Lyudmila and Vasily were waiting outside the headquarters. Not long after Koshkin left, the two of them followed him in. When they entered the headquarters, they were greeted with a burst of warm applause. Looking at the densely packed room,
People, even if Lyudmila and Vasily had seen many big scenes, they could not help but show some timidity at this moment.
After the applause stopped, Sokov stepped forward and shook hands with the two of them one by one, smiled and said to them: "Well done, Lyuda, Vasily, you are all well done. This is what I want to say to you.
"
After speaking, he took a step back, shook his head at Gorokhov who was standing next to him, and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, it's your turn."
Gorokhov nodded, walked in front of the two of them, and said with a smile: "Major Lyudmila, Major Vasily, in view of your outstanding performance during this period, the Combat Group Headquarters has studied and decided to award
The decision for you two to receive the Order of the Red Banner."
He made a gesture, and a political worker standing not far away quickly stepped forward and handed over two red silk boxes in his hand. Gorokhov took the boxes and looked at Lyudmila and Vasily.
He put one in each hand and said: "Take it, this is your honor!"
After taking the medal box, Lyudmila and Vasily straightened their backs, raised their chins slightly, and said loudly: "Serve the Soviet Motherland!"
Gorokhov looked at the Gold Star medals on the chests of the two men, nodded, and said with a smile: "I can see that you two have served quite well. You know, this Gold Star medal even counts for some commanders with outstanding military exploits.
None." After saying this, he instinctively turned his head and glanced at Sokov.
Sokov naturally understood the underlying meaning of Gorokhov's words and the ulterior glance. Yes, he was a commander with outstanding military exploits, but what was regrettable was that although he had three medals hanging on his chest,
But none of them is a Gold Star medal, let alone the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which symbolizes the highest honor.
After the simple investiture ceremony, Sokov introduced the members of the consolation group to Lyudmila and Vasily. Even though the consolation group was full of important people, they met Lyudmila and Vasily.
, as if they were seeing their idols, they acted very enthusiastically, leaving the two of them a little overwhelmed.
After treating the consolation group to a lunch at noon, Sokov sent someone to escort them out of Otac.
After doing all this, Sokov seemed to have been drained of all his strength. He fell weakly on the chair and looked at Samyko who was sitting opposite: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have any latest battle report today?"
?”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." After hearing Sokov's question, Samyko picked up the battle report and continued to report to him: "General Ponedelin reported that his troops have captured two cities. In the liberated city
During the process, we did not encounter much resistance.”
"Oh, the two cities of Storozhnets and Giliboka were captured?" Sokov was very surprised to learn that Ponedelin's troops easily captured the two cities. He originally thought that it would take at least 100% to capture the cities.
It took two or three days and huge casualties, but I didn't expect to win it so easily: "What are the casualties of the troops?"
"The casualties of the 98th Guards Division and the 254th Infantry Division that attacked the city did not exceed a hundred people." After Sameko reported this data, he could not help but feel a little complacent and said: "It seems that the Romanian army has no combat effectiveness at all, otherwise we would
The army will not be able to capture two cities so easily."
But Sokov's view was different from Samyko's. He was deeply afraid that the other party would be arrogant about underestimating the enemy, so he quickly reminded him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think you are wrong. The reason why our army is
The reason why these two cities were able to be liberated so easily was not because the Romanian army did not have combat effectiveness, but because they did not want to fight with our army, so the attacking forces easily liberated the cities without suffering huge casualties.
You know, the combat effectiveness of the Romanian army cannot be underestimated. In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, our army in Ukraine was defeated by them many times. I think if we encounter the kind of people who are determined to follow the Germans,
Romanians, I’m afraid there will still be a fierce battle.”
Sokov picked up the tea on the table and took a sip, then asked: "Did General Bogdanov's troops drive the enemy away from the vicinity of Chernivtsi?"
"Already driven away." Samek nodded and said: "According to his report, the enemy's rear seemed to have been hit. The enemy who was fighting with them was not interested in fighting, leaving a small number of troops behind, and hurriedly evacuated Chelre.
