The Germans used at least a dozen artillery guns to bombard the river surface continuously, and the explosion shells occasionally lifted up one black water column after another. Although the wooden boat Sokov was riding on was not hit by the enemy's shells, the river water falling from the sky made everyone on the boat feel as if they had just crawled out of the water.
Sokov sat in the cabin, holding the side of the ship with his hands tightly. Now he had no time to shout anything to the soldiers around him. Not to mention that the sound of shell explosions would cover him, even if some soldiers nearby heard his words, all they could do was to speed up the paddle so that they could get rid of the enemy's shelling area as soon as possible. He prayed silently in his heart, hoping that more people would climb the other side of the shore with him.
Just when Sokov was on the verge of despair, he suddenly found the rising water column, which had landed far behind the fleet at some point. Samoilov put his head close to Sokov's ear and shouted loudly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we have escaped the German shelling area, and we are safe now."
"Thank God!" Sokov thought silently in his heart: "We finally got rid of the German shelling area." He turned his head and looked at the two soldiers who were still hanging out of the boat, and quickly shouted to the other soldiers: "What are you still standing there? Pull them up quickly."
With Sokov's order issued, except for the several soldiers paddling, the rest immediately reached out to the robes hanging out of the boat and pulled them up with all their hands. After the two climbed into the cabin, Sokov saw clearly that one of them was Guchakov, and asked with concern: "Guchakov, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Guchakov shook his head, let out a breath of turbid air, pointed his hand at the back, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, many of our soldiers have fallen into the water. Hurry up and save them."
Sokov stood up and looked back, and saw that the German shelling had stopped. The remains of burning wooden boats were floating on the shaking water. The two blown wooden boats quickly overturned, throwing the soldiers in the boat into the river. Some soldiers who fell into the water flew desperately in the cold river water, like boiled dumplings.
Seeing this scene, Sokov quickly ordered Samoilov: "Comrade lieutenant, give orders to the ships behind, so that they can rescue the soldiers who fell into the water nearby."
Samoilov agreed, got up and came to the stern of the boat, held the side of the boat and shouted loudly to the back: "The Brigade Commander has an order, and immediately rescue the comrades who fell into the water! The Brigade Commander has an order..."
In fact, even if Sokov did not issue an order, the surviving wooden boats stopped moving forward and were rescuing nearby comrades who fell into the water. After hearing Samoilov's shouts, all the ships stopped. Not only did they salvage the soldiers who fell into the water, but also some of the bodies of some comrades who were floating by the boat, they also caught the boat.
As soon as Sokov and others climbed to the West Bank, a patrol team of more than a dozen people ran over. The leader was a sergeant. He asked loudly: "Comrades, which part of you are and who is the commander?"
"It's me!"
The sergeant came to Sokov, stood attentively, and reported straightened his body: "Comrade Commander, Sergeant Nachinkin, the captain of the 309th Patrol Team, reported to you that we are carrying out patrol missions. Which part of you are from?"
When they learned that the patrol was coming, Sokov suddenly poured blood on his head. If they hadn't discovered the spies hidden among the residents in time, how could his fleet be bombarded by the enemy? He grabbed Nachinkin's clothes and said viciously: "I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, the unit I led is a reinforcement that had just come from the other shore. Do you know that because of your negligence, you can't find the German spies hiding among the residents in time, and many of my comrades died under the enemy's artillery fire."
When Nachinkin became flustered when he learned that there was a colonel in front of him or the highest commander of the heroic unit of Mamayevgang, he became flustered and said incoherently: "Comrade Colonel, this... is not... not our fault. The German spies are very cunning. He... they hide... among the residents, and we... our people... are seriously insufficient..."
The soldiers of the patrol saw their captain, and were grabbed by an officer, and rushed over to try to help their captain. Unexpectedly, when Samoilov saw the other party rushing over, worried that they would be unfavorable to Sokov, he quickly gave an order, and dozens of soldiers around him rushed forward, surrounded the soldiers of the patrol in the middle, and pointed the guns at them with black holes.
The tension around him scared Sokov. He quickly shouted at Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, how can you point the gun at your own comrades? Follow my orders and put the gun down immediately!"
