"One hundred and sixty-seven people?" Sokov repeated the number and asked curiously: "Sergeant Vasily, I want to ask, how did you place so many people?"
"Comrade Commander, although there are three basements in the building that can accommodate 100 people, I did not put everyone in the building." Vasily explained to Sokov: "One-third of the troops are deployed outside the building. I made this arrangement because if the building cannot hold on, the people in the building can retreat to a safe area under the cover of the people outside the building."
Sokov originally praised Vasily, but when he heard that he had plans to withdraw from the building, he immediately turned his face and said, "What, Sergeant Vasily, do you feel that you are not sure to guard the building?"
Vasily did not notice Sokov's abnormality, but instead grinned and said, "Comrade Commander, the enemy's attack on the building has never stopped. I always have to make the worst plan."
"Then where are you going?" Sokov asked with a sneer: "Are you going to take your people east to the other side of the Volga?"
After realizing it, Vasily realized that Sokov was full of unhappiness and couldn't help but tremble all over. He quickly asked carefully: "I don't know what you mean by commander..."
"Although I never asked you to stand firm and not be allowed to retreat at all. But I am going to make an exception for this building." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Don't say that you have more than a hundred people now, even if there are only ten people, you have to find ways to defend this building. Do you understand?"
"But two-thirds of the building has collapsed under the enemy's shelling and bombing." Vasily said embarrassedly for Sokov's somewhat inhumane order: "I think we can choose other complete buildings to defend..."
"Can other buildings be compared with this building?" Sokov became more impatient when he saw Vasily considering the issue of retreat. He did not want this building, which was famous in later generations, to become unknown because of Vasily's decision. He raised his voice and said, "This building has a broad view of whether it is south, west or north, and is an excellent artillery observation position. The east side of the building is the Volga River. If the enemy occupy this building, they can use fire to block the ferry in the distance by setting up a universal machine gun in the window."
Faced with Sokov's criticism, Vasily couldn't help but lower his head. He felt that he had thought about the problem too simply. He just wanted to withdraw the people in the building to other buildings for defense when he couldn't defend it. However, he forgot that the building currently has a unique geographical advantage. As long as his people stay in the building, they can block a huge area and make it difficult for the enemy to pass through safely.
"I'm sorry, comrade in the division commander, I was wrong." Vasily looked up at Sokov after he finished speaking, and expressed his determination: "I will definitely devote my main energy to defending the building and under no circumstances will I give up."
"Sergeant Vasily, you're right to have such an attitude." Sokov saw Vasily recognizing his mistake, his tone became much more relaxed: "We will launch a counterattack against the enemy sooner or later. With such a building that goes forward into the enemy's defense line, we can quickly tear the enemy's defense line. Do you understand?"
"Comrade Commander," Andrei sat next to him when Sokov scolded Vasily, and didn't even dare to show his vigor. Seeing Sokov finished speaking, he stood up and said respectfully: "This building is surrounded by the German army on three sides. It's not safe to stay here, so it's better to go back to Mamayev's hill as soon as possible."
"Comrade Captain," Sokov looked up at Andre standing in front of him, and said to him: "If you have something to do in your camp, just want to go back. I plan to stay here for a day and see how the warriors in the building fight."
Seeing that Sokov had issued an order to expel him, Andrei knew that there was no point in staying in the Vasily Building, so he nodded and then said goodbye to Sokov. Before leaving the door, he specifically instructed Vasily: "Comrade Sergeant, I have handed over the commander to you, you must ensure his safety. Do you understand?"
Vasily naturally understood the importance of Sokov to the entire division, so after hearing Andre's order, he quickly replied loudly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, please rest assured that even if we sacrifice our lives, we will ensure the safety of the division commander."
"Okay, okay, don't talk about these useless things. The guard platoon brought by Seriosha will ensure my safety, so don't worry about it." The two of them felt warm in Sokov's heart, but he pretended to be nothing on the surface and waved to Andrei, "Comrade Captain, please go back to the camp command post quickly."
After sending Andrei away, Sokov called Vasily to sit down and asked with concern: "Comrade Sergeant, the building has to fight against the enemy every day, and the number of wounded must be quite large. How did you place them?" The reason he asked this was because he occasionally remembered Shulka lying on the bench.
"Yes, we have wounded people almost every day, but fortunately their injuries are not serious." Vasily said: "We have enough medicines here, and there are nurses from the flour mill hospital, who can treat our wounded people."
"Here, treat the wounded?" Sokov asked tentatively: "Do you have enough medicine?"
"Comrade Commander, don't worry about this." Vasily continued: "Since they saw that the enemy launched a fierce attack on the building for a week, we immediately became confident. They went to the ruins of the factory and hospital at night to bring out useful medical devices and medicines."
"Since there are enough medicines and there are nurses." Sokov pointed his hand at Shulka's lying down and asked, "Why can't even take out the bullets on Shulka's legs?"
Sokov's question made Vasily feel a little embarrassed: "Comrade Commander, what I said is that there are nurses and enough medicines in the building, but there are no doctors. All the doctors in the hospital were all transferred to the army when the enemy began to attack Stalingrad, and only a few nurses were left in the factory hospital."
After figuring out what happened, Sokov said to Vasily: "Comrade Sergeant, in the future, when you encounter wounded people who cannot be treated, you must send someone to Mamayev. The military doctors in our health team can perform surgery on the wounded."
"I remember, Comrade Commander." Vasily nodded vigorously and replied, "I will definitely obey your orders."
