When Goria left with his men, he also specifically reminded the correspondents in the command post: "If the political deputy battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion calls again, you will say I will take people to the brigade command center and ask him to bring people over quickly."
Unexpectedly, before he arrived at the brigade command, he saw a team of people coming from another fork. Goria turned his head and saw that the person who was leading the way was actually the deputy battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion. He asked in surprise: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, you are here so fast!" He glanced at the soldiers behind the other party, and asked in a low voice, "Did you bring people here after receiving a call from my subordinates?"
"What phone number?" The deputy battalion commander said in surprise: "After I called you, I called the first and second battalions again. Although they knew that the brigade commander was injured, they had no idea that the superiors had appointed a new brigade commander. I thought something was wrong, so they were going to take people to the brigade command center to take a look."
When Goriya heard the other party say this, he couldn't help but think: "Since the first and second battalions have received the call, I believe the two battalion commanders will definitely bring people here. At that time, nearly 100 people are surrounding the brigade commander. It seems that the superiors dare to withdraw their brigade commander."
If it were normal times, no commander dared to gather a group of subordinates to force his superiors to change a certain appointment. But the situation is different now. Sokov is the backbone of the defenders of Mamayev. If he was really removed from his superiors, it would inevitably affect the morale of the troops. If the people's hearts disperse, it would be difficult to lead the team.
In order to prevent the superior from replacing Sokov by arbitrarily, not only the deputy battalion commander of the Fourth Battalion, but also Goriya led a team of people to the brigade commander, and connected to the telephone No. 1 Battalion Commander Vanya and Vasily, the second battalion commander, also brought a squad of soldiers to the brigade headquarters. However, before departure, Vanya became more cautious, and he also called the third battalion commander Andre and told the other party directly: "The superior has appointed a new brigade commander. It seems that they are planning to remove our brigade commander. If you are still from the infantry brigade, immediately take your troops to the brigade commander and ask for an explanation from the new brigade commander sent by the superior."
In fact, after Cuikov appointed the acting brigade commander of Witkov, he called Sidolin to notify Sidolin. In order to maintain the stability of the troops, Sidolin did not inform the battalion commanders of the battalion, and even Belkin and Yakov, who were guarding outside the operating room, did not know about this.
Although there is only a curtain hanging at the door of the operating room, if you want to understand the operation, you only need to lift the curtain and go in. However, whether it is Belkin or Yakov, you are afraid that you will break in without authorization, which will affect the military doctor's surgery, so you can only stand outside and wait anxiously.
Yakov raised his hand and looked at the watch, and said anxiously: "Comrade Political Commissar, this operation has been done for an hour and a half, why hasn't it been done yet? Tell me, Misha is not in danger of his life, right?"
"I think it shouldn't be, Major Yakov." Belkin was also worried about Sokov's safety. However, in the current situation, in order to prevent panic, he still tried to control his emotions and said in a steady tone: "Before the brigade commander entered the operating room, I once talked with him a few words. Although he was a little weak, according to my experience, he should not be in danger of life."
As the two were talking, a soldier suddenly ran over hurriedly. After seeing Belkin, he did not shout loudly, but approached Belkin's ear and said a few words in a low voice.
Yakov, who was standing aside, saw Belkin's face showing a look of horror after hearing what the warrior said, and he asked nervously: "Comrade Political Commissar, what happened?"
"There is an urgent matter in the brigade. Chief of Staff Citolin asked me to go back immediately." Berkin waved his hand in a panic and said, "Major Yakov, please wait for the brigade commander to come out here." After that, without waiting for Yakov to speak, he waved his head to the soldier and headed towards the brigade command. The soldiers standing beside him hurriedly followed.
After Berkin walked a distance, he turned his head and saw that there was no trace of Yakov. He whispered to the report: "What's going on? Why did the battalion commanders lead people to surround the brigade command? Do they want to rebel?"
"Comrade Political Commissar," the soldier said hurriedly: "I asked a fellow villager who participated in the siege. According to what he said, the battalion commanders of each battalion heard that their superiors had appointed a new brigade commander to replace our brigade commander, so they were anxious and took people to the brigade commander to find the new brigade commander."
"Nothing is nothing, nothing." Berkin said angrily as he speeded up his pace: "Whose commander of the superiors is their power. What kind of coax the battalion commanders below should bring people to surround the brigade command. Aren't they afraid of going to the military court?"
After hearing this, the soldier smiled bitterly and said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you think if someone else is to command the troops, we can live to the day of victory?"
The soldiers' words made Belkin fall into deep thought. The battle was extremely cruel since the German approached Stalingrad. Other troops were crippled in a week or two at most. Only their own troops were still like nails when facing the fierce attack of the German army, firmly nailed to the Mamayev hill without a single step. The brigade commander Lieutenant Colonel Sokov made an indelible contribution to this. If the brigade commander was replaced at this time, the commanders and soldiers would definitely have some bad associations in their hearts.
Before Berkin could reach the brigade command, he found that the passage in front was blocked by a group of soldiers. The soldiers who reported the news saw that the front was blocked, quickly shouted loudly: "Comrades, please give up, the political commissar is here."
Hearing the shouts of the soldiers, the soldiers blocking the passage immediately gave up a narrow passage, allowing Belkin and his men to pass through. Belkin spent all his efforts and finally squeezed into the command center. In the house, he saw that in addition to Sidolin and the five battalion commanders, there was also a strange colonel.
Berkin guessed that the colonel should be the newly appointed brigade commander of his superiors, so he walked straight to him, raised his hand to salute him, and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Colonel, I am Beerkin, the political commissar of the Infantry Brigade. Do you have any instructions to come here?"
