Chapter 929 Sending off a comrade-in-arms (Part 1)

  With the assistance of Yakov, Sokov went to watch the development process of the hovercraft. At the same time, he also wanted to put forward some personal opinions to the research and development personnel. On the way, I also visited several factories that produce bicycle trains to learn about the production conditions there.

   In this way, Sokov stayed in Moscow for a month without knowing it. On December 24, the day before Christmas in the West, he went to Yakov's office as usual, but found that the door of the office was locked.

  Sokov stopped a passing officer and asked politely, "Do you know where Lieutenant Colonel Yakov has gone?"

  The officer saw that it was Sokov who was asking the question, and quickly straightened his body and replied, "Report to Comrade Colonel, after Lieutenant Colonel Yakov came to the office, he answered a phone call and left."

   Did not ask the officer about Yakov's whereabouts, Sokov felt a little embarrassed. Stay and wait, I don't know when Yakov will come back; just leave now, in case Yakov finds himself for something, he will make another trip.

  He raised his hand and looked at his watch, and found that it was almost nine o'clock, so he decided to stay and wait for a while. If Yakov was not seen back by half past nine, he would immediately turn around and go home.

   Time passed by, and soon it was 9:30, and Yakov still did not come back. Sokov sighed softly, turned around and walked outside, still pondering whether he should go shopping alone, or go to the military hospital to see Tonya and Annie and have lunch with them.

   Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked to the gate, he saw a jeep rushing towards him like lightning, and stopped five or six steps away from him. As soon as the car came to a stop, the rear door opened. Yakov poked his head out and said loudly to Sokov, "Misha, you are indeed here, get in the car!"

  Sokov thought that Yakov was going to take him to some research institute, so he walked over quickly, bent down and got into the car. As soon as he closed the car door, he heard Yakov say to the driver: "Go to the airport."

   "Going to the airport?" Sokov was taken aback when he heard Yakov say this, and then asked, "What are we going to the airport for?"

"What else to do, of course, is to go to Stalingrad." Yakov said very quickly: "I just received an order from my superiors to let you return to Stalingrad immediately, and I will go there to check the use of new weapons situation, just on the same road as you."

   "Why is it so sudden?" Sokov remembered that he should go to say hello to Tonya and the others, so he said to Yakov, "Can you let me go home first?"

   "No, it's too late." Yakov raised his hand and looked at his watch: "The plane will take off in forty minutes."

  Sokov found it very strange. Some time ago, he asked to return to the army many times, but was rejected. As a result, he suddenly ordered himself to return to the army today, something must have happened. In order to find out why, he looked at Yakov and asked, "Yasha, can you tell me why you sent me back to the army so suddenly?"

  Yakov glanced at the time when he was concentrating on driving, and replied cautiously: "I will tell you the reason when I get on the plane later."

  The jeep entered the airport and drove directly to a passenger plane parked beside the runway. Sokov got out of the car and took a look. What a coincidence, it was the plane that picked him up to Moscow.

  The stewardess in military uniform on the plane still remembered Sokov. Seeing him walking up the gangway, she quickly raised her hand to salute him, and said respectfully, "Hello, Comrade Colonel."

   "Hello," Sokov nodded at the other party with a smile: "I'm glad to see you again."

  Sokov and Yakov came to the cabin under the guidance of the stewardess, and found that there were already a dozen officers sitting. However, their highest military rank is only major, and they are basically all lieutenant officers.

  Yakov explained to Sokov in a low voice: "They are all members of the Armament Department and accompanied me to Stalingrad to perform the mission."

After sitting down, Sokov remembered that Yakov hadn't answered the reason why he sent him back to Stalingrad in such a hurry, so he asked again: "Yasha, you can tell me now, why did you send me back to Stalingrad in such a hurry?" Send it back to Stalingrad?"

"It's like this," Yakov's subordinates were on the plane, and they were also members who went to Stalingrad with him. There was no need to worry about leaking secrets, so Yakov said truthfully: "As the situation in Stalingrad tends to In order to stabilize, some of the units under the 62nd Army that have suffered serious losses will withdraw from Stalingrad today and go to the rear for repairs. Some division commanders with rich combat experience will also follow the troops to withdraw city."

