Red Moscow

"What, your father broke a leg by a shell during the battle to defend the Red October factory?" Sokov originally wanted to send the child away. After all, at his age and body, he had to carry dozens of kilograms The ammunition box is indeed not suitable. But when he heard that the other party's father had participated in the battle to defend the Red October factory, his thoughts changed. He said solemnly, "What's his name?"

"His name is Shakirov," Valoja immediately saw a glimmer of hope when he heard Sokov ask his father's name, and quickly replied, "He's the warehouse manager of the assembly workshop."

Sokov recalled it carefully, and found that he had no concept of the name and didn't know this person at all. He shook his head and said, "Although I have commanded battles in the Red October factory, I have never dealt with your father."

"Comrade Commander," although Sokov said he did not know his father, but for Valoja, the other party was the only life-saving straw, and he could not give up easily: "After my father was disabled, because he did not have a pass, So I couldn’t go to the other side by boat. Fortunately, some time ago, my mother joined the portering team organized by Bochushkin and earned 200 grams of bread and 20 grams of cheese every day. survived."

"Valodya, what are you talking about?" Sokov said just now that Bochushkin might withhold food from the porters. Major Zinoviev thought the other party was alarmist, but now he heard Valodia say that, I couldn't help being shocked. You know, the porters have to risk their lives every day, carry heavy ammunition boxes for more than ten kilometers, and give each person 300 grams of bread and 50 grams of dry sausage or cheese. So much was deducted by Bochushkin. In order to find out what was going on, he hurriedly asked: "Is it true that your mother is a porter and can only get 200 grams of bread and 20 grams of cheese every day?"

"Yes!" Volodya nodded vigorously, and replied: "It's because Bochushkin saw that the situation in my family was difficult, so he specially gave some more. The rest of the porters generally only have 150 grams of bread. As for the dry sausage And cheese is gone."

"My God," Major Zinoviev held his forehead after listening to Valodia's words, feeling that he trusted Bochushkin too credulously, and actually handed over the power of distributing food to him, which made him unscrupulous Ground rations were deducted from the porters. He put down his hand, turned to look at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Colonel, what should we do next?"

"No matter how well Bochushkin is doing, he is very familiar with the situation at the ferry terminal. I don't think it's appropriate to change people hastily." Scum, just shoot him. But under the current circumstances, he could not suggest that Major Zinoviev should be replaced. If the new replacement was not suitable for the job and messed up the handling work at the dock, it would not be worth the loss. It was based on this consideration that Sokov was extra cautious when making suggestions: "It's better to let him continue to be in charge of the current job, but in terms of food distribution, you can send a trusted comrade to supervise, so as to avoid the risk of deducting rations." It happened again."

"What about the child?" Major Zinoviev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then pouted at Valodya, who was still standing in the room, and asked him how to deal with the child's affairs.

"Let the child join the carrying team." Sokov thought for a moment, then said to Zinoviev: "His strength is weak, let him carry a little less each time."

Zinoviev nodded, put his hand on Valodya's shoulder, and said to him: "Son, go back and tell Bochushkin that I agree with you to join the transport team."

Knowing that he could join the transport team, Valoja couldn't help but smile, and quickly bowed to Sokov and Zinoviev, and said repeatedly: "Thank you, Comrade Commander, on behalf of my father, thank you You!" After straightening up his waist, he quickly ran out of the earthen house.

"Comrade Major," Sokov said to Zinoviev with a frown after waiting for Valodya to leave, "The residents who participated in the transportation team not only have to carry ammunition and supplies to walk such a long distance every day, but also carry ammunition and supplies at any time. Is it too little to just give them a ration of 300 grams of bread a day when their lives are in danger?"

"Colonel Sokov, you are right." Zinoviev echoed Sokov's concerns, but the rations of the transport team were determined by the superiors. Even if he, a small major, wanted to change it, I don't have this right either: "However, the ration standard for the porters is set by the superior, so I have no authority to change it."

"So who has the authority to change it?" Sokov asked.

"Naturally, the Minister of Logistics, General Lobov." After Zinoviev finished speaking, he paused for a moment, and then continued: "Of course, the commander of the army group and the chief of staff can also issue the same order."

After hearing this, Sokov nodded slightly, and said, "Okay, I will report this to the commander and ask him to increase the ration standard of these residents who participated in the transport team."

They were talking when Bochushkin came in from outside. As soon as he entered the door, he asked Zinoviev loudly: "Comrade Major, do you agree to allow Valodya to join my transport team?"

"That's right!" Major Zinoviev replied affirmatively, "I agree."

"Comrade Major," Bochushkin became a little anxious when he heard Major Zinoviev say this. How can Luo Jia, a child, be able to do this job?"

After listening to Bochushkin, Sokov said coldly: "If he doesn't work, he and his father will starve to death."

"But he's still a child..."

"Enough!" Before Bochushkin finished speaking, Zinoviev slammed the table and said viciously at the other party: "Let me ask you, why do you want to deduct the rations of the porters? I don’t know, even if you can’t get enough of 300 grams of bread per person per day, and you still deduct half of it in one go, who gave you the courage?”

Bochushkin was startled by Zinoviev's words. He first glanced at Sokov, then at Zinoviev, and said tremblingly, "Comrade Major, do you want me to tell the truth?"

"Say what you want!" Zinoviev said angrily, "If you can't give me a satisfactory answer today, I don't mind sending you to a military court."

Sokov knew that Zinoviev was trying to scare the other party, so he didn't speak, but looked at the two without saying a word, quietly watching the development of the situation.

