"Comrade Commander," after Sokov's words came to an end, Sidolin asked tentatively: "What kind of equipment should we equip the squads that are deeply behind enemy lines this time?"
What kind of equipment should be equipped with, this question made Sokov embarrassed. In the past, the small teams that went deep into the enemy's back were usually disguised as Germans, took captured armored vehicles, and carried a sufficient number of new rockets to upend the enemy's rear. However, the Germans were not fools. After suffering several losses, they were already alert. All troops retreating from the frontline had to undergo strict inspections, especially the armored vehicles were checked more strictly.
"I think the team should be equipped with armored vehicles as before," Ivanov interrupted. "With armored vehicles, no matter how fast the march is, they can advance dozens or even hundreds of kilometers a day; and they can also carry more new rockets to better attack the enemy."
"No, comrade of the deputy division commander." Sokov shook his head and said, "This time the team cannot equip them with armored vehicles."
"Why?"
"The reason is very simple," Sokov explained: "The enemy now lacks fuel, and a large number of tanks and cars cannot be activated. If our reconnaissance team takes an armored vehicle, the target will be large and will definitely be investigated by the enemy. As for hiking marching, although the speed is much slower and there are few things to carry, such targets are small, so they can march in the forest to avoid the enemy's investigation."
In fact, Ivanov understood what Sokov said, but for a long time, the small teams sent behind enemy lines to carry out missions have all traveled in armored vehicles, which has developed an inertial thinking, thinking that if the team does not have armored vehicles, the mobility will be greatly reduced. After listening to Sokov's explanation, he immediately realized that this task was different from the past. If he still insisted on his previous thinking, something big might happen.
An hour before the team set off, Sokov summoned Guchakov and Kaven to the command center and said to the two: "In this operation, we cannot provide you with armored vehicles, you can only walk over on your own legs. Since there are no armored vehicles, the number of rockets you can carry will be greatly reduced, and you must be mentally prepared in advance."
Guchakov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he learned that he was unable to ride an armored vehicle in this operation. However, he had always obeyed Sokov's orders unconditionally. He did not ask why he did not equip himself with an armored vehicle. He straightened his back and replied: "Don't worry, comrade in the division, we have the confidence to complete this mission."
Sokov walked to Guchakov, put his hands on his shoulders, and said to him: "Captain Guchakov, due to the attacks launched by our army in the Don River Basin, a large number of enemies retreated to the Stalingrad region. The number of German troops in some areas increased dramatically, which increased the risk factor of your operation exponentially."
"Don't worry, comrade of the division commander." Guchakov replied without changing his face: "Even if the situation is dangerous, we will never retreat and will definitely complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."
…………
While Guchakov and Kaven led a small team, under the cover of night, crossed the frontier positions and headed towards the German defense zone, Sokov received a call from Yakov from Moscow.
As soon as the phone was heard, Yakov asked bluntly: "Misha, is it convenient for you to speak now?"
When Sokov heard this, he immediately realized that the other party must have something important to tell him, and quickly said, "It's okay, the command center is full of people I know. If you have anything, just talk."
"There's something happened." Yakov said in a panic: "Our engineer had an accident while developing the incendiary bomb. The entire laboratory was burned down, fifteen people died and more than thirty people were injured. According to Comrade Ustinov, the development work may be stopped."
Sokov never dreamed that he had mentioned the incendiary bomb incident at the beginning. Yakov really cared about it and organized people to conduct experiments after he went back. Now that there were accidents in the laboratory, so many people were killed and injured, he, the initiator, still has some responsibility.
When Yakov heard Sokov not speaking, he was anxious and said hurriedly: "Comrade Ustinov wants to see you. Can you return to Moscow as soon as possible?"
Yakov's words made Sokov embarrassed: "Yasha, you also know that we are launching a counterattack against the German army. How could I leave my troops behind at such a time..."
"I have asked my father for this matter." Yakov interrupted Sokov before he could finish his words: "And I have also learned that your division will not have large-scale battles in the short term. You can temporarily hand over the command of the troops to the deputy division commander or chief of staff."
When he learned that he had returned to Moscow and had obtained the consent of the Supreme Commander himself, Sokov did not make any excuses to refuse, but asked directly: "Yasa, how should I go to Moscow?"
"A new passenger plane will land at the temporary airport on the left bank of the Volga River at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning." Yakov said on the phone: "You can come to Moscow in that plane."
A new type of passenger plane? Sokov muttered in his heart, aren't the Soviet manned aircraft all transformed by transport planes or bombers? What's going on with the new type of passenger plane that Yakov mentioned?
"Chief of Staff, Deputy Division Commander." Sokov put down the phone and said to Sidolin and Ivanov: "I will rush to Moscow tomorrow. During my absence, you two will be responsible for the work in the division."
"Go to Moscow?" Sidolin couldn't help but look surprised when he heard Sokov say this: "Comrade Commander, at this time, what is the purpose of your superiors asking you to go to Moscow?"
"I don't know either." Sokov shook his head and replied with a wry smile: "It may take me to wait until I arrive in Moscow before I can figure out what happened."
"Comrade Commander," said Ivanov with a complicated expression on his face: "Under the current circumstances, if we just take the defensive position, the enemy will not pose any threat to us. You can go to Moscow with confidence."
As the chief of staff, Cidolin considered the problem more comprehensively than Ivanov: "Comrade Commander, how do you plan to go to Moscow? After all, the two places are nearly a thousand kilometers apart. Even if it is peace time, it takes a day and a night to take the train. Moreover, the route is not smooth enough now, so it may take one or two times more time."
