Red Moscow

After learning some information he was eager to know from Sergeant Doppler, Sokov told Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, send them to the Army Group Headquarters and hand them over to the commander. "

"Mr. Colonel," Doppler panicked after listening to the soldier's translation, he stepped forward and grabbed Sokov's hand, and said excitedly: "Leave us here, let us do whatever we want, thousands Don't shoot us." When he said this, Doppler was full of remorse, he didn't expect Sokov to turn his back on him, and after learning the information he wanted to know from himself, he was ready to shoot himself.

Hearing Doppler's plea, Sokov immediately realized that the other party had misunderstood, and explained to him with a smile: "Sergeant, who told you that we were going to shoot you? I just sent you to the commander of the army group." There will be someone there to arrange your daily necessities.” Hearing that he was not going to be shot, Doppler heaved a sigh of relief, and obediently followed the soldiers out of the division headquarters.

As soon as Doppler left, Sidolin suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, it seems that your method is really effective. Comrade Ulbricht shouted at the enemy's position for so long, his voice was full It’s dumb, but only a dozen German soldiers came to surrender. And you used the method of providing food to the German officers and soldiers, and within a day, seven or eight ran over.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you're not right." As soon as Sidolin finished speaking, Ivanov corrected him and said, "Seven or eight German soldiers surrendered in the defense area of ​​the Belkin Regiment alone. The defense zones of the three Guards regiments are also rewarding." He raised a piece of paper in his hand and said to Sokov with a smile, "Good news, Comrade Commander. When you were interrogating the prisoners just now, I gave the other three A guard regiment called, and they also had good news."

"Oh, good news from the other three regiments?" Sokov heard Ivanov's words, and his eyes lit up immediately: "Comrade deputy division commander, hurry up and listen to it."

"In the defense area of ​​the 122nd regiment, six German soldiers surrendered, including one sergeant and one sergeant; in the defense area of ​​the 124th regiment, nine soldiers surrendered, without non-commissioned officers and officers; in the defense area of ​​the 125th regiment, three people surrendered, including a second lieutenant officer."

Sokov waited for Ivanov to finish reading, nodded with a smile, and said, "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, it seems that the gains from the three guard regiments are not small. There are actually 18 officers and soldiers who have surrendered. Please Tell the three regiment commanders to arrange manpower immediately and send all these prisoners to the group army headquarters."

"Mr. Commander," Ivanov said to Sokov with a smile after calling his three old subordinates: "When you just proposed this plan, from the bottom of my heart, I was quite resistant. Although we There were no food shortages, but I was uncomfortable with providing precious food to the Germans who were fighting us.

But I never dreamed that with just a few pieces of bread and a bowl of red cabbage soup, so many enemies could give up resistance and surrender to our army. This is simply incredible. "

Hearing the other party's flattery, Sokov thought silently in his heart: "If you see a certain red army in the east using this tactic to break down the enemy's resistance and make thousands of soldiers run from the opposite position When you come to surrender, your glasses will probably be shattered."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov suddenly remembered that Chuikov had given himself a three-day deadline, and quickly told Sidolin: "Call the commander now and report the results we have achieved to Comrade Commander, so that he can do the same. Happy happy."

Sure enough, as Sokov expected, Cuikov was overjoyed when he heard that more than 20 German officers and soldiers had surrendered tonight and had sent people to the headquarters. He asked Sidolin to hand over the microphone to Sokov. Finally, he said with admiration: "Sokov's idea is really good. It actually made the enemy surrender so easily. The effect is not at all worse than Ulbricht's shouting."

"Comrade Commander, through the interrogation of the prisoners, I have learned a very important piece of news."

"what news?"

"When the enemy broke through in November, in order to facilitate operations, the German commander ordered the soldiers to burn the overcoats they were wearing." Sokov reported: "That is to say, most of the German officers and soldiers who are besieged by us today have no Winter equipment. And due to insufficient supplies, many officers and soldiers are starving. In such cold weather, even if we do not take the initiative to attack them, a large number of soldiers will freeze to death and starve to death every day.”

"What, a large number of German soldiers freeze to death or starve to death every day?" Chuikov expressed doubts about Sokov's statement: "I think there must be officers and soldiers who freeze to death or starve to death, but they are certainly not as many as you said. serious."

Hearing Chuikov say this in a skeptical tone, Sokov couldn't argue with him. After all, many of the things he knew were obtained from the history books of later generations. The information Cuikov could get was limited, so it was reasonable to not fully believe what he said.

However, Sokov did not get entangled in this matter, but changed the subject in time: "Comrade commander, I think that providing food to the German troops on the opposite position is the best way to break their morale. I strongly recommend , Immediately promote this tactic throughout the entire army."

"You're right." The recent battle in the factory area in the north of the city was not going well. Although the commanders and fighters of the counterattack force showed bravery and tenacity in the battle, they paid a huge price in time in the face of the stubborn resistance of the German army. But the distance advanced every day can only be calculated in meters. Now seeing that the method introduced by the 41st Guards Division is so effective, Cui Kefu can't wait to promote it within the scope of each division. "I immediately asked the chief of staff to give orders to the divisions to implement the same tactics against the enemy."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov said with emotion: "As long as we can save the life of one more commander and fighter, it is totally worth it even if we waste a little more food."

Krylov had some doubts about the results of Sokov's battle. After hearing the order from Chuikov, he also solemnly retorted: "Comrade Commander, even if this method can achieve results in the defense zone of the 41st Guards Division, it does not mean that other units of the group army use this method." What kind of results can be achieved by such a tactic?"

But his point of view, with the arrival of more than twenty prisoners, his attitude took a 180-degree turn: "Comrade Commander, I have thought about it, Colonel Sokov's method is really good. I have never Unexpectedly, there would be so many German soldiers who would voluntarily come to our position to surrender."

