red moscow

Chapter 3020

After the infantry brigade captured Krasnopolana, the heavy artillery and ammunition that the Germans had prepared to use to bombard Moscow were all captured.

When Kazakov learned that the German artillery had been captured and was preparing to bombard the city of Moscow, he personally led several guards into the city to investigate.

At that moment, Sokov and Belkin were chatting in front of the 24 captured 155mm howitzers.

Berkin stroked the howitzer barrel and said with emotion, "Comrade Brigade Commander, fortunately our counterattack successfully drove the Germans out of the city. Otherwise, if they had gained a foothold in Krasnaya Polyana and continued to bombard the city with these howitzers, it would not only have caused huge casualties, but also destroyed some important historical artifacts."

Sokov, however, was somewhat dismissive of this matter. In the history he knew, after the German army occupied Krasnopolana, although they deployed heavy artillery in the city early on, they had no chance to fire even a single shell into the Moscow city area due to the constant counterattacks by the Soviet army.

Shortly after the German army occupied Krasnopolana, Field Marshal Bock rushed there. He climbed the bell tower of a church and, through his binoculars, clearly saw the gleaming red star atop the Kremlin spire. However, the constant Soviet counterattacks made him realize the danger, and he didn't stay long before hastily leaving by car. This German Field Marshal probably never dreamed that this would be the closest he would ever come to Moscow in his lifetime.

"I wonder what General Kazakov intends to do with these artillery pieces?" Belkin continued. "If he's willing to use them to equip our brigade, then our firepower will be further enhanced."

After listening, Sokov shook his head with a smile and said, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, that's simply unrealistic. If General Kazakov saw such heavy artillery, he would definitely take it over to the army group's artillery units to provide strong artillery support for friendly forces. Even if he were willing to hand over these howitzers to our brigade, they would likely be a burden to us. Such heavy artillery would definitely need trucks to tow it for relocation. Also, these are 155mm caliber guns, while our artillery is 152mm caliber, so the shells used are incompatible. If we use up all the captured shells, these howitzers will become useless."

“Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you’re right.” Kazakov’s voice suddenly came from behind them. They quickly turned around and looked in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, they saw Kazakov and Oror leading several guards, walking towards them.

Sokov and Belkin immediately stood at attention and saluted Kazakov and the others.

"Comrade General, what brings you here?" Sokov asked.

Kazakov walked up to a cannon, patted the thick barrel, and said with a smile, "I came here for these heavy cannons, of course. You did a fantastic job, not only driving the enemy who occupied Krasnopolana out of the city, but also capturing so many German heavy cannons intact, thwarting their plot to bombard the city of Moscow."

Although Sokov had just told Belkin that Kazakov would absolutely not hand over these artillery pieces to the infantry brigade, he still asked reluctantly, "Comrade General, I would like to ask, what do you plan to do with these artillery pieces? Can you allocate a few to our brigade?"

After he finished asking his question, Kazakov unsurprisingly refused him: "I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel. It's obviously more appropriate for these heavy artillery pieces to remain in the army group's artillery sequence. When we provide artillery support to our allies, we can inflict greater losses on the enemy."

Sokov gave Belkin a meaningful glance, as if to ask, "See? I told you so. General Kazakov certainly won't agree to hand over these artillery pieces to our brigade."

When Belkin saw the look Sokov gave him, he smiled wryly and nodded, indicating that the other man's speculation was correct.

Kazakov instructed his entourage to arrange for the artillery pieces to be moved to another location, lest the Germans, unwilling to accept the loss of the city, send aircraft to bomb and destroy the artillery pieces, which would be a huge loss.

After handing over his work, Kazakov noticed several 76.2mm cannons positioned in the distance on an open field and asked Sokov, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, where did those cannons come from?"

"Reporting to the general, that is our brigade's artillery unit."

Upon hearing that it was an artillery unit of an infantry brigade, Kazakov frowned slightly and asked, "I remember recently I transferred two artillery battalions from your brigade to my command. Where did this artillery unit come from?"

"Comrade General!" Sokov sensed Kazakov's idea about the artillery and felt a little flustered, but he still tried to remain calm and said, "Our brigade's officers and soldiers come from different units, and their skills are also different. There are quite a few tank crewmen and artillerymen among them. I think it would be a waste to use such a special branch of the military as ordinary infantry. Therefore, I managed to obtain a few cannons and rebuild an artillery battalion to provide artillery support for other units."

"Oh, I see." After figuring out what was going on, Kazakov nodded slowly and said, "Then I won't put this artillery unit under my command."

"Comrade General, I'd like to offer you a suggestion." Sokov was worried that Kazakov would continue to think about his artillery, so he quickly tried to divert his attention.

"What suggestion do you have? Tell me quickly."

“Although we have driven the enemy out of Krasnopolana, they will definitely not accept their defeat. They will surely organize troops to launch a counterattack as soon as it is light tomorrow.” Sokov reminded Kazakov: “The enemy will definitely deploy a large number of tanks. We must prepare anti-tank measures in advance.”

"Preparing for anti-tank warfare in advance is not that easy," Kazakov said, shaking his head. "Don't let my position as the army group's artillery chief fool you; I don't actually have many anti-tank guns. If the Germans really do send out tanks tomorrow and launch another attack on the city, we'll have to find other ways to deal with them."

“I do have a solution,” Sokov said, pointing to his own cannons and explaining to Kazakov, “Our brigade’s artillery can be used not only to destroy enemy fortifications and firing positions at close range, but also to target enemy tanks.”

Kazakov stared at the cannons for a while, then his eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you're right, we can use the other artillery pieces to deal with the German tanks."

"Comrade General, I saw that you have moved several 85mm anti-aircraft guns into the city." Sokov suggested, "These 85mm anti-aircraft guns should be quite effective in dealing with German tanks."