Novtse region.”
When Sokov heard this, he naturally understood what was going on: "It seems that the troops of the First Front commanded by Marshal Zhukov are launching a powerful offensive against the heavy German army group in the Vinnytsia area. The enemy has already begun to attack.
Unable to stand it any longer, we hurriedly transferred the troops near Chernivtsi."
"Since Marshal Zhukov has launched an offensive against the heavy German army in the Vinnitsa area, can we also transfer General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army into Romania?"
"No need for the time being." Sokov waved his hand and rejected Sameko's proposal: "I think it is better to let the 2nd Tank Army continue to stay in the existing area. We can move the 27th Army's troops stationed nearby and move two divisions in.
Within Romania.”
Trofimenko was sitting next to him silently, but when he heard that Sokov planned to mobilize his troops into Romania, he suddenly became interested: "Comrade Commander, how about I take charge of this matter? I will do it in
In the shortest possible time, two to three infantry divisions and one tank brigade will be mobilized into Romania."
Although Sokov can also command the troops of the 27th Group Army, Trofimenko is now the commander of the group army anyway. If he takes over the command, he will inevitably have conflicts with him, which will not be conducive to the next step.
Combat operations. So when Trofimenko took the initiative to ask for help, he readily agreed: "Okay, Comrade Deputy Commander, then I will leave this matter to you."
As soon as he handed over the task, the phone on the table rang. Sokov picked up the phone and put it to his ear: "I'm Sokov!"
Konev's voice soon came from the receiver: "Comrade Sokov, this is Konev. How is it? Has the condolence group that went to you left?"
"Already left, Comrade Marshal." Sokov knew that Konev's call must be about the old man. Without waiting for him to ask again, he took the initiative and said: "I arranged for the old man to leave with the condolences group. Don't worry.
, he is in great health now and will definitely be able to return to Moscow safely."
Seeing that Sokov guessed his intention, Konev smiled and nodded, and then changed the topic to combat: "How is the situation there?"
"Comrade Marshal, I am preparing to report to you." Sokov said into the microphone: "General Ponedelin's troops took active actions in Romania and liberated Storozhne at a very small cost.
The two cities of Cis and Giliboca expanded the area controlled by our army in Romania."
"Well, good job." Konev was a little surprised by Sokov's report. He then asked: "How is the situation with General Bogdanov?"
"The enemies who attacked Chernivtsi have been completely defeated by General Bogdanov's troops. They should not approach Chernivtsi again in a short period of time."
But Konev was obviously not satisfied with Sokov's answer. He asked: "Comrade Sokov, why are you so sure that the Germans will not return to Chernivtsi?"
"Based on various signs," Sokov replied: "It should be the 1st Ukrainian Front commanded by Marshal Zhukov, which launched an offensive against the German heavy Vinnitsa group. The enemy may not be able to resist the friendly offensive and has to turn the offensive
Troops from Chernivtsi were transferred back to strengthen the defense of the area. Based on this, I judged that the enemy would not appear near Chernivtsi again in a short period of time."
"Comrade Sokov, your analysis is very reasonable." After praising Sokov, Konev continued: "But have you considered that if the attack launched by Marshal Zhukov does not go well,
was defeated by the German army; and you just happened to draw away the Chernivtsi defenders, causing the defense in this area to become empty. If the Germans seize this opportunity and launch another attack, will they easily capture Chernivtsi?
Novtse?"
"Comrade Marshal, what you said makes sense." Sokov actually had similar considerations, so he made the decision not to use Bogdanov's troops: "But I don't think this situation will happen."
"Oh?!" Sokov's answer surprised Konev: "Comrade Sokov, are you so confident that the Germans will not attack Chernivtsi again?"
"Comrade Marshal, to tell you the truth, I have considered that Marshal Zhukov's troops are not attacking smoothly, so that the Germans can free up their hands to attack Chernivtsi again." Sokov explained to Konev: "
Therefore, I ordered General Bogdanov’s 2nd Tank Army to continue to defend Chernivtsi to prevent the Germans from taking advantage of the situation.”
