Red Moscow

The counterattack led by Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko was more effective than Sukov imagined. In less than half an hour, the enemies who entered the sewer were either killed or driven out.

When receiving Papchenko's report, Sokov's first reaction was: Isn't he lying about military information? With this question in mind, he asked inexplicably: "Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, I heard that the German army has occupied most of the sewers in the west of the square, how could you regain your position in such a short period of time? "

"Comrade Commander," Papchenko, who had just returned to the command post, replied emotionally: "Our soldiers have been in the sewer for several days and have already adapted to the light here. Even without any lighting equipment, We can also see the road clearly. The Germans have just entered the sewers and have not fully adapted to them. They have to use flashlights or other lighting tools when they act. Before launching a counterattack, I told the soldiers that as long as they saw someone any moving figures using lighting equipment, shoot immediately and without hesitation."

Knowing that Papchenko's troops were shooting at a possible enemy target without any lighting, Sokov asked with some concern: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are you not afraid of accidental injury?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Papchenko replied: "Since there are no troops in the sewer on the west side of the square, as long as we are advancing, as long as we see an oncoming figure, it must be the enemy." , they shot without hesitation. And the enemy often fell under our guns before recovering."

"Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, you did a good job!" After hearing the tactics implemented by Papchenko, Sokov first praised, and then reminded the other party: "You must learn from this lesson, and don't let the enemy occupy the sewer again. .If they take over the sewers again, it may not be so easy for you to get them out."

"I am organizing manpower to block some areas that are easy to be controlled by the German army with sandbags and landmines." Papchenko assured Sokov on the phone: "In this way, if the enemy wants to occupy the sewer again, they will It's going to be very difficult."

Just as Sokov put down the phone, the phone rang again. He thought that Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko had something to say, so he grabbed the phone and pressed it to his ear and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what else is there?" something?"

After a brief silence, Peter's voice came from the receiver: "Is this Colonel Sokov? I'm Peter."

"Hello, Comrade Director." Sukov heard Peter's voice, and asked tentatively, "Do you want to find Comrade Zinchenko? I'll let him answer the phone right away."

Before Sokov could remove the receiver from his ear, Peter said, "Colonel Sokov, I'm not looking for him, but you."

"Looking for me?" Sokov thought to himself, what did Director Peter call me for? Could it be that he changed his mind and planned to hand over all the old tanks collected from the battlefield to himself? With such doubts, he asked cautiously: "Comrade director, what's the matter?"

"Didn't you ask me to produce 20,000 grenades for you a few days ago?" Peter said calmly on the phone: "You immediately send someone to the factory building and take all the grenades away. Let me remind you , If you arrive late and are taken away by other troops, I will not be responsible."

"Comrade director, I'll call Mamayev Gang right now and ask them to send someone to get the grenades from you." Sokov was afraid that Peter would really hand over the grenades to other troops, so he quickly spoke into the microphone Said: "Before dark, you must not give these grenades to other troops."

"Okay, I'll wait for you until dark." Peter said angrily, "If you haven't sent someone to collect the grenades after dark, I'll hand them over to other troops. Anyway, those who want the grenades There are many."

Sokov was worried that the fat in his mouth would fly away, so he hurriedly called the division headquarters on Mamayev Gang. Hearing Sidolin's voice, he ignored the greetings and said straight to the point: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the 20,000 hand grenades produced by the Red October factory for us have already been produced. Send troops to the factory to collect it."

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Zinchenko smiled and said to him: "Comrade Colonel, please forgive me, since many troops are staring at the batch of grenades, if you don't send someone to watch them as soon as possible, I'm afraid the It will be taken away by other troops soon, and I am afraid that even the director of the factory, Peter, will not be able to stop it."

Zinchenko's words reminded Sokov that the troops in the city are now facing a shortage of ammunition. With 20,000 grenades, at least in a short period of time, there is no need to fight the enemy with bayonets. If any troops had forcibly left the grenade, I am afraid Cuikov and the others would not say anything. After all, the starting point of these troops was to better defend the city.

