After Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin served as chief of staff of the Infantry Brigade, Sokov had an additional way to understand the situation on the battlefield. The new chief of staff could contact the 64th Army Command through the brigade's radio station to obtain the latest battle reports in a timely manner.
On the fourth day of Sidolin's office, Sokov and Belkin were discussing in the tent about when they would move all the troops into the tunnel, but saw Sidolin hurriedly walking in with a telegram in his hand. He said to Sokov with a serious expression: "Comrade Brigade Commander, something happened."
"What happened?" As the German army got closer and closer to Stalingrad, Sokov was also very nervous at this moment, afraid that one morning would wake up and find that the German army had appeared in front of him. Therefore, when he heard Sidolin say something was wrong, he thought whether the German army had approached Mamayev's hill. "Did the Germans already appear near Mamayev's hill?"
"No," Sidolin hesitated for a moment, handed the telegram to Sokov, and said, "This is a telegram sent by General Shumilov, deputy commander of the 64th Army. General Choikov was ordered to form the South Group to prevent the Germans from moving closer to Stalingrad, but since last night, he had lost contact with the Army Command."
"What, General Cuikov lost contact with the Army Command?" Hearing this amazing news, Sokov remained calm, while Belkin jumped up directly from his seat. He looked at Sokov and said carefully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, tell me, General Cuikov will not have any accidents, right?"
Sokov did not answer Belkin's question, but moved the debris covered on the map away, looked at Cidolin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, where did General Chokov disappear?"
Sidolin walked to the table, leaned over and looked at the map for a while, pointed to a position and said to Sokov: "It's here, comrade comrade. General Trekov was north of the Aksai River and lost contact with the Army Command."
Sokov gestured with his hands, "It will be no more than fifty kilometers from us to the Aksai River." As he said that, he stood up, tidied up his military uniform, and resolutely said: "We will send troops to find General Cuikov immediately."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Berkin quickly reminded him: "General Cuikov is the headquarters of the 64th Army. Our brigade is under the jurisdiction of the 62nd Army. He takes action without authorization before receiving the order from his superiors. Is it inappropriate to do so?"
When Sidolin learned that Sokov was going to send troops to search for Cuikov's whereabouts, he couldn't help but feel happy, but when he heard what Belkin said, his smile froze on his face. That's right, the political commissar was right. Now the infantry brigade belongs to the 62nd Army. It is indeed not appropriate to set out without authorization to search and rescue the commanders of friendly troops before receiving the orders from his superiors.
"Comrade Political Commissar," Sokov said carelessly to Belkin: "Our brigade is a member of the Stalingrad Front Army. General Cuikov is a senior leader of the Front Army. When an accident happened, how could we, as subordinates, not save us? This matter was decided so that I immediately took a battalion to search and rescue him. If the superiors wanted to blame him, I would bear all the responsibility."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, and I." Sokov's words made Cidolin feel excited, and he added emotionally: "If the superior wants to blame him, I am willing to take responsibility with you."
"Well, since you all decided to send troops to search and rescue General Choikov, I will no longer object." Belkin stood up and said to the two of them helplessly: "No matter what, this is a decision made by our brigade military committee. If the superiors want to hold them accountable, we will bear it together."
After the three agreed on the opinions, Sidolin continued to ask Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, which battalion do you plan to take to the Aksai River?"
"Captain Andre's third battalion." Sokov replied without hesitation: "When the commanders and fighters of this battalion fought with the 297th Infantry Division of the German army when they were in Kursk, they had some combat experience. I took them to the Aksai River, and even if they encountered the German troops, they would still have the power to fight."
The distance of fifty kilometers is close, and it is neither close nor close. If all the commanders and soldiers take a bus, they can reach the destination in at most two hours; but if it doesn't work, they have to walk for a day. When they arrive at the place, the daylily will probably be cold. In view of this, Sokov specifically instructed Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, call Major Ozor immediately to see how many trucks he can draw there. We must find a way to transport the Fourth Battalion as soon as possible."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," when Belkin picked up the phone on the table and called the third battalion commander Andrey, Sidorin reminded Sokov again: "The third battalion is now stationed on the northern slope of Mamayev hill. After they leave, will Captain Brisky's fourth battalion take over their defense?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded happily in agreement with Sidolin's proposal: "Anyway, Major Ozor mobilized the truck, and it will take some time for us to use this time to change defenses between the Third and Fourth Battalions."
In the battle to defend Kursk, the Third Battalion once suffered a large reduction in personnel. Now there are only more than 800 people left in the entire battalion. After confirming the number of people to be transported, Ozor used his relationship to get forty trucks, loaded all the commanders and soldiers of the Third Battalion and their equipment, and headed to the Aksai River area.
Sokov was worried that he would be air strikes by the German army along the way. Before setting off, he specifically reminded the platoon leaders of each company to arrange an observation post for each vehicle. Once an enemy plane was found, he would immediately use a whistle to warn him so that the convoy could evade in time to avoid the enemy's air strikes.
However, the situation seemed not as bad as Sokov imagined. Apart from seeing sparse small troops and refugees supporting the elderly and young, there were no dangers encountered along the way.
When he arrived near the Aksai River, Sokov saw that the road ahead was full of retreating troops, so he ordered the driver to stop. He got out of the car and stood on the side of the road to shout at the soldiers passing by, "Comrades, which part of you are from, where are you going?"
