Sameko was not surprised at all when he heard Sokov's orders. On the contrary, he nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, you should indeed gather the commanders of each division and brigade to have a meeting and let them know you. This will be very helpful for your future work."
After making a phone call for a few minutes, Sameko said to Sokov again: "Comrade Commander, I will now introduce you to the establishment of the army. We are under the five infantry divisions, including the 84th, 182nd, 188th, 254th and 384th Divisions of the Infantry, as well as the 46th Infantry Brigade, the 62nd and 84th Marine Brigade, the 4th Guard Tank Army of General Poluboyarov, and two independent tank battalions."
After hearing the introduction, Sokov asked in surprise: "Didn't the superiors equip us with special artillery?"
"No." Sameko shook his head and replied, "The grassland front has just been formed, and all armies need artillery, so we have not assigned artillery troops for the time being." Seeing Sokov's disappointed expression, he quickly added, "Comrade Commander, it is not accurate to say that there is no artillery. The five artillery divisions under our jurisdiction are equipped with a 76.2 mm cannon regiment."
"I'll talk about artillery matters later." Sokov once again ordered Sameko: "Send people to find the subordinates I brought, and let Colonel Belkin and Lieutenant Colonel Vanya come to the headquarters to attend the meeting."
Although Sameko was not sure about the purpose of Sokov's arrangement, he nodded: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I will send someone to call these two commanders over."
More than ten minutes later, the division commander, brigade commander and their political commissar who received the notice appeared in the command center one after another. Seeing a strange young general sitting in the main seat, two strange colonels and lieutenant colonels standing behind him, everyone showed confusion. They all turned their eyes to those who came first, wanting to learn from them the reason why the Chief of Staff suddenly summoned everyone.
But those who came first knew as many as those who came later. Seeing that Bazi was asking for a questioning look at him, they could only shrugged their shoulders, spread their hands, and signaled that they knew nothing.
"Comrades Commanders, please be quiet!" Seeing that everyone was here, Sameko stood up and shouted to everyone: "The meeting is now! Before the meeting begins, I will introduce to you the new commander of the group army."
When Sokov heard that Sameko was about to introduce himself, he stood up and said actively: "Hello, comrades in command, I will introduce myself. My name is Mikhail Mikhailnovic Sokov. He was the commander of the Sixth Army not long ago. Today he just took over the position of commander of the 27th Army. Today I gathered everyone together to get to know each other, so that it will be conducive to the next work."
"Sixth Army?" Hearing this number, a general who was a little far from Sokov was the first to speak: "Is that unit that was defeated by the Imperial Division, Skeleton Division and Flag Guard Division at the end of February?"
His tone was filled with a hint of disdain, after all, this was the first failure that the Soviet army suffered when it launched a large-scale attack. And it was precisely because the group of troops was defeated by the German army that General Popov's rapid clustering became an isolated army that penetrated deep into the hinterland of the enemy. After hearing the commander's words, the nearby commanders began to talk in a low voice.
Faced with the comments of the commanders, Sokov did not interrupt them, but let them express their opinions. Sameko leaned close to Sokov's ear and whispered: "Comrade Commander, the first general who spoke was Major General Fomenko, the commander of the 84th Infantry Division. His eldest son was killed in the Sixth Army at the end of February."
After listening to Sameko's explanation, Sokov immediately understood why Young Master Fomenko would have such great resentment towards the Sixth Army. After he calmed down in the conference room again, he continued: "This General Fomenko is right. Our Sixth Army was indeed defeated by the three German SSs at the end of February, which led to the defeat of the entire Southwest Front."
When the commanders here heard Sokov say this, many people sneered on their faces. They thought that a commander who had lost the battle has now come to our army to be the commander. I wonder if he will continue to defeat the war in the future, so that our 27th Army will become a laughing stock in the army.
"Comrades, you misunderstood." Seeing that Sokov did not explain to everyone, Sameko was worried about any misunderstanding, and quickly stood up and said to everyone: "The Sixth Army commanded by our new commander is not the one that was defeated by the German army. On the contrary, he commanded the troops to completely wipe out the Imperial Division, severely damaged the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division, and killed the Skeleton Division commander Ike, captured the Imperial Division commander Major General Ayer alive, and Colonel Ximeng, the acting Skeleton Division commander, and then served as the commander of the newly formed Sixth Army."
Sameko's explanation stunned the commanders present. After a long time, Major General Fomenko asked tentatively: "General Sokov, can you tell me which unit you commanded before becoming the commander of the Sixth Army?"
"Yes!" Sokov, who stood on the edge of the table with both hands, replied readily: "Before being the commander of the Sixth Army, I was the commander of the Sokov combat cluster, and also served as the commander of the 41st Guard Division."
"The 41st Guard Division?" Hearing Sokov say this, a general sitting on Sokov's left hand suddenly stood up and asked tentatively: "Is it the division that holds the Mamayev gate?"
To the general's question, Sokov answered truthfully: "Yes, the troops under my command have been standing on Mamayev's hill throughout the Battle of Stalingrad."
"It turns out that you are the Colonel Sokov, no, now Major General Sokov." The general straightened his body, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and said respectfully: "I am Major General Gricenko, the commander of the 384th Infantry Division. On behalf of all the officers and soldiers of the division, we firmly obey your orders and obey your instructions!"
After learning about Sokov's true identity, the commanders immediately made a big turn for him. Especially when they saw Major General Gritzenko expressing his opinion to Sokov and willing to obey his orders unconditionally, they stood up one after another, raised their hands to salute Sokov, and expressed the same meaning to him. Even Major General Fumenko, the initiator, finally stood up and apologized to Sokov with embarrassment.
Seeing the change in everyone's attitude towards him, Sokov realized that in today's army, military rank and position are secondary, and whether one can establish immortal merits is the most important thing.
He raised his hands, pressed down, signaled everyone to sit down, and said to everyone: "Comrades Commanders, we will gather everyone here today. In addition to knowing each other, we will also announce an important decision to everyone."
After hearing this, no one spoke, but just stared at Sokov intently, waiting quietly for him to announce that important decision.
"Everyone knows that the soldiers of our troops lack sufficient training. If such troops are brought to the battlefield, it will be difficult to win the battle." Seeing that no one spoke, Sokov said to himself: "Because, I have now announced that the construction of all fortifications in the defense zone will be stopped, and the divisions and brigades will concentrate on military training."
Sokov's words were like sprinkling a handful of salt in a red pot, and the pot was frying.
"Ah, is it appropriate to stop building fortifications and concentrate on military training?"
"Yes, construction of fortifications is an order issued by our superiors. If we really stop, will our superiors blame it?"
“…”
The sound of Samek and others in the room gradually became smaller, and he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, everyone doesn't understand why you made such a decision. You should explain it to everyone."