The counterattack led by Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko was more effective than Sokov had imagined. In less than half an hour, the enemies who entered the sewers were either killed or driven out.
When receiving Papuchenko's report, Sokov's first reaction was: Isn't he lying about military information? With this question, he asked in confusion: "Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, I heard that the German army has occupied the sewers in most areas to the west of the square. How could you retake the position in such a short period of time? "
"Comrade Division Commander," Papuchenko, who had just returned to the command post, replied with some excitement: "Our soldiers have been in the sewer for several days and have already adapted to the light here. Even without any lighting equipment, We can also see the road clearly. The Germans have just entered the sewers and have not yet fully adapted. They have to use flashlights or other lighting tools when operating. Before launching a counterattack, I told the soldiers that as long as they see anything Use lighting equipment to move figures and shoot immediately without hesitation.”
Learning that Papuchenko's troops were shooting at targets that might be enemies without any lighting, Sokov asked with some concern: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, aren't you afraid of accidental damage?"
"Don't worry, comrade division commander." Papuchenko replied: "Since there are no more troops in the sewer on the west side of the square, as we advance, as long as we see an oncoming figure, it must be the enemy. , we shoot without hesitation. But the enemy often falls under our guns before they recover."
"Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, you did a good job!" After listening to Papuchenko's tactics, Sokov first praised him, and then reminded him: "You must learn from this lesson and don't let the enemy occupy the sewers again. . If they occupy the sewer again, it may not be that easy for you to drive them out."
"I am organizing manpower to block some areas easily controlled by the German army with sandbags and landmines." Papuchenko assured Sokov on the phone: "In this way, if the enemy wants to occupy the sewers again, they will It’s going to be incredibly difficult.”
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, the phone rang again. He thought Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko had something else to say, so he grabbed the phone and put it to his ear and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is there anything else?" Something?"
After a brief silence, Peter's voice came from the receiver: "Is it Colonel Sokov? I'm Peter."
"Hello, Comrade Factory Director." Sokov heard Peter's voice and asked tentatively: "Are you looking for Comrade Zinchenko? I'll have him answer the phone right away."
Before Sokov could move the receiver away from his ear, he heard Peter say: "Colonel Sokov, I'm not looking for him, but you."
"Looking for me?" Sokov thought to himself, why did Director Peter call me specifically? Could it be that he changed his mind and planned to hand over all the old tanks collected from the battlefield to himself? With this question in mind, he asked cautiously: "Comrade Factory Director, what's the matter?"
"Didn't you ask me to produce 20,000 grenades for you a few days ago?" Peter said lukewarmly on the phone: "Immediately send someone to the factory building and pull away all the grenades. Let me remind you. , if you arrive late and your things are taken away by other troops, I will not be responsible."
"Comrade Factory Director, I will call Mamaev Gang immediately and ask them to send someone to pick up the grenades from you." Sokov was afraid that Peter would really hand over these grenades to other troops, so he hurriedly spoke into the phone Said: "You must not hand these grenades to other troops before dark."
"Okay, I'll wait for you until dark." Peter said angrily: "If you haven't sent someone to collect the grenades after dark, I will hand them over to other troops. Anyway, whoever wants these grenades There are plenty of them.”
Sokov was worried that the fat in his mouth would fly away, so he quickly called the division headquarters at Mamayev Ridge. After hearing Sidorin's voice, he ignored the pleasantries and said straight to the point: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the 20,000 grenades produced for us by the Red October Factory have been completed. You must prepare them before dark. Send troops to the factory to collect it.”
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Zinchenko smiled and said to him: "Comrade Colonel, please forgive me, since many troops are staring at those grenades, if you don't send someone to keep an eye on them as soon as possible, I'm afraid He will be taken away by other troops soon, and I am afraid that even Director Peter will not be able to stop him."
Zinchenko's words reminded Sokov that now the troops in the city are facing a shortage of ammunition. With 20,000 grenades, at least for a short time, they no longer have to fight the enemy with bayonets. If any troops really forced the grenades away, I'm afraid Chuikov and the others wouldn't say anything. After all, the starting point of these troops was to better protect the city.
