There was no moon in the sky, but the firelight from the burning buildings in the city could illuminate the way forward for a group of people walking through the ruins. Sokov found that there were ruins everywhere as far as he could see.
, not a single complete building could be seen at all, which is evident from the intensity of the German bombing and shelling of the city.
"Damn it, these damn Germans!" When Yakov saw all this, he couldn't help complaining: "Look what they have done, how have they destroyed such a great city?"
"Who's talking at the back?!" A voice suddenly came from the front of the team: "Do you want the Germans to find us?" As soon as the voice fell, there was a rush of footsteps from the front, and a soldier wearing a helmet
Appearing in front of Sokov and Yakov, he asked in a low voice: "Who was speaking just now?"
With the help of the firelight, Sokov recognized the person who asked the question as the squad leader of the security squad. He quickly apologized on behalf of Yakov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Sergeant. It's my fault. I dare not speak casually. Please forgive me!"
After the sergeant squad leader saw clearly that the person speaking was Sokov, he immediately swallowed the words he was about to complain about. "Comrade Brigade Commander, the area ahead is occupied by the enemy. When we pass through, we need to maintain absolute
Please be quiet. Please stop talking from now on."
After the soldiers left, Yakov approached Sokov and whispered: "Misha, I'm so sorry just now..."
Sokov quickly made a silent gesture to Yakov and said to him in a low voice: "Don't talk yet. If you have anything to do, we'll talk about it when we get there."
There are ruins everywhere in the city, and the original streets have long changed. Even a native of Stalingrad will inevitably get lost when walking in such a city at night when visibility is not high. Fortunately, there are
The soldiers led by Sokov and his team had walked this winding road countless times, so they were able to successfully lead them through the ruins and arrived near the Vasily Building.
Seeing the four-story building appearing in the distance, Sokov felt that he might be almost there. He quickly called a soldier beside him and ordered him: "Comrade soldier, go to the front and ask your squad leader if we are
Are you going somewhere?"
The soldier agreed and was about to speed up and move forward, but was stopped by Sokov who had changed his mind: "Forget it, I'll go and ask in person." After that, he speeded up and walked forward.
Yakov quickly followed.
After catching up with the sergeant who was leading the way, Sokov asked in a low voice: "Comrade Sergeant, how long do we have until we reach our destination."
"Comrade Brigadier," the sergeant replied in a low voice, "We are only two to three hundred meters away from the building. We will reach our destination in just a few minutes."
The group of people walked forward for another hundred meters or so, when suddenly there was the sound of a gun being pushed in front of them, and then someone asked sharply: "Stop! Password?" The sudden appearance of the command caused everyone to disperse quickly, and
They all hid behind the ruins closest to them.
"It's one of our own." The sergeant hiding next to Sokov quickly replied: "I am Sergeant Duronin from the brigade guard company. I have something urgent to see Sergeant Vasily." He was deeply afraid that the person who asked for the password was the one who asked for the password.
The Germans were pretending, so they did not say that Brigadier Sokov was by their side, but only said that they had something to see Vasily.
A moment later, a soldier wearing a steel helmet appeared from behind a broken wall not far ahead. He smiled and said, "It turns out to be Sergeant Duronin. I almost misunderstood."
Sergeant Duronin recognized that the speaker was a soldier he was familiar with, so he whispered to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, you are one of our own." After saying that, he stood up and faced the other party.
He walked over to where he was and asked, "Why are you the only one on duty tonight?"
"How could it be me alone?" The soldier said, lighting up a flashlight covered with a red cloth, and turned around in the direction of the building. Soon, a red dot appeared in the direction of the building, and he followed the same pattern.
The gourd made a circle. After all this was done, the soldier turned to Duronin and said: "Comrade Sergeant, take your people and turn left five meters away from me. The front of me is already
Mines were laid."
