Red Moscow

  Chapter 720 Take the initiative to ask for a job

   Seeing Sokov staring at the map in a daze again, Chuikov guessed that the other party might be thinking about some countermeasures, so he gestured to Krylov, signaling him not to disturb Sokov's thinking. Krylov nodded understandingly, then pulled Chuikov aside, and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, do you really think Sokov can come up with a good solution?"

Chuikov glanced at Sokov who was in a state of contemplation, nodded slightly, and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, you should know that Sokov often commands operations with ingenuity in order to achieve unexpected results, otherwise I would not Call him to headquarters specifically. Just wait, he won't let us down."

   But Krylov doesn't seem to have as much confidence in Sokov as Chuikov. After hearing Chuikov finish speaking, he just said absent-mindedly: "I hope so!"

   It took Sokov, who was not disturbed by anyone, a full ten minutes to come up with a relatively reliable plan. He looked up at Chuikov who was busy not far away, and said, "Comrade Commander, I have figured out a way."

When Chuikov heard that Sokov had thought of a solution, his eyes lit up immediately. He stuffed the battle report he was reading into the hand of the staff officer next to him, walked quickly to Sokov, and asked loudly: "Colonel Sokov , What is the method, hurry up and let’s listen.”

  Krylov also heard what Sokov said, but he was on an important phone call and couldn't walk away for the time being. He could only be in a hurry, but there was nothing he could do.

"Comrade Commander," Sokov looked at Sokov and said, "I think about it this way. Since the German army has attacked the two factories so fiercely in the past two days, the ammunition needed must be an astronomical figure. So many The ammunition they can carry with them must be limited, and the rest must be stored not far from the battlefield..."

Before Sokov finished speaking, Chuikov understood what he meant: "Colonel Sokov, what do you mean, we send people to find the enemy's arsenal and destroy it, so as to weaken the enemy's offensive? "

Seeing that Chuikov understood what he meant, Sokov nodded and said affirmatively: "That's right, Comrade Commander, that's what I mean. As long as we blow up the munitions in the German army's stockpile, their offensive will be in short order." Time comes to a standstill, and then we have time to refortify our defenses."

"Colonel Sokov, your idea is very good." After answering the phone, Krylov walked over and said to Sokov: "But if you can think of this, the Germans must also be able to think of it. Since the munitions are The guarantee of their attack, I think the vicinity of the arsenal must be heavily guarded, even if we send a small force there, the chance of success is not high."

   "You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Regarding Krylov's statement, Sokov did not argue with him, but followed him. After a pause, he added: "Although we may not succeed in sending people to sneak attack on the enemy's arsenal, and even the small troops we send may not be able to return. But if we don't send people, we can't attack the enemy." pose any threat."

Regarding what Sokov said, Cuikov was silent for a long time before he said: "Colonel Sokov, you are right. Although the small team we sent has little chance of successfully blowing up the enemy's ammunition depot, But after all, if there is any hope of success, we have to try. As long as the enemy’s ammunition depots are destroyed, the situation at the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Factory can be temporarily relieved.”

   "But, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Chuikov agreed to Sokov's proposal, Krylov said awkwardly: "We don't have any troops that can perform this task."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, call Major Gladshev." Chuikov seemed to have considered the candidate long ago. As soon as Krylov finished speaking, he said without hesitation: "Let him come from the guard camp. Deploy manpower and form a small team to carry out the task of sneak attacking the enemy's rear arsenal."

"It's very difficult, Comrade Commander." Krylov sighed, and said: "The guard battalion has already drawn two companies to go to the war zone, and now it is serving as the headquarters' security mission, with only one company's strength. With the redeployment of manpower, the security force of the headquarters will become weaker. If there is another wave of surprise attacks like today, the headquarters may be taken away by the enemy."

When Krylov and Chuikov were discussing whether to send soldiers from the guard battalion to sneak behind the enemy lines to attack the ammunition depot, Sokov kept muttering in his heart: If the guard battalion was transferred, Major Gladshev would have to shrink his defenses. area, otherwise if an enemy touches it, they won't be able to stop it at all. Do I need to recommend myself and take the initiative to undertake the task of sneaking into the German arsenal?

Although Krylov has repeatedly emphasized the shortage of troops, Chuikov seems to be determined to let the soldiers of the guard battalion perform this task: "Chief of staff, let the staff and logistics personnel organized by the chief of operations, Colonel Zalijuk, come Assist the guard battalion to be responsible for the security work of the headquarters. In this way, Major Gladshev can mobilize elite personnel and form a small team to go deep behind enemy lines to carry out missions."

