Red Moscow

In the evening, the belated tank brigade and artillery regiment finally arrived at the designated location.

In order to make up for the time lost on the road, after the artillery regiment arranged the artillery position, it launched a fierce shelling towards the German defensive position. After half an hour of shelling, the tank brigade led thousands of commanders and fighters to charge.

The German army did not expect that the Soviet army would suddenly attack its position when it was getting dark, and was caught off guard for a while. In less than ten minutes, the first line of defense of the German army was occupied by the Soviet army.

The troop's attack went smoothly, and the faces of the two infantry division commanders showed knowing smiles. They felt that they had not waited in vain for the past few hours. The artillery fire was covered, the tanks opened the way, and the infantry charged, and they easily seized the position. Next , It depends on how much time it takes to wipe out this enemy.

But neither Ismailov nor Liuzhikov realized that their progress was too smooth, and there might be some conspiracy hidden in it. The two even began to discuss whether to report the progress of the troops to the group army headquarters.

But Ismailov thought further: "Colonel Liuzhikov, I don't think it is necessary to report our achievements to the Army Command yet."

After hearing this, Liuzhikov asked in a puzzled way, "Why?"

"The reason is very simple." Ismailov pointed to the area where the battle was still in the distance, and said to Liuzhikov: "According to the progress of our troops, we will be able to completely break the encirclement of the German army in an hour at most. It will not be too late to report to the commander at that time."

As soon as Liujikov heard that what the other party said made sense, he nodded and agreed to his proposal. He was going to wait for the troops to break through the encirclement of the German army and rescue the cavalry guards trapped in the fortified area before going to Solo It was not too late for Cove to report.

What they didn't expect was that while they were waiting for the tank brigade and artillery regiment to arrive, the German army had urgently transferred an infantry division and two armored regiments from other areas. has far surpassed them.

When the Soviets attacked the German second line of defense, the newly arrived German infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched a counterattack by surprise. In less than a quarter of an hour, more than 20 Soviet tanks were destroyed, and the infantry who followed them caused considerable casualties.

Moreover, German bombers appeared in the air, and they attacked Soviet tanks and infantry in the direction of the signal flares fired by ground infantry.

Just when the Soviet attacking force fell into chaos, Captain Kupala, the battalion commander of the third tank battalion, discovered that the German infantry was indicating the bombing direction for the bombers in the air, and quickly sent a message to the tanks under his command through the vehicle-mounted radio. Signals, ordering them to launch signal flares in the direction of the German tanks and infantry, in order to confuse the audience and disrupt the judgment of the German pilots.

As the order was issued, twenty or so green flares flew towards the place where German tanks and infantry gathered. It was getting dark now, and the German bombers in the sky couldn't tell whether the tanks and infantry on the ground were their own or the Soviet army. They all attacked according to the direction guided by the green signal flare.

Now seeing so many signal flares flying to the same place, I thought it was the place where the Soviet army gathered, and immediately lowered the altitude to carry out indiscriminate bombing there. By the time they received a telegram from the ground troops and knew that they had bombed the wrong person, the Soviet army, which had suffered a lot of losses, had already retreated to its starting position.

The failure of the attack made Ismailov and Liujikov blame themselves. The two jointly sent a telegram to Sokov, explaining the failure of the attack, and asked for punishment.

Sokov received a telegram and was surprised to learn that the troops who had rescued the Guards Cavalry Army had suffered heavy losses during the attack. But he thought about it again, now that several troops are fighting together, but he has not appointed them a unified command, so when they see the troops are progressing smoothly, the two are greedy for success, and inevitably make mistakes in tactical command.

Seeing that Sokov read the telegram, Ponegerin remained silent, thinking that he was considering how to deal with the two incompetent division commanders, and quickly said: "Comrade Commander, I think the failure of the offensive cannot be entirely blamed These two division commanders, after all, participated in the battle this time with many troops, but they did not have a unified command, so when the troops were progressing smoothly, they were anxious to destroy the enemy, and did not expect to leave enough troops to consolidate and occupy the area. As a result, after the attack was thwarted, the previously occupied area was also lost."

