"Chief of Staff," Sokov waited for Samyko to finish speaking and then asked, "Who provided you with this information?"
"It's General Chistyakov!" Samyko replied quickly: "He said that his troops are now too scattered and may not be able to assemble in a short time, so he hopes that we can send troops to reinforce the 31st Tank Army."
"Hell!" After listening to Samyko's words, Sokov said angrily: "Our troops are more than thirty kilometers away from the fighting area. By the time we rush over, the surrounded troops will probably have been annihilated by the enemy. It's simply
It’s like hell!”
"Comrade Commander," Samyko waited for Sokov to finish and carefully reminded him: "General Chistyakov wants us to send the 182nd Infantry Division to rush over for reinforcements. After all, they are far away from the battle site.
It’s no more than twenty kilometers, and if you take public transport, you can reach your destination in less than an hour.”
"Isn't this asking my people to die?" Sokov became even more angry: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have you forgotten that the combat effectiveness of the 182nd Infantry Division was severely diluted after adding a group of old and weak soldiers?
When the special armored group launched the general offensive, didn't they let them participate in the battle?"
"Replenishing the old and weak remnants?" Konev next to him heard this and couldn't help but interjected and asked: "General Sokov, what on earth is going on?"
Seeing Konev's solemn look, Sokov quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the situation is like this. After a series of fierce battles, my 182nd Division suffered heavy casualties, and only the remaining
Less than one-third of the troops. After I made a request to Marshal Zhukov for additional troops, he sent me a reserve team composed of children and old people. Most of these old and young recruits had no
Any combat experience, after adding them to the 182nd Division, the combat effectiveness of the unit will be diluted immediately."
After figuring out the ins and outs, Konev was also quite helpless. The supply of soldiers to the army has always been a big problem. Especially when encountering fierce battles, the losses of soldiers are even more heavy. Some troops have even just added thousands of soldiers, but once
After one battle, they were beaten into empty numbers. Even though Sokov's troops suffered heavy losses, they were able to be supplemented by old and weak soldiers, probably because Zhukov watched Sokov's repeated military exploits.
"Comrade Sokov," Konev felt that he should say a few words to Zhukov to prevent Sokov from misunderstanding Zhukov: "Nowadays, there are huge shortages of soldiers in all the units. As for which units should be replenished first, each unit should be given priority.
How many soldiers should be added to each unit is a headache. Although your superiors have added a group of old and weak soldiers to you, I feel that as long as they undergo necessary training, they will soon become the main force on the battlefield. "
"Commander of the Front Army!" Sokov heard from Konev's tone that the other party did not seem to know that Zhukov had given him the rescued prisoners of war, and quickly explained to him: "We will get two soldiers in the near future.
With the addition of more than 10,000 new soldiers, the combat effectiveness of the army will be able to reach a new level."
After hearing this, Konev waved his hands and said: "The more than 20,000 new recruits are probably not as good as the 2,000 veterans with rich combat experience. They have never seen enemy tanks rushing towards them, nor have they been shot by enemy machine guns.
, let alone experience the fear when enemy planes swoop down from the sky. Even though there are many of them, once they enter the battlefield, many of them will show their true colors. They will even give up their positions and run away as soon as they see the enemy tanks appearing.
.”
When Konev expressed his views, Sokov did not interrupt him, but remained silent. After his words came to an end, he spoke: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, you are mistaken. What I said
Recruits are not those newly recruited soldiers, but a group of commanders and fighters who were captured by the enemy during the battle and are now rescued from prisoner-of-war camps by our army. They have rich combat experience and a certain level of technical and tactical skills.
If they are added to my army, it will be helpful to improve the combat effectiveness of the army."
"What, you plan to add more than 20,000 rescued prisoners of war to your army?" Konev was stunned when he heard Sokov's words: "Aren't you worried about making mistakes?
?”
Sokov knew very well what Konev meant, and quickly explained to him: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I have asked Marshal Zhukov for instructions on this matter in advance. And the Marshal himself cannot make the decision on this matter.
I reported it to the Supreme Commander himself, and after obtaining permission, I officially ordered that all the prisoners of war rescued in the Oboyan area be added to my army."
