Red Moscow

"Misha, are you free now?" Sokov just finished talking with Sameko when Yakov hurried in: "I have something to tell you."

After seeing that it was Yakov, Tsvetayev smiled and nodded at him, then walked to the corner of the headquarters, sat on a bench and lit a cigarette.

"Yasha," Sokov didn't expect Yakov to come to him at this time, and asked in surprise, "Why did you come to me?"

"Misha," Yakov said angrily, sitting opposite Sokov, "I came here to find you for an important matter."

"Important thing?" Sokov asked in surprise, "What important thing?"

"My hovercraft unit, after transporting the tank brigade across the bridge, has somewhat broken down." Yakov said dissatisfiedly: "Now we have to transport artillery and supporting shells across the river. This is to let my hovercraft unit Is it the rhythm of complete reimbursement?"

After figuring out what was going on, Sokov felt that it was necessary for Yakov to understand that transporting artillery and a large number of shells across the river at this moment was just to confuse the enemy. He laughed twice, passed the cigarette case on the table to the other party, and said: "Yakov, I'm sorry, I didn't make the question clear. We transported artillery across the river to confuse the Germans. It's just a move."

"A move to confuse the Germans?" Yakov took the cigarette case, took out a cigarette from it, and put it in his mouth, but didn't light it immediately. He asked in bewilderment, "What do you mean, I don't quite understand?"

"That's right, Yasha." Sokov told Yakov in detail about the wrong intelligence that the Supreme Commander himself reported to the military attaches of various countries, and the combat mission assigned to him by his superiors in order to make up for this mistake, and finally Said: "...In order to make the Germans think that we are going to choose the breakthrough in the direction of the left-flank landing field, we will use the hovercraft to transport the artillery with great fanfare..."

"Wait a minute, Misha." As soon as Sokov said this, he was interrupted by Yakov raising his hand. The latter frowned and asked: "What did you just say, only send an artillery regiment to the east bank of the Oud River to establish artillery positions?"

"That's right." Sokov nodded and asked, "Is there any question?"

"Of course there is a problem, and it's a big problem." Yakov threw the cigarette in his mouth on the table, stood up abruptly, and said to Sokov: "I'm afraid the artillery and ammunition that are staying by the river now Is there more than one teacher?"

"What's going on?" This time it was Sokov's turn to be puzzled. He turned his head to look at Tsvetayev who was sitting in the corner smoking a cigarette, and said politely, "Comrade General, please come here."

Hearing Sokov calling himself, Tsvetayev quickly threw the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, crushed it with his toes, and walked over quickly, asking at the same time: "General Sokov, what happened?" something wrong?"

Sokov pointed to Yakov and said to Tsvetayev: "Comrade General, Colonel Yakov told me that there is not even one artillery division waiting for the artillery and ammunition to cross the river. I think Ask, is there something wrong with this?"

If someone else said that, Tsvetayev might have questioned whether the source of the other party was reliable, but Yakov said this, so the situation is different. He hurriedly said politely to Yakov: "Colonel Yakov, can you tell me about the specific situation?"

Yakov was still a little angry at first, but seeing that Tsvetayev was so polite to him, he restrained the anger on his face and replied: "After the hovercraft unit transported an artillery regiment across the river, we are overhauling the ship. Suddenly a general came and asked us to immediately send all the remaining artillery and matching ammunition to the other side..."

From Yakov's narration, Sokov and Tsvetayev figured out what happened. It turned out that an artillery division commander planned to let Yakov's hovercraft unit transport all the remaining artillery of the division. Go to the east coast. Because Yakov refused, he was furious at him and even threatened to send him to a military court.

"So that's what happened." After figuring out what was going on, Tsvetayev was shocked into a cold sweat. He didn't expect that someone under his command would dare to threaten Yakov. In order to prevent the gaffe from expanding, he took the initiative Proposed to Sokov: "General Sokov, leave this matter to me. I can solve this matter in a quarter of an hour at most."

After Tsvetayev left, Sokov told Yakov to sit down again, and asked him curiously: "Yasha, in the battle to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov, did your hovercraft unit Played a huge role. I want to ask, how long are these hovercraft still in use?"

