Red Moscow

By the evening, the feedback from each division had come back, and no soldiers who met the above criteria were found.

The thread is broken.

Vitkov said to Sokov with a serious expression: "Comrade Commander, it seems that the enemy is very cunning. After assigning the task, he hid again. I am afraid that we will not be able to find him for a long time. "

"Since you can't find him, let's put this matter aside for the time being. I think it is impossible for the Germans to launch a similar attack in a short time." Now that the clues have been cut off, Sokov does not want to continue at this time. He wasted too much energy on the battlefield, and he was more concerned about the movements on the battlefield at this time: "What moves has the enemy made recently?"

"As you judged, after defeating General Vatutin's Southwest Front, the enemy has launched an attack on the Voronezh Front." Vitkov said with a wry smile: "Facing the enemy's attack, the friendly forces are somewhat powerless. "

"It seems that it won't be long before the German army will retake Kharkov, Belgorod and other places."

Before Sokov finished speaking, Zhukov walked in from the outside. He asked with a straight face, "Then tell me, what will the German army do after reoccupying these two places? They will attack Moscow again." ?"

"I don't think so." Sokov raised his hand to salute Zhukov, moved the map on the table to Zhukov, and said to him, "Comrade general, please look at the map. I think the German army is defeating the Southwest Front Army and the After the Voronezh Front, it will be unable to continue to advance northward, and the fronts of the enemy and ourselves will be stabilized on the front lines of Kursk and Orel."

"Misha, your idea is very bold." Zhukov stared at the place Sokov pointed for a while, and then said: "If what you said really happens, it means that we will have tens of thousands of square kilometers Your lands fell. If I didn't know you, I could take your judgment as defeatist."

Zhukov's words scared Sokov into a cold sweat. He didn't expect that he would face such a serious problem just by telling the truth about the history.

Seeing Sokov standing in front of him dumbfounded, Zhukov waved his hands and continued: "Of course, after careful analysis in the past two days, I feel that the situation you mentioned is entirely possible. When the time comes The two sides may form a confrontation, and then the two sides will start to accumulate strength, and then there will be another battle-level decisive battle."

Seeing that Zhukov speculated that there would be a battle-level decisive battle in the Kursk area, Sokov couldn't help admiring him. He only knew about the Kursk battle based on his understanding of history. Zhukov, on the other hand, accurately deduced based on the situation on the battlefield that there would be a decisive battle.

"Misha, have you ever considered that after the German army recaptures Kharkov and Belgorod, it is possible to turn around and launch a large-scale attack on Lugansk. How are you going to deal with it then?"

"Comrade general, we are hurrying up to build fortifications." Sokov said confidently, "With our current strength, we can completely withstand the attack of a German armored army."

"I am very pleased that you have such confidence." Regarding Sokov's reply, Zhukov was very satisfied: "If you need any help after I leave here, just contact me, and I will try my best to meet your request .”

…………

Sokov knew very well that the best weapon to deal with the German armored group was artillery, so he came to the artillery division's station early the next morning, and met the division commander, Colonel Myakotin, and political commissar Makhmutov. lieutenant colonel.

After the two sides sat down, Sokov did not go around in circles, but asked directly: "Comrade Colonel, after a while, the enemy may launch an attack on Luhansk. Can your artillery deal with the German armored group?"

"Our division has a heavy artillery regiment equipped with thirty-six 152mm howitzers." Miyakotin replied, "It should be effective against the enemy's armored assault. But you have to tell the infantry that you must Don't let the enemy's tanks rush to our positions, our artillery can't fight bayonets."

To Miyakotin's last joke, Sokov smiled lightly, and then said: "Comrade Commander, if the enemy's offensive is fierce, maybe there is a time to put the bayonet on the cannon."

Seeing Miyakotin's blank face, he quickly explained: "Our infantry lacks enough anti-tank weapons. If the Germans have too many tanks, it will be very difficult to completely block them, so we have to do a good job. Worst plan. I remember that your division has a 76mm artillery regiment. I think you can equip this regiment with some armor-piercing shells. When the enemy tanks approach your artillery positions, use direct-point fire to destroy the enemy tanks. It's called 'bayonet on cannon'."

The three had in-depth discussions on how to use artillery in the ensuing battle, and finally reached a consensus. That is, when the enemy attacks, the heavy artillery is used to intercept the enemy's infantry and armored vehicles with long-range artillery fire; while the medium artillery provides artillery cover for the defending infantry.

Sokov led Samoilov away from the headquarters of the artillery division, and when he was walking towards the jeep parked not far away, a tall soldier walked up to him, holding an ax in his hand. As he passed Sokov, he raised his hand to his forehead to salute, while speeding up.

"Comrade soldier, please wait a moment." Sukov felt that there was something wrong with this person. When other soldiers saw the commander approaching, they would take the initiative to get out of the way and stand aside to salute, but this person went straight from his Walking by, Sokov hurriedly stopped him.

The tall soldier who was stopped turned to face Sokov without saying a word.

Sokov walked up to the tall man, looked at him and asked, "Comrade soldier, what are you doing with the ax?"

"Report to Comrade Colonel," the tall man straightened up and replied, "I am from the cooking squad of the division headquarters. I have just been ordered to cut some firewood for the fire."

The tall cook's answer seemed to be watertight, but Sokov felt a little puzzled in his heart. He felt that there was something wrong with this person, but he couldn't tell the reason.

Seeing Sokov frowning in thought, the tall cooking soldier asked politely: "Comrade Colonel, can I leave? Are there still people waiting for wood to live in the cooking class?"

"You can leave now."

The tall man made a backwards turn and limped towards the headquarters house.

Tall, walking with a limp. These two characteristics immediately matched the memory in Sokov's mind. He pointed at the tall cook and told Samoilov, "He is the messenger. Arrest him."

Samoilov promised, rushed forward with two soldiers, subdued the cooking soldier, and brought his hands back to Sokov.

Sokov sneered at the cooking soldier and said, "We looked for you yesterday, but we didn't expect to meet you here today. Let's go, I'll take you to meet two acquaintances."

"Comrade Commander," Miyakotin and Makhmutov heard the report from the soldiers, saying that the cooking soldiers of their division were arrested by Sokov's men at the door. They ran out in a hurry, trying to find out What the hell happened. "What happened, why did you arrest him?"

"Because he is a spy of the Germans lurking in our army." When Sokov said this, seeing the unbelievable expressions on the faces of the two, he added: "If you don't believe me, come with me, I will Let you understand what's going on."

The first feeling of Miyakotin and Makhmutov was that Sokov must have caught the wrong person. But in order to find out what was going on, the two followed Sokov to the cluster headquarters.