Chapter 998

   Fortunately, Sokov was only in a hurry, and after a while, he woke up.

  He looked at Sidolin standing in front of the bed, and said in a hoarse voice: "Call me Samoilov immediately. I want to ask clearly how Colonel Ivanov died."

   "The phone has not been hung up..."

Before Sidolin finished speaking, Sokov turned over and got off the camp bed, stumbled to the table, grabbed the microphone above it, and said loudly: "Hello, Samoilov? I'm Sokov , tell me, how did the deputy commander die?"

"Comrade Commander," said Samoilov on the other end of the phone, choked with sobs: "This morning, I took the guard platoon and followed the Deputy Division Commander to survey the terrain in a car. We have a total of two vehicles, the front and rear are trucks, The soldiers of the guard platoon were sitting on it, and the jeep that the deputy division commander was riding in was in the middle of the two cars..."

   "I know exactly what car you are riding in." An anxious Sokov interrupted him, "Tell me directly, what happened?"

"We finished surveying the terrain in the west of the city, and headed north along the road. Unexpectedly, on the way, the car in front hit a mine and was blown over on the spot. Of the twenty-five soldiers in the car, nine soldiers died on the spot. , the rest of the fighters were also injured to varying degrees.

  I was sitting in the jeep with the deputy division commander. Seeing that the car in front hit a mine, I quickly ordered the jeep driver to stop. I asked the deputy division commander to stay in the car and wait, then got out of the car and arranged for the soldiers in the car behind to set up a security circle, and went to treat the wounded soldiers in the car in front.

   Just as I was leading people to treat the wounded, the deputy commander somehow got out of the car. He probably wanted to check on the wounded soldiers, so he walked straight to the place where the car overturned. When I was two or three meters away from me, I was suddenly hit by two bullets flying from the snow nearby, one hit his head and the other hit his abdomen..."

Hearing this, Sokov knew that he was hit in the head by a bullet, and there was basically no hope of surviving, but he interrupted Samoilov again, and asked with luck: "Comrade Lieutenant, have you consulted a military doctor? Treat the deputy division commander?"

"No." Samoilov replied with difficulty: "After the deputy division commander was shot and fell down, I rushed to his side immediately. After checking, no matter whether he was breathing or even his heartbeat stopped. I immediately organized They killed more than a dozen soldiers and rushed towards the place where the enemy snipers might be hiding. After fighting, one German sniper was killed, but the other escaped with injuries.”

   "Comrade Lieutenant, I order you to find a way to find a coffin to preserve the body of the deputy division commander. I will rush to Lugansk as soon as possible after I deal with the matter in my hands."

   After officially confirming the news that Ivanov had died, Sokov hung up the phone, and sat weakly on his seat in a daze, recalling the unforgettable years he spent with Ivanov in his mind.

Seeing Sokov sitting at the table in a daze, Sidolin walked up to him and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, the sacrifice of Colonel Ivanov is a great event. Look, do you need to report to him immediately?" Commander report?"

"Chief of Staff, you are right." Sidolin's voice woke Sokov up from his contemplation. After staring at Sidolin for a while, he nodded slightly and said, "We need to report this matter to the Comrade Commander reports."

  A division commander was killed by a German sniper while surveying the terrain. But Sokov first connected to the Army Group Command. When he heard Sokov’s voice, Chuikov who answered the phone smiled and asked: “Colonel Sokov, is your army going to leave? Goodbye?"

   "Comrade Commander," Sokov said bitterly, "I called you not to say goodbye, but to report bad news to you."

  "Bad news, what bad news?" Chuikov joked disapprovingly when he heard Sokov say this: "Could it be that Paulus escaped from where he was held?" After speaking, he burst out laughing.

Sokov didn't feel that there was anything ridiculous in Chuikov's joke. He continued to say with a heavy heart: "Comrade Commander, my deputy division commander Colonel Ivanov, while surveying the terrain in Luhansk this morning, encountered An ambush by enemy snipers, unfortunately sacrificed."

  Chuikov's smile froze on his face. After a long time, he said seriously: "Colonel Sokov, don't make jokes about this kind of thing."

   "Comrade Commander, how could I make fun of this kind of thing?" Seeing that Chuikov didn't believe him, Sokov was a little anxious: "It must be verified news, so I will report it to you."

  Although Sokov said convincingly, Chuikov was still full of doubts: "Where did you get this news?"

"It was Lieutenant Samoilov, who was in charge of defending Colonel Ivanov, who reported to me by phone: Colonel Ivanov was shot twice, one in the head and one in the abdomen, and died on the spot. Sokov was afraid that Cuikov would still not believe him, so he specially added: "He used to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he would never dare to lie about this kind of thing."

   After confirming that Sokov's news was true, Chuikov remained silent. He didn't expect that an excellent division commander would die like this shortly after winning the victory, and his heart was particularly heavy. "Where is his body?"

   "Still in Luhansk." Sokov replied: "I have asked Samoilov to find a coffin to properly contain Colonel Ivanov's body."

   "Colonel Sokov, when are you going to Lugansk?"

   "At present, the troops are still preparing to move out, and there is no suitable means of transportation." Sokov said quickly: "I guess it will take two or three days at the earliest..."

   "I can't wait that long." Before Sokov could finish speaking, Chuikov said decisively: "We will set off tonight and go in an armored vehicle. We should be able to reach Lugansk before noon tomorrow."

   "No problem, Comrade Commander, I will wait for your instructions at any time." After expressing his position to Chuikov, Sokov added: "I still need to report this matter to the Front Army Command."

Chuikov was just about to criticize Sokov for reporting by leaps and bounds, when he suddenly thought that his superiors transferred the 41st Guards Division to the Lugansk area, possibly because they wanted to transfer the division away from the 62nd Army. Cheng Cheng agreed: "This is what it should be, Colonel Sokov, you should report to the Front Army Command immediately. At the same time, you must be ready to leave at any time."

  (end of this chapter)