Sokov originally planned to wait for the ship transporting rockets to start unloading before going to the ferry to collect the goods. But now he heard that deputy commander Golikov was coming, so he changed his mind and said to Zinoviev: "
Comrade Major, please take me to the ferry."
Zinoviev raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said with some surprise: "Comrade Colonel, are you sure you want to go to the ferry now? It will take several hours before the ship reaches the shore."
"Comrade Major," Sokov stood up and said to Zinoviev: "The deputy commander of the front will be arriving at the ferry soon. I think you may not have enough manpower to be responsible for the guard, so I plan to send troops to help you."
In fact, even if Sokov didn't mention this matter, Zinoviev planned to ask him to borrow some manpower to maintain order at the ferry. When he heard the other party take the initiative to mention it, he nodded quickly and said: "That's great, Colonel
Comrade, to tell you the truth, although I have more than 200 people in my hands, most of them are logistics personnel without weapons. There are only less than 20 real combat personnel. It depends on such a small number of people to maintain the ferry.
There are indeed difficulties with order.”
"Seryozha, please come in." After Sokov shouted outside, he said to Zinoviev: "I asked Lieutenant Seryosha to transfer a platoon to you to help you maintain order at the ferry."
Seryosha, who was standing outside the door, heard Sokov's shout and immediately walked in quickly: "Comrade division commander, what are your instructions?"
Sokov pointed his hand at Zinoviev and said: "The major wants to send people to maintain order at the ferry. There is a bit of manpower shortage. You can pull out Samoylov's third platoon to assist him."
Zinoviev originally thought that Sokov would allocate at least half of his men to help him maintain order. When he heard that he only gave him one platoon, he couldn't help but show a disappointed expression on his face. "Major," Sokov saw.
Zinoviev's expression explained to him: "The guard company that followed me to the dock is a reinforced company, and each platoon has fifty people. Using one platoon to help you maintain order at the ferry should
It’s more than enough.”
After listening to Sokov's explanation, Zinoviev realized that he had misunderstood the other party. As the deputy commander of the front army, Golikov would definitely take some guards with him when he came to the city.
The platoon assigned to him by Cove should be enough to maintain order at the ferry.
Ten minutes later, Sokov arrived at the ferry and stood by the river waiting for the ship carrying Golikov and the rockets to dock. Zinoviev and his men set up two cordons nearby,
All irrelevant people are blocked out.
Seryosha was curious as to why Sokov suddenly appeared by the river, and asked in a low voice: "Misha, in such a cold weather, why did you come outside when you weren't staying in the major's shelter? Also,
You asked me to assign a platoon to serve as a guard. Is there any big shot coming to the city?"
"Yes," Sokov nodded and said calmly: "General Golikov will take a ship carrying rockets and come to the city to inspect."
"General Golikov?!" Hearing Sokov's name, Seryosha showed a surprised expression on his face: "Misha, you are talking about the deputy chief of staff and head of the intelligence headquarters, right?
?What the hell, why is he here in Stalingrad when he's not staying in Moscow?"
"Seryozha, your information is out of date. He has long ceased to serve as the minister of the intelligence headquarters." Sokov turned his head and glanced at Seryosha, and said with a wry smile: "In August of this year, he served as the First Guards Officer.
The commander of the Army Group, responsible for attacking the enemies besieging Stalingrad from the north; now he is the deputy commander of our Stalingrad Front."
Seryosha sighed, and then said with emotion: "General Golikov is so low-key. It has been so long since the war broke out, and I have heard almost no news about him, so I mistakenly thought that he was still in charge of the post.
Pre-war duties."
Seryosha's words reminded Sokov that his subordinates had been staying in the tunnels for a long time, almost living in isolation from the outside world, so that they knew nothing about the situation outside. It seemed that
, I have to find a way to change this situation, install some loudspeakers in the tunnels, and report the battle situation in the city to the soldiers in a timely manner, so that they can have peace of mind.
"Comrade Colonel," just as Sokov was thinking wildly, Zinoviev had already walked back to him. Seeing him staring blankly at the endlessly flowing river, he couldn't help but ask: "What are you thinking about?
