After learning that Manstein and others had gone to Berlin, Zhukov called Sokov, briefly introduced the situation, and asked cautiously: "Misha, what impact do you think Kruger and Manstein will have on the war in the Kursk region when they go to Berlin?"
When Sokov heard Zhukov's question, he immediately understood that the reason why the other party told him such a confidential matter was that he wanted to listen to his own judgment and use it as a reference to make corresponding adjustments to the subsequent combat deployment.
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov tried hard to recall the historical knowledge he remembered, and then said: "According to what you just said, since General Rokosovsky launched an attack on the Northern Line and threatened the retreat of the 9th Army, the enemy on the Northern Line will definitely shrink his troops next to prevent our army from seizing Orel's protrusion."
"Your analysis coincides with my ideas." Zhukov praised Sokov and continued: "I am interested in the southern line now. After all, the situation here is the most critical. What do you think Manstein will do next?"
"If I were Manstein, I would order the 2nd SS Army of Haussel and the Kenf combat cluster to gather, continue to attack Prokholovka City, and find suitable opportunities to annihilate the 69th Army and the 5th Army of Guards Tanks. As for Oboyan, the 48th Army of General Knobels of Stewarts entangled General Katukov's Tanks of Stewarts, so that they could not take care of themselves."
"Are you finished?" Zhukov asked strangely after hearing Sokov's words: "Is there nothing to add?"
"No more, comrade Marshal." Sokov couldn't say too much, so as not to be regarded as a charlatan by others. He could only say tactfully: "Based on the information you provided, I can only analyze so many things."
"What about the 24th Armored Army?" Zhukov continued, "Will Manstein let them be used as decorations there?"
"Comrade Marshal, the 24th Armored Army of the German Army consists of the 23rd Armored Division and the Vikings. Their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of the Kenf combat cluster." Sokov replied: "If Manstein put them on the battlefield, our defense line in Prokhorovka will become precarious. But now that Manstein has gone to Berlin, I guess this unit will not only not be thrown into the battlefield by him, but will be transferred from the Kursk region."
The 24th Armored Army of the German Army has always been a thorn in Zhukov's heart. Until now, there are no troops that can be transferred to Prokholovka. If the enemy put this reserve team into the battlefield again, the defense line that has finally stabilized will have the possibility of collapse.
When Sokov said that Manstein would not put the troops into battle, and even transferred them away, his tone suddenly became stern: "Major General Sokov, do you know what you are talking about? Do you still have a brain? As long as the enemy puts this armored army into battle, the balance of victory will completely fall towards them. But you told me that the enemy will not put the troops into battle, and even transfer them away."
Sokov was silent and thought with grievance: If I were Manstein, under the current situation, he would definitely put the reserve team into the battle without hesitation and completely crush the Soviet defense line. But Manstein never dreamed that he would encounter a superior like Xiaowang, and a wrong decision made by him took away the victory he was about to win.
After Zhukov, on the other end of the phone, he noticed that Sokov was not talking, and asked again: "Why don't you speak? Do you feel that your judgment is biased?"
"No, comrade Marshal, I believe in my judgment." Sokov believes that the reserve team in Manstein was transferred by a mustache to reinforce the Italian front is a real history. Judging from the current situation, there is little possibility of deviation, so he decided to stick to his principle: "If you don't believe it, you can send scouts to monitor the movements of this force. I believe that in only two days, you will know whether my judgment is accurate."
"I really didn't expect that you were quite stubborn." Although Zhukov was unwilling to believe Sokov's analysis, he tried his best to control his emotions and said in a stable tone: "I will ask Vatuting to arrange a scout as soon as possible to monitor the 24th Armored Army of the German Army to see if the situation is as you said."
Huasilevsky, who had just walked in from outside the house, saw Zhukov who had put down the phone, with a hint of anger on his face, and he asked curiously: "Comrade Marshal, who made you angry on the phone?"
"Who else can it be? That Xiaomia." Zhukov said angrily: "When I was communicating with him just now, he actually told me that Manstein could not put the 24th Panzer Army into battle, and even could transfer this force. Tell me, if you were Manstein, would you transfer the reserve team to other areas at such a critical moment?"
"Comrade Marshal," after figuring out why Zhukov was angry, Huasilevsky said with a smile: "I remember you served as commander of the Leningrad Front in 41 years."
"That's right, it was in September 1941. The Northern Army Group commanded by von Leb attacked Leningrad, and the city was in danger. The commander sent me there to take over Marshal Voroshilov's position and commanded the troops to prevent the German army from seizing the city." After Zhukov recognized his resume, he asked in confusion: "But what is the connection with Xiaomisha's wrong judgment?"
After hearing this, Huasilevsky nodded slightly and continued, "Short after you took office, the German army, who was attacking the city, was suddenly transferred. At that time, you were furious about this and thought it was the scout who provided the headquarters with wrong information. But the actual situation was that in order to seize Moscow as soon as possible, the German army drew troops from the northern cluster to strengthen the offensive in the middle."
Zhukov is a smart man. When he heard Huasilevsky mention this seemingly unrelated thing, he immediately understood what was going on: "Comrade Huasilevsky, do you want to hint me when you mention this matter, saying that Xiaomi Sha's analysis is completely possible?"
