Red Moscow

"Thank you, thank you very much." With Fuming's promise, Sokov felt more at ease, but out of prudent considerations, he added a sentence: "If there is a chance, I would like to chat with you face to face. ,May I?"

For Sokov's request, Fu was obviously very embarrassed: "General Sokov, my whereabouts are uncertain every day. I'm afraid it will not be easy for you to find me. If I see anything about you, you can contact Kogne General Husband, just let him tell me."

From the tone of the other party's voice, Sokov heard that he was politely rejecting himself. Although his heart was full of regret, he could only say helplessly: "Well, General Fumin, if I can't find you, I will ask Ke General Nev relayed it."

When Sokov put down the phone, Smirnov asked with some puzzlement: "Comrade Commander, even if the Germans break through our defense from the south, they will still be blocked by friendly troops along the way. When they reach Height 239, I am afraid that the combat power has become extremely weak, and it is impossible to break through the defense line of the 41st Guards Division."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, when I called Colonel Sidolin just now, I have already said that since the Germans have the possibility of breaking out to the south, they must take complete defensive measures." Sokov said: "And now The 41st Guards Division does not even have a decent fortification on the 239th highland. If the enemy suddenly rushes to the vicinity of the highland, troops without fortification cover will not be able to stop the enemy's impact. In this case, they can only rely on Powerful artillery fire to smash the enemy's attack."

After Sokov's explanation, Smirnov understood the other party's intentions, nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, I understand, you want to use powerful artillery fire to build an impenetrable barrier in front of our army's defensive position." A wall of fire beyond which the enemy cannot advance. Am I right?"

"Very correct." Sokov nodded with a smile and said affirmatively, "That's what I meant."

After a pause, Sokov suddenly asked: "By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, who is the artillery commander of our army?"

"Major General Tsarev."

"What, it's Major General Tsarev?" Sokov couldn't help calling out in surprise when he heard the name: "Isn't he the military commissar of the Army Group?"

"Yes, he used to be the military commissar of the group army just like General Gorokhov." Smirnov explained to him: "The artillery commander unfortunately struck a mine and died on the way to the front. The superior temporarily appointed him as the commander of the artillery of the group army."

Sokov felt very speechless about the arrangement of his superiors. You must know that Tsarev is only a political worker, not a military cadre. It is simply playing the piano indiscriminately if he is the commander of the artillery. But Sokov just arrived, even if he wanted to get rid of Tsarev, he couldn't find anyone to replace him for a while, so he could only let him stay in this position.

After the conversation between the two of them came to an end, Ponegerin, who was sitting by the side, asked, "Comrade Commander, how do you plan to arrange those students?"

"Yes, we still have 59 students." Sokov said to Smirnov: "These students are all from the middle-level commander training class. According to the original plan, half of them will stay at the Front Army Command and serve as one of the staff officers. while another part of the people served as regiment-level commanders in the group army."

"Then how do you plan?" Smirnov asked: "Should half of them be assigned to the regiments as regimental commanders?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, report to me the names of the regiment-level and above commanders of the 41st Guards Division."

Smirnov promised, took out a small book, turned a few pages, and began to read: "The commander of the 41st Guards Division is Major General Kurishenko, Colonel Afanasy, Political Commissar, and Colonel Sidolin, Chief of Staff. , Colonel Papchenko, head of the 122nd regiment, Colonel Starcha, head of the 124th regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Haring, head of the 126th regiment."

"Papchenko and Starcha are both old acquaintances. Only the name of the commander of the 126th regiment is the first time I've heard it." Sokov had an intuition that if the battle really unfolded in his defense zone, Then the 41st Guards Division will face a fierce battle, and it is absolutely necessary to enrich their command team. "Who are the deputy heads and chiefs of staff of each regiment?"

Sokov originally thought that Smirnov would read some familiar names, but the other party paused for a moment, but said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, this unit suffered heavy losses in the early battles, not only the soldiers The casualties were extremely high, and even the commanders at all levels lost a lot, so none of the three regiments had a deputy commander or chief of staff."

