Red Moscow

"Comrade Commander," Malinin reported excitedly on the phone, "It's Sokov, Major General Sokov's battle report."

Because Rokossovsky pressed the loudspeaker function when connecting the phone, which is similar to the hands-free function commonly used in later generations, so that everyone in the room can hear the conversation between him and Marinen. He was afraid that Ma Lining would call himself for some trivial matter, but when he heard the other party say this, he immediately realized that it must be exciting and good news, and hurriedly asked: "Hurry up and tell me, they launched an attack on the enemy. How is the attack going?"

From Rokossovsky's tone of voice, Malinin guessed the situation he was in, so he didn't talk nonsense, but reported straight to the point: "Comrade Commander, after fierce fighting, the guards on the left wing of the Sixth Army The 41st and 71st Divisions have defeated the German Skeleton Division and captured the commander of the division, Colonel Simon. The 67th Division of the Guards on the right has also occupied the town of Rockinsick and is currently fighting fiercely with the enemy But the enemy's route has been cut off by the 41st Guards Division, and their destruction is only a matter of time."

"Great, this is really exciting news." Rokossovsky did not get carried away when he learned that it was indeed good news. Anyway, this was a meeting of the Supreme Command. The commander of the front army is only a bystander, and cannot use such trivial matters to affect the progress of the meeting. He quickly said to Ma Linin: "Chief of Staff, we are still in a meeting. After the meeting is over, you will report to me the detailed battle report of the Sixth Army."

After hanging up the phone, Rokossovsky said to Stalin apologetically: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stalin, because of me, the normal progress of the meeting was affected."

Ever since he learned that the call to interrupt the meeting was actually to report an exciting piece of good news, Stalin had a smile on his face. Hearing Rokossovsky's self-reproach, he quickly said generously: "It's okay, if every time the phone calls that interrupt our meeting process can report a good news to us, I hope that every meeting can be successful." interrupted."

"If I remember correctly," Voroshilov, who seldom spoke at meetings in the past year, suddenly said, "During the battle at the end of February, the original Sixth Army and Popov's rapid grouping were It was defeated by the Skeleton Division, Imperial Division and Banner Guard Division of the German army. I really didn't expect that the newly reorganized Sixth Army can beat these three SS divisions into a mess."

"If there are no accidents," Ustinov of the Weapons and Equipment Department continued: "After the Sixth Army has wiped out the German Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division, it can continue to go north to eliminate the troops entrenched in Barvenkovo. Enemy, there is also a Banner Guard division that is a headache for our army."

"I have a different opinion." Zhukov, who was sitting next to Rokossovsky, said unexpectedly after hearing this: "Under the current circumstances, it is not suitable for our army to attack Barvinkovo."

"Why?" Brother Timoshen's eyes widened in surprise when he heard Zhukov say this: "Marshal Zhukov, why do you think that our army is not suitable to recover Barvenkovo ​​under the current circumstances? You know, we The offensive launched was because the enemy in Barvenkovo ​​was not cleared in time, which resulted in the failure of our army. If we want to drive the enemy to the other side of the Dnieper River, what we need to do is to clear out the enemy in Barvinkovo ​​first. .”

"It is true to clear out the enemies in Barvenkovo ​​and drive the Germans to the other side of the Dnieper River." Zhukov said to Timoshenko expressionlessly, "but with the strength of the Sixth Army, it is impossible to Take Barvenkovo. Because once they attack Barvinkovo, the two German armored corps stationed in Igyum may rush to reinforce. At that time, the flanks of the Sixth Army will be attacked by the enemy , may be defeated at any time."

"Comrade Marshal, don't you know that the Sixth Army now has eight infantry divisions, as well as a considerable number of tank brigades and artillery divisions. By the way, they were equipped with two aviation divisions not long ago. Such a powerful strength , if there is an attack on Barvinkovo, I don't think the Germans will last long."

"They do have eight infantry divisions, and most of them are guard divisions." After Zhukov said this, he asked: "But these divisions have either been severely reduced after a long period of fighting; Refurbishment work has been completed in the rear, and most of the commanders and fighters in the army are recruits, and their combat effectiveness has been severely diluted."

Hearing what Zhukov said, Timoshenko fell silent immediately, knowing that what Zhukov said was true. Regardless of the fact that Sokov has eight divisions under his name, it is estimated that the only troops with real combat effectiveness are the commanders and fighters of the three divisions that are fighting fiercely with the Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division. Moreover, after today's battle, it is estimated that there will be a large number of attrition, which will cause the troops to lose combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

Seeing that Timoshenko stopped talking, Zhukov went on to say: "As far as I know, the reason why General Sokov's troops can achieve such results is not only the bravery of the commanders and the proper use of tactics by the commander, but also their all-round strength. The new weapons equipped also played a huge role."

"New weapon?" Kalinin, with a white goatee and a walking stick in his hand, couldn't help but ask, "What new weapon?"

"Comrade Kalinin, please allow me to report to you." Hearing Kalinin's question, Ustinov quickly stood up and explained to him: "Actually, as early as during the Stalingrad Defense War, our Armament Department A large number of new weapons have been provided to the troops commanded by General Sokov, allowing them to test the performance of weapons for us in battle and provide the parameters we need."

"Comrade People's Commissar," Kalinin asked curiously after listening to Ustinov, "I would like to ask you, we have so many troops, why did you choose General Sokov's troops? What is the actual cause?"

Facing Kalinin's question, Ustinov grinned and replied: "Comrade Kalinin, there are many reasons. The most important point is that these new weapons were invented by General Sokov. It shouldn’t be a problem for the inventor to test the weapon he invented, right?”

