red moscow

Chapter 3038 Train Cannon

The infantry brigade's attack on the village of Kamenka was entirely unexpected by the Germans. The German commander assumed that since his troops were fiercely attacking Lyukovo, even if Soviet reinforcements arrived, they would simply enter the city and join forces with the defenders. However, he never dreamed that he would encounter Sokov, a man known for his unpredictable tactics, who launched an attack from their flank and rear, catching his troops completely off guard.

The German army deployed only one company of troops in the village of Kamenka. Under the cover of artillery fire, the infantry brigade launched a fierce attack on the village.

Despite a desperate resistance from the infantry brigade, the German troops held out for less than half an hour before the village fell into their hands.

After completing the occupation of the village, Yefim pressed his advantage and seized the passing station next to the village from the Germans.

After clearing out the enemy from the village and the meeting point, Yefim called Sokov.

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" Yefim said, somewhat agitated, "Our battalion has captured Kamianka village and the adjacent passing station."

"Well done, Captain." Sokov was very satisfied with Yefim's performance. He instructed him, "Now that you have captured the village and the passing station, you should temporarily switch to defense. The next offensive mission will be handled by the Second and Fourth Battalions."

“Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander,” Yefim replied. “I will immediately order the troops to switch to defense, quickly repair the fortifications, and prepare to repel any possible enemy counterattack.”

Just as Sokov was about to end the call, Yefim suddenly added, "Comrade Brigade Commander, could you please come to the station? I'd like you to take a look at some things."

“What is it?” Sokov asked.

“You’ll see when you come,” Yefim said mysteriously. “It will be an absolutely unexpected surprise.”

Seeing Yefim keeping things mysterious, Sokov was both amused and exasperated. He thought to himself, "If there's anything, just say it over the phone. Why do you insist that I go to the rendezvous point in person?" He recalled that during the counter-offensive in his previous life, he had discovered a large number of world-famous paintings looted by the German army in a liberated city. Could it be that Yefim and his team had also seized cultural relics stolen by the German army?

To find out what Yefim was really up to, Sokov decided to go there himself.

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander!” Sokov asked Belkin tentatively, “Captain Yefim called me and said that they found something special when they captured the village of Kamenka and the passing station. Would you be interested in coming with me to take a look?”

“I would be more than happy to do so,” Belkin readily agreed. “The matter of commanding the troops in combat will be temporarily left to the Chief of Staff.”

Half an hour later, Sokov's jeep arrived at the First Battalion's camp. At this time, Alexei's Second Battalion was entering the village of Kamenka one after another, preparing to use it as a starting point to continue the attack on the German army.

Yefim and Alexa were chatting next to a wooden hut when they saw Sokov's jeep approaching. They immediately stopped talking, straightened their uniforms, and jogged over to Sokov's vehicle.

"Comrade Captain!" Sokov pushed open the car door and shouted at Yefim, "Where's the surprise you mentioned?"

"At the transfer station."

"Get in the car!" Sokov commanded. "Take us there and have a look."

Yefim agreed, opened the passenger door and got in, then turned to guide the driver, telling him where to drive.

The jeep drove out of the village, through a grove of trees, and soon arrived at the meeting point.

When Sokov looked through the train window and saw the enormous machine parked on the tracks, he exclaimed, "My God, that's a Gustav railway gun!"

Hearing Sokov's exclamation, Yefim, sitting in the passenger seat, turned halfway around and said to him, "Comrade Brigade Commander, to be precise, it's the K5 railway gun. The German-made railway guns range in caliber from 150 mm to 800 mm, and because their range can reach tens of kilometers, they are mainly used to deal with fortresses."

The jeep had just arrived beside the railway tracks where the train guns were parked. As soon as it came to a stop, Belkin got out, looked up at the enormous machine before him, and exclaimed, "Captain Yefim, these two train guns must have a caliber of at least 200 millimeters!"

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, these two guns are 300mm in caliber,” Yefim replied. “After interrogating the prisoners, they said these two railway guns were intended for shelling Moscow. They never dreamed we would suddenly attack the village of Kamenka. These two railway guns were captured by us before they even reached their firing positions.” Sokov, who had just disembarked, overheard Yefim’s words and began to ponder: In the open-air war museum on Victory Square in Moscow, there was a 180mm TM-1-180 railway gun on display. He had never heard of these two 300mm guns; they must have been destroyed for some reason.

