Red Moscow

After the meeting, the commanders who came to the meeting dispersed one after another.

At this meeting, some people were happy and some were worried. The joy is that there is another opportunity to make contributions, and the worry is that the soldiers, weapons and ammunition of their troops are insufficient. As the main attacking force of the battle, they may suffer huge losses.

When many commanders walked outside, Kurishenko, the commander of the 41st Guards Division, lingered and refused to leave his seat. Chief of Staff Sidolin pulled his sleeve and reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, the meeting is over, should we go back to the army?"

Kurishenko glanced at Sidolin and political commissar Afanasy next to him. He originally wanted them to leave first, but after thinking about it, Sidolin and Sokov have a good friendship. If he stays , the request I made later may be approved by Sokov.

Seeing Kurishenko standing still and not speaking, Afanasy also reminded him: "Mr. Comrade, everyone is almost gone. Let's go back too."

"Comrade Political Commissar," Kurishenko said to Afanasy suddenly, "I still have something to do with the Chief of Staff. You should go back to the car and meet you when we finish our business."

"Okay then, Comrade Commander." Although Afanasy didn't understand what Kurishenko was staying behind, since the other party had already said so, there was no need for him to stay, so he said casually: "I'll go back." Waiting for you in the car."

Sokov was lowering his head to study the map with Smirnov. When he looked up accidentally, he found that Kurishenko and Sidolin were still in the conference room. He couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face. He asked in surprise. : "General Kurishenko, Colonel Sidolin, the meeting is over, why are you still here?"

Sidolin also didn't understand why Kurishenko asked himself to stay. Hearing Sokov's inquiry at this moment, he could only turn his attention to Kurishenko, wanting to hear what he had to say.

Kurishenko had already thought about it in his heart, and he would directly ask Sokov about the existence of his troops later, but at this moment when he heard the other party asking himself, he didn't know what to say for a while, and just stood there thinking about what to do. How to speak without appearing too abrupt.

"General Kurishenko, don't be embarrassed." Seeing that Kurishenko has been silent for a long time, Sukov guessed in his heart that it would be difficult for him to say something, so he said jokingly: "Whatever you want to say, don't worry about it." Say it, even if you are wrong, we will not blame you, let alone dismiss you."

Sokov's words caused laughter from Smirnov and others, and even Sidolin, who was standing next to Kurishenko, couldn't help but smile.

"Comrade Commander," Kurishenko had regained his composure amidst the laughter, and he walked twice to Sokov's position and said, "I would like to ask when will the superiors replenish our troops and weapons and equipment?" ?”

"General Kurishenko, didn't the comrade commander just say at the meeting," Smirnov said in a stern tone, "The weapons and equipment will reach your troops in two days. As for the soldiers, you are completely You can recruit local residents and incorporate them into your army."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Kurishenko disagreed with Smirnov's statement. He argued: "Not long after a battle was over, all units were facing the problem of insufficient personnel. The local conscription made it impossible for us to recruit recruits. In addition, the weapons and equipment of our division suffered a large loss in the battle that ended not long ago. If the superiors cannot replenish us in time, if there is no ammunition , The weapons in the hands of the soldiers are not much stronger than ordinary wooden sticks when they are on the battlefield."

"General Kurishenko, don't worry." Seeing that Kurishenko took Sidolin with him, Sokov knew that the other party was worried that he would not pay attention to them in terms of supplementing soldiers and weapons. He quickly comforted him and said: "I have studied it with the chief of staff, and when the batch of weapons allocated to us by the superior arrives, we will give priority to replenishing your troops. After all, you are the first echelon of combat troops. If you don't have enough weapons and equipment, Letting you participate in the attack is tantamount to letting you die."

Although Sokov had already said this, Kurishenko was still worried: "Comrade Commander, is everything you said true?"

"of course it's true!"

"When will the weapons and equipment arrive?"

