Red Moscow

Before the troops led by Pavel arrived at the battlefield, the operator sitting on the side suddenly shouted excitedly: "Comrade commander, I have received a strange telegram."

"Strange telegram?" Sokov couldn't help raising his eyebrows when he heard what the operator said, and asked, "What strange telegram?"

"A clear-coded telegram," said the operator with a wry smile, "it was sent on the same frequency and in the same band as the telegram received last month."

If the operator had mentioned the strange telegram from last month, perhaps Sokov would not have cared about the telegram at all. But at this moment, he realized that the other party might have some important information that needs to be conveyed in a timely manner, so he adopted such an extremely dangerous method to send it.

Sokov held out his hand to the operator: "Show me the telegram."

The content of the telegram is simple: "The German Air Force, a motorized division and two infantry divisions, are about to rush to the battle area north of Bryansk."

Potukin stood beside Sokov, tilted his head and read the content of the telegram together, and said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade commander, do you think this is a German conspiracy?"

"If Comrade Telegrapher is right, the person who sent the telegram this time is the same person who invented the code telegraph last time." Sokov shook the telegram in his hand to Potukin, "I need to send this telegram immediately." Report the incident to Comrade Commander."

The telegrams that can be received by the radio stations of division-level units can naturally be received by the radio stations of the group army headquarters. Therefore, after receiving Sokov's report, Rokossovsky said disapprovingly: "Major Sokov, the task of your division now is to break through the second line of defense of the German army. As for the clear telegram, You'd better forget it. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." After putting down the phone, Sokov thought to himself: If what the telegram said was true, as soon as the large German troops arrived, the attack launched by the Soviet army would collapse immediately. In order to prevent his division headquarters from being wiped out after the troops were defeated, he immediately called Bindasov and ordered the other party decisively: "Comrade Colonel, immediately organize the soldiers and build defenses in the existing area." fortification."

"Why is this, Comrade Commander?" Bindasov was confused by Sokov's order. He didn't order the troops that had been attacking all the time, why did he build fortifications, so he asked inexplicably: " Knowing that our division is now attacking, not defending, I don't think it necessary to build any fortifications at all."

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov did not see any hope for the Soviet army to win. He worried that once the German reinforcements came up, the Soviet army's offensive would collapse, and the results of today's battle would also be wiped out. In order to prevent possible counterattacks by the German army, he felt that it was necessary to take preventive measures in advance, so he said to Bindasov on the phone: "Do you understand that if our army's offensive is frustrated and the Germans turn around in this area?" If we don’t have any defenses, how can we resist their attack?”

Although Bindasov saw that the attacking troops were blocked in his observation post, he didn't feel that the German army had the ability to counterattack at all. For him, building fortifications was simply superfluous. But for him, who is used to obeying orders from his superiors, since Sokov has already issued an order, even if he knows that the order is wrong, he still has to carry it out unconditionally.

Just when the 1135th regiment began to build fortifications, the battle for the second position was moving in a direction that favored the Soviet army. After receiving support from the 1137th Regiment, the morale of the 1139th Regiment was greatly boosted. The soldiers successfully rushed into the enemy's position and exchanged fire with the enemy in the trenches.

Not only did the 31st Guards Division make progress, but even Orlov's infantry army successfully broke into the German defensive positions and launched a brutal and fierce battle for the trenches. Seeing this scene, Zhukov had a smile on his face. He turned to Rokossovsky and said, "It seems that we are completely correct in sending follow-up troops into battle in time." Pointing to the position of the 31st Division, he said with some displeasure, "Look at what that Misha is doing? Our troops have won successive victories, but he is organizing manpower to build fortifications in the rear. It's just random bullets." Qin."

"Comrade General," although Rokossovsky also felt that Sokov's actions were a bit inappropriate, but he was his subordinate after all, and he still wanted to speak well of Zhukov in front of him: "Anyway, the remaining 31st Guards Division It is not a bad thing to let them repair the fortifications." He looked up at the fighter planes circling and diving in the sky, and added with some concern, "The ammunition carried by our fighter planes should be It's almost exhausted."

Zhukov didn't take Rokossovsky's concerns seriously. He looked at his watch and said confidently: "If the attack goes well, our troops will capture the enemy's second position within half an hour. At that time, the fighter plane can return to the airport to replenish fuel and ammunition, and our infantry can also take the opportunity to rest for a while before launching an attack on the third position."

However, what happened next exceeded Zhukov's imagination. A large group of German fighter planes suddenly appeared over the battlefield. The Soviet aircraft fleet, which was preparing to withdraw from the battlefield, saw the German fighter planes that suddenly appeared, and bravely greeted them regardless of their lack of ammunition and fuel.

The fighter planes of the two sides fought fiercely over the battlefield. They hovered, chased and fought at different heights. From time to time, some planes were hit by machine guns or machine guns, and fell from the sky with long black smoke trails, falling in the distance In the forest, after a puff of black smoke with flames rose into the sky, there was another dull explosion.

Seeing the air battle going on above his head, Sokov couldn't help frowning. He knew very well in his heart that the Luftwaffe said in the clear telegram had arrived on the battlefield. If they came half an hour earlier, it would be hard to say who would win. But at this moment, the ammunition of the Soviet fighter planes was almost exhausted, and the fuel was very limited. If they continued to stay above the battlefield, they might not have much chance to return to the airport.

However, the vast majority of Soviet pilots knew very well that once they set up their planes and left, the German planes would be able to massacre the ground attacking troops. Therefore, even if there was not much ammunition and fuel left, they still bravely fought against the enemy in this area. The German planes engaged in a dogfight.

