Red Moscow

"Not in a hurry," Sokov waved his hand and said, "At present, the artillery and tank units are not in place yet. If we rush to attack, we can only rely on infantry to attack, and the casualties will definitely not be small. The current task is to strengthen the Reconnaissance of railway stations and department stores to find out the distribution of the enemy's forces."

"Comrade commander, let me recommend someone to be responsible for the reconnaissance of these two areas."

"who?!"

"Sergeant Vasily."

"Sergeant Vasily?"

"Yes."

"Tell me your reasons."

"He is a very good sniper." Sidolin said a little excitedly: "In the battle to defend Stalingrad, more than a hundred enemies were killed by him."

"Yes, he is indeed an excellent sniper." Sokov could not help feeling guilty when he heard Sidolin say this. If the original historical development was followed, the number of enemies he killed in the Battle of Stalingrad should be 225 Now, because of his own reasons, the number of his kills has been reduced by half: "But what does it have to do with sending him to reconnaissance?"

"Comrade Commander, this is how I think about it." Sidolin explained to Sokov: "Since Sergeant Vasily has been active in various areas of the city for a long time in order to snipe and kill the enemy, his familiarity with these places is absolutely certain. He is no worse than any of our scouts. Therefore, I think he should use this advantage to go to the area we are about to attack to perform reconnaissance missions."

Sokov thought about it for a while, and felt that Sidolin's proposal was very reasonable. So he picked up the phone and connected to Belkin's headquarters. As soon as he heard Belkin's voice, he asked directly: "Comrade Commissar, do you know Sergeant Vasily?"

"Yes, Misha," Belkin replied, "you suddenly asked him, what happened?"

"It's like this. I plan to send people to carry out reconnaissance in the direction of the Central Railway Station and the department store." Sokov said into the microphone: "The chief of staff recommended him to me. I thought about it carefully and felt that he was in charge. Commanding and reconnaissance should be very appropriate."

"But he's just a sniper," Belkin said with some embarrassment. "Is it appropriate to let him perform such an important reconnaissance mission?"

"Don't forget, he is an excellent sniper who made the German army fearful. In order to kill more enemies, he has lurked in many places in the city." Sokov said: "I think there are not many people, He is more familiar with the terrain of this city than him. It is perfect to have such a person to carry out reconnaissance missions."

"Then what about the acupuncture teams I sent out?" Belkin asked for instructions, "Should we withdraw them all?"

"No, leave them all under the command of Sergeant Vasily." Sokov said confidently: "I believe that under Vasily's command, they will be able to better complete the reconnaissance mission and find out the specific deployment of the German army. "

"Misha, there is something wrong here, I want to tell you first." Belkin said hesitantly: "Our regiment is distributed in several reconnaissance teams near the train station and the department store, and there are two second lieutenants in it. They were under the command of a sergeant and I feared they would get emotional."

"What does it matter." Sokov said disapprovingly: "In his Vasily building, besides the second lieutenant and the lieutenant, they also obeyed Vasily's command obediently. The commanders of the reconnaissance team, didn't they Knowing the orders of the superiors, do you have to obey them unconditionally?"

"Misha, I have an idea." Belkin waited for Sokov to finish, and immediately said: "Should Vasily be promoted to the rank, after all, he has made great achievements in this defense battle. If There is no reward at all, I am worried that it will chill the commanders and fighters."

"You're right, Comrade Commissar." Sokov had wanted to promote Vasily a long time ago, but he hadn't found a reason. Now that Belkin mentioned this matter, he said smoothly: "Then promote him to the rank of lieutenant." , so that the second lieutenant in the reconnaissance team can be commanded in a legitimate manner."

"I understand, Misha," Belkin replied. "I will pass on your order at once."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin said cautiously seeing Sokov put down the phone, "I just heard that you promoted Sergeant Vasily to lieutenant."

