Red Moscow

But Sokov walked a few steps, stopped suddenly, and said to Asiya with a sideways face: "Wait a minute, Asiya, let's go to the second floor to have a look." Before he had time to react, he walked towards the stairs not far away. Assia didn't know why Sokov wanted to go up to the second floor, so she hastily quickened her pace to follow.

Seeing the two soldiers who came in to browse the mall, they suddenly went straight up to the second floor. A fat salesperson who was chatting hurriedly said to his companion: "Look, those two people have gone up to the second floor."

The thin salesperson next to him looked at the backs of Sokov and Asiya, and asked his companion cautiously: "Tell me, could they be members of the City Defense Committee, who came to our place to inspect the fortifications?"

"No matter where they are from, this matter needs to be reported to the manager immediately, so that he can prepare." The fat salesman said, came to the side phone, picked up the receiver and dialed a number, and said in a hurry: " Comrade manager, here are two comrades from the city defense committee, they have already gone up to the second floor..."

After Sokov came to the second floor, he walked directly to the rooftop. Before he entered the building, he had carefully observed it. If fortifications were built on the roof, a large area could be sealed off with firepower. He was even thinking about whether he should send an army to occupy the department store after the street fighting started, and use the strong buildings to establish a fire support point.

However, when he came to the rooftop, the scene he saw made him frown. On the spacious roof, countless sandbags were scattered on the floor in a disorderly manner, and no one piled them into sandbag fortifications.

Assia looked at the sandbags piled up randomly on the roof, and asked Sokov curiously: "Misha, what are you doing here? Look, there are sandbags everywhere on the ground, which looks messy."

"Asiya, look!" Sokov pointed to the wide street in front of the department store, and said, "I'm thinking, if we build a firepower point on the roof and put anti-tank guns and machine guns here, we can Completely block the street in front of it. If the Germans want to seize this department store, they must pay a huge price."

Hearing Sokov bring up the battle in Stalingrad again, Asya felt dumbfounded. She took Sokov's arm and said softly: "Misha, do you really think that the Germans Will it storm Stalingrad?"

"That's right, Assia." Sokov looked at Assia sideways and said, "The Germans will definitely rush into Stalingrad. As the defenders of the city, we must take preventive measures in advance."

When the two were talking, a high-pitched voice suddenly came from behind: "Two military comrades, are you from the City Defense Committee?"

Sokov and Asiya turned their heads and saw a middle-aged man in a white shirt and a pair of round-rimmed glasses standing at the entrance of the rooftop. Sokov did not answer his question immediately, but asked instead: "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man took two steps forward, nodded and bowed and said, "Let me introduce myself. I am the manager of this department store. I heard from the salesperson that comrades from the City Defense Committee came to inspect, so I made a special trip to come here. Excuse me, Are you from the city defense committee?"

"No, Comrade Manager." Sokov shook his head and said, "We are not from the City Defense Committee, but my troops are stationed at Mamayev Hill. I passed by here today and found that the rooftop here is a good defense The location, so I came here to take a look. By the way, Comrade Manager, why are these sandbags scattered on the ground and not piled up to build fortifications?"

"The sandbags were prepared according to the order of the city Soviet. According to the regulations, fortifications should be built on the roof." The manager said with some embarrassment: "But, I think you have seen that there are only a dozen or so female salespersons left in the whole shopping mall." , To carry out these tasks, manpower is far from enough.”

"Even if there is only one of you left, you should build up the fortifications on the roof." After listening to the manager's words, Sokov said in a stern tone: "Otherwise, when the Germans rush over, they will be able to build up the fortifications without firing a shot." One shot, easily captured this strong building. Also," Sokov walked to the railing of the roof, pointed down with his hand, and added, "the merchandise windows on the first floor should also be stacked with sandbag."

After the manager waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he said with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, I understand what you said. But I want to ask, will the Germans really hit Stalingrad? If they can't get close to our Cities, what's the point of all that we've done?"

Sokov sneered and said: "Why, Comrade Manager, do you think it is impossible for the Germans to storm Stalingrad?"

