red moscow

Chapter 3023

Belkin returned from inspecting the various battalions right after lunch.

As soon as he entered, he exclaimed to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander! Something terrible has happened!"

Sokov listened in bewilderment and asked, puzzled, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, what happened?"

Berkin picked up the teacup on the table, gulped down a few mouthfuls, then slammed the cup down on the table, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said, "When I was inspecting the various battalions just now, I found that they were all desperately trying to gather the troops that had retreated from Klyukovo."

"How many troops did they take in?" Sokov asked.

"According to incomplete statistics, there are probably more than two thousand people," Belkin said excitedly. "That is to say, after this round of infiltration, our troops are more numerous than before we entered Sun Mountain City."

Upon learning that each battalion had been reinforced with more than two thousand troops, Sokov was naturally overjoyed, but Karsokov was greatly alarmed. He asked Belkin, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, how come there are so many troops in the city?"

Karsokov's concerns were valid. After a month or two of fighting, the 16th Army's strength had been greatly weakened. Each city had only two or three thousand garrisons, but today, just taking in the troops retreating from Klyukovo alone brought in more than two thousand men. Even if they couldn't take in the entire city's garrison, they had at least half of them.

Upon hearing Karsokov's question, Sokov immediately snapped out of his reverie and quickly asked Belkin, "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff. Although I don't know how many troops are stationed in Klyukovo, isn't it a bit excessive for our troops to suddenly take in more than two thousand men?"

“It’s not an exaggeration at all.” Seeing that Sokov and Karsokov both looked serious, Belkin explained to them, “The city’s garrison usually only counts the regular army; the police and militia are not included. But the more than two thousand I mentioned includes those people.”

"How many regular troops are there?" Sokov asked again.

“No more than eight hundred people,” Belkin replied. “The rest are mostly police officers and militiamen with little fighting ability.”

During Belkin's explanation, Sokov learned that Klyukovo, though only a medium-sized city, had a population of over 80,000 before the war. Although many were evacuated to the rear as the German army drew closer to Moscow, over 20,000 residents remained in the city, including a force of several thousand men organized by police and militia. When the fighting began, the areas defended by the police and militia were breached first by the advancing German armored units, leading to a complete collapse and allowing the Germans to easily enter the city. Although fighting was still ongoing, it was clear to everyone that the city's complete fall was only a matter of time.

"How is their equipment?" This time it was Karsokov's turn to ask.

“The regular army is in a better position; at least everyone has a weapon,” Belkin said. “But the equipment of the police and militia is far from satisfactory. Apart from a few rifles, the police are all armed with pistols. As you know, pistols are not very effective on the battlefield. As for the militia, half of them lost their weapons while fleeing, and the remaining weapons are mostly outdated and obsolete.”

Upon hearing Berkin's words, Karsokov immediately made a suggestion to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I think we should arm all the unarmed militia as soon as possible. What do you think, should we distribute the new rifles sent by the Armaments Department to these militia?"

"No!" Before he could finish speaking, Sokov and Belkin unanimously rejected his proposal: "The new rifles cannot be given to the militia."

Sokov, worried that Karsokov might have some ill intentions, explained to him, "If the militia uses weapons they are not familiar with, it will further reduce their already low combat effectiveness. It would be better to use the weapons that the First and Fourth Battalions have replaced to arm these militia."

“I agree with the brigade commander’s proposal.” Belkin was the first to express his agreement with Sokov’s proposal.

After thinking about it for a while, Karsokov also felt that Sokov's suggestion was correct, so he nodded in agreement.

Half an hour later, a large number of the disarmed weapons were delivered to the unarmed militiamen, who were then rearmed.

While the infantry brigade stood ready in the village of Klyukovo, the army group headquarters still could not be contacted.

Sokov recalled that Rokossovsky mentioned in his memoirs that after the headquarters was attacked by the German army, they withdrew from Klyukovo, but Rokossovsky was vague about where they went.

Seeing that he was still unable to make contact with the army group headquarters, Sokov was very anxious. He called the four battalion commanders and asked them to inquire among the soldiers they had taken in if anyone knew the whereabouts of the army group headquarters.

After some investigation, Captain Nazorov called Sokov to report the situation: "Comrade Brigade Commander, there is a newly detained policeman who says he may know the whereabouts of the army group headquarters."

Sokov was secretly pleased. After all, no one knew the city better than the police. Since this man claimed to know something about the army group headquarters, he figured he could get some useful information from him.

He quickly spoke into the microphone, "Captain Nazorov, please bring that policeman to me personally. I have something to ask him in person."

A dozen minutes later, Nazorov walked into the command post with a police sergeant.

After shaking hands with the police sergeant, Sokov said politely, "Hello, Sergeant! I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the brigade commander of the infantry brigade. I asked Captain Nazorov to bring you here because I have something to ask you in person."

"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel." Before Sokov could ask any more questions, the police sergeant said, "You called me over here to find out the whereabouts of the army group headquarters, right?"

“That’s right, that’s exactly it.” Sokov looked at the police sergeant and asked tentatively, “Do you know anything about it?”

"Lieutenant Colonel, during the retreat, I saw a convoy heading east towards the city." The police sergeant, his eyes fixed on the map on the table, tentatively asked, "May I use your map?"

Knowing that the police sergeant intended to point out the location of the army group headquarters, Sokov readily agreed to his request: "Of course, you can certainly use my map."

After staring at the map in front of him for a while, the police sergeant pointed to the east of the city and said to Sokov, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if the convoy I'm seeing is the army group headquarters, they should leave the city from the east and then move to nearby settlements or villages."

"Where do you think they'll move to?" Sokov asked.

