Red Moscow

Sokov explained many basic tactics of street fighting to the chief of staff and his entourage. These tactics are all valuable experiences that later generations have summed up with countless blood. He just said that as for whether those people would listen to them, it was not his concern.

Although he told many tactics, he did not tell these people the famous "three-three tactics". First of all, this tactic requires a certain period of training and running-in before it can have real effects on the battlefield; in addition, the Battle of Kiev ended with a disastrous defeat for the Soviet army. In other words, in the following days, the Soviet army carried out It is a series of passive defensive tactics. It would be a bit wasteful to teach them the strongest tactics of surface infantry.

Besides waiting until he serves as a division commander like last time, it would not be too late to teach this tactic to the troops under his command.

After visiting the town recaptured by the Soviet army, Sokov reminded the Chief of Staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to remind you that no matter how limited the troops here are, we cannot let the bodies of our soldiers lie on the streets indifferently. , This will affect the morale of our army to a certain extent.”

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, a staff officer retorted: "Comrade Captain, I disagree with your statement. In our army, there is a saying: It is better to let the bones be exposed in the wilderness than to take a step back. These soldiers all died gloriously in defense of the motherland. Even if they knew that after their death, their bodies would be left here and no one would care about them, they would never complain. "

Upon hearing the staff officer's bizarre remarks, Sokov's eyes flashed with anger. However, since the chief of staff of the division was still with him, it was difficult for him to have an attack. He could only grit his teeth and say: "Comrade staff, I want to ask you. If your unit is stationed not far from here, In the distant fortifications, when you look back, you can see the corpses of your comrades piled up on the street. What do you think? "

After asking this question, without waiting for the staff member's answer, Sokov continued: "If you are one of these sacrificed soldiers, after you die, your soul still stays nearby. Do you want to see your body continue to be exposed? Do you want to be left alone on the streets, or do you want to be buried as soon as possible?”

Sokov's words left the staff officer completely speechless.

"Comrade deputy commander," the division chief of staff turned and called the accompanying deputy commander and said to him: "Did you hear what Captain Sokov said?"

The deputy leader nodded: "I heard it."

"Now that you heard it, let's quickly arrange for manpower to bury the remains of these soldiers."

"Yes, I will arrange for someone to carry out this task immediately." When the deputy leader left, he gave Sokov a grateful glance.

After inspecting this position, the division chief of staff returned with Sokov.

The convoy was driving halfway when three people suddenly rushed out from the roadside. One is a second lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs wearing a blue hat, and the other two are in civilian attire. One is wearing a white pullover, and the other is wearing a blue canvas overalls and a peaked cap. They waved their hands desperately and seemed to be shouting something.

Seeing the three people suddenly appearing, Sokov's hand went directly to his waist, ready to draw his gun and shoot at any time. But he was stopped by the division chief of staff: "Comrade Captain, don't be impulsive, it seems we are one of our own in front."

"One of our own?" Seeing such a combination, Sokov was filled with doubts. How could a second lieutenant from the Ministry of Internal Affairs get involved with two civilians? Therefore, even if the division chief of staff told him that it was one of his own, his hand was still on the holster on his waist. If he found anything wrong, he would not hesitate to draw his gun and shoot.

After the convoy stopped, the second lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and two civilians came to the jeep where the division chief of staff and Sokov were riding. After raising his hands and saluting, he said: "Hello, comrade lieutenant colonel, we meet again."

The division chief of staff stretched out his hand to the second lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and said in a friendly tone: "Hello, second lieutenant Zhu Kewen. It's nice to see you again. Where did you come from?"

"Stop talking, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we escaped from the Germans."

Hearing what Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen said, the division chief of staff couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I don't understand what you mean. Also, who are these two civilians, and why are they with you?" "

In fact, when Sokov saw the combination of three people, he wanted to ask this question, but the division chief of staff seemed to know the second lieutenant, so he did not interrupt the two men's reminiscing, but quietly waited for the right time to ask the other party questions.

