After some consideration, Chuikov decided to call Rodimtsev to the headquarters for a detailed discussion. Considering that this road was not safe, he ordered the operator shortly after sending the telegram to Rodimtsev.
Sent a telegram to Sokov.
In the telegram, Chuikov ordered him to escort Rodimtsev to the Krutoy Deep Trench, and then the 42nd Guards Regiment stationed there would escort Rodimtsev to the new army headquarters.
After receiving the telegram, Sokov immediately ordered Andrei to gather his troops and prepare to escort Rodimtsev to the Krutoy Deep Trench. While Andrei was gathering his troops, he headed towards Rodimtsev not far away.
Tsev walked over.
Still far away, he heard Rodimtsev saying to the political commissar and chief of staff: "...you stay here, find a way to find the scattered troops, and reorganize them, here and in Germany
People fight..."
Sokov was afraid of disturbing Rodimtsev's assignment, so he stopped and was ready to wait for the other party to finish speaking before walking over. Unexpectedly, Rodimtsev noticed that Sokov was walking towards him.
, then he stopped and said apologetically to him: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to wait a little longer while I finish assigning the task."
"It's okay, Comrade General." Sokov originally didn't want to disturb Rodimtsev's work. When he heard what he said, he quickly replied: "It's still early, you can arrange your work slowly."
Rodimtsev nodded, turned to his chief of staff and said: "Chief of Staff, it is said that the commander of the 34th Guards Regiment has died, so you will temporarily take over the post of commander. And you, comrade colonel,
"What he said next was to the commander of the 39th Guards Regiment, "You also have to find a way to find your regiment and reorganize the soldiers..."
Although Rodimtsev just asked Sokov to wait, it still took him more than half an hour to complete all the tasks. After doing all this, he came to Sokov's side.
He said, "Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we can set off now."
Sokov considered that when he came from Mamayev Heights, he encountered sporadic German soldiers several times and exchanged fire. Although there were more than a hundred people around him at the moment, if any German soldiers were hiding in the ruins,
Here, it would be impossible to guard against a cold shot at Rodimtsev. For safety reasons, he divided the team into three echelons. The first echelon consisted of nine companies and one platoon, and was led by company commander Guchakov to open the way in front.
; The second echelon consists of himself, the guard squad, and the second platoon of soldiers; the third echelon consists of three platoons, led by Captain Andre himself, and walks behind the entire team.
The three echelons are 100 meters apart. This formation is adopted to prevent, first, if there are too many people crowded together, they will become targets of German attacks when attacked by the Germans; second, to ensure that no matter which echelon is attacked,
When the Germans attack, the other two echelons can provide timely support.
Rodimtsev saw many people wearing sailor uniforms appearing in the ruins along the way. He couldn't help but curiously asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, where did these sailors come from?"
"They are from the 92nd Infantry Brigade, and their members are mainly sailors from the Baltic and North Sea fleets." Sokov knew very well that Rodimtsev and the others were isolated from the outside world during the few days they were trapped in the basement.
God, it was normal not to know that new troops had arrived, so he patiently explained to Rodimtsev: "Since you lost contact with the army headquarters, Commander Chuikov sent this unit that had just crossed the river.
The troops will be deployed in your original defense zone."
"So that's it." Rodimtsev looked at the sailors in black uniforms walking in and out of the collapsed buildings with weapons, and he couldn't help but said with emotion: "If it weren't for them, I guess it would be impossible.
The Germans must have occupied this area long ago."
"Comrade General," Sokov asked tentatively, eager to know why the troops of the 13th Guards Division disappeared without a trace in their defense zone, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Excuse me, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Regarding his savior, Rodimtsev said politely: "As long as I know something, I will definitely tell you everything."
