Chapter 293: Desertion Storm (Part 1)

  Chapter 293 Desertion Storm (Part 1)

   Sokov waited for Vasilevsky to finish speaking, then fell silent for a moment, and then asked respectfully, "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, when should my troops be dispatched?"

   "Leaving in two days."

  Sokov knew that the road from here to Stalingrad had been cut off by the German army, so he could only choose another route to go around, so he then asked, "Where is our marching route?"

"Because the road from here to Stalingrad has been cut off by the enemy, you need to rush to Yelets first, where there is a car prepared by the superior, and take your brigade to the Moscow railway station." Vasilev Sky introduced to Sokov: "When you arrive at the railway station, you take the train to Kazan, and then transfer to the transport ship of the Volga Fleet from there, and go down the Volga to Stalingrad."

  Vasilevsky pointed to the map to introduce the route to Sokov. Seeing that he wanted to make such a large circle, Sokov couldn't help frowning slightly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the distance is not close."

"That's right," Vasilevsky agreed with Sokov's statement: "To go around such a big circle, you have to walk about a thousand kilometers more. I am worried that when you arrive at Stalingrad, There will be a lot of fighters exhausted. Fortunately, you went to rest instead of fighting, and there is enough time for the fighters to recover."

   When Vasilevsky once again mentioned that his troops went to Stalingrad to rest instead of fighting, Sokov was really dumbfounded. He knew very well that, not to mention Vasilevsky, even Stalin himself felt that the Germans' approach to Stalingrad was a smoke bomb deliberately released to divert the attention of the Soviet army so that they could successfully reach the goal of capturing the Caucasus. oil destination.

  Sokov knew very well in his heart that even if he told Vasilevsky at this moment that the German army was about to launch a key attack on Stalingrad, the other party would not believe it, and would instead question his source. It was precisely because of this consideration that Sokov did not say any more nonsense, but asked dryly: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, allow me to return to the army and assign transfer tasks?"

   "Allowed." Vasilevsky nodded, and said to Sokov: "Let the soldiers prepare what they need on the road. Your journey will take at least half a month to a month."

  As soon as Sokov returned to his headquarters, he summoned all the commanders above the company level of the brigade and told them the news of the troop mobilization.

The commanders who participated in the meeting, after seeing the marching route pointed out by Sokov on the map, all had surprised expressions on their faces. They did not expect that in order to reach Stalingrad, the troops would have to travel thousands of roads. . Therefore, as soon as they heard Sokov ask, "Anyone have any questions?" according to the usual practice, they all raised their hands, indicating that they wanted to speak.

  Sokov glanced over everyone, and pointed at Griza: "Lieutenant Griza, you speak first."

"Comrade Brigadier," Griza stood up and asked with a puzzled expression, "If you want to send troops to strengthen the defense of Stalingrad, you can definitely send troops from nearby; even if there are no suitable troops nearby, you can also send troops from Moscow." In the past. Why did we have to march for more than 1,000 kilometers to reach Stalingrad?"

"Commanders, commanders," Sokov said bitterly to Griesa's question, "Comrade Chief of Staff said that it was the Supreme Command's intention to let our brigade station in Stalingrad. We were transferred to Stalingrad in order to take a good rest for a while, and when the new counter-offensive begins, our brigade will accept more difficult tasks."

   Hearing that the transfer of troops to Stalingrad was an order from the Supreme Command, the room suddenly became quiet, and no one questioned this kind of transfer that cost people and money. On the contrary, after a period of silence, the other commanders began to ask Sokov again, what kind of transportation would the superiors provide for the troops during the march.

After discussing the issues that should be considered, Sokov suddenly remembered something, and said specifically: "Comrades, since our brigade was expanded on the basis of the Istria battalion, the organizational structure of the troops seems a bit chaotic. , I want to make adjustments here. The numbers of the original three companies of the first battalion remain unchanged; the numbers of the three companies of the second battalion are changed to the fourth company to the sixth company in turn; ; The three companies of the fourth battalion were changed to the tenth to twelve companies..."

  After announcing the order to change the number, Sokov asked again: "Are there any questions?"

   "No!" The commanders replied neatly.

"Since there is no problem, let's all go back to our respective troops." Sokov was afraid that some people would not pay attention to this transfer, and he specially emphasized: "Our marching time this time is about half a month to one month. Within a month, everyone should prepare everything they need on the road. Do you understand?"

   "Understood!" After the commanders answered in unison again, they turned and walked out of the brigade headquarters.

After all the commanders in the meeting had left, Belgin asked tentatively: "Comrade brigade commander, since our march is so far away, should we leave the wounded here? After several battles, the whole brigade has five More than 100 wounded, including nearly 100 seriously injured."

"Leave the seriously wounded." Sokov waited for Berkin to finish speaking, and said without hesitation: "As for the lightly wounded, we will take them with us if they can move with the troops; Those who move with the troops will stay with the seriously wounded. When the line of communication with Moscow is opened in the future, they will be sent to the military hospital in the city.”

   "Then shall we keep a few more health workers," Belkin continued to ask: "Let them take care of our wounded."

  Sokov heard Belkin mention leaving a few health workers to take care of the wounded, and immediately guessed the other party's intention. Thinking of the **** battle that was about to start, Sokov's heart pounded. He didn't want Assia to take risks with him, and when he was considering what reason to keep her, Belkin said Just said these words. Sokov nodded quickly, and said smoothly: "Then let the female health workers of the health team stay and let them take care of our wounded."

Belkin picked up the phone on the table and said to Sokov: "Since Comrade Brigadier has no objection, I will call the captain of the health team, Military Doctor Pavlov, and ask him to keep all the female health workers and not follow us." Let's go to Stalingrad together."

