Chapter 1190 Dinghaishen Needle (2)

   "I'm sorry, Comrade General." Unexpectedly, Sokov replied coldly to Apanashenko's order: "Please forgive me for not being able to carry out your order."

  Sukov's words stunned everyone present. According to everyone's understanding, after hearing this order from Apanashenko, shouldn't Sokov immediately start dispatching troops to carry out assaults on the German troops who broke through the defense line?

"Comrade Sokov, do you know what you are doing?" Seeing Sokov refusing to carry out his order, Apanashenko was particularly annoyed: "Do you know that you are disobeying orders? You are court-martialed."

  If it was someone else, who heard Apanashenko say that, they would have been frightened out of their wits long ago, and obediently gave in. Even if they knew that Apanashenko's order was wrong, they would bite the bullet and carry it out. But Sokov said neither humble nor overbearing: "Comrade general, we don't know the strength of the enemy who broke through the defense line and what kind of weapons and equipment they have, so we rashly launched a counterattack. This is to let my soldiers die. And once the counterattack fails , When the enemy is coming here, what kind of troops will we use to stop them?"

  The commanders of the 182nd Division were very moved when they heard Sokov explain the reasons for his disobedience. They knew very well that Sokov was using his own future to save their lives. However, everyone immediately worried about Sokov's future fate. After all, he was disobedient.

  Sokov saw everyone's worries, and then said: "Comrade General, although your military rank is higher than mine, you are not my direct leader after all. I have the right not to carry out the orders you issued."

  Everyone thought that Apanashenko would definitely lose his temper after listening to Sokov's words. But Apanashenko did not speak, picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette from it, lit it, took a deep breath, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, it seems that you have All the consequences were considered."

"Yes, Comrade General, I have considered the consequences of disobeying orders." Sokov said seriously: "But if I carry out your order at this moment and let the troops rush into the counterattack, in the end, it is possible It was the enemy who was not repulsed, but our army suffered heavy losses. Once the enemy took the opportunity to advance, there was no army that could stop them."

   "Are you ready to watch the enemy break through our defense line?"

   "We will resolutely block the enemy's advance in the Shumakovo area." Sokov replied resolutely: "We will never let them approach Moscow again."

   "If the enemy successfully breaks through our army's defense line in the direction of Oboyan and continues to increase the input of troops, do you think you can stop the enemy's attack with your little strength?"

"I believe we can do this." After Sokov said this, seeing Apanashenko's puzzled face, he invited him to the map and explained to him: "Comrade general, look at the map. The terrain here is not conducive to the deployment of large-scale armored forces at all. The Germans are obviously aware of this, so they will not invest too many tanks in our direction. As long as the number of tanks invested by the enemy is limited, then I have Faith stops the enemy."

   "Then tell me, in what direction will the Germans invest a large number of armored troops?"

Sokov thought that Vatutin might have a good idea of ​​the next attack direction of the German army. If he said the so-called analysis at this moment, even if he learned about it through Apanashenko, it would not arouse any doubts, so he Said boldly: "I think the Germans will put all their armored forces into Prokhorovka. The terrain here is flat, and a large-scale mechanized force will be deployed immediately, and our army's defense force is not too strong. If I were the commander of the German army, I would put the main assault force here."

"Prokhorovka?!" After staring at the direction Sokov said for a while, Apanashenko turned his head and asked: "Comrade Sokov, are you really sure that the enemy will send the main assault force, Put it in this area?"

   "Yes, Comrade General." Sokov replied, "The chances are very high."

   "Major," Apanashenko immediately ordered his adjutant after receiving a definite answer from Sokov, "contact the headquarters immediately, and I will immediately report this important information to Comrade Vatutin."

  The major quickly ordered the accompanying soldiers to move a radio into the division headquarters, and began to speak in plain language. When Sokov heard the other party using plain language, he couldn't help but thumped in his heart, and quickly reminded Apanashenko: "Comrade General, you can't speak in plain language, otherwise you may be eavesdropped by the Germans."

  But Apanashenko waved his hand and said disapprovingly: "The time needed now, let the enemy hear it."

The radio station quickly contacted Vatutin, and when he heard Vatutin's voice coming from the headset, Apanashenko said into the microphone: "Comrade Vatutin, I am now at the headquarters of the friendly army. Li, I just got a piece of information and I want to inform you."

   "What information?"

   "According to Major General Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army, the German army that broke through our army's defense line at Oboyan may turn the main force of their armored forces to the Prokhorovka area..."

   "Comrade Deputy Commander," Vatutin asked calmly, "I would like to ask, where did you hear this information?"

  Apanashenko glanced at Sokov who was standing next to him, and replied: "General Vatutin, as I said just now, it was the analysis made by Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Army Group..."

"It seems that his analysis is correct. Judging from the concentration direction of the German armored forces, an assault on the Prokhorovka area is inevitable." Vatutin may have noticed that he was talking on the radio in plain language , there is a possibility of leaking secrets, so when it came to this, I said tactfully: "Comrade Deputy Commander, some things are hard to say on the phone, you should go back to the headquarters as soon as possible, and I will tell you the details."

  Although Apanashenko was unwilling to return to the headquarters at this time, in any case, Vatukin was his current immediate boss, and he really had to go back when he asked him to go back. After finishing his conversation with Vatutin, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, I'm going back to the headquarters of the Front Army. I hope you can remember what you just said. You must block the enemy who breaks through our defense line." .”

   "Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov looked at Apanashenko, who would die in a few days, and said with a serious expression: "We will definitely do our best to block the enemy's attack."