"Logically speaking, even if you are trapped in the basement of the ruins, your troops should continue to fight on the spot." Sokov asked puzzledly: "But why did they disappear without a trace?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you are mistaken. They did not disappear, but continued to fight the Germans in various places." Rodimtsev heard Sokov's question and immediately replied: "
Due to the long and narrow terrain of the city, the defense areas of my two regiments were deployed very scattered. According to my analysis, our defense line must have been broken through by the enemy after I lost contact with the outside world, and many of our division's fire support points were destroyed.
The enemy was eliminated, and the remaining troops moved to other places.
In the past, when the headquarters wanted to know the situation of our division, I reported directly to the commander or chief of staff, but after we were trapped, the radio station also lost contact. As a result, the superiors wanted to know the situation of the troops, but they could not find it.
The situation of the troops at the grassroots level; and the situation where the battalion and company level commanders wanted to report the battle situation but did not know who to report to. It is for these reasons that the superiors mistakenly thought that all the officers and soldiers of our division were missing."
After listening to Rodimtsev's explanation, Sokov immediately realized that even though the 92nd Infantry Brigade had been stationed here, there were still commanders and fighters of the Guards Division fighting tenaciously against the Germans, but without Rodimtsev
With such an important role, communication between superiors and subordinates inevitably went awry. The superiors did not understand their actual situation, so there were rumors that the entire division was missing.
Rodimtsev squinted his eyes, looked at the Mamaev Hill shrouded in gunpowder smoke, frowned and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, it seems that the situation there is not good. The enemy's shells have destroyed your mountain."
All the soil has been turned over..."
"Comrade General," Sokov rushed to say before Rodimtsev finished speaking: "Despite the fierce enemy artillery fire, it is not easy for them to occupy Mamayev Hill.
"Thinking that Rodimtsev would follow him into the tunnel fortifications in a while, it was necessary to explain to him to eliminate the doubts in his mind, "There are more than a dozen thick layers of soil above our tunnel, and the enemy's shells
There is no way to destroy our fortifications, so you can rest assured."
Sokov's words gave Rodimtsev reassurance. He smiled and nodded and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, with your brigade standing firm on Mamayev Heights, we don't have to worry about the enemy attacking us."
The defense line is divided."
After more than an hour of trekking, Sokov and the others finally entered the tunnel one after another.
Seeing Sokov bringing Rodimtsev back, Belkin and Sidorin came up to meet him. They surrounded Rodimtsev and asked: "Comrade General, when we see that you are still alive, we will
not worried."
Rodimtsev turned his head and glanced at Sokov beside him, and said with emotion: "Without Sokov's rescue, I think I would still be trapped in the dark basement."
Hearing that Rodimtsev was brought out of the basement by Sokov, Sidorin asked curiously: "Comrade General, can you tell us the details?"
"I'm afraid we don't have time now." Rodimtsev raised his hand and looked at his watch and said, "I need to rush to the Krutoy trench as soon as possible. Colonel Yelin is still waiting for me there."
"Comrade General, I think you must be tired and hungry now. Why don't you eat something here before leaving." Belgin heard that Rodimtsev was leaving, and quickly persuaded him to stay: "As for Colonel Yelin,
I can send someone to notify him and ask him to come here to see you."
Rodimtsev did not refuse Belgin's kind offer to stay. After all, he had been trapped in the basement for the past few days and had not been able to eat or sleep well. Now he finally had the opportunity to eat hot meals. Such a good opportunity
Of course, Rodimtsev would not let it go easily. Moreover, he also knew that from the north hill of Mamayev Hill, it would take a few minutes at most to enter the Krutoy Deep Trench, so he nodded and asked politely:
"I wonder what you are having for lunch today?"
When Belkin heard Rodimtsev's question, he immediately understood that the other party did not refuse his request. While ordering people to prepare food, he replied: "Comrade General, you have been in the basement these days, and you must not have eaten well. We have
Hot red cabbage soup is served here every day, you must drink a few more bowls later."
Knowing that they were entertaining General Rodimtsev, the cooks quickly brought hot beetroot soup, sliced cheese, dried sausages, etc. Seeing the things put on the table, Sokov used
Pointing his hand, he said to Rodimtsev with a smile: "Comrade General, the food we eat is a bit crude. Please forgive me."
