Red Moscow

Samoilov returned to Mamayev Post alone and reported to Sokov and the others about the situation at the Army Group Headquarters. Knowing that Cuikov and the others were safe and sound, everyone including Sokov couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Sokov called the radio operator to him and told him: "Immediately send a report to the headquarters of the Front Army, saying that General Chuikov is safe and sound, but because of the bombing by enemy planes, all communication lines in the city have been destroyed, so temporarily Can't get in touch with the outside world, please rest assured."

Although he learned that nothing happened to Cuikov and the others, Sidolin, as Cuikov's old subordinate, was still worried. He tentatively asked Sokov, "Comrade Brigadier, can I go to the army headquarters?"

"No, absolutely not." Regarding Sidolin's request, Sokov refused without hesitation: "The enemy planes outside are still bombing the city, I can't let you take risks." Seeing Sidolin After a disappointed expression on his face, he quickly added, "Second Lieutenant Samoilov went to the city with two soldiers, but he was the only one who came back alive, which shows how fierce the enemy's bombing was. "

After receiving the call from Sokov, Yelymenko couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, and said to Khrushchev: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov sent a telegram, saying that Cuikov's communication system was damaged by the enemy's bombing." The inside was damaged, so it is temporarily unable to communicate with the outside world.”

Khrushchev took the telegram in Yeremenko's hand, read it carefully, confirmed that the information on it was true, and said to Yeremenko: "Comrade Commander, we should immediately transfer the Report the situation to the headquarters of the Supreme Command and tell them that Stalingrad has not fallen, and our troops are still fighting in the city."

…………

Two days later, the fire in Stalingrad due to the bombing began to gradually extinguish. Sokov received a call from Krylov, telling him to rush to the army headquarters immediately, saying that Chuikov wanted to see him. Knowing that Chuikov wanted to see him, Sokov didn't dare to neglect, and immediately took Samoilov and his third platoon to the headquarters of the group army.

As soon as he entered the city, Sokov smelled a disgusting pungent smell in the air. According to his experience, it was a mixture of charred charcoal, burnt bricks and burnt corpses. . There was a thick layer of ash on the ground, and after the vehicle passed by, it immediately rose high, making people feel as if the ground was smoking.

The street trees on both sides of the street, without a single green branch, were all scorched by the fire. Were all that remained of the wooden houses a heap of ashes and a lone chimney? Even many of the solid stone buildings had been burned, their floors crumbling, and nothing but empty frames of doors and windows remained. Occasionally, I saw one or two intact houses, and I could see the residents living here, who were busy moving out the baggage and various usable items, preparing to take them to the pier.

Sokov also saw some soldiers responsible for clearing the ruins, sitting on the side of the road expressionlessly, eating rusk and cheese slices. Facing the convoy passing by in front of them, raising a pile of ashes, it seemed that they didn't see it.

However, after the convoy drove forward for a certain distance, it had to stop. The pile of bricks, stones and rubble on the street ahead had blocked the road tightly, making it impossible for vehicles to pass. Sokov could only order the driver to leave the guard vehicle, and he took the soldiers of the guard platoon and rushed to Pushkin Avenue on foot.

Although he was guided by the traffic controller on duty at the intersection, Sokov still made a lot of effort to reach Pushkin Street, which had been blown into ruins. The sentinel standing guard at the gate probably received a notification from their superiors. Seeing the squad led by Sokov approaching the headquarters, they immediately called Klimov.

After receiving the call from the sentinel, Kerimov immediately walked out of the tunnel and stood on the side of the road to meet Sokov and the others. When Sokov approached, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, welcome to the Army Group Headquarters."

Sokov quickly glanced at Klimov's collar badge, and unexpectedly found that the other party had become a captain's rank, so he smiled and said, "Comrade Captain, congratulations on getting a higher rank."

Klimov grinned, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the Commander is waiting for you, please!"

