Red Moscow

  Chapter 730 Counterattack Plan

   "This is really great, Comrade Commander." Hearing what Chuikov said, Sokov understood that the results achieved by Griza and the others must be real. "Thank you for helping us verify the results of the squad."

   "Who participated in this operation?" Chuikov asked on the phone: "Report their names to me, and I will award them honors!"

"Lieutenant Grisa who commanded the squad, he used to be the commander of the fourth company of the second battalion of the downsizing regiment." Sokov kept the names of every soldier who participated in the operation firmly in mind. Hearing Chuikov's question, he immediately refused He replied hesitantly: "In addition, there is Sergeant Elizaveta, he is a rocket launcher. He should have launched the rocket that destroyed the enemy's ammunition depot this time; there is also Corporal Aino..."

  Ivanov, who was standing aside, was stunned when he heard Sokov tell the names of each member of the squad, as well as their arms and specialties. He waited for Sokov to put down the microphone, quickly gave a thumbs up, and said approvingly: "Comrade Commander, you are really amazing. There are twenty people in the squad. I didn't think you could call them all by their names."

"Comrade deputy division commander, you don't know something. The division commander has a very good memory. He remembers almost everyone he has met." Sidolin showed off to Ivanov with some pride: "When we were still an infantry brigade, the division commander could Call out the names of half of the commanders and fighters in the brigade."

   "What, you can name half of the commanders and fighters." Ivanov widened his eyes and said in surprise: "That's two to three thousand people. Comrade commander, your memory is really strong."

Sokov knew that his memory was good, but he didn't want to waste time with Ivanov on this matter. He continued to talk about the topic just now: "Comrade deputy division commander, the commander has already called and said that he will stick to the barricade factory Our friendly troops saw the flames in the town of Gorodisheh and the sound of explosions from that direction, which proves that Lieutenant Griza and the others have successfully completed their mission. How about sending someone to check the results of the battle?"

   "No, no need." Hearing Sokov's question, Ivanov quickly laughed and said, "Since the commander and the others know the results of the battle, there is no need to verify it."

Seeing that Ivanov was no longer holding on to Griza's victory, Sokov directly ordered Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, call Lieutenant Griza back immediately and ask them to return to Mamayev Post as soon as possible. Said the command would honor each of them for what they achieved."

   While Sidolin was going to urge the operator to send the report, Sokov asked Ivanov: "Comrade deputy division commander, how many mobile troops do we have now?"

"No, Comrade Division Commander." Hearing Sokov's question, Ivanov thought he was going to take troops to support somewhere, so he quickly replied without hesitation: "We don't have any mobile troops in our hands. "

   "Is it really gone?" Don't see that Sokov has asked very little about the specific work of the division recently, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't know anything about the situation in the division. He saw that Ivanov was trying to put himself off, so he deliberately pretended to be regretful and said, "It's a pity that there is no mobile force at all."

  Ivanov heard that Sokov meant something, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Commander, what do you ask about the mobile force?"

"It's nothing, I'll just ask." Sokov said without changing his face and heartbeat: "The enemy's ammunition depot in the town of Gorodishe has been blown up, and the Germans need at least two to three days. , to replenish the ammunition that was blown up. Before their ammunition becomes sufficient again, we have a rare opportunity."

   "Opportunity, what opportunity?" Ivanov asked curiously.

   "Forget it, let's not talk about it." Sokov deliberately teased Ivanov: "Since we don't have mobile forces in our hands, no matter how many opportunities are in front of us, we can only give up."

"Comrade Commander," Sokov's words aroused Ivanov's great curiosity, and he asked cheekily, "Tell me, what chance do we have now? If it is possible, even if I sell iron, I can give it to you." You gather the mobile force of a battalion."

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Seeing that Ivanov was already willing to provide himself with a battalion of troops, Sokov went on to say: "According to the information we have, the German combat group that originally attacked Workers' New Village It has already moved north. The site they vacated will be replaced by the Romanian First Division. I want to take this opportunity to launch a partial counterattack and teach the enemy a good lesson."

Ivanov stared at the map for a while, frowned and said, "Comrade commander, your idea is good. But if we don't get the support of planes, tanks and artillery when we attack, I'm afraid it will be difficult to break through the enemy." defense."

   "Air force and artillery, I have nothing to do for the time being." Sokov smiled lightly and said, "But I can find a few tanks to assist our attack."

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin asked after he had arranged for the operator to send the report, and when he came back, he happened to hear what Sokov said, "Where do you plan to launch a counterattack against the enemy?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander, where do you plan to launch a counterattack?" The objection that Sokov was worried about did not appear. On the contrary, both Sidolin and Ivanov were in favor of launching an offensive against the enemy.

   "It's right here in the Workers' New Village." Sokov pointed to the north of Mamayev Hill on the map, and said to the two: "I plan to launch a limited attack on the enemy in this area."

After seeing clearly where Sokov pointed, Sidolin couldn't help but shook his head and said: "Comrade commander, according to our reconnaissance, the enemy has deployed a tank battalion here. If there is no equivalent number of tanks, what we launched A frontal attack is very difficult to succeed."

"Chief of Staff, don't worry." Seeing that Sidolin clearly lacked confidence in the attack he envisioned, Sokov said to him: "There are always more solutions than problems. Now that we have discovered the problem, we should find a solution." Fix it. Get me to Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko's command post, I have something to ask him."

  The phone was connected quickly. Hearing Papchenko's voice, Sokov asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how is the situation at the enemy's place?"

"It's okay," Papchenko replied: "The enemy launched several consecutive attacks during the day, but our army repelled them all. Because our defensive positions are connected by sewers, once we find a place that cannot be defended Immediately move from the sewer to another place, and when the time is right, regain the lost position."