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" Belkin turned to Sokov and said, "We've captured two large-caliber railway guns. This is a remarkable achievement, and we should report it to the army group headquarters immediately!"

“That’s right, we should report to the army group headquarters immediately.” Sokov agreed with Belkin’s statement: “I believe the commander will be very pleased to learn of such a victory.”

Sokov's arrival was rather rushed, and he did not have a radio operator with him. Therefore, to report to the army group headquarters, he had to return to the brigade headquarters and use the telephone there to report the matter to Rokossovsky.

When the two returned to the brigade headquarters, Karsokov saw their happy faces and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Comrades, why are you so happy? Did something good happen?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you probably never dreamed what we saw at the rendezvous point next to the village of Kamenka, which the First Battalion occupied?" Belkin asked.

"What is it?" Karsokov racked his brains for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Could it be a truckload of captured ammunition?"

Upon hearing Karsokov's words, Sokov and Belkin exchanged a glance and then burst into laughter.

The two men's laughter left Karsokov bewildered. He asked, puzzled, "Comrades, did I say something wrong?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, we're not laughing at you for saying the wrong thing, but rather at how far your guess is from the correct answer."

"What exactly did Captain Yefim and his men seize at the rendezvous point near Kamianka village that made you so happy?"

“Alright, Deputy Brigade Commander, stop making the Chief of Staff guess.” Sokov interrupted Belkin’s next words and said directly to Karsokov, “When the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion captured the passing station next to the village of Kamenka, they seized two K5 railway guns that had just arrived.”

"What? A K5 railway gun? That's a heavy artillery piece used to conquer fortresses! How could it be here?" Karsokov had barely finished speaking when a possibility suddenly occurred to him, and he exclaimed in shock, "Could it be that the enemy plans to bombard the city of Moscow with railway guns?"

"That goes without saying. The Germans transported such heavy artillery to the village of Kamenka in an attempt to bombard the city of Moscow from there after recapturing Klyukovo."

While Belkin and Karsokov were chatting, Sokov had a communications soldier connect him to the army group headquarters.

Upon hearing Rokossovsky's voice through the receiver, Sokov immediately said, "Hello, Comrade Commander, I have something important to report to you."

"Misha, I heard that your troops launched an attack from the German flank, forcing the enemy attacking Klyukovo to halt their offensive and withdraw some troops to reinforce it." Rokossovsky said with a smile, "You called me to talk about this, didn't you?"

“Comrade Commander, you are right. My troops did launch an attack from the enemy’s flank and rear, disrupting their original offensive plan,” Sokov said respectfully. “But I’m calling you to report something else.”

"Something else?" Rokossovsky was taken aback, then asked, "What is it?"

"After my troops captured the passing station next to the village of Kamenka, they seized two newly arrived 180mm K5 railway guns," Sokov said. "Through interrogation of prisoners, the enemy learned that the purpose of bringing these two 300mm K5 railway guns was to bombard the city of Moscow from within the city after their troops recaptured Klyukovo."

Rokossovsky was shocked to learn that Sokov's infantry brigade had captured two 300mm K5 railway guns: "What? You captured two 300mm railway guns? This means that even after the Germans were driven out of Krasnopol, they were still not giving up. They thought that ordinary heavy artillery could not bombard the city of Moscow, so they brought railway guns from their rear to prepare to bombard the city from a distance."

Rokossovsky paused here, seemingly deep in thought. After a while, he continued, "Misha, you did a good job. You actually captured two 300mm heavy guns from the German army. I will report this to the Front Command and recommend you and your men for commendation!"

"Thank you, Commander! On behalf of all the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion, I express my gratitude to you!"

After ending his call with Sokov, Rokossovsky immediately called Zhukov and said bluntly, "Zhukov, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the infantry brigade, just reported to me that they captured two 300mm railway guns when they captured the passing station next to the village of Kamenka. Through interrogation of the prisoners, they confessed that they planned to bombard the city of Moscow from here after recapturing Klyukovo."

(End of this chapter)