Sokov hesitated for a moment and then continued to ask: "Lieutenant Lednikova, can you tell me where the defense zone of the troops you want to instigate rebellion is?" The purpose of his question was to find out more about this troop. Whether it is stationed on its own offensive route, if so, it can reduce a lot of unnecessary casualties.
Regarding the question raised by Sokov, Lednikova seemed very embarrassed: "Comrade General, I don't know whether I should answer your question."
Seeing the embarrassed look on Lednikova's face, Sokov guessed that maybe he was not of high enough rank to know more about the inside story, so he stopped embarrassing Lednikova: "Okay, Comrade Lieutenant, since You can’t tell me, so I won’t ask any more questions, lest you violate confidentiality regulations.”
"Comrade General, thank you for your understanding." Regarding Sokov's understanding, Lednikova said gratefully: "I have violated the regulations by telling you the mission we performed. If I tell you the specific unit number , that’s really a leak. Not only will I be punished, I’m afraid it will also implicate you.”
Koshkin half-turned around and asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, should we go to the infantry brigade first or the tank brigade first?"
"Let's go to the infantry brigade first." Sokov said: "After all, today's operations are still dominated by the infantry brigade, and the tank brigade can only play a supporting role."
"Okay, let's go to the Infantry Brigade first." Koshkin said to the driver: "Driver, let's go to the 118th Infantry Brigade first."
A few minutes later, Sokov's convoy stopped in front of a wooden house, which was the headquarters of the 118th Infantry Brigade.
The brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Glushko, who had already received the news, immediately stepped forward and opened the rear door of the jeep as soon as the car stopped.
After the door opened, Lednikova was the first to get out of the car.
Seeing that it was a female officer who came out, Glushko couldn't help but be startled, wondering who this female officer was, and how could she appear here with the commander?
As Sokov's classmate at the Frunze Military Academy, Glushko knew Asiya. When he saw that this person was not Asiya, he couldn't help but have some different thoughts in his mind, thinking that this female officer might be related to Sokov's The relationship is different, so I always take her with me when I go to the frontier for inspections.
After Sokov got out of the car, he shook hands with Glushko, and then introduced Lednikova to him: "This is Lieutenant Lednikova from the Ministry of Internal Affairs." He only said Ledny. Kova's origin, military rank, and other matters were not mentioned a word, which made Glushko feel even more surprised.
When everyone arrived at the headquarters, Sokov asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how is the situation here?"
"Report to Comrade Commander." Glushko replied: "Our brigade has just occupied a German town in two hours. At the moment, the Second Battalion is fighting fires and resettling homeless refugees in the town."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I think you should have received a notice from Comrade Military Commissar, to enforce military discipline and not to harass local people." Sokov looked at Glushko and asked: "Is there such a situation in your brigade? ?」
"No, Comrade Commander, absolutely not." Glushko shook his head and said firmly: "I have conveyed the notice issued by the group army headquarters to every soldier. I dare not say about other units, but There will never be any violation of military discipline in my brigade."
"That's good." Now that Glushko had made his attitude clear to him, Sokov did not continue the interrogation, but changed the topic to the current war: "Has the newly occupied town deployed defenses?"
"There are many fortifications built by the German army on the periphery of this town, but all the fortifications are facing east." Glushko reported to Sokov: "I heard from the locals that these fortifications are It was built more than ten or twenty years ago, and its main purpose was to defend the Polish army."
Hearing Glushko say this, Sokov couldn't help but laugh. Before the outbreak of World War II, the country that was jumping the most was Poland. When Mustache raised the threat of force, the Polish general also declared that as long as Germany dared to use force, Poland would return Germany to the situation after the end of World War I. But for such a country that dared to speak harsh words, under the attack of Germany and the Soviet Union, it only took 28 days to win the First World War.
Poland, which later tried to rise, collapsed under the joint attack of the two military powers.
Sokov sneered and said: "The Germans never dreamed that the fortifications they built would have no chance of being used to defend against Poland's attack, because the country only lasted less than a month under their attack. It’s time for the country to perish.”
"We plan to build some fortifications on the west side of the town and deploy artillery positions in the town." Glushko said: "This way, even if the Germans launch a counterattack, we will be able to block their attack."
When Glushko said this, Lednikova had a complicated expression on her face. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say it. Her strangeness was noticed by Sokov. After thinking for a while, he thought of a possibility. Could it be that the German troops that Lednikova and the others were preparing to instigate rebellion were in the direction of his attack?
Although he wanted to know the answer very much, he did not ask Lednikova. He knew very well that this involved confidentiality, and even if he asked, Lednikova would not tell him. On the contrary, it will make the other party feel embarrassed.
"Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov nodded and approved Glushko's defense plan: "Then arrange for manpower to build some fortifications on the west side of the town. Regardless of whether the Germans will launch a counterattack, with the fortifications , we don’t have to worry about being attacked by the enemy when we stay in the town.”
Sokov stayed at the infantry brigade headquarters for more than half an hour, then got up and left, preparing to inspect the tank brigade.
"Comrade Commander," when Sokov got into the car, Koshkin turned to Sokov and said, "I don't think you want to go to inspect the tank brigade?"
Seeing that Koshkin saw what he was thinking, Sokov no longer concealed it, but nodded and said: "Koshkin, you are right, I really don't want to go to the tank brigade to inspect. You know, we Today's combat area is crisscrossed by rivers, so tank troops cannot play a role at all. On the contrary, when tank troops advance, engineers need to open special roads for them so that tanks can pass smoothly."