   "Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, you have done a good job!" After praising the other party, Sokov asked directly: "Is Lieutenant Agafon with you?"

  After a while of silence in the microphone, Papchenko's voice came out again: "Yes, Comrade Commander, he is by my side. Do you want to talk to him?"

   "Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have something to ask him, please pass the microphone to him."

  Agafon learned that Sokov was looking for him, and quickly said respectfully: "Hi, Comrade Colonel, I am Lieutenant Agafon, what instructions do you have?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, I want to ask you, how many tanks do you still have?" Sokov thought that the Red October factory would provide him with a few more repaired tanks, so he asked Agafon: "I am Say the number of tanks that can be put into battle?"

Agafon was silent for about five or six seconds, and then replied without hesitation: "Comrade Colonel, I now have thirteen tanks in my hand, half of which are old tanks returned to the factory for repair. enough?"

   "Enough is enough." Sokov thought it would be good to have seven or eight cars, but he didn't expect that there were thirteen cars, and he couldn't help being overjoyed. But he tried his best to control his emotions and said to Agafon in a calm tone: "Lieutenant Agafon, immediately fill up all the tanks with fuel and shells, you will soon have a big battle .”

   "What big battle?" Agafon asked curiously, "Are you planning to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Germans?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, the big counterattack may have to wait for a while." Sokov reminded Agafon on the phone: "Let's first teach the Germans a lesson on a small scale and leave a deep impression on them. "

   "What is the specific combat mission?" Agafon then asked.

"Tomorrow, I will send a combat staff officer to convey the specific combat missions to you." Sokov emphasized to Agafon on the phone: "Your current mission is to fill up the tank with fuel and ammunition. I don't want to be in the middle of a battle and your tank unit can't continue fighting because of lack of ammunition and fuel."

"Comrade Colonel, please rest assured." After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Agafon assured him, "I will immediately arrange for manpower to add fuel and ammunition to the tank. I assure you that in tomorrow's battle, our Tanks will never hold back friendly forces."

After Sidolin waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he felt that he should fulfill the responsibilities of a chief of staff. He said, "Comrade commander, the enemy has deployed a tank battalion in the direction of the new worker's village, and now it has been transferred to the Romanian 1st Army." One division, if we dispatch only thirteen tanks and one battalion of infantry, I am afraid that the entire army will be in danger of being wiped out."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what you said is very reasonable. Judging from the current situation, the enemy's military strength and technical equipment are stronger than our army." Sokov said confidently: "Although we are at a disadvantage, it does not mean that we are at a disadvantage. We cannot win. On the battlefield, as long as the opportunity is seized, victory is possible."

   "What do you think, Comrade Master?" Sidolin asked curiously.

Seeing that there were only Sidolin, Ivanov, and division political commissar Anisimov by his side, Sokov boldly expressed his thoughts: "Every evening, after the enemy stopped attacking, they would send The attacking troops and technical equipment are all withdrawn to the starting position far away from the city. We can choose the favorable time for the enemy to retreat, attack them decisively, and catch them by surprise.”

   "On the eve of the enemy's withdrawal from the starting position, launch a surprise attack on them?" Ivanov was skeptical of Sokov's plan: "Comrade commander, is it really possible?"

"Comrade Commander, don't our troops need to provide artillery support to the enemy's positions before attacking?" Sidolin reminded Sokov: "Our artillery fire can at least destroy part of the German fortifications and reduce the pressure on our attack. .”

"Our attack does not require artillery preparation." Sokov shook his head and said: "Before the attack, shelling or bombing the enemy's defensive positions can indeed destroy some fortifications, but at the same time, it also tells us the direction of our attack. The enemy, so that the enemy can prepare in advance to meet us."

   Seeing the dazed looks of the two, Sokov continued: "We can catch the enemy by surprise if we don't carry out artillery preparations before the attack. As long as they are in chaos, our counterattack will be successful."

  Now that Sokov has set the tone, the next work is easy. Everyone just needs to find out the imperfections in the plan and make improvements. After more than an hour of discussion and additions, a fresh counterattack plan was released.

  After seeing the counterattack plan, Sidolin looked up at Sokov and asked, "Comrade commander, do you need to report this counterattack plan to the headquarters?"

"Yes." After thinking for a while, Sokov nodded and replied, "But for the sake of confidentiality, you don't need to write down the specific attack time, just tell the commander and chief of staff that we are planning a counterattack. If possible, I hope they can provide us with the necessary support."

   "I don't think this is realistic." Ivanov couldn't help shaking his head when he heard Sokov say this: "The current strength of the headquarters is seriously insufficient. I'm afraid there is no strength to strengthen our counterattack force."

"Even if the headquarters can't strengthen our troops, we can find a way to solve this problem by ourselves." When Sokov said this, his eyes were fixed on Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, give Belkin When the head of the regiment makes a phone call, he tells them that there will be combat missions tomorrow, so they are all prepared in advance."

"Comrade Commander, I thought you had forgotten about the downsizing regiment." Sidolin showed a surprised expression on his face: "Today Commander Belkin called me and asked me when I would assign them combat missions. I Just worrying about how to bring this up to you, you actually plan to send them to carry out important counterattack missions."

Sokov sighed softly, and said: "Anyway, the downsizing regiment is my old base, how could I let them stay on the bench all the time. As long as there are important combat missions, I will definitely hand them over to them." "He waved his hand at Sidolin, "Hurry up and call Commander Belgin, he is probably restless like an ant on a hot pot at the moment."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidolin quickly replied with a smile, "I'll call Commander Belkin right away."

  (end of this chapter)