"Hello, Political Commissar of Belkin." The colonel stretched out his hand to Belkin and said with a smile: "I am Colonel Witkov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Group Army. My superior appointed me to serve as a brigade commander of the Infantry Brigade. I came here to take office." After saying this, he turned his head and looked at the door, saying helplessly, "I find that your soldiers are very enthusiastic. I heard that I came to act as an acting brigade commander, but I actually blocked the door."
"Chief of Staff," after Belkin and Vitkov finished speaking, he turned his head and asked Cidolin: "What the hell is going on? Why are there so many warriors outside?"
Regarding Belkin's questioning, Sidolin shrugged, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Comrade Political Commissar, the five battalion commanders learned that their superiors had appointed a new brigade commander, so they each brought people to me to ask for an explanation and asked me if my superiors had removed Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"Comrade Political Commissar." As soon as Cydollin finished speaking, Vanya took a step forward and said to Belkin: "The commanders and soldiers of the brigade are very clear that the reason why we can still hold on to the Mamayev post is completely dependent on the wise leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. Without him, we would not only not only not be able to defend the positions here, but also have all the troops destroyed. We cannot accept people other than him as brigade commanders of the infantry brigade."
"That's right," Vasily waited for Vanya to finish his speech, and immediately echoed: "We do not accept others as our brigade commander."
Seeing that both Vanya and Vasily had made their statements, the other three battalion commanders also said in unison: "Only Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is the brigade commander we recognize."
The soldiers standing in the corridor outside the door heard their battalion commander's statement and shouted in unison: "Only Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is the brigade commander we all recognize!" Their shouts alarmed the nearby soldiers. The soldiers who did not know the truth came out from the resting place and rushed to the location of the brigade command, trying to figure out what was going on.
At this moment, Vitkov's heart was broken. He didn't expect that before he officially took office, he was boycotted by all the commanders and fighters of the infantry brigade. Sokov's reputation in the brigade is evident. He looked at Belkin and said with some amusement and laughter: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you have any good solutions?"
"Quiet, comrades, please be quiet!" Belkin walked to the door and shouted loudly to the outside: "I just returned from the health team, and the brigade commander is still undergoing surgery. Your noise like this will affect the military doctor's surgery."
When they learned that Sokov was still undergoing surgery, the soldiers shouting outside became quiet one after another. The soldiers who were not sure about the situation were still carefully asking others what was going on, why was the brigade commander in the operating room, and why did the superiors send a new brigade commander?
After the outdoor quieted again, Belkin walked back to Cidorin and asked with a stern face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think you should have received the news that Colonel Witkov was the acting brigade commander?" Seeing Cidorin nodding, he asked in a more intense tone, "Then why don't you inform the battalion commanders of each battalion so that they can know what they know?"
"Sorry, Comrade Political Commissar." Seeing what was happening in front of him, Cidolin realized that he had made a huge mistake. He did not inform the battalion commanders of the superior in time, which inevitably led to misunderstandings. Faced with Belkin's criticism, he could only blush and admit his mistake: "It's all my fault, I am willing to take all the responsibility."
Berkin didn't bother with him, but turned his attention to Witkov again and asked politely: "Comrade Colonel, can I ask, what is going on with your appointment by my superiors?"
"That's right, Comrade Berkin." Vitkov found that the situation was out of control at this moment. If he didn't explain the matter clearly in front of several battalion commanders, the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, he told Berkin truthfully: "After learning that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov was injured, the commander was particularly anxious, so he discussed with Chief of Staff General Krelov and sent a suitable candidate to temporarily replace Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's commander. At first, General Krelov proposed the candidate Rodimtev, the commander of the 13th Division of the Guards, but was rejected by the commander..."
When Berkin heard this, he raised his hand to interrupt Vitkov's later words, and grabbed one of the key points. "Comrade Colonel, you just said that your superiors just asked you to take over the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, rather than letting you officially take over as the infantry brigade?"
"Yes, I am just a temporary position as acting brigade commander." Witkov nodded and replied affirmatively: "When Lieutenant Colonel Sokov recovers from his health, he will regain command."
After listening to Witkov's explanation, the commanders present all breathed a sigh of relief. After a long time, it turned out that the superior appointed a new brigade commander not to replace Sokov, but to temporarily command him during his recovery. After Berkin figured out what was going on, he looked at the five battalion commanders standing aside: "Have you all figured out what's going on?"
"Yes, I've figured it out." Several battalion commanders replied in unison.
"Since you've figured it out, what are you doing here?" Belkin pointed his hand out of the door and said bluntly: "Let your people return to their respective troops immediately, don't block the door, and the command center should work normally."
After the five battalion commanders learned that they had made an error, they were already a little ashamed. When they heard Belkin's orders, they did not dare to neglect them. They rushed out of the door and issued orders to their troops, asking them to return to their respective troops immediately.
While the battalion commanders were busy outside, Witkov said to Belkin gratefully: "Comrade Political Commissar, fortunately you are here, otherwise I don't know how to end today's matter!"
"I'm sorry, comrade Colonel." Belkin said apologetically to Witkov: "It was our commander who had blocked you without understanding the situation. I apologize to you on behalf of them for their reckless behavior. Please do not care about them."
Cidolin felt that at this time, he should say a few words: "Comrade Acting Brigade Commander, since it has been clear that it is a misunderstanding, please do not send these commanders to the military court, because in the next battle, they will still be needed to command the battle."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin." Witkov looked at Sidolin and said generously: "Since you also said it was a misunderstanding, then you don't have to hold anyone accountable anymore. Look, should you introduce me to the situation in Mamayev so that I can know it."
Chapter completed!