"Comrade Ulbricht and his companions also shouted for a while in our defense zone." Chuikov asked Krylov: "I wonder how many enemies he persuaded to surrender?"

"Not many, there are only about fifty people." Krylov said with emotion: "On average, there are only two or three soldiers who surrender every day, and the results of Sokov's division are ten times that of his."

"I think the propaganda to the Germans should continue," Chuikov said thoughtfully: "Let Comrade Ulbricht and the others keep telling the situation of the German army to those enemies who don't know the truth. Given the food provided, I believe that in the days to come, more and more enemies will come over and surrender to our army."

The two were talking when the phone on the table rang. Krylov picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then straightened his body and said to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, this is the number of the Commander of the Front Army."

Hearing that it was Rokossovsky's call, Chuikov quickly took the phone and said respectfully, "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army. I am Chuikov. What instructions do you have?"

"I just received a report from General Batov." Rokossovsky said on the other end of the phone: "The 23rd Infantry Division under his command is now less than 20 kilometers away from Mamayev Hill. You must inform Colonel Sokov as soon as possible so that he can prepare for the meeting."

"Ah, the troops of the 23rd Infantry Division are coming over to join us?" Cuikov became agitated when he heard this. Even though he had been mentioning "joint forces" since the Battle of Stalingrad, all of them The slogan was shouted loudly, but in the end there was no more words. There was even a tank brigade that broke through the German defenses and tried to join forces with the 62nd Army. But this tank brigade was annihilated by the superior German army on the way to Orlovka. If "joint forces" is mentioned again, the previous tragedies should not happen again: "Comrade commander of the front army, please rest assured, I will immediately notify Sokov to make his troops ready to join forces with friendly forces."

"By the way, has Sokov taken any action recently?" When Rokossovsky put down the phone, he suddenly realized that Sokov is not a person who is content with the status quo, so he asked curiously: "I think he I’m sure I won’t be able to stay idle, maybe I’ll come up with some tricks.”

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, you guessed it right, he has really come up with some new tricks in the past two days." Cuikov quickly told Sokov to provide food to the German army and successfully induced more than 20 German soldiers to voluntarily surrender. After reporting to Rokossovsky, he finally said: "I think his tactic is very limited, and he is planning to promote it within the entire army."

After listening to Chuikov's report, Rokossovsky also felt that Sokov's approach was very strange. Although he didn't agree with Sokov doing this, he was still very moved by the results achieved. When he hung up the phone, he immediately ordered someone to invite Ma Lining over, intending to ask his opinion on this matter, whether it should be promoted within the scope of the entire front army.

When Sokov received a call from Chuikov, he was overjoyed when he learned that the 23rd Infantry Division belonging to the 65th Army was less than 20 kilometers away from Mamayev Post. He quickly assured Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, please rest assured that I will immediately issue an order to the regiments to prepare them for joining forces."

"Colonel Sokov," Chuikov recalled that Chuikov had reported to himself that Paulus's headquarters might be established in the department store in the Central District. The 64th Army Group was attacking Stalingrad from the south, so he solemnly reminded Sokov: "Remember, you must hurry up and join forces, so that you can deploy troops into the city this morning to attack the department store. Understand? "

"Understood, Comrade Commander." How could Sokov easily give up this opportunity to be recorded in history? He hastily assured Chuikov, "I will try to come over from the west within a day or two." The 23rd Infantry Division join forces, and then draw the main force to attack the enemy's vital parts, I will never let you down."

"Very good, Colonel Sokov." After hearing Sokov's statement, Chuikov nodded with satisfaction and said, "I am waiting for your good news."

"Comrades, let me tell you some good news." As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he said to Sidolin, Ivanov and others who were standing nearby: "The 23rd Infantry Division who came to join us, Now it is less than 20 kilometers away from us. If there are no accidents, the meeting can be completed within a day or two."

"Great, this is really great." Hearing this, Ivanov stepped forward to hold Sukov's hand, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly: "Comrade commander, thank you for such a good job." The news told us."

Although Sidolin was also very excited, as the chief of staff, he considered the question more comprehensively: "I would like to ask, which regiment's defense zone will the troops of the 23rd Infantry Division reach first?"

"Judging from their attack route, it's definitely not the defense zone of the Belgin Regiment." Sokov said without hesitation, "Therefore, the place where we join forces can only be near the defense zone of the three guard regiments."

"Comrade Commander," after roughly confirming the location of the meeting, Ivanov straightened his body and asked Sokov for orders: "Please let me command the meeting troops, and I promise to complete the task."

"Comrade deputy division commander, how can you go alone at such an important historical moment." Sokov smiled and waved his hand at Ivanov, then pointed to Sidolin: "The chief of staff stayed at the division headquarters , and then I, the deputy division commander, and the political commissar each went to a guard regiment, and led the troops to meet the direction of the friendly army. As for who commanded the army to join the friendly army first, it depends on everyone's luck. How about you? Different opinion?"

Sidolin could not participate in the meeting, so naturally he would not express his opinion. But Ivanov and Anisimov replied loudly: "There is no disagreement, we resolutely obey the division commander's order."

"Since there is no disagreement, then I will assign everyone to the Guards Regiment." Sokov continued: "I will go to the 122nd Regiment, the deputy division commander will go to the 124th Regiment, and the political commissar will go to the 125th Regiment."

After assigning the regiments that everyone should go to, Sokov added: "But don't rush to the regiment now, when the friendly troops appear two or three kilometers away from our defense zone, it will not be too late to rush there." Late."

"Okay, okay," Ivanov and Anisimov both knew that this was a matter of luck, they nodded hurriedly, and agreed: "Just do as the division commander said, and when the friendly troops arrive nearby, Let's go to the regiment to join the division."