On the day the vehicle transporting the wounded left, Sokov received a call from Chuikov himself: "Colonel Sokov, I have an important thing to ask you."
Although Sokov didn't know what it was about, since it was a call from Chuikov himself, it proved that the matter was very important. He quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, please give me an order."
"You should already know that my former chief of staff, General Krylov, is going to serve as commander of the 21st Army, right?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, I already know." Chuikov recalled that in his phone call a few days ago, he mentioned that Krylov was about to pass through his defense area and rush to the headquarters of the 21st Army to take up his post: "
In addition to General Krylov serving as the commander of the group army, I also know that Major General Vasilyev will become his deputy and serve as the military commissar of the group army."
"Yes, your intelligence is very accurate." Chuikov complimented Sokov casually, and then said: "They will pass through your division's defense area at two o'clock in the afternoon. I hope you can send someone to escort them and take them away."
It’s safe. How, can it be done?”
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Knowing that Chuikov called him to ask him to send people to protect the safety of Krylov and Vasilyev, Sokov quickly replied loudly: "I will definitely do it.
Keep them safe."
"Colonel Sokov, although the Luhansk area is your division's defense area, you cannot take it lightly." Chuikov reminded Sokov on the phone: "But there must be German troops lurking nearby. You must be more vigilant.
Never let the tragedy of Colonel Ivanov happen again."
Ivanov's sacrifice was a huge shame to the 41st Guards Division. When Chuikov mentioned this, Sokov felt the blood vessels on his head pulsing. After taking a deep breath, he replied:
: "I will send the most capable troops to protect the two generals Krylov and Vasilyev and ensure their personal safety."
After hanging up the phone, Sokov said to Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Commander just said on the phone that General Krylov and General Vasilyev will pass through our division's defense area at two o'clock in the afternoon.
Immediately dispatch capable manpower to protect along the way."
"The defense area of the 124th Guards Regiment is closest to the crossing road." Sidorin suggested to Sokov: "I'll call Lieutenant Colonel Starcha and ask him to send two companies to guard the road.
Mission, ensure the safety of the two generals."
After replenishing the troops, each regiment has sufficient strength. The two companies have nearly 500 people, which is equivalent to a battalion of other divisions. Using such troops to serve as security should be able to ensure safety. Sokov said.
He bowed his head and said: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, assign a task to Lieutenant Colonel Starcha and ask him to arrange manpower to carry out security tasks."
Sidorin quickly called the regiment command post of the 124th Guards Regiment and said to the person who answered the phone: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, Chief of Staff. Let Lieutenant Colonel Starcia speak."
Starcia's voice soon came from the receiver: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff! I am Lieutenant Colonel Starcia. Do you have any orders?"
"That's it, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sidorin said bluntly: "At two o'clock in the afternoon, the convoys of General Krylov and General Vasilyev will pass through the transit road controlled by your regiment. You
Immediately send two companies to guard there to ensure the safety of the generals. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." Lieutenant Colonel Starcia replied readily: "I immediately sent two companies to rush over and set up security on the road to ensure that the generals' convoy passed smoothly."
Thinking of Chuikov's reminder to him, Sokov quickly walked over to take the microphone and told Starcha: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, before the convoy arrives, you have to send people to search nearby to prevent enemies from hiding nearby.
Remember, the tragedy of the deputy division commander must not be allowed to happen again."
Although Starr is now Sokov's subordinate, he was Ivanov's old subordinate before. Ivanov's sacrifice made him very sad. At this moment, he heard Sokov mention Ivanov.
Regarding the husband's matter, he quickly patted his chest and promised: "Don't worry, comrade division commander, if I can't ensure that the two generals pass through our regiment's defense area smoothly, you will send me to a military court."
"Complete the mission well and don't think about military courts." Sokov said into the microphone: "I hope each of you can live to see the day of victory."
…………
Just when Starcha was mobilizing troops and preparing to go to the transit highway to perform security missions, Krylov and Vasilyev's convoy had already approached this area.
Vasilyev, who was sitting next to Krylov, smiled and said: "Comrade Commander, the weather is good today and the road is going smoothly. I estimate that we can reach the headquarters before dark."
