red moscow

Chapter 2929

Sokov knew that since Olga suggested that the troops move westward, she must have her reasons, so he did not say anything, but gestured to him, indicating that he should explain to everyone the reasons for doing so.

Olga, who was supported by Sokov, continued, "Since everyone knows the fatal shortcomings of the troops moving westward, I would like to ask you, if you were the German commanders, would you think that the Soviet troops would penetrate so far?"

After hearing Olga's question, everyone thought about it, then slowly shook their heads, saying that if they were the German commander, they would definitely not think that the Soviet army would risk going deep into such a far area, which would be tantamount to seeking death.

"After talking about the fatal disadvantages of the troops' movement westward, let me talk about the advantages." Olga continued: "Precisely because the enemy did not expect us to move westward, their defense will naturally not be too tight, which brings convenience to our army's activities..." Then, he gave a detailed explanation to the commanders present on a series of possible results that could be achieved by penetrating deep into the German hinterland.

At the beginning, most people were full of doubts about Olga's proposal, but as Olga explained, everyone's frowns relaxed, and some even became eager to try, apparently moved by the bright prospects described by Olga.

After Olga finished her explanation, Sokov looked at the commanders present one by one and asked expressionlessly, "Does anyone have any objections?"

"No!" the commanders present answered in a mess.

"The troops participating in the counterattack this time are mainly the original brigade reserve and the troops drawn from the three battalions." Sokov said: "In order to facilitate command, I plan to reorganize the troops into two battalions. The three companies drawn from the three battalions will form the first battalion, and the position of battalion commander will be held by Captain Olga; the reserve will be reorganized into the second battalion, and the battalion commander will be..." Sokov's eyes turned to Zhukov next to him, intending to appoint him as the commander of the second battalion, but then he thought, Zhukov is only a second lieutenant, and if so many captains and lieutenants listen to his command, some people will definitely not be convinced. If someone disobeys his orders, it will be very disadvantageous for the subsequent operations.

It was for this reason that Sokov gave up the idea. He once again scanned the commanders present, looking for a new suitable candidate, and finally locked onto the only captain in the crowd.

Sokov remembered that the captain was called Laev, from the 19th Infantry Corps of the 34th Army, who had escaped from the German encirclement half a month ago and was incorporated into the reserve of the Infantry Brigade. Judging from the battle situation today, he was very brave and had always been at the forefront of the team.

"Captain Laev," Sokov pointed at Laev and said, "From now on, you will be the commander of the Second Battalion."

Hearing Sokov appoint him as battalion commander, the flattered Laev's face showed joy, and he quickly and loudly replied: "Yes!"

"The officers and soldiers must be very tired from capturing this city. Let's rest for two hours, and then we will turn west."

After the commanders left, Sokov ordered the radio operator to send a telegram to the army headquarters, saying that his troops had successfully captured the city of Borechevo according to the original plan, and planned to rest here for a few hours before turning west to harass the German defense depth and disrupt their offensive steps.

The army headquarters soon received the telegram from Sokov.

After reading the telegram, Malinin was stunned for a long time before handing it to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov reported that his troops have successfully captured Borechevo, but the enemy who is attacking Volokolamsk does not seem to be affected at all."

After reading the telegram, Rokossovsky tapped his fingers lightly on the table, wondering why Sokov's counterattack did not achieve the desired results.

Before he could figure out what was going on, the phone on the table rang.

Malinin picked up the phone and listened for a moment before handing it over: "Comrade Commander, it's General Zhukov calling."

"I am Rokossovsky." Rokossovsky quickly took the microphone.

"Comrade Rokossovsky!" Zhukov on the other end of the line asked sternly, "Is the enemy's attack on Volokolamsk still continuing?"

"Yes, Comrade General," Rokossovsky replied, "the enemy's attack on Volokolamsk is still continuing. Although the officers and soldiers of the Panfilov Division have shown heroic tenacity and courage, many streets in the city have still been lost."

After listening to Rokossovsky's report, Zhukov's expression became serious: "What's going on with Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops? Why haven't they launched an attack on Borechevo yet?"

"Comrade General, I was just about to report this to you." Seeing that Zhukov had misunderstood Sokov, Rokossovsky quickly defended him, saying, "The counterattack force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Sokov has not yet launched an attack on Borechev, but has successfully captured the city."

"Since they have already captured Borechevo, why is the enemy still attacking Volokolamsk so frantically?"

"I don't know the specific situation. After all, I'm not a German marshal." Rokossovsky said helplessly, "I was just thinking about this issue. Maybe Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's counterattack force was too small, so it didn't attract the attention of the German army."

"I chose Borechevo because once we capture this city, we can cut off a German transportation line," Zhukov explained to Rokossovsky. "Even if the troops commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Sokov are small, the loss of the city is not a trivial matter. How can the Germans ignore it?"

Rokossovsky thought for a moment and then expressed his other guess: "Comrade General, do you think it is possible that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's capture of Borechevo was so agile that the Germans have not yet recovered?"

Zhukov listened to Rokossovsky's guess and thought about it carefully. It seemed to make sense. He then asked, "Did Lieutenant Colonel Sokov say what his next plan is?"

"He plans to leave a small number of troops to defend Borechevo, and then take the main force to the east to harass the German defense depth." "What, to harass the German defense depth to the west?" Zhukov asked in shock, "They are originally an isolated army without any support. If they continue to move westward, won't they be courting death?"

