Red Moscow

Sokov and Yakov left, but Rokossovsky did not rest. He called Malinin to him, pointed to the map and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if we make a request to the Supreme Command, let the city If our troops cooperate with us and launch an offensive here, it may be possible to open a gap in the solid German encirclement and send in the soldiers and technical equipment needed by the city in a steady stream."

Ma Linin looked at the position of Rokossovsky's finger, which was the position captured by Sokov, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that the counterattack against the German army in the city ended in failure, otherwise we can really try At once, attack the enemy from both sides at the same time. As long as our attack works, the German troops in the northeast of the city may be annihilated by us.”

"Our top priority at the moment is to hoard enough soldiers and weapons and ammunition at this location." Rokossovsky tapped twice on the map with his finger: "And at the right time, launch a powerful offensive against the enemy .”

"Although the Germans have not yet noticed that our army has occupied this position." Malinen reminded Rokossovsky: "But if we conduct a large-scale troop transfer, the Germans will definitely find that the position has been lost."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, even if we don't do anything, do you think the Germans won't be able to find us?" Rokossovsky waved at Malinin and said, "What we need now is time, before the Germans find us , gather forces and weaponry to the greatest extent possible, and prepare for an attack."

"General Kachanin's 24th Army, except for the 298th Division, has already occupied the position, and the other two divisions are also moving towards the area." Ma Linin knew the situation of the troops very well, and when Rokossovsky finished speaking, He began to report: "According to my analysis, before dawn, we can gather the strength of three divisions here."

"No, with three divisions in such a narrow place, a single shell or bomb from the enemy will cause us dozens of casualties." Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "So, apart from the position In addition to the 98th Division, the two newly arrived divisions did not enter the position for the time being, but looked for hiding places nearby to hide."

After recording Rokossovsky's order, Ma Linin asked respectfully, "Comrade Commander, do we need to report the news of our occupation of this position to the Supreme Command?"

"Yes. After all, if we want to rush to Orlovka from there, we cannot do without the cooperation of friendly forces." Rokossovsky agreed with Malinin's proposal, and finally added: "Remember, we must explain in detail , this position was taken by Sokov's troops."

About half an hour after the telegram was sent, the high frequency telephone on the desk rang. Malinin glanced at the phone and said cautiously to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, it's not the call from the Supreme Commander himself, is it?"

"It's hard to say." Rokossovsky looked at his watch and found that it was only 3:30 in the morning. It stands to reason that Stalin was sleeping at the moment, so how could he call himself? Maybe it was from the General Staff, asking about his telegram. He picked up the microphone, put it close to his ear and said, "Hi, I'm Rokossovsky."

"Hello, dear Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Stalin's voice came from the receiver. He called Rokossovsky's real name and father's name affectionately, and asked bluntly: "I just I saw your telegram saying that you have occupied an important position north of Orlovka, is that true?"

"That's right, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky quickly straightened his body and said respectfully, "It was taken by the troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Sokov when they broke through from Orlovka to the north. "

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?" After repeating Rokossovsky's surname and military rank, Stalin suddenly realized: "Oh, you are talking about Misha, right? Where is he now? He is still in the position up?"

"No, Comrade Stalin, I have sent the 298th Division to take over the defense." Rokossovsky knew very well that Stalin was clearly concerned about Sokov's safety, but in fact he wanted to know about his son's situation. "Don't worry, Sokov and Yakov are now in Malikovka, safe. When I fly to Moscow the day after tomorrow, Yakov will be with me."

Rokossovsky's guess was correct. Stalin was indeed concerned about his son's safety, but he couldn't ask his subordinates directly, so he could only ask about Sokov's situation in a roundabout way, so he knew that Yakov and Sokov The relationship is good, the two must be together at the moment. As long as you know the whereabouts of Sokov, you can know whether Yakov is safe.

At this moment, when Rokossovsky said that Yakov would return to Moscow in two days, Stalin breathed a sigh of relief, and then said into the microphone: "The counterattack launched by the defenders in the city has ended in failure. How about it, do you still have the strength to carry out an assault into the city?"

"Comrade Stalin, I was discussing with Malinin just now, and I plan to use that position as the starting point of the attack, and launch an attack on Orlovka from there." Rokossovsky reported on the phone: "However, we must launch such an attack. The offensive requires the cooperation of artillery and air force."

"Artillery is the god of war!" After Stalin uttered his most reasonable words, he continued: "Since our air force is still very weak, it may be difficult for your troops to provide you with the necessary air cover when attacking, so we only Artillery can be used to cover your ground attack."

Rokossovsky knew that all fronts were surprised. Even if he made a request to Stalin, it would be difficult to satisfy him. Unexpectedly, after Stalin said that he could not provide air cover, he unexpectedly offered to provide artillery support for himself. Just when he wanted to ask what kind of artillery support he could get, he heard Stalin continue to say: "I will send a representative from the base camp to your front army headquarters, and he will cooperate with the artillery unit to fight with you. "

After assigning the task, when Stalin was about to put down the phone, he seemed to suddenly think of something, and added: "Misha is very good. Comrade Rokossovsky, please tell him when you see him. My words."

Although there was only one simple sentence, Rokossovsky knew very well in his heart that receiving such a compliment from Stalin was no less than receiving a medal. After all, everyone has the opportunity to get the medal, but those who can be praised by the Supreme Commander himself are rare.

