Chapter 1348 Preparations for war

   "If you don't try it, how will you know if it will work?"

  Sokov heard deep dissatisfaction from Vatutin's tone. But he was not panicked because of this. He was very self-aware. It was somewhat overkill to attack Belgorod, which was heavily guarded by the German army, with an army with an incomplete organizational structure. Sokov will never do this kind of loss-making business with pebbles hitting rocks.

"Comrade General," Sokov said unhurriedly after Vatutin stopped talking: "My troops have just wiped out the 255th Infantry Division of the German Army. The commanders and fighters are exhausted and need a good rest. A period of time. At the same time, it will take a period of time for our superiors to replenish the soldiers. Therefore, under the current circumstances, it is not suitable to launch an advanced attack for the time being."

Vatutin wanted to say a few more words, but was interrupted by Zhukov: "Comrade Vatutin, I think Sokov is right. After a long period of fighting, his troops have become exhausted and need to be repaired. And those commanders and fighters who have just been added to the army need time to get familiar with the environment and increase the degree of fit with their new comrades in arms."

   "Comrade Marshal," hearing Zhukov's words, Vatutin hurriedly covered the microphone with his hand, and asked respectfully, "So we won't attack Belgorod for the time being?"

   "The troops involved in the operation are still gathering." Zhukov reminded Vatutin, "We don't need to waste our own strength on this kind of meaningless attack."

"Understood, Comrade Marshal, I will immediately convey your message to Major General Sokov." Vatutin let go of his hand covering the microphone, "Major General Sokov, the task of your army now is to take the time to rest and reorganize. Ready to participate in the next phase of combat operations."

"Yes, Comrade General." Hearing that Vatutin no longer allowed himself to perform the mission of sending him to death, Sokov also secretly heaved a sigh of relief: "We will finish our rest and make all preparations for battle before the start of the next war." of."

  Vatutin put down the phone, returned to Zhukov's side and continued to eat dinner. At this time Vasilevsky suddenly said: "Marshal Zhukov, Comrade Sokov has performed well during this period of time. He wiped out several divisions of the German army. This is a great victory. When will the headquarters plan to give him a promotion and Honors?"

"It may take a while." Zhukov said slowly: "His grade is too young. If he is promoted too quickly, it will not be a good thing for his future. I think we should wait a little longer until we win Bier. After Gorod and Kharkov, it's not too late to think about him."

"Yes, he is too young." Vasilevsky also said with emotion: "If he is promoted to lieutenant general or even general at a young age, I worry about those who have stayed in the army for more than ten or twenty years." An old commander who is more than 100 years old will have resistance to him in his heart."

"Many of our division commanders have served in the army for more than ten or twenty years and have rich command experience. Now they are only colonels or lieutenant colonels." Vatutin continued: "If they see that Sokov is so young General, I feel somewhat unbalanced in my heart."

When Zhukov and others were talking about Sokov in the headquarters, Sokov was in his own headquarters, assigning tasks to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, General Vatutin has agreed to let us go to the defense on the spot. Attack on Belgorod again. But during this time, we still have a lot to do..."

Seeing Sameko take out his notebook and prepare to write down what he said, Sokov continued: "We don't know whether the enemy will attack our army's defense zone again before our new round of offensive starts, so All troops should seize the time to build defensive fortifications at the current border to prevent possible German attacks.

  Secondly, the commanders and fighters rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp should be added to each unit as soon as possible, so that everyone can seize the time to run in and increase coordination in battle. "

After Sokov finished explaining all the tasks, Sameko reminded him: "Comrade Commander, before the start of the battle, our entire army was equipped with the new assault rifles sent by the Weapons and Equipment Department. But after this period of time, In combat, the attrition rate of assault rifles is very high, when will you contact the Weapons and Equipment Department and ask them to replenish us with a batch of firearms so that all the rescued commanders and fighters can be armed."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I find it a bit difficult to handle what you said." Sokov frowned and said to Sameko: "I called Colonel Yakov some time ago, and he told me that what we need Assault rifles will not be delivered until at least mid-August."

