Sokov took Lunev, Weisbach and Bunch, and under the protection of the guard platoon led by Samoilov, they went to the Fisky collective farm overnight.
It is more than 30 kilometers from Dergach to Fisky collective farm, and the road has become bumpy due to the long-term fighting. For safety reasons, driving speed at night cannot exceed 30 kilometers per hour. Sokov was so anxious that from the moment he got in the car, he kept urging the driver to speed up and make sure to get to the Fisky collective farm as soon as possible.
Sokov and Lunev were sitting side by side in the back of the jeep, frowning and thinking hard about the problem.
Seeing that Sokov was silent, Lunev took the initiative to ask in order to resolve the embarrassment in the car: "Comrade Commander, do you think the 384th Division's operation tonight can be successful?
"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov confidently replied to Luniev's question: "The attack we launched in the direction of the landing site has successfully attracted the attention of the German army. According to the reconnaissance report, the enemy was at the location where we expected to break through. direction, and there are no signs of strengthening defenses.”
"That's good, that's good." As Sokov's partner, Lunev believed in Sokov's ability very much. Since he said there was no problem with tonight's offense, there must be no problem. He said happily: "As long as the 384th Division successfully breaks through the German defense line of the Oude River, we will have two landing sites on the east bank. When the time is right, we can send troops to attack from the two landing sites at the same time, making it difficult for the enemy to defend."
"Comrade Military Commissar," since Samek is commanding the operation in the headquarters, Sokov will naturally not be distracted by this matter. What he is worried about at the moment is that he will send out commanders without asking for permission. , taking over an infantry division and a tank brigade from friendly forces. If the superior turns a blind eye, it doesn't matter; but if there are serious people who insist on pursuing it, I will not be able to bear the consequences and walk away. "Do you think there will be any trouble if I do this?"
"Trouble?!" Lunev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then laughed and said: "Comrade Commander, how should I put it, this matter is big or small. If the superiors don't pursue it, then it will be fine; if If you insist on pursuing it, you may still have the possibility of going to a military court."
"I think as long as I take over these two troops and lead them to win the war, I guess my superiors will not pursue them." Sokov is worried about another thing: "No matter what, this matter must be reported to my superiors. Report. Tell me, should I report to Commander Konev, or should I report directly to Marshal Zhukov, bypassing General Vatutin?"
Lunev thought for a long time and said: "I think it is more appropriate to report directly to Marshal Zhukov." Before Sokov could ask again, he continued, "The troops you receive are all from the Voronezh Front, even if you report to Ko Commander Nev reported that after he understood the situation, he also needed to negotiate with General Vatutin. Whether you can keep these two troops by then is still unknown.
And report directly to Marshal Zhukov. After he understands the situation, he may directly issue an order to put these two troops under the organization of our army. In this way, no one can gossip. "
Sokov felt that Lunev's proposal was good, so he took out a pen and paper from his briefcase, quickly wrote the message, and handed it to Samoilov, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "Comrade Lieutenant, we will talk to you later." As soon as you arrive at Fisky Collective Farm, you will send this telegram to Marshal Zhukov."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Commander, don't be in a hurry." But Lunev raised his objection on the side: "Don't be in a hurry to send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov."
The person who asked him to report to Zhukov was Lunev; the person who stopped him from sending a telegram to Zhukov at this moment was still Lunev. Sokov's mind was filled with questions: "Why?"
"Although the scouts reported to us the intelligence at the Fisky collective farm, the specifics of what happened are unclear." Runev explained to Sokov: "If we rush to report to him at this time, Marshal Zhukov reported and asked him to agree to our recruitment of these two troops, and he will definitely refuse. Once rejected, these two troops will completely have nothing to do with us."
"Yeah, that makes sense." After listening to this, Sokov took back the telegram from Samoilov's hand in a good-natured manner. "Then when I find out what happened at Fisky Collective Farm, it won't be too late to report to Marshal Zhukov."
