"Comrade Commander," saw Selyosha's departure back, Cidolin suddenly spoke, "This batch of rockets is of great importance. I'm a little worried that I can just send Selyosha to take the troops to receive them. Otherwise, I'll go there in person?"
Sidolin's words reminded Sokov. He knew very well that in the next month, whether this group of rockets could be held in Mamayev and surrounding areas would play a crucial role. It would be a bit too hasty to send only a company commander like Selyosha to receive it.
Thinking of this, Sokov nodded and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. My decision is a bit too hasty. Let's do this, you and the deputy division commander will stay in the division headquarters, and I will lead the team to the ferry in person."
Hearing that Sokov wanted to leave Mamayev again, Ivanov couldn't help but say, "Comrade Commander, you are the commander of the first division, and you can't take risks casually. I think you and the Chief of Staff stay in the division headquarters. Let me and Selyosha go."
Sokov immediately declined: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you are not familiar with the situation at the ferry, and it is useless to go there. I'd better go there."
Seeing that Sokov rejected his request, Ivanov wanted to say a few more words, but then he thought that he seemed to have crossed the river from the other side and stayed at the ferry for less than ten minutes. He said that he was not familiar with it and was not wrong. Thinking of this, he no longer insisted on going to the ferry to collect supplies, but changed his words and said, "Okay, comrade instructor, since you are going in person, I will not stop you. But it is not peaceful outside, so you should pay more attention to safety."
Half an hour later, Sokov and Selyosha took the guard company to leave Mamayev hill and headed towards the ferry. Selyosha didn't expect Sokov to take the opportunity in person, and complained on the way: "Misha, can you not trust me and have to take a risk to travel?"
"Seryosha, you and I are friends, I trust you very much, but it has nothing to do with me going to the ferry in person." Seeing that Seryosha looked unhappy, Sokov quickly comforted him and said, "I am going to do a big vote and give the Germans a lesson that I will never forget. I did it myself, because I didn't expect any mistakes in these rockets."
After listening to Sokov's explanation, Selyosha felt a little more at ease. He changed the subject in time and asked: "Misha, can you really find enough personnel at the ferry to help us carry rockets?"
"Don't worry, Selyosha." Sokov raised his hand and patted Selyosha's shoulder twice, and said confidently: "I promise you that when we arrive at the ferry, we will find as many porters as we need."
"Really?" Selyosha was still half-believing about Sokov's statement: "But as far as I know, due to the severe reduction of troops in the city, many cadres and soldiers from the logistics department have been enriched to various combat troops, otherwise we would not have to collect ammunition and supplies in person."
As soon as the two men and their troops approached the ferry, several people came up. One of the officers who led the army asked loudly: "Hey, comrades, which part of you are from?"
"I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 41st Division of the Guards," Sokov asked back after revealing his identity: "Comrade Officer, who are you?"
"Hello, Colonel Sokov." After hearing Sokov's identity, the officer quickly stood at attention and straightened his body and replied: "I am Major Zinoviev from the logistics department. I received a call from General Lobov, a unit waiting for you to receive supplies here. I didn't expect you to lead the team in person."
"Hello, comrade Major." Sokov reached out and shook Zinoviev, and continued to ask, "Have the ship that transports our supplies arrived on the shore?"
"I called and asked, your supplies were still loading ships on the other side." Major Zinoviev shook his head and replied, "I'm afraid it will take an hour or two at the earliest. Comrade Colonel, it's too cold outside, so you might as well go to my command post to rest first."
Sokov was unwilling to stand by the cold river for an hour or two, so he naturally did not object to Major Zinoviev's proposal, so he nodded and said, "Well, Comrade Major, take me to your command post."
Major Zinoviev's command post is a semi-underground earthen house shelter near the river. There are two soldiers standing guard at the door. When the major brought Sokov into the door, he specifically ordered a soldier: "Go to the kitchen team to find some food for the colonel, and then pour hot tea."
Sokov walked into the shelter and saw the cottage of seven or eight square meters. It looked particularly small because there was a wooden table in the middle. After sitting down at the table, he looked up at Zinoviev and asked, "Comrade Major, your command post is too small. Even if you want to rest, there is probably no place to sleep."
Zinoviev grinned and replied, "I usually feel tired, so I lay on the table and take a nap. Although it is a little narrow, it is much better than the residents who sleep on the river."
When the soldier walked in with tea and bread, a middle-aged man in military casual clothes was following him. After seeing Zinoviev, he immediately asked respectfully: "Comrade Major, it seems that you have supplies to transport again soon. I wonder how many people are needed this time?"
"Colin!" Zinoviev did not answer the other party's question immediately, but turned his head to look at Sokov and asked for instructions: "I wonder how many porters you need?"
Sokov calculated in his mind that five hundred rockets, calculated based on one box or two, were exactly 250 boxes. If there were a few more boxes containing launch cylinders, they would probably be close to three hundred boxes. There were 180 people in Seryosha's guard company. It was impossible for everyone to carry boxes, so some of them would definitely be left as a warning.
After some calculations, Sokov looked up at Zinoviev again and said, "Comrade Major, I think there are two hundred porters. Can you find so many people?"
Before Major Zinoviev answered, the middle-aged man in military casual clothes laughed and replied: "Comrade Commander, look at what you said, let alone two hundred porters, I can find you even more people, but it only takes some time."
"Okay, stop talking nonsense." Zinoviev interrupted him without waiting for the middle-aged man to finish speaking: "Go back quickly and summon people. The boat will dock in a while."
