Red Moscow

  Chapter 2041

  Sukov never dreamed that the fortress had already been taken, and he would be extremely happy and sad. Two brigade commanders were shot to death by wounded German soldiers in full view.

  Just as he was feeling heavy, Sidolin told him in a low voice: "Commander, it's Comrade General who is calling, and he said he has something to say to you."

   Sokov took the microphone, put it close to his ear and said with a guilty conscience: "Hello, Comrade General! I'm Sokov, what instructions do you have?"

"Misha," Rokossovsky did not hear the strangeness in Sokov's voice, and at the moment he was still immersed in the joy of capturing the fortress: "Since you have already taken the fortress, you should go through immediately." The Bug River, entered Poland, and exchanged fire with the German troops entrenched there."

"Okay, Comrade General." As for Rokossovsky's order, Sokov felt that it could be carried out. After all, the German army had just been driven out of the fortress and was in a state of demoralization and low morale. Attack while the iron is hot, maybe you can take down a few enemy support points outside the fortress: "I will send troops to attack as soon as possible."

At this time, Rokossovsky realized that Sokov seemed listless, so he asked with concern: "Misha, you have taken the Brest Fortress, what else is there to worry about?" ?”

   "Comrade General, something happened." Sokov said into the microphone: "The two brigade commanders of the 109th and 118th Infantry Brigades unfortunately died heroically."

"What, you sacrificed two brigade commanders?" Rokossovsky couldn't help being taken aback, and asked displeasedly: "Since two brigade commanders died in the battle, why didn't you report to them when you just reported?" I report?"

"Comrade general, they didn't die in the process of liberating the fortress." Sokov replied with some embarrassment: "But after the battle, when inspecting the battlefield, they were unfortunately shot to death by wounded German soldiers hiding aside. .”

   "What are they doing on the battlefield?"

"That's right, Comrade General." Sokov explained to Rokossovsky: "Their two brigades were the first troops to participate in the attack. Later, due to the excessive firepower of the enemy, their casualties were too large. But they had to withdraw. After liberating the fortress, the two wanted to see the wall that blocked the troops, but they encountered misfortune."

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." Rokossovsky said angrily after hearing Sokov's words: "As a commander, you should be very clear that after the battle, you can't just clean up the battlefield without cleaning it. Those who go to inspect the battlefield are afraid of being sniped by the enemy who is hiding."

   Sokov didn't speak, just quietly listening to Rokossovsky's criticism of himself.

Rokossovsky talked for a while. Seeing that Sokov didn't speak, he couldn't continue talking. After all, the sacrifice of the two brigade commanders had little to do with Sokov. . He said in a slow tone: "Misha, there are still many battles to be fought, and you should appoint a new brigade commander as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

   "Understood, Comrade General."

   "Are there any suitable candidates?" Rokossovsky asked with concern: "How about I transfer you two experienced commanders from the Front Army Command?"

"Comrade General, I don't think it's necessary." Sukov thought to himself that he had so many commanders under his command that he didn't need a commander from the Front Army Command, so he politely declined Rokossovsky's offer: "I'm here. find the right person.”

  After putting down the phone, Sokov asked Ponejielin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, now that the commanders of the 109th and 118th Infantry Brigades have died, do you have suitable candidates to replace them?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Pornegelin replied simply: "Many of the students from the Frunze Military Academy have experience in commanding regiment-level combat units. I would like to select two of them as The new brigade commander should be fine."

Regarding Ponegerin's proposal, Sidolin immediately agreed: "That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander is right. These students who have studied with the commander at the Frunze Military Academy have many people's abilities. Yes, a suitable person can be selected from among them to take up the post of brigade commander."

Seeing that the two of them had the same ideas as himself, they both selected a suitable candidate from among the students to serve as the brigade commander, so Sokov decided not to shy away from his relatives: "I think Major Sukharev can serve as the No. Commander of the 109th Brigade; Lieutenant Colonel Glushko can be the commander of the 118th Infantry Brigade. Do you have any disagreements?"