Sokov left Samoilov and the soldiers of the guard platoon on the street, while he followed Klimov into the tunnel. As soon as he entered the tunnel, Sokov felt dizzy. He stayed in the tunnel of Mamayev Gang for a long time, and he immediately judged that this was a sign of hypoxia.

Seeing Sokov's staggering steps, Kerimov quickly supported him, and said to him apologetically, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I'm sorry, our tunnel has only two exits, and they are not in a straight line. The air is very difficult." Convection is formed, so it is inevitable to feel stuffy, and you can get used to it after a while."

With Klimov's support, Sokov came to Chuikov's headquarters. Chuikov saw that Sokov walked in with Klimov's support, and quickly asked with concern: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Comrade Commander." After finding a seat at the table and sitting down, Sokov tried to squeeze a smile on his face and said, "I think I will be able to adapt to the environment here soon."

Chuikov nodded and returned to the topic: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, take a look at the map of Stalingrad. This city is built on the banks of the Volga River. It is sixty-five kilometers long, but the widest part is only Five kilometers. Now we have limited troops to use, but we have to distribute them on such a wide front for defense. As long as the German army concentrates its forces to attack any point, it can cut our defenders in two parts in the city. If we lose other places, As far as our overall defense is concerned, the impact is very limited, but if the Germans occupy Mamayev Kurgan, then our army will be in a catastrophe..."

Sokov patiently listened to Chuikov's introduction of the current situation in Stalingrad to himself, and thought to himself: Chuikov told me so much, but he just let himself guard the Mamayev Post. In fact, this kind of thing only needs a phone call, so why call yourself to the city?

But before he asked his own question, he heard Chuikov say: "The superior has provided us with a batch of bullet mines. As long as the enemy steps on them, they can penetrate the soles of the enemy's feet. Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you should know , sometimes it is better to wound an enemy in the field than to kill him. A wounded soldier cannot be left alone by his comrades, and in order to help him leave the field several soldiers are often required to assist him, thus Once it comes, it is equivalent to reducing the enemy's strength by several people.

The superior allocated a thousand bullets and mines for us, and I plan to share some of them with you, so that you can use them on the battlefield to defend Mamayev Gang. The warhead of this kind of bullet mine is a bullet, which looks like an iron nail and is hollow inside, equipped with a striker, a striker spring and a simple safety mechanism. Before use, you need to press the shell into the ground, and then press the bullet into the shell. When you hear a "click", it means that the firing pin has been pressed in place. The safety mechanism blocks the firing pin. When the enemy steps on the bullet mine, the safety The mechanism releases the firing pin to strike the primer of the bullet, piercing the enemy's feet. ..."

When Sokov was in a later life, he once read an online novel, saying that the use of bullet mines is quite convenient, as long as they are scattered on the ground and covered with soil, they can be used. However, after listening to Cuikov's introduction to the installation and use of bullet mines, he found that these miniature landmines are useless. Even if they are placed in front of their own positions, they are of no use. Most of them can be wiped out by the enemy's artillery fire. . Maybe in the end, the enemy didn't blow up, but his own people were blown up instead.

In order not to make Chuikov angry, he explained with high-sounding reasons: "Comrade commander, this kind of bullet mine is really a good thing, but I think the troops in the city need it more than I do, so let's distribute it to them first. As for You don’t have to worry about the defense of Mamayev Gang, I have plenty of ways to deal with the enemy.”

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Seeing that Sokov rejected Cuikov's kindness, Krylov, who stood beside him silently, was a little unhappy: "Do you know that the superior sent someone to send us bullets and mines?" After that, how many troops rushed to ask for it, but the comrade commander didn't give it to you, it was specially reserved for you, who knows that you don't want it."

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff." From Sokov's tone of voice, Chuikov heard that he was unwilling to ask for the batch of bullets and mines, and he didn't force it. Instead, he said to Krylov: "Since Lieutenant Colonel Sokov If you don’t want this batch of bullets and mines, then let them be used by the troops directly under the group army.”

