red moscow

Chapter 3022

Sokov smiled upon hearing this, and then explained to Belkin, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, this is a newly developed anti-tank weapon called a rocket launcher." He picked up an instruction manual that was placed next to him and handed it to him, saying, "This is the instruction manual for using the rocket launcher."

Belkin took the instruction manual, glanced at it for a while, then looked up at Sokov and asked cautiously, "Comrade Brigade Commander, the manual says that this weapon, called a rocket launcher, can destroy German tanks at a distance of 200 meters. Is that true?"

“I think it’s true,” Sokov said with a smile. “If I’m not mistaken, this anti-tank weapon was also designed by Khabarov. With this weapon, when enemy tanks charge at us, our soldiers won’t have to risk their lives to rush to the tanks and throw grenades or Molotov cocktails to destroy them.”

Karsokov also came over, examining the rocket launcher closely, muttering to himself, "This weapon doesn't seem to have anything special about it. Can it really destroy German tanks at long range?"

Seeing that Belkin and Karsokov both had doubts about the rocket launcher, Sokov did not argue with them, but said to them, "Deputy Brigade Commander, Chief of Staff, if you don't believe me, then we'll go outside and try it out to see how it actually works."

The group arrived at an open area outside the village, where the wreckage of a destroyed German tank lay.

Sokov estimated the distance to be about 150 meters, then called Bobrikov over and instructed him, "Comrade Captain, try shooting at the wreckage of that tank with a rocket launcher and see how it goes."

Bobrikov had already read the instructions for the rocket launcher on his way there, so after hearing Sokov's instructions, he carried the rocket launcher to the side, knelt on one knee, and aimed at the distant tank wreckage through the sights.

To get a clear view of the effect, several soldiers stood behind Bobrikov. Seeing this, Sokov was immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly shouted, "Hey, wait a minute!"

Just as Bobrikov was about to pull the trigger, he heard Sokov's shout and, not knowing what had happened, immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Sokov, who was running towards him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, is there anything else you need?"

Sokov ignored him and instead yelled at the soldiers who were watching the commotion, "Who gave you permission to stand here? Get out of here right now!"

The soldier who had been scolded, though not daring to argue back with Sokov, clearly had a sour expression on his face. Sokov, worried that others might stand behind the rocket launcher, quickly raised his voice, saying, "When the rockets are fired, they will spew flames backward. If anyone is standing behind them, they will be burned." He then gestured to Bobrikov, "Captain, stop dawdling, fire already!"

Bobrikov nodded, picked up the rocket launcher again, and aimed at the distant tank wreckage through the sights. With a flash of light, the rocket, carrying a heat wave and thick gray smoke, struck the German tank wreckage directly. With a loud explosion and thick smoke, the target was hit.

Facts speak louder than words. Seeing the newly delivered rocket launchers easily hit the wreckage of German tanks from such a distance, Belkin and Karsokov stared in astonishment. The next moment, the two rushed to Bobrikov's side, reaching out to stroke the anti-tank marvel, muttering, "I never imagined this anti-tank weapon was so powerful. If it could be mass-produced and deployed, we would never have to fear German armored assaults again. No matter how many come, we'll destroy them all."

"Now that you have witnessed the power of this anti-tank weapon, let's distribute it as soon as possible so that the officers and soldiers can become familiar with its use. This way, we won't have as much trouble dealing with enemy tanks in the next battle."

Shortly after the group returned to the command post, four battalion commanders walked in one after another.

Their goal was the same: upon learning that the brigade had acquired new anti-tank weapons capable of destroying German tanks at long range, they all naturally wanted Sokov to allocate these weapons to them.

Listening to the battalion commanders' endless argument, Sokov raised his hand to interrupt them: "Comrades, the weapons and equipment department sent us too few rocket launchers this time. I can't possibly equip every battalion with them. In order to better utilize the power of this weapon, I plan to equip only one battalion for the time being."

Sokov's words sparked another argument among the four battalion commanders, each vying to be the lucky one.

