Red Moscow

As soon as Sokov returned to the command post, Sidolin greeted him and hurriedly said: "Comrade commander, you are back. Lieutenant Colonel Yakov has called several times to ask when you will be back!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Yakov?" Sokov asked confusedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, who are you talking about, the new commander of the Front Army or the Army Group?"

"No." Sidolin shook his head vigorously and replied, "It's your old friend Yakov. He has just been promoted to the rank of military officer and is now a lieutenant colonel."

Sokov knew very well that Yakov would not call himself for no reason. Once you make a call, it means that there is something important, which may be related to the newly delivered rockets, and maybe you want to ask what the results of the battle have been. He looked at Sidolin and asked, "Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Guchakov's squad behind the enemy, do you have any latest battle reports?"

"No." Sidolin shook his head, "In the past day and night, I have not received any news from the squad. I think they may still be looking for a suitable fighter."

After reporting to Sokov, Sidolin immediately thought of a possibility, and immediately asked: "Comrade commander, do you think that Lieutenant Colonel Yakov called because of the batch of rockets?"

"I think it should be because of this." Sokov said thoughtfully: "Other than that, I really can't think of any other reason why Yakov would call me so frequently."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin waited for Sukov to sit down, poured him a cup of hot tea, and asked with concern, "Have you gained anything from this trip to the Third Battalion?"

"During the day, the fighters standing firm in the Vasily Building used mortars and machine guns to attack the fast column passing by another street, causing heavy casualties to the enemy." Sokov took a drink of hot tea He took a sip and continued: "If the enemy's tanks hadn't fired, they could have continued to fight for a while. Unfortunately, we don't have long-range anti-tank weapons. Once we encounter enemy tanks on the battlefield, the soldiers can only risk their lives. Life is at stake, get close to an enemy tank and blow it up with anti-tank grenades or Molotov cocktails."

"That's right." When Sidolin was still working at the Army Group Headquarters, he had seen soldiers blowing up tanks with grenades or Molotov cocktails in battle, but they basically traded their own lives for the enemy's tanks. A tank would cost the lives of more than ten or twenty soldiers. He said with emotion: "If we can have the same long-range anti-tank weapons, then we can reduce many unnecessary sacrifices."

After chatting with Sidolin for a while, Sokov found that Ivanov was not at the division headquarters, so he asked curiously, "Why didn't I see the deputy division commander, where did he go?"

"He's gone to the Workers' New Village." Sidolin said, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed it to Sokov, and said, "He said he wanted to visit his old army."

Facing the cigarette handed over by Sidolin, Sokov waved his hand and said, "Chief of Staff, the ventilation in the tunnel is not good. We can occasionally use a samovar to make some hot tea. If we continue to smoke, the air here will change." more cloudy."

"You're right," Sidolin quickly put away his cigarettes and assured Sokov, "I will try to smoke as little as possible in the future."

…………

Yakov's call did not arrive, but Chuikov's called first. He asked on the phone: "Colonel Sokov, it seems that the squad you sent to the enemy's rear has done a good job. The German army's attack on the barricade factory and the Dzerzhinsky factory during the day is obviously not as strong as usual. See It turned out that there was a problem with their ammunition and supplies."

"Report to Comrade Commander," Sokov waited for Chuikov to finish, and then immediately continued: "Lieutenant Guchakov's squad successfully destroyed the German material storage point at Gumrak Station during the operation the day before yesterday. However, according to his report, judging from the situation at the scene, there should be no weapons and ammunition in the station..."

"Regardless of whether there are weapons and ammunition in the destroyed materials, this is a huge battle result." Seeing that Sokov's reaction was not strong enough, Chuikov asked a little puzzled: "Don't you think so, Colonel Sokov? "

"Of course it's a great result," Sokov felt in his heart. As long as the enemy's ammunition depots were not destroyed during the attack, the result of such a victory would be greatly reduced, because as long as the German army does not run out of ammunition, it will not be able to attack the factory area. The attack will not be weakened, but at this moment Chuikov has made a conclusion to Guchakov's attack, and he will naturally not be so stupid as to sing against his superiors: "If there are a few more such victories, the enemy's later stage will be destroyed. Huge difficulties arise, and the enemy in the fighting zone will also have to slow down his attack due to the lack of ammunition and supplies."

"Yes, the squad you sent is very effective behind enemy lines. If possible, I hope you can send more such squads."

"Comrade Commander, I'm afraid it's a bit difficult." Seeing that Chuikov had such high expectations, Sokov replied with some embarrassment: "Some time ago we sent several small teams to the enemy's rear to wreak havoc, but The results achieved were not satisfactory, and even a small unit was wiped out in the enemy's encirclement and suppression."

Chuikov was a little surprised by Sokov's words, and he asked curiously, "I want to ask, why did the small team that attacked a while ago have a poor record, but this time they can achieve such a huge result?"

"There are many reasons." Sokov has already conducted a careful analysis of the failure of the team sent in the early stage to achieve the desired results. Now when he heard Cuikov's question, he quickly replied: "First of all, the team sent in the early stage , have no experience in operating behind enemy lines, and they still use positional warfare and regular warfare to deal with the Germans. Given the disparity in the strength and equipment of the enemy and ourselves, doing so is undoubtedly a dead end.

Most of the teams dispatched this time are veterans with rich combat experience. In addition, they also carry new rockets, which can launch sneak attacks a few kilometers away from the enemy, and can quickly shift positions after completing the attack, making it impossible for the enemy to find their whereabouts. "

After listening to Sokov's narration, Chuikov sighed and said regretfully: "It's a pity that the superiors allocated too few rockets. Otherwise, they can distribute some to other troops, so that they can also send small teams to go deep behind the enemy lines. We have more If you attack on the road, you can make the enemy burnt out."

