Sokov originally planned to wait for Gurdiev's troops to hand over the defense, and then withdraw together to Maloy Ivanovka. Unexpectedly, as soon as Gurdiev left, Vasilyev unexpectedly said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, there is one more thing I forgot to inform you. According to the order of the commander, General Jiaxiaonin, the 308th Infantry The division has been officially incorporated into the 24th Army of our Don Front, which means that from now on, you no longer need to command this unit and can leave first."
After listening to what Vasilyev said, these two idioms immediately came to Sokov's mind. When surrounded by the enemy, the troops were placed under their own command; as soon as they were out of danger, the troops were placed under the command of the 24th Group Army.
Thinking of this, Sokov asked with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade General, I would like to ask, does General Chuikov know about placing the 308th Division under the command of the 24th Group Army?"
"About this issue," Vasilyev's face immediately turned red when he heard Sokov's question. He explained with some embarrassment: "General Jiaxiaoning has submitted an application to the front army, hoping to organize the 308th Division. Enter the group army’s order of operations.”
"So, integrating the 308th Division into your army is just the wishful thinking of General Jia Xiaoning. Not to mention General Chuikov, even General Rokossovsky doesn't know the inside story." When Sokov learned about this, it was just Jia Xiao Ning's wishful thinking. Ning's personal thoughts did not get permission from his superiors, so he began to argue: "Comrade General, General Chuikov gave me the command of the 308th Division. Please forgive me for not handing over this division without getting his order." force."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, please listen to my explanation." Vasilyev understood Sokov's mood on this matter very well. Seeing his strong reaction, he quickly explained to him: "In order to seize this position a few days ago, we We lost an infantry division. According to regulations, this unit will be cancelled. As a result, there will be one less division in the group army's establishment. It is precisely because of this that Commander Jia Xiaoning submitted an application to his superiors to transfer The troops of the 308th Division were integrated into our army group."
Even though Vasilyev's military rank was two ranks higher than Sokov's, Sokov did not feel timid because of this. Instead, he plausibly said: "General Vasilyev, I repeat, without the transfer of troops, Order, I cannot hand over the 308th Division to your group army, I will take them and continue to retreat north as planned."
"Commander Jia Xiaoning has already submitted an application to the front army headquarters, and it will only be a matter of time before he gets approval." Although Sokov's attitude was stubborn, Vasilyev was not angry. Instead, he said more patiently: "Later After they withdraw from the position, it is best to stay by the river and not go too far, otherwise, after it is officially assigned to our army group, even if you arrive at Little Ivanovka, you will have to return here again."
No matter what Vasilyev said, Sokov had one idea in his mind: As long as Chuikov did not give me an order, I would never hand over the 308th Division to the 24th Army. Even if you bring up Rokossovsky to suppress me, it will be useless. I am doing this to stick to my principles.
After completing the handover task, Gurdiev and Bely led their troops to prepare to withdraw from the position, but did not see Sokov's shadow. Gurdiev looked at Bely and asked: "Colonel Bely, have you seen Comrade Brigade Commander?"
"No!" Bely shook his head and said with a surprised look on his face: "I have been staying with my men, waiting for friendly forces to come to receive the tanks, but I didn't see him."
Gurdiev looked up towards the other side of the river and said to himself: "Did he leave first?"
"This is impossible." As soon as he finished speaking, Bely retorted: "Comrade Brigade Commander will never leave us alone."
"If he hadn't left, where would he have gone?"
"By the way, Colonel Gurdiev." Bely asked Gurdiev tentatively: "Before you handed over the defense to friendly forces, wasn't Comrade Brigade Commander always with you?"
"Is he still at the headquarters?" As soon as Gurdiev said this, he shook his head vigorously and said, "This is unlikely. It has been almost an hour. Why is he still at the headquarters? ?”
"Since we can't see him elsewhere, we might as well go to the headquarters and have a look." Bely said, "Maybe he is still there at the moment."
