Red Moscow

It stands to reason that the superior would definitely get angry if he was contradicted by the subordinate like this. If it is light, it will not give the other party a good look, and if it is serious, it may be refrigerated, and it will not give him any meritorious deeds.

But Sokov is not such a person. When he heard Guchakov say this, he asked kindly, "Major Guchakov, why do you say that? Tell me your reason."

As soon as Guchakov said the words, he immediately realized that he had made a mistake. Because the person standing in front of him is neither his subordinate nor the leader of the friendly army, but his immediate superior. When he was worried, he was taken aback when he heard what Sokov said, and then he replied cautiously: "Comrade Commander, since Pavlish has a material transfer warehouse for the German army, they will definitely send heavy troops to guard it. As long as we If they launch an attack, they will fight desperately, and if they find that they cannot hold it, the enemy will definitely burn down the warehouse without hesitation, lest the materials inside fall into the hands of our army."

"That's right, Major Guchakov, you're right." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "According to what I know about the Germans, once they find out that the warehouse may fall, they will definitely Will not hesitate to burn down the warehouse, destroy the supplies stored in it, and make our hard work useless."

Seeing that Sokov understood this truth, Guchakov realized that the other party might have a solution, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, what good way do you have to successfully seize the warehouse before the Germans are about to destroy the supplies?" ?"

"Major Guchakov," Sokov said with a smile when he saw that the other party seemed to have guessed his intentions, "As my old subordinate, you should understand that my command of operations is not just about conventional positional warfare and fortified warfare. There are also some special tactics. For example, when we defended Stalingrad, we used such tactics many times to deal with enemies stronger than us."

As soon as Sokov mentioned Stalingrad, Guchakov immediately understood what his commander meant by special tactics. However, for the sake of safety, he still asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, what do you mean, let our commanders and fighters dress up as Germans, sneak into Pavlish, and seize the enemy's material transfer warehouse?"

"That's right, that's what I meant." Seeing that the other party had indeed guessed what he was thinking, Sokov nodded with relief, and said with a smile: "In order to prevent our landing field from developing to the south, the Germans arranged There are quite a lot of troops. But because these German troops come from different armies, we have an opportunity. You can transfer a battalion of troops and put them all in German uniforms. From the south or west of the city Get in, so as to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Germans to the greatest extent."

Gutchakov knew that Sokov arranged this way because there were more German troops in the south or west, and the disguised troops would enter Pavlish from there, which would be the least likely to arouse the enemy's suspicion, so he quickly replied: "Understood, Commander." Comrade Comrade. I will send the camouflaged troops around to the west of the city and enter the city from that direction."

Although Guchakov understood Sokov's intentions, Lunev, who was standing next to him, asked Sameko with a blank face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, as far as I know, the west and south are German troops. The place with the largest number, why do you enter the city from these two directions?"

"The reason is simple, Comrade Military Commissar." Sameko deliberately lowered his voice and explained to Lunev in order not to affect Sokov's face-to-face instruction to Guchakov: "Although going from the north to Pavlish is the shortest distance. The route, but the Germans' defense in this direction is very strict. They will monitor and interrogate every army that enters the city. Even if our troops wear German uniforms, they may inevitably be seen through.

However, the west and south of the city are places where the German army is heavily concentrated. The defenders in the city will naturally think that our troops will never enter the city from these two directions, so their vigilance will be relatively lax. . In this way, the chances of Major Guchakov's troops successfully blending into the city are greatly improved. "

"So that's how it is." After figuring out what was going on, Lunev's heart suddenly became more at ease. He looked at Guchakov who was talking to Sokov, and thought in his heart that if the brigade commander could successfully complete the task, I'm afraid it won't be long before there will be an extra star on the epaulets, otherwise it would be very awkward for a major to assume the position of brigade commander.

Sokov didn't hear the chat between Lunev and Sameko. He was telling Guchakov: "Comrade Major, there are too few troops sneaking into the city. It may not be a big problem to seize the enemy's transshipment warehouse, but if Facing the frenzied counterattack of the German army, it may be difficult to hold on to it. You have to think about countermeasures in advance to avoid the worst situation.”