"Yes." Sokov nodded and replied affirmatively: "Based on the achievements he has made, it is very appropriate to promote him to lieutenant."

"I didn't say that it was inappropriate to promote him, but that there are other people who should also be promoted." Sidolin said, pouted his mouth towards the position where the communication equipment was placed on the other side of the room, and said in a low voice: " For example, Lieutenant Maxim, commander of the communications company, and Lieutenant Seryosha, commander of the security company, should their ranks be promoted as well?"

Sokov stared at Maxim who was busy in the distance, and felt that the other party had made a lot of contributions in maintaining the smooth communication of the headquarters over the past year, but now he is still a second lieutenant, which is really unreasonable . "Chief of Staff, come with me!"

After Sokov and Sidolin came to the communication area, they raised their hands and clapped twice, saying: "Comrades, please stop." He only said once, and both the staff and the communication soldiers fell silent. They all turned their gazes to him.

"Comrades, I want to announce an important matter to you." Sokov said loudly: "In view of the outstanding contribution made by the commander of the communications company, Second Lieutenant Maxim, in ensuring the smooth communication of the headquarters, after me and the chief of staff Based on his research, he decided to promote him to the rank of captain. Everyone applauds!" After speaking, he took the lead in clapping his hands.

Tears welled up in Maxim's eyes amidst the warm applause. The happiness came so suddenly. He didn't expect that he would be suddenly promoted to two ranks at this time. After the applause stopped, he quickly raised his hand to salute Sokov and Sidolin, and said respectfully: "Mr. Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff, thank you for your trust in me. I assure you, I will definitely make the commander Department communications are always open."

"Congratulations!" Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with Maxim, and said, "Continue to work." After speaking, he turned and walked towards his seat. Sidolin also shook hands with Maxim, and quickly chased after him.

Back at the table, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, in order to defend the city, all the officers and soldiers of the division have acted bravely and tenaciously. After the battle is over, we will also award honors and promote military ranks to those commanders and fighters who performed outstandingly. ?”

"Yes." Sokov did not object to Sidolin's mention. He nodded and said: "The people who survived the city defense battle are the backbone of our battle. We will use them to form more new troops in the future, so the rank cannot be too low. You hurry up and sort out one The promotion list is out, and when Paulus is eliminated, there will be an overall promotion."

"Comrade commander, I've been too busy recently." Unexpectedly, Sidolin shook his head after hearing this, "Now that the new combat group has just been established, I have to be busy communicating with the commanders of various divisions every day, and I don't have time to sort out the list. Let's change to someone else."

"Substitution? Who should I replace?"

"How about the political commissar?" Sidolin suggested to Sukov: "Anyway, the deputy division commander and the political commissar don't have much work at ordinary times, so it's perfectly appropriate to entrust this matter to them."

"Okay, let's do it like this." Sokov readily agreed.

"The ranks of commanders at all levels in the downsizing regiment are generally low," Sidolin reminded again: "After the troops are mixed in this way, they will suffer more, because they have to obey those with higher ranks than themselves."

"You are the most familiar with the commanders at all levels of the downsizing regiment." Sokov felt that Sidolin was in charge of the promotion list, which was perfect, so he said to him, "Let me take charge of it." .”

"Okay, Comrade Master." Sidolin promised, "I will sort out the list as soon as possible."

The phone on the desk rang, and Sokov picked up the headset and put it to his ear, and soon he heard someone saying: "I'm Rokossovsky, find me your division commander, Colonel Sokov. "

"Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov hurriedly asked respectfully, "What instructions do you have?"

Rokossovsky asked in an official tone: "Colonel Sokov, I personally formed a combat group for you, and all the troops are basically in place. When do you plan to launch an attack?"

"Thank you for your trust in me." Sokov first expressed his thanks to Rokossovsky, and then said: "At present, we are still making preparations before the attack."

