After some consideration, Cuikov decided to recruit Rodimtev to the headquarters for detailed discussion. Considering that this road was not safe, he ordered the radio operator to send a telegram to Sokov shortly after sending it.
In the telegram, Trekov ordered him to escort Rodimtev to the deep ditch of Krutoy, and then the 42nd Guard Regiment stationed there escort Rodimtev to the new Army Command.
After receiving the telegram, Sokov immediately ordered Andre to gather the troops and prepare to escort Rodimtev to the deep ditch of Krutoy. While Andre gathered the team, he walked towards Rodimtev not far away.
Still far away, he heard Rodimtev say to the political commissar and the chief of staff: "...You stay here, find ways to find the broken troops, and reorganize them, and fight the Germans here..."
Sokov was afraid of disturbing Rodimtev's assignment of tasks, so he stopped and prepared to wait until the other party finished speaking, and then walked over. Unexpectedly, Rodimtev found Sokov coming towards him, so he stopped and said apologetically to him: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, sorry, please wait a little longer, and I will finish the task first."
"It's okay, Comrade General." Sokov didn't want to disturb Rodimtev's work at first, but when he heard him say this, he quickly replied: "It's still early, please arrange your work slowly."
Rodimtev nodded, turned to face his chief of staff and said, "Chief of Staff, it is said that the commander of the 34th Guards Regiment has been sacrificed, and you will be the position of the commander of the regiment for the time being. And you, Comrade Colonel," the sentence he said to the commander of the 39th Guards Regiment, "You must also find a way to find your regiment and reorganize the soldiers..."
Although Rodimtev only asked Sokov to wait, it took him more than half an hour to complete all the tasks. After all, he came to Sokov and said, "Okay, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we can set off now."
Sokov considered that he had encountered sporadic German soldiers several times when he came from Mamayev. Although there were more than a hundred people around him, if there were any German soldiers hiding in the ruins and firing cold guns at Rodimtev, they would be unpredictable. For safety reasons, he divided the team into three echelons. The first echelon was composed of the first rank of the company, led by the company commander Guchakov, and opened the way in front; the second echelon was composed of himself, the guard squad, and the soldiers in the second rank; the third echelon was composed of the third rank, led by Captain Andrei himself, walking behind the entire team.
The three echelons are separated by one hundred meters. Such formations are adopted, first, to prevent too many people from being crowded together when attacked by the German army, and they will become targets for the German army's attack; second, to ensure that no matter which echelon is attacked by the German army, the other two echelons can provide timely support.
Seeing that there were many people wearing sailor uniforms appearing in the ruins along the way, Rodimtev couldn't help but ask curiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, where did these sailors emerge?"
"They are from the 92nd Infantry Brigade, and their members are mainly sailors from the Baltic and North Sea Fleets." Sokov knew very well that the days when Rodimtev and his friends were trapped in the basement were days of isolation from the world. It was also a normal thing to have a new force coming, so he patiently explained to Rodimtev: "Since you lost contact with the Army Command, Commander Cuikov has deployed this force that had just crossed the river in your original defense zone."
"So that's how it is." Rodimtev couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the sailors in and out of the collapsed buildings with weapons, "If it weren't for them, I guess the Germans would have occupied this area long ago."
"Comrade General," Sokov was eager to know why the troops of the 13th Guards disappeared without a trace in their defense zone, so he asked tentatively: "Can I ask you a question?"
"Please ask, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Rodimtev said politely to his savior: "As long as I know, I will know everything."
"Realistically speaking, even if you are trapped in the ruined basement, your troops should still fight on the spot." Sokov asked in confusion: "But why did they disappear without a trace?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you are wrong. They did not disappear, but continued to fight with the Germans in various places." Rodimtev heard Sokov's question and immediately replied: "Because the city's terrain is narrow and long, the defense areas of my two regiments were deployed very scattered. According to my analysis, it must be that after I lost contact with the outside world, our defense line was broken through by the enemy, and many of the fire support points of our division were eliminated by the enemy, and the remaining troops were transferred to other places.
The command used to know the situation of our division, and I reported it directly to the commander or chief of staff, but after we were trapped, the radio also lost contact. As a result, the superiors wanted to understand the situation of the troops but could not find the grassroots troops; and the battalion company-level commander wanted to report the situation of the war but did not know who to report to. It is precisely because of these reasons that the superiors mistakenly thought that all the officers and soldiers of our division were missing."
After listening to Rodimtev's explanation, Sokov immediately realized that even though the 92nd Infantry Brigade had already arrived, there were still commanders and fighters of the Guard Division fighting tenaciously with the German army. However, if he lost such an important role as Rodimtev, communication between superiors and subordinates inevitably appeared. The superiors did not understand their actual situation, so there were rumors that the entire division was missing.
Rodimtev narrowed his eyes, looked at the Mamayev hill covered by gunpowder, frowned and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, it seems that the situation is not good in your place. The enemy's shells have turned over the soil on your mountain..."
"Comrade General," Sokov rushed to say, "Although the enemy's artillery fire is fierce, it is not easy for them to occupy the Mamayev hill." Thinking that in a while, Rodimtev would follow him into the fortifications of the tunnel. It is necessary to explain to him to eliminate his doubts, "There are more than a dozen thick soil layers on our tunnels, and the enemy's shells cannot destroy our fortifications at all, so don't worry."
