"What, your father was blown off one of his legs by shells in the battle to defend the Red October factory?" Sokov originally wanted to send the child away. After all, it was not appropriate to carry a few dozen kilograms of ammunition boxes at his age and body. However, when he heard that the other party's father had participated in the battle to defend the Red October factory, his thoughts changed. He said solemnly: "What's his name?"
"His name is Shakirov," Valoja saw a glimmer of hope when he heard Sokov ask his father's name, and quickly replied: "He is the warehouse administrator of the assembly workshop."
Sokov recalled carefully and found that he had no idea about the name and did not know the person at all. He shook his head and said, "Although I have commanded the battle in the Red October factory, I have never dealt with your father."
"Comrade Commander," although Sokov said he didn't know his father, for Valoja, the other party was the only life-saving straw and could not give up easily: "My father was disabled, and he did not have a pass, so he could not take a boat to the other side. Fortunately, some time ago, my mother joined the transport team organized by Bochushkin, and could earn 200 grams of bread and 20 grams of cheese every day. Our whole family survived with this little food."
"Valoja, what did you say?" Sokov just said that Bocushkin might deduct food from the porters. Major Zinoviev also felt that the other party was exaggerating, but at this moment, he was shocked when he heard Valoja say this. You know, porters risked their lives every day, carry heavy ammunition boxes and walk more than ten kilometers, giving each person 300 grams of bread and 50 grams of dried intestines or cheese. He thought it was the minimum standard, but he didn't expect that Bocushkin would deduct so much. In order to figure out what was going on, he quickly asked: "Your mother is a porter and can only get 200 grams of bread and 20 grams of cheese every day. Is this true?"
"Yes!" Valoja nodded vigorously and replied, "This is still Bochushkin saw that the situation in my family was difficult, so he gave me more. The rest of the porters generally only had 150 grams of bread, and there were no dry inhalation and cheese."
"O my God," after hearing Valoja's words, Major Zinoviev held his forehead, feeling that he believed in Bochushkin too much, and actually handed over the power of distributing food to the other party, which made him unscrupulously detain the food of the porters. He put down his hand, turned his head and looked at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Colonel, what should we do next?"
"No matter how troops Bochushkin is doing, he is very familiar with the situation of the ferry terminal. If he is to replace people rashly, I think it is not appropriate." If according to Sokov's idea, such a scum who even the porter's rations must be taken directly to kill him. But in the current situation, he cannot recommend Major Zinoviev to replace people. If the newly replaced person is not suitable for this job, it will be a mess of the port's transportation work, and then it will be more cost-effective. It is precisely based on this consideration that when making suggestions, Sokov seemed particularly cautious: "It is better to let him continue to be responsible for his current work, but in terms of food distribution, you can send a trustworthy comrade to supervise to avoid the rations being deducted again."
"What about this child?" Major Zinoviev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and asked him how to deal with the child's affairs.
"Let the children join the transport team." Sokov thought for a moment and said to Zinoviev: "He has little strength, so let him move less things every time."
Zinoviev nodded, put his hand on Valoja's shoulder, and said to him: "Child, go back and tell Bocushkin, saying I agree to join the transport team."
When Valoja learned that she could join the transport team, she couldn't help but smile and quickly bowed to Sokov and Zinoviev, saying repeatedly: "Thank you, Comrade Commander, I am on behalf of my father, thank you!" After straightening up, she quickly ran out of the earthen house.
"Comrade Major," Sokov frowned and said to Zinoviev after Valoja left, "The residents who participated in the transport team not only had to carry ammunition and supplies so far every day, but also had their lives at any time. Isn't it a bit too little to give them 300 grams of bread a day?"
"Col. Sokov, you are right." Zinoviev agreed with Sokov's concerns, but the rations of the porting team were decided by the superiors. Even if he, a small major, did not have this right: "But the ration standards of the porter are stipulated by the superiors, I have no right to change them."
"So who has permission to change it?" Sokov asked.
"Of course, General Lobov, Minister of Logistics." After Zinoviev finished speaking, he paused for a moment and continued: "Of course, the commander of the army and the chief of staff can also issue the same order."
After hearing this, Sokov nodded slightly and said, "Okay, I will report this to the commander and ask him to raise the ration standards for the residents participating in the transport team."
As the two were talking, Bochushkin walked in from outside. As soon as he entered the door, he asked Zinoviev loudly: "Comrade Major, did you agree to Valoja join my porting team?"
"That's right!" Major Zinoviev replied affirmatively, "I agree."
"Comrade Major," Bocushkin was a little anxious when he heard Major Zinoviev say this, "A ammunition box can range from ten kilograms to dozens of kilograms, and it will take so far, where can a child, Valoja do this job?"
After hearing Bochushkin's words, Sokov said coldly: "If he doesn't work, he and his father will starve to death."
"But he is still a child..."
"Enough!" Before Bochushkin finished speaking, Zinoviev slapped the table and said viciously to the other party: "I'll ask you why you should deduct the food of porters. Don't you know that even if each person doesn't have enough bread every day, and you still deduct half of it in one breath, who gave you such courage?"
Bochushkin was frightened by Zinoviev's words. He looked at Sokov first, then at Zinoviev, and said tremblingly: "Comrade Major, do you want me to tell the truth?"
"Say whatever you have!" Zinoviev said angrily: "If you can't give me a satisfactory reply today, I don't mind sending you to the military court."
