Red Moscow

When a convoy of more than a dozen jeeps and five trucks appeared in everyone's sight, Gorokhov's eyes widened in surprise: "My God, why are there so many jeeps? Could it be that General Konev Come to us in person?"

Smirnov stared at the convoy for a while, shook his head and said, "Comrade Military Commissar, I don't think so. If the commander of the front army really came, there should be at least a few armored vehicles in the convoy. But look, All jeeps, not a single armored vehicle."

"Who could it be?" Gorokhov said with some dissatisfaction: "This new commander has to bring so many followers when he comes to us to take up the post. It's too airy."

Soon, the convoy stopped near the welcoming crowd.

Koshkin, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat of the second car, waited for the car to come to a complete stop, immediately opened the door and got out, opened the rear door, and then stood upright by the door, quietly waiting for Sokov come out.

As soon as the car entered the town, Sokov saw Smirnov and Gorokhov standing at the entrance of the command gate. After Koshkin opened the car door, Sokov bent down and got out of the car, tidying up. After taking off his clothes, he walked towards where the two of them were.

"General Sokov?" Seeing that the person coming out of the car was actually Sokov, Smirnov said in amazement, "Why is it you?"

Sokov shook hands with Smirnov and asked with a smile, "Chief of Staff Smirnov, why can't it be me?"

"Two days ago, I asked the chief of staff of the front army. He said that you have not completed your studies at the Frunze Military Academy. I am afraid that you will have to wait a long time before you can return to the front line." Smirnov said with a smile on his face. He said happily: "I really didn't expect that the new commander is actually you. This is really surprising."

"You are right. According to the study plan, I will stay at the Frunze Military Academy for at least half a year, but because Major General Tarasov was accidentally injured, the superior temporarily decided to let me end my studies early and come here to replace the No. The post of commander of the 53rd Army."

"Hello, General Sokov." Gorokhov stepped forward to shake Sokov's hand, and at the same time grinned at the trainees who were lining up after getting off the car, and asked, "All those commanders came from Moscow with you. right?"

"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov nodded and said, "They are all students of the intermediate commander training class of the Frunze Military Academy. Experience. This time I brought them here, some of them will stay at the headquarters as staff officers, while others will be assigned to the units below as regimental commanders."

At this time, Ponegerin and others also came over, and when Sokov was about to introduce Smirnov, he saw a shocked expression on Smirnov's face: "My God, General Ponegelin, is it you or your ghost that I see?"

"Hello, General Smirnov." Ponegerin and Smirnov are old acquaintances, and they were promoted to major general at the same time, but now his rank is only major, so after saluting each other, he respectfully Said: "It is a pleasure to meet you here, and I will work under your leadership in the future."

"General Sokov, what's going on?" Smirnov turned to ask Sokov after hearing Ponegerin's words, "Why is General Ponegerin wearing the rank of major?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sukov said vaguely, unwilling to discuss the issue of Ponegerin in public, "I'll tell you about it another day. You first send someone to settle the matter behind me." These students."

Smirnov promised, called a staff officer, and gave him some instructions in a low voice. After the staff officer left, Smirnov said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, this is not the place to talk, let's go back to the headquarters first."

Sokov led the three of them, Ponedelin, and followed Smirnov and Gorokhov into the headquarters.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov asked straight to the point as soon as he sat down, "I heard that not long ago, our superiors added a large number of soldiers to us. Is there such a thing?"

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Smirnov nodded, and replied affirmatively: "It is true that we have added new soldiers to each division of our army group. Today's guard division has a staff of 10,000 people, and ordinary infantry There are also eight thousand teachers."

Kirillov, who was behind Sokov, muttered in a low voice, "That's a lot of people."

"Comrade Major," Smirnov didn't know Kirillov, so he could only address him by military rank: "You don't know, after our army broke through the defense line of the Dnieper River, it revealed the problem of insufficient manpower. For this reason, we have to recruit troops locally in Ukraine, the quality of these recruits is extremely poor, and the morale of the army is not stable, so they can only fill in the number."