In order to prevent the batch of grenades produced for him from being preempted by other troops, Sokov hurriedly shouted to the door: "Second Lieutenant Samoilov, Second Lieutenant Samoilov!" He shouted twice , but did not hear anyone agreeing, he remembered that he had sent Samoilov to escort the battalion commander who retreated without authorization to the army headquarters.

"Comrade Colonel," Zinchenko heard Sokov calling Samoilov, and quickly reminded him, "You sent him to escort the major who retreated without authorization to the headquarters of the Army Group."

Sokov snorted, and then said to Zinchenko: "Comrade deputy factory director, I want to go to the factory building. If someone calls me, you can ask them to call the factory department."

"Don't worry." Zinchenko nodded and said, "I'll let those people call you in the factory building."

Sokov led the remaining five guard platoon fighters through the factory area full of bomb craters and arrived at the factory headquarters building. After not coming for a long time, Sokov found that the place had changed. There were trenches dug around the building, and barbed wire fences were pulled over. On both sides of the entrance of the building, a reinforced concrete bunker was built on each side.

Seeing Sokov and his party approaching, two militiamen immediately greeted them, and one of them, an elderly militiaman, asked politely, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"

"I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 41st Guards Division." In order not to cause unnecessary trouble, Sokov directly stated his identity and purpose of coming: "I am here to find Director Peter."

The old militiaman who asked the question might have just been transferred from another place and didn't know Sokov at all. However, after hearing Sokov reveal his identity and purpose, he still said politely: "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment, I will make a call."

Not long after the phone call, the old militiaman came over and said with a smile on his face, "I have already called inside, and the factory office will send someone to wait for you at the door."

After thanking the old militiamen, Sokov walked through the barbed wire and trenches to the factory headquarters building. A middle-aged man wearing glasses stood at the door. As soon as he saw Sokov, he tentatively asked, "Is that Colonel Sokov?"

"Yes, it's me." Sokov looked at the other party and asked, "Are you?"

"I am a clerk in the factory office," the other party replied with a smile, "I was ordered to come here to pick you up. Comrade factory director is waiting for you in the office, please follow me."

The clerk brought Sokov and his party to the factory director's office, and went up to whisper a few words with the secretary sitting in the outer office. The secretary got up and walked towards Sokov, and said with a smile on his face: "Comrade Colonel, you are here. The factory director is waiting for you inside, please come in quickly!"

Sokov said to the soldiers who followed behind him: "You stay here and wait for me." After speaking, he followed the attentive secretary and walked quickly to the office with the closed door.

Seeing Sokov follow the secretary into the office, Peter quickly stood up, walked out from behind the desk, held Sokov's hand, and said, "Comrade Colonel, I really didn't expect that we would meet again so soon."

After shaking hands with Peter, Sokov sat down next to the conference table in the room, and asked impatiently, "Comrade factory director, I would like to ask, where are the newly produced grenades stored?"

Seeing Sokov in such a hurry, Peter couldn't help but smile. After he sat down opposite Sokov, he said unhurriedly: "Comrade Colonel, don't worry. Since these grenades are custom-made for you, no matter which army sends someone, don't even try to get them." Take these grenades."

Looking at Peter who was sitting across from him with a smile on his face, Sokov suddenly realized that he might have been deceived. The other party tricked himself here with a grenade, and it might be something important. After a long breath of relief, he threw his body back, leaned his back against the back of the chair and asked, "Comrade factory director, did you call me here for something important?"

"It's like this. I just received a call from the Weapons and Equipment Department." Peter restrained his smile and said blankly, "They asked about prototypes of ball tanks and new tanks, and said they were going to ship them back to Moscow in the near future. , let me get ready."

Sokov never dreamed that Peter tricked himself into talking about this matter. He stood up suddenly and said to Peter: "Comrade director, I think you should know that the prototype of the new tank and several other A T-34 tank is hidden near the factory gate, ready to go into battle at any time; and the ball tank was hidden near Orlovka by Colonel Bely's men in the last battle. Only the person involved knows the location."

"Then what should we do?" Peter waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and said blankly: "You know, the use of these two prototype vehicles must be authorized by the superior, and I made an exception because of the tense battle. I lent it to you. If I can’t return it, the superior will ask me, how should I answer?”

