Chapter 1787 Chief of Armored Corps

  After the cavalry army left, the defense near the 239 Heights became weak again.

  For this matter, Smirnov asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, the defense zone vacated by the cavalry army, which unit do you think will take over the defense?"

   "Aren't there four tank brigades under the group army?" Sokov said after thinking for a moment: "Let them fill the vacancy. Once the defense area of ​​the 41st Guards Division is tight, they can rush there in time for reinforcements."

   "Transfer the tank brigade there?" Regarding Sokov's arrangement, Smirnov put forward a different view: "Comrade commander, I think it is inappropriate to send the tank brigade to receive the defense zone of the cavalry army."

   "Why?" Sokov asked in surprise.

   "Although we have four tank brigades, we have always been in a state of dissatisfaction." Smirnov explained: "And after the early battles, the sum of all the tanks that can be used today does not exceed fifty."

  The muscles on Sokov's face twitched violently a few times. He never dreamed that the four tank brigades under his command actually had less than fifty tanks, which meant that each brigade had only ten tanks. Once it encounters the German armored division, I am afraid it will be wiped out in an instant.

"When I called Yakov a few days ago, he said that he could not provide us with tanks and artillery." Sokov frowned and said: "Without enough tanks and artillery, we can only stay in the trenches for defense , but unable to take the initiative to attack the enemy."

"Yeah, without a sufficient number of tanks and artillery, we are no match for the German armored division at all." Smirnov also said with emotion: "Let's not talk about one-on-one, even if we put our entire army into battle, we will not be able to fight." There is no way to prevent the assault of even a single armored division of the German army."

  One division of the German army fought one group army of the Soviet army. This is not a fantasy, but a fact. During the Battle of Kursk, the troops commanded by Vatutin basically used a group army to fight against a German division, but they were still defeated. If the superiors did not deploy several group armies from Konev's steppe front army to support them, The outcome of the Battle of Kursk is really still unknown.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think you are worrying too much." Gorokhov interjected, "Don't forget, Comrade Commander is the enemy of the Germans. Many Germans may not even be able to sleep when they hear his name. Be down-to-earth. Let me ask, under such circumstances, how could they take the initiative to attack us?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov was still happy when he heard Gorokhov praise him, but he did not feel complacent about it, but said with a solemn expression: "But as long as the Germans fight us, It will be discovered that I am just a vain name, and then they will take us as a priority target for elimination."

  Although he had already guessed the result in his heart, Smirnov still asked tentatively: "So, it is impossible for us to launch an attack on the enemy before we get supplemented by tanks and artillery?"

   "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, that is indeed the case."

   "How about we call Commander Konev and ask if he can provide us with tanks or artillery?"

Smirnov's proposal was rejected by Sokov as soon as he said it, and he shook his head: "I don't think it's necessary. The casualties and loss of technical equipment of the various units of the German army are not small. , I am afraid that in the past two days, people have often called the commander of the front army to ask for soldiers and weapons, and he may not be able to take care of himself at the moment."

  Smirnov knew what Sokov was talking about, and said with a bitter face: "Then what should we do? Is it true that the commanders and fighters can only stay in the trenches and carry out passive defense?"

  While talking, a middle-aged colonel walked in from the outside. After entering the door, he said loudly: "How are you, comrades generals!"

Seeing that the colonel was an unfamiliar face, Sokov thought he was the commander of a unit under the group army, so he turned his head and asked Smirnov, "Comrade Chief of Staff, who is he?" According to his thinking, Smirnov My husband should know all the colonel-level officers in the 53rd Army. After all, this rank can serve as division commander or deputy division commander.

  Unexpectedly, Smirnov shook his head, looked at the person in a daze and said, "I don't know him either."

  The colonel came to the table and stopped. After scanning the three of Sokov, his eyes stopped on Smirnov: "Comrade General, are you the commander of the army, General Sokov?"

   "No, I am Chief of Staff Smirnov." Smirnov pointed at Sokov with his hand: "This is Lieutenant General Sokov, Commander of the Army Group."

