Red Moscow

"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Sokov knew very well in his heart that the outstanding performance of his troops in the Battle of Kursk and the Battle of Kharkov had already made the people of the Supreme Command realize that sophisticated weapons have a great impact on the strength of the troops. Importance, as long as one's own troops do not lose the chain in the later stages of the campaign, it is not impossible to become the first army to equip all members with assault rifles. "There will be bread, there will be milk, there will be everything."

Weisbach couldn't help grinning when Sokov casually uttered lines from the movie "Lenin in 1918".

"Comrade Colonel, don't be too happy." Sokov continued: "Now that the high ground has been taken, if you can't stop the attack of the Viking Division, I will not spare you."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Perhaps because he has heard too many legends about Sokov, Weissbach has honey-like trust in him, and feels that as long as the troops under Sokov's command are facing such a powerful enemy , can win the final victory, he said confidently: "No matter how powerful the enemy is, we will be able to stop them."

Hearing what Weisbach said, Sokov felt even more uneasy. He listened intently to the sound of guns and artillery from behind the high ground, and thought to himself: "Half of the troops of the 73rd Infantry Brigade are here now, why not send the rest of the troops here to enrich the defense here."

Thinking of this, he said to Weissbach: "Comrade Colonel, even though I said so, there is only one division of yours here, plus a tank brigade. To deal with the elite Viking division of the German army, I am still a little uneasy. Or, How about I send Guchakov's 73rd Infantry Brigade over to help defend?"

The days when Weisbach felt most aggrieved were when he served as deputy brigade commander under Guchakov. I am a colonel, but I have to obey the command of a major. Now I finally got rid of him and became the commander of the 300th division. If Sokov really transferred the infantry brigade, who would have the final say on the two units?

It was with this in mind that he said emotionally: "Comrade Commander, there is absolutely no need to transfer the infantry brigade here."

"Why?" Sokov asked in surprise.

"Comrade Commander, according to the information I have, there are not only my 300th Infantry Division and Major Bunch's 37th Tank Brigade, but also the 5th Assault Army and the 7th Tank Army near the Fesky Kolkhoz. The main force. If the battle here is tight, I can ask the friendly army for help, so as to get their support."

Weissbach was afraid that Sokov would not agree with his proposal, so he specially emphasized: "Comrade Commander, our army is now attacking Kharkov, and the strength of the troops is already very surprising. If you transfer the infantry brigade over again, it will inevitably be It will weaken the army's offensive strength, which is very detrimental to the next battle."

Sokov was moved by Weisbach's words. Even though he now has several divisions under his command, if he wants to attack Kharkov, his strength is still weak. If the infantry brigade was really transferred to assist in the defense, he would have no reserves at all, which was something Sokov didn't want to see.

He pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Comrade Colonel, what you said makes sense. I'm going to meet the commander of the 5th Assault Army and discuss with him about defense assistance."

After Sokov finished speaking, he said to Weisbach: "You will deal with the aftermath here." He planned to leave, but was stopped by Weisbach.

"What's the matter?" Sokov stopped.

"Comrade Commander, is it appropriate for you to go to see General Tsvetayev at this moment?"

"What's inappropriate?"

"You used Marshal Zhukov not long ago. You just ordered the 300th Division from the 5th Assault Army. I think the head of the army is full of hatred for you at this moment." Weissbach said worriedly: "You Go to see General Tsvetayev at this moment, he will certainly not give you a good look."

"I believe that General Tsvetayev is a reasonable person." Although Sokov knew that Wiesbach was right, if he went to see Tsvetayev at this moment, there was a high chance that he would be made things difficult. But in order to win the final victory, Sokov decided to put down his personal dignity and go to have a good talk with Tsvetayev.

After the talk, everyone is naturally happy. If the opponent ignores him at all, he can only move out Zhukov and Vatutin to solve the problem of defense assistance.

Sokov took Samoilov and his guard platoon and drove to the headquarters of the Assault Army, which was more than 20 kilometers away.

