Red Moscow

This time when the troops were dispatched, Sokov stayed in his headquarters for the first time, which surprised everyone. Even Zhukov, who called from Moscow, was taken aback when he heard that it was Sokov who spoke, and said rather puzzled: "Misha, according to your character, didn't you leave the command post again and run to the last place?" Has the frontier gone?"

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov replied with a smile when he heard Zhukov's question, "Didn't the headquarters just issue a new order that all commanders above the division level are not allowed to go to the front line without authorization?"

"Is there such an order? Why don't I know?" No matter whether there is this order or not, Sukov didn't run around, so he felt more at ease. He didn't want a rising star to fall. "But that's fine, you can only stay in the headquarters honestly, and you can't run around like an ordinary company commander. To be honest, you are still very young, and you will have a long time to come. I don't want you to lose your life in vain because of your own willfulness."

Facing Zhukov's criticism, Sokov readily accepted: "Comrade Marshal, you are right in your criticism. As a commander, I should stick to my post at all times instead of leaving the troops and running around."

Although he felt that Sokov was a little abnormal, Zhukov couldn't guess the reason. If he knew that the reason why Sokov didn't run to the front of all the troops this time was because he was worried that his life would be in danger, he would have scolded him long ago. He continued to ask: "How do you plan to deploy the troops that have arrived in the Prokhorovka area?"

Sokov thought that he had not had time to report his deployment to his superiors. In fact, he knew very well that even if he reported it to Konev, he would not care. Now that Zhukov asked, he hastily replied: "I divide the troops into three echelons. The first echelon consists of the 84th Infantry Division of Major General Fomenko and the 4th Guards Tank Corps of General Poluboyarov. They will be deployed on the left bank of the Pushol River; Colonel Koyda's 188th Infantry Division will serve as the second echelon, and Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Infantry Division will serve as the third echelon. Right Bank."

"Misha," Zhukov reminded him after listening to Sokov's report, "Although there are bridges on the Pusyl River, the river is more than a hundred meters wide. Once the battle broke out, the enemy's air force blew up the bridge. , how do you plan to mobilize the troops on both sides of the strait?"

"Comrade Marshal, I have considered all the problems you mentioned." Sokov explained to Zhukov: "I ordered the engineering battalion to erect pontoon bridges on the river, and one of the pontoon bridges was specially designed for armored troops to pass through."

"A pontoon bridge specially for armored troops?" Zhukov heard something wrong from Sokov's words, "Then the other bridge, is it for infantry to pass through?"

"As expected of you, Comrade Marshal, you guessed my intentions right away." Sokov flattered Zhukov without a trace, and then said, "You should have seen the guns used during the Stalingrad defense war." Simple pontoon bridges, workers use ropes to tie empty oil drums together to build pontoon bridges that can only be passed by infantry..."

Hearing Sokov's narration, Zhukov remembered the scene he saw when he entered the city after the German Sixth Army was wiped out. The floating bridges that Sokov mentioned were very numerous on the river outside the factory area. Although it can only be used by infantry, the erection is simple, and skilled personnel only need ten minutes to complete the erection of this pontoon bridge.

"Well, it's very thoughtful." Zhukov nodded and said, "Even if the pontoon bridge used by the infantry is blown up by enemy planes, it can be repaired in the shortest possible time, and the materials and time spent are not much." .”

After a short pause, Zhukov asked again: "Nowadays, there are no decent fortifications along the banks of the Psyl River, let alone anti-tank trenches. If you encounter an assault by German tanks, how do you plan to use them?"

"Comrade Marshal, although we cannot dig anti-tank trenches in front of our positions in a short period of time, we can lay minefields and combine them with rocket launchers to deal with German tank assaults. When necessary, our tank army can also take the initiative to attack. A tank battle with the enemy's armor."

"You speak clearly and logically, but when it comes to fighting, I wonder if you can do it." Zhukov said, "I'm just waiting to see your performance."

"Please wait a moment, Comrade Marshal." Sensing that Zhukov was about to hang up the phone, Sokov hurriedly said, "I want to ask, when will the battle in the Prokhorovka area start?"

