Sokov never dreamed that his every move and what he said in Stalingrad would be sorted into information and sent to Moscow secretly. At this moment, the information about him was placed on Beria's table.
This middle-aged man wearing a pair of round-frame glasses and a bit bald, looks like a kind university professor, but in fact his name makes people feel cold. After repeatedly checking the information about Sokov, he couldn't help but start to ponder. He felt that Sokov's rise was too magical, not only accurately judged the enemy's situation, but also had an extremely timely grasp of the fighter jets.
The sudden ringing of the phone interrupted his meditation. He picked up the microphone and put it in his ears. Poskrebeshev's voice came from inside: "Comrade Beliya, please go to Comrade Stalin's office to have a meeting immediately. The two generals Vasilevsky and Antonov are already here."
Beria, who is in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, also serves as a member of the People's Committee of National Defense and Vice Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers. Recently, due to the unfavorable situation in the Don and Volga rivers, he has participated in many such meetings. He closed the folders, got up and prepared to walk outside. After walking a few steps, he stopped again, feeling that he should report his suspicion of Sokov to Stalin in detail. So he bent down and picked up the folders, put them under his armpits, and then quickly walked outside.
When Belia came to Stalin's office, Antonov was pointing at the map with the explanation stick to introduce the situation to everyone. In addition to Stalin and Vasilevsky, there were also Kalinin, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet Presidium, Molotov, the People's Commissar of the Foreign Affairs, and the Soviet Marshal Budonnie and others. Seeing Belia's arrival, everyone nodded slightly at him and continued to listen to Antonov's explanation.
After finding his position, Beria began to listen carefully to the frontline situation introduced by Antonov: "...The defense line we established in Pavlovsk to Upper Kurmoyalskaya has a front width of 530 kilometers and a depth of 120 kilometers. The troops are equipped with the 21st, 62nd, 63rd, and 64th Army as the first echelon; the 57th, 28th, and 38th Army as the reserve team..."
Hearing this, Kalinin couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "General Antonov, I want to ask, since we have such an army, why can't we stop the German attack?"
Antonov did not answer Kalinin's question immediately, but instead cast an inquiring look at Stalin. After obtaining permission, he continued: "Many of our army groups are just on written reports. Some of them are troops formed by us who are retreating from Kharkov; some are new troops formed temporarily, which are lacking in training and even have serious equipment. In addition, what we have hastily built is only some ordinary field fortifications, which cannot pose any real threat to the fierce attacking German army."
After hearing Antonov's words, Kalinin turned to look at Stalin and said, "In this way, the Germans will soon rush to the city of Stalingrad, and our troops are not fully prepared to defend the city."
"Yes, the Germans are constantly rushing towards Stalingrad." Stalin stood up after putting his pipe on the table and said, "But I believe that our city defense warriors will prepare all defenses before the enemy approaches the city."
"Comrade Stalin," Beria felt that he should stand up and say a few words when he heard Stalin's defense work, and he quickly interrupted and said, "Can I express my opinion?"
Although Belia is a member of the People's Committee of National Defense, he rarely speaks at such military meetings. Today's contrasting performance aroused Stalin's great interest. He looked at Belia and said, "Comrade Belia, just speak whatever you want."
"That's right, Comrade Stalin." Beria angled the folder in his hand and said to Stalin: "I just received a report from Stalingrad. Judging from all the signs, something was wrong with Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade."
"Sokov?" Stalin silently recited this surname in his heart, and then remembered who the person Beria was talking about, so he asked with interest: "Comrade Beliya, tell me, what's wrong with him?"
"According to the information," Beria put the folder on the table, opened it, picked up one of the papers, glanced at the contents on it quickly and said: "Rokosovsky ordered him to lead his troops to the Dym area to cooperate with the tank army to harass the German transportation line, but with the sacrifice of General Lidukov, the commander of the tank army, the order was cancelled.
After the order was cancelled, he did not immediately lead the team back to Yeretz to return to Jianjian, but interrupted the contact with the Front Command without authorization. By the time Rokosovsky contacted him again, his troops had already occupied Kursk."
"Comrade Beliya, you are right." As for Beliya's statement, Wasielevsky, the chief of the General Staff, echoed: "After the mission of attacking the transportation line was cancelled, Sokov did not respect Rokosovsky's orders and immediately returned to Yeretz. Instead, he decisively seized the fighter plane and sneaked into Kursk, which had weak German defenses, and obtained a crucial prominent part of our army in the German defense line."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Beria put down the documents in her hand and looked at Huasilevsky with a side face, saying, "You know, the distance between Dym and Kursk is not short. How did he know that the city's troops are weak and decisively lead the troops to attack?"
After Vasilevsky was speechless, Belia said to Stalin again: "Comrade Stalin, based on the information I have, shortly after the department entered Kursk, he claimed on different occasions that the next target of the German army's attack would be Stalingrad. You must know that at that time, Hot's 4th Armored Army was rushing towards the Caucasus region, and even our intelligence department believed that the attack launched by the enemy was aimed at the Caucasus oil. How did he know the direction of the enemy's attack?"
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! After hearing this, Stalin did not express his opinion, but said without objection: "Speak."
"After adapted into the 73rd Infantry Brigade, the 297th Infantry Division of the German Army launched an attack from the east of the city, but all ended in failure." Beria continued to report: "In the battle, our officers and soldiers captured some prisoners, but they were released without saying a word. I suspect that he did this to let these prisoners convey information to the German army."
