Red Moscow

"What to do, Comrade General." Sokov waited for the major to finish speaking, and asked Chuikov for instructions: "What should we do next? Shall we continue to look for troops south?"

"Yes, we must continue to look for them south." Chuikov looked at Sokov and said with a serious expression: "They just came here from Siberia, and they are unfamiliar with the place. Once they fall into the siege of the Germans, even the court I don’t know which direction to break through. As their commander, I can’t just sit back and watch them be wiped out by the Germans.”

Although Sokov knew that if he continued to go south, he might encounter the vanguard of the German army at any time. If possible, he would like to turn around and return to the Axel River defense line now. But at this moment, hearing what Chuikov said, he felt a sense of enthusiasm. He coughed lightly and said seriously: "Comrade General, I am willing to go south with you to find the scattered troops and bring them back to us safely." line of defense."

"Let's go, Comrade Chief of Staff." After shaking hands with the major, Chuikov turned to Sokov and said, "On the battlefield, every minute is precious. We must find them before the Germans encircle them."

Although the driver is not familiar with the terrain in this area, he will never get lost if he drives south along the railway line. After driving four or five kilometers forward, we came to Kotelnikovo Station, which was attacked by German air raids and tanks. All the buildings in the station were burning. Rows of carriages were parked on the twisted rails, and the remains of soldiers who died in various positions were scattered everywhere inside and outside the station.

Outside the station, there is a destroyed German Panzer III tank. Around the tank, there are at least 40 or 50 remains of Soviet soldiers. From this, it can be seen that in order to destroy this damn German tank, the Soviet soldiers paid a lot of money. What a high price.

"Our soldiers acted very bravely. They sacrificed their young lives to defend our great motherland." Chuikov took off his military cap, bowed respectfully to the remains of those soldiers, and then took Putting on the hat, he said in an inaudible voice: "The fact that our younger generations are living a happy life will remember everything you have done today."

The jeep continued to drive forward along the railroad tracks. After driving for an unknown amount of time, Klimov, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, suddenly pointed to the front and said with some excitement: "Comrade commander, look at the smoke ahead, there must be us there." troops."

After looking forward for a while, Chuikov frowned and said, "Damn it, why don't they pay attention to air defense, there is smoke everywhere, and the German planes can see it dozens of kilometers away."

When the jeep arrived near Chilekov Station, Sokov finally understood what the cooking smoke he saw just now was all about. Around the station and on both sides of the railroad tracks, you can see circles surrounded by crowds of soldiers. They put aside their weapons and bags and are preparing lunch as if no one else was there. The scene is extremely chaotic.

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." Chuikov got out of the car, looked at the soldiers dining near the station, and said angrily: "Don't they know that if they do this, they will attract German planes? husband!"

Klimov, who was standing at the front of the car, heard Chuikov calling himself, and quickly agreed, and then asked, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Go find a commander!" Chuikov said to Klimov, "I need to know the situation of the troops here."

Not long after, Klimov brought over an elderly major. Seeing Chuikov standing beside the jeep, the major hurriedly raised his hand to salute him: "Hello, Comrade General, what instructions do you have?"

Chuikov asked bluntly: "Comrade Major, where are your division commanders, political commissars, and division headquarters? Also, where are the other units of your division?"

"I don't know where the division commander and the others are, Comrade General." After the major answered Chuikov's question bluntly, he pointed to the west and said, "There is a town two kilometers to the west, and some of them arrived first. The troops are stationed there, and if you go there, you may find a regimental commander."

Knowing that there are still troops stationed in the nearby town, Cuikov, who was eager to find the headquarters of the 208th Division, rushed there impatiently. But before leaving, he specifically told the major: "Comrade major, I just observed that your troops are crowded inside and outside the station, not paying attention to air defense or setting up security. Raid, you will be defeated in the shortest time."

The major showed a nervous look on his face: "Comrade General, what should we do then?"

"Immediately withdraw the troops from the vicinity of the station, because this is the area where the Luftwaffe focused on bombing." Chuikov pointed to the direction he came from, and said to the major: "Walk three kilometers northeast, there is a forest, you can hide your troops There, awaiting further orders from superiors."

