When Sokov's troops arrived at the ferry by the Volga River, it was already completely dark. There was still a moon in the sky, so I would not be able to see the road clearly.
Just as Sokov was considering where to get the troops to board the ship, a soldier suddenly ran over from a distance, and asked loudly while running: "Which part are you from and who is the commander?"
Since he did not reveal his identity, all the soldiers remained silent about his question, and no one answered his question. Samoilov, who was standing next to Sokov, saw someone asking his army's number. His professional instinct aroused his alertness. He quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I'll go over and ask what that person does." After getting Sokov's permission, he ran over quickly.
After seeing Samoilov say a few words to the visitor, Sokov took the man to him. "Comrade Lieutenant," when Samoilov was only a few steps away from him, he asked, "What are the people who come with you doing?"
Before Samoilov could answer, the man quickly walked to Sokov, straightened his body and replied: "Report to the lieutenant colonel, my name is Valko, and I am a staff member of the political department. When the chief comrade saw a unit coming, he specially ordered me to come and learn about it."
"Director of the Political Department?" Sokov was not sure who the director Varko was referring to, so he asked tentatively: "I Comrade Varko, I want to ask, is the director you are from the Front Army, the Army, or the division-level unit?"
"We are from the 62nd Army." When Valko heard Sokov's question, he quickly replied: "I followed Comrade Vasiliev, the director of the Political Department, to carry out the mission here. Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, which part of you are from?"
"It turns out that you are from the Political Department of the Group Army, so we are our own people." Sokov held the other party's hand and said enthusiastically: "I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. We are about to cross the river to the city. I wonder if you can help us find the ships that transport the troops?"
"The 73rd Infantry Brigade? They were not stationed in Mamayev Hill, so why did they appear here?" After hearing this number, Valko did not show any enthusiasm. Instead, he pulled his hand out of Sokov's palm and asked vigilantly: "Who are you?"
Sokov was very satisfied with the vigilance shown by Valko, because the other party knew where his troops were stationed. He smiled and said, "Comrade Valko, don't be nervous, we are our own people. The main force of my brigade is indeed stationed in Mamayevgang, but the troops around me are all just added to me by my superiors. Haven't you seen that they are almost all sailors?"
When talking about sailors, Valco immediately realized that he might have made a mistake. Although the Germans often disguised themselves as Soviet troops to do something like sabotage, they never disguised themselves as sailors. Because no matter how they disguise, they still look many different from real sailors. Instead of pretending to be sailors who are prone to flaws, it is better to pretend to be an army than to pretend to be an army. However, he still asked vigilantly: "Comrade Colonel, I want to ask, when and where did you cross the river?"
"We landed at the ferry crossing of Hong Kong October Town during the day today." Sokov replied briefly and asked back: "Where is the director of the Political Department? Take me over to see him immediately."
"Comrade Colonel," Valco looked at the officers and soldiers around him and said with some embarrassment: "What about your subordinates?"
"Let them stay here for the time being, and I will go with you." Sokov said, calling Vanya, Shamrich, Tnev and others to the front, and told them: "Col. Bere and I will leave for a while, and we will leave this place to the three of you. You must restrain the troops and not let the soldiers walk around."
After hearing Sokov's order, the three of them quickly agreed loudly.
When Valko heard Sokov talk about Bere’s orders, he deliberately kept his heart and looked around for Bere’s figure. Seeing him standing still, Sokov asked in confusion: “Comrade Valko, why don’t you lead us yet?” Without waiting for his answer, he turned around to greet a commander next to him, “Col. Bere, let’s go to see the director of the Political Department together.”
Valko looked to the side and saw clearly that there was a silent colonel standing there. He knew Bo Lei. After staring for a moment, he recognized that the other party was indeed Bo Lei. The stone hanging in his heart fell to the ground. He immediately said to Sokov enthusiastically: "Two colonels, please come with me, and I will take you to the command center."
Valko and the two passed by the soldiers sitting and lying on the ground. Along the way, you could see many wooden boats on the ground. Sokov couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Valko, can these wooden boats be used to cross the river, right?"
Valko turned his head and looked at Sokov and replied, "These ships once sent a lot of soldiers and supplies into the city, but they all had different degrees of damage, so they were carried to the shore and repaired after dawn."
Valco took the two of them to a half-underground earthen house shelter. The sentry standing at the door was about to stop him, but soon recognized Valco who was leading the team and retreated aside.
The three of them walked into the shelter. Sokov immediately felt a heat coming from the room. His eyes quickly searched and saw two charcoal-burning braziers beside the wall at the entrance, which should be for heating. Valko stepped forward and shouted to a commander standing with his back to the door: "Comrade Director, I have invited Colonel Sokov and Colonel Bere, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and I have invited Colonel Sokov and Bere!
The commander turned around and Sokov found that the other party was wearing the rank of a political worker, a brigade-level political commissar, who should be Vasilyev, the director of the political department of the group army. He quickly took a step forward, raised his hand to salute, and said respectfully: "Comrade of the brigade-level political commissar, Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, reported to you that my troops are waiting by the river to cross the river. I obey your orders, please give me instructions!"
Vasiliev raised his hand and returned a salute, shook hands politely with Sokov, and then headed straight for the Belei beside him, and said enthusiastically: "Col. Bilei, I really didn't expect that I could meet you here."