“Here,” the police sergeant said to Sokov, pointing to a location. “I think they’re most likely to have moved here.” Sokov looked over; it was a village with a very long name, which translated to “Green Manor.”

He looked up at the police sergeant and asked, "Is this village big?"

The police sergeant nodded: "This village has more than a thousand people, so it can be considered a medium-to-high-income village. Apart from that, there are no other suitable settlements or villages within a radius of more than ten kilometers."

After expressing his gratitude to the police sergeant, Sokov had Nazorov take him away.

As Nazorov and the police sergeant walked out of the command post, Sokov was about to give instructions to Karsokov when the latter asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you need me to send someone to this village to see if the army group headquarters is there?"

“Of course.” Sokov nodded and said with certainty, “Send out scouts immediately on motorcycles to that village and find out if the headquarters is there. Remember to give them a radio so they can report to us as soon as they have any news.”

The scouts were dispatched quickly, riding on the captured motorcycles, and rushed to the village at top speed.

Now that the scouts have been dispatched, all that's left is to wait for their news.

However, besides figuring out the location of the army group headquarters, another thing that needs to be understood is whether the German army might launch an attack on the village of Klyukowo.

However, intelligence provided by scouts sent from this direction and by fleeing soldiers who entered the village indicated that the German army stopped after occupying Klyukovo and seemed to have no intention of launching an attack on the village.

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" Based on the intelligence he had obtained, Karsokov believed that the German army would not launch an attack on Klyukovo village before dawn the next day. He suggested to Sokov, "Since the enemy will not attack the village, do you think we should leave a few sentries behind and let the rest of the soldiers go back to rest?"

“I think it’s a good idea.” Sokov felt that keeping the soldiers in the trenches would not only be a waste of time, but would also make them feel physically and mentally exhausted, and their fighting ability would be greatly reduced when the enemy launched an attack: “Leave a few sentries behind, and the rest of the soldiers should withdraw to rest.”

Around 10 p.m., Morozova came to Karsokov with a telegram and reported to him, "Comrade Chief of Staff, a telegram from the scouts. They have found the headquarters in the village."

"Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic!" Sokov snatched the telegram from Morozova's hand, quickly scanned its contents, then gave Morozova a warm hug, excitedly saying, "We've finally found the headquarters!"

When Sokov released Morozova, he was surprised to find her cheeks flushed. He felt a little embarrassed; he had been so emotional that he had impulsively embraced her, making her shy. He quickly waved to Morozova and said, "Morozova, you can go back to what you were doing."

“Comrade Brigade Commander,” Belkin said, coming to Sokov’s side and putting a hand on his shoulder with a sigh of relief, “Now that we have confirmed that the army group headquarters is in the village that the policeman mentioned, we can rest assured.”

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, this is what I’m thinking.” Sokov thought about how the Germans had made him worry for so long, and it would be too easy for them to just let it go. So he said to Belkin, “The enemy has just captured Klyukovo, and they must be very tired. If we send troops out for a night raid, we might be able to achieve some unexpected results.”

"Comrade Brigade Commander, how many men do you plan to send for the raid?" Belkin reminded Sokov: "Too few men will not be very effective; but too many men will easily expose our position before the operation even begins."

“I think sending one or two companies to raid would suffice,” Sokov said. “It would be best to also find a few soldiers familiar with the city to act as guides, so that the troops can sneak into the city undetected and then launch a surprise attack on the enemy.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Belkin agreed to Sokov’s plan, then asked, “Which unit do you intend to send for this mission?”

“We haven’t deployed many troops, so to gain an advantage, we’ll have to focus on our weaponry,” Sokov continued. “I plan to send a company from either the 1st or 4th Battalion to sneak into the city and launch a surprise attack on the enemy. Which of these two battalions do you think would be more suitable?”

Belkin thought for a moment, then made a decision: "I think we should let the Fourth Battalion carry out this mission."

“Alright, I’ll have Major Vasya come over right away and personally assign him the task.”

After receiving the call from Karsokov, Major Vasya immediately rushed to the command post.

As soon as he entered, he asked impatiently, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what brings you here so late?"

"Comrade Major!" Sokov pulled Vasya to the table, pointed to the map spread out on it, and said to him, "After fighting during the day, the enemy barely managed to capture Klyukovo. Their officers and soldiers must be exhausted. I plan to have you send a company to infiltrate the city tonight and launch a surprise attack, eliminating as many of their troops as possible. If we can disrupt their offensive and prevent them from launching an attack on us tomorrow, that would be ideal."

Vasya did not respond to Sokov's order, but instead frowned and stared intently at the map on the table, as if there was something interesting on it.

"Major Vasya!" Belkin couldn't contain himself any longer and asked, "Do you have some concerns?"

“Yes, Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander.” Vasya looked up at Berkin and nodded slowly. “We are not familiar with the terrain of the city. If we rashly send troops into the city to fight at night, I am worried that if the troops get lost, I am afraid that not a single one of them will come back.”

"So you were just worried your men would get lost," Belkin said with a smile after figuring out what was going on. "Among all the people we've taken in, many are city police officers. They should be very familiar with the terrain. If they lead the way, your troops entering the city will not only achieve good results, but will also be able to retreat unscathed."

Berkin's words finally put Vasya at ease.

Vasya turned to Sokov and asked cautiously, "Comrade Brigade Commander, when will my troops depart?"

Sokov glanced at the time and then said, "Go back and reorganize your troops, get ready to depart. I will send a police officer to guide you around ten o'clock, and then you can set off."

“I understand, Comrade Brigade Commander! I guarantee I will complete the mission.” After stating his position, Vasya stood at attention, chin held high, and asked, “May I leave now?”

(End of this chapter)