Red Moscow

"As long as we cut off the enemy's supply line, no matter how many they are, they won't last long in the face of our army's powerful offensive." Sokov said to Merkulov: "Wait for the enemy's ammunition and supplies." When the consumption is almost exhausted, you can put your entire division into battle. Even if you can't wipe out this group of enemies, it should be no problem to injure them severely."

Merkulov was overjoyed when he heard what Sokov said, and he quickly said, "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will immediately arrange troops to launch a feint attack on the enemy in Roginsik..."

"General Merkulov," Witkov interjected, "I remember that your division doesn't seem to have that new type of rocket?"

"Yes." When Merkulov answered this question, he took a special look at Sokov: "This new type of rocket is basically used to equip the 41st Guards Division, and the rest of the divisions don't have it at all."

"Comrade Commander," Vitkov knew in his heart that if he wants to equip other divisions with new rockets, he must obtain Sokov's consent, so he looked at Sokov and said, "Are you from the 41st Guards Division?" How about taking a company and carrying new rockets to assist General Merkulov's troops?"

"No problem." Sokov said, picked up the phone on the table, and asked the communications soldier to connect to the division headquarters of the 41st Guards Division, and Sidolin who answered the phone said: "Comrade Colonel, I plan to let May General Erkulov's troops launched a feint attack on Roginsik, and need to borrow one of your companies to assist them in combat."

"You want a company?" Hearing Sokov's order, Sidolin asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, what role can a company play in battle?"

Hearing that Sidolin was still addressing himself as division commander, Sokov couldn't help but smile a little, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if it was just an ordinary infantry company, I would definitely not call you. Now that I have so many troops under my command, don't Speaking of a company, even a battalion, it can be drawn from other troops at any time. The company I borrowed from you refers to the company that can use new rockets, understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sidolin immediately understood what Sokov meant, and quickly replied, "I can immediately send the most elite company to support General Merkulov. But..."

Seeing that Sidolin was hesitating, Sokov asked quickly, "But what?"

"The Imperial Division of the German army is stationed in the town of Rockinsik. They have fought against our division and know that we are equipped with a large number of new rockets, which can carry out long-range strikes against them." Sidolin reminded Sokov that : "Once the enemy in Rockinsick Town finds that they have been attacked by new rockets, they will definitely think that our division is attacking the town, and they will definitely call in more troops from the rear. I am worried that Mel will The pressure on General Kulov will be very high."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry." Sokov comforted Sidolin and said, "I just want the German army to send more troops to the town of Rockinsick, so that we can easily eat up this enemy. Make the next battle less difficult."

Sidolin and Sokov had been partners for a few months, so he naturally knew that he often had a lot of whimsical ideas. Now that he had allocated his own manpower to assist General Merkulov's troops, it must have been his intention. If the other party was still the former division commander, I could ask him what happened, but now the other party is the commander of the group army, and I am just a division chief of staff under him, so I am not qualified to ask about many things. Therefore, he did not ask the reason, but said obediently: "I will dispatch people as soon as possible to the defense area of ​​the 67th Guards Division, and let them accept the command of General Merkulov."

After solving the problem of the troops, Merkulov asked Sokov again: "Comrade Commander, when should we launch an attack on the enemy?"

Now that it has entered April, the sky dawns at four o'clock every morning. Although it was early in the morning, the Germans still got up at seven o'clock every day. It was precisely because Sokov understood this that, after thinking for a while, he said to Merkulov: "Comrade General, your attack will start at dawn." Carry out the next hour. At that time, your commanders and fighters can clearly see the target of the attack, while the enemy's officers and soldiers are sleeping soundly. If you choose this time to attack, you can catch the enemy by surprise."

After Merkulov left, Sokov felt that although it was just a feint, he was sending troops to attack the enemy's position after all. Once something goes wrong in a certain link, the situation may get out of control, so it is still necessary to report to the superior. Thinking of this, he quickly called the director of the communications army and ordered him to connect himself to the front army headquarters.

The communication line of the front army headquarters was busy, and it took a full half an hour before the director of the communications corps answered the phone call from the headquarters. After hearing Malinin's voice from the receiver, Sokov quickly straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm Sokov."

"Oh, it's Major General Sokov." Malinin asked in a friendly tone, "You called, what's the matter?"

"That's it, Comrade Chief of Staff. I plan to carry out a small-scale attack on the Imperial Division entrenched in the town of Rockinsick tomorrow morning." Sokov said cautiously: "But I am worried about such a small-scale attack. , may stimulate the nerves of the enemy and cause them to retaliate on a large scale, so I will communicate with you."

"Oh, are you going to launch an attack on the Imperial Division stationed in Rockinsick?" Malinin checked the map on the table and found that he only had one regiment, so he asked Sokov curiously: "General Sokov , How many troops do you plan to dispatch to destroy the enemies in the town?"

"The troops that went into battle this time are only an infantry regiment, a company equipped with new rockets, and some artillery." Sokov said to Malinin: "The goal of this attack is to harass the enemy, not destroy the enemy. "

"What's going on here?" Originally, Malinin was ecstatic when he heard Sokov say that he was going to attack the enemy. He felt that with Sokov's strength, it would be no problem at all to eat up this isolated enemy. But when he heard that he was only harassing the enemy, not destroying them, he couldn't help but frowned: "If you dispatch troops to harass the enemy at this time, what's the use of it other than attracting revenge from the Germans?"

