Sokov's choice not only surprised Rokossovsky, but even Stalin.
He thought he heard wrongly, so he said into the microphone: "Konstantin Konstantinovich, tell me again, which army does little Misha want to join?"
"It's the Steppe Front of General Konev."
"Isn't it wrong?"
"I have verified it repeatedly and there is absolutely no mistake."
"I see."
After Stalin put down the phone, he paced back and forth in the room clutching his pipe. The reason why he planned to transfer Sokov from the current front was because the Red Army Village-Donetsk area was in a short period of time.
There will be no more fighting. The troops of the Leningrad Front are fighting the enemies besieging Leningrad; and the troops of the Western Front are also exchanging fire with the troops of the German Army Group Center from time to time.
According to his idea, when Sokov learned that he would be transferred from the current area, he would choose one of the two fronts mentioned above as his new destination. But what was unexpected was that these two
He did not choose any front army, but chose the grassland front army which was only a reserve force.
Thinking of this, he walked to the table, picked up the phone, and asked someone to connect to Konev's headquarters. When he heard Konev's voice coming from the receiver, he said: "Is it Konev?
?I am Stalin!"
Konev did not expect that Stalin would call him at this time, and quickly straightened his body and said: "Hello, Comrade Stalin."
"Konev, I want to ask, are you familiar with Sokov?"
"Sokov?" Konev repeated the last name and then asked: "Comrade Stalin, you mean Major General Sokov, the commander of the Sixth Army, right?"
"Yes, that's right." Stalin asked calmly, "Are you familiar with him?"
"Comrade Stalin," although he didn't know why Stalin asked this, Konev replied truthfully: "I have read about him in the newspaper, but I have never met him in person. It can be said that he is a complete stranger."
.”
"Today I asked Rokossovsky to inform Sokov that he was ready to transfer him from the Sixth Army and let him freely choose where he wanted to go?" Stalin asked: "Guess, what did he choose?
place?"
When Konev heard what Stalin said, he couldn't help but think: Sokov wouldn't ask to come to my unit, would he? But this is just a reserve unit. I'm afraid he won't have any chance to make contributions after he comes.
.Although he had the answer in his mind, Konev still pretended to be confused and asked: "Where?"
"He told Comrade Rokossovsky that he wanted to join your army." Stalin said with some confusion: "I find it strange. According to his character, he would definitely go to the Leningrad Front or the Western Front, but he didn't
It occurred to me that his last choice was to go to your army. I am just confused about this matter, so I called you to ask you what is going on. "
"Comrade Stalin," Konev said quickly when Stalin seemed to have doubts about him, "I have never had any interaction with Major General Sokov, and whether he knows me is still a question. So, I don't know at all.
Know why he chose my unit."
Stalin did not have any doubts about Konev's statement. After a few more casual remarks, Stalin hung up the phone directly.
Konev was in a daze while holding the phone with a blind tone, and began to think in his mind: There are many troops in his front army, but these troops are all transferred from other front armies. The troops and technical equipment are insufficiently supplemented, and there is no
The reserves of material equipment are very tired. They must be replenished and strengthened within an extremely tight deadline to equip everything necessary for combat operations in order to establish a combat organization with combat effectiveness. What did Major General Sokov focus on?
Will he take the initiative to apply to join his own army?
Before he could come up with a reason, Lieutenant General Mehlis, the military commissar, walked in. He looked at Konev holding the microphone in a daze, and greeted him with a smile: "Comrade Commander, what are you thinking about? I
I saw you were holding the phone for a long time without putting it down. Who called you?"
"It's Comrade Stalin."
"What, Comrade Stalin?" Mehlis, who had just sat down, heard that Konev had just finished the phone call with Stalin. He immediately jumped up from his seat and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, I don't know the Supreme Commander.
What did I say to you on the phone?"
Although Mekhlis and Konev are partners, Konev does not like this snitch at all. Especially in 1942, he was sent to the Crimean front line as a representative of the headquarters of the Supreme Command, and worked with the front army.
Commander Dmitry Kozlov was conflicted and used his power to replace a group of cadres, causing the Soviet army in Crimea to lose half a million people in one week.
But since the other party had asked about it, he had to say: "Comrade Stalin told me that the commander of the Sixth Army, Major General Sokov, took the initiative to ask to come to our front army."
"Major General Sokov, commander of the Sixth Army?" Mehlis asked with some surprise: "Isn't he confronting the enemy on the Red Army Village-Donetsk line? How could he take the initiative to ask to come to our front army?
You know, we are just a reserve front army, whether we can participate in the battle is a question, let alone make achievements."
"I don't know the specific reason." Konev looked at Mekhlis and said: "Since he is the commander of the Sixth Army and he has achieved meritorious service not long ago. When such a commander arrives in our army,
How should we place him? It is a bit inappropriate to let him be the division commander or even the corps commander. Let him be the commander of the group army. There are candidates for the commanders of the four group armies. We cannot dismiss anyone and let him take over.
Bar?"
"Comrade Commander," although Mehlis loves to make small reports and flatter others, he still has his own opinions on personnel appointments: "I think it is best for the Supreme Command to arrange whatever position he holds.
If it’s suitable, we don’t have to worry about it.”
"Comrade Military Commissar," Konev felt that Mehlis's proposal was quite reasonable, so he nodded and said, "I think your proposal is good. Since the superiors transferred Major General Sokov, let's let him
It is better to leave it to his superiors to decide what position he will hold."
The two planned to wait for Sokov to arrive at the Steppe Front before asking the headquarters to arrange a position for Sokov. Unexpectedly, early the next morning, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Zakharov came to report to Konev
: "Comrade Commander, no good, something happened."
Konev was startled and asked quickly: "What happened?"
