Red Moscow

Seeing that the German army had torn a hole in its defense line, the Soviet commander immediately organized troops and launched a counterattack against the enemy, trying to close the torn gap and try to block the enemy.

The two sides fought desperately in this area. There were gunshots and explosions everywhere. There were battles everywhere. Both sides tried their best to fight their opponents regardless of casualties. It didn't take long before the rain on the ground was stained red by the blood of officers and soldiers on both sides.

This scene was very similar to when Huot's troops were about to go south to Belgorod, but after seeing the heavy casualties of the blocking troops, Sokov did not insist on ordering them to fight for every inch of the enemy's territory, but took the initiative to open the passage , Let the German troops rushing to break through. Seeing the opening of the passage, many German officers and soldiers will weaken their will to fight, and they will become unwilling to fight, but eager to pass through the open passage and return to a safe area.

When this happened, the best time to attack came. When the Soviet army launched a new attack, the German army, who was eager to escape, had no intention of stopping to fight, but just spread its legs and ran forward desperately. Everyone's thoughts are very simple, as long as they run faster than their companions, the chances of escaping will be greatly improved.

But the Soviet commanders here, how can they compare with Sokov, they received the order to resolutely block the enemy fleeing south. Seeing the enemies flooding towards the gap at this moment, all they can do is to mobilize all their troops to fight against the enemies that appear in their field of vision.

The brutal battle lasted for more than an hour. After paying a very heavy price, the Soviet army finally restored the original line of defense and blocked the continuous flow of German troops going south.

Starikov finally breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that his troops blocked the German army fleeing south, and that the friendly army coming from the northern line was planning to wipe out the German army. After taking a few sips of hot tea from his teacup, he cautiously asked his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how are our casualties?"

Hearing this question, the chief of staff replied with a stern expression: "Comrade commander, although the casualty data has not yet been calculated, I estimate that the two divisions that first went into battle have basically been disabled. Before they were supplemented, I'm afraid I won't be able to participate in the next stage of the battle. And the infantry division and tank brigade that stepped forward later suffered more than one-third of the casualties."

After listening to the data reported by the Chief of Staff, Starikov's mouth twitched violently a few times, and then he said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think that as long as the enemy can be defeated, some sacrifices are acceptable."

"However, in this battle, we lost almost three divisions, equivalent to nearly half of our troops." The chief of staff reminded Starikov: "That is to say, in the next stage of operations, our army group will Unable to take on the main offensive task, it may become the reserve team of the front army."

Starikov tapped his finger on the table lightly, and asked thoughtfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have a question. The 27th Army of the Steppe Front Army is the unit commanded by Major General Sokov. From the battle report From the looks of it, they successively wiped out the elite German troops such as the Imperial Division, the Skeleton Division, and the 19th Armored Division."

"That's right," the chief of staff nodded and echoed, "That's indeed what was written in the battle report."

"Although our group army has not fought against the Imperial Division or the Skeleton Division, some people in the front army have fought against the 19th Armored Division, and none of the group army has defeated the enemy. But why did Sokov's troops easily wiped out these troops as soon as they came out? What about the army? Tell me, will this battle report be faked?"

Starikov's words startled the chief of staff, and he quickly shook his head like a rattle and said, "Comrade commander, this is simply impossible. The battle reports we have seen are all from the Intelligence Bureau. With such courage, you dare to lie on such an important news channel."

"That's right." Starikov said with his brows furrowed. "The battle report from the intelligence agency is definitely not fake, but how did General Sokov win so many battles?"

The chief of staff thought for a while and replied: "Comrade commander, as far as I know, Sokov's troops are equipped with new equipment that is superior not only to our army, but also to the German army, such as new rockets and bazookas. The former It is equivalent to carrying a Katyusha with you, which can deal a heavy blow to the enemy at any time; and the latter is a sharp weapon against German tanks. In the battle that ended not long ago, if our troops had these two types of equipment, I believe Casualties would be greatly reduced."

While the troops of the Southern Front were besieging and annihilating the enemy trying to escape back to the Donbass, Sokov, who was far away on the outskirts of Belgorod, was moving his headquarters to October Town.

Due to the continuous heavy rain, the highway became a quagmire. Although the commanders and fighters were wearing raincoats, they were struggling to move forward under the heavy rain in the quagmire. However, everyone was already drenched, and many people were shivering when they were blown by the cold wind.

Sokov, who was sitting in the jeep, had already put on a military coat to resist the cold outside the car. He looked down at the map in front of him and asked Sameko, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, "Comrade Chief of Staff, where are the Italian prisoners of war?"

Hearing Sokov asking himself, Sameko hastily turned half-turned and replied: "Comrade Commander, this rain came suddenly, and the troops transferred with the prisoners are now trapped in the forest. Probably It will take two or three days to reach our original station."

Knowing that the Italian prisoners of war would have to wait two or three days before arriving at the originally designated station, Sokov couldn't help frowning: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you know if they have enough food?"

Although the Italians brought back by the army are now their own prisoners of war, who knows when they will become their allies, so they cannot be wronged in terms of supply.

After understanding what Sokov meant, Sameko nodded and said, "Comrade commander, you can rest assured about this. Before we set off, I had already talked with Colonel Yakov, and he would personally lead the team to use the hovercraft. Sending food for the Italians."

Sokov looked out the car window, saw that the rain was still falling, and thought of another important thing in his mind: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if the rain continues, it must be cold at night, right? The soldiers are still wearing Unlined clothes, can your body bear it?"

