Sokov followed Khokhlov and others to the division command center. Seeing that it was a busy scene, he couldn't help but nodded secretly. It seemed that Colonel Khokhlov was taking people to greet him, but he did not relax his work here.
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov sat down at the table, took off his hat and placed it on the table, looked at Khokhlov and asked, "Was that comrade general not to make things difficult for you, right?"
"At the beginning, he tried hard to stop us from building fortifications, but a communications officer he accompanied told him that he had just received the latest news that the German vanguard had rushed into Oboyan." Khokhlov explained to Sokov: "When he heard this news, he stood here and sent a long time to stay. Before leaving, let us improve the fortifications here as soon as possible."
The Chief of Staff of the Division continued: "If the Germans had not rushed into the city of Oboyan, I think General Apanashenko would still have stopped us from building fortifications."
"It makes sense for the general to prevent us from building fortifications." Khokhlov continued: "Based on the intelligence we obtained, in order to prevent the German army from attacking in the Kursk region, our friendly forces carefully designed a defense plan and built several lines of defense with a defense depth of more than 150 kilometers. The entire defense system consists of a large number of trenches, barbed wire, anti-tank fire points and anti-tank trenches and minefields that cooperate closely with each other. A large number of troops and firepower were gathered in the most likely direction of the attack of the German army. Theoretically, it is basically impossible for the enemy to break through such a defense."
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov immediately refuted Khochlov's view: "No matter how strong the fortifications are, they have their weaknesses. As long as one side takes more effort to attack, it will definitely be able to break through. The French Maginot line is indestructible, but it is useless in the battle to defend France. The Germans knew that if they attacked this line of defense, the blitzkrieg would become a protracted tug-of-war, so they bypassed this line of defense and easily attacked France, forcing France to surrender to them."
When everyone present was silent after hearing Sokov say this, Khokhlov asked carefully: "Comrade Commander, do you think that after the enemy broke through the defense line of friendly forces, can we hurry to build the defense line to block the enemy?"
Sokov picked up the defense map on the table and looked at it pretentiously. He knew very well that after the German army broke through the Auboyon defense line, he only advanced 35 kilometers to the Soviet defense depth and was unable to continue moving forward. The defense area of the 182nd Division was just 35 kilometers away from Auboyon. When the German army that broke through friendly positions rushed here, it was already at the end of its strength. Not to mention an army, even if there was only one 182nd Division, it would be enough for the Germans to drink a pot.
After reading the defense map, Sokov put it on the table, nodded and said, "Col. Khokhlov, your site selection is very correct. You cleverly combine the terrain with our fortifications so that our officers and soldiers can rely on the terrain and resolutely block the enemies who break through the defense lines of friendly forces."
In order to find out the current situation, Sokov called his command and asked Sameko who was staying there: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to ask you if you can contact the headquarters of the Voronezh Front, and I want to know the situation of the battle there."
Although Sokov's location is less than twenty kilometers away from the Vatujing command center and it is not even an hour to take a bus, in order to figure out the other party's situation, he had to contact Vatujing through the command center hundreds of kilometers away.
After Sameko waited for Sokov to finish his speech, he quickly replied: "Don't worry, comrade Commander, I will contact the Voronezh Front Command immediately and will report the situation on the battlefield to you in the shortest time."
Sameko said he would reply to Sokov soon, but to contact the headquarters of the Voronezh Front, he had to go through the headquarters of the Grassland Front. After several turnovers, he finally sent a telegram asking about the situation on the battlefield to the headquarters of the Voronezh Front.
After almost an hour, Sokov received a call from Sameko: "Comrade Commander, I have figured it out. Yesterday afternoon, General Vatujing organized troops to launch a counterattack against the enemy, achieved some results, and prevented the German army from advancing towards Kursk.
But during the day today, the counterattack carried out by friendly forces was frustrated and had to retreat to the starting point of the attack. The German army launched a fierce attack on our friendly forces under this situation. Although General Vatujing used all the front reserves, the Germans' offense was more fierce than expected. Unfortunately, after a series of fierce battles, the Germans broke through the second line of defense of friendly forces and forced the Pena River..."
When Samek introduced the battlefield situation, Sokov kept finding the place names he said on the map and marked them one by one. After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Khokhlov and others with a serious expression: "Comrades, the situation is more serious than we imagined. The German vanguard has forced the Pena River. If they are nervous and smooth, their tanks will appear in front of our positions in just two days at most."
"What, the enemy will rush to our defense zone in just two days?" Khokhlov said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, you must know that the friendly forces have deployed powerful forces in front of us, how can they not stop the enemy?"
"What's impossible?" Sokov said with a straight face: "It's all new recruits who have added to the army, and many of them have not even conducted basic military training. Can such troops stop the German troops who have been through many battles?"
Khokhlov was silent for a long time, and finally asked Sokov carefully: "Comrade Commander, if the Germans really rushed to us, do you think we can stop them? Or let the other divisions speed up the march and come here to set up defense?"
"Comrade Colonel, I have just said that your fortifications and terrain are cleverly combined so that our officers and soldiers can use fortifications to block the enemy's attack." Sokov told Khokhlov: "Our place is basically a hilly area, and the enemy cannot use armored forces on a large scale. As long as the Germans do not have the cover of tanks and cannons, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced."
"Our fortifications are built in a hurry." After Sokov finished speaking, he asked tentatively: "Look, do you need to pull the barbed wire and lay the minefield overnight?"
