Red Moscow

Lyudmila and Vasily were waiting outside the headquarters. Not long after Koshkin went out, the two of them followed. When they walked into the headquarters, they were greeted with warm applause. Looking at the dense crowd of people in the room, even though Lyudmila and Vasily had seen many big scenes, they couldn't help showing a little timidity at this moment.

After the applause stopped, Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with them one by one, and said to them with a smile: "Well done, Liuda, Vasily, you are all well done. This is what I want to say to you. "

After finishing speaking, he took a step back, shook his head at Gorokhov who was standing beside him, and said, "Comrade Military Commissar, it's your turn."

Gorokhov nodded, walked in front of the two, and said with a smile: "Major Lyudmila and Major Vasily, in view of your outstanding performance during this period, the combat group headquarters decided to award The decision of the Order of the Red Banner for both of you."

He made a gesture, and a political worker standing not far away hurried forward and handed over two red silk boxes in his hand. Gorokhov took the box, put one in the hands of Lyudmila and Vasily, and said, "Take it, this is your honor!"

After receiving the medal box, Lyudmila and Vasily straightened their backs, raised their chins slightly, and said loudly: "Serve the Soviet motherland!"

Gorokhov looked at the gold star medals on the chests of the two men, nodded his head, and said with a smile: "It can be seen that the two of you have served quite well. You know, this gold star medal is considered to be some commanders with outstanding military achievements. None." After saying this, he instinctively turned his head and glanced at Sokov.

Sokov naturally understood the meaning behind Gorokhov's words, as well as the ulterior glance. That's right, I am a commander with outstanding military exploits, but unfortunately, although there are three medals hanging on my chest, none of them is a gold star medal, let alone the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which symbolizes the highest honor.

After the simple award ceremony, Sokov introduced the members of the condolence team to Lyudmila and Vasily. Even though the condolence group is full of important figures, when they saw Lyudmila and Vasily, it was as if they saw their idols, and they were quite enthusiastic, which made them a little overwhelmed.

After inviting the condolence team to have lunch at noon, Sokov sent someone to escort them away from Otac.

After finishing all this, Sokov seemed to be drained of all his strength, and sat down on the chair weakly, looking at Sameko who was sitting opposite him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have any latest battle report today?" ?”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Hearing Sokov's question, Sameko picked up the battle report and continued to report to him: "General Ponejielin reported that his troops have captured two cities. In the liberated cities During the process, there was not much resistance."

"Oh, the two cities of Storozhniec and Giliboka have been captured?" Sokov was very surprised to learn that Ponedelin's troops had easily captured the two cities. He thought that to capture the cities, at least It took two or three days and had to pay huge casualties. I didn't expect to win it so easily: "How about the casualties of the troops?"

"The casualties of the 98th Guards Division and the 254th Infantry Division that attacked the city did not exceed a hundred people." After reporting this data, Sameko couldn't help but be a little complacent and said: "It seems that the Romanian army has no combat effectiveness at all, otherwise we The army will not take the two cities so easily."

But Sokov's view is different from Sameko's. He was deeply afraid that the other party would feel proud of underestimating the enemy, so he quickly reminded him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think you have made a mistake. The reason why our army The reason why these two cities could be liberated so easily was not that the Romanian army was incapable of fighting, but that they did not want to fight our army, so the attacking troops could easily liberate the cities without paying huge casualties.

You must know that the combat effectiveness of the Romanian army cannot be underestimated. In the early days of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, our army in Ukraine was defeated by them many times. I think if you meet the kind of Romanians who are determined to follow the Germans, I am afraid there will be a fierce battle. "

After taking a sip of the tea on the table, Sokov asked, "Did General Bogdanov's troops drive the enemy away from Chernivtsi?"

"It has been driven away." Sameko nodded and said: "According to his report, the enemy's rear seems to have been hit by something. The enemy who fought with them had no intention of fighting, and after leaving a small number of troops, they hurriedly withdrew from Chelsea. Novtsi area."

