Red Moscow

Sokov's headquarters in Luhansk was in much better conditions than Mamayev Post. But sitting in the house can enjoy the sunshine, breathe in the fresh air, and listen to the sound from Moscow through the cabinet radio in the corner.

When Sokov and Bely came back from the position and walked into the headquarters, Sidolin happened to be listening to the radio. Don't look at the situation outside, it has become extremely unfavorable to the Soviet army, but the radio station is still reporting the victory news some time ago. The announcer told all the audience in a joyful tone that within a week, the great Soviet Red Army broke through the German defense line and successfully advanced to the Donetsk Basin. After several days of fierce fighting, the troops of General Vatutin's Southwest Front successfully liberated Zaporozhye, an important military town at the corner of the Great Bay of the Dnieper River. German Marshal Manstein was frightened and fled in a panic.

"Turn it off, Comrade Chief of Staff." Listening to the reports on the radio, Sokov couldn't help frowning: "If the soldiers hear too much of this kind of outdated news, it will cause them to have a bad understanding of the current situation." Misjudgment, thinking that the enemy has become vulnerable, then we will suffer a lot."

Hearing Sokov's order, Sidolin didn't dare to neglect, and hurried over to turn off the radio. I only heard Sokov say again: "The Southwest Front captured Zaporozhye and drove Manstein out of the city. This alone is enough to make General Vatutin famous and become a hero who attracts the attention of thousands of people. .”

Although Bely knew that the increasingly serious situation was related to Vatutin's decision-making mistakes, he couldn't think of any countermeasures, so he asked Sokov curiously: "Misha, if you were in Vatutin's position, would you what will you do?"

"If I were in the position of General Vatutin," Sokov said with a wry smile, "I would definitely slow down the attack speed, and every time I occupied a city, I would strengthen the defense there and use it as a strong support point. Even if the attack is frustrated, when the Germans counterattack, they can still rely on these cities with a complete defense system to carry out continuous resistance to weaken the enemy's effective strength."

"Ever since the collapse of the Paulus Group, the whole country has been filled with an optimistic atmosphere, feeling that the Germans have become vulnerable." Bely, who had been with Sokov for a long time, was not heard by the radio. Influenced by those reports, he stated his attitude clearly: "It is wishful thinking that as long as the offensive continues, the enemy will soon be driven across the Dnieper River. By the end of the year at the latest, this damn war will be over. war, at worst, will drive the enemy from our land."

The sudden ringing of the phone on the table interrupted the chat of the three of them. Everyone looked at the phone and thought in unison: Could it be that the Germans are attacking us?

Sidolin grabbed the microphone, put it close to his ear, and asked loudly, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, the chief of staff. Where are you?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko!" Sokov, who was sitting not far away, heard Papchenko's flustered voice from the receiver: "I just received a report, the Germans The vanguard of the army has rushed to the vicinity of our regiment's defense area."

Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko's report surprised Sokov and others.

Sokov hurried over, took the microphone in Sidolin's hand, frowned and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am Sokov. Tell me, what kind of enemy is it?"

"I... I don't know very well, Comrade Commander." Papchenko reported in a panic, "It was one of my subordinates who called and reported to me that they had found traces of the enemy..."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov interrupted him anxiously: "Tell me, who reported to you?"

"It was reported by the company commander of the third company of the first battalion on the phone." Papchenko said: "When he sent soldiers to cut trees in the forest ahead, he found German tanks, maybe armored vehicles. Report to me immediately..."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let me ask you again: what is the size of the enemy? How many infantry do they have, and how many tanks or armored vehicles? Please report to me in detail."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't know very well." Papchenko said at a loss: "I think the situation is not very good, and I should report to you in time, so I made this call immediately."

Sidolin next to him said to Bere: "Comrade deputy division commander, the enemy suddenly appeared near the 122nd Regiment's defense area. Could it be that they sensed our intention to camouflage the position and sent people to reconnaissance?"

"I don't think so. If it was a reconnaissance force, how could it be possible to drive over with tanks or armored vehicles?" Bely shook his head and said, "I think it may be the vanguard of the enemy, and their main force is still behind."