"Comrade Commander, this is how I think about it." Guchakov pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "I plan to deploy the other two battalions, the artillery company and the machine gun company to the north of the city, just waiting for the troops who have mixed into the city After the troops seized the material transfer warehouse, they immediately launched an attack and rushed to meet them."

"Major Guchakov," Sameko interjected when he heard this, "have you ever wondered whether, with just two battalions in your hand, plus an artillery company and a machine-gun company, you can Break through the German defense line in a short time, and rush to the city to join the troops who seized the transshipment warehouse?"

After a few seconds of silence, Guchakov slowly shook his head and replied with a bitter face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although I don't know the situation of the German army's defense in the north of Pavlish, but with the strength of our troops , It is very difficult to break through their defense in a short period of time."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Sameko asked: "Don't you just watch the troops that sneaked into the city be annihilated by the enemy? In that case, what's the point of you pretending to sneak into the city?"

Sameko's words made that Guchakov fall into deep thought. He knew that the other party's words were not alarmist. If he could not quickly break through the German defense line, then the troops who sneaked into the city and occupied the transfer warehouse might be annihilated by the German army.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Just when Sameko was in a dilemma, he heard Sokov's voice in his ear: "Since the strength of the infantry brigade is not enough to break through the enemy's defense in a short time, then we can definitely Help them. The 188th Division of Colonel Koida is nearby, and they can definitely send a regiment to support them."

Hearing what Sokov said, Sameko originally wanted to remind him that the unit closest to the attacking area of ​​Guchakov's brigade should be Colonel Weisbach's 300th Division. But after thinking about it, in the previous few days of battles, the area defended by the division had been breached by the Germans many times, and it even needed the support of Guchakov's infantry brigade to barely maintain the defense line from collapsing. Even if such a force goes into battle, I am afraid it will not be of much help. In comparison, the 188th Division in Koida should be the most suitable.

After thinking about the reason, Sameko nodded and replied: "I see, Comrade Commander. I will call Colonel Koida later and ask him to prepare to assist the infantry brigade."

After sending Guchakov away, Sameko tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think Major Guchakov can successfully seize the transfer warehouse?"

"Seizing the transfer warehouse is not a big problem." Sokov said thoughtfully: "I am worried that once the troops entering the city in disguise are discovered by the enemy, they will withstand attacks from all directions. At any time, troops are dispatched to assist the infantry brigade to break through the German defense line, but who knows what accidents will happen, if the time to break through the German defense line is delayed, the troops in the city will become a lone army, waiting for their fate to be wiped out by the enemy .”

An air raid siren came from outside the church, and then a staff officer hurried in from the outside and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, an enemy plane has appeared over the city. Please go to the air-raid shelter to take cover."

Sokov was not in a hurry to go to the air-raid shelter, but asked instead: "How many enemy planes are there?"

"It's a two-aircraft formation."

Knowing that there were only four enemy planes attacking, Sokov immediately gave up the idea of ​​going to the air-raid shelter. He waved his hand and said to the staff: "Since there are only four enemy planes, there is nothing to worry about. Our air defense firepower is sufficient." Clean them up."

Sokov turned to Lunev and said, "Comrade Military Commissar, are you interested in going to the bell tower with me?"

"Let's go, Comrade Commander." Lunev said with a smile after hearing this: "When the enemy planes bombed the city before, we all hid in the air-raid shelter for safety reasons. Since the number of enemy planes is small today, I would like to See how our anti-aircraft fire drove them off."

The two walked up the stairs to the bell tower, and then heard the sound of intensive anti-aircraft gun fire from outside, and saw a dozen or twenty black smoke clusters bursting in the air. It should be that the anti-aircraft artillery troops in the city spotted the enemy plane Finally, before he had time to ask his superiors for instructions, he fired directly.

Soon, a bomber lowered its altitude and was about to drop a bomb. It was hit by anti-aircraft fire, dragged a long black smoke, passed over the city, and landed directly on the open space outside the city to explode. After the plane was shot, Sokov kept observing the plane with binoculars, but he did not find the pilot parachute, which should have been reimbursed along with the plane.

