Red Moscow

  Chapter 254 To go or to stay

  General Lizhukov's 5th Tank Army launched an attack on the German communication line within the specified time. The Istria battalion hidden in the Jim area also responded positively. In addition to blowing up bridges and destroying railways, they even cut off the telephone lines along the way overnight, so that the orders of the German commanders were not allowed. Not through the radio or communication soldiers to pass.

   Just when everyone saw the hope of victory, the tank army's attack on the German army came to an abrupt end. Some German troops who were defeated by the main force of the Soviet army took the opportunity to shrink to one place and re-established a new defense. The enemy stationed in the Tim area also mobilized troops to encircle and suppress Sokov's troops.

  Seeing that the situation on the battlefield suddenly took a turn for the worse, Sokov could only send a telegram to the army headquarters, trying to understand what happened so that he could take corresponding measures. More than half an hour later, the telegram from the headquarters arrived. After reading the contents of the telegram, Sokov's heart sank. He knew that this operation to cooperate with the tank army to harass the enemy's rear had ended in failure.

Sokov summoned the commanders of all companies and platoons to the command post, handed the telegram to them for circulation, and said: "Comrades, General Lidyukov, the commander of the Tank Army, in yesterday's battle, the tank he was driving was captured by the German army. Destroyed by artillery fire, the general died for the country. Because of his sacrifice, the tank army with a unified command was lost and was defeated by the German army. Not only is the situation in the direction of Voronezh deteriorating, but the enemy can also mobilize more troops to encircle and suppress us. Tell me , What should we do next? Should we continue to stay here to harass the German army's transportation lines, or return to our army's defense zone."

  After Sokov finished speaking, the whole room fell into silence, and the commanders present were all thinking about the future fate of their troops. Although some officers wanted to express their opinions, they quietly swallowed what they were about to say when they saw that no one was speaking.

"Tell me, commanders and comrades." Seeing that no one was talking in the room, Sokov raised his voice and said: "The fate of the Istria camp is in your hands, and you all share your opinions. Should I stay, or go back?"

"Comrade Battalion Commander," Captain Vanya, the first company commander, said resolutely: "Since the superior ordered us to harass the German army's communication lines in the Tim area, I think we should continue to stay until this order is cancelled." Down."

"Captain Vanya," as soon as Vanya finished speaking, Andrei refuted him: "Don't forget, the order given to us by our superiors is to assist the tank army to destroy the enemy's communication lines. Now General Lidyukov sacrificed, and the tank group army was also defeated by the enemy, if we continue to stay in this area, then what awaits us will be an extremely tragic fate."

After the two different views were expressed, a debate immediately broke out in the command post: Some supported Vanya, hoping to stay here to fight the enemy; Here, not only can't hit the enemy very well, on the contrary, there is a possibility of being annihilated by the enemy, so it is better to withdraw as soon as possible.

   Seeing that the two sides were arguing, Belkin approached Sokov and whispered in Sokov's ear: "Comrade Major, if I guessed correctly, you have already made a decision in your heart."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Belkin." Although Sokov made a bold decision in his heart when he called the commanders for a meeting, he replied in a low voice in order to listen to the opinions of his subordinates: " Listen to what the commanders have to say, and then I will express my opinion."

However, after waiting for a long time, the two sides were still arguing. Belkin slapped his hands vigorously, and after the room became quiet again, he said to everyone: "Commanders, you have been arguing for a long time, but you still haven't reached any conclusions. In my opinion, let Major Sokov decide whether to stay or not. Anyway, he used to be our battalion commander, and now he is commanding us to fight. I think it is very necessary to obey his command. of."

  The two sides, who were blushing at first, couldn't help turning their eyes to Sokov when they heard what Belkin said, waiting for him to make the final decision. Sokov knew very well in his heart that if he continued to fight in the Dim area according to the original plan, the enemy would be forced to deploy more troops here to encircle him, and it might not be long before his entire army would be wiped out Danger. But what about withdrawing? This is simply impossible, because Rokossovsky did not give himself a retreat order, so he could only stay here to deal with the German army.

   If he wanted to retreat without disobeying the orders of his superiors and avoid being surrounded by heavy German troops, Sokov had only one choice, and that was to transfer his troops to other areas where the German troops were weakly defended. In order to achieve the goal of destroying the enemy and saving oneself.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Sokov coughed lightly, cleared his throat and said, "Commanders, we cannot retreat until the higher-ups give the order to retreat. But if we continue to stay In the Dim area, we will face a heavy encirclement by the German army..."

   "Comrade battalion commander, please tell everyone," before Sokov finished speaking, Vasily asked impatiently: "We can neither stay nor withdraw. What should we do?"

Sokov took out a map, put it in front of everyone, and said to them: "The order given to us by our superiors is to harass the German army's communication lines. It is obviously impossible to continue to stay in the Jim area. We can continue to West, rushed to the Kursk region, where they continued to harass the German transport lines."

  What Sokov said shocked everyone in the room. Belgin said in shock: "Major Sokov, Kursk is in the depths of the German army's defense. If we move in that area, not only will we not receive any support from our army, but we will also face German siege from multiple sides. You You have to think carefully."

  It seems that if you stay in the Jim area, you can get the support of your superiors. Sokov muttered a few words in his heart, and then continued: "Since our army has assembled heavy troops in the direction of Bryansk and Voronezh, in order to prevent our army from breaking through, the German army will transfer their main force to the above-mentioned areas. In this way, their defenses in the deep city will become extremely empty, which will give us an opportunity."

   "Comrade Battalion Commander, is it too risky to do this?" Vanya carefully reminded Sokov, "I think we should think carefully about it."

"If we withdraw our army's defense zone without the order of our superiors, officers including me may be sent to military courts for violating military orders. Stay here, just like I just did As I said, after the enemy defeated the tank army, they can dispatch more troops to rush back to the Tim area, then we will face annihilation of the entire army." Sokov said firmly: "Withdrawal is also death; To stay is to die. Since this is the case, why don't we take the risk to attack Kursk, which is weakly defended by the German army, and disrupt the deployment of the German army?"

  (end of this chapter)