Chapter 433 Going North (Part 1)

   After some consideration, Chuikov decided to call Rodimtsev to the headquarters for a detailed discussion. Considering that this road was not safe, he ordered the operator to send another telegram to Sokov shortly after sending the telegram to Rodimtsev.

  In the telegram, Chuikov ordered him to **** Rodimtsev to the Krutoy Deep Ditch, and then the 42nd Guards Regiment stationed there would **** Rodimtsev to the new army headquarters.

  After receiving the telegram, Sokov immediately ordered Andre to gather his troops and prepare to **** Rodimtsev to the Krutoy Deep Ditch. Taking advantage of the time when Andre assembled the team, he walked towards Rodimtsev not far away.

Still far away, he heard Rodimtsev say to the political commissar and the chief of staff: "... you stay here, find a way to find the scattered troops, reorganize them, and fight with the Germans here. To fight..."

  Sokov was afraid of disturbing Rodimtsev's assignment, so he stopped, planning to wait for the other party to finish speaking before walking over. Unexpectedly, Rodimtsev stopped when he saw Sokov walking towards him, and said apologetically to him: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I'm sorry, but I have to trouble you to wait a little longer. Mission completed."

   "It's okay, Comrade General." Sokov didn't want to disturb Rodimtsev's work at first. Hearing what he said, he quickly replied: "It's still early, you can arrange your work slowly."

Rodimtsev nodded, turned to face his chief of staff and said: "Chief of staff, it is said that the head of the 34th Guards Regiment has died, and you will temporarily assume the post of head of the regiment. And you, Comrade Colonel, "The next sentence he said was to the head of the 39th Guards Regiment, "You also have to find a way to find your regiment and reorganize the soldiers..."

  Although Rodimtsev just asked Sokov to wait, it took him more than half an hour to complete all the tasks. After finishing all this, he came to Sokov's side and said, "Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we can set off now."

  Sokov considered that when he came over from Mamayev Post, he encountered sporadic German soldiers several times, and there were exchanges of fire. Although there are more than a hundred people around me at the moment, if any German soldier hides in the ruins and shoots Rodimtsev coldly, he is still hard to guard against. For the sake of safety, he divided the team into three echelons. The first echelon is composed of nine companies and one platoon, led by the company commander Guchakov to open the way in front; the second echelon is himself, the guard squad, and the soldiers in the second platoon ; The third echelon consists of three platoons, led by Captain Andre himself, walking behind the entire team.

The three echelons are separated by 100 meters. This formation is used to prevent too many people from being attacked by the German army when they are attacked by the German army. The second is to ensure that no matter which echelon is attacked When the German army attacked, the other two echelons could provide timely support.

   Rodimtsev saw many people in sailor uniforms appearing in the ruins along the way, so he couldn't help asking curiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, where did these sailors come from?"

"They belong to the 92nd Infantry Brigade, and its members are mainly sailors from the Baltic and North Sea Fleets." Sokov knew very well in his heart that Rodimtsev and the others were trapped in the basement for a few days in isolation. God, it is normal to not know that new troops have arrived, so I patiently explained to Rodimtsev: "Since you lost contact with the Army Group Command, Commander Chuikov sent this army that just crossed the river. The troops are deployed in your original defense zone."

"So that's how it is." Rodimtsev couldn't help saying with emotion as he watched these sailors in black uniforms going in and out of those collapsed buildings with weapons: "Without them, I guess The Germans must have occupied the area long ago."

   "Comrade General," Sokov was eager to know why the troops of the 13th Guards Division disappeared without a trace in their defense zone, so he asked tentatively, "Can I ask you a question?"

   "Excuse me, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Regarding his savior, Rodimtsev said politely: "As long as I know, I will know everything without saying anything."

