Sokov and Yakov left, but Rokossovsky did not rest. He called Malinin in front of him, pointed at the map and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if we make a request to the Supreme Command, let the city If our troops cooperate with us and launch an offensive here, we may be able to create a gap in the German's solid encirclement and continuously send in the soldiers and technical equipment needed in the city."
Malinin looked at the position of Rokossovsky's finger, which was the position captured by Sokov, and couldn't help but said with regret: "It's a pity that the counterattack against the German army in the city ended in failure, otherwise we really could have tried At once, attack the enemy from both sides at the same time. As long as our attack is effective, the German troops in the northeast of the city may be annihilated by us."
"Our first priority at present is to accumulate enough soldiers, weapons and ammunition at this location." Rokossovsky tapped the map twice with his finger: "And launch a powerful offensive against the enemy at the right time. .”
"Although the Germans have not yet noticed that our army has occupied this position." Malinen reminded Rokossovsky: "But if we carry out large-scale troop mobilization, the Germans will definitely find that the position has been lost."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, even if we do nothing, do you think the Germans won't be able to discover us?" Rokossovsky waved to Malinin and said, "What we need now is time before the Germans discover us. , Assemble troops and weapons and equipment to the greatest extent, and prepare for an attack."
"General Jia Xiaoning's 24th Group Army, in addition to the 298th Division, has occupied the position, and the other two divisions are also moving towards the area." Malinin knew the situation of the troops very well, and when Rokossovsky finished speaking, He began to report: "According to my analysis, we can assemble three divisions of troops here before dawn."
"No, with three divisions placed in such a narrow spot, a single enemy artillery shell or bomb will cause dozens of casualties to us." Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "Therefore, in addition to the position, Outside the 98th Division, the two newly arrived divisions will not enter the position for the time being, but will look for hiding places nearby to hide."
After recording Rokossovsky's order, Malinin asked respectfully: "Comrade Commander, do we need to report the news that we have occupied this position to the Supreme Command?"
"Yes. After all, if we want to rush to Orlovka from there, we cannot do without the cooperation of friendly forces." Rokossovsky agreed to Malinin's proposal, and finally added: "Remember, you must explain in detail , this position was occupied by Sokov’s troops.”
About half an hour after the telegram was sent, the high-frequency telephone on the table rang. Malinin glanced at the phone and said cautiously to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, isn't this a call from the Supreme Commander himself?"
"It's hard to say." Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch and found that it was only 3:30 in the morning. Logically speaking, Stalin was sleeping at the moment. How could he call himself? Maybe it was a telegram from the General Staff asking about him. He picked up the phone, put it to his ear and said, "Hello, I'm Rokossovsky."
"Hello, dear Konstantin Konstantinovich!" Stalin's voice came from the receiver. He affectionately called Rokossovsky by his birth name and father's name, and asked directly: "I I just saw the telegram you sent, saying that you have occupied an important position north of Orlovka, is that right?"
"That's right, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky quickly stood up straight and said respectfully: "It was captured by the troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Sokov when they broke through from Orlovka to the north. "
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?" After Stalin repeated the last name and military rank mentioned by Rokossovsky, he suddenly realized: "Oh, you are talking about Xiao Misha, right? Where is he now? He is still in the position. Up?"
"No, Comrade Stalin, I have sent the 298th Division to take over the defense." Rokossovsky knew very well that Stalin was obviously concerned about Sokov's safety, but actually wanted to know about his son's situation. "Don't worry, Sokov and Yakov are now safe in Maloy Ivanovka. When I fly to Moscow the day after tomorrow, Yakov will be with me."
Rokossovsky's guess was correct. Stalin was indeed concerned about his son's safety, but he couldn't ask his subordinates directly. He could only ask about Sokov's situation in a roundabout way. Therefore, he knew that Yakov and Sokov The relationship is good, the two of them are definitely together at the moment. As long as we have Sokov's whereabouts, we can know whether Yakov is safe.
At this moment, when he heard Rokossovsky saying that Yakov would return to Moscow in two days, Stalin breathed a sigh of relief, and then said into the microphone: "The counterattack launched by the defenders in the city has ended in failure. How about it, do you still have the strength to launch an assault into the city?"
"Comrade Stalin, I was just discussing with Malinin to use that position as the starting point of the attack and launch an attack on Orlovka from there." Rokossovsky reported on the phone: "But to launch such an attack The offensive requires the cooperation of artillery and air force.”
"Artillery is the god of war!" After Stalin said his wise words, he continued: "Since our air force is still very weak, it may be difficult for your troops to provide you with the necessary air cover when attacking, so we only Can use artillery to cover your ground attack."
Rokossovsky knew that all fronts were surprised, and even if he made a request to Stalin, it would be difficult to get it met. Unexpectedly, after Stalin said that he could not provide air cover, he unexpectedly offered to provide himself with artillery support. Just when he wanted to ask what kind of artillery support he could get, he heard Stalin continue: "I will send a representative from the base camp to your front headquarters, and he will coordinate the artillery troops to cooperate with you. "
After assigning the task, Stalin was about to put down the phone when he seemed to suddenly remember something and added: "Misha is good. Comrade Rokossovsky, please tell him when you see him." This is my word."
Although there was only a simple sentence, Rokossovsky knew very well that receiving such a compliment from Stalin was no less than receiving a medal. After all, everyone has a chance to get a medal, but those who can be praised by the Supreme Commander himself are very rare.
