Red Moscow.

Chapter 2753

The situation on the battlefield was very unfavorable to the Soviet army.

The deputy commander of the group army who was sent to command the troops on the flank unfortunately died in the battle on the third day after arriving. Following his sacrifice, the troops assembled here were also defeated by the German army. The vast majority of the commanders and soldiers either died or became prisoners of the Germans. Only less than two hundred people fled to the Yagogin area.

"Comrade Commander," Colonel Del asked Vlasov with some excitement when he learned that the deputy commander was killed in the battle and that the flanks in the Yagotin area were occupied by the Germans: "Now we only have this little thing left in the entire army. Our troops are strong, can we stop the crazy attack that the German army is about to launch? "

Before Vlasov could express his opinion, Military Commissar Nikolsky came in from the outside again and placed a piece of paper in his hand in front of the two of them: "Commander and Chief of Staff, look at this. Look, these are the leaflets that the Germans just dropped on our position."

Vlasov picked up the German leaflet and after just one glance, his pupils shrank violently and a shocked expression appeared on his face.

There are three photos on the leaflet, namely, the commander of the front army, General Kirponos, the member of the Military Commission Burmistenko, and the chief of staff, Major General Tupkov, and they are the portraits of them after their sacrifices. Below the photo is the content of the German army's persuasion to surrender. The general message is that all the senior leaders of your front army have been killed, and there is no point in continuing to resist. It calls on everyone to stop resisting, lay down their weapons and surrender to the German army in exchange for a chance to survive.

After Colonel Del saw clearly the contents of the leaflet, he was immediately shocked. He said to Vlasov: "Comrade Commander, if our commanders and soldiers see such a leaflet, their morale will definitely be shaken and their morale will be low. This behavior of the Germans It’s such a poisonous move.”

"Commander, Chief of Staff." Nikolsky said: "As soon as I get the news, I will arrange for political workers to collect the leaflets on the position and destroy them on the spot. Once someone is found hiding it, he will be severely punished."

"Comrade Military Commissar, even if you do this, I'm afraid the effect won't be very good." Vlasov shook his head and said: "After all, many people have already seen this leaflet, even if we start to collect it and collect it now The ground will be burned, and those who have not seen the flyers will also know about it from other people's mouths."

"We can keep it secret for as long as we can." Nikolsky said: "The situation on the battlefield is not good for our army. If these rumors are allowed to spread among the army, it will definitely affect the morale of the army, which will be very detrimental to our next operations. Disadvantageous.”

"Report!" At this time, a voice shouting a report came from not far away.

The three of them turned to look and saw Sokov.

"Captain Sokov, you came just in time." Vlasov couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he saw Sokov arriving, then picked up the leaflet and handed it over: "Have you seen this leaflet distributed by the Germans? ”

Sokov glanced at the leaflet quickly, then nodded and said: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I have read it."

"Then do you think the content on the leaflet is true or false?" Colonel Del asked.

"If there are no photos, it is most likely fake." Sokov replied casually: "But now that there are photos on it, it means it must be true."

"Comrade Military Commissioner has arranged manpower to collect these leaflets, so as not to affect our military morale. Do you think his approach is right?"

Sokov turned his head and glanced at Nikolsky, organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said: "Comrade Military Commissar's approach has a good intention, but the effect may be counterproductive?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Nikolsky looked unhappy: "Captain Sokov, why do you say that?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, everyone is curious. The more facts are deliberately concealed, the more everyone wants to know." Sokov explained to Nikolsky: "Look at the surrender leaflet dropped by the Germans. There are many commanders and fighters who have passed by. If they are forcibly confiscated at this moment, they will be let go. Some commanders and fighters who have never seen it are curious, and they will ask around to find out what is written on the leaflet. Those who have seen the leaflet will definitely tell them the content in order to satisfy their curiosity. On the contrary, it will speed up the spread.”

