"In the current situation, we can only try our luck." Klitschko said, then called the director of the communications corps and told him: "Immediately connect me with Moscow, and I want to find General Golikov."
"Comrade Commander," said the Director of the Communications Force with some embarrassment when he heard Klitschko's orders: "Since General Golikov was removed from office, I don't know where he has transferred?"
Klitschko thought of Golikov returning to Moscow after being removed from office. As for what he is doing now, there are not many people who know. If he had not met a friend from Moscow recently mentioned Golikov, he would not have known where the other party was at this time.
Hearing the question of the Director of the Communications Force, he hurriedly said: "General Golikov is now a deputy National People's Committee on Defense, specializing in the work of the cadres. If you call the National People's Committee on Defense, you should be able to find him there."
After more than half an hour of tossing, Klitschko finally called Golikov. He heard Golikov's call, he said excitedly: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am Klitschko. How are you doing recently?"
"It's OK." Golikov answered briefly and asked, "Your army is now fighting the German army's northward army's army. Why do you think of calling me?"
"That's right, commander of the Front Army." Although Klitschko knew that reporting over-level was a taboo, in order not to let his troops be annihilated in this battle, he could only do such a taboo thing: "After a long battle, my army has suffered heavy losses and urgently needs to be supplemented."
"The troops need to be supplemented. You can contact Comrade Vatutin, who is now the commander of the Voronezh Front." Golikov asked in confusion: "What's the use of finding me?"
"I have already found him, but he cannot provide me with reinforcements. On the contrary, he ordered to use his existing troops to stand firmly and not be allowed to retreat at all."
"Comrade Vatutin's order is right." Golikov said in a daze: "Even if I am in his position, I will give you the same order."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army..."
"Stop, I am no longer the commander of the Voronezh Front."
"Comrade Vice People's Committee," Seeing that Golikov was a little taboo to call him with his previous position, Klitschko quickly changed his name to a new one: "In today's battle, in order to block the enemy's attack, I have put all the final reserves into the battle. If the German offensive will remain fierce tomorrow, I think I have no strength to stop them."
"What should I do?" Golikov stared at the map in front of him and asked with a serious expression: "If you can't defend the position, will you not defend it? If your position is broken by the German army, they can go north and detour to the Kursk region to meet with the Ninth Army of the German Army going south. By that time, our troops deployed in the Kursk protrusion will be trapped in the German encirclement."
"Comrade Vice People's Committee, I also want to avoid such a thing, so I took the liberty to ask for your help."
"How can I help you?"
"That's right. The Pushol River is about twenty kilometers behind us. Now the troops stationed there are Major General Sokov's 27th Army." Klitschko said a little embarrassedly: "If we can get their support, I believe we will definitely be able to block the German attack tomorrow."
"Since that's the case, you can contact him directly." Golikov felt inexplicably at ease when he learned that Sokov's troops were stationed on the Pshore River. He felt that as long as there was Sokov's place, the Germans would not be able to move forward smoothly. He thought it was still very good to ask Sokov for help, so he said kindly: "Sokov is a very easy-to-talk person. If he finds that you are in danger, he will come to support you without hesitation."
"Comrade Vice People's Committee, this is the reason." Klitschko said with some embarrassment: "But I have never dealt with him before, so I rashly asked him for help, worried that I would be rejected by him?"
"You are worried about being rejected by him, so you want to ask me to mediate." When Golikov heard this, he immediately understood what Klitschko meant, and said with a smile: "Do you think I have such a big face. As soon as you come forward, Comrade Sokov will agree to send troops to support you?"
"Comrade Vice People's Committee, please." Klitschko heard from Golikov's tone that the other party was indeed willing to help him, so he begged hard: "Please say hello to General Sokov and let him understand the actual situation here. It will be much easier for me to speak again."
"Well, General Kryluchinjin." Golikov was still very emotional about the general who had fought side by side with him. He said tactfully: "I will convey your meaning to Comrade Sokov immediately, but I dare not promise whether he agreed."
A few minutes later, the phone ringing in front of Sokov rang. He thought that a subordinate was reporting the defense situation to him, so he grabbed the phone: "I am 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 was removed from office, but he did not know what position he held now, so he could only call the other party's military rank: "Do you have any instructions?"
"The instructions are not to be discussed." Golikov said with a smile: "I have something I want to ask you for help."
"Comrade General," Sokov thought Golikov was joking with him, and smiled and said, "What can I do to help you?"
"Yes." Golikov suppressed the smile on his face and said with a serious expression: "At about twenty kilometers south of you, General Klitschko's 69th Army was deployed. After a long battle, they even exhausted the reserves. If the German army attacked again tomorrow, their positions would be in danger of being broken through. As a commander of the army, you should understand very well, what serious consequences would be brought about if the positions of the 69th Army were broken through by the enemy?"
"Yes, comrade General, I understand very well." Sokov nodded and said, "Once the position of the 69th Army is broken, the German army can continue to advance northward, detour to the position where Kursk is, join forces with their southward corps, and encircle all the troops deployed by our army in the Kursk protrusion."
