Red Moscow

"Insufficient manpower?!" Sokov stared at Ali Tai and the tank soldiers behind him, frowning and asked, "Lieutenant Ali Tai, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by lack of manpower?"

"Comrade Brigadier," Ali Tai said with a sad face, "I was notified to come here to observe the military competition with friendly troops. I thought that there must be nothing wrong with our tank soldiers, so I only brought eight people here, including the driver. There are only two people. You know, two drivers cannot drive three tanks at the same time. If I want to participate in the competition, I will send someone to go back and call a driver right away?"

For Ali Tai's request, Sokov almost agreed casually, but after thinking about it, he can drive a tank anyway, anyway, he is only driving a tank for competition, and he is fully capable of handling it. So he waved his hand at Ali Tai and said, "No need, Comrade Lieutenant, let the soldiers get on the tank. I will drive the remaining tank."

As soon as Sokov's words came out, not only Rotmistrov was taken aback, but even Alitai showed an expression of disbelief: "Comrade Brigadier, what did you say, you came to drive the tank yourself, I didn't listen wrong?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant, you heard me right. I will personally drive the tank to participate in the competition." Sokov said, waved at Alitai, and ordered: "Let the soldiers wait for the car and get ready to go."

Rotmistrov on the side quickly stopped and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, whether you can drive a tank or not, I still suggest you not to take this risk, or wait for the tank lieutenant to find another driver." Right. It doesn't matter if we wait a little longer, if something happens to you during the game, it will be a big problem."

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov smiled at Rotmistrov, "I believe that with my tank driving skills, no accidents should happen. Just watch from the stage." After finishing speaking, he jumped off the viewing platform and led Aritai and others towards the tank not far away.

Before boarding the car, Sokov whispered some precautions to Alitai and the others, then took the tank soldier cap handed to him by the tank soldier, put it on his head, and got into the tank in the middle .

The chief of staff of the tank army standing on the stage asked Rotmistrov with some concern: "Comrade commander, is it a bit too risky for Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to drive the tank to participate in the competition, you know He's an infantryman, not a tanker, so nothing will happen?"

Regarding the chief of staff's question, Rotmistrov was silent for a moment and then said: "According to what I know about Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, he is not a reckless person. Presumably he really knows how to drive a tank. Let's watch him perform here."

The commanders and fighters who were watching the battle knew that not many people knew that Sokov could drive a tank, so everyone's eyes were fixed on the tank in the middle. Especially the commanders and fighters of the infantry brigade, when they saw the tank turned a corner after starting and drove quickly towards the competition area, many of them had cold sweats in their hands.

But what happened next reassured everyone: the three tanks advanced side by side, sometimes galloping across the plain, and sometimes over the hills. Seeing that Sokov's tank driving skills are so proficient, Rotmistrov couldn't help opening his mouth in surprise, thinking that this Sokov is not simple, and his driving skills are not as bad as his own tank soldiers.

Soon, the tank approached the ravine, and the logs on the ravine had already been removed. If the tanks driven by Sokov and the others wanted to pass through here, they had to use logs to build bridges again. Three tanks stopped a dozen meters away from the ravine, and then a tank soldier got out of the tank, unloaded the logs tied to the tank body, and carried them over to build a bridge. Watching them put all the logs in the same place, the Chief of Army Staff said to Rotmistrov with some surprise: "Look, Comrade Commander, they put all the logs in one place. Location, do you intend to let all the tanks pass through the same place?"

Rotmistrov looked at the tank soldiers who were building the bridge, nodded slightly, and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't you think their approach is correct?"

"Comrade Commander," asked the Chief of Staff, looking at Rotmistrov in bewilderment, "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"When our tanks pass through the ditch, each tank uses four logs to bridge the ditch." Rotmistrov pointed to the front and explained to his chief of staff: "The simple bridge erected in this way , the width must be the same as the width of the track, otherwise it may fall into the ditch when passing the ditch. And they put all the logs together to build a bridge, which is equivalent to a plane, even for drivers with average driving skills. Able to drive tanks smoothly through ravines."

Speaking of this, Rotmistrov nodded again, and said with a smile: "This Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is really not simple, he actually adopted this method to strengthen it, it seems that they won this competition again. "

"No way." Hearing what Rotmistrov said, the chief of staff said unwillingly: "After all, they haven't passed the ditch yet, so it's not clear who will win."

But what happened next confirmed that Rotmistrov's guess was completely correct. Because of the wide plane formed by the twelve logs, the driver does not need to repeatedly adjust the position of the logs when driving the tank across the bridge. As a result, the tank unit commanded by Sokov passed the simple wooden bridge at a faster speed than The tank soldiers just now were more than twice as fast.

Seeing that the three tanks had returned to the viewing platform and stopped, Rotmistrov immediately jumped off the platform, walked over quickly, shook hands with Sokov who had just got out of the tank and said: " Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that you are so skilled in driving tanks."

"I used to drive a crawler tractor when I was in the collective farm." Hearing Rotmistrov's praise, Sokov used his usual rhetoric again in order to avoid arousing the other party's suspicion: "Therefore To drive a tank so skillfully."

After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Rotmistrov said with a wry smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, we lost to you in shooting and stabbing. We can still figure it out. But now we even lose to the tank driving competition. For you, it really makes us feel ashamed."

"Comrade General, you are too modest." Although Sokov won three games in a row today, in order not to embarrass Rotmistrov too much, he still explained with a smile: "If there is no such In this game of tank driving, we must have lost."

