The two of them drove to the location of the army headquarters. They saw that there were many houses here, but there were no signboards. So Sukhalev opened the car door, stuck his head out and asked a soldier on the roadside: "Hey, soldier."
Comrade, do you know where the commander’s forward headquarters is?”
"Drive along this road." The soldier on the roadside saw that the person asking for directions was a major. He hurriedly pointed ahead and said to Sukhalev, "Comrade Major, your car will drive along this road."
About a hundred meters away, you can see a wooden house, where Comrade Commander's forward headquarters is located."
After thanking the soldier, Sukharev closed the door and told the driver to follow the other person's instructions and continue to look forward. He turned sideways and said to Victor sitting in the back row: "Victor, what do you think?
Commander, is it too risky to locate the headquarters here? If the enemy's scouts discover the location of the forward headquarters and call for artillery fire, it will probably cause huge casualties, right?"
But Victor had a different view: "Sukhalev, I heard that the Germans now have a weapon with a range of more than a hundred kilometers. If this rumor is true, then should the headquarters be placed behind or close to
There is not much difference in the position of the frontier.”
"Do the Germans really have such weapons?" Sukhalev said in a skeptical tone: "I don't believe it anyway."
As soon as he finished speaking, the car stopped.
"What's going on? Why did you stop?"
"Comrade Major." The driver spread his hands and said helplessly: "The checkpoint has arrived."
Sukharev looked forward through the windshield, and sure enough, he found several soldiers blocking the way. Behind them was a checkpoint, and the road was cut off by a crossbar. Because it was too dark just now, Sukharev
My husband didn't even realize there was a checkpoint here.
"Comrade Commander," a sergeant came to the passenger window and said to Sukhalev through the window: "What section are you in and what are you doing here?"
"I am Major Sukhalev, chief of staff of the 122nd Regiment of the 41st Guards Division, and this is Lieutenant Colonel Victor, the deputy commander." Sukhalev said to the sergeant: "I was ordered to go to the forward headquarters to see Sukhalev.
Commander Koff."
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the sergeant did not order someone to lift the crossbar in front, but said expressionlessly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Major, I didn't receive any notice."
"We are really here under orders, Comrade Sergeant." Victor leaned forward slightly and said to the Sergeant outside through the car window: "If you don't believe it, you can call your superior and ask.
ask."
The sergeant thought this was a good idea, asking other soldiers to keep an eye on the car, while he returned to the guard box nearby to make a phone call, trying to find out whether Sokov had someone come over overnight.
A few minutes later, the sergeant returned to the car and said with a straight face: "I'm sorry, two comrades, commanders, I just called the company commander, and he said he didn't know about it at all. If you can't show a valid pass,
I have no right to let you pass the checkpoint."
Hearing what the sergeant said, Sukharev was about to get angry, but was stopped by Victor. He politely asked the sergeant: "Comrade Sergeant, I would like to ask, which department are you in?"
"I am a unit directly under the headquarters of the 18th Guards Corps." The sergeant didn't understand why Victor asked this, but he still answered truthfully: "Why are you asking this?"
"That's no wonder." After hearing the other party's explanation, Victor immediately guessed the possibility that Sokov brought too few soldiers to the front, so he had to borrow some of his men from General Afnin, and these personnel
Not knowing himself and Sukhalev led to such a misunderstanding: "Comrade Sergeant, could you please contact Lieutenant Koshkin and tell him that we have arrived under orders and are waiting for further instructions from the commander.
"
Seeing that Victor mentioned Lieutenant Koshkin, the sergeant couldn't help but become hesitant. He didn't know whether he should listen to the other party and contact Koshkin to let the other party identify whether the two of them could pass.
However, after thinking for a long time, he could not come up with any good solution. He could only say: "You guys wait, I will contact Lieutenant Koshkin now. But I have something to say first. If Lieutenant Koshkin doesn't know you either, you
You have to turn around and leave.”
