Red Moscow

  Chapter 332 Shrink defense

   For Sokov, every step of the next journey is dangerous. He clenched the assault rifle in his hand, and looked vigilantly at the endless grassland outside the window, deeply afraid that a German army would suddenly appear from somewhere.

   But fortunately, what Sokov feared did not happen. Before dark, they arrived near Biliukovsky Station, where they found a large number of troops.

   "Stop, stop immediately!" Seeing a large number of troops appearing in the headquarters ahead, Klimov hurriedly asked the driver to stop. After the car stopped, he turned to Chuikov and asked, "Comrade Commander, what should we do next?"

  Chuikov looked ahead, and then ordered his adjutant: "Klimov, take a soldier over to have a look. If it is one of our own, send us a signal."

  Klimov agreed, got out of the car and called a soldier in the back car, and proceeded cautiously towards the meeting place. Because he couldn't figure out the origin of the army on the opposite side, Sokov didn't sit here stupidly, but got out of the car and found a place on the side of the road to hide, and aimed his gun in the direction of the camp. In this way, even if it was the Germans who occupied the meeting place, he was sure to cover Klimov and the others to withdraw.

   After a few minutes, Klimov, who entered the meeting place, waved his hands desperately to indicate that he was one of his own. After Chuikov saw Klimov's signal, he couldn't help but secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and then shouted to Sokov who was lying on the side of the road: "Get in the car, Comrade Chief of Staff." He got up and got into the car with the gun in hand.

  After the two jeeps drove into the meeting place, Klimov came up to meet him and said with a smile on his face, "Comrade Commander, I have figured it out. The commander of the 208th Division is in this meeting place."

   "Where is he?" Chuikov asked.

  Klimov pointed to several bungalows not far away: "It's there."

   Chuikov waited for Klimov to finish, then walked towards the row of houses without saying a word. After approaching, he stopped to look at the environment, and then walked towards a room with a sentry at the door.

   "Comrade General," but when Chuikov approached the room, the sentry blocked his way, and said awkwardly: "Comrade Commander has issued an order, and he doesn't want to see anyone!"

"Comrade soldier," Seeing that Chuikov was stopped by the sentry, Klimov got a little angry, stepped forward and pushed the sentry away, and said angrily, "Didn't you see that it was a general who was stopped by you? "

The sentinel saw the officer in front of him. Except for the lieutenant who pushed him, the other two were a lieutenant colonel and a lieutenant general. They were a little at a loss and said, "However, Comrade Commander has already issued an order. not see."

"Okay, Comrade Warrior." Sokov comforted the sentinel and said, "Your division commander's order is not binding on us. Don't worry, if your division commander wants to blame us, we will explain it to you." The sentinel Hearing what Sokov said, he didn't dare to say anything more, so he could only take a step back and make way for the passage leading to the room.

  Chuikov walked to the door, pushed open the door, and walked into the room. Sokov quickly followed and entered the room. In the middle of the dimly lit room, there was a rectangular desk, and an officer whose face could not be seen was sitting behind the desk. When he found that someone had broken into the room, he slammed the table and said viciously, "Didn't I say that no one is allowed to come in?"

   "Are you the commander of the 208th Division?" Cuikov reached out and pulled the light wire by the door, but the lights in the room did not turn on. It seems that the power supply here has completely stopped.

   "Who are you?" The officer also couldn't see the face of the uninvited guest. He could only look at the talking Chuikov and asked, "What are you doing here?"

   "I am Lieutenant General Cuikov, Commander of the 64th Army." After revealing his identity, Cuikov said solemnly, "The Front Army Command has placed the 208th Division under my command. I came here to look for troops."

Hearing that the person standing in front of him was actually the commander of the group army, the officer quickly stood up and saluted Chuikov across the desk: "Hello, Comrade Commander. I am Voskoboini, commander of the 208th Infantry Division. Colonel Koff, I am at your command, please instruct!"

