Chapter 1444

Lunev was eager to repair the damaged water supply system in the city, so after talking with Sokov, he immediately took Lieutenant Serelkov's guard company and local staff to gather the residents of the city and persuade them Assist your own people with restoration work.

His work efficiency was very high. After only forty minutes, he called Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, I am here at the theater in the city. I have already summoned more than 300 people. Please let me know." Come here."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lunev said that more than 300 people had been summoned, and Sokov rushed over to persuade them, so he said to Sameko, "I'm going to the theater to see the military commissar. You are in charge."

  Seeing that Sokov was about to leave, Sameko stopped him and asked hesitantly, "Comrade Commander, can you really convince the residents of the city to work for us?"

  Although Sokov didn’t have much confidence in persuading the residents, he still insisted in front of Sameko and said, “I don’t think the problem is that big.”

  Sameko now has a kind of blind trust in Sokov. He feels in his heart that since Sokov said he can convince the majority of residents, he must be able to convince the residents. He nodded at Sokov and said, "Be careful on the road!"

"Now that the city is under the control of our army, I don't think there will be no chance to meet the Germans. Don't worry." After Sokov finished speaking, he said to Samoilov who was standing aside: "Lieutenant Comrade, take your men and follow me to the theater."

   "Car or walk?"

  Sokov thought that the theater was only one street away from here, and it would be too ostentatious to go there by car. Although it takes more than ten minutes to walk, you can take this opportunity to see the situation in the city: "Let's walk."

  In the ruins of buildings on both sides of the street, busy residents can be seen everywhere. They moved out some usable pots and pans from the collapsed buildings and put them aside. When Sokov and his party appeared in front of them, they just glanced blankly, and then continued to bend down to dig for usable items.

   Seeing this scene, Samoilov said with some emotion: "Comrade Commander, we have liberated so many cities, and this is the first city whose residents are so indifferent to our army."

"We can't blame them." Sokov smiled wryly and shook his head: "In addition, this time, our army fought four battles with the enemy in the Kharkov area. The first three times all ended in our army's failure. As a result, some residents who were eager to help us were ruthlessly killed after the German army reoccupied the city. These residents have been disappointed with us, and maybe they are still thinking in their hearts that our army will not stay here for long. will be driven out again by the Germans, hence the indifference towards us."

  Knowing the purpose of Sokov's trip to the theater, Samoilov was full of confidence, thinking that as long as Sokov stepped out, he would be able to solve the problem immediately. But hearing Sokov say that, he couldn't help but cast a shadow over his heart.

"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov pointed at the busy residents in the ruins, and told Samoilov, "You immediately send a soldier back and tell the chief of staff to send his men to assist the residents in the city. Digging up belongings buried in the rubble."

   "Yes, I will send someone back to report immediately." After Samoilov finished speaking, he called a sergeant and told him to go back to Sameko to convey Sokov's order and send someone to assist the residents in cleaning up the ruins.

  After sending someone to interrogate, Sokov and others continued to move forward. Seeing the dilapidated buildings on both sides, Samoilov couldn't help heaving a long sigh, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the city has been beaten so hard, we don't know how many years it will take to get it back. rebuild it."

"Destruction is easy, but construction is difficult." Sokov also said helplessly: "Let's not talk about big cities like Stalingrad, Kharkov, and Belgorod, even a small city like Dergach. In three to five years, I am afraid that the cleaning and reconstruction work will not be completed."

   "In order to defend our great motherland, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been sacrificed." Samoilov also said with a sad face: "I am afraid there will not be so many people to rebuild after the war."

  The speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention. Samoilov's complaint made a bold idea suddenly pop up in Sokov's mind. He smiled slightly, and then said to Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, don't worry, after the war is over, I think we will be able to obtain enough labor to rebuild our cities damaged in the war."

   "Oh, is there enough labor?" Sokov's words aroused Samoilov's great interest, and he asked quickly: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me where we can get enough labor?"

  Seeing that the theater was not far ahead, Sokov said to Samoilov absent-mindedly: "Comrade Lieutenant, when it's time for you to know, I will naturally tell you."

   Seeing that Sokov was unwilling to elaborate on himself, Samoilov wisely did not ask any more questions, but obediently followed Sokov and walked towards the theater.

   It was still a long way from the theater, and Sokov saw four or five hundred people gathered in the square at the entrance, and they should all be called by Lunev according to the situation. Around the square, you can still see the soldiers of Serelkov's company on duty.

   Lunev, who was talking with the local staff, saw Sokov walking towards the theater quickly, so he stopped talking with the other party and walked towards Sokov quickly.

When Sokov shook hands with Lunev, he found that apart from a few young and middle-aged people, the rest of the crowd were either old men or half-grown children, and even a group of middle-aged and elderly women wearing headscarves. He asked casually: "Military Comrade committee member, did you call these people together?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Lunev replied truthfully: "We managed to recruit so many people, but unfortunately there are very few people who understand the water supply system. Bring over our engineering troops."

"No, Comrade Military Commissar, this is absolutely not possible." Regarding Lunev's proposal, Sokov rejected without hesitation: "Although it is urgent to restore the water supply in the city, our engineering troops cannot be easily called. If they cannot return to the construction in time and participate in the bridge-building work, I am afraid it will have a negative impact on our next stage of operations."

   "Then what should we do?" Lunev pointed at the residents standing not far away with numb expressions, and said with some displeasure: "Are we only counting on these residents who are resistant to us?"

  The two were talking, and the local staff who had just talked with Lunev came over. He came in front of the two of them and said: "Comrade generals, judging from the current situation, these residents are not willing to cooperate with us in the reconstruction work. See if you can draw engineering troops from the army to help the city residents solve the draft problem.”

