"Of course we let them withdraw into the city," Sokov replied without hesitation: "After such a long battle, General Popov's troops not only had a large number of wounded, but the commanders and soldiers also became tired. It’s unbearable and it’s obviously inappropriate for them to continue to stay in the suburbs.”
"But, Comrade Colonel. I wonder if you have ever thought about what if all the troops retreated into the city." Ruhle felt that Sokov was still too young and inexperienced to make such a wrong decision, so he persuaded: "Once the enemy implements a two-wing detour, the defenders in the city will be surrounded by them."
"Don't worry, Colonel Ruhle, even if we withdraw all our troops into the city, the enemy will not be able to encircle the city. You know, to the south of us is the defense area of the 21st Group Army; to the north, there is a Guards. If the German army wants to implement a two-wing detour, they must be mentally prepared to be counter-encircled." Sokov said confidently: "Besides, I only asked General Popov's troops to retreat into the city, and my The troops will still be fighting the enemy outside the city."
"Comrade Commander," Vitkov interjected from the side: "Colonel Ruhle has been fighting continuously for almost a week. He must be very tired. I think he should be allowed to rest."
"The chief of staff is right. Colonel Ruhle must be very tired after repeated battles. It's better to go and rest quickly." After Sokov finished speaking, he shouted outside: "Lieutenant Samoilov!" "
"Here!" Following Sokov's shout, Samoylov strode in from outside. He strode to Sokov's front and quietly waited for him to give him orders.
"This is Colonel Ruhle of the friendly forces." Sokov said to Samoylov: "He just jumped out of the enemy's encirclement with his troops, and he is already exhausted. Take him to the nearby Rest in the inn.”
"Yes!" After Samoylov agreed resoundingly, he said politely to Ruhle: "Comrade Colonel, please! I will take you to rest!"
Seeing that Sokov and others gave him an order to be kicked out, Ruhle stood up wisely, said goodbye to the two of them, and followed Samoylov out of the headquarters.
After Ruhle left the headquarters, Vitkov couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Commander, how many people do you think General Popov's troops can successfully break through?"
"It's hard to say. Thousands or even hundreds of people are possible." Sokov said with a wry smile: "It all depends on how quickly they can join forces with Colonel Bely. But what I'm worried about now is that once Bobo General Hu has withdrawn to Luhansk, and I am afraid that the main force of the German army will swarm in, and there may be a fierce battle."
While he was talking, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps outside. Sokov heard the sound of a group of people running and couldn't help but frowned: "Who is outside?"
As soon as he finished speaking, seven or eight armed soldiers rushed in from outside. Without even looking at Sokov, they stood on both sides of the door. Seeing the soldiers coming in, all carrying Popov submachine guns on their chests, Sokov immediately realized that they were definitely not members of the guard battalion, and asked loudly: "Whose subordinates are you, and who allowed you to come in."
"They are my subordinates." A loud voice came from the door, and then a general with a short stature and broad shoulders strode in from the outside.
After seeing the person clearly, Sokov immediately jumped up from his seat. He raised his hand to his forehead and said loudly: "Hello, Comrade General!"
The person who came was none other than General Zhukov, who had not been heard from for a long time. He walked up to Sokov and others, shook hands with them one by one, and said: "I heard that your troops are fighting the enemy in the west direction of the city, trying to rescue Popov's rapid group that broke through."
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov quickly replied: "The German army assembled several elite divisions and launched a full-scale attack on General Popov's troops. If we do not rescue him, his troops will be destroyed. A devastating blow.”
"The annihilation of the entire army is the annihilation of the entire army. There is a big difference between the destruction of the army and the annihilation of the entire army." Zhukov looked at Sokov and said with a sneer: "Afraid of making me angry by telling the truth, he actually Here you are talking to me."
Zhukov sat down at the table, turned on the faucet of the samovar, poured himself a cup of tea, and asked Sokov slowly: "Colonel Sokov, tell me, once General Popov's troops successfully break through, what will the German army do next?" How to do it?"
"There are two possibilities." Although Sokov knew that in the original history, after the German army severely damaged Popov's Rapid Group and the Sixth Army, they turned around and headed north to attack Golikov's Voronezh Front. But now that he is rescuing Popov's troops, will he stoke a hornet's nest and divert the enemy's attention to his location? Therefore, he carefully analyzed Zhukov and said: "The first is to turn around and go north to attack General Golikov's Voronezh Front; the second is to go east to seize Lugansk under our control."
"Then which one do you think the German army is more likely to choose between these two possibilities?"
"Both are possible." Sokov could not make the right choice at all, and could only say vaguely: "Whether it is General Golikov's troops or my troops, we must be prepared to fight a fierce battle. In this way, no matter which direction the enemy attacks, we can give them a head-on attack."
"Well said." Regarding Sokov's attitude, Zhukov affirmed: "No matter which direction the troops are in, as long as there is a possibility of being attacked by the German army, they must be vigilant and ready to meet the enemy. I I plan to stay here for a while, please arrange a place for me."
"Ah, Comrade General, do you want to stay here?" When Sokov learned that Zhukov planned to live in Lugansk, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat: "No, absolutely not. A war may break out here at any time, you stay here It’s really unsafe here.”
"Don't you know that during the defense of Moscow, I and the driver ran around the front many times without even a guard around me?" Regarding Sokov's worries, Zhukov felt that he was a little nervous, so he confidently said Said: "Compared with the environment at that time, your place can be regarded as the rear."
Sokov knew Zhukov's character very well and knew that once he decided something, even nine oxen could not pull him back, so he asked Vitkov to arrange accommodation for Zhukov and his men.
"Misha." In private, Zhukov did not call Sokov by his surname or military rank, but called him by his nickname and asked, "Do you still have any difficulties?"
"Comrade General, there are difficulties. For example, we do not have any strong permanent fortifications outside the city. It is obviously unrealistic to just hold on outside the city. I am afraid that when the battle reaches a certain stage, we will retreat. Enter the city and engage in street fighting with the enemy." Since Zhukov asked himself to raise difficulties, Sokov was naturally not polite and told him all the things that were currently causing him headaches: "Also, we do not have air supremacy. If the enemy attacks the city, , with the cooperation of the Air Force, our defensive battle will become more difficult."
