Red Moscow

"Comrade Commander," Sokov was talking to Shtemenko when the phone on the desk rang suddenly. When he picked up the receiver, he heard Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's voice coming from inside: "I Lieutenant-Colonel Kirillov, commander of the 252nd Infantry Division."

"It turned out to be Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov." Sokov was a little surprised when he heard that it was Kirillov who called him: "What do you want from me?"

"It's like this, Comrade Commander." Kirillov said on the phone: "According to the scout report I sent, the enemy is gathering in an area a few kilometers away from us, and it seems that they want to attack our position. .”

"The enemy wants to attack your position?" Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, and then asked instinctively, "Where is your division's defense zone?"

"In the Velishanka area."

After listening to Kirillov's answer, Sokov immediately remembered that when he was deploying defenses, he sent part of the 49th Infantry Army and part of the 57th Infantry Army to the Velishanka area. The 252nd Division commanded by Kirilov undoubtedly represents the part of the 57th Army: "Oh, so the troops of the 57th Army stationed in the Velishanka area are your division."

"Yes, Comrade Commander. It is our division."

"In the face of a possible attack by the enemy, what preparations have your division made?"

"It's just digging fortifications," Kirillov replied, "but we don't have artillery and we don't have decent heavy weapons. If the Germans use tanks to lead the infantry to attack, I'm afraid we will pay huge casualties."

Sokov pondered for a moment, then asked: "What kind of fortifications does your division have now?"

"Because time was tight, we only dug a few trenches, and it was too late to build firepower points."

"Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, if there are really only a few trenches, once the Germans launch a fierce attack on you, your position will soon be broken through."

"That's right, Comrade Commander, the situation is exactly like this." Kirillov said hurriedly, "I want to ask you, what should we do to ensure that the position will not be breached by the Germans?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, listen." Sokov quickly had a defensive plan in his mind: "In order to prevent your position from being breached, the enemy will use your main position and take the time to deepen the depth of the trenches." .”

"Deepen the depth of the trenches?" Sokov's words made Kirillov confused: "Comrade Commander, I don't understand. There is a difference between deepening the trenches and ensuring that our positions are not broken by the enemy. What connection?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, don't interrupt me, listen to me continue: the depth of the first trench should not be less than two meters, plus the sandbags on the trench wall, the height should reach about two meters two. And each A fifty-centimeter earth platform must be reserved at the shooting position facing the German army. Remember, the position facing the second trench of our side is not required.”

"Comrade commander, why is this? With a trench two meters deep and sandbags two feet high, our soldiers can't even cover their heads, so how can they shoot at the enemy?" Kirillov asked in surprise.

Seeing that the opponent did not understand his intention, Sokov couldn't help sighing: "Didn't I ask you to keep a 50 cm high earthen platform at each shooting position? When the enemy rushed over, our soldiers could stand on the earthen platform." Come up and shoot them."

"But this is too inconvenient." Kirillov continued to complain.

"When the enemy rushes up, you can take the initiative to abandon the first trench and retreat to the second trench..."

"But, Comrade Commander." Facing Sokov's proposal, Kirillov asked in puzzlement: "Then, won't our trenches be occupied by the enemy?"

"Didn't I ask you to dig the trench deep, and at the same time face the direction of the second trench, don't keep the earthen platform?" Sukov said with a smile: "The Germans who occupied our army's trenches did not see the earth because there was no earthen platform for their feet. Naturally, we cannot shoot at our army unless we are outside. Our soldiers can hide nearby, throw grenades into the trenches, and blow up the enemies to death in the trenches.

When Kirilov heard this, he immediately understood what Sokov meant: "Comrade Commander, I understand. After the enemy occupied our army's position, due to the position facing the second trench, there was no earth platform for footing. The Germans They couldn't see the situation outside at all, so naturally they couldn't shoot at us..."

"When the Germans found that our army was nearby, they wanted to shoot at us, so they had to keep jumping and shooting outside. Do you think their shots could hit the target under such circumstances?"

"cannot!"

Sokov's words caused laughter from the people present, and Ponegerin, who was sitting not far away, thought in his heart: Comrade Commander's move is really great. Even if the first trench is lost, the Germans in the trench Soldiers were also unable to attack the second trench a hundred meters away. As for the commanders and fighters hiding outside the trenches, this can take advantage of the blind spots of the Germans' vision and throw grenades into the trenches, killing all the enemies in the trenches.

"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko couldn't help interjecting when he heard this, "can our commanders take advantage of this by pretending to abandon the first trench from time to time to lure the enemy in, and then use Grenade kill them?"

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Sokov agreed with Shtemenko's statement: "We can indeed use this method to wipe out a large number of the enemy's vital forces. But every time we enter the trenches We must wipe out the enemy, and if any officers and soldiers slip through the net, they will report what happened to the German commander. An indiscriminate shelling by the enemy on our defense zone will still cause us huge casualties."

After saying this to Shtemenko, Sokov said into the microphone again: "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, did you hear what I said?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander."

"Now that you've heard it, let's act quickly." Sokov said, "It will take a lot of time to dig fortifications. We must lay out the defenses according to my instructions before the Germans attack."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Kirillov replied excitedly: "I will immediately order everyone to dig trenches and make these trenches the graves of the Germans."

"Wait a minute." Just as Kirillov was about to hang up the phone, Sokov stopped him again: "I haven't finished my sentence yet."

"Go ahead, Comrade Commander."

"During defensive operations, don't put all your troops into battle," Sokov said. "Each regiment should leave at least one battalion in reserve."