"No, Comrade Liapkin." Before Sokov could speak, Lunev rushed to say: "I just told you that our engineering troops will have important combat missions soon, and we must not fight in such a situation. When the time comes, pull them out to do things that have nothing to do with combat."

   "Then what should we do?" Liapkin said with anger in his tone: "Can we just watch the residents helplessly, and can only bring buckets to the river to fetch water?"

   "Comrade Military Commissioner," Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, then turned to Lunev: "I wonder if this is...?"

"Oh, Comrade Commander, you don't know him yet." Realizing that he forgot to introduce the local comrades to Sokov, Lunev smiled and said, "Let me introduce you, this is Leah Comrade Putin, he is a member of the District Soviet..."

   After finding out the identity of the other party, Sokov took the initiative to extend his hand and said politely: "Hello, Comrade District Soviet Committee Member!"

"Hello, Comrade General." Liapkin and Sokov shook hands and said with a sad face: "Tell me, what should we do now? If the water supply cannot be restored as soon as possible, not only the drinking water problem of the residents in the city will not be able to solve the problem." If it is resolved, it will even affect the start of the factory."

"Don't worry, I will definitely persuade these residents to fully assist you in repairing the water supply system and solving the problems of residents' water supply and factory operation." Sokov said to Liapkin: "What you have to do now is to bring them Call them all together, and I will speak to them."

Liapkin was rather disapproving when he learned that Sokov was going to speak to the residents. He thought that even Lunev, who specializes in political work, could not convince these residents. Could it be that Sokov, the military chief, Can you convince everyone? However, out of politeness, he still called up all the residents standing outside the theater and asked them to listen to Sokov's next speech.

  Sokov stood on the steps of the theater, holding a simple trumpet made of white aluminum skin in his hand. His eyes quickly swept across the faces of the residents with numb expressions, and then he brought the loudspeaker closer to his mouth: "Hey, comrades, what's the matter with you. Why don't you want to assist our army in rebuilding the city? Are you worried that once our army comes back? The Germans who were driven away by the Germans and returned will kill those who helped us?"

  As soon as Sokov finished speaking, a voice came from the crowd: "Since you know, why are you still asking?"

Faced with doubts from the crowd, Sokov was not angry, but said calmly: "I know that you really want to help our army rebuild the city, but you are worried that our army will not be able to defeat the Germans, and you are afraid that the Germans will come back again." After that, they will kill those who have helped us.

Comrades residents, what I want to tell you here is that the battle of Kharkov will inevitably end with our army's victory. The Germans who were once invincible will be completely defeated by us, and they will never be able to return to this city. The city where you grew up..."

This time, before Sokov finished speaking, an old lady in a flowered headscarf standing in the crowd asked loudly: "Comrade commander, who are you? How could you make such a bold prediction? The Germans would not How about coming back here?"

   "Who am I?!" Sokov laughed when he heard this question. He realized that he hadn't explained his identity to the residents present. He turned his head to look at Lunev, and said with a smile, "Who am I?! Comrade Military Commissar, someone actually asked me who I am?"

   Lunev didn't know how to answer Sokov's words, so he could only smile awkwardly.

Sokov turned to face the residents under the steps, and raised his voice and said: "Listen, at this time last year when the Germans attacked Stalingrad, I was the one who led the troops to block their way on Mamayev Post; The Sixth Army was destroyed in Stalingrad and the person who personally captured Paulus was me; in the Battle of Kursk that ended not long ago, the person who commanded the troops to wipe out the German Imperial Division, Skeleton Division and 19th Panzer Division was me.

  Because I'm a nightmare for the Germans who tremble at the sound of my name and regret being my match. I am Major General Sokov, Commander of the 27th Army Group. Since my troops were the first to rush into the city during the battle to liberate Belgorod, then in the battle to liberate Kharkov, the first It will still be my troops that rush into the city. "

After Sokov finished speaking emotionally, the old lady who asked the question was so surprised that she staggered up the steps, came to Sokov, grabbed his hand and kissed desperately He got up and shouted in multiple voices: "My God, you are General Sokov, you are General Sokov. I really didn't expect that I could see you with my own eyes."

  Although Jergach has always been a German-occupied area, it does not prevent citizens from knowing what happened on the Soviet-German battlefield through various channels. Many residents clearly remember that, as Sokov said, when the Germans mentioned his name, they would involuntarily show fear on their faces.

  After the residents standing under the steps knew Sokov's identity, they rushed up the steps one after another, reaching out to him, wanting to shake hands with him. Sokov didn't expect the residents' reaction to be so strong. Facing countless hands stretched out in front of him, he could only instinctively shake them again and again.

   Lunev, who was standing aside, saw the reaction of the residents and realized that the problem that caused him a headache was completely solved with what Sokov said. He hurriedly shouted loudly from the side: "Comrades, be quiet, please be quiet!" But his voice was drowned in the cheers of the residents, and no one heard what he was shouting.

   Fortunately, Liapkin discovered this problem and shouted along with him. At the same time, he asked the soldiers standing by to maintain order to shout along with them. After shouting several times in a row, the cheering residents finally heard the shouts of Lunev and Liapkin, and gradually fell silent.

"Comrades," Sokov continued with a loudspeaker after the entrance of the theater became quiet again: "Now that Dergachi has been liberated and returned to the embrace of the people, it is time for us to rebuild her. Who is willing to help us to repair the water supply system destroyed by the German army?"

   As soon as the words fell, countless hands were raised in front of him.

  (end of this chapter)