"Misha, you really see this." Golikov smiled after Sokov finished speaking, "Now there is an opportunity to prevent the 69th Army Defense Zone from being broken through. Are you willing to help?"
When Sokov heard Golikov say this, he began to think quickly in his mind: "The 69th Army was previously under the command of Golikov. Today, he called himself for no reason and mentioned this army specifically. Is it related to the 69th Army?"
While thinking, Sokov looked down at the map in front of him and looked for the location of the 69th Army. After seeing the opponent's position, he immediately guessed the destination of Golikov's call. If the German army really broke through the 69th Army defense zone, then the next target of attack was where his troops were. In order to prevent his defense zone from being attacked by the enemy, he had to find a way to block the enemy from a distance.
Thinking of this, Sokov asked tentatively: "Comrade General, I want you to call me. Could it be that I want to send my troops to strengthen the defense of the 69th Army to prevent the enemy from breaking through our army's defense line?"
"Talking to smart people is easy to deal with." Golikov was still hesitating in his heart. How to speak to Sokov. Unexpectedly, the other party guessed his goal in just a moment, and then smiled and said, "I call you, I really want to ask you to send an army to reinforce the 69th Army."
"Comrade General, if you are still the commander of the Voronezh Front, as long as you give orders, I will send troops to reinforce you immediately." Sokov shook his head and said, "But now, please forgive me, I cannot agree to your request."
Seeing that Sokov rejected his request, Golikov was so angry that his face turned pale. He wanted to scold the other party twice, saying that he was no longer in the army, but he didn't buy his own accounts. But then he thought that Sokov's approach was understandable. After all, before he received the order from his superiors, he would be in danger of being sent to the military court at any time.
Just as Golikov was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard Sokov say, "Comrade General, there is a proverb in the distant East, which is called "the lips are gone, and the teeth are cold." He originally wanted to say "imony", but in Russian there is no such word, so he can only use "proverb" instead, "meaning that if the lips are gone, the teeth will feel cold. Now between us and the 69th Army, there is a relationship between lips and teeth. If the 69th Army fails, we will face the enemy's attack directly."
From Sokov's words, Golikov keenly realized that the other party was willing to send troops, but he needed to go through a procedure, so he asked tentatively: "Misha, then how should you send troops?"
"It's very simple." Sokov didn't want to send troops to fight the German army by himself, but was punished for it in the end, so he said to Golikov straight to the point: "Please ask General Klitschko to make a request to Commander Vatutin and ask him to contact General Konev, the commander of the Front Army. After approval, I will immediately send troops to reinforce the 69th Army."
"This is a good idea." Golikov thought carefully. Sokov's method was the safest. He said hello to all parties, and it was legitimate for them to send troops again. "I will tell Klitschko about this matter immediately and let him contact General Vatujing."
Klitschko received a call from Golikov and knew that Sokov was willing to send troops to help him, and cried with joy. As for Golikov asking him to report to Vatujing, then Vatujing contacted Konev, he naturally agreed.
After receiving the call from Klitschko, Vatuting felt very strange. He asked Khrushchev who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissioner, tell me why did Klitschko ask Sokov to send troops to support him?"
"Comrade Commander, please look at the map." Chief of Staff Ivanov interrupted, "Look, the defense zone of the Sokov troops is located twenty kilometers north of the 69th Army. Once the German army has implemented an effective breakthrough, their next target of attack is the 27th Army deployed on the Pshore River."
"The Chief of Staff is right," Khrushchev said slowly. "Based on my understanding of Sokov, he would definitely not watch the friendly forces ahead be defeated by the enemy, so he would send troops without hesitation. However, for the sake of safety, some procedures that should be taken must not be missed."
After hearing Khrushchev's explanation, Vatutin immediately understood what was going on. He nodded quickly and said, "I understand. Then I will contact General Konev immediately and ask him to send Sokov's troops to reinforce the 69th Army."
When Vatuting called Konev, a fierce debate was taking place in Sokov's command. Lunev questioned Sokov's plan to send troops: "Comrade Commander, now we have only three divisions and one tank army on the banks of the Pushore River. If we draw troops to reinforce the 69th Army, we will weaken our defensive power in the existing area. Once the reinforcements we sent did not block the enemy's attack, the enemy rushed to the banks of the Pushore River like a tide. What kind of power do we use to block them?"
After Lunev finished speaking, Sokov first glanced at the silent Sameko and said, "Military Comrade, you must have heard the conversation between me and General Golikov just now. Now we have a relationship with the 69th Army. Once the lips are gone, the teeth will feel cold. In order to avoid this situation, we must send troops to support the 69th Army."
"How many troops are you going to transfer there?" Lunev raised his question again: "There are too few troops sent and they will not play any role. If there are too many troops sent, our defense will be greatly weakened."
"A division." Sokov stretched out a finger and said, "I plan to send Colonel Koida's 188th Division. Their division is now fully equipped and well-equipped. In addition, it has been rigorously trained some time ago, so there should be no problem in blocking the enemy."
Chapter completed!