Next, Chuikov explained some precautions to Sokov, waved his hand at him, and said, "Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you have nothing to do here. Go back to Mamayev Post." Sokov agreed, raised his hand in salute, turned and walked out of the headquarters.

Seeing Sokov coming out of the cave, Samoilov immediately went up to him and asked, "Comrade Brigadier, shall we go back to Mamayev Post?"

As he walked along the street, Samoilov couldn't help asking Sokov curiously: "Brigade Commander, I don't know what task Comrade Commander has assigned you?"

"What else can we do?" Sokov said with a wry smile after hearing Samoilov's question, "It's not like asking us to do everything we can to defend Mamayev Post and prevent the enemy from occupying it. ..."

Sokov and Samoilov were talking, turned a street corner, and inadvertently found a group of soldiers in gray military uniforms, German-style helmets, and holding Mauser rifles or MP40 submachine guns. They were forming a detachment shape, and slowly searched forward in the direction where he was.

"It's the Germans." As soon as Sokov shouted this sentence, he held the assault rifle on his shoulder in his hand, and pulled the trigger on the opposite German army first. Just two bursts of fire knocked down the soldier who was walking in the front, and the rest of the soldiers quickly squatted down or hid in the ruins to avoid the bullets flying from the front.

After Sokov's gunshot rang out, Samoilov was taken aback for a moment, and then he also found the bullet in front, and quickly shouted: "There are Germans ahead, kill them." After shouting, he pulled out the gun at his waist. pistol, and fired two shots at the hidden position of the German army.

The guard platoon following behind heard that there were Germans ahead, and rushed up. In such an urgent situation, they never thought of using the terrain to hide, but subconsciously used the weapons in their hands to fire at the enemy's hiding place, hoping to rely on their own firepower to suppress and destroy the opponent.

The Germans had already found a place to hide, and their casualties were almost negligible in the face of the barrage of bullets from the guard platoon. On the contrary, the crowded guard platoon soldiers became their targets. After a burst of gunshots, seven or eight soldiers fell down around Sokov.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Sokov quickly shouted: "Quickly retreat and find a place to hide."

Hearing Sokov's shout, the soldiers in the guard platoon slowly backed away while fighting. But Sokov stayed at the end, shooting while retreating, using the powerful firepower of the assault rifle to cover the retreat of the soldiers.

After retreating to the corner, the bullets of Sokov's assault rifle were also emptied. He hid behind a broken wall, calmly replaced a new magazine, and then told Samoilov: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, immediately Send someone to notify the Army Group Command, saying that the Germans have entered the city and we are blocking them, please move them as soon as possible or prepare for battle."

As soon as the soldiers sent by Samoilov left, the German army launched an attack. They were afraid that the Soviet army would hide behind the corner and shoot coldly, so they threw a few grenades from the other side of the corner before charging. Seeing the grenades emitting white smoke, Sokov fell to the ground one after another, and quickly shouted: "Grenade, quickly hide." After shouting, he quickly squatted down and hid behind the low wall.

Amidst the continuous explosions, Sokov heard screams not far away. It should be those soldiers who did not hide well and were injured by grenades. But at this time, he had no time to pay attention to the condition of the wounded. As soon as the explosion was over, he immediately stood up straight and aimed his gun at the corner. Seeing a few shadowy figures in the smoke, he pulled the trigger without hesitation and fired several bursts.

After those figures fell down, there were bursting bean-like gunshots all around. It was soldiers from the guard platoon who were shooting at the German troops who were trying to rush over. The dense firepower composed of more than 50 submachine guns and rifles blocked the corner. As long as the German army rushed out from the corner, they would definitely be smashed into a sieve by random guns.

"Comrade Brigadier," Samoilov rushed to Sukov's side and said loudly to him, "This place is too dangerous. You'd better go to the Army Group Headquarters to take shelter. The enemies here will be handed over to us." Handle."