Red Moscow

"Chief of Staff," Sokov's first reaction was what happened at the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Factory, and he quickly asked Sidolin: "Is the situation in the two factories in the north getting worse?"

"No," Sidolin said blankly, "Since the enemy's ammunition depot was blown up by us, and the ammunition they carried was running low after yesterday's battle, it stands to reason that they have no power to launch a new attack." It's a massive attack."

"Strange!" Sokov frowned and said, "Since the enemy is launching a large-scale attack to the north of us, what important thing will happen if Comrade Commander tells me to go there?"

Sidolin didn't speak, but just shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, indicating that he didn't know what happened.

Sokov picked up the phone on the table and said into the receiver: "Major Tenev? I'm Sokov! I'll give you five minutes to get Samoilov to gather his men immediately, Then come with me on a mission."

"Comrade Commander," Tenev asked respectfully when he heard the call from Sokov, "Can you tell me where to go to perform the mission?"

"Go to the group army headquarters."

"Comrade Commander, from here to the Army Group Headquarters, you may encounter small enemy units on the way." Tenev said on the other end of the phone: "There are too few platoons. In order to ensure your safety, I think thank you Lieutenant Lieu Sha's bodyguards are on board."

"No need, Comrade Major." Sokov rejected Tenev's kindness, "Leading a company march in broad daylight. The target is too big and easy to be bombed by the enemy. Let Second Lieutenant Samoilov take his Platoon, carry out the mission with me."

After Samoilov's guard platoon was withdrawn from the Workers' New Village, it was replenished again, and now the total number of the platoon has reached sixty. After receiving Tenev's order, Samoilov immediately gathered the soldiers who were resting and escorted Sokov to the headquarters.

On the way, Samoilov asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade commander, the commander asked you to go to the headquarters. Is there any new task for us?"

"Yes, we went this time to accept an important task." After answering the other party's question, Sokov didn't wait for him to ask again, and said, "But what task is it, I don't know now .”

Sokov walked into the headquarters, just in time to see that Krylov had just put down the phone, and quickly raised his hand to salute him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I was ordered to come here to accept the task, please give the order."

Krylov turned to Gurov, who was writing at his desk, and asked, "Comrade Military Commissar, have you seen where the commander has gone?"

"The commander of the 37th Guards Division came to him just now, and the two went outside to talk." Gurov put down the pen in his hand and said proactively, "I'll go out and call him."

After Gurov left, Sokov stared curiously at the handwritten papers on the table, wondering what Gurov was writing, and actually wrote such a thick stack. Seeing that Sokov's attention was focused on those papers, Krylov reached out and picked up one, handed it to Sokov, and said briefly: "Look, Comrade Colonel."

Sokov took the paper, and the two words at the top of the page shocked him immediately: "Death notice!"

Below it read: "Dear Nadezhda Ivanovna Karinkina!

It is with great sadness that I write this letter to you. I beg you to focus on courage and fortitude. Your son, Second Lieutenant of the Guards, Alexander Buyanov, died heroically in the struggle against the German invaders. He dedicated his youthful life to the freedom and independence of our motherland. I have the honor to tell you: your son is a hero and you can be proud of him…. "In the back, there are some experience of this Guards second lieutenant in battle, as well as Gurov's words of praise for him.

After reading the death notice in his hand, Sokov stared at the thick stack of papers on the table, and asked in surprise, "Comrade Chief of Staff, are these death notices handwritten by the military commissar?"

"Yes." Krylov sighed, and said: "It stands to reason that these death notices can be typed out by typists, but Comrade Gurov insisted on writing them by hand. Now he has to write more than a hundred letters every day. In one day, he wrote more than 400 copies of death notices. We have persuaded him several times, but he still insisted on doing so..."

While talking, Gurov and Chuikov had already walked in from the outside. Sokov hurriedly stepped forward to salute Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, Commander of the 41st Guards Division..."

"All right, all right, don't report!" Cuikov interrupted Sokov's report, walked straight to the table, and asked casually, "How long have you been here?"

"Just arrived!"

Chuikov nodded, then waved to Sokov, beckoning him to come to the table, pointed to the map and said to him: "Colonel Sokov, let me ask you, if there is an army of more than 30,000 people on the east bank Troops, how long will it take you to cross the river with their weapons?"

Sokov didn't expect Chuikov to call him all the way to ask such a question. After thinking for a while, he asked back: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, how many ships can you provide to transport my troops?"

"Colonel Sokov," Chuikov did not answer the question, but winked at Krylov who was next to him, indicating that he should answer the question. Krylov nodded, and said to Sokov: "You should be very clear that the fleet in charge of transporting the river not only needs to transport soldiers, but also needs to transport various supplies needed in the city. I think at best it can only provide transport a battalion of ships at a time."

"What, only one battalion can be transported at a time?" Sokov heard Krylov say this, and couldn't help asking: "However, the previous ships could transport one regiment or even more troops at a time. ?”

"The enemy blocked the Volga River with air force and artillery. Many ships of the Volga River Fleet were sunk, and the new supply ships have not yet been delivered, which greatly reduced the fleet's transportation capacity." Krylov explained. After finishing the reason, he looked at Sokov and asked, "How about it, Colonel Sokov, how long do you think it will take to transport more than 30,000 people into the city?"

Sokov was stumped by this problem. He frowned and calculated silently for a long time, and finally said with some hesitation: "I think it will take five or six days at the earliest."

"You miscalculated." Krylov shook his head and said, "In five or six days, the fleet cannot transport so many troops into the city. It will take at least ten days."

Chuikov waited for Krylov to finish speaking, and suddenly asked Sokov again: "Colonel Sokov, if I order you to cross the river and enter the city with more than 30,000 people within three days, can you do it? "

Perhaps sensing that Sokov was about to shake his head, he pointed with his hand and said, "You can't say there is no way." He raised his hand and looked at his watch, "I'll give you an hour, and you have to find a way for me. "

In three days, more than 30,000 troops crossed the river and entered the city. This problem stumped Sokov. He thought to himself: There are only a few ships to transport troops, and the speed will not be fast even if you want to, unless there is a bridge. Thinking of the bridge, Sukov couldn't help but a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind. He suddenly raised his head, looked at Chuikov and said, "Comrade Commander, I have already thought of a way to let the troops cross the river in a short time."