When they arrived at the Fisky collective farm, a battalion led by Captain Mikheyev had already taken control of the farm and moved the commanders and soldiers who had fallen on the ground into nearby houses or arranged them in neat rows on the roadside. batch.
As the jeep entered the farm, Sokov looked through the window glass at the friendly military commanders lying on the roadside outside. Smelling the strong smell of alcohol in the air, he couldn't help but frowned: "Hell, where did they get them from?" of vodka?”
Samoilov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, saw a sentry outside the door of a nearby building, so he concluded that Captain Mikhailov had set up his headquarters there, and quickly pointed the direction to the driver.
After everyone got out of the car, Sokov, surrounded by several commanders, walked towards the building.
The sentry guarding the door, who didn't know Sokov, quickly stood at attention and saluted.
Sokov asked: "Where is your battalion commander?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The sentry replied in a panic: "He and several company commanders are having a meeting inside."
Sokov walked into the dimly lit room lit by candles and saw several people sitting around the table. He squinted his eyes and looked at them for a while before he recognized them as Captain Mikhailev and several of his company commanders. They were discussing something intensely and didn't even notice Sokov standing at the door.
Sokov stood at the door for a while and found that the argument seemed to have no possibility of stopping. He stopped waiting and walked over. He asked bluntly: "Comrade commanders, what are you discussing?"
Mikhailov heard someone talking and raised his head suddenly. He saw Sokov and several officers. He stood up from the table in a hurry and raised his hand to salute Sokov: "Comrade Commander, 73rd Infantry Regiment Lieutenant Mikhailov, deputy commander of the brigade and commander of the 1st Battalion, reports to you that we are discussing how to clean up the mess in the collective farm.”
"What mess are you cleaning up?" Sokov asked coldly.
"Comrade Commander, when our battalion arrived here, we found the ground covered with our commanders and fighters." Mikhailev reported to Sokov: "After our careful inspection, we found that these people were not injured, but just drunk. .”
"Drunk?!" Although before Sokov came here, the information he received was that all the commanders and fighters in the Fesky collective farm were drunk and unconscious: "Can anyone explain to me what is going on? thing?"
"Report to Comrade Commander," Mikhailev waited for Sokov to finish and immediately continued: "After I arrived here with the troops, I sent people to resettle these drunken commanders and fighters on one side, while on the other side I sent people to find the returning soldiers. Sober people, ask them about what's going on here."
"Have you checked it out?"
"The German army had several warehouses and a huge underground wine cellar in the Fesky collective farm." Mikhailev said: "In the underground wine cellar, the Germans stored a year's production of the French winery, and in addition There are millions of cigarettes and canned goods stored on a scale that would last a medium-sized town half a year."
When Sokov heard this, he realized what the problem was, and asked tentatively: "So, our commanders and soldiers drank the wine that the enemy kept in the underground wine cellar, and they all became drunk?"
"Yes, there are a large number of empty vodka cans placed around these drunk commanders and fighters." Mikhailev continued to report: "In order to find out what is going on, I sent people to search the farm, hoping to Find the top commanders of the two forces. Fortunately, we were lucky, both of them were found and placed in the next room."
"Oh, the two commanders of the friendly forces are next door," Sokov asked in surprise: "How are they doing now? Are they still conscious?"
"That's terrible." Mikhailov shook his head and said, "Although I sent the hygienist to sober them up, they drank too much and couldn't wake up in a short while."
"Comrade Captain," Sokov thought, thinking that he was the one who brought people to take over the army. The commanders of the two armies are now in a state of unconsciousness. It will be very easy to remove them from their posts. So Sokov told Mikhailev: "Send someone next door to see if the two comrades commanders are awake."
Mikhailev agreed, called a soldier, and whispered to him to go to the next room to see if the two commanders who had drunk the fragments had woken up.
As soon as the soldiers left, Mikhailev suddenly saw Weisbach standing behind Sokov, quickly raised his hand to salute him, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Colonel, why are you here too?" Sokov led Together with Lunev, Weisbach and Bunch, under the protection of the guard platoon led by Samoilov, they headed to Fesky collective farm overnight.
