Red Moscow

After arriving in the Yagotin area, Sokov originally thought that the two Vlasovs were going to find a place to reorganize a new headquarters. Unexpectedly, as soon as they got off the train, a major came over and saluted the two of them: "Commander and Chief of Staff, welcome to your arrival."

Vlasov nodded at the other party, and then asked: "Where is the army headquarters?"

"It's in a church not far from here." The major said respectfully, "I'll drive you there."

Seeing Vlasov following the major towards a black car parked not far away, Sokov quickly grabbed Colonel Del and asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, wasn't our headquarters occupied by the Germans?" Did it get lost? Where did this new headquarters come from? "

Unexpectedly, Colonel Del laughed after hearing this, and then said: "Captain Sokov, although the place where you usually stay is also called the 37th Group Army Headquarters, it is also the Kiev Garrison Headquarters. The task of commanding operations is actually It is commanded by the deputy commander of the group army who is stationed here."

Sokov followed Vlasov and Colonel Del into the headquarters and saw a bald commander with his back to the door, standing in front of a map, giving orders to the staff around him.

The major who led the way quickly walked to the bald commander's side, stood at attention and reported: "Comrade deputy commander, the commander and chief of staff are here!"

The bald commander turned around and saw Vlasov and Colonel Del standing not far away. He quickly walked over, raised his hand and saluted, then extended his hand to Vlasov and said enthusiastically: "Commander Chairman, Chief of Staff, it’s great to see you here.”

While the three of them were shaking hands for a long time, Sokov saw clearly that the bald commander's diamond-shaped collar badge was inlaid with two gold stars, indicating that he was a major general.

"Captain Sokov, come here." Vlasov, who had been chatting with the deputy commander for a while, turned to Sokov and said, "Let me introduce to you our comrade deputy commander."

"Hello, Comrade Deputy Commander." As soon as Sokov walked in front of the bald commander, he quickly raised his hand and saluted: "I am Captain Sokov, commander of the special company of the headquarters."

"So you are Captain Sokov." The deputy commander seemed very enthusiastic after hearing Sokov reveal his identity: "I have heard the commander and chief of staff mention you several times, and today is the first time we meet."

"There is no way. Although we are the commanders and deputy commanders of the 37th Group Army, due to various reasons, we have to stay in two places." Vlasov said with emotion: "This should be the first time that the three of us have met. Bar."

"Yes, this is the first time we have met." The deputy commander said, "I didn't expect that we would meet under such circumstances. By the way, I heard that the Germans occupied Kiev. How did you escape? "

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you don't know something. If it weren't for Captain Sokov's cleverness, we would all have fallen into the hands of the Germans." Colonel Del said.

The deputy commander couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this, and then asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you tell me in more detail how you escaped from danger?"

Since the deputy commander wanted to know how he and Vlasov escaped from danger, Colonel Del did not hide it, and told how Sokov used a trick to pretend to be a German Brandenburg officer and soldier, deceiving the German major, and on the other side. With the help of others, he successfully passed the Dnieper River Bridge controlled by the German army and told the deputy commander in detail.

After hearing this, the deputy commander couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise. Then he gave Sokov a thumbs up and said repeatedly: "Comrade Captain, I really didn't expect that you could come up with such an amazing plan to combine the commander and the commander." The Chief of Staff was rescued from danger."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you are very grateful." Faced with the deputy commander's praise, Sokov still maintained the necessary humility: "I am the commander of the special company, and my responsibility is to protect the safety of the group army leader, so I do everything I can to protect the safety of the group army leader. It’s a matter of duty.”

"That's a good thing." The deputy commander was very satisfied with Sokov's answer. He turned to Vlasov and said: "Comrade Commander, I think Captain Sokov will definitely have great achievements in the future. ”

"That's for sure, my comrade deputy commander." After Vlasov said this, he curiously asked the deputy commander: "By the way, where is comrade Military Commissar, why didn't you see him?"