Hearing Sokov's order, Samoilov waved his hand helplessly at the soldiers around him and ordered: "Put down the gun!" The soldiers put down their guns, but they still stood there without moving, but stared at more than a dozen soldiers in the patrol team with covetous eyes.
Sokov let go of Nachinkin's clothes, pushed him away fiercely, and asked in a vicious tone: "Comrade Sergeant, we still have troops to cross the river. Can you clean up all the secret agents hidden in the residents so that they have no chance to send another signal and guide the enemy's artillery."
Nachinkin sorted out his clothes and said cautiously: "Col. The residents hiding in this area all live in caves on cliffs. As long as two people are sent to watch at each entrance, no one is allowed to enter and exit, so that the spy will be sent again."
It has to be said that the plan proposed by Nachinkin was the most suitable for the current situation. Sokov nodded and silently remembered the other party's name in his heart. Then he called Samoilov and ordered: "Comrade Major, take twenty soldiers to assist Nachinkin in blocking the entrances of each cave."
Before Samoilov could speak, Nachinkin hurriedly said, "No, Comrade Colonel. There are at least sixty caves in this area. My soldiers and the people you sent can only block the entrances and exits of more than a dozen caves at best."
"Mobilize the masses!" Sokov couldn't help but get angry when he heard Nachinkin complaining. "Sergeant Nachinkin, you can't rely solely on our soldiers to do such a thing, but you must also know how to mobilize the masses and let them help us guard the entrance of the cave. Do you understand?"
"I understand, comrade Colonel." Seeing Sokov getting angry again, Nachinkin nodded in a hurry and half-understand and replied, "I will go back and mobilize the masses and find some trustworthy residents to help us block the entrance of the cave and prevent the German spies from coming out to send another signal."
After Samoilov and his men left with the patrol, Sokov asked Guchakov, who was standing aside: "How many ships have we lost?"
Just as Sokov was talking to Nachinkin, Guchakov counted the remaining ships and casualties. When he heard Sokov asked, he immediately replied: "Thirteen ships were blown up by artillery fire, and two of them were seriously damaged and sank before they even landed. Fortunately, there were sailors on the ship, and they all swam on the water and went to the shore."
"What about the casualties?"
"There has not been fully counted yet." Guchakov replied in a low voice: "But the number of casualties should exceed 100."
Sokov was eager to return to the brigade command, but he didn't want to stand by the river and blow the cold river breeze, so he continued to ask: "Where is Captain Vanya? Is he still alive?"
Guchakov pointed to the distance and said, "Captain Vanya is gathering troops there. Do I need me to call him over?" Seeing Sokov nodding in agreement with permission, he immediately ran over there.
In less than two minutes, Vanya, who was wet all over, appeared in front of Sokov and asked respectfully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you have any instructions?"
"Comrade Captain," among the commanders and fighters who crossed the river with Sokov, Vanya was the highest rank. Sokov said to him: "You brought the first battalion of soldiers to stay in this area and found that people in casual clothes entered your warning area. Those who did not listen to the warning will be shot dead on the spot. Do you understand?"
Wanya's subordinates also suffered more than 30 casualties in the shelling just now. Wanya was holding a fire in his heart. When he heard Sokov's order, he immediately replied loudly: "I understand, comrade comrade commander."
"I'll go back to the brigade command first," Sokov said to Vanya. "You will see Colonel Bere later, remember to let him return to the brigade command as soon as possible."
After Sokov explained his work to Vanya, he led Guchakov and a unit of 200 sailors toward Beigang in Mamayevgang hundreds of meters away. On the way, he casually asked Guchakov: "Guchakov, do you know which unit is stationed in Beigang now?"
"Since you took the Fourth Battalion away," Guchakov replied: "The defense of Beigang has been under the responsibility of Captain Goria's 192nd Battalion."
Sokov originally planned to ask Guchakov to bring a few soldiers to contact him first, so as not to have any misunderstandings with the post later. But then he thought that it was only a few hundred meters away from Beigang. Maybe before Guchakov could contact Goria, he led his troops to Beigang. After thinking about this, he gave up the idea of ​​sending people to contact him, and led the soldiers into four columns and slowly headed towards Beigang.
Chapter completed!