In order to prevent the batch of grenades produced for him from being taken advantage of by other troops, Sokov quickly shouted out the door: "Second Lieutenant Samoilov, Second Lieutenant Samoilov!" He shouted twice in succession. , but no one agreed, and then he remembered that he had sent Samoilov to escort the first battalion commander who retreated without authorization to the army headquarters.
"Comrade Colonel," Zinchenko heard Sokov calling Samoilov and quickly reminded him: "You sent him to escort the major who retreated without authorization to the army headquarters."
Sokov said oh, and then said to Zinchenko: "Comrade deputy director, I want to go to the factory building. If someone calls me, ask them to call the factory phone number."
"Don't worry." Zinchenko nodded and said, "I will ask those people to call you in the factory building."
Sokov led the only five remaining soldiers from the guard platoon through the factory area full of bomb craters and arrived at the factory building. After a long absence, Sokov found that the place had changed. Trenches were dug around the building, barbed wire was tied up, and a reinforced concrete bunker was built on both sides of the entrance to the building.
Seeing Sokov and his party approaching, two militiamen immediately came forward to greet them. One of them, an elderly militiaman, asked politely: "Comrade Commander, what can I do for you?"
"I am Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division." In order not to cause unnecessary trouble, Sokov directly stated his identity and purpose of visit: "I am here to see Factory Director Peter."
The old militiaman who asked the question might have just been transferred from another place and did not know Sokov at all. However, after hearing Sokov's identity and purpose of visit, he still said politely: "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment, I will make a call."
Not long after the call was made, the old militiaman came over and said with a smile: "I have already called the inside. The factory office will send someone to wait for you at the door."
After thanking the old militiamen, Sokov walked through the barbed wire and trenches and arrived in front of the factory building. Standing at the door was a middle-aged man wearing glasses. As soon as he saw Sokov, he asked tentatively: "Is it Colonel Sokov?"
"Yes, it's me." Sokov looked at the other person and asked, "Who are you?"
"I am a clerk in the factory office," the other party replied with a smile, "I was ordered to pick you up here. Comrade the factory director is waiting for you in the office, please come with me."
The clerk led Sokov and his group to the factory director's office, and went up to whisper a few words to the secretary sitting in the outer office. The secretary stood up and walked towards Sokov, saying with a smile on his face: "Comrade Colonel, you are here. The factory director is waiting for you inside, please come in quickly!"
Sokov said to the soldiers following him: "You just stay here and wait for me." After saying that, he followed the attentive secretary and walked quickly towards the closed office door.
Peter saw Sokov follow the secretary into the office. He quickly stood up, walked around from behind the desk, held Sokov's hand, and said, "Comrade Colonel, I didn't expect that we would meet again so soon."
After shaking hands with Peter, Sokov sat down at the conference table in the room and asked impatiently: "Comrade director, I would like to ask where are the grenades that have just been produced are stored?"
Seeing Sokov looking so anxious, Peter couldn't help but smile. After he sat down opposite Sokov, he said calmly: "Comrade Colonel, don't be anxious. Since these grenades are customized for you, no matter which army sends people, don't even think about getting them." Get rid of these grenades."
Sokov looked at Peter, who was sitting across from him with a smile on his face, and suddenly realized that he might have been deceived. The other party used a grenade to trick him here. Maybe he had something important to do. After heaving a sigh of relief, he leaned his body back, leaned against the back of the chair and asked, "Comrade Director, did you call me here for something important?"
"It's like this, I just received a call from the Weapons and Equipment Department." Peter suppressed the smile on his face and said expressionlessly: "They asked about the spherical tank and the prototype of the new tank, and said that they will be shipped back to Moscow in the near future. , let me get ready.”
Sokov never dreamed that Peter had deceived him and actually talked about this matter. He stood up suddenly and said to Peter: "Comrade director, I think you should know that the prototype of the new tank and several other A T-34 tank is hidden near the factory gate, ready to go into battle at any time; while the spherical tank was hidden near Orlovka by Colonel Bely's men during the last battle. Specifically, Only the person involved knows the location.”
"Then what should we do?" Peter waited for Sokov to finish and said expressionlessly: "You know, the use of these two prototype vehicles must be authorized by superiors, and I made an exception because of the tense war. I lent it to you. If I can’t return it and my superiors ask, how should I reply?”
