After Sokov completed the task, he did not return to the ward immediately, but stayed in the headquarters. He felt that since Witkov was now his deputy, it was necessary to have a good chat with him and eliminate his knot so that we could cooperate better in the future.
"Colonel Witkov, please sit down." After Sokov asked Witkov to sit down, he said with a smile on his face: "I think we should have a good chat."
"Comrade Brigadier," Vitkov did not call Sokov by his name and rank as before, but called his job title coldly: "If you want to say anything, please say it."
Sokov waited for Witkov to sit down before he said: "Colonel, I know you were demoted, and you must be feeling emotional in your heart." At this point, he paused intentionally for a moment to observe the other party's reaction. After Cov snorted heavily, he continued, "Although I have been recovering from my injuries for the past half month, I still know a little bit about the situation in the brigade. Under your command, the defenders of Mamayev Heights, At least thousands of German soldiers were wiped out, and at least more than fifty tanks, assault guns and armored vehicles were destroyed. Overall, this record is quite astonishing."
Hearing Sokov affirming his achievements during this period, the expression on Vitkov's face softened a lot, but when he thought about his inexplicable demotion to deputy brigade commander, his dissatisfaction emerged again: " Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, since you think my command is pretty good, why are you so eager to resume your duties?"
Vitkov's attitude was already expected by Sokov. He waited for the other party to finish speaking before he said slowly: "Comrade Colonel, before you take over the post of brigade commander, we have gradually recruited There were more than 4,600 troops in the city who were dispersed in the brigade. But only half a month later, the total strength of the brigade dropped sharply to more than 1,500 people..."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I think such casualties are completely acceptable." When Vitkov heard this, he immediately interrupted Sokov's words: "When some infantry divisions entered the city, they had seven or eight soldiers. Thousands of people, but often after a week of fighting, there are only a few hundred of them left. The cruelty of the fighting in the city far exceeds your imagination."
Sokov tried hard to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "Comrade Colonel, my troops have been arranging defenses at Mamayev Heights since July. The purpose of doing this at that time was to survive the cruel In street fighting, the casualties of the troops are minimized..."
Vitkov interrupted Sokov again: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I want to remind you that the slogan of victory with less bloodshed has been adopted by the Supreme Command after the arduous Finnish campaign. It was criticized as an incorrect slogan that led the army to dream of an easy victory.
As commanders, we must clearly realize that this war with the German Communist Party is long and arduous, so we must be mentally prepared to pay a huge price..."
Regarding the views expounded by Vitkov, even the political commissar Belkin on the side could not find a reason to refute in a hurry. He could only shrug his shoulders at Sokov and spread his hands, indicating that there was nothing he could do to help.
The phone still rang in time, resolving the awkwardness in the room. Sidorin grabbed the microphone and said loudly: "I'm Sidorin, where are you?...Oh, it's Captain Golia!...Are you about to set off?!...Okay, I wish you good luck. , complete the mission and return as soon as possible.”
After Sidorin put down the phone, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, Captain Golia and the others are receiving equipment at the exit. They will be ready to go in five minutes at most."
After learning that Golya and the others were receiving equipment and making final preparations before departure, Sokov suddenly felt a little uneasy and quickly asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, will there be any danger when they pass through the enemy's defense line?" ?”
"I don't think so." When Sidorin said this, he glanced at Vitkov quickly and said: "Some time ago, the enemy was frightened by our sneak attack tactics. Even at night, their vigilance was still there. It was very strict, and the passwords were changed every two or three hours, which caused a lot of trouble for the scouts who passed the defense line. However, the enemy's guard seemed to have relaxed a little during this time, and the scouts we sent yesterday passed smoothly. Break the enemy's defense line."
Sidorin's reaction was seen by Sokov, and he was as clear as a mirror. What Sidorin meant was that since Vitkov adjusted his tactics, the enemy had seen their rear. There were no more sneak attacks, so we relaxed our vigilance. In this way, there should be no problem if Goria and the others can pass through the enemy's defense line smoothly tonight.
Since Golya and the others were able to successfully pass through the enemy's defense line, Sokov did not dwell on the matter any longer. He ordered Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Major Yakov and ask about the new batch of When will the rockets be delivered? If we have to send small teams to operate deep behind enemy lines in the future, this kind of rockets will be indispensable."
