Red Moscow

But out of politeness, Sokov did not expose the other party. On the contrary, he said very cooperatively: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, I am really sorry. Since the appointment of the superior came so suddenly, I have no time to inform my friends in Moscow." Said. At this point, he still looked at Yakov intentionally, "Even my old friend Yasha didn't know that I was appointed as the commander of the 53rd Army until after I arrived at the front."

"That's right." Yakov heard Sokov mentioning himself, and quickly testified for the other party: "The day before he called me, I called his home several times, but no one answered. I was still muttering, where did this kid go, and there was no one at home. I found out later that he was urgently appointed as the commander of the 53rd Army by the Supreme Command, and rushed to the front line in the shortest possible time."

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Sokov asked jokingly: "You came to the front today, you don't want me to report to the General Staff and continue to be your deputy?"

Shtemenko chuckled and said: "Comrade Sokov, when I extended the invitation to you, you were still a major general. In just a few months, you have become a general. If you go to the General Staff, there is no way Compared with the front line, the position and military rank may not stand still, so for the sake of your future, I will not make such a futile attempt again."

Since Stemenko was not trying to persuade himself to go to the General Staff, Sokov felt more at ease, and he asked tentatively, "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, I wonder what you are doing in Safran?"

"The battle of Uman is about to begin." Shtemenko withdrew his smile and said with a serious expression: "The Supreme Command appointed me as the representative of the headquarters to come to you to conclude and grasp the progress of the battle in a timely manner. "

Sokov couldn't help being taken aback after hearing this: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, since you are the representative of the headquarters, you should go to the headquarters of the front army, not to me. You know, my forward headquarters is no more than Three kilometers, if you continue to stay here, I cannot guarantee your safety."

"Comrade Sokov, you are not afraid of danger, and you insist on establishing the headquarters so close to the front. What should I worry about?" Shtemenko said: "Besides, one of the purposes of my visit this time is to Observe how you conduct operations, and report what you see as it is."

Hearing this, the word "Supervisor" suddenly popped up in Sokov's mind. That's right, the Shtemenko who appeared in his forward headquarters today is the supervising army sent by his superiors to monitor and understand the whole process of his commanding operations.

Thinking that in the next few days, Shtemenko would stay in his headquarters, observing and recording every order he gave in detail, Sokov felt like sitting on pins and needles.

Seeing Sokov's nervousness, Shtemenko comforted him with a smile and said, "Comrade Sokov, don't worry. Although I am a representative of the headquarters, don't worry, I only brought Eyes, no mouth. That is to say, I will not express any opinions on any decisions you make, any orders you give. The only thing I can do is to take what I see and hear, Report truthfully to the Supreme Command."

Knowing that Stemenko would not interfere with his command, Sokov felt a lot more at ease. You must know that in the next battle, he may change his deployment in time based on the history he knows. If someone is around to point fingers, it will have an adverse effect on his command.

After the two chatted for a while, Sokov accidentally saw Yakov who was drinking tea next to him, and asked quickly, "By the way, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, have you had dinner with Yasha?"

"Misha!" Yakov said dumbfoundedly, "I've been sitting here for a long time, and you don't think of me until now."

"Yasha, I'm really sorry." Sokov quickly apologized to the other party and said, "I was so busy talking to Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff that I forgot that you were still here."

Fortunately, Ponedelin had already noticed that Yakov and Stemenko hadn't had dinner, so he arranged for someone to go outside to prepare dinner. Hearing the conversation between the two at this moment, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've already arranged dinner, and I'll bring it to you right away."

A few minutes later, Stemenko and Yakov had a hot dinner.

While eating, Shtemenko asked Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, is your army group planning to launch an attack from here?"

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Sokov replied: "This is the closest place to the Germans. Once the offensive starts, it can break through the German defenses in the shortest possible time."

