red moscow

Chapter 2911

Just as Sokov was thinking about how to explain this to Rokossovsky, Malinin received a phone call, and his expression changed drastically. He held the microphone and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, the 126th Infantry Division reported that the enemy fired poison gas bombs at the positions they were defending."

Hearing the word "poison gas bomb", the entire command center suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at Malinin, their eyes full of anger towards the Germans. No one thought that the Germans would use poison gas bombs in a despicable way when they could not break through the Soviet defense line for a long time.

But Sokov might be the only exception. He was surprised to think: During the entire Soviet-German War, there has never been any record of the German army using poison gas bombs. How could they throw poison gas bombs at the defense zone of the 126th Infantry Division?
Rokossovsky walked up to Malinin, took the microphone from his hand, put it to his ear, and said into the microphone: "I am Rokossovsky, tell me about the situation there!"

After listening for a while, Rokossovsky continued to ask: "What color is the poison gas? ... What, it's yellow-green, are you sure?! ..."

"Comrade Commander, what should we do now?" Malinin asked Rokossovsky anxiously, "Although every soldier was issued a gas mask when the war broke out, after such a long time, most of the gas masks have been discarded. Do you think we should send someone to deliver a batch of gas masks to the 126th Infantry Division immediately?"

Rokossovsky glanced at Malinin but did not speak. Instead, he held the microphone tightly, as if thinking about where he should urgently mobilize a batch of gas masks to be sent to the 126th Infantry Division that was attacked by poison gas bombs.

"Comrade Commander!" After a fierce ideological struggle, Sokov decided to tell Rokossovsky his doubts: "I am very curious, the most important part of the army's defense line should be Volokolamsk defended by General Panfilov's 316th Infantry Division. Why didn't the enemy throw poison gas bombs to this area, but threw them to the 126th Infantry Division defending the Moscow River Reservoir in the north?"

When Rokossovsky heard this, he felt that what Sokov said made sense, so he said to Sokov: "Misha, you are right, go on."

"Comrade Commander, can you ask the other side where the area attacked by the poison gas bomb is?"

"Comrade commander," Rokossovsky nodded, and then asked into the microphone: "Where was the poison gas bomb attack?"

After hearing the other party's answer, Rokossovsky turned to Sokov and said, "It's the water filtration tank of the water plant!"

After figuring out the location of the poison gas bomb, Sokov showed a relaxed expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, I can now be sure that the 126th Infantry Division was only bombarded by ordinary German artillery shells, and there were no poison gas bombs at all."

Rokossovsky frowned and asked, "Misha, why are you so sure that you were not attacked by poison gas bombs?"

"Comrade Commander, you may not know that there are special chlorine tanks next to the water filter tank of the water plant, which are used to add chlorine to the water." Considering that the commanders present may not understand why chlorine is added to the water filter tank, Sokov explained to everyone: "There are many reasons for adding chlorine to water. First, it is for sterilization and disinfection; secondly, adding chlorine can also oxidize substances such as iron and manganese in the water, causing them to precipitate to the bottom and be filtered out in the filter, thereby reducing the iron and manganese content in the water and improving the taste and color of tap water."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Rokossovsky said to the microphone with doubt: "Comrade, send someone to check the chlorine tank next to the water filter to see if it was destroyed by the shells in the previous attack."

Sokov quickly added, "Comrade Commander, please tell them that chlorine is poisonous and they should not get close to it. You can use a fire hose to flush out the yellow-green smoke produced by chlorine to dilute the chlorine content."

Rokossovsky repeated Sokov's words into the microphone, put down the microphone, turned to Sokov and said, "Misha, I didn't expect that you have such a wide range of knowledge. You even understand this."

Sokov grinned and explained to the other party: "When I was still in school, I once visited the water plant under the guidance of my teacher and listened to the workers' introduction of the situation. When I heard you were on the phone just now, I immediately remembered this and put forward my own opinion."

