Red Moscow

Sokov hesitated for a moment, and then continued to ask: "Lieutenant Rednikova, can you tell me where the defense zone of the troops you want to instigate is?" Whether to be stationed on one's own offensive route, if so, can reduce a lot of unnecessary casualties.

Regarding Sokov's question, Rednikova seemed very embarrassed: "Comrade General, I don't know whether I should answer your question."

Seeing Rednikova's embarrassed face, Sokov guessed that his level might not be high enough to know more about the inside story, so he stopped embarrassing Rednikova: "Okay, Comrade Lieutenant, since You can’t tell me, so I won’t ask any more, so as not to let you violate the confidentiality regulations.”

"Comrade General, thank you for your understanding." For Sokov's understanding, Rednikova said gratefully: "Tell you the mission we performed, I have already violated the regulations. If you say the specific unit number , that really belongs to leaking secrets. Not only will I be punished, I'm afraid it will also implicate you."

Koshkin half turned around and asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, shall we go to the infantry brigade first, or to the tank brigade first?"

"Let's go to the infantry brigade first." Sokov said: "After all, today's operations are still dominated by the infantry brigade, and the tank brigade can only play a supporting role."

"Okay, then let's go to the Infantry Brigade first." Koshkin said to the driver: "Driver, let's go to the 118th Infantry Brigade first."

A few minutes later, Sokov's convoy stopped in front of a wooden house, which was the headquarters of the 118th Infantry Brigade.

The brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Grushike, who had heard the news a long time ago, stepped forward and opened the rear door of the jeep as soon as the car stopped.

After the door opened, Rednikova was the first to get out of the car.

Seeing that it turned out to be a female officer, Gelushko couldn't help being taken aback, thinking who is this female officer, and why did she appear here with the commander?

As Sokov's classmate at the Frunze Military Academy, Glushko knew Assia. When he saw that this person was not Assia, he couldn't help but have different thoughts in his heart. He thought that this female officer might be related to Soko. The relationship with her husband is different, so I always take her with me when I go to the front line for inspections.

After getting out of the car, Sokov shook hands with Glushko, and then introduced Rednikova to him: "This is Lieutenant Rednikova from the Ministry of Internal Affairs." He only said Rednikova Kova's background, military rank, and other matters were not mentioned, which made Glushiko feel even more surprised.

When everyone came to the headquarters, Sokov asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how is the situation here?"

"Report to Comrade Commander." Glushko replied: "Our brigade just occupied a town of the German army in two hours. At the moment, the second battalion is fighting the fire and resettling the homeless refugees in the town."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I think you should have received a notice from Comrade Military Commissioner to restrain military discipline and not harass the local people." Sokov looked at Glushko and asked, "Is there such a situation in your brigade?" ?”

"No, Comrade Commander, absolutely not." Glushko shook his head and said resolutely: "I have conveyed the notice issued by the Army Group Command to every soldier. I dare not say anything about other units, but There will be absolutely no violation of military discipline in my brigade."

"That's good." Now that Grushiko had expressed his attitude to himself, Sokov did not continue to question him, but shifted the topic to the current battle: "Is the newly occupied town equipped with defenses?"

"There are many fortifications built by the German army on the outskirts of this town, but all the fortifications are facing east." Grusko reported to Sokov: "I heard from the locals that these fortifications are It was built more than ten or twenty years ago, and its main purpose was to defend against the Polish army."

Hearing what Glushko said, Sokov couldn't help laughing. Before the outbreak of World War II, it was Poland that jumped the most. When Mustache raised the threat of force, the Polish general also declared that as long as Germany dared to use force, Poland would return Germany to the situation after the end of World War I. But it was such a country that dared to speak harsh words. Under the attack of Germany and the Soviet Union, it took only 28 days. Poland, which was trying to rise after World War I, collapsed under the joint attack of the two military powers.

Sokov sneered and said: "The Germans never dreamed that the fortifications they built had no chance to defend against Poland's attack, because the country only lasted less than a month under their blows." time to perish.”

"We plan to build some fortifications on the west side of the town and deploy artillery positions in the town." Glushko said: "In this way, even if the Germans launch a counterattack, we will be able to block their attack."

When Glushko said this, Rednikova had a complicated expression on her face and opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't say it in the end. Sokov saw her strangeness. After a little thought, he thought of a possibility. Could it be that the German troops that Rednikova and the others were planning to instigate rebellion were in the direction of their attack?

Although he wanted to know the answer very much, he didn't ask Rednikova. He knew very well that this involved confidentiality, and even if he asked, Rednikova would not tell herself. On the contrary, it will make the other party feel embarrassed.

"Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov nodded in approval of Glushko's defense plan: "Then arrange for some people to build some fortifications on the west side of the town, no matter whether the Germans will launch a counterattack or not, with the fortifications , we don’t have to worry about being attacked by the enemy if we stay in the town.”

Sokov stayed in the headquarters of the infantry brigade for more than half an hour, then got up and left, preparing to inspect the tank brigade.

"Comrade Commander," Koshkin turned to Sokov when Sokov got into the car, "I think you don't seem to want to inspect the tank brigade?"

Seeing that Koshkin saw his thoughts, Sokov no longer concealed it, but nodded and said: "Koshkin, you are right, I really don't want to inspect the tank brigade. You know, we In today's combat areas, rivers are criss-crossing, and tank troops can't play any role at all. On the contrary, when tank troops advance forward, engineers need to open special roads for them so that tanks can pass smoothly."

"Comrade Commander, if the superiors let our army attack Berlin, I think tank troops can still be used." Koshkin said: "Fighting in the city, encountering the enemy's strong fortifications and fire support points, our tanks Go up and fire a few shots, and you can tear apart the enemy's defenses."