"Hello, Comrade Commander!" The colonel raised his hand to give Sokov a solemn military salute, and then reported: "Colonel Burgos, director of armored tanks and mechanized troops of the Army Group, has been ordered to report to you. I am waiting for you order, please instruct!"

"Please rest easy, Comrade Colonel." Sokov recited the awkward position in his mind twice before he managed to pronounce it correctly. He asked curiously, "You said you were the armored director of the group army, why didn't I know you? ?”

   "Comrade Commander," Burgos grinned, and then said to Sokov, "I'm meeting you for the first time today. It's normal that you don't know me."

"Comrade Colonel, you said that you are the armored director of the group army." Smirnov took two steps forward, came to Burgos, and said with a serious expression: "But why didn't I receive the order from the superior? "

"This is an appointment decided on a temporary basis. I guess it's too late to notify you." Burgos said, opened the briefcase he was carrying, took out a folded paper from it, and handed it to Smirnov: "This is the appointment." My letter of appointment."

  Smirnov took the paper, unfolded it, browsed it for a while, then handed it to Sokov, and said, "Comrade Commander, take a look."

  Sokov leaned over and stared at the contents of the paper to browse carefully, and found that the superior appointed Colonel Burgos as the director of the armored forces of the 53rd Army.

  After confirming the identity of the other party, Sokov extended his hand to the other party and said friendlyly: "Colonel Burgos, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 53rd Army, I welcome you."

   After calling the other party to sit down, Sokov sighed and said: "Comrade Colonel, although your superior appointed you as the armored director of the group army, you are basically a polished commander after taking office."

   "Comrade Commander, what do you mean?" Burgos looked at Sokov and asked puzzledly: "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Comrade Colonel, before you came in, we were talking about the tank brigade." Sokov explained to the other party: "Although there are four tank brigades in the army, after this period of fighting, our remaining tanks have increased There are less than 50 armored vehicles, and such an armored force may be enough for defense, but if it is used to attack the German armored divisions, it is tantamount to asking for a dead end."

  Burgos raised his eyebrows, and said with some surprise: "There are less than fifty tanks left in the tank brigade of the group army?"

"Yes, we have less than fifty tanks left." Smirnov added: "To be precise, there are only 47 tanks, but the early T-34 models. After you take office, you can't command Dozens of tanks, go to compete with the German army, which has superior strength and technical equipment? That is tantamount to letting you die."

Unexpectedly, after listening to Burgos, he grinned: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff, let me tell you the truth. I was originally ordered by my superiors to lead a tank unit to strengthen the 5th Mechanized Army. Not long after Zhizhi set off, he received a new order to be appointed as the director of the armored forces of our 53rd Army, and all the tanks originally planned to be assigned to the 5th Mechanized Army were delivered to the 53rd Army for use.

"Oh, the superior asked you to take the tank unit to strengthen the 5th mechanized army... what, the tank unit?" Sokov had an expression of disbelief on his face: "Colonel Burgos, what did you just say? You brought the tank unit The troops are going to mechanize the 5th Army, am I right?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, you heard me right." Burgos nodded and said, "I was indeed ordered to take a tank unit to the 5th Mechanized Army. But then my superiors gave me a new order. The command…"

   Before Burgos could finish speaking, Sokov interrupted him and asked impatiently, "Comrade Colonel, where are our tanks now?"

"The main force is still on the way, but the two tanks I brought are parked at the door..." Burgos hadn't finished speaking when he saw Sokov limping outside with a cane . Smirnov and Gorokhov followed closely behind. Seeing that the three chief officers had left the headquarters, it was impossible for Burgos to sit still, so he quickly followed.

  When Sokov walked out of the headquarters and saw the tanks parked outside, he couldn't help being stunned. He turned his head and asked Burgos who came out: "Colonel Burgos, is this the tank you were going to send to the 5th Mechanized Army?"

   "That's right." Burgos nodded and replied, "A total of 80 vehicles, and these are just two of them. The rest are still marching on the road, and it is estimated that they will not arrive until the evening at the earliest."

During the conversation between Sokov and Burgos, Smirnov and Gorokhov also discussed the two tanks outside the door: "Chief of Staff, this shape is so strange that it doesn't look like a T-34 at all. Is there a new model?"

