red moscow

Chapter 2905

After shaking hands with Politik, Rokossovsky introduced Chief of Staff Malinin, Military Commissar Lobachev and others to him, and then asked the two to sit down: "You sit down and have a cup of tea first, and we will discuss the specific work arrangements later."

"Comrade General," Politic did not sit down immediately, but asked politely, "I want to know now, how do you plan to place our troops?"

"Comrade Colonel, how to place you is indeed a problem." Rokossovsky said thoughtfully: "According to the information we have, although you have nearly 4,000 soldiers, excluding the wounded, there are only 3,000 people who can fight. In addition, during the months you have been operating behind enemy lines, you have lost logistical supplies, and ammunition, military supplies and medicines are in short supply. If you are sent to the battlefield immediately, I am afraid that the role you can play will be limited."

Politik did not refute Rokossovsky's statement, but nodded and said: "You are right, Comrade General. We have persisted behind enemy lines for more than two months. Not only are we short of ammunition and various supplies, but the officers and soldiers are exhausted due to lack of rest. We are temporarily unable to engage in combat immediately."

Rokossovsky turned his head and whispered a few words to Malinin, then stood up and looked at Politic and asked, "Comrade Colonel, how long do you need to rest before the troops can regain their combat effectiveness?"

Politic thought for a while, then replied: "Before my division joined the battle, there were more than 11000 people in total. Now there are less than 4000 people left, including hundreds of wounded. In other words, our division has been crippled. According to convention, it will take at least three to six months of reorganization before the troops can recover their original combat effectiveness..."

"Comrade Colonel," Malinin interrupted as Politic had just finished speaking, "We can't give you that much time to rest and replenish your batteries."

Politic knew that under the current circumstances, his superiors would not give him too much time to rest. After hearing what Malinin said, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, how much time can you give us?"

Malinin glanced at Rokossovsky, then held up three fingers and said in a firm tone: "Three days, we will give you at most three days to rest."

After hearing this, the muscles on Politic's face twitched. Under normal circumstances, it was far from enough for a severely damaged army to rest for only three days. After thinking for a long time, he slowly asked, "Then I wonder how many soldiers, weapons and ammunition you can give us?"

In response to Politic's two questions, Rokossovsky coughed twice and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, if you want to get additional troops, I can only regretfully tell you that there are none, not even one. I don't have any reserve troops at all."

Rokossovsky's words made Politic feel discouraged. The few troops he brought back from behind enemy lines were not enough to be responsible for the defense of an area alone before they were replenished. This meant that his troops might be put under the command of someone else.

After a pause, Politic continued, "What about the ammunition? You know, we have been fighting behind enemy lines for such a long time, and since we have not received any supplies, our ammunition is almost exhausted. If we cannot be replenished, I am afraid we will not be able to carry out any combat missions."

"Comrade Colonel, I have a general understanding of your actual situation." Rokossovsky turned to Malinin and said, "Chief of Staff, arrange for the logistics department to replenish the necessary ammunition for Colonel Politik's troops this afternoon. Do you understand?"

"Don't worry, Commander." Malinin nodded and said, "I will call the director of the logistics department later and ask them to provide ammunition and supplies to the comrades of the 315th Division."

After talking with Politic, Rokossovsky turned his gaze to Sokov: "Misha, I thought it was an impossible task to bring such a force back from behind enemy lines, but you did it. You are really amazing."

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Politik couldn't help but echoed: "Comrade General, you are right. When Lieutenant Colonel Sokov told me that he could bring my troops back to our defense zone from behind enemy lines, I thought it was simply a fantasy. But the facts have proved that he really has a way to bring our troops out from behind enemy lines unscathed."

Sokov laughed dryly twice, and then explained: "Without the full cooperation of Colonel Politik and Lieutenant Colonel Haranchuk, I am afraid I would not be able to complete this difficult task."

"I heard that there is a batch of German weapons and supplies on the train you are on. I wonder how many there are?"

"Comrade Commander," Sokov said openly, not worrying at all that Rokossovsky might seize the weapons. "There are enough weapons to equip a regiment."

Rokossovsky nodded and said, "Our troops are equipped with Soviet weapons. If we replace them with German weapons on a large scale, it will put pressure on logistics supply. You must make reasonable arrangements for the use of this batch of captured weapons and ammunition."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sokov explained, "I only plan to equip one battalion with these weapons, so as not to increase the pressure on the logistics department."

"Misha, if the defense zone where your brigade is located is attacked frantically by the German army, how long can you hold out?"

Sokov did not expect Rokossovsky to suddenly ask such a question. After a brief silence, he asked back: "Comrade Commander, have you received any intelligence that the enemy will launch an attack from our brigade's defense zone?"

"Our army's defense zone can basically be divided into three parts," Malinin said. "Volokolamsk, where General Panfilov is defending, is the middle section of the entire defense line; the area north of the city is the northern section of the defense line; and the area held by your brigade is the southern section of the defense line. Some time ago, the enemy's attacks from the middle and northern sections of the defense line all ended in failure. In order to break the current deadlock, the Germans will definitely choose the area where your brigade is located as the direction of their next attack."

Sokov knew very well that the noise he made would sooner or later anger the Germans and make him their main target. Hearing what Malinin said, he nodded slightly and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, no matter how fierce the enemy's offensive will be, I will do my best to stop it."

"Misha, we all trust you. We believe that with your ability, you will definitely inflict heavy damage on the Germans." Rokossovsky extended his hand to Sokov and said with a smile: "Thank you for bringing Colonel Politic and the others here. Now, you can leave."

After Sokov saluted the several army commanders present, he turned and walked out of the command center.

When they got outside, Zhukov and Khabarov, who were standing next to the jeep and chatting, came over and said, "Comrade Commander, can we leave now?"

