There was a sound of thunder in the distance, and Kopalova, who was sleeping in the box, was awakened. She put on some clothes, came to the corridor, looked through the glass in the direction of the sound, and said to herself:
"It's not summer yet, how can there be thunder?"
It happened that Sokov and Seryosha were standing not far away chatting. When they heard Kopalova talking to herself, Seryosha smiled and said: "Kopalova, you are mistaken, it is not thunder, but thunder."
The newly arrived tank battalion is bombarding the gangster's lair with tank artillery."
"The newly arrived tank battalion?" Kopalova asked in surprise: "When did they arrive? How come I didn't know."
"You happened to be sleeping when they came." Sokov said with concern: "We don't know how long we have to wait before we can leave here. You can go back and continue sleeping."
After waiting for more than two hours, railway workers from Budapest finally arrived and began to repair the locomotive and re-lay the railway that had been damaged by the gangsters.
Before the laying of the railway tracks was completed, the tank battalion commanded by Yuri came back in a mighty manner.
Yuri got on the train, came to Sokov and saluted, and said: "Comrade Commander, fortunately you have fulfilled your duty. We have completely eliminated the enemies in the bandits' nest."
"Well done." Sokov extended his hand to the other party: "Lieutenant Colonel Yuri, on behalf of the train passengers who died, I would like to express my gratitude to you and your subordinates for everything you have done for them."
"Comrade Commander, you are too polite." Yuri said: "If these gangsters are allowed to continue to exist, I don't know how many innocent people will die in their hands."
While the two were talking, the infantry commander also came back. He excitedly said to Sokov: "Comrade General, fortunately you sent us a tank unit, otherwise those damn bandits would continue to hide in the corner on the hillside.
Resistance."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov asked tentatively after waiting for the other party to finish speaking: "I wonder what the casualties of your troops are?"
"More than a dozen people were killed and dozens injured." The commander explained to Sokov: "Although the gangsters in the lair did not have heavy weapons, the terrain where they were hiding was relatively good, and our attack was more difficult. Fortunately, you later gave us
We sent a tank battalion, and under intensive artillery fire, the bandits' defensive positions were quickly destroyed. Then I ordered the troops to launch a final attack and completely eliminate the bandits in the lair."
"Comrade Commander, thank you." Sokov shook hands with the other party and said with a smile: "I will report the results you have achieved to General Malinin."
Then, Sokov turned to Yuri who was standing next to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your mission has been completed and you can return to Budapest. Please express my gratitude to General Trofimenko on my behalf for sending troops to relieve me.
"
"Comrade Commander." Yuri said hesitantly: "The order I received is to escort you to Vienna."
"No need, Lieutenant Colonel Yuri." Sokov pointed to Major Felix and the commander standing next to him, and said to Yuri: "They were all sent by General Malinin to pick me up. I have them with me."
By my side, there will be no more dangers on the way to Vienna."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Sokov was unwilling to be escorted by him, the commander naturally asked for it. "Then I will lead the troops back to Budapest. I will convey your wishes to General Trofimenko.
."
Soon after Yuri left with the tank battalion, the railway tracks were laid and the damaged locomotive was repaired.
The airborne battalion accompanied Sokov on the train to Vienna, while another unit stayed to deal with the aftermath, burying the dead passengers on the spot and marking them so that their relatives could come and search for them in the future.
After traveling for two hours, the train finally entered Vienna and stopped at Medling Station.
After the car stopped, Major Felix and his men set up a cordon on the platform, then got on the car again and invited Sokov to get off: "Comrade Commander, the Medling Station in Vienna has arrived, you can get off the car.
The car to pick you up has already parked next to the platform."
After expressing the agreement to Major Felix, Sokov got out of the car with Kopalova, Seryosha, Vaserigov and others.
As soon as he arrived on the platform, a lieutenant colonel walked out from the side, quickly came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and said respectfully: "Hello, General Sokov, I am General Malinin sent to greet him.