A sergeant heard Sokov's shout and stopped and said expressionlessly: "Report to the commander, we are from the 138th Infantry Division, and some are from the 157th Infantry Division. We don't know where to go. Anyway, we will follow this road. Maybe Stalingrad is our destination."
After the sergeant finished speaking, he planned to continue moving forward, but was pulled by Sokov. Sokov asked excitedly: "You are from the 138th Infantry Division, where is the division commander Colonel Lyudnikov?"
Hearing Sokov's question, the sergeant couldn't help but lit up and asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you know our division commander?"
"Yes, I have known comrade Colonel for a long time." Sokov naturally would not tell the other party that he had only heard of the name of Lyudnikov, but had never seen a real person. In order to obtain accurate information, he could only pretend that he was very familiar with Lyudnikov: "Comrade Sergeant, do you know where he is?"
The sergeant turned his head and pointed to the rear: "Half an hour ago, I saw him with Colonel Kuropajianko, the commander of the 157th Infantry Division, and I guess he will be here soon." After the sergeant said that, he straightened his body and asked Sokov, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are you allowed to leave?"
"Allow!" Sokov nodded a few times and said to the sergeant: "I wish you peace and arriving in Stalingrad as soon as possible."
After the sergeant left, Sokov turned to Andre and several company commanders who rushed over from behind and said, "Let the soldiers get out of the car and walk. There are so many troops retreating on the road ahead, and our car cannot drive over."
After getting off the car, the soldiers of the Infantry Brigade got out of the car and lined up along the road in neat formations. The soldiers retreated from the south hurriedly made a passage for them. The troops walked forward for about a kilometer, and suddenly several commanders surrounded by soldiers appeared in front of them. Sokov's eyes were pointed, and he saw clearly that there were several school officials and a major general inside.
"Stop the troops!" Seeing a commander with a higher rank than him appearing in front of him, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop his subordinates, then trot forward all the way, raised his hand to salute the general, and said politely: "Comrade General, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, reported to you that our brigade is moving towards the Aksai River, please instruct!"
"Hello, lieutenant colonel." The general raised his hand and returned the salute, and said, "I am Major General Dmitryev, deputy commander of the artillery of the 51st Army." He pointed to the two colonels beside him, "They are Colonel Lyudnikov, commander of the 138th Infantry Division, and Colonel Kropakenko, the 157th Infantry Division." After Sokov and other generals gave the introduction, they raised their hands to salute the two commanders.
After Dmitryev and Sokov saluted the other two division commanders, he asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, where are your troops going?"
"Report to Comrade General." Sokov only knew that Cuikov was missing in this area, but he did not know the specific location. He was worried that it would be difficult to find Cuikov with his own strength alone, so he reported to Dmitryev truthfully: "We received news that General Cuikov was missing nearby, so I brought the troops to search for his whereabouts."
"What, General Trekov is missing?" Dmitryev was startled by the news, and he quickly asked, "When did it happen?"
"Yesterday," Sokov replied briefly, "I suddenly lost contact with him since yesterday."
"This is troublesome." Dmitryev frowned and said, "Ltd Colonel, you also see the surrounding environment, there are grasslands everywhere. Maybe the car he was riding in got lost on the grassland and accidentally broke into the enemy's defense zone."
"Comrade General, this is impossible." After Dmitryev finished speaking, before Sokov could speak, Lyudnikov said first: "How could General Cuikov fall into the hands of the enemy?"
"It's entirely possible, comrade Colonel." Dmitryev sighed and said, "In the past two months, many of our commanders have disappeared on the grassland. In the end, they were either sacrificed or captured by the Germans. I think General Cuikov lost his whereabouts here, and perhaps these two fates."
"No, this is absolutely impossible." Sokov said firmly as soon as Dmitryev finished speaking: "General Cuikov would never sacrifice nor would he fall into the hands of the enemy. I think he lost contact with the Army Command because something unexpected happened."
"What are you going to do, Lieutenant Colonel?" Dmitryev looked at Sokov and asked, "Are you going to lead the troops to search for his whereabouts in this area?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov nodded and replied, "Even if there is only one thousandth of hope, I will find General Cuikov's whereabouts."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, although the hope of finding General Cuikov is slim, I also hope to help you." Dmitryev said, turning his head to Lyudnikov and Kuropacinko: "For two division commanders, it is better to ask your soldiers to help you and find General Cuikov's whereabouts nearby."
"Comrade General," Sokov always felt that something would happen to Cuikov, but he was temporarily unable to contact the Army Command for some special reason. Therefore, he said to Dmitryev in a tactful manner: "My troops are sufficient to find General Cuikov. On the contrary, I feel that there are not enough fortifications on the Aksai River to resist the German attack. Comrade General, I suggest that you organize your troops and build fortifications on the river to fight against the German troops that may appear in this area."
Before Dmitryev made any decision, they heard someone in the distance asking loudly: "Which part of you are, where is your commander?"
"Tuekov, it's Tuekov." When he heard this voice, Sokov couldn't help but illuminate his eyes and said in his heart: "I don't know where he came out."
A jeep passed through the retreating soldiers and came to Sokov and Dmitryev and others to stop. Trikov opened the car door and came out of the car and walked towards them. After a few steps, he shouted at Dmitryev: "Isn't this General Dmitryev of the 51st Army? I really didn't expect to meet you here."
After saluting each other, Trekov and Dmitryev gave each other a warm hug. Then, he shook hands with Radnik and Kuropacinko one by one. Finally, he came to Sokov, looked him up and down, and looked at the long team behind him, and asked curiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, why are you here?"