It stands to reason that if a subordinate is contradicted in this way, the superior will definitely get angry. At the very least, the person will not look good to the other party; at worst, the person may be kept in cold storage and no longer be given anything to contribute to his career.
But Sokov was not such a person. When he heard Guchakov say this, he asked kindly: "Major Guchakov, why do you say that? Tell me your reasons."
As soon as Guchakov said the words, he immediately realized that he had said something wrong. Because the person standing in front of him was neither one of his subordinates nor an ally, but his immediate superior. When he was worried, he heard what Sokov said. He was stunned for a moment, and then replied cautiously: "Comrade Commander, since there is a German material transfer warehouse in Pavlish, they will definitely send heavy troops to guard it. As long as we If they launch an attack, they will put up a desperate resistance. If they find that they cannot hold it, the enemy will definitely burn down the warehouse without hesitation to prevent the materials inside from falling into the hands of our army."
"Yes, Major Guchakov, you are right." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "According to my understanding of the Germans, once they find out that the warehouse may be lost, they will definitely They will not hesitate to burn down the warehouse and destroy the materials stored there, making our hard work in vain.”
Seeing that Sokov understood this, Guchakov realized what solutions the other party might have, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas to successfully seize the warehouse before the Germans are ready to destroy the supplies?" ?"
"Major Guchakov," Seeing that the other party seemed to have guessed his intention, Sokov said with a smile: "As my old subordinate, you should understand that when I command operations, I am not just conducting conventional positional battles and offensive battles. There are also some special tactics. For example, during the Battle of Stalingrad, we used such tactics many times to deal with enemies who were more powerful than us."
As soon as Sokov mentioned Stalingrad, Guchakov immediately understood what his commander meant by the special tactics. However, for the sake of safety, he still asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you mean to let our commanders and soldiers disguise themselves as Germans, sneak into Pavlish, and seize the enemy's material transfer warehouse?"
"Yes, that's what I meant." Seeing that the other party had indeed guessed what he was thinking, Sokov nodded happily and said with a smile: "In order to prevent our landing site from developing to the south, the Germans arranged But since these German troops come from different armies, we have an opportunity to take advantage of it. You can mobilize a battalion of troops, all put on German military uniforms, from the south or west of the city. Sneak in, so as to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Germans to the greatest extent."
Guchakov knew that Sokov arranged this way because there were more German troops in the south or west. The troops in makeup entered Pavlish from there, which would be the least likely to arouse the enemy's suspicion. He quickly replied: "Understood, Commander" Comrade Communist Party member. I will ask the camouflaged troops to circle to the west of the city and enter the city from that direction."
Although Guchakov understood Sokov's intention, Lunev, who was standing next to him, asked Samyko with a blank look on his face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, as far as I know, there are German troops to the west and south. Why do we need to enter the city from these two directions when there are the most places?”
"The reason is very simple, Comrade Military Commissar." In order not to interfere with Sokov's face-to-face meeting with Guchakov, Samyko deliberately lowered his voice and explained to Lunev: "Although the shortest distance is to Pavlish from the north. route, but the Germans are very tightly defended in this direction. They will monitor and interrogate every troop entering the city. Even if our troops are wearing German military uniforms, there is inevitably the possibility of being seen through.
The west and south of the city are where heavy German troops are concentrated. The defenders in the city will naturally take it for granted that our troops will never enter the city from these two directions, so their vigilance will be relatively relaxed. . In this way, the chance of Major Guchakov's troops successfully sneaking into the city will be greatly increased. "
"So that's it." After figuring out what was going on, Lunev felt much more at ease. He looked at Guchakov who was talking to Sokov, and thought that if the brigade commander could successfully complete the task, I'm afraid it won't be long before there's an extra star on the epaulettes. Otherwise, it would look very awkward for a major to serve as brigade commander.