Before Malinin finished speaking, Rokossovsky, who was looking at the map at the side, snatched the microphone and asked in a stern tone: "General Sokov, please tell me, what is your purpose for doing this? "

Sokov didn't expect that in just a moment, the person who answered the phone changed from Malinin to Rokossovsky. He replied in a panic: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will send troops to harass the enemy's target. It is to let the enemy increase their troops to Rockinsick Town."

"In order to increase the enemy's troops?" Rokossovsky asked puzzled, "Why did you do this?"

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the aviation division of our group army dispatched a bomber squadron today to attack the German transport line from Pavlograd to the Skull Division defense area, destroying nearly forty trucks and causing the enemy to attack within two days. Within the period, it is impossible to provide supplies to the Skeleton Master..."

"What I'm asking is, why did you send troops to harass the town of Rockinsik?" Before Sokov could finish speaking, Rokossovsky interrupted him and asked impatiently, "You sent troops What does the air force attacking the enemy's transport lines have to do with this?"

"The connection is great, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Seeing that Rokossovsky hadn't guessed his intentions, Sokov explained to him: "Since we can use the air force to destroy the supply line of the Skeleton Division, then the supply line of the Imperial Division , we can also send the air force to cut them off. But now there are too few enemies in Rockinsick, and it is a bit too wasteful to send the air force to cut off their transportation lines. Therefore, I want to force the enemy to attack the Luojinsiq by harassing the enemy. Kinsik increases troops. After their strength in this area increases, send the air force to cut off their transportation lines.

Just think about it, if the enemy's supply line is cut off by our air force, no matter how many troops they have, it may be difficult for them to resist the attack launched by our army. In this way, it is possible for us to eliminate more vital forces of the German army during the offensive. "

"Well, Misha." After hearing Sokov's words, Rokossovsky changed his address from surname to nickname: "I don't deny that the air force can destroy the enemy's communication lines, but It is impossible to completely cut off."

"For example, the German army needs 40 vehicles of supplies every day." Seeing that Rokossovsky still had doubts, Sokov further explained to him, "But under our air strikes, the supplies they can get are only It can be half or even less. Without enough supplies, they dare not attack us easily, but we can hold the initiative of the attack in our hands, attack whenever we want, and make the Germans hard to defend .”

"Your idea is good, but if the Germans find out that their transport convoy will be attacked by air during the day, so they adjust the transport time to night. What should you do?" Rokossovsky reminded Sokov : "You know, our air force is not very effective in bombing moving targets at night."

Regarding Rokossovsky's worries, Sokov quickly explained: "Comrade Front Army Commander, I have considered your concerns a long time ago. Now we have sent many sabotage teams to go deep behind the enemy's rear, and they all Carrying new rockets, it can attack the enemy's transport convoy at a long distance. In a word, no matter whether the enemy is transporting supplies during the day or at night, they are all within our attack range. We can use all means to reduce the supply of the enemy. to the lowest level."

After listening to Sokov's statement, Rokossovsky was silent for a long time, and finally said: "Misha, your tactic is very novel. It attracts the enemy to concentrate a large number of troops on the front, and then sends the air force and sabotage teams to cut off their transport lines, putting them at risk of running out of ammunition and food. I think that if the plan is successful, a large number of enemies can be disabled in a short period of time."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I have a request." Sukov thought that he would send the air force to cut off the supply line of the German army. Even if the number of planes dispatched each time was small, the ammunition and fuel consumed would not be a small amount, so he Euphemistically asked Rokossovsky: "I wonder if it is possible to give priority to fuel and ammunition supplements for the two aviation divisions belonging to our group army?"

"If you can really achieve the desired results." Rokossovsky did not give Sokov a clear answer, but said solemnly: "Even if you don't make this request, I trust Moscow's logistics department, We will also take the initiative to provide you with priority supplies."

After a short pause, he continued: "Misha, I got some news not long ago. Yakov has developed a new type of transport vehicle that can travel at high speed on muddy roads with a full load. If he is willing to use this means of transportation to transport ammunition, fuel and supplies for you, it will be enough to support you for a long time to fight."

Knowing that Yakov had developed a new type of transport, Sokov couldn't help but feel itchy. He asked curiously, "Comrade Front Army Commander, do you know what kind of transport it is?"

"I don't know." Rokossovsky replied simply, "I also heard this news occasionally from an old friend who came to the front. Since this means of transportation is still top secret, so Not many people know the inside story. I know Yakov and you are good friends, if you ask him directly, maybe he will give you a satisfactory answer."

Seeing Sokov hang up the phone and hearing a few words from the side, Witkov couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Commander, what kind of transport is General Rokossovsky talking about? What is it?" What kind of transportation tool can drive at high speed on muddy roads?"

Sokov heard Vitkov's question, shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and replied with a wry smile: "Sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think I can answer this question. Unless I see the real thing, I will I don’t know what kind of new means of transportation Yakov is researching.”

Lunev came over and said to the two, "Are you talking about the new type of transportation developed by Yakov?"

"That's right." Sokov seemed to have some understanding of this new type of transportation tool according to Lunev's taste, so he asked curiously: "Comrade Military Commissar, have you seen this new type of transportation tool?"

"No." Lunev shook his head like a rattle and replied, "This means of transportation is top secret, and at my level, I am not qualified to know about it."