"Comrade Commander," Kirilov said with some embarrassment: "Since the end of the last battle, our division has not been fully replenished, and the strength of each regiment is only 60%. If each regiment draws a battalion as a reserve , then the troops used for frontal defense will become weak.”

"Blindly defending is just a passive defense. If you want to hold your position, you must adopt defensive tactics. The reason why I asked you to keep a battalion in each regiment as a reserve team is to prevent you from being attacked when the main position is lost. Reserves can be thrown into action in time to close the gap the Germans have opened. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Kirillov replied with some reluctance: "I will follow your order."

From the tone of the other party, Sokov heard the meaning of reluctance, and then continued: "Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, I will not let your division fight alone, I will give General Melekhov Call and order him to provide you with the necessary artillery support. If possible, I plan to order him to transfer other divisions to take over your defense."

After listening to Sokov's promise, Kirillov's mood immediately improved a lot. He hurriedly replied loudly: "Thank you, Comrade Commander. With your words, I feel at ease. I assure you, My troops will never allow the enemy to break through our lines."

After Sokov hung up the phone, he immediately called the communications staff officer and told him, "Comrade staff officer, help me pick up General Melekhov immediately, I have a task to assign to him."

Unexpectedly, after hearing Sokov's words, the communications staff officer did not immediately carry out his order, but stood there in a daze.

"What's going on?" Seeing that the other party stood still and didn't move, Sokov couldn't help being a little angry, and asked with a straight face: "Comrade Staff, didn't you hear my order?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The staff officer replied with some embarrassment: "But I don't know General Melekhov."

Hearing what the other party said, Sokov immediately realized his negligence. The personnel in the forward headquarters are basically my classmates at the Frunze Military Academy. Many of them usually stay in the security forces of the headquarters and have no chance to get in touch with more information, so they don't know the new No wonder General Melekhov, the commander of the 49th Army.

After figuring out what was going on, Sokov did not blame the other party. On the contrary, he said kindly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Staff, I didn't make it clear. General Melekhov is the commander of the 49th Infantry Army. Please help me." Get on his phone."

The call was connected quickly, and Sokov said into the microphone: "I am Sokov, is this General Melekhov?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, it's me." Melekhov on the other end of the phone hurriedly asked, "Comrade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"General Melekhov, I heard that the German army is about to launch an attack on the 252nd Division's position." Sokov asked blankly, "Is your army's artillery ready to intercept artillery fire?"

Hearing that the German army was going to attack the position of the 252nd Division, Melekhov couldn't help but panicked for a while, and then replied: "Comrade Commander, I don't know about this at all. I don't know who told you?"

"Didn't Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, the commander of the 252nd Division, report this situation to you?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Melekhov said bitterly: "You know, Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov is not my subordinate at all. If something happens in his position, according to the usual practice, he will directly report to the Chumakov, the commander of the 57th Army, reported. The other side will report to me after they get the report and verify it.”

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." After listening to Melekhov's justification, Sokov suddenly became angry for no reason: "General Melekhov, do you know that every minute on the battlefield is precious, if To get a piece of information, you have to go through layers of relaying before it reaches your ears, which will delay the opportunity of the battle."

"No way, Comrade Commander." Melekhov also said helplessly: "After all, Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's 252nd Division belongs to the 57th Army."

"Okay, General Melekhov, don't say any more." Sokov interrupted the other party, and said to himself: "I will now officially inform you that Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's 252nd Division will start from now on. , officially placed under your command until the end of this campaign. Do you understand?"

"But what about General Chumakov?" Although Sokov had already said this, Melekhov still asked in embarrassment: "Will he feel resentment towards me because of this?"

"You don't have to worry about the affairs of General Chumakov, I will greet him personally." Sokov said: "Your task now is to deploy the artillery immediately, and when Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov needs it provide him with the necessary artillery support."

As soon as the call here was finished, Sokov ordered the communications staff to connect to the group army headquarters. Hearing that the person who answered the phone was Smirnov, Sokov said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, please say hello to General Chumakov, just say that Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's 252nd Division, from From now on, it will be temporarily placed under the command of the 49th Infantry Army until the end of the campaign."

Smirnov was surprised by Sokov's sudden order. He asked in amazement: "Comrade Commander, why did you assign the 252nd Division to the 49th Army? You know, in this way, The 57th Army will only have two divisions left, which will greatly weaken their combat effectiveness."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov explained what happened to Smirnov in detail, and said, "Although Melekhov is the army commander and Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov is only the division commander, the two men There is no direct affiliation relationship, which leads to reporting military information or issuing orders, which must be relayed layer by layer, which will cause delays in combat opportunities. Therefore, it is completely necessary to temporarily place the 252nd Division under the command of the 49th Army."

"Okay, Comrade Commander. Now that you have made a decision, I will obey your order." Smirnov said, "I will convey your intention to General Chumakov immediately."

Seeing that Sokov finished the phone call, Shtemenko said with great interest: "Comrade Sokov, I just thought about your tactics carefully. We count combatant casualties."

Sokov pondered in his mind: According to the statistics after the war, only 3% of the Soviet men born in the five years of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1926 survived the war. In other words, only three out of every one hundred men who went to the front line survived.

Although he is a group army commander, his name sounds scary, but the scope of his influence is very effective. What I can do now is to use better tactics in the war to reduce the casualty rate of the troops, and strive to make more of the young men born in these five years live to the day of victory.

Seeing Sokov's presence, Shtemenko hummed, and then asked, "Comrade Sokov, why don't you speak? Didn't you hear me?"

"Understood, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Sokov tried to force a smile on his face: "I was wondering whether Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's troops could stop the fierce German attack."