"Lt. Grissa," Sokov asked, looking at Grissa in a ignorant state: "What have you experienced? Please tell me in detail."
Grissa hesitated for a moment, then began to say, "Since we received the order from the division commander to lurk in Karachi, we entered the nearby forest. There, we encountered a small guerrilla team, who took us to their camp,..."
After listening to Grissa's brief introduction, Ivanov frowned and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, I want to ask you, since the division commander ordered you to lurk in Karachi, why would you return to Mamayev's hill?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Grissa quickly turned his eyes to him when he heard Ivanov's question: "We have been executing the commander's lurking orders. We know that the commander appeared in our camp the evening before yesterday..." Speaking of this, he immediately realized that he had made a mistake and quickly apologized to Sokov and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I'm not talking about you, but the person who looks exactly like you."
"It's okay." Sokov waved at Grissa and said generously: "We all know who you are talking about, so keep talking."
Seeing that Sokov did not mean to blame himself, Grissa continued to say, "The evening before yesterday, the fake commander and the man in blue tights appeared in our camp. He told me that the cold winter was coming, and the guerrilla camp in the forest was too simple. If we continued to stay there, it would be easy to see a large number of non-combat attributable to the cold weather.
I told him at that time that the roads to Mamayev hills were blocked by the Germans, and if we were to force our return, we would inevitably suffer major casualties."
Hearing this, everyone knew that the highlight was coming. You should know that the area between Karachi and Mamayevgang had been tightly blocked by the German army. It was almost impossible for a unit to pass so many blockades without paying a price. Ivanov once led his troops to retreat from the Don River Basin to Stalingrad, and he had some knowledge of the terrain of that area. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant, are there serious casualties in the troops when you pass the enemy's blockade line?"
"With the assistance of the fake division commander and the mysterious man, we passed one line of defense after another of the German army, but no casualties occurred." Grissa replied: "It cannot be said that there were no casualties. The fake division commander was injured in yesterday's battle. The mysterious man asked us to find a place to hide, and he took the division commander to other places to treat his injuries."
When Cidolin heard this, he slapped the table suddenly and said excitedly: "Yes, that mysterious man came here to treat with a false teacher." Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he realized that he was a little out of control, and quickly smiled awkwardly, saying to Grissa, "Lt. Grissa, continue talking."
"The Germans have strong fortifications in many areas. Not to mention that we only have dozens of people, even if there are hundreds, it is almost impossible to break through their positions without the cover of tanks and cannons." Grissa continued: "However, in front of the false commander and the mysterious man, these strong fortifications are like a joke. Faced with the crazy strafing machine gun, the mysterious man rushed up with his shield..."
"Wait a minute, do you say the mysterious man rushed forward with his shield?" Hearing this, Cidolin couldn't help but interrupt and asked again. Seeing Grissa nodding to show his affirmation, he said in an incredible tone: "You know, it's not a medieval time now, and the enemy's machine gun bullets are not the bows and arrows of the past. No matter how strong the shield is, the bullet can penetrate it."
Grissa replied with a wry smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't know what material is made of the shield of the mysterious man. The enemy's bullets jingled on it, splashing a series of fire, but they were unable to penetrate the shield. After the mysterious man rushed into the enemy's position, he used the shield as a weapon to attack the enemy, causing heavy losses to the enemy."
As for what Grissa said, except that Sokov had seen similar scenes in Marvel movies and was calm, Sidolin and Ivanov both widened their eyes in surprise, because everything they heard had completely surpassed their cognition.
"Where is that fake teacher?" Sokov glanced at the two of them, then turned his eyes to Grissa and asked, "What are he doing when the mysterious man attacked the Germans?"
"He was not idle either." Grissa replied: "When the mysterious man attracted the enemy's firepower, the fake division commander was holding a Popov submachine gun and approaching the enemy from other places. He was wearing a metal armor worn by an assault engineer, which seemed to be invulnerable. I have seen the enemy's bullets or shrapnel hit the armor several times, but he was not injured."
"Didn't you say he was injured in yesterday's battle?" Cidolin remembered that Grissa had mentioned the injury of the fake commander, and asked curiously: "Since the armor is invulnerable to swords and guns, how could he be injured?"
"Yes, the armor is indeed invulnerable, but the limbs without armor cannot block the enemy's bullets and shrapnel. In yesterday's battle, the fake division commander was first shot several times when assisting the mysterious man in bombing the enemy's tank, and then another shell exploded beside him, and he fell in a pool of blood."
"Lt. Grissa," Sokov was eager to know the recovery after the fake commander's surgery, so he asked tentatively: "Is his injury serious?"
"It looked quite serious at that time. I felt that even if I was sent to the rear hospital with good medical conditions, it would take at least two or three months to recover. Unexpectedly, when the fake commander reappeared in front of us a few hours ago, although his hands and feet were wrapped in bandages, he moved freely. During the march, we even had to trot to catch up with him."
After Grissa told the complete story, the three of them asked him some details in turn, and Grissa answered them one by one. Seeing that Grissa could no longer ask anything, Sokov waved at him and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, thank you for your hard work, go down and rest first. But I would like to remind you, you and your subordinates must keep this matter strictly confidential and cannot be mentioned to anyone. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Commander." Grissa nodded vigorously: "I will tell the soldiers to keep them confidential." He said this, but he was thinking in his heart: This time the matter is so bizarre. Even if he told others, no one would believe it. He raised his hand and saluted the three of them, then turned around and walked out of the command center.
