Red Moscow

"Comrade Commander, our air defense force is still too weak." Smirnov waited for Lida to leave, and said to Sokov with emotion: "It would be great if the superior could send us another one or two anti-aircraft artillery divisions." gone."

Regarding Smirnov's statement, Sokov could only smile bitterly after hearing this: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think it is impossible for the superiors to give us any anti-aircraft artillery divisions. You know, the war has been going on for nearly three years. Whether it is The enemy is still us, and we all know in our hearts that although the anti-aircraft artillery division is an air defense force, as long as the muzzle is leveled on the battlefield, it can also be used as ordinary artillery.”

When Smirnov thought about it, it seemed that this was really the case. I don’t know when the anti-aircraft artillery began to do nothing. When the enemy’s tanks and aircraft appeared on the battlefield at the same time, they first attacked the tanks instead of the aircraft. I once asked the commander of the air defense unit a question, and the other party replied plausibly: "Although we are anti-aircraft artillery, if the German tanks rush to the front, what is the point of air defense?"

Although Smirnov was contradicted by his subordinates at the time, but after thinking about it, what the other party said was very reasonable. If the anti-aircraft artillery blindly defends the air and ignores the German tanks that are about to rush up, and waits for the enemy tanks to rush up and crash the anti-aircraft guns, the air defense will completely lose its meaning.

"Comrade Commander, this is how I think about it." When Sokov chatted with Lida, Smirnov was not idle. He was thinking about how to strengthen his own air defense force. It is obviously unrealistic to ask the superiors to send an air defense division over; to form a new air defense force by yourself, one is that the organization is not easy to solve, and the other is that it is difficult to recruit soldiers. But the sudden appearance of Lida gave Smirnov a new idea: "Can one or two more women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments be formed to strengthen the air defense force of the group army?"

"Form one or two more women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments?!" Sokov looked at Smirnov and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, where do the soldiers and equipment come from?"

"This is why I suggest you form a women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment." Smirnov reported to Sokov: "Whether it is the soldiers sent from the rear or the recruits we recruited on the spot, we will organize them into the anti-aircraft artillery regiment." Regiments are unrealistic things. But if we recruit female soldiers, the difficulty will be greatly reduced."

Sokov stared at Smirnov for a long time, thinking quickly in his mind whether he should follow the other party's proposal to recruit female soldiers on a large scale and form a new female anti-aircraft artillery unit.

"Well, Comrade Chief of Staff, your idea is good." Sokov thought for a while, and felt that Smirnov's suggestion was very appropriate: "I think it may be more difficult to recruit male soldiers in newly liberated areas. , but when it comes to female soldiers, there must be a lot of people who agree to the conditions for enlistment, and then we will have enough air defense forces."

"Then when do you think it is appropriate for us to start conscription?" Smirnov said to Sokov: "I have observed all the cities liberated by us, and found a very interesting phenomenon. The cities are basically all women, children and Old man. If we talk about ordinary army conscription, even if these women want to join the army, I am afraid that they will not have the opportunity to join the army. But if they are allowed to join the women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment, things will be much simpler."

Perhaps because he was worried about Sokov's refusal, he also specifically emphasized: "The skills required by anti-aircraft gunners are not complicated. They can be fully mastered after a very short period of training. When we defended Stalingrad, our army used some The students of the school were directly incorporated into the army, and after a short training, they participated in the battle."

"I don't think there will be a chance to encounter such a tragic battle like the Battle of Stalingrad in the future." Sokov said to Smirnov: "Among the female soldiers recruited into the army, most of them will survive. See the day of victory."

"Comrade Commander, I would like to ask." Smirnov suddenly became hesitant when he heard Sokov say this: "When do you think we will win the final victory?"

Sokov almost blurted out the day of victory, and the words came to his lips, but he swallowed them back abruptly. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and changed the topic in time: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if our troops cross the South Bug River and then go west through the Transnistria, will they soon enter Romania?"

