Red Moscow

"Chief of Staff," Sokov waited for Sameko to finish speaking, and asked, "Who provided you with this information?"

"It's General Chistyakov!" Sameko quickly replied: "He said that his troops are too scattered now, and I'm afraid they won't be able to complete the assembly in a short time, so he hopes we can send troops to reinforce the 31st Tank Army."

"Damn!" After hearing what Sameko said, Sokov said angrily: "Our troops are more than 30 kilometers away from the battle area. When we rush over, the besieged troops may have been wiped out by the enemy. Hell!"

"Comrade Commander," Sameko waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and carefully reminded him: "General Chistyakov wants us to send the 182nd Infantry Division to rush there for reinforcements. After all, they are far away from the battle site. No more than 20 kilometers, if you take a vehicle, you can reach your destination in less than an hour."

"Isn't this sending my people to die?" Sokov became even more angry: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have you forgotten that the combat effectiveness of the 182nd Infantry Division has been severely diluted after adding a group of old and weak soldiers? Didn't the Special Armored Army take part in the battle when it launched the general offensive?"

"Supplementary old and weak soldiers?" Konev next to him heard this and couldn't help interjecting, "General Sokov, what's going on?"

Seeing Konev's solemn expression, Sokov quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the situation is as follows. After repeated fierce battles, my 182nd Division suffered heavy casualties. Less than a third of the troops. After I made a request to Marshal Zhukov for additional troops, he sent me a reserve team composed of children and old people. Most of these old and young recruits have no Any combat experience, after adding them to the 182nd Division, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be diluted immediately."

After figuring out the ins and outs, Konev was also quite helpless. The supply of troops has always been a big problem. Especially when encountering fierce battles, the loss of soldiers is even more serious. Some troops even have just replenished thousands of soldiers, but after a battle, they are labeled as empty numbers. Sokov's troops were able to be supplemented by old, weak and remnant soldiers despite heavy losses, probably because Zhukov watched Sokov repeatedly make military exploits.

"Comrade Sokov," Konev felt that he should say a few words for Zhukov, lest Sokov have any misunderstandings about Zhukov: "Nowadays, there is a large shortage of soldiers in each army. As for which troops should be replenished first, give each How many soldiers to recruit for each unit is a headache. Although the superior has added a group of old and weak soldiers to you, I think that as long as they undergo the necessary training, they will soon become the main force on the battlefield."

"Front Commander!" Sokov heard from Konev's tone that the other party didn't seem to know that Zhukov added the rescued prisoners of war to him, so he quickly explained to him: "We will get two With the addition of more than 10,000 recruits, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be able to reach a new level by then."

After hearing this, Konev waved his hands and said, "The more than 20,000 recruits are probably not as good as the 2,000 veterans with rich combat experience. They have never seen enemy tanks rushing towards them, nor have they been shot by enemy machine guns." , let alone experience the fear when enemy planes dive down from the sky. Regardless of how many of them there are, many of them will show their true colors when they are on the battlefield, and even give up their positions and run away as soon as they see enemy tanks appearing .”

When Konev expressed his views, Sokov did not interrupt him, but remained silent. After his words came to an end, he said, "Comrade Front Army Commander, you are mistaken. The recruits I am talking about are not those newly recruited soldiers, but a group of soldiers who were captured by the enemy during the battle and are now being captured by the enemy again." Commanders and fighters rescued from prisoner-of-war camps by our army. They have rich combat experience and a certain level of technical and tactical skills. If they are added to my troops, they will help improve the combat effectiveness of the troops."

"What, you plan to add more than 20,000 rescued prisoners of war to your army?" Konev was stunned when he heard Sukov's words: "Don't you worry about making mistakes? ?”

Sokov knew exactly what Konev meant, and quickly explained to him: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I have asked Marshal Zhukov for instructions on this matter in advance. And the Marshal himself cannot make decisions on this matter, Then I reported to the Supreme Commander himself, and after obtaining permission, I formally ordered that all the prisoners rescued in the Oboyan area be added to my troops."