"Major General Ozerov, commander of the 27th Army, had a car accident while inspecting the troops."
"How is his injury?" Konev asked quickly: "Can he still continue to command the troops?"
"No," Zakharov answered simply: "I asked the director of the field hospital and he said that Major General Ozerov's liver and spleen were ruptured and he is currently undergoing rescue. Even if the rescue goes well and he survives smoothly,
During the critical period, I’m afraid I’ll have to stay in bed for two months.”
After Zakharov finished his report, seeing that Konev was silent, he continued: "Now each unit is undergoing supplementary and intensive training. If the 27th Army does not have a commander, I am afraid it will affect its normal work. I
It is recommended to immediately send someone to temporarily act as Major General Ozerov’s post.”
Konev did not express his position, but picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said into the phone: "I am Konev, please come to my place, Comrade Military Commissar."
When Zakharov heard that Konev was about to call Mehlis over, he opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end nothing came out.
Soon, Mehlis arrived at the headquarters. Seeing that Zakharov was there, he nodded to him as a greeting, and then asked Konev: "Comrade Commander, you called me over, what do you want?"
Something?"
"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff just reported to me." Konev said to Mekhlis: "The commander of the 27th Army, Major General Ozerov, was in a car accident and is now being rescued in the hospital..."
When Mehlis heard the news, he immediately blurted out: "Great, this is really great." But as soon as he said the words, he noticed something was wrong with Zakharov's face, but this was normal. The other party reported that
A senior commander of his subordinates was involved in a car accident and was currently undergoing rescue operations, but he kept cheering. If the situation were different, he would probably be beaten up.
Fortunately, he saw that Konev's face remained normal, and he obviously understood what he wanted to express. Now that Konev knew what he wanted to say, Mehlis turned to face Zakharov and said: "Chief of Staff
Comrade, don’t get me wrong. Comrade Commander and I are worried about how to arrange the incoming Major General Sokov. Now that Major General Ozerov has a car accident, the position of commander of the 27th Group Army is naturally vacant, which is just right.
Please ask your superiors to let Major General Sokov serve as the commander of the army."
"What, Major General Sokov is going to be transferred to our front army?" Zakharov obviously didn't know the news that Sokov was going to be transferred. At this moment, when he heard Mehlis talking about it, he couldn't help showing an expression of surprise on his face.
He asked Konev tentatively: "Comrade Commander, is this all true?"
"It's true, Comrade Chief of Staff." Konev nodded and said to Zakharov: "Comrade Military Commissar and I originally planned to wait for Sokov to be transferred and then ask our superiors to arrange a suitable position for him.
. But now it seems that he is quite lucky. If there are no accidents, his superiors will definitely appoint him as the commander of the 27th Group Army."
After Zakharov figured out what was going on, he quickly said to Konev: "Comrade Commander, then I will immediately call the General Staff to report the news that Major General Ozerov was injured and ask them to arrange manpower to replace the group army.
The position of commander."
Rokossovsky originally planned to wait until the end of April to wait until the Soviet-German front had completely stabilized before letting Sokov leave. However, after Major General Ozerov was injured in a car accident, the Supreme Command quickly agreed.
At the request of the Steppe Front Army, Sokov was officially appointed commander of the 27th Army and ordered to report to the Steppe Front Army within a week.
After receiving the transfer order, Sokov said to Vitkov and Lunev: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar, after I leave, the Sixth Army will be handed over to you. I hope you can firmly hold on to the current position."
positions to ensure that our army has more offensive starting points when launching its summer offensive."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Vitkov assured Sokov: "Although I don't have the commanding ability you have, I shouldn't have much of a problem holding the current position."
Sokov recalled that when he was recovering from his injuries during the Battle of Stalingrad, it was Vitkov who commanded the troops on his behalf. Although his command style was completely different from his own, he still held on tenaciously under the strong German attack.
The only drawback was that the troops suffered too many casualties.
The Sixth Army now has eight infantry divisions, three tank brigades, an artillery division and several other units, with a total strength of 70,000. As long as the German offensive forces do not deploy an equal number of troops, it will be impossible to break through the Red Army Village -
—Donetsk front-line defensive positions.
"Comrade Commander," Luniev and Sokov had only been together for a short time, but they got along very well. Now that Sokov was about to be transferred, he felt very reluctant to part with him. He said to Sokov
: "You are going to a new army. If you don't bring some familiar subordinates with you, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to carry out the work."
"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right." Sokov knew very well that if he went to the new army alone, it would probably take a long time to integrate and train the troops, but if someone assisted him, the situation would be different.
.
Sokov took out a list, handed it to Vitkov, and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I plan to let these comrades go to the new unit with me. Please remove them as soon as possible."
Vitkov took a look at the list and saw that they were all officers above the rank of lieutenant. There were forty people in total. The highest-ranking ones were Colonel Belkin, political commissar of the 124th regiment, and Major Vanya, chief of staff of the 122nd regiment.
After browsing the list, Vitkov couldn't help but secretly lament that the people Sokov wanted to take away were basically the old members of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. Presumably these people would be happy and excited when they got the news. He cautiously
He folded the list, put it in his pocket, and assured Sokov: "Comrade Commander, don't worry, I will remove these commanders as soon as possible and let them go with you to the new unit."
Lunev felt that after he came to the front line, he got along relatively well with Sokov, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, I wonder if you can ask your superiors to let me go with you to the new unit?"
Hearing what Luniev said, Sokov couldn't help but think to himself that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would set up permanent offices in each army group. If a representative was sent who didn't get along with him, he might be holding himself back everywhere.
Instead of spending time wrangling in the future, it would be better to let Lunev continue to serve as his military commissar. This would be the best of both worlds. He nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Military Commissar, I will report your thoughts to my superiors."
This chapter has been completed!