Red Moscow

Hearing Shtemenko's praise for herself, Adelina blushed slightly, and then said modestly: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, you are really flattering me, I just keep in mind that I am an intelligence officer. It's just a member's job."

"Comrades," Sokov said to the crowd, "I think everyone knows the deployment of the enemy's troops. But we cannot immediately launch an attack on the enemy, because we have too few troops at the starting point of the attack, and our ammunition is insufficient." Insufficient. If you attack rashly, it is tantamount to letting them die."

All the staff who watched the slides agreed with Sokov's statement. Right now there are only two regiments of the Guards Airborne, which are very close to the Uman defense line of the German army. If they are ordered to continue attacking, it is indeed possible to break through the German defense line, but it is also possible that they will be surrounded by the German army in the next counterattack and then be killed. Little by little.

"We have a lot of work to do next." Sokov continued: "First, immediately send a transport team to deliver ammunition and supplies to the two regiments at the front so that they can continue to fight; second, the artillery unit of the group army Move forward and deploy in the offensive area as soon as possible, ready to provide artillery support to the attacking force at any time."

"That's right," Smirnov echoed: "Although there are no barbed wire fences, no minefields, or even permanent fortifications in front of the German positions, in order to reduce the casualties of the attacking troops, there are still artillery preparations before the attack." necessary."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov looked at Smirnov and asked, "Has our army completely controlled the town of Golovanivsik?"

Smirnov shook his head, and replied: "The fighting in the town is still going on, but I guess the Germans have almost exhausted their strength, and they will be able to control the whole town by eight o'clock at the latest."

"Call Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko," Sokov told Smirnov, "tell him to speed up the attack, and absolutely not affect the progress of the later battle because of them."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Smirnov replied readily, "I will call him immediately and order him to speed up the attack speed of the troops, and the battle in the town must be completely resolved before eight o'clock."

"Misha," Adelina asked in a low voice while Smirnov was on the phone, "if it's time to switch defenses and your troops haven't completely captured the town of Golovanivsik , what should I do?"

"I will keep a battalion and continue to wipe out the remaining German troops in the town." Sokov replied: "But the main force must be transferred to the front line to strengthen the offensive force there."

"Is one battalion too small?"

"A lot." Sokov explained to Adelina: "Most areas in the town of Golovanivsik have been controlled by our army, and the remaining places will be wiped out with a battalion. I think it is more than enough." Having said that, he paused for a moment, observed Adelina's reaction, and continued, "Besides, the friendly army is about to take over the defense, even if our current strength cannot annihilate the town. Remnant enemy, you can also ask friendly troops for help."

"Adelina," Sokov asked tentatively, considering that the headquarters would move forward in a few hours, and it would not be appropriate for Adelina to stay here, "what do you plan to do next? Return to Moscow immediately, or stay here and wait for orders from your superiors?"

"I don't know." Adelina shook her head and said, "The task I received was to go to Uman to get the information, and rush to Zhitomir to hand it over to the designated person, but the Germans blocked us. The road going north, so I can only divert to you. I want to stay here and wait for further orders from my superiors to know whether I should return to Moscow or go to the more dangerous enemy-occupied area again to perform more difficult tasks."

"Adelina, you have almost had an accident twice in a row." Sokov waited for Adelina to finish speaking, and said with concern: "I suggest you switch to internal affairs and stay in Lubyanka. This way Come, at least the danger can be minimized. What do you think?"

"Misha, you are right. If I continue to go to the enemy's rear to perform tasks, the chances of accidents will be greatly increased." Agelina said: "But have you ever thought that if I don't go, the superior will I will send other people there, and at that time, the danger that I should have borne will be passed on to the comrades who will perform the task instead of me."

Adelina shook her head vigorously, and said decisively to Sokov: "Misha, I can't be so selfish. In order to avoid danger, I let others take the risk instead of me."

Adelina's words made Sokov blush a little. As a general, such words really should not have come out of his mouth, and he quickly apologized to Adelina: "I'm sorry, Adelina! I didn't think carefully, but I was really worried about your safety. "

"Misha, thank you." Adelina looked left and right, and seeing no one noticed her, she stretched out her hand to hold Sokov's hand, and said softly, "You have saved me more than once. I have a sense of security when I'm by your side for the first time. If possible, I really don't want to leave you."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Shtemenko had just finished talking to Smirnov, and was walking over to get something, when he happened to see Adelina holding Sokov's hand, and coughed heavily. Adelina hurriedly let go of her hand when she heard the coughing sound, but her face turned red from embarrassment.

"Comrade Sokov!" Shtemenko walked up to Sokov and said to him: "I just got in touch with Marshal Konev, and he hopes that Comrade Adelina can send the information in person. Want to know some details."

Knowing that Konev wanted to see Adelina, Sokov immediately stood up and shouted to the door: "Koshkin, Lieutenant Koshkin."

Following Sokov's shout, Lieutenant Koshkin ran in from the outside and asked hesitantly, "Comrade Commander, are you calling me?"

"Yes." Sokov nodded, and then told Koshkin: "Adelina is going to the Front Army Command to meet Marshal Konev. Take a platoon of guards to escort her there."

"One guard line is too much." Hearing what Sokov said, Adelina waved her hand in a hurry: "Just send me a soldier as a guide."

"Adelina, even though the area from here to the headquarters of the Front Army is under the control of our army." Only one soldier was sent to escort Adelina, so Sokov felt relieved, he specially emphasized : "But no one can guarantee that there will be no German stragglers on the road. If you only send one soldier, once you encounter the enemy, you will all be in danger."

Seeing that Sokov was so concerned about her safety, Adelina was very moved, and naturally accepted his arrangement: "Okay, Misha. Since you said so, let Lieutenant Koshkin lead the guard platoon Send me there."

