Watching Antonov and Semosykin leave, Belkin said to Sokov in a reproachful tone: "Comrade Brigade Commander, how can you say that to General Antonov? You know, the German army might attack Stalingrad, but it is just your guess. Maybe this situation will not happen at all."
Sokov did not argue with him about Belkin's doubts, but said to him: "Let's go, comrade of the political commissar, let's settle the soldiers first. I think they must be tired and hungry now."
After Antonov returned to the General Staff on the Gogol boulevard, he wanted to report his trip to Huaseyevsky. Unexpectedly, he did not see the shadow of the General Staff in the office. He called a passing staff officer and asked curiously: "Where has Comrade General Staff gone?"
When the staff officer saw that the person who asked him was the Deputy Minister of the Operations Department, he quickly replied respectfully: "Comrade Deputy Minister, one hour ago, the Chief of Staff received a call from the Supreme Commander himself and had already rushed to the Kremlin."
When Antonov learned that Vasilevsky had gone to the Kremlin, he knew that there must be something important and would not be able to come back for a while, so he turned to his office and prepared to finish the remaining work.
At the same time, Vasilevsky was reporting to him the latest information he had just obtained in Stalin's office. Stalin, with a pale complexion, walked back and forth in the house with his pipe in his mouth. The situation had changed far beyond his imagination.
After Huasilevsky finished the report, he took out his pipe from his mouth, held it in his hand, and asked with a serious expression: "Comrade Huasilevsky, has the current battlefield situation really reached such a critical moment?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Vasilevsky stopped physically and replied: "From the current situation, the next target of the German army's attack is Stalingrad. Once this city named after you is occupied, they can cut off our ties with the South in one fell swoop, and while seizing food and oil resources, they can also form a roundabout encirclement of Moscow."
Stalin put his pipe back into his mouth and asked, "How is our defense in the direction of Stalingrad?"
"It's awful, Comrade Stalin." Huaseylevsky, who knew the defense of Stalingrad, said without hesitation after hearing Stalin's question: "Because Stalingrad has been away from the battlefield, and it was not until April this year that the Supreme Command issued an order to build fortifications to the city's city defense committee in early May. You know, the city has never built any fortifications, which means that everything must start from scratch. In two months, I think it is unrealistic to achieve any significant results."
"Then what kind of troops do we deploy in the direction of Stalingrad?" Stalin continued.
"At present, there are only about 160,000 troops in the direction of Stalingrad. The defensive forces that can be mobilized in the city are only police officers and factory militias." After Huaseylevsky finished reporting, he suddenly remembered Sokov's troops and was about to head to Stalingrad. He quickly added, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's infantry 73rd Brigade will be heading to Stalingrad in the near future."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?" Stalin repeated the name and suddenly remembered who Sokov was mentioned by Vasilevsky: "You are talking about Xiaomisha?"
"Yes, it's him." Huasilevsky replied with a smile: "His troops are now in Moscow, and are preparing to take a train to Kazan and then take a transport ship to Stalingrad from there. Since the station arranged the army they were on, I have sent Antonov to deal with it in a month and a half."
"Comrade Huasilevsky, we must quickly form troops and head to Stalingrad to strengthen the defense there." Stalin ordered Huasilevsky and said, "Let Comrade Antonov come here immediately."
When he heard that Antonov was going to come to the Kremlin, Huasilevsky said hesitantly: "Comrade Stalin, I don't know where he is now."
Stalin nudes at the phone on his desk and said, "Call it immediately and find out where he is. If he has returned to the General Staff, let him come immediately. The orders later need to be drafted and conveyed."
Antonov, who was busy in his office, received a call from Huasilevsky and was about to report to him about Sokov, but he heard Huasilevsky say in an orderly tone: "Comrade Deputy Minister, you need you here, come to the Kremlin immediately."
More than ten minutes later, Antonov appeared in Stalin's office. As soon as he entered the door, Stalin nodded at him and then said, "Comrade Antonov, you are here. We have an order now that you need to draft it."
