Red Moscow

"Under the current circumstances, we can only try our luck." Klitschko said, he called the director of the communications corps, and told him: "Get me to Moscow immediately, I want to find Golikov General."

"Comrade Commander," the Director of Communications Corps said with some embarrassment after hearing Klitschko's order, "Since General Golikov was dismissed, I don't know where he has been transferred?"

Klitschko thought that Golikov had returned to Moscow after being dismissed. As for what he is doing now, not many people know. If it hadn't been for the occasional mention of Golikov by a friend from Moscow not long ago, he would have no idea where he was at this time.

Hearing the question from the director of the communications corps at this moment, he quickly said: "General Golikov is now the Deputy People's Commissar of National Defense, who is responsible for the supervisory work of cadres. You can call the People's Committee of National Defense, and you should be able to find him there."

After more than half an hour of tossing, Klitschko finally got through to Golikov. Hearing Golikov's call, he said a little excitedly: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am Klitschko. How are you doing recently?"

"It's okay." After Golikov answered briefly, he asked back: "Your group army is now fighting against the German army's northward army. Why did you think of calling me?"

"It's like this, Commander of the Front Army." Although Klitschko knew that it was a taboo to report to the higher level, in order to prevent his troops from being annihilated in this battle, he could only bite the bullet and do this taboo thing: "After a long period of fighting, my group army has suffered heavy losses and urgently needs to be replenished."

"The troops need to be replenished. You can contact Comrade Vatutin. He is now the commander of the Voronezh Front Army." Golikov asked puzzledly, "What's the use of looking for me?"

"I've already looked for him, but he couldn't provide me with reinforcements at all. On the contrary, he also ordered to rely on the existing troops to stick to the position tenaciously and not allow a single step back."

"Comrade Vatutin's order is correct." Golikov said somewhat confusedly, "Even if I were in his position, I would give you the same order."

"Comrade Front Army Commander..."

"Stop, I'm no longer the commander of the Voronezh Front."

"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar." Seeing that Golikov was a little embarrassed to call him by his previous position, Klitschko hastily changed a new title: "In today's battle, in order to block the enemy's attack, I have put the In the end, the reserve team went into battle. If the German army's offensive is still fierce tomorrow, I don't think I have any strength to stop them."

"Then what should we do?" Golikov stared at the map in front of him, and asked with a serious expression: "If you can't hold your position, why don't you stop defending it? If your position is broken by the Germans, they will be able to go all the way north and go back to Kuwait." In the Kursk area, join forces with the German Ninth Army going south. At that time, our troops deployed in the Kursk salient will fall into the encirclement of the German army.”

"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, I also want to avoid this kind of thing from happening, so I take the liberty to ask for your help."

"How can I help you?"

"It's like this. About 20 kilometers behind us is the Pushol River. The troops stationed there today are the 27th Army of Major General Sokov." Klitschko said with some embarrassment: "If you can get With their support, I believe we will be able to stop the German attack tomorrow."

"Since this is the case, then you can contact him directly." Golikov felt inexplicably relieved when he learned that Sokov's troops were stationed on the Pushol River. place, then the Germans would never be able to move forward smoothly. Regarding Klitschko's proposal to ask Sokov for help, he thought it was very good, so he said kindly: "Sokov is a very talkative person. If he finds that you are in danger, he will I came to support you without hesitation."

"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, that's the reason." Klitschko said with some embarrassment: "But I haven't dealt with him before, so I asked him for help rashly, worried that I would be rejected by him?"

"You are worried about being rejected by him, so you want to ask me to come forward to mediate." Hearing this, Golikov immediately understood what Klitschko meant, and said with a smile: "You think my face is so big. , Comrade Sokov will agree to send troops to support you as soon as you show up?"

"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, I beg you." From Golikov's tone of voice, Klitschko heard that the other party was indeed willing to help him, so he begged hard: "Please and General Sokov Say hello and let him know the actual situation here, it will be much easier if I speak again."

"Okay, General Kryuchenkin." For the general who once fought alongside him, Golikov still had a lot of affection, and he said tactfully: "I will immediately send your opinion to Soko. Comrade Husband conveyed it, but I dare not guarantee whether he agrees."

A few minutes later, the phone in front of Sokov rang. He thought it was some subordinate who reported the situation of defense to him, so he grabbed the phone casually: "I'm Sokov, who are you?"

"Hello, Misha." Unexpectedly, a familiar voice came from the receiver: "I'm Golikov."

"Hello, Comrade General." Sokov only knew that Golikov had been dismissed, but he didn't know what position he held now, so he could only address him by his military rank: "Do you have any instructions?"

"I can't talk about instructions." Golikov said with a smile: "I have one thing I want to ask you for help."

"Comrade General," Sokov said with a smile, thinking that Golikov was joking with him, "how can I help you?"

"Yes." Golikov suppressed the smile on his face and said with a serious expression: "About 20 kilometers to the south of you, General Klitschko's 69th Army is deployed. After a long battle, they Afterwards, even the reserves were depleted. If the Germans attacked again tomorrow, their positions would be in danger of being breached. As an army commander, you should understand very well that if the positions of the 69th Army were breached by the enemy , What serious consequences will it bring?"

"Yes, Comrade General, I understand very well." Sokov nodded and said: "Once the 69th Army's position is breached, the German army can continue to advance northward, detour back to where Kursk is, and fight with their troops." The Southward Corps joined forces and encircled all the troops deployed by our army in the Kursk salient."

