After Andrei waited for Susanna and Zina to leave his battalion headquarters, he asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade division commander, who else do you want to see, I will send someone to find them immediately."
"Comrade Captain," Sokov said, looking at Andrei: "I risked my life to come here not to sit in the basement and listen to people report my work to me. I hope to go to where the battle is taking place.
.”
"Comrade Commander, this is not good." The reason Andre wanted Sokov to stay at the battalion headquarters to listen to the report was because he was worried about the danger he would encounter outside, so he tried his best to persuade him: "Who do you want to see and hear?
If anyone wants to report, I will send someone to find them immediately. Even if they can't come for the time being, they can still report to you over the phone."
Seeing Andre repeatedly dissuading him from leaving the battalion headquarters, Sokov understood that the other party had good intentions and was afraid that he would be in danger. For having such a subordinate who cared about his safety, Sokov was quite touched. But he
I ventured to the Old City because I wanted to see with my own eyes the fighting going on here in the Old City. If I just wanted to sit at the command post and listen to the report, I might as well stay at Mamayev Heights.
Sokov originally wanted to say that the purpose of his visit this time was to go to the Vasily Building to see what the situation was like there. But before he spoke, he suddenly remembered that he had not heard anything about Rodimtsev and the Guardsmen for a long time.
After hearing the news about the 13th Division, he asked Andre tentatively: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask, are there any commanders and fighters from the 13th Guards Division in your battalion?"
"From the 13th Guards Division?" Andre was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, not one. Comrade Division Commander, weren't they transferred to the north of the factory area in the past two months?
?"
Although he had already guessed that there could not be anyone from the 13th Guards Division here, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard Andre's affirmative answer. Originally, in real history, his performance was remarkable.
Major General Rodimtsev and his troops, however, became unknown because of their emergence. Even the famous Pavlov Building was turned into Vasily Building.
"Comrade Division Commander, have you forgotten that we once saved General Rodimtsev's life?" Now that Sokov mentioned the 13th Guards Division, it immediately awakened the memories of this unit in Andre's mind.
: "At that time, he lost contact with the army headquarters, and the commander ordered us to search. You took us to the old city, and after a careful search, we found that they were trapped in the basement because the house collapsed..."
Andrei's words gave Sokov a wake-up call. He wanted to talk about the basement exit from the moment he entered the door. Now that Andrei mentioned it, he said logically: "Comrade Captain, since you know that Rodim
General Tsev’s original lesson, why doesn’t your command post have a passage to the outside of the building? Aren’t you worried that one day the building above you will fall down due to enemy shelling or bombing, burying you all in the basement?
inside?"
"I'm sorry, comrade division commander, it was all my negligence." Hearing Sokov pointed out the problems with the battalion command post, Andre immediately blushed and admitted his mistake: "I mainly considered that the battalion command post might be transferred at any time.
, so some work is not done carefully enough..."
"Captain Andrei, as a commander, even if it is just a temporary command post, you must consider your escape route." Sokov said to him with a serious expression: "You have thousands of commanders and fighters under you. If you
If something goes wrong at the battalion headquarters, then the troops in the entire Old City will lose their unified command and become scattered, and there is a possibility that they will be defeated by the Germans one by one. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Andrei waited for Sokov to finish and immediately replied loudly: "I will immediately arrange manpower to dig a passage to the trenches outside. In this way, even if the entire building collapses,
Now, people staying in the basement can be safely transferred."
Sokov waited for Andrei to arrange the manpower and start digging the passage to the outside, then he stood up from the table and said to him: "Comrade Captain, I want to go to the Vasily Building, please prepare it for us."
A guide.”
Don't forget that Sokov has been to the Vasily Building many times, but due to enemy shelling and bombing, the buildings along the way were turned into ruins. Sokov could not accurately find it without reference objects.
Vasily Building.
"Comrade Commander, since you are going to the Vasily Building." Seeing that Sokov had already made up his mind to go to the Vasily Building, Andrei knew that nothing he said was of any use, so he volunteered: "If you don't object, why not
Let me be your guide."
"What about the work here?" Sokov asked rhetorically.
"I can hand over the work to the deputy battalion commander." Andrei grinned and continued: "I haven't been to the Vasily Building for a long time, so I just happened to come with you to see what it has become."
Coming out of the basement, Sokov asked Seryosha to gather the accompanying soldiers, and then turned to Andre and asked: "Comrade Captain, in the order I issued some time ago, I asked you to use the sewers in the old city to separate various defensive positions.
Have you managed to connect it to the fire support point?"
"Reporting to Comrade Division Commander," Andrei replied with some embarrassment after hearing Sokov's question: "We only use the sewers in a few areas."
"Why?" Sokov frowned and asked dissatisfied.
"Due to the bombing by enemy planes, the sewers in many places have collapsed." Seeing that Sokov was unhappy, Andrei quickly explained to him: "I once organized manpower to conduct an inventory of the sewers in the defense area. In the end,
The results are very disappointing. Most of the sewers have either collapsed or been flooded by rivers. There are only two or three sewers available to us, and the areas where they can be connected are also very limited."
"Then when we go to the Vasily Building, do we need to enter the sewers?"
"I think it's best not to enter the sewers." Andrei continued: "On the way to the Vasily Building, there is a section of more than 800 meters of sewers that has fallen into the hands of the enemy. I have sent people many times to try to
We failed to recapture this section of sewer from the Germans, but instead lost seventy or eighty soldiers."
"If you want to retake the sewers, you don't necessarily have to organize troops to attack." After Sokov learned that Andrei organized a battle to seize the sewers, but did not succeed, not only did he not get angry, but he taught him combat experience: "You can send
People blocked two sections of the sewer so that the enemy could not use the sewer for activities. In addition, several snipers were placed near the exit of the sewer to kill the enemy as soon as they came out."
