Soon, two short generals, led by their staff officers, walked into Sokov's headquarters.
Sokov took a look and said, oh, the military ranks of both of them are not low, they are all lieutenant generals. If he had not received an exceptional promotion, his military rank would be the same as theirs.
The two men recognized Sokov without any introduction by the staff. After all, in this room, only Sokov had the military rank of general. They came to stand in front of Sokov, raised their hands in salute, and then began to report.
The pudgy general on the left was the first to say: "Hello, General Sokov, I am Lieutenant General Bogdanov Tank Corps, commander of the 2nd Tank Army."
The general on the right who was slightly thin and looked a bit Central Asian continued: "Hello, comrade general, I am Lieutenant General Kravchenko Tank Corps, commander of the 6th Tank Army."
When Sokov shook hands with the two men one by one, he also looked at Kravchenko. During the Battle of Cherkasy, although Kravchenko completed the rendezvous with the 5th Guards Tank Army and surrounded tens of thousands of German troops,
However, because he failed to block the rescue operation carried out by the German First Armored Army of Hube, he was demoted by Zhukov. However, judging from his expression, this demotion did not seem to have much impact on him.
After inviting the two men to sit down, Sokov stopped talking and began to assign tasks to them. "General Bogdanov, your troops are deployed on the right wing of my combat area to assist the troops of the 27th Group Army heading west.
Attack forward."
"General Kravchenko, the mission of your 6th Tank Army is to follow the actions of General Afunin's 18th Guards Army, break through the defenses of the German and Romanian troops to the south, capture Wingene, and enter from this area.
Within Romania.”
As a general-level commander, Kravchenko naturally understood the meaning of entering Romania. He stood up suddenly and said with some excitement: "General Sokov, in this case, our army group may be the first
Troops entering Romania?”
"General Kravchenko," although Kravchenko said that this possibility was very high, for the sake of safety, Sokov did not give the other party a definite answer: "Theoretically speaking, it is indeed possible for your group army to
It is the first unit to enter Romania and will be recorded in history. However, it is not ruled out that friendly forces from other regions may enter Romania before you because of the smooth progress."
"General Sokov," the honor recorded in history is supreme to Kravchenko. He decided to be the first to enter Romania at all costs, so he expressed his stance to Sokov: "Please rest assured."
, our group army will never let you down on the battlefield."
Kravchenko's 6th Tank Army might be the first to enter Romania, which made Bogdanov sitting next to him very jealous. He stood up and asked: "General Sokov, our Tank Army
The commanders and fighters of the 2nd Army all have rich combat experience, so you put us in an unimportant direction. Isn't this inappropriate?"
Sokov laughed after hearing this, and then said to Bogdanov: "General Bogdanov, the combat mission of your army group is equally important. Look," he pulled the map over and placed it on Bogdanov.
In front of her husband, she continued, "If you can capture Chernivtsi, you may become the first army to enter Romania."
When Bogdanov heard this, his eyes suddenly shone. But after he saw the map clearly, the luster of his eyes dimmed: "General Sokov, from where we are now, to Chernivtsi is indeed
Not far away. However, this road is full of forests, lakes and swamps, which is not conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops at all."
After listening to Bogdanov's complaints, Sokov smiled faintly, and then said: "General Bogdanov, as far as I know, in addition to the 11th and 16th Tank Corps, your tank group also has an infantry corps.
60th, 112th and 194th Divisions, as well as units such as the 115th Infantry Brigade, the 28th Ski Brigade and the 11th Guards Tank Brigade.
Even if the terrain on your way forward is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops, the infantry units you have are fully capable of breaking through the enemy's defense line. You must know that the number of German troops on this road is not large, and most of them have low combat effectiveness.
Weak Romanian Army."
In order to make the other party willingly carry out his orders, Sokov paused for a moment and used the provocation method to say: "Of course, if you feel that your troops are not capable of this combat task, I can keep you as a reserve team and let others
troops to attack instead of you."
This trick of motivating the generals really worked. For Bogdanov, who valued the honor of soldiers more than his life, it was intolerable to let other troops take over his combat missions. His face turned red.
He said: "General Sokov, since our superiors sent us here to accept your command, then what you say is an order. How can you change it at will? You know, changing the order at will will be harmful to you.
The commander's prestige is adversely affected."
Seeing that Bogdanov had taken the bait, Sokov couldn't help but feel secretly proud. He said to Bogdanov: "General Bogdanov, what you said does make some sense. If the order I gave
Changing it casually will indeed have an adverse effect on my commander's prestige. Well, your tank army will be responsible for the strategy of the right wing of the combat group. I hope you and General Kravchenko will compete to see whose troops enter Romania first.
within the territory.”
After seeing off the two generals, Smirnov said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, your method is very effective. I see that both Bogdanov and Kravchenko are holding back a lot of energy.
, intending to compete with each other on the battlefield to see whose troops enter Romania first."
"After Marshal Konev sent the 2nd and 6th Tank Armies, we greatly strengthened our strength." Not long ago, Sokov was worried about the shortage of troops in his hands. Now there are two more troops.
A tank group army is equivalent to an extra 100,000 troops. In this way, the troops suddenly become richer, and his combat deployment will naturally have to be adjusted accordingly. "Now you can give an order to General Afnin, and wait for us and Kupu
After the negotiations with Zini ended, we immediately led the 3rd and 4th Guards Airborne Divisions to station in the city. In the next period of time, it will become a very important starting point for our offensive."
"Comrade Commander, I thought of a question." Samek reminded Sokov: "At the beginning, you told General Afunin that his army might become the first army to enter Romania. Now it appears.
Kravchenko, I think things are a bit difficult to handle."