"Two division commanders, this is really bizarre." As soon as Grissa walked out of the room, Sidorin looked at Sokov and Ivanov and asked: "If I didn't know Grissa and knew that he was an honest person, I would think he was lying. No matter how strong a shield is, can it be as strong as the armor of a tank and block the bullet? Take a step back and say, if that shield can really block the bullet, it weighs at least a few hundred pounds. Can the mysterious man lift it up?"
"What Grissa said is indeed a bit like a fantasy." Ivanov said thoughtfully: "When he was telling it, I noticed a few details: First, the mysterious man ran quickly, and only five or six seconds to 100 meters, and he could almost catch up with the Mercedes' car; secondly, the anti-tank grenade used by our soldiers can usually only throw 20 to 30 meters away because of the loading capacity, but Grissa said that the mysterious man can throw 70 to 80 meters, and can accurately hit the enemy's tank. I feel that the mysterious man he said cannot be considered a human at all, but one of the Olympic gods."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you also missed a little." As soon as Ivanov finished speaking, Cidolin added: "Lieutenant Grissa also said that the fake division commander was seriously injured yesterday, but after less than a day, he became lively again. This was incredible."
Just as Sidolin and Ivanov questioned what Grissa said, Sokov was thinking about a series of questions: Judging from Grissa's story, the mysterious man with a shield on his back is undoubtedly the famous Captain Rogers. But why did he appear in this time and space? What was his purpose in Stalingrad? Also, from which corner did the person who looked exactly like himself emerge?
Sokov raised his hand and pinched his face to confirm whether he was dreaming. Then he instantly spread the pain in the brain nerves, making him realize that he was not dreaming. Grissa, who had just returned from Karachi, told three people, including him, an experience similar to a fantasy.
The phone ringing on the table interrupted Sokov's contemplation and also interrupted the discussion between Sidolin and Ivanov. Sidolin grabbed the phone and said to the microphone: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Cidolin!... Hello, Comrade Commander, yes, the division commander is by my side, I will ask him to answer the phone immediately."
Sokov took the phone call from Sidolin and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Sokov. What instructions do you have?"
"The Chief of Staff just sent me a telegram from the scout, saying that they found the squad you sent behind the enemy. They even almost fought each other." Cuikov asked in a reproachful tone on the phone: "Col. Sokov, why don't you report to me in time for dispatching troops to the enemy's rear?"
Cui Kov's words made Sokov very depressed. He thought to himself that he was not going to launch a large-scale attack on the enemy, but he just sent five squads to do the decision. There was no need to report to his superiors. However, in order not to stimulate Cui Kov, he still said respectfully: "Comrade Commander, we have only sent five 20-man teams behind the enemy to destroy the enemy's communications and transportation lines, harass their command centers, barracks and warehouses, etc., and disrupt the enemy's deployment through these actions, so that they cannot concentrate on launching a comprehensive attack on us. Because the troops sent too few, I did not think of reporting to you."
Sokov's answer was so easy that Cuikov could not say what he had prepared long ago. After a while, Cuikov said, "Col. Sokov, the German army's offensive against Mamayevgang today is quite fierce. How about it, do you have the confidence to defend it?"
If someone else heard this question from Cuikov, he would definitely answer without hesitation, saying that we must defend the Mamayev post and would never take a step back. But Sokov would not answer this way. He considered that with his existing weapons and equipment, there would be no big problem in defending the Mamayev post, but the troops would suffer heavy casualties, so it is necessary to raise conditions to the superiors, hoping to get their support.
"Comrade Commander, although we successfully repelled the enemy's attack today, the troops were suffering a lot." Sokov said to the microphone: "If we continue to fight like this, the troops in Mamayev's hill will be exhausted soon. Therefore, I hope to get support from my superiors."
"Support, what support?" In the past two days, Cuikov heard the most that the commanders of each division asked him for reinforcements, hoping to get a large number of troops to supplement the troops with severe reductions. At this moment, when he heard Sokov say the same thing, he immediately said vigilantly: "I don't have any reserve team in my hand."
"Comrade Commander, what I want is not the reserve team." Seeing that Cuikov misunderstood his meaning, Sokov quickly explained: "I hope to obtain your authorization to use artillery troops deployed on the east coast to carry out artillery interception on the German troops attacking Mamayevgang when necessary."
Hearing Sokov's request, only to provide artillery fire support to the artillery deployed on the east bank, Cuikov couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He knew that the rocket artillery battalion hidden in the cliffs of the river had consumed all the rockets in stock and could not provide any artillery fire support to the troops in the city. Now the only thing that can be counted on is the artillery deployed on the east bank.
Thinking of this, Cuikov said readily: "Well, Colonel Sokov, I will call the artillery commander immediately and convey your request to him. In the future, when you need artillery fire support, you only need to call General Hogarsky, and he will provide you with artillery fire support for an artillery regiment."
According to Sokov's idea, as long as the hundreds of artillery on the east coast could cooperate with him, no matter how many troops the enemy had, they could blow them to ashes with just one shell. But at this time, he felt a little disappointed when he heard that Cui Kov only planned to let a group of artillery regiments cooperate with him.
Hearing Sokov stopped talking, Cuikov guessed that he was definitely not satisfied with his decision, so he added: "If you don't want it, I won't call General Hogarsky."
"One artillery regiment is just one artillery regiment." Sokov thought it would be fine without fish and shrimp. An artillery regiment was better than having no artillery fire support. He quickly said to the microphone: "With the support of artillery, I am more confident in defending Mamayev's hill."