Red Moscow

On the way, Shamrih suddenly asked inappropriately: "Comrade commander, does the commander of our battalion know about the fact that our battalion went to fight in the area of ​​​​friendly troops?"

Shamrich's words stopped Sokov. He thought about it carefully. Whether he went to the third battalion last night or transferred the marine battalion today, he didn't seem to have greeted their commander Belkin. He shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Captain, if you don't remind me, I will almost forget that there is still a downsizing regiment. But don't worry, although I am not at the headquarters, the chief of staff will definitely discuss this matter with Bell. Captain Jin breathed it out."

In order to resolve his embarrassment, Sokov promptly changed the topic and asked: "Comrade Captain, let me ask you, how do you plan to deploy the defense line when you reach the gully later?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Shamrih's surprised expression flashed across his face, and he said with some puzzlement: "Of course, at least two lines of defense are built in the gully to prevent the enemy from advancing along the gully." out to the Volga."

"Wrong, Comrade Captain, wrong." Seeing Shamrikh's surprised expression, Sokov said with some pride: "The ditch is full of furnace ash, and it is very difficult to build a defense line. Even if it is barely Two lines of defense have been built, and the enemy only needs to use mortars to destroy your line of defense."

Shamrih received the task of guarding the gully between the Red October factory and the Barricade factory, but he didn't know anything about the terrain there. Hearing that Sokov denied his plan to build a defense line at this moment, he was not discouraged, but asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, tell me, what should we do?"

"Since it is impossible to build a line of defense in the gully," Sokov said with a smile, "then you can put the main force on both sides of the gully, and when the enemy enters the gully, you can attack them from a high position. In this way The enemy can be wiped out, and the casualties of the troops themselves will not be too great."

For Sokov's statement, Shamrih was dubious, and he asked with some hesitation: "Comrade commander, can this be done?"

"It's okay, wait until we get to the gully and look at the terrain there." Sukov didn't want to waste too much time on this issue with Shamrih: "Before we see the real terrain, we formulate No amount of planning is on paper."

The troops were passing through the Red October factory when they encountered a patrol inside the factory. The captain is a foreman in the assembly workshop. When he saw Sokov leading hundreds of sailors into the factory, his eyes lit up. He quickly raised his hand to stop his subordinates, and then ran all the way to Sokov. , raised his hand to salute him, and asked excitedly: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov!"

He tilted his head and glanced at the hundreds of sailors behind Sokov, and asked excitedly, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are these the reinforcements you brought?"

"Comrade foreman," Sokov knew him, but he couldn't recognize his name, he could only address him by his position: "I will take these soldiers to the ditch between your factory and the barricade factory, Deploy the defenses there to catch the enemy who might rush to the banks of the Volga."

Knowing that the soldiers brought by Sokov were not here to reinforce the factory, the foreman was somewhat disappointed. But he still asked politely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you need me to send someone to be your guide?"

Just when Sokov was on the road, he had been thinking about whether he should find a guide so as not to get lost with his troops. Hearing what the foreman said at this moment, he quickly nodded with a smile and said, "That's really great, comrade foreman. Then please, find us a reliable guide and take us to the ditch."

"Voroni!" The foreman turned his head and shouted at the patrol standing not far away. Following his shout, a young militiaman ran out from the queue. He came to the foreman, straightened his body and waited for the order. The foreman pointed at Sokov and told him: "Voroni, you guide Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and take him and his troops to flush the ditch!"

"Understood, Comrade Foreman." Hearing the foreman's order, Voroni quickly and loudly agreed.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I wish you good luck!" After the foreman finished speaking, he shook hands with Sokov first, then raised his hand as a military salute, turned back to his patrol team, and led them to continue patrolling in the factory.

"Voroni," Sokov saw thick smoke billowing from the north, obscuring the sky as the troops continued on their way, apparently burning buildings somewhere. He pointed to the direction of the fire, and asked the young man Voroni who was acting as his guide: "What is that place over there?"

"It's the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Plant," Voroni said, looking at the place where the smoke was billowing. "Yesterday the enemy bombed first, and then bombed them with planes. The fire has been burning since yesterday, and it hasn't been extinguished until now." .These bloody Germans, what they have done to us, they will pay double, sooner or later."

"Comrade Voroni, you are right." Sokov raised his hand and patted Voroni on the shoulder twice, saying, "Sooner or later we will demand the blood debt from the Germans."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Voroni said emotionally, looking at Sokov, "do you know that you are a legend in our factory!"

"Legendary?!" Sokov asked a little puzzled: "Comrade Voroni, how could I become a legend?"

"The fighters of the extermination battalion, the militia and the workers in the assembly workshop who fought side by side with you have seen with their own eyes the brilliant achievements you have achieved." Voroni tilted his head and looked at Sukov, and said with a look of admiration: "They all Said, as long as you are in the area, no matter how many planes, tanks and artillery the enemy has, they will never move forward."

"Comrade Voroni, these are all rumors." Sokov waved his hand at the opponent, and said modestly: "I did command troops to win some battles, but it's not as amazing as you say."

"It seems that two days ago, the 308th Division and the 95th Division had to withdraw from the battle and transfer to our factory in order to prevent being encircled by the enemy." Facing Sokov's low-key, Voroni became even more excited: "Listen It is said that a regiment they deployed in the north to cover the breakout was almost wiped out in less than an hour. I heard from those soldiers that they thought they would never be able to retreat to the factory area, but at this moment, A regiment you sent rushed to take over the defense, easily blocked the enemy's attack, and even continued to take counterattacks, recovering a large number of lost positions..."

It was the first time Shamrih heard what Voroni said. In order to understand the battle situation at that time, he deliberately walked beside Voroni, fearing that if he missed a certain sentence from the other party, he would not hear the complete story.