Sokov knew in his heart that these recruits were useless. After Smirnov finished speaking, he asked casually, "Comrade Chief of Staff, where do our recruits come from?"

"Our recruits mainly come from two places." Smirnov said: "One is Klemenchug, and the other is Kirovgrad, which has just been liberated."

Gorokhov added on the side: "The chief of staff said that it makes sense. The recruits from these two cities, because they were ruled by the Germans for two years, their sense of identity with us has declined. We still need to spend a certain amount of money. Time to change him."

It was Gorokhov's job to do ideological work for the soldiers, and Sokov didn't intend to interfere too much, but turned his head and continued to ask Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how is our equipment?"

"Oops, very bad." Smirnov said with a serious expression: "The divisional artillery regiments of each division suffered heavy losses in the early battles. Now each regiment only has four or five artillery pieces. The situation of the artillery divisions is not optimistic either. , the entire division now has only three 152mm howitzers, six 105mm howitzers, and five 122mm cannons."

"The strength of the artillery is really too weak." Sokov said with emotion when he heard this: "With these few artillery, how can they defeat the enemy in the artillery battle with the German army?"

"The low number of artillery in the artillery is a problem, but what is more serious is the equipment of the infantry." Smirnov continued: "Now each company has only twelve pistols, twenty-five submachine guns and sixty Mosin Nagant rifles. As for the machine guns, each company has a disc-type light machine gun, and each battalion has a heavy machine gun..."

Smirnov's words made Sokov frowned more and more. The newly recruited soldiers were poor in quality and poor in equipment. The middle one is more serious, and I don't feel worried.

"The firepower of the artillery is seriously insufficient, and the equipment of the infantry is so poor, and the newly recruited soldiers have not received special military training." This time it was Muzichenko's turn to say: "Using such troops to compete with the Germans, It's like letting them die."

Facing the major who interrupted suddenly, Smirnov couldn't help frowning, feeling that the other party was so rude that he interrupted casually when he was talking to Sokov.

Sokov saw Smirnov's dissatisfaction with Muzichenko, and quickly explained: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let me introduce you, this is Major Muzichenko, and Major Ponedelin, They're all part of my advisory group."

Hearing what Sokov said, no matter how dissatisfied Smirnov felt in his heart, he could only bury it in his heart and continue to express his views: "According to the analysis of the superiors, once the besieged German army fails to break through the encirclement in the north, they will It is possible to change the direction of the breakout, and the areas defended by our army will be their first choice."

Sokov hummed lightly and said, "Let me introduce our defense situation."

"The Army Group Headquarters is located in Bochapinchi, where our main force is stationed, and the direction of defense is to the north." Smirnov pointed to the map and introduced to Sokov: "Our right wing is the 5th Guards Tank Army. , to the northeast is the 29th Tank Corps. To the west of the headquarters is the 239th Highland, which is defended by the 41st Guards Division."

"Wait a minute," Sokov felt very cordial when he heard the number of the 41st Guards Division, and hastily interrupted Smirnov, asking impatiently, "It was the guard who stood by the Mamayev Post back then." The 41st Division?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Smirnov was taken aback for a moment, and then thought that during the defense of Stalingrad, it was Sokov who led his troops to defend Mamayev Post. Guard 41st Division. He nodded and said with a smile: "That's right, Comrade Commander, it was the 41st Guards Division that you once commanded. They suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Kharkov, and they just completed repairs not long ago. They were transferred to Height 239."

Sokov thought to himself, I will go to the 41st Guards Division another day to see if I can meet familiar commanders and fighters. After all, this is the unit he once commanded, and he has made great achievements. He nodded and continued: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please continue."

"Comrade Commander, look here." Smirnov pointed to the west and north of the 239 Heights, and continued: "The west is our 20th Tank Army, while the north is held by the 18th Tank Army. area……"

After listening to Smirnov's introduction, Sokov suddenly discovered that the area where the 41st Guards Division was defending was the most difficult area for the Germans to pass through. In addition to the many Soviet defenses along the way, it was located in the northeast of the 239 Heights. There is also a large swamp, which is very unfavorable for the deployment of German armored forces.