"So that's the case." Originally, Konev thought that Sokov's statement was too hasty, but when he learned that the other party had reported to Zhukov and obtained the permission of the Supreme Commander himself, his face showed understanding With a smile: "Comrade Sokov, it's no wonder that the troops under your command are always able to win battles. It turns out that you have considered all the issues that should be considered before doing anything."

After a short pause, Konev asked again: "By the way, when will those rescued prisoners of war be added to your troops?"

"I think it should be soon." It has been a long time since Apanashenko and Lunev left, but there is still no news. Sokov is somewhat anxious, but in front of Konev In front of him, he still tried his best to put on a calm expression: "The ones who went to meet the recruits were General Apanashenko, the representative of the Front Army, and Lieutenant General Lunev, the military commissar of the Army Group. Conduct screening and review. Commanders and fighters who pass the review will be directly incorporated into combat troops."

"Yeah, Comrade Sokov, you are very thoughtful." Konev said to Sokov: "As far as I know, we will be dealing with Belgorod and Kharkov in a short time. Launch a new offensive. The sooner your troops can be replenished, the more useful they will be in a new campaign."

"Comrade Commander," General Sameko Sokov and Konev seemed to have forgotten about the siege of the tank army, and quickly reminded him: "How can General Chistyakov answer him?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Before Sokov could speak, Konev said substitutively: "You tell General Kistyakov that we are too far away from the battlefield, and we don't have the right means of transportation to transport troops, so we cannot participate in the battle." For the battle to relieve the 31st Tank Army, please find another way to rescue."

When Sameko agreed and ran to send a telegram to Chistyakov, Konev turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Sokov, although we cannot rescue the besieged 31st Tank Army, you still Find a way to contact General Katukov and tell him your difficulties, lest he have any bad associations."

In fact, even if Konev didn't remind him, Sokov planned to call Katukov. After all, there will be many opportunities to fight side by side in the future. Hearing Konev's reminder at this moment, he hurriedly said: "Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will call General Katukov and explain the situation to him."

Sokov ordered the director of the Communication Corps to connect to Katukov's headquarters. After hearing a familiar voice coming from the receiver, Sokov greeted the other party: "Hello, General Katukov, I am Sokov."

"Hello, General Sokov." Katukov asked in a businesslike tone on the other end of the phone, "I just received a telegram from General Chistyakov saying that you refused to send troops to rescue my besieged tank. The 31st Army, I want to ask, what is going on here?"

"General Katukov!" Sokov could tell from Katukov's tone that the other party was very angry, and he couldn't help but feel lucky in his heart. The matter will tie the knot, which will affect the cooperation in the battle in the future. He quickly explained: "I called you just to explain this matter."

"Speak." Katukov said angrily.

"General Katukov, I am also very sad to learn that the 31st Tank Army has unfortunately fallen into the encirclement of the German army." Sokov said into the microphone: "The unit closest to me is the 182nd Infantry Division. The battlefield is about 20 kilometers away. Since they do not have suitable means of transportation, even if the troops adopt rapid marches, it will take at least five hours to cover such a long distance. Tell me, the besieged troops can last for five hours?"

Katukov was silent for a long time, then he answered: "No!"

Hearing Katukov's tone eased a lot, Sokov continued: "Even if there is a suitable means of transportation, my troops can be delivered to the battle location, but with the current combat effectiveness of the 182nd Division, I am afraid that not only Unable to relieve the 31st Tank Corps, he was even in danger of being annihilated."

"Why do you say that?"

"After a long period of fighting, the 182nd Infantry Division has only one-third of its soldiers left. Although the superiors provided urgent reinforcements to us a few days ago, the recruits were all recruits without any combat effectiveness. Clearing the siege is undoubtedly sending them to their deaths. General Katukov, if it were you, would you issue such an order?"

Facing Sokov's questioning, Katukov was silent for a while, and finally replied: "If it were me, I would never issue such an order."

The communication with Katukov achieved the desired effect. The boulder hanging in Sokov's heart finally fell to the ground. He made the matter so clear that even if the 31st Tank Army was wiped out by the enemy, Katukov would have no choice. The husband will not blame himself.