"I didn't expect that Comrade of the brigade-level political commissar." Bere and Vasiliev had had a conversation in the headquarters before, so they were naturally more intimate when they met. After the two shook hands, Bere asked curiously: "Why did you appear here?"
"Some time ago, because I had to prepare for counterattack work, the work at the ferry became more and more arduous." Vasiliev explained to Bere: "Commander Cuikov was worried that there would be unnecessary chaos here, so he asked me to come and coordinate the command. By the way, I remember that the commander sent you to the Red October Factory to assist Lieutenant Colonel Sokov in defense, why would it appear here?"
When Bere heard Vasiliev ask, he quickly told Vasiliev how his troops participated in the counterattack, and with Sokov's troops to Orlovka, how they broke out to the north, occupied the nameless highland of the German army, and met with friendly troops coming from the north, and told Vasiliev in detail.
After Vasilyev finished speaking, he looked at Sokov and asked with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, if I remember correctly, you should be a lieutenant colonel, right?"
"Yes, comrade of the brigade level political commissar." Sokov nodded slightly and explained: "My rank of colonel was just obtained a few hours ago. Commander Yelemenko told me that this is a recognition of me by his superiors and a commendation of the merits I have made."
"It's amazing," Vasiliev walked over and held Sokov's hand again, and said with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, you are a colonel at a young age. It seems that your future will be infinitely bright." Then he greeted Sokov and Bere, "You must be tired after rushing so far. Please sit down first."
After Sokov sat down, he looked up at Vasiliev and asked, "Comrade of the brigade level political commissar, I want to ask, when can we arrange for us to cross the river?"
"How many of you have?" Vasiliev asked.
"I brought more than 1,500 people this time," Sokov replied, "and the weapons and necessary supplies they carried."
"The barges at the ferry were sunk by the German air force and artillery, and the only ones left were small steamers." Vasiliev learned that Sokov was carrying more than 1,500 people, and said in a little embarrassment: "These small steamers can only carry more than 300 people at most. You have so many people, at least five small steamers..."
"Comrade of the brigade-level political commissar, five small steamers are not enough." As soon as Vasiliev finished speaking, a major standing opposite him continued: "If these soldiers are bare-handed, then the five small steamers should be able to transport them all at once. But they also carry weapons, ammunition and various military supplies, and at least one small steamer is needed."
"Lieutenant Colonel Spasov," Vasiliev asked, looking at another officer sitting at the table, "You are responsible for ship dispatch. When can you arrange Colonel Sokov's troops to cross the river?"
Lieutenant Colonel Spasov looked through the notepad in front of him and replied: "Comrade of the brigade level political commissar, the timetable for crossing the river is already arranged. You must wait until dark tomorrow before you can arrange Colonel Sokov's troops to cross the river."
"What, wait till tomorrow night?" Spasov surprised Sokov and Vasiliev.
Sokov quickly waved his hand to the other party and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Spasov, we are rushing into the city to strengthen the defense of Mamayev. We will never wait until tomorrow night. Can you think of some solutions to let my troops cross the river overnight?"
According to Sokov's idea, since he had said that, Lieutenant Colonel Spasov would definitely find ways to build a few small steamer for himself so that the troops could cross the Volga River in the shortest time. Unexpectedly, Spasov shook his head and put on a formal face and said, "Sorry, Colonel Sokov, I'll say it again. The timetable for crossing the river is full. I cannot provide you with a ship to cross the river until tomorrow dark."
"But Lieutenant Colonel Spasov, if our troops cannot arrive at Mamayev before dawn tomorrow, then once the Germans launch a fierce attack, the remaining troops on the hills may not be able to defend the position." Sokov intends to make the other party change his mind and makes the problem serious: "If the position is lost because reinforcements do not arrive on time, who should be responsible for this responsibility?"
"Col. Sokov is right. We must cross the river overnight." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Bere said, "You all know that Mamayev hill is the commanding heights of the whole city. If the Germans occupy it, they can block the transportation lines and ferries of the Volga River as long as they set up a few cannons. The situation will become even more unfavorable to us."
Hearing Sokov and Bereh speak so seriously, Vasilyev sighed and said to Spasov: "Lt. Col., think of a way, and make sure to prepare enough ships for Col. Sokov and others."
Unexpectedly, Spasov still couldn't get in. He spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders and said, "I have already said that the schedule for crossing the river is full, and no one can do it if he wants to go to the line, otherwise it will cause chaos and interfere with our arrangement for crossing the river."
Seeing Lieutenant Colonel Spasov so stubbornly, Sokov couldn't help but be angry, but he couldn't beat the other person in front of Vasilyev, so he could only ask tactfully: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you said there were not enough ships, but on the way here just now, I saw a lot of wooden boats on the shore. Even if a boat could only carry twenty people, we could transport hundreds of people across the river at a time."
Vasiliev did not expect that there was a boat on the shore, so he cast a puzzled look at Spasov. Seeing Vasiliev looking at him, Spasov waved his hand and said, "Comrade Brigade-level Political Commissar, you don't know that those wooden boats were broken by German artillery fire when crossing the river. They need to be repaired until dawn before they can be put into use again."
"So it was a broken wooden boat." Vasiliev's face showed a regret after hearing Spasov's explanation. He turned to Sokov and Bere and said, "Two Colonels, those wooden boats cannot be used. If you force cross the river, it may sink in the center of the river. For your safety, I think I'd better wait until tomorrow night to cross the river."
Chapter completed!