"He went to inspect the troops." The expression on the deputy commander's face became serious again: "Most of our troops in the Yagotin area are troops in the Kiev fortification area. We learned that Kiev has fallen After being killed by the Germans, the mood of the commanders and soldiers was a little low. The military commissar took a group of political workers to the front to do propaganda work, hoping to boost military morale and morale. "

"How is the defense situation here?" Vlasov continued to ask.

"Since I have limited troops at my disposal, my defense directions are mainly directed towards the west, south and north..."

Seeing the three group army leaders beginning to discuss defense deployment, it was obviously inappropriate for the young captain Sokov to stay here, so he secretly exited the room and prepared to find a place to stay, waiting for Vlasov and others to call him. , can appear in time.

"Comrade Captain," as soon as he came out, the major who led the way stopped him: "You have brought more than 300 people. I plan to distribute them to various units. I wonder if any of you want to stay. ?”

Before coming to Yagotin, Sokov knew that due to the serious shortage of combat personnel, the officers and soldiers brought from Berezhan would be assigned to various combat units in a very short time, but he had to find a way to keep a few confidants, so that when he was independent in the future, he would have his own team.

At this moment, he heard the major ask this, he quickly took out a notebook from his pocket, tore off a page from it and handed it to the other party: "Comrade Major, except for these few people, you can freely assign the rest of the officers and soldiers."

The major took the page and saw that there were more than a dozen names written on it, and some of the names were marked with military ranks. When he saw Mira's name and rank, he was a little surprised and said, "Comrade Captain, why is there a major in there?"

"This major is the chief of staff of the 851st Regiment of the 284th Division. The commander has a good impression of him and plans to entrust him with important tasks in the future." Sokov was worried that the major in front of him would do something weird and assign Major Mira to some front-line combat unit, so he used Vlasov as a shield: "So don't assign him to the front-line combat unit for the time being."

"Well, I know." The major nodded and continued to ask, "Is there anything else?"

"Comrade Major, can you find a place for those who stay to stay?"

"No problem." The major answered very straightforwardly: "I will notify you after I settle them down."

Soon after the major left, several people came over.

When Sokov saw clearly that one of them had the political rank of a regimental political commissar on his collar, he guessed that the other party might be the military commissar of the group army, and quickly stepped aside, leaned against the wall, and raised his hand to salute the other party.

The regimental political commissar had already walked over, but when he saw Sokov saluting him, he stopped, looked at him carefully, and then asked: "Comrade Captain, I don't think I have ever seen you before, which unit are you from?"

"Report to Comrade Regimental Political Commissar." Sokov replied respectfully: "I am Captain Sokov, the commander of the special company of the army headquarters, and I just escorted the commander and the chief of staff here."

"So you are Captain Sokov." The regimental political commissar smiled: "I have heard about you from others a long time ago, but I didn't expect to see you here today." He extended his hand to Sokov and said in a friendly tone, "Let's get to know each other. I am Nikolsky, the military commissar of the army and the regimental political commissar."

Sokof quickly extended his hands, shook the other's hand, and shook it twice, He said politely: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissar, nice to meet you!"

After a few pleasantries, Nikolsky asked casually: "Comrade Commander and Comrade Chief of Staff, are they in the headquarters now?"

"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov nodded and said in an affirmative tone: "They are inside."

When Nikolsky was about to go inside, his eyes stayed on Sokov's chest, and he asked in confusion: "I heard that you won a Lenin medal representing the highest honor, why didn't I see you wearing it?"

"It's like this, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov explained to the other party: "When we broke through, in order not to expose our true identity, I put it away temporarily."

Nikolsky didn't ask again, but said "um" softly, and then walked into the headquarters.

Seeing Nikolsky's arrival, Vlasov seemed very enthusiastic: "Comrade Military Commissar, I am very happy to see you here."

"Me too, Comrade Commander." When Nikolsky shook hands with Vlasov, he said with emotion: "When we lost contact with the headquarters in the city, I was still worried about your safety. Now that I see you all standing safely in front of us, I feel at ease."