There is a checkpoint outside the camp, and there are more than a dozen commanders and fighters on duty. Seeing a convoy of two jeeps and three trucks, the sergeant who led the team hastily signaled for the convoy to stop.

Seeing the convoy stop, the sergeant and a soldier came up to meet them. Sitting in the co-pilot position, Samoilov turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, let me negotiate with them."

After getting Sokov's permission, Samoilov opened the door and got out of the car, walking towards the sergeant and his subordinates.

"Comrade Lieutenant," the sergeant saw Samoilov walking towards him, stopped quickly, and asked politely, "Which department do you belong to? Do you have anything to do here?"

"Hello, Comrade Sergeant." Samoilov said politely: "We are from the 27th Army Group. I have something to see your commander, Comrade General Tsvetaev." He moved towards the jeep behind Shaking his head, "Our commander, General Sokov, is in the car."

When he learned that Major General Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army, was in the visiting convoy, the sergeant was taken aback, and he said in a panic, "Comrade Lieutenant, please wait a moment, I will call my superiors." .”

Samoilov nodded slightly and said, "Go, I'll wait for you here."

After the sergeant and soldiers left, Samoilov trotted back to the car, leaned in from the open door and Dusokov said: "Comrade commander, the soldiers on duty said they were going to call their superiors. "

"I know." Sokov replied flatly, "Let's just wait patiently."

"Comrade Commander, I have a question." Samoilov turned his head and glanced in the direction of the checkpoint, and asked cautiously, "Do you think the soldiers on duty will let us in?"

"Why didn't you let us in?" Sokov said disapprovingly: "Even if we took away their 300th division, now that I'm in General Tsvetayev's defense zone, he can't prevent me from going in. Otherwise he It will leave a bad influence on the superiors, which will be very detrimental to him in the future."

Hearing what Sokov said, Samoilov nodded with a half-understanding, and did not ask further questions with interest. He turned his head and glanced in the direction of the checkpoint, and seeing that the sergeant had finished making calls from the sentry box, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, it seems that the sergeant has finished making calls, I'll go over and ask how the situation is. "

Samoilov came back to the sergeant and asked politely: "Comrade sergeant, how is the situation? Will your superior allow us to go in?"

"Look at what you said, Comrade Lieutenant." The sergeant said to Samoilov with a smile, "I have already reported the situation to my superiors. Please wait a moment, someone will come out to pick you up later."

After waiting for a few minutes, a three-wheeled motorcycle drove over from the checkpoint. Seeing this, the sergeant quickly ordered someone to raise the crossbar. The motorcycle stopped in front of Samoilov, and a lieutenant came out of the sidecar. After raising his hand to salute Samoilov, he said politely: "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant. I am the combat staff officer of the group army , I was ordered to pick you up, please follow me."

In this way, the convoy followed the lieutenant's motorcycle, passed the checkpoint, and entered the headquarters of the assault group army.

Under the leadership of the lieutenant, Sokov walked into the temporary headquarters of the army group. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a group of general-looking people standing by the wall with their backs to the door, looking up at a large map nailed to the wall.

The lieutenant came behind the group and announced loudly: "Comrade Commander, General Sokov of the friendly army has arrived!"

Hearing the lieutenant's voice, the generals turned around neatly and looked at Sokov standing in the middle of the room, but no one said anything.

Sokov looked at the seven or eight generals in front of him, and couldn't help muttering in his heart: "There are so many generals, who is the commander of the assault group Tsvetayev?"

Fortunately, this embarrassment did not last long, and a tall, mustache lieutenant general stepped out from the crowd, stretched out his hand to Sokov, and said politely: "Hello, General Sokov, I Lieutenant General Tsvetayev, Commander of the Shock Army, welcome to my headquarters."

The envisioned fury or cynicism did not appear, and Sokov was a little surprised by the enthusiasm shown by Tsvetayev. However, he quickly reached out and took the opponent's hand, shook it vigorously twice, and said with a smile: "Hello, General Tsvetayev, it's a pleasure to meet you. I learned that your troops are on my flank. Come and visit you immediately."

