Red Moscow

Sokov's troops, who launched an attack on the enemy retreating south, encountered the enemy coming out of the city seven or eight kilometers away from Belgorod, and the two sides fought fiercely.

After Sokov learned the news, he quickly said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to all combat units, ordering them to stop advancing, and retreat to station near the town of Yakovlevo after getting rid of the enemy. .”

"Comrade Commander, why stop the attack?" Sameko asked puzzledly: "When the enemies in the city come out, we can give them a head-on blow, and maybe consume more of their vitality?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sameko, "we have fewer troops than the enemy, and the reason why we were able to defeat them was that after a fierce battle, we deliberately gave them a passage, so that the enemy thought It is possible to return to Belgorod smoothly, thereby weakening their fighting awareness, and then launching an assault by surprise can achieve the effect of defeating the enemy.

The enemies coming out of the city to meet us now are superior to us in terms of numbers and equipment. If we fight recklessly with them, we will suffer a big loss. "

Speaking of this, Sokov glanced out the window and continued: "It's getting late now, and our air force can no longer be dispatched. Do you think we can stop the crazy German counterattack without air cover?"

After Sokov said this, Sameko immediately understood that he thought the problem too simply. It may be that the attack a few hours ago was too smooth, so that he inevitably had the idea of ​​​​underestimating the enemy.

After trying to understand this truth, Sameko quickly apologized to Sokov and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I was too eager for success and almost made a big mistake."

The battle to stop the Hoth Armored Army going south has come to an end, and the next thing to do is the siege of Belgorod. Looking at the battle report received, Sokov was thinking about how many troops he had left .

Seeing that Sokov was silent, Lunev asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, I think you seem to be thinking. What are you thinking?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov pointed to the map on the table, and said to Lunev, "Most of the enemy has now retreated to Belgorod. The next move of our army should be to attack the city."

"That's right." Although Lunev doesn't know much about the military, he also knows that after this period of war, the next task must be to attack Belgorod: "Now the area near Kursk The enemy has already been driven back to the starting point of the attack by us, and it is up to us to attack them next."

"I am worried that the next battle to attack Belgorod may have nothing to do with our 27th Army."

"Why?" Not only Lunev was surprised, even Sameko said unconvinced: "The performance of our army group in the entire Kursk battle is obvious to all. Why did the battle to liberate Belgorod, Won't you let us participate?"

"Chief of Staff, you misunderstood." Seeing that Sameko misinterpreted his meaning, Sokov quickly explained to him: "I'm not saying that the superior will not let us participate in the attack, but that we have no ability to attack again."

Sokov tapped the stack of battle reports on the table with his fingers, and sighed: "The divisions belonging to the group army have suffered serious downsizing during the battle, especially the 188th Division and the 81st Guards Division. It has become an empty number, can such an army continue to fight?"

"We can ask our superiors to replenish our troops." After blurting out the words with a burst of anger, Sameko said with some annoyance: "Yes, the army has been severely reduced. Even if the superiors replenish our troops, it may be difficult Form combat power in a short period of time, not to mention attacking fortifications, even if you stick to your position, the combat power will be greatly reduced."

Seeing Sokov's unhurried look, Lunev guessed that he might have a good idea, and quickly asked, "Comrade Commander, have you thought of any good idea?"

"Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov did not immediately answer Lunev's question, but asked instead: "Do you remember how we replenished the 46th Infantry Brigade?"

"Comrade commander, do you mean that we select personnel from among the commanders rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp to supplement the troops?" Hearing what Sokov said, Sameko's eyes lit up.

"Yes, that's how I think about it." Sokov nodded and replied, "That's how I think about it. These captured commanders and fighters basically have combat experience, and their technical and tactical levels are not low. They will be added to the troops in the morning. , you will be able to participate in the battle in the afternoon."

The light on Sameko's face quickly dimmed: "But, Comrade Commander, where can we find so many rescued commanders?"

"We are here, but it doesn't mean there are no other places." Sokov remembered that more than 30,000 Soviet commanders and fighters were captured during the Battle of Kursk, especially on the southern front. During this period, only more than 2,000 people were rescued, which means that I still have the opportunity to add 20,000 to 30,000 prisoners of war to the army.

"Anywhere else?" Sameko asked in surprise, "Where is it?"

"If I'm not mistaken, there must be a prisoner-of-war camp established by the German army in the direction of Oboyan." Sokov said to the two: "Although Holt is our enemy, I don't think he will do anything to massacre prisoners of war." The thing is, the commanders and fighters of our army who were captured by him must be detained somewhere in the Oboyan area. We can definitely add all the rescued commanders and fighters from those prisoner-of-war camps to our army, and then we will have enough troops. Take part in the attack on Belgorod."

"Oboyan is now the chassis of the 6th Guards Army and the 1st Tank Army." Sameko said with a gloomy face: "Will they agree with us to replenish these prisoners of war?"

"I'll call Comrade Marshal immediately." Sokov knew that if Zhukov didn't come forward, there would be no hope, because these commanders and fighters who were rescued from the prisoner-of-war camps would basically be sent directly to Siberia instead of being organized. into the team. "Ask him to allow us to incorporate all these rescued commanders and fighters into our troops."

Unexpectedly, after hearing what Sokov said, Sameko immediately thought of a key question, and quickly stopped Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think you should not call Comrade Marshal."

"Why?" Sokov asked puzzled.

"The reason is very simple." After the muscles on Sameko's face twitched violently a few times, he said: "People who are rescued from prisoner-of-war camps, no matter what the reason is, they will be sent to Siberia to dig potatoes."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, I will negotiate with Marshal Zhukov on this matter." Sokov didn't know that what he did was playing with fire. But he still bite the bullet and said: "In order to achieve the final victory, we must adopt some special measures."

