When Stalin broke out, Vasilevsky blushed, but he did not shirk his responsibilities, but took the initiative to admit his mistakes: "Comrade Stalin, I arranged the marching route of the infantry brigade, it was all my fault, and I was not careful in thinking about it."
"Okay, now is not the time to hold the responsibility." Stalin waved his hand at Vasilevsky, and then confirmed to Antonov again: "Comrade Antonov, you just said that Sokov also analyzed the trends of the German army, right?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Antonov nodded and replied in a positive tone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov did say such words. Judging from the current situation, his analysis is completely correct."
After hearing Antonov's words, Stalin did not speak, but held his pipe and walked back and forth in the room. Vasilevsky looked at Antonov with a side face, took a step forward, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Stalin, do you want to see him?"
"No, I won't see you for the time being." Unexpectedly, Vasilevsky's proposal was immediately opposed by Stalin: "Although he can occasionally guess the next move of the Germans, he is just a lieutenant colonel after all, and is not qualified to participate in such an important decision."
Seeing that Stalin refused his request, Huasilevsky was not discouraged and continued to ask: "How to arrange him next? Should he lead his troops to Stalingrad?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Stalin stopped and looked at Vasilevsky and said, "Is this a matter of need? Now it has been confirmed that the German army is about to rush towards Stalingrad, and our defense is weak there and needs troops to strengthen it. You can arrange this matter immediately and let them rush to Baveletz Railway Station as soon as possible, and take a car directly to Stalingrad from there."
Just as Vasilevsky and Antonov were about to leave the office, Stalin suddenly said in the back: "Comrade Vasilevsky, you can give Xiaomi Misha a switchboard call password and tell him that if you have any ideas in the future, you can call me directly."
When Vasilevsky heard Stalin say this, he was overjoyed and quickly replied: "I understand, Comrade Stalin. I will convey your meaning to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
On the way back to the General Staff, Antonov said in an envious tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that Comrade Stalin respected this Lieutenant Colonel Sokov so he even gave him the call code of the switchboard."
"Comrade Antonov," Vasilevsky looked at Antonov with a serious expression: "Don't you think this is what Lieutenant Colonel Sokov deserves? If he wasn't too young, he would be more than enough to be a general based on his performance on the battlefield."
Antonov nodded with a smile, then asked, "When will we inform Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to lead his troops to Baveletz Railway Station?"
Huasilevsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Antonov with a side face, "Comrade Antonov, please come and meet Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, and give him the call code of the Kremlin switchboard."
Although railway transportation is not within his own authority, Antonov also understood that the transportation at Baveletz Railway Station was particularly busy, so he asked with some concern: "Chief of the General Staff, I wonder when the 73rd Infantry Brigade can be arranged to set off after going to Baveletz Railway Station?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Antonov. The current situation has changed, and Stalingrad will be our next defense focus. Therefore, some of the trains carrying building materials will be suspended, and priority will be given to transporting troops to Stalingrad." Huasilevsky was silent for a moment and continued: "I will coordinate with the relevant departments. If everything goes well, they will be able to set off tonight at the latest."
Antonov followed Huasilevsky back to the General Staff. After handling some backlog of affairs, he took several subordinates to the Yaroslav Railway Station to find Sokov and his troops.
Berkin, who was standing in the hall chatting with Sokov, couldn't help but feel a little sad when he saw Antonov coming back, thinking why he was back again, was he coming to trouble Sokov? Thinking of this, he hurriedly patted Sokov's arm. After the other party focused his attention on him, he said frightenedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, look quickly, General Antonov is here again. Could it be that he is here to settle the score? What should I do?"
"Calling the accounts?" Sokov looked puzzled at Belkin's statement: "I did nothing wrong, what is he going to make a calculation for me?"
"Did you forget what you said to him just now?" Belkin lowered his voice and said hurriedly: "You say that the Germans' next target of attack will be Stalingrad, a city named after the Supreme Commander himself. That is to say, the enemy may almost penetrate into the heart of Russia. Then, if you say it better, it is a ridiculous idea; if you say it worse, it is a manifestation of defeatism."
Although Sokov is usually careless, he still feels panicked when he hears Belkin say this. At that moment, he even feels like he is escaping, thinking about it as far as possible. However, this kind of thing is enough to think about it in his heart. It is impossible to escape and there is no way out. The only thing he can do is to bite the bullet and meet Antonov with Belkin and prepare to face everything that will come bravely.
Unexpectedly, when Antonov saw Sokov, he showed great enthusiasm. He grabbed Sokov's hand and shook it twice, and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that we would meet again so soon."
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov didn't understand why Antonov was so enthusiastic about himself, and replied a little embarrassedly: "We're meeting again."
After Antonov shook hands with Belkin, he looked around and saw that there were commanders and fighters sitting on the ground. He asked tentatively: "Is there a quieter place nearby? I want to talk to you both alone."
Seeing Antonov's friendly attitude towards Sokov, the stone hanging in his heart fell to the ground. At this moment, when he heard the other party wanting to find a quiet place to chat, he quickly pointed at the ticket room not far away and said, "Comrade General, there is no one in that room, so let's go there and talk."
There are nine train stations in Moscow. Since the outbreak of the war, the ticket halls in the station have lost their function. Passenger trains transport either the army or the civilians evacuated to the rear every day. In this case, who would go to the station to buy tickets? If you want to talk about important things in the waiting hall, the empty ticket room is undoubtedly the most suitable place.
Antonov took Sokov and the others into the ticket room, and the people he brought were on guard at the door so that no one would go in and disturb their private talks.
After closing the door, Antonov apologized to Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I apologize to you for what I just said. It turns out that your analysis is completely correct, and the main force of the German army is rushing towards Stalingrad."
"What, the Germans are rushing towards Stalingrad?" Berkin was shocked when he heard Antonov say this. He instinctively turned his head to look at Sokov and asked Antonov cautiously: "Comrade General, are you all saying true?"
"Yes, it's all true." Antonov did not go around the two of them anymore, but said bluntly: "The defenses in the Stalingrad area are quite empty now, so you must rush to Stalingrad as soon as possible to strengthen the defense there. How about it, are there any difficulties?"
"Comrade General, when we can reach Stalingrad depends entirely on the transportation provided by our superiors." Sokov said with some embarrassment: "If the transport convoy of the Volga River Fleet was not at the dock after getting off in Kazan, we would not have to wait for how long. If a war breaks out in Stalingrad, it would be a waste of the opportunity."
"Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Antonov thought Sokov would raise many difficulties, but the other party was just worried about the problems of the transport along the way, so he smiled and said to him: "According to the order of the Supreme Commander himself, you should immediately rush to Baveletz Railway Station and take the army directly to Stalingrad from there. It only takes one day at most, and you can reach Stalingrad smoothly."
After hearing Antonov's words, Sokov began to curse Huasilevsky in his heart: There is a train that can go directly to Stalingrad, but you just asked us to go to Kazan first and then take a boat to Stalingrad. Not to mention a big circle, it would take several more days to go on the road.
Although he was full of resentment towards Huasilevsky, Sokov pretended to be nothing and asked, "Comrade General, what should we do after we arrived in Stalingrad?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what did you think?" Antonov did not explain the precautions after arriving at Stalingrad, but humbly asked Sokov for advice: "Where should we strengthen the defense?"
In Sokov's memory, the most cruel part of the battle was the Mamayevgang. Because as long as the German army stood firm here, they could seize the port and cut off the connection between the Soviet army and the eastern bank of the Volga River. Therefore, both the Soviet and German sides invested a large amount of troops in the battle and repeatedly fought for control of the Mamayevgang.
Chapter completed!