Red Moscow

Chapter 2380

The next morning, Sokov pushed Lukin's wheelchair to the headquarters and asked Yakov on duty: "Yasha, how is the progress of our army at night?"

"It's very good. We have advanced another twenty or thirty kilometers without encountering any decent resistance." Yakov said with emotion: "The trick you used to set fire was so effective. At least it was in the weeds and shrubs. In densely populated areas, the Kwantung Army did not dare to establish defensive positions to avoid being attacked by fire from us again."

As the three of them were talking, the phone on the table rang. Sokov was closest to the phone and grabbed the receiver casually: "I'm Sokov!"

Zakharov's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, I remember you seem to have an airborne operation today, right?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov thought that Zakharov was calling to inquire about the preparations for airborne operations. Without waiting for the other party to ask again, he took the initiative and said: "The troops we are preparing to engage in airborne operations are Major General Ye Liaoming's 4th Guards Airborne Division, after a week of emergency training, has initially acquired the capability for airborne operations. In addition, Marshal Hudyakov and I have discussed that he will send at least 60 transport planes today. Transport airborne troops for us."

"Oh, have you made an agreement with Marshal Hudyakov?" Hearing what Sokov said, Zakharov seemed very surprised: "Why didn't he say hello to me?" But what he said next greatly changed his mind. Contrary to Sokov's expectations, "I called you just to inform you that your original airborne plan may need to be adjusted accordingly."

“Make corresponding adjustments?” Sokov asked in surprise: “How?”

“The original airborne combat plan was cancelled…”

"What, the airborne operation plan has been cancelled?" Sokov suddenly became anxious when he heard this: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, in order to implement this airborne operation plan, I have withdrawn the 4th Guards Airborne Division that was fighting at the front. Urgent intensive training has been carried out. Now that everything is ready and all we need is east wind, how can we just cancel it?"

"Misha, don't be anxious." Unexpectedly, Zakharov said with a smile: "You interrupted me in a hurry before I finished speaking."

 “Then please continue.”

"That's it, I just received a call from the Far East General Command." Zakharov said: "The call was from the deputy commander, Marshal Chernyakhovsky. He said that the commander of the Kwantung Army Yamada Otsuzo sent his chief of staff Qin Yanzaburo to the headquarters of their headquarters for negotiations."

"Qin Yansanlang has arrived at the headquarters?" Sokov was a little surprised when he heard the news: "I wonder what agreement the two sides have reached?"

“According to the memorandum provided by Qin Yansanlang, they hope that our army will have a complete ceasefire on all fronts, and then they will order all troops to lay down their weapons and surrender to our army.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov waited for Zakharov to finish and immediately expressed his opinion: "Is this a conspiracy of the little devils? They pretended to negotiate with us and asked us to stop all combat operations in order to gain valuable breathing time." Sokov was now worried that Vasilevsky and others at the headquarters would be deceived and really order all troops to cease fighting, then his pre-arranged airborne combat plan would be Want to take a bath.

But fortunately, Zakharov's next words made him feel more at ease: "Misha, your guess coincides with mine. When I received a call from Marshal Chernyakhovsky, My first reaction was to think that this was a conspiracy of the Kwantung Army. They wanted to use deception to make our army cease the war, and then they could use the precious time gained to consolidate their defenses, causing our army to suffer greater losses in the subsequent attack. .”

Sokov realized that things had gone beyond his imagination, so he did not interrupt Zakharov, but continued to listen quietly. Yakov and Lukin also vaguely heard the content on the phone, and they came over to listen to what Zaharov said next.

“Marshal Chernyakhovsky told me,” Zakharov continued, “Qin Yanzaburo expressed enough sincerity to us in order to gain our trust.”

Hearing this, Yakov couldn't help but approached the microphone and asked loudly: "General Zakharov, I wonder what kind of sincerity the Kwantung Army has shown?"

"Oh, Yakov is also with you." After Zaharov said this, he continued: "He said that Fengtian's airport will be opened to us this morning, allowing our planes full of troops to land freely, etc. After our troops are transported to the airport by plane, they will gradually hand over the city to us."