When Sokov saw that there was only one soldier on duty outside the building, he was very dissatisfied with Vasily. He felt that his vigilance was not high. There was only one soldier in such an important position. If the enemy came secretly,
Sentry, what should he do? But what happened next made him feel that he was worrying too much. Even though there was only one sentry here, there was at least one machine gun in the building, facing where he was standing. If
When the sentry realizes that something is wrong, he only needs to send out a signal, and the machine guns in the building can fire wildly, beating up the enemies who sneak attack. Moreover, the front of the sentry is covered with mines. Although it is only a few meters away, if the enemy wants to sneak attack on him, he may
In the end, you can only steal the chicken but lose the rice.
Sokov and the others entered a communication trench according to the position pointed by the sentry. Sergeant Duronin whispered to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we can enter the building directly along this communication trench."
As everyone walked along the traffic trench, Sokov unexpectedly discovered that in addition to the sentries, there were at least three other soldiers hiding in the traffic trench. They were all equipped with submachine guns. Even if a large group of enemies rushed up, they could use their weapons to
The weapons inside can also withstand it for a while.
Before entering the building, Yakov approached Sokov again and said in an approving tone: "Misha, although I have never seen this Sergeant Vasily, judging from his defensive arrangements, he will
He must be an excellent commander."
Several soldiers were sitting on the stairs, chatting and laughing quietly. They quickly stood up when they saw a group of people walking in from outside the building. After seeing Sokov clearly in the crowd, they all raised their hands to their foreheads and raised their hands to their foreheads.
Sokov saluted and said: "Hello, brigadier commander, we have defended this place and have not allowed the Germans to advance a step."
"Well done, comrades, you are all well done." Sokov took two steps forward, stretched out his hand to shake hands with the soldiers one by one, and finally asked the soldier who spoke: "Comrade soldier, do you know Sergeant Vasily?"
Where?"
"I'm here, Comrade Brigade Commander." Before the soldier could speak, a deep voice sounded from behind Sokov: "I'm here."
Sokov turned around and saw Vasily walking towards him with a sniper rifle on his back. His originally brand-new military uniform was now covered with dust, and there were brown spots on it, which looked like blood stains.
And so on. After he came to Sokov, he stood up and saluted and said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Sergeant Vasily reports to you that we are holding on to the building, please give us instructions!"
"Sergeant Vasily, you and your men are both good." Sokov held Vasily's cold hand and said with a smile: "I heard that you stood here and destroyed more than a dozen German vehicles.
Tanks also killed hundreds of German soldiers. This is really an amazing achievement."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vasily replied with some embarrassment after hearing Sokov's praise for him: "Since we occupied this building, our superiors have sent us a lot of reinforcements, and they have also given us a lot of reinforcements every day.
Supplement ammunition and supplies. It is precisely because of this assistance that we can hold on to this place."
"Comrade Vasily," Sokov saw a large group of people standing around him. Some things he couldn't say in public, he coughed lightly, and then pretended to be casual and asked, "Can we talk somewhere else?"
After hearing what Sokov said, Vasily realized that there were people standing around him. If there was something important to talk about, it would be a bit inconvenient. He quickly turned his body to one side and said to Sokov: "Brigade Commander
Comrade, come and have a look at where I live. It's not far from here, on the second floor of the unit in the middle."
Sokov originally thought that he had to leave the building first and enter the building from another entrance before he could reach the place where Vasily rested. Unexpectedly, Vasily led them directly up the stairs to the second floor, turning back to ask Sokov as he walked.
Kov said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, some places on the roof of the building were damaged by German shells. Please be careful when you go upstairs."
Apart from Sokov, Yakov was the only one who followed Vasily upstairs. The two of them followed Vasily, stepping on the broken floorboards, and cautiously walked upstairs. After reaching the second floor, Vasily led
The two passed through several holes in the wall that could be passed by people, and came to a room lit with candles.
Vasily stopped, turned around and said to Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Brigadier, here we are. This is where I live and is also my temporary command post."
