In the evening, Sokov took Seryosha's guard company and rode in several armored vehicles, cars and motorcycles cobbled together by the division, and left Mamayev Hill and headed in the direction of Luhansk.
Originally, he was planning to set off with Chuikov, but two hours ago, Chuikov received an order from Rokossovsky and had more important tasks to perform, so he canceled the trip to Lugansk.
Sokov sat in the armored vehicle and maintained contact with Seryosha in front through the vehicle radio: "Seryosa, it's already dark, find a place to stop and rest."
Seryosha originally had different opinions about Sokov traveling all night. Now he heard Sokov offer to find a place to spend the night, so he agreed.
A few minutes later, Seryosha told Sokov via the radio: "Misha, the motorcyclist who just explored the road ahead reported that there is a field camp of our army three or four kilometers away from us.
Are you going to spend the night there?"
"Okay." Sokov naturally agreed to Seryosha's proposal, but in order to avoid misunderstandings, he reminded the other party: "Seryosa, it's already dark. In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, you send someone first
Contact someone. Once the other party is ready, it won’t be too late to go there.”
What Seryozha discovered was the garrison of a platoon-level unit, which was part of the 57th Group Army. When the platoon leader saw a convoy coming towards him, he felt very nervous and thought it was a German. Fortunately, Seryozha
Liao Sha listened to Sokov's warning and sent soldiers to get in touch with them, otherwise there might really be a fight.
After meeting the second lieutenant platoon leader, Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade second lieutenant, you are very vigilant. If I hadn't sent someone to contact you, both sides might have started fighting."
The platoon leader heard what Sokov said and replied with a wry smile: "Comrade Colonel, you don't know that there are really Germans near our platoon's station."
"Germans?!" Seryozha heard what the other party said and couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "The Paulus Group has been eliminated. Where did the Germans appear?"
"I think it may be that the German soldiers who survived Paulus' surrender escaped here." The platoon leader reported to Sokov: "But their number should not be large."
"Comrade Second Lieutenant, you are very confident." Seryozha began to argue with the other party: "How do you know that the other party does not have many people?"
"That's right, Comrade Captain." The platoon leader glanced at Seryosha's rank and replied respectfully: "We didn't know there were Germans at the beginning. Until two days ago, one of our sentry posts on duty at night was attacked.
It wasn't until the attack that I learned there were Germans nearby."
"How was the attack?"
"The sentry's throat was cut with a dagger." The platoon leader explained: "The weapons, the short fur coat he was wearing and some food were all taken away. After surveying the scene, I think it was the Germans who did it. They should have the number of people
Not many, otherwise they would definitely take advantage of the sentry being killed by them to launch a sneak attack on us, but they did not do so."
"Your analysis is very reasonable, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Sokov felt that the platoon leader's analysis was somewhat reasonable. After praising him a few words, he ordered Seryosa: "Seryosa, tonight's sentry, at least
We need to work in groups of four, do you understand?"
"Understood." Seryozha's guard company has nearly two hundred people. Even if there are three or four groups of four sentry posts, there are only a dozen people, so he readily agreed: "I will make arrangements immediately.
"
In the middle of the night, Sokov, who was sleeping in an armored car, was shaken awake. He opened his eyes drowsily and saw that the person who woke him up was Seryosa, so he casually asked: "Seryosa, what's wrong with you?"
What happened? Is it dawn yet?"
"Not yet, Misha." Seryosha said close to his ear: "I noticed something moving nearby."
"Is there any movement?" When Seryosha said this, Sokov's drowsiness suddenly disappeared without a trace. He sat up straight and asked: "Seryosa, did you find anything?"
"Misha, look." Seryosha pointed to a forest to the north and said to Sokov: "You can vaguely see fire in the forest over there. There should be someone there."
"Who could it be?" Sokov asked rhetorically: "It can't be the sentry assigned by the platoon leader to be on duty, right?"
"I have asked the platoon leader, and he said no." Seryosha obviously guessed what Sokov was going to ask, and said proactively: "According to my estimation, it should be the Germans lurking nearby. Because the weather is too cold, they are hiding
He was living in the forest to keep warm, but he didn’t expect to be discovered by us.”
"Seryozha, take a platoon immediately and go over to see what's going on." Sokov told Seryosha: "If they are really Germans, capture or eliminate them."
