"Isn't he with you?" Rodimtsev asked.
"No." Sokov shook his head and said, "Colonel Yelin took his people to our underground arsenal to collect equipment. He is not with me at the moment."
"Since I'm not with you, forget it." Rodimtsev ordered on the phone: "Let his troops enter the defensive position as soon as possible. Maybe they will have a fierce battle to fight at dawn."
"Understood, Comrade General." Sokov said: "I will convey your words to Colonel Yelin."
After Colonel Yelin asked his subordinates to move weapons and ammunition outside the tunnel, he came over to express his gratitude to Sokov. After learning that Rodimtsev ordered his troops to enter the defense zone as soon as possible, he nodded slightly and then asked politely. Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your troops have been in the city for a long time. Is there anything you can give me?"
"I can't talk about advice. I can only talk about my own feelings." Seeing Ye Lin asking for advice so humbly, Sokov couldn't hide his secrets: "Because the German air force has firmly mastered the air superiority over the city. , so we are bombed by them every day. By observing enemy planes, I found that the accuracy of bombing by German pilots is not high. Only when there is a wide enough distance between the enemy's and ours' forward positions can enemy planes dare to attack our front lines. Bombing. Therefore, I feel that in order to reduce the threat of enemy aircraft to our defense positions, it is necessary to maximize the distance between the enemy and our forward positions."
When Yelin asked Sokov a question, it was just a polite word. Unexpectedly, Sokov told him an extremely valuable experience. While recording, he asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what do you think about the relationship between us and the German forward positions?" How short is the most suitable distance between the two? 300 meters or 200 meters?"
"Comrade Colonel, no matter it is 300 meters or 200 meters, the distance between you and the enemy position is still too far." Sokov thought for a moment, and finally replied decisively: "It is best to shorten it to throwing grenades. distance."
"What, shorten it to the throwing distance of a grenade?" Yelin was frightened by Sokov's words. He calculated in his mind that usually the bombing distance of soldiers was within the range of 3040 meters. If the German army If you charge with all your strength, you can rush into your own trench within ten seconds at most. He put down the pen and paper and asked hesitantly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is this distance too short? The enemy can rush into our position with just one charge."
Regarding Ye Lin's worries, Sokov said with a smile: "Colonel, don't worry, the enemy can rush into your position with one charge. You can also rush into the enemy's position within ten or twenty seconds." "
After hearing what Sokov said, Ye Lin finally felt a little more at ease. He grinned and said: "That's true. Since the enemy can rush into our position, then we can also rush into the enemy's position."
Sokov knew very well that in the following days, whether it was the battle in the city center or the factory area, there would be very few so-called positional battles, and almost all of them would be street fighting, so he felt that he had to give Ye Lin gave a reminder: "Colonel, after the enemy enters the city, they will start street fighting with our army, so your tactics need to be adjusted."
"Adjust tactics?" Ye Lin raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise: "How to adjust?"
"I think in the next battle, the positional battles we are familiar with in the past will rarely appear. It will be more of a contest between small units from both sides. The battle will be fought around a certain street or a certain building." In order to So that Ye Lin could understand what he wanted to express, Sokov tried to use concise language and said: "We learn the tactics of using small units to fight, especially the use of snipers in street fighting..."
When Ye Lin heard this, he finally understood what was going on. He nodded and said: "I understand, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you want to tell me. In the next battle, the relationship between us and the enemy will be different." The battles will be mainly street fighting. How about that? Is my understanding correct?"
"Absolutely correct, Comrade Colonel." Seeing that Ye Lin understood his intention, Sokov couldn't help but think of Vasily and Pavlov. He had the intention to recruit both of them into his army, but in a hurry , and I don’t know how to speak.
Seeing that Sokov was suddenly distracted, Ye Lin hurriedly coughed heavily. After Sokov's attention was focused on himself, he continued: "Comrade Sokov, do you seem to have something on your mind?"