Another bomber, which had just finished dropping bombs, was also accurately hit by anti-aircraft fire while it was soaring high. The plane disintegrated in the air and made a huge explosion sound.

"Great, this is simply fantastic." Seeing that the anti-aircraft fire on the ground had shot down two enemy planes in such a short period of time, Lunev couldn't help applauding. After a while, he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, if I remember correctly, is the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion of the 98th Guards Division that Captain Lida?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right, it is her." If Lunev hadn't mentioned Lida today, Sukov would have almost forgotten about this female anti-aircraft artillery battalion commander who has repeatedly made military exploits. He was wondering whether to go to the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion and say hello to Lida after the enemy planes were wiped out.

But before Sokov could express his thoughts, Lunev said first: "They shot down two German bombers in such a short period of time. I think they can be awarded medals."

"Just awarding honors is not enough," Sokov shook his head and said, "I think every commander and fighter of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion should be promoted to a rank of one rank."

Lunev did not object to Sokov's proposal, on the contrary, he was happy to see it succeed. He said to Sokov: "I will call Colonel Chuvashov later and ask him to submit the award application form as soon as possible. At that time, I will go to the anti-aircraft artillery battalion in person and award honors to every commander who has made meritorious service. .”

In other units, awarding honors to the commanders and fighters below is generally the business of the military chief. But Sokov thought it was too troublesome. Every time he was awarded an honor, he had to say a bunch of clichés to the commanders and fighters who had done meritorious service. Very annoying. Therefore, he has handed over Lunev's responsibility for awarding honors now. And Lunev just likes to do such things, and after receiving Sokov's authorization, he was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear.

After the anti-aircraft artillery battalion shot down two enemy planes in a row, they had no further achievements. The pilots of the remaining two enemy planes had better flying skills than their two unlucky companions. They flew the planes through the black smoke from the shells, and swooped down to drop bombs or strafed with the airborne machine guns at the right time. ground targets.

"Damn it, these two enemy planes are really crazy." Sokov gritted his teeth and said, "They should be shot down as soon as possible."

"Comrade Commander, antiaircraft artillery shoots down enemy planes based on probability." Lunev said beside him, "It is already very remarkable that the antiaircraft artillery battalion can shoot down two enemy planes in one go."

"I know, Comrade Military Commissioner." Sokov said, looking at the sky, "The chances of the antiaircraft artillery units shooting down enemy planes are low. Moreover, they have already shot down two planes. It may not be easy to achieve results. I said back then that It's not them, but the fighter squadron at the airport in the north of the city, why haven't they attacked until now."

"Yes, the enemy planes have been appearing over the city for a long time. Why haven't we seen our fighter planes attack?" Lunev also wondered, "Did they not notice the appearance of the enemy planes?"

Sokov sighed, and said: "The enemy plane entered the city from the southwest, and our airport is located in the north of the city, and there is no radar. They really couldn't detect the appearance of the enemy plane in the first place."

While talking, Sokov began to ponder in his heart whether he should promote the air defense system of the later generations in his own troops, and replace the role of radar with observation posts and warning shots.

"Airplane, our airplane." Lunev suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "Comrade Commander, look quickly, it is the fighter formation of the Air Force."

Sokov looked in the direction of his finger, and four Soviet fighter planes appeared in the distance. After they discovered the German bombers avoiding ground artillery fire in the air, they immediately adopted the formation of two aircraft formations and rushed directly to the enemy planes. As for the anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground, when they saw their own fighter planes appearing, they immediately stopped the shelling, so as not to accidentally injure their own planes.

Due to the interference of the ground anti-aircraft artillery fire, the two German bombers had no time to drop their bombs. Seeing the Soviet fighter planes appearing in the sky at this moment, knowing that if they continued to fight, they might not be able to get any good, so they turned around and fled back. But the German pilots forgot that the plane they were flying was still fully loaded, which seriously affected the maneuverability of the plane. In less than three minutes, the two bombers were also shot down by Soviet fighter planes one after another, dragging black smoke and crashing on the open ground outside the city.