Hearing the rumbling sound of cannons in the direction of the workers' new village, the factory gate one or two kilometers away from the family area, it looked like it was facing a great enemy. The reunion battalion and militia entered the defensive position and were ready to fight the enemy.
Sokov and his team arrived near the factory gate through the sewer. Seeing the exit right in front of them, Samoilov stopped and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, go out from here and is the duty room at the Red October factory gate. We don't know what the situation is outside now, and whether there are enemies or not, so we should send a soldier out to observe first."
After Samoilov said this, seeing that Sokov did not object, he called a soldier beside him and told him, "Go out and see how the situation is outside, and whether our people are still controlling this area."
The soldier nodded, walked quickly to the exit, and climbed out with the help of an iron ladder embedded in the pipe wall. As soon as Sokov saw the soldier disappearing from the exit, he heard a silence from above: "Who? Don't move, raise your hand!" Then he heard a sound of pulling the bolt of the gun.
"Not good!" Sokov said intimately, "The people above regard our warriors as enemies."
"Don't shoot! It's your own person." Sokov soon heard the voice of the soldier: "I'm from the Guards Battalion of the 41st Division of Guards..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the person who was speaking at the beginning: "Since it is from the Guard Division, why didn't he fight against the enemy in the Workers' New Village, but ran to us? I think you are a deserter!"
"I'm not a deserter." The soldier quickly explained: "I'm an escort division commander here!"
Sokov felt that the voice of the person who spoke above was very familiar. After thinking carefully, he immediately remembered that it was Baldur Sak, the commander of the destroyer battalion. He hurriedly walked towards the stairs and prepared to climb up to say hello to the other party. Unexpectedly, he was tightly held back by Samoilov: "Comrade Commander, please wait for the misunderstanding above to explain it clearly before going up. If there is a team leader, we will be beaten to death as deserters."
"Don't worry, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov gently broke free from Samoilov's hand and comforted him, "I know the person who is talking above. I just need to go out and say hello to him, and the misunderstanding will be resolved." After that, he walked to the stairs, climbed up with his hands and feet and ground.
Before protruding his head out, Sokov shouted to the outside, "Balshak, I am Sokov, let your man put the gun down so that he would not get out of fire!"
The person who scolded the soldiers on it was Ballshaq, the battalion commander of the fighter. He was stunned when he heard someone calling his name in the sewer. Then he turned his head and asked a fighter who was holding a gun next to him: "What's the name that man just said just now?"
The fighter of the fighter battalion who was asked replied in an uncertain tone: "He, he seems to say he is called Sokov..."
"Comrade Commander," the pathfinder continued quickly, "the person who talks to you below is our division commander Colonel Sokov."
"It's Colonel Sokov!" After hearing clearly that it was Sokov, Ballshaq hurriedly ordered the soldiers around him: "We are our own people in the sewer. Put down our guns, don't get out of the fire!" Then he rushed to the exit quickly and bent down to reach out to Sokov who was climbing on the stairs.
Sokov climbed out of the sewer with the help of Ballshak. He had just stood up straight. Ballshak grabbed his shoulder, pulled him forward, and gave a passionate hug, and said excitedly: "Col. Sokov, where did you come from? I can't believe that I can actually see you here."
"I didn't expect that Comrade Ballshak," Sokov slapped Ballshak's back and said with a smile: "As soon as you crawl out of the sewer, you will meet you."
When Sokov mentioned the sewer, Baulshak let go of him and asked curiously: "Col. Sokov, how could you get out of the sewer?"
Sokov turned his head and looked at the workers' new village, which was filled with gunpowder, and replied: "I evacuated from the workers' new village. By the way, my troops will soon pass the sewer and retreat here. Please say hello to your subordinates so that unnecessary misunderstandings will occur."
"What, your troops have been removed from the workers' new village?" Ballshak's face changed drastically when he heard Sokov say this. He took two steps back, looked Sokov up and down, and asked in a vigilant tone: "Are you planning to be a deserter?"
"Comrade Ballshak," Sokov didn't expect Ballshak to turn against him, which was faster than flipping a book. He also restrained the smile on his face and said with a stern face: "We are not escaping, but retreating temporarily. When the time is right, we will return to the workers' new village."
