Sokov remembered the commander standing in front of the military flag that he had seen in his dream. He was a colonel. If the people and things he dreamed of in his dream were true, it means that the lieutenant colonel in front of him was not the supreme commander of this unit. Therefore, he did not go around in circles, but asked directly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are probably not the supreme commander of this unit, right?"

The lieutenant colonel's face changed and he asked with a stern face: "Who told you that I am not the supreme commander of the army?"

"Here!" Sokov whined at the military flag leaning against the corner of the wall: "I saw that the military flag had the number of the 315th Infantry Division written on it, but the captain who brought me over called you the regiment commander, which means there is a commander with a higher rank than you."

The lieutenant colonel slapped heavily on the table with his hand and asked sternly: "Tell me honestly, who are you?"

"I just said that I am my own."

"Owner, what kind of person is your own?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I want to figure out one thing before I reveal my identity."

"What's the matter?"

"Are you really the 315th Infantry Division?"

Faced with the question raised by Sokov, the lieutenant colonel hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded and said, "Yes, we are the 315th Infantry Division. Now, you can tell me who you are, right?"

Sokov twisted his body and broke free from the two soldiers' constraints. He took a step forward, put his hands behind his back, and said loudly: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the Infantry Brigade of the 16th Army. At the order of my superiors, I rushed to the Lezica area to find you."

"You said you are the brigade commander of the infantry brigade or the rank of lieutenant colonel?"

"That's right." Sokov nodded and gave the other party a positive answer.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the lieutenant colonel sneered: "You said you were a lieutenant colonel, but you are too young to be able to obtain such a military rank." He pointed to his collar and continued to say, "I am now 41 years old and have been in the army for 23 years. Depending on your age, I am afraid that I will not be more than three years of military service. With such a short military service, it is very difficult to be a second lieutenant. How can I obtain the rank of lieutenant colonel? Even if you want to cheat, you have to find a reliable reason."

The reaction of the lieutenant colonel had long been Sokov's speculation. He was not angry at all, but said kindly: "It would be difficult for comrade lieutenant colonel to be promoted in the army during peacetime. But now it is a period of war, and it is also uncommon for an exceptional promotion because of a certain merit."

"What is your purpose here?"

"It was only when we received a telegram from you that we knew that there was a unit of our army in the Lezicha area. Therefore, the superior leader ordered me to contact you as soon as possible and find a way to take you back to our army's defense zone."

After hearing Sokov's words, the lieutenant colonel looked him up and down with suspicious eyes, then turned his head to ask a lieutenant next to him: "Communication Staff, has our radio station sent a telegram to the outside world?"

"Yes, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." The naming communications consultant nodded and replied: "We did send telegrams to the outside world and even received a call back. Since you were not in the command center at that time, it is understandable that you did not know about this."

As soon as Sokov and other communications consultants finished speaking, they immediately continued: "After we received the telegram from you, I immediately arranged the radio operator. Look, it is the lesbian, and the telegram was sent by her."

The Lieutenant Colonel asked the communications officer to take the telegram sent by Morozova, and after browsing the above content quickly, he looked at Sokov and asked: "You said you are Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the Infantry Brigade, and you have had telegrams with us. So now, what did you say in your call back?"

"I asked Morozova to indicate our identity, army number, etc. to you in the call back." Sokov pointed at the telegram held by the lieutenant colonel with his hand: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is I right? Just look at the telegram in your hand and you will know."

The lieutenant colonel had read the telegram, so he naturally knew that what Sokov said was consistent with the content on the telegram. He could basically confirm that these people in German uniforms were friendly comrades who came to contact his troops. However, the lieutenant colonel did not immediately change his attitude, but continued to ask: "What you said on the telegram is roughly correct. But how do you prove to us that this telegram was sent by you?"

