"If you don't try it, how will you know if it works?"
Sokov heard deep dissatisfaction from Vatutin's tone. But he was not panicked by this. He was very self-aware and used an incomplete group army to attack Belgo, which was heavily guarded by the German army.
Rhodes is somewhat overestimating his capabilities. Sokov will never do this kind of loss-making business.
"Comrade General," Sokov said calmly after Vatutin stopped talking: "My troops have just annihilated the German 255th Infantry Division. The commanders and soldiers are exhausted and they need a good rest.
It will take some time. At the same time, the additional troops given to us by our superiors will still need some time to adjust. Therefore, under the current circumstances, it is not suitable to launch an advanced attack yet."
Vatutin wanted to say a few more words, but was interrupted by Zhukov: "Comrade Vatutin, I think Sokov is right. After a long period of fighting, his troops have become exhausted and need to be repaired.
There are also those commanders and fighters who have just joined the army and need time to familiarize themselves with the environment and increase their compatibility with their new comrades."
"Comrade Marshal," after hearing Zhukov's words, Vatutin quickly covered the microphone with his hand and asked respectfully: "So, we will not launch an attack on Belgorod for the time being?"
"The troops participating in the operation are still being assembled." Zhukov reminded Vatutin, "There is no need for us to waste our own strength on such a meaningless attack."
"Understood, Comrade Marshal, I will immediately convey your message to Major General Sokov." Vatutin released his hand covering the microphone, "Major General Sokov, the current task of your group army is to seize the time to rest and recuperate.
Prepare to participate in the next phase of combat operations."
"Yes, Comrade General." Hearing that Vatutin would no longer allow him to carry out the mission of committing suicide, Sokov secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "We will complete the rest and make all battle preparations before the next war begins.
of."
Vatutin put down the phone and returned to Zhukov to continue having dinner. At this time, Vasilevsky suddenly said: "Marshal Zhukov, Comrade Sokov performed well during this period and annihilated several German divisions in succession.
, This is an amazing victory. When will the base camp plan to promote him to a higher rank and award him a medal?"
"It may take a while." Zhukov said slowly: "His grade is too young. If he is promoted too quickly, it will not be a good thing for his future. I think we should wait a little longer until we win Bel.
After Gorod and Kharkov, it is not too late to consider his affairs.”
"Yes, he is too young." Vasilevsky also said with emotion: "If he is promoted to lieutenant general or even general at a young age, I am worried about those who have been in the army for more than ten or twenty years.
A 20-year-old commander will feel resentful towards him."
"Many of our division-level commanders have served in the army for more than ten or twenty years and have rich command experience, but now they are only colonels or lieutenant colonels." Vatutin continued: "If they see Sokov is so young,
General, there will be some imbalance in his heart."
When Zhukov and others were talking about Sokov in the headquarters, Sokov was assigning tasks to Samyko in his headquarters: "Comrade Chief of Staff, General Vatutin has agreed to let us switch to defense on the spot.
Let’s attack Belgorod again. But during this period, we still have a lot to do..."
Seeing Samyko taking out his notebook and preparing to write down what he said, Sokov continued: "We don't know whether the enemy will launch another attack on our group army's defense area before our new round of offensive begins, so
All units should seize the time to build fortifications at the boundaries of where they are currently stationed to prevent possible German attacks.
Secondly, the commanders and fighters rescued from the prisoner-of-war camps should be replenished into various units as soon as possible, so that everyone can seize the time to run in and increase coordination in combat."
After Sokov finished handing over all the tasks, Samyko reminded him: "Comrade Commander, before the start of the battle, our entire group army was equipped with new assault rifles sent by the Weapons and Equipment Department. But after this period of time,
In battle, the attrition rate of assault rifles is very high. When will you contact the weapons and equipment department and ask them to replenish us with a batch of firearms so that all the rescued commanders and fighters can be armed."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think what you are talking about is a bit difficult to handle." Sokov frowned and said to Samyko: "I called Colonel Yakov some time ago, and he told me that what we need
The assault rifles will not be delivered until at least mid-August."