"Misha, there are no outsiders here, I can tell you the truth." Yakov heard Sokov's question with a serious expression on his face: "Due to the overloading of the hovercraft, all the spare parts we brought are used up. At this point, he saw that Sokov seemed to want to say something, so he raised his hand to stop him, and continued, "You may say that the spare parts are gone, and they can be mobilized from Moscow. Sorry, this is so far Once all the spare parts produced are exhausted, they cannot be replenished for at least half a year."

"Ya Sha, listen to your tone, once these hovercraft break down, we will have no chance to use the hovercraft again for at least half a year?"

"That's true." After Yakov answered the question, he couldn't help asking Sokov: "Misha, can your troops really rush into the city of Kharkov before dark?"

"Yasha, you and I are friends, and there are some things I don't want to hide from you." Sokov suppressed the smile on his face and said solemnly: "Although I already have Zhou Xiang's plan, will I be able to do it when I execute it?" No one can tell if an accident happened. I can only tell you that I will do my best."

Yakov can understand Sokov's statement. After all, hundreds of thousands of troops are now in all directions in Kharkov, fighting with the German army. Sokov is not a god, how can he say a breakthrough? What about breaking through the enemy's defense line? Thinking of this, he couldn't help worrying about Sokov: "Misha, if you really can't break through the enemy's line of defense and rush into the city of Kharkov before dark, will you be in trouble?"

"Yasha, I have already said that I will do my best." Sokov said clearly: "Even if we cannot break through the enemy's defense line before dark, we will continue to attack until we complete the orders from our superiors."

Sokov's words were just heard by Tsvetayev who had just returned, and he said with some surprise: "General Sokov, you said that even if you can't break through the enemy's line of defense before dark, you won't break through the enemy's line of defense after dark. Will it continue to attack?"

"Exactly, Comrade General." Sokov nodded, and continued: "Since the order given to me by my superiors is to break through the enemy's defenses and rush into the city, then as long as my troops do not lose their attack power, the attack will continue." Will not stop until orders from superiors are fulfilled."

After Sokov finished speaking, seeing Tsvetayev in front of him, he suddenly remembered that the other party was out to deal with the artillery affairs, so he changed the subject in time: "Comrade General, how is the artillery affairs going?"

"General Sokov, Colonel Yakov, please listen to my explanation. This is how it happened." Hearing Sokov ask about this matter, Tsvetayev quickly explained, regardless of him calling the names of the two , but his main purpose was to explain to Yakov: "The commander of the artillery division misunderstood my order and thought that I was going to transfer his entire division to the east bank, so he pulled all the artillery of the division to the river. , Prepare to cross the river. When I communicated with him just now, he realized that he had misinterpreted my order."

After the explanation, Tsvetayev said to Yakov with a smile: "Colonel Yakov, this is what happened. The fault is all on me. I am sorry for making you wronged."

"It's okay, Comrade General." Seeing that Tsvetayev's apology was sincere, Yakov naturally couldn't argue with him, so he could only politely reply, "Since it was a misunderstanding, it's fine to let it go."

"I have ordered them to return to their original positions immediately, and they are preparing to start moving at this moment..."

Hearing what Tsvetayev said, Sokov suddenly had an idea in his mind, and quickly interrupted him: "Comrade General, since the main force of the artillery division is staying by the river , then it’s better to let them stay there and pretend to cross the river by the way.”

After listening to Sokov's words, Tsvetayev showed a confused expression on his face: "General Sokov, I don't understand what you mean, can you explain to me?"

"Comrade General," Sokov saw that not only Tsvetayev did not understand what he meant, but even Yakov looked at a loss, so he said to the two of them: "Although we ask our superiors to use the fighter planes of two aviation divisions , bombarded the enemy's defenses indiscriminately, and established artillery positions on the landing field on the east bank, posing a posture of preparing to break through from the left wing, but who knows if there are any capable Germans who can see through our tricks of attacking east and west? People, therefore, must continue to feint."

Tsvetayev could be rated as an excellent army commander in the Great Patriotic War by later generations. He still has some skills. Hearing what Sokov said, he immediately understood the meaning of the other party's tentative expression, and quickly interrupted and asked: "Soko General Husband, do you mean to let our artillery division continue to stop on the bank, as if preparing to cross the river, to confuse the enemy?"

"Yes, that's what I mean." Sokov nodded, affirming Tsvetayev's statement: "Such a large artillery unit stays on the banks of the Ude River, assuming a posture of preparing to cross the river, as long as the enemy is not Blind and deaf, they will surely be found. Then the enemy will be convinced that we are preparing to break through from the left."