"Delivery in mid-August should be in time." Sameko said anxiously: "Although we will launch a new attack on the enemy soon, according to my estimation, this battle will take at least half a month to one month." If you supply us in mid-August, it will be enough to make up for the weapons lost on the battlefield."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think we can count on these weapons."

   "What, you can't count on these weapons?" Sokov's words confused Sameko, and he asked in confusion, "Comrade commander, why is this?"

   "The reason is very simple. These newly added commanders and fighters have no experience in using new assault rifles. Even if they are equipped with this batch of weapons, I am afraid it will be difficult to exert their due combat effectiveness on the battlefield."

Knowing that Sokov did not plan to equip the newly recruited troops with new assault rifles, Sameko was somewhat disappointed, but he still asked with luck: "What about other equipment? For example, rocket launchers and new rockets. You know, these weapons are the key to our surprise victory."

Sokov felt that Sameko's words made sense, so he nodded and said, "Chief of Staff, you are right. The main reason why we have repeatedly made extraordinary achievements in the recent battles is It is relying on new equipment. We will soon participate in new battles, and if we do not have enough new weapons, I am afraid that we will suffer huge casualties in the next battle."

   After saying this, Sokov immediately called the director of the communications corps to the front, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade director of the communications corps, can the telephone in our headquarters directly communicate with Moscow?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." The director of the communications corps replied without hesitation: "I wonder which department in Moscow you plan to talk to?"

   "Materials and Equipment Department, find Colonel Yakov." Sokov said briefly, "I have something important to discuss with him."

   After about five minutes, the director of the communications corps came over and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the line in Moscow has been connected, and you can talk to the other party at any time."

   Sokov took the microphone: "Hi, I'm Major General Sokov, who are you?"

"Misha, who else is there in my office besides me?" Yakov knew that Sokov would go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, so he took the initiative to call himself today. There must be something important, so he asked quickly: "Is there anything urgent you need from me?"

   "Yes, Yakov, very urgent."

   "Let's talk!" Yakov opened the folder in front of him, picked up a pen and paper, and asked with his usual expression, "I'm good to record."

"Yasha, the situation is like this." Sokov called the opponent's life affectionately, and said bluntly, "My group army has just recruited tens of thousands of recruits, but they lack enough weapons. I want to ask, you guys When will the produced assault rifles arrive?"

   "Misha, didn't I tell you last time? It will be mid-August at the earliest. This is the fastest time we have tried our best to reach."

"No, the time has dragged on for too long. In this way, we will not be able to use it when we participate in the next round of offensive operations." Sokov asked in a discussing tone: "Can you talk to the military factory?" Should the factory manager and engineers discuss it? Let them increase the daily output as soon as possible.”

Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov really couldn't help but laugh: "Misha, within the scope of my authority, I have provided you with all the help I can provide. Originally, the base camp wanted to put this new assault rifle on the list. They are equipped with various guards and divisions, but after repeated persuasion by me, Comrade Ustinov finally agreed to equip these weapons with your troops first.

   You know, according to the production plan of the military factory, the assault rifles that will be shipped out of the factory are going to be used to equip the troops from the 1st Guards Division to the 20th Guards Division..."

Because of his excitement, Yakov slipped his tongue in front of Sokov for a while, and Sokov caught this flaw: "Wait a minute, Yasha, you said that according to the original production plan, the newly produced Assault The rifle is intended to be equipped with 20 guard divisions, did I hear correctly?"

"That's right." Yakov realized that he had slipped his tongue, so he could only bite the bullet and reply: "According to the plan of the base camp, it is planned to use this batch of weapons to equip 20 Guards divisions in order to improve their overall combat effectiveness." force."

  Sokov originally thought that the delivery of the assault rifle would be in the middle of half a month, when the new battle was in full swing, and it would be impossible for the commanders and fighters to change their equipment during the battle, which would directly affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. Unexpectedly, according to Yakov, the number of assault rifles to be delivered in mid-August may reach 200,000.