Kalinin never dreamed that the reason why Ustinov would hand over the newly manufactured weapons to Sokov's troops was entirely because these weapons were researched by Sokov. The muscles on his face twitched a few times, and he said with some embarrassment: "So that's what happened. I really didn't expect that General Sokov not only knows how to fight, but also knows how to invent new weapons." He turned to Stalin and said , "Comrade Stalin, General Sokov is a great asset to our army. I think it is very inappropriate to put him on the dangerous front line."

"I have also considered bringing him back from the front." Stalin said to Kalinin while smoking a pipe: "So I raised this matter directly with Comrade Ustinov through Comrade Ustinov, but regrettably Yes, he chose to refuse, and he even said that only by staying at the forefront can he give full play to his talents."

"That's right, I also think he can be more useful if he stays on the battlefield than in the weapons and equipment department." Zhukov, who has always had a good impression of Sokov, said without concealment: Let’s talk about the Battle of Stalingrad. If it weren’t for the 41st Guards Division under the command of Sokov, it would have firmly guarded the Mamayev Post, preventing the enemy from approaching our ferry and cutting off the connection between the city and the outside world. Soldiers and all kinds of materials are constantly being transported into the city, and I am afraid that Chuikov's 62nd Army will not be able to survive even September."

Kalinin said with a smile: "Comrade Zhukov, it seems that you are very optimistic about this young general?"

"Anyone who has dealt with him will have the same feeling as me." Zhukov said, turning his face to Rokossovsky next to him: "Are you right, Comrade Rokossovsky?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky nodded quickly and replied: "Sokov is a very capable commander. If he is not too young, with the results he has achieved, he can definitely win higher rank."

"Marshal Zhukov." Regarding Zhukov's statement, Timoshenko disagreed: "Yes, he is indeed very capable, but I have read his resume. He has never attended any military academy and commanded a division. Even an army group, maybe there is no problem. But if you put him in command of more troops, I don't think he is qualified for such a position."

Timoshenko's words made the whole room become silent. Those who knew Sokov began to think about what he said silently in their hearts. Judging from Sokov's resume, before joining the army, he was indeed lackluster. But since he led a few soldiers to resolutely block the German reconnaissance unit attempting to occupy the town in Khimki, he began to emerge step by step. Especially in the defense of Stalingrad that ended not long ago, immortal feats were established.

"Marshal Timoshenko, I don't agree with you." A person's speech broke the silence in the room: "I have dealt with Sokov before, what kind of person he is, I have more opinions than you Quan. That’s right, he did not go to any military academy, but he knows how to keep learning in the war and learn how to be a good commander. Judging from the battle report obtained today, the newly acquired position of commander of the group army, He's very competent."

After Timoshenko saw who was defending Sokov, he couldn't help being surprised: "Comrade Khrushchev, do you really think that Major General Sokov is fully qualified for a higher position?"

"I think he's perfectly fine." Khrushchev said confidently: "However, when he just became a higher-level commander, he might make some small mistakes due to lack of experience. He must be cautious when partnering with his assistants, let those experienced assistants remind him not to make mistakes."

"Comrade Khrushchev, what you said is very reasonable." Regarding Khrushchev's proposal, Stalin agreed, "When he becomes a higher-level commander in the future, he must be sent two experienced commanders. comrades, to be his deputy and assist him to better perform his duties. Next, let’s discuss whether we should attack Barvinkovo?”

When Timoshenko saw that Stalin was intentionally or unintentionally helping Sokov with good words, he felt extremely depressed. However, when Stalin asked whether it was possible to attack Barvenkovo, he immediately expressed his opinion: "Comrade Stalin, I think it is absolutely necessary to attack Barvenkovo. Think about it, if our army occupies here, then Yijiu Two armored divisions and several German divisions in Igyum will be encircled by our army. Maybe we can organize a special campaign against the enemies of Igyum to deal a severe blow to these enemies."

"As I said just now, the time to attack Balvenkovo ​​is not yet ripe." Zhukov knew very well that the reason why Timoshenko never forgot about Balvenkovo ​​was because the attack he organized last year was Because they underestimated the enemy of Barvinkovo, they were attacked by the German army from the flank during the attack, which resulted in the failure of the attack and the loss of troops. Although he sympathized with Timoshenko in his heart, he couldn't just watch the troops launch the wrong attack at the wrong time, so he retorted clearly: "We should see that although the enemy suffered heavy losses near the Red Army Village, , but the enemy's strength is still very strong. If they attack rashly, Sokov's Sixth Army will suffer huge losses. Once the Sixth Army is severely reduced, there will be a huge gap in the defensive area they are responsible for. At that time, the enemy will be able to wedge into our army's defense zone from the gap."

"Konstantin Konstantinovich." After Zhukov finished speaking, Stalin called Rokossovsky's real name and father's name, and asked, "Tell me, can we attack Barvenkovo?" ?”

Rokossovsky didn't know what was going on in Stalin's mind. After hearing this question, he couldn't help hesitating. His mind was spinning rapidly, thinking about how to answer Stalin's question.

"It doesn't matter," Stalin saw Rokossovsky's embarrassment, and quickly comforted him, "You can say whatever comes to your mind. Even if you say something wrong, I won't blame you."

Only then did Rokossovsky say thoughtfully: "From the bottom of my heart, I also want to capture the Barvinkovo ​​area as soon as possible, because the troops of our front army are preparing to be transferred to the Orel area one after another. If we can capture The words of Ijum and Barvinkovo ​​will make our transfer smoother."

"I understand what you mean." Stalin interrupted without waiting for him to finish, "You do not agree to attack Barvinkovo."