When Sokov heard it, he naturally understood what was going on: "It seems that the troops of the First Front Army commanded by Marshal Zhukov are launching a powerful offensive against the heavy German army in the Vinnytsia area. Unable to hold back, the troops near Chernivtsi were hastily transferred away.”

"Since Marshal Zhukov launched an offensive against the German heavy army group in the Vinnytsia area, can we also transfer General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army to Romania?"

"Not for the time being." Sokov waved his hand and rejected Sameko's proposal: "I think it is better to let the 2nd Tank Army remain in the existing area, and the 27th Army can be stationed in the nearby troops, and two divisions can be deployed to enter the area. in Romania."

Trofimenko sat next to him and said nothing at first, but when he heard that Sokov planned to mobilize his troops into Romania, he immediately became interested: "Comrade commander, how about I take charge of this matter? In the shortest possible time, transfer two to three infantry divisions and one tank brigade into Romania."

Although Sokov can also command the troops of the 27th Army, in any case, Trofimenko is now the commander of the Army. If he leapfrogs his command, he will inevitably have conflicts with him, which is not conducive to the next combat operations. So seeing that Trofimenko volunteered, he agreed without hesitation: "Okay, Comrade Deputy Commander, then I will leave this matter to you."

Just after explaining the task, the phone on the desk rang. Sokov picked up the microphone and stuck it to his ear: "I'm Sokov!"

Konev's voice quickly came out of the receiver: "Comrade Sokov, I'm Konev. How about it, go to your condolence team, have you left?"

"I've already left, Comrade Marshal." Knowing that Konev's call must be for the old man's business, Sokov didn't wait for him to ask again, so he took the initiative to say: "I arranged for the old man to leave with the condolence team. Don't worry." , he is in good health now, and he will definitely be able to return to Moscow safely."

Seeing that Sokov had guessed his intentions, Konev nodded with a smile, and then changed the topic to combat: "How is the situation there?"

"Comrade Marshal, I'm just about to report to you." Sokov said into the microphone: "General Poniederin's troops took active actions in Romania and liberated Storozhne at a very small cost. The two cities of Cici and Giliboca have expanded our army's control area in Romania."

"Well, well done." Sokov's report surprised Konev, and he asked, "How is the situation at General Bogdanov's place?"

"The enemy attacking Chernivtsi has been completely defeated by General Bogdanov's troops. In a short time, they should not approach Chernivtsi again."

But Konev was obviously dissatisfied with Sokov's answer. He asked back: "Comrade Sokov, why are you so sure that the Germans will not return to Chernivtsi again?"

"Analyzing from various signs," Sokov replied, "it should be the First Ukrainian Front Army under the command of Marshal Zhukov who launched an offensive against the German army's Vinnytsia heavy army group. The troops from Chernivtsi were withdrawn to strengthen the defense of the area. Based on this, I judged that the enemy will not appear near Chernivtsi in a short time."

"Comrade Sokov, your analysis is very reasonable." After complimenting Sokov, Konev went on to say: "But have you ever considered that if the attack launched by Marshal Zhukov does not go well, was defeated by the Germans; and you just took away the Chernivtsi defenders, leaving the defense in this area empty. If the Germans seize this opportunity and attack again, will they take Chernivtsi easily? Novutzer?"

"Comrade Marshal, what you said is very reasonable." Sukov actually had similar considerations, which is why he made the decision not to use Bogdanov's troops: "But I don't think this will happen."

"Oh?!" Sokov's answer surprised Konev: "Comrade Sokov, are you so confident that the Germans will not attack Chernivtsi again?"

"Comrade Marshal, to tell you the truth, I considered that the attack of Marshal Zhukov's troops was not going well, so that the Germans would be free to attack Chernivtsi again." Sokov explained to Konev: " So I ordered General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army to stay in Chernivtsi to prevent the Germans from taking advantage of it."

