Chapter 1958

   "Chief of Staff," Sokov asked Sameko with a sideways face before assigning the task: "Which of our troops is nearby?"

  Sameko took out a small notebook from his pocket, looked at it, and then replied: "Near this arsenal is a battalion of the 46th Guards Tank Brigade, which belongs to General Kravchenko's 6th Tank Army."

   "A tank battalion?!" Sokov shook his head after hearing this and said, "This number of troops is too small, and it is not enough to move out all the weapons and ammunition in the arsenal."

  Unexpectedly, as soon as Sokov said, Sameko asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, why did you move all the weapons and ammunition out of the arsenal?"

   Sokov was taken aback, staring at Sameko, thinking why did he ask such a question? But soon, Sokov realized that he had made a common-sense mistake. When he discovered the arsenal a few years ago, he had to find ways to transport all the weapons and ammunition to his defense zone. Because at that time, the arsenals were all in the enemy's defense zone. If they were not emptied as soon as possible, these weapons and ammunition would be cheap to the enemy. However, the ammunition depot that was discovered today is in its own defense zone. It only needs to send troops to guard it, and there is no need to empty the weapons and ammunition inside.

He raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead, and said angrily: "Yes, yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. Since the arsenal was found in our defense zone, there is no need to evacuate it, You just need to send someone to look after it."

   After finishing speaking, he lowered his head to search carefully on the map, and at the same time muttered: "Tell me, is there a similar arsenal nearby?"

Trofimenko said: "Comrade Commander, this is entirely possible. Before the war broke out, we established secret military warehouses in many areas, storing a large amount of weapons, ammunition and various military supplies in them. However, after the war broke out, due to the rapid retreat of our army, many of these pre-prepared warehouses fell into the hands of the Germans, which was tantamount to taking advantage of them.”

He drew a large circle with his hand at the location where the arsenal was found, and suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I suggest to focus on the discovered arsenal, and search in this area. If we can find another A few hidden arsenals, so even if the superiors don’t replenish us, we can still have enough weapons and ammunition to sustain the next stage of the battle.”

   Sokov quite agrees with Trofimenko's statement. You must know that the roads and bridges were destroyed by the German army, which led to a decline in the transportation capacity of the logistics troops, and the various supplies sent from the rear were far from keeping up with the needs of the troops. If you can really find a few more arsenals, you can rely on the weapons and ammunition stored in them to maintain the troops for the next battle.

   "To conduct a search in such a large area, we need a lot of troops." Sokov looked up at Trofimenko and asked, "Comrade Deputy Commander, which troops do you plan to use?"

"Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Infantry Division is nearby," Trofimenko said. "The equipment gap of this division is very large. If we can really find a new arsenal, it will just solve the shortage of weapons and ammunition of this division. .”

Hearing what Trofimenko said, Sokov no longer hesitated, and readily agreed: "Okay, then leave this task to the 182nd Infantry Division, and fully arm them early. In the next stage of operations, it can also play a greater role."

"Colonel Khokhlov called me yesterday and specifically mentioned the matter of weapons and equipment." Trofimenko said to Sukov: "I think it's not too late, I will give Khokhlov The husband called and asked him to send someone to take over the arsenal with Comrade Vasily."

"Yes." Sokov agreed to Trofimenko's proposal, and added: "Let Colonel Khokhlov draw troops first, and follow Vasily to take over the arsenal. At the same time, transfer the tank battalion there. , responsible for protecting the security of the arsenal."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Hearing what Sokov said, Trofimenko couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly got up and said, "I'm going to call Colonel Khokhlov and ask him to immediately arrange manpower to follow Vasily. Comrades, act together."

Not long after, Trofimenko, who finished the phone call, came to Vasily and said to him politely: "Major Vasily, I will take you to the 182nd Infantry Division and introduce you to the division commander, Colonel Khokhlov. , and then you take them to the arsenal that you discovered."

