Red Moscow

"Peter the factory director," Sokov saw clearly that the person who was pulling his skirt was the factory director Peter, so he grabbed his hand, carefully pulled the skirt of his military coat out of his hand, and said pleasantly at the same time: "Please let go of my clothes, and then I will explain to you slowly."

Balshak was outside just now, and he already knew the reason why Sokov led his troops to retreat, so he hurried over to help Sokov and said good things: "Comrade factory director, there is a reason why Colonel Sokov abandoned the workers' new village. Don't get angry. , sit down and drink a cup of tea, and listen to the explanation given by Comrade Colonel."

Peter let go of Sokov's skirt, sat on the chair brought by Zinchenko, and said angrily to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, you said that the troops guarding the workers' new village lack anti-tank weapons and need to be equipped with anti-tank weapons. Tank, I risked being punished by my superiors, and dispatched six tanks to you. Who would have thought that you gave up the Workers' New Village without saying a word, I would like to hear how you explain this to me!"

"Factory Director Peter!" Sokov pushed the cup of tea that Zinchenko brought to him in front of Peter, and explained to him: "Yes, I ordered the troops to evacuate the workers' new village, but that was only temporarily, wait After dark, we'll be back there again."

Peter was not an unreasonable person, but he lost his composure just because he was in a moment of anxiety when he heard Sokov say that he had given up the Workers' New Village. Hearing what Sokov said at this moment, he first took a sip of tea, and then said, "Colonel Sokov, please explain to me why the troops are withdrawing from the Workers' New Village."

Sokov saw a defense map of the factory on the table, so he pulled it over, clicked on the position of Workers' New Village, and said to Peter: "Our troops standing firmly in Workers' New Village have repelled two Germans in a row. The Germans probably realized that they had difficulty in capturing the new workers' villages, so they changed their tactics and used artillery to destroy the buildings in the workers' new villages one by one. I think that instead of letting the soldiers enter the buildings, the buildings destroyed by the artillery fire Instead of burying it, it is better to withdraw it first, and then counterattack the enemy through the sewer after dark."

Peter was obviously dissatisfied with Sokov's explanation. He said with a gloomy face: "Half an hour ago, General Chuikov called me and said that the fighting in the direction of the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory was fierce, and the factory might fall at any time. Ask me about the Red October Factory." How is the situation on the other side? If he is confident to stop the enemy, he is going to transfer all the regular troops in the factory to those two factories to participate in the war."

When Peter said this, he couldn't help heaving a long sigh: "I know it's the workers' new village, and you are commanding the troops to fight. Out of trust in you, I told Commander Chuikov that there is no problem for us to guard the factory. I agree with him to transfer all the regular troops in the factory. If the regular troops stationed at the gate of the factory hadn’t been transferred, do you think I would have transferred Borshak’s destroyer battalion here and sent the deputy factory director Zinchenko to sit in charge?”

Hearing what Peter said, Sokov finally understood why Balshak's destroyer battalion was transferred to guard the factory gate. They should be the most effective troops in the Red October factory. Although it is the strongest army, once Workers' New Village falls, it is almost impossible for this army with little combat experience to block the German attack. No wonder Peter just heard that he gave up Workers' New Village. so excited.

"Don't worry, Director Peter." Sukov felt that he needed to give Peter a reassurance, and continued: "Although my troops have been stationed in the workers' new village for less than a day, they are very familiar with the terrain in the sewer. I'm familiar with it. After dark, they will sneak back to the workers' new village through the sewers and destroy the enemies stationed there."

Regarding Sokov's guarantee, Peter didn't fully believe it, but at this moment, he could only pinch his nose and admit it: "Colonel Sokov, can you really retake the Workers' New Village?"

"That's right." Sokov nodded vigorously, and said solemnly, "I assure you, we will definitely be able to retake the Workers' New Village."

The phone on the table rang without warning, making Sokov's heart beat faster. Staring at the ringing phone, he secretly guessed: "Could it be a call from the Army Group Command?"

Zinchenko picked up the phone and said loudly into the microphone: "I am Zinchenko, the deputy director of the factory. Where are you? ... Oh, it is Comrade Gurov, hello, hello! ... Yes, the You are here with me, you want to talk to him?...Please wait a moment, I will hand over the receiver to him right away."

Zinchenko covered the microphone with his hand, handed it to Peter, and said in a low voice: "Comrade factory director, it is Comrade Military Commissar of the Group Army who is looking for you!"

Peter stood up, took the phone in Zinchenko's hand, and said to his ear, "Hello, Comrade Gurov, I'm Peter. Do you have anything important to do? ... What, you want me to send Someone go to Workers' New Village to contact Colonel Sokov?...No, the colonel is sitting in front of me now, do you want to talk to him in person?...Okay, okay, I'll let him answer the phone right away."

Just like that, the phone handset turned around and came into Sokov's hands again. Sokov took the microphone and said with a little confidence: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissioner, I'm Sokov. May I ask what you can do for me?"

"I finally found you, Colonel Sokov." Gurov said anxiously on the phone: "The scouts of the group army reported that the enemy was attacking the workers' new village, but for some reason, we did not see our army fight back. After receiving the report, the Chief of Staff and I immediately contacted your troops in the Workers’ New Village, but we couldn’t get in touch. Therefore, I can only ask for help from Peter, the factory manager, hoping that he can send someone to Workers’ New Village to find out what happened. Since you are here, it is much more convenient. I ask you now, why don't you fight back?"

"The reason is very simple, Comrade Military Commissioner." Sokov said into the microphone: "Because our army has withdrawn from the Workers' New Village, facing the enemy's attack, there must be no one to fight back."

"Damn it, why did you evacuate the New Workers' Village?" After listening to Sokov's answer, Gurov's tone became severe: "Don't you know that once the Germans occupy the New Workers' Village, they can use it as a The starting point of the attack, to launch an attack on the Red October factory at any time?"

Seeing that Gurov was also angry, Sokov could only patiently repeat to him the reasons for abandoning the workers' new village, and finally said: "Comrade military commissar, please tell the commander and chief of staff that my troops will After dark, re-enter the Workers' New Village through the sewers and eliminate the enemies entrenched there."

"Okay, Colonel Sokov." After listening to Sokov's explanation, Gurov felt that the other party's actions were understandable, so he nodded and said, "I will pass this matter on to the commander and chief of staff. Don't let us down, take the Workers' New Village back from the enemy's hands as soon as possible."

"Understood." Seeing that Gurov agreed to his plan, Sokov quickly assured him, "Comrade Military Commissar, I assure you that we will regain all our lost positions before dawn tomorrow."