While shaking hands with Sokov, Tsvetayev shook his head and said, "General Sokov, you didn't choose a good time for your visit. You know, this time period is the time when everyone is sleeping soundly."

"General Tsvetayev, you haven't rested yet, I think I came just in time."

Tsvetayev laughed, let go of Sokov's hand, and made a gesture of invitation: "General Sokov, please sit down quickly." Then he said to the lieutenant who was leading the way, "Are you still in a daze?" What are you doing here, hurry up and pour tea for General Sokov!"

The lieutenant hurriedly agreed, then turned and left.

"General Sokov," Tsvetayev asked Sokov curiously after he sat down, "Why are you still wandering around outside so late?"

"General Tsvetayev, I'm not fooling around." Facing Tsvetayev's question, Sokov politely replied: "I just commanded a battle, and before the battle was over, I was in a hurry. coming!"

Tsvetayev had a surprised expression on his face: "Where did the battle take place?"

"It's on the west side of the Fisky collective farm where the 300th division is stationed," Sokov came to discuss with Tsvetayev this time about defense cooperation. He felt that the Viking division built a defensive position on the highland west of the farm. It is necessary to tell the other party truthfully: "The German Viking division built fortifications on the high ground there. The battle I command is to capture the high ground and establish a reliable line of defense there."

"What, the Viking division is on the high ground west of the Fesky collective farm?" A major general couldn't help but exclaimed when he heard this, "We only have one infantry division and one tank brigade in the farm, can we stop the enemy's attack? ?”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you made a mistake." Tsvetayev immediately corrected the other party with a straight face when he heard the major general say this: "For example, the 300th Infantry Division and the 37th Tank Brigade belong to the 27th Army." After saying this, the smile returned to Tsvetayev's face, "General Sokov, I forgot to introduce you, this is my chief of staff."

Knowing that the other party was the chief of staff of the Army Group, Sokov hurriedly stood up and shook hands with the other party, and at the same time said friendlyly: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The chief of staff of the group army was eager to know the battle situation near the Fisky collective farm, and after a few polite words with Sokov, he asked impatiently, "How is the situation now? Has the enemy launched an attack on the farm?"

"On the contrary, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov replied with a smile: "We took the initiative to attack the high ground occupied by the enemy. far away."

"I know the terrain there," interjected Tsvetayev. "The west side of the highland is flat, which is good for attack and not good for defense; while the situation in the east is just the opposite, and it is not good for attack. I think you want to It must have cost a lot to seize the high ground."

"You're right." Sokov naturally wouldn't hide the heavy price he paid in the process of capturing the high ground. He said truthfully, "Our army suffered close to 3,000 casualties in order to capture the high ground."

Sokov's words made the generals present gasp. The chief of staff frowned and said, "The total strength of the 300th Division is 8,000 people, and 3,000 were killed or injured in the first battle. What about the next battle?"

Sokov was originally considering how to propose defense assistance to the other side, but now he heard the chief of staff of the group army say so, and said smoothly: "This is exactly the purpose of my visit." He turned to Tsvetayev, " General Tsvetayev, since the main force of our department will be used to attack the western outskirts of Kharkov, we cannot mobilize the necessary troops to support the 300th Division. I wonder if you can send troops..."

Before Sokov could finish speaking, Tsvetayev interrupted him: "General Sokov, I understand what you mean. If you didn't take over the 300th Division, the Fesky collective farm should be Our defense zone. Even if the 300th Division is not my unit now, it is only natural to support friendly forces."

For Tsvetayev's understanding, Sokov felt very much in his heart. He quickly got up and held the other's hand, and said excitedly: "General Tsvetayev, thank you very much. With your support, I believe that the 300th Division will not have much problem blocking the attack of the Viking Division."

"This is what we should do." Tsvetayev raised his head and said to the chief of staff standing aside: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately call the commander of the 87th Infantry Division and inform them that they will rush to the army immediately after dawn." Fesky collective farm, assisting friendly forces in defense."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff nodded and said, "I'll call their division commander right away."