Gurdiev, who was staying in his command post, couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise when he saw his soldiers escorting a group of prisoners and three trucks full of supplies parked outside the trench. The political commissar Sverin who came over said: "Comrade political commissar, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is really smart. Everything seems to be going according to his arrangements."
"Comrade Commander," although Sverin had been working on the north side of the hillside, he was also very clear about Sokov letting Bauer go. To be honest, he did not agree with letting Bauer go. He was deeply afraid that as soon as the other party returned to the division headquarters, he would report to the German division commander that the position had been occupied by the Soviet army, and then the nearby German troops would Coming in like a flood. However, at this moment, when he saw that the German soldiers escorting the car were disarmed without any defense, his hanging heart finally calmed down. He said to Gurdiev: "It seems that we are all old. , does not have the courage of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"Comrade Political Commissar, when you were not here just now, I chatted with Colonel Bely for a while and asked him for details about Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Seeing that there were only himself and the political commissar in the command post, Gurdiev pretended to be mysterious. Said: "Guess, whose son he is?"
Regarding Gurdiev's inexplicable question, Sverin shook his head without thinking: "Comrade commander, please stop playing riddles. I can't guess it."
"Comrade Political Commissar, I knew you couldn't guess it." Seeing that Sverin couldn't guess the answer, Gurdiev announced with a proud look on his face: "He is Misha's son."
"Misha?" Since the nickname Misha is very common among Russian men, Sverin still couldn't remember who it was after hearing it. "There are so many people named Misha, how do I know who you are talking about?" .”
Seeing that Sverin still couldn't guess the answer, Gurdiev stopped playing tricks and said seriously: "Comrade Political Commissar, we have been in the same company since you joined the army. Do you still remember the company at that time? What’s your name?”
"The company commander when I first joined the army?" Sverin frowned and thought hard: "I remember his name was Mikhail. As for his last name, I can't remember clearly."
"Let me remind you." Gurdiev said: "His surname is Sokov!"
"The surname is Sokov, so doesn't he have the same surname as Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?" After Sverin blurted out this sentence, he was suddenly shocked, and then stared at Gurdiev intently, speaking with disbelief. He said in a tone of voice: "Oh my god, this Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is actually the son of our old company commander."
Seeing Gurdiev nodding in affirmation, Sverin thought of another thing: "I remembered that the major who moved the wounded was named Yakov. I said why he looked so familiar. It turned out that he The son of the Supreme Commander himself.”
"That's right, I only connected everything when I heard Bely mention the identity of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Gurdiev nodded and said: "Back then, Captain Mischa saved the supreme commander himself. His life, and the relationship between Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and Major Yakov is very close, which must be related to the friendship between their fathers."
"Comrade Division Commander, I'm thinking that since Colonel Bely knows about this, General Chuikov must also know about it." Sverin said thoughtfully: "No wonder our division is allowed to accept the command of a lieutenant colonel. This is unavoidable. It’s a bit abnormal. But now I finally understand what’s going on.”
"Comrade Political Commissar, if you think so, you are completely wrong." After hearing this, Gurdiev unexpectedly said: "I feel very uncomfortable with the superior ordering our division to accept Sokov's command. But when I learned from Colonel Bely about his series of achievements, I found that he was very good at commanding operations. According to my estimation, if his superiors had not deliberately suppressed his promotion, he might have become a general long ago."
"That's not true." Sverin was startled by Gurdiev's words. "How old is he? How can he become a general?"
"Comrade Political Commissar, there are no outsiders here, I will tell you about his achievements." After getting along with each other for a period of time, Gurdiev's attitude towards Sokov changed from the initial perfunctory to admiration, so He has a very clear understanding of Sokov's past achievements. He told Sverin exactly what he knew about the situation: "From the Red October Factory to Orlovka, there are four lines of defense of the German army in between, and the 39th Guards Division launched many attacks. All were repulsed without exception. As soon as Sokov's troops attacked, the enemy's defense line immediately collapsed..."
After listening to Gurdiev's words, Sverin was silent for a long time, then nodded slowly and said: "Comrade division commander, maybe you are right. For example, it only took us an hour to capture this position, with no casualties. dozens of people, which would have been unimaginable before."
"I learned a lot from today's battle." Gurdiev said with a serious expression: "In the offensive, implementing good infantry-tank coordination tactics can double the combat effectiveness."
While the two were talking, the phone hanging on the earthen wall suddenly rang. Gurdiev quickly grabbed the microphone and said: "I am Gurdiev."
"Hello, Comrade Colonel." Sokov's voice came from the receiver. He said politely: "Please come to my headquarters. I want to talk to you about something."
"Okay, I'll be there right away."
"Also, I think I saw Political Commissar Sverin heading towards you." Sokov added on the phone: "If you see him, please ask him to come with you."
"Comrade Commander," when Gurdiev called, Sverin, who was standing nearby, heard the conversation between the two. He asked curiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov called us over. What will happen?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov once asked me if the ammunition in the division was low. I gave him an affirmative answer." Gurdiev walked outside and raised his hand towards the truck parked not far away. Nuzzled, he said, "I guess he plans to distribute all these supplies to our division."
Sverin couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "Comrade division commander, you must know that there are only commanders and fighters of our division on the position. If these materials are not distributed to us, who can they be distributed to?"
"That's not necessarily the case." The two of them walked along the communication trench to the trench at the back. Gurdiev, who was walking in front, turned back and said, "Don't forget about the troops escorting the wounded. If they find friendly forces, After sending the wounded to the field hospital, it is entirely possible to return to the position. You must know that those are Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's direct troops, and they are all equipped with German equipment, so supplies will definitely be allocated to them first. "
"Also, according to the liaison officer from the 292nd Division, their division is heading towards us and will come to take over our division's defense soon. There is also the possibility of leaving this batch of supplies to them. After all, they are staying here. They were the troops fighting the Germans.”