Who knows that Vasily rejected Trofimenko's kindness: "Comrade Deputy Commander, don't bother you. I know Colonel Khokhlov and all the division commanders of the 27th Army. I think I will go there alone. Bar."

   Hearing what Vasily said, Trofimenko immediately remembered that the other party was once a subordinate of Sokov, and had stayed in the 27th Army for a while. Maybe he was more familiar with the commanders of this army at all levels than himself. It was precisely because of this consideration that Trofimenko did not insist, and agreed to let Vasily go to Khokhlov alone.

  After Vasily left, Sokov said to the old man: "Old man, from now on, you must stay in the headquarters without leaving my order. You are absolutely not allowed to leave."

   Regarding the order issued by Sokov, the old man asked a little puzzled: "Comrade Commander, why is this? Why did you give me such an order?"

"Grandpa, the situation is like this." Sukov felt that some things should be explained clearly to the old man in advance, which would make it easier to communicate with each other, so he said truthfully: "Tomorrow there will be a condolence team from Moscow, and many of them are yours. Old acquaintances, they came here specially to meet you."

"Comrade Commander, I understand." The old man is also a good person. Hearing what Sokov said, he immediately guessed the final outcome: "These people want to see me. Take it back to Moscow."

   Seeing that the old man guessed that he planned to let him return to Moscow, Sokov didn't know what to say for a while. After a long time, he said with difficulty: "Yes, old man, out of consideration for your health, you'd better go back to Moscow, it's at least safer there than here."

"It seems that there is no turning point for this matter." The old man said with regret on his face: "Although I have not been in Otac for a long time, I like the life here very much. Maybe the living conditions are not as good as those in Moscow, but the life But I had a very fulfilling life. I didn’t expect to return to Moscow after staying here for less than a month.”

   "Old man, don't be sad, our separation is only temporary." Sokov comforted the old man and said, "When the war is over, I will accompany you to Germany to see the difference from the Germany you knew before."

  After hearing this, the old man had a longing expression on his face. But not long after, his expression darkened: "Unfortunately, most of the people I know have passed away. And after this **** war, I'm afraid the familiar city has become completely different."

   "Comrade Commander, I am getting old and my physical strength is failing. Can you find a place for me so that I can have a good sleep?"

"Captain Koshkin," hearing the old man say that he wanted to find a place to rest, Sokov quickly called Koshkin and told him: "The old man is tired, take him to find a place to rest. Before tomorrow afternoon , his safety is your sole responsibility."

  After Koshkin left with the old man, Smirnov said with lingering fear: "Comrade commander, I think it is a good thing for all of us to let the old man leave early."

After he finished speaking, seeing that everyone was staring at him curiously, he continued: "Everyone knows that the old man is ninety years old this year. If it is an ordinary person, I am afraid that walking will be a problem, but the old man not only helps We trained snipers, and even led the sniper team to Wengen to perform missions. Based on this, we can't accept it.

However, we should also notice that it is not safe for the old man to stay here. After all, we are the front line here, and we may be bombed or bombarded by enemy planes one day. If he stays here for one more day, we will not be able to rest assured. . "

"Chief of Staff, after tomorrow, you don't have to worry." Sokov said: "The Chief of Staff of the Front Army has clearly told me that the main purpose of the condolence team that will come to our army tomorrow is to bring the old man back. Although the old man left , Everyone felt a little bit reluctant, but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, he was so old, if something happened to him on the front line, no one would be able to bear the responsibility."

   "Comrade Commander, what about the ace sniper in the city?" Sameko reminded Sokov: "Don't we just ignore him?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said, "Although the old man is leaving the city, Lyudmila and Vasily are still there. You know, they are the best snipers in our army. As long as they join forces, We will definitely be able to find out the German snipers hiding in the city."

   "But what if the German snipers choose to strike tomorrow?"