The reason why Sokov wanted to send Koshkin to send Adelina was because both of them were from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and they knew each other, so he had to feel more at ease when he was escorted by a familiar person. But even so, he was still worried that Adelina would encounter danger on the road, so he told Koshkin: "Comrade Lieutenant, from now on, I will entrust Adelina's safety to you. Promise me to keep Adelina safe as you would your own eyes."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Koshkin replied unequivocally: "If I can't get Comrade Adelina safely to the headquarters of the Front Army, I will rush up and attack our army without you shooting me." The Germans are dead together, so you save that bullet."

Looking at the back of Adelina and Koshkin leaving, Shtemenko couldn't help sighing, and said to Sokov: "Adelina is a good girl, but unfortunately she will never be able to live a stable life."

Sokov asked in surprise after hearing this: "Deputy Chief of Staff, I don't quite understand what you mean, can you explain?"

"She is a very capable intelligence officer under Lunev. She often has to go deep behind enemy lines but carry out dangerous missions." Shtemenko said to Sukov: "Although she managed to get out of danger several times, who knows Next time, will she die because her identity is exposed? Even if she survives until the end of the war, there will still be new tasks waiting for her."

Sokov knew very well in his heart that what Shtemenko said was true. Once you become an intelligence officer, it is basically a lifetime thing, and you cannot quit if you want to. Unless you die in the line of duty, or reach the retirement age of 70 or 80, you will have the opportunity to live an ordinary life.

"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko quickly turned the topic back to combat: "What time will your troops be able to launch an attack on Uman?"

"It will take at least three hours for the troops to rush to the forward offensive position." Sokov said cautiously: "After arriving at the designated location, they will not be able to go into battle immediately. I am afraid it will take another two hours. In this way, I'm afraid we will have to wait until one o'clock in the afternoon at the earliest before launching an attack on Uman."

"Ah, it will take that long?" Shtemenko asked in surprise, "Aren't you worried about the delay and let the Germans prepare in advance?"

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, this is how I think about it." Sokov said: "In fact, our offensive time is delayed, which is not a bad thing. You just heard Adelina say that the Germans commanded Marshal Zhukov The 1st Ukrainian Front Army of China regarded it as the biggest threat, so a large number of troops were transferred in that direction.

As for us, as long as we don't rush to attack, the Germans will have an illusion that they can contain our main force with a small amount of troops. After our troops are assembled, we will launch a fierce attack on the enemy's position, which will definitely catch the Germans by surprise. "

"Well, it makes sense, it makes sense." Shtemenko pondered for a while, and felt that what Sokov said made sense: "If the Germans see the fierce attack from Marshal Zhukov's side, but we have not yet If there is any movement, they will definitely have an illusion, thinking that we are just a feint attack here, so they will not mobilize large troops to defend, and will only leave a small number of troops to contain us."

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov, who had just walked over, happened to hear the conversation between Sokov and Stemenko, and he asked tentatively, "Does the artillery preparation before the attack still need to be carried out?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, the artillery preparations before the attack must be indispensable." Sokov said to Smirnov: "But we can shorten the time of the artillery attack from the planned half an hour to a quarter of an hour."

"A quarter of an hour?" Smirnov couldn't help frowning, "What effect can a short quarter of an hour's shelling have?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, the shelling for only half an hour is mainly to suppress the Germans on the ground so that they cannot observe the movements of our army. Our offensive troops can use this time to quietly attack the enemy. As soon as the bombardment stopped, they rushed to the enemy's trenches at the fastest speed. At this time, most of the enemies hadn't recovered from the bombardment of our army, and faced us like wolves and tigers. fighters, they must be irresistible."

"Which force do you plan to use to participate in the first round of attack?"

"Although the first troops to reach the attack site must be General Afunin's 18th Guards Army, but I plan to put them in the second echelon."

Hearing Sokov's decision, Smirnov asked in amazement: "Comrade commander, our most powerful unit today is General Afunin's 18th Guards Army. If they are put into battle first, It must be able to break through the German defense line in the shortest time. If other troops are used to attack, I am afraid that the delay will be more."

Shtemenko had the same idea as Smirnov, thinking why the 18th Guards Army with the strongest combat effectiveness did not use it, but used the other two armies with lower combat effectiveness to attack? But he just thought about it in his heart, but he didn't ask. Instead, he looked at Sokov, hoping to hear him give him a satisfactory answer.

"The reason is simple, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov explained to Smirnov and also to Shtemenko: "You are right, if the 18th Guards Corps leads the charge, it will break through the enemy's The defense line will be an easy task. But have you ever thought that breaking through the enemy's defense line outside the city is only the first step of our attack, and the next battle will be fought in the city.

The commanders and fighters of the 49th and 57th armies are mostly recruits. If you give them the task of street fighting, do you think they can successfully complete this task? "

"No." After thinking for a while, Smirnov gave Sokov a negative answer: "The recruits may be fine for attacking or defending field positions. If they enter a strange city and occupy buildings I don’t think they can gain any advantage in a street fight against the enemies of things, on the contrary, they will pay a huge price.”

Seeing that Smirnov had guessed his intentions, Sokov nodded and said with a smile: "That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff. Your analysis is correct. I intend to use the elite 18th Guards Army for street fighting, while Ukrainian Let the other two troops complete the outlying positions outside Manchester City. There is no need to consume our elite vitality in the battle to clear the outskirts."

"Comrade Sokov, you are very thoughtful. You have considered all the details that should be considered." The longer Shtemenko stayed here, the more unpredictable he felt about Sokov, and the other's brain circuit seemed to be the same as Ordinary people are different, and they think about problems from different angles. Perhaps this is the reason why the troops under his command can win many battles.