"Open the airport and let planes full of troops land at the airport." Yakov couldn't help but sneer when he heard this: "When our transport planes transport troops arrive at Fengtian Airport, the air defense forces they deployed at the airport can be like Like target practice, shoot down all our transport planes."

"Yakov, you can rest assured on this." Zaharov assured Yakov: "Qin Yansanlang also said that they will deceive Emperor Kant who fled to Linjiang back to Fengtian and find a way to make him Detained at the airfield so our airborne troops could capture him."

Sokov couldn't help being silent after hearing this. He remembered that in real history, Emperor Kant was captured by the Soviet army at the airport in Fengtian. If this is really the case, then Qin Yansanlang's words are still somewhat credible.

Hearing Sokov's delay in expressing his position, Zakharov on the other end of the phone urged: "Misha, do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Now that the other party had called his name, Sokov quickly replied: "So, Major General Ye Liaoming's troops no longer need to land by air, but instead will land by plane. At Fengtian Airport, and planned to occupy the entire Fengtian?"

"Yes, that's it." Zaharov said firmly: "Just follow the new orders."

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Lukin and Yakov: "The Chief of Staff of the Front Army said that the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army Qin Yansanlang has reached an agreement with us. They will open the airport in Fengtian today to allow our army to The aircraft took off and landed freely. This means that the original airborne combat plan has to be cancelled, and only the commanders and fighters of the 4th Guards Airborne Division need to be sent to take the transport aircraft provided by the Air Force and land at Fengtian Airport in an orderly manner."

"Why does this sound so funny?" Yakov said disdainfully: "Could this be some kind of conspiracy by the Kwantung Army? I guess they dug a hole for us to jump into." "I don't think so." Hearing Zakharov mention Emperor Kant, Sokov felt that this matter was more reliable. Emperor Kant had no use value to the little devil at this moment, so he threw him out as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Soviet army. It still has a certain effect. So he said to Yakov: "You immediately call General Afnin and General Ye Liaoming and ask them to come to the headquarters for a meeting as soon as possible."

Ten minutes later, both Afuning and Ye Liaoming appeared in front of Sokov.

After they raised their hands in salute, they said in unison: "Comrade Commander, Afuning (Ye Liaoming) has been ordered to come. We are waiting for your order, please give instructions!"

"General Ye Liaoming," Sokov raised his hand in return and asked Ye Liaoming directly: "How are your troops prepared?"

“Comrade Commander, the commanders and soldiers are ready for all battles and are just waiting for your order.”

"Well done." After praising Ye Liaoming, Sokov said unexpectedly: "I now announce that the airborne combat plan has been cancelled."

"Ah, cancel the airborne combat plan?" After hearing this, Ye Liaoming and Afuning were both shocked: "Comrade Commander, why is this?"

"I just received an order from the front army headquarters saying that the Kwantung Army intends to surrender to us. To show their sincerity, they plan to hand over Fengtian City to us." Sokov said: "What is the transfer method? What the Kwantung Army means is , the airport in Fengtian will be opened today, allowing our military aircraft carrying commanders and combatants to land on the runway. When our military has airlifted enough troops to Fengtian, they will take the initiative to hand over the city to us."

Neither Afuning nor Ye Liaoming believed in this kind of pie-in-the-sky good thing. Ye Liaoming also took the initiative to remind Sokov: "Comrade Commander, could this be a conspiracy of the Japs? What if the transport plane transporting the commanders and fighters of our division arrives over Fengtian and is hit by intensive anti-aircraft fire? There is no way.”

Although Sokov felt in his heart that what Qin Yansanlang said was most likely true, he was not willing to risk the lives of the soldiers. So before Afuning and Ye Liaoming arrived, he thought repeatedly and planned to find a way to get the best of both worlds. At this moment, seeing that Ye Liaoming was worried, he said: "General Ye Liaoming, this is what I think about it. You first use the existing transport planes at Solon Airport to transport a battalion of troops to Fengtian Airport. If they are attacked by the little devils, If you are hit by ground anti-aircraft fire, you will turn around and fly back. If all goes well and the Japs really open Fengtian Airport to our army, then the transport plane will land directly on the runway, and then the commanders and fighters coming out of the plane will occupy the airport. And the plane will then Return to pick up the remaining troops, go to Fengtian in batches, and capture the city."