Seeing the four battalion commanders arguing heatedly, Belkin couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, and then asked Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, which battalion do you intend to equip with these rocket launchers?"

Instead of answering the question immediately, Sokov countered, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, which battalion do you think I should be assigned to?"

Belkin turned to look at the battalion commanders who were still arguing, thought for a moment, and said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, in the battle to liberate Krasnaya Polyana, the battalion that performed the best was Major Vasya's Fourth Battalion, so I think we can assign the rocket launchers to the Fourth Battalion."

Hearing that Belkin's idea coincided with his own, Sokov nodded and made the final decision: "Then give it to Major Vasya's fourth battalion."

Now that Sokov had made his decision, Karsokov immediately stopped the four battalion commanders from arguing and said to them, "Comrades, the brigade commander has made a decision. All the anti-tank rocket launchers sent by the Armaments Department will be handed over to Major Vasya's Fourth Battalion."

Upon learning that Sokov planned to equip his 4th Battalion with all its rocket launchers, Vasya was overjoyed. He quickly thanked Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, thank you..."

But before he could finish speaking, Sokov interrupted him: "Major Vasya, I assigned the anti-tank rocket launchers to your battalion because I trust you. Go back and select suitable personnel, and get to training them as soon as possible. If your battalion's performance in the next battle does not satisfy me, I will take back these weapons and redistribute them to other battalions. Do you understand?"

“I understand, Comrade Brigade Commander,” Vasya replied in a loud voice. “I will select suitable personnel to familiarize themselves with this new weapon, and I will definitely not let you down.”

After the battalion commanders left, Karsokov asked Sokov curiously, "Comrade Brigade Commander, why did you choose Major Vasya? Actually, I think Captain Yefim, the commander of the First Battalion, is also a good candidate."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said solemnly, looking at Karsokov, "I chose the 4th Battalion because of their outstanding performance in the battle to liberate Krasnaya Polyana. If they had had this kind of anti-tank weapon at the time, the casualties among the officers and soldiers would have been much less."

“The brigade commander is right.” Belkin agreed with Sokov’s statement: “When the 4th Battalion broke through the enemy’s defenses and rushed into the city, they encountered a counterattack from enemy tanks. To destroy one enemy tank, they suffered at least twenty or thirty casualties. Now that we have this weapon, we are sure to have an even more outstanding performance in the next battle.”

…………

By noon the next day, defeated soldiers appeared in the village of Klyukovo.

Battalion Commander Yefim and his men captured several men and brought them to Sokov's command post. Seeing Yefim pushing several disheveled and disheveled soldiers, Sokov frowned and asked, "Comrade Captain, who are these people?"

“Reporting to the brigade commander!” Yefim replied, “These are fleeing soldiers who escaped from Klyukovo.”

Upon hearing that they were fleeing soldiers who had escaped from Klyukovo, Sokov's face was filled with shock: "Has the city fallen?"

One of the soldiers shook his head and said, "There are still many places in the city where fighting is taking place, but most areas have fallen into German hands."

Sokov stepped forward, grabbed the soldier by the collar, and asked loudly, "What about the headquarters? Did they stay in the city, or did they move?"

"I don't know, Lieutenant Colonel." The soldier, looking flustered, shook his head frantically. "Shortly after the battle began, my unit was scattered by the Germans who stormed into the city. It took a lot of effort for us and a few comrades to escape from the city. We have no idea what the situation is like at headquarters now."

Seeing that he couldn't get any useful information from the soldiers, Sokov waved to Yefim, signaling him to take the men away. Then he turned to Karsokov and instructed, "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately call the army group headquarters to find out what's going on there."

While Karsokov was assigning tasks to the radio operator, Belkin asked Sokov in a low voice, "Comrade Brigade Commander, if our brigade hadn't evacuated from the city last night, it's possible that we would have been scattered by the Germans by now."

“That’s entirely possible,” Sokov nodded. “If the enemy captures Klyukovo, they could launch an attack on us next. So we need to issue a battle alert immediately and get our soldiers ready to fight and meet the enemy’s attack at any time.”