"No problem, no problem." When Victor was at the Frunze Military Academy, he dealt with Koshkin every day. How could the other party not know him? So he said carelessly: "As long as Lieutenant Koshkin says he doesn't know me,
I immediately turned around and left without even stopping."
Seeing the sergeant going to make a call again, Sukhalev turned to Victor and asked: "Victor, what is going on? Why didn't the sentry let us pass?"
"The reason is very simple." Victor said slowly: "These people should be temporarily transferred here to protect the safety of Comrade Commander. However, they are only on the periphery. The core area inside is probably still in charge of Koshkin's leadership."
This time the sergeant had been away for a longer time, almost ten minutes, and he still hadn't seen him back. Sukharev opened the car door and was about to get out of the car when a soldier standing next to the car shouted at him:
"You're not allowed to get off the car, sit back in the car."
Facing the gun pointed at him, Sukharev could only sit back in the car obediently. He muttered: "I just want to go down and see where the sergeant went and why he hasn't come back for so long.
"
After waiting for a while, the sergeant finally appeared. But he was not alone. There was an officer accompanying him.
The officer came to the car, looked into the car, and said with a smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Victor, Major Sukhalev, it turns out it's you two. Who did I think it was?"
After hearing this, Sukharev said with some laughter and tears: "Lieutenant Koshkin, didn't this sergeant tell you who is here?"
Koshkin laughed and said: "The sergeant has forgotten your names. He only told me that there are two commanders from the 122nd Regiment here, so I rushed over. Comrade Commander said that the 41st Guards
Someone from the division will come over, it won’t be you two, right?”
Victor spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said helplessly: "It's just us."
"Two comrades, commanders," Koshkin said politely after shaking hands with the two of them one by one: "There is only a hundred meters away from the commander's forward headquarters. You might as well leave the car here.
, and then walk there.”
Victor readily agreed to Koshkin's proposal and directly opened the door and got out of the car. He said to Sukhalev, who was still sitting in the passenger seat: "Sukhalev, get out of the car quickly, don't let
Comrade Commander, I'm impatient."
When the two followed Koshkin towards the headquarters, Sukhalev asked Koshkin tentatively: "Comrade Lieutenant, do you know what the commander called us here for?"
"I don't know." Koshkin answered readily, "I am only responsible for the security of the forward headquarters. As for what Comrade Commander asked you to come here for, I really don't know."
Koshkin brought the two men to the headquarters and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I have brought Lieutenant Colonel Victor and Major Sukhalev, both of whom are members of the 41st Guards Division.
Representative sent.”
Victor and Sukhalev were both old friends of Sokov. When they saw Sokov, they became more relaxed and greeted him with a smile: "Hello, Comrade Commander!"
But Sokov said to the two men with a straight face: "Two comrades, commanders, let me introduce to you. This is General Shtemenko, Deputy Chief of General Staff. He comes to the front to guide the work."
When the two of them heard what Sokov said, they realized that there was actually a general sitting at the table. They hurriedly stood at attention and raised their hands to salute each other: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff."
While they were saluting, they also saw Yakov sitting at the table. Although they were friends with each other, due to the presence of the big shot Shtemenko, they could only give Yakov a slight nod, which was regarded as a greeting.
.
Shtemenko noticed the close relationship between the two and Sokov and others, and said enthusiastically: "Since you are not an outsider, stop standing and sit down quickly."
Although Victor and Sukharev sat down, they still maintained their posture of sitting upright in front of Shtemenko, waiting for Sokov to assign tasks to them.
"Two comrades, commanders," Sokov said in front of Shtemenko, and it was not easy to show too much familiarity with the two men, so he asked in an official tone: "I heard that the Germans are attacking your division.
position."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Victor replied: "But it was the position of the 1st Battalion of the 124th Regiment that was attacked. Now the friendly commanders and fighters are engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy."
"Can you hold the position?"
"Although after the last battle, our army added a large number of new soldiers, which diluted the combat effectiveness of the army." Sukhalev said: "But it is not easy for the enemy to occupy our army's positions."