Rokossovsky had planned to send a staff officer with Sokov to Vynrivka to receive new troops. He changed his mind when he heard Stalin's praise of Sokov himself, and said to Malinin: "I think so. Anyway, Colonel Bely is going to Vinrivka with Misha. Why don't we let the director of the armored forces, O. Lior, as the representative of the front army, take Misha and the others to Winrivka to receive the troops."

If Malinin hadn't been busy with work and couldn't leave, he would definitely have gone to Wenrivka with Sokov and the others. Hearing that Rokossovsky was going to send Orel to lead the team at this moment, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "This is really great, Comrade Commander. Comrade Orel will lead the team. Presumably those in charge of the recruits will not give What did Sokov look like?"

…………

After daybreak, Sokov gathered the personnel of the 1st Battalion, the Guards Battalion and the Tank Battalion. After a simple breakfast, we are ready to leave the city and go to Win Rivka.

Unexpectedly, before they left the city, the jeep carrying Orel arrived. The jeep stopped beside Sokov, and Orel leaned out of the car halfway, and said to Sokov and Bely: "Comrades, two commanders, get in the car, and I will take you to Vinrivka personally." .”

After Sokov and Bely got into the car, the jeep continued to drive forward. Sokov asked Orel curiously: "General Orel, didn't Chief of Staff Malinin say to send us a staff officer to lead the way? Why did you replace him?"

"Comrade Commander is worried that when you receive recruits in Vinrivka, those in charge of recruits will make things difficult for you." Orel explained to Sokov: "So Comrade Commander sent me to go with you. If If someone artificially creates trouble for you when receiving soldiers, I will deal with it in time."

"Thank you, Comrade General." Hearing Orel's words, Sokov said gratefully: "With your help, our reception of soldiers will go very smoothly."

Vinrivka is only seven or eight kilometers away from Mali Ivanovka, and it took only ten minutes to drive by jeep. Seeing the densely packed tents outside the city, Sokov couldn't help asking worriedly: "Comrade General, our soldiers have set up so many tents outside the city. If they are discovered by the enemy's reconnaissance planes, they will definitely attract heavy bombing. Losses are inevitable."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, things are not as bad as you imagine." Orel replied with a smile: "We have deployed enough antiaircraft artillery units around the city, and if the German planes don't come, it will be over." , Once he comes, he will be punished without returning.”

The jeep stopped in front of a three-story building in the city. The sentry at the door saw a jeep parked at the door and was about to step forward to stop it, but when they saw the door coming, a man walked out of it General, he didn't dare to be negligent, and quickly raised his hand to salute.

"Where is your commander?" Orel asked straight to the point.

An officer on duty quickly replied: "Report to Comrade General, Colonel Bantai Layev is in his office on the second floor."

"Take me to see him immediately!"

The officer agreed, and then turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation: "Comrade General, please come inside!" Seeing Orel follow the officer into the building, Sokov and Bely followed.

When they came to the door of a room on the second floor, the officer stopped, turned to Orel and said, "Comrade General, here we are. Colonel Bantaileyev is inside."

Orel saw a desk at the door of the room, but there was no one sitting behind it, so he said to the officer leading the way: "Go in and report to Colonel Pantai Layev, and tell the front armored soldier O. Leo is here."

Less than a minute after the officer walked in, a squat colonel followed the officer out of the room. Seeing Orel standing at the door, he quickly raised his hand to salute, and reported respectfully: "Comrade General, Colonel Bantai Layev, Director of the Recruitment Management Office, reports to you. I am waiting for your orders. Please instruct!"

"Please rest easy!" After Orel said this, he walked inside and asked casually, "Comrade Colonel, what were you doing when I came?"

"What else can we do? Of course, we need to count the list of recruits." Bantai Layev said with a bitter face: "After counting the number of people, we need to check which unit has suffered the most losses, and then give priority to recruiting recruits to that unit."

"Comrade Colonel," Orel said after finding a chair and sitting down, looking up at Bantaileyev, pointing to Sokov and Bely, "let me introduce you, these two Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and Colonel Bely."

When he heard Orel's introduction, he actually started from the commander with a low rank, Pantai Layev couldn't help being stunned for a moment. However, he quickly regained his composure. After glancing at the rank mark on Bely's collar badge, he said regretfully, "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, the recruits in my hands are all infantry, and there are no tank soldiers."

Bely hurriedly waved his hand at Tailaiev, and said, "Comrade Colonel, you have misunderstood. I accompanied Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to receive the infantry today. As for the tank soldiers, you don't have to worry about them. What our tank troops lack It's the tank, not the tank man driving the tank."

After figuring out that Sokov is the main role today, Bantai Layev sat down behind his desk, looked up at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how many recruits do you plan to have?"

Hearing Pantai Layev's question, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback. In his mind, since the superior asked him to come here to replenish troops, he must have recruited all the recruits for himself. But the director of the recruiting department in front of him asked this question, is he only planning to give himself a small number of soldiers?

Seeing Sokov's delay in answering, Pantai Layev showed displeasure on his face: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, didn't you hear what I said? How many soldiers do you want?"

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov quickly replied, seeing that Pantai Layev was angry, "if I want to fill up my brigade, I need at least four thousand people."

"What, you want 4,000 people?" Hearing Sokov's answer, Bantai Layev almost jumped up from his seat: "I only have less than 5,000 people in my hand, and you want 4,000 people?" , the appetite may be too big."

Hearing this, Orel coughed heavily, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's infantry brigade is now responsible for holding Mamayev Post. If we cannot replenish enough troops and the position cannot be held, Who will be responsible for this?"