  Now that Sokov has already decided on a candidate, Pornedelin and Sidolin will naturally not sing against him. Especially Bornejelin, these students have studied with him for a period of time, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are his students. So the two replied in unison: "We have no disagreement."

   "Since there is no disagreement, the appointment is passed." Sokov told Sidolin: "Immediately notify the two commanders to come here, and I will personally announce the appointment to them."

   A few minutes later, Sukharev and Glushko, who received the call, met at the gate of the headquarters.

  Sukharev asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why are you here?"

   "I received a call from the chief of staff, saying that the commander wanted to talk to me." After explaining why he was here, Glushko asked back, "What about you, Major Sukharev?"

   "I also received a call from the chief of staff, ordering me to report to the headquarters."

In order not to affect the morale and morale of the army, Sokov strictly blocked the news of the sacrifice of the two brigade commanders, so that not many people knew about it, and Sukharev and Glushko happened to be unaware of it So they couldn't guess what Sokov's purpose in calling them to the headquarters was.

  Seeing the two people entering the door, Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with them one by one, and said politely: "Lieutenant Colonel Glushko and Major Sukharev, welcome to come."

After the two sides shook hands, Sukharev and Grushko exchanged glances, and Grushko stepped forward and asked: "Comrade Commander, I wonder if you asked us to come to the headquarters. What work do you need?" Leave it to us?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Grushko, I now formally appoint you as the commander of the 118th Infantry Brigade." After Sokov said this to Grushko, he poked his head at Suharie who was behind Grushko The husband said: "And you, Major Sukharev, will serve as the commander of the 109th Infantry Brigade from now on."

  The sudden appointment caused the two commanders to fall into confusion. They did not understand why Sokov appointed himself the brigade commander for no reason.

   Seeing the confused faces of the two men, Ponegerin took two steps forward and said to them, "Two commanders, are you surprised by this appointment?"

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." At the Frunze Military Academy, Sukharev and Ponedelin had a good relationship, so this time he asked: "I want to know, why did Comrade Commander suddenly Appoint us as commanders of the infantry brigade. Where are the original two commanders, have they been transferred?"

But as soon as he said this, he immediately denied it: "Impossible, we have just captured the Brest Fortress, and the two infantry brigade commanders still have a lot of work to do, how can they be transferred away as soon as they say so. He looked at Sokov and asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander, can you tell me what happened?"

Sokov sighed, and said to the two: "Lieutenant Colonel Glushiko and Major Sukharev, the reason why I appointed you two as infantry brigade commanders is because the original two brigade commanders died unfortunately. "

   Hearing what Sokov said, the two were surprised again. "Comrade Commander, what's going on?" Grusko asked in surprise, "How did they die?"

  Anyway, sooner or later this matter will be known to the two, so Sokov no longer conceals it, and repeats the process of the sacrifice of the two infantry brigade commanders to them.

  After learning about the process of the sacrifice of the two brigade commanders, Gelushko couldn't help but sigh: "I really didn't expect that they would die when we won the victory."

   "It's really a pity." Sokov said to the two regretfully: "You two have taken over the position of brigade commander. You must not make similar mistakes again. I don't want to lose two excellent subordinates."

  Sukharev was still very moved when he heard Sokov call them excellent subordinates. He quickly expressed his position to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we will pay attention to safety, so don't worry."

"It's good to know how to pay attention to safety, just to know how to pay attention to safety." Sokov nodded and said: "When the two infantry brigades captured the Kobrin Fortress, the troops paid a huge sacrifice. Now their brigade commander has sacrificed This will inevitably have a negative impact on the morale and morale of the troops.

  After you take over your duties, the first thing you need to do is to stabilize the morale of the troops. At the same time, find ways to boost everyone's morale so that they can display stronger combat effectiveness in the next stage of battle. "

   "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask." Sukharev raised his own question: "The troops suffered heavy casualties. Where should we go to replenish our troops?"

