"Cross the river to the other side?" Vanya looked at the looming town on the other side of the river, frowned and thought for a moment, and then guessed what the next route would be. However, just to be on the safe side, he still asked tentatively: "Brigade
Comrade Chang, that means that after we land ashore later, we will go down the river to the next ferry, where we will board the boat again and cross the river to the ferry behind Mamayev Hill?"
"Yes, Comrade Captain, the next route is indeed as you speculated." Seeing that Vanya had guessed the marching route of the troops, Sokov nodded and explained to him: "The only way is to do this.
, we can minimize the losses of our troops."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I wonder if you have considered this." Vanya said cautiously: "As a result, we will be delayed on the road for a long time. Whether we are marching along the river or crossing the river at the next ferry, we will be attacked by the enemy.
Bombing and artillery shelling. By the time we enter Mamayev Heights, we will have lost at least one-third of our troops."
"Then what did you think about it?" After hearing Vanya's words, Sokov not only did not blame him, but also asked in a reasonable manner: "What should we do to minimize the casualties of the troops?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya had just chatted with the crew of the tugboat and had some knowledge of the situation in this section of the river, so he suggested to Sokov: "I asked the crew of the tugboat, but they were blocked by German artillery fire.
The river channel is only about five to six hundred meters. As long as the tugboat can drag the barge through this area quickly, we can return to Mamayev Heights in the shortest time."
Sokov was very tempted by Vanya's proposal and almost agreed casually. But then he thought, no, he is an outsider in shipping. As for whether he can march like this, he still needs to ask someone who knows the industry, so he
After hesitating for a moment, he said to Vanya: "Comrade Vanya, there are more than a thousand sailors returning to the city with us this time. They know more about things on the water than we do. We should wait until they come.
Ask them again."
Not long after waiting, Shamrih and Political Deputy Battalion Commander Shapovarenko appeared in front of Sokov. He said apologetically: "Comrade Brigadier, the troops are too scattered, we need to gather them all
Get up, it will take some more time."
"It doesn't matter." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. It had only been more than forty minutes since he came out of Panteleev's place, and he said magnanimously: "We still have time, we can wait for them slowly.
"
After a pause, Sokov remembered Vanya's proposal and asked Shamrih: "Comrade Captain, I want to ask you a question. Do you think that after we let the troops board the ship, we can directly go down the river and approach the ship?"
How about a local landing at Mamayev Kurgan?”
"Comrade Brigadier," Shamrih heard what Sokov said, pointed to the other bank with his hand, and asked with some surprise: "According to the previous arrangement, shouldn't we take the boat to the other bank first, and then go down the river?
, board the boat at the next ferry to cross the river?”
"Yes, this is indeed the plan." Sokov explained to Shamrih: "But according to the original plan, the delay on the road was too long, so I planned to wait for the troops to get on the boat and go directly down the river.
If you disembark, disembark near Mamayev Kurgan, you can save a lot of time."
"As far as I know, the section of the river blocked by German firepower is five to six hundred meters long." Shamrih said with a serious expression: "Maybe on land, this distance is nothing. But on the river,
However, it takes a very long time to cross this distance. The tugboat towing the barge has a speed of only four knots, which is 7.4 kilometers per hour when converted to land speed. In other words, we have to pass the river of 500 to 600 meters.
It will take at least five minutes. Do you think a slow-moving barge can withstand five minutes of German shelling?"
Shamrich's words made Sokov understand that Vanya's idea was too natural. The barge was large and had an obvious target. If it floated under the enemy's nose for five minutes, no matter how bad the artillery was, it could be sunk.
Thinking of this, Sokov decided to follow the original plan, first let the troops take a boat to the other side, then walk to the next ferry and take a boat into the city.
Just when Sokov was about to speak, Bely, who had always remained silent, unexpectedly asked: "Comrade Captain, even if the barge can only travel at four knots, but we are going down the river, if we include the flow speed and other aspects
Factors in, it won’t even take us five minutes to pass through this area.”
