Red Moscow

While the commander of the first battalion, Vanya, was counting the results of the battle, Chief of Staff Sidolin called Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, we are opening up the entrances to the tunnels that were closed not long ago. I have a suggestion, and I don't know if I should say no." What should I say?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, if you have anything to say, just say it."

"It's like this. Because there is no ventilation device in the tunnel, the air is stuffy, dirty and smelly. Especially in order to prevent the enemy from discovering the tunnel, we temporarily closed all the entrances. At this moment, the air in the tunnel can almost suffocate people. " Sidolin said cautiously: "Therefore, I suggest that our soldiers take turns to go outside the cave to breathe some fresh air."

Sidolin's words made Sokov break out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, the entrance was not closed for a long time, otherwise the soldiers staying in the tunnel would have suffocated in the tunnel before they had time to exchange fire with the enemy. So he said quickly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let the soldiers come out from the east entrance immediately and go outside to breathe fresh air."

Belkin, who was sitting nearby, heard the exchange between Sokov and Sidolin. He waited for Sokov to put down the phone, and immediately said: "Comrade Brigadier, what we did this time is really too risky. If the tunnel was not closed for only a few hours, maybe the nearly 2,000 commanders and fighters in the tunnel would have died." They will die from suffocation. Not to mention destroying one battalion of the enemy, even if we wipe out two battalions, or even one regiment, it will be a huge irreparable loss for us."

"Comrade Commissar, you are right." After today's battle, Sokov realized that there are still many problems in the tunnel fortifications. The first is the ventilation problem mentioned by Sidolin and Belgin. If this problem is not solved , then once the German army takes advantage of their powerful firepower and superior force to occupy the surface position of Mamayev Gang again, as long as they seal the entrance of the tunnel, it will take less than a day for the commanders and fighters staying in the tunnel to escape from suffocation. fate. Therefore, he decided to improve the ventilation system in the tunnel while there was still time in front of him: "I will discuss with Major Ozor later to see how we can improve the ventilation in the tunnel."

…………

According to the statistics of the battle results, a total of 809 German infantry battalions were annihilated by the establishment system, of which 692 were killed or bombed, and 117 were captured. From the battalion commander to the ordinary soldiers, none of them escaped.

Sokov returned to the headquarters, nodded slightly after seeing the statistics of the battle results, and then asked Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what is the casualty situation of our army?"

"31 people were sacrificed and 57 people were injured." Sidolin quickly replied: "Actually, in the early battles, the casualties of our army were almost negligible, mainly due to the casualties that occurred when the German army suddenly shelled and did not hide in time." .”

Although Sokov also wanted to minimize the casualties of his own troops, some casualties were inevitable due to the powerful firepower of the enemy. After putting down the results report, he asked Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have we reported the results of our battles to the Army Group Command?"

"Not yet!" Sidolin shook his head and said, "I also just got the results statistics, and you came back."

Seeing that Sidolin had not had time to report, Sokov decided to call Chuikov himself. As soon as the phone was connected, he heard a hoarse female voice: "Hello, this is the headquarters of the group army. Who are you looking for?"

Sokov recognized that the person speaking was Yelena Bakalevich, the telephone operator on duty of the Army Group, and quickly said: "Hello, Yelena, this is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I have an urgent matter to find the commander member or chief of staff."

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Elena replied politely: "Comrade Chief of Staff is on an important call. As for the commander, he has just left the headquarters and has gone somewhere. What do you have?" Things, do you need me to convey it to you?"

"It's like this, Yelena, the results of our brigade's battles in the early morning of this morning have been counted." Sokov said politely: "I will tell you the specific statistics, please wait a while Pass it on to the Commander or Chief of Staff."

After Sokov hurriedly reported the data, he made another call to the city defense committee, and said to the duty officer who answered the phone: "Hello, I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov of Mamayev Gang, please help us find Ozo Major."

Unexpectedly, the officer on duty waited for Sokov to finish speaking, but said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, Major Ozor is not here."

"Not here?!" Sokov asked in surprise, "Where did he go? When will he be back?"

"He followed the city defense commander to the outskirts of Minin to check the fortifications." The duty officer replied politely and politely, "I don't know when I will be back."

"Unlucky, really unlucky." Sokov put down the phone and said to Sidolin: "Report the results to the commander and the chief of staff. One is out, and the other is answering an important call; call Major Ozor, He also went outside the city to inspect the fortifications, and it is unknown when he will return."

Just as Sokov was complaining, the phone on the desk rang suddenly. Sokov hurriedly reached out to grab the microphone, put it close to his ear and said, "I'm Sokov."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." The voice of Krylov, the chief of staff of the army group, came from the receiver: "I am Krylov."

"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov thought that Krylov called him to verify the results of the battle reported just now, and said quickly: "Have you seen all the results of the battle I reported?"

"I see, you did a great job." Krylov simply praised, and then said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I called you because I have an important task for you. Finish."

Hearing that there was another mission coming, Sokov quickly concentrated and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what kind of mission is it?"

"It's like this. We have a female scout named Maria Videneyeva who obtained top-secret information behind the enemy's rear. But when she sent us a telegram, the word top-secret appeared in the telegram, and suddenly It was interrupted, and then there was no more news." Krylov said on the phone: "Now I give you a special task: immediately send capable men to the Mali Rossoshka area to find the missing woman. Scout, we must find her. If she has died, we must find a way to bring back the information she got. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and immediately stated to him: "I will immediately send someone to look for Maria Videneeva, and I will definitely bring back the top-secret information she obtained. "