"I understand." Before Yakov finished speaking, Sokov understood the reason why his superiors urgently sent him back to Stalingrad. So many division commanders with rich combat experience will withdraw from the city with the troops . Their evacuation will definitely have some bad effects on the battle in the city. The superior sent himself back to sit in the town, hoping to stabilize the situation in the city: "The superior wants me to go back and control the troops to ensure the situation in the city." Are you stable?"

   "That's right." Regarding Sokov's guess, Yakov nodded with a smile: "The situation is exactly like this."

  Although Sokov always wanted to return to Stalingrad, he really wanted to go back, and his mood became tense. He didn't know if Cuikov would adjust his position when he went back this time, transfer himself from the 41st Guards Division and arrange him to be the division commander in another division.

"Misha," Yakov obviously saw Sokov's worry, and comforted him, "Don't worry, no one can take away your position as division commander. When you go back this time, you will continue to command the guards." The 41st Division is responsible for the defense of the Mamayev Hill area.” After confirming that he would not be transferred from the original unit, Sokov could not help but secretly heave a sigh of relief.

   When the plane was more than a hundred kilometers away from Stalingrad, it was intercepted by German fighter jets. The two fighter planes escorting them immediately went up and bravely engaged in a fierce aerial combat with the German fighter planes.

It was probably the first time that flight attendant encountered such a situation. Looking at the enemy planes passing by outside the window, her heart rose into her throat. She was deeply afraid that the enemy would attack the passenger plane. If so, some people would be shot down. Danger.

   "Don't worry," Sokov got up and sat down beside her, comforting her, "You have to trust our pilots. They will definitely be able to drive away these damned German planes."

  Hearing Sokov's comfort, the stewardess calmed down a lot. However, she still asked worriedly: "Colonel Sokov, there are six enemy planes, while our **** fighter jets only have two, can they defeat the enemy planes?"

  Sokov was also panicking at the moment, but he knew very well that under the current circumstances, it was useless to panic, and everything had to be left to fate. He tried to force a smile on his face, and said to the stewardess: "I believe in our pilots, they have been able to eliminate the German planes that intercepted us."

  The Soviet pilots were very heroic, but they were outnumbered after all. In less than five minutes, after they shot down two enemy planes, one of the Soviet planes was also shot down, while the other was damaged. The pilot was flying a fighter plane that was emitting black smoke, and fought tenaciously with enemy planes that were several times his own. to fight.

   Just when the people on the airliner were on the verge of despair, two clusters of four aircraft suddenly appeared in the sky. An officer sitting by the window had sharp eyes. After seeing the incoming plane clearly, he turned his head and said excitedly to everyone, "The plane is our plane. The nearby garrison dispatched planes to rescue us."

  Hearing the officer's shout, everyone lay at the window and looked outside. With the arrival of the Soviet fighter planes, the forces of the enemy and ourselves in the air have changed, and the Soviet fighter planes have a numerical advantage.

  After the remaining four German planes chased the Soviet fighter planes for a few minutes, three of them were shot down one after another. The remaining one was also injured. The German pilots saw that the Soviet pilots were outnumbered and knew that they were not opponents. How could they dare to fight, so they immediately turned around and flew westward.

  Seeing the rest of the enemy planes fleeing in a panic, the passengers who saw the entire battle scene clearly raised their arms and cheered.

After the plane landed at the airstrip on the left bank of the Volga River, Yakov said to Sokov: "Misha, I will take my people with me immediately. When the Front Army Command goes to Commander Yeremenko, you go back to the army first." Let's go, let's get over it."

  Sokov originally thought that he could only choose to walk from the airport to Mamayev Hill. Unexpectedly, not long after walking, he saw a convoy of trucks, which seemed to be preparing to drive into the city. Sokov hurriedly raised his hand to stop the car. After the lead car stopped beside Sokov, a lieutenant sitting in the co-pilot poked his head out and asked Sokov politely: "Comrade Colonel, what do you have?" instruct?"