"Georgy Konstantinovich!" Rokossovsky called Zhukov by his real name and father's name, and sighed, "If I'm not mistaken, in your plan, they were originally a expendable force. In that case, after they occupied Borechevo, they defended the city and were besieged by the enemy. What's the difference between them and all of them died deep in the enemy's hinterland? Anyway, it's all to attract the enemy's attention and disrupt the enemy's offensive steps."

"Koschka, judging from today's results, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is a talented person. It's a pity to let him die in vain."

Zhukov's words reminded Rokossovsky of Lieutenant General Petrovsky, commander of the 63rd Infantry Army, who had launched a counterattack in the Belarus region and achieved great results. After the troops were surrounded, Zhukov and Marshal Timoshenko promoted him to the commander of the 21st Army in order to save his life, and sent a plane into the encirclement to try to pick him up. But the other party rejected Zhukov's kindness and insisted on breaking out with his soldiers. As a result, he died in the breakout operation, and the soldiers were unable to bring out his body.

"Do you think Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is a military talent similar to Petrovsky?"

"That's right." Zhukov did not deny Rokossovsky's question, but readily admitted: "Look, he has only been in the army for a few months, and he has become a lieutenant colonel. You and I have been in the army for one or two years, and we are still ordinary privates. We can't compare with him at all."

"Since you think so highly of him, why don't you ask them to withdraw before they are surrounded by the German army?"

But Zhukov rejected Rokossovsky's suggestion: "Since they have already occupied Borechevo, they must find a way to make some noise behind the enemy's lines. If they can tie up some of the troops and reduce the pressure on Volokolamsk's defense, that would be great."

"Well," Rokossovsky said helplessly, "let them stay behind enemy lines."

Sokov didn't know that Rokossovsky was worried about his fate. He closed the door and talked to Khabarov about a key issue: "Anton, our troops will soon move westward and fight with the Germans in their heartland. Tell me truthfully, can we find the hidden arsenal there?"

Since joining the infantry brigade, Khabarov has helped find several hidden arsenals. Now the troops are about to fight alone behind enemy lines. If they cannot be replenished in time, they will soon run out of ammunition and food. Therefore, before the troops take action, Sokov is preparing for the rainy day and wants to find out where the Soviet army's hidden arsenals are so that the troops can be replenished in time?

Khabarov stared at the map in front of him and said thoughtfully: "There are indeed several hidden arsenals in the area occupied by the Germans, but they are all far away from here, and I can't be sure whether they have been discovered by the enemy."

"Can you show me the approximate location?"

"Here, there is one." Khabarov gestured on the map for a while, shook his head and said, "It is at least 30 kilometers away from here, and we don't know if there are any German troops deployed around it. It may not be easy to take out the combat supplies inside."

"More than 30 kilometers, not too far." Sokov stared at the location Khabarov pointed out and continued, "But even if we find the hidden arsenal, we can't move the contents to Borechevo. We can only use them nearby."

"With enough weapons, ammunition and supplies, the troops can indeed hold out for a longer period of time." Seeing that Sokov seemed to be planning to move around the hidden arsenal, Khabarov reminded him, "But the soldiers lost in the battle will not be so easy to be replaced."

Sokov laughed after hearing this: "Anton, have you forgotten that we are fighting the invaders on our own land? Although they have occupied a lot of our territory, the people on these lands are still resisting the enemy. We can get ammunition and supplies at any time, so the soldiers lost in the battle can be recruited from the guerrillas or local residents. Maybe after a while, we will have more troops than we have now."

"Misha, you're right." Sokov's words made Khabarov's eyes light up. "To be honest, the reason why some guerrillas have not been able to develop is because they have too few weapons and cannot expand their forces. There are so many guerrillas in the enemy-occupied areas. As long as we have enough combat supplies, it will be a piece of cake to expand the troops. Maybe in a year or two, you will find that the troops you have are not a brigade but a division, or even an army."

"If there are enough weapons and supplies, it is not impossible to expand the existing troops into an army." Sokov laughed and said, "But the prerequisite is that we must find this hidden arsenal, and then everything we said can become a reality."

"Misha, don't worry." Khabarov patted his chest and assured Sokov, "As long as I'm here, it shouldn't be a big problem to find the hidden arsenal."

……

In the forest more than 20 kilometers west of Borechevo, a Soviet army of more than 200 people was slowly approaching the city.

This Soviet army that had just escaped the German encirclement was basically composed of officers, except for a few soldiers without any military rank. There were a lot of lieutenants and colonels, and even two senior commanders with the rank of lieutenant general.

One of the generals was wounded in the leg and was lying on a stretcher, carried by four strong soldiers, walking in the middle of the team.

Another general stood under a tree, looking at the map with many holes in his hand, and took out a compass to confirm the direction, trying to figure out where the troops were now?
The general lying on the stretcher stopped the soldiers and asked the general, "Old man, where are we?"

The general came over and said with a wry smile: "According to the map and compass, we are still 30 to 40 kilometers away from the Ruza River."

The general on the stretcher sighed softly when he heard this: "Alas, I don't know where our army's defense line is now, and how far we need to go before we can get back to our defense zone." At this point, he glanced at the ragged and staggering officers and soldiers, and sighed, "The troops have been out of food for two days. If they can't find food, I'm worried that many people will not be able to hold on."

"I have sent people to explore the way ahead." The general said, "If they find anything, they will report back to me in time."

"Most of the towns along the way were occupied by the Germans," said the general on the stretcher. "Occasionally there were villages that were not occupied by the Germans, but they were empty. All the supplies had been taken away by the evacuated villagers, and the soldiers couldn't even find anything to eat."