As soon as Bely finished speaking, Shamrich shook his head and said like a rattle: "Comrade Colonel, you are wrong. The Volga River flows very fast in this section near Stalingrad because the river is curved and there are many sandbars and shoals.
It's extremely slow, even if we go downstream, our speed won't increase much."
"Then what should we do?" Bely waited for Shamrih to finish speaking, turned to look at Sokov, and asked him for instructions: "Should we follow the original plan, or should we risk taking a barge down the river?"
Is this really a difficult choice? Seeing Bely throwing the problem to himself, Sokov couldn't help complaining in his heart. He wanted to return to Mamayev Heights as soon as possible, but no matter how he went, the casualties of the troops would not be small.
He couldn't help but feel in a dilemma.
Seeing that Sokov could not make up his mind, Bely asked tentatively: "Master Mi, how about we go according to the original plan and go to the other side first, and then go down the river, even if we encounter obstacles on the way?"
In the event of an enemy air raid or artillery bombardment, we can disperse and conceal our troops in a timely manner."
"Okay, Colonel Bely!" After repeated weighing in his mind, Sokov felt that he should still act according to the original plan, first reach the other side, and then march on foot to the next ferry to cross the river by boat. Although it takes time,
It is long, and there is a possibility of being attacked by enemy air strikes and artillery fire, but it is better than sitting on a barge and becoming a target for German artillery fire. "We will adopt the original plan and take a boat to the other side first."
While talking, the sailors from the Marine Corps Battalion came to the river. Seeing his men appear, Shamrih quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, my troops are here, I will arrange for them to board the ship first.
"
"Go, Comrade Captain." Sokov waved his hand to the other party and said, "You take the troops to board the ship first, and the rest of the troops will wait until you get on the ship."
The sailors of the Marine Corps battalion lined up neatly and boarded the barge in an orderly manner. Standing on the barge, Deputy Battalion Commander Yakuda asked Shamrih for instructions: "Comrade Battalion Commander, we need to let all the soldiers arrive.
Do you want to go into the cabin? You know, they are all standing on the deck and can easily become targets for enemy planes."
"No need." Shamrih waved his hand and said, "We just need to reach the other side. It won't take long. Let the sailors stay on the deck."
"Yes!" Yakuda agreed, then rushed to the sailors who were about to enter the cabin and shouted to them: "Stay on the deck. No one is allowed to enter the cabin without my order. Everyone stay on the deck...
…”
After hearing Yakov repeating the order loudly over and over again, no one of the sailors walked towards the entrance of the cabin, but formed a neat queue on the deck in companies.
After the sailors had boarded the ship, Vanya asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Brigade Commander, all the sailors have boarded the ship, can we board the ship?"
"Come on board!" When Sokov said this, he instinctively raised his head and glanced into the sky. Seeing that today was a good day with clear skies and cloudless skies, and also the most conducive weather for enemy planes to attack, he specifically warned:
"Let the soldiers prepare for air defense."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya naturally knew what Sokov meant by air defense, so she reminded him tactfully: "There are not many people left in our battalion, so we must use the tactic of concentrating fire and attacking aircraft.
I’m afraid it won’t work.”
"You don't have enough people. Don't you still have a guard battalion and a marine battalion?" Sokov said to Vanya: "Anyway, even if all the troops board the ship, it will take a certain amount of time to reach the other side. You can teach them how to assemble."
Tactics of shooting down planes with fire.”
"Yes!" Vanya agreed, turned around and trotted away.
After all the commanders and combatants boarded the ship, a sailor on the barge notified the crew of the tugboat to sail through the signal flag. When the tugboat towed the barge full of commanders and combatants and slowly sailed towards the other shore, Sokov's heart
I immediately realized that the decision to act according to the original plan was right. The speed of this ship was probably not much faster than the speed of a person walking. If you really go through the enemy's artillery blockade at this speed, you will simply die.