   "It stands to reason that even if you are trapped in the basement of the ruins, your troops should still fight on the spot." Sokov asked puzzled, "But why did they disappear without a trace?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you made a mistake. They didn't disappear, but continued to fight the Germans in various places." Rodimtsev immediately replied when he heard Sokov's question: " Due to the long and narrow terrain of the city, the defensive areas of my two regiments were deployed very scatteredly. According to my analysis, it must be that after I lost contact with the outside world, our defense line was broken through by the enemy, and many fire support points of my division were destroyed. The enemy was wiped out, and the remaining troops were moved elsewhere.

  The headquarters used to know the situation of our division, and I reported directly to the commander or the chief of staff, but after we were trapped, the radio station also lost contact. As a result, the superiors want to know the situation of the troops, but they cannot find the grassroots troops; and the battalion and company commanders want to report the battle situation, but they don't know who to report to. It is precisely because of these various reasons that the superiors mistakenly believe that all the officers and soldiers of our division are missing. "

After listening to Rodimtsev's explanation, Sokov immediately realized that even though the 92nd Infantry Brigade had already entered here, there were still commanders and fighters of the Guards Division fighting tenaciously with the Germans, but Rodimtsev was lost. For such an important role, the communication between superiors and superiors will inevitably be in a state of flux. The superiors do not understand their actual situation, so there will be rumors of the disappearance of the entire teacher.

Rodimtsev squinted his eyes, looked at the Mamayev Hill shrouded in gunpowder smoke, frowned and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, it seems that the situation there is not good. The soil has been turned over again..."

"Comrade General," Sokov rushed to say before Rodimtsev finished speaking, "Despite the fierce artillery fire of the enemy, it is not an easy task for them to occupy Mamayev Post. "Thinking that Rodimtsev will follow him into the tunnel fortification in a while, it is necessary to explain to him to dispel the doubts in his heart, "There are more than a dozen thick soil layers on our tunnel, and the enemy's shells There is no way to destroy our fortifications, so don't worry."

Sokov's words gave Rodimtsev a reassurance. He nodded with a smile and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, with your brigade standing firm on Mamayev Hill, we don't have to worry about the enemy taking our troops. The lines of defense were divided."

   After more than an hour of trekking, Sokov and the others finally entered the tunnel one after another.

Seeing that Sokov brought Rodimtsev back, Belgin and Sidolin both came up to meet him, and they surrounded Rodimtsev and asked: "Comrade General, seeing that you are still alive, we will send you back." not worried."

  Rodimtsev turned his head and glanced at Sokov beside him, and said with emotion: "If there is no rescue by Sokov, I think I am still trapped in the dark basement."

   Hearing that Rodimtsev was brought out of the basement by Sokov, Sidolin asked curiously: "Comrade General, can you tell us the details?"

   "I'm afraid I don't have time now." Rodimtsev looked at his watch and said, "I need to go to the Krutoy Ravine as soon as possible. Colonel Yelin is still waiting for me there."

"Comrade General, I think you must be tired and hungry now, why don't you eat something here and go." Belkin heard that Rodimtsev was leaving, and hurriedly asked to stay: "As for Colonel Yelin, I can send someone to inform him, and let him come here to see you."

Rodimtsev did not refuse Belkin's kindness to retain him. After all, he was trapped in the basement these days and couldn't eat or sleep well. Now he finally had the opportunity to eat hot meals. Such a good opportunity , Rodimtsev will not let it go easily. Besides, he also knew that if he went out from the northern hill of Mamayev Hill, he could enter the Krutoy Deep Ditch in a few minutes at most, so he nodded and asked politely, "I don't know what you have for lunch today?"

When Belkin heard Rodimtsev's question, he immediately understood that the other party did not refuse his request, and while ordering people to prepare food, he replied: "Comrade General, you must have not eaten well in the basement these days. We There is hot red cabbage soup served here every day, you must drink a few more bowls later."