"Since none of the three guard regiments have deputy commanders or chiefs of staff, then they will be recruited from among the people I brought to take up these positions." Sokov turned his head and said to Ponejelin, "Pone Jelin General Jielin, I entrust you with full responsibility for this matter. Let them report to the 41st Guards Division as soon as possible, take the time to familiarize yourself with the troops and your own defense zone, and make necessary battle preparations."

"What about the rest?" asked Pornegering.

"Let them stay in the headquarters for the time being, and arrange them to go to work when there is a suitable position." Sokov asked back after saying this: "Is there any problem?"

"Military rank, what about the issue of military rank?" Pornejelin raised a key question: "You know, the ranks of the trainees are all majors or captains. Is it a bit too low for them to be regimental commanders? ?”

Although Sokov knew in his heart that during the defense of Stalingrad, Cuikov directly promoted a lieutenant colonel to colonel, which means that he also has the right to promote the ranks of the students. However, out of caution, he also specifically asked Smirnov for advice: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to promote the ranks of these accompanying students. I wonder if it is possible?"

"Comrade commander, of course." Hearing Sokov's question, Smirnov said solemnly: "But you can only promote them to the rank of colonel at most, and then report to the headquarters of the front army. If Whoever you want to be promoted to a general must first apply to the Front Command, and they will report it to the Supreme Command, and the superiors will decide whether the person is eligible to be promoted to a general."

"So that's how it is." After figuring out the rules of the game, Sokov said to Ponegerin: "General Ponegerin, please go and inform the students that from now on, all students will be promoted to one rank. , the captain was promoted to major, and the major was promoted to lieutenant colonel."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Pornegelin replied with a smile on his face, "I think the trainees will be delighted to hear this news."

In the evening, Sokov received a call from Kurishenko, commander of the 41st Guards Division: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Major General Kurishenko."

"Hello, General Kurishenko." Sokov heard that it was Kurishenko who called, and said very politely: "I called you when I arrived in the morning. Unfortunately, , At that time, you went to inspect the defense, but I couldn't contact you."

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I went to the 126th Guards Regiment to inspect the construction of the fortifications." Kurishenko explained to Sokov: "The regiment is stationed on Height 239, which is the commanding height of our division's defense area. Once there is lost, the two regiments behind the high ground will have no danger to defend."

After arranging the whereabouts of the trainees, Sokov asked Smirnov about the defensive deployment of each division, and the 41st Guards Division was the focus of inquiry, so he knew the division's defensive deployment well.

As soon as Kurishenko finished speaking, he asked, "How is the fortification on the high ground going?"

"The situation is not ideal, Comrade Commander." Kurishenko replied: "Because the weather is too cold, the permafrost on the high ground can hardly be dug with an iron pick. At first we considered using explosives to blast, although the effect is very good. , but due to the limited amount of explosives, they were quickly used up. I went today to discuss with the head of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Harlem, how to solve the problem of excavating the permafrost."

"Have you figured out a good way?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Kurishenko said: "Lieutenant Colonel Duharin thinks it is possible to light a few fires to bake the ground. Soil work is obviously much easier."

Sokov murmured in his heart: "This is obviously the solution I came up with, okay?" But he and Kurishenko have never met before, so they can't argue over such a trivial matter on the phone. He can only pretend to be calm. Ask: "So how effective is this approach?"

"Very good." Kurishenko said: "The ground baked by the fire is indeed very suitable for digging fortifications. In just half a day, half of the trench digging work was completed." Speaking of this, he seemed to think of something , and added, "When I answered the division headquarters just now, I heard from the chief of staff, Colonel Sidolin, that you also proposed such a plan, saying that it would make it easier for our soldiers to carry out soil work."

Sokov came to the 53rd Army. After taking over the command, he planned to go to the troops below and meet with the division commanders in the next time. Originally considering which unit to go to first, Kurishenko called, and he decided to select the unit he inspected first as the 41st Guards Division.