.
As soon as the barge stopped on the east bank, Sokov saw someone on the shore shouting loudly toward the ship: "Is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov on the ship? Is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov on the ship?"
"I am Sokov." Seeing that the person calling was a lieutenant wearing a black sailor uniform, Sokov quickly agreed and asked, "What's the matter?"
The lieutenant quickly ordered the sailors on the shore to set up a springboard for the barge, and then trotted all the way onto the ship. He came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am Volga
The district fleet has just received a telegram from the front army headquarters, asking your troops to rest in Red October Town after landing."
"What, let the troops rest in Red October Town?" After hearing what the lieutenant said, Sokov asked in surprise: "Then when can we set off?"
"We have to wait for specific notification."
Seeing that he couldn't get what he wanted from the other person's mouth, Sokov said to Vanya, Tenev, Shamrih and others who were standing aside: "You arrange for the soldiers to disembark first, I will
Later, I will go to the town to find the commander in charge and find out when the troops can set off."
When several subordinates agreed in unison, returned to their respective units, and arranged for the commanders and soldiers to disembark, Sokov asked the navy lieutenant: "Comrade Lieutenant, I wonder who is in charge of this town?"
"It's our captain, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." The lieutenant replied quickly: "Our ship was sunk by enemy planes two days ago, and the superiors ordered the rest of us to come here and take charge of the defense of the ferry."
Sokov glanced at Bely who was standing next to him and asked politely: "Can you take us to see your captain?"
"Yes, of course." Seeing that the soldiers on the barge had not yet begun to disembark, the naval lieutenant quickly called to Sokov and Bely: "Two comrades, commanders, please come with me. I will take you two to see our
captain."
Under the leadership of the lieutenant, Sokov and Bely came to the station in the town. The lieutenant came to the door of a intact office at the station and shouted inside: "Report!"
"Come in!"
The lieutenant opened the door, but without entering, he stood at the door and reported: "Comrade Captain, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a surprised voice came from inside: "What, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is here, please come in quickly, I'm just looking for him."
Sokov and Bely walked to the door and saw a naval major sitting behind the desk in the room. The major stood up from his seat, walked around the desk, came to the door and raised his hand to salute Sokov: "Hello
, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I am Major Sergey, the gunboat captain of the Volga Fleet."
"Hello, Comrade Major." Sokov raised his hand and saluted him, and asked curiously: "I was outside the door just now, and I heard that you seemed to want to see me for something. What is it?"
Sergey did not answer Sokov's question immediately, so he found a commander with a higher rank standing next to him, and he hesitated whether he should salute him.
Seeing that Sergey was reluctant to speak, but kept staring at Bely beside him, Sokov guessed what the other man was thinking, and urged: "Major Sergey, this is Colonel Bely, he is
You came with me. If you have anything to ask me about, can you tell me?"
"Comrade Major," Bely lost no time in assisting, "I am a subordinate of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. If you have anything to ask him about, just tell him. Our time is precious and we cannot stay here for too long."
"That's it, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sergey guided Sokov to the desk, pointed to the map on the table, and said to Sokov: "I received a call from the Front Army Headquarters not long ago. Please
You rush there immediately, the front commander and the military committee want to see you. The headquarters is here, you can walk about five kilometers southeast."
"Comrade Major," Sokov couldn't help but frowned slightly when he learned that Yeremenko and Khrushchev wanted to see him, and asked: "Do you know what's going on?"
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I don't know." Sergey replied simply, "I'm just conveying the order from my superiors to you. As for what you are asked to do at the front headquarters, I don't know."
When Sokov saw that Sergey's words did not mention the names of Bely or other commanders at all, he guessed that the two front army chiefs might only see him alone, so he turned to Bely and said: "Colonel Bely, I
We must rush to the front army headquarters as soon as possible, and the troops will be put in your charge."