Red Moscow

After giving the attack order to the 254th Division, Sameko asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, since the 254th Division attacked according to the plan, what about the other divisions, will they also attack the city at the same time?"

"Yes, the other divisions also launched the attack according to the plan." Sokov thought for a moment after saying this, and then said to Sameko: "By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff, according to our original attack plan, The 384th Division made a detour to the south of Djergach to cut off the German retreat, but I changed my mind now and stopped the 384th Division to assist the 182nd Division in attacking the west of the city, and another regiment was transferred to support the attack from the north. Shechtman Division."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko couldn't help feeling moved when he heard Sokov's order: "If the German army's retreat route is not cut off, the enemy can calmly withdraw from the south of the city once they see that the battle is not going well. "

"I know." Sokov said a little upset: "If we still follow the original plan and trap the Germans in the city of Jergach, once they jump over the wall and destroy the cultural relics stored in the city, they will be destroyed by the Germans. When the superiors start to investigate, who will take this responsibility? If the city cannot be defeated today, we can continue to fight tomorrow. But if the enemy destroys the cultural relics, it will be completely destroyed.”

Sameko originally wanted to dissuade Sokov, but after hearing what he said, he swallowed back the words that came to his lips, and replied: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will immediately pass your order to you." Pass it on."

Half an hour later, five infantry divisions, including the 84th, 182nd, 188th, 254th, and 384th Divisions, under the cover of two tank brigades of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, simultaneously attacked from the north of the city. , the east and the west attacked.

As soon as the battle started, Sokov, who was not at ease, said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are in charge here, and I will go to the front to see."

"Comrade Commander," Hearing Sokov saying that he wanted to go to the front, Sameko quickly grabbed him and tried to persuade him: "Did you forget that you took a plane to inspect the sky over October Town a few days ago, Was it shot down by an enemy plane?" He was afraid that he would not be able to convince Sokov, and even moved out Zhukov, "Marshal Zhukov once warned you that if you go to the front to take risks casually, he will never spare you."

Now that Sameko has moved Zhukov out, it is obviously unrealistic for Sokov to go to the frontier alone. But let him stay here and wait for the latest news, he can't sit still.

But a living person cannot be suffocated to death by urine, so Sokov sat down and smoked a cigarette, and then came up with a good solution. He threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and then said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our front is constantly advancing, and it is obviously inappropriate for the headquarters to be so far away from the troops. Therefore, I intend to send the commander Move to the front of the Ministry as soon as possible, so that you can better command the troops."

Sameko easily saw through Sokov's careful thinking. He shook his head with a wry smile, and then said: "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. If the headquarters moves forward, Marshal Zhukov will not be able to hold you accountable for going to the front without authorization." It's over. Well, I'll arrange for the transfer of the headquarters."

Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Sokov laughed a few times and said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I will lead a company of guards to Jergach first, and you will catch up with the members of the headquarters later." .”

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko said helplessly, "You remember to bring the radio so we can get in touch with you at any time."

"No problem, I will definitely bring the radio." In this era without mobile phones, if you want to keep in touch with the outside world at any time, the best choice is to bring a radio with you. "So if you have anything to do, you can contact me through the radio."

After Sokov finished speaking, he picked up the phone on the table, called the security force directly, and asked Lieutenant Serelkov to act with him. Of course, Lieutenant Samoilov, who often ran around with him, couldn't forget it, so he called him again and asked him to take the guard platoon and set off with him.

When Sokov walked out of the headquarters, Samoilov had already assembled his guard platoon, while Serelkov's guard company was still in formation.

Samoilov ran up to Sokov and asked cautiously, "Comrade Commander, where are we going?"

"Go to Dergach." Since Samoilov was responsible for protecting himself, Sokov naturally did not hide anything from him, but replied truthfully: "Our five infantry divisions and two The tank brigade is attacking the city. As the commander, I naturally cannot stay far away from the front line."

