red moscow

Chapter 3054

Sokov and the others followed the captain to a large brick-and-mortar house in the village. There was a wooden sign broken in two on the ground in front of the door. As they got closer, they could vaguely make out the words on it: "Soviet Office of XX Village".

After saying a few words to the soldiers standing guard at the door, the captain turned to Sokov and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander is in the conference room at the end of the corridor. Please come in."

After thanking the other party, Sokov led Belkin and Karsokov inside.

After entering, walking along the corridor, you see soldiers busy in the open rooms on both sides. They are communicating with the troops under the army group through various means, conveying orders from headquarters, and collecting various battle reports from the front.

Upon reaching the end of the corridor, Sokov immediately saw a long conference table in the middle of the meeting room, where Rokossovsky and Malinin were sitting together talking, while opposite them was Military Commissar Lobachev.

Sokov and the others quickly approached Rokossovsky, raised their hands in salute, and said, "Hello, Comrade Commander!"

Rokossovsky stopped talking to Malinin, stood up, shook hands with Sokov, and said with a smile, "Misha, you've come so quickly. I thought you had just withdrawn from Sun Mountain City today and wouldn't arrive here until tomorrow."

"Comrade Commander, you've moved quite swiftly, even reaching a position ahead of our brigade." As Sokov said this, his eyes quickly swept towards the wall, and he found that, just as recorded in the memoirs, there were many landmines of various shapes.

Rokossovsky noticed Sokov's gaze and couldn't help but laugh: "Misha, don't worry, the fuses on these mines have been removed by the sappers, they won't explode. As for why they're here, it's because too many reporters have come to headquarters to interview us, seriously interfering with our normal work, so I'm using this method to scare them away."

Lobachev chimed in, “We arrived here and were just about to get to work when several journalists burst in, followed by a few people carrying film cameras, filling the room with people and making it impossible for us to work. At that moment, the commander joked that there were landmines in the room and he wanted to scare them. Surprisingly, this trick worked, and the room became empty in an instant.”

"Comrades, you must be tired after traveling such a long way," Malinin said warmly to Sokov and the other two. "Please have a seat."

After Sokov and the others were seated, Malinin continued, "What brings you to headquarters?"

“Comrade Commander, I have indeed come to see you today on something important,” Sokov said, looking at Rokossovsky.

"What is it? Tell me about it."

“There are two main things,” Sokov said. “First, my troops discovered a German prisoner-of-war camp in the forest east of Sunhill, where more than three thousand of our officers and soldiers were being held. I have ordered the prisoners to be rescued. Except for a few hundred seriously wounded soldiers who were sent to the field hospital in Khimki for treatment, the rest have been incorporated into the troops.”

At this point, Sokov paused intentionally, secretly observing Rokossovsky's expression to see how he would react after hearing his report.

“Misha, I think your approach is good.” Rokossovsky said with a calm expression, “The German POW camps hold experienced commanders and soldiers. Integrating them directly into the troops will not dilute the combat effectiveness of the troops. Moreover, the torture they suffer in the POW camps will fill their hearts with hatred for the enemy, thus making them unleash amazing combat power on the battlefield.”

Sokov felt much more at ease after hearing Rokossovsky's words, which indicated that he agreed with his approach.

"Comrade Commander, let me move on to the second matter," Sokov continued. "These newly assigned officers and soldiers are unarmed. I wonder if headquarters can help us equip them?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff!" Rokossovsky did not answer Sokov immediately, but turned to Malinin and asked, "Can you help the infantry brigade solve the equipment problem?"

“No problem, Commander.” Malinin knew very well that the stronger the infantry brigade, the more beneficial it would be to the army group headquarters, so he nodded and replied, “When the logistics department sends us the replenished weapons and ammunition, I can allocate some to the infantry brigade.” “Misha, you heard that, right?” Rokossovsky said to Sokov, “Once the supplies from the rear arrive, we will immediately allocate some equipment to you.”

As Sokov was expressing his gratitude to Rokossovsky, two commanders entered from outside. From the rank insignia on their overcoats, Sokov recognized them as generals. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were both familiar faces. One was Major General Katukov, and the other was Major General Remizov.