   While Chuikov was talking to the teacher, Klimov took out a candle from the backpack he was carrying, lit it and put it on the table. With the help of candlelight, Sokov could clearly see that Colonel Voskobojnikov was a bald, fat man, about forty years old.

   "Please sit down, Comrade Colonel." After calling the other party to sit down, Chuikov sat down himself and asked, "Why do you refuse to see anyone?"

  As soon as Chuikov’s words came out, the muscles on Voskobojnikov’s face twitched violently. After a long time, he choked up and said, “Comrade Commander, I feel sorry for our soldiers!”

   "I'm sorry for the soldiers?" Chuikov was taken aback when he heard what the other party said. Then he understood what was going on, and asked tentatively, "Do you know what happened at Chilekov Station?"

Voskobojnikov nodded vigorously, affirming Chuikov's question: "Our soldiers came here from Siberia thousands of kilometers away, but they were killed by our own people before they even saw the enemy's face. The plane was killed. I don’t know how to explain to my subordinates and the families of the soldiers who died the real reason for their sacrifice.”

  Regarding the accidental bombing of Chilekov Station, Chuikov was also very sad. Especially right after the bombing ended, the German ground troops launched an offensive. If they hadn't organized forces to fight back in time, the troops in the area might have been repelled. But at this moment, seeing Voskobojnikov's grief-stricken look, he comforted him and said, "Comrade Colonel, I was in a nearby town when this accidental bombing happened. When I saw that so many soldiers did not die on the battlefield, but were killed and injured by our own planes, I was also very sad. However, it is not the time to be sad, the Germans will rush over soon, and here Without fortifications, you cannot defend against them, so you must move as soon as possible to the defense line we have built..."

   Upon hearing what Chuikov said, Voskobojnikov immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, and hurriedly shouted outside: "Come, come!"

  Following his shout, the sentry appeared at the door and asked timidly, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Immediately go and find the political commissar, chief of staff, and director of the political department here, and say that I have something important to discuss with them." After Voskobojnikov finished his order, he urged the sentinel: "Hurry up Bar."

   After about five minutes, there was a sound of chaotic footsteps outside, and soon, someone asked loudly at the door: "Mr. Comrade, what do you want from us?"

"Commanders, Comrades," Voskobojnikov stood up from his seat, pointed to Chuikov who was sitting opposite him, and said, "Let me introduce to you, this general is General Chuikov, commander of the 64th Army. , From now on, our 208th Division will accept his command."

   "Hello, Comrade Commander!" The three commanders who had just arrived, after listening to Voskobojnikov's introduction, quickly raised their hands to salute Chuikov.

After Cuikov stood up and saluted the three, he pointed to Sokov and introduced to them: "Let me introduce, this is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the chief of staff of the Group Army's Southern Group, and he is also your superior." Hearing Cuikov say so Said, the three officers hastened to salute Sokov again.

After everyone sat down, Chuikov pointed to the map on the table and said to everyone: "Comrades, judging from the current situation, there are no fortifications near the camp. Once the German army launches an attack here, you will be unable to resist it." .”

   "Comrade Commander," the division chief of staff waited for Cuikov to finish speaking, and immediately asked, "I would like to ask, where is the nearest line of defense?"

"Here," Chuikov said to the chief of staff of the division, pointing to the position of the Aksay River, "after the troops of your division have reached the north bank of the Aksay River, occupy the defensive line from the town of Antonov to the village of Zhutov. positions, and to send reinforced patrols to the front and to the left of the troop line."

   "May I ask if you would?" the division chief asked briefly.

Chuikov nodded and explained to everyone: "From the analysis of the current battlefield situation, I estimate that the German army is unwilling to entangle with the troops we deployed along the railway in the Kotelnikovo area. They will pass through Prodovito. Yehejing Guta Town implements a deep detour. I ask you to strengthen reconnaissance in order to find out the whereabouts and intentions of the main enemy forces in this area."