Sokov did not speak, but turned to Morozova, winked at her, and signaled her to answer the question.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Morozova, who saw Sokov's eyes, immediately understood his intentions, quickly walked forward a few steps, and said to the Lieutenant Colonel: "If you don't believe it, I can send a newspaper in front of you, and let your radio operator make a judgment to see if he has heard my method and rhythm of sending newspapers."

The Lieutenant Colonel thought Morozova's proposal was very good. Every radio operator had his own habit of sending newspapers. Since she had sent a telegram with the radio operators of the division headquarters, as long as she was asked to send a telegram in public, the radio operators of the division headquarters could determine whether the person who sent the newspaper to him was the female soldier in front of him.

"This lesbian," said the lieutenant colonel to Morozova in a polite tone: "Then please send a telegram now and let my radio operator identify it to see if he had sent you a telegram. Do you think it's OK?"

"Of course." Morozova readily agreed to the lieutenant colonel's proposal and said with a puzzled look: "But, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the radio station we carried was smashed by your people on the way and could not send a report at all."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," the communications officer whispered to the Lieutenant Colonel: "You can ask her to send a message on our radio station and then let the radio operator put on headphones to monitor it, so that you can confirm whether the radio operator who called us back is this girl."

"I think it's OK." The lieutenant colonel also felt that this was the best way to distinguish my enemies, so he nodded in agreement: "Then let her try it."

"Morozova," Sokov turned his head to Morozova and said, "Then you try it."

Morozova came to the phone to sit down, moved her hands, and then started to launch a telegram "Didi". The radio operator of the division headquarters stood beside him, put on a pair of headphones, and quietly listened to Morozova's telegram.

After listening for a while, the radio operator took off his headphones and said to the lieutenant colonel who was waiting next to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, yes, she should be the one who sent me the telegram yesterday."

The lieutenant colonel stared at the radio operator and asked, "Are you sure?"

"It's totally certain." The radio operator replied: "This female radio operator's method of sending newspapers is very special. She must be the one who sent me yesterday."

A smile appeared on the face of the lieutenant colonel. He took the initiative to extend his hand to Sokov and said with a friendly attitude: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. Let me introduce myself, I am Lieutenant Colonel Harlanchuk, the commander of the 1069th Regiment of the 315th Infantry Division."

"Hello, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov asked tentatively as he shook hands with Haranchuk: "I wonder where your division commander has gone?"

"He went out to inspect the troops."

"Aren't you in the Lezica area? Why did you move here?"

"Oh, we have no choice." Halanchuk heard this question and sighed, "Since we lost contact with our superiors, we have been operating behind enemy lines. Since the troops could not get any supplies, they are now facing a situation of exhausting ammunition and food. The enemy obviously discovered this shortcoming of ours and sent heavy troops to the Leqicha area to encircle and suppress us. In order to preserve the vitality, we had to give up the Leqicha area and move to our current position."

Sokov finished speaking and asked another key question: "How many troops do your division have?"

"The troops were 11,000 when they were fully in power, but after such a long battle, the entire division could still fight, no more than four thousand people."

Sokov thought that this army was trapped behind enemy lines for so long and could have left a thousand men, which was considered very good. But at this moment, he heard that there were about four thousand people left, so he was still a little surprised. He said somewhat surprised: "I really didn't expect that you still have so many troops."

When Khalanchuk heard Sokov say this, he asked in confusion: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, according to your idea, how many people should be left in our division?"

"Ltd. Col. Khalanchuk," Sokov responded politely: "There are many troops in the 16th Army defense zone that were crippled by the enemy, and some of the infantry divisions were only five or six hundred. It is amazing that you can keep nearly four thousand soldiers."

While Sokov and Haranchuk were chatting, someone suddenly shouted outside: "Comrade Commander is back!"

When Sokov learned that the division commander had returned, he quickly stood up and looked towards the door.

Soon, a middle-aged commander wearing a grey otter fur hat, a black military coat, and a collar seal, walked towards the location where Sokov and Haranchuk were accompanied by several officers.