"Comrade Commander," Samoilov couldn't help laughing after hearing Sokov's words. He knew that Sokov was setting up a false name. In fact, his real purpose was to go to the forefront to see the progress of the battle in person: "What? Time to leave?"

Sokov turned his attention to the guard company that was lining up, and replied: "We will set off after Lieutenant Serelkov's guard company is assembled."

Samoilov looked at the company that had just been incorporated into the guard force of the headquarters not long ago, and couldn't help frowning, and said with some concern: "Comrade commander, before the soldiers in this company were incorporated into the 182nd division, I once Follow you to meet them, these are basically recruits with no combat experience, I am afraid that many people will be scared to pee their pants when they hear the gunshots. I don’t think it is safe for them to be responsible for your safety.”

"Comrade Lieutenant, don't worry." Sokov waved his hand and said disapprovingly: "No one is born to fight. I just saw that they were recruits, so I took them to perform missions. Now from October The area from the town to the north of Jergach is under the control of our army, not to mention that the chance of a battle is not high, even if there is a battle, as long as they can hold out for half an hour, the nearby reinforcements should arrive."

"But, Comrade Commander, look at their equipment and their military appearance." Samoilov said anxiously: "If they really encounter the enemy, can they last for half an hour?"

Sokov looked at Samoilov and said earnestly: "Comrade Lieutenant, this is why I brought your platoon with you. If you really encounter the situation you are worried about, you will have to rely on your platoon to support you to the end." Reinforcements are coming."

After listening to Sokov, the expression on Samoilov's face became serious: "Comrade Commander, don't worry. If something really happens on the way, even if we fight to the last person in our platoon, we will ensure that Your safety."

"Don't say these unlucky words." Sokov raised his hand and slapped Samoilov's helmet, and said angrily: "I hope you all live well, and live until the day we win .”

The two chatted for a long time before the guard company formed a neat queue. Company Commander Serelkov trotted up to Sokov, blushing and said embarrassedly: "Comrade Commander, the guard company has assembled and is ready to go at any time."

Sokov looked at the guard company again. Although the formation had already been completed, the entire formation looked crooked. Seeing this, Sokov shook his head and said to Serelkov: "Lieutenant Serelkov, your company's formation is not very good. You should train them more when you have time."

"Yes, Comrade Commander!" Serelkov quickly and loudly replied, "When I have time, I will definitely conduct queue training."

Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, then waved his hand and said, "It's getting late, let's go."

Five minutes later, a convoy of three jeeps and nine trucks set off.

Samoilov, who was in the same car as Sokov, waited for the car to start, turned around from the co-pilot position and asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, tell me, can our troops take Dergach today?" ?”

"It's hard to say." At this moment, Sokov was also uncertain about whether he could capture Jergachi today. He shook his head and said, "If the enemy is not willing to resist, maybe we can take Jergachi today, otherwise we will delay here for two more days."

"What about the 98th Guards Division hiding behind the enemy's rear?" Samoilov, as Sokov's closest subordinate, naturally knew a lot of inside information. When can we attack the enemy?"

Hearing Samoilov's question, Sokov looked at him in astonishment, wondering how did he know this? But after thinking about it, Samoilov is basically his personal bodyguard, he can freely enter and leave the headquarters, and it is not surprising to hear some combat deployments occasionally.

Sokov coughed lightly, and then said: "As long as our troops occupy Dergach, they can attack the enemy's positions along the Ud River and seize the bridges on the river with lightning speed. , so that the main force of the group army can pass through the Oude River smoothly."

"The last time we forcibly crossed the river outside Belgorod, didn't we use the hovercraft brought by Colonel Yakov?" Samoilov once witnessed troops on the hovercraft quickly pass the wide river, and the enemy even Before regaining consciousness, our commanders and fighters rushed in front of them and wiped them out like chopping melons and vegetables. "Aren't you going to use a hovercraft to cross the river this time?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant, we will not use hovercraft to cross the Oud River this time."

