red moscow

Chapter 3015

According to Rokossovsky's plan, the infantry brigade would rest for three to five days after arriving in Klyukovo before continuing to fight. But plans never keep up with changes, and on the second day of the rest period, Sokov received a phone call from Rokossovsky.

"Misha, come to my command post immediately. I have an important mission for you."

Upon learning that Rokossovsky had something important to discuss with him, Sokov dared not delay and immediately went to Rokossovsky's headquarters.

Upon entering the command post, Sokov saw Rokossovsky working at his desk. Sokov quickly stepped forward, stood at attention, and saluted: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the brigade commander of the infantry brigade, has been ordered to report for duty. I will obey your orders. Please give instructions!"

Rokossovsky beckoned to Sokov, gesturing for him to come to his side.

After Sokov came to his side, Rokossovsky pointed to a location on the map and said with a serious expression, "Misha, I just received a call from the Supreme Commander himself. He said that enemy troops have been spotted near Krasnopolana. He has ordered us to do everything in our power to prevent the enemy from entering Krasnopolana."

Malinin, who had just arrived, waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking. Concerned that Rokossovsky might not understand the importance of Krasnopol, he explained to him, "Lieutenant Colonel Rokossovsky, Krasnopol is practically on the outskirts of Moscow. If the Germans occupy it, they can deploy heavy artillery here and bombard the city directly. We absolutely cannot allow the city behind us to be shelled by the enemy, so we must take every means to prevent the enemy from occupying this city."

Sokov only remembered that after Krasnopolana was occupied by the Germans, Rokossovsky organized troops to launch counter-offensives time and again, finally recapturing the city after great hardship and capturing heavy artillery that the Germans were preparing to use to bombard Moscow. Sending troops to intercept forces attempting to occupy Krasnopolana now would likely be counterproductive.

Just as he was pondering whether he should accept Rokossovsky's task, he heard two loud voices behind him. He instinctively turned around and saw that the people who came were people he knew: one was Major General Dovator, commander of the cavalry corps, and the other was Colonel Beloborodov, the newly promoted commander of the 9th Guards Rifle Division.

The two men approached Rokossovsky, stood at attention and saluted. After exchanging a glance, Dovator spoke first: "Comrade Commander, I just heard you at the door that you were planning to send Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's infantry brigade to intercept those trying to break into Krasnopolana."

“That’s right, I plan to hand this task over to Misha’s troops.”

“Comrade Commander.” But Rokossovsky’s words were immediately met with a rebuttal from Dovator: “Lieutenant Colonel Sokov’s troops have been fighting the enemy in Sun Mountain for half a month. The officers and soldiers are exhausted. Although they have rested for two days, they are still not fully recovered. If we put them into battle now, it will be difficult to exert their original fighting power. Our cavalry corps still has five or six thousand men. If we are to carry out this mission, I think we will have a greater chance of success.”

When Sokov heard Dovator volunteer to lead the cavalry to stop the Germans from occupying Krasnopolina, he wanted to rush up and hug him, calling him "good brother." This action saved the infantry brigade from the brink of total annihilation.

No sooner had Dovator finished speaking than Colonel Beloborodov beside him added, "Comrade Commander, I met General Dovator on my way here. We discussed it privately, and if you are unwilling to hand over the task to the cavalry corps, then let our 9th Guards Division do it."

Facing the two commanders who were waiting to receive their mission, Rokossovsky gave a bitter smile and said to them, "You're too late. I've already assigned the mission of stopping the German army from getting close to the Krasnopoliana region to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's infantry brigade."

“Comrade Commander, you only gave a verbal order, not a written one,” Dovator retorted. “Verbal orders can be modified at any time. I think we should entrust this arduous and glorious task to our cavalry corps.”

Beloborodov, not to be outdone, added, "Our 9th Guards Division is also fully prepared for battle and ready to engage in combat at any time."

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that both Dovator and Beloborodov were vying for the task of blocking the German advance, Rokossovsky turned to Malinin: "Which unit do you think should be assigned to this glorious mission?"

After scanning the faces of Sokov, Dovator, and Beloborodov, Malinin looked at Rokossovsky and said, “Comrade Commander, I think General Dovator is right. Lieutenant Colonel Sokov’s troops fought a bloody battle with the enemy in Sun Mountain for half a month. Not only were the troops heavily wounded, but the remaining officers and soldiers were also exhausted. Although they have had two days of rest, it is far from enough for them to recover their original fighting strength. Therefore, I think the task of blocking the enemy should be handed over to other units.”

"So, which unit do you think should be assigned this task?"

After a moment's consideration, Malining said, "I think we should assign this task to the cavalry. Although the 9th Guards Division has performed well on the battlefield, they have been fighting continuously for ten days, and their officers and soldiers are exhausted due to heavy casualties."

After hearing Malinin's suggestion, Rokossovsky made a decisive decision: "In that case, the task of stopping the enemy from approaching Krasnopolina will be assigned to Dovator's cavalry. As for Misha and Beloborodov, your troops will continue to rest in place, and I will put you into battle when the time is right."

Sokov returned from headquarters and went straight to his brigade headquarters.

As soon as he entered, Belkin came up to him and asked impatiently, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I wonder what important combat mission the Commander has summoned you to headquarters for?"

“According to the latest intelligence, enemy activity has been detected near Krasnopol,” Sokov told Belkin and Karsokov. “The Supreme Commander himself has given the order to Commander-in-Chief to dispatch troops to prevent the enemy from occupying Krasnopol. Commander-in-Chief called me over to assign this task to our brigade…”

Before Sokov could finish speaking, Belkin interrupted, saying, "Comrade Brigade Commander, our brigade suffered extremely heavy casualties in the recent battles, and our officers and soldiers are exhausted from the prolonged fighting. Sending us to carry out this mission at this time will probably disappoint the Commander."

