Red Moscow

Sokov's choice surprised not only Rokossovsky, but even Stalin.

He thought he heard it wrong, so he said into the microphone: "Konstantin Konstantinovich, tell me again, which army does Misha want to go to?"

"It's Admiral Konev's Steppe Front Army."

"Can't make a mistake?"

"I've checked it over and over again, and there's absolutely no mistake."

"I see."

After Stalin put down the phone, he paced back and forth in the room clutching his pipe. The reason why he intends to transfer Sokov away from the current front is because there will be no more battles in the Red Army Village-Donetsk area in a short period of time. The troops of the Leningrad Front are fighting the enemies who besiege Leningrad; the troops of the Western Front also exchange fire with the troops of the German Central Army Group from time to time.

According to his thinking, when Sokov learned that he would be transferred from the existing area, he would choose one of the two front armies mentioned above as his new destination. But what was unexpected was that he didn't choose either of these two fronts, but chose the grassland front, which was only a reserve force.

Thinking of this, he walked to the table and picked up the phone, and someone connected to Konev's headquarters. When he heard Konev's voice coming from the receiver, he said, "Is it Konev? I'm Stalin!"

Konev did not expect that Stalin would call him at this time, so he straightened up and said, "Hello, Comrade Stalin."

"Konev, I want to ask, are you familiar with Sokov?"

"Sokov?" Konev repeated the surname, and then asked: "Comrade Stalin, you mean Major General Sokov, the commander of the Sixth Army?"

"That's right, it is." Stalin asked calmly, "Are you familiar with him?"

"Comrade Stalin," although he didn't know why Stalin asked, but Konev replied truthfully: "I have read about him in newspapers, but I have never seen him in person. It can be said that he is a complete stranger. .”

"Today I asked Rokossovsky to inform Sokov that he was going to be transferred from the Sixth Army and let him freely choose where he wanted to go?" Stalin asked, "Guess what he chose?" place?"

When Konev heard what Stalin said, he couldn't help but thumped in his heart, thinking to himself: Sokov wouldn't ask to come to my army, would he? But I'm just a reserve team, and I'm afraid there won't be any chance to make contributions after he comes. Although he had the answer in his heart, Konev still pretended to be confused and asked, "Where?"

"He told Comrade Rokossovsky that he wanted to go to your army." Stalin said a little puzzled: "I find it strange. According to his character, he would definitely go to the Leningrad Front or the Western Front, but he didn't." Thinking about it, his last choice was to go to your army. I was just puzzled by this matter, so I called you to ask you what's going on."

"Comrade Stalin." Seeing that Stalin seemed to have doubts about himself, Konev said hastily: "I have never had any intersection with Major General Sokov, and whether he knows me is still a question. Therefore, I don't Know why he chose my unit."

Stalin didn't have any doubts about Konev's statement. After he said a few more casual words, he hung up the phone directly.

Konev was in a daze holding the phone that came from the blind tone, and began to think in his heart: his front army has a lot of troops, but these troops are all transferred from other front armies. The personnel and technical equipment of the troops are insufficiently replenished, there is no stock of material equipment, and they are all tired. Replenishment and reinforcement must be carried out within extremely tight deadlines to equip everything necessary for combat operations in order to create a combat-capable combat organization. What was Major General Sokov looking for in order to apply for his own troops?

Before he could come up with a reason, Lieutenant General Mekhlis, the military commissioner, walked in. He looked at Konev holding the receiver in a daze, greeted him with a smile and said, "Comrade Commander, what are you thinking? I saw that you held the receiver for a long time and didn't put it down. Who called you. "

"It's Comrade Stalin."

"What, Comrade Stalin?" Mekhlis, who had just sat down, jumped up from his seat when he heard that Konev had just finished talking to Stalin, and asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander, I don't know if the Supreme Commander-in-Chief What did I tell you on the phone?"

Don't think that Mekhlis and Konev are partners, but Konev doesn't like this snitch at all. In particular, in 1942, he was sent to the front line of Crimea as a representative of the headquarters of the Supreme Command, and had conflicts with the commander of the Front Army, Dmitry Kozlov, and used his power to replace a group of cadres, which led to the crime of crime in Crimea. The Soviet army lost half a million people in one week.

But since the other party had already asked, he couldn't help but say: "Comrade Stalin told me that Major General Sokov, the commander of the Sixth Army, offered to come to our front army."

"Major General Sokov, the commander of the Sixth Army?" Mekhlis asked with some surprise: "Isn't he confronting the enemy on the front line of the Red Army Village-Donetsk? Why would he take the initiative to ask to come to our front army? You know, we are just a reserve army, whether we can participate in the battle is a problem, let alone make contributions."

"I don't know the specific reason." Konev looked at Mekhlis and said, "Since he is the commander of the Sixth Army, and he has made great achievements not long ago. Such a commander has come to our army. How should he be placed? It is not appropriate for him to be a division commander or even an army commander. Let him be the commander of the group army. There are candidates for the commanders of the four group armies. It is impossible to dismiss anyone and let him take over. Bar?"

"Comrade Commander," although Mekhlis likes to make small reports and love to flatter, he still has his own views on personnel appointments: "I think it is the most important job for him to be arranged by the Supreme Command. If it's appropriate, we don't have to worry about it."

"Comrade Military Commissar," Konev felt that Mekhlis's proposal was very reasonable, so he nodded and said, "I think your proposal is good. Since the superior transferred Major General Sokov, then let What position he holds, let the superior arrange it."

The two were going to wait for Sokov to come to the Prairie Front Army before asking them to arrange a job for Sokov to the headquarters. Unexpectedly, the next morning, Lieutenant General Zakharov, the chief of staff, came to report to Konev: "Comrade Commander, it's not good, something happened."