"Tell the truth." Not to mention that the spherical tank hidden in the Orlovka area cannot be retrieved. Even if it can be retrieved, Sokov is unwilling to return it to Peter. After all, this kind of tank can play a huge role on the battlefield. The functions are all hidden in the basement of the factory. "If your superiors pressed you, you could say that both tanks were destroyed in the battle."
Seeing Sokov telling lies, Peter was really dumbfounded. When he handed the two prototype cars to Sokov in private, he never thought that he could take them back intact. If his superiors hadn't called specifically to ask about the two prototype cars, he would have forgotten the matter. .
Peter looked at Sokov and smiled lightly, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, if I really follow what you said, I may be dismissed by my superiors. When the new factory director is replaced, I don't know if he can still maintain his loyalty to you." What’s the current level of support?”
Peter's words made Sokov fall into deep thought, although a few hours ago, the two had some unpleasantness due to tank problems. But to be honest, Peter did a pretty good job in supporting himself. If he hadn't provided so many tanks and explosives, he would have paid a heavier price to block the enemy's attack. If Peter is really dismissed from his position as factory director, it is still unknown whether the new leader will bear his own blame.
After some thought, Sokov gritted his molars and said: "Comrade factory director, if your superiors want to blame, you can put the responsibility on me. Although I am just a colonel, I have a lot of experience in weapons and equipment." I can still speak to Comrade Ustinov at the Ministry to some extent."
In fact, Peter had already taken care of the matter when he received the call from the Weapons and Equipment Department. The reason why he mentioned it to Sokov was simply to test him and see how he would react. Fortunately, Sokov did not shirk responsibility and took the initiative to take the blame on himself. Peter was very satisfied with his attitude.
He stood up and walked to Sokov's side, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Okay, comrade colonel, since you are willing to take responsibility. Then next time the weapons and equipment department will call me, I will Just reply as you say.”
Before Sokov could express his position, the phone on his desk rang. Peter walked over and picked up the phone: "I'm Peter, where are you?...Yes, the colonel is here with me?...Do you want to talk to him?...Understood, I asked him to go over to you immediately Report!”
"Comrade Factory Director," Sokov guessed that the call Peter answered had something to do with him. As soon as he put down the phone, he asked anxiously, "Who called?"
"It's General Chuikov." Peter replied: "He said he has something urgent to ask you and asked you to go to the army headquarters immediately."
Knowing that Chuikov had something urgent to do with him, Sokov could not sit still and quickly stood up to say goodbye to Peter. But he was stopped by Peter: "Comrade Colonel, I don't think it's appropriate for you to meet the commander like this."
Sokov lowered his head and glanced at himself, only to see that his military coat was covered with dried mud. It was indeed a bit inappropriate to meet Chuikov in such a dress. He said with some embarrassment: "But, Comrade Factory Director, I only have this military coat and there is nothing to replace it with."
"Don't worry, I have a military coat here. You can put it on first." After saying that, he walked behind the desk, bent down and took out a folded military coat from the cabinet below, his mouth twitching violently. After a few clicks, he handed the military coat to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, please wear this."
Sokov took the military coat and saw that it was a sergeant's military coat. He didn't even think about why Peter had a soldier's military coat here, so he took off his military coat and put on this military coat. After changing his clothes, he thanked Peter, raised his hand in a salute, turned and walked out of the office.
The secretary sitting in the outer office had a look of astonishment on his face when he saw the military coat on Sokov. Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but asked curiously: "Comrade Secretary, do you recognize this military coat?"
"Yes!" The secretary nodded vigorously and replied: "This is the military coat left by the factory director's son. He usually hides it in the cabinet like a treasure. I never expected that he would give this military coat to you."
"Director Peter's son is also a soldier!" Sokov asked somewhat unexpectedly: "Comrade secretary, do you know which army he is in?" Sokov's purpose in asking this was to meet Director Peter's son in the future. , you can take more care of each other.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the secretary smiled bitterly and said: "Director Peter's son died heroically in the battle to defend Moscow last year. This military coat is his legacy."
