Red Moscow

Another half hour later, a new telegram came from Kirillov.

The telegram said that after careful inspection, it was found that most of the members of the headquarters were buried under the rubble. He personally shouted to the people below, and heard the responses from Smirnov and Gorokhov. They were still alive, but they were injured to varying degrees. The exact extent of the injury will not be known until the person is rescued.

Knowing that Smirnov and Gorokhov were still alive, Sokov couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, and he asked Muzichenko: "Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko, do you know where our field hospital is? "

Although Sokov simply asked about the field hospital, Muzichenko knew in his heart that what the other party asked was neither the military-level field hospital nor the division-level field hospital, but the field hospital directly under the command of the group army.

He quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, the field hospital of the group army is still in its original location and will not be transferred for the time being."

Knowing that the medical staff of the Army Field Hospital were still staying in the original area, Sokov felt more at ease. You must know that the medical personnel with the highest medical level in the army are in the field hospital of the army.

He ordered Muzichenko: "Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko, immediately send a telegram to the group army field battle, saying that the headquarters was suddenly attacked by the enemy, and most of the personnel were injured. They immediately organized competent personnel to rush to the scene for first aid. .”

After Muzichenko waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he kindly reminded: "Comrade Commander, although Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's telegram did not mention medical staff, I feel that such a big thing happened. The medical staff of the field hospital will not ignore it, they must have dispatched people to the scene and participated in the rescue work."

For Muzichenko's statement, Sokov felt that it was very reasonable, and he was confused for a while because he heard that Smirnov and Gorokhov had an accident. He nodded and said, "Okay, then let's wait patiently for news from there. I hope that the chief of staff and the military commissioner are not seriously injured and will not affect their future work."

During the period of waiting for Kirillov to send a new telegram, there was silence in the headquarters, and no one dared to speak casually, so as not to annoy Sokov, and it would be too unworthy to be scolded at that time.

The telegram didn't arrive, but Ponegerin came back first.

Pornegerin walked into the headquarters and found it was silent. If he hadn't seen most of the people busy at their posts, he would have thought he had gone to the wrong place. He pulled a staff officer over and asked in a low voice, "What's going on, why is the headquarters so quiet."

"Comrade adviser," the staff officer quickly glanced at Sokov in the distance, and found that he was busy with his head lowered, and quickly lowered his voice and said to Ponejielin: "Just now when you went out to serve as a guide for Colonel Yakov and the others, the Army Group Something happened at the headquarters."

"What happened?"

"The headquarters of the group army has been attacked." The staff officer did not see the telegram, and did not know the details of what happened there, so he could only say vaguely: "I don't know if it was shelled or bombed. members were buried in the rubble."

Seeing the shocked expression on Pornedelin's face, he quickly added: "Although there were a lot of casualties, the chief of staff, General Smirnov, and the military commissar, General Gorokhov, are still alive, but they were buried. In the ruins, commanders and fighters from the headquarters are rescuing them."

After figuring out what happened, Ponegerin quickly walked over to Sokov, wanting to ask about the specific situation.

The sound of his footsteps alarmed Sokov and Shtemenko. In order to break the silence in the headquarters, Shtemenko greeted first: "Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin, you are back!"

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Although Ponedelin was answering Shtemenko's question, his eyes were fixed on Sokov: "I'm back."

"Major Yakov, have they all set off?"

"Yes, all set off."

After the two exchanged a few unnutritious words, Ponegerin finally came to Sokov's side, and he said in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, I know all about what happened at the Army Group Headquarters. I believe that Generals Gorokhov and Smirnov will be fine in the end."

As soon as he finished speaking, a staff officer cheered suddenly from the communication area.

Hearing the cheers, Bornejelin couldn't help frowning, thinking who is so unruly, didn't you see the commander's depression at the moment, and you yelling so much, isn't it adding to the trouble?

He just turned around, ready to teach that rash staff officer a lesson. However, the staff officer who had just introduced the situation to him had already rushed forward. The other party waved the telegram in his hand and said emotionally: "Comrade commander, good news, good news. Both the chief of staff and the military commissar have been rescued. A slight injury will not affect the next command."

Knowing that Smirnov and Gorokhov had escaped safely, Sokov ignored the gaffe and snatched the telegram from the staff officer's hand, carefully reading it several times. Although he found that the content written on it was the same as that reported by the staff officer, he still asked uneasy: "Is this telegram really sent by Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The staff officer nodded and replied in an affirmative tone, "I am absolutely sure that this is a telegram from Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov."

Ponedelin knew that Sokov was concerned and he was confused. Since the staff officer said that the telegram was sent by Kirillov, there must be no problem, so he chimed in and said: "Comrade commander, since the chief of staff and the military commissar have It's all right, then you can rest assured. I believe it will not be long before a more detailed telegram will be sent."

Sokov nodded and shifted the topic to Yakov: "Have Colonel Yakov and Victor set off for the front line?"

"Yes." Ponejielin quickly replied: "A total of two transport hovercraft have come, and the ships are full of weapons and ammunition. Yakov, Victor, and Sukharev took an assault hovercraft to lead the way. , and head to the defense area of ​​the 41st Guards Division." He raised his hand and looked at his watch, "If everything goes well, it should be unloading in the defense area of ​​the 124th Guards Regiment at this moment."

As soon as he heard about the 41st Guards Division, Sokov remembered the battle that took place there. He picked up the phone on the table, connected to Afunin's headquarters, and asked straight to the point: "General Afunin, the front line How is the situation, has the enemy launched a new attack?"

"No, Comrade Commander, the enemy has not launched a new attack." Afunin truthfully reported: "I just asked General Kurishenko about the situation, and it was quiet in front of his position, and the Germans did not move at all. It seems that they will not attack again before dawn."

