Red Moscow

Sokov took Andre back to the brigade headquarters, and after telling him to sit down, he said, "Captain Andre, you can now report to me the whole process of the battle on the right bank of the Tenebra River."

When the troops were cleaning the battlefield, Andre had communicated with Vanya, because he was very clear about the entire battle process. After he reported to Sokov in detail, he specifically mentioned the misunderstanding that occurred during the battle.

Sokov, who was still smiling, suddenly became stiff when he heard what Andre said. He stood up and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, thinking to himself that in the days to come, night combat would be indispensable. If the problem of identifying friend and foe could not be solved, many unnecessary casualties would be caused.

The idea of ​​distinguishing by gunshots was immediately rejected by him as soon as it came up. Most of the commanders and fighters in the brigade were equipped with German equipment, which could not be recognized at all. Tying a white towel around his arm sounds quite reliable, but Sukov knew in his heart that it would be useless in a night battle. When he saw a group of people rushing in front of him, his instinctive reaction was to open fire immediately. There was no time to watch Whether the person has a towel on their arm.

"Comrade Brigadier, what are you thinking about?" Seeing Sokov walking back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, Belkin asked curiously, "Are you thinking about how to write a report? "

Sokov stopped in his tracks and said to Belkin: "Comrade Commissar, I'm thinking about how to do a good job of identifying friend and foe when encountering poor visibility during night combat!"

"Is that what you're bothered about?" Belkin asked briefly.

"That's right, that's exactly what it is."

Belkin smiled slightly after hearing this, and said to Andrei who was sitting aside: "Comrade Captain, please tell our comrade brigade commander now, after a misunderstanding occurred on the battlefield, how did we resolve the misunderstanding?"

"Use the bugle, Comrade Political Commissar." Andre quickly replied: "Use the sound of the bugle to tell the other party that we are our own people and stop firing."

"Using horns for communication?" Ever since Sokov commanded this unit, he has never used horns, so much so that he almost forgot that there is such a unit. At this moment, he heard that the commanders and fighters of the first battalion were eliminated by horns Those who misunderstood could not help showing a surprised expression on their faces: "Captain Andre, you mean that your subordinates only realized that they were fighting with their own people when they heard the bugle blown by the other party?"

"That's right, that's right." Andre nodded vigorously, and replied affirmatively. Then he turned to Belkin and said happily, "If the first battalion and the second company hadn't communicated through the buglers, I don't know how long this misunderstanding will last."

After waiting for Andrei to finish speaking, Sokov looked at Belkin and asked: "Comrade Commissar, that is to say, during night battles, we can use the sound of trumpets to communicate and distinguish between ourselves and the enemy?"

"Comrade Brigadier, as long as each company is equipped with a trumpeter." Belkin said to Sokov with a smile: "We can solve the problem of contact and distinguishing between ourselves and the enemy during night operations."

Regarding Belkin's formulation, Sokov thought for a while, and finally shook his head and denied it: "No, our brigade's organization is too chaotic, a battalion is equivalent to an infantry regiment of a friendly army, and a company is equivalent to a battalion. Hundreds of people are equipped with a bugler, it’s wrong, if the bugler dies in the battle, how should we communicate next?”

Sokov's question left both Belgin and Andrei speechless. They all understood that a company of hundreds of people was equipped with only one bugler, which was indeed a little short. But there is no way if you want to be more equipped. Although the combat effectiveness of the trumpeter is not strong, it is a special unit. It must go through a long period of training to become a qualified trumpeter.

After a while, Belkin asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, what can you do?"

"Whistle!" Sokov said slowly: "I have seen commanders and fighters use whistle to command soldiers to attack. The bugle is not easy to train, but we can match every platoon commander with a whistle , During night battles, the whistle is used to command troops and contact friendly forces. Do you think it will work?"

"I think it's okay!" As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Andrei nodded and said: "In the past, in battle, because people's shouts were often covered by the sound of guns on the battlefield, even if you shouted With hoarse voices, the soldiers may not be able to hear the commander's orders. But the whistle is different. Even if the guns blare again, the soldiers can still hear the sharp whistle, and according to the pre-arranged signal, come Carry out combat missions."

"What about your opinion, Comrade Commissar?" Seeing that Andre agreed with his idea of ​​using a whistle to communicate on the battlefield, Sokov looked at Belkin and asked, "You also agree to use a whistle to communicate on the battlefield?" Command and liaison work?"

"I agree." Belkin nodded and said, "I think it is very appropriate for commanders to use whistles for command and communication on the battlefield."

While several people were talking, Briski, who was deployed in the west of the city, called and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, a unit has entered our defense zone and said it will take over our defense. What should we do now?" manage?"

Knowing that there were troops preparing to take over the defense of the Fourth Battalion, Sokov understood that the reinforcements sent by the headquarters had arrived, and he ordered Briski: "Comrade Captain, immediately hand over the defense of your battalion to the friendly army, and then you transfer the troops to To the south of the city. From now on, our brigade will only be responsible for defense tasks in this direction."

Knowing that reinforcements had arrived, Belkin was extremely excited, and he asked Sokov specifically: "Comrade Brigadier, do you think we need to go over and say hello to the commander of the friendly army?"

"It's not necessary." Sokov said without hesitation: "The friendly army has just entered Kursk, and there must be a lot of things to be busy. We shouldn't disturb them at this time. We'd better wait for them to settle down, and we will go."

After saying this, Sokov remembered Vanya, the first battalion commander who was sent to the health team, and quickly called the health team to ask how Vanya was doing. After learning that the other party was mainly caused by skin trauma, and he was fine after a week of bed rest, he finally let go of the boulder in his heart.

