Red Moscow

Yesenin knew that Chumakov could not protect him, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and come to the headquarters, ready to accept the most severe punishment. According to his thinking, he was ineffective in command, and even repeatedly missed the opportunity to fight. Even if he was not shot, he would be sent to a military court.

Sokov, who was busy in the headquarters, suddenly heard Koshkin report to him: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Yesenin is here."

After hearing this, Sokov said without raising his head, "Let him come over."

"Comrade Commander," Yesenin came to Sokov, raised his hand and said in salute: "Colonel Yesenin, the commander of the 233rd Infantry Division, has been ordered to come. I am waiting for your orders, please instruct!"

"It was the former division commander, Colonel Yesenin." Sokov stood up straight, looked at Yesenin and said, "Do you know how many mistakes you made today? If it is because of you that the course of the battle is affected, you will bear the responsibility." Can you afford it?"

"I can't afford it." Yesenin lowered his head and admitted his mistake to Sokov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I was wrong."

"Wrong?" Sokov asked with a sneer, "Do you know what's wrong with you?"

Sokov's words stopped Yesenin. He looked at Sokov, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

"Come to me!" Sokov called Yesenin to the table, pointed to the map spread out on it, and said to him: "You use a sneak attack to attack the town of Golovanivsik. The line of thinking is undoubtedly correct.”

Yesenin was surprised to hear that Sokov actually praised his tactical thinking as correct. He looked at Sokov and thought with some surprise: "Since he thinks my thinking is correct, but dismissed me, then why?"

I just heard Sokov continue to say: "But what I don't understand is, since your sneak attack was noticed by the Germans, why didn't you simply turn the sneak attack into a strong attack? You know, under the circumstances at that time, you only had to concentrate The firepower of the artillery regiment belonging to the division can suppress the German army by bombarding the positions of the German army. Even if it is temporarily impossible to tear a gap in their defense line, it can greatly reduce the casualties of the troops."

"But what did you do?" Sokov said here, and slapped the table with his hand, which shocked everyone around him: "Seeing the continuous casualties of the troops under the enemy's fire, you But they did not take any countermeasures, causing many soldiers of our army to sacrifice their lives in vain."

"Also," Sokov, since he called Yesenin here, naturally did not save him any face, but said in a stern tone: "Before you started the second attack, I called you personally and told you , Said that the assault battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Victor has entered the town of Golovanivsik, what you have to do is to immediately use artillery fire to blast a gap in the enemy's defense line and rush in to join forces with friendly forces."

"But what did you do?" When Sokov said this, he tried hard to control his emotions, lest he couldn't help but draw a gun and kill Yesenin later: "At the Army Command and the Army Command Under the repeated urging of the army, he reluctantly launched an attack on the town, and did not provide the necessary artillery support for the attacking force. In this case, do you think your troops can break through the German defense line?"

"No." Yesenin shook his head again.

"Now you understand why I dismissed you?"

"knew."

"I don't think you know." As Sokov said, he couldn't control his emotions: "If you are allowed to stay in the position of division commander, I think the entire 233rd division will be ruined in your hands. inside."

"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko on the side saw that Sokov became more and more agitated, worried that he would lose control of his emotions, and quickly got up to persuade him: "I think Colonel Yesenin has fully realized his mistake at this moment. , Next, you can announce the result of his treatment."

Everyone has different opinions on how to punish Yesenin. Sokov just dismissed him, intending to let him go to the grassroots company as a soldier; while Smirnov advocated sending him to a military court, and Military Commissar Gorokhov also echoed this proposal.

In the end, Shtemenko came out to smooth things over and said to the two: "Since the commander of the group army is Comrade Sokov, he should have the final say on how to deal with the commander of the army. What do you think?"

With what Shtemenko said, Smirnov and Gorokhov couldn't say anything more. They could only agree with Sokov's decision to only remove Yesenin from his post, but not to send him to a military court.

"Colonel Yesenin," Sokov looked at Yesenin carefully, and felt that it was obviously unrealistic for him to serve as a soldier at the grassroots level. With his bloated physique at the moment, he might not even be able to persist in a forced march. It dragged the troops back, so he changed his mind: "It is definitely impossible to go back to be a division commander. Now I will give you two options: one is to stay at the headquarters as a staff officer and learn how to command operations; It’s going to be an ordinary soldier in the company.”

After Sokov finished talking about the two choices he gave Yesenin, he deliberately paused for a moment to observe the other party's expression. Seeing the other party's eyes flickering and the muscles on his face twitching violently, as if he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, he said slowly, "I don't know which one do you plan to choose?"

Yesenin was thinking in his heart that from the outbreak of the war to the present, he had been promoted step by step from a battalion commander to a division commander. As he got older, his physical strength was not as good as before. If you allow yourself to march every day like an ordinary soldier, it is estimated that your body will be exhausted in a short time. What's more, the chance of an ordinary soldier dying in battle is dozens of times higher than the chance of staying in the headquarters.

He had an answer in an instant, and quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I have thought about it and decided to stay in your headquarters as a staff officer and relearn how to command troops."

Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and asked unhurriedly: "Once a decision is made, you cannot go back on it. Are you really sure that you want to stay in my headquarters as a staff officer?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I'm sure." Yesenin nodded his head like a rattle, "I would like to stay in the headquarters as a staff officer."

Now that Yesenin had made his statement, Sokov called Ponedelin over and told him, "Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin, you can arrange the specific work of Comrade Yesenin in the headquarters."

With a promise, Ponederin took Yesenin aside and arranged work for him.

"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko looked at Yesenin's back and asked Sokov curiously, "Why did you keep him in your headquarters?"

