Red Moscow

"Report to Comrade Commander," while Sokov and Lunev were discussing how to deal with Huot, Samoilov walked in from the outside and reported to Sokov: "Boss, the commander of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, General Luboyarov and the two commanders of the First and Second Artillery Divisions have arrived and are waiting outside."

The numbers of the First Artillery Division and the Second Artillery Division were temporary numbers given to them by Sokov for the convenience of command. The two artillery division commanders were also reasonable people and had no objection to Sokov's arrangement. Therefore, the designations of the First Artillery Division and the Second Artillery Division appeared in the organizational system of the 27th Army.

"Comrade Lieutenant," said Sokov to complete his plan without the assistance of artillery and tank units. He originally wanted to wait for Sameko to send telegrams to the infantry divisions, and then ask him to notify the tank commander and the two artillery division commanders to come over, but the others couldn't summon them by themselves, so they came to the door: "Hurry up and invite them in! "

A moment later, Major General Poluboyarov, commander of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, Colonel Terenga, commander of the First Artillery Division, and Colonel Bessonov, commander of the Second Artillery Division, walked in from outside the headquarters.

After the three saluted themselves, Sokov and Lunev stepped forward to shake hands with them one by one, and then said with a smile: "Comrades three commanders, I just wanted to inform you to come to my headquarters. Thought you would come first."

"Comrade Commander!" Major General Poluboyarov, the highest-ranked among the three, was the first to speak: "Our tank troops and artillery have completed their assembly, and they are here specifically to ask for instructions."

"Come here," Sokov walked to the wall, beckoned the three of them to his side, and then pointed to the map on the wall and said to them: "From the analysis of the situation on the battlefield, the enemy will definitely block our deployment tomorrow." position, carry out a fierce attack. The German army on the offensive mission today is the Grossdeutschland Division. After dawn tomorrow, more German army divisions will join the battle, trying to break through our blocking position, so that they can withdraw smoothly to Biel Gorod."

Based on Sokov's introduction, Poluboyarov clearly realized that only his own troops would maintain direct contact with the German army in the coming battle, so he took the initiative to call for battle and said: "Comrade commander, my tank army Now it is only eight kilometers away from the blocking position, and it can enter the position overnight to assist the infantry in defense."

"No," Sokov said, waving his hands, "before the enemy attacks tomorrow, they will definitely concentrate their superior artillery fire on our blocking position. If you deploy your tanks on the blocking position too early, then the enemy will In the artillery preparation stage, you will lose a lot of tanks."

Seeing that Sokov rejected his proposal, Poluboyarov was not discouraged, and continued: "Since you don't agree with us entering the position now, then we can attack from the German ground forces during the day when they flank us." Hit them, beat 'em up, and teach them a lesson they'll never forget."

Hearing what Poluboyarov said, Sokov smiled: "Comrade General, haven't you considered that the enemy's strength is stronger than ours, and if you attack the enemy prematurely, you may be taken advantage of by them. The encirclement of the armored forces? If you are encircled, then our infantry holding the blocking position will become isolated and helpless."

Poluboyarov did not expect that his two proposals were rejected by Sokov one after another. He asked with some frustration: "Comrade Commander, tell me, when should our army go into battle?"

"Wait until the enemy breaks through our blocking position."

"After the enemy broke through our blocking position?" Poluboyarov asked a little confused: "Should we block the gap that the enemy opened?"

Unexpectedly, Sokov's answer was beyond his expectation: "No."

"What, you put our army into battle when the defensive position was breached, but you didn't want to block the gap that was torn apart?" Poluboyarov was confused: "Then what is it for?"

In fact, not only General Poluboyarov did not understand, but even the two division commanders of the First Artillery Division and the Second Artillery Division did not understand. Only Lunev, who knew Sokov's intentions, laughed and remained silent.

"Comrade Commander, I don't understand what you mean either." Sameko, who had just finished calling, walked back, just in time to hear Poluboyarov's question, and couldn't help interjecting: "If you are in the position When it is breached, tank armies are thrown into battle, not to close the gap that is torn open, so what is it for?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov did not directly explain the reason to everyone, but instead asked Sameko: "If you were the commander of the German army, once you found that the vanguard broke through the local blocking force, what would you give? Order?"

"My troops have broken through the enemy's blocking positions, what orders will I give?" After repeating Sokov's words, Sameko said thoughtfully: "I will definitely order the troops to march faster, Speed ​​through the torn breach and return to Belgorod as soon as possible."

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff. Your analysis is correct. Once it is discovered that our army's blocking position has been breached, Huot will definitely issue the same order." Sokov waited for Sameko to finish speaking, and immediately added: " I put the tank army into battle at this time because I want them to carry out assaults on the retreating German army. At this time, the German army is eager to return, and they all want to return to Belgorod earlier. How can they continue to fight? , will inevitably be defeated by the tank army."

Sokov's words silenced everyone, and everyone began to think quickly about whether Sokov's statement was reliable, and whether there was any hope of success.

After a while, Poluboyarov was the first to speak: "Comrade Commander, I think your plan is bold, but it has a great chance of success. But I don't understand one thing. Shall I explain?"

"General Poluboyarov, if you have any questions, feel free to ask." Sokov said with a smile, "I will know everything without saying anything."

"Since you plan to use our tank army to attack the retreating enemy, why don't you simply open the way and let the enemy return directly to Belgorod?"

"The reason is simple. If we don't establish a blocking position halfway, the enemy will use alternate cover during the retreat and retreat to Belgorod in an orderly manner." Sokov saw Poluboyarov If you still have doubts, then patiently explain to him and others: "In this way, no matter how strong our troops are, I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve any results. We have to carry out tenacious blocking first, so that the enemy thinks that we want to cut off their retreat, In order to escape for their lives, they will definitely do everything possible to break through our defensive positions.