In the evening, the infantry division, tank brigade and artillery regiment sent by the base camp all entered the city of Kursk one after another. The residents of the city were worried about the continuous attack of the German army during this period. Seeing so many troops entering the city, it seemed as if they had taken a reassurance, and the panic in the city disappeared immediately.

Just when Sokov was about to convene a meeting with the battalion and company commanders, he received an unexpected call. Rotmistrov's familiar voice came from the receiver: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you have time now? Comrade Chief of Staff wants to see you."

"The Chief of Staff wants to see me?" Hearing what Rotmistrov said, Sokov couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and secretly said that Rokossovsky had something to tell him, and he felt that it was inconvenient to say it on the phone , So he sent Ma Linin to assign tasks for himself. Thinking of this, he hurriedly and cautiously asked: "Comrade General, shouldn't Chief of Staff Ma Linin be commanding operations at the headquarters at this moment, why did he come here suddenly?"

Rotmistrov was silent for a moment after hearing what Sokov said, and then continued: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you made a mistake. It is not Chief of Staff Malinin who wants to see you, but Chief of Staff Vasiliev Comrade Vowski."

"General Vasilevsky wants to see me?" Sokov heard Rotmistrov say this, and asked in confusion: "Comrade General, do you know what's going on?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, haven't you studied the secrecy regulations?" Rotmistrov said in a reproachful tone, "Ask only what should be asked, and don't ask what should not be asked."

Although Sokov didn't know what the secrecy regulations were at all, he still said solemnly into the microphone: "I've learned it, Comrade General, I understand. I won't inquire about things that shouldn't be asked. So as not to embarrass you."

"Okay, don't talk about this." Rotmistrov said into the microphone: "If you have nothing to do now, come here immediately. Comrade Chief of Staff is still waiting for you."

"Comrade General, I want to ask a question." Sokov turned his head and glanced at Belkin who was sitting next to him, and continued to ask, "Should I go to your place alone, or with the political commissar?"

Rotmistrov thought for a while, and then said: "You should come here alone. I think the chief of staff will definitely assign you a secret mission. There are too many people, and it is easy to leak information."

Knowing that Vasilevsky might assign important tasks to him, Sokov did not dare to neglect, and after explaining a few words to Belkin, he drove to the headquarters of the tank army. Here, he met Vasilevsky, who had come from Moscow by plane.

Sokov walked up to Vasilevsky, raised his hand to salute, and said loudly: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, has been ordered to come. I am waiting for your order. Please." instruct!"

After Vasilevsky raised his hand to return the salute, he said, "Please take a break!" After finishing speaking, he circled Sokov a few times with his hands behind his back, and nodded, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, thanks to your timely grasp of You seized the fighter plane and successfully captured Kursk, the Supreme Command of the base camp speaks highly of you!"

Sokov could not help feeling ecstatic when he heard what Vasilevsky said. He thought to himself, could it be that the headquarters is going to grant us the title of Guards Brigade? Otherwise, why would the Comrade Chief of Staff specifically say these words?

Just when he was complacent, Vasilevsky walked to the wall, faced Sokov and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please come to me." Sokov hurried forward a few steps and came to the In front of Vasilevsky.

Vasilevsky turned his head to look at the map on the wall, pointed to a river and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you know the name of this river?"

When Sokov saw it, he wondered if this was the Don River, so he replied casually, "It's the Don River!"

"That's right, it's the Don River!" Vasilevsky nodded in affirmation. Then his finger moved a certain distance to the right, pointed to another river, and continued to ask: "Then what is the name of this river?"

Chief of Staff What's going on here? Looking at Vasilevsky, Sokov thought to himself, there are place names marked on the map, and he asked me what these are for? But since Vasilevsky had already asked the question, as a subordinate, Sokov could only answer truthfully: "This is the Volga River."

"That's right, this is the Volga River." After Vasilevsky finished speaking, he turned the topic to the topic: "Now the German army has successfully crossed the Don River and advanced to the Volga River Basin. According to According to the judgment of the Supreme Command, the enemy's next attack target must be Stalingrad on the Volga River."

Seeing Vasilevsky slapping Stalingrad with his palm, Sokov thought to himself: Thank God, you finally found out that the enemy's next attack focus is Stalingrad. What you have to do now is to mobilize more troops to strengthen the defense there.

Vasilevsky saw that the expression on Sokov's face did not change at all after he had named the German army's next attack target, so he smiled slightly, and then said: "At present, Stalingrad is almost an empty city. Except for a few regular troops, all the militias from various factories are responsible for defending the city. The base camp decided to deploy elite troops to strengthen the defense there. The size of your brigade is about the same as an infantry division, so the superiors decided that your brigade will be in Transferred to the Stalingrad area in early August. Any questions?"

"No problem." Although Sokov had long guessed that his troops might be transferred to Stalingrad to participate in that defensive battle that could be called a meat grinder, when he really heard this order, he simply Cove's heart still beat faster. However, he tried his best to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "I firmly obey the orders of my superiors. But I would like to ask, besides our brigade, are there other troops transferred to Stalingrad?"

Vasilevsky walked up to Sokov, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't worry, the Germans may rush to Stalingrad, maybe their The purpose is to divert our attention, and then turn around and attack Moscow after we have been fooled. In my opinion, your brigade transferred to Stalingrad is tantamount to taking a rest. Stay there for a few months and wait until the new round During the counter-offensive, your brigade may be able to take on the main offensive task."

Vasilevsky's words made Sokov a little dumbfounded: sending our brigade to a city where the commander can only survive for 72 hours and the soldiers can only survive for 24 hours, and he said that we should go to rest. This is a joke. Is it too big?