"Comrade Major, since you have discovered it, I will not hide it from you." Bochushkin explained with a blushing face: "You also know that before the Germans attacked the city, I was a porter on the dock. I have Many colleagues died at the ferry under the bombing of enemy planes, leaving behind their wives and children..."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Bochushkin." Hearing this, Sokov suddenly realized that Bochushkin's motive for withholding the porter's rations was different from his own imagination, so he quickly interrupted him, tentatively Question: "If I understand correctly, you deducted the rations of the porters in order to provide for the wives and children of the dock workers who died?"

Major Zinoviev discovered that Bochushkin withheld the porter's rations, and he was ready to be court-martialed or even shot. But when he heard Sokov say this, he felt that the situation was not as bad as he had imagined, so he nodded quickly and said, "That's right, that's right. Every day I distribute the rations withheld to those women and children. Comrade Colonel, you also know that to go to the east coast by boat, you must have a pass. Those who don't have a pass can only stay in the city and wait to die. In order to prevent the wife and children of such a colleague from starving to death, I can only Figure out this way..."

"Comrade Bochushkin, I know your intentions are good." After finding out the truth about the other party's ration deduction, Sokov's opinion of him changed somewhat: "But have you ever considered that those who participated in the transportation team The residents of the city risk their lives to do such heavy work every day, but they only get a little ration that is not enough to eat. It won't be long before their bodies can't support them. Where can you find enough porters? "

Faced with Sokov's criticism, Bochushkin lowered his head, blushed and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I was wrong..."

"Don't apologize to me, but you should apologize to the porters who have been deducted by you. I can ask Major Zinoviev not to pursue the previous matter, but if there is another situation of deducting rations in the future, You just wait to be court-martialed or shot directly." When Sokov said this, seeing the muscles on Bochushkin's face twitching violently, he guessed that he must be thinking about saving his own life. Still continue to help the orphans and widows of colleagues. In order not to embarrass the other party, he added: "As for the rations of your colleague's widow, I will report to the headquarters and ask them to allocate a part of the food for distribution."

After listening to Sokov's next sentence, Bochushkin's eyes lit up. He took Sokov's hand and said excitedly: "Comrade Colonel, on behalf of my colleagues' wives and children, thank you The generosity of the people. As long as the superiors can really allocate food and prevent them from starving to death, even if I are shot immediately, I have no complaints."

But in order to prevent things from taking too long, Sokov still gave Bochushkin a vaccination in advance: "I can only make suggestions for the superior to distribute food. As for whether it will pass, I can't guarantee it."

"Comrade Colonel," said Bochushkin excitedly, "we would be very grateful if you were willing to present this proposal to your superiors. Whether it will be approved or not depends on our luck."

When Bochushkin was about to leave, Sokov stopped him and said to him: "Comrade Bochushkin, Volodya's father once fought with me at the Red October factory, and now he is disabled and lost. I hope you can take care of him within your ability. For example, send someone to deliver 500 grams of bread and 100 grams of dry sausage to him."

Perhaps because he was worried about Bochushkin's embarrassment, Sokov finally added: "Only this time, don't make another example!"

"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Bochushkin nodded vigorously, and replied, "I will definitely handle what you told me."

After Bochushkin left, Zinoviev sighed softly and replied: "Comrade Colonel, if we cannot repel the German attack in a short time, then not only those residents staying by the river will suffer." If you are hungry, even the troops fighting in the city will also fall into the shortage of ammunition and food."

Regarding Zinoviev's statement, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, and asked in puzzlement: "Now that there are underwater pontoons, shouldn't the supplies coming from the east bank be more abundant? Why are there still shortages of ammunition and food?" What about the situation?"

"Comrade Colonel, you do not know that before the enemy attacked the city, we had many warehouses in the city, storing a large amount of weapons, ammunition, food, and medicine. But as the battle progressed, in addition to the warehouses occupied or bombed by the Germans , The stocks in the remaining warehouses have been almost consumed. The ammunition and materials needed today can only be delivered by the east coast, so in the days to come, it will become more and more difficult for us."

Sokov's troops used to rely on capture, so they received very little supplies from their superiors, so he didn't care too much about it. The 41st Guards Division, which has been taken over now, is equipped with all Soviet-style weapons, and the replenishment of ammunition cannot be completed through seizures. Only then did it come into contact with the logistics department. But he never expected that with the opening of an underwater transportation line, the supply of ammunition and supplies in the city would gradually become tense.

While the two were talking, the phone on the table rang suddenly. Zinoviev picked up the receiver and whispered to his ear, "I'm Major Zinoviev. Where are you? ... What, The deputy commander of the front army is going to enter the city tonight?...Understood, I will send someone to take charge of his security work."

When Sokov heard that the deputy commander of the front army was going to enter the city, he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face. As soon as Zinoviev put down the phone, he quickly asked, "Comrade Major, what's the matter, is Comrade Deputy Commander going to the city?"

"Yes, Comrade Colonel." Zinoviev nodded, and replied with a serious expression: "I just received a notice from my superiors that General Golikov, the deputy commander of the front army, will arrive tonight with the ship delivering supplies." Come from the city, the superior asked us to do a good job of security and protection."

General Golikov? ! As soon as he heard the name, Sokov immediately thought of the intelligence chief with a big bald head in the movie "Moscow Defense". I don't know why he entered the city at this time? With this question in mind, Sokov asked Zinoviev: "Major, do you know the purpose of his entry into the city?"

"I'm sorry, Colonel Sokov, I don't know." Zinoviev shook his head and replied, "On the phone, the superior only mentioned that Comrade Deputy Commander was going to enter the city, but he didn't tell me what to do when he entered the city." gone."