Red Moscow

  Chapter 1017 False position

   On the afternoon of February 21, an exciting news reached Sokov's division headquarters: Zaporozhye, where Manstein's headquarters is located, was occupied by troops of the Southwest Front Army.

When the news came, Sidolin couldn't help but cast doubt on Sokov's analysis: "Comrade Commander, the troops of the Southwest Front Army have occupied Zaporozhye and split the enemy's front. Do you think that in this case , Is it possible for the German army to launch a larger-scale counterattack against our army?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, the capture of Zaporozhye by the troops of the Southwest Front does not mean that our army has won." Sokov felt that the tactics used by Manstein happened to be the one he was most familiar with, so he reminded Sidolin Said: "Over the past month or so, our army has regained so many lost ground, but basically it is fighting a battle of defeat, not annihilation. Now that the enemy's strength is still there, even if some territory is temporarily lost, when our army changes When you are exhausted and unable to attack again, the enemy may launch a counterattack. This is called: keep people and lose ground, and keep all people and land; save land and lose people, and all people and land will be lost.”

"It's quite interesting what you said." Hearing what Sokov said, Bely said with great interest: "By temporarily abandoning some positions, we can concentrate the available troops; and the troops occupying these sites , they have to divide their hands to hold on, so that their strength will become weak. One side has a strong force, while the other side has scattered forces. It is obvious who wins and who loses in a fight. "

After listening to Sokov and Bely's chorus, Sidolin immediately realized the seriousness of the problem: "Commander, deputy commander, in this way, as our army occupies Zaporozhye, the enemy's full-scale counterattack may be necessary. it has started?"

   "Chief of Staff, you are right, the enemy's full-scale counterattack will soon begin." Sokov said solemnly: "So we must prepare for the battle as soon as possible."

"Misha, our current defensive front is ten kilometers wide, and besides the infantry, there are only sixty tanks and five self-propelled artillery." Bely said with some apprehension: "With such little technical equipment, if attacked Is the attack of the German Panzer Army sure of winning?"

   "Under the current circumstances, it is basically impossible to obtain supplies of technical equipment from superiors." Sokov said: "So we have to find ways to strengthen our own defenses."

  Bely knew that Sukov would not say this for no reason, so he must have already thought of a way to deal with it, so he asked curiously: "Misha, do you have any good ideas?"

"Reckless fighting is definitely not the answer. The equipment and combat effectiveness of our division are not at the same level as the main force of the German army." Sokov said with a normal expression: "We must find a way to create a misunderstanding for the Germans and make them think that our army A large army is assembled in Luhansk."

   "Then what should we do?" Bely continued to ask.

"We can use plywood to create a large number of fake tanks and fake artillery to arrange fake positions. The real tanks are deployed two kilometers away, and each tank has three or four firing points, and we can change places after a few shots. , so that the enemy will think that we have assembled a large number of armored forces in Luhansk."

"Misha, the tactic you mentioned sounds very familiar." Bely frowned and thought for a while, then immediately remembered where he had heard it before, "This is General Katukov when he was defending Mtsensk. , tactics that have been used before.”

Sidolin was still a small staff officer in the defense of Moscow. He didn't know Katukov's history, so he couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade deputy division commander, I want to ask, how did this tactic work in those days?" How's the effect?"

"The effect is quite good." As a tank soldier, Bely naturally praised Katukov, his colleague: "You know, when General Katukov first took over the tank brigade, he only had 45 old light tanks in his hand. , and ammunition is not enough. If you drive out to face the German tank troops, the whole army will definitely be wiped out.

  He knew that reckless fighting was not the answer, so he asked the soldiers to rush to dig fake bunkers day and night, and made a large number of fake tanks with plywood, and arranged fake tank positions. The real tank positions are deployed four kilometers away. Due to the intensity of the work, his tank crews complained one after another, and even called him "a German spy who wants to exhaust everyone." '

  But when the battle started, everyone found that they had misunderstood Katukov. Fighting with this brigade commander can at least save his life. During the eight-day battle, the tank brigade destroyed a total of 133 German tanks and two aircraft. In recognition of their military exploits, their superiors awarded them the honorary title of the First Guards Tank Brigade. "

   "My God, they actually destroyed twice as many enemy tanks as their own tanks." Sidolin asked cautiously, "What about their casualties?"

"Chief of Staff, I don't remember exactly how many infantry casualties were suffered." Bely replied: "But their brigade lost only four tanks. Two of them, still in the process of retreat, failed due to malfunctions." Do not abandon."

   Knowing that this was a tactic used by Katukov, Sidolin asked with some concern: "Comrade two division commanders, since it is a tactic that has been used before, I am afraid that it will not be able to hide it from the eyes and ears of the Germans."

"I think you can try it." The decision of this kind of thing is still in the hands of Sokov, and he said confidently: "Although General Katukov let the Germans eat such a thing in Mtsensk. It’s a bad loss, but those German commanders will never tell their embarrassing experiences, so I’m afraid many officers don’t know the reason for their fiasco.”

   "But what if the enemy knows?" Sidolin asked nervously, "Then the fake positions we deployed will be ruined."

"Then let's find a way to keep the enemy from knowing." When he said this, Sukov was already thinking about where and what kind of false positions should be deployed: "This matter is up to me." Let Colonel Bely take charge."

Seeing that Sokov personally undertook the task of establishing a fake position, Sidolin was relieved and offered to propose: "Comrades, two division commanders, then I will organize the residents of the city to help our soldiers make fake tanks out of plywood. "

"No, the residents of the city cannot participate in the camouflage of positions." Sukov rejected Sidolin's proposal without hesitation, although the fake tanks and camouflage positions were all done by the soldiers. The intensity was a bit high, but he had to be more vigilant. Who knew if there were any spies left by the Germans among the residents in the city. If the news leaked out, all his arrangements would be ruined.

In order not to misunderstand Sidolin, he patiently explained to the other party: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our division has not been stationed in the city for a long time, and it is not clear whether there are hidden German spies among the residents. If the residents Participating in the task of setting up false positions is prone to leaks."

Speaking of this, Sokov felt that it was necessary to strengthen the security in the city, so as not to let the German spies lurking in the city really find out the details of the troops, so he told Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, the war is imminent, even if the city There are no German spies in the city, and we must also guard against possible infiltration of the enemy. The division guard battalion will mobilize forces to form a patrol team, and conduct strict checks at the intersections entering and leaving the city to prevent enemies from entering the city."

When Sidolin started calling the guard battalion to arrange for the formation of a patrol team, Sokov shook his head at Bely and said, "Let's go, comrade deputy division commander, let's prepare fake tanks and fake positions to meet possible Germans attacking cities."

   On the way to the 122nd Regiment's position, Bely suddenly asked something: "Misha, how can we convince the enemy that the fake positions and fake tanks they saw are real?"

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I have carefully considered what you are worried about." Sukov had a good idea on how to convince the enemy that the tanks and positions they saw were real: "A real tank is placed near the fake tank position, and when the battle starts, it fires at the enemy. In this way, the enemy will think that there is really our tank position and divert their attention."

Bely's mind is very useful. After listening to Sokov, he immediately said by analogy: "Our artillery positions can also be arranged in the same way. We can arrange a self-propelled artillery nearby and move the position after firing a few shots. The Germans don't Knowing that we have self-propelled artillery, under the fire of shelling, there will definitely be misjudgments, and false artillery positions will be taken as real."

  (end of this chapter)