"You are in a hurry and don't carry much of all kinds of supplies." Sokov shook his head and said, "Even if you want to pull wires and lay mines, the areas you control may be limited. I think it's better to let the commanders and fighters have a good rest for a night. From tomorrow on, you might have to fight a fierce battle."
No words all night.
Early on the first morning, an uninvited guest came to the command center.
Seeing the four generals on the other party's shoulder, Sokov immediately guessed that the commander with black hair, national face and a short stature was General Apanesechenko, known as the "Far East Tsar".
Although Sokov was dissatisfied with the construction of the troops that he had interfered with yesterday, the other party's military rank was much higher than himself after all, and he was one of the five generals before the war. He quickly stood up and saluted him and reported in accordance with the regulations: "Hello, Comrade General. I am Major General Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army. On behalf of all the commanders and soldiers, I welcome your arrival."
"You are Major General Sokov." Apaneseko nodded to Sokov and said lightly: "It looks very young. I want to ask, with your qualifications and level, can you command a troops of tens of thousands of people?"
"Comrade General, I know that I am too young and have not yet entered a military academy, and my command ability is indeed very poor. When my superior appointed me as the commander of the group army, I was always uneasy." Sokov smiled and said, "I hope that Comrade General will give me more advice when he has free time."
Apanesesenko originally thought that a person like Sokov, who was young and in a high position, must have a sense of arrogance, and might have a little bit of a word to fight with him. He did this on the phone yesterday. But as soon as he met, Apanesesenko found that the other party was respectful to him and could not see any arrogant appearance.
Sokov was respectful to himself, and Apanashenko was not good at getting angry at the other party, so he could only cough heavily, then changed the subject and asked: "General Sokov, I believe you also know that the German army broke through our second line of defense and forced the Pena River?"
"Yes, comrade General. I heard about this." Sokov nodded and replied, "I know that our friendly forces showed the heroic and tenaciousness they deserve in the battle, but the enemy's attack intensity was far beyond our imagination, so they were forced to retreat in some areas. But I believe that it will not take long for our friendly forces to launch a counterattack and regain the area occupied by the enemy..."
When Sokov said this, he felt that he was getting goosebumps. This was the first time he had broken through the defense line and the defenders had to retreat, saying it was so fresh and unconventional.
But Apanesesenko's statement about Sokov seems to be very useful. "Comrade Sokov, it seems that you still have a clear understanding of your ability." Apanesesenko said with a smile: "I have nothing to guide you, but I run around in various defense areas every day, responsible for some contact work. If you have anything to say to Comrade Vatujing, you can tell me and I will convey it to you."
Sokov remembers that Apaneseko died in the late stage of the Battle of Kursk. Although many public information shows that he encountered a German air strike while commanding the battle at the front, and the command was destroyed by a bomb, and unfortunately died. But Sokov knew that the actual situation was not the case. Instead, Apaneseko often traveled to the headquarters and the frontier in jeeps. After being controlled by the German army, he dispatched air force bombing, which led to his death.
Although Sokov felt that the other party was a scheming, if he really wanted to watch him die, Sokov felt a little reluctant. After reorganizing the words in his mind, he said to Apanashenko: "Comrade General, the war has begun now. I think you should stay in the headquarters to ensure your safety."
Apanathenko is an old-school commander. He feels that as a commander, he should stay in the most dangerous place in the battle so that he can boost morale. At this moment, he heard Sokov's persuasion and said disapprovingly: "General Sokov, don't you know that if a commander stays in a place where all the soldiers can see, it can stabilize the morale and boost morale?"
Sokov originally wanted to persuade him, but he saw a strange major breaking in from outside and said to Apanesechenko with a panic look: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, something is wrong."
"Comrade Major, as a commander, you must learn to calm down so that your soldiers will not panic." After teaching the major a lesson, Apanesechenko asked calmly: "Now tell me, what happened?"
"I just received a telegram from the Front Command." The major said in a panic: "Not long ago, the German army that crossed the Pena River broke through our third line of defense and is now advancing here."
"What, our third line of defense has also been broken through by the German army?" Apanesenko asked in surprise: "Where is our reserve team, why not block the breakthrough opened by the German army as soon as possible?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front," he heard Apanashenko's doubts, the major reminded him carefully: "Our reserve team was exhausted in the counterattack the afternoon before yesterday and yesterday morning. Now there is no extra force to block the enemy rushing towards our defense."
"The enemy broke through our defense," Apaneseko walked back and forth around the house with his hands behind his back, muttering: "We must find a way to block them, otherwise they can take the opportunity to rush towards Moscow, and we will definitely not tolerate this situation."
Sokov didn't speak, but just stared at Apanashenko silently, trying to see what decision he would make. But unfortunately, Apanashenko didn't express any opinion except walking back and forth in the command center.
After a while, Apanathenko finally stopped and looked at Sokov and asked, "General Sokov, how many troops do you have in your hands?"
"There is only one infantry division, about 5,000 people." Sokov knew that the purpose of Apaneseko's question was to let himself block the enemy, so he remained silent after simply answering the other party's questions.
"Although there are a little less people, it should be enough to use them to fight back." Apaneseko calculated silently for a moment, and then issued an order to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, I order you now to organize troops immediately to counterattack the enemies that are facing the depths of our defense. Be sure to fight them back."