After confirming his appointment as the Chief of Staff of the 47th Group Army, Sidorin's heart beat faster than expected. He never dreamed that he would be suddenly transferred to the 1st Belarusian Front because his superiors wanted him to take this position.
According to his original idea, after following Sokov to the new army, he might continue to be the chief of staff of his own division. Unexpectedly, he was promoted three levels in a row and directly became the chief of staff of the group army.
However, while he was happy, he did not forget to recommend Kirillov. He came to Kirillov, raised his hand to his forehead, and said with tears of gratitude: "Comrade Colonel, thank you!"
"Colonel Sidorin," Kirillov pulled Sidorin's hand from his forehead, shook it a few times, and said with a smile: "I have heard General Ponedelin mention you many times. I know
You are a very good chief of staff. So after rejecting the appointment from your superiors today, I recommended you to General Rokossovsky. To be honest, at the time, I just had the mentality of giving it a try, but I didn’t expect that he would actually agree.
We even sent a plane to pick you up."
"Sidolin," Sokov said: "From now on, you are my chief of staff, and General Ponedelin is the deputy commander. I hope that you can work together to build more in future battles.
meritorious deeds."
When Sidorin heard what Sokov said, he couldn't help but be stunned. Then he turned his eyes to Kirillov and asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, what about Colonel Kirillov? What position does he hold?"
"He has no specific position for the time being." Sokov said to Sidorin: "Until the new appointment is made, he will stay at the army headquarters. If you have anything you don't understand, you can ask him for advice."
"It's impossible to ask for advice." Hearing what Sokov said, Kirillov quickly said humbly: "If there are any problems that cannot be solved, we can discuss them together and find a solution."
At this time, an officer came in from the outside. Sokov saw that it was Rokossovsky's adjutant. He quickly came forward and asked politely: "Comrade adjutant, what's the matter? Is it Comrade General looking for you?"
us?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander wants to see you, please come with me."
Seeing Sokov walking outside with the adjutant, Ponedelin and others instinctively followed him. However, when the adjutant found out, he stopped the three of them: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I want to talk to General Sokov alone."
, you should stay here."
Hearing that Rokossovsky wanted to talk to him alone, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. But he did not have the temerity to ask the adjutant what Rokossovsky would talk to him, not to mention whether the adjutant would
He knew the content of the conversation, and even if he knew it, he probably wouldn't tell himself, so he simply didn't ask.
Following the adjutant to Rokossovsky's office, Sokov saw that Rokossovsky was on the phone, while Chief of Staff Malinin stood aside, silently waiting for him to finish the call.
Seeing Sokov entering, Malinin immediately came up to him and greeted him politely: "You're here!"
"Well, here I come!"
"Comrade Adjutant, there is nothing for you to do here. You can go out first." After Malinin dismissed the adjutant, he whispered to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, the commander is having a meeting with the commander of the Second Front Army Kuroch.
Jin’s call. Let’s wait here for a while until he finishes the call.”
"Kurochkin of the Second Front?" Sokov muttered to himself, why has Konev not left yet and the person who took over his post has arrived? Out of curiosity, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front, is he
Commander of the Second Ukrainian Front Kurochkin?”
"How is this possible?" Unexpectedly, Ma Linin shook his head after hearing this and said: "There is a First Ukrainian Front between the Second Ukrainian Front Army and us. How can the commander talk to them? Now he is calling
Kurochkin is the commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front."
"Oh, oh, that's it." Sokov said with some embarrassment, "I made a mistake."
"It's okay, I didn't make it clear." Malinin whispered to Sokov: "Rokossovsky and Kurochkin were talking because the Kovel occupied by the other party was attacked by the German army.
The city's troops were forced to withdraw from the battle after a few hours."
"Forced to withdraw from the battle?" Sokov knew very well some of the terms used by the troops. Hearing that the troops had withdrawn from the battle, it meant that the battle was defeated. He asked in surprise: "So, Kovel again?"
Occupied by the Germans?”
