red moscow

Chapter 3070

The convoy arrived at a town a few kilometers away from the Istra Reservoir.

As soon as we arrived at the entrance to the town, we were stopped by a checkpoint.

A sergeant led two soldiers out of the guard post and came to the Rokossovsky jeep.

As he bent down to say a few words into the car, he caught sight of Rokossovsky sitting in the back seat. Startled, he quickly took two steps back, straightened his back, saluted the vehicle, and called out nervously, "Hello, Comrade Commander!"

"Sergeant!" Rokossovsky asked in a friendly tone, "Can you tell me if the army group headquarters has arrived here?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander!" the sergeant replied respectfully. "The army group headquarters arrived two hours ago and is located in the town Soviet office."

"Besides the army group headquarters, are there any other command posts in the town?"

“Yes, Commander, of course.” The sergeant continued, “In addition, there are the headquarters of Major General Beloborodov’s 9th Guards Division and Major General Chernyshov’s 11th Guards Division, which are located in the two churches on the east and west sides of the town, respectively.”

After figuring out the location of the command post in the town, Rokossovsky thanked the sergeant and instructed the driver to continue driving.

Upon hearing Rokossovsky instruct the driver to move the vehicle, the sergeant outside the car quickly ran to the checkpoint and personally lifted the crossbar that was blocking the road to facilitate the passage of the convoy.

Upon arriving at the location of the headquarters, Rokossovsky instructed his adjutant, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "Comrade adjutant, you are responsible for settling the 1st Battalion of the infantry brigade. Have them find a place to rest and await my operational orders."

The adjutant nodded, then tentatively asked, "What about the convoy? Where are they going?"

Rokossovsky thought for a moment, then replied, "Let them go back the way they came to pick up the rest of the infantry brigade. That way, our soldiers will have to walk less."

Sokov followed Rokossovsky into the command post and found it quite crowded. Not only were Chief of Staff Malinin, Deputy Commander Zakharov, Armored Forces Director Oror, and Artillery Director Kazakov present, but also the commanders of the 9th Guards Division, Beloborodov, the 11th Guards Division, Chernyshov, the Left Wing Group Commander Katukov, and the Right Wing Group Commander Remizov were also there.

As soon as Rokossovsky entered, everyone turned to face him and raised their hands in salute: "Hello, Comrade Commander!"

"Greetings, comrades commanders!" Rokossovsky raised his hand in return to the salute. "What are you discussing?"

“Comrade Commander!” Upon hearing Rokossovsky’s question, Malinin immediately stepped forward and replied, “We are discussing how to launch an attack on the enemy entrenched in the Istra Reservoir area.”

"Is there even a question?" Rokossovs said with a straight face. "First, the army group's artillery will provide artillery cover for the enemy's positions. Once the artillery fire stops, our troops will immediately launch an assault and break through the enemy's defenses."

"The troops are advancing too quickly, leaving no time to formulate an operational plan. The 9th and 11th Guards Divisions are now gradually moving into their starting positions," Malinin quickly added after Rokossovsky finished speaking. "Furthermore, the army group's artillery has not yet arrived, which may delay the attack." "General Kazakov!" Rokossovsky frowned, turning to Kazakov and asking, "What's going on with your artillery? Why hasn't it reached its designated positions yet?"

“Comrade Commander, there are many reasons why the artillery could not reach its designated positions on time.” Seeing Rokossovsky’s signs of anger, Kazakov quickly defended himself, saying, “First, due to the needs of the earlier operations, the artillery units were too dispersed, making it very difficult to regroup them. Second, the roads leading here have been heavily mined by the Germans, severely slowing down the troops’ advance…”

"Alright, that's enough." Rokossovsky raised his hand to interrupt Kazakov, and asked in an unquestionable tone, "I'm just asking you, in half an hour, can we prepare artillery fire on the enemy's positions?"

"Ah, half an hour later?" Kazakov scratched the back of his head, looking troubled. "Comrade Commander, that might be a bit difficult. You see, right now, only two 76.2mm cannon regiments, one 105mm howitzer regiment, and three Guards rocket artillery battalions have reached their designated positions..."

“That’s enough, General Kazakov!” Rokossovsky interrupted Kazakov again: “The Istra Reservoir area doesn’t have any strong permanent fortifications. We don’t even need a large-scale artillery bombardment before the attack to destroy the enemy’s field fortifications. Misha, what do you think?”

Sokov, being the lowest-ranking officer, naturally had little say in this situation. But since Rokossovsky had given him a chance to speak, he wasn't about to give it up easily. He cleared his throat and began, "Comrades, as far as I know, every time our artillery preparation begins, the enemy, except for a few observers, retreats along the trenches to the second line to avoid our artillery fire. After our artillery preparation ends, they return along the trenches to the first line to resist our attack. In other words, most of the shells we fire at the enemy positions during our artillery preparation land on empty ground, failing to deplete any of the enemy's manpower."

General Kazakov, as the artillery commander, was naturally aware of what Sokov had said. He nodded and continued, "I was already aware of what Lieutenant Colonel Sokov was saying. But the artillery preparation before the attack is not only to kill enemy personnel, but also to destroy enemy fortifications. If any fortifications survive, even a single enemy hiding inside can use machine guns to block our advance and cause huge casualties to our commanders and soldiers."

"Comrade Kazakov!" Rokossovsky said, "Let's leave the artillery units still en route aside for now. You need to get the existing artillery into position as soon as possible. I'll give you half an hour. Once that time is up, you must immediately launch an artillery barrage on the enemy's positions. How about that? Can you do it?"

Kazakov nodded and said with certainty, "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I guarantee that we will officially launch an artillery bombardment on the German positions in half an hour."

Rokossovsky then turned to Beloborodov and said, "General Beloborodov, once the artillery preparation is over, your division must launch an attack on the enemy positions as quickly as possible. Do not let them escape."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander," Beloborodov assured Rokossovsky, patting his chest. "We will break through the enemy's defenses as quickly as possible and will not let them escape the battlefield easily."

Sokov grew anxious when he heard that the two men hadn't mentioned preparing boats or other crossing equipment during their conversation. Finally, when their conversation ended, he blurted out, "Comrade Commander, I think the 9th Guards Division should take advantage of the artillery preparation time to send men to collect boats and other crossing equipment from the vicinity."

"Boats and river-crossing equipment?" To everyone's surprise, Beloborodov laughed and said to Sokov, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I think it's completely unnecessary. You know, the river is already covered with a thick layer of ice. Even if the Germans blow up the bridges, we can still cross the frozen river."

Seeing that the other party did not understand his meaning, Sokov quickly explained further: "Comrade General, although the river is frozen, if the enemy blows up the reservoir dam, the surging flood will become an obstacle to the troops' advance. Therefore, it is very necessary to prepare boats and other river-crossing equipment."

"Chief of Staff!" Rokossovsky instructed Malinin, "While there's still time, arrange for the logistics department to collect boats and other river-crossing equipment from the vicinity. Even if the Germans are desperate and blow up the dam, we won't be blocked by the flood."

“Yes, Commander.” Ma Lining replied, “I will contact the head of the logistics department immediately and have him personally lead a team to collect the boats and equipment needed for crossing the river.”

(End of this chapter)