"That's right." Huasilevsky smiled and said, "Although I am not familiar with Major General Sokov, based on my observations over the past two years, his analysis of the battlefield situation is still very accurate. When our army launched the Battle of Kharkov last year, who would think that Stalingrad, which is thousands of miles away, would become the next target of the Germans' attack? But Major General Sokov analyzed this possibility based on the sporadic information he had and arranged defenses in Mamayev's base in advance.
Comrade Zhukov, since we are representatives of the base camp, we must be responsible for the safety of Kursk's defense line. I think we should send necessary reconnaissance forces to monitor the German armored army. Once they have any movement, we can know it as soon as possible."
"Comrade Vatujing," Zhukov sat at the table and thought about the words of Vasilevsky, and thought that he was very reasonable, so he ordered Vatujing: "Immediately send effective reconnaissance personnel to monitor the German 24th Armored Army's garrison. If they find any abnormal movements, report to me immediately."
Sokov didn't know what happened in the Voronezh Front Command. As soon as he put down the phone, he said to Koida: "Comrade Colonel, I will go back to the headquarters tonight, and the defense here will be left to you."
"When will you come back?" Koida was used to Sokov commanding troops beside him. When he learned that he was leaving, he couldn't help but feel a little panicked: "I am worried that my ability is limited and I can't command so many troops."
"I probably won't come back for a long time." Sokov planned to stay there after returning to his command headquarters. After all, no matter how good it is, it is just a division-level command. Many orders must be forwarded through Samek of the headquarters, which can easily miss the opportunity: "You know, I have more important work to do in the headquarters."
Koida felt very disappointed when he learned that Sokov would not come back for the time being, but he was helpless. Who made Sokov the commander of the army? After he returned to the headquarters, he must have been busy with work. It is reasonable that he did not have time to come here to know his work.
Koida asked with concern, "Comrade Commander, when do you plan to leave and how many people do you take?"
"I will take Samoilov's guard platoon to operate together."
"No, Comrade Commander, you can't leave like this." Koida immediately raised an objection.
"Why?" Sokov asked in confusion.
"Although the areas you want to pass through are under the control of our army," Coida explained: "But if you bring a guard platoon, you need at least one truck and a few jeeps. Such a small convoy marching at night is also very dangerous. Once discovered by enemy scouts, it may happen."
"Comrade Colonel, you make sense." Sokov knew that Samoilov had a large number of guard squads. If he really left by car, he would need at least two trucks and five jeeps. Even if he was driving at night, he might encounter danger. Therefore, after a brief consideration, he made a decision: "Then I will take Lieutenant Samoilov and several soldiers and take two jeeps to return to the Army Command."
When leaving the 188th Division headquarters, Samoilov, who was in the same car as Sokov, also asked: "Comrade Commander, do we really only need two jeeps when we return to the Army Command?"
"Yes, comrade Lieutenant." Sokov nodded and replied, "There are too many cars, and it is easy to expose the target." Seeing the other party's worried look, he comforted him, "Don't worry, it's only more than 20 kilometers away from the Army Command. If the car drives fast, it will arrive in at most half an hour."
On the way back, although everything went smoothly, the road was destroyed too much, and there were large pits of planes and cannons everywhere. Some pits were even filled with water, so that the driver had to slow down and carefully bypass one crater after another of different sizes.
After almost two hours of struggling on the road, the jeep Sokov was riding finally arrived at the gate of the headquarters. The sentry standing guard at the door was stunned when he saw Sokov's appearance, then raised his hand to salute and said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, you are back!"
"Yes, I'm back." Sokov saw that the sentry greeted him looked familiar, but he couldn't remember what the other party called in a hurry. He just nodded casually and asked, "Are the Chief of Staff and the Military Commissioner in the headquarters?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The sentry replied quickly: "They set up two camp beds in the command center and fell asleep at night. They could deal with anything in time."
Although Sokov had deliberately lightened his pace when he walked into the command center, when he entered the door, he still heard a familiar voice asking, "Is there anything wrong?"
Sokov heard that it was Sameko's voice, so he stopped and replied, "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's me!"
Sameko, who was lying on the marching bed, had his eyes closed, and when he heard Sokov's voice, he sat up suddenly, and didn't even care about wearing his boots, so he jumped out of the bed and greeted him: "Comrade Commander, why are you back?"
Sokov saw a man lying on the marching bed not far away. It was probably the military commissioner Lunev. He was about to ask Sameko to lighten his voice and not wake up Lunev's dream. But he was still a step late. Lunev, who was originally lying on the bed, sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Sokov and said politely: "Comrade Commander, why are you back at this time? It's really surprising to us."
"I'm so sorry, I've disturbed you to rest." Sokov was very sorry for disturbing the two of them's sleep: "I should say hello to you before I come back."
Sameko poured Sokov a cup of tea and handed it to him, saying, "Comrade Commander, you have not disturbed our rest. You know, I have slept very little since we entered the Pushore River defense line. When you came in just now, I was lying down shortly after I heard footsteps, and I thought it was a staff officer who came to report the situation."
Sokov sat at the table holding a teacup, took a sip of the tea, and asked, "Is there any movement in the Pushor River defense line?"
"No." Sameko replied simply: "Because your defensive battles were very exciting and attracted the attention of the enemy, they had no time to attack us. I am worried that if this continues, our troops stationed here will not be able to fight before the end of the battle."
"It's not easy to fight," Sokov said with a smile: "When the enemy's attack on Prokorovka City completely fails, all our troops can launch a comprehensive counterattack, and every division will have a war."
Chapter completed!