What?"
"I'm wondering, what is the purpose of General Golikov's entry into the city this time?" Sokov simply answered Zinoviev's question and asked: "Have the cordons been set up?"
"Yes, everything has been arranged." Zinoviev was halfway through his words when he pointed towards the river with his hand and said in surprise: "Comrade Colonel, look quickly, the ship transporting supplies is coming.
.I really didn’t expect that they arrived much earlier than the time notified.”
After a ferry docked at the ferry, the sailors on the ship placed two springboards on the hull and the shore. Then a team of sailors with live ammunition disembarked and quickly set up a cordon next to the springboard. After all this was done,
An army officer wearing a large-brimmed hat and a military coat, accompanied by two sailor officers, walked out of the cockpit. He stood on the side of the ship and glanced at the ferry, then walked off the gangplank.
Got off the boat.
Seeing the officer disembarking, Zinoviev hurriedly greeted him, straightened his body and reported to the other party: "Reporting to Comrade Deputy Commander, Major Zinoviev of the Logistics Department of the 62nd Group Army reports to you that I have been ordered to come here.
Welcoming you.”
"Major," Golikov, who had just stepped off the boat, looked around and asked, "Why are there so many residents stranded on the shore?"
"Report to Comrade Deputy Commander," Zinoviev replied with a wry smile: "There are two reasons why so many residents are stranded on the shore. First, there are not enough ships to evacuate these residents; second,
According to orders from superiors, no one can board the ship without a pass issued by the district Soviet."
"Nonsense, this is simply nonsense." After hearing this, Golikov frowned and said: "Thousands of residents crowded on the shore near the ferry, and they could easily become targets of German aircraft. A bomb would
If it falls, it will kill and injure more than ten or twenty people. Major, I am now officially informing you that as long as there are vacancies on the ships returning to the east coast, priority will be given to the sick and wounded, the elderly, women and children among the residents.
As long as the population in the city decreases, it can reduce our logistical supply pressure, do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Deputy Commander." Zinoviev saw the residents stranded on the shore crying every day because they were unable to cross the river and leave the city, and he couldn't bear it. But because he could not disobey the orders of his superiors,
He could only choose to ignore it. When he heard the order given by Golikov, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "I think those residents who can cross the river to the east bank will always remember your kindness to them."
"Comrade Major, who is the supreme commander here?" Golikov asked next.
"If I am responsible for maintaining order at the ferry and ensuring the loading and unloading of goods, I am the supreme commander here." After Zinoviev said this, he turned to glance at Sokov, who was standing not far behind him, and added
Said: "But if we talk about military rank, it is Colonel Sokov from Mamayev Kurgan."
"Colonel Sokov from Mamayev Kurgan?" After Golikov heard the name Zinoviev said, he quickly asked: "Where is he?"
"Hello, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Hearing Golikov asking himself, Sokov quickly took a few steps forward, came to the other party, and said respectfully: "I am Sokov.
Awaiting your orders, please give instructions!"
"Major Zinoviev," Golikov turned his attention to Zinoviev, "Do you have a quiet place here? I want to talk to Colonel Sokov alone."
"Yes, yes," Zinoviev nodded quickly and replied: "My command post is not far from here. You can talk to Colonel Sokov there."
"Colonel, do you know where the command post is?" After receiving Sokov's confirmation, Golikov said to Zinoviev: "Major, Comrade Sokov and I will go to the command post, and you will stay here.
Direct the men here to unload the ship. This ship's supplies are very important, and they must be unloaded before dawn."
Sokov didn't know what Golikov wanted to do with him, so he took him to Zinoviev's command post. After asking Golikov to sit down, he stood aside respectfully, waiting for the other party to give him a message.
Give your own instructions.
"Colonel Sokov, what are you doing standing there?" Seeing that Sokov did not sit down, Golikov quickly greeted him: "There are no outsiders here, sit down first. I have something to talk to you about."
After Sokov sat down, Golikov continued: "Comrade Colonel, I am entrusted by the commander and comrade military commissar to come to talk to you."