Sokov did not hear the chat between Luniev and Samyko. He was telling Guchakov: "Comrade Major, there are too few troops sneaking into the city. It may not be a big problem to seize the enemy's transfer warehouse, but if It may still be difficult to hold on to the crazy counterattack of the German army. You have to think of countermeasures in advance to avoid the worst case scenario."
"Comrade Commander, this is what I think about." Guchakov pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "I plan to deploy the other two battalions, artillery company and machine gun company to the north of the city, just waiting for the people who sneak into the city. After the troops captured the material transfer warehouse, they immediately launched an attack and rushed to join them."
"Major Guchakov," Samyko couldn't help but interjected after hearing this: "Have you ever thought about whether you can defeat the enemy with just two battalions in your hand, plus an artillery company and a machine gun company?" Break through the German defense lines in a short time and rush to the city to join the troops seizing the transfer warehouse?"
After Guchakov was silent for a few seconds, he slowly shook his head and replied bitterly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although I don't know the status of the German army's defense north of Pavlish, given the strength of my troops, , it is very difficult to break through their defense in a short period of time.”
"Then what do you think we should do?" Samek asked: "Are you just going to watch the troops who sneaked into the city be annihilated by the enemy? In that case, what's the point of pretending to sneak into the city?"
Sameko's words made Guchakov fall into deep thought. He knew that the other party's words were not alarmist. If the German defense line could not be broken through quickly, the troops that sneaked into the city and occupied the transfer warehouse might be annihilated by the German army.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," just when Samyko was in a dilemma, he heard Sokov's voice ringing in his ears: "Since the strength of the infantry brigade is not enough to break through the enemy's defense in a short time, then we can definitely Help them. Colonel Koida's 188th Division is not nearby, so they can send out a regiment to support them."
Hearing what Sokov said, Samyko originally wanted to remind him that the unit closest to the attack area of Guchakov's brigade should be Colonel Weisbach's 300th Division. But then I thought about it. In the battles of the past few days, the area defended by the division had been broken through by the Germans many times. It even needed the support of Guchakov's infantry brigade to barely maintain the defense line from collapse. Even if such a unit is put into battle, it may not be of much help. In comparison, Koida's 188th Division should be the most suitable.
After thinking about this clearly, Sameko nodded and replied: "I understand, Comrade Commander. I will call Colonel Koida later and ask him to be prepared to assist the infantry brigade."
After sending Guchakov away, Samyko asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you think Major Guchakov can successfully seize the transfer warehouse?"
"There's not much of a problem in seizing the transfer warehouse." Sokov said thoughtfully: "I'm worried that once the troops entering the city in disguise are discovered by the enemy, they will be attacked from all directions. Although we have ordered Koida to attack at the critical moment, At this moment, troops are dispatched to assist the infantry brigade to break through the German defense line, but who knows what accident will happen. If the time to break through the German defense line is delayed, the troops in the city will become a lone army, and their fate waiting for them is to be annihilated by the enemy. .”
It stands to reason that if a subordinate is contradicted in this way, the superior will definitely get angry. At the very least, the person will not look good to the other party; at worst, the person may be kept in cold storage and no longer be given anything to contribute to his career.
But Sokov was not such a person. When he heard Guchakov say this, he asked kindly: "Major Guchakov, why do you say that? Tell me your reasons."
As soon as Guchakov said the words, he immediately realized that he had said something wrong. Because the person standing in front of him was neither one of his subordinates nor an ally, but his immediate superior. When he was worried, he heard what Sokov said. He was stunned for a moment, and then replied cautiously: "Comrade Commander, since there is a German material transfer warehouse in Pavlish, they will definitely send heavy troops to guard it. As long as we If they launch an attack, they will put up a desperate resistance. If they find that they cannot hold it, the enemy will definitely burn down the warehouse without hesitation to prevent the materials inside from falling into the hands of our army."