  Sokov heard the other party calling his military rank, looked down at the tightly buttoned military coat, and wondered how the other party saw his military rank on his collar badge? But after thinking about it, he was wearing a new-style military uniform now, and he was wearing epaulets with military ranks, so the other party could tell at a glance.

  He looked up at the lieutenant sitting in the co-pilot seat and said: "I am Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division, Comrade Lieutenant, can you give me a ride?"

   Knowing that the person in front of him was the commander of the 41st Guards Division, the lieutenant quickly opened the car door, jumped into the snow, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and said politely: "Comrade Colonel, please get in the car."

  In addition to the driver, two more people can sit in the cab. After getting into the car, Sokov sat between the driver and the lieutenant, and asked, "Is your convoy going to the opposite city?"

"Yes, Comrade Colonel." The lieutenant replied in an affirmative tone: "We were ordered to deliver the materials to the Red October factory and hand them over to the logistics department of the 62nd Army at home." Knowing that the convoy was going to the Red October factory, Sokov couldn't help applauding secretly in his heart, this way, he could save a little distance.

  When the car reached the river, Sokov found that it was very lively. There are not only cars and carriages driving to the city from the left bank, but also some organized troops. Similarly, there are also queues of soldiers marching on foot with tired faces, coming out from the direction of the city and heading towards the left bank.

The lieutenant sitting next to Sokov, seeing Sokov staring out the window, explained to him: "Comrade Colonel, according to the orders of the superiors, while replenishing the city with supplies and soldiers, we must take care of those who have been seriously reduced. The troops that have almost lost their combat effectiveness were withdrawn from the city and sent to the rear for replenishment. The infantry you see are just withdrawn from the city."

   As soon as the convoy crossed the Volga River, Sokov pointed to the side of the road and said to the lieutenant: "Comrade lieutenant, please stop by the roadside, I want to get off there."

  The lieutenant was stunned for a moment, and then asked back: "Comrade Colonel, there is still some distance from the Red October factory here. I am afraid you will have to walk a long way to get off the car."

  Sokov waved his hand at the lieutenant and said, "I need to go to the Army Group Command immediately, and I won't be returning to the Red October factory for now."

  After getting out of the car, Sokov walked towards Chuikov's headquarters. He wanted to find out whether Chuikov would still let him return to his original unit as division commander.

   When Sokov came outside the headquarters, he found that the security here was heavily guarded, and there were at least five times more soldiers standing guard than before. Seeing Sokov approaching with strides, an officer on duty immediately stepped forward and politely asked Sokov, "Comrade Colonel, what can I do for you?"

Sokov saw that the other party was a stranger, and guessed that he might have just been transferred from the other side, so that he didn't even know himself, so he could only identify himself: "I am the commander of the 41st Guards Division. I just came back from Moscow. It is urgent to see Commander Chuikov."

   "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment." The star officer said in a businesslike manner, "Please wait for me to make a phone call to confirm. If the superior agrees with you, I will let you in."

Seeing the star officer go to make a call, Sokov couldn't help but secretly sighed. He had only left the city for a month, but all the guards at the headquarters were replaced by newcomers, so that he wanted to see Cuikov and had to go through layers of inspections. .

   Fortunately, it didn't take long for the officer on duty to make a phone call before he got an order from Krylov to take Sokov to meet him. After the officer put down the phone, he trotted to Sokov immediately, and said with a smile: "Colonel Sokov, your identity has been confirmed, and I will take you to the headquarters to meet the chief of staff, General Krylov. .”

Probably because he was worried that Sokov would be angry, on the way to the headquarters, the officer on duty also explained to Sokov: "Several units were ordered to withdraw from the city today, and their commanders are now in the headquarters, and the commander , Chief of Staff, they are reminiscing about the past."

   It turned out that a division commander came here to bid farewell to Cuikov and the others! After listening to the officer on duty's explanation, Sokov immediately understood that Cuikov was also very busy now, so he didn't notice his appearance at all.

   Not long after, the star officer brought Sokov to the gate of the headquarters. Seeing that he had arrived at the place, Sokov waved to the officer on duty and said, "There is nothing for you here, go get busy."

  The star officer was responsible and did not dare to stay for too long. He raised his hand to salute Sokov, then turned and left.

  (end of this chapter)