Ye Liaoming saw that Sokov had come up with a solution. Although he agreed with it in his heart, his immediate superior was still there and it was not his turn to make his own decisions, so he turned to Afunin and asked: "Comrade Commander, what do you mean? "

To be fair, Afuning is indeed unwilling to let his troops take risks, but now a great opportunity is right in front of him. If he does not dare to take a gamble because of hesitation, he will regret it if he misses the opportunity. lifetime. Thinking of this, Afuning said decisively: "Since Comrade Commander has given the order, then do as he said. Commander Ye Liaoming immediately transferred the most elite battalion to board the plane and asked them to rush to Fengtian as soon as possible and occupy The airport there.”

Just when Ye Liaoming turned around to leave, Yakov warned from behind: "For safety reasons, I suggest bringing two more radio stations so that if anything happens, we can communicate more easily."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Ye Liaoming replied: "I plan to let the commander of the 15th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Baryshev, personally lead the team to carry out the task of occupying the airport. I will tell him that no matter what the situation is in Fengtian, All information must be passed back as soon as possible.”

According to Sokov's original idea, as long as he said hello to Lieutenant Colonel Denis, the troops would be able to board the plane and take off to Fengtian as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, when Ye Liaoming arrived at the airport and told Denis about the cancellation of the original airborne combat plan, Denis raised objections. He said to Ye Liaoming: "Comrade General, canceling the original airborne combat plan is a big deal. I need to report to Marshal Hudyakov immediately to hear how he plans to deal with it."

Ye Liaoming had no choice but to report the matter to Afuning by phone. After Afnin got the news, he quickly called Sokov and reported the matter to him: "Comrade Commander, there is something wrong at the airport. Lieutenant Colonel Denis said that because our army temporarily canceled the original The airborne combat plan is of great importance. We cannot let our commanders board the plane now. We need to wait until he consults Marshal Hudyakov before deciding whether to let our troops board the plane."

 Though what happened at the airport surprised Sokov, he didn't find it strange. In order to ensure that his troops are airborne outside Fengtian, Hudyakov promised to mobilize 60 transport aircraft and the same number of gliders a few days ago to help him transport his airborne troops. But now the situation has changed. The troops attacking Fengtian did not fall from the sky, but took a plane and landed directly at the airport in Fengtian. This required instructions from Marshal Hudyakov to make arrangements now.

“General Afnin,” Sokov asked into the microphone, “I wonder how long we have to wait before we can board the plane?”

"It's hard to say." Afuning said awkwardly: "If it's fast, it might take a few hours. If it's slow, it might take four or five hours."

Knowing that it would take such a long time, Sokov was quite helpless. He could only smile bitterly and said: "General Afnin, please tell General Ye Liaoming that we must fully cooperate with Lieutenant Colonel Denis. What did he ask our troops to do?" When it’s time to board the plane, we will board the plane at any time.”

"clear."

While Sokov was busy mobilizing his troops, Linjiang City was hundreds of kilometers away. Emperor Kant, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by the Japanese adviser who suddenly broke in: "Your Majesty, please get up and change your clothes immediately. We must leave the city as soon as possible."

The sleepy Emperor Kant opened his eyes and asked impatiently: "Mr. Advisor, do you know where we are going?"

 “Go to Fengtian.”

When he heard that he was going to Fengtian, Emperor Kant was so frightened that he lost his drowsiness. He sat up suddenly and said to the Japanese adviser: "We just moved here from Fengtian a few days ago, why do we have to go back to Fengtian? You know , the Russians are approaching Fengtian step by step, if I go back, won’t I fall into their hands?”

"Your Majesty the Emperor, you can rest assured that we will never let you fall into the hands of the Russians." The adviser said: "According to the order of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, we are going to send you to our country. Due to the impending Jiang is too small for large planes to land, so we must fly to Fengtian first and then transfer to a large plane to go to the island country."

 (End of this chapter)