Red Moscow

  Chapter 639 The Battle of Soldiers

After arranging the next combat mission, Chuikov called Sokov aside and said to him: "Comrade Sokov, I am now formally informing you that from now on, Colonel Vitkov will return to the headquarters and continue to perform his tasks. Deputy Chief of Staff."

"What, do you want to keep Colonel Vitkov?" Chuikov's words surprised Sokov. This incident was too sudden for him. At that time, there was no one in Mamayev Gang to take charge of the overall situation: "Then who will be my deputy brigade commander?"

"If you have no objection, I plan to appoint Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin as the deputy brigade commander." Chuikov seemed to have considered all the questions Sukov asked, and opened his mouth to say his plan: "You didn't What's your opinion?"

Sokov knew that Sidolin and Chuikov had a good personal relationship, and his son Sidolin was still working as a messenger beside Chuikov. After thinking about such an appointment for a while, he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't know. It is agreed to allow Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin to serve as deputy brigade commander."

   "Why?" Chuikov thought it was a surefire appointment, but was rejected by Sokov. He asked with some displeasure, "Do you think Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin is not qualified for this position?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Although Sokov knew that rejecting Chuikov's proposal would make him unhappy, he still bit the bullet and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin is an excellent staff officer, but But he is not a qualified military commander, he lacks the ability to stand alone."

   After saying these words, Sokov's heart was pounding. He looked at Chuikov with some guilt, waiting for the other party to lose his temper. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, Chuikov did not speak, but said with a wry smile: "Colonel Sokov, maybe you are right. I have known Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin for so many years, and he has always been engaged in staff work, as if Never commanded a unit alone. Well, let's stop here and say no more."

Perhaps because he was worried about Sokov's psychological burden, he raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder twice, saying, "Although you rejected my proposal, don't worry about it, I won't wear small shoes for you. "

  Hearing that Chuikov had expressed his attitude, Sokov's heart hanging in his throat finally returned to his stomach. He felt that with Cuikov's capacity, let alone the question of the candidate for the deputy brigade commander, even if he and him had a red-faced dispute over tactics, he probably wouldn't make any small moves against him.

Samoilov, who was waiting outside the headquarters, saw Sokov coming out alone, tilted his head and glanced inside, and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Brigadier, why is there only You come out alone, where is the deputy brigade commander?"

"The commander asked the deputy brigade commander to return to work at the headquarters." Sokov said, shaking his head at Samoilov, and said: "Let's go, let's go back to Mamayev Post, there are still a lot of things to do Wait for me to deal with it."

  As soon as he entered the tunnel in Beigang, Sokov went directly to the battalion command post. He wanted to ask Golia if he had counted the results of the battle. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, he saw Belkin sitting inside. He walked up quickly and asked curiously: "Comrade Commissar, didn't you go to the Red October factory? Why are you here?"

"I came back directly after I dealt with the Red October factory." Belkin looked at Sokov and said with emotion: "I really didn't expect that the commanders and fighters who stood firm on the northern hill would actually fight hand-to-hand with the enemy. , and won the victory when the numbers were at a disadvantage."

   "What happened at the Red October factory?" Sokov was eager to know what Belkin was doing at the Red October factory, so he ignored the results of the battle in Goria. "I want you to go there yourself."

Belkin sighed, and said: "Captain Briski called me and said that a group of wounded had recovered recently and could return to the army. He originally planned to put all these wounded into his battalion, but unexpectedly He was opposed by Colonel Koyda, and the two sides had a dispute over this matter. He had no choice but to call me for help."

After listening, Sokov did not express his opinion immediately, but asked thoughtfully: "Comrade political commissar, I would like to ask which unit these wounded belonged to, whether it was the fourth battalion or the mixed regiment of Colonel Koida. ?”

"None." Belkin shook his head and said, "It's the wounded of the friendly army. Their original troops are now retreating to the rear for repairs. After they fell behind, they were taken in by us and placed in the basement of the assembly workshop for treatment. "

  Hearing what Belkin said, Sokov also felt that this matter was tricky. If only one of our troops stayed in the Red October factory, no matter which army the wounded belonged to, he could be incorporated into his own army after he recovered from his injury. However, because I was ordered to go north to Orlovka, I left the mixed regiment of the fourth battalion of Koyda to stick to the assembly workshop. In this way, it became a headache to know which army the wounded should be supplemented with. .

  Sokov felt that it would not be easy to deal with this matter even if he was allowed to do it himself, so he cautiously asked Belkin: "Comrade Commissar, how did you handle it?"

"There are more than 80 injured wounded." Belkin replied: "After my consultation with Colonel Koida, two-thirds of the wounded will be added to the mixed regiment, and the remaining third will be replenished." Into Briski's Fourth Battalion."

After listening to Belkin's handling, Sokov nodded and said approvingly: "Comrade political commissar, you are doing the right thing. All wounded friendly soldiers recuperating in the basement of the assembly workshop will follow this ratio when returning from injury. Battalion and mixed regiment distribution."

   "Comrade Brigadier," Golya, who had been silent by the side, couldn't help asking curiously when he heard Sokov say this: "What do you mean, will the Fourth Battalion not return to Mamayev Post again?"

"I really want them to come back." As for Goria's question, Sokov said with some embarrassment: "But the superior ordered them to continue to stick to the assembly workshop, so the defense task here can only be entrusted to you and the newly added Marine Battalion." Speaking of this, Sokov suddenly remembered that the purpose of his coming here was to find out the results of the battle, and added, "Have the results of the battle been calculated yet?"

"Yes, Comrade Brigadier, all have been counted." Goliath said, took out a small notebook from his pocket, and began to read: "According to our statistics, a total of 1,748 corpses were found on the battlefield, excluding The corpses killed by mortar shells and machine guns, 1,139 enemy soldiers fell on the bayonets of our soldiers in hand-to-hand combat."

   Seeing that the data reported by Goria was not far from what Witkov estimated, Sokov just nodded slightly, and then asked: "How about the casualties of our army?"

"Our army sacrificed 582 people and injured 119 people." When reporting the casualties of the troops, Golia showed a painful expression on his face: "My 192nd Battalion has only 47 people who can stand up now, and Shamri The reserve team brought by Captain He, as well as the sailors you added to us yesterday, have also suffered 551 casualties."

  Sokov clearly remembered that he had sent 800 sailors to Beigang, but he did not expect 551 casualties after one battle. He originally planned to let the sailors play a role in the next counterattack, but now the marine battalion has suffered more than half of the casualties, and the remaining troops are barely used for defense, let alone for offense?

   "Where is Captain Shamrikh?" Sokov looked at Goria and said, "I want to have a good talk with him."

"The captain and his subordinates are on the ground outside." After Goria finished speaking, seeing Sokov's face showing a puzzled expression, he quickly added: "Romania sent people to collect the body, Sha Captain Mlih is leading people outside to serve as guards."

  (end of this chapter)