Gurdiev asked Sverin to lead the troops to the river to assemble, and he and Bely walked hand in hand to the headquarters. When they came to the door, the sentry standing at the door blocked their way and asked politely: "Comrade colonels, what can I do for you?"
Seeing that the sentry did not recognize him, Gurdiev quickly introduced himself and said: "I am Colonel Gurdiev, commander of the 308th Division. This is Colonel Bely. We are here to find Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." .”
After hearing Gurdiev's self-introduction, the sentry immediately recognized him and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, comrade colonel, it was too dark and I didn't see you clearly."
Gurdiev was eager to find Sokov's whereabouts and had no intention of blaming the sentry. Instead, he asked: "Is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov still inside?"
"Yes, it's still inside." When the sentry said this, he couldn't help but turn his head and glance at the entrance blocked by the door curtain, and lowered his voice and said, "I seem to hear the division commander and the lieutenant colonel quarreling."
"Fighting?" After listening to the sentry's words, Gurdiev asked in confusion: "What are the two of them quarreling about?"
The sentry shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Colonel, look at what you said, the division commander and the others are arguing. How dare I, a soldier, eavesdrop. Please come in quickly!"
Both Bely and Gurdiev knew Sokov's character and would not get angry easily. Since they had an argument with Vasilyev inside, something serious must have happened, so they quickly opened the curtain and walked in.
The two walked into the headquarters and saw Sokov and Vasilyev facing each other at the table, staring at each other without saying a word. When he heard someone coming in, Vasilyev thought it was his subordinates who were coming, so he turned around and saw that it was actually two colonels. One of them had seen Colonel Gurdiev before, and he quickly stood up. Greeting Gurdiev politely: "Comrade Colonel, you are here!"
"Comrade General, I'm here." Gurdiev responded casually, then looked at Sokov, who was sitting silently next to him, and asked Vasilyev curiously: "Comrade General, is something wrong? Something happened?"
"There was a little misunderstanding." Vasilyev laughed and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is sulking with me."
"Sulking?" Gurdiev couldn't help laughing when he heard what Vasilyev said: "Comrade Brigadier, how old are you, and you are still sulking like a child."
"Colonel Gurdiev," Sokov felt that it was necessary to explain this matter clearly to the person involved, so he repeated to Gurdiev exactly what Vasilyev had just said, and finally emphasized: " Your division was given to me by General Chuikov, and I will never hand it over to anyone before receiving new orders."
After figuring out what was going on, the smile on Gurdiev's face gradually disappeared. He looked at Vasilyev and said in a stern tone: "Comrade General, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is right. Our division was placed under his command by General Chuikov. Before we get new orders from Commander Chuikov, we can only Obey Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's orders."
"The leaders of the front and group armies have great trust in Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and entrusted many troops to his command." Bely felt that he could not stand by and watch, so he interjected: "Don't look at him as a brigade commander now. But he is actually performing the duties of a military commander. Therefore, he will never hand over any troops to others without receiving orders from our immediate superiors."
Vasilyev looked at the colonel who interrupted, with a surprised expression on his face. After Bely finished speaking, he asked curiously: "What should I call this comrade colonel?"
"I am Colonel Bely, commander of the 84th Tank Brigade." Bely replied expressionlessly: "I was also ordered by Commander Chuikov to lead the troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"I really didn't expect it." Vasilyev took a step back, looked at Bely and Gurdiev up and down, then looked at Sokov and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov actually has two colonels under his command. "
"Comrade General, you are wrong." Bely waited for Vasilyev to finish and said calmly: "We are not the only two colonels under Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. The troops he commands are larger than yours." There are many troops.”
Vasilyev realized that he had thought of the problem too simply. He originally thought that he had received an order from Ga Xiaoning. He only needed to tell Sokov, and the other party would leave the troops behind without hesitation, waiting for Ga Xiaoning. General Ning came to accept it in person. At this moment, he felt in a dilemma and didn't know what to do.
