Red Moscow

It is naturally a good thing for Sokov that the German army does not attack. Because in this way, he would have enough time to order the troops to rush to repair the fortifications, strengthen the defensive positions, and establish a complete defense system. More importantly, the strength of his troops now is several times larger than during the Stalingrad War, and the daily consumption of military supplies is also an astronomical figure, and it will take time to resupply.

Looking at the ammunition, fuel and various supplies brought into the city every day, Vitkov couldn't help saying with emotion: "Comrade commander, you still have a way to get so many supplies."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Witkov with a smile, "the reason why our superiors can give us so much supplies is entirely because of the great results we achieved a while ago, which made them see the hope of defeating the German army. That's why they are so willing to provide us with material resources continuously."

"That's true." Regarding Sokov's statement, Witkov agreed, "If our attack did not achieve any results, and we were even beaten by the Germans, I am afraid that not only will we not get this More materials, and may even order us to hand over the existing defense zone to friendly forces."

Sokov stared at the map in front of him, and found that unconsciously, a protrusion had formed where he and his friendly troops were located. After discovering this situation, he couldn't help being taken aback, thinking that because of himself, the original Kursk salient became the Donetsk salient, then in the next few months, he might It will face the attack of hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of German troops. The troops in my hands seem to be quite a lot, but against the hundreds of thousands of German troops, they are lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

"Comrade Commander," Seeing Sokov staring blankly at the map in front of him, Witkov asked curiously, "What are you thinking?"

Sokov pointed to the map and said to Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I found that our combat group has unintentionally taken over the defensive position of the Southwest Front Army. We attack, can we stop them."

"Comrade Commander, please forgive me." Witkov looked at the situation of the enemy and us on the map, and said worriedly: "Don't say that the German army dispatched ten to fifteen divisions, even if the five German army divisions stationed in Barvenkovo ​​now It is still unknown whether we can stop them if they are dispatched at the same time.”

"Comrade Commander," at this moment a staff officer came in from outside and reported to Sokov, "Comrade Lunev from the Ministry of Internal Affairs has arrived."

"Lunev?" Hearing this strange name, Sokov couldn't help but look at Witkov, wanting to see if he knew this Lunev from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you know him?"

"I don't know." Witkov replied very simply.

Although he didn't understand the purpose of the other party's visit, Sokov still said to the staff officer, "Please come in."

Soon, a general of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of medium build and wearing a blue top hat, walked in.

Seeing that the military rank on the opponent's shoulder badge was one level higher than his own, Sokov hurriedly saluted him first: "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant General, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the combat group, I welcome you."

"Hello, Major General Sokov." The other party extended his hand to Sokov and said politely: "Let me introduce myself. I am the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lunev. By order of the headquarters, from now on, I will serve as Representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the combat group. Now, report to me about the situation of your group command."

"Comrade Deputy Minister, please allow me to report to you." Before Sokov could speak, Vitkov took a step forward, straightened his back and said to Lunev: "I know the situation of the cluster headquarters better than Comrade Commander. .”

Lunev did not speak, but cast a questioning look at Sokov. Sokov immediately realized that the other party might not know Vitkov, so he introduced him: "Comrade Deputy Minister, let me introduce to you, this is Colonel Vitkov, the chief of staff of the group. He used to be the deputy of the 62nd Army chief of staff."

Knowing that Vitkov came from the 62nd Army, Lunev showed a smile on his face: "The 62nd Army is all good. It was because of your bravery, tenacity and fear of sacrifice that you were able to defend the great Stalin. Grad, smash the German conspiracy to seize the city."

Hearing the other party's praise of the 62nd Army, Vitkov smiled on his face, and his resistance to the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs was a little less. He began to report to the other party: "The previous combat cluster headquarters were all with the 41st Guards Division headquarters, and they were separated not long ago. Now our command headquarters has a guard company of 200 people, three More than a dozen staff officers of various types, as well as twenty communications soldiers."

"Your people are a bit small." After hearing this, Lunev said with some emotion: "If you encounter a surprise attack by the Germans, your strength is far from enough."

"Comrade Deputy Minister, please rest assured." Seeing Lunev's uneasy expression, Sokov quickly comforted him and said, "Don't look at our small number of troops, but even if we encounter the same number of German soldiers, we will not be defeated." You will lose the wind. By the way, Comrade Deputy Minister, I wonder how many people you brought with you this time?"

"I brought two internal guards."

"The number of people is a little less." Sokov said cautiously: "How about I send you another guard platoon to be responsible for your safety." He was worried that his proposal would be rejected by the other party, so he specifically emphasized, "The platoon Lieutenant Chief Samoilov was also a member of the Internal Affairs Force, and he only joined my guard battalion during the Battle of Stalingrad."

Knowing that Sokov was going to send him a unit commanded by a former officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lunev smiled again: "General Sokov, since it's your kind intention, I'm not good at it." Decline, then accept."

"Comrade Deputy Minister, you must be very tired after driving all the way from Moscow." Sokov said with a smile on his face, "I will immediately arrange manpower to take you to rest."