"When the time is right?" Ballshak repeated Sokov's words and said with a sneer: "As soon as the workers' new village is lost, the Germans will immediately rush to the factory. Where do you have any chance to go back."
"We used to fight side by side in the assembly workshop. Don't you know what kind of person I am?" Sokov explained to him patiently: "The enemy launched two consecutive attacks on the Workers' New Village, and they were all repelled. Now they have adjusted their offensive tactics and destroyed the buildings in the Workers' New Village with artillery fire. If I don't withdraw the troops, and by the time the enemy destroys all the buildings, my people will almost die. All the people are dead, what should I use to block the enemy's attack?"
Sokov's words made Ballshaq realize that he might have blamed the other party wrongly. The muscles on his face twitched twice, and he tried to squeeze out a smile and said, "Col. Sokov, maybe I made a mistake. Please forgive me." In order to alleviate the embarrassment caused by the misunderstanding, he took the initiative to show kindness, "It's too cold outside. You and I go to the duty room to get the heat. The deputy director of the factory, Comrade Zinchenko, is also here. You can talk to him."
"Oh, the deputy director is here too." Hearing that Zinchenko is also here, Sokov raised his eyebrows and said, "Take me to see him quickly."
Sokov left Samoilov to assist Ballshak's subordinates to meet the upcoming troops. He and Ballshak walked shoulder to shoulder toward the duty room at the factory gate. On the way, Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Ballshak, I remember you were in charge of the defense tasks of the factory building, so why was you transferred to the factory gate?" His purpose was to know whether Ballshak offended Peter, so he was sent to this position.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Ballshaq smiled and said, "Comrade Colonel, my fighter battalion was transferred to the factory gate, which has something to do with you."
"It has something to do with me?" Ballshak's words confused Sokov, and he asked in confusion: "How can it have something to do with me?"
"The defense you organized in the assembly workshop has already scared the enemy. Maybe they are worried about losing again. Now they dare not launch an attack from the north of the factory area. They can only choose the new village of workers in the attack." Ballsak explained: "Since the enemy does not dare to attack directly at the factory area, the defense tasks in the factory area will be much easier. Therefore, the factory director transferred our battalion here to strengthen the frontal defense of the factory."
The two of them said this and had already arrived at the door of the duty room. Ballshaq nodded at the sentry at the door, and went forward and pushed open the door. He did not enter the room immediately, but said to the inside: "Comrade Deputy Director, look, who is here?" After that, he flashed his body to the side so that the people inside could see clearly outside the door.
Zinchenko sat behind an office desk, lowering his head and writing something. He heard Ballshaq's voice and looked out the door. When he saw clearly that the person standing at the door was Sokov, he suddenly stood up, walked around the table, and rushed to the door to greet him: "It's you, Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect to see you here."
After the two of them hugged each other, Zinchenko took Sokov to the table in the room, and then sat down, ran to pour a hot tea and handed it to Sokov. Then he asked curiously: "Col. Sokov, shouldn't you command the troops in Mamayev's hill? Why did you appear here?"
Sokov put the teacup in his hand on the table, looked at Zinchenko and said, "Comrade Deputy Director, a regiment under my command took over the defense of the 39th Guards Division in the workers' new village. I was a little worried, so I stayed there to observe the battle situation."
"Comrade Colonel, you are the commander of the first division, how can you stay in such a dangerous place?" Zinchenko advised Sokov: "When the 39th Guards Division was responsible for the defense of the west side of the factory, their division headquarters was located not far from the factory gate. You can consider setting up your command center there."
"Comrade Deputy Director, thank you for your kindness." Sokov expressed his gratitude to Zinchenko: "I think the commander should stay with the soldiers, so that he can understand everything that happened on the battlefield in a timely manner and make necessary adjustments based on the actual situation."
"Comrade Colonel," Zinchenko once fought side by side with Sokov, knowing that he would not appear here for no reason, and there must be some reason, so he asked curiously: "Is there anything important to come here?"
"I have ordered the troops to temporarily give up the workers' village and retreat here." Sokov replied lightly: "I'm here to explore the way first."
Chapter completed!