"Under the current circumstances, we can only try our luck." Klitschko said, then called the director of the communications corps and told him: "Get me through to Moscow immediately. I want to find Golikov." General."
"Comrade Commander," the director of the communications corps said with some embarrassment after hearing Klitschko's order: "Since General Golikov was dismissed from his post, I don't know where he has been transferred?"
Klitschko thought that Golikov returned to Moscow after he was dismissed. As for what he is doing now, not many people know. If he hadn't met a friend from Moscow not long ago and accidentally mentioned Golikov, he would not have known where the other person was at this time.
Hearing the question from the Director of the Communications Corps, he quickly said: "General Golikov is now the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, responsible for the management of cadres. You can call the People's Commissar of Defense and you should be able to find him there."
After struggling for more than half an hour, Klitschko finally got through to Golikov. Hearing Golikov's call, he said excitedly: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, this is Klitschko, how are you doing recently?"
"It's okay." After Golikov answered briefly, he asked: "Your army group is currently fighting the German army heading north. Why did you remember to call me?"
"That's it, Commander of the Front Army." Although Klitschko knew that it was taboo to report over the top, but in order to prevent his troops from being annihilated in this battle, he could only bite the bullet and do such taboo things: "My army group has suffered heavy losses after a long battle and is in urgent need of replenishment."
"The troops need to be replenished. You can contact Comrade Vatutin. He is now the commander of the Voronezh Front." Golikov asked in confusion: "What is the use of looking for me?"
"I have already looked for him, but he was unable to provide me with reinforcements at all. On the contrary, he ordered us to use the existing troops to hold our position tenaciously and not to retreat even a step."
"Comrade Vatutin's order is correct." Golikov said with some confusion: "Even if I were in his position, I would give you the same order."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army..."
"Stop it, I am no longer the commander of the Voronezh Front."
"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar," Klitschko quickly changed his name to a new one when he saw that Golikov was a bit reluctant to call him by his previous position: "In today's battle, in order to block the enemy's attack, I have In the end, all the reserves went into battle. If the German offensive is still fierce tomorrow, I don’t think I have any power to stop them."
"What should we do?" Golikov stared at the map in front of him and asked with a serious expression: "If you can't hold the position, will you stop holding it? If your position is breached by the Germans, they can go all the way north and detour back to Kurdistan. In the Kursk area, we will join forces with the German Ninth Army heading south. By that time, our troops deployed in the Kursk salient will be surrounded by the German army."
"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, I also want to avoid this kind of thing from happening, so I take the liberty to ask for your help."
"How can I help you?"
"That's right, about twenty kilometers behind us is the Pushor River. The troops stationed there now are the 27th Army of Major General Sokov." Klitschko said with some embarrassment: "If we can get With their support, I believe we will be able to block the German attack tomorrow."
"In that case, you can contact him directly." Knowing that Sokov's troops were stationed on the banks of the Pushol River, Golikov felt inexplicably relieved. He felt that as long as Sokov's troops place, then the Germans would never be able to advance smoothly. Regarding Klitschko's proposal to seek help from Sokov, he thought it was quite good and said kindly: "Sokov is a very talkative person. If he finds that you are in danger, he will I came to support you without hesitation.”
"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, that's the reason." Klitschko said with some embarrassment: "But I have never dealt with him before, so I rashly asked him for help, worried that he would reject me?"
"You were worried about being rejected by him, so you wanted to ask me to mediate." When Golikov heard this, he immediately understood what Klitschko meant, and said with a smile: "You think my face is that big , as soon as you show up, Comrade Sokov will agree to send troops to support you?"
"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, please." Klitschko heard from Golikov's tone that the other party was indeed willing to help him, so he pleaded hard: "Please and General Sokov Say hello and let him understand the actual situation here, but it will be much easier if I open my mouth again."
"Okay, General Kryuchinkin." Golikov was still very affectionate for this general who had fought alongside him. He said euphemistically: "I will immediately tell Soko what you mean. I will convey it to Comrade Husband, but I can’t guarantee whether he agrees or not.”
A few minutes later, the phone in front of Sokov rang. He thought it was one of his subordinates reporting to him the defense situation, so he picked up the phone and said, "I'm Sokov, who are you?"
"Hello, Misha." Unexpectedly, a familiar voice came from the receiver: "I am Golikov."
"Hello, Comrade General." Sokov only knew that Golikov had been removed from his post, but he did not know what position he held now, so he could only address the other party by his military rank: "Do you have any instructions?"
"Instructions are out of the question." Golikov said with a smile, "I do have one thing I want to ask you for help with."
"Comrade General," Sokov thought Golikov was joking with him, so he smiled and said, "How can I help you?"
"Yes." Golikov suppressed the smile on his face and said seriously: "Almost twenty kilometers south of you, General Klitschko's 69th Army is deployed. After a long battle, they After that, even the reserves were exhausted. If the German army launches another fierce attack tomorrow, their position will be in danger of being breached. As a group army commander, you should know very well that if the 69th Group Army's position is breached by the enemy, , what serious consequences will it bring?”
"Yes, Comrade General, I understand very well." Sokov nodded and said: "Once the 69th Group Army's position is breached, the German army can continue to advance north and detour back to the location of Kursk, and with their The troops moving south will join forces and encircle all our troops deployed in the Kursk salient."