It is more than 30 kilometers from Dergach to Fisky collective farm, and the road has become bumpy due to the long-term fighting. For safety reasons, driving speed at night cannot exceed 30 kilometers per hour. Sokov was so anxious that from the moment he got in the car, he kept urging the driver to speed up and make sure to get to the Fisky collective farm as soon as possible.
Sokov and Lunev were sitting side by side in the back of the jeep, frowning and thinking hard about the problem.
Seeing that Sokov was silent, Lunev took the initiative to ask in order to resolve the embarrassment in the car: "Comrade Commander, do you think the 384th Division's operation tonight can be successful?
"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov confidently replied to Luniev's question: "The attack we launched in the direction of the landing site has successfully attracted the attention of the German army. According to the reconnaissance report, the enemy was at the location where we expected to break through. direction, and there are no signs of strengthening defenses.”
"That's good, that's good." As Sokov's partner, Lunev believed in Sokov's ability very much. Since he said there was no problem with tonight's offense, there must be no problem. He said happily: "As long as the 384th Division successfully breaks through the German defense line of the Oude River, we will have two landing sites on the east bank. When the time is right, we can send troops to attack from the two landing sites at the same time, making it difficult for the enemy to defend."
"Comrade Military Commissar," since Samek is commanding the operation in the headquarters, Sokov will naturally not be distracted by this matter. What he is worried about at the moment is that he will send out commanders without asking for permission. , taking over an infantry division and a tank brigade from friendly forces. If the superior turns a blind eye, it doesn't matter; but if there are serious people who insist on pursuing it, I will not be able to bear the consequences and walk away. "Do you think there will be any trouble if I do this?"
"Trouble?!" Lunev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then laughed and said: "Comrade Commander, how should I put it, this matter is big or small. If the superiors don't pursue it, then it will be fine; if If you insist on pursuing it, you may still have the possibility of going to a military court."
"I think as long as I take over these two troops and lead them to win the war, I guess my superiors will not pursue them." Sokov is worried about another thing: "No matter what, this matter must be reported to my superiors. Report. Tell me, should I report to Commander Konev, or should I report directly to Marshal Zhukov, bypassing General Vatutin?"
Lunev thought for a long time and said: "I think it is more appropriate to report directly to Marshal Zhukov." Before Sokov could ask again, he continued, "The troops you receive are all from the Voronezh Front, even if you report to Ko Commander Nev reported that after he understood the situation, he also needed to negotiate with General Vatutin. Whether you can keep these two troops by then is still unknown.
And report directly to Marshal Zhukov. After he understands the situation, he may directly issue an order to put these two troops under the organization of our army. In this way, no one can gossip. "
Sokov felt that Lunev's proposal was good, so he took out a pen and paper from his briefcase, quickly wrote the message, and handed it to Samoilov, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "Comrade Lieutenant, we will talk to you later." As soon as you arrive at Fisky Collective Farm, you will send this telegram to Marshal Zhukov."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Commander, don't be in a hurry." But Lunev raised his objection on the side: "Don't be in a hurry to send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov."
The person who asked him to report to Zhukov was Lunev; the person who stopped him from sending a telegram to Zhukov at this moment was still Lunev. Sokov's mind was filled with questions: "Why?"
"Although the scouts reported to us the intelligence at the Fesky collective farm, the specifics of what happened are unclear." Runev explained to Sokov: "If we rush to report to him at this time, Marshal Zhukov reported to him and asked him to agree to our recruitment of these two troops. He will definitely refuse. Once rejected, these two troops will have no relationship with us. "
"Yeah, that makes sense." After listening to this, Sokov took back the telegram from Samoilov's hands. "Then when I find out what happened at Fisky Collective Farm, it won't be too late to report to Marshal Zhukov."
When they arrived at the Fisky collective farm, a battalion led by Captain Mikhailev had already taken control of the farm and moved the commanders and soldiers who had fallen on the ground into nearby houses or arranged them in neat rows on the roadside. batch.