Regarding Chuikov's arrangement, Krylov hesitated for a while, finally nodded, and said helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will call Colonel Zalijuk over immediately and ask him to immediately transfer the staff and logistics personnel." , assist the guard battalion to strengthen the defense of the headquarters."

Seeing that Krylov picked up the phone, it seemed that he was going to call Zalijuk over to set up a mission. Sokov was a little impatient. He transferred personnel from the army guard battalion to form a small team, which would not only weaken the defense here Strength, and this squad has no experience in fighting behind enemy lines, so it is still unknown whether it can complete the mission.

  Based on this consideration, Sokov felt that he, the instigator, could no longer remain silent, so he hurriedly stopped and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, please wait a moment!"

   Krylov glanced at Sokov in surprise, and asked, "Colonel, what's the matter?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said hesitantly, "I think the current security force of the headquarters is too weak. If something happens here, the entire group army will fall into chaos because of the loss of unified command. I think, Such a task can be completely handed over to our division.”

   Krylov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and exchanged glances with Chuikov, then looked at Sokov again and asked, "Colonel, you won't be too embarrassing, will you?"

   When Krylov and Chuikov looked at each other, Sokov saw the sly smiles on their faces, and immediately realized that he might have been fooled. The two people in front of him were acting for himself. But once the words were spoken, it was obviously impossible to go back on the word, so I could only bite the bullet and reply: "No embarrassment, no embarrassment at all, we have the confidence to complete any task assigned to us by our superiors."

Seeing that Sokov took the bait, Chuikov suppressed his smile and said, "Well, Colonel Sokov, since you have voluntarily requested to perform such a task, in order not to dampen your enthusiasm, I will agree to your request. Go back to the army and deploy, and try to kill the enemy's ammunition depot as soon as possible."

   Sokov, dumbfounded, bit the bullet and agreed, raised his hand to salute Chuikov and Krylov, turned and walked out of the headquarters. Looking at Sokov's back, Krylov asked Chuikov in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, if Colonel Sokov has been pretending to be deaf and dumb, are we really going to send people from the guard battalion to the enemy's rear?" Carry out the mission?"

Chuikov smiled triumphantly, and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that you still don't understand Colonel Sokov. Since he proposed the plan to sneak attack on the enemy's ammunition depot, he must have already prepared to send troops to implement it." Preparation for the mission. Therefore, regardless of the scene, whether or not the two of us play through, it will not affect the final result."

   Krylov raised his finger at Chuikov, and said approvingly: "Comrade Commander, you are still amazing. You actually understand Colonel Sokov so thoroughly that you can even guess his little thoughts."

"I think he will soon understand that we are acting for him." Although it was possible for Sokov to see through this matter, Cuikov didn't have the time to think about it at this time, and he quickly shifted his attention to At the two factories that are being stormed by the German army: "Chief of Staff, do you have the latest battle reports from the Barricade factory and the Dzerzhinsky factory?"

   "Not yet." Krylov shook his head and said, "I'll call and ask..."

  Sokov walked out of the headquarters, and Samoilov, who was waiting outside, immediately went up to him and asked, "Comrade commander, you have come out, where shall we go next?"

   "Return to Mamayev Post."

   "Go back to Mamayev post?" Samoilov thought Sokov would say go back to the Red October factory, and couldn't help but be stunned: "Comrade commander, why is that?"

   "The superior gave us an important combat mission." Sokov said helplessly: "I want to go back to Mamayev Post to arrange manpower to carry out the mission."

  When he heard that there was a combat mission, Samoilov couldn't help shivering, and asked a little vigilantly: "Comrade Commander, Commander, they won't let us deploy troops again, but assist some troops in defense?"

"That's not true." Since the task to be assigned next is not a secret, Sokov did not hide it from Samoilov: "The commander asked us to send a small force to go deep into the enemy's rear, but bombed Destroy their ammunition depots."

   "Comrade Commander, we have several troops behind the enemy lines. If we want to perform any combat missions, we only need to give them orders directly. Why do we have to go there ourselves?"

"I'm worried that none of them will be able to complete this task, and instead cause unnecessary casualties." Sokov said with a serious expression, "So I have to go back and form a new team to carry out this difficult task. "

  (end of this chapter)