"Not so fast," Smirnov said, shaking his head. "Between Ukraine and Romania, there is Moldavia, one of the 15 member countries of our country. Only after capturing here can we enter the northeast of Romania." department."

"Oh, so that's the case." Sokov became uneasy. He was worried that if his army's attack went well, he would be arranged by the command to liberate Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the future. If he is really arranged to fight in these countries in the future, then he will miss the liberation of Berlin.

He stared at the map for a long time, and then asked Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think if our army maintains the current offensive, will the superiors arrange for us to liberate those countries in Eastern Europe that are occupied by Germany?"

"It's not easy to say." Sokov's words made Smirnov also fall into contemplation: "From the current situation, our army may become the first army to enter Romania, but as for whether we will be ordered to go to Romania in the future It’s not easy to talk about the countries that liberated Eastern Europe.”

Sokov saw a glimmer of hope from Smirnov's words, and he hurriedly asked: "Chief of Staff, will things turn around?"

Smirnov looked at Sokov with a surprised look, and replied truthfully: "It is the troops of the Third and Fourth Ukrainian Fronts that are launching an offensive in southern Ukraine, under the coordination and command of Marshal Vasilevsky. As long as they liberate southern Ukraine, the Supreme Command should hand over the task of liberating Eastern Europe to the troops of these two front armies. And our army group may be transferred to the north to participate in the final operation to liberate Ukraine."

He picked up the red and blue pencils on the table and drew a dotted line on the map: "According to the information we have so far, we are facing the German 8th Army of Weller and the Romanian 4th Army of Rakowitza. Among them, the German army has six divisions, which can be regarded as their main force. As long as they are defeated, the remaining Romanian army will not be surprising.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what you said is very reasonable." Sokov had previously fought against the Romanian Third and Fourth Armies during the Stalingrad Defense War. The bravery of the Romanian troops on the battlefield gave him It left a deep impression. However, considering that the Fourth Army was basically wiped out at the end of the battle, the combat effectiveness of the newly formed troops is naturally greatly reduced. Therefore, he did not take this reorganized force seriously: "It is entirely possible that we will fight against the Romanian Fourth Army."

"Comrade Commander, I heard that the Romanian army was very brave on the battlefield." Smirnov said with some worry, "If we want to destroy this enemy, I'm afraid we will pay a high price."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you can rest assured about this." Sokov said confidently: "I command the 41st Guards Division and once fought against the Romanian army in Stalingrad. I have to say that the soldiers of this country are Very brave, but it seems that people are not very smart, they only know how to obey orders blindly, and in the end, they were basically wiped out by our army."

Smirnov became happy when he heard this: "Comrade Commander, in this way, the Romanian Fourth Army we are about to face is a new army with little combat effectiveness."

"I think there is a high probability that this is the case." Sokov nodded and said: "Before the war broke out, Romania had more than half a million troops, but they suffered repeated defeats under the command of the Germans. Now the newly formed No. The four-day vacation should be mainly recruits, I really can't think of what kind of combat effectiveness such a force can have."

"But the six divisions of the Germans gave us a very headache." Smirnov reminded Sokov: "I don't think we will exchange fire with one of the six German divisions in a few days. The performance of the commanders and fighters on the battlefield should not disappoint us."

"Report to the commander, Comrade Chief of Staff." The director of the communications corps came over and reported to Sokov and Smirnov: "The communication line has been laid out. I don't know where Comrade Commander plans to contact?"

Sokov thought that before the headquarters entered Hesing, there was a battle going on at Teplik in the south, and he didn't know how the battle was going. So he told the director of the communications corps: "Comrade director, please help me get through the phone of General Afunin. I want to know how the war is going on there."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." The Director of Communications replied, "I'll connect you to the headquarters of the 18th Guards Corps right away."

Two minutes later, Sokov heard Afunin's voice on the phone and asked straight to the point: "General Afunin, how is the situation there?"

