red moscow

Chapter 2777

"Colonel, I'm just an ordinary captain. You don't have to be so polite to me." Sokov said with a smile: "The reconnaissance team has been sent out. Should we strengthen the fortifications in this area next?"

"Of course." Katukov said, "Without sufficient fortifications, we have no way to stop the German armored forces. By the way, how should we build fortifications? Do you have any good suggestions?"

Sokov remembered that after Katukov led his troops to Mtsensk, he knew that fighting the enemy head-on was not a solution, so he urged the soldiers to dig fake bunkers day and night, and built a large number of fake tanks with plywood and camouflaged them, while the real tank positions were deployed several kilometers away.

The officers and soldiers were tortured by Katukov so much that they didn't sleep for days and nights, and they cursed him behind his back as "a German spy who wanted to tire us to death." But when the war started, the officers and soldiers unexpectedly found that following this cunning brigade commander, at least the chance of saving their lives was greatly increased.

Because he remembered this history clearly, Sokov said when he heard Katukov's question: "Comrade Colonel, I think it will be very difficult to stop the German attack by building fortifications in the conventional way. It will cause huge losses to your personnel and technical equipment."

"Then what good ideas do you have to reduce the loss of our troops and technical equipment?"

"I think we can set up real and fake positions to confuse the enemy." Sokov said to himself without waiting for Katukov to ask again: "We need to build more fake fortifications, place some fake tanks made of plywood in them, and camouflage them so that the enemy will think that this is our tank position. In fact, the real tank position should be a few kilometers away from here. In this way, after the German army discovers our fake position, they will use aircraft bombing and artillery bombardment to destroy the fake tanks deployed there. And we can take advantage of the good opportunity when their attention is diverted to launch an attack from other directions, thereby destroying their manpower.

In addition, the tank brigade has a limited number of tanks, so we must use each tank prudently. I think it would be best if each tank had three or four firing points, and would move to a different position after firing a few shots, so that the enemy would have the illusion that our troops and equipment were very strong. "

"Comrade Captain." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, the chief of staff retorted: "If we follow your suggestion and set up a fake position, it will waste a lot of manpower and material resources and cause complaints from the soldiers. Therefore, I think your proposal is completely inappropriate."

Seeing that the Chief of Staff directly rejected his proposal, when Sokov was about to launch a counterattack, Katukov said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think Captain Sokov is right. Our troops and equipment cannot compare with the Germans. If we fight hard, we will definitely suffer. So the best way is to set up various fake positions and deploy fake tanks to confuse the enemy and make them unable to figure out our strength."

"Comrade Brigade Commander," the Chief of Staff was a little depressed when he saw Katukov expressed his support for Sokov. He looked at Sokov and then at Katukov: "Our troops are limited. If we really dig so many fortifications, I am worried that the officers and soldiers will not be able to bear it."

"Tell the soldiers that if they want to survive on the battlefield, they must dig more fortifications to save their lives." After saying this, Katukov announced another decision: "Also, except for the necessary personnel left on duty at the brigade headquarters, the rest of the people should pick up tools and build fortifications with the soldiers."

Since it was Katukov who gave the order, even if the chief of staff had any ideas in his mind, he could not speak them out. After all, the other party was his immediate superior, and he could only execute his orders unconditionally.

Half an hour later, except for the communications personnel on duty, all the other people in the brigade headquarters, including Katukov, the chief of staff and the political commissar, participated in the digging of fortifications.

Sokov had dug fortifications before, so he picked up his tools and started digging.

After digging for a while, Sokov found that the military coat he had just put on two days ago was somewhat inconvenient while working, so he took it off and continued digging wearing only a pullover military uniform.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the chief of staff standing not far away suddenly called out to Sokov: "Captain Sokov!"

Sokov stopped what he was doing, looked up at the chief of staff, and asked in surprise, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what can I do for you?"

The chief of staff pointed to his chest and asked curiously, "Captain Sokov, where did you get the medal on your chest?"

Sokov looked down at the Order of Lenin on his chest and said casually, "It was awarded to me personally by Comrade Kalinin."