"No train," Sokov replied, "There will be a plane landing at the temporary airport on the left bank tomorrow morning, and I will go there to take the plane."
"Comrade of the Division," determined the time for Sokov to leave, and Cidolin said with concern: "When it's still early, you can go back and rest early. After dawn, I will send someone to escort you to the other side."
After dawn, Sidolin asked Samoilov to drive a jeep and take Sokov to the temporary airport on the left bank. On the way, Samoilov asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, why did you suddenly want to go back to Moscow?"
Since many secrets were involved, Sokov could not say too much to Samoilov, so he could only briefly answer: "I was ordered by my superiors. As for the time I left, all the work in the division was completed by the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Division."
“How long will it take to go?”
"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and replied, "Maybe a day or two, or four or five days or more."
When the jeep arrived at the entrance of the temporary airport, it was stopped by the troops guarding the airport. A second lieutenant walked to the car, looked down at the car, saw Samoilov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, raised his hand to salute, and said politely: "Please show your ID!"
Samoilov took out the ID from his pocket and handed it to the lieutenant. After reading Samoilov's ID, the lieutenant did not return it to him immediately. Instead, he said to Sokov, who was sitting in the back row: "Comrade Colonel, please show your ID."
"I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 41st Division of the Guards." Sokov forgot about the grey passenger plane parked on the runway of the airport, and began to murmur in his heart: Is that the plane to pick me up?
"Hello, Colonel Sokov." After checking Sokov's ID, the second lieutenant took a step back, raised his hand to salute and said, "The plane to pick up your flight arrived half an hour ago. Please level as soon as possible." After that, he held the ID in both hands and respectfully returned it to Sokov and Samoilov.
After the horizontal railing in the middle of the road was lifted, the driver drove the vehicle towards the passenger plane. After the car stopped beside the plane, Samoilov immediately jumped out of the car and helped Sokov open the door from outside. Sokov briefly explained to Samoilov to talk about work, he stepped up the spiral ladder and prepared to board the plane.
Unexpectedly, he had just walked to the door of the cabin and came out of a flight attendant in a military uniform. She reached out to block Sokov's way and asked politely: "Comrade Commander, I wonder where your chief is?"
"Chief, what chief?!"
Seeing that the other party did not understand his intention, the flight attendant repeated again: "Our plane was ordered to pick up Colonel Sokov. Have you gotten on the wrong plane?"
When Sokov heard the flight attendant say his name, he grinned, took out the ID from his pocket, handed it to the stewardess, and said to her: "This is my ID!"
The flight attendant took the ID and saw that the person standing in front of him was Colonel Sokov. He quickly raised his hand to salute and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Colonel Sokov, I don't know it's you, please forgive me. It's cold outside, please enter the cabin."
Sokov followed the flight attendant into the cabin and saw that the seats inside were empty and there was no one. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade, where are the others?"
"No more." The flight attendant shook his head and said, "We are ordered to pick you up and not carry anyone else."
Sokov was surprised that he actually enjoyed the treatment of Yakov and enjoyed the treatment of a special plane. While the plane had not taken off, he asked the flight attendant curiously: "What kind of plane are you? Why have you never seen it before?"
"This is the passenger plane that the United States just helped us aid a few months ago," the flight attendant explained to Sokov. "It is said to be a passenger plane produced by Douglas Aircraft Manufacturing Plant. Its safety and comfort are much better than transport planes."
Sokov nodded in agreement with the flight attendant's statement. No matter how good the transport aircraft is, it is a cargo aircraft carrying cargo. Now the passenger aircraft he is riding on is still a transporter, and the comfort level is naturally not comparable to the transport function.
Nearly a thousand highways, the plane flew in the air for nearly three hours and finally landed at a field airport in the eastern suburbs of Moscow. After the plane stopped, the cabin door opened, and someone rushed in from outside. He went forward and hugged Sokov, who had just stood up, and said excitedly: "Misha, I finally hope for you."
While hugging the other party, Sokov asked curiously: "Yasa, how are you doing? Have the aftermath been handled properly?"
"Yes," Yakov nodded and replied, "We have basically completed the aftermath of the accident." He let go of Sokov and took a step back and said, "Let's go, the car is waiting for you below."
Sokov followed Yakov out of the cabin and saw a black car parked on the runway. When Sokov entered the car, he found that there was no one inside, and the person driving was Yakov.
Seeing that Yakov made things so complicated, Sokov smiled bitterly and said, "Yasha, you asked me to come to Moscow this time. Is the noise too big? It's a special plane and a special car, which makes me feel ashamed."
"Misha, what happened this time is a bit big." Yakov said with a nervous expression: "Even Comrade Ustinov cannot settle it, he can only transfer you from Stalingrad. We all believe that with your ability, you can fully comply with this glorious and arduous task."
Yakov's words made Sokov's heart beat faster, and he murmured in his heart: "Why did Yakov say this? He sounds like he is a scapegoat."
"We developed napalm bombs," said Yakov with a serious expression: "But the laboratory was attacked and an explosion occurred inside. Several engineers and technical backbone responsible for the development were killed. All the valuable information was burned."
Sokov was surprised to hear this. It was incredible that he could get into the German spies in the lab of the Weapons and Equipment Department, and even burned the laboratory with a torch. However, it was useless to find him to come. Speaking of criminal investigation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the most expert, and there is no need to let him take this muddy water.
"Yasa," Sokov said, "If it's commanding a war or making some weapons, I have some say. But when it comes to solving the case, I am an unscrupulous layman. You'll bring me urgently from Stalingrad. If you want to solve the case, I'm afraid I really can't send it any purpose."
Chapter completed!