Red Moscow.

Chapter 2774

After the troops were assembled, they immediately moved towards Orliol, south of Moscow.

On the way, Sokov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and saw Potapov, who was sitting in the back seat, looking down at the map spread out on his lap, his brows furrowed. It was obvious that the current situation had made him feel... anxiety.

Sokov did not speak, but he knew very well that if the Orliol-Tula line fell into the hands of the Germans, then Guderian's troops could easily encircle the people who were protecting the Kharkov Industrial Zone. The Southwest Front Army will be waiting for another disastrous defeat for the Soviet army. In real history, the 1st Guards Army commanded by Lelyushenko did not hold this area. Now that Potapov is in charge, will the outcome change?

"Captain Sokov," Potapov raised his head, saw Sokov looking at him, and asked, "Do you think we can defend Oryol-Tula?"

"Comrade Commander, if you want to hear the truth, I can only tell you with regret." After this period of getting along, Sokov knew a little bit about Potapov's character and knew that what he wanted to hear was the truth. , instead of making false and empty talk, he answered truthfully: "Even if we try our best, we can't stop the enemy's attack. At best, we can only slow down their advance, strengthen the defense for the troops in the rear, and gain valuable time."

After listening to Sokov, Potapov stared at him for a long time, and finally nodded slowly and said: "Captain Sokov, you are right, I think so too. Although the task given to me by my superiors, It is to resolutely block the Germans and prevent them from approaching Moscow. But now we have no available troops. It is obviously impossible to faithfully implement this order. Therefore, the first thing we need to do after arriving in Orliol. , is to gather as many troops as possible to organize a tenacious defense. "

"Yes, that is exactly the case." Sokov said solemnly: "The enemy we have to deal with is Guderian's armored forces. Whether we can block the enemy's tanks is related to whether we can hold our position. ”

“The tanks of the Southwestern Front were basically lost in the Dubno Counterattack, the Battle of Uman and the Battle of Vinnytsia, which resulted in our lack of sufficient armored forces to resist the enemies attacking the city in the battle to defend Kiev. "Potapov looked at Sokov and said, "You once captured 12 German tanks. You must have your own unique insights on how to deal with German armored forces, right?"

The driver who was driving couldn't help but trembled when he heard Potapov's words and almost drove the car into a ditch on the side of the road.

Under the influence of huge inertia, Potapov's body tilted sideways and hit the car door directly. After he sat upright again, he said dissatisfiedly to the driver: "Comrade driver, what are you doing? If your skills are not good, just tell me, and I will change the driver at the worst."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander." The driver quickly apologized to Potapov, "There was a crater in front of me. Because it was too dark, I didn't see it clearly, which caused a bump. Don't worry, a similar situation won't happen again. "As he said this, he couldn't help but glance at Sokov next to him from the corner of his eye, and muttered to himself: What kind of fierce man is this? He can actually capture 12 German tanks by himself. It's simply too awesome. Incredible.

At dawn, the convoy arrived in the city of Tula.

Sokov looked out through the car window. Barricades made of sandbags and wood were set up at the intersection. There were barbed wire horse barriers and iron tripods to block tanks on both sides of the street. Above some important buildings, there were Covered with camouflage netting.

There were no civilians on the streets, only groups of militia patrols in plainclothes. Seeing a convoy approaching, they immediately retreated to the side of the road to give way to the convoy.

Potapov ordered the driver to pull over. Soon, Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin's car stopped not far away. Then he got out of the car and walked over to Potapov and asked: "Comrade Commander, why did you stop here?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Potapov said to Gu Xin: "I am going to take over a unit now. You take the motorized regiment and continue to move towards Orliol. After I complete the takeover, I will Go after you immediately."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Gu Xin saluted Potapov, then turned around, got in the car and left.

"Comrade Commander, where are we going?" Sokov asked after Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin left.

"Go to the Tula Artillery School." Potapov said: "We are going to receive the artillery unit promised to us by our superiors. With this unit, our defense line will be able to hold on longer."

