Red Moscow

"Comrade Military Commissioner, you can't talk nonsense like this." Although Sokov also wanted to become the commander of the front army, he knew very well in his heart that his ability was not enough for such a position. Even if what Lunev said is true, he can’t take it seriously, so as not to be used as a problem by others: “If someone hears it and tell it outside, I’m afraid it will cause me unnecessary trouble. "

"It's all my own people here, I just said it." Lunev said: "If I change to other places, I will never mention this matter."

"Comrade Military Commissioner, is this true?"

"Of course it is true, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Lunev nodded and said, "The source of my news is absolutely reliable."

"Okay, Comrade Military Commissioner. Don't talk about it again." Sokov suddenly thought of someone: "Do you still remember the commander of the 50th Army, Bolkin?"

"I remember, of course I remember." Sidolin nodded and said, "After he was dismissed as the commander of the 50th Army, he was sent to Moscow by Comrade Marshal. It is estimated that even if he does not go to court-martial, he probably will." Dismissed from military service."

Sokov smiled slightly after hearing this, and said: "Don't look at him being dismissed as the commander of the 50th Army and sent to Moscow, but as far as I know, he will not be punished at all. After all, he is a A senior commander, maybe the superior will entrust him with important tasks."

"This is impossible." Sidolin said: "In any case, due to his negligence and inaction, the German army fled for a whole day, and our troops still knew nothing about it. If so If they are not punished, it will be a mess in the future."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think what Misha said makes sense." Lunev interjected, "Bolkin's status is different, and the superiors will definitely be cautious about how to deal with him. According to my analysis, The reason why he missed the battle opportunity is probably related to his experience in the past few years."

"Is it related to his experience?" Sidolin asked curiously: "Comrade Military Commissioner, can you tell me what is going on?"

"In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, Bolkin was the deputy commander of the Western Front. Even though the original commander, chief of staff, director of communications, etc. were sentenced to death by a military court, he still did well in that position. Good. Later, when Konev served as the commander of the Western Front, he ordered him to lead a combat group to launch a counterattack against Huot's armored forces, but unfortunately, this counterattack ended in failure. Bolkin After returning to the Front Army Command, he did not continue to serve as the deputy commander, but was appointed by his superiors as the commander of the 50th Army Group, which lasted for several years."

Hearing what Lunev said, Sokov guessed the reason for Bolkin's abnormality, and added: "The military commissar is right, Bolkin was the deputy commander of the front army at the beginning of the war, but a few years have passed, and the war has ended. Towards the end, the former commanders who were lower than him surpassed him, and even served as the commander of the front army, such as Marshal Rokossovsky, General Cherniakhovsky and General Baghramyan. Wait. But he is still standing still, this huge contrast makes him feel lost, so he gradually becomes negative in commanding operations.”

"That's right." Lunev said: "It is said that for such a major event as the retreat of the German army, he only needs to send a few scouts to scout to find out what happened. But after receiving the report, he actually took different measures. Even Marshal Rokossovsky personally rushed to the headquarters of the 50th Army to ask him about the situation on the battlefield, and he hadn't even recovered from his hangover."

"Okay, let's not talk about the friendly army." Seeing that the two were still unsatisfied, Sokov was afraid that they would not finish their chat, so he said to Sidolin: "Our attack on the enemy will soon be over. It's about to start, I wonder if the reconnaissance troops have figured out the deployment of German troops and the location of firepower points?"

"Most of the firepower points have been clarified, and a few are still being verified." Sidolin said: "My idea is to order the artillery to destroy all these firepower points in the artillery preparations before the attack, so as to reduce our army's offensive. casualties suffered.”

"The enemy's firepower points must be destroyed as much as possible during the preparation of artillery fire, so as to reduce the resistance of our attack." Sokov stared at the map and said: "But now there is a problem, after suffering from our countless times After the heavy blow, the Germans also learned to be smart. They knew that after the first round of shelling was over, we might take advantage of their return to return with another round of artillery coverage to kill them to the greatest extent."

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I have also noticed this problem." As Sukov's chief of staff, Sidolin naturally knew that the other party would not mention this matter inexplicably. He must have a comprehensive countermeasure before he specifically raised it. Regarding this matter, he tentatively asked: "I wonder if you have any good solutions?"

"The best way is to block the sight of the German army, so that even their observation posts can't figure out our army's movements."

"What are you going to do?" asked Sidolin.

"The method is very simple." Sokov drew a dotted line with his finger between his defense zone and the German defense zone: "We only need to release a lot of smoke in this area to block the sight of the Germans. Make them confused about what we're trying to do."

Sidolin stared at the position of the dotted line drawn by Sokov, pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, your idea is good. If we release smoke between the lines of defense between the enemy and ourselves when we conduct shelling, so that the enemy Our observation post can’t see our movements clearly. After our artillery preparations are over, the enemy who retreats to the second line of defense to avoid the shelling must have to quickly return to the front line to avoid being attacked by us.”

"But how should the smoke be released?" Lunev, who has not spoken, raised his own doubts: "If the smoke is released by the soldiers, the area covered by the smoke must be limited. But if the smoke is released by artillery, it will affect the area. to the preparation of artillery fire on the German positions."

"You're right, Comrade Military Commissar." Sidolin agreed with Lunev's statement: "Whether the smoke is released by artillery or artificially released by soldiers, it may be difficult to achieve the desired goal. state."

"Is there no other way besides artillery and artificial release of smoke?" Sokov tapped his forehead lightly with his fingers, and said, "Use your brain more, maybe you can come up with a better way." .”

Hearing what Sokov said, both Sidolin and Lunev began to think about what a good way to release a large amount of smoke in the middle of the defense lines of the enemy and us, so as to block the vision of the German observation post and ensure the offensive battle win.