"So you left General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army in Chernivtsi." After Konev figured out Sokov's deployment, he felt relieved: "As long as they stay in Chernivtsi,
In Ernovce, even if the Germans come back, they can completely contain the German army."
After a pause, Konev asked again: "Since General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army cannot be used, which unit do you plan to send to reinforce the Ponejelin battle group in Romania?"
Sokov turned his head and glanced at Trofimenko who was on the phone not far away, and said: "I plan to call in the troops of the 27th Army. There are several divisions of the Army near Chernivtsi. Let them go there."
I think it is very appropriate to reinforce the troops in Romania."
"Since the formation of the combat group until now," Konev waited for Sokov to finish, and then said: "The results I have seen are basically the results of the 53rd Army, the 2nd and 6th Tank Armies, but
I rarely see anything about the 27th Army. The only unit that I can remember is Chuvashov’s 98th Guards Division.”
"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Sokov agreed with Konev's statement: "Some time ago, I considered that the 27th Army had just completed its replenishment, and the commanders and combatants needed a process of familiarity and running-in, so I added the
The army serves as the general reserve of the combat group. Now the running-in between the commanders and fighters has almost completed, and it is time for them to take the field."
After understanding the situation on the northern front, Konev asked about the situation of the southern front troops: "Comrade Sokov, I have basically understood the situation of the northern front troops, but what about the southern front troops? If I remember correctly
, the troops fighting in this direction should include Major General Afunin’s 18th Guards Army and Kravchenko’s 6th Tank Army. Right?”
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Seeing that Konev stated the unit numbers so accurately, Sokov nodded and said, "Yes, these two units are indeed fighting on the southern front."
"What's their recent record?"
Sokov quickly looked at Samyko for help, hoping to get the latest situation on the southern front from him. However, Samyko spread his hands to indicate that he had not received any battle reports about the southern front troops.
Seeing that Samyko did not have the latest battle report, Sokov could only report the battle report obtained earlier to Konev: "Comrade Marshal, the southern front troops are advancing towards the Wingene area. Among them, the 6th Tank Army is in
During the advance, they encountered a German armored force. After a fierce battle, they completely wiped out this enemy force and then moved toward their destination again."
"Comrade Sokov," Konev had obviously received such a battle report a long time ago. Hearing what Sokov said, he couldn't help but frowned: "The southern front intelligence you reported to me seems to have happened earlier today.
.Aren’t there any recent battle reports?”
Now that Konev had guessed that he was using old battle reports to prevaricate, Sokov stopped pretending and said truthfully: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, the situation I just reported to you was indeed from earlier today.
Battle reports at that time. However, no new battle reports have been received yet, so I don’t know what the situation is.”
"Has the snowstorm stopped there?"
"Yes, it has stopped." Regarding the weather question, Sokov answered readily: "After the cooling and snowstorm at night, the ground was frozen very solid, which was conducive to the deployment of large-scale armored forces."
"I have learned about the terrain north of Wingene. As long as we cross the Prut River, there are basically no mountains around it. Now that the land has been frozen hard, our armored forces can drive in at a long distance," Konev said:
"However, we still need to occupy several border cities and establish several material transfer stations so that supplies from the rear can be continuously transported to Romania."
When he talked about the supplies coming from the rear, Sokov remembered the arsenal that his troops were looking for, and quickly reported to Konev: "Comrade Marshal, we found several arms left by our army near Otats.
The weapons and ammunition stored in the warehouse can alleviate the current shortage of ammunition and supplies in our department."
"Oh, you actually found several arsenals left behind?" Konev asked in surprise: "Can the weapons, ammunition and supplies in the arsenal still be used?"
"I sent people to inspect the weapons, ammunition and supplies stored in the arsenal. Although they have been stored for three or four years, they have not affected their use at all." Sokov said: "I use these weapons, ammunition and supplies for individual troops.
supplemented.
This chapter has been completed!