Seeing Vasilyev's delay in speaking, Sokov rushed to say: "Comrade General, I have been waiting for you for so long, but I have not received a telegram from my superiors. Please forgive me, I still said the same thing, and I cannot put the second The 308th Division is handed over to your 24th Group Army. If you have nothing to do, I will lead the troops across the river first."
"Okay." Vasilyev knew that if he did not get Rokossovsky's support, even if General Jia Xiaoning personally took action, he might not be able to keep the 308th Division. Rather than remain in a stalemate, it is better to be a favor. He nodded and said: "Now that you have completed the handover of defense, there is nothing to do here. You can immediately cross the river and go north to Little Ivanovka. "
The three of them left the command post and walked forward along the trench for a certain distance before Sokov stopped. Bely and Gurdiev thought there was something else going on, so they quickly stopped. Sokov looked at the two men and said gratefully: "Comrade colonels, fortunately you came to my rescue in time, otherwise I don't know how long the stalemate would have lasted today."
Although Gurdiev was supporting Sokov in the headquarters, at this moment he still asked with some lack of confidence: "Comrade Brigadier, do you think the superiors will really assign our division to the 24th Army headquarters? "
"No." Sokov remembered that in the later stages of the Battle of Stalingrad, among the infantry divisions that played a decisive role was the 308th Division, which showed that superiors would never assign this division to other units for command, so he He shook his head and said in a positive tone: "Now that there is a shortage of troops in the city, even if we arrive at Little Ivanovka, we may be sent back to the city. How can we assign your division to other armies? "
"We only have so few troops left. Even if we return to the city, I'm afraid it won't be of much use." Gurdiev heard that he might be sent back to the city, and he couldn't help but worry: "If the superiors don't If we are given additional troops, we will have to stay in the city for two or three days at most before having to withdraw to the rear again for replenishment."
"Colonel Gurdiev, don't be so pessimistic." Sokov said to him with a smile: "To return to the city, you must first cross the river to the left bank of the Volga River. There must be many new people gathered there. Troops, maybe your troops can be replenished there.”
"If this is really the case, that would be great." After listening to Sokov's explanation, Gurdiev's frown relaxed: "As long as we have enough soldiers, weapons and ammunition, we can definitely block it. Enemy attack."
When they came to the river, Sverin, who had just assembled his troops, immediately came up to him and asked Sokov nervously: "Comrade Brigadier, when can we cross the river?"
"Comrade Political Commissar, order the troops to board the ship immediately." Sokov knew that the ships here were limited and could only ferry more than two hundred people at a time, so he urged Sverin: "We must get all the troops on board in the shortest possible time." Cross the river.”
Sverin did not know what happened in the headquarters, so after hearing Sokov's order, he summoned several officers to follow him to arrange for the troops to board the ship. As soon as Sverin left, Bely approached Sokov and whispered: "Misha, are you worried that General Gachaonin will arrive here at any time?"
"Colonel Bely, you guessed it right." Sokov nodded and replied: "Although I can argue my case in front of General Vasilyev, if General Gachanin really appears in front of me, , who am I to refuse to carry out the orders he issued? Therefore, we are now racing against time. If we do not want the 308th Division to become someone else's army, we must seize the time to cross the river."
Gurdiev, who was watching the soldiers boarding the ship, vaguely heard the conversation between Sokov and Bely. He turned to look at Sokov and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier, even if General Gaxiaonin comes. It’s okay. You can’t disobey his orders, but my military rank is higher than yours. Even if you disobey his orders, he can’t do anything to me. After all, he is not my direct superior.”
After listening to Gurdiev's statement, Sokov showed a smile on his face. He knew in his heart that as long as Gurdiev could withstand the pressure exerted by Gaxiaonin, then in the next days, the third The 308th Division will still obey its own command.