Sokov quickly talked to Zhukov on the phone. On the phone, after he reported the results of the troops to the other party, he decisively proposed that the rescued commanders and fighters in the prisoner-of-war camp in the Oboyan area be directly incorporated into the own troops.

Zhukov, who was so happy from ear to ear when he heard the news of the victory, gradually froze his smile on his face after hearing Sokov's request. He asked with a straight face, "Major General Sokov, do you know what you're talking about?"

From the change in Zhukov's address, Sokov knew that the other party was angry, and quickly argued: "Comrade Marshal, after a long period of fighting, my troops have been seriously downsized and cannot undertake new combat missions. If the rescued Commanders and fighters are all incorporated into my troops, and I assure you that we will be able to achieve more brilliant results in the next battle."

Sokov's words made Zhukov fall into deep contemplation. He didn't know that most of the commanders and fighters rescued from the prisoner-of-war camps were the backbone of the army. Their participation would not only make up for the shortage of troops, but even raise the combat effectiveness of the entire army to a higher level.

Zhukov knew very well that apart from Sokov who often rescued officers and soldiers from prisoner-of-war camps and directly incorporated them into the army after a simple screening, Rokossovsky, the commander of the Central Front Army, also did the same.

In the past, he turned a blind eye to such things, but now he is not alone in the Voronezh Front Army as a representative of the headquarters, and there is also Marshal Vasilevsky, the former chief of staff, If he disagreed, Sokov's plan would be ruined.

However, Zhukov did not immediately reject Sokov, but said into the microphone: "We need to discuss this matter, and we will give you an answer after the discussion results."

"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Hearing Zhukov say this, Sokov guessed that he was also in a dilemma, so he said smoothly, "Then I will wait for your answer."

After Sokov put down the phone, Lunev asked quickly: "Comrade Commander, what did Marshal Zhukov say, does he agree with you?"

Sokov shook his head and said: "Comrade Marshal said that this matter is of great importance. He needs to think about it carefully. He will call me after he has an answer."

Besides, after Zhukov put down the phone, he summoned Vasilevsky, Vatutin, Apanashenko and others, told them the content of Sokov's phone call, and finally asked: "What do you say?" , Should I agree to Major General Sokov's request?"

"No, absolutely not." As soon as Zhukov's voice fell, Apanashenko said first: "The Supreme Commander himself said: We have no prisoners of war, only traitors to the motherland. How can we get those prisoners out of the prisoner-of-war camps?" Will the rescued traitors be added to our army?"

What Apanashenko said was originally that after Paulus was captured, Mustache wanted to exchange Stalin's son. In order to refuse to exchange a marshal for a soldier, Stalin deliberately asked the people of the Red Cross Say: We have no prisoners of war, only traitors to the motherland.

In this time and space, because of Sokov's appearance, Yakov, who was captured by the German army, was rescued a long time ago, and even held an important position in the Moscow Weapons and Equipment Department. But now, it was Stalin who said this when the German side planned to exchange Paulus with other captured Soviet generals.

Vasilevsky, who originally wanted to support Zhukov, couldn't help becoming hesitant when he heard what Apanashenko said. Don't look at him as a marshal now, and Apanashenko is just a general, but other people are generals before the war, and their qualifications are much older than themselves. Even Stalin will give him three points of face, let alone himself as a newly promoted marshal.

Zhukov saw that Vasilevsky did not speak, so he directly called his name, and asked straight to the point: "Vasilevsky, tell me, should we agree to Major General Sokov's request and send Chistyakov away?" And the commanders and fighters rescued by Katukov and the others will be handed over to Sokov's troops?"

"Comrade Marshal," seeing Zhukov throwing the contradiction to himself, Vasilevsky replied with some embarrassment: "I think this matter is of great importance, and I should ask the Supreme Commander himself for instructions. As long as he does not object, I will definitely not Any comments."

Vasilevsky's words reminded Vatutin, and he quickly echoed: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, this matter is of great importance, and it is not something we can decide. I think we should ask the Supreme Commander himself for instructions. As long as he doesn't object, then we can safely and boldly add people to Sokov's troops."

Zhukov glanced over several people, and felt that what Vasilevsky said was reasonable, and he should ask Stalin for instructions. After all, there will be more captured commanders and fighters who will be taken from the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp by his own people. rescued from here.

Thinking of this, he picked up the high-frequency phone in front of him, dialed the switchboard of the Kremlin, and said to the operator who answered the phone: "This is Zhukov, please help me to pick up Comrade Stalin's office."

Hearing that the caller was Zhukov, the operator dared not be negligent, and quickly transferred the call to Poskrebyshev.

"Hello, Comrade Marshal." Knowing that it was Zhukov who called, Boskrebyshev asked respectfully, "May I ask what you want?"

"What is Comrade Stalin doing?" Zhukov asked.

"He is convening a meeting of several leaders in Moscow. Wait a minute..." Boskrebyshev said, "I will report to him immediately after the meeting seems to be over."

After Boskrebyshev waited for the people in the meeting to leave, he entered the door and reported to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, Marshal Zhukov called you and said that he has something important to report to you immediately."

Stalin lit his own cigarette and said slowly, "Cvert the call in."

A moment later, the phone in front of Stalin rang. Stalin picked up the phone receiver in front of him, put it close to his ear and said, "Hello, Comrade Zhukov, I'm Stalin. I heard that you have something important to ask me?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov said respectfully: "I have an important situation and I need to ask you for instructions immediately!"

"Go ahead, Comrade Zhukov."