Red Moscow

  Chapter 536 Conception of Air-Ground Collaboration

  Sokov didn't expect Cuikov to call his name, so he couldn't help being stunned. Vitkov, who was next to him, quickly pushed him twice, and said to him: "Hey, Comrade Brigadier, don't be in a daze, the commander asked you to speak, stand up quickly."

  Sokov stood up, seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he couldn't help becoming nervous. At this moment, his mind was blank, and he didn't know how to express his position in this situation.

Chuikov saw that Sokov was nervous, so he said in a teasing tone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, when you face the Germans, you always act so calm; why did you become nervous in front of your own people?" ? Do you think we are scarier than the Germans?"

  Chuikov's words immediately aroused a wave of good-natured laughter.

Sokov grinned. He didn't say any clichés or empty words, but said straight to the point: "Commanders, the task of my 73rd Infantry Brigade is to hold on to the Mamayev Post and prevent the Germans from occupying it. It. In two months, the German army has wiped out hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, as well as more than 7,000 soldiers..."

  What Sokov said made many commanders present gasp. Everyone silently calculated in their hearts: more than 7,000 soldiers and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles are equivalent to destroying a division of the enemy. It is really amazing.

   Some people also wondered in their hearts, isn't he bragging, the results achieved by one brigade are actually greater than the results of joint operations of several divisions? But seeing Chuikov, Gurov and others listening to Sokov with a smile on their faces, they realized that such a record might be true. Such a commander and the troops he commanded were simply too terrifying.

"In addition to Mamayev Post, I also led a battalion to stand firm in the assembly workshop of the Red October Tractor Factory. During the two-day battle, I also eliminated many enemies and the tanks that cooperated with their attack." Sokov is an honest person. Considering that some of the results obtained in the battle to defend the factory area belonged to the destroyer battalion and militia units, he did not say the specific number of German tanks and infantry destroyed: "We Here to assure everyone that if the enemy wants to occupy the assembly workshop, he can only step on our dead bodies. As long as one of us is alive, we feel that the enemy cannot gain a firm foothold in the factory. Our slogan is that we would rather let The bones are exposed in the wilderness, and they will never take a step back."

  After Sokov finished speaking, he looked at Chuikov and asked, "Comrade Commander, may I sit down?"

"Please sit down, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Chuikov smiled and said to Sokov: "Stay after the meeting, I want to talk to you alone." Hearing what Chuikov said, many people voted for Sokov looked enviously.

Next, everyone began to ask Chuikov and Krylov questions, asking whether their troops had artillery preparations before the attack; whether they could get the cooperation of the air force during the attack; counterattack and so on. Chuikov and Krylov patiently answered the questions raised by everyone.

When no one asked any more questions, Chuikov turned his head and asked Krylov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have anything else to say?" Seeing that the other party shook his head, indicating that he had nothing to say, Chuikov stood up and announced: " Comrades, the meeting is over, you can go back to your troops. Remember, hurry up and prepare, we will launch a counterattack against the enemy in three days."

When the people in the room were almost gone, Sokov turned to Vitkov who was standing beside him and said, "Comrade Colonel, please wait for me outside. After I finish talking with the commander, I would like to know more about you." The situation in the brigade."

   "Comrade Brigadier," Vitkov said with a chuckle, "I think you have forgotten my identity again. I think I am qualified to participate in this small-scale meeting."

   After Vitkov reminded him, Sokov immediately remembered the identity of the other party's deputy chief of staff, and couldn't help but a little embarrassed to say: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, please forgive my recklessness..."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, come to me." Chuikov, who was sitting at the other end of the conference table, suddenly saw Sokov who was whispering to Witkov, and hurriedly called them over, "And you, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, come here too."

   Sokov and Witkov came to Chuikov side by side. Chuikov pointed to the empty seat next to him and said to them, "You are welcome, please sit down."

   After the two sat down, Chuikov looked at Sokov and asked, "I heard that you sent the Air Force to perform a mission today. Is that true?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I did send the air force to carry out a bombing mission." Sukov quickly replied: "A few kilometers away from the airport, there is a German artillery position, which bombards the airport every other day. The 437th Fighter Flight Regiment caused a lot of inconvenience. After I learned about this situation, I immediately ordered Lieutenant Grisa, who was operating behind the enemy's rear, to find out the location of the enemy's artillery positions as soon as possible. After mastering the exact location of the German artillery positions After that, I ordered the air force to dispatch and directly destroyed the enemy's artillery, eliminating the hidden danger of the airport."

"Good job, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." After listening to Sokov, Cuikov nodded with a smile and continued: "Judging from the results you have achieved, the superior assigned the 437th Fighter Flying Regiment to you. The brigade's decision is absolutely correct."

"Comrade Brigadier," Witkov didn't know that Sokov was still commanding a fighter regiment, he raised his hand and patted Sokov on the shoulder twice, and said excitedly: "I really didn't expect that, you Now even the air force can command. In this way, when we are bombed by enemy planes, we can directly notify the air force to come and drive the enemy away."

   "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Krylov sat down opposite Sokov, and asked curiously: "I want to ask you, how do you plan to use this fighter regiment in the future?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is how I think about it." Ever since the fighter regiment was assigned to his own command, Sokov has been thinking about how to maximize the role of the flight regiment. Cautiously said: "If the communication between us and the fighter regiment can be improved, I can maximize the role of the regiment, not only in defense, but also in offense."

   "Use it in defense, I understand that." Chuikov asked thoughtfully: "But how to use fighter regiments in offense? You can't let them directly attack the ground targets, right?"

   "Comrade commander, you guessed right." Sokov replied with a smile: "I just plan to let the fighter jets directly attack the German ground targets."

   "Tell me in detail." Cuikov briefly ordered.

"In the past, our air force used to directly bomb the enemy's defensive positions, which not only consumes ammunition, but also has limited effects." Sokov explained to Chuikov: "I plan to let the commander of the attack carry weapons that can directly interact with fighter jets. The contacted radio station guides the fighter jets on the ground to attack the target.

For example, when we launch an offensive, the commanders on the ground use the radio to guide the unguided rockets carried by the fighter jets to attack the enemy's tanks or solid fortifications, and use machine guns and machine guns to shoot at the densely populated places of the enemy, so that our offensive A little smoother, a little faster advance. "

Chuikov thought for a long time about the idea of ​​air-ground coordinated operations proposed by Sokov, and finally nodded and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I can solve the communication equipment you need for you. Hurry up and practice." Take a look at this kind of air-ground coordinated combat to see if we can achieve the state we envisioned."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Chuikov agreed with his opinion so simply, Sokov's mood also became happier: "I will definitely not let you down."

  (end of this chapter)