Sokov ignored what Bely and Sidolin were saying, but ordered Papchenko on the other end of the phone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will give you two orders now: 1. Immediately order the troops to enter the position and do Prepare for battle; second, send a capable reconnaissance team to find out the origin and size of the enemy that appears near your position." After explaining the task, he asked habitually, "Do you understand? ?”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Papchenko quickly replied, "I will carry out your order immediately."

After Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin asked a little nervously: "Comrade Commander, the enemy is approaching our position at this time, are they planning to attack us?"

Bely also asked anxiously: "If the enemy launches an attack at this moment, won't our plan to use fake tanks and artillery to disguise as fake positions be defeated?"

"In my opinion, it may be a group of lost enemies, and the number will not be too many." Sokov felt that the Soviet Sixth Army and Popov's rapid grouping had not been wiped out by the Germans. At that time, he hastily launched an attack on Lugansk, maybe it was just an enemy who accidentally ran into the defense zone, so he comforted the two and said: "Don't make a fuss, the 122 regiment now has more than 4,000 people, even if you step on them trampled to death."

Seeing Sokov so confident, Sidolin and Bely, who were originally apprehensive, became more at ease. Today's 41st Guards Division is strong and strong, with more than 15,000 people, and many of them have participated in the Battle of Stalingrad and have rich combat experience. Let alone a small unit of the German army, Even if you come to a group, you can handle it completely.

I thought it would take at least four or five hours before we could get further information. Unexpectedly, less than half an hour later, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko called again and excitedly reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the Germans who appeared near our regiment have all been wiped out."

"What, they were all wiped out?" Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, thinking that your actions were too fast, and you were panicked just now, but it didn't take long before you reported to yourself that the enemy had been wiped out Le: "What the hell is going on?"

"Comrade commander, the situation is like this." Papchenko hurriedly reported: "A dozen or so German scouts on motorcycles first broke into the defense area of ​​the third battalion. It reached near the defense area of ​​the 1st Battalion. As a result, it was wiped out by the 2nd Company of Captain Guchakov."

"I see." Sokov said into the microphone: "Remember to set up more observation posts outside your defense zone, so that you can spot enemies that suddenly appear in time."

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin said proudly: "Comrade commander, it seems that the old subordinates of your original infantry brigade are the most reassuring. They didn't say anything before we assigned tasks. Silently wiped out the enemy."

Sidolin's words made Sokov aware of a problem in the army. Since the disbandment of the downsizing regiment, all commanders and fighters have been broken up and organized into three guard regiments. Except for Belgin as the political commissar of the 124th Regiment and Vanya as the Chief of Staff of the 122nd Regiment, the remaining capable commanders only held positions at the battalion and company level. At their current level, it is very difficult for them to have the opportunity to display their abilities in the heavily hierarchical Soviet army.

"Comrade commander, what are you thinking?" Sidolin couldn't help asking when he noticed Sukov's preoccupation.

Sokov told Sidolin and Bely about the problem he thought of, and then asked: "Tell me, how to change the current problems."

"Misha, you are right. The original commanders of the downsizing regiment are currently holding too low a position, which is not conducive to their ability to be fully utilized." Bely thought for a while, and suggested to Sokov: "How about, Draw them out again and form a new guard regiment?"

"This is a way." Regarding Bely's proposal, Sidolin immediately echoed: "You know, a Guards division is usually composed of three Guards infantry regiments, an artillery regiment and several direct troops. We Today there are only three infantry regiments, but no artillery regiments. Why not use the name of artillery regiments to draw out the commanders and fighters of the original downsized regiments and reorganize them into independent units."

"This matter is very important, and we cannot make a decision casually." Sokov felt that if he formed a fourth infantry regiment in the Guards Division in the name of forming an artillery regiment, his superiors might not approve his proposal, so he could only be cautious. Said: "I will think about it again and think of a way to get the best of both worlds."

After some repeated thinking, Sokov still reported to Cuikov about the formation of the fourth infantry regiment, but was rejected by the other party. Chuikov said to him in a stern tone: "Colonel Sokov, have you ever thought that to form the fourth infantry regiment, you must mobilize a large number of combat backbones, thereby weakening the combat effectiveness of the other three regiments. On the battlefield, rely on It’s teamwork, if the original guard regiment is defeated by the enemy, even if there is a new infantry regiment with strong combat effectiveness, what role will it play?”