Sokov knew that Zinoviev was scaring the other party, so he did not speak, but looked at the two of them without saying a word, quietly paying attention to the development of the situation.
"Comrade Major, since you have discovered it, I will not hide it from you." Bochuschkin explained with a red face: "You also know that before the Germans attacked the city, I was a porter on the dock. Many of my colleagues died at the ferry under the bombing of enemy planes, leaving behind their wives and children..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Bochushkin." Sokov heard this and suddenly realized that Bochushkin's motivation for deducting the porters' rations was different from his imagination. He quickly interrupted him and asked tentatively: "If I don't understand it wrong, do you deduct the porters' rations to help the wives and children of the sacrificed dock workers?"
The matter of Bochushkink detaining the porter's rations was discovered by Major Zinoviev. He was ready to be taken to the military court or even shot. But when Sokov said this, he felt that the situation seemed not as bad as he had imagined. He quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes. I distribute the detained rations to the women and children every day. Comrade Colonel, you also know that to take a boat to the east shore, you must have a pass. Those without a pass can only stay in the city and wait for death. In order not to let the wife and children of such colleagues starve to death, I can only come up with this solution..."
"Comrade Bochushkin, I know your starting point is good." After figuring out the truth about the other party robbing rations, Sokov's view on him changed a little: "But have you ever considered that those residents who participated in the porting team risked their lives to do such heavy work every day, but only got a little food that they couldn't eat enough. It won't take long to stay their bodies. Where will you find enough porters at that time?"
Faced with Sokov's criticism, Bocushkin lowered his head and blushed and said, "I'm sorry, comrade commander, I was wrong..."
"Don't apologize to me, but to those porters who have rations you deducted. I can stop Major Zinoviev from pursuing the past, but if the rations are deducted in the future, you can wait to go to the military court or be shot directly." When Sokov said this, he saw the muscles on Bochushkin's face twitching violently, and guessed that he must be considering whether to save his life or continue to help his colleague's orphans and widows. In order not to make the other party embarrassed, he added: "As for the rations of your colleague's widow, I will respond to the headquarters and ask them to specifically draw some of the food for distribution."
After hearing Sokov's words, Bochushkin's eyes shone. He grabbed Sokov's hand and said excitedly: "Comrade Colonel, on behalf of my colleague's wife and children, I thank you for your generosity. As long as the superiors can really distribute food and prevent them from starving to death, even if I shoot me immediately, I will have no complaints."
But in order to prevent good things from getting worse, Sokov gave Bocushkin a vaccination in advance: "I can only make suggestions for asking the superiors to distribute food specifically. As for whether it can be passed, I can't guarantee it."
"Comrade Colonel," said Bocushkin excitedly, "We are grateful as long as you are willing to make this suggestion to your superiors. Whether it will be passed depends on our luck."
When Bochushkin was about to leave, Sokov called him and said to him: "Comrade Bochushkin, Valoja's father once fought side by side with me in the Red October factory. Now he is disabled and has lost his ability to work. I hope you can take care of him within your ability. For example, send someone to give him 500 grams of bread and 100 grams of dried intestines."
Perhaps because he was worried that Bochushkin would be in a dilemma, Sokov added: "This is only once, I won't be the case!"
"Don't worry, comrade Colonel." Bochushkin nodded vigorously and replied, "I will definitely do what you have explained."
After Bochushkin left, Zinoviev sighed softly and replied: "Comrade Colonel, if we cannot repel the German attack in a short period of time, not only the residents who stayed by the river would starve, but even the troops fighting in the city would be trapped in a shortage of ammunition and food."
Sokov was stunned for Zinoviev's statement and asked in confusion: "Now that there is a water pontoon bridge, shouldn't the supplies coming from the east bank be more sufficient? Why are there still shortages of ammunition and food?"
"Comrade Colonel, you don't know that before the enemy attacked the city, we had many warehouses in the city, which stored a large number of weapons, ammunition, food, and medicine. But as the battle progressed, except for the warehouses occupied or blown up by the German army, the remaining warehouses had almost been consumed. The ammunition and materials needed now can only be transported on the east coast, so in the days to come, we will become more and more difficult."
Sokov's troops used to rely on seizures, so they received very little supplies from their superiors, so he was not very concerned about this matter. Now the 41st Guard Division, which took over, was equipped with all Soviet weapons, and the ammunition supplement could not be completed through seizure, so he had contact with the logistics department. But he never expected that when a water supply line was opened, the supply of ammunition and materials in the city would gradually become tense.
As the two were talking, the phone ringing on the table suddenly rang. Zinoviev grabbed the microphone and put it in his ear and said, "I am Major Zinoviev, where are you?...What, the deputy commander of the Front Army is going to enter the city tonight?...I understand, I will send someone to take charge of his security work."
When Sokov heard that a deputy commander of the front army was about to enter the city, he couldn't help but look surprised. As soon as Zinoviev put down the phone, he asked quickly: "Comrade Major, why, is the deputy commander going to enter the city?"
"Yes, comrade Colonel." Zinoviev nodded and replied with a serious expression: "I just received a notice from my superiors. General Golikov, deputy commander of the Front Army, will come to the city tonight with the ships carrying supplies. The superiors will ask us to do a good job in security."
General Golikov?! As soon as he heard this name, Sokov immediately thought of the intelligence chief with a big bald head in the movie "The Battle of Moscow". I wonder why he entered the city at this time? With this question, Sokov asked Zinoviev: "Major, do you know his purpose in entering the city?"
Chapter completed!