There was no moon in the sky, but the fire emitted by the burning buildings in the city could illuminate the way forward for the group passing through the ruins. Sokov found that there were lots of ruins everywhere within his sight, and there was no complete building at all. The intensity of the German bombing and artillery bombing on the city was evident.
"Damn, these damn Germans!" When Yakov saw all this, he couldn't help but complain: "Look at what they have done and what has destroyed such a great city?"
"Who is talking behind?" A voice suddenly came from the front of the team: "Do you want the Germans to discover us?" As soon as the words were finished, a burst of rapid footsteps came from the front. A warrior wearing a steel helmet appeared in front of Sokov and Yakov. He asked in a low voice: "Who was talking just now?"
Sokov, with the help of the firelight, recognized the person who was asking for the question as the squad leader of the guard squad, and quickly said apologetically on behalf of Yakov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Sergeant, I'm wrong, I dare not speak casually, please forgive me!"
After seeing clearly that the person who spoke was Sokov, the sergeant immediately swallowed all the words he was about to complain. "Comrade Brigade Commander, the area occupied by the enemy is ahead. When we pass, we need to keep absolutely quiet. Please don't speak again from now on."
After the soldiers left, Yakov approached Sokov and whispered: "Misha, I'm really sorry just now..."
Sokov quickly made a gesture of silence at Yakov and whispered to him: "Don't talk first, if there is anything, let's talk about it when we get to the place."
The city is full of ruins, and the original streets have long changed. Even the native Stalingrads, walking in such a city on a low-visibility night, would inevitably get lost. Fortunately, the soldiers led by Sokov and others have walked through this tortuous road countless times, so they can successfully lead everyone through the ruins and arrive at the visibility of the Vasily Building.
Seeing the four-story building that appeared in the distance, Sokov felt that he might be about to reach the place. He quickly called a soldier beside him and told him, "Comrade Warrior, go ahead and ask your squad leader, are we going to the place?"
The warrior agreed and was about to speed up his pace forward, but was stopped by Sokov, who had changed his mind: "Forget it, I'll ask myself." After that, he accelerated his pace and walked forward, and Yakov hurriedly followed closely.
Sokov caught up with the sergeant who led the way and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Sergeant, how long will it take to get to our destination."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the sergeant also replied in a low voice: "We are only two or three hundred meters away from the building. We can reach our destination in a few minutes."
The group walked forward for about a hundred meters, and suddenly there was a clanging sound of pushing the gun bolt in front of him. Then someone asked sternly: "Stop! Command?" The sudden call to ask made everyone disperse quickly and hide behind the ruins closest to them.
"It's my own person." The sergeant hiding beside Sokov quickly replied: "I am Sergeant Duronin of the Brigade Guard Company. If you have an urgent matter, you have to see Sergeant Vasily." He was afraid that the person asking for the command was disguised by the German army, so he did not say that the brigade commander Sokov was by his side, but just said that he would see Vasily if you have something to do.
A moment later, behind a broken wall not far ahead, a soldier in a steel helmet appeared. He smiled and said, "It turns out it is Sergeant Du Luoning, I almost misunderstood."
Sergeant Du Luoning heard that the person he was talking was a soldier he was familiar with, so he whispered to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, he is his own person." After that, he stood up, walked towards the other party's position, and asked, "Why are you the only one on duty tonight?"
"How could it be me alone?" The soldier said, lit up a flashlight covered with a red cloth, turned around and turned around in the direction of the building. Soon, a red dot appeared in the direction of the building, and he turned around in a circle. After doing all this, the soldier turned around and said to Du Luoning: "Comrade Sergeant, you take your people and turn left in the direction five meters away from me. There is a mine buried on the front of me."
When Sokov saw that there was only one soldier on duty outside the building, he was very dissatisfied with Vasily, feeling that he was not very vigilant. In such an important position, there was only one soldier. What if the enemy secretly whistled? But what happened next made him feel that he was over-concerned. Although there was only one sentry here, there was at least a machine gun in the building, facing the position where he was standing. If the sentry found something was wrong, he only needed to send a signal, and the machine gun in the building could shoot wildly, killing the enemy who was attacking. Moreover, the front of the sentry was covered with mines. Although it was only a few meters away, if the enemy wanted to attack him, he might end up stealing chickens and losing rice.
Sokov and his team entered a traffic trench based on the position guided by the sentry. Sergeant Duronin whispered to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we can follow this traffic trench and enter the building directly."
While everyone was walking forward along the traffic trench, Sokov unexpectedly discovered that in addition to the sentry, there were at least three other soldiers hidden in the traffic trench. They were all equipped with submachine guns, and even if a large group of enemies rushed up, they could withstand it for a while with the weapons in their hands.
Before entering the building, Yakov approached Sokov again and said in an approving tone: "Misha, although I have never seen this Sergeant Vasily, judging from his defensive deployments, he will definitely be an excellent commander in the future."
Several soldiers were sitting on the stairs, talking and laughing quietly, looking at the group of people walking in from outside the building, they quickly stood up. After seeing Sokov in the crowd, they all raised their hands to their foreheads, saluted Sokov, and said, "Hello brigade commander, we have guarded here and did not let the Germans go further."
"Good, comrades, you are all good." Sokov took two steps forward, reached out to shake hands with the soldiers one by one, and finally asked the soldier who was talking: "Comrade Warrior, do you know where Sergeant Vasily is?"