Regarding Sokov's question, the manager hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "I don't think it is possible for the Germans to rush to Stalingrad. Think about it, there are hundreds of thousands of our troops in the west of the city. Could it be that they Still can't stop the Germans? Also," the manager lowered his voice and whispered in Sokov's ear, "I heard the news that our airborne troops have successfully landed in Berlin. Attack on Hitler's hiding place. Maybe today, or tomorrow at the latest, we will hear that Hitler was captured alive or killed by our paratroopers."

Sokov laughed angrily at the manager's words, "Comrade manager, you actually believe such absurd rumors that our army has already stormed Berlin. Let me tell you the truth, our army will storm Berlin one day sooner or later, Eliminate all the demons and end this damn war. But before that, what we have to do is to do everything possible to defend this city named after the Supreme Commander himself."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." The manager said with a smile on his face: "I will arrange manpower as soon as possible to pile up the fortifications on the roof. You can come and check anytime you have time."

Sokov nodded slightly when he heard what the manager said, then shook his head at Assia and said, "Let's go, Assia, we should go back."

Seeing that the two "plague gods" were about to leave, the manager suddenly became happier, and hurriedly said: "I'll send you out."

After the manager sent Sokov and the others out of the building and returned to the sales hall, the fat salesman who called the manager immediately came over and asked curiously, "Comrade manager, are they from the City Defense Committee?"

"No, they are not from the City Defense Committee." The manager shook his head and said, "They are a nearby garrison, they just come here for a walk."

"I just saw them go up to the second floor." The fat salesman continued to ask, "What are they doing up there?"

"They wandered around on the roof for a long time, and the male commander asked me why I didn't use the sandbags on the roof to build the fortification." The manager sneered and said, "He is not a member of the city defense committee, so what right does he have to tell me what to do?"

"Comrade Manager," the fat salesman said nervously when he heard this, "Look, let's find some time someday to pile up all those sandbags, so that even if people from the City Defense Committee come to check in the future, we don't have to worry about being affected." Punishment."

"Let me remind you, here, I am the manager, not you." The manager glared at the talkative fat salesman, and said dissatisfiedly: "Even if the city defense committee comes to inspect, it will not make any surprise attacks, and will definitely issue a notice in advance." , it will not be too late for us to organize manpower to build fortifications.”

On the way Sokov and Assia drove back to Mamayev Gang, Assia saw that Sokov was silent and preoccupied, so she asked curiously: "Misha, what do you think? Will a manager arrange manpower to pile up sandbags on the roof?"

"No, I don't think he would do that." Sokov shook his head when he heard Assia's question and said, "Assia, don't you see that the other party is just perfunctory us? Sigh , There is no way, there is no affiliation between us and him, I have said everything that can be said, as for whether to listen, it is his problem."

Assia thought for a while, and then offered her own suggestion to Sokov: "Misha, see if you can talk to the people from the city defense committee and get them to agree that we send troops to take over the defense of the department store."

"It's impossible." Just as Assia finished speaking, Sokov waved his hands and said, "Although our brigade has nearly 5,000 people, once the battle starts in the city, we won't have enough people for the Germans." It's between the teeth, where there are extra troops, they can defend the department store seven or eight kilometers away."

But when Sokov said that the troops holding on to Mamayev Post were not enough to give the Germans teeth, the driver who was driving couldn't help shaking, and then the jeep lost control and crashed straight into a power line on the side of the road pole. Fortunately, the driver was responsive and stepped on the brakes in time, and the front of the car stopped only a few centimeters away from the utility pole.

The huge inertia caused Sokov, who was sitting in the back row, to rush forward, and his head hit the back of the front seat heavily. While rubbing his bruised forehead, he turned his head and asked Assia next to him: "Assia, are you okay?"

Asiya, who was ashen-faced, was frightened just now, but after hearing Sokov's question, she shook her head with a forced smile and said, "I'm fine."

Sokov stretched out his hand to embrace the startled Assia in his arms, and said sternly to the driver: "Comrade driver, drive carefully. I would rather be killed in a face-to-face battle with the Germans than die in a car accident on the street." .Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Brigadier Commander." The driver turned his head and blushed and said to Sokov: "I will drive carefully, and I promise that similar things will not happen again."