"Comrade Military Commissar," Colonel Del said on the side: "If it weren't for Captain Sokov this time, I'm afraid the commander and I would have fallen into the hands of the Germans."

Nikolsky was stunned after hearing this, and then asked back: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what is going on, can you tell me about it?"

In fact, even if Nikolsky didn't ask, Colonel Del would find an opportunity to tell the other party about his and Vlasov's experience in Kiev. Since the other party asked, he took the opportunity to tell the other party in detail about the escape.

After listening to Colonel Del's story, Nikolsky showed a look of realization on his face: "So that's it, so that's it!"

His reaction puzzled everyone.

"Comrade Military Commissar," the deputy commander asked curiously, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's like this," Nikolsky explained to everyone, "Just before I came in, I met Captain Sokov in the corridor outside. I remember that in the report from his superiors, he was mentioned to have won a Lenin medal awarded by the Supreme Command for his outstanding performance on the battlefield. But I didn't see this medal on his chest. I asked him at the time, and he said that he took it off during the breakout to avoid exposing his true identity.

I was still wondering at the time, what kind of medal you wear during the breakout operation, and what is the connection between whether you can jump out of the German encirclement? But after listening to the chief of staff's story, I finally understood that Captain Sokov took off the medal hanging on his chest because he was worried that the enemy would recognize it as the Lenin medal representing the highest honor, and thus doubt his identity."

"Comrade Military Commissar," the deputy commander asked, "What is the mood in the troops?"

"Tell the truth?"

"Of course." Vlasov said: "I definitely want to hear the real situation. Only this will be helpful for the next combat deployment."

"It's terrible." Nikolsky said: "Due to the defeat of our army, the morale of the commanders and soldiers has been extremely low. In addition, the ammunition replenishment situation is also very bad. It is rumored that the warehouse that provides us with ammunition and material supplies has been Falling into the hands of the Germans made our officers and soldiers even more emotionally unstable."

"The morale of the troops is low and the morale of the troops is low. This is not a good sign." Vlasov said with a solemn expression: "If this continues, as long as the Germans launch another wave of offensives, our defense line may collapse. "

"But under the current circumstances, what good way can we do to boost morale?" the deputy commander asked.

Vlasov stared at the map in front of him and said thoughtfully: "I think we should launch a counterattack somewhere to repel the German attack. That way our commanders and soldiers can see the dawn of victory, and thus Regain confidence."

"Comrade Commander, this is easy to say, but very difficult to do." The deputy commander pointed to the map on the wall and complained to Vlasov: "Look, the area we defend is so vast. , and the troops are seriously insufficient, and it is difficult to use them for defense. How can there be extra troops for attack? "

"Comrade Deputy Commander, since our troops are seriously insufficient, why do you want to distribute the troops evenly?" Vlasov pointed to the map and said dissatisfied: "Look, whether it is an important defensive area or an ordinary The forces you use are roughly equal in the defensive areas. If the German army concentrates its forces and focuses on attacking our main defensive locations, once a breakthrough is achieved, what kind of forces will we use to fill such a gap? "

The deputy commander actually knew in his heart that his way of deploying troops had many flaws, but the troops at hand were limited, so he could only deploy defenses in this way. Hearing Vlasov's criticism at this moment, he asked with a grimace: "Comrade Commander, how do you plan to adjust the defense?"

"Deploy troops from unimportant areas to strengthen the main defensive areas." Vlasov said without hesitation: "Only small units need to be left in unimportant areas to monitor the enemy."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." The deputy commander nodded and said, "Now that you have made a decision, let's adjust the deployment according to your order."

"By the way, we also brought hundreds of troops from Berezan." Colonel Del interjected: "Most of their commanders and fighters are veterans who have been on the battlefield and have combat experience. Adding them to the frontline troops can strengthen The combat effectiveness of the troops.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, my men are already doing this."