"But, Comrade General." Hearing Cuikov's order, the major said helplessly, "I am just a battalion commander, and the only troops that can be mobilized are my battalion."

Cuikov had observed long ago that there was at least one regiment's strength inside and outside the station, but there was not even a regiment-level commander. Seeing that it was unrealistic to transfer all the troops in the station, Chuikov had no choice but to retreat. He pointed to the grassland in the southwest direction with his hand, and said again: "Comrade Major, there are two soldiers over there." A highland with an altitude of more than 100 meters, you immediately send a strong force to occupy it and build fortifications on it. In this way, even if the German army appears from the south, you can rely on these two highlands to resist.”

"Understood, Comrade General." Following the direction of Chuikov's finger, the major saw clearly the two hills in the distance, then nodded and said, "I will lead the troops to occupy the high ground as soon as possible and build fortifications."

After the driver started the car, Klimov turned to Chuikov and asked, "Comrade Commander, where are we going next?"

"Go to the town to the west." Chuikov said to Klimov, "See if you can find a higher-ranking commander there."

Two kilometers of road, just a few minutes by car. Sokov saw that this town near the front line was full of houses destroyed by planes, and black craters could be seen everywhere on the street. In the ruins on both sides of the road, soldiers with expressionless faces were collecting firewood for cooking.

After the jeep stopped, Kerimov opened the door and shouted to the two soldiers passing by, "Hey, comrade soldiers, where is your commander?"

The soldier glanced at the rank on Klimov's collar patch, and then replied: "Comrade Lieutenant, I don't know very well, I just came from the station."

After dismissing the two soldiers, the disappointed Klimov closed the car door and turned to Chuikov, "Comrade Commander, what should we do now?"

"Find a place to settle down first." Cuikov ordered: "We must find a way to get in touch with the army headquarters and inform them of the deployment of the left flank."

Kerimov searched the town for a while, saw a relatively complete bungalow, and suggested to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, let's set up the headquarters here."

After obtaining Chuikov's consent, Klimov got out of the car and entered the building. After a while, he came out from inside, followed by four lieutenants. He reported to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, this is a company command post. I have already made an agreement with the commander, and they will make room for us."

Chuikov stepped forward to shake hands with the four officers one by one, and asked tentatively, "Do you know where the division headquarters is?"

"I don't know, Comrade General." Several officers shook their heads and replied, "Since we entered the military ranks, we have lost contact with our superiors. It is already a very difficult task to gather our own troops. .”

After some conversations, Cuikov found out that the four officers were not in the same company, but each commanded a company. He thought for a while and said to the four of them: "You guys stay here, if something happens, it will be convenient for me to command the troops."

Walking into this building, Cuikov found that it should be some kind of office in the town. The space inside is not small, even if it can accommodate 40 or 50 people at the same time, it is more than enough.

After finding a corner to set up the radio station, Chuikov ordered Klimov: "Comrade adjutant, contact the army headquarters immediately and inform them that we are building a defense line on the left flank."

"Comrade Commander," Klimov said with some embarrassment when he heard the order: "There may be something wrong with the radio station of the Army Group Headquarters. We have been unable to get in touch for two days. If we can't get in touch again, we will what to do?"

"If you can't get in touch again, contact the Front Army Command and report the situation of the 208th Division to your superiors." Chuikov said decisively: "At the same time, please tell the officer on duty to the deputy commander, General Shumilov, that we A new line of defense is being established on the left flank of the army."

While the radio was calling the front army headquarters, there was suddenly the rumble of an explosion outside. Sokov listened sideways for a moment, then reported to Chuikov: "Comrade General, the sound of the explosion came from the direction of the station. It should be the German planes bombing the station."

"Damn it, why did the German plane arrive so quickly?" Chuikov said angrily, "I don't know if the soldiers in the station have been evacuated, otherwise they will suffer heavy losses in the air strike."

Just as Chuikov was about to go outside to check the bombing situation, a captain stopped Chuikov: "Comrade General, there is a staircase at the back that leads to the roof, and you can observe there."

Sokov followed Chuikov, walked up the escalator to the roof, and raised his binoculars to look into the distance. I saw bombs falling from the sky, falling one after another in the station, explosions everywhere and flames everywhere. The buildings at the station began to burn, and the flames licked from one building to another. The terrified and desperate soldiers ran around like headless chickens, and some curled up on the ground holding their heads and howling desperately.