Sokov did not immediately answer this question, but asked instead: "General Kurishenko, I want to ask you, how many people can your division spare to build roads in the defense zone?"

This question successfully diverted Kurishenko's attention. After thinking for a moment, he replied: "We have just recruited more than 400 recruits. I can send these people to build roads in the defense zone."

"Very good." Sokov nodded and said: "Hurry up and build the road. Only when the road is repaired can the convoy transporting weapons and equipment reach your defense area more smoothly. Well, if there is nothing else, you Just go back first."

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Kurishenko agreed loudly, then saluted Sokov, and turned away with Sidolin.

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov said to Sokov immediately after Kurishenko and Sidolin left, "Did you call and ask Colonel Yakov to see the weapons and ammunition given to us by your superiors?" , where is it shipped to now?"

"Well, I should ask." Sokov said, called the director of the communications corps, and told him: "Comrade director, please help me connect to the Moscow Armament Department. I want to talk to Colonel Yakov. talk."

However, after the call was made, it was a stranger who answered the phone. After learning about Sokov's identity, he said politely, "General Sokov, I'm really sorry, Colonel Yakov is not here."

"Aren't there?!" Sokov thought that Yakov was in a meeting or had reported to Ustinov, so he asked casually, "When will he come back? I'll call him then. "

"He may not come back for a while." After the other party finished speaking, he might be worried that Sokov might misunderstand, and he explained specifically: "He has gone to the front line, and it is still unknown when he will return."

Knowing that Yakov came to the front line, Sokov was quite surprised. He quickly asked, "When did he leave, and which front line did he go to?"

In order to keep it secret, many people knew about Yakov's trip to the front, but many people didn't know where he was going and what he was going to do. The same is true for the officer who answered the phone. So he waited for Sokov to finish asking, and replied politely: "I'm sorry, General Sokov, the whereabouts of Colonel Yakov is absolutely confidential to us, and I don't know where he went. "

Since the officer who answered the phone said so, Sokov knew that if he continued to ask, he would not gain anything, so he thanked the other party depressedly and hung up the phone.

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Smirnov couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade commander, how is it? What did Colonel Yakov say? When will the weapons and equipment assigned to us by the superior arrive?"

Sokov looked at Smirnov, shook his head and said, "Yakov is not in the weaponry department now. It is said that he came to the front line. But where he is on the front line, the officer who just answered the phone doesn't know."

"Colonel Yakov came to the front line?" Smirnov was taken aback for a moment, and then said with surprise on his face: "Comrade Commander, guess what, did he personally send us weapons and equipment?"

"Will it?" Hearing what Smirnov said, Sokov said in an uncertain tone: "If he really wants to come to the front line in person, why didn't he inform me. In this case, I can prepare for the reception in advance." Prepare."

When Smirnov heard it, Sokov made sense. With his friendship with Yakov, if Yakov really wanted to bring the team here, he would definitely greet him in advance.

"Colonel Yakov can't be found now," Smirnov said with great concern: "Whether the weapons and equipment assigned to us by the superior can arrive smoothly is a big problem."

"Yes." Sokov also felt a headache about this matter: "I have made a promise to the troops to distribute new weapons and equipment to them before the attack. If these weapons and equipment cannot arrive on schedule, then our The offensive plan has to be adjusted."

"Commander, Chief of Staff," said Gorokhov, who has always been a little transparent: "Now there are still several days before the offensive starts. No matter how anxious we are about weapons and equipment, we can't change anything. Our The most urgent task is to repair the roads in the defense zone so that the troops can quickly move to the starting point of the attack."

"That's right, road construction is our top priority at the moment." Sokov said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you arrange for the troops directly under the group army to repair the roads we use to ensure that transportation and combat vehicles are safe. can pass smoothly.”

As the order was issued, the troops near the headquarters took active actions, felled trees, and began to pave roads for vehicles and soldiers to pass.

In the evening, Smirnov answered a phone call, and he immediately became excited. He hurriedly shouted at Sokov: "Comrade Commander, good news, good news!"

