Sokov picked up the map on the table, placed it in front of Beria, pointed at it and said to him: "Comrade People's Commissar, please see, judging from the situation on the map, Model's Ninth Army
Going south from Orel, while Manstein's troops went north from the direction of Belgorod, the two sides tried to meet up outside the city of Kursk and encircle our heavy troop group in the Kursk salient."
"This is obvious, Comrade Sokov." As the People's Commissar of Defense and a member of the Supreme Command, it is common for Beria to attend important military meetings, so he naturally knows the German offensive intentions. He interrupted Sokov
Cove said impatiently: "I want to know where the enemy's next attack will be focused?"
"I can't say what the situation is like on the northern front. After all, my troops are too far away from there and many situations are unclear." Sokov decided to focus on telling Beria about the war on the southern front: "I'll just talk about the southern front.
What about the line situation?
Although our army's artillery bombardment forced the enemy to postpone the attack for three hours, their combat effectiveness on the first day still successfully broke through our army's first line of defense. General Vatutin urgently mobilized the front army.
The reserve team launched a counterattack against the enemy. He did so for two purposes. One purpose was to restore the first line of defense occupied by the Germans; if this was not possible, use this force to block the enemy from the second line of defense.
Outside the defensive line.
But unfortunately, the enemy still opened a gap in his second line of defense, successfully crossed the Pena River, and advanced more than 30 kilometers into our defense. In order to seize the initiative on the battlefield,
Both the enemy and ours have dispatched a large number of air forces to compete for air supremacy on the battlefield..."
Beria listened to Sokov's analysis and kept nodding his head to express his agreement with his statement. Lunev, who was standing aside, saw that Beria's expression was as usual, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and felt that
Cove didn't have an easy time today.
After talking for a while, Sokov felt a little dry, so he took a sip from the tea cup on the table, and then continued: "...the enemy suffered a heavy blow from us in the Oboyan area. Their elite empire
The division was almost completely lost. In this case, they would definitely give up the attack in the Oboyan area and shift the direction of the attack to their right wing, which is Prokhorovka. The terrain there was flat, which was conducive to the German army's large-scale attack.
The deployment of large-scale mechanized troops. Therefore, the next battle will revolve around this area."
"Your analysis makes some sense." Before coming here from Moscow, Beria had a general understanding of the situation on the front line. According to the collected intelligence, the enemy's armored forces were gathering towards the Prokhorovka area.
, and the 5th Guards Tank Army and the 5th Guards Tank Army mobilized from the base camp to the Voronezh Front also moved towards the above-mentioned area. Anyone who knows this news knows that the next main battlefield will be around Prokho.
The Lovka region unfolds. Beria knows that a lot of the information he possesses is top secret. Not to mention Sokov, the leader of the group army, even Konev, the leader of the front army, and others may not know it. From this point of view,
He is indeed a military genius who can analyze the next situation so accurately.
Through the conversation with Sokov, Beria felt that he did not find any flaws. He felt that his previous judgment may have been biased. How could he regard this young man who was trusted by Stalin and many senior commanders as a German?
After chatting for a while, he stood up and left. He was eager to return to Moscow and ordered the relevant departments to change their minds and no longer conduct any private investigation of Sokov.
Seeing that Beria was about to leave, Sokov planned to send him out, but he waved his hand and said, "Let Comrade Lunev send me off. I still have something to say to him."
On the way to the airstrip, Beria asked Lunev who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Lunev, you have been partnering with Sokov for a long time. What do you think of his level?"
"Comrade Beria, please forgive me." Lunev has been with Sokov for a while and feels that following him can continue to build meritorious deeds, which will be very helpful for his future prospects. At this moment, Beria heard
When asked, he naturally had to put in good words for Sokov: "If he were not too young, with his military talent, he could be on an equal footing with Zhukov, Vasilevsky and Rokossovsky."
If Sokov were here and heard Lunev's evaluation of him, he might have been so embarrassed that he burrowed into a crack in the ground. If others didn't understand the situation, wouldn't Sokov know his true identity? If he didn't come from the future,
Knowing the direction of history and allowing him to command wars based on his true abilities, his level would probably be about the same as that of an ordinary infantry squad leader.
Luniev's evaluation of Sokov surprised Beria: "Oh, I really didn't expect that you think so highly of him."
"Yes, Comrade Beria." Lunev nodded and said in a positive tone: "I believe that in the near future, Comrade Sokov will command the troops and achieve more meritorious deeds in the Kursk region."
Shortly after Beria left, General Polubyarov, commander of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, appeared in Sokov's headquarters. Seeing his appearance, Sokov was a little surprised: "Comrade General, what are you doing?
Come to me."
"Hello, Comrade Commander!" General Polubyarov raised his hand to salute Sokov and asked politely: "I would like to ask, what is the next combat mission of our army?"
Although due to the terrain restrictions in the Shumakovo area, large-scale armored forces cannot be deployed, but with a tank corps as a backing, Sokov is much more confident when commanding operations: "All the tanks of your army have arrived.
Shumakovo?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, all the tanks have arrived at Shumakovo." Polubyarov said with some regret: "It's a pity that we arrived a step too late."
"Comrade General, you don't have to feel sorry." Sokov comforted the other party and said: "The area where the battle was fought not long ago is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops at all. If a large number of tanks and armored vehicles are destroyed on the road, they will block us.
The road to Oboyan.”
"Then when can we join the battle?"
"Soon," Sokov said casually: "Good steel is used on the blade. Your army is the most powerful unit of our group army. I will definitely put you into battle at the most critical moment."
"Comrade Commander, before I came here." General Polubyarov sat down opposite Sokov, took the tea cup handed by the staff, took a sip of tea, and continued: "I heard that the assault was carried out.