"There is no need for me to take action for such a trivial matter." Seryosha said, and ordered a soldier to call the three guard platoon leaders. He said to the three of them: "Comrades, there is fire coming from the forest in the distance.
, they must be enemies who have escaped from Stalingrad and are hiding there to keep warm. Which of you is willing to lead people to catch them?"
As soon as Seryozha finished speaking, the three platoon commanders raised their hands in unison. Seryozha smiled with satisfaction at the performance of the three people, then pointed to a platoon commander and said to him: "
Platoon leader, let your platoon go to the forest to check the situation. If they are really enemies, then capture or eliminate them. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Company Commander." The platoon leader agreed, then turned around and sent off to assemble the team.
While waiting, Seryosha suddenly remembered something important, and curiously asked Sokov: "Misha, there is something I have wanted to ask you for a long time."
"what's up?"
"I heard some time ago that the superiors planned to set up a Guards corps in our group army, consisting of the 37th and 39th Guards and our 41st Guards." Seryosha asked curiously: "There have been rumors in the camp.
It is possible that you can take up the position of military commander. But after so long, why hasn’t the work of forming the Guards been started yet?”
"Seryosa, you don't know something. The situation has changed." Sokov explained to Seryosha: "According to orders from superiors, the 62nd Army only retains three Guards Divisions, and the rest are all transferred."
"What, only three divisions are reserved for the 62nd Army, and all the rest of the troops are transferred?" After hearing this shocking news, Seryosha asked in confusion: "Why do you do this?"
"According to my guess," Sokov tried hard to recall what he learned in later generations and translated it into his own understanding: "The superiors did this because the heroic troops who participated in the defense war have rich combat experience and
With their heroic and tenacious spirit, they can become the new backbone of combat forces by distributing them to various group armies. In the following days, they can be used in offensive campaigns to implement breakthroughs in the main assault direction; in defensive campaigns, they can be used
They went to conduct a counterattack."
After listening to Sokov's explanation, Seryosha nodded with a look of enlightenment and said with emotion: "So that's what happened. The superiors think about the problem more comprehensively than us."
After a moment of pause, Seryosha said another thing that was on his mind: "Misha, there is one more thing I want to ask you. Why do you want to break up the downsizing regiment and organize it into three Guards regiments?
?You know, this is your direct army, it would be a pity to be broken up like this."
"Seryozha, you are right. The drawdown regiment is my direct line unit. Commanders at all levels can also understand my combat intentions during the battle." Sokov said with a smile: "Disperse them to various nearby locations.
In the Guards Regiment, I want to use their influence to let the commanders and fighters of the entire Guards Division learn how to understand my intentions and master my tactics in battle."
"So that's it." Seryosha nodded and said, "Misha, you are so thoughtful."
While the two were talking, gunfire and explosions suddenly came from the forest in the distance. The soldiers who were awakened immediately clenched their weapons and stared closely at the sound of gunfire and explosions.
direction, anxiously waiting for Sokov's order.
Sokov listened for a moment, then turned to ask Seryosha: "Seryosa, do you think your men can deal with this enemy hiding in the forest?"
"There should be no problem." Seryozha replied confidently: "To answer, the troops in the guard battalion are also your direct descendants. Their combat effectiveness should be the strongest in the entire division. There should be no problem in dealing with a few stragglers."
As soon as Seryosha finished speaking, the gunshots and explosions in the forest also stopped. Sokov smiled and said to Seryosha: "Seryosa, it seems that the soldiers in this platoon are not bad, so quickly
Fight settled."
"Misha, I have already said that the soldiers in the guard battalion are the elite of the entire division. And our company is the most powerful in the entire guard battalion." Hearing Sokov's praise, Seryosha felt a little agitated.
Gone with the Wind: "Dealing with a few Germans is not a piece of cake."
After waiting for another ten minutes, a platoon leader came back with the soldiers.
The platoon leader quickly ran up to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and reported: "Comrade division commander, the platoon leader is reporting to you. Our platoon was ordered to go to the forest to clear out the lone Germans. After a battle,
, killed two people, captured one alive, and came here specifically to report back to you."
Knowing that there were only three Germans in the forest, Sokov couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Before he could speak, Seryosha asked first: "First Platoon Commander, are you sure there are only three German soldiers in the forest?"