After Sokov finished speaking, seeing Samoilov's face showing a disappointed expression, he continued: "The last time I forcibly crossed the river outside Belgorod, let the enemy know that we have this new type of weapon. In order to deal with us, the enemy planted a large number of landmines along the banks of the Oude River and pulled up barbed wire, which made our hovercraft useless. Therefore, we can only change our strategy and adopt the method of capturing bridges to let the group army The main force crossed the Oud."

"So that's the case." Samoilov continued to ask: "So, Yakov's troops will not participate in our attack on Kharkov..."

Sokov originally thought that the road was boring, and it would be good for someone to talk to pass the time, but when he heard Samoilov kept asking questions, some of which even involved secrets, he put on a straight face and said seriously: "Comrade Lieutenant, haven't you studied the secrecy regulations and know what you can ask and what you can't ask?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Samoilov immediately realized that he had made a fatal mistake, and blushed and apologized to Sokov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I was wrong, and I dare not inquire about it. "

"Forget it this time." Sokov couldn't bear to punish his bodyguard, so he said reasonablely: "Next time, don't ask around, understand?"

"clear!"

…………

The troops attacking Djergach progressed faster than the camera showed. The reason for this situation is that the German army was used to the overwhelming artillery preparations of the Soviet army before the attack. Whenever they saw troops that dared to attack the city without artillery cover, they were immediately stunned and it was difficult to organize them. resistance at scale.

The unit that made the most progress was the 254th Division, which attacked from the north. Since the north of the city was burned into ruins by the fire, it was impossible to establish a decent line of defense, and according to the idea of ​​​​the German commander, it was absolutely impossible for the Soviet army to be driven out of the city by its own fire in the early morning. Attack again. Therefore, he only deployed a battalion of troops in this direction. How could he resist the 254th Division who wanted revenge? In less than half an hour, the Soviet army regained most of the area occupied yesterday.

The troops attacking from the east and west also fought very smoothly. The enemy tried to organize a counter-attack to drive out the Soviet troops who had rushed into the city. But what ushered in was tank fire and new rockets, which blew up their offensive formation, and the remaining soldiers dispersed in a rush, looking for a safe place to hide.

When the battle continued at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the 254th Division, attacking from the north gate, recovered the municipal building and planted the red flag on the top floor again. The 182nd Division and part of the 384th Division, which were attacking from the west, also approached the city center step by step along the street. Even the combined forces of the 84th and 188th Divisions, which attacked the slowest, captured important facilities such as the station, post office, and broadcasting center in the east of the city, and drove the enemy away from these facilities.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the German commander quickly called General Kenff and reported the situation in Jergach to him, hoping that the other party would allow him to withdraw from the city.

After carefully inquiring about the offensive route of the Soviet army and the approximate size of the troops, Kenfu realized that if his troops continued to hold on, they might be in danger of being wiped out. Withdrew, retreated into Kharkov along the road, and strengthened the defense of the city.

The German troops who received the retreat order didn't have the mind to continue fighting in Jergakiri. They used alternate cover methods, covering each other and retreating towards the south of the city.

Shechtman, who was attacking from the north, found that the enemy had begun to retreat on a large scale, and quickly reported to Sokov by phone: "Comrade Commander, the enemy has begun to retreat, and it seems that they intend to escape from the south of the city. "

"Colonel Shechtman, if the enemy wants to escape, let him escape." Sokov is not concerned about the fleeing enemy now, but whether the cultural relics in the city have been completely protected, so he asked with concern: "Find Are those precious cultural relics?"

"Comrade Commander, about a company of German officers and soldiers have retreated to the church after being attacked by our army, trying to rely on the terrain to resist." Shechtman replied: "Because of fear of damaging the cultural relics stored inside, Our commanders dare not use the new rockets and bazookas, and if they want to capture the church, they will probably pay a heavy price."

"Colonel Shechtman," Sokov waited for the other party to finish, and said domineeringly: "You send someone to issue an ultimatum to the enemies in the church in my name, if they don't put down their weapons and surrender within half an hour. Once Once we break into the church, there will be absolutely no survivors left."