Red Moscow

In the evening, a convoy of a jeep and two trucks drove out of the urban area of ​​Klemenchug. After driving for a certain distance, they came to a small town in the north of the city, where the troops of the 1st Mechanized Army were stationed.

When the convoy entered the town, it was stopped by a patrol. The second lieutenant who led the team came to the side of the jeep, bent over and stood beside the car, and asked Samoilov, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat: "Comrade Lieutenant, which part are you from? What are you doing here?"

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, we are from the headquarters of the 27th Army Group." Samoilov shook his head at Sokov who was sitting in the back, "The general sitting in the back row is our Army Commander Sokov. "

The second lieutenant was taken aback when Samoilov revealed Sokov's identity. He quickly took a step back, straightened his back and raised his hands to salute the jeep: "Hello, Comrade General. I'm sorry, I I didn't know you were here, and we didn't receive any notification."

Sokov is not a person who likes to put on airs. Seeing the second lieutenant's frightened expression, he quickly opened the car door, leaned out, and politely said to the other side: "Comrade second lieutenant, can you tell me that your soldiers Where is General Solomatin?"

"In the church in the middle of the town, his headquarters is located there." The second lieutenant replied in a panic: "You just need to continue driving along the street, and after a few minutes, you will see a black wall. The church, that's where the army headquarters is."

According to the second lieutenant's instructions, the convoy continued to move forward, and indeed saw a church with black walls. Sandbag fortifications were piled up outside the church, and wooden fences were pulled with barbed wire. Soldiers with live ammunition were vigilantly monitoring the surroundings.

The appearance of the convoy immediately attracted the other party's attention. A lieutenant standing in the sandbag fortification quickly led five or six soldiers to meet him for questioning. When he saw clearly that Sokov was sitting in the car, he had the same reaction as the second lieutenant just now, apologizing to Sokov repeatedly.

Sokov naturally didn't care about these trivial matters, but smiled at the lieutenant: "Comrade lieutenant, where is your army commander?"

"It's in the church, Comrade General." The lieutenant said respectfully, "I'll take you in."

Sokov asked Samoilov to stay outside to wait for him, and then followed the lieutenant into the church alone.

As soon as he entered the church, the lieutenant quickened his pace, crossed the hall, ran to the other side, and reported to Solomatin who was studying combat there.

Seeing a lieutenant general leading a dozen school-level officers walking towards him, Sokov immediately guessed that Solomatin should be the leader, and waved to them: "Hello, comrades commanders. "

"Hello, Comrade Commander." Solomatin came over, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and then offered his hand: "I am Lieutenant General Solomatin, the commander of the 1st Mechanized Army. It is a pleasure to meet you here. .”

After the two shook hands, Solomatin introduced his chief of staff, military commissar, and several brigade commanders present to Sokov one by one.

After everyone sat down at the table in the corner, Solomatin asked Sokov impatiently: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, what is the mission of our mechanized army?"

"General Solomatin," although Solomatin called one commander at a time, but Sokov did not get carried away. After all, he was younger than the opponent, his military rank was one level lower, and he had spent far more time in the army. Not as good as the other party, so he maintained enough courtesy to Solomatin: "According to the original plan, after our department captured Kremenchug and established a landing field on the right bank, at least four infantry divisions and one The strength of the tank brigade. But now your mechanized army is temporarily under my command, and I plan to adjust the deployment."

"How do you plan to adjust?" Solomatin asked with a normal expression.

Sokov glanced at the map spread out on the table, and seeing that it was the map of the Kremenchug area, he pulled it in front of him and said to Solomatin: "I plan to go to the landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River. Divide it into east and west parts, the west will be defended by my three infantry divisions and a tank brigade, while the east will be defended by your army."

"Comrade Commander, may I ask a question?" After Sukov finished speaking, the Chief of Staff suddenly asked.

"Of course." Sokov said reasonably, "Comrade Chief of Staff, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

"Judging from the terrain on the map, the west of the landing site is mostly forests, lakes, and swamps. Even if the German army wants to launch an attack, it may be difficult to use a large number of armored troops." The chief of staff pointed at the map with his hand and proposed his own Question: "As for the east side, there are far fewer forests and lakes, so it can be said to be the most suitable for attack. If the German army wants to launch an attack on the landing field, the east side is the area most vulnerable to attack. Please help us deploy here Direction, are you going to let us fight the Germans to the death, and then your troops will come to pick up the ready-made bargain?"

"Chief of Staff," Solomatin reprimanded the Chief of Staff as soon as he finished speaking, "How can you talk to Comrade Commander like this? We are soldiers, and the duty of a soldier is to obey. Since Comrade Commander wants to Deploy us on the east side of the landing field, then deploy on the east side, after all, this is an order given to us by our superiors, and we can only obey unconditionally."

From Solomatin's tone of voice, Sokov could hear that although the other party was criticizing his chief of staff, he could hear the serious dissatisfaction in his heart.

Sokov knew very well that if he could not satisfy the opponent with his explanation today, in the next battle, they might delay the order they gave him, which would affect his plan.

"General Solomatin," Sokov said with a smile: "Your chief of staff just raised a question in his heart, and he didn't speak rudely to me. There is no need to apologize to me." He continued, "According to our combat plan, we use the defense of the troops on the east side of the landing field to block the enemy's attack; while the troops on the west side choose the right time to launch an active attack on the enemy."

Hearing what Sokov said, Solomatin immediately realized that he might have wrongly blamed the other party, and quickly said: "Comrade commander, please tell us about your plan, so that we can all know what to do in future battles." I will fully cooperate with you."