Nikolsky was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then said: "Then what do you think we should do, just let it go?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, I think it doesn't matter much even if we admit that the contents of this leaflet are true." When Sokov said this, seeing that Colonel Del seemed to be ready to say a few words, he quickly speeded up his speech: "We All should be told through political workers Commanders and fighters, our superiors died heroically in the battle against the Germans, but we were not frightened, conquered, or killed. We got up from the ground, wiped the blood off our bodies, and buried the bodies of our comrades. , continue to fight the enemy."

"Okay, well said." Vlasov clapped his hands on the table and said excitedly: "Captain Sokov, what you said is really great. I believe these words will definitely boost the morale and morale of the military. "Comrade Military Commissar," he said next to Nikolsky, "let the political workers convey Captain Sokov's words to every soldier, so that they understand that although the enemy is temporarily stronger than us, , but we still have the ability to continue fighting.”

Nikolsky said emotionally: "Comrade Commander, I understand. I immediately summoned the political workers and asked them to do political propaganda work for the soldiers to boost morale so that all soldiers have the confidence to continue fighting the enemy. Go down."

After Nikolsky left, Vlasov looked at Sokov and asked: "Captain Sokov, why did you come to me?"

"Comrade Commander, my special company currently has less than 20 people. I feel that with this small number of people, it will definitely not be able to protect the safety of the headquarters." Sokov looked at Vlasov and said: "I wonder if you can give me some help?" Can I add more people?"

"Captain Sokov, we need people everywhere on the front line." Before Vlasov could finish speaking, Colonel Del rushed to say: "As far as I know, in some regiment command posts, in addition to communications troops and a few staff officers, There is not even a sentry at the door, which shows how lacking in troops it is. Anyway, the troops currently guarding the headquarters, plus your special company, still have one or two hundred people, which is pretty good. "

"Captain Sokov, I'm so sorry." Vlasov also said apologetically: "You have also seen the situation at the headquarters. I really can't replenish your manpower."

Sokov came to Vlasov today after careful consideration. In three more days, the 37th Group Army in the Yagojing area will be completely wiped out by the Germans. If you have too few men, how will you break through then? He didn't want to be a prisoner of the Germans.

Thinking of this, he continued: "Comrade Commander, instead of bringing hundreds of people from Berezan, let us pick fifty soldiers from among them. If that doesn't work, thirty will do. I have what I have in hand." It’s not even enough to organize a platoon by hand.”

"Captain Sokov, I still have important things here." But Vlasov didn't seem to want to help Sokov solve this problem. He looked down at the map in front of him and said casually: "If you need manpower, come to me yourself." Let’s find a solution.”

Although he couldn't get anyone from Vlasov, Sokov felt much more at ease after receiving these words from the other party. If you can't allocate manpower to me, then I will go outside to take in the small troops that have been scattered. The few will make up the greater number. When the Yagogin area is occupied by the Germans, I may have a large force in my hands. of troops. After raising his hand to salute Vlasov and Colonel Del, he turned and walked out of the headquarters.

Seeing Sokov come out of the headquarters, Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen and Major Mira immediately came to greet him and asked with concern: "How is it? Commander, has he promised to give us manpower?"

"No." Sokov shook his head and said: "The commander and chief of staff said that they did not have any extra manpower and could not allocate it to us."

Hearing what Sokov said, Zhu Kewen and Mira showed disappointed expressions on their faces.

Zhu Kewen even said: "Comrade Captain, I just told you that when the front army headquarters broke through, it was annihilated by the German army because there were too few troops around it. Judging from the current situation, there is no way to We can’t hold on for long. If we have to break out in the end, I don’t think we can break out of the German encirclement with just such a few people.”

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, don't worry." Sokov put a hand on Zhu Kewen's shoulder and comforted him: "Although the commander and chief of staff did not agree to add more manpower to us, the commander also said Yes, if we want to expand our troops, we can find a way to deal with the troops ourselves."

"Where can we find soldiers to expand our troops?" Zhu Kewen asked with a frown.

But Major Mira's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked Sokov: "Captain Sokov, do you mean that we can expand the army in our own way?"

"Yes, that's it."