Rokossovsky originally planned to send a staff officer to accompany Sokov to Vinryvka to receive the new troops. But after hearing Stalin's personal praise of Sokov, he changed his mind again. He said to Malinin: "The way I see it, Colonel Bely is going to Vinryvka with Mischa anyway, so why not let Director of Armored Corps O Liao Er, as the representative of the front army, should take Misha and the others to Wenrivka to receive the troops."
If Malinin hadn't been too busy at work to leave, he would have gone to Vinryvka with Sokov and the others. At this moment, when he heard that Rokossovsky was going to send Orel to lead the team, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "This is great, comrade commander. If Comrade Orel takes charge, those in charge of the new recruits will not give What did Sokov look like?"
…………
After daybreak, Sokov gathered the personnel of the first battalion, the guard battalion, and the tank battalion. After a simple breakfast, we were ready to leave the city and head to Vinrivka.
Unexpectedly, before they left the city, a jeep carrying Orel arrived. The jeep stopped next to Sokov. Orel leaned out of the car and said to Sokov and Bely: "Two comrades, commanders, get in the car. I will take you to Vinryvka myself." .”
After Sokov and Bely got in the car, the jeep continued to drive forward. Sokov curiously asked Orel: "General Orel, didn't Chief of Staff Malinin say that he would send us a staff officer to lead the way? Why did it change to you?"
"Comrade Commander is worried that when you receive new recruits in Vinryvka, those in charge of managing recruits will make things difficult for you." Orel explained to Sokov: "So Comrade Commander sent me to go with you. If If anyone creates trouble for you when receiving soldiers, I will deal with it promptly."
"Thank you, Comrade General." After hearing Orel's words, Sokov said gratefully: "With your help, our reception of soldiers will definitely go very smoothly."
Vinryvka is only seven or eight kilometers away from Maple Ivanovka, and the jeep only drove there for ten minutes. Seeing the densely packed tents outside the city, Sokov couldn't help but asked worriedly: "Comrade General, our soldiers have set up so many tents outside the city. If they are discovered by enemy reconnaissance planes, they will definitely attract violent bombings. Inevitably there will be losses.”
"Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, things are not as bad as you think." Orel replied with a smile: "We have deployed enough anti-aircraft artillery units around the city. If the German planes don't come, it will be over." , once it comes, there will be no coming back if you discipline him.”
The jeep came to a stop in front of a three-story building in the city. The sentry guarding the door saw a jeep parked at the door and was about to step forward to stop it. However, when the car door opened, a man walked out of it. General, he did not dare to neglect and quickly raised his hand to salute.
"Where is your commander?" Orel asked straight to the point.
An officer on duty quickly replied: "Report to Comrade General, Colonel Benteleev is in the office on the second floor."
"Take me to him immediately!"
The officer agreed, then turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation: "Comrade General, please come in!" Seeing Orel follow the officer into the building, Sokov and Bely also followed.
Arriving at the door of a room on the second floor, the officer stopped, turned to Orel and said, "Comrade General, we're here. Colonel Panteleev is inside."
Orel saw a desk at the door of the room, but no one was sitting behind it, so he said to the officer leading the way: "Go in and report to Colonel Panteleev, and tell the commander of the front armored forces, Olel Liao Er is here."
Less than a minute after the officer walked in, a short and fat colonel walked out of the room following the officer. When he saw Orel standing at the door, he quickly raised his hand to salute, and reported respectfully: "Comrade General, Colonel Bentaleyev, Director of the Recruit Management Office, is reporting to you. I am at your command. Please instruct!"
"Please rest a moment!" After Orel said this, he walked inside and asked casually: "Comrade Colonel, what were you busy with when I came here?"
"What else can we be busy with? Of course we are counting the list of new recruits." Panteleev said with a grimace: "After counting the number of people, we also need to check which unit has suffered the greatest losses, and then add new recruits to that unit first."
"Comrade Colonel," Orel found a chair and sat down, looked up at Bentleyev, pointed at Sokov and Bely, and said: "Let me introduce to you, these two It’s Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and Colonel Bely.”
When he heard Orel's introduction, he actually started with a commander with a low military rank, Panteleev couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. However, he quickly regained his composure. After taking a look at the rank mark on Bely's collar badge, he said regretfully: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, the recruits I have are all infantrymen, not tank soldiers."
Bely quickly waved his hand to Panteleev and said: "Comrade Colonel, you misunderstood. I am accompanying Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to receive the infantry today. As for the tank troops, you don't need to worry. Our tank troops lack It’s the tank, not the tank crew driving the tank.”
After figuring out that Sokov was the main character today, Benteleev returned to his desk and sat down, looked up at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how many recruits do you plan to have?"
Hearing Benteleev's question, Sokov couldn't help but be startled. In his opinion, since his superiors asked him to come here to replenish troops, he must have replenished all the new recruits. But the director of the Recruitment Department in front of him asked, do you only plan to give yourself a small number of soldiers?
Seeing Sokov's delay in answering, Bentaleyev showed an unhappy expression on his face: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, didn't you hear what I said? How many troops do you want?"
"Comrade Colonel," Seeing that Benteleev was angry, Sokov quickly replied: "If I want to replenish my brigade to full strength, I will need at least four thousand people."
"What, you want 4,000 people?" Hearing Sokov's answer, Benteleev almost jumped up from his seat: "I only have less than 5,000 people in total, and you actually want 4,000 people?" , the appetite is a bit too much."
When Orel heard this, he coughed heavily, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's infantry brigade is now responsible for guarding Mamayev Heights. If sufficient troops cannot be supplemented and the position cannot be held, Who will bear this responsibility?"