"That's right, Comrade General." Alitai, who was standing beside Sokov, added in time: "Before we boarded the train, Comrade Brigadier specifically told us to use all the round logs together when building bridges." , The bridge deck erected in this way is wide, and tanks can pass directly without having to send people to adjust the width. If it is not because of saving a lot of time when crossing the bridge, we will definitely lose this game.”

"If you win, you win, if you lose, you lose." Rotmistrov said generously to his chief of staff, "Chief of staff, please announce the result of the game to everyone."

The chief of staff promised, climbed onto the body of one of the tanks, looked around, and said loudly: "Comrades and fighters, I now announce that the 73rd Infantry Brigade won the tank driving competition that just ended!"

When they first heard that a new tank driving competition was added, the commanders and fighters of the infantry brigade felt that it was very unfair: We are infantry, but you want to compete with us in driving tanks, why don’t you compete with us in driving airplanes? But when they saw the tank driven by their brigade commander speeding over the plains and hills, they felt a little relieved, thinking that even if they lost, they would not lose too badly. At this moment, when the chief of staff of the tank army announced the victory of the infantry brigade in public, the soldiers immediately cheered like a mountain and a tsunami, and the military caps they had just picked up flew into the air again.

When the troops of both sides returned to their respective stations, Rotmistrov said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can we have a few words?"

Sokov nodded and said, "Yes."

The two made way to the side of the road so as not to block the commanders and fighters who were about to return to the camp. Rotmistrov said, "Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."

"Thank me?!" As Rotmistrov suddenly thanked himself, Sokov asked a little puzzled, "Why?"

Rotmistrov first handed Sokov a cigarette, and then said: "You also saw today that when our tanks pass through ravines or anti-tank trenches, they use log bridges. In order to let the bridge The width of the tank is the same as the width of the tracks on both sides of the tank, which usually takes a lot of time. But you concentrated on using log bridges to let our soldiers understand that using this method to pass obstacles will save a lot of time. time."

After figuring out what was going on, Sokov grinned, and then said: "Comrade General, this is just a trivial matter, you are really too flattered."

After the two chatted for a few more words, Rotmistrov said to Sokov: "I received a telegram from the commander of the front army last night, saying that reinforcements were sent by the headquarters, and they will be ready in a day or two." Hurry up. As soon as they arrive, our defensive strength in Kursk will be greatly improved. At that time, your brigade will be able to search for the line of defense and concentrate on defending in one direction."

Knowing that the reinforcements from the base camp were about to arrive, Sokov not only did not feel joy, but the expression on his face became solemn. Seeing Sokov's reaction, Rotmistrov couldn't help being a little curious: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I think you are not only not happy when you hear that reinforcements are coming, but you have a worried expression on your face. What's going on?"

"Comrade General, it is a good thing that there are more troops in the city." Hearing Rotmistrov's question, Sokov did not hide it, but replied truthfully: "But if there is no unified Command, then in the face of the enemy's attack, the troops in the city will fight on their own. Once the German army is too strong, we are in danger of being defeated individually."

Sokov's words reminded Rotmistrov that besides infantry divisions, there were also tank brigades and artillery regiments among the reinforcements. If these troops came from the Bryansk Front Army, maybe the superiors might hand over the troops to him for unified command, but now these troops come from the reserve team of the headquarters, not to mention himself, I am afraid that even the commander General Rokossovsky , and have no right to command.

Thinking of this, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your worries are very correct. I will return to the headquarters later and report this matter to General Rokossovsky."

When Sokov returned to the headquarters, Belkin, who was staying here, immediately greeted him. Although he already knew from other soldiers that the infantry brigade had won all three competitions. But when he saw Sokov appearing in front of him, he still couldn't help asking: "Comrade Brigadier, did we win all the victories in today's game?"

"Yes, Comrade Commissar." Since one of the victories was personally commanded by him, Sokov said a little excitedly: "Not only did we win the shooting and stabbing competitions. Even Rotemi We also won the tank driving competition that General Stroeve temporarily added."

"This is really unfair." Although the game had already been won, Belkin still wanted to complain about Rotmistrov in front of Sokov: "We are obviously an infantry brigade, General Rotmistrov wants to compete with us in tank driving skills, isn't this difficult?"

Sokov laughed dryly twice, and said, "Anyway, we are the final victors. Comrade Political Commissar, come to the map, I have something else to tell you."

Sokov pointed to the map hanging on the wall, and said to Belkin: "I heard from General Rotmistrov that the reinforcements given to us by the headquarters will arrive in Kursk soon. Wait until they arrive at Kursk." Come on, our brigade's defense zone will shrink, from the original two defense directions to one. Tell me, which direction should we choose for defense?"

"Does it need to be said?" Belkin walked to the wall, patted the bottom of the map with his hand, and said confidently: "Of course, he is responsible for the defense in the south of the city. There is the Tnebra River here. The German army It is not possible to invest heavily in this direction, and to defend here with our strength, there is no problem at all."

Thinking of the victory won by the Second Battalion and the First Company, Sokov felt that the terrain in the south of the city was indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack. If he could choose freely, he would definitely choose the south of the city. He nodded and said, "Comrade Political Commissar, you're right. After the reinforcements arrive, I'll make a request to my superiors to transfer our brigade to the south of the city to take charge of the defense in this direction."