"What, you went to the Steppe Front Army?" Yakov couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked tentatively: "Misha, have you made any mistakes recently?"
"No," Sokov asked in confusion, "Why do you ask that?"
"If you didn't make a mistake, why would you be transferred to the Steppe Front Army?" Yakov specifically explained to Sokov: "Although they are all front troops, the Steppe Front Army is just a reserve force. Is there any chance to participate in the war?
, it’s hard to say now. But once a new battle starts, the superiors will transfer soldiers and equipment from you to supplement other combat units."
"On the Red Army Village-Donetsk front line, there will be no more large-scale battles in a short period of time." Sokov saw Yakov's U-coin to learn about the situation, and quickly explained to him: "I learned about the superiors' plans.
After hearing the news that I would be transferred to other fronts, I finally chose the Grassland Front after repeated deliberation."
He might be worried about what Yakov would say, so he added: "Yasha, don't think we are just a reserve team now. Maybe we can play a greater role in the next battle. Just like during the Battle of Moscow
, Marshal Zhukov also served as the commander of the Reserve Front Army, and commanded this force to liberate Yelniya, which was occupied by the German army."
Yakov did have a lot to say, but after hearing Sokov's words, he swallowed the words on his lips and asked instead: "Then what can I do for you?"
"You can do a lot for me." Seeing that Yakov was no longer bothered about his transfer to the reserve commander, Sokov said with a smile: "I hope you can continue to provide us with that new rocket, then
It is the best weapon against the German army."
"Needless to say, this new type of rocket was originally invented by you. It will be provided to your troops first. Others can't find anything to say." Yakov recorded Sokov's words in the notebook in front of him.
After asking, then ask: "Besides, what else do you need?"
"The new rockets can be given to us a little later." Sokov said: "I hope you can find a way to equip us with a batch of tanks, the kind of T-34/s we used in the Battle of Stalingrad.
85 tanks, you can replace them with as many as you can."
Yakov said somewhat helplessly to Sokov's request: "Misha, I will get in touch with the director of the Red October Factory as soon as possible to get useful data from him. But you have to know that manufacturing tanks,
Compared to guns and guns, especially this improved tank, being able to produce twenty or thirty tanks a month is already incredible."
"Only twenty or thirty vehicles can be produced?" After hearing the data reported by Yakov, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "This output can barely equip one battalion."
"Misha, at the beginning, the output of new tanks will definitely be very low. After all, it will be affected by the production environment and worker proficiency." Yakov explained to Sokov: "We have factories that can produce tanks.
Destroyed by the war, production capacity was inevitably affected. In addition, many skilled workers went to the front line, and the new people added to the factory were half-grown children and women. It was necessary for them to reach the previous level in a short period of time.
The production level of young and middle-aged male workers is still quite difficult."
"Yasha, I understand everything you said." Regarding what Yakov said, Sokov was very clear in his heart. The skilled workers in the factory were not moved to the distant rear along with the factory equipment and reorganized.
To start production in a new factory means to take up arms and join the army or militia, which will seriously affect the normal production of the factory. "I just hope you can find a way to increase the factory's production so that my tank troops can be replaced as soon as possible."
Yakov noticed something strange in the tone of Sokov's words, and asked tentatively: "Misha, you seem to be very anxious about the tank unit's change of equipment. Have you heard any news?"
"Yasha, you have been staying in Moscow, and you may not understand many things." Sokov said: "The reason why the Southwest Front Army was defeated by the Germans was because the tanks they equipped were no match for the German tanks. At the same time,
In terms of distance, the shells fired by our tanks cannot penetrate the armor of the German tanks; while the enemy's shells can be directly destroyed as long as they hit our tanks.
The difference in equipment means that our army needs to make greater sacrifices on the battlefield in order to achieve the final victory. Yasha, I want you to change our equipment as soon as possible, so that in the next battle, we can
Minimize the casualties of commanders and soldiers."
"I understand what you mean." After a moment of silence, Yakov continued: "The difference in equipment between our army and the enemy must be narrowed, so that we can achieve a greater victory at the minimum cost. Many of the troops you command
Fighting follows this principle."
Seeing that Yakov understood his intention, Sokov suddenly became more at ease. He knew very well that given Yakov's friendship with him and his current position, he must give priority to providing supplies of weapons and equipment to his troops.
There shouldn't be much of a problem.
Just before he was about to hang up the phone, Sokov suddenly remembered that he had heard Lunev mention that Yakov and the others had developed a new type of transportation, and he could take this opportunity to ask: "Yasha, I
I heard some time ago that you seem to have developed a new type of vehicle that is not restricted by terrain. If confidentiality regulations are not involved, can you introduce the situation to me? "
"Actually, there is nothing to keep secret," Yakov sighed softly and said, "It is a hovercraft, which uses the principle of surface effect and relies on air above atmospheric pressure to form an air cushion between the hull and the water surface or the ground.
A high-speed vessel sailing completely or partially detached from its supporting surface.”
Hearing that it was just a hovercraft, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He thought that Yakov had developed a ground-effect aircraft, which would be able to carry troops, equipment and various supplies, which would be perfect for combat. But he
It was clear that with the current level of technology, it was simply impossible to create a ground-effect aircraft. However, in order to understand the performance of this hovercraft, he still asked tentatively: "What is the carrying capacity of the hovercraft?"
"After testing, we found that the hovercraft can carry 20 commanders and combatants and the weapons they carry, or carry no more than five tons of supplies." Yakov introduced to Sokov: "At present, we have completed the work in the swamp.
And in tests on lakes, the top speed can reach 60 knots."
"So when do you plan to conduct land transportation testing?"