"Let's be honest." Not to mention that the spherical tank hidden in the Orlovka area cannot be retrieved, even if it can be retrieved, Sokov is unwilling to return it to Peter. After all, this kind of tank can play a huge role on the battlefield. Its role must be hidden in the basement of the factory. "If asked by superiors, you can say that both tanks were destroyed in the battle."

Seeing Sokov opening his eyes and talking nonsense, Peter was really dumbfounded. When he privately handed over the two prototype cars to Sokov, he never thought that he would be able to take them back intact. If his superiors hadn't called specifically to ask about the two prototype cars, he probably would have forgotten about it. up.

Peter looked at Sokov with a faint smile, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, if you really follow what you said, I may be dismissed by my superiors. When a new factory manager is replaced, I don't know if he can still maintain the same attitude towards you." Existing level of support?"

Peter's words made Sokov fall into deep thought, although a few hours ago, the two had some unpleasantness because of the problem of the tank. But in all fairness, Peter did a pretty good job of supporting himself. If he hadn't provided so many tanks and explosives, he would have paid a heavier price to block the enemy's attack. If Peter is really dismissed as the factory director, it is still unknown whether the new leader will buy his account.

After some thought, Sokov gritted his molars and said: "Comrade factory director, if the superior wants to blame you, you can put the blame on me. Don't look at me as a colonel, but when it comes to weapons and equipment With Comrade Ustinov in the Ministry, I can still talk more or less."

In fact, Peter had already dealt with the matter when he received a call from the Weapons and Equipment Department. The reason why he mentioned it to Sokov was to test him and see how he reacted. Fortunately, Sokov did not shirk his responsibility, and took the initiative to take the blame on himself. Peter was very satisfied with his attitude.

He got up and walked to Sokov's side, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Okay, Comrade Colonel, since you are willing to take responsibility. Then next time the Armament Department will call again, and I will I will reply according to your words."

Before Sokov could express his opinion, the phone on the desk rang. Peter walked over and picked up the microphone: "I'm Peter, where are you? ... That's right, the colonel is with me? ... Do you want to talk to him? ... Understood, I will let him go to you immediately report!"

"Comrade Director," Sokov guessed that the call Peter answered had something to do with him, and as soon as he put down the phone, he asked anxiously, "Who is calling?"

"It's General Chuikov." Peter replied, "He said he was looking for you urgently and asked you to go to the Army Group headquarters immediately."

Knowing that Chuikov needed to find him in a hurry, Sokov couldn't sit still, and quickly got up to say goodbye to Peter. But Peter stopped him: "Comrade Colonel, I don't think it's appropriate for you to meet the commander like this."

Sokov lowered his head and glanced at himself, only to see that the army coat was covered with dried mud. It was indeed a bit inappropriate to meet Chuikov in such a dress. He said with some embarrassment: "But, Comrade Factory Manager, I only have this military overcoat, and I have nothing to change."

"Don't worry, I have a military coat here, you can wear it first." After finishing speaking, he walked to the desk, bent down and took out a folded military coat from the cabinet below, the corners of his mouth twitching violently After a few clicks, he handed the military coat to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, you can wear this."

Sokov took the overcoat and saw that it was a sergeant's overcoat. He didn't think about why Peter had a soldier's military coat here, so he took off the military coat on his body and put on this military coat. After changing his clothes, he expressed his thanks to Peter, raised his hand in salute, turned and walked out of the office.

The secretary sitting in the outer office saw the military coat on Sokov with a shocked expression on his face. Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Secretary, do you recognize this military coat?"

"Yes!" The secretary nodded vigorously and replied, "This is the military coat left by the factory director's son. He usually hides it in the cabinet like a treasure. I really didn't expect that he would give this military coat to the factory manager." you."

"Peter's son is also a soldier!" Sokov asked with some surprise: "Comrade Secretary, do you know which unit he is in?" Sokov's purpose of asking this was to meet the son of Factory Chief in the future. , you can take care of each other a lot.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the secretary smiled wryly and said, "Peter's son died in the battle to defend Moscow last year. This military coat is his relic."