As soon as Vasily finished speaking, a little boy of four or five years old came into the house. He held two enamel teapots in one hand and a ceramic teapot in the other. He walked staggeringly to Sokov, trying to lift the teapots and teapots in his hand over his head, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, please have tea!"
Sokov took the teapot and teapot from the child, then placed it on the table, reached out and picked it up, put it on his knees, and then asked Vasily: "Comrade Sergeant, where did this child come from?"
"He is an orphan." Vasily's face turned gloomy when he heard Sokov's question: "Once I went on a sniper mission, I met a difficult opponent. I had been dealing with me for several days, but no one could do anything to anyone. One day, I asked a soldier to act as my assistant and continued to look for this enemy. I saw a woman with her child coming out of the ruins and tentatively coming towards our building. Unexpectedly, he was killed by a bullet from the enemy's sniper just a few steps away. The child saw his mother being beaten to death, so he lay on the woman's body and cried. My assistant was afraid that the child would be in danger, so he ran out of his hiding place regardless of everything and tried to save the child..."
Hearing Vasily's words came to an abrupt end, Sokov's heart felt an ominous premonition. In order to confirm his guess, he quickly asked: "Your assistant rushed out like this, there will be no danger, right?"
The muscles on Vasily's face twitched violently, and then continued, "Before he ran to the child, he was killed by the hidden German sniper. However, his sacrifice came at a price, allowing me to see clearly the hiding place of the enemy sniper. I fired a shot at the other party and killed him. After the danger was eliminated, I left the hiding place and took the body of the child and my assistant back."
"Since the war broke out in this city, countless orphans have appeared. Only by completely defeating the enemy can we avoid more orphans." After Sokov finished speaking, he looked at Vasily and asked, "Comrade Sergeant, do you think so?"
"That's right, comrade, you're right. Only by completely eliminating the enemy can we get peace and no children become orphans because of losing their parents." After Vasily said this, hesitated for a moment, and then hesitated to Sokov: "Comrade, you can take this child away when you return to Mamayev's hill? You know, this is always a battlefield, and I don't know if I can survive to this day of victory. If something happens to me, no one will take care of this child."
Sokov agreed without hesitation about Vasily's request: "Don't worry, Sergeant Vasily, I will definitely bring this child back to Mamayev's hill safely, and if necessary, arrange people to send him out of the city and to a safe place."
…………
A few hours later, it was dawn.
Sokov, who was lying on the table, suddenly felt the ground trembling slightly, and then heard the roar of the tank engine. The enemy attacked?! This thought flashed through his mind, and immediately scared the sleepy bug without a trace. He sat up straight and asked Vasily, who was sitting opposite him: "Comrade Sergeant, what happened? What was the roar of the tank engine outside?"
"Report to the division commander!" Vasily put down the phone and reported to Sokov: "The observation post on the rooftop is a German army passing by from a block not far away."
"Are the German troops passing by?" After hearing Vasily's answer, Sokov pondered for a moment, and then decisively ordered Vasily: "Take me upstairs and take a look."
Vasily took Sokov to the roof along the stairs that were blown up to the holes. Sokov looked in the direction of the sound, and there was indeed a team of enemies marching in the block more than 100 meters away. In addition to tanks and armored vehicles, there were also many infantrymen. Perhaps because they were worried about the attack from the building, the soldiers marched close to the ruins on the side of the building. Even Sokov, who was standing on the roof, could only see shaking helmets constantly appearing in the ruins.
After looking at it for a while, Sokov turned his head and asked Vasily: "Comrade Sergeant, do the enemy occasionally pass by your building, or do they often pass by here?"
Vasily hesitated for a moment and replied, "Every two or three days, you can see the enemy's fast column passing by this street in front."
"Since the enemy has passed under your nose, comrade Sergeant, I want to ask," Sokov asked without hesitation: "Have you taken any measures?"
"No." Vasily shook his head and replied, "There was a comrade who once suggested sniping the enemy on the roof, but I was worried that it would attract enemy artillery fire or bombing, so I rejected the other party's proposal."
After hearing Vasily's answer, Sokov was a little nameless: "Comrade Sergeant, are you still indifferent to watching the enemy pass by you because you are worried about being retaliated by the enemy?"
Seeing Sokov getting angry again, Vasily asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, what should we do?"
"What else can I do? Immediately transfer a few mortars and a few general machine guns to the roof." Sokov pointed at the German army line in front and said to Vasily: "Although the ruins block the sniper's sight, they cannot stop the mortar shells. Use mortars to bombard the enemy's marching queues, and eliminate as much as they can. They must not pass through your defense zone so easily. Do you understand?"
"I understand, comrade of the division commander." Vasily said, reached out and grabbed the phone next to him, and ordered the microphone: "Lieutenant Chernushenko's mortar team will immediately bring your mortar to the roof; in addition, Lieutenant Afanasiyev's machine gun platoon also brought two general-purpose machine guns to the roof..."
With the time of Vasily's orders, the mortars and general machine guns were placed on the roof. Seeing that the soldiers were ready, Sokov pointed his hand at the moving German troops and said loudly: "First use mortars to bombard the enemy's queues, and when the enemy's infantry starts running around, the machine guns will continue to fire. I will give you five minutes. When the time comes, no matter how many enemies you have eliminated, you will immediately retreat to the basement."
"Comrade Commander, I don't understand why we are only given five minutes?" Second Lieutenant Chernushenko asked in confusion: "We can bombard us for a longer time."
Chapter completed!