Your car is parked next to the platform, please come with me."
"It turns out it's you, Lieutenant Colonel Onischenko!" Before Sokov could finish his words, Vaselgov's voice suddenly came from behind him: "I really didn't expect that I would meet you here."
Then, Vaserigov crossed Sokov, stepped forward and gave the lieutenant colonel a warm hug.
"Comrade General, let me introduce you." After Vaserigov separated from the other party, he turned to Sokov and said: "This is General Malinin's adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Onischenko, who was our good friend when we were in Berlin.
Friends, I didn’t expect to meet you in Vienna today.”
Knowing that the person who came to pick him up was actually a friend of Major Vaselgov, Sokov felt much more at ease. Since they were acquaintances, everything about him was safe until he met Malinin.
But before going to see Malinin, Sokov still needed to settle Seryosha, Kopalova and others, so he said to Onischenko: "Lieutenant Colonel Onischenko, I have a few more entourage here.
I wonder if you can get them settled first?"
"No problem." Onischenko readily agreed to Sokov's request, then called a captain, whispered instructions in his ear, and then said to Sokov: "Soko
General husband, please ask your entourage to follow this captain, he will help them get settled."
"Seryozha, Kopalova," Sokov turned to the people behind him and said, "Follow the captain, and he will arrange a place for you."
After Seryosha, Kopalova and others followed the captain and left, Sokov and Vaserigov got into the black car that came to pick them up.
After the vehicle started, Onischenko, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and said: "General Sokov, General Malinin was very anxious when he learned that you were in danger and immediately sent troops to rescue you. After the troops set off, he basically
Every half hour, we have to ask about the progress of the troops to see if they have rescued you. Now that I see that you are safe and sound, I think General Malinen will also be happy."
Ten minutes later, Sokov appeared in front of Malinin.
"Misha!" After seeing the living Sokov, Malinin stepped forward and gave him a warm hug, and then said: "Seeing that you arrived safely makes me feel at ease."
"General Malinin, thank you!" Facing this old superior, Sokov showed due courtesy: "If you hadn't sent troops for reinforcements in time, I would have been in trouble."
After Malinin asked Sokov to sit down, he was brought two cups of coffee, and then he started talking about business.
"Misha, you are from Moscow, so you must know a lot of news." Malinin looked at Sokov and asked: "Can you tell me why the Supreme Command suddenly launched such a large-scale military exercise with real troops?"
Hearing Malinin's question, Sokov couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "Why, you still don't know the reason for organizing this military exercise?"
"Of course I don't know." Ma Lining said somewhat unhappily: "Half a month ago, I received an order from the Supreme Command saying that a large-scale military exercise would be held at the end of April, so it was a live-fire exercise, so I was asked
Prepare the weapons and ammunition used in the exercise in advance. I just don’t understand the point of conducting such an exercise almost a year after the war in Europe. Are you really preparing to go to war with the Allies?"
From Malinin's story, Sokov discovered a problem. Don't forget that Malinin is now the commander of the cluster in Austria, but his superiors have not informed him of many things, so that until now, he has not understood that his superiors are conducting this exercise.
What is the purpose of .
"General Malinin," Sokov felt that there were some things that should be kept secret from lower-level commanders. Commanders of Malinin's level should still be told the truth: "Earlier this month, former British Prime Minister Churchill, who was asking questions in the United States, issued a statement
Our country made a very unfriendly speech, announcing that we and the Allies are enemies rather than friends. For this reason, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a stern protest to the British side, hoping that Churchill could retract his speech.
But it is regrettable that the British side turned a deaf ear to our country's protest and ignored it at all. It is precisely because of this that the Supreme Command made the decision to conduct large-scale military exercises in Europe after discussion and study."
"Oh, that's it." Ma Lining nodded slowly after hearing this, and then asked: "Do you know what the content of Churchill's speech was?"
Sokov nodded and repeated the content of the speech he heard to Malinin.