"Misha, you have indeed seen this." Golikov waited for Sokov to finish and then said with a smile: "Now there is an opportunity to prevent the 69th Group Army's defense zone from being breached. Are you willing to help?"
When Sokov heard what Golikov said, he began to think quickly: "The 69th Army unit used to be commanded by Golikov. Today he called himself inexplicably and specifically mentioned this unit. , does he want to entrust his affairs to be related to the 69th Army?"
Sokov thought as he looked down at the map in front of him, looking for the location of the 69th Army. After seeing the opponent's position clearly, he immediately guessed the purpose of Golikov's call. If the German army really broke through the 69th Group Army's defense area, then the next attack target would be the location of his own troops. In order to prevent your defense zone from being attacked by the enemy, you must find a way to block the enemy from a distance.
Wanting to understand this, Sokov asked tentatively: "Comrade General, I want you to call me. Do you want me to send troops to strengthen the defense of the 69th Group Army to prevent the enemy from breaking through our defense line?"
"It saves trouble to talk to smart people." Golikov was still hesitating in his heart about how to say this to Sokov. Unexpectedly, it only took a moment for the other party to guess his purpose, and he said with a smile: "I'm calling you to ask you to send a unit to reinforce the 69th Group Army."
"Comrade General, if you are still serving as the commander of the Voronezh Front, as long as you give the order, I will immediately send troops to reinforce." After thinking for a moment, Sokov shook his head and said: "But now, please forgive me, I cannot agree to your request."
Seeing Sokov rejecting his request, Golikov turned livid with anger. He wanted to scold the other party twice, saying that he no longer served in the army, but he actually refused to accept his own blame. But when I thought about it, Sokov's behavior was understandable. After all, if he mobilized troops without permission from his superiors, he would be in danger of being sent to a military court at any time.
"Under the current circumstances, we can only try our luck." Klitschko said, then called the director of the communications corps and told him: "Get me through to Moscow immediately. I want to find Golikov." General."
"Comrade Commander," the director of the communications corps said with some embarrassment after hearing Klitschko's order: "Since General Golikov was dismissed from his post, I don't know where he has been transferred?"
Klitschko thought that Golikov returned to Moscow after he was dismissed. As for what he is doing now, not many people know. If he hadn't met a friend from Moscow not long ago and accidentally mentioned Golikov, he would not have known where the other person was at this time.
Hearing the question from the Director of the Communications Corps, he quickly said: "General Golikov is now the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, responsible for the management of cadres. You can call the People's Commissar of Defense and you should be able to find him there."
After struggling for more than half an hour, Klitschko finally got through to Golikov. Hearing Golikov's call, he said excitedly: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, this is Klitschko, how are you doing recently?"
"It's okay." After Golikov answered briefly, he asked: "Your army group is currently fighting the German army heading north. Why did you remember to call me?"
"That's it, Commander of the Front Army." Although Klitschko knew that it was taboo to report over the top, but in order to prevent his troops from being annihilated in this battle, he could only bite the bullet and do such taboo things: "My army group has suffered heavy losses after a long battle and is in urgent need of replenishment."
"The troops need to be replenished. You can contact Comrade Vatutin. He is now the commander of the Voronezh Front." Golikov asked in confusion: "What is the use of looking for me?"
"I have already looked for him, but he was unable to provide me with reinforcements at all. On the contrary, he ordered us to use the existing troops to hold our position tenaciously and not to retreat even a step."
"Comrade Vatutin's order is correct." Golikov said with some confusion: "Even if I were in his position, I would give you the same order."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army..."
"Stop it, I am no longer the commander of the Voronezh Front."
"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar," Klitschko quickly changed his name to a new one when he saw that Golikov was a bit reluctant to call him by his previous position: "In today's battle, in order to block the enemy's attack, I have In the end, all the reserves went into battle. If the German offensive is still fierce tomorrow, I don’t think I have any power to stop them."
"What should we do?" Golikov stared at the map in front of him and asked with a serious expression: "If you can't hold the position, why don't you stop holding it? If your position is breached by the Germans, they can go all the way north and return to Kurdistan in a roundabout way. In the Kursk area, we will join forces with the German Ninth Army heading south. By that time, our troops deployed in the Kursk salient will be surrounded by the German army."
"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, I also want to avoid this kind of thing from happening, so I take the liberty to ask for your help."
"How can I help you?"
"It's like this. About 20 kilometers behind us is the Pushor River. The troops stationed there now are the 27th Army of Major General Sokov." Klitschko said with some embarrassment: "If we can get With their support, I believe we will be able to block the German attack tomorrow."
"In that case, you can contact him directly." Knowing that Sokov's troops were stationed on the banks of the Pushol River, Golikov felt inexplicably relieved. He felt that as long as Sokov's troops place, then the Germans would never be able to advance smoothly. Regarding Klitschko's proposal to seek help from Sokov, he thought it was quite good, so he said kindly: "Sokov is a very talkative person. If he finds that you are in danger, he will I came to support you without hesitation.”
"Comrade Deputy People's Commissar, that's the reason." Klitschko said with some embarrassment: "But I have never dealt with him before, so I rashly asked him for help, worried that he would reject me?"