   Knowing that it was to entertain General Rodimtsev, the cooking soldiers quickly delivered hot red cabbage soup, sliced ​​cheese, dry sausage and so on. Seeing that the food was on the table, Sokov pointed with his finger and said to Rodimtsev with a smile: "Comrade General, the food is a bit crude, please forgive me."

   When Rodimtsev was trapped in the basement, due to lack of water and food, and because he didn't know when he would be able to escape, a strict rationing system was implemented in terms of food and drinking water. Not long after he was rescued, he had just finished explaining the mission to his subordinates, and came here with Sokov. He was so hungry that his chest was stuck to his back. Now he saw the hot red cabbage soup in front of him, so he was not polite. , Drink up a large bowl of red cabbage soup in two or three sips.

Seeing that Rodimtsev finished drinking the soup in the bowl, Sokov quickly took the bowl in his hand, filled another bowl for him, handed it over again, and said with concern: "Comrade General, here is the red There is still a lot of vegetable soup, so drink it slowly."

   When Rodimtsev took the soup bowl from Sokov's hand, he smiled gratefully at him. This time he drank the soup again, and he seemed more refined. After taking a sip, he put down the soup bowl and said to Belgin and Sidolin: "Command commanders, don't you want to know how I was rescued?" Yes, I can now tell you in detail."

After Rodimtsev finished the whole rescue process, Sidolin looked at Sukov and said in surprise: "Comrade Brigadier, you actually thought of blasting from the side, opening a passage on the ground, and taking the generals and the others from the side." Rescued from the basement."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, you are right. Thanks to Sokov this time, otherwise we would still be trapped in the dark basement." Rodimtsev said with emotion: "We are trapped in the basement." For two days, the soldiers had no grenades in their hands, but I never thought of using this method to blow up a passage for myself."

   Rodimtsev had just finished his meal when Colonel Ye Lin led someone in from the outside. Seeing Rodimtsev with a tired face, Ye Lin's eye circles couldn't help turning red. He quickly stepped forward to Rodimtsev, raised his hand to salute, and gave his teacher a warm hug, and said excitedly: "Comrade teacher, it is really amazing to see that you are still alive Great."

"Colonel Yelin," Rodimtsev patted Yelin's back and said equally excitedly: "I am also happy to see you. When we were trapped in the basement, I was desperate. However, I thought I would die there silently, but fortunately, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov rescued us in time."

Ye Lin let go of Rodimtsev, faced Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and said with a solemn expression: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 42nd Guards Regiment, thank you, thank you for rescuing our teacher."

Sokov hurriedly raised his hand in return, "Comrade Colonel, you are too polite. General Rodimtsev is not only the commander of your Guards Division, but also my superior. It is my duty to rescue him from his predicament. Hearing what Sokov said, Yelin suddenly thought that the troops from the Tsaritsa River to Mamayev Gang were all under the command of Rodimtsev, and the 73rd Infantry Brigade was also considered Rodimtsev. Husband's subordinates.

   Yelin then greeted Belkin and Sidolin again, and then asked Rodimtsev: "Comrade commander, I was ordered to pick you up. Look, when are we going to leave?"

Rodimtsev raised his hand and looked at his watch again. Seeing that he had lost a lot of time here, he replied, "Let's go now." But before he left the headquarters, he and Sokov They shook hands one by one and expressed their thanks to Sokov again.

After Rodimtsev left, Berkin asked Sokov curiously: "Brigade Commander, it stands to reason that General Rodimtsev has just escaped from danger. He should stay in the original defense zone to contain the troops. Why did Commander Chuikov The officer ordered him to go to the headquarters? Is there any important task to assign?"

"According to my analysis, in order to prevent the German army from occupying Stalingrad, the superiors will definitely take large-scale offensive operations from the periphery of the encirclement." Sokov replied thoughtfully: "In order to make this offensive effective, the city must The garrison also needs to cooperate urgently. I think that Comrade Commander summoned General Rodimtsev to the headquarters at this time for the purpose of deploying the next defensive and offensive actions."

  (end of this chapter)