After knowing this little secret, Sokov decided to take this opportunity to give Yakov a good fortune: "Yasha, you don't necessarily have to supply all the supplies for the guards at once. You can completely distribute them in batches, The new assault rifles will be installed in the Guards divisions in stages."

  Yakov understood Sokov's character. Hearing what he said, he immediately guessed what he must have planned, so he asked unceremoniously: "Misha, don't go around in circles, just say what you have to say."

Seeing that his little trick was exposed by Yakov, Sokov laughed dryly, and then said: "Yasha, since we are all old friends, can you give priority to supplying some of the products of the general factory to us?"

   "Misha, you make it difficult for me to do this." Yakov said a little bit dumbfounded: "If Comrade Ustinov knows about this, how do you want me to explain it to him?"

   "This is easy to handle, you just need to tell the truth."

In order to prevent Yakov from looking forward and backward, Sokov quickly added: "By the way, Yasha, I almost forgot to tell you some good news. My troops wiped out the 255th Infantry Division of the German Army today and killed The division commander."

   "This is exciting and good news." The news made Yakov's eyes light up, but he quickly questioned: "But why didn't I see such a battle report?"

"It's right if you didn't see the battle report. After all, the battle ended in less than an hour." Sokov explained to Yakov: "If you report according to the normal procedure, you may have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see this battle report." An exciting battle report."

  Yakov was silent.

"Yasha, do you know?" Seeing that Yakov did not speak, Sukov guessed that he was in the midst of a fierce ideological struggle, and quickly said, "less than half of the troops I participated in the attack were equipped with." Assault rifles, the rest are common standard equipment, and as a result, they paid a lot more than they should have paid."

Yakov heard the subtext of Sokov's words: "Misha, don't say it, I understand what you mean, but this batch of weapons was greeted by the headquarters and sent to 20 guards. It really cannot be handed over to you without authorization."

"Yasha," Sokov said softly and hard for a long time, but Yakov still insisted on not letting go, which made him feel helpless: "After a while, we will launch a new round of attack on the enemy. If in Before this, all my troops could be equipped with assault rifles, which would greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the troops and reduce casualties in battle."

"Okay, Misha, I can report your request to Comrade Ustinov." Yakov was so annoyed by Sokov that he could only bite the bullet and said, "But will he agree to give you It is not up to me to assign weapons to the group army. Do you understand?"

   Knowing that Yakov was willing to speak well for himself in front of Ustinov, Sokov couldn't help being overjoyed. Based on his consistent experience, he knew in his heart that the so-called reporting to Ustinov was just a process, and soon the weapons he urgently needed would be sent to his troops continuously.

   "There is more!" There is a big battle to be fought next. If Sokov doesn't want to hoard weapons and equipment, it will be too late to wait until the battle starts before transporting weapons and ammunition. Taking advantage of this opportunity to rip off Yakov, Sokov will naturally not give up easily: "Our bazooka and new rockets are almost exhausted, see if we can use them again in the special train for transporting assault rifles." Two thousand new rockets and one hundred rocket launchers?"

   "You are dreaming!" Sokov's words made Yakov laugh instead of anger: "Two thousand new rockets and one hundred rocket launchers, how dare you say that."

   "No way," Sokov said helplessly, "Our group army lacks artillery and tank units. If we don't have new rockets and rocket launchers, we will inevitably suffer huge casualties in a head-to-head confrontation with the enemy."

"All right, all right, Misha, don't complain in front of me." Facing Sokov's stalking, Yakov smiled bitterly and said, "I will pass on your request to Ust Comrade Nove, but whether he will agree or not, I can't guarantee. By the way, you are not the only unit that needs new rockets, so I can only give you a thousand new rockets at most, and there will be no more. Listen Do you understand, Misha?"

   "I understand, of course I understand." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Sokov said with a playful smile: "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire army, I would like to express my gratitude to you."

  (end of this chapter)