"Comrade Deputy Commander received a call from General Potapov and then went out." Sidorin replied: "I guess the two of them went drinking."
"Oh, the two of them went drinking?" Sokov thought to himself. He had been partnering with Ponedelin for a long time, but he had never seen him drinking before. He didn't expect Potapov to come.
After his own troops, Ponejelin also started drinking: "I don't know how drunk the deputy commander is. The two of them drank until the end, and who drank the other."
"I think both of them have a lot of drinking capacity." Sidorin said to Sokov: "After all, both of them were army commanders before the war, and they usually spent a lot of time drinking. Maybe one or two bottles of wine would not be enough.
You can't drink them down."
"Okay, I'm going back." Sokov waved his hand towards Sidorin: "I'll leave this place to you."
A night of silence.
At dawn the next day, Sokov came to the headquarters and asked Sidorin, who had been working the night shift: "Chief of Staff, did anything happen last night?"
"No." Sidorin shook his head and said, "It was calm last night and nothing happened."
Sokov nodded after hearing this, and then said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must be very tired after staying up all night. Go back and rest quickly. The deputy commander and I will be responsible for the things here.
.”
"I'd better wait." Sidorin raised his hand and looked at the time: "It won't be too late for me to leave after Comrade Deputy Commander arrives."
Cao Cao arrived immediately after saying Cao Cao. As soon as Sidorin mentioned Ponijelin, the latter came in from outside.
Even from a long distance away, Sokov smelled the smell of alcohol on the other party, and said with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Commander, where did you drink last night? Why do you smell so much of alcohol?"
Hearing what Sokov said, Ponedelin grinned and replied with some embarrassment: "Potapov called me last night and asked me to go to his place for a drink. I thought that from the outbreak of the war to now
, I haven’t had a drink with him in almost four years, and I wanted to see if his drinking capacity has improved.”
Ponejelin's words aroused the interest of the two of them, and Sidorin asked curiously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder how much wine you drank yesterday?"
"Not much, just eight bottles of wine."
"What, you drank eight bottles of wine last night?" Ponedelin shocked Sokov. The two of them drank eight bottles of vodka. If someone is a little less drunk, he would just drink to death. He
He asked tremblingly: "Are you two okay?"
Ponedelin saw the worry on Sokov's face, smiled and said to him: "You two drank eight bottles of wine, but only one of them was vodka, and the rest were wine." Maybe.
Worried that Sokov would not understand, he also specifically emphasized, "It is said that after the Battle of Stalingrad, after Marshal Paulus became a prisoner of our army, he made a request to Marshal Rokossovsky.
He hopes to drink wine from Ukraine every day. But Comrade Marshal told him that because the wine production area is still in the German-occupied area, he cannot provide him with the wine he needs."
"I only know that French wine is good," Sidorin said, "but I don't know much about Ukrainian wine."
Sokov agreed with Sidorin's statement. He stayed in Russia for more than ten years. Every time he went to the supermarket to buy things, the wines on the shelves were basically from Georgia. Almost all of them came from Georgia.
I have never seen wine from Ukraine.
Seeing that Sidorin seemed to have a disdain for the wine produced in Ukraine, Ponedelin told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't underestimate the wine of Ukraine. You know, the delicious wine on the Tsar's table comes from
Ukraine."
"Even if there are seven bottles of wine, your drinking capacity is amazing." Sokov said with emotion: "After drinking all night, I don't think you are drunk at all."
"By the way, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sidorin asked curiously: "Who wins, you or General Potapov?"
"Needless to say, of course it's me." Ponejelin said proudly: "When it comes to fighting, the two of us are at about the same level. But when it comes to drinking, he is no match for me. We drank the first bottle
When we drank vodka, he had no problem. But after we drank three bottles of wine, he became a little drunk. After vomiting once, he lay there and slept for two hours. After he woke up, he continued to drink with me.
