How could Sokov know the password? He quickly stopped and raised his right hand high above his head to signal the troops following him to stop advancing. But he soon realized that this was wrong. It was so dark, and the sailors behind him
Where could they see it, he quickly added: "Everyone, listen to my command and stop moving forward!"
After the troops stopped, he took two steps forward and said loudly to the sentry hiding in the darkness: "I am Brigadier Sokov, are you from the 192nd Battalion?" He did not say his military rank.
, because I don’t want to waste time clearing up misunderstandings by talking too much.
After hearing Sokov's answer, the other party hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "Are you really Brigadier Sokov?"
"Yes, I am Sokov." In order to let the other party confirm his identity as soon as possible, Sokov also specifically added: "If any of you know me, let him come over to confirm."
"No need, Comrade Brigadier." An old voice suddenly came from the opposite side: "I know your voice, and there is absolutely no mistake about it."
Hearing this voice, Sokov suddenly remembered that there was an almost sixty-year-old sergeant in the 192nd Battalion, and he should be the one who spoke. Fortunately, Sokov still remembered this man's name, so he asked tentatively:
"Is that Senior Petrevich opposite?"
"It's me, Comrade Brigadier." After hearing Sokov's command, Petevich said emotionally: "I am Petevich."
After finishing speaking, Sokov heard a rush of footsteps. In a short time, the elderly doctor Petevich he knew appeared in front of him. The doctor came to Sokov and stopped in front of him.
He stepped forward and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Brigade Commander, I'm glad to see you."
Sokov held the other person's hand, shook it vigorously twice, and asked: "Petevich, how many of you are on duty in this direction tonight?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, there are five people including me." After Petevich answered this question, he tilted his head and glanced behind Sokov. Although it was very dark, he could not see the soldiers clearly.
The colors of their uniforms were different, but Petjevich could clearly see the rifles they were holding and the bullet belts hanging cross on their chests, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigadier, are these soldiers behind you all sailors?"
?”
"Yes, these are the reinforcements sent to us by our superiors. They will help us defend Mamayev Heights." Sokov did not intend to talk too much with an ordinary sergeant here, so he asked directly:
"Where is your battalion commander?"
"In the battalion command post." Petjevich said respectfully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I will take you to the battalion commander."
"Comrade Brigadier!" Seeing that Sokov was about to leave with General Petevich, Guchakov quickly asked: "How should these sailors be arranged?"
Sokov considered that after a long period of fighting, the entire brigade had been severely reduced in strength. Whether it was Beigang or Nangang, there was enough space to accommodate these newly arrived troops, so he casually ordered: "Take them into the tunnel of Beigang and find them."
A place to put them.”
When Sokov walked into the battalion command post, Golya, who was chatting with a few subordinates, saw Sokov walking in. He hesitated for a moment, then stood up from his seat and walked quickly to Sokov.
, raised his hand in salute, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Brigadier, why are you covered in water? Did you swim from the other side of the Volga River?"
"Comrade Captain, this joke of yours is not funny at all." If the troops were not bombarded by the Germans when they were crossing the river, Sokov might have joked a little with the other party, but when he heard Golia say this, he
But he said with a straight face: "When we were crossing the river, we were intercepted by German artillery fire, and the troops suffered considerable losses."
Although Golya was Sokov's subordinate, he was just a battalion commander and had limited information. He only knew that Sokov led the troops of the 4th and 1st battalions to stay at the Red October Factory, and did not know at all that Sokov
He didn’t know about the fact that Kokov led his troops to Orlovka, not to mention the fact that Sokov and the others actually broke out of the encirclement from the north and joined the friendly forces. So he asked strangely: “Aren’t you leading your troops at the Red October Factory?
How come you came from the other side of the Volga River?"
"It's a long story, and I can't explain it in a few words." Sokov didn't want to waste any more time here, so he asked straight to the point: "Have the Germans launched an attack on Beigan in the past few days?"
"No." Golia shook his head and said, "It's strange that the enemy stationed opposite us during the day yesterday not only did not attack us, but actually moved north."
"Even if the enemy moves north, you can't take it lightly." After learning that the enemy in front of Mamayev Heights moved north, Sokov still didn't dare to take it lightly. He then asked: "How many troops do you still have?"
"There are still about two hundred people." Golia replied: "Due to our serious shortage of troops, many of the wounded were reintegrated into combat units before they recovered from their injuries."
"I brought two hundred sailors." Sokov originally planned to take the sailors to Nangang to strengthen the defense there, but he heard Golya saying that there were only two hundred soldiers left, including many wounded who had not recovered from their injuries.
At this time, he temporarily changed his mind: "I will keep them all to strengthen your defense here."
"Great, this is really great." Golia naturally knew that the combat effectiveness of the sailors was far stronger than that of the army. The combat effectiveness of two hundred sailors was no less than that of an infantry battalion, so he thanked Sokov repeatedly: "Thank you.
You, comrade brigade commander. With this group of fresh troops, we will be more confident in guarding the northern post of Mamayev Hill."
After Sokov left all the sailors he brought with Golya, he took Guchakov alone and came to Nangang through the tunnel connecting the two hills. Although it was already early in the morning, they still encountered people along the way.
Many soldiers who had not yet fallen asleep saw their legendary brigade commander reappearing. The soldiers couldn't help but exclaimed: "Brigadier, it's Comrade Brigadier!"
"Comrade Brigadier is back!"
The voices of these soldiers woke up the soldiers who were resting in the room. They rushed to the door one after another, waving and saying hello to Sokov who passed by the door. For a while, the entire tunnel became lively.
Vitkov, who was drowsy at the brigade command post, heard the noise outside. After opening his eyes, he ordered a communications soldier not far away: "Go out and see what happened and why it is so noisy."
?”
The communications soldier agreed, got up and walked out of the headquarters. In a short time, the communications soldier ran back to the headquarters and excitedly reported to Vitkov: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, it's the brigade commander, it's comrade brigade commander who's back!"
"
"What, the brigade commander is back?!" Belkin, who was lying on the cot in the corner, heard that Sokov was back. He got out of bed, didn't even bother to put on his shoes, and ran out barefoot to greet Sokov.
.
Belgin rushed out of the headquarters and saw Sokov walking towards him along the corridor, with a group of soldiers behind him. He quickly walked up to meet him, and when he was still seven or eight steps away, he opened his mouth
He raised his arms and said excitedly: "Comrade Brigadier, welcome back!"
After Sokov and Belkin gave a warm hug, they walked arm-in-arm toward the headquarters. He asked curiously: "Comrade Political Commissar, are you the only one in the headquarters?"
Belkin knew very well that when Sokov asked if he was the only one, he was not asking about the number of people in the headquarters, but in a disguised way he was asking if Vitkov and Sidorin were also in the headquarters and why they did not come out to greet him.
. He quickly explained to him: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander is in the headquarters at the moment, but the Chief of Staff is not here."
"The chief of staff is not here?" Hearing that Sidorin was not here, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little in his heart. He couldn't help but think to himself: In real history, Sidorin died in the battle to defend Stalingrad. Could it be that
Did he die on the battlefield during the few days he left?
Belkin saw Sokov's doubts and said quickly: "Comrade Brigadier, it's not what you think. Because we stayed in the damp tunnel for a long time, the Chief of Staff was infected with eczema. There is no work at the moment.
He went to the health team to apply medicine."
Knowing that Sidorin went to the health team to apply medicine instead of dying, Sokov's heart hanging in his throat returned to his belly. He then asked: "What's the situation here in Mamayev Hills recently?"