Sokov thought that the good news the other party said was related to the road construction in front of him, so he asked disapprovingly: "What good news is it that our troops have completed the road repair work near the headquarters?"

"No, no." Smirnov waved his hands hurriedly and said, "It's Yakov, Colonel Yakov is here!"

"Yasha is here?!" Sokov almost jumped up from his seat when he heard the news, but he still had some doubts and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, who told you this news?"

"It was just a call from Colonel Stirlitz, the commander of the 116th Division." Smirnov said with a smile: "He reported to me that the hovercraft unit led by Colonel Yakov, fully loaded with supplies, has arrived at their defense zone. , currently resting there."

Knowing that Yakov had arrived at the defense area of ​​the 116th Division with a hovercraft unit full of supplies, Sokov couldn't sit still, so he got up and prepared to go out: "I'll go to the 116th Division to meet Yasha."

"Comrade Commander, you don't need to go there." Smirnov quickly dissuaded: "Colonel Stirlitz has arranged for a vehicle, and will send Colonel Yakov over soon."

Hearing what Smirnov said, Sokov realized that he had lost his composure. Since Yakov had arrived at his defense zone, he would come to the headquarters sooner or later. There was no need for him to go to the 116th Division's defense zone.

After more than ten minutes of anxious waiting, Yakov finally appeared in the headquarters, but he did not come alone, but Stirlitz accompanied him.

Seeing Yakov coming, Sokov stepped forward and gave him a warm hug, and then said in a reproachful tone: "Yasha, since you want to come to our place, you must say hello in advance, and I can arrange it." People will pick you up."

"I went to the frontier this time, and it was kept secret." Yakov replied: "In order not to attract the attention of the Germans, we set off at night to prevent the target from being exposed."

Sokov thanked Stirlitz who brought Yakov over, took Yakov to the table and sat down, and asked with concern: "Yasha, I heard that you brought the hovercraft unit over again, and it's still fully loaded. with supplies."

"That's right," Yakov nodded and said, "Of the 25 hovercraft I brought this time, 20 are transport ships."

"According to the calculation of a ship's load of eight tons, 20 ships are 160 tons of cargo." Sukov asked tentatively: "Are these weapons enough to arm a division?"

"Misha, I forgot to tell you." Yakov suddenly said out of the blue: "The current hovercraft has been improved, and the load has increased from the original eight tons to twelve tons. In other words, the total weight of the 20 transport hovercraft The load is 240 tons, which can completely refit a full-staffed division."

"Great, this is really great." Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed to learn that the load of the hovercraft has increased, which means that the same number of hovercraft can carry more supplies each time. He paused for a moment, and then asked: "I wonder how many days it took you from Moscow to our place?"

"About 60 hours." Yakov explained to Sokov: "Although I can shorten this time to 48 hours, but in this way, it will have an impact on the life of the hovercraft, so I choose a slower driving speed. .”

"Even if it takes 60 hours to get here from Moscow, it is considered very fast." Sokov learned about road and railway transportation during this period, and felt that Yakov's speed was very fast: "Yasha, because Now it is the spring thaw season, the road condition is very bad, not only rail or road transport, it will take four to five days."

"Misha, where should we unload the materials?" Yakov said: "After unloading this batch of materials, we will return to Moscow immediately and continue to transport other materials."

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov quickly interjected, "I think the supplies should be unloaded near the headquarters, which will help us distribute weapons and equipment."

Sokov thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "No, Comrade Chief of Staff, the weapons sent by Yasha cannot be unloaded here. The weapons and equipment are stacked here. When the troops come to collect them, they need to organize forces to carry them. This is a waste. No, these weapons and equipment cannot be placed here."

"Since it can't be placed here, where should we put it?"

Sokov did not answer this question immediately, but looked at Yakov and asked, "Yasha, do you have a list of weapons in your hand? I want to see it, and then decide how to distribute these weapons and equipment."