Red Moscow

In order to make the enemy misjudgment, Sokov designated an attack target for the troops, which was Barvenkovo ​​to the south of Izyum. At the beginning, Popov's rapid cluster was because he was unable to eat the enemies stationed here. As a result, after receiving the order to rush to Zaporozhye, Popov had to leave a considerable number of troops and continue to besiege the enemy. As a result, after the division of troops, the strength was weak, and they were defeated by the German army one by one.

With the lessons learned by Popov, Sidolin and Anisimov were shocked when they heard Sukov's order. The two tried their best to persuade Sokov: "Comrade commander, don't say that we only have infantry. Even with the support of artillery and tanks, it will be very difficult to take Barvinkovo. Once we delay here for too long, we will It may be surrounded by the German army."

"Chief of Staff, Political Commissar, I understand what you mean." Facing the persuasion of the two, Sokov said to them: "Barvinkovo ​​is the only way to Igyum, although we can pass this place , directly to Iyum, but in this way, the enemy will have doubts about our intention to attack Iyum.

As long as we launch an attack on Barvenkovo, coupled with the feint of friendly forces northeast of Izyum, the Germans will have the illusion that we intend to take Izyum, join forces with the Voronezh Front, and regroup the Germans. From Donetsk to Kharkov.

In order to prevent us from realizing this intention, the Germans will definitely mobilize troops from other countries to strengthen the defense of Igyum and send troops to reinforce Barvenkovo. In this way, the pressure on the direction of Kharkov will be greatly reduced, and our friendly forces can take this opportunity to take a breath and redeploy their defenses. "

"Comrade commander, your idea is indeed good." After Sidolin agreed with Sokov, he expressed his concerns: "But if you do this, our entire army may be wiped out. From the current situation, even if Our entire army is destroyed, and the time we can buy for friendly forces is also very limited. Is it worth it for us to do this?"

Regarding Sidolin's statement, Sokov did not express any opinion, but asked Anisimov: "Comrade Commissar, tell me your opinion."

"From the perspective of the overall situation, in order to buy precious time for the Voronezh Front Army in the Kharkov area, even if our division is exhausted, it is completely worthwhile." After Anisimov said these righteous words, He lowered his head and said, "But if I sacrifice myself without even seeing the day of victory, I will not be reconciled in my heart."

"Comrade Commissar, don't worry." Sokov raised his hand and patted Anisimov's shoulder twice, comforting him and said, "I believe that we can all see the day of victory."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin felt that as the chief of staff, he had the obligation to remind Sokov, so he said again: "You really don't think about it again. With the current strength of our division, it is impossible to win Barvenkovo. of."

"Chief of Staff, don't you understand what I mean." Sokov said with a smile: "I never thought of taking Barvinkovo, we were just carrying out a feint attack on the city."

"Feint attack?!" Hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin's eyes lit up immediately. According to his thinking, a strong attack on Barvinkovo ​​was an act of death; launching a feint attack was another matter. But just to be on the safe side, he still asked tentatively: "Is it really just a feint?"

"Of course." After Sokov gave the other party an affirmative answer, he was afraid that he would not pay attention to this matter, and he specially emphasized: "But we have to put on a real offensive posture, otherwise how can we confuse the enemy."

"However, the number of rockets we carry is limited. Once they are used up, I am afraid that the next battle will be difficult." Sidolin tentatively asked Sokov: "Look, can you send a truck back to bring another batch? "

"Chief of Staff, what you said is very unrealistic." Sokov shook his head and rejected Sidolin's proposal: "Think about it, now that the enemy is approaching us from all directions, even if the convoy they send can barely escape Enemy encirclement, but can they get the rockets back in?"

Sidolin thought about it, and it seemed that this was really the case. If the truck transporting the rockets was captured by the German army, it would be a disastrous consequence for his army. The launch of rockets is very simple. It only takes a short time for the enemy to master the launch of rockets, and then use these rockets to attack their own troops.

"Since we can't send a truck to deliver it." Sidolin stopped talking, and Anisimov expressed his thoughts again: "Why don't we let the Air Force airdrop us? I think the more rockets we have, the more rockets we have. Then the greater our chances of successfully jumping out of the German encirclement in the end."

"Airdrop is impossible." Sokov shook his head and said, "The rockets are prone to explode when they hit the ground, and we won't get any of them."

"Comrade Commander, I have a bold idea." Samoilov, who was standing on the sidelines as a guard, suddenly said, "It will allow the troops to get the rocket supplies they need."

"Tell me what you think."

"Look, Comrade Commander." Samoilov pointed to the map Sokov and the others spread out on the hood of the jeep, and said to Sokov: "I know the terrain here very well. There is an open area on the ten-kilometer ground, which is conducive to the take-off and landing of the transport plane, and we can let the higher-ups use the transport plane to transport the rockets here."

"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov looked up at Samoilov, and said to him, "This place is full of snow at the moment. Isn't it too dangerous for the transport plane to land?"

"Comrade commander, in order to get enough ammunition supplies, I think we should take risks." Samoilov insisted on his opinion: "If you think the snow in this area is too deep, we can send people to clear it. Just need In one day and night, we can clear a runway thirty meters wide and three hundred meters long."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin felt that Samoilov's statement was reasonable, so he said to Sokov, "I think Lieutenant Samoilov's plan is feasible. Let's try it out."

"Political commissar, what's your opinion?"

"Since the chief of staff said that this plan is feasible, then I think it should be tried."

"Okay, since you all think this plan is feasible, Lieutenant Samoilov will be in charge of this matter, and you take someone there to clear an open space for the transport plane to land."