When Sokov saw the person clearly, his heart couldn't help but jump: Yes, it was him, the commander he saw in his dream.

The colonel came to Haranchuk, looked at Sokov standing beside him, and couldn't help but frowned slightly: "Ltd Colonel Haranchuk, is this the prisoner you captured?"

"Comrade Commander, let me introduce you to you. This is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the Infantry Brigade of the 16th Army. He was ordered to come here to establish contact with us."

"Hello, Comrade Commander." Sokov waited for Haranchuk to finish his speech, and quickly extended his hand to the colonel: "After receiving the telegram from you yesterday, General Rokosovsky, the commander of the army, gave me an order to come and establish contact with you."

The colonel and Sokov shook their hands and said, "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I am Colonel Polytic, the commander of the 315th Infantry Division. On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the division, I welcome the arrival of friendly comrades."

After greeting Sokov to sit down, Colonel Polytic said politely: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, we have lost contact with our superiors in the past few months. I wonder where the front line is now?"

Sokov thought for a while and replied: "The current defense zone of the 16th Army is in the area of ​​the Rama River."

"Around the Rama River?" Hearing Sokov say this, Polytic quickly pulled the map on the table, put it in front of him, and looked carefully.

After finding the place name Sokov mentioned, Politic gestured on the map for a long time with his hand, and finally took a breath: "My God, it's more than 200 kilometers away from us. And there is only less than 100 kilometers away from Moscow. If the German offensive is fierce and breaks through our defense line, they can rush into Moscow directly."

"Comrade Colonel, even if we sacrifice all our lives, we will never let the enemy step into Moscow." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Even if there are living Germans who can enter Moscow, their identities will be prisoners of war in our army."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you're right. We can definitely stop the Germans from letting them break into Moscow." Politic finished speaking and asked his concern: "I wonder what General Rokosovsky intends to let us do?"

"If possible, Commander Rokosovsky hopes that you can withdraw to the defense zone of the 16th Army and participate in this great battle to defend Moscow."

Polytic frowned: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, it is more than 200 kilometers away from us to the Rama River, and there are a large number of German troops along the way. How can we transfer these thousands of commanders and fighters safely?"

On the way here, Sokov saw the enemy's defensive positions and checkpoints, and he knew very well that it would be difficult to reach the sky if he wanted to transfer thousands of people quietly to the defense zone of the 16th Army.

After careful consideration, Sokov decided to explain the actual situation to Polytic: "Comrade Colonel, as you are worried, it is indeed not easy to hike thousands of troops on foot more than 200 kilometers, cross the enemy's layers of defense, and return to our army's positions."

"Ltd. Colonel Sokov, I'll tell you, the division commander and I have discussed this issue." Halanchuk sighed and said, "It's a pity that I thought of many ways but could not bring these thousands of commanders and fighters back to our army's defense line."

"We have different opinions on whether to go or stay," Politic said. "When the proposal to return to our own defense line east was denied by reality, many commanders proposed that we should stay in our current place to fight guerrillas and engage in the enemy."

"Comrade Colonel, your division's situation is not suitable for staying to fight guerrillas." Sokov and Polytic said that he immediately expressed his concerns: "Once the Germans knew that there was a built-in unit of our army behind them, they would definitely mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress the enemy. I do not deny that the commanders and fighters of the 315th Division will show bravery and courage when facing the enemy, but because you are trapped behind the enemy and cannot get any supplies, facing the enemy's heavy troops, what fate will you face in the end? Even if I don't say it, you should be very clear in your heart."

"That's right." Politic agreed with Sokov's statement: "In the past, when the troops were sufficient ammunition, we could still actively attack the enemy in individual areas. However, with the shortage of ammunition and supplies, we had to switch from offense to defense. For example, this time, if there was sufficient ammunition and facing a German regiment that rushed over, we would definitely choose to fight head-on rather than retreat."
Chapter completed!