"The two of them are the prisoners I escorted." When Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen spoke, he glanced at Sokov who was sitting next to the division chief of staff, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this person next to you is Who is the captain and why is he sitting next to you?"

Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen found it strange when he saw that Sokov did not sit in the passenger seat of the jeep, but sat side by side with the division chief of staff in the back row, so he asked specifically.

"Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen," the chief of staff of the division introduced him: "This is Captain Sokov, the representative of the group army headquarters, who brought us to inspect the work. Captain Sokov, this is Zhu from the Ministry of Internal Affairs "Second Lieutenant Cowan."

"Hello, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Sokov stood up, shook hands with Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen, and asked: "By the way, you haven't told me how you escaped from the Germans. I Very interested in this.”

Although Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sokov had a higher military rank than him and was also a representative of the Army Group Headquarters. He did not dare to neglect and quickly began to tell his experience: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you should still remember , I was ordered to escort a train of prisoners back to Moscow."

"Yes, I remember." The division chief of staff nodded, indicating that this was indeed the case.

"Our train was traveling halfway and was ambushed by German paratroopers." Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen continued: "I quickly led the soldiers escorting the train to fight back. We hid under the train and used the rails as a cover to attack the overcoming train. The Germans opened fire but the enemy numbers were too great and the battle lasted ten minutes. After a few minutes, most of the soldiers around me died. At this moment, a prisoner wearing a white jumper somehow escaped from the carriage. He lay down next to me, picked up the rifle of the sacrificed soldier, and pointed at it. He shot at the approaching Germans with great accuracy, killing seven or eight Germans in succession.

But the number of enemies was too great, and soon, there were only two of us alive on the train. Just when I thought the moment of sacrifice was coming, a machine gun placed at the front of the train fired, suppressing the charging enemy to the ground. I originally thought it was a wounded machine gunner who kept shooting. Unexpectedly, I turned around and saw that it was the prisoner wearing a peaked cap who was shooting non-stop with the machine gun.

With the support of machine gun fire, we formed fire suppression on the enemy. Unexpectedly, seeing that the Germans could not break through the blockade of machine gun fire, they used mortars to bombard the train. A shell hit the joint of the carriage and broke the hook of the carriage. Because our train stopped on a slope, the car with its hook broken lost control and slid down the slope. Seeing that the protection above our heads was gone, the three of us hurriedly followed the sliding car forward to avoid staying where we were and becoming a target for the Germans. "

The second lieutenant's narration was very exciting. Although Sokov saw the three people standing in front of him, he still broke out in a cold sweat because of their situation at that time.

"Then what?" asked the division chief of staff: "How did you get back here?"

"After the carriage stopped sliding, we opened the locked carriage. Unexpectedly, all the prisoners inside were dead." The second lieutenant sighed softly and said, "We have no choice but to abandon the carriage and turn around and go back."

Sokov saw that Second Lieutenant Zhukovin had a pistol in his belt and two rifles with bayonets on his shoulders. However, the two prisoners next to him had empty hands. He couldn't help but asked curiously: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, why are the weapons on your body, but they are empty-handed?"

Before the second lieutenant could speak, the prisoner in the white jumper said: "Comrade Captain, it was Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen who said that weapons must not be given to prisoners at any time." He glared at Zhu Kewen and said angrily. , "On the way, we encountered a group of Germans. If the second lieutenant is willing to give the weapons to the two of us, maybe we can kill a few more enemies."

Although the prisoner in white looked a bit unruly in appearance, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little fond of him when he heard him talk about wanting to eliminate the Germans. "I am a friend, can you tell me your name?"

The prisoner in white clothes couldn't help but be startled when he heard Sokov's question, and then pointed to his nose: "Comrade Captain, are you talking to me?"

"That's right." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone, "I'm just talking to you."

"My name is Juburo."

"What did you do before?"

"I'm a hunter."

"Jailed for what reason?"

