Red Moscow

In a small village two kilometers away, the headquarters of the Guards Division was set up in the house of the village Soviet. Outside the log home, several jeeps and trucks were parked, all covered in green camouflage netting.

There was a sentry standing guard at the gate, and he saw a convoy parked in front of the house. Several officers, one of whom was a major general and the other a colonel, came out of the second jeep and shouted at the open door. Said: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, please come out."

Following his shout, a second lieutenant wearing a brand new military uniform appeared at the door. Seeing Sokov and Koyda standing next to the car, he hurriedly stepped forward and raised his hands to salute, and then asked, "Two commanders, I don't know which part you belong to?"

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, please report to your division commander: the division commander of the 188th Division of the 27th Army has arrived."

Hearing the position reported by Sokov, the Second Lieutenant hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Commander is very busy at the moment, I am afraid I can't come out to greet you, please come with me."

Walking into the headquarters, Sokov saw a bald general standing at the table with two colonels, bent over to study something. The second lieutenant who led the way quickly stepped forward and reported: "Report to the division commander, the division commander of the 188th Infantry Division is here."

Hearing the second lieutenant's voice, the bald general turned his head and looked back. After seeing Sokov and Koyda standing not far away, he casually asked, "How many people are there in your army, and when will you be able to enter the defensive position? "

Regarding the bald general's rudeness, Keida's face suddenly changed. When he was about to go forward to argue, he was stopped by Sokov. Seeing Sokov shaking his head slightly towards him, he obediently shut his mouth.

Sokov took a step forward, and said neither humble nor humble: "Comrade General, the infantry division I brought has more than 8,000 people. They are well-trained and well-equipped. Before deploying them into defensive positions, I must first make it clear that the What kind of enemy will we face in the next battle?"

The reason why the bald general gave orders to Sokov like a superior was entirely because he saw that the other party was too young. According to his thinking, although he and the opponent are both major generals, but he is the commander of the guard division, and the opponent is only the commander of the ordinary infantry division, so he should obey his command.

He said impatiently: "After yesterday's battle, my division has less than 3,000 people left. I plan to transfer the 233rd and 235th Guards Regiments to the 238th Regiment's position, and they are empty. When you leave the position, your troops will take over the defense, how about it, is there any difficulty?"

Sokov walked to the table, looked down at the map on the table, and found that if the guards had shrunk all their forces, the front of the defense he replaced would be seven kilometers wide, while the area the opponent was defending would be as wide as Less than two kilometers. Keida also discovered this problem, and an angry look appeared on his face.

"Comrade General," Sokov continued to ask calmly, "I would like to ask, is there a solid fortification in the defensive area you gave up, and is it a complete defensive system?"

"There must be a defensive position," the bald general said in an uncertain tone, "but I don't know the specific situation there. You know, my troops only arrived two hours earlier than you. There’s simply no time to find out what’s going on there.”

"General Sokov," just as Sokov was about to ask the bald general if he could send someone as a guide to take him there for a field survey, a surprised voice came from behind him: "Why are you here? "

Sokov turned around and saw clearly that it was the liaison officer sent by Klitschko who was speaking, so he replied with a smile, "Comrade liaison officer, I am worried that the enemy's offensive will be very violent today, so I came here to take a look in person."

"Liaison officer," the bald general asked curiously when he saw that the liaison officer was respectful to Sokov, "Who is he?"

"General Marankin," the liaison officer had an expression of surprise when he heard the bald general's question. He asked in surprise, "Don't you know that this is Major General Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army?"

"What, he is Major General Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army?" After learning of Sokov's identity, the bald general was taken aback, and he quickly straightened up and saluted Sokov: "Hello, Commander Comrade, I am Major General Ma Lanjin, commander of the 81st Guards Division, please forgive me for not recognizing you just now."

"Comrade General," Sokov knew that he was young, and as long as he didn't reveal his identity, it was common for people to look down on him, so he didn't take it to heart, but asked Marankin politely, "I wonder if you can send someone to Koy Colonel Da as a guide, take him there to see the terrain?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Marankin turned to his chief of staff, the gray-haired colonel standing beside him, and said, "Chief of staff, find two staff officers who are familiar with the terrain as guides, and take Colonel Keida to Check out the terrain."

"Comrade division commander," the division chief of staff said cautiously, "I think it's better for me to go in person, and I will supervise the transfer of defense if I want."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is not acceptable. We still need you to stay here to assist the division commander." Another colonel smiled and said, "I think this matter should be left to me, the political commissar."

After the division political commissar left with Colonel Koida, Marankin said to his chief of staff again: "Comrade chief of staff, please introduce to General Sokov the enemy situation we have."

The chief of staff of the division promised and began to introduce the situation to Sokov: "Comrade General, according to our reconnaissance, we are now facing the 114th Panzergrenadier Regiment of the German 6th Armored Division, which is about to attack us. battalion and the second battalion. The first battalion is motorized equipment, with three infantry companies and a heavy weapon company under its jurisdiction. The second battalion is still three infantry companies and a heavy weapon company. They are still motorized equipment, but they are also equipped with There are a certain number of armored vehicles."

Through the explanation of the division chief of staff, Sokov found that the position where the troops of the 188th division were stationed was just about to face the attacks of the second battalion and the first battalion of the German army. After waiting for the other party to finish speaking, he asked again: "What about the enemy's tank?"

Hearing Sokov's question, the chief of staff of the division couldn't help but look up at Marankin, the muscles on his face twitched twice, and then he said: "The enemy's 11th Armored Regiment's first battalion is deployed in the second battalion's Behind them, they had three companies of light tanks and one company of medium tanks, and according to our judgment, they were trying to cooperate with the SS division on the left flank to attack the 305th Rifle Division on our right flank."

Sokov stared at the map and began to ponder in his mind. Judging from the positions handed over to him by friendly forces, in the next battle, the 188th Division will face the enemy's second infantry battalion and part of the first battalion, as well as an army whose strength is not good. It seems that this is a vicious battle.

Seeing Sokov staring at the map without speaking, Marankin couldn't help feeling a little nervous, so he tentatively said: "General Sokov, if you have any difficulties, please bring them up, and we will re-discuss how to allocate defensive areas."

Sokov thought to himself that he was not fighting alone. No matter how weak the friendly forces on the left and right flanks were, they could help him share some of the pressure. Coupled with his existing strength, it shouldn't be a big problem to block the enemy. He waved his hand at Marankin and said, "Comrade General, there's no need. We will divide our respective defense zones according to the plan we just agreed on. Don't worry, I really don't pay attention to such a small number of enemies."