The weather in Russia is annoying. Even though it is still the height of summer in August, as long as it rains, it will be as cold as late autumn. Especially at night, the temperature will drop to several degrees, and the commanders and fighters who only wear single clothes and trousers will definitely suffer from frostbite.

"Comrade Commander," Sameko said hesitantly, "it's just the beginning of August, and I didn't expect such a heavy rain, so I didn't ask the logistics department to prepare winter clothes."

The reason why Sameko did not say autumn clothes, but winter clothes, is that there is almost no autumn in Russia. Often soon after the trees start to shed their leaves, there will be a sudden heavy snow covering the fallen leaves all over the ground, directly entering winter from summer.

"If you start to mobilize winter clothes now, when can you distribute them to the soldiers?"

"Nowadays the war is imminent, and the trains and cars from all over the world are transporting weapons and ammunition." Sameko said embarrassingly: "I am afraid that there will not be enough capacity to transport winter clothes for us. If we want every soldier Put on winter clothes, I guess it will be the end of August at the earliest."

"The end of August?" Sokov said with a wry smile, "If the soldiers really had to wait until then to put on winter clothes, I don't know how many commanders and fighters will suffer from frostbite."

Lunev, who was sitting next to Sokov and remained silent, suddenly interjected: "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. In fact, it is very easy to solve this problem. We still have hundreds of military overcoats that can be used at night." The commanders and fighters on duty wear it, so that they can avoid the situation of frostbite when they are on duty at night."

"This is a good idea." Sokov readily agreed to Lunev's suggestion, and said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately distribute the military coats to the troops and hand them over to the soldiers on duty at night. , to make sure no one gets frostbite until all the soldiers don their coats."

"Okay." Sameko nodded and said, "I will arrange this immediately when I arrive at the new command post."

The jeep stopped at the gate of the church in the center of October Town, and when the three got out of the car, Sameko said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, because the defense force of the Army Group Headquarters is weak, I have transferred it from other troops." We have recruited manpower to strengthen the guard work here."

"From another army?" Sokov asked in surprise, "Which army?"

"Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Division."

"182nd Division?" Sokov couldn't help frowning. "This unit is basically old and weak. What's the use of sending them here?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Sameko couldn't help laughing: "Comrade Commander, you can't underestimate this unit. There are also great talents among them. Otherwise, I wouldn't draw people from the division. Strengthen the security of the headquarters."

Sameko's words aroused Lunev's curiosity. He felt that the 73rd Infantry Brigade of Major Guchakov was already invincible in October Town, and there was no need to deploy other troops to take up the defense work. He asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me quickly, why did you transfer people from the 182nd Division?"

"The troops transferred this time have the strength of a company." Sameko did not answer Lunev's question, but continued: "The company commander who leads the team, you both know each other."

"We all know each other?" Sokov and Lunev looked at each other, and they both saw the surprised expression in each other's eyes: "Who is it?"

"It's Lieutenant Serelkov." After Saying the name, Sameko worried that Sokov could not remember who the other party was, and reminded him specifically: "It's the one who fought with Marshal Tukhachevsky, Not long ago, he exchanged a carload of vodka for a carload of German prisoners. He was a second lieutenant at the time, but now he is a lieutenant.”

As soon as he mentioned that vodka was exchanged for a carload of German prisoners, Lunev immediately remembered who Serelkov was, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, has he made any achievements recently?"

"Comrade Military Commissioner, you are right. He was promoted to lieutenant company commander only after he made new achievements recently." Sameko said to the two: "A few days ago, a German army appeared in the 182nd Division. Near the defense zone, it happened to encounter Lieutenant Serelkov's troops.

You know, Serelkov's men are all recruits with little combat experience. When they heard the gunshots, they were frightened and hid in the trenches, not even daring to poke their heads out. Seeing the enemy getting closer and closer to the position, Serelkov realized that if this continued, the platoon he commanded would be wiped out.

At this critical moment, he stood up against the enemy's bullets and shouted: "Everyone listen to my order, pull the bolt, stand, aim, shoot; squat down, pull the bolt, stand, aim ,shooting……'

Risking his life, he paced back and forth in the trench, yelling tirelessly, ignoring the bullets whizzing past his head. At the beginning, the soldiers still crouched in the trenches and did not dare to move, until Lulik, a soldier who had a good relationship with him, stood up, and according to his password, he pulled the bolt, stood, aimed, shot, and squatted. Although after Lulik pulled the trigger, the bullet flew to nowhere, but his actions affected other soldiers. Then, the second and third soldiers also stood up following Lulik's example, and fired at the enemy according to Serelkov's password.

Many times, everyone knows what to do and how to do it, but it is because of the lack of a leader. As long as someone takes the lead, they can get into shape very quickly. In this way, in a short while, all the soldiers in the platoon followed Lulik's example, followed the slogan shouted by Lieutenant Serelkov, and fired their guns at the rushing German soldiers neatly, knocking down the enemy in pieces.

In this way, when the battalion commander arrived with his troops, the attacking German army had dropped more than 50 corpses and retreated hastily. In recognition of Serelkov's heroism and bravery in battle, Khokhlov promoted him to the rank of lieutenant and appointed him to the post of company commander. "

After listening to Sameko's narration, Sokov nodded slightly, and murmured to himself: It seems that this Serelkov is not simple. If he keeps him by his side and trains him well for a period of time, he may be released as a A battalion commander or something.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov turned to look at Sameko and asked, "When will Lieutenant Serelkov and his troops arrive in October Town?"

Sameko looked up at his watch and replied, "We were supposed to be there at four in the afternoon, but they might be delayed on the way because of this damn rain, and I think we should be there before dark. "

"Bring him to me as soon as he arrives."