Red Moscow.

Chapter 2777

"Colonel, I am just an ordinary captain. You don't have to be so polite to me." Sokov said with a smile: "The reconnaissance force has been dispatched. Should we strengthen the defenses in this area next?"

"Of course." Katukov said: "If there are not enough fortifications, we will have no way to stop the German armored forces. By the way, how should we build fortifications? Do you have any good suggestions?"

Sokov remembered that after Katukov led his troops to reach Mtcensk, he knew that fighting the enemy head-on was not an option, so he urged the soldiers to dig fake bunkers day and night, and used plywood to build a large number of fake tanks and camouflage them, while the real tank positions were Deployed several kilometers away.

The commanders and soldiers were tortured by Katukov so much that they didn't sleep for several days and nights. Behind their backs, they all called him "a German spy who wants to exhaust us to death." But when the war started, the commanders and soldiers unexpectedly discovered that following this cunning brigade commander, at least the chance of saving their lives was greatly improved.

It was precisely because he clearly remembered this period of history that after hearing Katukov's inquiry, Sokov said: "Comrade Colonel, I think it is very difficult to build fortifications in the conventional way to block the German attack. , will cause huge losses to your personnel and technical equipment.”

"Then what good way do you have to reduce the losses of our army's soldiers and technical equipment?"

"I think we can set up real and fake fortifications to confuse the enemy." Sokov didn't wait for Katukov to ask again, then he said to himself: "We need to build more fake fortifications and arrange them inside." Some fake tanks were made of plywood and camouflaged to make the enemy think they were our tank positions. In fact, the real tanks were The German position should be a few kilometers away from here. In this way, after the Germans discovered our fake position, they used aircraft bombing and artillery bombardment to destroy the fake tanks deployed there, and we could use their attention. It is a good time to be diverted and launch an attack from other directions to eliminate their effective strength.

Also, the number of tanks in the tank brigade is limited, and we must use every tank carefully. I think it is best for each tank to have three or four firing points. After firing a few shots, change the location to give the enemy the illusion that our troops and equipment are very powerful. "

"Comrade Captain." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, the chief of staff retorted: "If we follow your suggestion and establish false positions, it will waste a lot of manpower and material resources and cause complaints from the soldiers. Therefore, I think your proposal is completely inappropriate.”

Seeing that the Chief of Staff directly rejected his proposal, Sokov was about to launch a counterattack, but Katukov said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think Captain Sokov is right. Our troops and equipment cannot Compared with the Germans, we will definitely suffer if we fight hard, so the best way is to establish various false positions and deploy fake tanks to confuse the enemy and make them confused about our strength."

"Comrade Brigadier," seeing Katukov express his support for Sokov, the chief of staff couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He looked at Sokov and then turned his attention to Katukov: "Our troops are limited. If we really I am worried that the bodies of the commanders and soldiers will not be able to bear the digging of so many fortifications.”

"Tell the soldiers that if you want to survive on the battlefield, you must dig more defenses to save your life." After Katukov said this, he announced another decision: "Also, the brigade Except for leaving the necessary personnel on duty, the rest of the troops picked up their tools and built the fortifications together with the soldiers. "

Since it was Katukov who issued the order, even if the chief of staff had any thoughts in his mind, he could not speak out. After all, the other party was his immediate superior, and the orders he issued could only be carried out unconditionally.

Half an hour later, in addition to the communications personnel on duty, the rest of the brigade headquarters, including Katukov, the chief of staff and the political commissar, participated in the excavation work of the fortifications.

Sokov had dug fortifications before, so he picked up the tools and started digging.

After digging for a while, Sokov found that the military coat he had just put on two days ago was somewhat in the way while working, so he took it off and continued digging while wearing only a pullover military uniform.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the chief of staff standing not far away suddenly called Sokov: "Captain Sokov!"

Sokov stopped what he was doing, looked up at the Chief of Staff, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what can I do for you?"

The chief of staff pointed to his chest with his finger and asked curiously: "Captain Sokov, where did you get the medal on your chest?"

Sokov glanced down at the Medal of Lenin on his chest and said casually: "Comrade Kalinin personally awarded it to me."