After Sokov woke up from his thoughts, he grinned at Ye Lin, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, I have a soldier under my command who said that his friend is also in your army. He begged me, can you please He was transferred to our brigade?"
"Are they new warriors or old warriors?" Ye Lin asked, frowning.
From Ye Lin's expression, Sokov saw the other party's displeasure, so he gave up his plan to recruit Pavlov as well, and decided to just bring over the sniper god Vasily Zaitsev. He said: "He is a new warrior."
Hearing that he was a new soldier, the expression on Ye Lin's face became relaxed again, and he asked: "Comrade Sokov, do you know his name and where he comes from?"
"Vasily Zaitsev." As soon as Yelin finished asking the question, Sokov's answer blurted out: "Yaleninsko from the Ural Mountains, used to be a hunter."
"Vasily Zaitsev." After Ye Lin repeated the name, he nodded and said, "Don't worry, Comrade Sokov, as long as he is still alive, I will definitely send someone to bring him to you as soon as possible. of."
Sokov suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, and tried his best to say to Ye Lin in a calm tone: "Comrade Colonel, on behalf of that soldier, I would like to express my gratitude to you! It is getting late, I will ask someone to take you to Krutoy Deep Ditch, you should build a defense there."
After Yelin said goodbye to Sokov, he followed the guide and left Mamayev Hill, heading towards the direction of the Krutoy Deep Trench. Halfway through, he suddenly remembered what Sokov had asked him to do, and he quickly asked Dragan: "Comrade Captain, is there a new soldier named Vasily Zaitsev in your company?"
Although there are nearly two hundred soldiers in Dragan's company, one-third of whom are new soldiers, Dragan clearly remembers the name of every soldier. After hearing Ye Lin's question, he only thought about it for a moment, then shook his head and said negatively: "No, Comrade Leader. There is no such person."
"What, you don't have this person in your company?" Ye Lin heard that Dragan's company didn't have Vasily, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. After all, Sokov had helped him so much. He not only sent people to the ferry to greet him. The army even gave away a large number of weapons and ammunition, but I couldn't even handle such a small thing. "That's such a shame."
Dragan was curious about why Ye Lin suddenly asked about a new soldier, and quickly asked: "Comrade leader, why do you think of finding a new soldier? Who is he, your relative or friend?"
"This is the first time I have heard of this name." After Dragan reminded him, Ye Lin also felt strange, why would Sokov want one of his recruits? Could it be that he was really entrusted by a soldier to find his fellow countrymen in his own army, but this doesn't make sense. But then I thought about it, he is just a recruit, he is no more than him, and he is no less. Since Sokov wants it, as long as he can find someone, just give it to him. "It was Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. He said that one of his subordinates was from the same hometown as this recruit and wanted to transfer him to the infantry brigade."
When he found out that the recruit Vasily was looking for was Lieutenant Colonel Sokov who gave him ammunition, Dragan felt that he had to do something for the other party so that he could be worthy of the weapons and ammunition given by others. He quickly assured Ye Lin Said: "Comrade commander, there are many new soldiers in my company. Maybe some of them know Vasily. I want to ask."
After getting Ye Lin's permission, Dragan quickly walked up to a recruit who was carrying a box forward: "Comrade soldier, do you know Vasily Zaitsev?"
"do not know!"
"Do you know the new recruit Vasily Zaitsev?"
"do not know!"
"..."
After asking more than a dozen recruits in succession, one recruit finally asked hesitantly: "Comrade company commander, is the recruit you asked about coming from Yaleninsko?"
Yelin only told Dragan to look for Vasily, but did not say where he was from. Therefore, Dragan couldn't help but be stunned when he heard the recruit's rhetorical question. After he waited for Ye Lin to come over, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you know where that recruit is from?"
Ye Lin frowned and thought for a while, then replied: "It seems to be Yaleninsko in the Ural Mountains."
"Great, this is really great." After Dragan confirmed that Vasily mentioned by the recruit was the person Colonel Yelin was looking for, he said with some excitement: "Comrade Commander, I have a famous name. The men know him."