Sokov's words gave Rodimtev a reassurance. He smiled and nodded and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, with your brigade standing on Mamayev's hill, we don't have to worry that the enemy will divide our defense."
After more than an hour of trekking, Sokov and his team finally entered the tunnel one after another.
Seeing Sokov bringing Rodimtev back, Berkin and Cidolin came to meet him. They surrounded Rodimtev and asked, "Comrade General, we are relieved to see that you are still alive."
Rodimtev turned his head and looked at Sokov beside him and said with emotion: "If Sokov hadn't been rescued, I think I would still be trapped in the dark basement."
When he heard that Rodimtev came out of the basement by Sokov, Cidolin asked curiously: "Comrade General, can you tell us the details?"
"I'm afraid there's no time now." Rodimtev raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said, "I need to rush to the deep ditch of Crutoy as soon as possible. Colonel Yelin is still waiting for me."
"Comrade General, I think you must be tired and hungry now. Why don't you eat something here and leave?" Berkin heard that Rodimtev was leaving, so he hurriedly asked to stay: "As for Colonel Yelin, I can send someone to inform him and let him come here to see you."
Rodimtev did not refuse Belkin's kindness to keep him. After all, he was trapped in the basement these days, and he had no good food and couldn't sleep well. Now he finally had the opportunity to eat hot meals. Of course, Rodimtev would not let go of such a good opportunity. Besides, he knew that he could enter the deep ditch of Krutoy at most minutes after going out from Beigang in Mamayevgang, so he nodded and asked politely: "I wonder what you eat for lunch today?"
When Berkin heard Rodimtev's question, he immediately understood that the other party had not rejected his request. While ordering people to prepare food, he replied: "Comrade General, you have not eaten well in the basement these days. We have hot red vegetable soup here every day. You must drink a few more bowls later."
When they learned that it was to entertain General Rodimtev, the cooks quickly brought hot red vegetable soup, cut cheese slices, dried sausages, etc. Seeing the things on the table, Sokov pointed his hand and said to Rodimtev with a smile: "Comrade General, what you eat is a bit simple, please forgive me."
When Rodimtev was trapped in the basement, he was short of water and food, and did not know when he could get out of trouble, so he implemented a strict rationing system in terms of food and drinking. Shortly after he was rescued, he had just finished his mission to his subordinates and came here with Sokov. He was so hungry that he had already put his chest on his back. At this moment, he saw the hot red cabbage soup in front of him, so he was not polite. He drank a large bowl of beech soup in just a few bites.
Seeing that Rodimtev had finished drinking the soup in the bowl, Sokov quickly took the bowl from his hand, served him another bowl, handed it over again, and said with concern: "Comrade General, there is still a lot of red vegetable soup here, so you can drink it slowly."
When Rodimtev took the soup bowl from Sokov's hand, he smiled gratefully at him. This time, he seemed much more gentle. After taking a sip, he put down the soup bowl and said to Belkin and Cidolin: "Two commanders, you don't want to know how I was rescued. I can tell you in detail now."
When Rodimtev finished the entire rescue process, Sidorin looked at Sokov and said in surprise: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you actually thought of blasting from the side, opening a passage on the ground and rescuing the generals and the others from the basement."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, you are right. Thanks to Sokov this time, otherwise we would still be trapped in the dark basement at this moment." Rodimtev said with emotion: "We were trapped in the basement for two days. The soldiers did not have grenades in their hands, but I didn't think of using this method to blow up a passage for myself."
As soon as Rodimtev finished his meal, Colonel Yelin broke in from outside with his men. Seeing Rodimtev with a tired face, Yelin's eyes couldn't help but turn red. He quickly stepped forward to Rodimtev, raised his hand to salute, and gave a warm hug with his commander, and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, it's great to see that you are still alive."
"Col. Yelin," Rodimtev patted Yelin's back with his hand and said excitedly: "I am equally happy to see you. When we were trapped in the basement, I used to despair, thinking that I would die there silently, but fortunately Lieutenant Colonel Sokov rescued us in time."
Ye Lin let go of Rodimtev, faced Sokov, raised his hand and saluted, and said with a serious expression: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 42nd Guards Regiment, thank you, thank you for saving our division commander."
Sokov quickly raised his hand and returned the greeting, "Comrade Colonel, you are so polite. General Rodimtev is not only the commander of your Guard Division, but also my superior. It is my duty to rescue him from the predicament." After Sokov said this, Yelin immediately thought that the troops from the Charica River to the front line of Mamayevgang were all under the command of Rodimtev, and the 73rd Brigade of the Infantry Brigade was also considered a subordinate of Rodimtev.
Yelin then greeted Belkin and Cidolin, and then asked Rodimtev: "Comrade Commander, I am here to pick you up. Look, when will we set off?"
Rodimtev raised his hand and looked at the watch again. Seeing that he had been wasting a lot of time here, he replied, "Let's go now." However, before leaving the command center, he shook hands with Sokov and the others one by one, and expressed his gratitude to Sokov again.
After Rodimtev left, Belkin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it is logical that General Rodimtev had just escaped from danger and should stay in the original defense zone to accommodate the troops. Why did Commander Cuikov ordered him to go to the headquarters? Is there any important task to be arranged?"
Chapter completed!