"It turns out that you left General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army in Chernivtsi," Konev heaved a sigh of relief after learning about Sokov's deployment, "as long as they stay in Chernivtsi Ernovtse, even if the Germans make a comeback, they can completely contain the German army."

After a pause, Konev asked again: "Since General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army cannot be used, which troops do you plan to send to reinforce the Ponegerin battle group in Romania?"

Sokov turned his head and glanced at Trofimenko, who was on the phone not far away, and said: "I plan to call the troops of the 27th Army. There are several divisions of the Army near Chernivtsi. Let them go It seems to me very appropriate to reinforce the troops in Romania."

"Since the formation of the combat group until now," Konev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and said, "The records I have seen are basically the results of the 53rd Army, the 2nd Tank Army, and the 6th Army Army. I rarely read about the 27th Army. The only unit I can remember is Chuvashov's 98th Guards Division."

"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Sokov agreed with Konev's statement: "Some time ago, I thought that the 27th Army had just completed the supplement, and the commanders and fighters needed a process of familiarization and adaptation. The troops serve as the general reserve of the combat cluster. Now the running-in between the commanders and fighters has almost progressed, and it is time for them to play."

After learning about the situation on the northern front, Konev asked about the situation of the troops on the southern front: "Comrade Sokov, I have basically understood the situation of the troops on the northern front. What about the troops on the southern front? If I remember correctly , the troops fighting in this direction should include the 18th Guards Army of Major General Afunin and the 6th Tank Army of Kravchenko. Right?"

"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Seeing that Konev said the unit's number so accurately, Sokov nodded and said, "That's right, these two units are indeed fighting on the southern front."

"How's their recent record?"

Sokov quickly turned to Sameko for help, hoping to get the latest situation on the southern front from him. But Sameko spread his hands, indicating that he had not received any reports on the troops on the southern front.

Seeing that there was no latest battle report from Sameko, Sokov could only report to Konev the battle report he had obtained earlier: "Comrade Marshal, the troops on the southern front are advancing to the Wengen area. Among them, the 6th Tank Army is During the advance, we encountered an armored force of the German army, and after a fierce battle, we wiped out this enemy force and headed toward our destination again."

"Comrade Sokov," Konev had obviously received such a battle report a long time ago, and he couldn't help frowning when he heard Sokov say this: "The intelligence you reported to me on the southern front seems to have happened earlier today. .Is there no recent battle report?"

Now that Konev had already guessed that he was prevaricating with old battle reports, Sokov stopped pretending, but said truthfully: "That's right, Comrade Marshal, what I just reported to you is indeed that it happened earlier today. The current battle report. However, I haven’t received any new battle reports so far, so I don’t know what’s going on there.”

"Has the blizzard stopped there?"

"Yes, it has stopped." Regarding the weather, Sokov answered very readily: "After nighttime cooling and snowstorms, the ground has been frozen very hard, which is conducive to the deployment of large-scale armored forces."

"I know the terrain north of Wengen. As long as the Prut River is crossed, there are basically no mountains around. Now that the land has been frozen hard, our armored forces can drive in." Konev said: "However, it is still necessary to occupy several border cities and establish several material transfer stations, so that the supplies in the rear can be continuously transported to Romania."

As soon as he talked about the supplies coming from the rear, Sokov remembered the arsenal he sent his troops to search for, and quickly reported to Konev: "Comrade Marshal, we found some munitions left by our army near Otac. The warehouse, the weapons and ammunition stored in it, can alleviate the current shortage of ammunition and supplies in our department.”

"Oh, you actually found a few leftover arsenals?" Konev asked in surprise, "Can the weapons, ammunition and supplies in the depots still be used?"

"I have sent someone to check. Although the weapons, ammunition and supplies stored in the arsenal have been stored for three or four years, they have not affected their use at all." Sokov said: "I use these weapons and ammunition to carry out military operations for individual troops. added.