After thinking for a long time, the two shook their heads, expressing that they couldn't think of a good solution.

Lunev said to Sokov: "I said Misha, don't be fooled. If there is any good way, tell us."

"Air Force." Sokov said with a smile, "Why, you two forgot about the Air Force?"

While Lunev was still stunned, Sidolin slapped the table hard and said, "Hey, why did I forget the Air Force. Comrade Commander, you are right, you can let the Air Force By means of bombing, a smoke zone was arranged between the lines of defense of the enemy and us to block the view of the German observation post, forcing the Germans to return to the front line to prepare for battle immediately after our army's artillery preparations were over."

At this time Lunev also figured out Sokov's intentions. He nodded and said, "Misha, you really have a genius idea. Use bombers to drop smoke bombs to create a lot of smoke between the enemy and us, so that The enemy's observation posts cannot detect the movement of our army. However, our army can use this smoke to sneak close to the German positions, and choose the right time to attack them by surprise and seize the positions in their hands."

"Well, that's what I thought." After Sokov finished speaking, he stared at Sidolin and said, "But before that, we must find out the exact location of the German firepower point and map it on the map of the artillery attack. Mark it out. You know, if the smoke is really released by the bomber, it will not only block the enemy's vision, but we will also be affected. The artillery can't see the target to be bombarded at all. Therefore, the enemy's firepower must be set before the battle begins. The location of the artillery is reported to the artillery, so that they can mark it on the map to improve the accuracy of destroying the target."

"Comrade Commander, if you want to drop a large number of smoke bombs between the enemy's defense lines by bombers before the attack, you must contact the Air Force in advance." Sidolin reminded Sukov: "Look, do you immediately send your Report this idea to Comrade Marshal?"

"That's right, this operation requires the cooperation of the Air Force." Sokov said with a smile, "With my face, I can't command the Air Force, so we need to invite Comrade Marshal to cooperate with us and the Air Force." Coordination issues between them."

When Rokossovsky received a call from Sokov, he thought it was something wrong with Yakov, and asked nervously, "Misha, is something wrong?"

Victor heard a tremor in Rokossovsky's voice, as if he was worried about something. He was taken aback for a moment, but then guessed the reason, and quickly explained: "Comrade Marshal, you misunderstood. I have nothing to do with Yasha when I call you this time. I just want to talk to you about combat matters."

Knowing that it wasn't about Yakov, Rokossovsky calmed down again, and he asked tentatively, "Misha, what is it, let me tell you."

"Comrade Marshal, it's like this." Sokov repeated to Rokossovsky what he had just said to Lunev and Sidolin, and finally emphasized: "Because I and the Air Force Commander Not familiar with it, I hope you can come forward and help us coordinate with the Air Force."

"No problem, it's a trivial matter." Although Rokossovsky felt that Sokov's tactic was relatively innovative, it is temporarily unknown how effective it will be. Therefore, he will not promote it within the entire front army, but only I plan to try it out in Sokov's group army: "When the day comes, I will give priority to sending the air force to assist you."

"Great, this is really great." Sokov said repeatedly: "In this way, we may be able to capture heavily guarded and well-defended positions from the Germans with minimal casualties."

"Misha, to be honest, your new tactics sound very good, but how effective they are still needs to be tested in actual combat." Rokossovsky felt that it was necessary to remind Sokov that he would not wait for the new tactics. After the offensive battle started, the opponent saw that the friendly forces on the left and right flanks did not adopt the same tactics, so he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, so he explained to him specially: "This time, first test it within your army group. If the effect is good, then use it in the entire front army. It’s not too late to promote.”

For Rokossovsky's caution, Sokov agreed: "It doesn't matter. I just figured out this tactic. I don't know how effective it is. I will try it out with me next time. It’s really effective, and it’s not too late to promote it.”

After Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander, did the Marshal agree?"

"Yes, he agreed that in the next offensive battle, before our army's artillery preparations start, the air force's bombers will drop smoke bombs behind the enemy's line of defense to create a smoke zone to block the vision of the German observation post and provide our army's defense. A smooth attack creates favorable conditions."

"Just agree." Lunev said, "Misha, I have a hunch. If we adopt your tactics in the next offensive battle, we will surely catch the Germans by surprise and capture the Germans with minimal casualties." enemy positions."

"Comrade Military Commissar, in fact, there are still many problems with this tactic I think." Sokov continued: "Before the smoke cleared, the Germans' vision was indeed blocked, but the vision of our attacking troops was also blocked." It will be affected. I remember that when a certain town was liberated last year, the German army released a lot of smoke. As a result, our troops who entered the town became blind. Before the smoke dissipated, they could only grope a little bit, which wasted plenty of time."

"Yes, if the smoke does not disperse, our troops will charge, and the vision of the commanders and fighters who enter the smoke will be blocked." Sidolin said: "Maybe they will get lost in the process of advancing, or break into to the German minefields, or directly to the second line of defense, and suffered needless casualties."

"Is there any good solution?" Lunev asked.

"There is a way, but the effect is not very good." Sidolin shook his head and said: "For example, a compass is distributed to every commander above the company level, and let them follow the direction indicated by the compass to the enemy. attacking defensive positions."

"No, the efficiency of doing this is too low." Sokov shook his head and said: "Even if each company commander is equipped with a compass, but the attack in the smoke is nothing more than these company commanders and a few commanders around them , can move forward in the correct direction; the rest of the commanders and fighters will still be in a mess because they can't see the direction."

"Then what should we do?" Seeing that the plan proposed by Sidolin was rejected by Sokov, Lunev became anxious: "If the smoke will really have an adverse effect on our offense, then what will happen if we release the smoke?" What's the use?"