Red Moscow

Seeing that Sokov did not argue with himself, but readily agreed to obey the order, Konev's eyes flashed a look of satisfaction, but he waved his hand at Sokov and said, "General Sokov, now You can go to your unit. Do you want me to send you there?"

"No need, Comrade Front Army Commander." Sokov thought that if he went to the army for the first time, he would need someone from the Front Army Command to accompany him, and it would be difficult for him to establish his prestige in a short time, so he politely declined. Konev's kindness: "I can do it myself."

Seeing Sokov coming out of the Front Army Command, Belgin immediately went up to him and asked, "Misha, where are we going next?"

"The Army Group Headquarters is in the Koski area, let's go there."

Half an hour later, the convoy arrived at the town of Koski.

The security work here is not as strict as that of the front army headquarters. When the convoy entered the town, there was no one to question it. Seryozha, who was sitting in the lead car, asked the driver to stop, then opened the door, leaned out and called a passing soldier: "Hey, comrade soldier, do you know where the headquarters of the group army is?"

It was a student soldier of sixteen or seventeen who was stopped by Seryozha. Seeing that a captain was asking him the way, he replied in a panic: "Comrade captain, you drive along this street. When you reach the church square in the center of the town, turn right and you will see a two-story building where the Army Group Headquarters is located."

After thanking the young soldier, Seryozha asked the driver to continue driving, and soon came to the door of the building that the young soldier mentioned.

There were only four soldiers and an officer on duty at the gate of the building. Seeing a convoy parked at the door, the officer on duty hurried over and asked Seryozha, who had just got off the vehicle: "Comrade captain, what department do you belong to? What's going on here?"

"We are the guard company that escorted General Sokov to take up his post here."

"Escort General Sokov to take up the post?" The officer on duty had a confused expression on his face when he heard Sergey's words: "I haven't received any notification from my superiors?"

"Comrade officer," Sokov, who had just walked over, just heard what the officer on duty said, and asked, "Who is in charge of the army headquarters now?"

The officer on duty did not immediately answer Sokov's question, but asked politely and yet distantly: "Who are you, Comrade General?"

"I am Major General Sokov, the new commander of the 27th Army." Sokov finished speaking, and took out his military officer certificate and the transfer order issued by his superiors.

Looking carefully at Sokov's certificate, the officer on duty confirmed that the general in front of him was the new commander of the army group, and quickly straightened his back and said, "Hello, Comrade Commander, the current headquarters is headed by the chief of staff, Major General Sameko. Responsible!"

"Take me to General Sameko."

"Yes!" The star officer quickly agreed, and said politely, "Please follow me."

After entering the building, the officer led Sokov along a corridor. The officers or soldiers along the way, when they saw Sokov and the officer on duty, stepped aside quickly, leaning their backs against the wall and raised their hands in salute.

The officer on duty turned his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, go straight along the corridor. There is a meeting room at the end of the corridor, and the headquarters is located there." After speaking, the officer quickened his pace .

Seeing the officer quicken his pace, Sokov was taken aback for a moment, and then he understood that the other party was going to rush to inform the chief of staff, General Sameko, of the news of his arrival. So he slowed down and followed far behind the star officer.

There was a huge conference table in the conference room, and at the other end of the table sat a general without a military cap. The officer on duty walked to his side, leaned over and whispered something in his ear. A look of astonishment appeared on the man's face, then he stood up, grabbed the belt on the table, and tied it around his waist.

When Sokov walked up to him, the general was already fully armed. Not only was his belt fastened, but even the buttons on his military uniform were neatly buttoned, and he even put on his military cap. The other party raised his hand to salute Sokov: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Major General, Chief of Staff of the Army Group." Sameko showed a kind smile on his face, "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire Army Group, I welcome you! "

"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov held out his hand to the other party and said with a smile, "I'm Sokov, the new commander of the Army Group. Do you need to check our credentials?"

"No need, Comrade Commander." Sameko hurriedly waved his hand and said, "The officer on duty is a serious person. Since he has already seen your certificate, that's enough."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," the star officer asked from the side: "Are you allowed to carry out the mission?"

Sameko replied without looking back, "Go and carry on with your duties."

"Comrade Commander, why are you still standing?" After the star officer left, Sameko hurriedly greeted Sokov courteously, pulled out a chair, and said to Sokov, "Hurry up and sit down, please."

After sitting down, Sokov did not engage in any handover ceremony. He looked up at Sameko and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell me about the situation of the troops."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko agreed, moved the map on the table to Sokov, and introduced to him the current location of the divisions of the group army and the situation of the fortifications being built.

"Where do the soldiers of each division come from?" Sokov asked after reading the deployment of troops on the map, "Are they veterans with rich combat experience?"

"Where are there so many veterans?" Sameko shook his head and said, "The several infantry divisions under the group army, except for a few combat backbones, most of the supplementary soldiers came from factory militias. They all had The experience of performing combat missions can be regarded as a real soldier."

Knowing that most of the soldiers under him were adapted from the militiamen of the factory, Sokov was more or less at ease. As long as they were not recruits who had not participated in any military training, these former militiamen could be trained after several months of training. , Become a qualified fighter. He then asked: "According to the order of the Front Army Command, all the troops are building fortifications. I would like to ask, what is the labor force for building the fortifications?"

"Comrade Commander, you should know that our young and middle-aged people are basically in the army." Sameko replied with some embarrassment: "So the work of building fortifications can only be given to women or some half-grown children. Although their physical strength cannot be compared with that of young adults, under the current circumstances, we can only rely on them to build the fortifications."