Now that he thought of a way to replenish ammunition, Sokov quickly sent a telegram to Rokossovsky and reported his plan to him, not only hoping that when the troops attacked Barvenkovo ​​during the day, they would get the necessary ammunition. air support. At the same time, it is proposed to let the transport plane replenish the ammunition for the troops.

After reading Sokov's telegram, Rokossovsky looked at Malinen and asked, "Chief of Staff, do you think we can satisfy Sokov's conditions?"

"Comrade Commander," Malinin said with a serious expression, "If Major General Sokov is not lying, he really intends to make some big moves in the direction of Barvinkovo. If there is not enough ammunition and the necessary air cover, it will not work at all. Therefore, it is necessary for us to help him and let him realize the change plan."

"Chief of Staff, what you said makes sense." Rokossovsky nodded slightly after hearing this, "If other troops made such a request, I might still refuse it. But since it was proposed by Sokov, Then do as he said, provide him with air cover during the day tomorrow, and send a transport plane to deliver ammunition to them."

After receiving Rokossovsky's reply and knowing that all his requests had been met, Sokov immediately gained confidence. When he gave the order to Papchenko, the head of the 122nd regiment, he specifically emphasized: "Comrade colonel, the task of your regiment is to launch a feint attack on Barvenkovo. But in order to reduce the casualties of the troops, the attack you launched will It will be dominated by rocket attacks."

"What, use rockets to attack?" Papchenko still knows how many rockets he carried and how much he consumed during this time before he set off this time. Hearing Sokov's order, he hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, how many rockets do you plan to let us use?"

According to Papchenko's thinking, it is already remarkable that Sokov can give them the right to use two hundred rockets. Unexpectedly, Sokov heard his question, but he said carelessly: "As long as you can destroy the enemy, it is no problem to use up all the rockets we carry."

"Use all of them?" Papchenko was stunned. He didn't expect Sokov to be so generous and give the remaining more than 300 rockets to himself. He tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, if we use up all the rockets in the feint attack on Barvinkovo, what will we do in the future?"

Papchenko knew the power of rockets. Even if a group of enemies were hiding in a trench, as long as a rocket flew over, the enemies there would basically be wiped out. But if they are all used up, and they encounter the situation of attacking the enemy's position in the future, they can only be filled with human lives.

"It's not something you're worried about." Sokov didn't tell him how he planned to replenish the ammunition. Instead, he said in a stern tone: "I give you the remaining rockets to use, but it doesn't mean that you can use them casually. Before attacking, you must find out where the enemy is hiding, and then attack these places with rockets. In order to achieve greater results. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Papchenko quickly assured Sokov: "My scouts have basically figured out where the enemy is hiding in the position. I assure you, our rockets can hit The enemy doubts life."

Half an hour before dawn, the rocket launchers in Papchenko's regiment fired rockets at the selected targets in the city of Barvenkovo. Rockets rushed out of the launch tube roaring one after another, dragging a long flame tail, and flew towards the target selected by the soldiers.

As soon as they landed, there was an earth-shattering explosion, and at the same time, a group of dazzling flames rose. There were still many houses, bunkers, and tents where the enemy was sleeping soundly, and they were immediately blown into a sea of ​​flames.

The troops currently stationed in Balvenkovo ​​are the skeleton division of the German army. In the real history, the division commander Theodore Eck was killed in a plane crash on February 26, but in this time and space, he died because of survived for a reason. His division headquarters was located in the city of Barvinkovo. When he learned that the area to the south had been bombarded by the Soviet army, he still didn't believe it, so he quickly called the front to inquire.

However, the communication line in front had been completely destroyed by the attack of rockets long ago, so that Ike could not get in touch with his subordinates at all. In order to find out what happened in front of him, he took his adjutant and a dozen guards and drove to the south side of the city, trying to find out what happened.

But he was out of luck. As soon as he came to the south of the city, another wave of rocket attacks from the Soviet army followed. Originally, the hit rate of the new rockets was not high, and it was not an easy task to hit a moving vehicle. Unexpectedly, Ike's driver drove the car into a nearby building in order to avoid the shelling.

Unexpectedly, a rocket that deviated from its position hit their hiding place impartially. After a loud "boom", the house collapsed in the explosion, and Ike, his adjutant, and the driver were buried in the rubble. However, the dust rising all over the sky covered all this, so that the German troops stationed nearby did not know that their division commander had been crushed into meat sauce by the collapsed houses after a certain explosion just now.

Papchenko ordered the troops to fire two hundred rockets in one go, turning the south of the city into a sea of ​​flames, and there were very few enemies left on the defensive positions after such bombardment. Seeing this, Papchenko immediately ordered the infantry to attack to occupy the positions that appeared to be empty.

But when the commanders and fighters of the 122nd regiment rushed into the enemy's position, some soldiers who survived the bombing emerged from the ruins and rushed towards the Soviet army with weapons in their hands, trying to drive the Soviet army from their own positions. go out. But they haven't fully recovered from the bombardment just now, where are the opponents of these wolf-like fighters, after only a few rounds of fighting, they fell to the ground one after another, becoming a corpse that is gradually getting colder.

Knowing that Papchenko's troops had successfully occupied the south of the city, Sokov was overjoyed and quickly gave him an order to stop the attack, build fortifications on the spot, and prepare to resist the German countercharge.

Although Papchenko saw that his troops easily occupied the south of the city, he knew very well in his heart that it was simply impossible for him to wipe out the defenders in the city and occupy the entire city with his several thousand troops. . As soon as he received Sokov's order to turn to the defense on the spot, he immediately dispatched communications troops to inform the battalion commanders to stop advancing immediately, but to hurry up and repair the fortifications to prevent possible counterattacks from the enemy. .