After sending Apanashenko away, Sokov began to assign tasks to Khokhlov and others: "...on the hills on both sides of the road, deploy anti-tank firepower. After the enemy tanks enter the ambush circle, they will Destroy it with a bazooka... Your division's task is to do everything possible to slow down the German army's advance speed and consume their vital strength."

"Comrade Commander, I have a question." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, the division chief raised his hand and asked, "If you are not here and General Apanashenko comes here to give orders, what should we do?" what to do?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov looked at the division chief of staff and said with a serious expression: "I remind you to remember that I am the commander of the 27th Army, not General Apanashenko. The person who commands the troops is I, not him, so not only he gives you any order, but you don't have to execute it. If the superior wants to be held accountable in the future, I will bear a series of consequences caused by it. "

When Sokov said this, he thought to himself that Apanashenko had less than a month left to live, and even if he wanted to deal with himself, he would have to wait until the Battle of Kursk was over, by which time he would already be dead If it is done, then it will naturally be nothing at this time, and I don't need to worry at all.

Seeing that Sokov was willing to take all the responsibilities, Khokhlov and the others felt a lot more at ease. To be honest, one was an old commander who was promoted to general before the war, and the other was his superior. They were caught in the middle It is also difficult.

While the chief of staff was assigning defensive tasks to the regiments, Khokhlov tentatively asked Sokov, "Comrade commander, after the arrival of the follow-up troops, how do you plan to arrange them so that they can continue to build defenses in the north?" work?"

"It's not necessary." Sokov shook his head and said, "When the follow-up troops arrive, your division can hand over part of the defense area to them. After you shrink the defensive front, you can draw troops to form a reserve team to play a role in the later stages of the battle." greater effect."

"Comrade Commander, how long do you think this battle will last?" Khokhlov heard Sukov use the word "battle", and immediately thought of the Stalingrad defense battle that ended half a year ago. Ask tentatively: "Three months or five months?"

Sokov thought to himself that the duration of the entire battle was only more than 50 days, which was far from being compared with the 200 days of the Stalingrad Defense War, so he said lightly: "Don't worry, not only is this battle fierce, but in the It will definitely be over by September."

   "What, it can end before September?" Khokhlov said with some surprise: "I thought it would last until next year."

"Don't look at the Kharkov offensive launched by our army, which ended in failure." Sokov said to Khokhlov: "But after the Stalingrad defense battle, the German army lost a lot of elite troops. The newly added troops will have a greatly reduced combat effectiveness. With their current strength, it is obviously impossible to fight us for more than half a year. Therefore, it will take at most one or two months to end this battle. battle, and ended with our army's victory."

"Judging from the current situation," Khokhlov seemed to be talking to himself, and also seemed to be saying to Sokov: "After the battle is over, both the enemy and us will be exhausted. There is no way to start a new campaign."

"Comrade Colonel, if you look at it this way, you are wrong." Sokov said to Khokhlov: "Once our army wins a decisive victory in the direction of Kursk, then we can gain the initiative on the battlefield, It turns out that the Germans have the final say on when and where to launch an attack, but as long as we have won this victory, we will have the initiative on the battlefield, and when and where to launch an attack will be up to us It's up to you."

  Sokov considered that the number of new rockets and bazookas equipped by the 182nd Division was limited. Once they exchanged fire with the Germans, Sokov might not have any advantage, so he ordered Khokhlov to connect to the headquarters. Hearing Sameko's voice from the receiver, Sokov immediately ordered him to say: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have an urgent task for you to complete."

   "Please speak, Comrade Commander." Sameko said respectfully: "I firmly obey your orders."

"The enemy has broken through the direction of the friendly forces in the Oboyan area and is coming towards Shumakovo where our troops are stationed." Sokov said to Sameko on the phone: "Immediately take the divisions that have not yet set off. The new rockets are assembled and sent to Shumakovo by truck as soon as possible."

   "Comrade Commander," Sameko said with some embarrassment when he heard Sokov's order, "If we use trucks to transport rockets, it will affect the transportation of troops."

"The effect of a truckload of new rockets is at least more than that of a regiment." Sokov said with a strong attitude: "You can put aside the matter of transporting troops for a while, but after tomorrow morning, I hope to see more new rockets." The rockets appeared in the defense zone of the 182nd Division."

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." Hearing what Sokov said, Sameko could only reply: "I will immediately arrange for people to collect all the rockets and encounter the Shumakovo area as soon as possible."

  After Sameko put down the phone, he couldn't help crying: "Comrade Commander has assigned me a difficult task to complete. How can it be so easy to collect all the rockets from each division in a hurry?"

   Lunev, who usually exists as a transparent person, heard Sameko complaining, and asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Sameko complained to Lunev: "Comrade Commander said that the Germans had broken through the line of defense in the direction of Oboyan and were advancing towards Shumakovo, so he ordered me to send the new rockets of the divisions Collect them all and transport them to the 182nd Division's defense area as soon as possible."

"It turns out that you are worrying about this matter." After figuring out the reason for Sameko's worry, Lunev said with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, you leave this matter to me. I I assure you that all the rockets collected will be transported to the defense area of ​​the 182nd Division smoothly tomorrow."

   Seeing that Lunev was so confident, Sameko felt that the other party must have a method that he did not know to collect the rockets that were urgently needed on the front line from various divisions. Since the other party took the initiative to solve the problem for himself, Sameko no longer hesitated, but nodded to Lunev and said: "Well, Comrade Military Commissioner, I will leave the matter of collecting and transporting new rockets to you. Take full responsibility."

  Seeing that Sameko agreed to let him take charge of the matter, Lunev smiled and nodded at the other party, got up and walked out of the command post, preparing to call people to complete this urgent task.

  (end of this chapter)