Seeing Golikov speaking so solemnly, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart, secretly wondering whether his superiors were dissatisfied with me and planned to replace me, so they sent Golikov as deputy commander.
Are you here to talk to me?
"Don't be nervous, Colonel Sokov." Golikov saw that Sokov became inexplicably nervous after hearing what he said. He quickly smiled and comforted him and said: "It's nothing serious, just a casual chat."
After Sokov's mood stabilized a little, Golikov continued: "Some time ago, your superiors gave you a difficult problem, asking you to find a way to transport 30,000 troops into the city within three days.
Nei. Do you still remember this?"
"Remember." Sokov thought that it was because of this problem from his superiors that I assisted Colonel Tupichev, the director of engineering and engineering, to build the underwater pontoon. He asked with full of questions: "Comrade Deputy Commander
, I want to ask, does this have anything to do with today’s conversation?”
"There is a connection, of course there is a connection." Golikov nodded and said in a positive tone: "I won't hide it from you now. If it hadn't been for the fierce bombing of the city by the German army a few days ago, the three divisions would have moved in.
After entering the city, a combat cluster will be formed in the south of the city and near Mamayev Heights."
As soon as Golikov mentioned the combat cluster, the muscles on Sokov's face couldn't help but twitch violently. He thought that under the current situation, even if a so-called combat cluster was established, there would be no air supremacy and not enough power.
With the support of tanks and artillery, it is meaningless to simply compete with the Germans in the city. After hesitating for a moment, he asked: "Comrade deputy commander, do the superiors still want to form this combat group again?"
Unexpectedly, Golikov shook his head after hearing this and said: "After serious consideration, the base camp decided to shelve this proposal. Except for the 45th Infantry Division entering the city, the three divisions that arrived on the east coast still stayed in the east coast.
Stand by shore."
After confirming that his superiors would not set up any more combat clusters, Sokov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew very well that even if he established a combat cluster to contain the enemies attacking the factory area in the north of the city, the effect would be very small.
On the contrary, in order to eliminate the threat from the flanks, in addition to indiscriminately bombing the areas where troops are gathered, the enemy may also mobilize elite troops from other places to attack Mamayev Heights, which will then allow the city to
The situation here has become more complicated and confusing.
Sokov felt that he should say a few words. After organizing the vocabulary in his mind, he said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, this decision made by the superiors is very correct. Now the air control of the city is in the hands of the enemy, and we rashly put the three
A division was placed in the south of the city to launch a counterattack, and the enemy's artillery fire and bombing were enough to crush their attack."
"That's right, Colonel Sokov." Golikov said with a smile: "Your idea coincides with your superiors. To defend the city, we only need to retain a certain number of troops in the city to contain the German army.
The main force is to buy precious time for the assembly of our counterattack forces."
According to Golikov's idea, after he said this, Sokov could not wait to ask when the counterattack would be carried out. But after waiting for a while, Sokov, who was sitting opposite him, remained silent. This
Then it was Golikov's turn to lose his composure, "Comrade Colonel, I want to ask you, do you think we can defend the city?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov replied without hesitation to Golikov's question: "Needless to say, as long as we still have our people in the city, we will never destroy this place.
The city named after the Supreme Commander himself was handed over to the Germans."
"Yes, yes, Colonel Sokov, you are very good." Golikov was very satisfied with Sokov's answer. He nodded with a smile and said, "I feel relieved to see you are so confident.
.”
From the tone of Golikov's words, Sokov guessed that what the other party wanted to discuss with him was not the formation of a combat group and whether he was confident in holding Stalingrad, because he asked this question, which was superfluous. So he asked
After hesitating for a moment, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think you must have something important to ask me. Can you tell me what it is?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Golikov couldn't help laughing twice, and said with some embarrassment: "Colonel Sokov, it seems that I can't hide anything from you. To be honest, I came to the city today because I was
I am entrusted by the Commander and Comrade Military Commissioner to ask you something."
"Please tell me, Comrade Deputy Commander."
"Rokossovsky proposed to the base camp that he wants to transfer you to his front army to serve as the commander of the infantry corps." Golikov looked at Sokov and asked with a complicated expression: "We want to ask