Red Moscow

Sokov followed Khokhlov and others to the division headquarters. Seeing the busy scene here, he couldn't help but nodded secretly. It seems that Colonel Khokhlov didn't relax when he took people to greet him. work here.

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov sat down at the table, took off his hat and put it on the table, looked at Khokhlov and asked, "Did the comrade general make things difficult for you?"

"At the beginning, he tried his best to prevent us from building fortifications, but a communications staff officer accompanying him told him that he had just received the latest news that the vanguard of the German army had rushed into Oboyan." Khokhlov explained to Sokov Said: "Comrade General heard the news and stood here for a long time. Before leaving, let us improve the fortifications here as soon as possible."

The chief of staff of the division went on to say: "If the German army hadn't rushed into the city of Oboyan, I think General Apanashenko would still stop us from building fortifications."

"It is also reasonable for Comrade General to prevent us from building fortifications." Khokhlov continued: "According to the information we have obtained, in order to prevent the German army from attacking in the Kursk area, our friendly forces carefully designed the defense. In the plan, several lines of defense were built, with a defense depth of more than 150 kilometers. The entire defense system consisted of a large number of closely coordinated trenches, barbed wire, anti-tank firepower points, anti-tank ditches, and minefields. In the most likely direction of German attack, gather A large number of troops and firepower. In theory, it is basically impossible for the enemy to break through such a defense."

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov immediately refuted Khokhlov's point of view: "No matter how strong the fortification is, it also has its weaknesses. As long as the attacking side puts more effort, it will definitely be able to break through." The Chino Line is considered impenetrable, but it was useless in the battle to defend France. The Germans knew that if they attacked this line of defense, the Blitzkrieg might turn into a protracted tug of war, so they bypassed it. They took the first line of defense, easily penetrated France, and forced France to surrender to them."

Hearing what Sokov said, everyone present fell silent. After a long time, Khokhlov asked cautiously: "Comrade commander, do you think that after the enemy breaks through the defense line of the friendly army, can the defense line we hastily built be able to stop the enemy?"

Sokov picked up the defense map on the table and looked at it pretendingly. He knew very well in his heart that after the German army broke through the Oboyan defense line, they only advanced 35 kilometers in depth to the Soviet army's defense, and they were unable to continue advancing. The defense zone of the 182nd Division is exactly 35 kilometers away from Oboyan. When the German troops who broke through the friendly positions rushed here, it was already at the end of their battles. Let alone a group army, even if there was only the 182nd Division, it would be enough for the Germans to drink. Pot of.

After reading the deployment map, Sokov put it on the table, nodded and said, "Colonel Khokhlov, your site selection is very correct, and you cleverly combined the terrain with our fortifications, so that our commanders and fighters can Relying on the terrain, resolutely block the enemy who breaks through the friendly defense line."

In order to understand the current situation, Sokov called his headquarters and asked Sameko, who stayed there: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask you if you can get in touch with the headquarters of the Voronezh Front Army." , I want to know about the battle situation there.”

Although Sokov's location is less than 20 kilometers away from Vatutin's headquarters, and it would take less than an hour by car, but in order to find out the other party's situation, he had to pass hundreds of kilometers Headquarters outside, to contact Vatutin.

Sameko waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and quickly replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will immediately contact the Voronezh Front Command, and I will definitely report the situation on the battlefield to you in the shortest possible time."

Sameko said that he would reply to Sokov soon, but to get in touch with the headquarters of the Voronezh Front, he had to go through the headquarters of the Steppe Front. Sent to the headquarters of the Voronezh Front.

After almost an hour, Sokov received a call from Sameko: "Comrade Commander, I have figured everything out. Yesterday afternoon, General Vatutin organized troops to counterattack the enemy and achieved some results. The attempt to advance the German army to Kursk was stopped.

However, during the day today, the friendly counterattack was frustrated and had to retreat to the starting point of the attack. Under such circumstances, the German army launched a fierce attack on our friendly forces. Although General Vatutin used all the front army reserves, the German attack was more violent than expected. Unfortunately, after a series of fierce battles, the Germans broke through the second line of defense of the friendly army and forcibly crossed the border. Pena River..."

When Sameko introduced the situation on the battlefield, Sokov kept finding the place names mentioned by the other party on the map and marked them one by one. After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Khokhlov and others with a serious expression: "Comrades, the situation is more serious than we imagined. The vanguard of the German army has already crossed the Pena River. If they are nervous and smooth, at most In two days their tanks will be in front of our positions."

"What, the enemy will rush to our defense zone in just two days?" Khokhlov said in surprise: "Comrade commander, you know, the friendly army has deployed a powerful force in front of us, how could it be impossible to stop us?" What about the enemy?"

"What's impossible?" Sokov said with a straight face, "They're all new recruits, many of whom haven't even had basic military training. Troops?"

Khokhlov was silent for a long time, and finally asked Sukov cautiously: "Comrade commander, if the Germans really rushed to us, do you think we can stop them? Or, let the other divisions march faster Speed, come here to arm yourself?"

"Comrade Colonel, as I just said, your fortifications and terrain are ingeniously combined, so that our commanders and fighters can use the fortifications to block the enemy's attack." Sokov said to Khokhlov: "Our location The front is basically a hilly area, and the enemy cannot use armored forces on a large scale. As long as the Germans are not covered by tanks and artillery, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced."

"Our fortifications were built in a hurry." Khokhlov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and asked tentatively: "Do you think it is necessary to pull up barbed wire overnight and lay minefields?"