"General Kurishenko," Sokov said, "I plan to visit your division tomorrow. I wonder if you can spare some time to be my guide?"

"No problem, no problem." Hearing that Sokov was going to inspect his division, Kurishenko said repeatedly: "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the division, I welcome you."

"I didn't go there alone, and I will bring a group of commanders there." Sokov thought of the cadets that Ponederin was selecting to send to the 41st Guards Division, and added: "They all just came from the Those who graduated from the mid-level commander training class at the Frunze Military Academy, I plan to arrange to serve as the deputy commander or chief of staff in your division."

Hearing Sokov's arrangement, Kurishenko couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Comrade Commander, this is really great. You know, after the troops are replenished, the most lacking thing is battalion-level commanders. Please tell us Sending so many commanders really solved my big problem."

"By the way, General Kurishenko, I remembered something important."

"Comrade Commander, what's the matter?"

"It's like this. After I took over the post of commander in the morning, I called the weapons and equipment department. They promised to provide us with a batch of artillery." Sokov asked: "I want to ask, the artillery has arrived. No?"

"It's here, it's here." Kurishenko said repeatedly: "I just wanted to report this to you."

"How many guns are there, and what is the condition of the supporting ammunition?"

Although Sokov did not ask about the model of the artillery, Kurishenko replied truthfully: "When it was delivered to our defense zone, there were 24 Bofors M1930 75mm field guns in total. I thought each It’s good to have a base number for the artillery, after all, this kind of artillery is very rare. But I didn’t expect that the shells brought to us by the transportation team have three base numbers for each gun, which is enough to organize an attack.”

"General Kurishenko, I appreciate your enthusiasm for fighting, but now is not a good opportunity to attack." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and said with a serious expression: "The task of your division is to be like a nail." Yes, stick to the current position and absolutely not allow the Germans to advance a step."

But Kurishenko on the other end of the phone pouted disapprovingly when he heard what Sokov said. He didn't think that Height 239 would be attacked by the German army. After all, the besieged German army is launching a crazy offensive to the north of the encirclement, trying to open a gap in the Soviet defense line and join forces with the rescue troops. If the German army failed to break through the encirclement in the north and then turned around to the south, they would have been seriously injured. Coupled with the obstruction of friendly forces along the way, when they reached the vicinity of Height 239, they would have basically lost their combat effectiveness, and their own troops would be enough to completely defeat them.

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Kurishenko said on the phone: "As long as the Germans come, we will definitely fight to make them doubt their lives."

From Kurishenko's tone of voice, Sokov noticed that the other party didn't seem to pay attention to the surrounded German army, so he couldn't help frowning. He thought to himself that although the German army was surrounded by heavy siege, a lean camel was bigger than a horse. Although the German officers and soldiers who had experienced many battles were at a disadvantage in terms of strength, they would still suffer big losses if they underestimated the enemy.

Facing Kurishenko who underestimated the enemy so much, Sokov was full of dissatisfaction, but he did not reveal his true situation. Instead, he tried hard to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "Curry General Shenko, some things are difficult to say on the phone, and we will talk about them tomorrow when we meet."

After finishing the call with Kurishenko, Sokov looked at Smirnov who was sitting across from him and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think of General Kurishenko's ability?"

"How should I say it?" Hearing Sokov's question, Smirnov was silent for a moment, and then said cautiously: "When the war broke out, he was only a battalion commander of a major. To be able to grow into a commander of a guard division, I think I still have the ability."

After listening to Smirnov's evaluation, Sokov didn't say anything more. He felt that Kurishenko should have the ability, but he underestimated the enemy. When he went to the 41st Guards Division tomorrow, he would have a good talk with him, so that he could raise his vigilance and prepare for the upcoming fierce battle.

At this time, Ponegerin came in from the outside and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the students who will serve in the 41st Guards Division have been selected. I don't know when they will be appointed."

"Tomorrow." Sokov replied briefly, "Tomorrow I will personally send them to the 41st Guards Division."