The new soldier was called in front of Ye Lin. When he saw the regiment leader standing in front of him, he asked nervously: "Comrade regiment leader, I wonder what you want to do with Vasily? Has anything happened to him?"
"It's a good thing." Seeing how nervous the new soldier was, Ye Lin quickly comforted him and said, "There is a friendly commander who wants to transfer Vasily to his unit, so he asked me to find him. What, do you know his whereabouts? ?”
The new soldier did not immediately answer Ye Lin's question, but asked instead: "Comrade commander, may I ask which commander wants to transfer Vasily to his unit?"
"That's the unit we just left," Ye Lin told the truth in order to dispel the other party's concerns: "I don't know where the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, heard about Vasily, and he specifically asked me for it just now. people."
Knowing that it was the commander of the troops stationed at Mamayev Heights who planned to transfer Vasily to his own unit, the new soldier immediately felt relaxed, and he quickly replied: "Vasily is now in the fifth company of the second battalion. "
After arriving at the Krutoy Deep Trench, Ye Lin saw that the Chief of Staff had established a temporary headquarters. After praising him a few words, he asked: "Have the telephone lines with the companies been connected?"
The chief of staff thought that Ye Lin was planning to notify the company commanders to come and collect weapons, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, comrade commander, because the time is too short, so so far, our phone lines can only communicate with the command posts of each battalion. "
"Chief of Staff, immediately notify the battalion and company commanders to come to the headquarters to collect weapons." Ye Lin said to the Chief of Staff: "Let them hurry up. Maybe we will start a war with the Germans at dawn."
Fortunately, the whole regiment was not too scattered. Within a quarter of an hour after the call was made, three battalion commanders and a dozen company commanders each came to the headquarters with a group of people, ready to receive the weapons they needed.
Seeing that his command post was crowded with commanders at all levels, Ye Lin asked loudly: "Who is the fifth company commander?"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd raised his hand: "Comrade commander, I am the commander of the fifth company."
Ye Lin glanced at the other person and found that he was an older lieutenant. He looked at him and asked: "Is there a new soldier named Vasily Zaitsev in your company?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Although the lieutenant did not understand the reason for Ye Lin's question, he still answered truthfully: "The new soldier Vasily is indeed in my company."
"Send someone to call him to me immediately." Ye Lin ordered the other party: "I have something important to tell him."
Coincidentally, Sokov was among the soldiers waiting outside to receive ammunition. When he heard his company commander saying that the regiment commander wanted to see him, he came to the regiment command post with some anxiety. Fortunately, at this moment, the company commanders of each battalion were leading their men to collect weapons and ammunition at designated locations, so there were not many people in the command post.
After the lieutenant brought Vasily into the command post, he reported to Ye Lin: "Comrade commander, the people have been brought."
"Thank you, Comrade Lieutenant. You have nothing to do here. Go and do your work first." After Ye Lin waited for the Lieutenant to leave, he looked at Vasily carefully and felt that he was an ordinary-looking young man. There is nothing outstanding about him, and I really don’t understand why Sokov specifically wanted this person for him.
"Comrade Vasily," Yelin stared at Vasily and said, "I just came back from Mamayev Heights. Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the garrison there, asked me for you by name. You pack up immediately and rush there Reporting from Mamayev Heights.”
When Vasily heard what Ye Lin said, he was a little surprised and said: "Comrade Commander, I don't seem to know Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. How could he ask for me by name? Can you tell me the reason?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Vasily." Yelin shook his head and said, "I can't give you any answer, because I don't know why. If you want to figure out all this, pack your bags immediately and rush to Mamayev Heights. .”
"But, comrade leader." Vasily said with some embarrassment, "I don't have any luggage."
"If you don't have luggage, then report to Mamayev Heights immediately." Ye Lin heard that the other party had no luggage, so he urged: "Don't keep Lieutenant Colonel Sokov waiting."
