In the early morning, a steam locomotive, dragging a long series of tank wagons, slowly drove into the Stalingrad Central Railway Station and headed for platform nine. The military column slowly stopped at the platform. Guard company commander Orel led a group of soldiers with guns and got out of the carriage at the rear of the train. After getting off the train, they immediately pulled out a cordon facing the platform.
After setting up the cordon, Seryozha turned around and said loudly in the direction of the car door: "Brigadier Commander, Political Commissar, the cordon has been set up, please get out of the car!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sokov appeared at the door. He looked towards the platform and saw seven or eight soldiers standing not far away, looking towards his position. Seeing this, he guessed that the other party should be The city defense committee sent people to greet them. After getting off the bus, he did not walk over immediately. Instead, he waited for Belgin to get off the bus before the two of them walked over side by side.
The soldiers waiting there saw Sokov and Belkin walking towards them and hurriedly greeted them. The major leading the team asked tentatively: "Is it Lieutenant Colonel Sokov of the 73rd Infantry Brigade?"
"Yes, I am Sokov. This is my political commissar Belkin." After Sokov introduced himself and Belkin's identities, he looked at the major in front of him and asked tentatively: "I don't know what I should do. Call you?"
The major quickly stood at attention, raised his hand in salute, and replied clearly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am Major Ozor from the City Defense Committee, and I have been ordered to come to greet you."
"Hello, Major Ozor." After raising his hand in return, Sokov held the other person's hand and asked politely: "So, do you want to cooperate with us in building fortifications?"
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Ozor replied respectfully: "I am a construction engineer and will assist you in building fortifications on Mamayev Hill."
Sokov exchanged greetings with Ozor for a few more words, then turned to Seryosha who was standing behind him and said: "Seryosa, it's almost time, let the commanders and soldiers get off the car!"
Seryosha agreed and ran towards the front of the car with two soldiers, shouting loudly as he ran: "Everyone get off the car! Everyone get off the car!..."
Following his shout, the closed car doors opened one after another with a "clatter". The commanders and soldiers who had been holding it in for more than ten hours couldn't wait to jump out of the car and stretched on the platform. Their activities were already over. The somewhat stiff body greedily breathed in the fresh morning air of Stalingrad. Many soldiers who were in urgent need of urination stood in a row on the platform and started to urinate facing the carriages. The air was soon filled with an unpleasant smell of urine.
Fortunately, Ozor was used to this kind of thing. He said to Sokov without changing his expression: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, there is someone from the army to receive you. I will take you to Mamayev Hill first."
As soon as he walked out of the train station, Sokov saw the famous fountain in the middle of the square outside the station that had been seen in many film and television works. He couldn't help but quicken his pace and walked to the fountain. He looked up at the sculpture of six young pioneers holding hands and dancing around a crocodile in the middle of the pool. He was thinking: In that movie "The Enemy", the sniper Vasily He hid in this fountain and killed five German officers and soldiers with five bullets, and became famous in one fell swoop.
The sculptures in the fountain, which symbolize the struggle between justice and evil, miraculously survived after the tragic Battle of Stalingrad. So much so that once the battle was over, the Stalingrad people did not bother to repair the damaged buildings around them, but instead gave priority to restoring the fountains and sculptures to their original state.
Seeing that Sokov was very interested in the fountain, Ozor introduced him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the sculpture of this fountain is the fairy tale "Dr. Alpolit and the Thief Balmare": six Soviet Young Pioneers. members of the team traveled to Africa, but unfortunately they were caught by the thief Balmare and roasted on the fire. After receiving the news, Dr. Aprilite immediately sent a crocodile and an orangutan to rescue them. After a fierce battle, the crocodile The Young Pioneers were saved by destroying the thief Balmare. This is the scene of them dancing around the crocodile after their victory..."
Although Sokov has seen this fountain and sculpture in many film and television works, he does not know its origin. After Ozor’s popular science, I immediately understood why this sculpture is called a symbol of the struggle between justice and evil.
Mamayev Hill is still two kilometers away from the station. If you walk, it will take at least half an hour. Fortunately, Ozor had already arranged the jeep outside, and after calling Sokov and Belgin to get on the bus, he ordered the driver to drive towards Mamayev Heights.
"Two comrades, commanders," Ozor, who was sitting in the passenger seat on the way to Mamayev Heights, turned to Sokov and Belkin and said, "Mamayev's name comes from the Mongolian army. Batu Khan, he camped here when he marched westward into Europe. There is a hill formed by ancient Tatar tombs..."