"Kalinin?!" Katukov, standing on the other side of Sokov, asked in surprise: "Is it Colonel Kalinin, commander of the 131st Motorized Division?" Sokov knew that Rokossovsky originally commanded The 9th Mechanized Corps consists of three divisions: the 131st Motorized Division commanded by Colonel Kalinin, the 35th Tank Division commanded by Major General Novikov, and the 20th Tank Division commanded by Colonel Katukov. Katukov apparently confused the Kalinin he was talking about with his former colleague.

"No, Comrade Colonel." Sokov shook his head and said, "It's not Colonel Kalinin, the commander of the 131st Motorized Division, but Comrade Kalinin, one of the members of the Supreme Command."

As soon as these words came out, not only the chief of staff was stunned, but even Katukov's eyes widened in surprise: 'What, the Order of Lenin on your chest was awarded by Comrade Kalinin himself? ’

Katukov and the chief of staff looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes: "This is incredible."

Although the chief of staff had been in contact with Sokov for a long time, Sokov had been wearing a military coat and blocked the medal on his pullover uniform, making the chief of staff think that the young captain Sokov was through the relationship behind his back. Became Potapov's adjutant. At this moment, it seems that the origin of Sokov is not simple. You must know that no one in the entire brigade, including the brigade commander Katukov, has won the Order of Lenin.

"Comrade Captain," the chief of staff's tone suddenly became extremely polite: "Can you tell me the origin of your medal?"

Sokov naturally noticed the change in the chief of staff's attitude towards him. Based on past experience, some people who looked down on themselves suddenly changed their attitudes 180 degrees after learning about the origin of the Order of Lenin. As the liaison officer sent by Potapov, it is also very beneficial for future work to be recognized by the top and bottom of the tank brigade.

It was out of this consideration that Sokov told Katukov and the chief of staff how he captured 12 tanks of a German armored column in a small town.

After listening to Sokov's story, the chief of staff was stunned: "Oh my god, Captain Sokov, you are so awesome. I originally thought that you could become a captain at such a young age because of your strength." It doesn’t matter. But now it seems that based on the merits you have established, even if you are a captain, it is completely worth it.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are very grateful." Faced with the compliment from the Chief of Staff, Sokov looked very embarrassed: "I am also a very ordinary soldier, but I am lucky enough to occasionally achieve such feats."

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"Captain Sokov, you are so humble." Katukov said: "I thought carefully about whether I could have done better than you under the circumstances. But after thinking for a long time, I felt that I can't do it. Facing a dozen enemy tanks, even if there are our own tanks behind me, I don't dare to break into the enemy's middle alone and force them to surrender to our army. "

"Comrade Brigade Commander," the Chief of Staff waited for Katukov to finish speaking and immediately suggested to him: "How about you talk to General Potapov and ask Captain Sokov to stop being a liaison officer and instead He will directly become a member of our brigade. I think with his ability, there shouldn’t be much problem in assuming the position of battalion commander.”

"Chief of Staff, you are right. If Captain Sokov becomes a member of our brigade, he will have the opportunity to achieve greater achievements." Katukov and his Chief of Staff reached an agreement, and both felt like Sokov A talent like Sokov could not give up easily, so he tentatively asked Sokov: "Captain Sokov, I wonder if you are willing to join my tank brigade. If you are willing, I can negotiate with the corps commander immediately." "

"Comrade Colonel, although I also want to stay in the tank brigade, conditions do not allow it." Sokov smiled bitterly and said to Katukov and the chief of staff: "General Potapov wanted to keep me in his I even went to see Marshal Shaposhnikov personally and asked him to sign my transfer order, and then I was transferred from the 37th Army to the 1st Guards Infantry Army. "

Katukov heard from Sokov's words that the other party did not really want to come to his unit. He did not force it, but said in a regretful tone: "Captain Sokov, you can't come to my tank brigade. That's such a shame."

"Colonel Katukov, the war has just started. The war between us and the Germans will last longer." Sokov said cautiously: "Maybe one day in the future, we will still have the opportunity to fight side by side. of."

Although Sokov was unwilling to stay in the tank brigade, Katukov was not angry and talked and laughed with him while working.

But in the afternoon, Sokov followed Katukov while inspecting the defensive positions dug by the commanders and soldiers. Along the way, I met some familiar commanders and fighters, and found that the initial contempt in their eyes had turned into admiration. It seemed that my matter had been spread. Sokov thought to himself, he really didn't expect that this medal of Lenin would be so effective. After the commanders and soldiers understood their true situation, it would be very beneficial to their future work.

(End of chapter)