Red Moscow

  Chapter 1785

Smirnov's proposal made Sokov murmur. He thought that he had contacted Yakov a few days ago and asked him to find a way to provide weapons and equipment for his troops, but it took so long. But there is no news at all. Could it be that I forgot?

   "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander!" Seeing Sokov's absent-minded look, Smirnov quickly called him twice, and asked tentatively, "Are you listening to me?"

"Of course, Comrade Chief of Staff, of course I'm listening to you." In order to convince the other party that he did hear what he said, Sokov added on purpose: "You asked me to contact Yakov and asked him to help us get a batch of Weaponry."

   "That's right, that's what I said." Smirnov asked: "Comrade Commander, I don't know when you plan to contact him."

  Sokov wanted to contact Yakov sooner or later anyway. Since the matter was mentioned today, he should strike while the iron is hot and call him immediately to ask how the situation is.

Seeing that Sokov wanted to contact Yakov as soon as possible, Smirnov did not dare to neglect, so he quickly called the director of the communications corps, and told the other party: "Comrade director of the communications corps, the commander wants to talk to the weaponry department in Moscow. You get connected immediately."

   "Yes." The director of the communications corps agreed, and then began to arrange for his subordinates to connect to the line.

  After waiting for a few minutes, the director of the communications corps said to Sokov respectfully: "Comrade Commander, the phone of the Weapons and Equipment Department has been connected."

  Sokov took the receiver and heard a woman's voice from the receiver: "This is the switchboard of the Weapons and Equipment Department. Where do you want?"

   "Hello!" Sokov politely said to the female operator: "I am Lieutenant General Sokov, Commander of the 53rd Army, please help me connect to Colonel Yakov's office."

  When Sokov was recuperating in Moscow, he often called Yakov, and many operators on the switchboard knew him. At this moment, when he heard his self-introduction, the female operator hurriedly said politely: "Hi, Comrade General, please wait a moment, I will connect you to Colonel Yakov's office right away."

   Soon, Sokov heard Yakov's voice: "I am Yakov, where are you?"

   "Yasha, I'm Sokov!" Sokov asked with a smile, "How are you?"

   "I'm not good." Yakov said in a complaining tone: "After the Battle of Cherkasy, we received applications from the Ukrainian First and Second Fronts, asking to replenish the weapons and ammunition they lost in the battle..."

   "Yasha," Sokov couldn't help interjecting when he heard this, "If you want to replenish weapons and ammunition, shouldn't you contact the logistics department? Why did you come to me?"

"I heard a piece of news that the troops under your command were able to achieve a series of victories entirely because the weapons they equipped were superior to other friendly forces." Yakov, who was in a state of desperation, said, "Therefore, they used For this reason, directly ask our weapons and equipment department for weapons and ammunition. I have to patiently explain to these commanders every day that the reason why you equip your troops with some equipment that other troops do not have is entirely because you are the ones who equip them What was invented and handed over to you is nothing more than to test the performance of weapons on the battlefield."

Yakov's words made Sokov feel a sense of crisis. Don't look at the requests of these commanders, they were all rejected by Yakov, but if they put pressure through the Supreme Command, let alone Yakov, even Ukrainian I'm afraid Sidinov can't stand it, so Sokov plans to act first: "Yasha, I'm calling you today, just to ask how the weapons you prepared for us are going?"

   "Misha, although I really want to help you." Yakov said awkwardly: "But I just rejected other troops. I am providing you with weapons and ammunition at this moment. I am afraid that it will attract criticism from others."

Sokov felt that if he was just pleading blindly, Yakov would not agree to his request, so he said with a straight face and a strong attitude: "Yasha, to tell you the truth, my troops were in the middle of the battle that just ended. In the middle of the war, great casualties were paid. Soon, we will add a batch of recruits, but so far, their weapons and equipment have not been found. I don't know when they will fight the Germans again, but if there are not enough You can’t let my subordinates wield wooden sticks to fight the enemy desperately?”

  Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov realized that if he refused again, it would be somewhat unfair. He thought for a long time, and then said to Sokov: "Misha, I'm going to see Comrade Ustinov now and tell him what you mean."

  The corners of Sokov's mouth rose slightly, and he said repeatedly: "Thank you, Yasha, thank you so much."

"Misha, don't be too happy." Yakov reminded Sokov: "I can convey your opinion to Comrade Ustinov, but I don't know whether he can agree to provide you with weapons." I can guarantee it."

   "Yasha, go talk to Comrade Ustinov first." Sokov said with a smile: "Talk, at least there is a glimmer of hope. If we don't talk, then we have no hope at all."

"Okay then." Now that Sokov has already said this, Yakov can only rush the duck to the shelf: "I will go to see Comrade Ustinov now, and after I have the result, I will continue to talk about it." call you."

   "Okay, okay, I'll wait for your call."

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Smirnov and Gorokhov who were sitting opposite: "Colonel Yakov will go to see Comrade Ustinov soon and convey our request to him. "

   "Comrade Commander," Gorokhov asked cautiously, "do you think we can succeed?"

   "I think there should be no problem." Sokov said carefully: "In any case, the troops under my command have achieved good results after being equipped with the weapons they provided."

   "Comrade Commander, I have a question I've always wanted to ask you." Gorokhov said, "I don't know if I can ask you?"

   "Of course, Comrade Military Commissioner." Sokov said with a smile on his face, "Since we are partners, feel free to ask any questions you have. As long as I know the answer, I will tell you everything."

"According to your information, you have successively commanded the 73rd Infantry Brigade and the 41st Guards Division during the Battle of Stalingrad; and later commanded the 21st and 27th Army Groups successively," Gorokhov asked. : "Am I right?"

   "No," Sokov shook his head and said, "You're very accurate."

   "During the Battle of Stalingrad, before you obtained the weapons provided by the Weapons and Equipment Department, where did the weapons used to equip the troops come from?"

   "Capturing is the main way." Sokov recalled the assault he had obtained weapons at the beginning, and replied, "There are also some hidden ammunition depots near the city by our army."

"Mainly from the seizure?" Gorokhov questioned Sokov's statement: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, on the battlefield after the battle, many of the weapons on the enemy's corpses were destroyed. With different degrees of damage, the number of weapons that can be used is very limited, how can you make sure that every soldier has a weapon that can be used?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, I think you have misunderstood the concept of 'captured'." Seeing that the other party misunderstood his meaning, Sokov explained to him: "The captured I mean does not refer to the "capture" on the battlefield. How much use can the weapons collected by cleaning the battlefield be, but I sent troops to pretend to be German troops, and directly emptied several of their arms warehouses, so that there would be enough weapons to equip my force."

"So that's the case." Gorokhov, who had figured out what was going on, nodded first, and then turned to Smirnov and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that our commander has a way, and he was able to get the Germans from Germany." People's warehouses, get enough weapons and ammunition."

"I really didn't expect that Comrade Commander could come up with such a good idea." After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Smirnov participated in the battle for the first time. He took the students of the Podolsk Infantry Academy to stop the rush to Moscow. enemy. However, due to their backward equipment, although they successfully blocked the enemy for a few days, they paid huge casualties, and even the political commissar of the college died for the country.

He said with emotion: "If I could think of such a good way during the defense of Moscow, I could get more weapons, so maybe our defense line could hold on for a longer time and the casualties would be smaller. .”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, the cadets under your command are all good." As soon as he mentioned the cadets of the Podolsk Infantry Academy, Sokov was in awe: "They used inferior weapons and equipment and successfully completed the retardation. The task of the German advance. If they had been better equipped at the time, they might have been able to hold off the Germans for a longer time."

When several people were recalling the performance of the Podolsk Infantry Academy in the defense of Moscow, Yakov called, and he asked straight to the point: "Misha, I am in Comrade Ustinov's office at the moment. Tell me, what kind of weapons do you want."

  After Yakov finished speaking, Sokov said without hesitation: "I want 50,000 assault rifles, 2,000 new rockets, T-34/85 tanks equipped with telephones, and thirty..."