"Comrade Commander," Sokov said hastily when he heard Chuikov's idea of ​​using rockets, "My troops have been trained to master the use of rockets proficiently. Now except for the comrades of the old 73rd Brigade , other units in the Guards Division have no access to rockets at all..."

Although Sokov did not explicitly reject Cuikov, Cuikov was also a smart man. He heard from Sokov's words that the opponent did not want to distribute a single rocket to other troops. He cursed in his heart, miser, and then asked: "I just received a call from Yakov from Moscow, asking if you are with me. I told him that he was not here, and I was about to ask what's the matter, He has hung up the phone. Colonel Sokov, do you know anything?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't know either. According to the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Yakov called me several times while I was away from the division headquarters, but he didn't know what the matter was. Say." Sokov said to Chuikov in an uncertain tone: "I guess, it may be related to these rockets, and he wants to ask what kind of results have been achieved."

After listening to Chuikov, he felt that Sokov's explanation was reasonable, so he nodded and said into the microphone: "So that's the case. Colonel Sokov, Yakov will call later, you must use the squad Tell him about the results of the rocket bombs."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied respectfully, "I will tell Yakov in detail about the results achieved by the squad."

After Sokov put down the phone, he smiled wryly and said to Sidolin: "Just now, Comrade Commander asked me on the phone what Yakov wanted me for, which made me very embarrassed. This Yakov is really true. When he was at the division headquarters, he didn't call; when I left, he called..."

Before he finished speaking, the phone on the desk rang. The two glanced at the ringing phone, and Sidolin asked Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Commander, isn't it Lieutenant Colonel Yakov calling?"

"This possibility is not ruled out." After Sokov finished speaking, he picked up the microphone in front of Sidolin, and whispered to his ear, "I am Colonel Sokov. Where are you?"

"Hello, Comrade Colonel. I'm Peter." The voice of Peter, the director of the Red October Factory, came from the receiver: "How are you doing recently?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Hearing that it wasn't Yakov's call, Sokov was somewhat disappointed, but when he thought of the downsizing group that had already set up camp in the Red October factory, he immediately became interested : "Comrade factory manager, have my troops deployed defenses in the factory?"

"Yes, Comrade Colonel." Peter said in an affirmative tone: "I put them all near the factory building. You know, the destroyer battalions and militia teams stationed in these places were all transferred to Dzerzhin. There are less than 30 people left to defend the factory building, but after your troops come, they can solve a big problem for us. I believe that with them here, no matter how many Germans come, we will Don't worry about it."

Seeing that Peter had such confidence in his troops, Sokov was quite happy, and he said into the microphone: "Comrade factory director, that army has just withdrawn from the direction of the archives building, and there must be many wounded. I hope you can send doctors and nurses from the factory hospital to treat them."

"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel, you don't need to speak up about this matter. I have ordered people to take the wounded to the factory hospital and treat them there." After Peter gave Sokov his credit, he suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "I I want to ask one thing, do you think we can hold the city?"

Peter's jumping thinking made Sokov hesitate for a long time before he realized that the reason why the other party asked such a question was simply because the defense of the Dzerzhinsky factory was in danger. Once the German army established a firm foothold there, they could go directly south from the north. , in cooperation with the Romanian army in the west, continued to attack the Red October factory.

In order to strengthen the other party's confidence, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade director, don't worry, don't look at the enemy so rampant, but their strength has been weakened in the long-term combat. We can defend Stalinger The battle of Le Le was divided into three stages. The first stage was the defensive stage of our army, which was driven into the city from the Don River valley by the enemy; the second stage was the stalemate stage, we used various familiar terrains in the city , fought tenaciously with the enemy, and prevented them from advancing to the banks of the Volga..."

After talking so much in one breath, Sokov felt a little thirsty, so he picked up the tea mug on the table and took a sip of water. Peter on the other end of the phone, seeing Sokov suddenly stopped, couldn't help asking anxiously: "Colonel Sokov, what about the third stage? What is the third stage?"

"The third stage is the counter-offensive stage." Sokov put down the tea mug and continued: "Due to our tenacious defense, the enemy has almost exhausted their vital forces in the offensive, and our troops assembled on the east bank , can launch a major counterattack against the enemy. Such a strike can not only repel the enemy, but even encircle and destroy the enemy.”

Since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet army has surrounded the enemy with superior forces more than once, but in the end, instead of destroying the enemy, the enemy who broke through the encirclement was defeated. It was because of the lessons learned from the past that Peter ignored Sokov's last sentence, chatted a few more words, and then put down the phone.

More than half an hour later, the phone on the desk rang again. The call this time was not from Chuikov or Peter, but from Yakov who was anxious to find Sokov.

After hearing Yakov's voice, Sokov called Yakov by his nickname affectionately: "Yasha, you keep calling me, are you asking about the results of these rockets?"

"Rockets, what rockets?" Yakov was taken aback for a moment, but soon remembered that a batch of rockets had indeed been delivered to Sokov not long ago, so he nodded and said, "Yes, some time ago I I did send you a batch of rockets, but I called you today because of something else."

"Other things?" Hearing what Yakov said, Sokov asked puzzledly: "Yasha, can you tell me what it is?"

"It's good news." Yakov said pretending to be mysterious: "Do you still remember the few drawings you provided me last time? Among them are special anti-tank rocket launchers. After our repeated testing and assembly, they have already It has been officially developed."