   Sokov asked Asiya and the others to stay because he didn't want them to go to Stalingrad to die. Unexpectedly, Asiya, who knew the inside story, didn't accept Sokov's love. After hearing the news, she immediately rushed to the brigade headquarters with several female health workers from the health team, and came to ask Sokov for an explanation.

  As soon as she saw Sokov, Asiya asked with a straight face: "Comrade brigade commander, I would like to ask, since the whole brigade is about to leave, why did we leave our female health workers in Kursk?"

As soon as Asiya finished speaking, several female health workers standing behind her also echoed: "Yes, Comrade Brigadier Commander, although we are women, we can carry the wounded off the battlefield just like the male health workers. Why did you keep us all in Kursk?"

"Comrades female soldiers," Belkin saw the female health workers in trouble, and quickly came out to smooth things over: "Comrade Brigadier kept you here for your sake. Think about it, we will march nearly two thousand kilometers next , he was worried that your body could not bear it, so he decided to let you stay here to take care of our wounded."

"That's right, the political commissar is right. This time the troop has a long way to go, so you should stay here." Seeing that Belkin spoke for himself, Sokov quickly said: "You as health workers, The task is to take care of the wounded so that they can return to the front as soon as possible. It makes no difference whether it is in Kursk or Stalingrad."

  Sokov's words left the female health workers speechless. But after a while, Asiya made another attack. She said with a sullen face: "Comrade Brigadier, don't you think I have become a neutral person? War erases the gender of people, at least I don't want to." Others see me as a woman." Asiya's words aroused the response of the female hygienists.

  Belkin turned his head to look at Sokov, and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Brigadier, it's up to you to decide on this matter."

"Quiet, everyone!" Sokov raised his hand and pressed down hard. He waited for the female health workers to stop talking before he continued: "Girls, as long as the war does not wipe out your lives, you will never die." Just a woman. The world is beautiful because of women. I have no right to have my future mother go on adventures with us..."

  After Sokov finished speaking, the female soldiers became quiet again, and they secretly thought about what Sokov said in their hearts. Seeing Asiya opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, Sokov immediately understood that even if he persuaded the other female health workers, he would not be able to convince the girl in front of him, and even if he reluctantly stayed, she would For their own safety and sleepless nights. Instead of making her frightened, it is better to take her to Stalingrad together, at worst, you can spend more time protecting her.

Thinking of this, Sokov pointed at Assia: "Okay, Assia. Since you have insisted, then you, as a representative of the female health workers, will go to Stalingrad with the army." Knowing that you can When they went to Stalingrad with the troops, Assia cheered immediately, but the faces of the surrounding female health workers showed disappointed expressions.

  Sokov originally thought that after dealing with the requests of the female health workers, he would not have any troubles to find himself again. But not long after, he realized that he was thinking too much. The troops were about to leave Kursk, and there were many more headaches for him.

   That evening, he received a call from the second battalion commander Vasily. Vasily said hurriedly on the phone: "Comrade Brigadier, it's not good, something happened to the Fourth Company."

  When he heard the designation of the fourth company, Sokov was still stunned for a moment, but he quickly remembered that this was the original second battalion and first company, and asked quickly: "What's wrong with Griza's company?"

   "Deserters!" Vasily gritted his teeth on the phone and said, "Several shameful deserters appeared in the Fourth Company."

   "What, deserters?" Sokov frowned after listening to Vasily's words. He never dreamed that there would be deserters in his army. He thought to himself, deserters had appeared before the war, and if they were not dealt with seriously, wouldn't there be more deserters in such a tragic battle in Stalingrad? He asked viciously, "Has he been captured?"

   "Yes, Comrade Brigadier, they have all been captured." Vasily continued: "There are five people in total. I would like to ask you for instructions on how to deal with them."

   "What else can we do? Shoot them all, of course." Sokov roared into the microphone: "Immediately, immediately, shoot them all!"

   Before Vasily on the other end of the phone could finish speaking, Belgin, who had just walked in, asked in surprise, "Comrade Brigadier, what happened? Why are you so angry?"

  Sokov panted heavily, and said to Belkin: "Captain Vasily reported to me that there were several deserters in the fourth company, and I asked them to shoot them all."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Brigadier Commander, don't shoot them yet." When Belkin heard Sokov's order to shoot the deserters, he quickly stopped him: "Why don't we go to the Fourth Company and let me ask those soldiers Why would you want to be a deserter?"

   Sokov waited for Belgin to finish speaking, took two deep breaths, and then said into the microphone: "Captain Vasily, take care of them first, and Comrade Political Commissar and I will go there immediately."

   When Sokov and Belgin arrived at the fourth company, it was not completely dark yet. From a long distance, I saw hundreds of soldiers from the fourth company, forming a neat square formation. In front of the phalanx stood a group of people, except for the second battalion commander, Captain Vasily, the fourth company commander, Lieutenant Grisa, and several platoon leaders, there were five heavily tied soldiers.

  Sokov walked quickly in front of Vasily, stared at the deserters with vicious eyes, and then asked Vasily in a rough voice: "Are they deserters?"

   "Yes, Comrade Brigadier." Vasily nodded quickly and replied, "They are those shameful deserters. Their behavior has tarnished the glorious title of the Red Army. I suggest that they all be shot immediately."

  When Vasily offered to shoot the deserter, Grisa, the commander of the fourth company, remained silent. Seeing this situation, Sokov asked curiously: "Lieutenant Grisa, why don't you speak, don't you want to shoot them?"

   Before Grisa could speak, Belkin said first: "Comrade Brigadier, please wait a moment, let me talk to these soldiers first, and find out why they deserted."

  (end of this chapter)