While waiting for the 126th Division to verify the situation, Rokossovsky brought up the matter of the 315th Division again: "Misha, although I have agreed that you can use the 315th Division when necessary, according to my understanding, you could have let your own troops participate in the battle at that time. Why did you insist on letting friendly forces join the battle?"

Sokov had already thought of a response. When he heard Rokossovsky ask the question again, he quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, I asked the 315th Division to participate in today's battle for two main reasons."

"Two reasons?" Rokossovsky asked with great interest. "Which two reasons? Tell me."

"First, I used the combat supplies in the brigade's inventory to replenish the 315th Division. Some commanders in the brigade did not understand my approach. I asked the officers and soldiers of the 315th Division to participate in the battle so that they would understand that providing weapons and equipment to friendly forces was like helping ourselves in disguise." After giving the first reason, Sokov paused for a moment and continued, "Second, I considered that one day in the future, we might cooperate with the 315th Division in combat. Understanding their combat style in advance would be helpful for our future coordinated operations."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Rokossovsky smiled and nodded, then asked: "Misha, after this battle, what do you think of Colonel Politik?"

"Comrade Commander, I have to say that Colonel Politic is an excellent commander. The entire army is under his control. As long as he gives an order, the officers and soldiers will rush forward. However..."

Seeing Sokov's hesitant expression, Rokossovsky said impatiently: "Misha, if you have anything to say, just say it. Don't be so slow. Even if you say something wrong, no one will blame you."

After receiving Rokossovsky's instruction, Sokov continued, "After this battle, I found that Colonel Politik's combat thinking is a bit outdated. For example, in today's battle, the enemy hiding in the forest has been disrupted after being bombarded by our army. If I send troops to attack, I can eliminate this enemy running around at a low cost."

"What about the 315th Infantry Division?" Malinin interrupted, "What are their casualties?"

Sokov looked at Malinin and answered sternly, "The casualties are not small. The entire division suffered more than 230 casualties in this battle, including more than officers and soldiers who died."

When everyone heard the casualty figures Sokov said, they couldn't help but gasp: "My God, in just a small battle, nearly one-third of the troops were killed or wounded." "Misha, you are right." Rokossovsky thought for a while and began to express his opinion: "Colonel Politic was able to lead the troops to fight behind enemy lines for such a long time, which shows that he is a good commander. But the current war model is very different from that of more than 20 years ago. His combat thinking is still stuck in the period of the domestic war, which is obviously not suitable for the current war situation."

Lobachev, who always had a low presence, also interrupted and said, "Comrade Commander, I think if possible, we can wait until the 315th Infantry Division enters the rest and recuperation phase and let Colonel Politik attend the temporary intermediate commander training class at the Frunze Military Academy to learn how to become an excellent commander who adapts to the new era."

"I agree with the Military Commissar's proposal." Malinin promptly echoed Lobachev's statement: "I think Colonel Politik should be arranged to study for a period of time. This will help him grow into a better commander."

Rokossovsky nodded and said, "Since everyone thinks that Colonel Politik should go to the Frunze Military Academy, I will report his name to the front headquarters and see when the superiors will arrange for him to study at the Frunze Military Academy."

The results of the 126th Infantry Division's investigation came out quickly. The division commander reported to Rokossovsky over the phone: "Comrade Commander, you are right. It is true that a chlorine tank next to the water filter was blown up by a German artillery shell, and the chlorine inside leaked, which caused the yellow-green gas to emerge, making people mistakenly believe that the Germans released poison gas."

"Is everything settled?" Rokossovsky asked.

"Yes, we will follow your instructions and use the fire hose to flush the leaking chlorine tank to dilute the chlorine in the air."

After Rokossovsky ended the call and put down the microphone in his hand, Lobachev smiled and said beside him: "Comrade Commander, this is the second false alarm."

"Yes, this is the second time."

