Red Moscow

When Artyom was about to leave the tent, Sokov suddenly remembered something and hurriedly called him back: "Lieutenant Artyom, please wait a moment."

Artyom stopped and looked at Sokov with surprise. He thought, I have already said what I wanted to say. Why did you stop me?

Sokov asked, "Lieutenant Artyom, if I order you to fire accurately at every location, can you do it?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Artyom's face was full of confusion: "Precision shooting? Sorry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I don't quite understand what you mean."

After organizing the words in his mind, Sokov explained to the other party: "For example, the enemy broke through the position of the first battalion and rushed to the battalion command post. In order to cover the retreat of the personnel in the battalion command post, I order you to carry out artillery fire blocking shooting in the area several dozen meters in front of the battalion command post. Can you do it?"

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Artyom thought for a while, then replied: "The situation you described is theoretically possible. As long as there are people nearby to provide our artillery with specific firing parameters, it should be possible."

Artyom replied cautiously: "I don't know the specifics. But since the brigade commander has mentioned this, we must pay necessary attention to it."

"How seriously should we take this matter?" Levan asked.

"Captain Alten, your First Artillery Battalion prepare two artillery pieces; Captain Levan, your Second Artillery Battalion prepare a heavy artillery piece." Artyom did not care that the two artillery battalion commanders had higher ranks than him, but gave them orders directly: "Assign the best gunners and gunners to these guns, and be ready to fire at any time."

Although Artyom's rank was relatively low, he was an artillery staff officer sent by the army headquarters. After hearing his order, the two battalion commanders immediately answered loudly: "Yes, we will arrange this as soon as we return to the battalion!"

…………

Fierce fighting unfolded in the friendly defense zones on the left and right wings of the infantry brigade, but they were silent here. If it weren't for the crazy attack by the German army in the past two days, I'm afraid everyone would think that the Germans didn't know there were Soviet troops stationed here.

Fighters or bombers flew over from time to time to attack friendly positions. Standing at the door of the tent, Sokov looked up at the enemy planes flying overhead and couldn't help but miss the Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft guns again. He thought that this self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, which was born in the 1960s, has the characteristics of good stability, high shooting accuracy, and high firepower density. As long as more than a dozen of them are deployed in his defense zone, this place will become a death zone for enemy planes.

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Belkin came out of the tent and saw Sokov looking at the enemy planes in the sky. He said with emotion: "The enemy has control of the air on the battlefield. The appearance of these enemy planes is bound to cause great casualties to friendly forces."

"That's right." Sokov agreed with Belkin's statement: "It's a pity that we don't have anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, otherwise we can intercept them and shoot them, so that they can't attack the positions of friendly forces recklessly."

"Oh, by the way, I came out to see you because there was a telegram from the army headquarters."

"Is there a telegram from the headquarters?" Sokov knew that the headquarters would not easily send him a telegram unless it was important, so he asked quickly, "What did the telegram say?"

"It is said that an enemy plane that bombed Volokolamsk was hit by the anti-aircraft fire of the 316th Infantry Division and crashed at the junction of us and friendly forces." Belkin replied: "The superiors ordered us to immediately send people to search for the wreckage of the plane. If possible, the wreckage must be retrieved."

The corners of Sokov's mouth twitched, and he thought that the plane was so large that it would be impossible to retrieve the wreckage without the help of lifting machinery.

Belkin saw Sokov's embarrassment and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are worried that even if our people find the wreckage of the plane, they may not be able to get it back. Am I right?"

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, I am indeed worried about this." Sokov said helplessly, "But the superiors have issued an order. No matter how difficult this task is, we must complete it. Let's go back to the tent to discuss it."

When the two men entered the tent, Karsokov came up to Sokov and asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you know all the telegrams from the headquarters?"

"Yes, I already know." Sokov nodded and asked, "How do you think we should complete this task?"

"I think we can send more soldiers over there and try to bring back the wreckage!"

"That's impossible, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov shook his head and rejected Karsokov's proposal: "Do you know how heavy a bomber is? Without the help of a lifting machine, we can't even transfer it to a transport vehicle, let alone lift it back by manpower."

"What should we do then?" Karsokov looked troubled.

Sokov didn't say anything, but picked up the telegram on the table and read it carefully.

After reading it, he came to Morozova and told her: "Comrade radio operator, send a telegram to the army headquarters immediately and tell them that we lack lifting machinery and matching transportation tools, and I am afraid we cannot transport the wreckage back..."

A few minutes later, Malinin handed the received telegram to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, this is a telegram from Major Sokov."

Rokossovsky took the telegram and read its contents carefully. After reading it, he asked in confusion: "Chief of Staff, what does Misha mean? What kind of aircraft wreckage do you plan to ask them to bring back?"

"Comrade Commander, I haven't had time to report this to you yet." Malinin explained to Rokossovsky, "The Front Command called not long ago and said that a German bomber was hit by ground anti-aircraft fire during a bombing raid and then crashed on the edge of the 316th Infantry Division's defense zone. According to reliable information, the bomber used the latest engine, and the military industry department hopes that we can find the wreckage of the plane, bring the engine back to Moscow, and hand it over to the military industry department for research."

When Rokossovsky read the telegram, he had the same idea as Sokov, thinking that the German bombers were so large that it was impossible to transport the wreckage without special lifting machinery. But after listening to Malinin's explanation, he raised his eyebrows and asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if I understand correctly, the military industry department in Moscow wants to get the engines of the German bombers?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Malinin nodded, confirming Rokossovsky's statement: "It is indeed hoped that we can get the engines of the German bombers back."