"You mean, we should use the anti-aircraft guns as anti-tank guns?" "That's right, Comrade General, that's exactly what I mean." To get Kazakov's attention, Sokov continued, "I think these anti-aircraft guns are perfectly capable of serving as anti-tank guns and can be used to deal with German tanks."

“I think Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is right.” Before Kazakov could express his opinion, Orel interjected, “A month or two ago, there were instances where the German army used their 88mm anti-aircraft guns against our tanks. So I think it is very appropriate for Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to use the 85mm anti-aircraft gun as an anti-tank gun.”

“In that case, we should quickly deploy a batch of 85mm anti-aircraft guns from outside the city and place them in suitable positions within the city, waiting for the German army to fall into our trap,” Kazakov said. “As long as we destroy the German tank units, their counter-offensive against the city will end in failure. Once the Germans stop operating in this area, we can divert troops to reinforce other sections of the army group’s defense zone.”

"So what should our brigade do next?" Sokov asked.

Kazakov thought for a moment and said to Sokov, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I will have other units take over the defense of the city later. You will withdraw from the city and return to the headquarters, where you will await further orders."

"That's fine then, I'll arrange for the troops to retreat." As Sokov spoke, he was still thinking to himself that it was only about 20 kilometers from here to Khimki, and they could easily find vehicles to transport the wounded to the field hospital there.
"Then let's retreat as soon as possible." Kazakov nodded and said, "But when you move, don't make too much noise, so as not to alert the enemy. Once the enemy discovers that we are retreating, they will rush at us at all costs. At that time, with our strength, we simply cannot withstand the enemy's fierce attack."

Although it was already night, Sokov still ordered the troops to withdraw from the city as soon as possible, and to regroup outside the city before moving to Klyukovo.

During the journey, Karsokov approached and asked, puzzled, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what exactly is going on? In the middle of the night, you suddenly ordered our entire brigade to withdraw from the city and return to Klyukovo, where the army group headquarters is located?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I only have one thing to tell you." Sokov turned to look at Karsokov and said, "The army group is severely understrength, and the commander has had to move troops from areas of less intense fighting to areas of frequent fighting. Our brigade has already completed the mission of capturing Krasnaya Polyana, and next, it should be moved to areas of intense fighting to assist friendly forces in resisting the German offensive."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, do you know which area we will be transferred to?" Karsokov continued to ask.

Sokov shook his head again and said, "I don't know. Comrade Commander should assign us to the combat zones on a temporary basis, based on the fierce and successful battle situation at the time."

After a forced march, Sokov led his infantry brigade back to Kryukovo.

After entering the city, he found a place to settle his troops down and then went directly to see Rokossovsky.

Upon seeing Sokov's arrival, Rokossovsky, who had been dozing at the table, immediately woke up. He got up and walked towards Sokov, extending his hand from a distance and saying, "Misha, you're excellent! I want to say that you and your men are excellent. It is because of your bravery and tenacity that we were able to successfully recapture Krasnopolana in such a short time."

"Comrade Commander, this is all we should do," Sokov said modestly, then tentatively asked, "Where do you intend to send our infantry brigade?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky said, not immediately answering Sokov's question, but instead turning to Malinin, who was sitting not far away, "Why don't you explain to Misha the current situation of our army group?"

Malinin nodded and then explained to Sokov, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, General Zhukov just gave us an order to retake Sunhill from the Germans as soon as possible, so as to improve the predicament our army group is currently facing. To achieve this goal, we have transferred all the forces we can to the area. The troops there now include: the 7th and 8th Guards Divisions, a regiment of the 354th Division, the Dovator Cavalry Corps, and troops from the 20th Cavalry Division."

Upon hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but mutter to himself: "That's quite a force. When I was the commander of the city's defenses, if I had this many troops, even if the Germans launched a fierce offensive, I wouldn't have let them occupy the city so easily."

He said with a wry smile, "They have quite a few troops."

“Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, it depends on how you look at it,” Malinin interjected. “If it’s for defense, this number of troops is more than enough. But if we want to retake Sunhill, which has been occupied by the Germans, this number is clearly not enough.”

As soon as Malinin finished speaking, Sokov asked eagerly, "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you intend for our brigade to also participate in the attack on Sun Mountain City?"

“I did have that thought,” Malining said without any attempt to hide it. “After all, you are the most familiar with the city, and you even opened several secret passages in the city beforehand, just to facilitate our army’s counterattack on the city. But half an hour ago, the situation took an unexpected turn.”

Sokov was startled, then cautiously asked, "What changes have occurred in the situation?"

“The scouts reported to us that a large number of German troops have appeared in a small town five kilometers from here,” Malinin said. “It seems they are preparing to launch an attack on Klyukovo. To be honest, the forces here are a bit too few. Therefore, the commander and I have decided that after the infantry brigade returns to the city, it will be responsible for the defense of Klyukovo. We must not let the enemy take Klyukovo.”

Sokov recalled his previous life, where, after becoming a platoon leader, he led a small unit in the counter-offensive against Klyukovo. In other words, no matter how the Soviet army defended, the enemy would eventually capture the city. His heavily wounded troops, holding out here, no matter how bravely they acted, were merely delaying the city's fall.

“Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, why aren’t you saying anything?” Malinin asked, looking at Sokov. “You can say whatever you’re thinking.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, to be honest, if you had given me this task two days ago, I could have assured you with my life that I would have held the city firmly." Sokov said with difficulty, "But our brigade just finished the battle of Krasnopolana, and we have suffered two-fifths of our casualties. With the remaining thousand or so men, it will be difficult to stop the German army's frenzied attack."

(End of this chapter)