Red Moscow

Looking at the back of the chief of staff leaving, William Stemmelman took a deep breath, then stood up and said to Weller: "Your Excellency Commander, I beg you again, send troops to search the area where the pilot of the reconnaissance plane disappeared, And strengthen the defense forces in corresponding areas.”

After staring at William Stemmelman for a while, Weller frowned and said, "General William, didn't I say that if the Russians want to launch an attack, they must be in the direction of the bridgehead they established, because There's a full bridge there to keep troops and heavy equipment flowing across the Oud."

He patted the map on the conference table with his palm, and said angrily to William Stemmelman: "General William, take a good look at the map. The area where you think the Russians may launch an attack is the Oud River." The widest position, which fool do you think would leave the bridge without using it, and instead take a greater risk and let your troops force the crossing?"

"That's right, it would be very convenient for the Russians to transport troops and equipment to the east bank from the bridge they controlled." Although Wheeler was firm, William Stemmelman always insisted on his Views, that the Soviet army will attack from other directions, "But don't forget, we are not fighting against ordinary Russian troops, but the 27th Army under the command of Sokov. Since the Battle of Stalingrad, it has been The nightmare of our army, his elusive tactics have caused the commander of our army to suffer, and so far, it has never been heard that that unit has ever defeated him.

In the face of such an opponent, we must take into account all possible situations, so as not to wait for something to happen, and then regret it before it is too late..."

Seeing William Stemmelman arguing with Weller, the teachers next to him couldn't sit still. Don't look at their discord with William Stemmelman, but they are even less fond of the newly appointed Commander Weller. Hearing William's repeated emphasis that the Russian troops fighting against him were under the command of Sokov, the division commanders began to discuss in low voices, studying whether Sokov would really launch an attack in other areas.

"Quiet, gentlemen, please be quiet!" Seeing that the teachers had a small meeting below, Wheeler slapped the table several times, "We are still in the meeting!"

When the conference room became quiet again, William Stemmelman said firmly: "Your Excellency, I strongly implore you: 1. Send troops to conduct reconnaissance at the place where the pilot disappeared; Defense force..."

Before William Stemmelmann could finish speaking, a German officer broke in from the outside. Everyone recognized at a glance that this was a combat staff officer of the headquarters.

The combat staff officer came to Weller, raised his hand to salute, took out a folder from his armpit, handed him a document inside, and said, "Report to Your Excellency, the Russians are using intensive The artillery fire, shelling the ring fortifications near their bridgehead, it seems that they are preparing to launch an attack."

Weller took the document from the combat staff officer, shook it at William Stemmelman, and said triumphantly: "General William, I don't know what you think of this battle report? Until now, you still have Do you think the Russians will choose another direction of attack?"

William Stemmelman was stunned. He didn't expect the development of the matter to exceed his own imagination, and he didn't know how to respond to Weller's question for a while. Seeing that William Stemmelmann was unable to refute, Wheeler loudly announced the adjournment of the meeting.

Several division commanders of the 11th Army walked out of the conference room after Wheeler left the conference room, and none of them looked back at William Stemmelman, who was sitting in a daze.

William Stemmelman didn't notice that the others had left, and he was still thinking hard: Could it be that I was really wrong in my judgment? If the Russians want to attack, they can attack Kharkov immediately after capturing the bridge. According to the combat effectiveness of Sokov's troops, some troops should have rushed into the city at this moment. But they didn't do this. After capturing the bridge, they turned to the defense on the spot, as if they were going to fight a protracted war with their own troops.

"General Wheeler," the chief of staff walked into the conference room from the outside, and seeing that the meeting had adjourned, leaving only William Stemmelman sitting in a daze, he walked over and asked with concern: "The meeting has adjourned, Why are you still sitting here?"

"Ah, is the meeting adjourned?" The words of the chief of staff jolted William Stemmelman out of his contemplation, and he said with some difficulty: "Maybe I was so engrossed in thinking that I didn't realize that the meeting was adjourned."

William Stemmelman stood up, smiled sadly at the Chief of Staff, and was about to leave the conference room. But he was stopped by the chief of staff: "General William, do you really think that the Russians will attack in other areas?"

Hearing this question from the chief of staff, William Stemmelman seemed a little hesitant and said: "Chief of staff, maybe I made a mistake. What the Russians can do now is to launch an attack from their bridgehead position, which is impossible. Attack from other directions."

The chief of staff also had the same idea as Kenff and Wheeler, and felt that if the Russians wanted to attack Kharkov, the best choice was to attack from the bridgehead position, because they could pass through the bridge and put more troops and equipment on the ground. Continuously shipped from the West Bank to the East Bank.

"General William, you may be too tired recently." The chief of staff said to William Stemmelman in a sympathetic tone: "You should go back and rest quickly, maybe you can wake up and all problems will be solved."

Before the 299th Regiment of the 98th Guards Division launched an attack, Lunev hurried back after getting the news. He was a little surprised and asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, didn't you say that you plan to start from other areas, To attack the enemy? Why now order the artillery to bombard the ring positions on the east bank, and send the 299th regiment and the tank battalion to move to the east bank?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, since you raised such a question, I don't want to hide it from you." To his partner, Sokov truthfully replied: "We plan to launch a surprise attack on the Germans from other areas at night. .But a few hours ago, some little accident happened..."

"What accident?"

"A German reconnaissance plane was shot down by our fighter plane in the area where we were going to attack, and the pilot of the reconnaissance plane has been captured by our army."