"You're right, Comrade Deputy Commander, I didn't think carefully about this matter, and I also have an unshirkable responsibility for the failure of the offensive." Sokov agreed with Ponegerin's statement, "I plan to I will send you there to unify and command the troops to relieve the siege. If you feel that the troops are not enough, I can transfer two more infantry brigades to you."

"The existing troops are sufficient." Ponejielin said: "Although we have occupied Brest, there are still remnants of the enemy nearby. We must leave enough troops for defense."

"Okay." Seeing that Pornegelin was unwilling to let him send troops there again, Sokov did not force him, but told him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you have the final say on all affairs at the front. If there is any If you need it, please feel free to call and we will fully support you.”

Just after Ponegerin was about to leave, Sokov remembered something and quickly stopped him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, please wait a moment, I still have one thing to say."

Ponedelin stopped in his tracks and asked curiously: "What's the matter? Is it to deal with the two division commanders Ismailov and Liuzhikov? Comrade Commander, now that the war is coming, I think it's okay to deal with them." Delay for a while."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you have misunderstood." Sukov saw that Ponegerin had misunderstood himself, and quickly explained to him: "I am not talking about how to deal with the matter of the two division commanders, but for another matter. thing."

"Another thing?" asked Pornegering. "What is it?"

"It's like this," Sokov said: "When our troops were bombed by enemy planes and counterattacked by ground troops, it was Captain Kupala, the commander of the third battalion of the tank 202 brigade, who was in danger and decisively ordered his subordinates to face the enemy. He fired signal flares at the area where the enemy was gathering, and guided the German planes to attack his own troops, thus making a lot of contributions to our army's smooth withdrawal from the battlefield. I plan to reward him. Do you have any different opinions? ?”

"No, Comrade Commander." After Pornegelin finished speaking, he realized that he answered too quickly, and quickly added: "Although it is not the right time to award medals now, I think it is still possible to promote his rank. Arrived."

Sokov nodded after hearing this, and said frankly: "He is now a captain. After you reach the front line, you will announce in public that in order to commend Captain Kupala's heroic performance and resourcefulness on the battlefield, he is specially promoted to the rank of captain." rank of major."

Pornegelin nodded after hearing this, and said: "I think it is quite appropriate to promote him to the rank of major. After all, he is only a battalion commander now. When he becomes the commander of the tank brigade one day, he will be promoted to lieutenant colonel." Or the Colonel is not too late."

"You should be rewarded for your meritorious deeds, and you will be punished for your demerits." Sokov continued to say to Ponejielin: "When you get to the front and commend Captain Kupala, Ismailov and Lyuzhikov will be rewarded. Even a division commander must not let it go, and must severely criticize their behavior of underestimating the enemy."

"Need to ask them to write the inspection?"

"There is no need to write an inspection." Sokov waved his hand and said, "Tell them, in the next battle, it depends on the performance of the two of them. If the performance is good, then forget the past; but if there is still disappointment , then they must be punished. Understood, Comrade Deputy Commander."

"I understand what you mean, Comrade Commander." Pornegerin nodded and said, "We must give them a little pressure appropriately, so that they can be forced to maximize their potential."

Bornejelin came to the front and immediately called a meeting of commanders above the battalion level. After everyone arrived, he announced in public that Captain Kupala had successfully withdrawn from the battlefield and was officially promoted to a major because he was not afraid in the face of danger and covered the main force under the enemy's attack. At the same time, after the battle, he will also receive a medal matching his meritorious service.

As soon as Ponegerin's words came out of his mouth, there was an uproar in the room. Everyone envied Kupala's good luck. After firing a few flares, he was promoted from captain to major. At the same time, after the battle, he would also receive a medal matching his achievements.

After praising Kupala, Ponejielin began to criticize Ismailov and Lyuzhikov, saying that they underestimated the enemy on the battlefield, and that after occupying the enemy's position, they did not leave enough manpower to consolidate the position . As a result, after being frantically counterattacked by the enemy, not only did the captured positions fail to gain income, but they even almost fell into the encirclement of the German army.