Several brave pilots bravely drove the plane towards the enemy plane in order to prevent the German plane from attacking the ground troops after they had exhausted the ammunition on board. After a loud bang, both of them turned into a ball of fire, and the fragments of the burning body scattered from the air like a goddess scattering flowers.

"Our pilots are so brave!" Potukin looked at the Soviet fighter planes that were still fighting fiercely with the enemy planes in the sky, and said with emotion: "Even if the enemy planes outnumber them several times, they are still fighting bravely."

"Chief of Staff, they are indeed very brave." Sokov looked at the fighter planes from both sides falling in the sky, and said solemnly: "But what they did is not advisable."

"Why?" Potukin asked curiously.

"Pilots cannot be compared with infantry. An excellent pilot needs a lot of flying time to cultivate." Sokov said: "Under the current situation, what they have to do is to save themselves first, so that they have the opportunity to eliminate more The enemy. Such a life-for-life strategy like theirs will only cause us to lose a large number of excellent pilots, thereby weakening the strength of the Air Force."

Rokossovsky was also aware of Sokov's concerns, and he said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, the ammunition and fuel of our fighter planes are almost exhausted. If they are allowed to stay here and continue fighting with the Germans There will inevitably be heavy casualties in the battle. I beg you, let them withdraw from the battlefield immediately."

Zhukov put down the binoculars, turned his head and glanced at Rokossovsky, then nodded, and said solemnly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what you said is correct, we cannot let excellent pilots do nothing like this." Sacrifice for nothing." Then he ordered the communications staff, "Send a telegram to the Air Force Command, ordering them to withdraw the fighter planes over the battlefield immediately. These fighter planes are about to run out of ammunition and fuel, and there is not much point in continuing to stay." .”

As the order was issued, the remaining Soviet fighters over the battlefield left one after another. However, even so, this air force, which had suffered huge losses, would not be able to recover for a long time.

Not long after the Germans took control of the air on the battlefield, a large number of infantry appeared in the distance. Under the cover of tanks, they rushed towards the second line of defense, which was still in a state of melee.

Seeing this situation, Zhukov couldn't help but thumped in his heart, secretly saying that what the plain-coded telegram said was true, and that the German reinforcements had really arrived. But at this time, he couldn't order a retreat casually, otherwise it would very likely turn into a rout. Therefore, after thinking for a while, he ordered the infantry army to build fortifications in the existing areas, so that after the attacking troops were repelled by the Germans, they could also rely on these positions for defense.

After Rokossovsky asked Malinen to convey the order, he looked in the direction of the 31st Guards Division and said with emotion: "When this Misha thinks about problems, he always seems to think farther and more comprehensively than we do. Just now we It is superfluous to still criticize him for ordering troops to build fortifications. Now it seems that he has expected that the German army may launch a counterattack against us."

"Comrade Rokossovsky," Zhukov said after Rokossovsky had finished speaking, "The Germans have gained air supremacy on the battlefield, and their reinforcements have also arrived. At this time, continue to fight. , it is very difficult for us to achieve the predetermined goal.”

"Then what should we do?" Rokossovsky asked hastily.

"Order the troops to stop the offensive and temporarily withdraw from the first line of defense occupied by our army," Zhukov said with difficulty: "Organize a new defense there. Also, find a way to find out who invented the code telegraph. Based on the analysis of the signs, he should be our intelligence personnel who penetrated into the German army, otherwise we would not be able to provide such accurate intelligence.”

"Don't worry, Comrade General," Rokossovsky assured Zhukov, "we'll figure it out."

The 1137th and 1139th Regiments, which were in charge of the left-wing offensive, resisted for less than 20 minutes in the face of the powerful German counterattack, and were forced to withdraw from the second German line of defense and retreat to the first line of defense occupied by themselves. Prepare to rely on the fortifications there to resist the next German offensive.

With the retreat of the 31st Guards Division, the flank of the right-wing infantry army was exposed in front of the German army. In order to prevent the troops from being cut off by the enemy rushing from the side door, Orlov decisively issued a retreat order to the troops. The commanders and fighters of the infantry army alternately covered and withdrew from the second position and retreated to the first line of defense.

Seeing the 31st Guards Division and the infantry corps retreating to the first line of defense, Zhukov calmed down a lot. He pointed to the smoky battlefield ahead, and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, although we don't have enough troops to continue attacking the enemy, I hope you can stabilize the front line." within the existing area."

Rokossovsky nodded vigorously, and replied: "Don't worry, Comrade General. We will do everything possible to stabilize the defense line within the existing area. But you need to replenish our weapons and ammunition, otherwise our cannons will It is just a display, unable to provide the necessary artillery support for these infantry comrades who are engaged in positional warfare with the enemy."

"Don't worry, Comrade Rokossovsky." Zhukov knew very well that without artillery support, it would be difficult for the troops of the 16th Army to hold on to the occupied position, so he nodded in agreement: "You will fight in the shortest possible time. Get the supplies you deserve."

After receiving Zhukov's promise, Rokossovsky said to Kazakov: "Commander of the Artillery, you immediately choose a suitable location to deploy artillery, and be ready to provide artillery support for the infantry at any time."

One or two hours ago, Bindasov, who was still complaining about the construction of the fortifications, saw that the troops attacking the German positions had to retreat to the first line of defense after the attack was frustrated, and his eyes widened in surprise. , he never dreamed that the troops that had the upper hand would be defeated so quickly. He said to the first battalion commander Jetrov with lingering fear: "Comrade Captain, not long ago I thought it was superfluous for the division commander to let us build fortifications here. But at this moment, it seems that the division commander has long considered the possibility of our army's attack. Frustrated, that’s why he made such a wise decision. No wonder someone else, a major, will be appointed as the acting division commander by his superiors, while I, a colonel, can only be the commander of the regiment under his subordinates.”