red moscow

Chapter 3069

The next morning, Rokossovsky went to the brigade headquarters of the infantry brigade to find Sokov.

"Misha, after careful consideration, the army group headquarters has decided to transfer your brigade to the Istra Reservoir area to participate in the battle to break through the German defenses." After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Rokossovsky got straight to the point: "When can your brigade depart?"

Sokov pondered for a moment, then said with some difficulty, "Comrade Commander, the four battalions just underwent personnel adjustments last night, and the officers and soldiers are not yet familiar with each other. If we hastily assemble them, it will take at least an hour."

“I’ll give you two hours,” Rokossovsky said. “Use that time to have another convoy prepared for you, so the soldiers won’t have to march on foot.”

"That's wonderful, that's wonderful!" Sokov exclaimed with delight. He said repeatedly, "If there had been a convoy yesterday, we could have entered the battlefield much faster, thus reducing the casualties of the cavalry in the battle."

Upon hearing Sokov mention the cavalry corps, Rokossovsky's face darkened. He couldn't help but think of his old comrade-in-arms, General Dovator, who had died yesterday. He had thought that one day he and Dovator would lead their troops into Berlin, but the other man had unfortunately died young, which made him feel extremely heartbroken.

"I'll be back in two hours. I hope you'll have finished assembling by then," Rokossovsky said, turning and walking out of the command post before Sokov could say anything more.

Watching Rokossovsky's figure disappear through the door, Belkin whispered a reminder to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you shouldn't have mentioned the Cavalry Corps in front of the Commander. You know, Dovator was his old comrade-in-arms, and his sacrifice must have weighed heavily on his mind."

“Yes, you’re right. I didn’t think it through. I’ll try not to mention the cavalry corps in front of the commander next time.” After saying this, Sokov instructed Karsokov: “Chief of Staff, immediately issue orders to the battalion commanders to complete the assembly of their troops as quickly as possible. We need to move to the Istra Reservoir area as soon as possible.”

Although Rokossovsky gave Sokov two hours to assemble the troops, thanks to the efforts of several battalion commanders, the troops completed the assembly in just one and a half hours.

Coincidentally, the convoy sent by the army group headquarters arrived shortly after the troops had completed their assembly.

Rokossovsky returned to the area where the infantry brigade was gathered and saw the convoy parked outside the village. He said to Sokov, "Misha, due to the tight schedule, we can only mobilize a limited number of vehicles. There are only fifty trucks here. How to allocate them is up to you."

Sokov thought for a moment, then said, "Then let the officers and soldiers of the first battalion board the vehicles, and the other battalions will follow behind the first battalion on foot."

As the soldiers of the First Battalion boarded the trucks, they began to start moving one after another.

Just as Sokov was about to pick up any car and get into the passenger seat, Rokossovsky called out to him, "Misha, come and ride in the same car as me."

Sokov guessed that Rokossovsky wanted him to ride in the same car because he must have something important to discuss on the way. He quickly ran over, eagerly opened the back door, and waited for Rokossovsky to get in before following him, closing the door behind him. As the car started moving, Sokov noticed that besides himself, Rokossovsky, the driver, and the adjutant in the passenger seat, there was no sign of Lobachev. Curious, he asked, "Comrade Commander, where is the Military Commissar? Where did he go?"

"Comrade Military Commissioner left last night," Rokossovsky said casually. "He was responsible for escorting the remains of Dovator and several fallen commanders back to Moscow, and it is estimated that he will not be able to return to the command post for another two days."

Upon hearing Rokossovsky mention Dovator, Sokov immediately shut his mouth, remembering Belkin's warning not to mention Dovator in front of Rokossovsky, lest he cause the other man some sadness.

Rokossovsky spoke for a while, and seeing that Sokov remained silent, he promptly changed the subject: "Misha, you should know that we have deployed enough troops in the Istra Reservoir area, but why do we need to send your brigade there under these circumstances? Have you thought about why?"

Sokov glanced at Rokossovsky and cautiously replied, "Comrade Commander, this is my thinking. If we concentrate enough troops in one position to launch a surprise attack on the enemy, we can quickly seize the initiative on the battlefield in that area. I wonder if my statement is correct?"

“Your understanding is correct.” Rokossovsky nodded in agreement with Sokov’s statement, and continued, “In order to quickly break through the enemy’s defenses at the Istra Reservoir, I have deployed the 9th and 11th Guards Divisions on the front. In addition, I have also formed a right-wing group under the command of Tank Brigade Commander Remizov and a left-wing group under the command of Major General Kutukov, in preparation for outflanking the enemy from both flanks if the frontal attack does not go smoothly.”

After Rokossovsky finished speaking, Sokov cautiously asked, "Comrade Commander, if our army is to break through the German defenses from the front, we should first prepare a large number of boats and river-crossing equipment."

Rokossovsky frowned slightly upon hearing this: "Why prepare boats and river-crossing equipment? You know, there are several bridges over the Istra River."

"Comrade Commander, I remember when I last visited headquarters, you mentioned that when the enemy feels they are in a difficult situation, they might resort to desperate measures and blow up the Istrian Reservoir dam to block our advance with water as their weapon." Sokov reminded Rokossovsky, "Prepare boats and river-crossing equipment in advance, so that even if the enemy blows up the Istrian Reservoir dam, our army can still cross the Istrian River smoothly."

As Sokov spoke, he thought to himself: In his previous life, he led a company to capture the Istra Reservoir and cut the cables that detonated the explosives, thwarting the enemy's plot to destroy the dam and use the flood to halt the Soviet advance. In this life, no one should be able to stop the enemy's plot to destroy the dam. All he could do now was prepare boats and river-crossing equipment so that his troops could use them to cross the river after the dam was destroyed.

Rokossovsky frowned and pondered Sokov's suggestion.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rokossovsky's eyebrows finally relaxed, and he nodded to Sokov: "Misha, you're right. We should indeed prepare boats and various river-crossing equipment. Once the enemy blows up the dam, these things will come in handy."

Seeing that Rokossovsky agreed with his statement, Sokov pressed on, saying, "If possible, we can request that the higher command send one or two pontoon bridge battalions to us. After all, river-crossing equipment can help soldiers cross rivers, but it cannot help tanks and artillery cross rivers. Therefore, the pontoon bridge battalion can build a floating bridge on the river to facilitate the crossing of these tanks and artillery."

“You have thought this through very well. Once we arrive at our destination, I will contact Malining as soon as possible and have him report our demands to his superiors so that we can obtain the pontoon bridge battalion we need.”

(End of this chapter)