"I hope so." Krylov spoke while looking out through the car window: "Although this is close to the Sokov Division's defense area, we still have to be vigilant, because there is something hidden somewhere.
The enemy's stragglers."
"Comrade Commander, you are too neurotic." Then Vasilyev disagreed with Krylov's caution: "Now the enemy has already fled in panic under the heavy blow of our Voronezh Front Army and Southwest Front Army.
How could it be possible to appear here on the other side of the Dnieper River?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, don't be careless." Seeing Vasilyev's nonchalant look, Krylov reminded him specifically: "Colonel Ivanov, deputy commander of the 41st Guards Division, is just a short distance away.
Not far away, I was killed by an enemy sniper."
"Comrade Commander, I know very well what you said." Vasilyev said: "At that time, the 41st Guards Division had not yet entered Luhansk, and there was only one company of garrison troops in the city. It was difficult to maintain order in the city.
It's so difficult to clean up the enemies outside the city. But now that the 41st Guards Division has moved into the city and built massive fortifications nearby, I'm afraid the enemies hiding nearby have already gotten wind of it and fled."
The two were talking in the car when they suddenly heard a crisp sound coming from outside. Krylov frowned and asked the adjutant sitting in the passenger seat alertly: "What's going on? What's the noise outside?"
"It seems like a whip cracking," the adjutant said thoughtfully as he looked outside, "Maybe someone is driving a carriage nearby."
"Damn it, we didn't see anyone along the way. There would be no carriage anywhere." Krylov realized something was wrong and quickly ordered the adjutant, "Send a signal immediately to stop all the cars."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the window glass snap, and then a bullet flew in from the window, shattered the window glass, penetrated into the adjutant's forehead, and flew out from the back of the head with blood foam.
.Splashing blood sprinkled Krylov and Vasilyev’s faces.
"No, it's a sniper!" Even though Krylov almost stayed at the headquarters during the entire Stalingrad Battle, it doesn't mean that he doesn't understand what a German sniper is like. He always
Pushing open the left door, he shouted: "Jump out of the car!" Then he jumped out, rolled twice on the snow-covered road, and hid behind a snowdrift.
Drivers of the vehicles in front and behind heard the sudden gunshots and knew they had encountered the enemy, so they also stopped on the side of the road. The commanders and fighters in the carriage immediately jumped out of the vehicle, using the carriage or snowdrifts as cover, and headed towards the possible
The enemy snipers were hiding in their positions and fired back. Countless bullets hit the snow on the side of the road and boiled like a boiling pot.
Seeing that their whereabouts were discovered by the Soviet army, the two German soldiers hiding behind the snowdrifts on the roadside stood up, picked up their weapons and shot at the Soviet army. However, as soon as they fired a shot, they were shot to pieces.
, fell on his back on the snow, and the blood stained the white snow red.
Although the accompanying security forces used powerful firepower to suppress the area where the German troops were hiding, the enemy sniper did not seem to be hiding there. He was still shooting unhurriedly, and one soldier would be hit with every shot.
They fell down, some were shot in the head, and some were shot in the abdomen.
Krylov, who was hiding behind a snowdrift, looked nervously at the snow on the opposite side, trying his best to find where the German snipers were hiding. But unfortunately, he only saw a vast expanse of white snow and could not see at all.
Don't reach the enemy's hiding place.
After the German sniper killed more than a dozen Soviet soldiers, he targeted the jeep parked between two trucks. He felt that the vehicle escorted by so many people must be occupied by Soviet soldiers.
An important mission. He noticed that there were at least two or three people on the other side of the jeep, but due to the obstruction of the jeep, his bullets could not hit the people on the other side.
In order to achieve better results, he stopped sniping ordinary soldiers, and instead pointed his gun at the jeep, quietly waiting for important targets to appear. After waiting for about two or three minutes, the Soviet army's attack on the snow
The shooting stopped, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet. The snipers hiding in the snow did not move, and the Soviet commanders and fighters hiding behind trucks or snowdrifts also stayed still. The two sides fell into a silent stalemate.
A few minutes later, where the hood of the jeep was, a man wearing a steel helmet slowly poked his head out to see what was going on outside. The German sniper immediately pulled the trigger without hesitation, and the man who just showed his head
He immediately fell to the ground and fell on his back in the snow.