"Yes, it is indeed like this." Ma Lining nodded and continued: "The Supreme Commander himself was very angry when he learned the news, so he called the commander and expressed that he wanted the two front troops to
The desire to connect the combat areas into one. The commander called Kurochkin to discuss this matter."
"Isn't it a simple matter to connect the combat areas of the two front armies?" Sokov said disapprovingly after hearing this: "Just let the two armies move closer to the center."
"If only things were so simple." Malinin glanced at Rokossovsky and realized that the commander's call would not end in a short while, so he asked Sokov to sit down first: "Comrade Sokov,
Please sit down, I don’t know how long the commander’s call will last. Your leg is injured, so don’t stand for too long.”
Sokov sat down on a bench by the wall and continued to ask Malinin: "Why not make it simple?"
"Comrade Sokov, you were in the First Ukrainian Front some time ago. You should be able to realize that the supply speed given to you by your superiors is very fast." Malinin explained to Sokov: "This is because the Supreme Command
The focus of the counterattack is all on Ukraine, so whether it is soldiers, weapons, ammunition and various supplies, priority is given to Ukraine. As for Belarus, the soldiers and supplies we receive are very limited."
Sokov really didn't know the situation Malinin was talking about. After all, according to the information he had in his later generations, what was the situation of the 1st Belarusian Front commanded by Rokossovsky before launching the Belarusian Campaign?
There are no detailed records, and I didn't expect the situation to be so bad.
After waiting for Malinin to finish speaking, Sokov said cautiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, now that the war in Ukraine has come to an end, I think the Supreme Command will focus its strategy on Belarus."
"I think about it this way too." Ma Lining nodded and said, "But how to choose the main direction of attack is a headache at present."
Sokov opened his mouth to ask how Rokossovsky planned to choose the direction of attack, but Malinin raised his hand to stop him: "Comrade Sokov, I know you are eager to know where the main attack direction is. But unfortunately,
This is currently top secret and only the commander and I know it. Even if you ask, I won’t answer you.”
"I understand, I understand." Sokov knew very well that the main attack direction developed by Rokossovsky and Malinin was still just an idea and had not yet received permission from the Supreme Command: "I still understand the confidentiality regulations.
, know what to ask and what not to ask.”
After hearing what Sokov said, Malinin smiled and nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. He did not continue to struggle with this matter, but changed the topic in time: "I heard that your chief of staff has
arrive?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded and replied: "I met with Colonel Sidorin half an hour ago. Now that all the members of our army headquarters are complete, we can go to the 47th Army tomorrow.
The army’s defense zone?”
"There should be no problem." Ma Lining said carelessly: "It's a pity that I can't leave the headquarters because of something, otherwise I would even want to accompany you to take office."
Hearing that Malinin could not accompany him to take office tomorrow, Sokov felt somewhat regretful. He asked tentatively: "Then shall I go there by myself?"
"No, no, no, you can't go there by yourself." Ma Lining said: "The commander has already greeted me, and he will personally accompany you to the 47th Group Army tomorrow."
After the two chatted for a while, Rokossovsky finally finished the call. He nodded to Sokov and said tiredly: "Misha, you are here!"
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov quickly stood up, raised his hand and saluted Rokossovsky, and reported in accordance with the Soviet Army's instructions: "The new commander of the 47th Group Army, Sokov, is reporting to you.
Your order has come, please give instructions!"
Rokossovsky raised one hand and pressed it down a few times: "Sit down, you are not an outsider."
After Sokov took his seat, Malinin asked with some urgency: "Comrade Commander, how was your conversation with Commander Kurochkin?"
"Not ideal." Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "Kurochkin said that the area he is currently defending is too wide and that he cannot temporarily allocate troops to regain Kaverin. The combat areas of our two front armies are even
The idea of becoming one is a bit unrealistic."
"Then what did you think about it?" Malinen asked cautiously.