Hearing Stalin say this, Antonov immediately sat down at the conference table and prepared for the record. Seeing that Antonov was ready, Stalin spoke, "Order 1, the main force of the 5th Preparatory Army, to quickly drive to the left bank of the Don River, and make defense there, and prevent the German army from crossing the Don River at all costs;
Order 2, the reserve army stationed in Tula was immediately reorganized into the 64th Army, with Lieutenant General Goldordorf as commander, Lieutenant General Chokov as deputy commander, immediately heading to Stalingrad and strengthening the defense there..."
When Antonov heard Stalin say that he wanted to strengthen Stalingrad's defense, he was stunned. He stopped the pen in his hand, looked up at Stalin, and asked unexpectedly: "Comrade Stalin, is he going to let the newly formed army head to Stalingrad?"
"General Antonov, have you not heard my orders clearly?" Stalin said with a stern face: "Continue to record the orders, the commander of the 62nd Army, Korpakchi, should lead the troops to establish a solid line of defense at Kretskaya to Surovikino to prevent enemies that may rush to Stalingrad..."
While recording Stalin's orders, Antonov was shocked: What was going on? Not long ago, he said that the enemy's target of attack might be Sokov of Stalingrad, and he was also scolded by himself. Unexpectedly, in just over two hours, the situation on the battlefield really appeared like the one he analyzed.
After recording the order, Antonov handed it to Stalin and asked him to check and sign it. After quickly browsing the contents of Antonov's record, Stalin took a pen to sign his name behind him. But when he handed the order to Antonov, he found that the expression on his face was a little strange, so he asked curiously: "Comrade Antonov, what's wrong with you? Are you worried?"
After hearing Stalin's question, Antonov couldn't help but hesitate. He was hesitating whether he should report the dialogue between himself and Sokov to Stalin. After some thought, he felt that even if he didn't say it, maybe Stalin would have learned about his dialogue with Sokov from other ways, so he mustered up the courage to say: "Comrade Stalin, I remembered the dialogue with Lieutenant Colonel Sokov not long ago."
"The conversation with Xiaomia is really interesting." Stalin pulled out two cigarettes from the cigarette box, crushed them, put them in the pipe, and asked with interest: "What have you all talked about?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov told me," Antonov said slowly: "The enemy's next target of attack may be Stalingrad. Because as long as the enemy occupy this city, they can obtain the food and oil they need from the south of our country, and at the same time form a roundabout encirclement of Moscow..."
Stalin and Vasilevsky showed shocked expressions on their faces, because what Antonov said was exactly the same as the analysis he had just made. Especially Vasilevsky, if he had not called Antonov in person and temporarily recruited Antonov from the General Staff, he even suspected that when he reported the battlefield situation to Stalin, Antonov was quietly listening to their conversation in a corner of the room.
After a long time, Huasilevsky asked, "Comrade Vice Minister, are you all just saying true? Did Lieutenant Colonel Sokov really say this to you?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Antonov said with shame after giving Vasilevsky a positive answer: "It's a pity that I sneered at his analysis and thought he was exaggerating. Unexpectedly... his analysis was completely correct."
As soon as Vasilevsky and Antonov finished speaking, they couldn't wait to ask: "Where is he now?"
"At Yaroslav Railway Station," Antonov replied, "He and his troops will stay there until 6:10 am tomorrow and then take the train to Kazan."
"Comrade Huasilevsky," Stalin couldn't help but ask Huasilevsky: "If I remember correctly, you seem to have said that you should transfer Sokov's troops to Stalingrad to rest, why did you let them go to Kazan again?"
"Comrade Stalin, please listen to my explanation. This is the case." Huasilevsky quickly explained to Stalin: "I have just reported to you that the 73rd Infantry Brigade will take the army to Kazan, then transfer to transport ships from there, go down the Volga River, and head to Stalingrad."
Chapter completed!