Upon seeing the two men arrive, Rokossovsky and Malinin immediately rose to greet them. Sokov and the others, feeling embarrassed to remain seated, also stood up.

In his previous life, Sokov had dealt with these two generals quite a bit and had a certain level of acquaintance with them. But in this life, let alone Remizov, Sokov had virtually no interaction with either of them, not to mention Katukov. Now, he knew them, but they might not know him.

Sure enough, after Katukov and Remizov shook hands with Rokossovsky and Malinin, they only glanced casually at the three of them before going over to Lobachev to greet him: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissar, it's a pleasure to see you here."

Lobachev was equally pleased as he shook hands with Katukov and Remizov: "Many of our excellent commanders have sacrificed their lives in the past few months of fighting. I am very happy to see that you are still alive."

"Generals, let me introduce you." After Katukov and Remizov shook hands with Lobachev, Rokossovsky pointed to Sokov and the others and introduced them: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the brigade commander of the infantry brigade. Next to him is his deputy brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, and the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Karsokov."

Remizov looked at Sokov, but asked Rokossovsky, "Comrade Commander, are you planning to incorporate the infantry brigade into my right wing group?"

But Rokossovsky shook his head, denying all his claims: "I'm sorry, General Remizov, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I have other plans for Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's infantry brigade, and it cannot be incorporated into your right-wing combat group for the time being. Alright, now Chief of Staff Colonel Malinin will assign you your tasks."

When Sokov saw Malinin pointing to the map on the table and beginning to explain, he couldn't help but feel indignant on Malinin's behalf. When the war broke out, Malinin, Katukov, and Remizov were all colonels, but now the latter two had become generals, while Malinin was still stuck in the same position. It seemed that the tradition of not valuing staff officers, which started in the Tsarist era, was still deeply rooted in the army today.

"The front headquarters informed us that the offensive carried out by the 30th Army and the 1st Shock Army was progressing smoothly, and the General Headquarters had ordered the left flank of the Kalinin Front to launch an offensive."

In this situation, the commander's greatest concern was that the Istrian River might become a natural barrier to our army group's offensive route. To prevent the enemy from setting up defenses in the Istrian River region, headquarters ordered all corps to advance rapidly and force a crossing of the Istrian River. Furthermore, to prevent the enemy from resorting to desperate measures and brazenly blowing up the reservoir dam to use the river to impede our advance, we specifically formed a left-wing group under General Katukov and a right-wing group under General Remizov, precisely to prepare for outflanking maneuvers around the Istrian Reservoir from the north and south after the enemy destroyed the dam.

Listening to Malinin's account, Sokov was filled with mixed emotions. In his previous life, when the 16th Army advanced to the Istra Reservoir area, he was merely a lowly company commander, ordered to stop the enemy from destroying the reservoir. He had only tried it out of wishful thinking, but unexpectedly, he actually succeeded in thwarting the enemy's plot. In this life, he wondered if Rokossovsky would entrust him with the task of protecting the Istra Reservoir again.

After Malinin finished explaining the situation, Sokov stared at him expectantly, hoping he would assign combat tasks to the infantry brigade. However, Malinin didn't even glance at Sokov, but instead asked Rokossovsky in a low voice, "Comrade Commander, is there anything else you'd like to add?"

“You’ve said enough, so I won’t add anything more.” Rokossovsky finished speaking and turned his gaze to Sokov. “Misha, your infantry brigade has just completed the mission of liberating Sun Mountain City. The officers and soldiers must be exhausted. I’ll give you two days to rest. You don’t need to participate in combat for now; you just need to follow headquarters. Do you have any objections?”

Sokov did not object to Rokossovsky's arrangements. The troops had just participated in a battle, and the officers and soldiers were indeed fatigued. More importantly, Major Vasya would soon bring three thousand rescued prisoners of war to replenish the battalions, and it would certainly take some time for these men to fully integrate into the infantry brigade.

“No, Comrade Commander,” Sokov replied readily. “I will obey your orders without question.”

“There are still quite a few empty houses in this village. I think you should let your troops camp in the village. It’s much better than camping on the main road.”

"Okay, I will immediately have the troops stationed in the village, so that the officers and soldiers can take on the responsibility of protecting the headquarters while they rest."

(End of this chapter)