"Report to Comrade Commander," Afunin straightened his back when he heard Sukov's voice, and replied respectfully, "Our 8th Guards Airborne Regiment, which detoured from the north, has successfully rushed into the city. And in a very short period of time, it occupied several blocks, and now the war is developing in a direction that is beneficial to our army."

"Very good." Sokov said to the topic: "Keep working hard, General Afunin, I hope to hear the news of your victory sooner."

Just when Sokov was about to hang up the phone, he suddenly heard Afunin say: "Comrade Commander, there is another important situation, I think it is necessary to report to you."

"What is the important situation?" Sokov was naturally reluctant to put down the phone when he heard that there was important information. He urged the other party to say, "Tell me quickly, what is the important situation."

"That's right, Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov, head of the 8th Guards Airborne Regiment, reported to me that the enemy fighting them was part of the 20th Infantry Division belonging to the Romanian Fourth Army. After the breakthrough, a messenger was sent to Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov's regiment headquarters, hoping that we would accept their surrender."

Knowing that the Romanian army in Teplik wanted to surrender, Sokov's heartbeat quickened: "General Afunin, how did you recover Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov?"

"Comrade Commander, I dare not make a claim without getting in touch with you." Afunin said with some hesitation: "I don't know if they really surrendered, or if they deliberately set a trap for us... "

"General Afunin, let me ask you." Sokov said into the microphone: "Tell me, how much area does the Romanian army control in the city of Teplik?"

"According to Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov's report," Afunin replied, "the north and west of the city are controlled by the Romanian army. The east and south are defended by the Germans."

"General Afunin, ask Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov to ask the messenger why they returned after they abandoned the city?"

"I've already asked," Afunin obviously guessed that Sokov would ask this question, and he replied confidently: "The Romanians felt that they could not stop our strong attack even if they planned to stay in the city, so they chose Retreat. But not long after the withdrawal, they encountered German reinforcements on the road, and they had no choice but to return to the city of Teplik.”

With such an explanation, Sokov immediately understood why the defenders retreated at the beginning, but when the vanguard of the 18th Guards Army entered the city, they were inexplicably ambushed and suffered certain losses. The ghosts of the Germans who came to reinforce.

"What about Haixin?" Sokov continued to ask: "What's going on with Haixin City? Could it be that the defenders in the city are all Romanian troops?" The defenders of Teplik went back and forth. However, after the defenders in Haixin City left, they did not come back, only a few saboteurs remained.

"I haven't had time to ask about Haixin's situation." Afunin replied, "But according to my analysis, it should be the situation you mentioned. The defenders in Haixin City are all Romanian troops. Seeing me The large army rushed over, knowing that they could not fight, they gave up the city and retreated ahead of time. Their luck was better than the defenders of Japelik, at least they did not encounter reinforcements on the way, and were forced to return to the city they had abandoned. "

When Afunin reported the situation, Sokov was thinking in his heart that no matter how powerful the current Romanian army is, it will still cost a lot to eliminate them. But if they directly accept their surrender, then the siege troops can reduce many unnecessary casualties.

Thinking of this, he said to Afunin: "General Afunin, please tell Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov immediately that we can accept the surrender of the Romanian army to avoid unnecessary casualties. At the same time, it is best for the Romanian army to cooperate with us." to fight against the German troops in the east and south of the city."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Afunin said confidently, "I will immediately notify Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov to let him accept the surrender of the Romanian army and let the other party cooperate with them to eliminate the German troops in the city."

"Very good, General Afunin, I'm waiting for news of your victory." Before putting down the phone, Sokov felt that in order to improve the other party's efficiency, it was absolutely necessary to stimulate him, so he continued: "Now the 49th and the 57th Corps are crossing the Nanbug River and advancing deep into the enemy's defenses, and I hope you will not fall behind, or the credit will be entirely to others."