"Stop, stop, stop, Misha, don't say any more." Unexpectedly, before Sokov finished speaking, Yakov stopped loudly: "We can make an exception to provide you with some weapons and equipment, but you can't do it like a lion." Open your mouth. Look, the weapons and ammunition you requested can be equipped with two infantry armies."

  Sokov laughed dryly, then asked, "Yasha, give me an accurate word, how much weapons and equipment can you provide me?"

   "Listen, Misha, I'll read you the list I just drew up with Comrade Ustinov."

   "Wait a minute, I'm looking for a pen." After preparing the paper and pen, Sokov said into the microphone: "I'm ready, tell me, what weapons can you give us?"

  Yakov on the other end of the phone began to read the list of weapons: "5,000 assault rifles and 200 new rockets. As for tanks and artillery, they must be supplied to other troops first, and we cannot give them to you for the time being..."

"Wait a minute, Yakov." Sokov felt something was wrong when he heard half of it. What Yakov could give him was only one-tenth of what he asked for. What use could such a little thing be on the battlefield? He interrupted the other party's words, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Is the thing you gave too little?"

After Sokov finished speaking, he heard Yakov say embarrassingly: "Because the frontline needs too many weapons and ammunition, and our production capacity can't keep up, the things we can provide you are all from other countries. intercepted from the army."

"Five thousand assault rifles are not enough to equip even one division, not to mention my entire army." Sokov raised his voice and said, "Two hundred new rockets are probably used for both offense and defense except for sneak attacks behind enemy lines. No, because the number is too small to provide suppressive fire coverage on the enemy."

While he was complaining, he vaguely heard Ustinov's voice: "Colonel Yakov, let me chat with General Sokov." Soon, Ustinov's voice came from the receiver. Voice: "Hello, General Sokov! I'm Ustinov."

   "Hello, Comrade People's Commissar."

"General Sokov, the Germans are now fighting on all fronts, so the demand for weapons is huge." Ustinov said kindly: "In view of your previous achievements, we will help you It is already an exception to provide some weapons. If you want more weapons, please forgive me for being powerless.”

  If Yakov said this, Sokov can say something harsh and let the other party find a way to get him more weapons and equipment. But the person speaking now is Ustinov, which means that there is no room for change in this matter. Even so, he said unwillingly: "Comrade People's Commissar, you don't know that the army I took over is filled with a large number of recruits, and its combat effectiveness has been greatly diluted. If there are no enough weapons to arm Every fighter, I'm afraid we're going to be very disappointing in the fight ahead."

  After listening to Sokov's difficulties, Ustinov also began to ponder, considering whether he should add another batch of weapons and ammunition to Sokov to increase the combat effectiveness of the unit.

Yakov, who knew Ustinov well, saw that the People's Commissar began to ponder, and knew that Sokov's words had some effect, so he quickly said: "Comrade People's Commissar, I think what Misha said makes sense. Or, Let's think of a way to see where to allocate some weapons and ammunition to him?"

  Ustinov raised his head and looked at Yakov without saying a word. After a long time, when Yakov felt a little guilty and was about to look away, Ustinov said: "I see, just give him the batch of weapons in the spare warehouse."

"Okay, Comrade People's Commissar." Hearing what Ustinov said, Yakov's eyes lit up immediately, he took the microphone in the other's hand, and whispered in his ear: "Misha, tell you a good news." According to the news, the People's Commissar is going to distribute the commonly used standard weapons stored in the reserve warehouse of the Weapons and Equipment Department to you."

  Although he didn’t get more assault rifles and new rockets, Yakov’s willingness to provide standard weapons was better than nothing. He hurriedly asked, “Yasha, what kind of weapons do you have?”

"20,000 Mosin Nagant rifles, 6,000 Bobosha submachine guns, and 500 Jieggarev light machine guns." Yakov also specifically emphasized: "These guns have sufficient ammunition, which is enough for you to carry out a battle. It's a medium-sized battle."

  (end of this chapter)