"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, how is General Potapov's current status?" Sokov thought about the combat missions today. If the artillery director fell down, who would direct the artillery operations? So he asked nervously:
"Can you continue to command operations?"
"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this." Ponejelin said: "Although he was drunk, as long as he took a nap, he would be sober. I just watched him sober up before returning to the Commander.
From the Ministry.”
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov knew that it was normal for his old comrades to get together and drink, but now that we were fighting, he didn't want anyone to get into trouble because of drunkenness, so he tactfully reminded Ponijelin: "Attack East Prussia.
The battle has just begun. We have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, but we must not get drunk and cause trouble."
"I understand." Ponejelin nodded and explained to Sokov: "We are just a gathering of old comrades, drinking openly. We still know how much we can drink, and we will not delay business due to drunkenness.
"
Just when Sokov was about to let Sidorin go back to rest, the phone on the table rang, and Sidorin picked up the phone: "I am Sidorin, who are you?"
After answering the phone, Sidorin reported to Sokov: "The call was from the Front Army Headquarters. They said that during the air battle this morning, two of our fighter planes were shot down by the Germans in the defense zone of our group army. Among them
One is a pilot of our army, while the pilot of the other is a deadbeat of the French 'Normandy Regiment'. Now the Air Force Command has lost contact with them, so we hope that we will send personnel to help them find the missing pilot."
When he learned that two pilots were missing in his defense area, Sokov naturally would not stand idly by. He called Koshkin and told the other party: "Captain Koshkin, we have received notification from our superiors that there are two pilots."
The plane you were flying was shot down by the Germans over the defense zone of our group army. Now the Air Force Command has lost contact with the two pilots. I order you to lead two companies to conduct a search in the area where the pilots parachuted, and you will be killed.
See the corpse, do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Koshkin replied resoundingly: "I will immediately let the enemy search the area where the pilots parachuted. We must find all these pilots."
Just when Koshkin turned to leave, Sokov stopped him and said to him: "One of the pilots is French and comes from the 'Normandy Regiment'. I don't know if the other person understands Russian. Anyway, you have to tell the soldiers
Please be careful when searching and don't accidentally hurt your own people."
"Comrade Commander, if the pilots really lose contact with the Air Force Command, it proves that they are in danger. Just relying on the two companies led by Captain Koshkin is not enough." Sidorin said next to him: "
I suggest notifying the local troops to also mobilize manpower to assist Captain Koshkin in the search mission."
"I think it's okay." Sokov also felt that just using two companies to search for the missing pilots was far from enough, so he agreed to Sidorin's proposal: "There are three infantry brigades stationed nearby, let them mobilize
manpower to assist Koshkin’s troops in search and rescue efforts.”
When Sidorin called the three infantry brigade commanders and arranged for them to allocate manpower to search and rescue the missing pilots in the defense area, Ponedelin said with a smile: "We just mentioned French wine, but the next moment,
Our superiors told us that a French pilot was missing and asked us to send people to conduct search and rescue operations. What a coincidence."
"Yes, yes, it's quite a coincidence." Sokov thought that it was indeed the case. He didn't mention it sooner or later, and casually mentioned French wine. As a result, a French pilot appeared: "I don't know yet.
Among the pilots who provide us with air cover in the sky every day, there is actually a 'Normandy Regiment' composed of Frenchmen."
Shortly after the search and rescue work began, the German army launched an attack to the south of the town of Puutusk. Fighting took place in the defensive positions of the 120th Guards Division and the 3rd Infantry Division. Fortunately, after capturing these places yesterday, Soko
The order given by the husband to these two divisions was to seize the time to build fortifications and switch to defense on the spot. It was precisely because they had made defense preparations in advance that in the face of the crazy German attack, the Soviet commanders and fighters fought in an orderly manner.
Relying on fortifications, the German army's crazy attack was repelled.