But if after a fierce battle, they find that they have finally broken through our army's position, their vigilance will be lowered, and Huot will order the troops to speed up their retreat so that they can all withdraw to Belgorod in the shortest possible time. . We can take advantage of their unwillingness to fight again and launch a tank assault on them. At that time, the enemy who is only thinking about retreating will be defeated by you. "

After Sokov's explanation, Poluboyarov finally understood his intention, and a happy smile appeared on his face. He knew very well that once his tank army launched an assault on the retreating German army, it would gain What a huge victory. By doing so, Sokov is tantamount to sending a huge credit directly to himself. I heard that the superior intends to expand the 4th Guards Tank Army into a group army after the war. With the bonus of this victory, I am afraid that I will be the first commander of the group army.

Seeing that Poluboyarov's tank army will achieve huge results in the next battle, the two artillery division commanders couldn't hold back. Colonel Terenga, the commander of the First Artillery Division, asked: "Comrade commander, how about What about our artillery? We can't be idle like we are now, can we?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Sokov couldn't remember the names of the two division commanders, so he could only address each other by their military ranks: "In order to make this scene more realistic, I still have a task for you artillerymen."

Knowing that Sokov had a task to entrust to him, Terenka couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and asked quickly: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me what task is it?"

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov picked up the explanatory stick by the wall, pointed to the map and said to Terenga, "After dawn tomorrow, you will set up a few observation positions near the blocking position. When the enemy tanks and infantry attack the position When attacking, you can intercept the enemy with artillery fire and kill their vital forces."

"To what extent should we hit?" Terenga knew Sokov's next plan, but when he heard the order to bombard the German attacking troops, he asked a little uncertainly: "Is it a symbolic number of shots and then stop? Or keep shelling?"

"As long as the enemy attacks our defensive positions, you have to bombard them." Sokov said, "The harder the bombing, the better. It doesn't matter if all the shells are fired."

"What about our division, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Sokov gave the First Artillery Division a combat mission, but seemed to have forgotten himself, Colonel Bessonov, the commander of the Second Artillery Division, said anxiously: "You can't favor one over another. .”

"Comrade Colonel, don't worry, I also have tasks for you." Naturally, Sokov would not favor one division over another, assigning tasks to one division while letting another division sit on the bench. He smiled and said to Bessonov: "When the tank army launches an assault on the retreating German army, you are responsible for providing them with artillery cover and using powerful artillery fire to make the enemy more confused."

Sokov's deployment greatly exceeded Sameko's expectations. According to his thinking, after Sokov met with the tank commander and the two artillery division commanders, the issue discussed must be how to use artillery fire to kill the vital forces of the German army on a large scale, and then use the tank army to attack the enemy's attacking troops face to face. Carry out the assault. But I didn't expect that the opponent was actually ingenious, thinking of giving way to the enemy after the fierce battle, and then using artillery bombardment and tank assault to deal with the retreating German troops.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you thinking?" Lunev saw Sameko standing silently at the side, guessing what he must be thinking, and asked curiously: "Do you have any opinions on Comrade Commander's plan?" ?”

Sameko nodded first, and then shook his head violently. He might be worried that Sokov might misunderstand him, so he quickly explained: "Comrade Commander, I also think that your tactic can achieve greater gains with minimal casualties." The results of the battle. But I am worried..."

"What are you worried about?" Sokov didn't wait for him to finish, he asked himself and answered, "Are you worried that after your superiors know that our defensive position has been breached by the enemy, not only will they not organize forces to block the gap, but they will even open the passage for the enemy to pass through?" , make mistakes. Am I guessing right?"

"That's right." Sameko saw that Sokov said what was on his mind, so he didn't refute, but nodded in approval. "That's what I mean. What do we do if that happens?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." It was Lunev who answered Sameko's question: "As long as we can eliminate more enemies and achieve greater results, even if the superiors know what we have done, they will open their eyes." With one eye closed."

Sameko didn't dwell on this issue anymore, but continued to ask: "Then do we need to inform the several infantry divisions participating in the war about this plan?"

"I don't think this is necessary." Sokov said: "If the commanders of the infantry division know about my plan, I worry that they will not be decisive enough in the battle to stop the enemy. At that time, even if the German army Breaking through our army's defense line, I think they will also become suspicious, and resort to alternate cover methods to retreat, so that our army cannot find a good opportunity to attack."

"Comrade Commander is right," said Sokov, and Lunev chimed in: "If the division commanders on blocking missions know the Commander's intentions, when the position is broken by the enemy, they will not attack the enemy." Sending troops to counterattack, but trying to plug the gap that has been opened, may arouse the suspicion of the enemy and completely fail our plan."

After reaching a consensus, General Poluboyarov and the two artillery division commanders returned to their respective units with satisfaction. However, for the sake of safety, Sameko kindly reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think you should report this bold plan to Marshal Zhukov, so that even if the superiors pursue it, he can help you say A few nice words."

"It makes sense." Sokov thought that he could not tell Konev or Vatutin about this matter, but Zhukov, who directly gave himself an order to let his troops take up the blocking task, had to inform him. Thinking of this, he quickly called the director of the communications corps and told him: "Comrade director of the communications corps, please help me get through the phone of the front army headquarters. I want to talk to Marshal Zhukov."

"Is it the Voronezh Front or the Steppe Front?" asked the director of communications.

Sokov frowned: "Of course it is the Voronezh Front Army. Don't you know that Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Vasilevsky have been staying at General Vatutin's headquarters?"