The troops captured a batch of German tanks, do you know this is happening?"
Before launching the offensive, Sokov sent several small troops to attack the German camp with rockets. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, he used three brigades to attack in turn, driving the enemy southward like a duck.
.Shortly after the German 2nd Armored Regiment was attacked, the commanders and fighters of the infantry brigade rushed into the camp and successfully captured 29 complete tanks. Now, in order to prevent these tanks from being attacked by the Germans, Sokov
They had already been ordered to hide them during the air raid. When General Polubyarov asked about this, he nodded and said, "Yes, when we attacked south, we did capture a batch of enemy No. 3s."
and Panzer IV, a total of 29."
When he learned that a batch of German tanks had been captured, Polubyarov's eyes suddenly shone: "Comrade Commander, you know that our army has a limited number of tanks. The new tanks that our superiors promised to supply us have so far not been able to supply them."
They haven't been in place yet. Do you think it's possible to equip all these captured tanks to our army?"
"What, equip all these captured tanks to your army?" After seizing this batch of tanks and supporting ammunition, Sokov has been thinking about which army should distribute these trophies? According to the saying,
General Polubyarov's 4th Guards Tank Corps has 3 tank brigades, 1 motorized infantry brigade, 7,500 men, 168 tanks and 76 artillery pieces of various calibers. If these 29 vehicles are
Assigning tanks to them can make them stronger.
But Sokov then thought about it. If General Polubyarov's tank army was too strong, some people would be jealous. Then his superiors would issue an order to transfer the army to the command of other group armies. Then he would be the leader.
Losing both your wife and your troops is not a business that involves losing money.
On the contrary, the 85th and 483rd independent tank battalions directly under the group army have less than fifty tanks, so you can consider allocating these tanks to them. After all, even if the superiors want to mobilize troops from their own group army, they will not pay attention to such battalions.
A level-organized unit.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, General Polubyarov actually asked him straight to the point that he wanted these captured tanks. For a while, Sokov felt very embarrassed. Seeing that Sokov did not speak for a long time, Polubyarov
The husband noticed his dilemma and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, are you worried about how to allocate these tanks?"
"Comrade General, your guess is correct." Sokov did not talk in circles with General Polubyarov, but said bluntly: "If our group army only has one tank unit of yours, I will definitely not hesitate.
Replenish all these captured tanks to your army. After all, with a strong tank force, we have a greater chance of victory on the battlefield."
"Yes, it is indeed the case." General Polubyarov nodded, and then asked with some confusion: "Then what is the reason why you have been unable to make a decision?"
"The reason is very simple," Sokov said with a wry smile: "The superiors may transfer your army to the command of other group armies according to changes in the battlefield situation. By then, our strength will be greatly weakened."
When General Polubyarov didn't speak, he just drank tea slowly with a tea cup. After a while, he said: "Comrade Commander, you mean to allocate these tanks to the two
An independent tank battalion?”
"I have such considerations." Sokov said cautiously: "Even if the strength of the two battalions has been improved, they are only a battalion-level unit. Even if the superiors want to mobilize troops, they will probably be ignored.
"
"What you said makes sense." General Polubyarov expressed his understanding of Sokov's concerns. "Judging from the current situation, the armored forces of the Voronezh Front have almost suffered losses in the battle. After gaining,
Before new additions are made, the superiors can only find ways to allocate forces from other units to strengthen them. If the superiors discover that our army has not participated in the battle, they may transfer us away."
What General Polubyarov said was exactly what Sokov was worried about. He looked at the other party and asked: "Comrade General, do you have any good ideas to avoid this happening?"
"There is a way, but you must assign combat tasks to us." General Polubyarov smiled and said to Sokov: "As long as the superiors see that our army is fighting the enemy, they will give up transferring us.
plan."
"This method is not bad." Sokov felt that what General Polubyarov said was very reasonable. As long as the tank troops under his name are fighting the enemy, then the superiors will definitely give up the plan to transfer them. "That is,
He said that as long as your army is fighting, your superiors will ignore you and not remove you from our order of operations."
"This is exactly the case." General Polubyarov continued: "If when we are fighting the enemy, you keep making a series of requests to your superiors, such as insufficient number of tanks, insufficient ammunition and fuel,
The superiors need to make supplements, etc. In this way, the superiors will have the idea that it is inappropriate to transfer us from your order of operations, and they will give up this plan."
"It makes sense, it makes sense, then I will immediately assign combat missions to your army." As soon as Sokov said this, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have jumped into a hole dug by General Polubyarov in advance, and smiled bitterly.
After a moment, he said: "Comrade General, next, I'm afraid you will legitimately look for the 29 German tanks I want to capture, right?"
Seeing that his little trick was discovered by Sokov, General Polubyarov laughed a little embarrassedly, and then said: "Comrade Commander, we will definitely lose tanks during the offensive battle.
We can use these captured tanks to replace those damaged tanks."
"Okay, Comrade General." After some weighing, Sokov decided to hand over these tanks to Polubyarov's tank corps: "I can agree to your request, but you have to arrange it as soon as possible.
Manpower, please change the coating of these tanks, otherwise it will be bad if they are accidentally injured by your own people on the battlefield."
"I'm afraid it's too late to change the paint." General Polubyarov frowned and said, "I think it's better to follow the example of the Germans and put a red flag on the turret of the tank, so that our commanders and soldiers can
From a distance, you can see that it is our army's tank."
"No, no." In response to General Polubyarov's proposal, Sokov waved his hands and said: "In the battle outside, the blast of air blew away the red flag covering the tank. What should we do? What if?
If you use this batch of tanks, you will have to change the coating."
This chapter has been completed!