Now when Shapovarenko mentioned it, he roughly recalled the battle, and then said: "It's not that big, at most four. More than ten."

"What, more than forty is not a lot?" Shapovalenko said in surprise: "The gangs active in Poland only have about three hundred people in number, and only fifty or sixty in number. You are alone We killed more than forty people, which is equivalent to annihilating a small-scale gang. "

At this time, the commander who gave orders to the soldiers also ran over panting. He came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and asked with a smile: "Comrade Commander, do you still remember me?"

When Sokov saw it, he smiled: "Remember, remember, of course I remember. Yakuda Navy Captain, oh, no, he is now a major." After saying that, he also spread his arms and wanted to talk to Yakuta. Give me a warm hug.

After the hug between the two ended, Yakuda asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, our artillery is already in place. When can we fire?"