red moscow

Chapter 2735

"Oh my God!" The captain crossed himself quickly and murmured, "This is incredible."

"That's right, Captain. I joined the army on August 1941, 8." Seeing the captain's stunned expression, Sokov explained to him, "But by chance, I made some meritorious contributions, so I was awarded the Order of Lenin and the rank of captain as an exception."

The captain stared at the Order of Lenin on Sokov's chest, nodded slightly, and said, "Captain Sokov, it seems that you have made great contributions. I have seen many Orders of the Red Banner in the 37th Army, but this is the first time I have seen the Order of Lenin."

After filling out the information, the captain asked Sokov for a photo, but Sokov had no way to produce one, so he could only apologize and say, "I'm sorry, comrade captain, I don't have any ready-made photos. Is there a photo studio somewhere in the city? I'll go there and take a photo now."

"Many shops in the city are closed." The captain shook his head and said, "Even if you are lucky enough to find a photo studio that is still open, you don't have a military ID and you will be in trouble if you are caught by the patrol."

"What should I do?"

"Captain Sokov, don't worry, we have someone here who specializes in taking photos." The captain said to Sokov, "I'll call the person in charge of taking photos and ask him to take a photo of you."

The captain picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number and said, "Send a comrade who can take photos to our office. Someone here wants to take a photo."

After hanging up the phone, the captain took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed them to the staff officer and Sokov: "Want to smoke?"

The staff officer reached out and took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and put it in his mouth. But Sokov waved his hand and refused: "Thank you, I don't smoke."

After the captain and the staff officer lit up their cigarettes, they looked at Sokov and asked, "Captain Sokov, what position did your superiors assign you to when you came to Kiev this time?"

"I came here with the new commander, General Vlasov." Sokov knew very well that the captain seemed to be chatting, but was actually asking about his background indirectly. He pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Before I came here, the general told me that he might let me serve as the commander of the guard company in the headquarters' guard unit."

"This is a good job." The captain grinned after listening to Sokov's story. "Not only can you often come into contact with the army group leader, but it is also not very dangerous. If I need your help in the future, you can't pretend not to know me."

"Don't worry, comrade captain." Sokov had just arrived, so he naturally wanted to make more friends. Since the captain took the initiative to approach him, he accepted his offer: "If you have any questions, just ask. As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely help you."

"Then let's just say this."

The two chatted for a while before a photographer appeared at the door. He straightened up and reported to the captain, "Comrade Captain, I am here to report and await your instructions. Excuse me, which comrade wants to take a photo?"

"That's the captain." The captain pointed at Sokov and said, "Take a photo of him for his military ID."

"I see, Comrade Captain, I'll take a picture of him right away." The photographer said to Sokov politely, "Comrade Captain, please follow me to the corner. There is plenty of light here, which is very suitable for taking pictures of you."

A few minutes later, the photos were taken. Sokov asked tentatively, "When can I get the photos?"

"Three days," the photographer replied, "You will get your photos in three days at most."

"No, three days is too long." Before Sokov could speak, the captain said, "I can only give you three hours at most. You know, Captain Sokov doesn't have a military ID, but as a guard directly under the army group, he has to go out frequently to do things. If he is caught by the patrol, it will be troublesome. So, you have to develop the photos as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry, Captain." The photographer said with a wry smile, "I can't develop the photos in three hours."

"How long will it take you?"

The photographer thought for a moment and replied, "Four and a half hours at the fastest."

The captain hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'll give you five hours. You must develop the photos as soon as possible."

"Yes, Comrade Captain."

After the photographer left, the captain said to Sokov, "Captain Sokov, you can come here in five hours to pick up your military ID."

Sokov followed the staff officer back to the headquarters.

At this moment, Vlasov had already learned about the current situation from his chief of staff.

Seeing Sokov reappear in front of him, he said to Chief of Staff Del: "Colonel Del, this is Captain Sokov. I have just introduced him to you. I want him to serve as the guard company commander in the guard force directly under the army group. Do you have any objection?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Del answered very straightforwardly: "I think with Captain Sokov's ability, there should be no problem for him to serve as a guard company commander."

"By the way, the defense around the headquarters is too weak. I plan to let Captain Sokov take charge of strengthening the defense position so that the enemy cannot get close to my headquarters." Although Colonel Del agreed to Sokov's appointment as the guard company commander, after hearing what Vlasov said, he raised his own objection: "Comrade Commander, I don't think it's appropriate to let Captain Sokov be responsible for strengthening the defense around the headquarters."

"What's inappropriate?" Vlasov asked dissatisfiedly.

"Comrade Commander, you don't know that the defense deployment near the headquarters is the responsibility of the Engineering Department of the Front Command." Del said helplessly, "If we want to adjust the deployment, we must apply to the Front Command. After they approve it, they will order the person in charge of the Engineering Department to come and make corresponding adjustments based on the problems of the defensive positions. The defensive fortifications near my headquarters are about the same level as those outside the Front Command building. Even if we apply, I'm afraid it won't be approved. I think it's better to maintain the status quo to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Sokov, who was standing next to him, felt relieved when he heard this. Although he had promised Vlasov on the way here that he would find a way to strengthen the defense around the headquarters, this kind of thing seemed simple, but it was quite troublesome to do it, and it was bound to encounter many obstacles. At this moment, when he heard Del say that he was not suitable to be in charge of this matter, Sokov wanted to give him a thumbs up.

But in front of Vlasov, Sokov still had to pretend to be regretful: "Is that so? That's a pity. I'm sorry, Comrade General, I may not be able to fulfill your wish and cannot help you. Please forgive me."