"If we have a chance to enter Berlin to fight, the tank unit will indeed be useful." Sokov said with a wry smile, "But do you think we have a chance?"

"Comrade Commander, I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of German troops in Berlin, and there are also several impenetrable anti-aircraft towers..."

"Wait a minute, Koshkin!" Sokov heard this, and immediately interrupted Koshkin: "Where did you hear about the anti-aircraft tower?" The reason why he asked this was to find out How does the other party think of the Berlin air defense tower? If he blows the air defense tower to the sky like those mindless sand sculptures of later generations, he will have a good talk with Koshkin, and don't mislead other commanders and fighters with false rumors.

"I heard from comrades in the friendly army," Koshkin noticed Sokov's dissatisfaction, and said hastily and cautiously: "They said that the anti-aircraft towers in Berlin can not only defend against air, but the artillery deployed on them can also act like a fortress." It is like a cannon, bombarding the surroundings of Berlin. As long as our troops enter the range of the artillery fire, they will be hit by intensive artillery fire and pay a heavy price. It is precisely because of this rumor that I feel that our chances of entering Berlin to fight Big."

"Since the German anti-aircraft tower is such a threat to our ground forces, why not send planes to blow it up?" Rednikova asked puzzled.

"Comrade Lieutenant, do you think the Air Force has not considered this issue?" Koshkin said with a sneer, "But the anti-aircraft towers are extremely strong. Whether it is our army's aircraft or the Allied aircraft, they have repeatedly bombed the air defense towers." .But in the end, the anti-aircraft tower was not blown up, but lost a lot of aircraft."

When Sokov mentioned this, he felt a little more at ease. What Koshkin heard was roughly the same as the historical facts, not what those sand sculptures of later generations said. The Berlin air defense tower shot down tens of thousands of Soviet and Allied forces overnight. bomber. He said to Koshkin: "Koshkin, I admit that the air defense towers in Berlin are a great threat to the air force, but it is simply impossible to say that they can bombard attacking troops from all directions like a fortress. .”

"Comrade General." Seeing Sokov's confidence, Rednikova asked tentatively, "Do you really think that the German anti-aircraft towers will not pose any threat to our ground offensive forces?"

"There must be a threat." Sokov does not deny that the artillery on the anti-aircraft tower poses a threat to the ground offensive troops to a certain extent, but when it comes to stopping the ground attack, it is simply impossible: "But it The threat is not as great as imagined. After our army enters the city of Berlin, the anti-aircraft tower will not pose any threat to the ground troops due to the shooting angle. Even if our army cannot take down the anti-aircraft tower in a short time, we can still send The troops laid siege to it, trapping the defenders inside."

After listening, Rednikova nodded vigorously, and then asked: "Comrade General, I want to ask you, how long do you think we can defeat the enemy?"

Sokov didn't speak, just stretched out a finger.

Rednikova said in surprise: "What, another year?"

"No, Lieutenant Rednikova." Sokov shook his head and said, "I'm saying that we can completely defeat the Germans within a month."

"To completely defeat the Germans within a month?" Hearing what Sukov said, Rednikova exclaimed in surprise: "How is this possible? You know, the Germans have hundreds of thousands of troops in Berlin. We can still mobilize millions of People's Stormtroopers at that time, and if we want to defeat such a large-scale defender, it will take half a year, if not a year. How can we completely defeat the Germans in a month?"

Sokov did not argue with the other party on this issue, because these people are different from himself. They are not from later generations, and they have no idea of ​​the direction of history. They can only analyze how long the ongoing Battle of Berlin will take according to their own judgment. .

In fact, not to mention ordinary commanders, even Zhukov, according to his plan, it would take at least three months to completely defeat the German defenders in Berlin. The real Battle of Berlin began on April 16 and ended on May 8. After 23 days, Germany announced its unconditional surrender. This speed of victory is far beyond Zhukov's imagination.

Came to the headquarters of the tank brigade. As soon as the tank brigade commander saw Sokov, he began to complain: "Comrade commander, our tank troops are always at the forefront of every attack, but this time they are far behind the infantry. The next time we arrived at the offensive assembly point, we found that the infantry battle was over. If this continues, I am worried that the commanders and fighters will have emotions in their hearts."

"Comrade Brigadier, I think you are the one with emotions." After unceremoniously debunking the other party, Sokov said with a wry smile, "It's not that I don't want your tank brigade to open the way ahead, but the terrain here is It is very unfavorable to the deployment of tank troops. Think about it, if we forcefully cross the Oder River, even if your tank brigade takes the lead, can you cross that wide river?"

"No." The tank brigade commander replied with his head down: "My tanks can't swim. They can't cross such a wide river. Only after the infantry brothers have established a foothold on the west bank and erected a pontoon bridge can our tanks be able to swim." Enter the west bank area via the pontoon."

"That's right, that's true." Sokov continued: "Also, after you reach the west bank, I'm afraid you will also find that besides the Oder River, there are many small river ditches here, which also make it difficult for you to move. No The only way is to let the infantry open the way in front, and you follow behind to provide them with the necessary artillery cover, so that they can smoothly push into the depth of the German defense."

"Comrade Commander, I have another question." The tank brigade commander waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then summoned up his courage to ask: "I heard that our army group is not qualified to participate in the attack on Berlin. I would like to ask, is this real?"

"Comrade Brigadier, first of all, I want to correct you on one question." Sokov looked at the other side and said, "Not only our Army Group cannot participate in the attack on Berlin, even the entire Second Front Army is also not eligible to participate in the attack on Berlin. This is indeed a regrettable event, but to ensure that the troops attacking Berlin are not disturbed, we must continue to fight in the existing area and ensure the safety of the friendly flank. Do you understand?"