red moscow

Chapter 3122

After ending his call with Rokossovsky, Sokov put the receiver back on the telephone and let out a slight sigh of relief. Just then, the door opened, and Belkin, who had just gone outside to set up the sentries, walked in, shivering from the cold. He brushed the snow off his overcoat and immediately noticed the several plates of steaming dumplings on the table; his eyes lit up instantly.

"Comrade cook!" Belkin's voice boomed, brimming with obvious joy, as he asked the cook standing beside Sokov, "What kind of filling are these dumplings?"

The cook immediately straightened up and respectfully replied, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander! I know you love mutton dumplings the most. Here, this plate was specially saved for you; they're freshly cooked mutton dumplings." As he spoke, he gently pushed the plate of dumplings closest to him towards Belkin.

At that moment, Karsokov finished his call and came over to sit down next to Sokov. His gaze fell on another plate of dumplings on the table, and he smiled slightly, saying with certainty, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the kind I like—lamb dumplings, right?"

The cook next to him nodded quickly, his face beaming with a smile, and replied, "You guessed right, Chief of Staff. These are your favorite kinds of mutton dumplings. Please have some; they're still warm."

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" Belkin sat down at the table, picked up a dumpling with his fork, blew on it, and looked at Sokov curiously, asking, "What kind of filling do you have?"

Sokov was used to pork and chive dumplings and pork and cabbage dumplings, and he wasn't quite used to beef or mutton dumplings. So when the cook came in and asked him what filling he wanted, he chose the hearty and filling mashed potato filling almost without hesitation. He swallowed a bite of dumpling, looked up and smiled, and replied, "It's mashed potato filling."

After saying this, Sokov promptly changed the subject. His voice was exceptionally clear in the simple brigade command post: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, have the guard troops been arranged?" The iron furnace in the center of the command post was burning brightly, occasionally spewing out a few sparks that reflected in his slightly tired but still sharp eyes.

“Yes, everything is arranged.” Belkin replied, patting the deployment map spread out on the wooden table. “I have deployed platoon-level units to guard the directions where the enemy might appear—especially the northwest edge of the woodland and the road junction to the south. Each platoon is equipped with a heavy machine gun and two scouts to lie in ambush. With this force, even if the Germans do launch a surprise attack, they can hold them off for a while until reinforcements arrive.”

Sokov nodded slightly after hearing this: "With the guards in place, our soldiers can enjoy the New Year in peace, have a bowl of hot soup, and get a good night's sleep without worrying about being awakened by German gunfire."

“Comrade Brigade Commander, I don’t think the Germans are likely to launch a surprise attack tonight.” Belkin took the teacup handed to him by the Chief of Staff, took a sip of hot tea with sugar cubes, and said, “After all, New Year’s Day is a very important holiday for them. Their supply train delivered wine and smoked meat yesterday—the reconnaissance team heard the sound of an accordion coming from the opposite position.”

“It’s always good to be prepared.” Sokov walked to the lookout post, lifted the windproof blanket and looked out at the dark snowfield. “It would be best if the enemy didn’t launch a surprise attack. Even if they did, with troops on guard, we won’t be caught off guard.”

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Karsokov interrupted after Sokov finished speaking, asking, "What did the Commander say on the phone just now?"

Hearing Karsokov's words, Belkin became interested and even put down his fork: "What? The Commander just called? Brigade Commander, tell me quickly, what did he say?" Karsokov turned around with a rare smile on his face: "The Commander said that the Supreme Commander himself is very satisfied with our brigade's performance over the past few months, and he personally ordered a commendation for us." Karsokov took out a cigarette case from his coat pocket and handed a cigarette to everyone. "The commendation order will be delivered by comrades from headquarters tomorrow; consider it a New Year's gift from our superiors to our brigade."

Upon learning that Stalin had personally commended the infantry brigade, Belkin and Karsokov were overjoyed. Belkin's hand trembled slightly as he struck the match, the flickering flame reflecting the tears welling in his eyes. After a moment, he tentatively asked, "Since the higher-ups are commending us, is there any chance we might be promoted to the Guards?"

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you,” Sokov said with a soft sigh, smoke swirling in the cold air with his breath. “The Commander has emphasized again that only division-level infantry units are eligible for promotion to the Guards. We are just an infantry brigade without an official designation, and we are not eligible for promotion to the Guards.”

Hearing Sokov's words, both Belkin and Karsokov couldn't help but feel disappointed. Karsokov slammed his fist on the ammunition box, causing the map on the table to tremble slightly: "Our brigade has made so many contributions in the past few months, yet we are not even qualified to be promoted to the Guards. This is just too disheartening."

"Don't be discouraged, comrades commanders," Sokov said with a smile, patting his two deputies on the shoulder. "Although our brigade cannot be directly promoted to the Guards, the commander hinted to me that perhaps one day in the future, our brigade will merge with a Guards division, and then we will also be members of the Guards division."

Upon hearing Sokov mention that the infantry brigade would merge with a certain Guards division in the future, Karsokov became somewhat impatient: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I wonder if the Commander has said which Guards division our brigade will merge with?"

“第16集团军里的近卫师不少。”别尔金若有所思地说道：“比如说近卫第7、第8、第9和第11近卫师，他们在前几个月的战斗里损失惨重，都有可能和我们进行合并。”

Sokov was secretly astonished when he heard Berkin read out these unit numbers. The 16th Army had only been reorganized after Zhukov took over as commander of the Western Front, and Rokossovsky could only command a handful of troops. Now, only two months later, he already had four Guards Divisions.

As Sokov was deep in thought, a staff officer rushed in and shouted to the three men who were still eating dumplings, "Brigade Commander, Deputy Brigade Commander, Chief of Staff, something terrible has happened!"

Sokov was startled by this and immediately asked, "What happened?"

"Signal flares! Signal flares!" the staff officer exclaimed in a panic. "I saw several signal flares rising from the village on the east side. They were red, green, and yellow. It looks like they've been ambushed by the Germans."

Hearing that signal flares had been fired from the village to the east, Sokov frowned slightly. He dismissed the staff officer's claim; if it were an enemy attack, he would have heard gunfire. Since there was no gunfire, the signal flares must have been fired for some other reason. He turned to Karsokov and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, call the troops in the village to the east and ask what's going on."

(End of this chapter)