"Delivery in mid-August should be in time." Sameko said urgently: "Although we will launch a new attack on the enemy soon, according to my estimate, this battle will not take until at least half a month.
If we can supply the goods within a month, mid-August, we can just make up for the weapons lost on the battlefield."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think we can count on this batch of weapons."
"What, we can't count on this batch of weapons?" Sokov's words confused Samyko, and he asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, why is this?"
"The reason is very simple. These newly added commanders and fighters have no experience in using new assault rifles. Even if they are equipped with this batch of weapons, I am afraid it will be difficult for them to exert their due combat effectiveness on the battlefield."
Knowing that Sokov did not plan to equip the newly added soldiers with new assault rifles, Samek felt a little disappointed, but he still asked with a sense of luck: "What about other equipment? For example, rocket launchers and new rocket launchers
.You know, these weapons are the key to our surprise victory."
Sokov felt that Samyko's words made sense, so he nodded and said: "Chief of Staff, you are right. The main reason why we have been able to accomplish extraordinary feats repeatedly in recent battles is
We just rely on new equipment. We will soon be involved in a new battle. If we don't have enough new weapons, we may suffer huge casualties in the next battle."
After saying this, Sokov immediately called the director of the communications corps to him and asked straight to the point: "Comrade director of the communications corps, can the phone in our headquarters be used to communicate directly with Moscow?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The Director of the Communications Corps replied without hesitation: "I wonder which department in Moscow you plan to communicate with?"
"Material and Equipment Department, look for Colonel Yakov." Sokov said briefly: "I have important matters to discuss with him."
About five minutes later, the director of the communications corps came over and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the line in Moscow has been connected, and you can talk to the other party at any time."
Sokov took the phone: "Hello, I am Major General Sokov, who are you?"
"Misha, besides me, who else can be in my office?" Yakov knew that Sokov never went to the Three Treasures Palace for anything, so he took the initiative to call him today. There must be something important, so he asked quickly:
"Is there anything urgent you want to see me for?"
"Yes, Yakov, something very urgent."
"Tell me!" Yakov opened the folder in front of him, picked up a pen and paper, and asked with his usual expression: "I can record it."
"Yasha, the situation is like this." Sokov called the opponent's life affectionately and said bluntly, "My army has just added tens of thousands of new soldiers, but they lack enough weapons. I want to ask you,
When will the produced assault rifles arrive?”
"Misha, didn't I tell you last time? It will be mid-August at the earliest. This is the fastest deadline that we can achieve with our best efforts."
"No, it's been delayed for too long. As a result, we won't be able to use it when we participate in the next round of offensive operations." Sokov asked in a negotiating tone: "Can you talk to the military factory?
Can we discuss this with the factory director and engineers? Let them increase their daily output as soon as possible."
Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov was really dumbfounded: "Misha, I have provided you with all the help I can within the scope of my authority. Originally, the base camp wanted to list this new assault rifle as a
However, after my repeated persuasion, Comrade Ustinov finally agreed to give priority to these weapons and equipment to your troops.
You must know that according to the production plan of the military factory, the assault rifles that are about to leave the factory are intended to equip troops from the 1st Guards Division to the 20th Guards Division..."
Yakov was so excited that he spilled the beans for a moment in front of Sokov, but Sokov caught on to this flaw: "Wait a minute, Yasha, you said that according to the original production plan, the newly produced assault
Rifles are intended to be installed in 20 Guards divisions, did I hear that correctly?"
"That's right." Yakov realized that he had let something slip, so he could only answer bravely: "According to the plan of the base camp, we are going to use this batch of weapons to equip 20 Guards Divisions in order to improve their overall combat effectiveness.
force."
Sokov originally thought that the assault rifle would be delivered in the middle of half a month. By then, the new battle would be in full swing, and there would be no way for the commanders and fighters to change equipment during the battle, which would directly affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. Who would have thought that Yakov would listen to what Yakov said?
Meaning, the number of assault rifles to be delivered in mid-August may reach 200,000.