Although Sokov also thought so in his heart, in order to prevent Afunin from thinking of underestimating the enemy, he still reminded the other party: "General Afunin, the most terrible thing is the enemy's silence, because we can't be sure whether they will just die down or not. A new round of attacks is brewing, so we must not let our guard down."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Afunin understood Sokov's intentions, and quickly expressed his position to him: "I will convey your thoughts to General Kurishenko."

Just after the call was over, the high-frequency phone on the table rang again. Sokov stared at the phone in front of him, wondering who might be calling. Could it be that the Front Army Command knew that its Army Group Command was under attack and made a special call to find out the situation?

Seeing Sokov not answering the phone for a long time, Ponejielin who was sitting on the side just stared at the phone in a daze, so he got up and picked up the microphone: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Ponejielin, where are you?"

After only listening for a moment, he exclaimed: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's you! That's right, Comrade Commander is by my side, and he was still worried about you just now.... What? You Want to talk to him? Okay, I'll hand him the receiver right away."

Pornegerin covered the receiver with his hand, his face was full of joy that could not be concealed: "Comrade Commander, it's the Chief of Staff calling, and he wants to talk to you in person."

Sokov took the microphone with a slightly trembling hand, put it close to his ear, and asked in a voice distorted by excitement, "I'm Sokov! Are you Comrade Chief of Staff?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, it's me!" Smirnov's resonant voice came from the receiver.

It was the first time Sokov encountered Smirnov speaking in such a loud voice, so he quickly moved the microphone to a position farther away from the ear to prevent the eardrum from being pierced. He jokingly said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, your voice is really loud."

"Comrade Commander." Smirnov continued loudly: "It may be that the explosion was too loud, and it shook my ears. When someone talks to me, I feel as if my ears are stuffed with cotton."

"This is temporary, and your hearing will return to normal in a day or two at most." Sokov was eager to know what happened at the Army Group Command, and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you tell me what happened? What's the matter?"

"When I was buried in the ruins, I thought about it carefully." Smirnov said: "Earlier, didn't I tell you that our scouts discovered the launch track of the German V1 missile? "

"Yes, you did say that." Sokov said in an affirmative tone: "When you asked for instructions on how to deal with these missile launch tracks, I asked you to inform the scouts that those that could be destroyed with new rockets were Destroy at long distances with new rockets. If there is no squad of new rockets, blow up the German missiles at all costs."

"According to my analysis, the missiles seen by the scouts should be used to attack our headquarters." Smirnov said cautiously: "I think the location of the army headquarters has long been taken by the German scouts." Only after we found out did we have this long-range attack tonight."

After hearing this, Sokov did not speak. He was strangely angry at the moment that the Germans would attack their headquarters with missiles. If he had stayed at the headquarters, he might have become a victim of the bombing just like Smirnov and the others.

When Smirnov heard that Sokov hadn't spoken, he continued, "According to my statistics, the Germans are planning to launch eight missiles tonight, but three of them have not been launched yet, and we The enemy's rear team destroyed it. Of the five missiles that were successfully launched, three missed their targets and went to unknown places. The remaining two, one fell in the forest near the station and exploded, causing no casualties. casualties."

"What about the missile that landed near the headquarters?" Sokov asked, "How many casualties did it cause us?"

"According to incomplete statistics, 19 people have been killed and 51 people have been injured." Smirnov said in an uncertain tone: "The buildings that were knocked down by the shock wave of the explosion are not only the headquarters, but also the ruins. Many commanders and fighters were buried inside. The exact number cannot be fully counted until these people are rescued."

Sokov thought to himself, I am afraid that there are still some commanders and fighters near the bombing point, who have long been wiped out, and there is no scum left, so there is no way to count them. For the missile attack by the German army, Sokov felt that it was a great shame, and he planned to take some action to avenge the dead commanders and fighters.

Thinking of this, he asked Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is the air fortress transformed by General Ryazanov complete?"

"Not yet." Smirnov replied: "So far, including the original modified one, only four transport aircraft have been modified."

"After dawn, please dispatch a reconnaissance plane from the air to conduct reconnaissance in the Uman area. Once you find the German missile launch track, immediately dispatch an aerial fortress to attack." Sukov said through gritted teeth: "I want the Germans to fight for tonight. His actions cost him blood."

When Sokov assigned tasks to Smirnov, he did not shy away from Shtemenko around him. If one's own headquarters went to the enemy's attack, but didn't even dare to fart, wouldn't that make the Germans look down on it? He just wanted to use this method to let the Germans understand what would happen if they opposed him.

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov saw that Sokov was a little dazzled by anger, and quickly reminded him, "Don't forget, the Germans have a complete air defense system in the Uman area. Last time the Air Force sent Of the four reconnaissance planes, only one came back, and the rest were either shot down by anti-aircraft fire or destroyed by German fighter planes."

"Didn't we send a lot of teams to go deep into the enemy's rear." Sokov raised his voice and said, "Order them to immediately attack the German air defense positions and airports, even if the German air defense system in the Uman area cannot be completely paralyzed, It will also cause great damage to them."

"It's not a big problem for the small team behind the enemy to attack the enemy's air defense position." Smirnov asked cautiously: "The enemy's airport has always been the most heavily defended place, and our team behind the enemy has a large number of people. 15 people, only 10 people less. Let them attack the airport, it is undoubtedly let them die."

"In addition to the reconnaissance team sent in the early stage, don't the teams that set off later carry new rockets?" Sokov said with a straight face: "Since there are new rockets, they can attack the enemy's airport from a distance. Then retreat, and the defenders at the airport may not be able to figure out where the attack came from."

"I understand." Smirnov said, "I will pass on your order immediately."