Seeing this scene, Chuikov flew into a rage and cursed loudly: "...I called them for air defense earlier, but they didn't listen. Have you tasted the consequences now? These damned commanders, because of their stupidity, killed such a What an innocent soldier..."

Sokov accidentally glanced at the plane circling in the sky, and couldn't help being taken aback. He hurriedly shouted: "Comrade General, look quickly, the plane that is bombing the station is not the German's, but our own!"

"What, our own plane?" Cuikov raised his binoculars to glance at the plane in the sky, and then called out, "Yes, it's our plane. What's going on? Why did our plane blow up our own people?" coming?"

"Comrade General," Sokov felt that the most urgent task was to notify the Front Army Command and ask them to tell the Air Force that they had bombed the wrong target. He quickly reminded Cuikov: "We should immediately report this matter to the Front Army Command and ask them to immediately order the Air Force to stop this wrong bombing."

"That's right, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you are right to remind." Chuikov nodded, turned his head and ran down the stairs: "I want to inform the headquarters immediately that our air force is bombing our own people."

Chuikov rushed into the command post and asked Klimov who was standing next to the intercom: "Klimov, have you contacted the Front Army Command?"

Chuikov strode up to the radio and shouted at the operator: "Send a report to the Front Command, saying that at the Chilekov Station, our military planes are bombing their own military columns and troops! I beg them to stop this mistake immediately. action..."

When the radio operator was sending the report, the roar of the plane suddenly came from the sky. Hearing this sound, Sokov secretly yelled that he was not good, and hurriedly dragged Chuikov to run outside. At the same time, he shouted loudly: "Air raid siren, hurry up and hide."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a violent explosion not far away, and everyone in the room felt the ground under their feet tremble slightly. Klimov was the first to react. He saw Sokov grabbing Chuikov and running towards the outside of the house. He also rushed over and grabbed Chuikov's other arm, dragging him desperately towards the outside of the house.

It wasn't just Sokov who ran out, several company commanders also rushed out staggeringly. Although they kept tripping over the bricks, stones and debris on the ground, they ran one after another as soon as they got up. They didn't pay any attention to those fighters who were stunned and still standing on the street in a daze. Although the aerial bombs dropped from the sky were from our own people, they can still kill people. If you don’t run out quickly, why are you still waiting to be bombed! At most, when passing by those soldiers, he yelled at them, "Run!"

Commanders and fighters who escaped from the town hid in nearby ravines to avoid air strikes. Sokov looked at the planes that were constantly diving and dropping bombs and strafing in the sky, and felt like crying. So many commanders and fighters from Siberia came all the way to Stalingrad without even seeing the Germans. Their own plane was blown up. If they knew the truth, they would feel aggrieved.

I don't know how long it took, the Soviet aircraft that completed the bombing turned around and returned to the airport. The commanders and fighters hiding in the gully came out one after another, silently looking at the flying fleet.

"Klimov," Chuikov asked his adjutant after looking around, "where is the operator? Has he escaped?"

"I don't know, Comrade Commander." Klimov replied in a panic, "When the bombing started, I just dragged you outside and didn't notice the operator at all."

"Hurry back and find him." Chuikov ordered the other party: "Without him and the radio station, our communication with the superior will be completely cut off."

Just when Kerimov was about to return to the burning town to find the missing radio operator, he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly: "Germans, the Germans are coming!"

Sokov turned his head and saw that the person shouting was a guard next to Chuikov. He hurriedly looked in the direction of his finger, and saw hundreds of German soldiers with weapons coming towards the town. In the middle of their ranks, there were two more armored vehicles.

"Damn, what a hell, where did they come from?" Seeing the sudden appearance of German soldiers, Sokov couldn't help cursing inwardly: "As soon as our air force finished bombing the town, the Germans launched In addition to offense, the 'open space' between them is really good."

"Company commanders," Cuikov shouted at the flustered company commanders after he saw the German army in the distance, "Gather your companies immediately, we will stop them outside the town." Then, Cuikov He called another guard and ordered, "Rush to the station immediately, find the major just now, and ask him to bring troops over to support us."