After the middle-aged man left, Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Major, who is he?"
"His name is Bochushkin, and he turned out to be a porter at the dock." Zinoviev replied: "Since his superiors began to recruit residents to act as porters and needed someone to be responsible for the organization and responsibility, he volunteered to act as the job."
When Sokov learned that the middle-aged man named Bochushkin and the person in charge of the porter at the ferry terminal, he nodded slightly and then asked: "Comrade Major, can he be anxious to get enough staff before the ship reaches the shore?"
"No problem," Zinoviev said carelessly: "Because the porters can receive food, the residents stranded on the shore are very enthusiastic. Every time Bochushkin shouts on the shore, groups of people immediately come to sign up for him. Then he chooses strong people from them to act as temporary porters."
Zinoviev's words reminded Sokov of a question, and he asked tentatively: "Comrade Major, can I ask, how do you distribute the food from those porters?"
"Often it is Bochushkin who counts the number of porters he works every day, and then we hand over the food that should be distributed to him based on the number of people he provides." After Major Zinoviev introduced the situation, he asked Sokov with some confusion: "Comrade Colonel, are there any problems?"
"Comrade Major," Seeing that the situation was indeed similar to his guess, Sokov smiled bitterly and said, "Aren't you afraid that he will be empty?"
"Eat a vacant salary?" This is probably the first time Major Zinoviev heard this term, and a confused expression appeared on his face. He looked at Sokov and said, "I'm sorry, comrade Colonel, I don't understand what you mean."
"It's very simple." Sokov said to the other party: "For example, in today's transportation work, only 300 residents were used, but when he reported the number, he reported 500 residents. This added 200 places, which is called "empty salary."
"Col. This is the first time I have heard of your statement." Major Zinoviev frowned and said thoughtfully: "I think Bochushkin can't have such a courage to falsely report the number of residents participating in the transport work."
"What's impossible," Sokov felt that Zinoviev had too little knowledge, so he specifically reminded him: "Also, if you did not send someone to supervise the food during the distribution of food, but instead put him in full responsibility, I even thought that he would deduct the food of the residents."
Zinoviev did not take Sokov's statement to heart. He felt that the colonel did not understand the situation at the ferry terminal, and what he said was somewhat alarmist. However, the other party's military rank was higher than his and there was no need to argue, so he did not speak, but just smiled faintly.
Sokov, who is good at observing words and expressions, felt that Major Zinoviev did not listen to what he said, nor did he avoid this sensitive topic. After all, the other party was not his subordinate, so it was impossible to directly give orders to him. Instead, he asked: "Comrade Major, will it have any impact on you after the pontoon bridge is set up?"
"Weapons, ammunition, materials and soldiers who came from the east coast had to disembark at our ferry." Major Zinoviev replied: "But since the pontoon bridge was set up, we have undertaken the transportation of weapons, ammunition and soldiers. And here we have become a major food and medicine, and occasionally there will be some weapons and ammunition. For example, the batch of ammunition you are going to receive today."
As the two were talking, a noisy sound suddenly came from outside the house, and a tender voice was saying loudly: "Let me in, I want to see the commander. Let me in..."
The noise outside the house made Sokov frown. He thought that this was the command post at the ferry, and there would be someone making noise outside, and the sentries at the door were all for food. However, he tried his best to control his emotions and tried to ask Zinoviev in a stable tone: "Comrade Major, what's going on outside?"
Zinoviev's face showed an embarrassing expression, and he said apologetically to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, I'll go out and see you, and I'll report to you later."
"Major, I heard that there was a child outside." Sokov said expressionlessly: "He may have something important to see you, so why not call him in and ask what happened."
Zinoviev nodded, walked to the door and said a few words to the outside. Soon, a boy walked into the room. Seeing that the child was only thirteen or fourteen years old, Sokov asked with friendly luck: "Child, what's your name? How old is this year?"
"Report to the commander," the child stood up and replied respectfully, "My name is Valoja, and he is fourteen years old."
"Fourteen years old!" Sokov repeated this age and continued to ask: "What grade are you in?"
"Seventh grade." Valoja replied, "But since the city started fighting, we have suspended classes."
"Who else is there in the family?"
"It's just me and my father."
Sokov was stunned when he heard the other party's answer. According to his understanding, the men were on the front line. Such a young child should be with his mother. He quickly asked, "Where is your mother?"
"Diet." Valoja's eyes turned red as soon as she heard Sokov's question: "She was killed by a German plane while delivering ammunition to the barricade factory yesterday."
"Gay Major." Learning that Valoja's mother was killed by a German plane while transporting ammunition, Sokov couldn't help but ask Zinoviev curiously: "Are there any women in the porters you recruited?"
"Yes, comrade Colonel," Major Zinoviev replied, nodding his head, "You also know that adult men now are either in the army or in factories. Women make up a considerable proportion of porters recruited on the docks."
After receiving Zinoviev's answer, Sokov turned to look at Valoja and asked, "Child, what are you doing here?"
"I want to help you carry the ammunition." Valoja quickly replied, "But Bocushkin said I am too young to not allow me to join the transport team. Comrade Commander, please, say good things to Bocushkin and let me join the transport team."
"Valoja, I think Bochushkin is right." Sokov looked at the thin child in front of him and said with a serious expression: "You are still a child and you can't move such heavy things." As he said that, he waved to the child, "You'd better go back to your father's place as soon as possible."
Chapter completed!