Red Moscow

After some hard work, the troops sent by Sokov gathered more than 600 commanders and fighters of the 35th Guards Division, including the deputy division commander Dubyanski.

When Dubyansky stood in front of Chuikov and reported to him that there were only more than 600 officers and fighters gathered, Chuikov felt uncomfortable and covered his chest with his hands. Sidolin and Chuikov had been together for a long time, and knew that the other party must have had another stomach attack, so he hurriedly stepped forward to support him, and told a staff officer not far away: "Comrade staff, go to the health team to get some stomach medicine , Comrade Commander has a stomach problem again."

Sokov hurried forward, helped Sidolin help Chuikov to sit down, then went to pour a cup of hot tea and handed it to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, drink some tea to warm your stomach first, it won't hurt so badly gone."

After thanking Sokov, Chuikov took a sip from his teacup, put it on the table, and then asked Dubyansky: "Comrade Colonel, how did you fight this battle? There are more than 8,000 people in the division. Now there are only more than 600 people left, and even the teacher is killed?"

"Comrade Commander, when my division rushed out of the enemy's encirclement, it lost almost one-third of the troops. Without being replenished, it went into the battle again in the factory area..." Du Byansky reacted belatedly when he was halfway through speaking: "Wait, Comrade Commander, what did you just say? The division commander was killed in battle? Is this true?"

"That's right." Chuikov nodded vigorously, turned his head to look at Sokov, and said in a heavy tone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov sent someone to meet Glazkov, but when we found him, he was already seriously injured. No matter the leg was broken by the shell, even a few pieces of shrapnel hit his chest and smashed his lungs. Although he was sent here, he was rescued immediately, but his life still could not be saved .”

"Comrade Commander," Dubyansky said emotionally, "Where is Comrade Commander's body? I want to see him for the last time."

Sokov went to the door, shouted to the outside, called Seryozha in, and ordered: "Seryozha, take this man to the health team and arrange for him to see General Glazkov. body." Then he said to Dubyansky, "Comrade Colonel, please let the lieutenant go, and he will take you to see General Glazkov."

After Seryozha left with Dubyansky, Chuikov picked up the tea in front of him, took another sip, and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, after the German army defeated the 35th Guards Division, what will happen next?" Make two choices, one is to directly attack the factory area and clear the militia there; the other is to attack Mamayev Post and cut off the connection between the urban area and the factory area. Have you considered how to fight the next battle? Pass?"

"Comrade Commander, please rest assured." Sokov knew very well in his heart that in real history, the reason why Mamayev Hill was easily occupied by the German army was that there were no solid fortifications on the hill; It was Cuikov who could not mobilize enough troops to defend this position. Now that I am leading thousands of troops to station here, and there are underground fortifications that cannot be destroyed by German artillery fire and bombing, there shouldn't be much problem in defending Mamayev Post. Therefore, he said confidently: "As long as there is a living soldier in our brigade, the Germans will never even think about capturing Mamayev Hill."

Seeing Sokov so confident, Chuikov stared at him for a long time before he nodded and said, "I believe you, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. If I remember correctly, you proposed that the German army would Point the spearhead of the attack at Mamayev Heights, and take the initiative to lead troops to stand firm here. Now that you have solid underground fortifications and sufficient troops, I think that no matter how fierce the German offensive is, they will not be able to seize your position. An easy thing."

After Dubyansky returned from the health team, he asked Chuikov with red eyes: "Comrade commander, can we not withdraw our division to the east bank for the time being to make up for it? We want to stay and avenge the division commander!"

Facing Dubyansky's rhetoric, Chuikov just sneered, and asked back: "Comrade Colonel, there are only more than 600 people left in your entire division. Even if you barely stay, in the next battle, can you stand up again?" To what effect?"

After Dubyansky heard Chuikov's ridicule, his face could not help turning red and then white, but he still mustered up his courage and said: "This is how I think about it, if the superior still insists that we evacuate to the other side of the Volga River, I will Only take the wounded across the river, and leave those who can still fight, they all have rich combat experience and can be used in the next battle."