While Belkin listened to Ozor's explanation with great interest, Sokov was thinking in his heart: "I didn't expect Mamayev Hill to be a tomb. In the next few months, this mountain Tens of thousands more innocent souls will be added to the hill. I hope I can survive until the end of the battle and not become one of these innocent souls."
The jeep came to a stop at the foot of Mamaev Hill, and Ozor took Sokov and Belkin to the top of the hill. He first pointed to the north and introduced to the two of them: "Two comrades, commanders, where we are standing is on the southern slope of Mamayev Heights. From here we can overlook the entire city of Stalingrad and the Volga River, and control the You can control a large area here, including the Volga River transportation line, which is the lifeblood of Stalingrad. You see, opposite is the north slope, and the cylindrical metal building above is the oil tank of the refinery. In addition, for the entire Stalingrad The water tower that provides drinking water in Gullah is built a hundred meters away from the oil tank..."
Hearing this, Sokov sneered in his heart and thought to himself: The Germans only need a few artillery shells or aerial bombs to blow up the oil storage tanks on the north slope and turn it into a sea of fire. Once the water tower is destroyed, the water supply to the entire city will be interrupted, and residents will have to go to the river to fetch water for drinking.
Ozor naturally could not guess what Sokov was thinking, and pointed to the east and said: "To the east is the dock. As a city on the Volga River, Stalingrad connects Europe and Asia with land and water transportation. hub,……"
When Belkin heard this, he couldn't help interrupting the other party and interjected: "The superiors originally planned to let our troops come to Stalingrad by boat from Kazan, probably because of the convenience of water transportation in Stalingrad. .”
"It is possible, Comrade Deputy Battalion Political Commissar." Ozor said to Belkin with a smile on his face: "If you really take a boat down the river and see the beautiful scenery along the way, just think of it as Out for a trip.”
Belkin chuckled and said: "Major Ozor, we are not going on a trip, but we are here to fight against the invaders." He looked sideways at Sokov, "You are right, Brigadier Comrade."
"Yes, we are here to fight against the invaders." Sokov said to Ozor with a straight face: "Comrade Major, I would like to ask, how do you plan to build the fortifications near Mamaev Hill? "
Regarding Sokov's question, Ozor said with some disapproval: "How else to build it? Of course, we need to build trenches and reinforced concrete bunkers on the hills, and lay minefields and barbed wire on the west side of the hills."
"What about the anti-tank trenches?" Sokov waited for Ozor to finish speaking, and immediately asked: "Comrade Major, in the defense plan you mentioned, why didn't you mention the anti-tank trenches? You know, with horses and horses The slope of Yev Hill means that German tanks cannot drive up it, but they can still stop at the foot of the hill and use artillery fire or machine gun fire to cover their infantry as they rush up the hill."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't be anxious." Seeing Sokov's irritable tone, Ozor quickly explained: "It's not that we don't want to build anti-tank trenches, but four hundred meters to the west of the hill, there is a road connecting the city. Ring railway lines at the north and south ends. Once the enemy approaches this area, we can dispatch armored trains for mobile defense and use powerful artillery fire to destroy all enemies who dare to approach here."
"City-ring railway line and armored train?" Hearing what Ozor said, Sokov quickly raised his telescope and looked to the west. Sure enough, he saw a railway line in the distance. Although he did not see the armored train, he But he knew in his heart that Ozor was not lying. Once the battle started, the armored train could use this railway line to carry out mobile defense and use artillery fire to destroy the enemies attacking the city. However, in his impression, he did not hear anything about the performance of armored trains during the entire Stalingrad Battle. It should be that the armored train was destroyed by the Germans shortly after the Battle of Stalingrad began.
Ozor and Belkin talked for a while, then turned around and found Sokov holding a telescope and looking toward the west of the hill. Ozor thought Sokov was anxious to see the armored train, so he smiled and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the armored train is dispatched every four hours. If you want to see it, you have to wait at least three hour, so it just completed its patrol mission an hour ago and is currently undergoing repairs and supplies at the station."
Sokov put down the telescope, turned to face Ozor and said: "Comrade Major, I don't agree with the defense plan you proposed. If we really build the fortifications of Mamaev Hill according to your idea, once here If attacked by the Germans, the defenders on the hill will suffer a fatal blow."
Ozor was stunned, and after a while, he asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I have been ordered to assist you in the construction of fortifications. If you have any ideas, just put them forward, and I will fully cooperate with you." Completed."