"Comrade Commander, if our superiors allow our army to attack Berlin, I think the tank unit can still be put to use." Koshkin said: "When fighting in the city, when encountering the enemy's solid fortifications and fire support points, our tanks Drive up and fire a few shots, and you can tear open the enemy's defense line."
"If we have a chance to enter Berlin and fight, the tank troops can indeed be put to use." Sokov said with a wry smile: "But do you think we have a chance?"
"Comrade Commander, I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of German troops in Berlin, and there are also several indestructible anti-aircraft towers..."
"Wait a minute, Koshkin!" Sokov heard this and immediately interrupted what Koshkin was saying: "Where did you hear about the anti-aircraft tower?" The reason why he asked this was to find out. How did the other party view the Berlin anti-aircraft tower? If he was like those brainless sandbags in later generations who blew the anti-aircraft tower into the sky, he would have a good talk with Koshkin and not mislead other commanders and fighters by spreading lies.
"I heard from comrades in the friendly forces," Koshkin noticed Sokov's dissatisfaction and said hurriedly and cautiously: "They said that Berlin's anti-aircraft towers not only provide air defense, but the artillery deployed on them can also act like a fortress. Like artillery, bombard the surroundings of Berlin. As long as our troops enter the range of the artillery fire, they will be hit by intensive artillery fire and pay a heavy price. It is precisely because of hearing this rumor that I feel that our chances of entering Berlin to fight Very big."
"Since the German air defense tower is such a big threat to our ground troops, why not send planes to blow it up?" Lednikova asked in confusion.
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As those in the world said, the Berlin anti-aircraft tower shot down tens of thousands of Soviet and Allied bombers overnight. He said to Koshkin: "Koshkin, I admit that Berlin's anti-aircraft towers are a great threat to the air force, but when it comes to them being able to bombard attacking troops from all directions with artillery like a fortress, this is simply a fantasy. .”
"Comrade General." Seeing Sokov's confidence, Lednikova asked tentatively: "Do you really think that the German anti-aircraft towers will not pose any threat to our ground offensive troops?"
"The threat is definitely there." Sokov does not deny that the artillery on the anti-aircraft tower will pose a threat to the ground offensive troops to a certain extent, but when it comes to stopping the ground attack, it is simply impossible: "But it The threat is not as great as imagined. After our army enters Berlin, the air defense tower will not pose much of a threat to the ground troops due to the shooting angle. Even if our army cannot take down the air defense tower in a short time, we can still send The troops besieged it and trapped the defenders inside."
After hearing this, Lednikova nodded vigorously, and then asked: "Comrade General, I want to ask you, how long do you think we have to defeat the enemy?"
Sokov said nothing, but held out a finger.
Lednikova said in surprise: "What, another year?"
"No, Lieutenant Lednikova." Sokov shook his head and said, "I am saying that we can completely defeat the Germans within a month."
"Completely defeat the Germans within a month?" When Sokov said this, Lednikova exclaimed in surprise: "How is this possible? You know, the Germans have hundreds of thousands of troops in Berlin. It is necessary We can still mobilize millions of Volkssturm. If we want to defeat such a large garrison, it will take half a year, if not a year. How is it possible to completely defeat the Germans in a month?"
Sokov did not argue with the other party about this issue, because these people were different from him. They did not come from later generations and had no idea about the direction of history. They could only use their own judgment to analyze how long the ongoing Battle of Berlin would take. .
In fact, let alone ordinary commanders and combatants, even Zhukov, according to his plan, would need at least three months to completely defeat the German defenders in Berlin. The real Battle of Berlin started on April 16 and ended on May 8. It lasted 23 days before Germany announced its unconditional surrender. This speed of victory is far beyond Zhukov's imagination.
Came to the tank brigade headquarters. As soon as the tank brigade commander saw Sokov's face, he began to complain: "Comrade Commander, our tank troops are at the forefront every time they attack, but this time they lag far behind the infantry. Every time When we arrived at the attack assembly point, we found that the infantry fighting was over. If this continues, I'm worried that the commanders and soldiers will be emotional."
"Comrade Brigadier, I think you are the one with the emotions." After exposing the opponent unceremoniously, Sokov said with a wry smile: "It's not that I don't want your tank brigade to open the way in front, but the terrain here is It is very unfavorable for the deployment of tank troops. Think about it, if we forcefully cross the Oder River, even if your tank brigade takes the lead, will you be able to cross that wide river?"
"No." The tank brigade commander lowered his head and replied, "My tanks can't swim. They can't pass through such a wide river. Only after the infantry brothers have established a foothold on the west bank and set up a pontoon bridge, our tanks can Enter the West Bank area via the pontoon."
"Yes, that is indeed the case." Sokov continued: "Also, after you arrive on the west bank, I'm afraid you will also find that in addition to the Oder River, there are many small rivers and ditches here, which will also make it difficult for you to move. No. The only way is to let the infantry clear the way in front, and you follow behind to provide them with the necessary artillery cover, so that they can smoothly push into the depth of the German defenses."
"Comrade Commander, I have one more question." After the tank brigade commander waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he mustered up the courage to ask: "I heard that our army group is not qualified to participate in the attack on Berlin. I want to ask, is this real?"
"Comrade Brigadier, I want to correct you first." Sokov looked at the other party and said: "Not only is our army unable to participate in the attack on Berlin, even the entire second front
The army is also not qualified to participate in the attack on Berlin. This is indeed a regrettable thing, but to ensure that the troops attacking Berlin are not disturbed, we must continue to operate in the existing area and ensure the safety of the friendly flanks. do you understand? "