"I'm afraid it will have to wait until the second half of the year." Yakov replied: "After testing, we found that there are still many areas for improvement."
For Sokov, this kind of hovercraft is useless. Its carrying capacity can only be thought of as that of a truck. Although it is quite fast, due to cost issues, it is impossible to equip troops on a large scale. Just rely on
How useful can one or two hovercrafts be for transportation?
After thinking about this truth, Sokov did not ask any more questions about the hovercraft, but once again shifted the topic to weapons and equipment: "Yasha, my army has just added a large number of soldiers, and many of them don't have weapons yet. You see
, can you help us contact the logistics department and give us priority to replenish a batch of weapons?"
"If it's just light weapons, I think it won't be a big problem." Yakov said on the phone: "I will call you when the matter becomes clearer."
After Samyko waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he said with envy: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that you are so familiar with the people in the Weapons and Equipment Department. If we can really get new tanks, then the Tank Army will
The scale can be expanded.”
When Sokov heard what Samyko said, he had an expression of surprise on his face. He asked in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you mean, I didn't understand clearly?"
"Comrade Commander, after I obtain the new tanks, I will not immediately hand over the original tanks to other troops." Sameko said with some pride: "In this way, we will continue to use these weapons to equip them.
force."
Sokov did not explain his relationship with Yakov to Samyko, but just nodded and asked casually: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, have our troops ever conducted training on infantry-artillery coordinated operations?"
"
"Infantry and artillery coordinated operations?" This may be the first time Sameko heard this term, and he asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, haven't we been using infantry and artillery coordinated operations? Each time, it took a long time to attack the German positions.
After preparing the artillery fire, the infantry then launched an attack on the enemy's position."
Sokov felt that Samyko might have misunderstood what he meant, so he said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our army used to carry out artillery preparations to bombard the enemy's positions before attacking, but in fact it did not have much effect.
.As soon as the shelling started, the enemy's main force withdrew to the second line of defense. After our army's artillery fire extended its firing, the enemy returned to the front line position to repair the damaged fortifications and prepare to meet our attack."
As Sokov's deputy, Samyko was still accustomed to the same old tactics. After Sokov finished speaking, he immediately added: "Comrade Commander, our army's tactics have always been to prepare artillery fire on the enemy's positions first.
Is there anything wrong with waiting for the artillery fire to stop or extending the firing before the infantry launches an attack?"
"Of course, there is something wrong, but it is very wrong." Sokov felt that it would take a long time to reverse Samyko's old concept. He could only change the other party's concept step by step: "Actually,
When our artillery fire is about to end, the infantry should launch an attack. In this way, after the artillery fire is over, the enemy has no time to repair the fortifications destroyed by the artillery fire, and our commanders and soldiers have already rushed in front of them to achieve the purpose of seizing the enemy's position as soon as possible.
.”
After listening to Sokov's words, Samyko pondered for a long time and said with a sudden look on his face: "Comrade Commander, I understand. The reason why our army's attacks failed in the past was entirely because when the artillery fire began to extend, the infantry did not
Instead of seizing the opportunity to attack in time, they waited for a while before getting the order to attack.
In this way, the best opportunity is delayed.
When our commanders and fighters approached the enemy's position, the enemy had enough time to repair the bombed fortifications and hid in the fortifications to shoot at our commanders and fighters. This allowed them to take advantage of the cover of artillery fire to quickly approach the enemy.
Our infantry in the position had to brave the enemy's bullets and fire to launch the attack with difficulty."
Seeing that the other party finally understood his intention, Sokov showed a satisfied smile on his face. He nodded and said: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, if our army does not seize the opportunity well when attacking, not only
It will waste a lot of artillery shells, and at the same time, many commanders and soldiers will sacrifice their lives in vain. As commanders, we must avoid this situation, so we must incorporate the training subjects of infantry and artillery coordination into our daily routine.
Training outline.”
Starting from the next day, the fortification construction work in the Koski area was completely stopped, and the women and half-year-old children who were recruited to participate in the construction of the fortifications returned to their homes one after another.
This matter was soon known to Konev. He called Sokov and asked angrily: "Major General Sokov, I got the news that all the fortification construction work in your defense area has been stopped.
The women and half-grown children of the construction team have all returned to their homes. What is going on? Who gave you such rights?"
"Reporting to Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said calmly after Konev's attack had passed: "The reason why I ordered all troops to stop the construction of fortifications is simply because there is no need to do so.
It is a complete waste of manpower and material resources, and it will also delay the normal training of the troops."
"When you came to take office yesterday, didn't I tell you that building fortifications in the existing defense areas was an order from the headquarters of the Supreme Command?" Although Konev felt that Sokov was right, even if these fortifications were repaired, they would not
It is very likely that they will be put to use, and there is no need to waste manpower and material resources to build these fortifications. But since the superiors have issued orders to build fortifications, the original orders must be carried out unconditionally before receiving new orders. Out of respect for Soko
In order to show his husband's love and care, he said euphemistically: "Major General Sokov, you are openly disobeying orders. If you don't let the troops start building defense fortifications again as soon as possible, what awaits you may be to be dismissed from your post or sent to a military court."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov knew very well in his heart that if he yielded to Konev's order and asked the commanders and soldiers to start building fortifications again, it would affect his prestige in the army and make the commanders and soldiers think that he was
He is a person who changes his orders day and night. When they execute their orders in the future, they will inevitably be perfunctory. Therefore, Sokov said resolutely: "I really don't think it is necessary to build fortifications. Can you see if you can ask the Supreme Commander
Report to the headquarters and ask them to cancel this unrealistic order?"
