Red Moscow

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, the situation at that time was very unfavorable to our army." Sokov said: "I was a garrison squad leader in the town of Khimki north of Moscow at that time, and I heard what I heard every day. The German army advanced many miles in the direction of Moscow. Fortunately, our army finally blocked the German attack and launched a counterattack against the German army under the city of Moscow, driving them far away from the city."

"The Germans caught us off guard and forced us to give up a large area of ​​land and retreat to Moscow step by step. But fortunately, we finally smashed the enemy's conspiracy and firmly blocked them in Moscow. Outside." Zakharov said a little excitedly: "Now it's our turn to attack, and they are defending. From the analysis of the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, the Germans will retreat step by step under our attack. I believe it will take less than two years." With time, we can completely defeat them."

"You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, our army is constantly winning." Sokov nodded in agreement with Zakharov, but he added his own opinion: "However, the resistance of the Germans is very strong. Tenacious, if we continue to fight at the current speed, I am afraid it will take two or three years to reach Berlin."

"Then what do you think should be done to speed up our attack?"

"It's very simple. Urge the Allied forces to open up the second battlefield as soon as possible, so that part of the German army's forces can be dispersed, thereby reducing the resistance encountered by our army when attacking."

"Comrade Sokov," Zakharov said disapprovingly when he heard Sokov mentioning the Second Front, "do you really think that the Allied Forces opened up the Second Front and forced the Germans to draw troops from the Eastern Front? ?”

"This is for sure, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." When Sokov said this, he was afraid that Zakharov would not believe what he said, and he explained specifically: "As far as I know, the later stage of the Battle of Kursk , the Allied forces landed in Sicily, forcing Mustache to transfer Manstein's 23rd Panzer Corps of the General Reserve. If this unit had not been transferred to Italy, but remained in the Kursk region and participated in the final offensive , then it’s really hard to say who will be the final victor in the Kursk battle.”

Sokov's words have already reached this point. If Zakharov still doesn't understand, then he is too incompetent as the chief of staff of the front army. Fortunately, Zakharov was not as stupid as he imagined. After thinking for a while, he agreed with Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, you are right. The three SS divisions who were trying to block the German army back then The attack of the enemy, we used the troops of the four front armies back and forth, and barely blocked the enemy's offensive.

Of course, during the Battle of Kursk, the troops under your command also contributed a lot. With your own strength, you have held back three SS divisions and a battle group of the German army, and completely reversed the unfavorable situation on the battlefield. "

Having said that, Zakharov picked up his teacup and took another sip of water: "As for the transfer of Manstein's general reserve team by Mustache, this is the first time I've heard of it. I wonder if this kind of news is reliable? ?”

"Of course it is reliable." Sokov naturally would not tell Zakharov that he had seen this historical event from Manstein's "Lost Victory". In order to prevent Zakharov from getting to the bottom of it, he pretended to be vague and said: "I got this news from a reliable source, and it must not be false."

"Comrade Sokov, I believe what you said is true." Zakharov said with some helplessness: "Since the first year of the war, our country has been asking Britain and the United States to open up a second front, and even Every once in a while, delegations will be sent to visit the United States in various names, lobbying the United States in various ways, hoping that they can open up a second battlefield as soon as possible.

To be honest, at the beginning, I was full of expectations for this Second Battlefield. But as time went by, when our army was fighting against the German invaders, there was no movement in the United States, which made me completely disappointed in their so-called second front. "

Speaking of this, Zakharov suddenly remembered a trifle, and asked Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, among the supplies from the United States to aid our country, there is a kind of canned beef stew. Guess our soldiers put it What is it called?"

Zakharov's words reminded Sokov of a plot he had seen in a movie before, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, our soldiers will never call this canned beef stew second." battlefield?"

As soon as Sokov's words came out, there was a burst of laughter. But Zakharov raised his hand to stop the laughter of the crowd, but said sincerely: "Comrade Sukov, you are right, our soldiers did say that. The reason why they gave the U.S. Canned beef stew has such a strange nickname because they have completely lost confidence in the second front they promised to the United States, so they can only use this to make fun of it to pass the boring time."

"Comrade Commander," Zakharov had just finished speaking when Gorokhov interrupted and asked, "I want to ask, do you think the Allies will open up a second front?"

"Comrade Military Commissioner, I think they will definitely open up a second front." Sukov saw that everyone around him cast doubtful eyes on him, so he continued: "When the Great Patriotic War just broke out, the British and American Seeing that our army is retreating steadily, China is worried that once it opens up a second front, the Germans will take them as the main target of attack.

In the next two years, they saw that our army and the German army were engaged in repeated tug-of-war, and worried that the Germans would be able to mobilize enough troops to deal with their second battlefield when the second battlefield was opened at this time.

Now that the situation on the battlefield has become clear, the strength of the Germans is getting worse day by day. If the fight continues like this, I am afraid that the entire European area occupied by the Germans will eventually be liberated by us. The United Kingdom and the United States are worried that our country will become bigger in Europe. In order to curb our development, they will definitely send troops to open up a second battlefield and compete with us for European land. "

Sokov's words made the people around him fall into deep thought. For a long time, the various military aids provided by the United States have made them have a great impression of the United States in their hearts. But I never dreamed of what the purpose of the United States is to do this. At this moment, after listening to Sokov, it was like waking up from a dream.

"So, in order to fight for control of Europe, the United States will definitely open up a second battlefield?" Gorokhov asked.

"That's right, it's true." Sukov thought that the famous D-Day landing would start in two more months, and it was necessary to give everyone a wake-up call in advance. He organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said: "In order to seize more European land before our army, they will open up a second battlefield as soon as possible to snatch more land from the Germans."