"We and the large German troops have arrived in the Prokhorovka area one after another." Zhukov's expression suddenly became serious when he heard this question: "I can't say exactly when the battle will take place, but I can only tell you one thing. Words: The war is imminent. You must prepare for the battle early."

After Waiting for Sokov to put down the phone, Sameko asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander, are we really not digging anti-tank trenches in the Prokhorovka area?"

Sokov wished to dig a few Golan trenches there, so that the Germans could cry in front of the insurmountable anti-tank trenches. But this kind of good thing can only be imagined, but it cannot be realized at all. The project volume of Golanhao is too large. Even with the help of lifting machinery, it will take ten and a half months to complete the project.

"Ah, really don't dig tank trenches?" Sameko asked with some disappointment.

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, we do not dig anti-tank trenches, and the enemy will not give us the opportunity to dig trenches." Sokov said to Sameko: "Besides, anti-tank trenches can not only block enemy tanks, but It can also block our tanks. If the way forward is blocked by anti-tank trenches when the tank army is attacking, how can they cover the infantry assault?"

"Without anti-tank trenches, our infantry will be under a lot of pressure once they encounter an enemy's armored assault." Sokov said to Sameko: "So after ordering the first echelon to enter the position, we must hurry up and lay mines. area, and set up several relocated anti-tank firepower points. Even if there is no anti-tank trench, we can rely on mines and rocket launchers to block enemy tanks."

If other commanders boasted that they could block the enemy's tanks without any anti-tank trenches, Sameko would definitely think that the other party was bragging. But he had seen the power of rocket launchers against tanks, and knew that what Sokov said was true, so he nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will immediately send a report to the first echelon, ordering them After specifying the location, lay minefields in front of the constructed field fortifications to prevent enemy tanks from approaching."

In the evening, the mechanized brigade of General Poluboyarov's Tank Corps was the first to reach the left bank of the Pusol River. After the troops arrived at the designated location, the brigade commander began to arrange manpower to build simple field fortifications, and laid anti-tank mines in front of the fortifications to prevent German tanks from approaching.

By dark, the troops had completed several trenches up to two hundred meters long, and two dozen half-buried shelters. Seeing that it was getting late, the brigade commander left a dozen sentries on duty and drove the other commanders to sleep. According to his thinking, the enemy's large force has not arrived yet, and the enemy will not launch an attack for the time being.

At two o'clock in the morning, the brigade commander was awakened by a dull explosion. He sat up suddenly from the camp bed, listening to the movement outside. Not long after, he heard dense gunshots from outside, and he quickly recognized that it was the sound of assault rifles firing, and it seemed that the sentry was exchanging fire with the enemy.

He quickly rolled over and got out of bed, and while bending over to put on his boots, he called out the chief of staff who was sleeping not far away: "Chief of staff, wake up quickly, there seems to be a fight outside."

The chief of staff, who was still sleepy at first, immediately became energetic when he heard that the troops outside and the enemy were on fire. He rolled over and got off the bed, before he could even put on his clothes and boots, and ran outside while hugging him, yelling: "Comrade Brigadier, I'm going to see what's going on outside."

The brigade commander was fully dressed, and when he came to the headquarters, he saw the chief of staff on the phone, as if he was asking the troops in the direction of the sound of gunfire, trying to figure out what happened.

"Comrade Brigadier, I've figured everything out." When the chief of staff put down the phone, he saw the brigade commander sitting opposite him, and hurriedly reported to him: "There is a German detachment with several motorcycles and two tanks. Formed, presumably trying to seize the bridge over the Pushol River, but stumbled into our minefield by mistake. One of the leading tanks was blown up on the spot, alerting the nearby sentinels, who immediately fired warning shots , and then fired at the enemy's motorcycle..."

After listening to the report, the brigade commander raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and said happily: "Fortunately, the commander ordered our brigade to speed up the march and rush here to set up defenses as soon as possible. If we came a day later, the bridge on the river would not have been destroyed. If the enemy controls it, it will be blown up, so we can only stay on the other side and stare."