Rokossovsky called Sokov. He did not ask how intense the fighting was south of the town of Puutusk, but directly asked about the two missing pilots: "Misha, did you send
Have people gone out to search and rescue the two pilots?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal, I have sent people to start searching in that area." Sokov quickly replied: "I believe it won't be long before we can find the two missing pilots." Even so,
But Sokov knew very well that he didn't even know where the pilot parachuted, so he rashly sent out a large number of troops to search, which not only wasted people and money, but was also extremely inefficient. It was still unknown whether the missing pilot could be found.
After ending the call with Rokossovsky, Sokov walked to the walkie-talkie, put on his earphones, and said into the transmitter: "Koshkin, this is Sokov. How is the situation there? Find out.
Are those two pilots there?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." Koshkin replied: "So far, we only know that the two pilots disappeared over the forest. It will take a lot of time to search such a large forest.
.”
"No matter how long it takes, it is completely necessary." Sokov said loudly: "The troops currently involved in the search and rescue operation include three battalions and two companies. No matter how large the forest area is, with so many people,
I think it should be enough to find two missing people."
"It may take longer..."
"Captain Koshkin," Sokov interrupted Koshkin's words and said sternly: "The troops you are leading now are enough to search the entire forest. No matter how long it takes you, you must find this
Two missing pilots, understand?"
Koshkin rarely heard Sokov speak to him in such a stern tone, and quickly replied: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will overcome all difficulties and find these two missing pilots."
After learning that the battle had begun, Sidorin, who had been resting, naturally could no longer sleep. He returned to the headquarters to assist Sokov in commanding the troops.
As soon as he entered the door, he heard what Sokov said to Koshkin. After Sokov put down the earphone and microphone, he said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, even though we have dispatched a lot of troops, we have dispatched a lot of troops.
That forest is not completely controlled by our army. If the place where the two pilots landed is within our control, there won't be much of a problem. But if you are unlucky and land on the side controlled by the enemy, it may be...
There is no more danger."
"You're right." Sokov agreed with Sidorin's statement. He was worried that the pilot just fell in the middle of the two armies. What if the pilot was caught before his troops arrived?
However, he was unable to complete the task assigned to him by Rokossovsky: "We must consider all possible situations."
"I think we have formed a special team immediately." Ponedelin reminded Sokov: "If our pilots unfortunately fall into the hands of the Germans, we must find a way to rescue them."
"Immediately transfer personnel from the troops directly under the group army to form a special team." Sokov followed suit and immediately ordered Sidorin: "Let them be ready to go. Once it is confirmed that the pilot has fallen into the hands of the Germans, immediately
Rush to rescue them."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "I will arrange this immediately."
While Sidorin was busy, Sokov asked Ponedelin: "What is the situation south of the town of Puutusk now? Has the German attack been repelled?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the enemy's attack has been repelled." Ponedelin reported to Sokov: "According to the reports of the two division commanders Kirillov and Nikitin, the German offensive is not
It was too violent. As soon as they encountered resistance from our army, they chose to retreat."
"The Germans' behavior is somewhat abnormal." Sokov said: "Let Kirillov and Nikitin be more vigilant. Be careful that this is a trap set by the Germans for us."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Ponejelin nodded and said: "They are all veteran commanders with more than 20 years of military service and rich command experience. They must have known the German army's abnormal behavior long ago.
Be aware.”
After Sokov hummed, he stared at the map in front of him again, and began to think about where the two missing pilots were now. Can the troops led by Koshkin successfully find them?
"Comrade Commander, I have an ominous premonition." Ponejelin suddenly said: "Do you think these two pilots who lost contact with their superiors have died?"
"Ah, sacrificed?" Sokov couldn't help being stunned after hearing this. He felt that Ponedelin's statement was not groundless. If the pilot's plane was shot down, they would definitely rush to the nearby friendly military base as soon as possible, but now they have
There is no news at all, maybe some accident really happened.
This chapter has been completed!