Chapter 236 Another Choice
There was silence in the headquarters.
As a soldier, the saddest thing is knowing that the superior's decision is wrong but having nowhere to argue, knowing that going on like this is a dead end but having to do so.
The 4th Tank Brigade and even the entire breakout force seem to be at a dead end...not advancing means being punished, advancing means being surrounded by the enemy!
"Can we respond to our superiors?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"I said so, Major!" Katukov replied: "But..."
But there is no need to say more about what is behind it. No matter how much the subordinates object to the order issued by the Supreme Command, it will not be useful.
For example, in the battle of Kyiv, Zhukov, Budyonny, Kirponos and a large number of prominent generals proposed to abandon Kyiv one after another...but they were dismissed one by one. Can't escape the fate of being dismissed.
The same is true for this counterattack.
"Shulka?" Major Gavrilov cast his gaze on Shulka and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"
"No, Comrade Major!" Shulka replied helplessly: "It seems that we can only carry out orders!"
The officers nodded in agreement.
There is only one result of continuing to oppose, and that is to be dismissed, and then the troops will still attack Tver, which means that nothing can be changed except for causing trouble for themselves.
The meeting broke up unhappy like this, but Katukov still kept Major Gavrilov and Shulka after the meeting.
"We need to discuss the next step in coordination with Tanzania!" Katukov said.
When everyone else left, Katukov poured a glass of wine for Major Gavrilov and Shulka, and then sent away the assistants around him.
"Now you can speak your mind, Comrade Shulka!" Katukov sat down in front of the two and poured himself a glass of water... Colonel Katukov has kidney disease and cannot drink alcohol.
Major Gavrilov looked at Shulka in surprise, and then at Katukov.
Shuerka secretly thought that Katukov still had good eyesight, and he did have some ideas, but it was not suitable for them to speak at the meeting.
"We may have another option!" Shulka said.
"Another option?" Katukov raised his glass and took a sip of water, but never took his eyes off Shulka.
Katukov is the one who most hopes to find a solution, because he does not want the fourth tank brigade he has worked so hard to build, or even the hope of Moscow, to fall into the enemy's siege like this.
"If we continue to attack Tver!" Shulka said, pointing to the map, "the most likely thing the Germans will do is to recapture Volokolamsk and cut off our retreat and surround us. So why don't we use at this point?"
"What does it mean to take advantage of this?" Katukov asked.
"Leave the main force to ambush the German army!" Shulka said: "The other troops continue to advance towards Tver according to the order of the Supreme Command!"
Colonel Katukov and Major Gavrilov were stunned when they heard this.
After a while, Major Gavrilov said: "But this is disobedience to the orders of the superiors!"
"Yes!" Shulka said, "That's why I didn't mention it at the meeting!"
As I said before, there is never a shortage of people who make small reports in the Soviet army, and mentioning them at a meeting is equivalent to telling everyone.
"You mean... we have to fool not only the enemy, but also our own people?" Katukov asked.
"Yes!"
"How to do it?"
"Radio silence!" Shulka replied: "Radio silence at least in the 4th Tank Brigade!"
After thinking about it, Katukov nodded: "It's not difficult to do, we can use military secrets as an excuse!"
This is exactly what Shulka thought. The 4th Tank Brigade has more radio stations than other units. For example, some command vehicles in the tanks are equipped with radio stations. The location of the enemy is not known to the enemy, and radio silence is normal or even a very common practice.
Everyone will think that this should be done in the first place, and they will not think that another reason for the silence of the radio is that they are worried about someone making a small report... If the military order is issued, all radios are not allowed to be turned on, then even if the political workers notice something is wrong, they will not Unable to report to superiors.
"Where are the tanks?" Major Gavrilov said: "If our main force stays in Volokolamsk, they will notice something!"
"Tank units can march at night!" Shulka said: "And we can make fake tanks and mix them with real ones!"
"Fake tank?" Katukov asked.
"The barrel car we captured from the Germans!" Shulka said: "We can use wooden boards to build the appearance of a tank outside and spray it with white paint..."
Katukov nodded in agreement. The tank and equipment had just been sprayed with white paint, so it was not difficult to camouflage. In addition, it was marching at night and advancing mixed with real tanks. It was indeed difficult to distinguish without close inspection.
What's more, even if some careful soldiers discover these, they will only think that this is a means to deceive the Germans or spies... Even orders can be issued in this way. In fact, this is one of the purposes, so it can be taken for granted The officers and soldiers of the Fourth Tank Brigade were required to keep it secret.
Of course they don't know that the target of deception is also their own people.
"Doing this...what will be the result?" Major Gavrilov asked: "I mean, if the superior knows this!"
"You don't need to worry about this!" Katukov replied: "This is my responsibility. What's more, if the Germans did not attack Volokolamsk as we guessed, then these ambushes would rush in immediately Tver enters the battle. If the Germans have been guessed by us, then we will have another victory at Volokolamsk, and at the same time the High Command will realize the mistake they made..."
Colonel Katukov's analysis made sense, so Major Gavrilov didn't say anything.
Actually, this is also what Shulka considered.
As the commander of the 4th Tank Brigade, Katukov can actually have many excuses for doing this, such as discovering that the enemy is gathering in the direction of Volokolamsk, so he left a unit to protect the logistics and so on.
This explanation is just a command error rather than disobeying orders.
"The question is..." Katukov said: "How can we keep the main force without the enemy knowing?"
(end of this chapter)
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