   "I don't know." Smirnov shook his head and said, "This is the first time I have seen this kind of tank."

"Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar." Sukov heard the conversation between the two, stopped talking with Burgos, and said to the two: "This is indeed not a T-34, but a Sherman tank from the United States. ..."

  Sokov said this, thinking that he didn't know the model of this Sherman tank, so he turned to Burgos and asked: "Comrade Colonel, what is the model of this tank?"

"Comrade Commander, this is the M4A2(76) W Sergey tank that the Allied Forces assisted us. It is equipped with a 76mm cannon with 71 rounds of ammunition; two 7.62mm machine guns with 6250 rounds of ammunition." Burgos Said: "The M4A2 that first assisted us, because the artillery was 75mm, often had insufficient ammunition. Later, after the relevant departments pointed out, the Allied forces changed the caliber of the artillery from 75mm to our commonly used 76mm. The frontal sloping armor is 63.5mm, equivalent to 90mm of armor..."

When Burgos was introducing the parameters of the tank to everyone, Sokov stared at the tank in a daze, thinking that the armor of this tank looks quite thick, but facing the powerful Tiger tank, it will basically end up being reimbursed by one shot . The King Tiger tank launched by the German army in the later period is even more accurate. After the Sherman tank's weak armor is shot, it will also cause the ammunition to explode, especially the tank cockpit, as long as it is shot, it will burst into flames, just like a tin lighter.

Looking at Smirnov and Gorokhov who were listening with gusto, Sokov secretly sighed in his heart. These two deputies didn't know the poor performance of the Sherman tank on the battlefield, and now they simply regarded it as a precious.

   "Colonel Burgos," Sokov interrupted Burgos who was talking non-stop, and deliberately raised his voice to ask: "How does this tank perform on the battlefield?"

   "It's not bad." Burgos nodded and said, "We once competed with the German No. 3 and No. 4 on the battlefield, and the battle loss ratio was two to seven."

   "Oh, seven enemy tanks were destroyed, and we only lost two." Smirnov turned his head to look at Sokov, exclaimed: "This kind of battle loss ratio is really great."

   "Well, it's pretty good." Sokov thought to himself, just competing with No. 3 and No. 4, and achieving such a battle loss ratio is nothing at all. If you encounter a German Panther or Tiger tank on the battlefield, Xie Mantou will become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. However, in order not to dampen the opponent's enthusiasm, he still pretended to be happy and said to Burgos: "Comrade Colonel, you should divide the tanks into each tank brigade as soon as possible, so that everyone can get acquainted with the new tanks."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Burgos didn't notice Sokov's strangeness, and said excitedly: "I will let the tank soldiers get familiar with this tank as soon as possible, and you will look at us in the next battle. How it beat the Germans."

Facing Burgos, who is now confident, Sokov laughed dryly, thinking that when he encounters German tanks on the battlefield, he doesn't know who will beat whom. Maybe his tank unit will be defeated by the German armored unit. Beat all over the floor looking for teeth. He laughed dryly, and said to Burgos: "Colonel Burgos, I will arrange for someone to send you to meet the brigade commanders of the tank brigades. As for how the tanks will be allocated in the future, it will be up to you."

   After finishing speaking, Sokov shouted at Koshkin who was standing not far away: "Lieutenant Koshkin!"

  Following Sokov's shout, Koshkin trotted over, stood at attention, and waited respectfully for Sokov to give him an order.

  Sokov pointed at Burgos with his hand and ordered: "Comrade Lieutenant, take Colonel Burgos to the tank brigade."

   "Yes!" Koshkin replied loudly.

Later, Sokov smiled and said to Burgos: "Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Koshkin is my adjutant, let him accompany you to the tank brigade. If you need anything, just ask him, he will find a way to satisfy you requirements."

  When Koshkin left with Burgos, Sokov turned to Smirnov and said, "Let's go, Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar, let's go back and continue discussing our next action plan."

  While walking into the house, Gorokhov suddenly said: "The reconnaissance team we sent has been away for three or four days. Why hasn't there been any news yet?"

  (end of this chapter)