Sokov called Samoilov and asked him to send Lunev to rest. Seeing Lunev's back disappear from the door, Vitkov asked Sokov worriedly: "Comrade Commander, why did the superior send us a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Could it be that they cannot trust us?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov also didn't know why his superiors would send Lunev to serve as the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so he tentatively asked: "Tell me, under what circumstances does the superior usually appoint a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" job?"

"As far as I know," Vitkov, who had been in the army longer than Sokov anyway and naturally knew much more, replied thoughtfully after hearing Sokov's question. : "Generally, it is a front army-level command, and the superior will be equipped with a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Also, for some important group army units, the superior will also appoint a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as appropriate."

"An important group army unit?" Sokov heard some overtones from Witkov's words when he heard this: "Comrade Chief of Staff, does it mean that the higher-ups plan to reorganize our combat group into a group army?"

"I don't think it's realistic." Regarding Sokov's guess, Vitkov questioned: "We already have 70 army groups, and there is really no need to add another one. Unless one of the army groups is defeated by the enemy, the superiors are ready to to rebuild."

"If you want to say that there is no group army that was defeated by the Germans, what kind of designation can the key give us?" Sokov said here, thinking that it is quite possible to reorganize his combat group into a group army. Knowing what was going on, he sent a telegram to Rokossovsky, reporting Lunev's arrival to him, and wanted to ask what was going on.

Rokossovsky was also taken aback by the telegram that Lunev had gone to Sokov's unit. He quickly connected the General Staff in Moscow with a high-frequency phone, and asked Deputy Chief of General Staff Antonov: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, I heard that the superior sent General Lunev, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, to Sokov's Combat cluster, I want to ask, what is going on here?"

"General Rokossovsky, I was about to call you, but you came first." Antonov said: "According to the performance of Sokov's troops in recent battles, the headquarters decided to send them Reorganized into a group army."

"Change to an army?" Rokossovsky was not at all surprised by this news. During the Defense of Moscow, the combat group he commanded was also reorganized into the 16th Army. He was eager to know what number his superior had given Sokov, so he asked, "Then what number are you going to give him?"

"Sixth Army," Antonov replied curtly.

"What, the Sixth Army?" Hearing this designation, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be surprised. This is not the army that was defeated by the Germans not long ago. It is said that even the commander of the army, Kharitonov, was wounded during the breakout. , and is now recuperating in a hospital in Moscow. He tentatively asked, "What about Lieutenant General Kharitonov, the original commander?"

"After the research of the Supreme Command, he has been relieved of his duties, and the original command organization of the Sixth Army has been disbanded." Antonov replied: "We will use the current combat group as the basis and incorporate some of the former Sixth Army The troops will form a new combat group. Major General Sokov will serve as the commander, Colonel Vitkov will serve as the chief of staff, and General Lunev will serve as the military commissar and political commissar."

After listening to Antonov's words, Rokossovsky immediately understood why his superiors suddenly sent Lunev to Sokov's troops. It turned out that he was going to be the political commissar of the new Sixth Army. After Antonov finished speaking, he quickly thanked the other party: "Comrade Antonov, thank you for telling me such good news. I will immediately tell Major General Sokov the good news and let him also Happy happy."

"General Rokossovsky," Antonov didn't disagree with Rokossovsky's statement, he just added: "The formal order for reorganization will be issued in two days."

After Rokossovsky finished talking with Antonov, he immediately called Malinin and said to him with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have good news for you. According to the order of the headquarters, Sokov's combat group It will be reorganized into the Sixth Army, and some troops from the original Sixth Army will be added to him. In this way, the area they hold will become stronger."

After hearing this, Ma Lining actually said with a smile: "It's interesting, it's really very interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"Comrade Commander," Malinin explained to Rokossovsky with a smile: "Half a month ago, three SS divisions of the Germans defeated Lieutenant General Kharitonov's Sixth Army; Not long ago, Sokov commanded a 41st Guards Division, but defeated the three SS divisions. Now the headquarters has reorganized Sokov's combat group into a new Sixth Army. Isn't it a great irony for the SS divisions that Vinkovo ​​dared not move?"

"I think that when Manstein heard the news, his lungs would explode." Rokossovsky said with a smile, and then told Ma Linin: "Chief of Staff, hurry up and send a telegram to Xiaomi Sofa. Tell him the good news."

After receiving the telegram from Malinin, Sokov was taken aback for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing. He said to Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that our guess is correct. The headquarters is indeed planning to reorganize us into an army group, and the designation is the Sixth Army. Tell me, when Manstein learned that he was defeated not long ago The troops of the three SS divisions have transformed into the Sixth Army that they have defeated before, how will he react?"

"I heard that Manstein is not young anymore," Witkoff replied with a smile, "I hope he won't be too excited to have a stroke when he hears the bad news. The Germans will be very different without him." It became a piece of loose sand.”

Sokov grinned and asked Vitkov: "Chief of Staff, tell me, if the troops are reorganized into an army group, does that mean that we can get more infantry divisions, tank brigades and artillery regiments?"

"It goes without saying." Vitkov quickly replied: "The Sixth Army used to have eight infantry divisions, but we only have four. Our strength has gone up a notch."

"It would be great if we could add two infantry divisions." Sokov said with a smile: "But it would be even better if we could add two tank brigades or a larger artillery regiment. At that time, instead of standing here and waiting for the Germans to attack, I will take the initiative to attack them."