"So that's it." Konev originally thought that Sokov's statement was too hasty, but when he learned that the other party had reported to Zhukov and obtained permission from the supreme commander himself, a knowing look appeared on his face.
Smiling: "Comrade Sokov, no wonder the troops under your command always win battles. It turns out that you have considered all the issues that need to be considered before doing anything."
After a pause, Konev asked again: "By the way, when can those rescued prisoners of war be added to your army?"
"I think it will be soon." Apanashenko and Lunev have been away for a long time, but there has been no news yet. Sokov felt a little anxious, but in front of Konev
On his face, he still tried his best to pretend to be calm: "The people who went to greet the new recruits were the front army representative, General Apanashenko, and the group army military commissar, Lieutenant General Lunev. Once they accepted this batch of new recruits, they would immediately
Conduct a screening review. Commanders and fighters who pass the review will be directly incorporated into combat units."
"Yeah, yeah, Comrade Sokov, you are very thoughtful." Konev said to Sokov: "As far as I understand, it won't be long before we will attack Belgorod and Kharkov.
Launch a new attack. The earlier your troops are replenished, the greater their effectiveness in the new campaign."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko generals Sokov and Konev seemed to have forgotten that the tank corps was surrounded, and quickly reminded him: "How will General Chistyakov reply to him?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff." Before Sokov could speak, Konev said more substitutively: "Tell General Chistyakov that we are too far from the battlefield and do not have suitable transportation to transport troops, so we cannot participate.
Please ask him to find another way to rescue the 31st Tank Corps."
When Samyko agreed and ran to reply the telegram to Chistyakov, Konev turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Sokov, although we cannot rescue the besieged 31st Tank Corps, you can still
You must find a way to contact General Katukov and tell him your difficulties to prevent him from having any bad associations."
In fact, even if Konev didn't remind him, Sokov planned to call Katukov. After all, there would be many opportunities to fight side by side in the future. If he fell out because of this matter, it would be more than worth the loss. At this moment, Konev heard that
reminder, and quickly said: "Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will call General Katukov and explain the situation to him."
Sokov ordered the director of the communications corps to connect Katukov's command post. After hearing a familiar voice coming from the receiver, Sokov took the initiative to greet the other party: "Hello, General Katukov, I am
Sokov.”
"Hello, General Sokov." Katukov asked in a businesslike tone on the other end of the phone: "I just received a telegram from General Chistyakov saying that you refused to send troops to rescue my besieged tanks.
31st Army, I want to ask, what is going on?"
"General Katukov!" Sokov could tell from Katukov's tone that the other party was very angry, and he couldn't help but secretly feel lucky. If he hadn't called to explain in time, both parties would probably have suffered from this incident.
The incident created a problem, which would affect future cooperation in battles. He quickly explained: "I called you just to explain this matter."
"Say it," Katukov said angrily.
"General Katukov, I felt very heavy when I learned that the 31st Tank Corps unfortunately fell into the encirclement of the German army." Sokov said into the microphone: "The unit closest to me is the 182nd Infantry Division.
The battlefield is about twenty kilometers away. Since they do not have suitable means of transportation, even if the troops adopt a forced march, it will take at least five hours to cover such a long distance. Can you tell me, can the besieged troops last for five
Hours?"
Katukov was silent for a long time, and then answered: "No!"
Hearing that Katukov's tone softened a lot, Sokov continued: "Even if there is suitable transportation to deliver my troops to the fighting location, with the current combat effectiveness of the 182nd Division, I am afraid that not only
Unable to relieve the 31st Tank Corps, we are even in danger of being annihilated."
"Why do you say that?"
"After a long battle, the 182nd Infantry Division has only one-third of its soldiers left. A few days ago, although our superiors made urgent reinforcements to us, the supplements were all new recruits without any combat effectiveness. With such a unit, it is impossible to
To relieve the siege, we will undoubtedly let them die. General Katukov, if it were you, would you issue such an order?"
Facing Sokov's question, Katukov remained silent for a while, and finally replied: "If it were me, I would never issue such an order."
The communication with Katukov achieved the ideal effect. The huge stone hanging in Sokov's heart finally fell to the ground. He made the matter so clear. Presumably even if the 31st Tank Corps was annihilated by the enemy, Katukov