Rokossovsky frowned and thought for a while, then replied: "We will soon launch a full-scale offensive against the German army. At this time, we will mobilize our troops to start a tug-of-war with the Germans in the Kovel area.
I don’t think it’s necessary.”
"However, Comrade Commander, if Covel is not recaptured as soon as possible, the enemy will drive a wedge in the direction of the Second Front Army." Malinin said anxiously: "If they increase their troops in this area, there will be
It is possible to separate the Second Front's defense line."
"I think Kurochkin will not let the Germans tear apart his defense line." Rokossovsky said confidently: "At best, after the German army occupied Kovel, it only formed a defensive zone in the Second Front Army.
A small protrusion makes it difficult to separate the front."
"Comrade Commander," Malinin saw that Rokossovsky was not worried about the Second Front Army's defense area, and felt that the other side must be confident to do this, so he did not persuade him anymore, but asked tentatively: "Look, we
Do we need to report this matter to the High Command immediately?"
"Okay." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "This matter needs to be reported to the Supreme Commander immediately, so that the Supreme Commander himself can be fully aware of it."
Seeing Rokossovsky pick up the high-frequency phone on the table and prepare to call the Kremlin in Moscow, Sokov stood up and said: "Comrade General, you are about to make a call. Please allow me to leave for a while."
The reason why he said this was entirely because he was worried that his level was not high enough to listen to the conversation between Rokossovsky and Stalin.
But Rokossovsky waved his hand and said magnanimously: "There's no need, Misha, there's nothing I can't hear. Just stay here." After saying that, he connected to the Kremlin's switchboard.
Ask the person on duty to transfer you to Stalin's office.
When the call was connected, Rokossovsky explained to Stalin the reasons why he did not need to recapture Kaverin for the time being. But after a moment, Sokov saw his face turn ashen and held his hand.
The hand holding the microphone was trembling slightly, and he guessed that he must be being reprimanded by Stalin.
After finally waiting for the other party to finish speaking, Rokossovsky spoke again: "Comrade Stalin, if we immediately send troops to capture Kovel, the enemy will think that this city is very important to us.
Heavy troops will definitely be deployed to attack us. In order to defend this city, we have to mobilize more troops and deploy them in this direction to prevent the German army from breaking through here and prevent the Second Front Army's defense line from being separated.
We are about to launch a large-scale offensive battle against the German army in the Belarusian region. If a considerable number of troops are invested in the direction of Kovel, it will definitely affect the battle we will carry out next."
After Rokossovsky ended the call, he still held the phone in a daze for a long time. When he heard Malinin calling him, he hurriedly put the phone on the phone. Then he said to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff
, the Supreme Commander himself has agreed to our request and will not launch an attack on Kovelli for the time being."
Having said this, he pulled the ground on his desk in front of him and called Malinin at the same time: "Comrade Chief of Staff, but the Supreme Commander himself has handed over the entire area surrounding the Polesiya Swamp from the south, together with the troops in this area.
Give me the front. In this way, the total geographical width of our First Belarusian Front will reach nearly 900 kilometers."
Hearing the data given by Rokossovsky, Malinin couldn't help but take a breath: "Oh my God, Comrade Commander, if the above-mentioned areas are really handed over to us, it means that we have lost all the power in the entire great nation.
During the Great Patriotic War, it had the widest offensive front."
Not only Malinin was surprised, even Sokov, who was sitting in a daze, was also startled by the data Rokossovsky said. The nine hundred kilometers wide offensive front meant that Rokossovs
When Ji commanded the troops to attack, he could not leave any reserves at all. Instead, he had to deploy all the troops belonging to the front army on the front line to ensure the intensity of the attack.
After Rokossovsky sat down, he took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the table, lit it and took two puffs. Then he asked Sokov who was sitting on the sofa: "Misha, what do you think of the Supreme Commander himself?"
What do you think of the arrangement?"
Hearing Rokossovsky ask himself, Sokov quickly stood up from the sofa, but he did not immediately express his opinion, but asked cautiously: "Comrade General, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?
