Seeing the armored vehicle stopping in front of him, the soldier seemed to grab a life-saving straw. He raised his head and shouted loudly at Samoilov in the carriage: "Comrade Commander, my division commander is seriously injured. Please save him."
The task that Samoilov accepted was to come here to search and rescue Grazkov. At this moment, he heard from the warrior that a famous division commander was injured, so he quickly turned over and jumped out of the carriage of the armored vehicle, grabbed the warrior's arm, and asked excitedly: "What's your division commander's name?"
"Grazkov," the soldier replied in a panic: "General Samoilov is the commander of the 35th Division of the Guards. During the transfer, we were bombarded by the German army. Almost all the soldiers accompanying him were sacrificed, and the commander was seriously injured..."
Before the warrior finished speaking, Samoilov interrupted the words behind him: "Where is your division commander?"
"Lying in a crater not far away," the soldier saw that Samoilov had the intention of helping him save the division commander, and was overjoyed and said quickly: "Comrade Commander, I will take you there."
Seeing Samoilov following the unknown soldier towards the distance, the two subordinates in the car could no longer sit still, so they turned over and got out of the car and trotted behind them.
"Comrade Commander, right there." After walking forty or fifty meters, the soldier pointed at the crater that was still emitting blue smoke, and said excitedly: "Our division commander is right there."
Hearing that Grazkov was in the crater, Samoilov and others accelerated their pace. Near the crater, there were several corpses of warriors, who were probably dying while protecting Grazkov. At this moment, a shell suddenly fell seven or eight meters away and exploded. Samoilov heard the explosion and instinctively squatted down, then stood up straight, and rushed towards the crater in three steps.
In the crater with blue smoke, a dying general was lying. It was General Glazkov who was looking for. One of his legs was blown off, revealing his black and bloody flesh.
Samoilov lay beside Grazkov and asked anxiously: "Comrade General, I am Lieutenant Samoilov of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. He was ordered to pick you up. How are you? Can you hear me?" After saying that, seeing that Grazkov did not respond, he turned his head and shouted at the outside of the crater, "Sanitation officer, sanitation officer."
The accompanying sanitary heard the shout and jumped into the crater. After checking out Grazkov's leg injury, he immediately opened the medical box with him, took out the first aid kit inside, and began to bandage Grazkov.
"How is it?" Samoilov asked cautiously when he saw the sanitation officer bandaging him: "Is his injury serious?"
The health officer looked up at Samoilov, shook his head, and said with a sad expression: "His leg was blown off, he lost too much blood, and the person was already in a coma. We can only send him to the health team as soon as possible and let the military doctor perform his surgery, and maybe there is hope of survival."
"Come here." Hearing the health officer say this, Samoilov quickly stood up and shouted at the warrior standing by the crater: "Come in and help me, and carry Comrade General into the armored vehicle."
Fortunately, the armored vehicle driver was quite good at using his mind. When he saw Samoilov and several subordinates walking towards a crater in the distance, he drove behind. Seeing Samoilov and others lifted a commander with serious injuries from the crater, he quickly got out of the car and opened the door behind.
After Samoilov and his friends carried Grazkov into the car, the driver immediately turned the armored vehicle and drove towards the Mamayev hill in the direction of the German artillery fire. On the road, Samoilov saw another armored vehicle that had been destroyed by German artillery fire and overturned to the side of the road. Seeing that something happened to the armored vehicle that was coming with him, the driver wanted to slow down and let Samoilov and his friends go down to check it out, but as soon as he accelerated, Samoilov knocked hard on the top of the bridge twice, and said in a stern tone: "Don't stop, hurry back to Mamayev hill as soon as possible."
Back at Mamayev's hill, Samoilov ordered people to get a stretcher at the entrance, and then carried Grazkov out of the car with a stretcher. After all this, Samoilov said to his subordinates: "You send Comrade General to the health team and ask the military doctor to perform surgery on him immediately. I will report to the brigade commander now."
When Sokov saw Samoilov walking into his command center, he quickly put down his work and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, what's the situation? Have you taken General Grazkov out?"
"Yes, comrade comrade commander." Samoilov nodded and replied, "We have picked him up."
When Sidolin heard that Samoilov had already picked up Glazkov, he looked at the door curiously, but no one saw anyone, so he asked curiously: "Lt. Samoilov, didn't you say that General Glazkov had been picked up? Where are the others?"
"In the health team, Comrade Chief of Staff." Samoilov looked at Cydolin and said, "When we found him, he had already broken one leg and was lying dying in the crater. The accompanying health staff said that his injuries were too serious and needed immediate surgery, so as soon as I returned to Mamayev's post, I sent someone to the health team and asked the military doctor to perform the surgery on him."
"The general has arrived at the health team?" Belkin immediately suggested to everyone: "Let's go and see him now."
"Comrade Political Commissar, don't worry." Sokov saw that Belkin was about to leave, so he quickly called him and said to him: "At this time, the military doctor should be performing surgery on the general. We have other things to do. It's the same when we go to see him after we finish our work." After saying these words, Sokov asked Samoilov again, "Comrade Lieutenant, I think you should have seen the troops of the 35th Guard Division at close range. What's their situation now?"
“The establishment has been completely lost,” Samoilov replied, “I saw everyone running around, and no one stopped to gather the troops…”
"Comrade Brigade Commander," said Sidolin, after Samoilov finished speaking, frowned and said, "The situation seems to be more serious than we estimate. Once the defeated troops of the 35th Guard Division rushed into our position, it will have an adverse impact on our military morale and morale. Do you see, will you send someone to intercept and prevent them from entering our defense zone?"