Vlasov obviously didn't think that he just wanted to strengthen the defense around the headquarters to prevent the German army from breaking into the city. After listening to what Colonel Del and Sokov said, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Comrade Commander," Del continued when he saw that Vlasov was silent, "You are really worrying too much. Our army has as many as 700,000 to 800,000 troops in Kiev and its surrounding areas, while the German army is said to have less than 300,000. We have an absolute advantage in terms of manpower. If a fight really breaks out, the balance of victory will definitely tip towards us."

Sokov looked at Colonel Del and felt that the other party seemed to have transformed into a familiar bald man, who was saying confidently: Eight hundred thousand against six hundred thousand, the advantage is on my side!
I'm afraid no one present knew the comparison of the strength of the Soviet and German forces better than Sokov. The German army deployed 50 troops, while the Soviet army had 85 troops. Although the Soviet army had a clear advantage in terms of manpower, due to strategic and tactical errors, the Soviet army failed to effectively utilize its numerical advantage, which ultimately led to the failure of the battle. This battle was recorded in the history of human warfare because the Soviet army had the largest number of prisoners.

The Germans used planes, artillery and tanks to strafe and crush the Soviet troops in the encirclement. Although the Soviet commanders and fighters put up a brave resistance, the battlefield situation was extremely unfavorable to them at that time. In addition, the Soviet equipment was not as good as the Germans, and the situation soon became one-sided. After several days of fierce fighting, the Germans successfully occupied Kiev and captured 66 Soviet troops.

The Battle of Kiev ended with a great victory for the German army. From a tactical point of view, this was a great victory. But looking at the overall situation, the Battle of Kiev was a big pit for the Germans. From a strategic point of view, the German occupation of Moscow was far more important than the occupation of Kiev.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After the German Army Group Center captured Smolensk, it could have rushed straight to Moscow. However, the mustache believed that it should first occupy the industries and coal mines in the Donets Basin of Ukraine, cut off the Soviet supply lines from the Caucasus oil fields, and then launch an attack on Moscow.

Although the German army succeeded in achieving this goal, it wasted the best two months of summer. It was not until the end of September that the German army marched towards Moscow again. However, the rainy autumn had arrived, and the road to Moscow was full of mud. The German army's advance speed was seriously delayed, and they had to face the problem of winter combat that they were not prepared for. The Soviet army took advantage of this time to mobilize a large number of troops from the rear to Moscow, complete the deployment before the arrival of the German army, and finally won the great victory of the Battle of Moscow.

While Sokov was recalling the relevant historical data, Del repeated his recent remarks to Vlasov: "Comrade Commander, our army not only has the advantage in numbers, but is also on the defensive. The German army cannot occupy Kiev unless it deploys more than twice our troops."

Sokov happened to hear what Colonel Del said and a bitter smile appeared on his face. He did not expect that Colonel Del, as the chief of staff of an army group, would have such a confused understanding of the current situation.

Vlasov noticed the change in Sokov's expression and was a little surprised. After a moment of silence, he looked at Sokov and asked, "Captain Sokov, you have fought the Germans in real battles. Do you think we can defeat the German attack on Kiev with our current strength?"

"It's hard to say, Comrade Commander."

Vlasov did not expect Sokov to answer him like this, so he asked back: "Why?"

"That's right. Our army is strong and responsible for defense. No matter how you look at it, the situation is very favorable to our army." Sokov reorganized his words in his mind and said cautiously, "But we must consider the worst-case scenario. The air supremacy on the battlefield is in the hands of the Germans. In addition, our armored forces were basically lost in the Battle of Uman. Therefore, it is hard to say who will win and who will lose if a real fight breaks out."

"Captain Sokov, why do you say that?" Colonel Del became anxious before Vlasov expressed his opinion after Sokov finished speaking: "How can you be so pessimistic and disappointed? You know we will lose to the Germans before the battle even starts? Your thoughts are very dangerous. To put it mildly, you are frightened by the Germans and become panic-stricken; to put it seriously, you are completely defeatist. Fortunately, you said these words in front of us. If the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs heard it, you might be sent to a military court."

Hearing Colonel Del say this, the muscles on Sokov's face twitched a few times. He thought to himself that he had already said it very tactfully, but Colonel Del, the chief of staff of the army group, still couldn't control his emotions when he heard him say this. If Vlasov hadn't been there, he might have handed him over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff. Stop trying to scare Captain Sokov." Vlasov said with a smile, "We just speak freely and say whatever comes to mind. Even if we say something wrong, it doesn't matter. At least it reminds us and makes us understand what we are lacking."

Then he turned to Sokov and asked, "Captain Sokov, when will your military ID be ready?"

"The captain in charge of processing my ID has made special arrangements for me. But since I took the photos on the spur of the moment, it takes quite a while to develop them, so it will take at least five hours before I can get my military ID."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Vlasov nodded slowly after hearing this.

Sokov saw that Vlasov seemed to want to assign him other tasks, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, what kind of work are you going to assign me?"

"I want you to take a few people to the front to learn about the situation," Vlasov said. "See what deficiencies exist in our army's defense work at the front. But you haven't got your military ID yet, so wait for now. If you are found without a military ID by a patrol in the city, they will at most lock you up. But if you are caught by a patrol at the front and they find that you don't have a military ID, they can just shoot you as a German spy."

Hearing Vlasov's words, Sokov could not help but break out in a cold sweat. He really didn't know that the front patrol had such great power that they could shoot any suspicious person who might be a German spy.

"Comrade Commander, is everything you said true?" Colonel Del asked in surprise, "Can the frontline patrol team really just shoot a suspicious person without even questioning him? What if they kill the wrong person?"

"What else can I do?" Vlasov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "It's just his bad luck."

(End of this chapter)