"Comrade Brigadier, after some fighting, our commanders and fighters have completely wiped out this squad." The chief of staff said to the brigade commander, "Should we report the situation here to General Poluboyarov?"

"It doesn't matter, Comrade Chief of Staff, of course you have to report." The brigade commander asked the chief of staff, "Is the phone working?"

"It works." The chief of staff nodded and said, "When the troops were constructing fortifications, I ordered the communications corps to set up a communication line with the rear so that I could communicate with my superiors."

After connecting to the military headquarters, the brigade commander, who had lingering fears, reported to General Poluboyarov: "Comrade commander, not long ago, our brigade's defense area was attacked by the German army. After some fighting, the attack was eliminated. The German squad destroyed a total of two tanks and motorcycles..."

"What, you were attacked by the German army?" Hearing the brigade commander's report, General Poluboyarov burst into a cold sweat. If it wasn't for the repeated telegrams from the headquarters to urge him, he would send a rapid troop to Pusho On the left bank of the Er River, hurry up to build the fortifications, and he plans to wait until tomorrow afternoon before entering the designated location.

Hearing the report of the commander of the mechanized brigade at this moment, he asked cautiously: "Have you conducted reconnaissance to see if there are other German troops nearby?"

"Not yet, Comrade Commander." The brigade commander quickly replied, "Because it's too dark, we can't carry out an effective search around."

General Poluboyarov looked out of the tent. There were no stars or moon in the sky outside. To be honest, it would not be very effective to conduct a search under such circumstances. So he had no choice but to change his mind and said to the brigade commander: "Then order your soldiers to keep one eye open when they sleep, so that the enemy will not know when they touch your face."

"Comrade Commander, don't worry." The brigade commander replied with a smile, "I have placed a lot of secret sentries outside the position. As long as they find the enemy's movement, they will immediately shoot to warn."

Now that the mechanized brigade was attacked by the German army, General Poluboyarov felt that such important news must be reported to Sokov immediately, so he connected the phone of the headquarters: "I am General Poluboyarov , please help me find Comrade Commander, I have something important to report to him."

The battle was imminent, and in order not to delay the formality, Sokov ordered someone to set up a few camp beds in the corner of the headquarters for him, Sameko, Lunev and others to rest. Hearing that the duty officer said that General Poluboyarov was looking for him, Sokov didn't even put on his boots, so he went straight to the table and took the phone in the duty officer's hand: "I'm still Sokov. "

"Hello, Comrade Commander, I'm sorry to disturb your rest." General Poluboyarov said apologetically on the phone: "But something very important happened and needs to be reported to you immediately."

General Poluboyarov’s way of speaking made Sokov very disgusted. He thought that if he had something to say, he insisted on beating around the bush, so he said impatiently: “Comrade General, if there is nothing It's important, I'm going back to sleep." After speaking, he yawned deliberately.

"That's right. Not long ago, the mechanized brigade deployed on the left bank of the Pushol River was attacked by the German army..."

"What, the mechanized brigade was attacked by the enemy?" Sokov asked nervously, "How is the situation? Have you repelled the enemy's attack?"

"The enemy who attacked the mechanized brigade was only a small force, with only two tanks and a few armored vehicles." General Poluboyarov said cautiously: "According to our analysis, they may want to seize the bridge over the Pusol River. , but did not expect to accidentally break into the minefield we laid, and one tank was blown up on the spot, and the motorcycles of the remaining tanks were all destroyed in the fierce battle. In a word, the enemy who attacked us The whole army has been wiped out."

"Good job, Comrade General." Knowing that the enemy who carried out the sneak attack had been wiped out, Sokov felt very relieved. If he hadn't urged the other party to send people to rush to repair the fortifications, it is estimated that the bridge on the Pushol River has been lost. Although he won the battle, Sokov was not complacent, but reminded General Poluboyarov: "But you can't be proud, let the soldiers be more vigilant to prevent the Germans from launching another sneak attack."