   "There are many ways to replenish soldiers." Sokov said: "One is to wait for our superiors to replenish our soldiers, but usually they come very slowly, and the number will not be too many;

  The second is to recruit recruits from the local residents, but the recruits need a period of training to form combat effectiveness, which takes too long;

   The third is to rescue our captured commanders and fighters from the German prisoner-of-war camps. But unfortunately, so far, the number of prisoner-of-war camps we have found is not large, so it is not very reliable;

   The fourth is to wait for the wounded to recover and leave the hospital, and then add them to the army. However, for these experienced veterans, there are many troops competing for it, and it may not be your turn. "

  Hearing this, Sukharev couldn't help feeling a little anxious: "Comrade Commander, you have mentioned so many ways to replenish troops, and it seems that we can't use any of them."

"Yes, Comrade Commander, you have said so much, we can't use any of them." Glushko echoed: "If you have any good ideas, just say it directly, don't let us keep guessing .”

"The best way is to find a way to incorporate the local guerrillas." Sokov said to the two seriously: "The Belarusian guerrillas have hundreds of thousands of people and have a unified command. If they are incorporated into the army , not only can form combat power in a very short period of time, but at the same time, it can also provide you with a lot of useful information."

   Just as Sokov finished speaking, the phone on the desk rang. Sokov thought it was another call from Rokossovsky, so he stopped and looked at the phone.

Sidolin picked up the phone and listened for a while, then reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division has reported that they are ready to attack, whether it is possible to cross the Bug River and report to the opposite bank. The Germans are attacking?"

   "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov nodded, and said in an affirmative tone: "You tell Comrade Division Commander to let them attack the enemy with confidence, and we will provide them with the necessary artillery support."

   While Sidolin was on the phone with the infantry division commander, Sokov walked to the table and picked up another phone. After dialing a number: "I'm Sokov, find General Yakov for me."

   "Misha, this is Yakov."

   "Yasha," Sokov asked, "Is the artillery in place?"

"Yes, Misha, it's already in place." Yakov replied: "The Germans have deployed 30 75mm guns and 12 105mm howitzers in the Terespol Fortress. The artillery is aimed at the west side of the fortress, and according to the data provided by the artillery observer, the shooting angle has been adjusted, and the artillery can be fired at any time."

   "Yasha, those two super heavy artillery battalions played a great role in the battle to unblock the Brest Fortress today." Sokov asked, "Can they play a little role again?"

"Misha, those super heavy artillery are still seven or eight kilometers away from the fortress, and it will take a lot of time to transport them here." Yakov explained to Sukov: "It must be too late today, if you really If you want them to be useful, you have to wait until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow will be tomorrow." According to the report of the front-line commander, Sokov knew that the German army on the opposite side had some fortifications. If he wanted to capture these fortifications, he would not be able to rely on today's artillery alone. The heavy artillery came to show its power: "I hope these super heavy artillery can make new achievements in tomorrow's battle."

   "I see, Misha." Yakov may have a lot of things to deal with, and he seemed a little absent-minded when talking to Sokov: "If you have nothing else to do, then I will hang up."

   "Wait a minute, Yasha." Sukov suddenly remembered an important matter, and asked quickly, "Where are you now? Is Brest still a fortress?"

"Misha, since I am the artillery chief you appointed, I must do it myself to rearrange the artillery positions at the Terespol Fortress." Yakov said, "Now I am at the gate of the Terespol Fortress. Woolen cloth."

When Sokov learned that Yakov was in the fortress at the moment, he was frightened into a cold sweat, and quickly said: "Yasha, two of my infantry brigade commanders were shot and killed by wounded German soldiers when they were inspecting the battlefield not long ago. .You can pay attention to safety."

   "Don't worry, Misha." Yakov obviously didn't take this matter to heart, and said carelessly: "I will pay attention to safety."

After Sokov put down the phone, the more he thought about it, the less at ease he felt, and he quickly called Koshkin and told him: "Comrade Captain, I now order you to take a platoon, no, a company to the Terespol Fortress to protect Yakov. You want me to promise that even if you sacrifice your own life, you must ensure Yakov's safety."

   Koshkin naturally understood the importance of this mission, and quickly assured Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I assure you that General Yakov's safety will be ensured."

  (end of this chapter)