Konev was startled, and asked quickly, "What happened?"

"Major General Ozerov, commander of the 27th Army, had a car accident on his way to inspect the troops."

"How is his injury?" Konev asked quickly, "Can he continue to command the troops?"

"No," Zakharov replied very simply: "I asked the director of the field hospital, and he said that Major General Ozerov's liver and spleen ruptured, and he is currently being rescued. Even if the rescue goes well and he passes through the During the dangerous period, I am afraid that I will need to lie in bed for two months."

After Zakharov's report, seeing Konev remain silent, he continued: "The troops are now undergoing supplementary and intensive training. If the 27th Army does not have a commander, it may affect the normal work. I It is recommended to immediately send someone to temporarily act as Major General Ozerov's post."

Konev did not express his position, but picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said into the microphone: "I am Konev, please come to me, Comrade Military Commissar."

When Zakharov heard that Konev was going to call Mekhlis over, he opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Soon, Mekhlis came to the command post. Seeing that Zakharov was there, he nodded to him as a greeting, and then asked Konev: "Comrade commander, you called me over, what's the matter?" something?"

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff just reported to me." Konev said to Mekhlis: "Major General Ozerov, commander of the 27th Army, had a car accident and is currently being rescued in the hospital..."

When Mekhlis heard the news, he immediately blurted out: "Great, this is really great." But as soon as he said the words, he found that Zakharov's face was a little strange, but it was normal, and the other party reported that A senior commander of his subordinate had a car accident, and now he was in the process of rescue, but he kept applauding. If the occasion was changed, he might be beaten up.

Fortunately, seeing Konev's normal face, he obviously understood what he wanted to express. Now that Konev knew what he wanted to say, Mekhlis turned to Zakharov and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't get me wrong. Comrade Commander and I are discussing how to place the upcoming Major General Sokov. And to worry, now that Major General Ozerov has a car accident, the position of commander of the 27th Army is naturally vacant, and it is just right to ask the superiors to let Major General Sokov be the commander of the army."

"What, Major General Sokov is going to be transferred to our front army?" Zakharov obviously didn't know about the news that Sokov was going to be transferred, and when he heard Mekhlis talking about it, he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face. He tentatively asked Konev: "Comrade Commander, is this all true?"

"It's true, Comrade Chief of Staff." Konev nodded, and said to Zakharov: "The Comrade Military Commissar and I originally planned to wait for Sokov to be transferred, and then ask the superiors to arrange a suitable position for him. But now it seems that his luck is not bad, if there are no accidents, the superior will definitely appoint him as the commander of the 27th Army."

After Zakharov figured out what was going on, he quickly said to Konev: "Comrade Commander, then I will immediately call the General Staff to report the news that Major General Ozerov was injured, and ask them to arrange manpower to take over from the Army Group." Commander's post."

Rokossovsky originally planned to delay until the end of April, and then let Sokov leave after the Soviet-German frontlines were completely stabilized. However, as Major General Ozerov was injured in a car accident, the Supreme Command quickly agreed to the request of the Steppe Front Army, formally appointed Sokov as the commander of the 27th Army, and ordered him to report to the Steppe Front Army within a week.

After receiving the transfer order, Sokov said to Vitkov and Lunev: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar, after I leave, the Sixth Army will be handed over to you. I hope you can firmly hold on to the current positions to ensure that our army can have more offensive starting points when launching the summer offensive."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Witkov assured Sokov, "Although I don't have the command ability that you have, it shouldn't be a big problem to hold the current position."

Sokov thought of the time when he was recovering from his wounds in the Battle of Stalingrad, and it was Vitkov who commanded the troops instead of him. Although his command style was quite different from his own, he still tenaciously held his position under the strong attack of the German army. The fly in the ointment was that the casualties of the troops were too great.

Today the Sixth Army has eight infantry divisions, three tank brigades, an artillery division and several other units, with a total strength of 70,000. As long as the German offensive forces do not deploy the same number of troops, it is impossible to break through the Red Army Village - the defensive position on the front line of Donetsk.

"Comrade Commander," Lunev and Sokov didn't work together for a long time, but they got along very well. Now that Sokov was going to be transferred, he felt very reluctant. He said to Sokov: "You are going to a new army. If you don't bring some familiar subordinates, it will be very difficult to carry out the work. of."

"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right." Sukov knew very well that if he went to the new army alone, it might take a long time to integrate and train the army, but if someone assisted him, then the situation would be different .

Sokov took out a list, handed it to Vitkov, and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I plan to let these comrades go with me to the new unit, please get them out as soon as possible."

Witkov took the list and looked at it. They were all officers above the rank of lieutenant. There were forty of them in total. Among them, Colonel Belkin, political commissar of the 124th regiment, and Major Vanya, chief of staff of the 122nd regiment, were the highest.

After browsing the list, Witkov couldn't help feeling secretly that the people Sokov wanted to take away were basically the old units of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. Presumably, these people would feel rejoiced when they got the news. He folded the list carefully, put it in his pocket, and assured Sokov: "Comrade commander, don't worry, I will transfer these commanders out as soon as possible, and let them go to the new army with you."

Lunev felt that he and Sokov got along relatively well after he came to the front line, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, can you ask your superiors to let me go with you to the new unit?"

Hearing what Lunev said, Sokov couldn't help but think in his heart that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would set up permanent agencies in each army group, and if it sent a representative who didn't get along well with him, it might drag him down everywhere. Rather than spending time wrangling in the future, it is better to let Lunev continue to serve as his military commissar, which is the best way to achieve the best of both worlds. He nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Military Commissioner, I will report your thoughts to my superiors."