"Comrade Commander," Sokov asked in surprise after hearing what Rokossovsky said, "Has something like this happened before?"

"That's right." It was Lobachev who answered Sokov: "When we were ordered to hold the Yartsevo area, German planes dropped a large number of thick paper bags in our defense zone. When we opened them, we found all kinds of dead insects inside. At that time, we thought that the enemy had made some biological weapons and was preparing to spread some virus in the defense zone. The commander quickly ordered people to collect these thick paper bags dropped on the position and send them to professional institutions in Moscow for inspection. Who knew that after the inspection, we found out that they were just some very common insects. The Germans did this just to put mental pressure on the defenders."

After Sokov and Lobachev chatted for a while, he suddenly remembered that Rokossovsky had specially summoned him to the headquarters, and there must be something important, so he quickly got back to the point: "Comrade Commander, you haven't told me yet, what important matter is that you asked me to come to the headquarters."

After Sokov's reminder, Rokossovsky immediately remembered that the reason Sokov was here was because he had summoned him, and hurriedly said: "Misha, don't worry, you will know the answer soon." After that, he winked at Malinin from the side.

Malinin saw Rokossovsky's wink at him, nodded, turned and walked into a small room next to him.

After a while, Sokov saw Malinin coming out carrying a small suitcase.

Malinin came to the table, put the small suitcase on the table, and after getting Rokossovsky's permission, he raised his hand and opened the suitcase.

Sokov looked into the open box, and the first thing that caught his eye was something that looked like chain mail. He asked in some confusion: "Comrade Commander, what is this?" He only felt that the thing looked somewhat familiar, but for a moment he could not remember where he had seen it.

But Rokossovsky did not answer Sokov's question immediately, but asked in return: "Misha, others may not know this thing, but you must know it, right?"

Sokov frowned, staring at the mail in the box, thinking to himself that he felt it looked familiar, but couldn't remember where he had seen it. And Rokossovsky also said that he knew it, which meant that he had seen it before. He racked his brains and began to think, what on earth is this?
Seeing that Sokov was still silent, Malinin and Rokossovsky looked at each other, then reached out and picked up the chain mail from the box, put it on their heads, and then asked Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, can you remember now?"

Seeing that the chain mail covered Malinin's shoulders and only his eyes were exposed, Sokov suddenly realized that this was part of the bulletproof vest worn by the German agents who tried to assassinate Stalin. He quickly lowered his head to look into the box and saw another part of the chain mail, proving that his guess was correct.

"Misha, the person who brought us the stuff told us that this is a bulletproof vest developed by the Germans, which can withstand shots from pistols and submachine guns when worn." Rokossovsky said, "We called you here to ask you if this kind of bulletproof vest can be mass-produced and used to equip the troops?"

"Comrade Commander, do you want to hear the truth?"

"Of course." Rokossovsky did not expect Sokov to ask this question. He smiled and said, "I want to hear your opinion and then give feedback to the relevant departments."

"Comrade Commander, if I had to choose, I would definitely not want something this flashy and impractical." Perhaps worried that Rokossovsky didn't understand what he meant, Sokov explained to him, "I've seen several German agents wearing this so-called bulletproof vest, which is said to be able to block pistol and submachine gun bullets, but it can't block rifle or machine gun bullets at all. What's more, this kind of bulletproof vest is too heavy, at least 10 to 20 kilograms. Wearing it will affect the movement speed. Wouldn't that make the soldiers wearing the bulletproof vest become sitting ducks for the enemy?"

"Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is right." Malinin added, "Look, I'm only wearing a hood, and now I feel top-heavy. I think if I put on the other half of the bulletproof vest, I'm afraid it would be difficult to walk."

Rokossovsky frowned slightly. "So, after putting on this so-called bulletproof vest, not only will it be inconvenient to move, but the bulletproof effect will also be unsatisfactory?"

"Yes, that's right." Sokov and Malinin answered in unison.

(End of this chapter)