  The chief of staff of the division continued to ask: "Should we withdraw all the troops of our division to the north bank of the Aksai River?"

After Cuikov and the chief of staff of the division finished speaking, they suddenly asked: "If I guessed correctly, can the radio station of your division get in touch with the troops below?" It happened one or two hours ago. If there was no radio, it would be impossible for Voskobojnikov to know about it in such a short period of time.

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The political commissar of the division said slowly: "Our radio station can directly communicate with the battalion-level units, otherwise we would not be able to learn that our army is at Chilekov Station in such a short period of time. News that he was bombed by his own plane."

"Since the radio station can still be used, you should immediately send a telegram to the troops below. Order the troops scattered from the Nebekovo Station to the Zhutovo Station and to the front line of Abga Nerovo to immediately send a message to the Aksay River. If the troops cannot be contacted," Cuikov said here, and glanced at the division's political commissar, chief of staff, and director of the political department: "The three of you will be responsible for contacting them."

   "Comrade Commander," no one objected to Chuikov's order, but the division chief of staff asked with some concern: "We are not familiar with this area, and we don't have a guide. What should we do if we get lost?"

"Don't worry, I'm not familiar with the terrain here, but I managed to find you." Regarding the worries of the division chief of staff, Cuikov comforted him and said: "You just need to walk along the railway to reach the Aksay River." Over there, there will be troops to meet you."

  When Sokov heard Chuikov introduce the retreat route to everyone, he couldn't help but thumped in his heart. He remembered that he had told Andrei to take in more troops, as long as they were not from the 138th and 157th divisions, they would all be included. You know, even though the 208th Division has not yet been put into battle, they look no different from troops that have lost battles. If Andrei forcefully recruited them involuntarily, would Chuikov think he was undermining him?

  After accepting Cuikov's order, the three division leaders got up and saluted, then turned and walked out of the room. Seeing Sokov's absent-minded look, Chuikov thought he was dissatisfied with the fact that the 208th Division withdrew to the north bank of the Aksai River without a fight, and explained to him specifically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, at present our southern The strength of the cluster is limited, so we must shrink our defenses and concentrate all our forces to severely strike the Japanese invaders."

Hearing what Chuikov said, Sokov knew that the other party had misunderstood, but he did not correct him, but followed his meaning and said: "So that's the case, Comrade General. I think you have withdrawn all the troops to Ah The north bank of the Kesai River must have its own considerations, it seems that I really guessed right."

Chuikov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Voskobojnikov: "Comrade Colonel, it's getting late, and we still have a long way to go. You must immediately assemble your troops, and we must fight in the shortest possible time." leave in time."

   In half an hour, the first part of the assembled 208th Division was completed, left the camp, and headed towards the direction of the Aksay River. Seeing the group of school-level officers walking with Voskobojnikov, Sokov couldn't help frowning, and said to himself, what a hell, all regiment-level commanders are moving with the division headquarters. If a battle really breaks out, the Germans can take over the command system above the 208th Division level in one pot. At that time, the troops scattered in other directions will become a mess because of the loss of unified command. People struggled to defeat them one by one.

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you looking at?" Chuikov asked curiously seeing that Sokov's gaze was always on the marching troops, "I think you seem to be watching the troops all the time."

"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov said with a sneer: "I was thinking that all the regiment-level commanders of the 208th Division are here, and those scattered troops only have battalion-level commanders. Once the Germans To launch an attack on the area where they are located, the division commanders and regiment commanders have no soldiers, and they must not be able to resist the German attack at all; and the situation of those troops with sufficient soldiers is not much better, because there is no unified command, they can only do their own thing. If you fight, you will soon be defeated one by one by the enemy."

"Chief of Staff, I have also noticed what you said." Chuikov said helplessly, "The reason why I gather them up and deploy them on the north bank of the Axe River is to prevent such tragedies from happening. "

  (end of this chapter)