He raised his head and looked at Smirnov and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, why do I feel that the 41st Guards Division that sticks to Height 239 has little chance of fighting?"

"You are right, Comrade Commander." Smirnov agreed with Sokov's statement: "If the German Viking Division and the 72nd Infantry Division want to break out to the south, they will be attacked along the way. The complete blocking of the 5th Guards Airborne Division and the 29th Tank Corps, coupled with the swamp, makes it very difficult for the enemy to approach the 239th Heights."

"Since the chances of the Germans approaching Height 239 are low, we can consider leaving only a small number of troops on guard." Muzichenko once again expressed his opinion: "And use the main force to deal with the enemies outside the encirclement."

Sokov stared at the location of Height 239, lost in thought. Judging from the map, the 239 Heights are surrounded by the Great Plains of Ukraine. As long as they occupy the open space, they can use firepower to blockade a large area.

"Major Muzichenko," Sokov said, shaking his head, "on the battlefield, you must not have such a fluke mentality. If you think it is difficult for the Germans to get close to the 239th highland, you should withdraw the main force on the highland. The ground is empty, once the enemy rushes over, how can our small army stop them?"

"However, between the Viking Division and the 239th Hill, apart from our troops, there is also a swamp, and the German tanks must not be able to pass through."

"Muzichenko, Comrade Commander is right." Ponejielin stood up to speak for Sokov at this moment: "If it is summer or March that has just thawed, then the swamp between the two troops is indeed An insurmountable moat. But right now it is the coldest day, the swamp has already frozen, and the German tanks and armored vehicles are marching towards the 239 Heights along the frozen land."

The speaker is not interested in the listener, and Ponegerin's words reminded Sukov of a puzzling question. Now that it is the coldest season, the history books say that the German army had to throw away all their heavy equipment and flee because of the muddy roads, huh?

Seeing Sokov looking pensive again, Smirnov couldn't help asking: "Comrade Commander, what are you thinking?"

"I was thinking, how do you make the roads muddy?"

Smirnov replied without hesitation: "It's very simple. We can bombard the swamp with artillery fire. The high temperature generated by the shell explosion will make the frozen soil muddy."

Smirnov's words awakened the dreamer, and Sokov realized that he was on the edge of a corner, always thinking that changes in the weather would affect the road conditions. But they forgot that the high temperature generated by the explosion of artillery shells or aerial bombs is enough to turn a piece of frozen land into mud and difficult to move on.

But a new problem came up again. Now the artillery firepower in the group army is weak, and the bombardment of the swamp is probably out of intention. In order to make that swampy land muddy again, it is necessary to replenish enough artillery to the troops in the shortest possible time.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov decided to find out if he could get supplements from his superiors before asking Yakov for help, so he asked Smirnov, "Do you think the superiors can replenish our artillery?"

"It's very difficult, Comrade Commander." Smirnov shook his head and said with a sigh: "There are so many troops in the entire front army, and they have to replenish soldiers and weapons. The superior can replenish so many soldiers for us. It’s the best of benevolence, and I think it’s unlikely that we want them to help us with weapons.”

Now that Smirnov has made it clear that his superiors will not replenish his troops with weapons and equipment, Sokov can only ask Yakov for help if he wants to improve the existing backward equipment of his troops.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov asked Smirnov tentatively, "Can the phone here communicate with Moscow?"

"Of course, Comrade Commander." Smirnov said proudly: "Our headquarters has installed a high-frequency telephone, which can communicate with Moscow. Are you going to communicate with Moscow now?"

"That's right." Sokov replied affirmatively: "I plan to ask for help from the Weapons and Equipment Department and ask them to support us with a batch of weapons and equipment as soon as possible to improve the current backwardness of equipment."