After listening to Sokov's story, Malinin slapped his hands on the table and said angrily: "It's outrageous, it's simply outrageous. We sacrificed millions of commanders and fighters to completely defeat the Germans. Unexpectedly,
Churchill turned his back on us and even wanted to fight with us."
"Our exercise is to scare the Allied forces so that they will not dare to act rashly."
"Misha, there are no outsiders here. I want to ask you a question. I hope you can answer me truthfully."
"Excuse me, General Malinin."
"If, I'm talking about if." Malinen said solemnly: "If we really go to war with the Allies, how sure do you think we are of winning?"
Although the August 1st military exercise was held in later generations, Sokov did not know that the Soviet army at this moment seemed to have the strength to fight against the Allied forces in Europe. He could only say euphemistically: "General Malinin, if we go to war with the Allies, Britain and France will
There is no need to worry, our army can easily defeat them."
Malinin was obviously not optimistic about Britain and France either. Hearing what Sokov said, he nodded vigorously to express his approval. Then he asked: "Misha, if our army faced the American army, what do you think the chances of winning are?"
?”
"Among the American generals who know how to fight, the first one is General Patton, but he died in a car accident at the end of last year." Sokov continued: "As for the other American generals, I don't know much about them, so I can't give you a clear answer.
."
"The U.S. military has terrifying industrial strength. They can produce enough aircraft, artillery and tanks, as well as supporting ammunition in a short period of time." Regarding the contest between the Soviet army and the U.S. military, Ma Linin did not seem to have much confidence.
"Although we have more troops than they do, the final factor in winning the battle is not just the number of troops, but also the equipment of the troops. Therefore, I am skeptical about whether our army can defeat the US military."
Malinin's statement coincided with what Sokov was thinking.
After Malinin finished his opinion, seeing that Sokov did not speak, he continued to ask: "Misha, if Marshal Manstein and Marshal Zhukov meet, who can win the final victory if their troops and equipment are equal?
?”
Sokov did not expect that Malinin would suddenly change the topic to who was the better senior Soviet and German commander. He hesitated for a long time before speaking cautiously: "General Malinin, although I admire Marshal Zhukov very much, if I stand on
Commenting from a neutral position, I feel that Marshal Zhukov is really no match for Manstein when his troops and equipment are equal. According to my observation, if Marshal Zhukov wants to win the battle, he must use two to three more troops than the enemy.
twice the strength."
After saying these words, Sokov stopped and stared at Malinin nervously, worried that the other party would be furious because of his opinion. But after a while, the expression on Malinin's face did not change. On the contrary,
Seeing that Sokov had stopped speaking, Malinin urged him: "Misha, why don't you stop talking? Keep talking."
"What I want to say has already been said." Sokov said carefully: "Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Manstein have not competed face to face, so discussing who has a higher command level requires many aspects.
discuss."
"Well, you are right. Marshal Zhukov did not have a head-to-head confrontation with Manstein." Malinen thought for a while and asked a new question: "Then let's change two people. What do you think of Model commanding fifty?"
Can an army of ten thousand men break through the defense line of one million troops commanded by Marshal Rokossovsky?"
When Sokov heard this question, he almost laughed out loud: "General Malinin, I remember that during the Battle of Kursk, you were the chief of staff of Marshal Rokossovsky. At that time, when your forces were equal, Model was both
They did not gain any advantage on the northern front, let alone with only half the strength. Model was called the "Defensive Master" because the troops he commanded inflicted heavy losses on the troops commanded by Marshal Zhukov in the Rzhev area.
, successfully avoided the fate of the German army being driven out of our country after the end of the Moscow Defense War. A commander who knows how to defend does not mean he knows how to attack."
In order to increase his persuasiveness, Sokov continued to give examples: "For example, the commander of our 44th Group Army is a recognized defense expert. In the area he defends, the enemy must pay a huge price to achieve his goal. But the supreme commander
After the ministry appointed him as the commander of a certain front, his performance on the battlefield was unsatisfactory and he was quickly dismissed from the commander's position."