When Rodimtsev was trapped in the basement, due to lack of water and food, and because he did not know when he would be able to escape, he implemented a strict rationing system for food and drinking water. Not long after he was rescued, he had just finished explaining to his subordinates
Task, I followed Sokov here. I was so hungry that my chest was touching my back. Now I saw the hot red cabbage soup placed in front of me. I was not polite and drank a big bowl of red cabbage soup in a few mouthfuls.
Drink the vegetable soup thoroughly.
Seeing that Rodimtsev had finished the soup in the bowl, Sokov quickly took the bowl from his hand, filled him with another bowl, handed it over again, and said with concern: "Comrade General, the red man here is
There is still a lot of vegetable soup, please drink it slowly."
When Rodimtsev took the soup bowl from Sokov's hand, he smiled gratefully at him. This time he drank the soup more gracefully. After taking a sip, he put down the soup bowl and looked at him.
Belkin and Sidorin said: "Two comrades, commanders, you don't want to know how I was rescued. I can tell you in detail now."
After Rodimtsev finished explaining the entire rescue process, Sidorin looked at Sokov and said in surprise: "Comrade Brigadier, you actually thought of blasting from the side to open a passage on the ground to remove the general and others from
Rescued from the basement."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, you are right. Thanks to Sokov this time, otherwise we would still be trapped in the dark basement at this moment." Rodimtsev said with emotion: "We are trapped in the basement.
For two days, the soldiers had no grenades in their hands, but I never thought of using this method to blow up a passage for myself."
As soon as Rodimtsev finished his meal, Colonel Ye Lin came in from outside with his men. Seeing Rodimtsev who looked tired, Ye Lin's eyes couldn't help but turn red. He hurried forward and came
In front of Rodimtsev, after raising his hands in salute, he gave his division commander a warm hug and said excitedly: "Comrade division commander, it's great to see you are still alive."
"Colonel Yelin," Rodimtsev said with equal excitement, patting Yelin's back with his hand: "I am equally happy to see you. When we were trapped in the basement, I was desperate
I thought I would die there silently, but fortunately Lieutenant Colonel Sokov rescued us in time."
Yelin let go of Rodimtsev, faced Sokov, raised his hand and saluted, and said with a solemn expression: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 42nd Guards Regiment, thank you, thank you for rescuing
Our teacher."
Sokov quickly raised his hand and returned the salute, "Comrade Colonel, you are too polite. General Rodimtsev is not only the commander of your Guards Division, but also my superior. It is my duty to rescue him from this predicament.
." Hearing what Sokov said, Yelin immediately thought that the troops from the Tsaritsa River to the Mamayev Ridge were all under the command of Rodimtsev, and the 73rd Infantry Brigade was also considered Rodimtsev.
Husband's subordinates.
Yelin then said hello to Belgin and Sidorin, and then asked Rodimtsev: "Comrade Commander, I was ordered to come to pick you up. Please tell me when we will set off."
Rodimtsev raised his hand and looked at his watch again. Seeing that he had wasted a lot of time here, he replied: "Let's set off now." However, before leaving the headquarters, he talked with Sokov again.
They shook hands one by one and expressed their gratitude to Sokov again.
After Rodimtsev left, Belkin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it stands to reason that General Rodimtsev has just escaped from danger, and he should stay in the original defense area to receive the troops. Why did Commander Chuikov
But the commander ordered him to go to the headquarters? Is there any important task to be assigned? "
"According to my analysis, in order to prevent the German army from occupying Stalingrad, the superiors will definitely take large-scale offensive operations from the periphery of the encirclement." Sokov replied thoughtfully: "In order to make this attack effective, the city must
The garrison must also urgently cooperate. I think that Comrade Commander must have summoned General Rodimtsev to the headquarters at this time to plan the next defensive and offensive actions."