After telling the story he knew, Voroni said excitedly and loudly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if your troops hadn't acted in time, I am afraid that today the factory area would not be as peaceful as it is now. Maybe we are somewhere, and the intruder The enemies in the factory area are fighting. Comrade Lieutenant Colonel..."

Speaking of this, Voroni suddenly stopped. He had just seen Sokov's collar patch clearly. The vertical bars representing the rank mark were not three but four. So, after a while, he said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, I didn't see your rank clearly just now!"

"It's okay, Comrade Voroni." Sokov waved his hand and said relaxedly: "I also just got the rank of colonel not long ago. When I fought in the Red October factory, I was indeed a lieutenant colonel."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov... No, it's Comrade Colonel." Seeing that Sokov didn't blame himself, Voroni asked cautiously, "Will you bring troops to our factory to participate in the defense?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Voroni, I can't answer this question for you." When Sokov said this, he glanced in the direction of the smoky Dzerzhinsky Tractor Plant, and then said: "Some time ago, the enemy The focus of the attack was placed on the Red October factory. The superiors saw that my troops were close, so they sent me to support them. Now the enemy seems to be more interested in taking down the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory, so in the next In the coming days, it should be the focus of our army's defense."

Although Sokov did not say clearly whether he would return to the Red October factory, Voroni still heard what he meant from his words, and said regretfully: "That is really a pity. Since you After becoming a legend, the workers in our factory want to know you. I think everyone will feel sorry if you don’t come to our factory in the future.”

"Comrade Voroni," Sokov replied with a smile when he heard Voroni say this: "This battle will not be over soon, that is to say, we will have a lot of opportunities to fight side by side in the future. At that time, your factory The workers here will be able to see me."

"That's really great." Voroni said excitedly: "When I return to the factory, I will definitely tell my workers what you said, and they will be very happy."

The conversation between the two made Shamrih on the side in amazement. From Voroni's narration, he learned about the series of achievements Sokov had made, which gave him a better understanding of Sokov. . In the past, he obeyed Sokov because he was disobedient because of his superiors and subordinates; but now, he is sincerely convinced by Sokov.

Sokov was busy talking to Voroni, and didn't notice the change of expression on Shamrich's face: "Comrade Voroni, tell me about the terrain in the gully."

"Comrade Colonel," Voroni heard Sukov's question, and quickly replied respectfully: "The gully was formed by the impact of the river water. It is about three kilometers long, and the wide part is two hundred meters. The place is also seventy or eighty meters long. Since there is no river water in the gully, both our factory and the barricade factory dumped the ash produced in the ditch..."

While listening to Voroni's narration, Sokov imagined in his mind how the troops should deploy their defenses. After waiting for Voroni to finish speaking, he asked, "Comrade Voroni, can tanks or armored vehicles be driven in the ditch?"

"No," Voroni shook his head like a rattle when he heard Sukov's question: "Don't look at the width of the gully ranging from seventy or eighty meters to two hundred meters, but because the ditch is full of furnaces Ashes, there is only a two or three meter wide path in the middle, paved with tracks, which can be used by the mine carts dumping the furnace ash."

After Voroni's narration, whether it was Sokov or Shamrih, the two already had a perceptual understanding of the terrain of the gully. Shamrich thought to himself: "It seems that Comrade Commander's idea is correct. It is impossible to build a solid fortification in the gully. Even if he barely builds two lines of defense according to his own idea, the German army only needs to use mortars to attack the enemy." Once the cannon hits, it will soon be defeated."

"Comrade Captain," just as Shamrich was thinking wildly, he suddenly heard Sokov calling himself, and quickly turned his head to look at Sokov, only to hear the other party ask: "After the introduction of Comrade Voroni, you I also have a certain understanding of the terrain of the gully, tell me, how do you plan to organize defense in the gully?"

"Comrade Commander," Shamrih is also an experienced commander. After understanding the terrain, he quickly thought of a defense plan in his mind, and when he heard Sokov ask himself, he immediately said: " I plan to place a company in the middle of the gully for frontal defense, while the main force of the battalion will lie in ambush on both sides of the gully, and after the enemy enters the ambush circle, I will give them a hard blow by surprise."

Regarding Shamrikh's plan, Sokov still questioned: "Comrade Captain, what kind of fortifications do you plan to let them build for this company deployed in the gully?"

Shamrich turned his head and glanced at Voroni, and then said: "Comrade commander, just now Voroni said that there is a track for mine cars in the middle of the furnace ash in the gully. These mine carts are placed in the middle of the road, and sandbags are piled on the side to quickly form a simple fortification. Although such a fortification is simple, it may not be an easy task for the Germans to pass through."

Sokov thought to himself, the ditch is full of furnace ash, the Germans can't walk on those furnace ash, they can only move forward through the middle path, if Shamrich and the others really use mine carts and Sandbags build a line of defense, which can indeed block the enemy's attack. When the enemy is crowded in the gully and the troops ambushing on the two wings are attacking, the enemies who enter the gully at that time will, if not be completely wiped out, at least lose their vitality.

"Comrade Captain, you are very thoughtful." Sokov nodded and agreed with Shamrikh's plan: "After we reach the gully later, we will deploy defenses according to your plan."

The troops walked forward for more than 20 minutes, and finally came to the gully. Sokov stood on the edge of the gully, looked into the ditch, and saw that the pile of furnace ash inside was at least seven or eight meters high, and there was a path in the middle for the mine cart that dumped the furnace ash. After viewing the terrain, Sokov turned around and said to Shamrich: "Comrade Captain, first take your company commanders to familiarize themselves with the terrain, and then immediately start deploying defenses."