"But when I came here, I carefully observed the nearby terrain." Shtemenko said with a sad expression: "Because it is now the spring thaw season, the vast Ukrainian Great Plains have become a big quagmire. Our armor The troops are advancing along the road, and the situation is a little better, and anyone who wants to detour may fall into the quagmire."

"You are right, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Sokov replied truthfully: "If an attack is launched from our army's position against the Uman Group of the German army, there will certainly be many tanks that open the way for the infantry. Because of the muddy roads, I was immobilized in the mud and became the target of the German anti-tank fighters. Therefore, except for the initial artillery preparation, I did not intend to use armored units at all.”

"However, without armored units to open the way for the infantry in front, the infantry attacking the enemy's position will become the target of the enemy's shooting." The reason why Shtemenko said this is because in the early days of the Soviet-German War, the battlefield often There will be such a situation. In order to regain a certain position occupied by the German army, the superior commander will order the commanders and fighters to launch a countercharge against the enemy without any cover. As a result, in the end, the position was not regained, but more land was lost due to the exhaustion of troops.

Sokov was not a roundworm in Shtemenko's stomach, so he naturally couldn't guess what the opponent was thinking, and patiently explained: "Although there were no armored units to accompany the infantry when they attacked, they were not without cover. For example, the new rockets sent by Yasha can come in handy and can be used to attack the firepower points on the German positions and clear a passage for our offensive troops."

Hearing that Sokov mentioned the new rockets, Yakov quickly interjected and said, "Yes, the reason why Misha has been able to make great achievements on the battlefield in the past two years has something to do with the fact that they used the new rockets to hit the effective targets of the German army. .”

Although Shtemenko has seen every battle result that Sokov has achieved, he does not know how to achieve these results. Hearing what Yakov said now, he asked with great interest: "Yakov Colonel Koff, have you seen the power of the new rockets?"

"Of course." Yakov replied affirmatively: "During the battles of Kursk and Kharkov, the troops commanded by Misha cleverly used new rockets to destroy the resistance of several elite German army divisions and provided our army Winning in the end laid the groundwork.”

Shtemenko pondered for a long time after listening, and then asked Yakov: "Colonel Yakov, I have a question. Since the power of the new rockets is so powerful, whether to equip any army can improve which one What about the combat effectiveness of the troops?"

"Equipping other troops with new rockets can indeed improve part of their combat effectiveness." Yakov shook his head and said, "But if these troops are to exert super combat effectiveness on the battlefield to defeat the enemy, it may not be possible. too easy."

Shtemenko asked puzzledly: "Why?"

Yakov looked at Sokov and said to Shtemenko: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, you should still remember that after Misha was wounded last year, someone replaced him as the commander of the 27th Army. ?”

"Remember." Shtemenko, who is known as a living file, naturally knows this matter well: "After Comrade Sokov was injured, the superior appointed Lieutenant General Trofimenko to take over his position as the commander of the 27th Army job."

"The 27th Army's performance was exceptional no matter in the Battle of Kursk or the Battle of Kharkov. Before Misha was injured, he even planned to command the troops to attack Cherkasy." Yakov said here, Can't help shaking his head: "But with his injury, everything changed. Although the 27th Army still achieved some victories in the next battle, the entire army was quickly weakened. So that By the time the battle in Kiev started, the group army was already unable to take on the offensive mission, so it could only stay in the rear and take charge of the security mission of the second-line positions, and wait for the supplement from the superior."

"That's right." Hearing this, Shtemenko nodded and said, "I was still discussing this matter with Antonov at the time. Why did the 27th Army not even have a chance to play after the Battle of Kiev began? , can only stay in the second-line position, responsible for vigilance and waiting for the supplement from the superior."

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, this illustrates a problem." Yakov said to Shtemenko: "For a unit to be effective, in addition to its personnel and equipment, it must have a good commander. I believe that Misha is a person who is good at creating miracles, whichever army he stays in, that army can show its great potential in the next battle."