"Yes, Major Guchakov, you are right." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "According to my understanding of the Germans, once they find out that the warehouse may be lost, they will definitely They will not hesitate to burn down the warehouse and destroy the materials stored there, making our hard work in vain.”
Seeing that Sokov understood this, Guchakov realized what solutions the other party might have, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas to successfully seize the warehouse before the Germans are ready to destroy the supplies?" ?"
"Major Guchakov," Seeing that the other party seemed to have guessed his intention, Sokov said with a smile: "As my old subordinate, you should understand that when I command operations, I am not just conducting conventional positional battles and offensive battles. There are also some special tactics. For example, during the Battle of Stalingrad, we used such tactics many times to deal with enemies who were more powerful than us."
As soon as Sokov mentioned Stalingrad, Guchakov immediately understood what his commander meant by the special tactics. However, for the sake of safety, he still asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you mean to let our commanders and soldiers disguise themselves as Germans, sneak into Pavlish, and seize the enemy's material transfer warehouse?"
"Yes, that's what I meant." Seeing that the other party had indeed guessed what he was thinking, Sokov nodded happily and said with a smile: "In order to prevent our landing site from developing to the south, the Germans arranged But since these German troops come from different armies, we have an opportunity to take advantage of it. You can mobilize a battalion of troops, all put on German military uniforms, from the south or west of the city. Sneak in, so as to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Germans to the greatest extent."
Guchakov knew that Sokov arranged this way because there were more German troops in the south or west. The troops in makeup entered Pavlish from there, which would be the least likely to arouse the enemy's suspicion. He quickly replied: "Understood, Commander" Comrade Communist Party member. I will ask the camouflaged troops to circle to the west of the city and enter the city from that direction."
Although Guchakov understood Sokov's intention, Lunev, who was standing next to him, asked Samyko with a blank look on his face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, as far as I know, there are German troops to the west and south. Why do we need to enter the city from these two directions when there are the most places?”
"The reason is very simple, Comrade Military Commissar." In order not to interfere with Sokov's face-to-face meeting with Guchakov, Samyko deliberately lowered his voice and explained to Lunev: "Although the shortest distance is to Pavlish from the north. route, but the Germans are very tightly defended in this direction. They will monitor and interrogate every troop entering the city. Even if our troops are wearing German military uniforms, there is inevitably the possibility of being seen through.
The west and south of the city are where heavy German troops are concentrated. The defenders in the city will naturally take it for granted that our troops will never enter the city from these two directions, so their vigilance will be relatively relaxed. . In this way, the chance of Major Guchakov's troops successfully sneaking into the city will be greatly increased. "
"So that's it." After figuring out what was going on, Lunev felt much more at ease. He looked at Guchakov who was talking to Sokov, and thought that if the brigade commander could successfully complete the task, I'm afraid it won't be long before there's an extra star on the epaulettes. Otherwise, it would look very awkward for a major to serve as brigade commander.
Sokov did not hear the chat between Luniev and Samyko. He was telling Guchakov: "Comrade Major, there are too few troops sneaking into the city. It may not be a big problem to seize the enemy's transfer warehouse, but if It may still be difficult to hold on to the crazy counterattack of the German army. You have to think of countermeasures in advance to avoid the worst case scenario."
"Comrade Commander, this is what I think about." Guchakov pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "I plan to deploy the other two battalions, artillery company and machine gun company to the north of the city, just waiting for the people who sneak into the city. After the troops captured the material transfer warehouse, they immediately launched an attack and rushed to join them."
"Major Guchakov," Samyko couldn't help but interjected after hearing this: "Have you ever thought about whether you can defeat the enemy with just two battalions, plus an artillery company and a machine gun company in your hands?" Break through the German defense lines in a short time and rush to the city to join the troops seizing the transfer warehouse?"
After Guchakov was silent for a few seconds, he slowly shook his head and replied bitterly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although I don't know the status of the German army's defense north of Pavlish, given the strength of my troops, , it is very difficult to break through their defense in a short period of time.”