"I understand, Comrade Brigade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "I will now arrange for the radio operator to send a report to Major Yakov and ask when the new rockets will arrive."
While the two were talking, a voice suddenly came from the door: "Misha, why are you here?"
Everyone followed the sound and looked towards the door, only to see Asiya standing at the door carrying a medicine box, looking inside. Seeing that it was Asiya, Belkin quickly stood up and waved to her: "Asiya, what are you doing standing at the door? Come in quickly."
Asiya walked in slowly, looked at Belgin and asked, "I didn't disturb you, did I?"
"Asia, look what you said, why are you disturbing us? We are also chatting." Belkin said with a smile: "You are here to see Comrade Brigade Commander, right?"
Asiya nodded and replied: "It's time for him to get an injection, but I didn't see him in the ward. I asked the soldiers who took care of him, and then I found out that he was here." After that, she faced Sokov Said, "Misha, let's go back to the ward. Don't affect other people's work here."
"Asiya, my injury is almost healed. I won't go back to the ward from today on." Sokov waved his hand to Asiya and said, "I want to stay here to command the troops."
When Asiya heard what Sokov said, she had an embarrassed expression on her face. She glanced at Vitkov, who was sitting silently next to her, and lowered her voice and said to Sokov: "Misha, you are not a traveler now. Commander, what are you doing here?"
Vitkov heard what Asiya said clearly, tried hard to put a smile on his face, and said: "Asiya, you may not know yet, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov has returned to the post of brigade commander. .”
"What, Misha became the brigade commander again?" This unexpected news shocked Asiya. She stared at Sokov and asked: "Misha, is this all true?"
"Yes, this is all true." Sokov nodded at her and said with a smile: "Now I am the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade again."
"When did this really happen?" Asiya looked at Vitkov who was aside: "You became the brigade commander again, what about Colonel Vitkov? Are you going back to the army headquarters?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov will continue to serve as the brigade commander of the infantry brigade. It was a decision made by Army Commander General Chuikov half an hour ago." Vitkov said to Asiya calmly: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov After the officer is reinstated, I will still stay here as deputy brigade commander and assist him in commanding the troops to protect Mamayev Heights."
…………
Although Sokov asked Goliath to select ten soldiers to carry out sneak attack missions behind enemy lines. However, when Golia was selecting manpower, he found that the commanders and fighters in his battalion suffered heavy casualties, so it was difficult to gather enough people. In the end, only six people were selected, including him.
On the way to the enemy's defense line, Sergeant Tavlin, who was working as an interpreter, asked with a grimace: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy's defense line is heavily guarded. Even if we wear German uniforms and ride in German armored vehicles, if we want to pass, I’m afraid it’s not an easy task, right?”
Golia glanced at his subordinate and said expressionlessly: "Don't worry, Comrade Sergeant, according to reliable intelligence, the German defense line has been lax recently, and we should be able to pass smoothly."
Hearing what Golia said, Tavlin was silent for a moment, and then asked: "Comrade Captain, I find it very strange. Since the new brigade commander took office, he has canceled all operations behind enemy lines. Why did he suddenly order us to arrive today?" Where are we going to the enemy's rear? Is there some conspiracy in this? Isn't it to let us die?"
Tavlin's words made Goliya laugh: "Come on, Comrade Sergeant, you are not a big shot, will anyone plot against you? Let me tell you the truth, this mission is for Lieutenant Colonel Sokov He was personally deployed by the colonel, and he returned to his position as brigade commander."
"What, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov has returned to serve as our brigade commander?" Hearing what Goliya said, other soldiers in the car gathered around and asked: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what do you mean? Are all of them true?”
"Am I still going to lie to you?" Golia pointed to the wooden box containing the rockets in the carriage: "You have all seen this wooden box, right? Comrade Comrade Brigade Commander personally ordered it to be prepared for us so that we can use it. This one goes to bombard the enemy’s headquarters.”
"Great, this is great." When the soldiers heard that Sokov returned to the post of brigade commander, they couldn't help but be overjoyed and said repeatedly: "The brigade commander is back to command us. I believe that in the next battle, we will Casualties can be greatly reduced.”
While everyone was rejoicing, the driver suddenly turned around and said to the back: "Comrade Battalion Commander, we found an enemy sentry on the road ahead. What should we do?"