"Preparation work? What preparation work?" Rokossovsky asked impatiently after hearing this: "Colonel Sokov, don't you know that our army is fighting hard with the enemy in other areas? In order to ensure that you The attack was successful, and I personally dispatched so many troops to you, but when things came to an end, you said that the conditions were not ripe, what is going on?"

"Three infantry divisions are arriving one after another." Sokov heard Rokossovsky get angry, but he did not panic, but replied truthfully: "But the important tank brigade and artillery regiment are still in place." Marching on the road. I plan to wait until they are all here before attacking the enemy."

"If the tank brigade and artillery regiment arrive late, are you planning not to attack?" After listening to Sokov's report, Rokossovsky became more angry: "If you think you can't command so many troops , let me tell you as soon as possible, so that I can send someone to take over your command."

"No, Comrade Front Army Commander, you misunderstood," Sokov quickly explained to Rokossovsky: "The area we are going to attack is dominated by stone buildings, which are very strong. It must be destroyed by artillery fire, so our offensive can only wait until the artillery and tanks arrive, and then officially enter the battle."

"Then tell me, how many days will it take for your preparations?"

"It will take a few days, it all depends on the marching speed of the tanks and artillery." Sokov replied: "If they can arrive one day earlier, we can launch an attack on the enemy one day earlier."

"I'll give you two days," Rokossovsky said on the phone. "After two days, I hope to hear with my own ears that you have launched an offensive against the enemy."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied, "I believe that we will be able to attack the enemy in two days."

"Very good." Satisfied with Sokov's answer, Rokossovsky nodded, and finally said: "Good luck!" and hung up the phone directly.

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin, who heard the conversation between Rokossovsky and Sokov, saw Sokov put down the phone, and quickly asked, "Do you think two days of preparation time is enough?"

"It's enough," Sokov said confidently, "We don't necessarily have to concentrate all our troops around the train station, despite the wide terrain here, but with so many troops here, it will also be difficult to deploy. "

He drew a circle with a pencil at the position of the central railway station, and said to Sidolin: "Chief of staff, look, I will first send a division to attack the railway station from the front to attract the enemy's attention. At the same time, I will deploy some troops, Detour from the direction of the family area, and hit the enemy's side severely. The enemy is flanked by our army from both sides, and it will not last long, and the defense line will collapse."

Before Sidolin could comment, Chuikov called. He yelled loudly on the other end of the phone: "Colonel Sokov, what's the matter with you? Why are you afraid of wolves and tigers to attack when you have so many troops in your hands? You even told Rokosso General Fowski said that you will wait for the artillery and tanks to arrive before launching an attack on the enemy. Don't you think you won't fight without the support of tanks and artillery?"

"Comrade Commander," Sokov said calmly in the face of Chuikov's series of accusations, "You also know that the buildings in the Central District are extremely strong. Without the cover, they will be knocked down one by one by the enemy as if they are trying to hit a target. I am worried that if this happens, all of our people will die, and we may not be able to defeat the areas occupied by the enemy."

"Okay, okay, don't talk about it." Chuikov waved his hand impatiently after hearing Sokov's justification, and said, "I don't care what you do to prepare, anyway, you have already assured General Rokossovsky that Initiate an attack in two days, then I will not pursue this matter, I wish you luck!"

"Comrade commander, you haven't finished yet." Sidolin waited for Sokov to put down the phone, immediately pushed the map in front of him, and said to him, "Please continue."

Pointing at the map, Sokov continued: "When all the troops of our division reach the south of the city, we will split into two groups. Drive the enemies in the city as far as possible to the south of the city along the way, and let them fight to the death with the friendly troops going north. ; on the other side, a tentative attack was launched towards the department store."

"A tentative attack?" Sidolin asked in a bewildered expression, "Comrade commander, what do you mean?"

"Let the Belkin regiment attack the outer positions of the department store and clear the way for us." Sokov continued: "And during the battle, except for the division that attacked the railway station, the rest of the troops continued to attack the department store. Directional covert movement."