"The pilot caught?!" After Lunev asked a question, seeing Sokov nodded in affirmation, he asked in wonder: "It is a good thing to be able to catch the German pilot, why do you still have a sad face?" look?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is as follows." Sokov explained: "Because the position of the enemy's parachute pilot is no more than one kilometer from the position where the 384th Infantry Division is lurking. Once the enemy sends troops to search for the parachute pilot, then Our lurking forces would be exposed and our mission to attack the opposing shore position at night would fail."

When Lunev heard this, he immediately guessed Sokov's intentions, and rushed to say: "Comrade Commander, I understand. In order to prevent the night attack area from being detected by the enemy, you deliberately set up a position at the landing field on the east bank. , launch an offensive to attract the attention of the Germans."

"Yes, that's what I mean."

The two were talking, and Sameko walked over with a telegram. He handed the telegram in his hand to Sokov, and said in his mouth: "Comrade commander, I just received a telegram from the scouts behind the enemy, please quickly read the content on it, it is really strange .”

"What's so strange?" Sokov casually took the telegram from the other party.

After quickly browsing the above content, Sokov couldn't help being stunned. He thought he had read it wrong, rubbed his eyes vigorously, and continued to read the contents of the telegram.

After reading it, he asked Sameko in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think the contents of the telegram are true or false?"

Seeing the astonished expressions of Sokov and Sameko, Lunev leaned his head over and asked curiously, "What's going on?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, take a look." Sokov stuffed the telegram into Lunev's hand: "It's so strange that the Germans are actually shooting their own officers."

"Shoot your own officer?" Lunev hastily unfolded the telegram in his hand, quickly browsed the contents, and at the same time raised his own question: "Why is this?"

"I don't know." Sokov told the truth. He only remembered that a group of German officers were purged after the failed assassination of Mustache on July 20, 1944, but it is still August 1943 when the officers were shot dead. Where do we start?

"Comrade Commander," Lunev looked up at Sokov after reading the contents of the telegram, and said with a serious expression: "I think this is a very important piece of information that needs to be reported to the Front Army Command immediately. It will help our army's next move."

"Okay," Sokov felt that this was so strange that he should report it to Konev immediately to see if he could figure out what was going on, so he ordered the director of the communications corps: "Connect me to the Front Army Command , I have something important to report to Commander Konev immediately."

After listening to the call, the person who answered the phone was Zakharov. After he recognized Sokov's voice, he said tactfully: "Comrade Sokov, I am really sorry. Our offensive has not yet achieved the desired results, so there is no I will inform you in time, and I hope you will not have any emotions."

Hearing what Zakharov said, Sokov realized that the other party had misunderstood, and quickly explained: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, you have misunderstood. I am calling you not to ask about the progress of the friendly army, but to have an important The situation will be reported to you and Comrade Commander."

Knowing that Sokov did not call to inquire about any news, Zakharov slowed down and asked, "What is it, Comrade Sokov?"

"According to reports from our scouts behind the enemy lines, they saw that the German army was shooting and killing a group of officers." Sokov said into the microphone: "The number is about sixty."

"The Germans are shooting their own officers?" Zakharov asked in surprise: "What's going on here? Why are their own people killing their own people?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Konev's voice came from the receiver: "Why do your own people kill your own people?"

Zakharov hurriedly reported to Konev what Sokov reported. After listening to it, Konev took the microphone in Zakharov's hand and asked in his ear: "Comrade Sokov , I’m Konev, tell me: which unit of the German army is shooting its own officers? What is the reason for shooting these officers?”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov also didn't know much about this matter, so he couldn't give Konev an accurate answer. He could only report to Konev according to the contents of the telegram: "The scouts sent I reported that because the enemy had set up guards around them, they could not get close and could only observe through binoculars. Among the officers who were shot dead, the highest rank was two major generals, and then there were more than forty school-level officers and a dozen lieutenants. They were shot for unknown reasons, and the designation of the unit was the 282nd Infantry Division..."

"Thank you, Comrade Sokov." After recording what Sokov said with a pen, Konev continued: "I have written down everything you said, and we will find a way to figure it out. what's going on."

Just when Sokov was about to put down the microphone, he heard Konev asking again: "Comrade Sokov, I have dispatched fighter jets in the direction of your troops' movement as agreed. How is the situation now? They have arrived at the designated location Yet?"

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am preparing to report this matter to you." Sokov said: "Our fighter plane shot down a German reconnaissance plane in the airspace, and the pilot has been captured by our army. He was seriously injured and is still undergoing rescue at this time, so it is impossible to determine whether the enemy has noticed the mobilization of our troops."

"Whether you are aware of it or not, you should take corresponding measures." Konev asked coldly, "Have you taken any measures?"

"The artillery of our army is bombarding the German army's circular position on the east bank with heavy artillery fire. At the same time, an infantry regiment and a tank battalion are ready to attack. As soon as our army's artillery fire stops, we will immediately attack the enemy. Attack."

"An infantry regiment and a tank battalion?" Konev couldn't help frowning when he heard this: "Comrade Sokov, do you think you can break through the German defensive positions with just this little force?"

"No, they can't break through the German defensive positions at all." Sokov answered this question very simply, and without waiting for Konev to ask again, he continued: "The attack we launched was nothing more than a diversion. to divert the attention of the Germans from the areas in which our forces are preparing to break through."

"Comrade Sokov, I don't know if you have considered letting troops with inferior strength and equipment to attack the German ring positions. They may be surrounded at any time..."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I have considered all these issues." Sokov had guessed that Konev would raise this question, and replied confidently: "The area where they are fighting is not far from the landing site on the east bank. Even if there is an emergency, you can quickly withdraw to the starting position before the enemy completes their encirclement."

"Comrade Sokov, it seems that you have considered all the issues that should be considered." Konev was very satisfied with Sokov's reply. He nodded with a smile and said, "Then I wish you good luck." , I hope to hear good news from you sooner."