After the gunshot, everything returned to calm. No one showed up behind the jeep, and the soldiers on guard did not find the specific location of the sniper, so they did not shoot blindly like before.
Time passed by minute by second, and both sides were competing for patience to see who could not hold on. The German sniper remembered that he had an incendiary bomb, so he quietly replaced an ordinary bullet with an incendiary bomb and aimed at the target.
A shot was fired into the fuel tank of a jeep. The incendiary bomb hit the fuel tank, and the entire jeep was suddenly blown into a fireball. A moment later, a man covered in fire stumbled out from behind the jeep. Upon seeing this, the German sniper
He immediately fired a shot at the running Pyroman, knocking him down in the snow.
As the burning man fell, the sharp-eyed soldiers finally discovered the hiding place of the German sniper. He pointed with his hand and shouted loudly: "The German sniper is hiding in the snowdrift under that tree."
After finishing, he held the Bobosha submachine gun in his hand, aimed in that direction and started shooting violently.
The German sniper who had discovered his hiding place did not even have time to move his position before being beaten to pieces by a storm of bullets. Seeing the blood stains that seeped out quickly in the snow, everyone knew that there was indeed someone there.
Hiding there. In order to avenge the sacrifice of their comrades, some soldiers finished shooting a drum, then replaced it with a new drum and continued to aim and shoot there.
The troops who were ordered to serve as security officers were commanded by Major Mihiga, commander of the third battalion of the 124th Guards Regiment. When he heard the gunshots in the distance, he secretly screamed, and then called his brother.
Vovka said to him: "Listen to the sound of gunfire, it should be the convoy of General Krylov and General Vasilyev that encountered the enemy's stragglers. In this way, you lead two platoons and detour through the forest.
I will take the remaining people and rush along the road to support them."
When Mihiga arrived at the fighting site, the battle was already over.
After he asked the troops to set up their guard, he came to Krylov, straightened his body and reported: "Comrade General, I am Major Michiga, commander of the third battalion of the 124th Guards Regiment, and I was ordered to come here to protect
You are safe."
"Why didn't you come until now?!" Krylov looked down at a row of corpses covered in white camouflage uniforms and asked through gritted teeth: "Didn't I say that you should be on guard here at twelve o'clock?"
"Comrade General," after hearing what Krylov said, Michiga immediately cried out in pain: "But the order we received was to set up defenses at two o'clock in the afternoon. Now I have arrived more than an hour in advance."
After listening to Michiga's explanation, Krylov immediately realized that he had misunderstood the other party. It might have been that the message from above was wrong, saying twelve o'clock instead of two o'clock in the afternoon, which led to the tragedy.
"Comrade General," Mihiga continued when Krylov remained silent, "I have ordered my brother to lead two platoons into the forest to search for enemies who may be hiding inside."
"Can he find it?"
"Don't worry, comrade general." Mihiga explained to Krylov: "Not long ago we were guerrillas, and searching for hidden enemies in the forest was our specialty. You see, as long as the forest has
Enemies, my brother will definitely be able to catch them one by one."
"That's good." Krylov gritted his teeth and said, "I want these damn Germans to pay for their sacrificed comrades."
"Comrade General," Mihiga asked with some fear when he saw nearly thirty corpses covered with white camouflage uniforms on the ground, "Have any important figures died?"
Krylov replied with a heavy heart: "My military commissar General Vasilyev died."
"What, General Vasilyev died." Michiga was frightened by Krylov's words. The task he accepted was to protect the safety of Krylov and Vasilyev. Now, although Krylov
He was still fine, but Vasilyev died. For a moment, he was so confused that he didn't know how to report back to Lieutenant Colonel Starcha after he returned.
"Comrade Major," a soldier ran out of the forest and reported to Mihiga: "We captured five German soldiers in the forest. The deputy battalion commander asked for instructions on how to deal with them."
"Shoot, shoot all these damn Germans." Cleveland roared: "Let them avenge our fallen soldiers."
Seeing the soldier's helpless look, Mihiga shouted to him: "Didn't you hear the general's order? Immediately tell Vovka to shoot all the captured Germans on the spot. We