After Malinin finished speaking, Rokossovsky said somewhat unhappily: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since our superiors asked us to retrieve the engines of the downed German bombers, you should have made it clear in the telegram. If you make it unclear, it will make it difficult for Misha and others."

After a pause, he instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, you immediately send a telegram to Misha and tell him that the higher authorities need the engines of the bombers. Ask him to find a way to get them back so that we can report to the higher authorities."

When Sokov and his team received a call back from the headquarters, they suddenly realized: "Oh, so they just want the wreckage of the plane's engine. That's too easy."

Sokov walked out of the tent and said to a sentry standing outside: "Comrade Soldier, go and call Bobrikov over and tell him that I have something important to discuss with him."

The sentry answered loudly and then turned and ran away.

Not long after, Sokov heard hurried footsteps. Then the curtain was opened and Bobrikov walked into the tent from outside.

"Comrade Brigade Commander, you're looking for me?!"

"Yes, Captain Bobrikov." Sokov nodded: "I have a difficult task for you to complete."

"What mission?" asked Bobrikov.

"Our friendly forces shot down a German bomber not long ago." Sokov began to assign tasks to Bobrikov: "You lead a platoon and take a truck to the crash site to transport the engine from the plane back."

"The plane's engine?" Bobrikov asked cautiously. "I wonder where the plane crashed?"

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"Here." Karsokov pointed to the map and said to Bobrikov, "When you get there, wherever you see fire and smoke, that should be where the plane crashed."

"Okay, I'll take people out immediately."

Seeing that Bobrikov was about to leave the tent, Sokov stopped him again and said, "Comrade Captain, take the radio and the radio operator, plus an artillery observer."

Bobrikov was stunned when he heard Sokov say that, and then he asked back: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the radio and radio operator are brought to keep in touch with the brigade headquarters. But why bring the artillery observer?"

Seeing that Bobrikov didn't understand, Sokov explained to him: "Comrade Captain, you may encounter the enemy when performing your mission. If the enemy is small in number, you should be able to deal with it. But if they are too many and carry heavy weapons, it will not be so easy for you to escape. I asked you to bring an artillery observer with you so that at the critical moment, he can call for artillery support through the radio to cover your retreat."

"Call for artillery support?" Bobrikov grinned and said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is the first time I've heard of this new term."

"This is the first time you've heard of it. You'll hear it more and more often in the future." Sokov waved his hand at Bobrikov and said, "It's getting late. Go back and gather the people and get ready to go."

After Boblikov left, Belkin also said curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, let alone Captain Boblikov, even I have never heard of the term 'call for artillery support'."

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Karsokov recalled the scene yesterday when Sokov stopped Artyom and gave him instructions. He suddenly understood, "You stopped Lieutenant Artyom yesterday and asked her about precision strikes. I guess you meant 'calling for artillery support', right?"

Hearing what Karsokov said, Sokov smiled and nodded: "Yes, that's what I meant. By the way, have the radio stations of the two artillery battalions been delivered?"

"They have all been delivered." Karsokov said this, looking at Belkin. "Fortunately, the deputy brigade commander found five or six radios in the armory, otherwise we wouldn't be able to provide radios for the artillery battalion."

"It's a pity that we only have a limited number of radio operators." Sokov said with some regret: "If there were more, I would have equipped all three infantry battalions with radios. In this way, no matter where they are, they can get in touch with us in time."

"Don't we have a telephone line?" Belkin asked in surprise, "Do we still need to worry about not being able to contact them?"

"It's not reliable to have telephone lines alone." Sokov looked at Belkin and said, "During the battle, the telephone lines may be blown off. Or the enemy may break through the defense line and the command center will have to give up. In both cases, if there is no radio, we may completely lose contact with the front line."

"Comrade Brigade Commander is right. We just have too few radio operators, so some radios are just for show." Karsokov said, "Fortunately, we are still taking in the evacuated officers and soldiers. We hope to find suitable radio operators among them."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, tell the commanders responsible for receiving the defeated soldiers to ask what kind of military service they served in when registering their information," Sokov said. "This way, we can accurately grasp the information of the commanders and fighters, and when we form new troops, we can select personnel in a targeted manner."

While Sokov was talking to his two deputies in the tent, Bobrikov left the tent and found Artyom and said to him: "Lieutenant Artyom, I will take people to carry out the mission soon. I hope you can send an artillery observer to go with me."

Artyom asked in confusion: "Comrade Captain, what do you need an artillery observer for when you go on a mission?"

"The brigade commander said," Bobrikov explained, "we may encounter the enemy while carrying out our mission. If the enemy's forces are not large, we can definitely deal with them. But if the enemy's forces are large and they carry heavy weapons, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to escape. Therefore, we need an artillery observer to accompany us and call for artillery support via the radio when necessary!"

"Call for artillery support?!" After repeating the word, Artyom said in surprise: "This word is quite new. This is the first time I have heard it."

"Lieutenant Artyom, this is the first time I've heard this word from the brigade commander." Bobrikov asked curiously, "Do you know what's going on?"

Artyom thought about it, then said with surprise: "I understand. No wonder the brigade commander asked me yesterday whether our artillery can carry out precision strikes. So this is what's going on."