Looking at the candlestick on the fireplace with three burning candles inserted, Sokov reminded Vasily in a panic: "Comrade Vasily, how can you light candles in the room? The enemy will find out this way.
.”
"Don't worry, comrade brigade commander." Vasily replied with a smile: "It is blocked by two layers of thick curtains. The light cannot penetrate and the target will not be exposed. You and the major, please take a seat."
As soon as Sokov and Yakov sat down on the chairs brought by Vasily, Vasily came over with two ceramic teapots in one hand and a teapot in the other. He smiled and said to the two of them: "Comrade Brigadier
, you must be tired and thirsty after walking such a long way, come on! Have some tea."
Sokov and Yakov each took a teapot, held it in their hands, and let Vasily pour themselves tea. Sokov said with some emotion: "Sergeant Vasily, you are living a good life here.
.”
Vasily grinned and replied: "Comrade Brigade Commander, because this building is in a good location, enemy artillery fire and aircraft cannot destroy it, and we can rely on the favorable terrain to block enemies who try to pass in front of the building.
Generally speaking, fighting here is better than other places."
Sokov waited for Vasily to pour him tea, took a sip, and then asked: "Sergeant Vasily, I would like to ask how many defenders are still in the building now?"
"There are still 62 combat soldiers, Comrade Brigade Commander." Vasily replied without hesitation: "In addition to the reinforcements sent to us by the brigade headquarters, we have also taken in some dispersed friendly troops. In addition to the combat soldiers,
There are still 17 original residents in the building. They were unwilling to evacuate to the rear, but took the initiative to stay to help us cook and take care of the wounded."
Sokov did not expect that there were nearly 80 people in this building. After waiting for Vasily's report, he asked with some concern: "Sergeant Vasily, there are so many of you crowded in the building, even if it is the enemy's
Artillery and aircraft cannot destroy this building, but the casualties must not be small, right?"
"It's like this, Comrade Brigadier." Vasily explained: "During normal operations, we only use half of our troops as reserves, and the rest hide in the basement. In this way, we can avoid
The enemy's shelling and bombing caused unnecessary casualties. If we need help, they will come to support us immediately."
"Comrade Sergeant," Yakov couldn't help but curiously asked after hearing this: "I would like to ask, when you need manpower, how do you summon them? Do you send communications soldiers to notify them one by one?"
Hearing Yakov's question, Vasily grinned, and then replied: "Comrade Major, we have a phone here! If we need support from our comrades hiding in the basement, we only need to give them a call, and they can
Come out of the basement immediately and enter your respective combat positions in the shortest possible time."
"Sergeant Vasily," Sokov asked curiously, thinking that the German troops would first complete their assembly on the opposite side of the Square on January 9 before launching an attack on the building. "But when the enemy assembled on the opposite side of the square, you all
What measures were taken?”
Sokov's words confused Vasya. He looked at Sokov and asked in confusion: "Comrade Brigadier, there is no other measure except to prepare for battle. You know, there is no relationship between us and the enemy."
We are four to five hundred meters apart. Even if we fire machine guns, as long as they hide behind the tanks, we will not be able to cause any casualties to them. Instead, the position of the machine guns will be exposed and they will be bombarded by enemy tank guns."
"Have you seen the new rockets I sent to you?" Sokov looked at Vasily and asked, "Have you used them in battle?"
"No, there are too few of those new rockets, and no one has ever used them before." Vasily answered very simply: "If it is launched rashly, it will hit the target, but if it misses all, then it will be wrong.
Was a good thing wasted?”
I heard that Vasily thought that there were too few rockets and did not dare to use them. Sokov couldn't help but glance at Yakov sitting next to him, and then said to Vasily with a wry smile: "Yes, Comrade Sergeant,
The number of that new type of rocket is a bit small. But it is perfect for you to use it to bombard the enemy's gathering troops. I think that in tomorrow's battle, you should try this kind of rocket first and see how it works.
How powerful is it? When it is used up, I will order someone to replenish it for you."