“If the Germans really intend to attack the village, the 1st Battalion’s position should be the first to be attacked,” Belkin reminded Sokov. “If the Germans deploy tanks, the 1st Battalion will likely have a hard time holding them off. What do you think, should we switch the 1st and 4th Battalions’ defensive positions?”

“No, we can’t rotate the troops now.” Sokov shook his head and rejected Belkin’s suggestion: “We don’t know when the battle will start. If we rashly rotate the troops, it will easily cause unnecessary chaos.”

“But the battalion doesn’t have anti-tank weapons,” Belkin said again. “If the Germans use tanks to clear the way, their lines can be easily breached.”

“Aren’t there a few trucks in the village?” Fortunately, Sokov had already considered the possibility of this situation. He said confidently, “If enemy tanks are spotted in any direction of the village, send anti-tank crews with rocket launchers to that direction to provide reinforcements.”

After hearing Sokov's words, Belkin excitedly slapped his leg and then gave Sokov a thumbs up: "Comrade Brigade Commander, your idea is brilliant. The village isn't very big, and if we use trucks for transportation, the anti-tank team can get from one place to another in just a few minutes."

Karsokov, who had just finished handing over his mission to the radio operator, overheard the two men's conversation when he returned and chimed in, "I also think the brigade commander's idea is good. With trucks as a means of transport, anti-tank soldiers can reach any location on the battlefield in a very short time."

"However, the Germans haven't shown up yet. All we've done is precautionary," Sokov told the two. "Our primary task right now is to find out where the army group headquarters is."

Karsokov turned and glanced at the radio operator's position, then said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I have ordered the radio operator to call headquarters. If there is a response, he will report to me immediately."

After saying that, Karsokov shouted to the radio operator, "How's it going? Have you made contact with the army group headquarters?"

The radio operator turned around at the sound, shook his head at Karsokov, and said, "No, Comrade Chief of Staff. I have been calling repeatedly, but I have not received any response."

Hearing the radio operator's words, Belkin couldn't help but worry. He asked Sokov in a low voice, "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think our headquarters will be wiped out by the enemy? You know, since the outbreak of the war, it has not been uncommon for army group headquarters to be destroyed by the enemy."

Although Sokov did not know where Rokossovsky was at that moment, he knew in his heart that if Rokossovsky were so easy to kill, there would be no Marshal Rokossovsky, who was known as one of the "Three Musketeers," in later generations.

Therefore, he comforted the two, saying, "Don't worry, sometimes no news is good news. Knowing the commander as I do, even if the enemy gets close to the headquarters, they have a way to safely transfer the members of the headquarters."

The events that had recently occurred in Peshki village had already spread throughout the army group. After hearing Sokov's words and recalling Rokossovsky's experience in Peshki village, Belkin and Karsokov's worries immediately lessened.

The sounds of gunfire grew closer to the village, and the number of fleeing soldiers heading towards it continued to increase.

Yefim called Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we have a steady stream of defeated soldiers retreating from the city entering our battalion's defense zone. What do you suggest I do with them?"

"Comrade Captain, isn't that simple?" Sokov said with a smile. "Your battalion suffered more than a third of its men in the recent battle, didn't it? Now that there are so many reinforcements available, you can rest assured and take them in without worry."

Yefim had long harbored the idea of ​​incorporating the routed soldiers who had entered his defense zone. However, without Sokov's approval, he dared not make the decision on his own. Therefore, he ostensibly called to ask for instructions, but in reality, he wanted to gauge Sokov's attitude.

Now that Sokov had expressed his willingness to take in these defeated soldiers who had entered the defense zone, Yefim naturally did not hesitate and directly incorporated them into the severely understaffed company.

By noon, the number of people in the battalion, which originally had only two hundred or so, had increased to more than six hundred.

Seeing that the First Battalion was rapidly expanding its strength by incorporating the fleeing soldiers, the Second and Third Battalions on the left and right flanks naturally did not want to fall behind and followed suit, desperately taking in the fleeing soldiers.

(End of this chapter)