"Some time ago, people from the conscription committee came to our village to recruit soldiers." Jiubro replied: "Because my wife was sick and needed someone to take care of her, I tore up the enlistment notice issued by the conscription committee and refused to join the army. The result was Because of this, they said I was evading military service and put me in jail.”

Sokov did not comment on the right or wrong of the other party, but turned his attention to the prisoner wearing a peaked cap: "Friend, what is your name, and why are you in prison?"

"Comrade Captain, my name is Chursin." The prisoner in the peaked cap replied: "Before the war, I served as a soldier in Belarus and was a machine gunner. My unit was dispersed by Belarus. I fled to Kiev with the refugees, but was arrested by the Internal Affairs Bureau. The people from the army caught me and said I was a deserter, so I was put in jail.”

After figuring out the identities of the two prisoners, Sokov looked at Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen and asked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, what do you plan to do with them?"

Zhu Kewen quickly replied: "Comrade Captain, my task is to send these prisoners to Moscow. As for what my superiors are going to do with them, I don't know. They may be sent to Siberia for labor reform."

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, now is the war period. We need enough manpower to fight against the German invaders together." Sokov felt that if he could keep these two prisoners by his side, they might be put to great use in the future, so he tentatively said Asked the second lieutenant: "I wonder if you can leave these two people to me to deal with?"

"Leave it to you?" Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen asked confusedly after hearing this: "How do you plan to deal with them?"

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, I just said that now is a war, and we need enough manpower to defend the motherland." Sokov did not want to talk in circles with Zhukov, so he said straightforwardly: "I want to incorporate them into my army." Troops, we will have the opportunity to go to the battlefield together to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds.”

Giubro and Chulsin were surprised when they heard Sokov say this. You know, if they were really sent to Siberia, the chance of coming back alive was very slim. Although there was a possibility of sacrifice on the battlefield, even if they died, they could still gain a good reputation, so they were eager to stay with Sokov, so they both looked at Lieutenant Zhukov, wanting to hear how he would answer.

Zhukov was a stubborn person, he only thought that he should follow the orders of his superiors and take the prisoners to Moscow. Even if only two of the prisoners in the car died, this order must continue to be executed. Therefore, after listening to Sokov's words, he shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, Comrade Captain, I have no right to hand these two prisoners over to you for disposal."

"Comrade Lieutenant," Seeing Zhukov so stubborn, Sokov could only try to persuade him: "Look, you and your men were attacked by German paratroopers while escorting the prisoners. Your superiors may think that you have all died, and even the prisoners have all died. Even if you hand these two prisoners over to me, no one will investigate the matter."

Sovkov has said this, but Zhukov is still stubborn: "Comrade Captain, my mission is Escort the prisoners to Moscow. Even if there is only one prisoner left, I will follow orders and escort him to Moscow. "

"Captain Sokov." Seeing that the two were in a stalemate, the division chief of staff came out to smooth things over: "I think you should not embarrass Lieutenant Zhukov. He is also following orders."

Socov's mind was thinking quickly, thinking about how to keep the two prisoners. You know, when the train was attacked, they were able to calmly assist the soldiers escorting the train to fight back, which shows that they have certain military qualities and combat experience. If they follow him to the battlefield, they will definitely be of great use.

Just when Lieutenant Zhukov asked the two prisoners to follow him, Sokov finally thought of a good idea and hurriedly called him: "Comrade Lieutenant."

"Anything else?" Lieutenant Zhukov stopped.

"I think it would be better if the three of you follow me and join the battle to defend Kiev." Sokov decided to use a delaying tactic to stabilize Lieutenant Zhukov and take the two prisoners under his command: "After the war is over, send these two people to Moscow. What do you think?"

After hearing Sokov's proposal, Zhukov became hesitant. It is 700 to 800 kilometers from here to Moscow. Even if there is a vehicle, it will take a day or two to walk. If you meet the Germans on the way, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with them.

Seeing Zhukov's hesitation, Sokov decisively helped him make a decision: "Lieutenant Zhukov, don't hesitate. From now on, you and these two prisoners are part of the guard force of the 37th Army Command."