Chuikov was moved by Dubyansky's words. He frowned and began to think about whether he should keep the combat-capable soldiers of the 35th Guards Division. Sokov, who was standing aside, was afraid that Chuikov would be impulsive and leave those fighters who were still fighting, so he said to Dubyansky: "No, Comrade Colonel, none of the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division can be left behind. , but should immediately cross the river to the east bank according to the order of the superior."

For Sokov's statement, not only Dubyansky was dumbfounded, but even Chuikov was also confused. He looked at Sokov and asked puzzledly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why did you let them all cross the river? Could it be that some commanders and fighters who still have combat effectiveness are left behind to enrich your troops?"

To be honest, Sokov did let some fighters with combat experience stay, so as to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops. But as soon as he thought that the troops here would be transferred to the rear for replenishment, he gave up the idea. Hearing Chuikov's question at this moment, he explained: "Comrade Commander, the 35th Guards Division will be withdrawn to the rear for replenishment. The soldiers they recruit must be recruits. If there is no combat backbone in the army, then even if they recruit enough people, it will be difficult to form combat effectiveness in the shortest time."

After hearing Sokov's explanation, Chuikov nodded silently, and then said to Dubyansky: "Comrade Colonel, have you heard it all? Judging from the current situation, you should take all the commanders and fighters to cross the river." .As long as the combat backbone of the army is still there, even if the superior recruits you all recruits, you can form a new combat force in the shortest possible time."

"Okay, Comrade Commander, since you say so, I'll take all the troops to the other side of the river." After Dubyansky finished speaking, he hesitated for a moment, then said again: "I I have a request, I wonder if you can agree to it."

"If you have any request, just say it." Seeing that the other party agreed to cross the river, Cui Kefu said reasonably, "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely agree to it."

"I want to take the body of the division commander across the river." Dubyansky asked cautiously, "Is it possible?" When he asked this question, his gaze was fixed on Sokov who was standing next to Chuikov.

Sokov knew that during the Battle of Stalingrad, due to the fierce fighting, the remains of many sacrificed soldiers could not be buried in time, so they could only be left to die on the street. And Lyudnikov's 138th Division dug several thousand graves to bury the sacrificed soldiers. When relatives came to claim the remains after the war, they couldn't tell the difference at all. Had Glazkov's body remained in Stalingrad, it is estimated that his relatives would not be able to accurately find his body by the end of the war. In view of this consideration, Sokov readily agreed to Dubyansky's request: "Comrade Colonel, if the commander does not object, I will immediately arrange for soldiers to carry General Glazkov's body out."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the whole division, living or dead, I would like to express my gratitude to you." After Dubyansky finished speaking, he raised his hand and gave Sokov a solemn military salute, and Sokov also raised his hand to return the salute in a panic .

…………

According to Chuikov's idea, after the German army occupied the position of the 35th Guards Division, it was time to attack Mamayev Post. After all, the distance between the two places was only a few kilometers. Unexpectedly, the German army dispatched a large number of bombers the next day to carry out a saturation bombing of the entire city of Stalingrad.

At the beginning of the bombing, Sokov ordered all the commanders and fighters of the whole brigade to retreat into the tunnel in order to reduce the casualties of the troops. In the beginning, Sokov was indifferent to the German bombing, so above his head, there was a layer of soil seven or eight meters deep, and in the tunnel fortifications, many places were reinforced with reinforced concrete. Ordinary bombs have no way to take this fortification.

However, when the first wave of bombs fell on Mamayev Gang and exploded, Sokov was startled and covered in white sweat. In order to deal with his own tunnel, the German army actually used a heavy bomb. He thought to himself, don't use the kind of bomb that can penetrate the ground. In ordinary battles in a confined space like a tunnel, the power of the explosion will be greatly increased. If a heavy bomb got into the tunnel, it would definitely cause a lot of casualties to the thousands of commanders and fighters inside.

