Red Moscow

"That's right, Comrade Front Army Commander, my troops have indeed captured the enemy's position along the river and are developing in depth."

"How is this possible?" Konev said agitatedly: "Our preparation time for the enemy's artillery fire has been less than half, and you actually told me that your troops have launched an offensive and successfully captured The enemy's position along the river has been broken, and it is developing in depth."

"It's true, Commander of the Front Army, what I said is true."

"Then explain to me carefully, what is going on?" Konev was worried that Sokov would not be able to fulfill his promise. After the offensive began, he would not be able to capture the enemy's position along the river within a quarter of an hour. Falsely reported the results of the battle, so he said earnestly: "Comrade Sukov, I can understand your urgency to win, but you can't fake the results to deceive your superiors. Once you are found out in the future, I'm afraid it will affect your future." have adverse effects."

Sokov realized that Konev did not believe his results, and even suspected that he had faked it, so he quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, please listen to my explanation."

"I'm listening, tell me."

"The situation is like this. The artillery shells stored by our army can only maintain artillery preparation for one hour. Therefore, before the battle started, I told the troops that as long as our artillery stops firing, not only whether the artillery fire in the north and northwest is still there. Go ahead, the strike force must strike immediately."

Konev raised his hand and looked at his watch. It was only 50 minutes before the artillery preparations began. "But now the artillery preparations are less than an hour away. Why did you launch the attack in advance?"

"I saw that the enemy's position along the river had almost disappeared under my powerful artillery fire, so I adjusted my strategy in time and ordered the assault force to launch an attack in time. Before the enemy returned from the bombardment, Overwhelmed, they quickly rushed into their bombed-out positions."

When Konev heard this, he couldn't help asking softly: "Comrade Sokov, you once told me that the Armament Department gave you a new type of river crossing equipment. I wonder if you used this equipment during the assault?" kind of equipment?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Speaking of the hovercraft, Sokov proudly replied: "It is precisely because of this new type of river crossing equipment that our troops were able to successfully capture the German army's coastline within 14 minutes." River position."

Sokov's words made Konev's heart itch. He really wanted to see with his own eyes what the new type of river crossing equipment, which was strictly kept secret, looked like. After putting down the phone, he raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Zakharov, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to go to Sokov's headquarters, and you will be in charge here."

Hearing that Konev said he was going to Sokov's headquarters, Zakharov became a little anxious: "Comrade Commander, there is only one hour left before the start of the offensive. I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to leave at this time. ?”

"What's inappropriate." Konev, who was eager to see the new river crossing equipment, said to Zakharov: "Isn't the shelling over in an hour? Besides, each unit has clearly defined its mission, and when the shelling starts , The commander knows that if he commands the battle. In other words, within two or three hours, nothing major will happen, and if I leave for a while, it will not affect the overall situation."

"Comrade Commander is right." As soon as Konev finished speaking, Military Commissar Susekov continued: "Don't say that the shelling has not stopped at this moment, even if it stops, it will take at least one or two hours. Only the troops fighting ahead will receive a steady stream of battle reports. During such a long period of time, even if Comrade Commander leaves temporarily, it will not affect the overall situation."

After saying this, Susekov turned his head to look at Konev, and asked with a smile: "Comrade Commander, can I go to Sokov's headquarters with you?"

"Let's go, Comrade Military Commissar." Konev didn't understand Susekov's intentions, and said to him with a smile: "I think you must also be eager to know that the new river crossing equipment equipped by Sokov's troops, What is it like? Then let’s go and see together, but the chief of staff will be wronged and stay at home.”

Zakharov heard what Konev said, and realized that he might not be able to see what the new river crossing equipment looked like before the battle ended. He could only wave his hands at Konev and Susekov, and said helplessly, "Then you go and come back quickly, I'm worried that something urgent happened, and I can't handle it alone."

When Konev and Susekov appeared at Sokov's headquarters, Sokov couldn't help being stunned. After he raised his hand to salute the two, he stuttered and asked, "Comrade Front Army Commander, Military Commissar Comrade, how did you come to me?"

"Comrade Sokov, we are here to check whether the battle results you reported are true." Konev said with a smile: "By the way, let's see what kind of new river crossing equipment you are using."

It was only then that Sokov realized that the reason why the two of them appeared here was because they wanted to see with their own eyes what they had been keeping secret from them.

Now that the hovercraft has already been used on the battlefield, Sokov naturally does not need to keep it secret anymore. He led the two to the lookout, handed them a telescope, and said in his mouth: "It just so happens that the new troops have boarded the ship. , is about to go to the other side, you can see this amazing river crossing equipment with your own eyes."

Konev raised his binoculars and looked towards the river first. Except for a row of tanks parked by the river, he did not see any river crossing equipment. But he didn't say anything, but turned his attention to the position on the opposite bank to see if, as Sokov said, they had successfully occupied the position along the river.

Looking at it, Konev saw several bright red flags set up in the trenches that had already been blasted out of shape by artillery fire, and they were fluttering in the wind. Around the red flag, there are busy commanders and fighters, who are rushing to repair the fortifications destroyed by artillery fire.

"Comrade Commander," Konev was watching the position on the other side when he suddenly heard Susekov exclaim: "Look quickly, what is this thing that is approaching the shore?"

"It should be the new type of river-crossing equipment that Comrade Sokov mentioned." Konev quickly turned the binoculars to the direction Susekoff pointed, and saw a dozen or twenty boats with strange shapes, which was surprising. Interestingly, these ships can also move very fast on land: "Hehe...they can run so fast on land...still accelerating...very fast...really fast!...God, I don't have a blind eye..."