"Comrade Commander, isn't your statement too alarmist?"

Facing Gorokhov's doubts, Sokov smiled and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, if you don't believe me, there is nothing I can do. Anyway, according to my judgment, the Allied forces will open up a second battlefield in June and July. Then you'll know if I'm right."

Everyone was discussing the issue of the second battlefield when a phone on the table rang suddenly. As the chief of staff of the combat group, Sameko was worried that he would miss important notifications, so he hurried forward to pick up the topic: "Hi, I'm Chief of Staff Sameko, who are you?"

"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." The person on the other end of the phone was Colonel Konev. When he heard Zakharov answering the phone, he hurriedly said loudly: "I am Konev, commander of the 3rd Guards Airborne Division. Colonel Husband, I have important information and I need to report it to Comrade Commander immediately."

Sokov mentioned that the other party knew him, so he walked over and took the microphone from Sameko's hand: "Colonel Konev? I'm Sokov. I'm glad to hear your voice."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko recognized Sokov's voice, and he didn't have time to exchange greetings, but directly said what he wanted to report: "My scout just sent back a piece of information. I need to report to you."

Sokov knew very well in his heart that the 18th Guards Army was being trapped by the snowstorm and couldn't walk. If there was no important matter, he would not directly report to himself. He said quickly: "Colonel Konev, what happened to you?"

"Comrade Commander, the situation is as follows," Konev explained to Sokov: "I thought that our troops would not be able to move forward anyway because of a snowstorm, and they would be idle anyway, so I sent a reconnaissance team, Conduct reconnaissance of places where the enemy's troops are concentrated.

Unexpectedly, during this reconnaissance, an unexpected discovery was made: "Comrade Commander, I thought that the enemy in front of us was the Romanian army. I didn't expect that the scouts accidentally discovered the German armored unit during the reconnaissance. It looks like they have been ambushing there for a long time, ready to catch our army by surprise."

"How many troops do the Germans have?"

"According to my estimation, at least one or two divisions"

After saying this, Sokov couldn't help but take a deep breath. Fortunately, he now knows that the Germans have entered the battlefield. If the troops were not aware of this in advance, they would still follow the original plan to attack the frontal enemy, and they would have to pay a huge price. casualties.

"Comrade Commander," Konev reported to Sokov on the phone: "The enemy's strength is really too strong. If there is a real fight, with this little force in my hand, I will definitely not be the enemy's opponent. "

"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Sokov comforted the other party and said, "You are not fighting alone. Aren't you surrounded by the 4th Guards Airborne Division, and the 254th Infantry Division that is about to arrive, plus the friendly force Kra General Vchenko's 5th Tank Army. With your strength, let alone guarding a small embankment, but rushing to attack an important city of the German army is no problem."

"By the way, have you reported this to General Afunin?"

"No." Konev shook his head and said, "I haven't had time to report yet."

"Then you should report as soon as possible," Sokov reminded the other party: "If you don't prepare in advance, once the attack starts, it is entirely possible that the troops will suffer a lot."

Konev said quickly: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will call the army commander and report the situation I have detected to him truthfully."

After finishing talking with Konev, Sokov put down the microphone and raised his hand to look at the time. He wanted to find out how long Colonel Konev would have to wait before reporting the intelligence he had detected to Afunin. The general reports.

Seeing Sokov staring at his watch, Sameko asked curiously, "Comrade Commander, why do you keep checking the time?"

Sokov looked up at Sameko and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm counting the time." After saying this, before Sameko asked any more questions, Sokov continued, "I want to see After Colonel Konev received my order, how long did it take for this news to reach Afunin's ears."

After finding out why Sokov was staring at his watch, Sameko said thoughtfully, "I think it will take an hour at the earliest before Colonel Konev can send the information to the division headquarters."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, every minute on the battlefield is precious. If Colonel Konev really took more than an hour to report this information to General Afunin, it proves that he is a man who does not pay attention to the concept of time." people."

"Comrade Commander, is there such a possibility?" Smirnov interrupted suddenly: "Colonel Konev reported the information he detected to General Afunin in time. But General Afunin felt that This matter is irrelevant, so I never thought of reporting it. So if you want to wait for General Afunin to report this matter to you, I am afraid that you will be disappointed in the end."

"This possibility is not ruled out." Sokov felt that the possibility that Smirnov said existed completely. For example, after obtaining a lot of enemy intelligence, I would not report to the front army headquarters immediately. Maybe after receiving the report from Colonel Konev, Afuning felt that the sudden appearance of the German army in western Zhejiang was Unsurprisingly, it is therefore irrelevant whether or not to report the matter to superiors.

But just when Sokov was about to give up, the phone on the desk rang again.

The person who answered the phone this time was Sameko. He picked up the microphone and listened for a while, with a look of joy on his face. He covered the receiver with his hand, turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, the call is from General Afunin. He said that he just received a report from Colonel Konev. In the area where they are going to attack, they found A large number of Germans..."

Sokov patiently listened to Sameko's words, and then asked back: "Comrade Chief of Staff, did General Afunin tell you what measures they have taken?"

This time, Sameko stopped. After a long while, he shook his head and said, "No, General Afunin didn't adjust his deployment in time, and was going to attack the Germans strictly according to the plan."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell General Afunin." Sokov pointed to Sameko and said, "We must be prepared with both hands. One is that everything goes well, and our army's reinforcements arrive to jointly defeat the new army. Second, the attack was not smooth, and the troops had to retreat to the original starting point of the attack.

If we don't take any measures and don't build fortifications in the existing area, in case our army's attack is not smooth and the enemy retreats to the starting position, if we don't have decent fortifications, how can we face the crazy attacking enemy? To block them? "