After hearing this, Sokov nodded and said casually: "Yes, artillery is the **** of war. With enough artillery, we can hit the enemy **** the battlefield."

Unexpectedly, Potapov said with shock after hearing this: "Captain Sokov, your sentence sums it up well. If we have strong artillery, then whether it is offensive or defensive, we can give the enemy Cause huge losses."

After listening to this, Sokov suddenly realized that "artillery is the **** of war" was not spoken by Stalin until the counterattack stage of the Battle of Stalingrad. If he said this famous saying early, would it get him into trouble?

The jeep arrived at the Tula Artillery School, whose principal was an elderly colonel.

Seeing Potapov's arrival, he quickly stepped forward to shake hands and asked politely: "Is this General Potapov, commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Corps?"

"Yes, it's me. Are you the principal of the Artillery School in Tula?"

"I am the principal, Colonel Nicholas." The old colonel replied: "Our school has been assembled and ready to go at any time."

"How many men and how many artillery pieces do you need?"

"The school has a total of 650 teachers and students." Colonel Nikolai quickly replied: "12 76.2 mm cannons, 8 45 mm anti-tank guns, and 20 82 mm mortars and supporting ammunition."

After hearing this, Potapov frowned slightly: "The number of artillery is a bit small, but there are no large-caliber artillery. When we get to the battlefield, we will not be able to form a firepower advantage over the enemy."

Nicholas shrugged and said helplessly: "Comrade General, the artillery school is just a school for training artillery, not a combat unit. All artillery is for teaching purposes, and there must be too many."

Potapov knew that the other party was telling the truth. Who would have thought that now that the war is going on, even military cadets who have not yet graduated will have to take up arms and participate in the battle. He was silent for a moment, and then continued to ask: "How much ammunition does each gun have?"

"A base number, Comrade General."

"It's a bit short, Comrade Principal." Potapov said: "As far as I know, there are many arsenals in Tula. Can't they all equip you with more ammunition?"

"Comrade General, we also want to equip the artillery with more ammunition." Colonel Nicholas said rather helplessly: "There are so many troops in need of artillery shells now, and the artillery shells produced by the arsenal must give priority to meeting the needs of the frontline troops."

"You are about to go to the front line." Potapov said: "If you don't equip enough ammunition, once the ammunition you carry is used up, these artillery will become a display. Not to mention many, each gun must be equipped with three A base amount of ammunition.”

After listening to this, Nicholas said with some embarrassment: "Comrade General, if we want to increase the ammunition base of each artillery, we must obtain permission from the garrison headquarters." "Where is your garrison headquarters?" Potapó The husband said with a serious expression: "I'm going to find the garrison commander and ask him to increase the base of ammunition for you."

"In the Kremlin," said Colonel Nikolai, "the garrison headquarters is in the Kremlin."

"What, the Kremlin?" Potapov and Sokov standing behind him were both shocked when they heard the name of the place mentioned by Nikolai: "The garrison headquarters is actually located in the Kremlin."

Seeing the surprised looks of Potapov and Sokov, Nikolai immediately realized that they had misunderstood, and quickly explained: "Comrade General, you have misunderstood. The Kremlin I am talking about is not the one in Moscow, but the one in Moscow." The Kremlin in Tula. You should know that Tula is also called Little Moscow. This city is less than two hundred kilometers away from Moscow. Most of the buildings are similar to Moscow, so it is called so.”

"Oh, that's it."

"Comrade General, if you have no objection, I can take you there."

"That's great." Potapov nodded and said, "Then please be our guide."

Under the leadership of Colonel Nikolai, Potapov and Sokov came to the garrison headquarters located in the Kremlin.

At the door of the commander's office, a group of officers, including lieutenants and colonels, were gathered. They were sitting or standing, waiting to be received by the garrison commander.

At this moment, they suddenly saw Colonel Nicholas coming with a general. Everyone immediately stopped talking, stood at attention, and paid attention to them.

