Samoilov returned to Mamayev alone and reported to Sokov and others about the situation of the Army Command. When he learned that Cuikov and others were safe and sound, everyone, including Sokov, could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Sokov called the radio operator in front of him and told him: "Immediately send a report to the Front Command that General Cuikov was safe and sound. It was just that all the communication lines in the city were destroyed because they were bombed by enemy planes, so they could not contact the outside world for the time being. Please rest assured."
Although he learned that nothing happened to Cui Kefu and the others, Sidolin, who was an old subordinate of Cui Kefu, was always worried. He asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, can I let me go to the Army Command?"
"No, I will definitely not." Sokov refused without hesitation about Sidolin's request: "The enemy planes outside are still bombing the city, and I cannot let you take risks." After seeing the disappointed expression on Sidolin's face, he quickly added, "Elieutenant Samoilov brought two soldiers to the city, but he was the only one who came back alive, which shows how fierce the enemy's bombing was."
After receiving the call from Sokov, Yelyemko couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said to Khrushchev: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov has sent a telegram saying that Cuikov and his communication system were damaged by the enemy's bombing, so they cannot contact the outside world for the time being."
Khrushchev took the telegram from Yeliumenko, looked carefully, and confirmed that the information above was true, and said to Yeliumenko: "Comrade Commander, we should immediately report the situation in the city to the headquarters of the Supreme Command, and tell them that Stalingrad has not fallen and that our troops are still fighting in the city."
…………
Two days later, the fire ignited in Stalingrad City began to gradually fade out due to bombing. Sokov received a call from Krelov, asking him to immediately arrive at the Army Command, saying that Cuikov wanted to see him. When he learned that Cuikov was going to see him, Sokov did not dare to neglect him, so he immediately took Samoilov and his third platoon to the location of the Army Command.
As soon as he entered the city, Sokov smelled a disgusting and pungent smell in the air. According to his experience, it was a mixture of burnt charcoal, scorched bricks and the scorched odor of the corpse. A thick layer of ashes accumulates on the ground, and after the vehicle passes by, it immediately rises high, making people feel as if the ground is smoking.
There was no green branch on the street trees on both sides of the street, and they were scorched by the fire. What was left of the wooden house was a pile of ashes and lonely chimneys? Even many solid stone buildings were burned down, the floors collapsed, and only an empty frame was left on the doors and windows. Occasionally, one or two intact houses were seen, and the residents living here were busy moving out the bags and all kinds of useful items, preparing to take them to the dock.
Sokov also saw some soldiers who were responsible for cleaning up the ruins, sitting expressionlessly on the side of the road, eating rusks and cheese slices. Facing the convoy that drove past them and raised a piece of ashes, it seemed as if they had not seen it.
However, after driving a distance forward, the convoy had to stop. The bricks and rubble piled up on the street in front had blocked the road tightly and the vehicles could not pass at all. Sokov could only order the driver to leave the guard vehicles and walk to Pushkin Street with the soldiers from the guard platoon.
Although he received guidance from the traffic administrator on duty at the intersection, Sokov still worked hard to arrive at Pushkin Street, which had been bombed into ruins. The sentry standing guard at the door probably received a notice from his superiors. Seeing that the team led by Sokov was walking towards the command center, he immediately called Krimov to notify Krimov.
After receiving the call from the sentry, Krimov immediately walked out of the tunnel and stood on the side of the road to greet Sokov and the others. When Sokov approached, he hurried forward and saluted: "Hello, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, welcome to the Army Command."
Sokov glanced at Krimov's collar seal quickly and unexpectedly found that the other party had become the rank of captain. He smiled and said, "Comrade Captain, congratulations on obtaining a higher rank."
Krimov grinned and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the commander is waiting for you, please!"
Sokov asked Samoilov and the soldiers of the guard platoon to stay on the street, while he followed Krimov towards the tunnel. As soon as he entered the tunnel, Sokov felt dizzy. He stayed in the tunnel in Mamayev Hill for a long time and immediately judged that this was a sign of hypoxia.
Seeing Sokov's pace staggering, Krimov hurriedly held him and said to him apologetically: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I'm sorry, our tunnel has only two exits and is not in a straight line, so it's difficult for the air to form convection, so it's inevitable that you feel stuffy. You can get used to it after a while."
With the help of Krimov, Sokov came to Cuikov's command. When Cuikov saw Sokov walking in with Krimov's support, he quickly asked with concern: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Comrade Commander." Sokov found a seat at the table and sat down, trying to squeeze a smile on his face, saying, "I think I will be able to adapt to the environment here soon."
Cuikov nodded and got back to the topic: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, come and take a look at the map of Stalingrad. This city is built on the bank of the Volga River, which is 65 kilometers long, but the widest place is only five kilometers. Now we can use limited troops, but we have to spread them on such a wide front for defense. As long as the German army concentrates its forces to attack any point, they can cut off our defenders in the city into two sections. If they lose other places, the impact on our overall defense is very limited, but if the Germans occupy Mamayev's hill, our army will be in a catastrophe..."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! Sokov was patient and listened to Cuikov introducing the current situation in Stalingrad to himself. He thought to himself: Cuikov said so much to me, but he couldn't just let himself guard the Mamayev post. In fact, this kind of thing is just a phone call, so why bother to call himself to the city?
However, before he could ask his own questions, he heard Cuikov say: "The superiors provided us with a batch of bullet mines. As long as the enemy stepped on it, they could penetrate the soles of the enemy's feet. Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you should know that sometimes it is better to injure an enemy on the battlefield than to kill an enemy. If a soldier is injured, his companions cannot ignore him. In order to help him leave the battlefield, several soldiers are often needed to assist him. In this way, it is equivalent to reducing the strength of several people in the enemy.