"How can this work?" Sokov expressed his objection to Sidolin's proposal without hesitation: "If they are not allowed to enter our defense zone, will they be allowed to be destroyed by enemy artillery fire? Comrade Chief of Staff immediately called the Fourth Battalion Commander and ordered them to send a company to contain the broken friendly forces."
After explaining all this, Sokov picked up the high-frequency phone and reported to Cuikov's rescue situation. After hearing Cuikov's voice, he immediately spoke: "Comrade Commander, General Grazkov has been rescued, but he was seriously injured and may not be able to support it for long..."
"What, Grazkov was seriously injured?" The news provided by Sokov surprised Cuikov and asked quickly: "How did he be injured?"
"When the 35th Guards Division retreated, it was bombarded by the German army." Sokov replied: "General Grazkov was injured in the shelling. Now my military doctor is rescuing him. Whether he can survive depends on his luck."
After Trikov put down the phone, he said to Krelov who was calling: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to go to Mamayev's Gate, and I will leave it all here to you."
Krelov heard that Cuikov was going out, so he quickly covered the microphone with his hand and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, has something happened?" There was a reason for him to ask this. Cuikov usually stayed in the command center, and he would not go out easily. At this moment, he was anxious to rush to Mamayev. Something unexpected happened.
"When Glazkov was transferred, he was bombarded by the German army and was seriously injured. His life was in danger at this moment." Cuikov said while wearing a hat: "I want to see how he is doing."
…………
More than half an hour later, Cuikov appeared in Sokov's command center.
Seeing Cui Kev coming in, everyone quickly stood up and raised their hands to pay tribute. Cui Kev raised his hand to his forehead, saying that he had given him a gift to everyone, and then asked, "How is the situation with Grazkov?"
Fortunately, before Cuikov came, Sokov sent someone to the health team to learn about the situation, so he replied without hesitation: "General Grazkov is still in rescue and has lost two bags of plasma to him. Whether he can survive depends on his luck."
Cuikov's face looked ugly. After walking back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, he looked up at Sokov and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, accompany me to the health team to check it out."
The brigade command had to keep people on duty, so only Sokov and Belkin followed Cuikov to the health team, and Cidolin was left to be responsible for handling daily work.
As the three walked forward along the corridor, Sokov whispered to Cui Kov: "Comrade Commander, the military doctor reported to me that in addition to the blown-up leg, there were several shrapnels hitting the chest, and he was trying to remove the shrapnels from the wound."
When Cui Kefu heard this, he immediately stopped and looked at Sokov and said unhappily: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why didn't you report such important information to me just now?"
Faced with Cuikov's questioning, Sokov did not dare to speak out, so as not to provoke the other party's thunderous anger. Fortunately, Cuikov did not continue to entangle in this matter, but took a big stance and walked forward, continuing to say, "Since Grazkov can no longer command the troops, when the deputy division commander Colonel Dubiyansky comes, he will temporarily take over the position of the division commander."
"I understand." Sokov thought to himself when he answered: "This Colonel Dubiyansky would not be as unlucky as Grazkov and was killed by a shell, right? In that case, wouldn't the 35th Guards Division be without a leader?"
When he arrived at the health team, the military doctor had already had the surgery and was whispering something to a health worker. Sokov walked over and asked, "Comrade Military Doctor, how is General Grazkov's condition?"
"The operation has been completed," said military doctor Pavlov, shaking his head, "but the situation is not optimistic. The shrapnel that hit his chest has broken his lungs. Whether he can survive depends on his personal luck."
"Where is General Grazkov?" Trikov's eyes turned red when he heard Pavlov say this. He asked with a choking, "I want to meet him."
Pavlov led everyone to a separate ward not far away. Although there was a gas lamp in the room, it still seemed dim. There were two wooden boards on the mound of soil in the middle of the room, which was a simple hospital bed. One of them was the person lying on it, which was General Grazkov whom Cuikov was visiting.
Cuikov came to Grazkov's bed, squatted down and leaned close to his ear, and whispered: "General Grazkov, I am Cuikov. Can you hear me talking?"
However, the Grazkov lying on the hospital bed did not move and did not react at all. But Cuikov did not care about this, but continued: "General Grazkov, you and your soldiers are very brave. The enemy has paid a huge price to seize your positions. Get well quickly, your soldiers are still waiting for you to command them to fight!"
Sokov, who was standing aside, suddenly saw Grazkov's lips moved slightly a few times, and quickly said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, General Grazkov seems to have something to say?"
Cui Kev quickly put his ear on the other party's chapped lips, and said in his mouth: "General Grazkov, if you have anything, just say, I'll listen... What did you say, have the troops retreated?"
"Retreat, General Grazkov." Sokov hurriedly said in order to comfort Grazkov: "The commanders and soldiers of the 35th Guards Division have been removed. Your deputy commander Colonel Dubiyansky is on the hill next to him, and I am holding troops with me."
"Thank you...thank you!" Grazkov said the word with difficulty and expressed his gratitude to Sokov.
Cuikov continued to talk to the other party again, but this time Grazkov did not react at all. Pavlov, who was standing next to him, bent down, opened Grazkov's eyelids, illuminated with a flashlight, reached out to his nose and gaze, and then said to Cuikov with regret, "Comrade Commander, he has already sacrificed."
"This is impossible." Trikov heard Pavlov say this and immediately started to attack: "You must have made a mistake. He was not dead. He was still talking to me just now."
"Comrade Commander, how can you doubt my professionalism?" Seeing Cui Kefu questioning his judgment, Pavlov said in a dissatisfied tone: "Now he has no breathing and his pupils have spread. These are symptoms of death. Don't you believe my judgment?"