"General Solomatin," Sokov said to Solomatin, "we were planning to launch an attack on the enemy in the Svetlovodsk district this morning with the 84th Infantry Division stationed on the west side. , strive to break through the enemy's defense line in one fell swoop, and expand the area of ​​​​the landing field..."

Solomatin thought that since his troops were stationed here, the surrounding area was quiet. If there was any battle, he would definitely know it at the first time. Since there is no sound of fighting, it means that the attack was canceled for some special reason.

In order to find out what was going on, he tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, why did you cancel this attack?"

Sokov pointed at the location of the Svetlovodsk district with his finger, and said with a wry smile: "Comrade General, the reason why we made the decision to attack the Svetlovodsk district was because of the According to the scout's report, there was only one infantry battalion of the German army, plus a tank battalion with more than twenty old Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks."

Solomatin stared at the map for a while, then shook his head and said, "Comrade Commander, please forgive me, the German army will never place just one infantry battalion in such an important place as the Svetlovodsk District. And a battalion of tanks with extremely weak combat capabilities, I think this should be a conspiracy."

Before Sokov could speak, the chief of staff rushed to Solomatin and said, "Comrade Commander, there is another possibility. The German army's strength is tight, and they don't have more troops to deploy in Svetlovots." gram area."

After Sokov and the chief of staff of the army finished speaking, he said unhurriedly: "One hour before the start of the offensive, I received an urgent telegram saying that the German troops deployed in the Svetlovodsk district, Not one infantry battalion but two infantry regiments, and nearly a hundred tanks, most of which are the Panther tanks that pose the greatest threat to the T-34."

"My God!" Solomatin exclaimed immediately after hearing what Sokov said: "If the German army deployed in the Svetlovodsk area is really two infantry regiments plus nearly a hundred tanks , then you attack with the strength of an infantry division, it is simply letting the soldiers die."

"You are right, Comrade General." Sokov agreed with Solomatin's statement: "This is indeed a German conspiracy. When conducting reconnaissance in an area, we deliberately set up a trap to let our scouts fall for them without realizing it. After the scouts sent back the wrong false information through the radio, they ambush again This squad is trying to wipe them out."

Solomatin was in a cold sweat: "Did the reconnaissance team get out of danger?"

"After a fierce battle, five soldiers, including the captain and radio operator, died. The deputy captain, Sergeant Iva, and other five soldiers stood out from the ambush circle. After escaping from danger, Iva was not in a hurry to take people back to the army's station. Instead, it turned back again and entered the Svetlovodsk district."

"This is really strange." The chief of staff murmured in a low voice, "It's hard to get out of danger. Naturally, it's better to return to the army as soon as possible. Why are you still running deep into the enemy's defense?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said, looking at the chief of staff carrying the major general's epaulettes in front of him, "the reason why Sergeant Iva brought people back to the Svetlovodsk district was because he felt that the The intelligence process was too smooth, and the ambush encountered on the road was too coincidental. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a trap set by the Germans.

The Germans never dreamed that after Iva broke through with the remaining soldiers, not only did he fail to return to our army's defense line quickly. Instead, they returned to the Svetlovodsk district to conduct reconnaissance to find out what happened.

It was in this situation that Sergeant Iva saw German armored groups heading towards the Svetlovodsk district, as well as covered trucks full of soldiers. When he realized that the strength of the German army was not as he had initially reconnaissance, he looked for an opportunity to capture a prisoner again, asked useful information from him, and reported to the division headquarters. "

After understanding what was going on, Solomatin nodded and continued to ask: "Comrade Commander, since you know that there are heavy German troops stationed in the Svetlovodsk district, why do you still put the direction of attack on What direction?"

"The reason is very simple." Sokov replied with a smile: "Just now your army chief of staff also said that compared with the west side, the terrain on the east side is much more open and flat, which is conducive to the deployment of large-scale tank troops. .”

Solomatin glanced back at his chief of staff, nodded and said, "Yes, he did say that. But I don't understand. Does it have anything to do with your strategy?"

"Of course it has something to do with it." Sokov replied: "Since it is an area conducive to the deployment of armored forces, the German army will definitely deploy superior forces to prevent our attack. Our current tanks are limited. If we fight for consumption here, we must be the ones who suffer in the end.”

Hearing this, Solomatin finally understood Sokov's intentions, and asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, is it because the terrain on the west side is complicated, which is not conducive to the deployment of the German armored forces, and our infantry is attacking?" At that time, even if you can't get the cover of tanks, can you still have a chance to break through the German defense line?"

"That's right, that's how I thought about it." Seeing that Solomatin had guessed his intentions, Sokov didn't hide anything, so he said truthfully: "I plan to wait for the German army to launch an attack on the landing field before looking for a suitable opportunity. The attack in the Svetlovodsk district made it difficult for the German troops to respond from head to tail, so that we could break them one by one."

"I understand, Comrade Commander." Solomatin's ability to become the commander of the mechanized army proved that his ability is not bad, so he quickly understood Sokov's intentions, and then said: "Are you planning to fight in the East? defended from the front, and attacked from the west."

Seeing that Solomatin understood his intentions, Sokov also felt very relieved. He then said to Solomatin: "Comrade General, since our landing site has not been established for a long time, there are not many decent fortifications. In order to better hold the position, I suggest that you immediately mobilize your commanders and fighters to hurry up and repair the fortifications. Please You tell every soldier that digging one more shovel now is to save one shell from shells in the future."

Sokov's words made Solomatin feel very strange: "Comrade commander, what you said is very interesting. It is simple and clear. The soldiers can understand what is going on. Don't worry, we will definitely fight against the German army. Build the necessary fortifications before the offensive begins."