"You came here in a hurry, and you didn't carry many supplies." Sokov shook his head and said, "Even if you want to stretch wires and lay minefields, I'm afraid the area you can control is limited. I think it's better to forget it and let the commanders and fighters take care of it." Let’s rest for one night, starting from tomorrow, maybe we will fight a fierce battle.”

Nothing to say all night.

Early in the morning of the first day, an unexpected visitor came to the headquarters.

Seeing the four general stars on the opponent's shoulders, Sokov immediately guessed that the black-haired, square-faced, and short commander was General Apanashenko, known as the "Far Eastern Czar".

Although Sokov was dissatisfied with his obstruction of his troops' construction yesterday, the opponent's military rank was much higher than his own after all, and he was one of the five generals before the war. He quickly got up to salute him and reported according to the regulations : "Hello, Comrade General. I am Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Army Group. On behalf of all commanders and fighters, I welcome you."

"You are Major General Sokov." Apanashenko nodded at Sokov, and said lightly: "You look very young, I want to ask, with your qualifications and level, can you command tens of thousands of people?" Troops?"

"Comrade General, I know that I am too young and have not yet entered a military academy, so my command ability is indeed very poor. When my superior appointed me as the commander of the group army, I was always uneasy." Sokov said with a smile: "Hope Comrade General, when you have free time, you must give me more advice."

Apanashenko originally thought that someone like Sokov, who was in a high position at such a young age, must have a sense of arrogance, and he might get angry with him after he couldn't say a few words. On the phone yesterday, he did just that. But as soon as they met, Apanashenko found that the other party treated him respectfully, without showing any domineering appearance.

Sokov was respectful to himself, and Apanashenko couldn't get angry at the other party, so he could only cough heavily, and then changed the subject and asked: "General Sokov, you must also know that the German army broke through our army. The second line of defense, and the forced crossing of the Pena River?"

"Yes, Comrade General. I have heard about this." Sokov nodded and replied, "I know that our friendly forces have shown due bravery and tenacity in the battle, but the enemy's attack intensity is far from It exceeded our imagination, so we were forced to retreat in some areas, but I believe that it will not be long before our friendly forces will launch a counterattack and retake the area occupied by the enemy..."

When Sokov said these words, he felt goosebumps all over his body. It was the first time he broke through the defense line and the defenders had to retreat. He said it so fresh and refined.

But Apanashenko's statement to Sokov seems to be very useful. "Comrade Sokov, it seems that you still have a clear understanding of your abilities." Apanashenko said with a smile: "I have nothing to guide you, but I run in various defense zones every day." Running around, responsible for some liaison work. If you have anything to say to Comrade Vatutin, you can tell me, and I will convey it for you."

Sokov remembered that Apanashenko died in the later part of the Battle of Kursk. Although many public materials show that he was commanding the battle at the front, he encountered a German air strike and the headquarters was destroyed by bombs. Unfortunately, sacrifice. But Sokov knew that the actual situation was not the case, but that Apanashenko often traveled between the headquarters and the front in jeeps, and the German army grasped the course of action, so they dispatched air force bombing, which resulted in his sacrifice.

Although Sokov felt that the other party was an old-fashioned person, if he really wanted to watch him die, Sokov still couldn't bear it. After reorganizing the vocabulary in his mind, he said to Apanashenko: "Comrade General, now that the war has begun, I think you should stay in the headquarters to ensure your safety."

Apanashenko is an old-fashioned commander. He feels that as a commander, he should stay in the most dangerous place in the battle, so as to boost morale. Hearing Sokov's persuasion at this moment, he grinned and said disapprovingly: "General Sokov, don't you know that if a commander stays where the soldiers can see it, it can stabilize the morale of the army and Is it a morale booster?"

Sokov wanted to persuade a few words, but saw a strange major barging in from the outside, and said to Apanashenko in a panic: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, it's not good, something happened. .”

"Comrade major, as a commander, you must learn to be calm so that your soldiers will not panic." After teaching the major, Apanashenko asked calmly: "Now tell me, What happened?"

"I just received a telegram from the Front Army Command." The major said in a panic, "Not long ago, the German troops who crossed the Pena River broke through our army's third line of defense and are now advancing here."

"What, our third line of defense was also breached by the German army?" Apanashenko asked in surprise: "What about our reserve team, why don't we block the breach opened by the German army as soon as possible?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," the major reminded Apanashenko cautiously after hearing Apanashenko's questioning: "Our reserves were exhausted in the counterattacks the afternoon of the day before yesterday and yesterday morning, and now there is no The extra troops can block the enemy rushing to the depth of our defense."

"The enemy has broken through our defenses," Apanashenko said as he walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, "We must find a way to stop them, otherwise they can take the opportunity to rush to Moscow. We absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of attack." situation arises.”

Sokov didn't speak, just stared at Apanashenko silently, wanting to see what kind of decision he would make. But it is regrettable that Apanashenko did not express any opinions at all except walking back and forth in the headquarters.

After an unknown amount of time, Apanashenko finally stopped, looked at Sokov and asked, "General Sokov, how many troops do you have?"

"There is only one infantry division, about 5,000 people." Sokov knew that Apanashenko's purpose of asking this question was to let himself block the enemy, so after answering the opponent's question briefly, he kept his silence.

"Five thousand people, although a little less, should be enough to fight back." Apanashenko calculated in his heart for a moment, and then gave Sokov an order: "Comrade Sokov, I am now I order you to immediately organize your troops to counterattack the enemies rushing into the depths of our defense, and you must beat them back."