"What can't be done?" Sokov said confidently: "In the coming days, in order to become the first army to enter Romania, these troops will definitely burst out with super combat effectiveness. I think this is
Competition is completely necessary."
"Comrade Commander, you seem to have forgotten one thing." Trofimenko reminded Sokov: "Our troops are now in a situation of insufficient ammunition, even if General Afnin's 18th Guards Army is stationed in Kupu
Zini also has no ability to develop deep into the enemy's defense. In other words, in the next few days or even a week, the only troops that can achieve results are Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army and Kraf
Chenko’s 6th Tank Army.”
After Trofimenko's reminder, Sokov immediately remembered that his troops were indeed facing an embarrassing situation of insufficient ammunition. Although Konev promised to supply himself as soon as possible, it was still unknown when the supplies would be in place.
"It's okay," he could only say bravely: "These two tank armies were placed under my command by their superiors. No matter what results they achieved, they belong to the entire combat group."
Everything that happened next was just as Sokov expected.
After the two Guards Airborne Divisions commanded by Afnin were stationed in Kupczny, due to lack of ammunition and fuel, the troops could not continue to advance and could only turn to defense on the spot, watching Kravcen helplessly.
Coe's 6th Tank Army passed through its defense zone and advanced in the direction of Wengernet.
The three combat divisions commanded by Ponejelin also stopped advancing after advancing to Brichany due to lack of ammunition and were forced to stop and rest.
After Bogdanov's tank army stopped advancing in the Ponejerin cluster, it continued to advance deeply in the joint direction of Germany and Romania. Two days later, they successfully captured Khotin on the right bank of the Dniester River.
In this way, the road ahead of them was no longer a difficult road full of forests, lakes and swamps, but a flat plain, which could fully allow a large-scale armored group to show off its skills. So Bogdanov decisively fell
The two tank corps behind them were ordered to rush to the southwest of Huoking within one day to assemble.
After receiving the battle report from the two tank armies, Sokov said with a smile: "It seems that Marshal Konev has done a good thing for us. Without these two tank armies, we would have no choice but to stand still."
, watching helplessly as the enemy on the other side of the defense line used this time to repair fortifications and strengthen their defenses."
After Smirnov picked up the battle report and read it for a while, he raised his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, judging from the current situation, General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army should be the first to enter Romania.
force."
"Really?" Sameko was still a little skeptical after hearing this. He first picked up the battle report and looked at the contents, then walked to the map and silently calculated how far the two tank armies were from the Romanian border.
"No need to calculate, Comrade Samyko." Smirnov said to Samyko: "It is only more than 180 kilometers from Khoktin to Chernivtsi, and it is all in the Great Plains. Today's Klav
Raout, occupied by General Chenco, is still a full 400 kilometers away from Wingene, and the road conditions are not ideal."
"Yes, General Smirnov is right." Trofimenko said: "Now the 6th Tank Army is not only further away from the target, but the road ahead is not conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops. I want to
In the next few days, their advance will be severely slowed down."
"So, the first troops to enter Romania will probably be the 2nd Tank Army commanded by Bogdanov." Before Sokov finished speaking, the phone on the table rang.
Sokov reached out, grabbed the microphone, put it to his ear and said: "I am Sokov!"
"Comrade Sokov, this is Konev." Konev's voice came from the receiver: "How is the progress there?"
Although Konev has to report the results of the troops to the front army headquarters every day, and Konev is very familiar with the situation of the combat cluster, Sokov still reported truthfully: "Comrade Marshal, due to insufficient ammunition, so far,
The troops of the 27th and 53rd Army basically stayed in place and were on standby. Those responsible for the offensive mission were the commanders and fighters of the 2nd and 6th Tank Army."
"Comrade Sokov, don't do misfortune in front of us anymore." Konev had long been accustomed to hearing such clichés from Sokov, so he smiled and said: "So far, the railway leading to you
The line has been completely repaired. All the materials transported to you have been loaded on the truck, and it will leave in half an hour."
"Great, this is really great." When he learned that the weapons and ammunition for his troops had been loaded on the truck and were about to set off, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Comrade Marshal, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the combat cluster,
We would like to express our gratitude to you. After obtaining supplies, we will continue to advance deeper into the enemy's defenses."
After chatting with Konev for a while, Sokov put down the phone and said to everyone: "The supplies supplied to us by our superiors have been loaded onto the truck and will depart in half an hour. A few hours later, the supplies supplied to us will
You can reach the defense zone.”
"Comrade Commander, I have an idea." Trofimenko suddenly said: "Since the supplies our superiors have given us will be delivered to the defense area soon, can we allow the troops who have been resting for such a long time to immediately return to the defense zone?"
What about getting back into the fight?”
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov turned to face Trofimenko and said: "After the supply work is completed, all our troops will take action again and launch a new attack on the enemy's defense line."
Unexpectedly, Trofimenko waved his hands desperately and said: "Comrade Commander, you have misunderstood me. What I mean is that the supplies supplemented by superiors are about to arrive in our defense area, so why not transfer the existing supplies
, concentrate them all on one unit and let them go into battle immediately?”
Regarding Trofimenko's statement, Sokov only thought for a moment and understood the other party's intention: "You mean to gather all the weapons and ammunition and give them to one of the divisions so that they can recover in advance.
An attack on the enemy?"
"Yes, that's how I think about it." Trofimenko said: "For example, the Ponedelin cluster can concentrate weapons, ammunition and fuel and give them to one of the divisions, allowing them to launch an attack immediately.
Before the Germans could recover, they continued to advance deeper into the enemy's defenses."
After Sokov waited for him to finish speaking, he asked calmly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, which unit do you think all the ammunition and fuel should be given to?"