Yakov heard some clues from the conversation between the two, and asked tentatively: "Then what can my hovercraft team do, continue to transport them across the river?"

"In order to confuse the enemy, you can put on the posture of transporting the artillery across the river." Sokov said to Yakov: "You don't need to carry the artillery on the boat, but when you transport it back and forth in the river, you must move slowly, so that the enemy will not be moved. Create the illusion that you are sending more artillery and men to the east coast."

After Sokov's explanation, Yakov immediately understood, nodded quickly and said, "Okay, Misha, I'll arrange this right now, and I'm sure I can confuse the enemy."

Tsvetayev waited for Yakov's back to disappear from the door, then turned to look at Sokov and asked, "General Sokov, I think you may have deeper intentions by letting the main force of the artillery division stay by the river." Bar?"

"You guessed right, Comrade General." Sokov did not deny Tsvetayev's guess, but he said truthfully: "Although we have formulated a tactic of attacking east and west, we are going to attract the main force of the enemy to the left wing. But in doing so, it is still difficult to ensure that our right-wing troops can complete the predetermined combat objectives and break through the enemy's defense line. Therefore, we must prepare a backhand. Once the right-wing attack fails, we can turn the left-wing's false attack into a real one. attack."

"Well, you are very thoughtful." Tsvetayev echoed: "We use two aviation divisions to bombard the enemy indiscriminately, making the enemy think that we will choose the breakthrough on the left wing, and we must draw troops from the right wing. Strengthen. In this way, their right wing becomes empty. When they find out that they have been tricked, they will transfer the troops sent to the left wing back to the right wing.

When the time comes, the defenders will suffer heavy casualties in the air strikes and the reinforcements will be transferred away, and the left wing will become empty again. Our unexpected attack may only achieve unexpected results. "

"That's right, that's why I let the Artillery Division stay on the shore." Sokov went on to say: "Once the attack on the right wing fails, all the remaining artillery of the Artillery Division will be transported to the east bank. Bombarding the enemy's lines. I do not believe that the enemy's lines, after being bombarded and shelled heavily, can stop our attack."

Seeing Sokov come up with a backup plan in such a short period of time, Tsvetayev admired him in his heart. I thought that he was able to serve as the commander of the group army at such a young age because he took advantage of some connections, but now it seems that the other party is really capable, otherwise he would not have taken up such an important position at a young age.

In order to close the relationship with Sokov, Tsvetayev thought that the other party had the idea of ​​entering the Frunze Military Academy, so he took the initiative to say: "General Sokov, after the Battle of Kharkov is over, I will I will definitely write a letter of recommendation to the dean of the Frunze Military Academy, recommending you to study in the academy."

It has always been Sokov's dream to be able to study at the Frunze Military Academy. Now that Tsvetayev brought up the matter, he knew that the matter was half-successful, so he extended his hand to Tsvetayev. , said gratefully: "Comrade General, thank you so much. If I can really enter the Frunze Military Academy, I will never forget your kindness."

The indiscriminate bombing of the left-wing German defense line by the two Soviet aviation divisions and the vigorous crossing of the Sokov army made the German army completely think that the Soviet army would choose the breakthrough here, so not only the reinforcements of the 11th Army After rushing to the left wing, even the German troops that could be mobilized in other areas also rushed to the area one after another.

Sameko, who was in command of the right wing, was overjoyed when he received information from the scouts that the German army had mobilized troops to move to the left wing. He reckoned that the troops sent for reinforcements had gone far away, and when they couldn't return in a short time, he decisively issued an attack order.

Unlike other friendly forces, Sokov's troops generally do not use ineffective artillery preparations before attacking. If they encounter the enemy's solid fortifications, they will use new rockets and rockets to deal with them. The enemy's fortifications have been bombed and pitted. Where can they withstand the attack of these weapons, the defense line will soon be torn open a gap.

After learning that the front line of defense had been torn open, Sameko immediately joined the 254th Division as a reserve team, allowing them to enter the battlefield from the opened gap and continue to develop in depth.

The German army never thought that a Soviet army would rush straight into the depth of their defense, and was caught off guard in a hurry. The vanguard of the 254th Division took the lead in breaking through the German defenses, rushed into the machinery processing factory in the southwest of the city, quickly occupied an area, and established a solid defensive position.