Ismailov, who was sitting next to him, thought that Pornedelin would publicly announce his dismissal after criticizing the two of them. But I didn't expect that after the criticism, Ponegelin actually started to deploy combat missions to the troops, as if he had forgotten the two of them.

Ismailov finally waited for Ponedelin to finish speaking, and quickly asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder how the superiors plan to deal with us?"

"How to deal with you?" Pornejelin said with some surprise: "Didn't I already severely criticize you just now? What kind of punishment do you want?"

Ismailov replied with some embarrassment: "Because of our command error, the troops suffered such serious casualties, we are not at ease, thinking that even if we are not sent to a military court, we may be demoted." , I didn’t expect to criticize us in public, which is really surprising.”

Pornegerin sneered and said, "Do you think the punishment is too light? If so, I can announce the dismissal of the two of you right now and send you to a military court."

Ismailov was taken aback by Ponedelin's words. He waved his hands hastily and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander, don't worry, we will never let you down in the next battle."

Pornegelin snorted coldly, and then said: "Although we won't deal with you organizationally this time, don't be too happy too early. If the next attack goes well and your performance is also good, that's all for now." So far. But if you make any mistakes again, I'm sorry, Comrade Commander and I will deal with you in business."

Next, Ponedelin continued to assign combat tasks, but a staff officer walked in from the outside, walked quickly to Ismailov's side, bent down and leaned into his ear, ready to say something.

Seeing this, Ponegerin coughed heavily, and then asked in a stern tone: "Who is this, why didn't you call the report before entering the door?!"

When the staff officer heard what Pornejelin said, he quickly stood up straight and reported to the other party: "Comrade deputy commander, I am the staff officer of the 284th Infantry Division. I have just been notified that German troops have been found nearby. I think It was necessary to report to the teacher, so I hurried over."

When Ismailov learned that there were traces of the German army nearby, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He instinctively looked at Ponejielin, hoping that he would announce the end of the meeting immediately so that he could lead people to the place where the German army traces were found. Find out what is going on, and formulate corresponding disposal measures.

But Ponejielin's next performance was far beyond Ismailov's expectations. Ponegelin looked at the staff officer and asked: "Comrade staff, please tell me how many troops and what kind of equipment the enemy appears nearby?"

Ponegelin asked the staff officer what he said, and it took him a long time before he replied: "It was a company commander below who called the division headquarters and said that Germans appeared near his defense area. I think it is necessary to Report……"

"Aside from reporting, have you taken any steps?"

The staff officer was taken aback, thinking that after this kind of thing happened, according to the regulations, shouldn't it be reported to the superior, and then the superior should decide what to do? What else can we do without an order from our superiors?

Seeing that the staff officer was silent, Bornejelin couldn't help being a little angry, and said to the staff officer: "Go back and contact the company commander immediately and let them find out the size of the Germans and the weapons and equipment they have. Hurry up Go, I'll give you ten minutes. When the time is up, I'll hear an exact answer."

Hearing the order from Ponedelin, the staff officer did not immediately execute it, but stood still and cast a look at Ismailov for help.

Ismailov said: "Comrade Staff, didn't you hear the order of the deputy commander? Hurry up and execute the order." After finishing speaking, he gently pushed the opponent's shoulder with his hand, Urge the other party to hurry up and carry out Bonejelin's order.

After the staff officer left, Ponegerin went on to say: "Next, I will continue to assign your combat missions to each unit. I hope everyone can hear clearly..."

When Ponegerin spoke, Ismailov was not in the mood to listen at all. He kept looking at the door, wanting to see if the staff officer had completed his task, reappeared at the door, and came in to report to Pornegerin.

Ismailov's strangeness was quickly noticed by Ponejielin, he tapped the table in front of Ismailov with his hand, and said displeasedly: "Comrade Colonel, what are you thinking? Concentrate and listen carefully to the tasks I assign."