"Kalinin?!" Katukov, who was standing on the other side of Sokov, asked in surprise, "Is it Colonel Kalinin, the commander of the 131st Motorized Division?" Sokov knew that Rokossovsky originally commanded the 9th Mechanized Army, which consisted of three divisions: the 3st Motorized Division commanded by Colonel Kalinin, the 131th Tank Division commanded by Major General Novikov, and the 35th Tank Division commanded by Colonel Katukov. Katukov obviously confused the Kalinin he was talking about with his former colleague.

"No, Comrade Colonel." Sokov shook his head and said, "It's not Colonel Kalinin, the commander of the 131st Motorized Division, but Comrade Kalinin, a member of the Supreme Command."

When this was said, not only the chief of staff was stunned, but even Katukov's eyes widened in surprise: "What, the Order of Lenin on your chest was awarded by Comrade Kalinin himself?"

Katukov and the chief of staff looked at each other, and both saw shock in each other's eyes: "This is too incredible."

Although the chief of staff had known Sokov for quite some time, Sokov had always been wearing a military coat, which blocked the medal on his hooded uniform, so the chief of staff thought that the young captain Sokov had become Potapov's adjutant through connections. At this moment, it seemed that Sokov's background was not simple. You know, no one in the brigade, including the brigade commander Katukov, had won the Order of Lenin.

"Comrade Captain," the chief of staff's tone suddenly became unusually polite, "Can you tell me the origin of this medal of yours?"

Sokov naturally noticed the change in the chief of staff's attitude towards him. According to past experience, some people who looked down on him would change their attitude 180 degrees after learning the origin of the Order of Lenin. As a liaison officer sent by Potapov, being recognized by the tank brigade would be very beneficial to the future work.

It was for this reason that Sokov told Katukov and the chief of staff how he captured 12 tanks of a German armored column in the small town.

After listening to Sokov's story, the chief of staff was stunned: "My God, Captain Sokov, you are amazing. I used to think that you must have relied on some connections to become a captain at such a young age. But now it seems that just based on the merits you have established, let alone captain, even a higher rank is completely worth it."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are too kind." Facing the compliment from the Chief of Staff, Sokov seemed embarrassed: "I am also a very ordinary soldier. It's just that I was lucky enough to occasionally achieve such merits."

"Captain Sokov, you are so modest," Katukov said. "I thought carefully whether I could do better than you in the situation at that time. But after thinking for a long time, I felt that I couldn't do it. Facing more than a dozen enemy tanks, even if we had our own tanks behind us, I didn't dare to rush into the enemy alone and force them to surrender to our army."

"Comrade Brigade Commander," the chief of staff suggested to Katukov as soon as he finished speaking, "Why don't you talk to General Potapov and ask Captain Sokov to stop being a liaison officer and become a member of our brigade. I think with his ability, it shouldn't be a big problem for him to serve as a battalion commander."

"Chief of Staff, you are right. If Captain Sokov becomes a member of our brigade, he will have the opportunity to achieve greater merit." Katukov and his chief of staff reached a consensus. They both felt that talents like Sokov should not be easily given up. So they tentatively asked Sokov: "Captain Sokov, I wonder if you are willing to join my tank brigade. If you are willing, I can negotiate with the commander immediately."

"Comrade Colonel, although I would like to stay in the tank brigade, the conditions do not allow it." Sokov said to Katukov and the chief of staff with a wry smile: "In order to keep me by his side, General Potapov even went to Marshal Shaposhnikov in person and asked him to sign my transfer order. Only then did I transfer from the 37th Army to the 1st Guards Infantry Army."

Katukov could tell from Sokov's words that the other party didn't really want to come to his unit, so he didn't force him. He just said with regret: "Captain Sokov, it's a pity that you can't come to my tank brigade."

"Colonel Katukov, the war has just begun. The war between us and the Germans will last longer." Sokov said cautiously: "Maybe one day in the future, we will have the opportunity to fight side by side."

Although Sokov was unwilling to stay in the tank brigade, Katukov was not angry and even talked and laughed with him while working.

But in the afternoon, when Sokov followed Katukov and inspected the defensive positions dug by the officers and soldiers, he met some familiar officers and soldiers along the way and found that the contempt in their eyes had turned into praise. It seemed that his story had been spread. Sokov thought to himself that he had never expected that the effect of this Order of Lenin would be so good. After the officers and soldiers understood his true situation, it would be very beneficial for the future work.

(End of this chapter)