Sokov was silent for a moment, and then explained to Shtemenko; "In any case, he has served as a division commander for a long time and has rich command experience. The students who followed me from the Frunze Military Academy , they used to be battalion-level commanders. To put them all in the position of regimental-level commanders, more command experience is needed. I kept Yesenin because I wanted him to pass on his experience to those students so that the students After taking a higher position, I can make fewer low-level mistakes."

"Chief of staff, call Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko and ask him how the progress is going there." The delay in taking the town of Golovanivsik made Sokov also become impetuous: " If they haven't taken the town, I'm afraid we need to think of other ways, otherwise it will affect the progress of the battle during the day."

Smirnov picked up the phone, called Muzichenko, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how is the situation there? Have your troops rushed into the town?"

"The troops attacking from the front were still blocked outside the town by the defenders." Just when Smirnov's heart tensed, the other party suddenly made a turning point: "But, but the troops entering the town from the east of the town , has successfully reached the center of the town and joined Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's troops."

"Already met?"

"Yes, we have already joined forces." Muzichenko said with some excitement: "A few minutes ago, the second battalion of the 701st regiment attacked from north to south, successfully broke through the German defense line outside the town, and responded to the 700th regiment. into town."

"This is really great." Hearing this, Smirnov couldn't help being ecstatic: "So, most of the town has fallen into the hands of our army?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, this is really the case." Muzichenko continued to report: "After our two troops joined forces, we are currently clearing out the remnants of the enemy in the town."

"When will the operation to wipe out the remnants of the enemy end?"

"It's hard to say." Muzichenko said with some hesitation: "The sky is too dark, and the Germans who were defeated by us are hiding in various buildings. It will take a long time to find them all. "

Sokov heard part of the conversation, so he went straight to Smirnov and asked in a low voice, "Has the German army's position south of the town been broken through by our army?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Smirnov quickly covered the microphone with his hands, and reported to Sokov in an affirmative tone: "The 701st Regiment entered the town from the south of the town. After joining forces, they launched an attack from the rear of the enemy in the south of the town, defeated their defense line, and then entered the town with the troops outside the town."

Hearing that the German defense line had been penetrated, Sokov breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked, "What is Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko doing?"

"They are clearing out the remnants of the enemy." Worried that Sokov was dissatisfied with the results of the battle, Smirnov took the initiative to explain: "The defeated enemies hid in the buildings in the town, and the sky was too dark. It is obviously unrealistic to eliminate the enemy in a short period of time."

Sokov knew very well in his heart that it was very dark outside, and if the Germans really hid in the building, it would indeed be very difficult for the commanders and fighters to eliminate them.

But considering the attack during the day, Sokov didn't want to be held back by a small town, so he said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you tell Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko, no later than seven o'clock in the morning , the whole town must be liberated."

Smirnov quickly released his hand covering the microphone, and said to Muzichenko: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the commander has issued a death order, and the entire town must be liberated before seven o'clock in the morning."

"Chief of staff, please tell the commander." Muzichenko on the other end of the phone said vigorously, "Before seven o'clock, we will definitely be able to take the entire town of Golovanivsik."

After Smirnov put down the phone, he told everyone that the town of Golovanivsik had been occupied by most of the people, and the entire headquarters was immediately filled with joy.

"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko was not as excited as Sokov, but asked tentatively: "I think your troops have been severely weakened after a day and night of fighting. Can you participate in the next stage of the battle?" Fighting is an unknown.”

Sokov was stunned by Shtemenko's words. After careful consideration, what the other party said was very reasonable. The 18th Guards Infantry Corps of Afunin was in charge of the attack on the left wing. Now the three divisions under it have suffered more than half of the casualties. It is obviously inappropriate to continue the attack; The casualties of the 233rd and 252nd Divisions under the 57th Army of Melekhov even reached a staggering two-thirds; even for the 49th Army of Melekhov, the situation is not optimistic.

Sokov thought for a long time, and then slowly said: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, you are right. My troops have suffered close to half of the casualties so far. If we continue to attack according to the original combat plan, I am afraid There will be huge losses.”

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm considering handing over the offensive area on the right flank to the friendly forces." Sokov explained to Shtemenko: "And I'm concentrating all the troops on the left flank, which will ensure the smooth progress of the offensive."

"Then you get in touch with Marshal Konev immediately." Shtemenko suggested to Sokov: "Report your plan to him and see if he agrees."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov turned to Smirnov and said, "Please draft a telegram to the Front Command and report my thoughts to Marshal Konev."

"Comrade Commander, are we really going to give up the offensive area on the right flank?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov nodded and said, "Only by concentrating our troops can we maintain a strong offensive force."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Now that Sokov has made a decision and has the support of Shtemenko, Smirnov knows that no matter how much he opposes it, it will be useless, so he might as well be a favor: "Now that you have made a decision, I will immediately draft a telegram and report your plan to Marshal Konev."

After the telegram was sent, Sokov felt uneasy. He was worried that Konev would veto his proposal. Then, the forward speed of one's own troops will be greatly slowed down, which is probably also a kind of helplessness of insufficient troops.

When the communications staff officer came to report to Smirnov that the call back from the Front Army Command had arrived, Sokov's heart beat faster than expected. He didn't dare to read the telegram directly, but made a gesture to Smirnov, indicating that he would read the telegram.

Smirnov quickly browsed through the contents of the telegram, and shouted excitedly: "Comrade Commander, good news, good news, Marshal Konev agreed to your request and intends to send the 27th Army to replace our right wing Offensive area. Their vanguard will reach the town of Golovanivsik at ten o'clock in the morning to take over our defense."