Susekov's breathing also became short of breath, and he raised his voice and shouted: "Comrade Commander, from where they started, they were at least 300 meters away from the river, but they rushed to the river in less than a minute. Into the water. Oh my god, they're already ashore, they're literally flying over the water."

Konev saw that the hovercraft had reached the opposite bank, then drove towards the city for a few hundred meters and finally stopped, and then saw countless commanders and fighters coming down from the boat. After they finished gathering around the hovercraft, they rushed towards the area ahead where the sound of gunfire rang out.

When he saw the hovercraft that had finished unloading the commanders and fighters and turned back, Konev put down the binoculars in his hand and turned to ask Sokov who was standing behind him: "Comrade Sokov, is this the new river crossing equipment given to you by your superiors? "

"That's right." Sokov nodded and replied with a smile: "It is precisely because of this new type of river crossing equipment that we were able to successfully cross the river and seize the enemy's position in such a short period of time."

"You are right." Konev said thoughtfully: "It is precisely because of this kind of river crossing equipment that can travel at high speed that more troops can be put into the battlefield in a very short period of time. The enemy succeeded in occupying their defensive positions before they recovered their senses."

"Comrade Sokov, what is the name of this new type of river-crossing equipment?" Susekoff asked.

"It's called a hovercraft."

"Hovercraft?!" After repeating the name, Susekov said to Konev with a sideways face: "Comrade Commander, I just counted and there are only 22 such ships, but it can fly between five and ten." Within minutes, a battalion of troops was sent to the opposite bank.

You can imagine, if we can equip one hundred, two hundred or even more hovercraft, is it possible to place all the troops as close as possible to the enemy's position in the shortest possible time. In this way, we can reduce many unnecessary casualties during the attack. "

"Comrade Sokov," Susekov's words made Konev's heart skip a beat. If his troops were really equipped with hundreds of hovercraft, then the assault on the enemy would become easier. Once the artillery preparations were over, The enemy has not yet fully recovered from the bombardment, and his troops have rushed in front of them in hovercraft. Before the enemy can organize resistance, they will be completely wiped out by the Soviet commanders who rushed in front of them. He suppressed his heart Shocked, he nodded silently, and then asked Sokov: "I want to ask, what is the monthly output of this hovercraft?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I really can't answer your question." Sokov said with a wry smile, "If you want to know, I can ask someone to answer it for you."

After getting Konev's permission, Sokov picked up the phone on the table and said into the receiver: "Invite Colonel Yakov here and say someone wants to see him."

Soon, Yakov appeared in Sokov's headquarters. Seeing Konev and Susekoff standing here, he quickly raised his hands to salute them, and asked curiously, "Two generals, why are you here?"

Both Konev and Yakov knew Yakov, and when they heard his question, they smiled and replied: "I heard that Sokov's troops had occupied the position on the other side, so I wanted to come over to see if his report was true. But we have another purpose here, which is to find out what new river crossing equipment you have equipped Sokov with."

"Actually, the hovercraft was originally invented by Sokov." Yakov turned his head and looked at Sokov with admiration, and said sincerely: "All comrades Ustinov agreed to hand over the newly produced hovercraft to Sokov's troops to complete the final tests."

Konev knew very well in his heart that the completion of the final testing of the equipment was just a high-sounding excuse to prevent other troops from finding out about it and complaining to Ustinov. But at the moment, he didn't care about this issue. He asked curiously: "Colonel Yakov, can you tell me what is the monthly output of this hovercraft?"

Konev's question made Yakov frowned, and after a while, he said in embarrassment: "I'm sorry, General Konev, the production data of hovercraft is top secret, and you cannot know it at your level. Please Don't embarrass me, even if you keep asking, I won't tell you."

Although he couldn't get the answer he wanted from Yakov, Konev also understood that the production of this hovercraft might not be easy, otherwise it would not be kept secret until now. If it weren't for Sokov's troops to frequently use hovercraft in battle, even if he was the commander of the front army, he might not have the chance to see him.

Konev asked a lot of insinuations, but Yakov was tight-lipped. If the other party asked about his father's situation, he would respond politely. But when it comes to the design, development and production of hovercraft, he either avoids answering it, or shifts the topic to other aspects in a timely manner.

Seeing that Yakov couldn't get any useful information from him, Konev was completely disappointed. Seeing that the attack of the ground troops was about to start, it seemed a little inappropriate to stay in Sokov's headquarters. After chatting a little more, they said goodbye and left with Susekoff.

After sending Konev and Susekov away, Sokov was still a little worried that he would make Yakov unhappy if he let them see the hovercraft without Yakov's consent. He saw the opportunity and said, "Yasha, I'm so sorry, I didn't expect General Konev to come over without saying hello."

"It's okay, Misha, you don't have to blame yourself." But Yakov said generously: "After all, before the battle started, you did a good job of keeping secrets. Except for the troops who participated in the assault knew about the hovercraft, the rest of the commanders and fighters I don’t even know what the new river-crossing equipment sent by the superiors looks like.”

Having said that, he looked up at his watch and asked Sokov, "Misha, is there anything else? If there is nothing else, I will go back and continue with my subordinates to complete the final test of the hovercraft."

"Go ahead." Sokov nodded and said, "Go and do your work first. If there is anything else, I'll call you again."

After Waiting for Sokov to return to him, Sameko said to him: "Comrade Commander, the commanders and fighters of the Marine Brigade have rushed to the edge of the city. In a few minutes, or even tens of seconds, they It is possible to set foot in the city of Belgorod."

Sokov did not blindly ask the troops to attack faster, but told Sameko: "Chief of Staff, tell the commanders below not to seek speed blindly, but to fight steadily and steadily. Once you occupy a building, you must consolidate a building." building, occupying a street is stabilizing a street, and constantly pushing the enemy out of their defensive positions."