"I am here, comrade brigade commander." Before the soldier could speak, a low voice sounded behind Sokov: "I am here."
Sokov turned around and saw Vasily carrying a sniper rifle walking towards him. His originally brand new military uniform was now covered with dust, with brown spots on it, which looked like blood. He came to Sokov and stood up and saluted, "Comrade Brigade Commander, Sergeant Vasily reported to you, we are sticking to the building, please give me instructions!"
"Sergeant Vasily, you and your subordinates are all good." Sokov held Vasily's cold hand and said with a smile: "I heard that you stayed here, wiped out more than a dozen German tanks, and killed hundreds of German soldiers. This is really an amazing record."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vasily replied embarrassedly when he heard Sokov's praise for himself: "Since we occupied this building, our superiors have sent us a lot of reinforcements and also supplied us with ammunition and supplies every day. It is precisely because of this aid that we can keep here."
"Comrade Vasily," Sokov saw a large group of people standing around him, and some things were hard to say in public. He coughed gently, then pretended to be casual and asked, "Can you speak in another place?"
After hearing Sokov's words, Vasily realized that there were people standing around him. If there was anything important to talk about, it would be a bit inconvenient. He quickly turned his body to the side and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, go to my place to take a look. It's not far from here, it's on the second floor of the unit in the middle."
Sokov thought he had to leave the building first and enter the building from another entrance before he could reach Vasily's resting place. Unexpectedly, Vasily took them directly along the stairs to the second floor, and turned back to Sokov while walking, saying, "Comrade Brigade Commander, some places on the roof of the building were blown up by German shells. Be careful when you go upstairs."
Except Sokov, the only one who followed Vasily upstairs was Yakov. The two followed Vasily, stepped on the broken floor and walked upstairs carefully. After arriving at the second floor, Vasily led the two through the holes that several people could pass through and came to a room with candles.
Vasily stopped, turned around and smiled and said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I'm here. This is where I live and my temporary command post."
Looking at the candlesticks on the fireplace, three burning candles were inserted, Sokov reminded Vasily in a panic: "Comrade Vasily, how can you light candles in the house? This will be discovered by the enemy."
"Don't worry, comrade comrade commander." Vasily replied with a smile: "There are two thick curtains blocking it. The light cannot be exposed and the target will not be exposed. Please sit down with this major."
Sokov and Yakov just sat down at the chair that they brought to Vasily. Vasily walked over with two ceramic tea tanks in one hand and a teapot in the other, and said to the two with a smile: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you must be tired and thirsty after you have walked so far. Come on! Have some tea."
Sokov and Yakov each took a tea jar, held it in their hands, and let Vasily pour tea for themselves. Sokov said with some emotion: "Sergeant Vasily, you are living a good life here."
Vasily grinned and replied, "Comrade Brigade Commander, because the building is in a good location, the enemy's artillery and planes cannot destroy it, and we can use favorable terrain to block the enemies who are trying to pass through the building. In general, fighting here is better than in other places."
Sokov waited for Vasily to pour himself tea, picked it up and took a sip, and then asked, "Sergeant Vasily, I want to ask, how many defenders are there in the building now?"
"There are 62 combat troops, comrade brigade commander." Vasily replied without hesitation: "In addition to the reinforcements sent by the brigade headquarters to us, we also accommodated some broken friendly troops. In addition to the combat troops, there are 17 original residents in the building. They are unwilling to evacuate to the rear, but instead stay to help us cook and take care of the wounded."
Sokov didn't expect that there were nearly eighty people in this building. After Vasily reported, he asked with some concern: "Sergeant Vasily, so many of you are crowded in the building. Even if the enemy's cannons and planes cannot destroy the building, the casualties must be small, right?"
"That's right, comrade brigade commander." Vasily explained: "In normal combat, we only use half of our troops as reserves, and the rest hide in the basement. This way, unnecessary casualties can be avoided in enemy shelling and bombing. If we need help, they will come to support us immediately."
"Comrade Sergeant," Yakov couldn't help but ask curiously: "I want to ask, how do you summon them when you need manpower? Did you send a message soldier to inform me one by one?"
Hearing Yakov's question, Vasily grinned and then replied: "Comrade Major, we have a phone call here! If we need support from comrades hiding in the basement, we only need to call them, and they can immediately come out of the basement and enter their respective combat posts in the shortest time."
"Sergeant Vasily," Sokov thought that the Germans had completed the assembly on January 9 and then launched an attack on the building, so he asked curiously: "But what measures have you taken when the enemy assembled across the square?"
Sokov's words made Vasia confused. He looked at Sokov and asked in confusion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, there is no other measure except for preparing for combat. You must know that we gathered with the enemy for four or five hundred meters. Even if we use machine guns to strafuse them, as long as they dodge behind the tanks, we will not be able to cause any casualties to them. Instead, the location of the machine gun will be exposed and bombarded by enemy tank guns."
"You have seen all the new rockets I have sent you, right?" Sokov looked at Vasily and asked, "Did you use them in battle?"
"No, there are too few new rockets, and we have never used them before." Vasily replied in an unusually straightforward way: "If you fire rashly and hit the target, it's okay. If you get all empty, wouldn't it be a waste of good things?"
Chapter completed!