Red Moscow

Hearing Sokov's order, Sameko was not surprised at all. On the contrary, he nodded and said: "Comrade commander, it is true that the commanders of all divisions and brigades should be called together for a meeting and let them get to know you. This will be very helpful for your future work. of."

After spending a few minutes on the phone, Sameko said to Sokov again: "Comrade commander, I will now introduce to you the organizational structure of the army group. Our subordinates include the 84th, 182nd, 188th, 254th and Five infantry divisions including the 384th, as well as the 46th Infantry Brigade, the 62nd and 84th Marine Brigades, General Poluboyarov's 4th Guards Tank Corps, and two separate tank battalions. "

After listening to the introduction, Sokov asked with some surprise: "Didn't the superiors assign us special artillery?"

"No." Sameko shook his head and replied, "The Steppe Front Army has just been formed, and all armies need artillery, so we haven't allocated artillery units for the time being." Seeing Sokov's disappointed expression, he quickly added Said, "Comrade Commander, it is not accurate to say that there is no artillery. The five artillery divisions under us are all equipped with a 76.2 mm caliber cannon regiment."

"We'll talk about the artillery later." Sokov told Sameko again: "You send someone to find the subordinates I brought, and let Colonel Belkin and Lieutenant Colonel Vanya come to the headquarters to attend the meeting."

Although Sameko didn't know the purpose of Sokov's arrangement, he still nodded: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I will send someone to call these two commanders over immediately."

Ten minutes later, the division commanders, brigade commanders and their political commissars who received the notification appeared in the headquarters one after another. Seeing a strange young general sitting on the main seat, and two strange colonels and lieutenant colonels standing behind him, everyone showed puzzled expressions. They turned their attention to those who came first, hoping to learn from them the reason why the chief of staff suddenly summoned everyone.

But those who came first knew as much as those who came after. Seeing the questioning look from Pao Ze, they could only shrug their shoulders and spread their hands, indicating that they didn't know anything.

"Commanders, please be quiet!" Seeing that everyone was here, Sameko stood up and said loudly to everyone: "The meeting is now! Before the meeting begins, I will introduce the new commander of the group army to you. .”

Sokov heard that Sameko was going to introduce himself, so he stood up and said, "Commanders, hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Mikhail Mikhailnovich. Sokov, who was the commander of the Sixth Army not long ago, just took over the post of commander of the 27th Army today. I called everyone together today because I want to get to know each other, which will be conducive to the next work.”

"Sixth Army?!" Hearing this number, a general who was a little far away from Sokov's position immediately spoke first, "Is that the army that was defeated by the Imperial Division, Skeleton Division, and Banner Guard Division at the end of February? "

There was a hint of disdain in his tone, after all, this was the first defeat suffered by the Soviet army when it attacked aggressively. And it was precisely because the group army was defeated by the German army that General Popov's rapid grouping became a lone army that penetrated deep into the enemy's hinterland. After listening to the commander's words, the nearby commanders also began to discuss in a low voice.

Facing the discussions of the commanders, Sokov did not interrupt them, but let them express their views. Sameko leaned close to Sokov's ear and said in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, the general who spoke first was Major General Fomenko, commander of the 84th Infantry Division. His eldest son is in the Sixth Army. At the end of February time to die."

After listening to Sameko's explanation, Sokov immediately understood why Major General Fomenko had such a big grudge against the Sixth Army. After the meeting room became quiet again, he went on to say: "This General Fomenko is right. The Sixth Army of our army was indeed defeated by three SS divisions of the German army at the end of February, which led to the The defeat of the entire Southwest Front."

The commanders present here, upon hearing what Sokov said, many people had sneers on their faces. They thought that a commander who had been defeated in the battle would now come to our army to become the commander. Will it continue to lose battles and make our 27th Army a laughing stock in the army.

"Commanders, you have misunderstood." Seeing that Sokov did not explain to everyone, Sameko was worried about any misunderstanding, so he stood up and said to everyone: "The Sixth Army under the command of our new commander is not The one that was defeated by the Germans. On the contrary, he commanded the troops to wipe out the Imperial Division, severely damaged the Skeleton Division and the Banner Guard Division, and killed Ike, the commander of the Skeleton Division, captured the commander of the Imperial Division, Major General Al, and the acting commander of the Skeleton Division After Colonel Shimon, he served as the commander of the newly formed Sixth Army."

Sameko's explanation stunned the commanders present. After a long time, Major General Fomenko tentatively asked: "General Sokov, can you tell me which unit you commanded before becoming the commander of the Sixth Army?"

"Yes!" Sokov, who was standing with his hands on the edge of the table, replied readily: "Before I became the commander of the Sixth Army, I was the commander of the Sokov Battle Group, and I also served as the commander of the 41st Guards Division."

"The 41st Guards Division?" Hearing what Sokov said, a general sitting on Sokov's left stood up abruptly, and asked tentatively, "Is it the division that guards the Mamayev Post?"

To the general's question, Sokov truthfully replied: "That's right, during the entire Stalingrad defense battle, the troops under my command have been sticking to Mamayev Post."

"So you are that Colonel Sokov, no, now you are Major General Sokov." The general straightened his body, raised his hand and saluted Sokov with a solemn military salute, and said respectfully, "I am an infantry soldier. Major General Gritsenko, commander of the 384th Division, on behalf of the officers and soldiers of the entire division, I would like to express to you that we will resolutely obey your orders and follow your instructions!"

After the commanders learned of Sokov's true identity, their attitudes towards him immediately changed 180 degrees. Especially seeing that Major General Gritsenko stated to Sokov that he was willing to obey his orders unconditionally, they stood up one after another, raised their hands to salute Sokov, and expressed the same meaning to him. Even the instigator, Major General Fomenko, finally stood up and apologized to Sokov embarrassedly.

Seeing the changes in everyone's attitude towards him, Sokov realized that in today's army, if he wants to gain everyone's respect, rank and position are secondary, and whether he can establish immortal feats is the most important thing.

He raised his hands, pressed down, motioned for everyone to sit down, and said to everyone: "comrades commanders, we have called everyone here today. In addition to getting to know each other, we have to announce an important decision to everyone. "

After hearing this, none of the commanders present said anything, they just stared at Sokov intently, waiting quietly for him to announce that important decision.

"Everyone knows that the soldiers in our army lack sufficient training. If such an army is brought to the battlefield, it will be very difficult to win the battle." Seeing that everyone was silent, Sokov said to himself: "Because, I now announce that the construction of all fortifications in the defense zone will be stopped, and all divisions and brigades will concentrate on military training."

Sokov's words were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a red-hot pot, and it immediately exploded.

"Ah, is it appropriate to stop building fortifications and concentrate on military training?"

"Yes, the construction work is an order from the superiors. If we really stop, will the superiors blame us?"

"..."

Sameko waited for the sound in the room to gradually subside, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, everyone doesn't understand why you made such a decision. You should explain it to everyone."