"Yes, there are only three people." A platoon leader reported: "I personally interrogated the prisoners. He said that more than 20 of them originally escaped, but due to lack of food and clothing, people continued to die along the way. When they arrived here
At that time, there were only four people left. One of them had frozen to death last night. They were worried about making the same mistake again, so they took the risk to light a fire in the snow pit, which exposed their whereabouts."
Sokov originally wanted to interrogate the prisoners personally to find out the numbers of their units. But after hearing the platoon leader's report in such detail, he lost interest in interrogating him and instead ordered the platoon leader: "First platoon leader,
We have to be on the road after dawn, and it will be inconvenient to take prisoners with us. You can hand this prisoner over to the friendly forces stationed here later and let them deal with the prisoner."
"Yes, comrade division commander." The platoon leader replied resoundingly: "I will hand over the prisoners to friendly forces immediately."
When setting off early the next morning, Sokov told Seryosha: "Seryosa, keep a distance of at least one hundred meters between each vehicle. At the same time, manpower must be arranged on the vehicle to keep an eye on both sides of the road.
side, and discover enemies who may be hiding in snowdrifts in time. Do you understand?"
Seryosha, as Sokov's confidant, naturally knew the news of Ivanov's sacrifice. Hearing Sokov's instructions, he did not dare to neglect, and quickly and loudly replied: "Understood, we will maintain our due diligence during the march.
vigilance."
To be on the safe side, once Seryosha noticed something was wrong behind the snowdrifts on the roadside, he would order the machine gun set up on top of the car's driver's seat to shoot in that direction, or send soldiers on motorcycles over to check.
It was originally just a measure taken for safety reasons, but it was unexpectedly effective. The convoy traveled less than sixty kilometers, and no less than twenty corpses were found behind those suspicious snowdrifts. These corpses
Some died of cold and starvation, while others were automatically beaten to death.
When Seryozha saw these corpses with his own eyes, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. If the division commander hadn't repeatedly warned him to be more vigilant during the march, he might have been attacked by German soldiers who had not died of cold or starvation.
sneak attack.
According to the original idea, the convoy should arrive in Luhansk at noon. However, in order to prevent a sneak attack by the Germans, the convoy had to slow down and did not arrive in Luhansk until the evening.
There was a checkpoint outside the city. When the soldiers on duty saw a convoy approaching, they quickly stretched out their hands to signal to stop.
After the car stopped, the soldier walked up to the first car and asked: "Which section are you from and what are you doing in Luhansk?"
Seryosha, who was sitting in the cab of the first car, heard the soldiers' questions and quickly replied: "We are the leading troops of the 41st Guards Division, and we are preparing to build defense here."
Hearing what Seryozha said, the soldier did not let him go. Instead, he returned to the checkpoint, made a phone call to the company headquarters, and reported the convoy to the company.
After receiving the call from the soldier, the Soviet company commander immediately woke up Samoylov who was sleeping in the house and told him: "Comrade Lieutenant, I just received a call from the checkpoint saying that a truck was coming.
A small convoy of armored vehicles and motorcycles. They said they were from the 41st Guards Division. I would like to ask you to identify them and see if you recognize them."
When Samoylov learned that a convoy was coming, he quickly summoned the surviving soldiers from the guard platoon and followed the company commander in the direction of the checkpoint.
When he was still forty or fifty meters away from the checkpoint, Samoilov ordered the soldiers to spread out on the spot, occupy a favorable terrain, and point their guns at the convoy on the other side of the checkpoint, ready to shoot immediately if they found anything was wrong.
After making these arrangements, Samoilov followed the company commander into the checkpoint.
Seeing the company commander and friendly commanders coming over, the soldiers on duty quickly reported the situation. Samoylov walked out of the checkpoint with a pistol in his hand and came to a place about ten or twenty meters away from the truck.
Stopped and shouted loudly: "I am Lieutenant Samoilov, the guard platoon leader. Which section are you in?"
"I am the guard company commander Seryosha." As early as when Samoilov walked out of the checkpoint, Seryosha used the car's headlights to see him clearly. At this moment, hearing his call, he opened the car door and got in.
He went out, stood on the steps and replied, "I came here to escort the division commander."
When Samoilov heard Seryosha's voice, he felt ecstatic. When he heard that the division commander had arrived, he trotted all the way to Seryosha and asked anxiously: "Comrade Captain, where is the division commander?"