The superiors have thrusts a thousand bullet and mines to us. I plan to give you some of them to you for the battlefield to defend Mamayevgang. The warhead of this kind of bullet mine is a bullet, which looks like an iron nail on the outside and is hollow inside. It is equipped with a striker, a striker spring and a simple insurance mechanism. Before use, the lightning shell needs to be pressed into the ground, and then the bullet is pressed into the lightning shell. When a "click" sound is heard, it means that the striker has been pressed into place, and the insurance mechanism jammed the striker. When the enemy stepped on the bullet, the insurance mechanism released the striker to strike the bottom fire of the bullet and penetrated the enemy's feet...."
In later generations, Sokov once saw in an online novel that it was very convenient to use bullet mines, and it could be used as long as it was scattered on the ground and covered with soil. However, after listening to Cui Kov's introduction to the installation and use of bullet mines, he found that such micro mines were useless. Even if they were placed in front of his own position, they were not of much use. The enemy's artillery fire could clear most of them. Maybe in the end, the enemy did not blow up, but instead blew up his own people.
In order not to make Cui Kov angry, he explained with a high-sounding reason: "Comrade Commander, this kind of bullet thunder is really a good thing, but I think the troops in the city need it more than me, so I should allocate them to them first. As for the defense of Mamayevgang, you don't have to worry, I have some ways to deal with the enemy."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Krelov, who stood beside him without saying anything, was a little unhappy: "Do you know how many troops were rushing to ask for it after the superior sent us a bullet mine. The commander didn't give it. He left it to you specifically, but you didn't know that you didn't want it."
"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff." Cuikov heard from Sokov's tone that he was unwilling to ask for these bullet thunders, and did not force him, but said to Krelov: "Since Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is unwilling to ask for these bullet thunders, it will be left to the direct troops of the group army."
Next, Cuikov explained some precautions to Sokov, then waved to him and said, "Okay, lieutenant colonel, there is nothing you have to do here. You can go back to Mamayev's hill." Sokov agreed, raised his hand and bowed, turned around and walked out of the command center.
Seeing Sokov coming out of the cave, Samoilov immediately met and asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, are we going back to Mamayev's hill?"
As he walked along the street, Samoilov couldn't help but ask Sokov curiously: "Brig Commander, I wonder what tasks the commander has assigned you?"
"What else can we do," Sokov smiled bitterly after hearing Samoilov's question: "It's not just that we can do everything we can to defend Mamayev's hill and prevent the enemy from occupying it..."
Sokov and Samoilov were talking, and turned a corner of the street, accidentally initiated a group of soldiers wearing gray military uniforms, German steel helmets, holding Mauser rifles or MP40 submachine guns appeared opposite him, and were in a scattered formation and slowly searching and moving towards his direction.
"It's German." As soon as Sokov shouted this, he held the assault rifle slung over his shoulder in his hand and pulled the trigger at the German army opposite first. With just two shots, he knocked down a soldier walking in the front. The rest of the soldiers hurriedly squatted down or hid in the ruins to avoid bullets flying from the front.
After Sokov's gunshots rang, Samoilov was stunned at first, and then found the bullets in front, and quickly shouted: "There are Germans in front, destroy them." After shouting, he pulled out his pistol from his waist and fired two shots at the hidden position of the German army.
The guard platoon following behind heard that there were Germans in front of him, and they rushed up. In such an emergency, they did not think of using the terrain to conceal, but subconsciously used the weapons in their hands to fire at the place where the enemy was hiding, hoping to rely on their own firepower to suppress and eliminate the other party.
The Germans had found a hidden place, and their casualties were almost negligible when facing the rain of bullets from the guard platoon. On the contrary, the crowded guard platoon soldiers became their targets for shooting. After a platoon of guns fired, seven or eight soldiers fell down beside Sokov.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Sokov quickly shouted, "Go back quickly and find a place to hide."
Hearing Sokov's shouts, the soldiers in the guard platoon slowly retreated to the back while fighting. Sokov stayed at the end, and he shot while retreating, using the powerful firepower of the assault rifle to cover the soldiers' retreat.
After retreating to the corner, the bullets of the Sokov assault rifle were also exhausted. He hid behind a broken wall, calmly replaced with a new magazine, and then ordered Samoilov: "Comrade lieutenant, immediately send someone to notify the army headquarters, and said that the Germans were entering the city and we were blocking them. Please transfer as soon as possible or prepare for combat."
As soon as the soldiers sent by Samoilov left, the Germans launched an attack. They were afraid that the Soviet army would hide behind the corner and fire cold guns, so before charging, they threw several grenades from the other side of the corner. Sokov saw the grenades emitting white smoke and landed on the ground one after another, and quickly shouted: "Grenades, hide quickly." After shouting, he quickly squatted down and hid behind the low wall.
Amid the continuous explosions, Sokov heard the screams coming from not far away. It should be the soldiers who were not well-hidden and were injured by grenades. But at this time, he had no time to pay attention to the situation of the wounded. As soon as the explosion ended, he immediately stood up and pointed the gun at the corner. Seeing several shadows in the smoke, he pulled the trigger without hesitation and shot several times in succession.
After the figures fell down, gunshots sounded like beans everywhere. The soldiers from the guard platoon were shooting at the German army that was trying to rush over. The dense firepower composed of more than fifty submachine guns and rifles blocked the corner. As long as the German army rushed out from the corner, they would definitely be shot into a sieve by random guns.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Samoilov rushed to Sokov and said loudly to him: "This place is too dangerous. You should go to the Army Command to avoid it first, and leave the enemy here to deal with it."