"Haven't we already discussed this point?" Sokov looked at Sameko and said: "In addition to deploying soldiers on both sides of the street for security, snipers will also be deployed on the commanding heights of some cities to stop German snipers A possible sniper operation."

  Sokov was worried that the German snipers would be making noises and diverting everyone's attention, and he specifically told Sameko: "In order to prevent the incident from happening last time, we should also arrange special guards in the kitchen, understand?"

"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured about this." Sameko assured Sokov: "Since the last explosion in the kitchen, I have sent special personnel to guard the kitchen door. Strict inspections, it is absolutely impossible for anyone to sneak into the kitchen and plant a bomb."

"In addition to the kitchen, some key units of the command should also strengthen their defenses." Although Sameko assured that there would be no more accidents in the kitchen, Sokov continued to warn: "You must remember that any department that has an accident , will cause us huge losses.”

   "Comrade Commander, I plan to transfer a guard battalion tomorrow to maintain order on the streets." Sameko said with some hesitation, "But if we want to strengthen the security work of the headquarters, I am afraid that this guard battalion will not be able to be transferred..."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Trofimenko interrupted Sameko before he could finish, "There is no place more important than the headquarters, do you understand? There are not enough troops to maintain order in the streets. Deployed from other combat forces, these must be guarded by the original guards in the headquarters, and the combat troops must not be allowed to take over the security work, otherwise it is easy to make mistakes."

   "Comrade Deputy Commander," Smirnov couldn't help interjecting when he heard this, "Can you explain why the field troops are responsible for the security work of the headquarters, and there are mistakes?"

"The reason is very simple. The field troops are good at fighting, but they have no experience in security work." Trofimenko said: "And a field force was transferred to be responsible for the security of the headquarters, and the people in the headquarters could not recognize Commanders and fighters of the field troops, and the commanders and fighters are also unfamiliar with the members of the headquarters. Once a special agent sneaks in, it is entirely possible to use the opportunity of the two troops not knowing each other to sabotage the headquarters."

"Comrade Deputy Commander is right." Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help interjecting, "A group of strangers were transferred from the outside to be responsible for the security of such an important department of the headquarters, and there will definitely be problems of one kind or another. .In order to avoid being infiltrated by the enemy, I think the security work of the headquarters should be handled by the security department. After all, we have three guard battalions, which have enough strength to ensure the security of the headquarters.”

"Alright, comrades from the security department are in charge of the security work of the headquarters, so I don't think we need to worry about it." Smirnov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then said: "Next, we should look at , Where has the 18th Guards Army advanced, and how long will it take to reach Wengen."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, telegram." A staff officer came over with the telegram and handed it to Sameko. After reading the contents of the telegram, Sameko handed the telegram to Sokov and reported: "It was a telegram from General Kravchenko. He said that his troops were marching with a German army. The two armored units encountered each other, and now the two sides are fighting fiercely."

   "Have you encountered the German armored forces?" Sokov did not reach out to answer the telegram, but asked directly: "Where did the battle take place?"

"It's right here, Bill Rita." Sameko pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "It's just seven or eight kilometers east of Victoria. Based on the analysis of the enemy's position, they should be preparing to assault the guards. Unfortunately, the 18th Army encountered the troops of the 6th Tank Army, and the two sides exchanged fire hastily without preparation."

   "How is the situation of our army?" Sokov was still a little embarrassed by the German armored forces. He asked cautiously: "How is the battle going? Has our army suffered any losses?"

"There is no recent battle report." Sameko shook his head and said, "However, according to Kravchenko's report, it was the 17th Tank Army that was attacked. This army has more than 300 tanks. Armored units, there shouldn't be much of a problem."

"More than 300 tanks?" Sokov was thinking in his heart. Most of the more than 300 tanks should be T-34 tanks. It is also difficult to win this tank encounter. Thinking of this, he said to Sameko: "Call General Kravchenko back and ask them to destroy this German tank unit to ensure that the road to attack is clear."

  (end of this chapter)