A captain sitting behind the desk outside the door saw Colonel Nikolai's arrival. He immediately stood up to greet him and asked curiously: "Colonel Nikolay, what can I do for you?"

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Nikolai pointed at Potapov and said: "This is General Potapov from Moscow. He has important matters and needs to see the garrison commander immediately."

The captain faced Potapov, raised his hand and saluted, and then said politely: "Comrade General, please wait a moment, I will go in and report to you immediately." After that, he turned around and pushed open the closed door. Went straight in.

After a while, the captain walked out of the room and said to Potapov respectfully: "Comrade General, please come in!"

Potapov thanked the other party and walked into the room. Sokov originally wanted to follow him in, but was stopped by the captain: "Comrade Captain, please wait outside."

Since the captain guarding the door wouldn't let him in, Sokov didn't force himself. Instead, he took a step back and stood quietly at the door waiting.

Ten minutes later, Potapov walked out of the room, and with him came a major general of similar age to him.

When the officer standing outside the door saw the major general appearing, he quickly stood at attention, not even daring to raise his voice.

"Colonel Nikolai, your commander has promised to provide you with three basic quantities of ammunition." Potapov said to Nikolai: "You should immediately arrange manpower to go to the military warehouse to collect ammunition."

The major general also stepped forward, handed a piece of paper in his hand to Colonel Nicholas, and said: "This is the approval slip for receiving ammunition. I have signed it."

Coming out of the Kremlin, Potapov and Sokov rode in jeeps to catch up with the motorized regiment that had already left, while Colonel Nikolay led his men to the military warehouse to collect ammunition and corresponding supplies.

"Comrade Commander, although we have anti-tank guns, the number is still too few." Sokov reminded Potapov: "We are still unable to deal with the German armored groups."

"Then do you have any good ideas?"

Since the jeep's destination was Mtsensk, Sokov immediately thought of a famous celebrity: "The best anti-tank weapon is the tank gun. If we can have a large tank force, then There are ways to inflict heavy damage on the enemy's armored forces."

"In addition to the 36th Motorized Regiment and the Tula Artillery School, our superiors also gave us a tank brigade." Potapov said: "The newly formed independent 4th Tank Brigade is stationed in Kubinka, 60 kilometers west of Moscow. Territory, protecting roads and railways along the route from Moscow to Minsk.”

Hearing the serial number Potapov said, Sokov couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly. Sure enough, it was Katukov's 4th Tank Brigade. They would achieve brilliant results in the Mtsensk area.

"Oh, it turns out they are Colonel Katukov's troops."

Potapov was a little surprised: "Do you know Katukov?"

"I've only heard of it, but never seen it." Sokov said covertly: "I heard people say that he was originally the commander of the 20th Tank Division of Rokossovsky's 9th Mechanized Army. When the war broke out, he He was hospitalized for kidney disease and did not participate in the battle. Now that he is discharged from the hospital, he is appointed as the brigade commander of the 4th Independent Tank Brigade. "

"I have dealt with him before when the Kiev Special Military District conducted military exercises. He is indeed a commander with a very fighting spirit." Potapov said: "I hope that the tank troops under his command can bring us insights." Unexpected surprise.”

"I think it will definitely be the case." Sokov said sincerely that Katukov's achievements will not only surprise you, but shock is more appropriate: "After all, he is a commander with rich combat experience. ”

"I just called Marshal Shaposhnikov in the garrison headquarters office." Potapov continued: "He said that this unit has been officially placed under the command of our 1st Guards Infantry Corps, but Due to the long distance, it may take a day or two for them to arrive. I hope Guderian's tanks will not enter the city of Orliol before they arrive, otherwise we will become passive. "

"Comrade Commander, if Guderian moves quickly, we will have no way to stop him." Sokov said quietly: "After all, you don't have any troops at all, and you can only watch the enemy occupy Orliol. "

Although he already knew that Orliol was in danger, Potapov still said reluctantly: "I hope the troops of the Southwest Front and Bryansk Front can block Guderian for a while and buy us valuable time to build a defense line. ”

(End of chapter)