"Yes, my mission is complete and I can leave at any time."

When Khabarov was about to get into the car with Zhukov, Sokov stopped him and said, "Anton, you and I will be in the same car!"

Hearing Sokov's words, Khabarov immediately agreed excitedly, ran over to open the back of the jeep, and respectfully invited Sokov to get in. After Sokov got in, he followed and sat in, closing the door. Lieutenant Zhukov, who was standing next to the car, frowned when he saw Khabarov's action, thinking that ordinary soldiers were not qualified to sit in the back seat of the car with the brigade commander. He was going to say something to the other party, but when he came to the car window, before he could speak, he heard Sokov say: "Comrade Lieutenant, what are you still standing here for? Why don't you get back to your car?"

Zhu Kewen responded helplessly, turned around and ran back to the car he was riding in. After closing the door, he said to the driver in a muffled voice: "Drive!"

On the way back to the infantry brigade's defense zone, Khabarov curiously asked Sokov: "Misha, what did the commander say to you?"

Sokov glanced at Chulsin, who was driving, and saw that he was staring straight ahead, seemingly not hearing Khabarov's question at all. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Comrade Commander said that the enemy's next attack focus may shift to our brigade's defense zone, so let's take precautions in advance."

Khabarov's eyebrows twisted into a knot when he heard this. He asked worriedly: "Misha, do you think you can stop it?"

"As long as we have enough ammunition, we should be able to hold it."

"Didn't we just seize a batch of ammunition from the Germans?" Khabarov asked puzzledly, "Do you still think we don't have enough ammunition?"

"Anton, on the battlefield, the consumption of ammunition is an astronomical figure." Sokov explained to Khabarov: "Don't be fooled by the fact that we have captured a lot of ammunition recently, but if a real battle breaks out, I'm afraid it will only take two or three days for all the ammunition to be used up."

"Then ask your superiors to provide you with supplies." Khabarov said as a matter of course, "After all, you don't have the ability to produce weapons and ammunition."

"If I could get replenishment from my superiors, I wouldn't be so worried." Sokov shook his head and said, "The supply from Moscow is limited now, and we can only give priority to replenishing troops with heavy combat missions, such as General Panfilov's 316th Infantry Division and General Dovator's 3rd Cavalry Army."

Khabarov asked in surprise: "So you don't get any support from your superiors?"

"We have to find ways to get the ammunition we need for our brigade," Sokov said with a wry smile. "I'm worried that one day, when our ammunition is exhausted, we will have to use bayonets to fight hand-to-hand with the enemy."

"But after the war broke out, the People's Commissariat of Defense established dozens of secret arsenals in the forests outside Moscow." Khabarov asked in surprise, "Didn't you send people to look for these arsenals?"

"We have looked for it. So far, we have found two. Otherwise, how could the two artillery battalions in the brigade have so many artillery pieces?" Sokov had just finished saying this when he suddenly remembered that Khabarov was a veteran digger. Every time he went to the old battlefield to look for treasures, he must have looked up a lot of information. Maybe he had seen the drawings of the secret arsenal of the People's Commissariat of Defense in the forest outside Moscow. Thinking of this, he looked up at Chulsin who was concentrating on driving, and asked in a low voice: "Anton, do you know the location of these arsenals?"

Khabarov nodded slightly and whispered, "I've already said that during the Great Patriotic War, there were dozens of secret arsenals set up in the suburban forests, but I can only remember a dozen or so."

"That's enough, that's enough." Hearing Khabarov say that, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Even if I only know a dozen, that's enough for me."

"Misha, don't be too happy too soon." Khabarov reminded Sokov: "I don't know yet how many of the dozen or so arsenals I remember have been discovered. So when we get back to the brigade headquarters, show me the map so I can point out the locations I know."

"That's great."

After the jeep stopped at the entrance of the brigade headquarters, Sokov pushed open the door and got out first, then reached out and pulled Khabarov down: "Anton, come with me and show me all the locations you know."

Belkin and Karsokov were chatting. When they saw Karsokov enter the tent, they were about to greet him, but he pulled Khabarov to the table, pointed at the map on the table, and said excitedly: "Hurry up and point out the location you know."

Seeing Khabarov looking down at the map, Belkin hurried forward to stop him and reminded Sokov with a serious expression: "Comrade Brigade Commander, how can such an important battle map be allowed to be seen by outsiders?"

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, don't worry." Sokov explained to Belkin: "Anton said he knew the location of some secret arsenals, and I asked him to help me point out the approximate location."

"No way!" Belkin said suspiciously, "He has just arrived here, how could he know about the arsenals hidden in the forest? Comrade Brigade Commander, you must not be deceived by him."

"I believe Anton." After saying this, Sokov turned to Khabarov, who was standing at the table in a daze, and said, "Stop dawdling. Mark the location of the arsenal you know on the map for me."

After getting Sokov's consent, Khabarov leaned over to look at the map on the table again.

After looking at it for a while, he stood up and said to Sokov, "Misha, these maps are not suitable. I need to find a map of the suburbs of Moscow, preferably a large-scale map of 1:100,000, so that I can find the approximate location."

In order to find the secret arsenal hidden in the forest as soon as possible, Sokov naturally had to satisfy Khabarov's small request.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov turned to Karsokov and said, "Can you please find a large-scale map of the Moscow suburbs, one hundred thousandth of it?"

Although Karsokov did not think Khabarov had the ability to find the secret arsenal hidden in the forest, since it was Sokov who gave the order, he naturally had to obey unconditionally. Soon, he placed a large-scale map in front of Khabarov: "Comrade Khabarov, this is the map you wanted."

(End of this chapter)