Zhu Kewen heard the conversation between Sokov and Mira, but he was confused: "What are you two talking about, why can't I understand?"

"Comrade Second Lieutenant," after getting along with each other for this period of time, Sokov discovered that Zhu Kewen was actually a person of good character, but sometimes he was too stubborn. Seeing that he didn't understand what he and Mira were talking about, he explained to him: "Since Comrade Commander agreed to let me deal with the manpower of the special company myself, then I plan to take in the scattered troops and bring them back." Establish a special company to strengthen our strength."

"Is this appropriate?" Sure enough, as soon as Sokov finished speaking, Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen, who had no idea how to turn around, raised his own question: "The superiors know that we are doing this, so they won't blame us, right?"

"No, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Sokov smiled and said to Zhu Kewen: "I got the personal consent of Comrade Commander. Even if there is any problem in the future, whoever wants to hold the responsibility will be held accountable by me. People will bear it.”

"Comrade Captain," Major Mira urged: "We must start the containment work as soon as possible, otherwise when the fighting here becomes intense, the sporadic troops withdrawn from Kiev will evacuate to our army's new territory through other areas. defense zone.”

In this way, Sokov led the personnel of the special company to set up checkpoints on the main traffic roads to intercept those commanders and fighters who were withdrawing from Kiev.

In less than a day, the special company quickly expanded from less than 20 troops to 300 troops, and most of the commanders and fighters had weapons in their hands.

Sokov led people to contain the defeated troops, and soon someone called to complain to Colonel Del.

Colonel Del received a complaint call and learned that Sokov's special company had increased to 300 people in less than a day. He was also surprised. He covered the microphone with his hand and reported to Vlasov: "Commander Comrade, someone below complained that Captain Sokov took in the troops withdrawn from Kiev without permission and expanded the special company to 300 people in a very short period of time. "

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Vlasov had a smile on his face: "I knew that this Captain Sokov was not simple. If it were someone else and our request for more manpower was rejected, he would definitely not be able to do anything. . Only Sokov would think of strengthening his own strength by containing defeated troops."

"So what do we do with him?"

"Why do you want to deal with him?" Vlasov asked.

"He took in the defeated troops without authorization from his superiors, which is against the rules."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think there is anything wrong with Captain Sokov's approach." Seeing that Colonel Del did not have a clear understanding, Vlasov quickly reminded him: "I told him that finding a way to expand the special company by yourself is tantamount to He was given the authorization. Also, the special company is to protect the safety of the headquarters. If the worst happens and the Yagotin area cannot be defended, and we have to choose to break out, the special company in the hands of Captain Sokov Being strong is also good for us.”

Vlasov's words reminded Colonel Del of the scene when he escaped from Kiev. At that time, because there were too few people around him, he did not dare to rashly attack the bridgehead occupied by the German army. If Sokov hadn't been clever and figured out how to impersonate the German Brandenburg troops, they might have become prisoners of the Germans.

After thinking about this, Colonel Del released his hand covering the microphone and said to the commander who complained: "Comrade Commander, Captain Sokov's admission of broken troops was authorized by Comrade Commander, that is to say "What he did was not wrong at all. You don't have to mind your own business." After saying that, he hung up the phone before the other party could speak.

Sokov did not know that he had been snitched, but he discussed with Mira privately: "Comrade Major, although our number has exceeded 300, this strength may be enough to let go. But if we are caught in a German encirclement in the future and want to break out, this strength will still be far from enough. "

"What do you mean, are we still going to contain the troops?"

"Well, that's what I'm thinking about." Sokov nodded and said, "Another point is that so many soldiers from different armies are gathered together and are unfamiliar with each other. If they are not distributed reasonably, I'm afraid that when When there's a war, there's chaos."

"Captain Sokov, I understand what you mean." Hearing what Sokov said, Mira immediately understood: "You and Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen will continue to contain the defeated troops. I will be responsible for reorganizing the commanders and soldiers and trying to get them to recover as soon as possible. combat effectiveness.”

(End of chapter)