Although Sokov was not afraid of Apanashenko in his heart, after ending the call, he still called Konev and reported the matter to him.
After listening to Sokov's report, Konev was silent for a while and said: "Comrade Sokov, although we had good intentions in taking the initiative to send troops, we did not communicate well with friendly forces in advance. It is because we did something wrong. You I have a responsibility, and so do I. Well, let me contact Comrade Vatutin immediately and inform him of the news that we have sent troops to the north of Oboyan."
After finishing the conversation with Konev, Sokov thought to himself: Apanashenko's anger is actually understandable. If it were him, a troop suddenly appeared in his defense zone without even saying hello. If we fight, we will start building construction projects, and I am afraid that I will not feel comfortable.
After thinking about this, he called Sameko in front of him and said to him: "Chief of Staff, I need to go to the 182nd Division immediately. I will leave it to you and the Military Commissioner."
Samyko heard the call between Sokov and Konev, guessing that he must go to negotiate with friendly forces, and quickly asked him for instructions: "Do I need to order Colonel Khokhlov and the others to stop construction?"
"No, the work of building fortifications must not stop. Otherwise, after the enemy breaks through the friendly defense lines, it will be difficult for us to stop their advance." Sokov told Samyko: "Call Colonel Khokhlov. Order him to speed up the construction and never stop it no matter who stops it."
Sokov knew that the place he was going to was dangerous, so he specially took Samoilov's guard platoon with him. Before setting off, he specifically asked Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, is there anyone in your platoon who knows how to use it?" A bazooka warrior?”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." After hearing Sokov's strange question, Samoylov asked tentatively: "Is the place we are going to dangerous?"
"Yes, we might encounter the enemy." Sokov warned the other party: "In addition to the rocket launcher, bring a few new rockets, so that when we encounter the enemy, we can escape smoothly." He never dreamed I thought that a precautionary measure I took would actually save everyone's lives a few hours later.
In order to prevent too many vehicles and expose the target, only four jeeps were arranged for this trip, and Sokov sat in the first vehicle. After all the soldiers boarded the car, Samoilov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, where are we going?"
"Go to Shumakovo, north of Oboyan, where we have a division of troops building a defensive line."
"Comrade driver," Samoilov asked the driver immediately after listening to Sokov's words: "Do you know the place?"
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant, I know it."
Seeing that the driver knew the place, Sokov asked casually: "When can we get to our destination."
While starting the car, the driver replied: "Comrade Commander, it is almost three hundred kilometers from us to Shumakovo. The condition of the emergency highway is not good, and the speed can only reach 60 kilometers per hour at most. In other words, our final speed is 60 kilometers per hour." It takes almost five hours to reach the destination.”
The convoy bumped on the road for more than four hours, passing through forests, lakes and swamps, and finally came to a hilly area. Sokov looked at the scenery outside the window and asked the driver curiously: "Comrade driver, where are we?"
"Comrade Commander," the driver turned around and replied: "This place is still about five kilometers away from Shumakovo."
After hearing this, Sokov nodded slightly and thought to himself that the terrain along the way was not conducive to the deployment of large-scale mechanized troops. It seemed that the decisive tank battle that would be launched soon would definitely not take place in this area. As long as there are no large-scale German armored forces in your defense zone, there shouldn't be much of a problem in blocking them.
"Stop the car," Sokov suddenly said to the driver as the convoy approached a hill. "I want to go up to the hill and have a look."
After hearing Sokov's instructions, the driver did not dare to neglect and quickly parked the car on the side of the road. As soon as the car stopped, Samoylov immediately jumped out of the car from the passenger seat and came to the back to help Sokov open the door.
After getting out of the car, Sokov pointed to the top of the hill with his hand and said to Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, please wait for me here for a while while I go up to take a look at the surrounding terrain."
"Comrade Commander, why don't I accompany you up there?" Samoylov said, "After all, this is a strange environment. Am I responsible for your safety?"
"No need to be different." Sokov just wanted to take a look at the surrounding environment at the top of the hill. He might come down in a few minutes. There was no need to bother Samoylov and the others to set up any warnings on the hillside, so he shook his head and said, "I'll just Go up and have a look, and you'll be back in a few minutes. You'd better stay here and wait for me. As soon as I come back, we'll set off immediately."
Now that Sokov has given the order, Samoylov cannot disobey it. However, when Sokov was walking towards the hill alone, he did not sit idle. Instead, he ordered the soldiers in several other vehicles to get out of the car, took out the new rockets and rockets he carried, and prepared them. Prepared for battle.
Regarding Samoilov's arrangement, a soldier whispered: "Comrade platoon leader, there is no need. Comrade Commander just went up to take a look. There is no need to take out these equipment!"
Hearing the soldier's complaints, Samoylov glared and said sternly: "Obey the order!"
Seeing that Samoylov was angry, the soldiers could only remove the new rocket launchers and rocket launchers from the car and prepare them for launch in a decent manner.
Sokov went up the hillside alone, just to take a look at the surrounding terrain to decide whether to use the terrain here to build more fortifications nearby. Unexpectedly, when he was still fifty or sixty meters away from the top of the hillside, he suddenly heard the roar of a tank engine. He immediately stopped, took off the assault rifle slung on his shoulder, and carefully observed the direction from which the sound came.
Soon, the roar of the tank became louder and louder. Sokov clearly heard that the sound was coming from the other side of the hillside. He quickly pointed the muzzle of the gun in that direction, while thinking about whether he should continue to move forward or not. Back off immediately?
Before Sokov could make a final decision, he saw a gun barrel slowly extending from the top of the hillside, and a moment later, the body of a tank appeared in his field of vision.
When he saw the white cross on the tank body, Sokov couldn't help being dumbfounded. He didn't expect to see a German tank here. The German tank parked on the top of the hillside soon discovered Sokov standing on the hillside, and slowly turned the turret, preparing to fire at Sokov.
Sokov was so frightened that he instinctively pulled the trigger. The bullets from the assault rifle hit the armor plate of the tank, making a clanking sound and splashing countless sparks. After finishing the bullets in the magazine in one breath, Sokov threw the gun away, held his head and rolled down the hillside.
The guards at the foot of the hillside were all alarmed by the sudden sound of gunfire. When they looked up the hillside, they saw Sokov emptying his assault rifle of bullets and rolling down the hillside with his head in his arms. . Seeing that Sokov was in danger, Samoylov quickly shouted to the soldier carrying a rocket launcher beside him: "Follow me!"