After knowing this little secret, Sokov decided to use this opportunity to give Yakov a good blow: "Yasha, you supply the Guards Division, you don't necessarily have to take it all out at once. You can definitely divide it into batches.
New assault rifles will be installed in the Guards Division in phases."
Yakov knew Sokov's character well, and when he heard what he said, he immediately guessed what his intentions must be, and asked unceremoniously: "Misha, don't talk in circles, just say what you have to say."
Seeing that his little trick was exposed by Yakov, Sokov laughed dryly, and then said: "Yasha, considering that we are all old friends, can you give priority to supplying some of the products from the general factory to
us?"
"Misha, you are making it difficult for me to do this." Yakov said, somewhat dumbfounded: "If Comrade Ustinov knows about this, how do you want me to explain it to him?"
"This is easy to handle, just tell the truth."
In order to prevent Yakov from looking forward and backward, Sokov quickly added: "By the way, Yasha, there is good news that I almost forgot to tell you. My troops annihilated the German 255th Infantry Division today and killed
I became the division commander."
"This is exciting news." This news made Yakov's eyes light up, but he soon questioned: "But why didn't I see such a battle report?"
"It's okay that you haven't seen the battle report. After all, the battle ended less than an hour ago." Sokov explained to Yakov: "If you follow the normal reporting procedures, you may have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see this.
An exciting battle report.”
Yakov remained silent.
"Yasha, do you know?" Seeing that Yakov was silent, Sokov guessed that he was in a fierce ideological struggle, so he quickly struck while the iron was hot and said: "Less than half of my troops participating in the attack are equipped.
Assault rifles and the rest are ordinary standard equipment, and as a result, we paid a lot of extra costs that we shouldn’t have to pay.”
Yakov heard the hidden meaning of Sokov's words: "Misha, stop talking, I understand what you mean, but this batch of weapons was sent to the 20 Guards Divisions by the base camp. I
I really can’t make the decision without authorization and hand it over to you.”
"Yasha," Sokov tried hard for a long time, but Yakov still insisted not to let go, which made him feel helpless: "After a while, we will launch a new round of attack on the enemy. If in
Before this, all my troops can be equipped with assault rifles, which will greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops and reduce casualties in battle."
"Okay, Misha, I can report your request to Comrade Ustinov." Yakov was so annoyed by Sokov that he could only bite the bullet and said: "But does he agree to give it to you?
The deployment of weapons by the group army is beyond my control. Do you understand?"
Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed to learn that Yakov was willing to put in a good word for himself in front of Ustinov. Based on his experience, he understood that the so-called reporting to Ustinov was just a process.
, and soon the weapons he urgently needed were continuously sent to his troops.
"And!" There is a big battle to be fought next. If Sokov can't find a way to hoard weapons and equipment, it will be a bit too late to really wait until the battle starts before transporting weapons and ammunition. Taking advantage of the fact that now is a time to knock Yaco
Naturally, Sokov would not give up the opportunity to rip off his husband easily: "Our rocket launchers and new rockets are almost used up. Do you think we can put another two thousand new rockets and rockets in the special train transporting assault rifles?"
One hundred rocket launchers?”
"You're dreaming!" Sokov's words made Yakov laugh instead of being angry: "Two thousand new rockets and one hundred rocket launchers, how dare you say that."
"There is no way," Sokov said helplessly: "Our group army lacks artillery and tank troops. If we don't have new rockets and rocket launchers, we will inevitably pay huge casualties in a head-to-head confrontation with the enemy."
"Okay, okay, Misha, don't complain in front of me." Faced with Sokov's persistent pursuit, Yakov said with a wry smile: "I will convey your request to Ust
Comrade Nove, but I can't guarantee whether he will agree. By the way, you are not the only one who needs new rockets, so I can only give you a thousand new rockets at most, and there will be no more than one. Listen.
Do you understand, Misha?"
"I understand, of course I understand." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Sokov said with a playful smile: "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire army, I would like to express my gratitude to you."
This chapter has been completed!