"Transfer information?" Stalin heard this and kowtowed hard on the ashtray twice with his pipe, and asked impatiently: "Comrade Belia, please explain clearly, what information should you convey?"
Beria was silent for a moment, then Shi Potian announced in shock: "I suspect he was a spy sent by the Germans."
"Impossible." After hearing Belia say this, Vasilevs basically retorted: "Comrade Belia, you must have made a mistake. How could he be a German spy? Since you have so much information about him, aren't you still clear about the many meritorious achievements he has made?"
"Yes, I've looked carefully, so I have such suspicion." After Beria's eyes swept across everyone, she said slowly: "Didn't you notice that his judgment of the situation of the battle and his grasp of the fighter planes are surprisingly accurate? It seems that everything is carried out according to his arrangement. If it is once or twice, it can be said to be a coincidence, but if it is done again and again, there will be problems."
When Stalin heard this, he stood up and walked back and forth in the spacious conference room without even holding his pipe, carrying his hands behind his back and forth, beginning to think about everything Beria said. After walking for about five or six minutes, Stalin stopped and asked casually: "What is he doing in Stalingrad now?"
"Comrade Stalin," Vasilevsky quickly stood up and replied to Stalin behind him, "From the beginning of entering Stalingrad, he has been organizing manpower to build fortifications. According to him, it is difficult for our troops to block the German attack. The final battle between the enemy and us will be launched in the city of Stalingrad."
Although Huaseylevsky had reported to Stalin about this matter, he did not take such a small matter at all for the supreme commander himself, so he did not know where Sokov's troops were stationed: "Where is his troops repairing fortifications?"
"In Mamayev hill, Comrade Stalin." Beria said at the right time: "From there you can overlook the entire city and the Volga River. If Sokov was really a spy from the Germans, once the Germans rushed into Stalingrad, he could work with the Germans inside and outside..."
"This is impossible." Before Beria finished speaking, Marshal Budoni, who had been marginalized, interrupted him: "Comrade Beria, no matter how much evidence you have, it is completely impossible for you to say that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is a German spy." Speaking of this, the Marshal stood up and looked at Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, what kind of person is our old comrade Sokov? You should be very clear. Do you think his son, a commander of the Red Army who has rich combat experience and has made many achievements in military affairs, will he be a spy to the enemy?"
Stalin did not answer Budonni's question immediately. He returned to his seat and sat down, put the pipe with tobacco, and re-lit it and said, "Budonnie is right. Lao Misha is not only brave in fighting, but also a loyal member of our party. I think no matter how bad his son is, he will not become a spy for the Germans. Will Beria be the German spy lurking inside our army, deliberately providing you with false information?"
Seeing that Stalin did not agree with his statement, and even suspected that the person who provided him with intelligence was a German spy, Belia said unwillingly: "Comrade Stalin, the person who provided me with intelligence was tested and completely credible. After Sokov arrived in Stalingrad, he not only built a large-scale construction in Mamayevgang, but also left his defense zone without authorization and ran to Shizhong District to point fingers at the defense and construction work there."
When Kalinin heard this, he glanced at Belia meaningfully, and then asked curiously: "Comrade Belia, tell me, how did he point fingers at other people's defense and construction work?"
"Some time ago, he took a female health worker to go shopping." Belia, who was in a dilemma, could only grit her teeth and continue: "When they arrived at the department store in Shizhong District, Sokov saw the sandbags facing the platform on the second floor of the building, and did not pile up into fortifications according to regulations, and he was furious about the experience of the department store..."
After Beliar finished speaking, Kalinin asked back: "Comrade Beliar, if I remember correctly, as early as May, the National Defense Commission issued an order to the City Defense Commission in Stalingrad to speed up the time to build strong fortifications inside and outside the city. This document was signed by you personally, right?"
Hearing Kalinin's question, Belia could only nod and replied, "Yes, I signed it."
"Since it is your order, you should be clear that in order to prevent the enemy from seizing the city, we should build the city into a solid fortress." Kalinin looked at Belia and frowned and said, "I have been to the department store in Stalingrad, where the second floor platform is a good defensive position, and it is absolutely necessary to build defense there. I think Sokov, as a commander, did nothing wrong with what he did."
"Okay, stop talking." Seeing that Belia seemed to be arguing with Kalinin, Stalin spoke in time to stop the two of them: "We are discussing how to block the enemy rushing to Stalingrad, but you turned the topic to discuss whether an ordinary lieutenant colonel is an enemy spy. Comrade Antonov, you continue."
"But Comrade Stalin." Beria saw Stalin shifting the subject on his own initiative and used his understanding of him. If he did not convince him in the shortest time, then there would be no effect when he talked about it in the future. He quickly continued before Antonov: "What should Sokov do? No matter how he looked at it, his analysis and judgment seemed a bit incredible."
"Comrade Belia," Stalin said impatiently when he saw that Belia was always obsessed with this topic: "You said that his analysis, judgment, and grasp of the enemy situation are very accurate and timely. There is nothing strange about this. If he does not have such ability, how could he grow from a corporal to a lieutenant colonel in a short period of time? If you still feel that you cannot understand, I can only tell you: he is a genius!" After saying that, he waved his hand to Antonov and signaled him to continue to speak.