Sidolin saw that the soil kept falling from the top of his head, so he couldn't help but said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, we can't just hide in the tunnel and be passively bombed like this. If we let the German planes continue to bomb , I am worried that many areas will be blown up. Why don't we organize machine gun fire and go outside the tunnel to shoot at the air, even if we only need to shoot down one or two planes, we can reduce some dangers."

Regarding Sidolin's proposal, Sokov only pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately organize a group of machine gun shooters to carry MG34 machine guns to the tunnel to shoot in the air, we cannot be passively beaten like this! "

Following the order, a group of machine gunners armed with MG34 general-purpose machine guns drilled out from the east exit. After setting up the machine guns in different positions, they immediately continued to shoot at the enemy planes flying randomly in the air. The sudden firepower on the ground caught the enemy planes that were diving and dropping bombs by surprise. After a while, two enemy planes flew towards the distance with long smoke trails, not far away. Then he fell headfirst to the ground, and a huge fireball exploded, making an earth-shattering explosion. Seeing the anti-aircraft fire on the ground, the rest of the planes raised their altitude one after another to prevent themselves from being shot down.

When the machine gun was firing outside the tunnel, Belgin suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, at the foot of the mountain on the other side of Beigang, there are still some anti-aircraft guns from the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion. See if you can let them participate shooting?"

"No, those female soldiers don't have much combat experience. Letting them go to air defense at this time is tantamount to letting them die." Sokov shook his head and rejected Belkin's proposal, and said to himself: " Besides, our troops in Beigang are also equipped with a lot of MG34 machine guns, allowing them to deal with German planes."

Just as Sidolin wanted to call the Fourth Battalion in Beigang and ask them to organize machine gun shooters to defend the air outside the tunnel, the phone rang first. Sidolin picked up the phone, and the voice of the Fourth Battalion Commander Briski came from the receiver: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's bad, the bomb dropped by the enemy detonated the oil tank on the top of the mountain, and the whole hill has turned into a sea of ​​flames." ..."

"What, the German bomb detonated the oil tank on the top of the mountain?" After listening to Briski's report, Sidolin couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat: "Didn't the people from the City Defense Committee say that they had drained all the fuel in the oil tank?" Is it empty?"

"The oil tanks they emptied are only a small part. Most of the oil tanks still have fuel in them." Briski said anxiously: "I just saw that the burning oil flowed down the east slope into the After crossing the Volga River and drifting downstream along the river, flames were everywhere on the surface of the river. Many boats crossing the river began to burn, and the people on board jumped into the water to escape one after another... A small boat transporting munitions was detonated by the high temperature and sank ..."

Hearing that people who crossed the river jumped into the water to escape, Sokov knew that the chances of these people surviving were not high. Even if they were not washed away by the rushing river, they would be burned to death by the fuel drifting down the river. He sighed, stepped forward to take the microphone from Sidolin, and asked, "Comrade Captain, is there anyone at the pier to rescue those who fell into the water?"

"No, Comrade Brigadier." Briski recognized Sokov's voice, and quickly replied: "According to my observations, German planes are not only bombing our Mamayev Hill, but even the factory area in the north." , the city to the south has also been bombed by a large number of bombers, and now the entire city is burning, and everyone is too busy to take care of themselves, how can we find the strength to rescue..."

"I see, Comrade Captain." Sukov knew that Beigang had been burned into a sea of ​​flames by burning oil, and it was impossible for them to go outside the tunnel for air defense. On the contrary, was it safe to stay in Beigang? , is also a big problem, so he continued to ask: "Is it dangerous for you to stay in the tunnel?"

Briski replied: "The tunnel near the Volga River is too hot to be treated, so I have ordered the soldiers in that area to withdraw to the main tunnel."

"Captain Briski," Sokov not only did not criticize Briski's arrangement, but said on his own initiative, "If you feel that you can't stay in the north hill, you can take the troops to withdraw from the tunnel to the tunnel in the south hill." Come."