"Misha, you really saw this." Golikov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then smiled and said, "Now there is an opportunity to prevent the 69th Army's defense zone from being breached. Would you like to help?"

Hearing what Golikov said, Sokov began to think quickly in his mind: "The 69th Army was under the command of Golikov in the past. He called himself inexplicably today, and specifically mentioned this unit. , Could it be that he wants to entrust his own affairs with the 69th Army?"

As Sokov thought, he looked down at the map in front of him, looking for the location of the 69th Army. After seeing the opponent's location clearly, he immediately guessed the purpose of Golikov's call. If the German army really broke through the 69th Army's defense zone, the next attack target would be the location of his troops. In order to prevent your defense zone from being attacked by the enemy, you must find a way to block the enemy far away.

Wanting to understand this, Sokov tentatively asked: "Comrade General, I think you are calling me, is it because you want to ask me to send troops to strengthen the defense of the 69th Army to prevent the enemy from breaking through our defense line?"

"It's easy to talk to smart people." Golikov was still hesitating in his heart, how to say this to Sokov, he didn't expect that the other party only took a moment to guess his purpose, and said with a smile: "I called you because I really wanted to ask you to send a force to reinforce the 69th Army."

"Comrade General, if you are still serving as the commander of the Voronezh Front Army, as soon as you give an order, I will immediately send troops to reinforce." After thinking for a moment, Sukov shook his head and said: "But now, please forgive me, I cannot grant your request."

Seeing that Sokov rejected his request, Golikov turned pale with anger. He wanted to scold the other party twice, saying that he was no longer serving in the army, but he didn't buy his account. But after thinking about it, Sokov's approach is understandable. After all, he would be in danger of being sent to a military court if he transferred troops without the order of his superiors.

Just when Golikov was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard Sokov say again: "Comrade General, there is a proverb in the far east that says that the lips are dead and the teeth are cold." He originally wanted to say "idiom", but there is no such thing in Russian. He can only use "proverb" to replace this word, "meaning that if the lips are gone, the teeth will feel cold. Now between us and the 69th Army, there is a relationship between lips and teeth. If the 69th Army loses , and then we will directly face the enemy's attack."

From Sokov's words, Golikov keenly sensed that the opponent was actually willing to send troops, but he needed to go through a procedure, so he tentatively asked, "Misha, how do you want to send troops?"

"It's very simple." Sokov didn't want to send troops to fight the Germans desperately, but in the end he was punished for this matter, so he said to Golikov straight to the point: "Please General Klitschko make a request to Commander Vatutin, let He contacted my front commander, General Konev, and after getting approval, I will immediately send troops to reinforce the 69th Army."

"This is a good way." Golikov thought carefully, and Sokov's way was the safest. He had greeted all parties, and it was justifiable for them to send troops again. "I immediately told Klitschko about this and put him in touch with General Vatutin."

When Klitschko received a call from Golikov and knew that Sokov was willing to send troops to help him, he couldn't help crying with joy. As for Golikov asking him to report to Vatutin, and then Vatutin would contact Konev, he naturally agreed.

After Vatutin received the call from Klitschko, he felt very strange. He asked Khrushchev who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, tell me, why did Klitschko invite Sokov?" How about sending troops to support him?"

"Comrade Commander, please look at the map." Chief of Staff Ivanov interjected, "Look, the defense zone of Sokov's troops is 20 kilometers north of the 69th Army. Once the German army implements an effective After the breakthrough, their next attack target is the 27th Army deployed on the Pushol River."

"The chief of staff is right," Khrushchev said slowly, "according to what I know about Sokov, he will definitely not just sit and watch the friendly forces in front of him being defeated by the enemy, so he will send troops without hesitation." .However, for the sake of safety, some procedures that should be followed are still indispensable."

Hearing Khrushchev's explanation, Vatutin immediately understood what was going on, he nodded quickly and said, "I understand, then I will immediately contact General Konev and ask him to send Sokov's troops to Reinforce the 69th Army."

When Vatutin called Konev, a heated argument was taking place in Sokov's headquarters. Lunev questioned Sokov's plan to send troops: "Comrade Commander, we now have only three divisions and one tank corps deployed on the Pushol River. If we deploy troops to reinforce the 69th Army, then It will weaken our defensive strength in the existing area. Once the reinforcements we send fail to stop the enemy's attack, and the enemy rushes to the Pushol River like a tide, what kind of strength will we use to stop them?"

Sokov waited for Lunev to finish speaking, first glanced at the silent Sameko, and then said: "Comrade Military Commissar, you must have just heard the conversation between me and General Golikov. Now we The 69th Army is the relationship between lips and teeth, once the lips are gone, the teeth will feel cold, in order to avoid this situation, we must send troops to support the 69th Army.”

"How many troops are going to be transferred there?" Lunev raised his own question again: "The troops sent are too few to be effective. If we send too many troops, our defense forces here will be destroyed. greatly weakened."

"One division." Sokov stretched out a finger and said, "I plan to send Colonel Koida's 188th division. Their division is now fully staffed and well-equipped, and they have undergone rigorous training some time ago. , to block the enemy, there shouldn't be any problem."

"I agree with the opinion of Comrade Commander." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Sameko echoed: "I know what Comrade Military Commissioner is worried about. I am worried that the recruits in the army account for the majority. I don't know how to fight. However, as the chief of staff, I know very well that these troops may not have ideal combat effectiveness when used for offense, but if used for defense, one division can completely match two divisions of the friendly army."