"Comrade Commander," Victor knew in his heart that Sokov asked the division to send people over in the middle of the night. It was definitely not for the German sneak attack. He quickly went straight to the topic: "I wonder if you have invited us here. Is there anything important?
"
"Yes, I called you here because there is something indeed." Sokov pointed at Yakov with his hand and said, "I think you are familiar with Colonel Yakov, right?"
Seeing the two men shaking their heads at the same time, he continued: "Colonel Yakov has just delivered a batch of weapons and equipment. According to the agreement between me and General Kurishenko, some of the weapons will be distributed to your division."
"Victor, did you hear that?" Sukhalev became excited when he learned that his superiors were going to distribute weapons to his troops. He touched Victor with his elbow and said excitedly: "The superiors are going to give us weapons."
Weapons are issued."
But Victor seemed much more steady. He looked at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask how many weapons and equipment our superiors plan to allocate to us, and what kind of equipment are they?"
After Victor finished asking this question, Sokov nuzzled at Yakov and said, "I think Colonel Yakov needs to answer this answer for you."
"Lieutenant Colonel Victor," Yakov stood up and said with a smile, "I plan to give you a thousand assault rifles, two hundred new rockets, and twelve rocket launchers."
Victor thought silently in his heart that with so many weapons and equipment, the regiment could be allocated more than 300 assault rifles, 70 new rockets, and four rocket launchers. Compared with the existing equipment, it was really good.
Out too much.
"Colonel Yakov," don't see that in the Frunze Military Academy, Victor and Yakov could be called brothers, but in front of Shtemenko, he could only ask seriously: "I don't know what these are?"
When will the weapons arrive? You know, we are fighting the Germans right now. If these equipment can arrive early, we can also use them on the battlefield earlier."
Unexpectedly, Sokov poured cold water on Victor at this moment: "Even if the weapons and equipment arrive at this moment, they cannot be distributed to combat troops. Whether it is assault rifles or new rockets or rocket launchers, the commanders and fighters received these batches of
After equipping, there is still a familiarization process. If you just get the equipment and want to use it in battle, this is very unrealistic. Because it will take a while for everyone to adapt to the new weapon and use it skillfully.
When used on the battlefield, I'm afraid it will not be as effective as the original old-fashioned weapons."
"Originally, according to the plan, this batch of weapons will arrive tomorrow...no,...it's already today, at noon today." When Yakov said this, he glanced at Sokov intentionally: "But your commander
The officer said that the weapons should be distributed as early as possible. It is best to arm all the combat backbones who have used these weapons and equipment so that they can play a greater role in combat. Therefore, after my coordination, there will be two ships
The transport ship will arrive before dawn."
"I asked Kurishenko to send reliable people here to collect these weapons that arrived early and to arm all the combat backbones of the division who have used these weapons so that their combat effectiveness can be improved.
"
After figuring out the purpose of Sokov calling them here, the two couldn't help but be overjoyed. For them, there were still some of Sokov's old subordinates in the regiment, who were the backbone of the army. If they were better equipped,
weapons, then the combat effectiveness displayed in battle will be greatly improved.
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Victor assured Sokov: "With these weapons, if the combat effectiveness of the regiment cannot be improved, you will send me to a military court."
Naturally, Sokov would not send his men to a military court. He would just discuss with the other party who should distribute the urgently delivered weapons to whom.
At this time, a student staff officer shouted to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, your call is from the headquarters."
"Is it the Front Army Headquarters?"
"No." The staff officer shook his head and said, "It was Chief of Staff Smirnov who called. He said he had something important to report to you."
Sokov knew very well that if it was not a particularly important matter, Smirnov would never call him in the middle of the night. He quickly took the phone and put it to his ear and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is Sokov.
What happened to you there?"
"I received a report from the scouts. They found two launch tracks in the Uman area, and there are many Germans operating nearby. It seems that the enemy is preparing to launch their damn missiles at some of our targets.
Smirnov asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, do you have any instructions for these scouts?"