"But if the enemy stays in the sewer and cannot come out, what should we do?"
"Even if the enemies staying in the sewers carry enough ammunition, do they have enough food and water?" Sokov sneered and continued: "In order to continue to control this sewer, they need to constantly replenish it.
Ammunition, food and water. As long as you guard the exit, kill every enemy when they come out. Soon, the enemies in the sewer will be unable to hold on."
"I understand, Comrade Division Commander." After listening to Sokov's tactics, Andrei's face showed an expression of joy: "You don't know, I have been having a headache over the past few days on how to recapture the sewers in this area.
, and even considered deploying a fully formed company to launch a new attack there."
"Comrade Captain, you have to remember that we cannot compare with the enemy in terms of firepower configuration. If we launch an attack on the enemy's defensive areas without strong firepower cover, we will let the soldiers die in vain." Soko
When the husband said this, he waved his hand downwards and said decisively: "Such unnecessary sacrifices will never be allowed in my army."
"Comrade Division Commander," Seryosha trotted over and asked Sokov for instructions: "The troops have been assembled, can they set off?"
"Set off!"
Under the leadership of Andrei, Sokov and the others carefully walked through the ruins one after another. Although they heard the sound of pulling gun bolts from the ruins from time to time, there was no movement soon. Sokov
Hearing these movements, I knew in my heart that those holding on in the ruins must be the commanders and soldiers of the Third Battalion.
After walking for more than half an hour, Sokov and the others finally approached the Vasily Building. With the help of the firelight from the distance, Sokov could see the building in front of him clearly and was shocked. Half of the entire building had collapsed, leaving only
A frame. And the walls that have not collapsed are also covered with dense craters the size of fists, which shows how fierce the battle here is.
In order to prevent misunderstandings, everyone stopped more than a hundred meters away from the building, and then Andre sent someone to get in touch with the defenders in the building and ask them to come out to respond.
After the dispatched soldiers left, Andrei explained to Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, in order to prevent the enemy from attacking at night, Vasily sent people to plant a lot of mines around the building. If there were no people in the building,
If you lead the way, it will be difficult to get through this minefield."
Regarding Andrei's statement, Sokov did not think it was alarmist at all. In order to defend the building, Vasily and the others must have laid mines at different locations on the roads leading to the building. If there were no people in the building to lead the way,
, even if you carry a mine detector, you cannot open a path in the minefield.
When the soldiers who went to make contact arrived more than fifty meters away from the building, a soldier holding a submachine gun suddenly emerged from a trench that had been deformed by the bombing. After a brief exchange, the two sides headed toward the rope together.
Cove walked over to where he was.
When the two approached, Sokov saw clearly that the soldier emerging from the trench was actually Vasily himself. He couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Vasily, aren't you a sniper? Why are you holding this
Is there a submachine gun hiding in the trench?"
"Hello, comrade division commander." Hearing that the division commander was asking the question, Vasily quickly and respectfully replied: "I came out to check the sentry. The sentry felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach and went to the toilet elsewhere.
I was temporarily filling in for him, but you guys showed up unexpectedly."
"Comrade Vasily, the division commander came here specifically to inspect." Andrei was worried that Sokov and Vasily would stand here chatting for a long time. Such a large group of people would be easily discovered by hidden enemies. If they called for artillery fire,
If we bomb this place, the situation will not be good. He quickly urged Vasily: "Bring us into the building quickly."
"Yes, comrade battalion commander." Vasily straightened his body and replied, then politely said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, please come to us, I will take you into the building." He emphasized specifically, "Please everyone
You must follow my footsteps, otherwise you may step on landmines."
Even though it was only over a hundred meters away from the building, there were too many mines along the way, so everyone carefully followed Vasily and walked for seven or eight minutes before entering the building.
After entering the building, Sokov took off his hat and wiped his sweat, and asked: "Vasily, how many landmines have you laid outside the building?"
Regarding Sokov's question, Vasily thought for a while and replied: "We have buried more than 700 landmines around the building. And the Germans also buried hundreds of mines around the building in order to block us.
Landmines, a rough calculation, there are probably more than a thousand landmines."
"Oh my God," Seryosha said with a shocked expression on his face when he heard Vasily say this: "You are surrounded by thousands of landmines in the building, how can you go out and move around?"
Regarding Seryosha's question, Vasily smiled faintly and replied: "Comrade Lieutenant, no matter how many enemy mines there are, they can't trap us. You know, most of the time when we go outside for activities, we go through the sewers."
Vasily took Sokov to a basement and said apologetically: "Comrade division commander, we used to stay upstairs, but due to the enemy's shelling and bombing, most of the floors in this building were destroyed. We
Normally you can only stay in the basement, wait for the battle to start, and then come out of the basement and enter your respective combat positions."
"Commander, the commander is here." A soldier sitting at the door of the basement was startled when he saw a group of people rushing towards him. When he saw clearly that the person standing with Vasily was the division commander Sokov,
When meeting the battalion commander, Captain Andre, he quickly turned to the door and shouted: "Comrades, it's the division commander and battalion commander who are here to see us."
After shouting twice, several soldiers rushed out. When they saw clearly that the people standing outside the door were indeed the division commander and battalion commander, they quickly stood at attention, raised their hands and saluted the two men, and shouted loudly at the same time.
"Hello, comrades, you have worked hard!" Sokov raised his hand to return a military salute, then raised his hand and pressed it down, saying to the soldiers: "Keep your voice down, don't wake up other comrades."
"Comrade Commander, please come in." Vasily crossed Sokov and came to the door of the basement. After making a gesture of invitation, he said: "This place is relatively spacious. You can place all the soldiers you brought here."