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, don’t be anxious.” Sokov raised his right hand and pressed it down, saying to Belkin, “I haven’t finished speaking. The Commander initially assigned this task to us, but it was only a verbal order, not a written one. Just then, General Dovator, the Cavalry Corps Commander, and Colonel Belobolodov, the Commander of the 9th Guards Division, arrived. They requested the Commander to assign this arduous task to them.” Upon learning that the task of holding off the German forces in the Krasnopolana region had been assigned to another unit, Belkin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but also tentatively asked, “Comrade Brigade Commander, I wonder which unit ultimately received this task?”

"It was General Dovator's cavalry that accepted this arduous and glorious mission," Sokov continued. "Our brigade's current task is to take the time to rest and recuperate so that when we return to the battlefield, the troops can regain their previous fighting strength."

What happened next was exactly as Sokov knew: Dovator's cavalry, despite fighting exceptionally bravely and tenaciously against the overwhelming German armored forces, could not stop the German advance toward Krasnopolina, and the city fell.

Upon learning of the fall of Krasnopoliana, Stalin was furious. He personally called Rokossovsky and angrily said, "Comrade Rokossovsky, didn't you assure me that your troops could absolutely stop the enemy advancing on Krasnopoliana? How come the city has fallen into the hands of the Germans in just one or two days?"

Rokossovsky knew very well that the city's fall was due to a variety of reasons, such as insufficient troops, a lack of anti-tank weapons, and no air cover. It would have been a miracle if the city had been able to withstand the German army's frenzied attack.

However, he didn't defend himself on the phone. He knew Stalin's personality well; the more you argued, the angrier he would become. It was better to admit his mistake, propose a new battle plan, and find a way to take the city back from the Germans.

After Stalin finished his rant, Rokossovsky said cautiously, "Comrade Stalin, my troops have suffered heavy losses in both manpower and weaponry after a long battle. If we want to recapture Krasnopolana from the Germans, we must replenish our lost men and weapons. However, until we receive replenishment, I will still deploy some troops near the city to prevent the Germans from taking the opportunity to rush towards Moscow."

After hearing Rokossovsky's words, Stalin's anger subsided considerably. He took two cigarettes from his pack, crushed them, and stuffed the tobacco into the butts, but he didn't light them immediately. Instead, he put the pipe in his mouth and said, "Alright, Rokossovsky, you'll get what you deserve." Without giving Rokossovsky a chance to speak, he hung up the phone.

A dozen minutes later, Rokossovsky received a phone call from General Sokolovsky, the chief of staff of the front.

"Comrade Rokossovsky!" Sokolovsky said on the phone, "In order to prevent the enemy in the Krasnopol region from taking the opportunity to rush towards Moscow, General Zhukov is preparing to draw a tank brigade, an artillery regiment and four rocket artillery battalions from the front's reserves for your army group to carry out counter-attacks."

"Excellent, this is truly excellent!" Rokossovsky was overjoyed to hear Sokolovsky say this. He knew very well that with artillery and tank units, the chances of successfully launching a counterattack against the enemy would be greatly increased: "With these technological equipment, our chances of recapturing the city are much greater."

After ending the call, Rokossovsky called Malinin over and repeated what Rokossovsky had just said. He concluded by saying, "Comrade Chief of Staff, if we are to launch a counterattack, the reinforcements from higher command are certainly far from sufficient. What troops do you think we can spare?"

Malinin opened his notebook and examined it carefully for a long time before saying to Rokossovsky, "Comrade Commander, this is what I'm thinking. Since Sun Mountain City has fallen, we can use two infantry battalions, one artillery regiment, and two cannon artillery regiments from the Supreme Command reserve in this counterattack. To facilitate the command of these troops, I think a command group should be established."

After listening to Malinin's suggestion, Rokossovsky nodded slightly and then asked, "Who do you think should be members of the command team?"

“We can have General Kazakov, the artillery chief, and Colonel Oror, the armored corps chief, command these troops.” Malinin had already made up his mind and said confidently, “Their command post can be set up in Hegryazi, which is not far from Krasnopolana. Even if they stay in the command post, they can see the situation on the battlefield through binoculars.”

“Yes, I agree with your choice.” Rokossovsky nodded and said to Malinin, “Call the two commanders now and tell them to come over immediately.”

Kazakov and Oror arrived at the command post an hour after receiving the phone call.

Rokossovsky first relayed Stalin's instructions to them, clearly telling them: "The Supreme Commander himself said that once the German army has established a foothold in Krasnaya Polyana, they can deploy heavy artillery there and bombard the city of Moscow. We absolutely cannot allow this to happen, so launch a counterattack against Krasnaya Polyana as soon as possible and strive to take the city back from the Germans in the shortest possible time."

After Rokossovsky finished speaking, General Kazakov, who was in command, immediately raised his question: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, what units participated in the Red Polyana counterattack?"

Rokossovsky immediately had Malinin explain to Kazakov in detail the unit designations to be used in the counterattack.

After Malinin finished speaking, Rokossovsky looked at Kazakov and asked, "Comrade Chief of Artillery, how about it? Are you confident that you can take the city back from the Germans?"

Kazakov frowned and thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Comrade Commander, I will do my best."

“Doing your best is not enough.” But Rokossovsky shook his head and said, “You know very well what the fall of Krasnopolana means for all of Moscow. Therefore, you must do everything in your power to take the city back from the Germans as quickly as possible.”

“Alright, Comrade Commander.” Kazakov nodded, gritting his teeth as he said, “Since you’ve said so, then Colonel Oror and I will do our utmost in commanding the counterattack in Krasnopoliana and strive to drive the enemy out of the city as soon as possible.”

(End of this chapter)