"Colonel Yakov, I agree with what you said." Shtemenko also looked at Sokov and said, "I also believe that Comrade Sokov is a person who is good at performing miracles. , there is basically no possibility of winning.”

Facing the compliments from the two in turn, Sokov felt a little embarrassed. He coughed hard and said with some embarrassment: "You really flatter me. I'm just an ordinary commander. In the entire army, There are plenty of commanders who are more capable than me."

"I still remember it very clearly." Shtemenko said: "Before the Moscow counterattack began, you were just the garrison squad leader and the rank of corporal who stood firm in the town of Khimki. Now only two and a half years have passed, and you have It's a general. I don't think anyone in the army can be promoted as fast as you."

Shtemenko's words made Sokov feel more and more embarrassed. He didn't want to get entangled in this topic, so he changed the subject in time. He looked at Yakov and said, "Yasha, the new rocket you shipped this time How many bombs are there?" Without waiting for the other party to answer, he continued, "The 500 new-style rockets shipped last time were a little less. I'm afraid my troops have already consumed them before they even saw the city walls of Uman." Exhausted."

"Don't worry, Misha." Yakov said with a smile, "I brought 1,800 new rockets this time, which is enough for you to take down Uman. In addition, I specially prepared 50 rockets for you." It has a rocket launcher, specially designed to deal with German tanks."

"Yasha, you are really thoughtful." After hearing what Yakov said about the equipment, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Rockets can not only effectively deal with German tanks and armored vehicles, but also in street fighting. The enemy's firepower can also be destroyed with rockets."

Not only Sokov was happy, but even Ponegerin was very happy after hearing this. He was worried about entering the city of Uman, the troops lacked enough artillery, and how to fight the German army in the streets. Now that there are new rockets and rockets, these problems are all solved: "Colonel Yakov, you are really thoughtful. , With these weapons and equipment, we can at least double the speed of capturing cities, and we can also reduce casualties of troops."

"However, there is still a process of adapting to the use of rocket launchers and new rockets." Sokov asked Yakov: "I don't know when the transport hovercraft will arrive, so I can let the troops get familiar with these equipment as soon as possible."

"After dark, in order to avoid accidents, the speed of the hovercraft will not be too fast." Yakov replied: "I'm afraid it will not be until tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"It's too slow." Sokov asked tentatively, "Can the hovercraft arrive within an hour?"

"It's impossible." Yakov said resolutely: "It is very dangerous to let the hovercraft drive in complex areas at night. Once an accident occurs, the materials transported on the ship will basically be lost. So for the sake of safety, only It slows them down."

Before Yakov could express his opinion, the phone on the table rang suddenly. Ponegerin grabbed the receiver and whispered to his ear, "I'm Pornegerin. Where are you?"

After listening for a while, he handed the microphone to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, it's General Afunin calling. It seems that there is something urgent for you."

Sokov put the microphone to his ear and asked, "General Afunin, I'm Sokov! What happened?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Afunin replied respectfully: "The Germans are attacking the defensive positions of the 41st Guards Division at this moment. I think it is necessary to report this to you."

"Have you given any orders to General Kurishenko?"

"I ordered him to stick to his position, don't attack casually, and try his best to hold his position."

"The order you gave is very correct. It is a risky act to attack rashly without knowing the reality of the enemy." Sokov told the other party: "General Afunin, please tell Commander Kurishenko and think about it as soon as possible." There is a way to figure out the scale of the attacking enemy so that we can make targeted combat plans."

"I understand, Comrade Commander." Afunin replied: "I will convey your meaning to General Kurishenko and let him find out the situation of the enemy's troops as soon as possible."

"Also." Sukov thought of the weapons and equipment that would arrive in a few hours, and said to Afunin: "By the way, tell General Kurishenko that the weapons and equipment that the superiors will give them will be delivered at the latest It will arrive after dawn. Let him bring people to collect these weapons and equipment after the battle is over."