The two walked into Sokov's headquarters and saw that there were quite a few people in the room. In addition to Sokov and Bely, there were Samoilov, Bauer and an unknown German soldier.
Seeing Gurdiev and Sverin coming in, Sokov quickly asked them to sit down, and then introduced the unfamiliar German soldier to them: "Two comrades, commanders, let me introduce to you, this is Jürgen, the German anti-Fashionist, was from the 547th Infantry Regiment."
Hearing that the other party was an anti-Fashionist, both Gurdiev and Sverin stood up and shook each other's hands politely. After the two sat down again, Sokov continued: "According to Jurgen's introduction, the German 547th Regiment is now stationed in a small village, only a few kilometers away from us."
Gurdiev was shocked to learn that a German regiment was stationed in a small village a few kilometers away. He quickly asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, has the enemy discovered us?" When he said this, his eyes He also glanced at Bauer who was standing next to him intentionally or unintentionally, muttering to himself: This guy won't betray us, right?
Gurdiev's little move was noticed by Sokov, who quickly said: "Colonel Gurdiev, don't worry, Bauer definitely did not betray us, otherwise the enemy would not have sent us three loads of supplies. coming."
"The enemy is stationed so close to us, and it will be a matter of time before he discovers us." Gurdiev said with a serious expression: "So we must prepare early to avoid being caught off guard by the enemy."
"Our troops currently deployed in the southern position are all wearing German uniforms." Seeing Gurdiev's always worried look, Sokov comforted him and said: "As long as the enemy does not enter our position, they will not be able to do anything. Found the flaw."
"What should I do if the enemy wants to enter our division's position?" Logically speaking, Gurdiev is a division commander. Even if he is under Sokov's command, he has the right to be independent. But at this moment, he actually took the initiative to ask Sokov The husband asked for instructions: "Should we let the enemy enter the position, or should we not let them enter?"
Regarding this issue, Sokov had also considered it. Now that Gurdiev asked, he simply opened the question: "If we don't let the enemy enter the position, then it will definitely arouse the enemy's suspicion; but if If we let them enter the position, our soldiers do not speak German. As long as the other party asks, they will immediately find the flaw. Therefore, my opinion is that the enemy will not come until they come. Once they are within fifty meters of our position, no matter whether the troops Whether you have been exposed or not, you will immediately fire on the enemy to catch them off guard."
"Great, that's great." Gurdiev was still worried about his own question, and Sokov would be vague and answer ambiguously, putting himself in a dilemma. But at this moment, I was overjoyed to hear that he actually said to fire on the enemy so simply: "Comrade Brigade Commander, don't worry, when I return to the position, I will convey your order to the commanders and soldiers so that they can prepare for battle. "
"Colonel Gurdiev," Sokov asked tentatively, considering that the troops had only occupied the enemy position for a short time and could not build a position that could withstand German shelling. "Have the trenches in front and the trenches here been used?" Are the transportation trenches connected?"
"We are digging three communication trenches between the two trenches, and one of them has been completed so far." As soon as Gurdiev said this, he noticed that Sokov's face changed, and he guessed that the other party might be dissatisfied with his construction progress. It was too slow, so he quickly explained: "Comrade Brigadier, since the construction time is too short and our manpower is limited, we have already tried our best to complete a communication trench."
"Colonel Gurdiev," Sokov's face naturally turned ugly when he learned that only one of the three communication trenches had been completed. He said to Gurdiev with a straight face: "You sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war. Go back and tell the soldiers that if you dig an extra shovel of soil now, you will save yourself one less shell when the fight breaks out."
This was the first time Gurdiev heard Sokov's statement. He was slightly stunned, then nodded and said: "Don't worry, comrade brigade commander, I will let the soldiers seize the opportunity to deal with it." The traffic trenches have been dug.”
In order for Gurdiev to pay enough attention to the communication trenches, Sokov emphasized: "If the enemy launches a violent bombardment of your positions, most of the temporarily dug trenches will definitely be blown up. Therefore, you The main energy now is to build communication trenches, so that when the enemy's shelling begins, all the troops on the first line can be quickly transferred to the second line of defense. Do you understand?"
Gurdiev expressed his position again, saying that he would organize his forces after returning and seize the time to repair all three communication trenches. After saying this, he looked at Sokov and asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigadier, I would like to ask, how do you plan to distribute the three trucks of supplies?"
"I have asked Bauer and Jurgen that of these three trucks, two are transporting weapons and ammunition, and one is military supplies including food and medicine." Sokov said in Gurdiev Before arriving, I discussed the distribution of supplies with Bely, and said in an orderly manner: "The two trucks of arms will be handed over to your division to strengthen your firepower. As for the trucks of supplies, you can receive some of the food and medicine. Leave the rest to the tank battalion.”
Fortunately, Gurdiev was not greedy. He heard that the two trucks of arms belonged to him, so he didn't care so much about food and medicine. He nodded vigorously and said: "Thank you, comrade brigade commander. I immediately organized the manpower to unload the truck and distributed the weapons and ammunition to the soldiers. With these weapons and ammunition, we can block the enemy in front of the position for a few hours. It’s not a big problem.”
After Gurdiev finished speaking, Sokov said with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, although the enemy is stationed very close to us, they have not discovered us at all. In other words, will your division engage in firefights with the enemy? It is still an unknown number. However, we cannot take it lightly. You should return to the troops immediately, distribute weapons to commanders and soldiers, and readjust the firepower configuration on the position."
