Red Moscow

"What?!" When Sokov went back and told the matter to Ponejielin and others, Sidolin immediately jumped up: "The superior has re-appointed you as the commander of the 48th Army. What is going on? ?”

The battle plan for the Belarus campaign is still top secret at this moment. Except for Rokossovsky, Matvey, Terekin and a few staff officers of the Front Army Command, even Stalin and the General Staff do not know about it. Sokov Naturally, it was impossible to leak the secret, so I could only say vaguely: "I think Comrade General must have made such a decision after careful consideration."

After listening to Sokov, Ponegerin shook his head and said: "What is the matter with this superior? Why do you always change your appointment? First, you were the commander of the 40th Army, and then you were changed. Commander of the 47th Army Group. Fortunately, he has not taken office yet, and has become the commander of the 48th Army Group."

"I don't think it will change again this time." Sokov said to the three: "Comrade General has made it clear that we can take office this afternoon."

"You can take office this afternoon?!" After Pornegerin asked this sentence in a suspicious tone, seeing Sokov nodded, he heaved a sigh of relief and said, "It seems that this appointment will not be repeated. It’s changed, let’s get the trainees to pack up and get ready to go to the 48th Army as soon as possible.”

Although serving as the commander of the 48th Army is already a certainty, Sidolin still asked uneasy: "Comrade commander, the superior really won't change his mind again?"

"I don't think so."

"That's good, that's good." Sidolin said, "I'll inform everyone first, so that everyone is ready to go."

Before Sidolin walked out of the room, Kirillov stopped him, and then asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, what is the situation with the 48th Army?"

When Sidolin heard this, he immediately became interested. He was about to take up his post in the 48th Army. He should have some basic information about this army, which would be very beneficial to his future work.

Fortunately, before leaving, Sokov specifically asked Malinin about the situation of the 48th Army, so when he heard Kirillov's question, he was able to say something ugly: "I asked Malinin, this army was originally the 41st Army. In August 1999, it was established on the basis of the Novgorod Battle Group of the Northwest Front Army. Initially, it consisted of the 70th, 128th, and 237th Infantry Divisions, the 21st Tank Division, and the 1st Militia Division. The formation of the group army has not yet Completed, participated in the defensive operations.

Due to the excessive losses of troops in the battle, the headquarters of the 48th Army was abolished, and the units under it were used to supplement other armies.

In April 1942, the group army was formed again on the basis of the 28th Mechanized Army of the Bryansk Front Army. This time, it consisted of the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions, the 8th, 211th, and 284th Infantry Divisions, and the 109th, 284th and 284th Infantry Divisions. 118th, 122nd Brigade, 202nd Tank Brigade and others..."

In order to let everyone have a general understanding of the new army, Sokov told everyone in detail what he knew about the 48th Army.

After Sokov finished speaking, Ponegerin nodded and said casually, "In this case, this troop still has a little fighting power. But..."

When Sokov is most afraid of who will speak, he will say "but" at the end, which will make his heart beat faster inexplicably, and now he heard Ponejielin say this, and he asked a little nervously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, but what? "

"Comrade Commander," Ponejielin didn't pay attention to Sukov's address to himself, and he had changed from General XX to Comrade Deputy Commander, and said to himself: "From the situation you just introduced Look, the 48th Army is much stronger than the 47th Army. I don't understand, why didn't the superiors let you be the commander of this army earlier?"

Sokov naturally would not tell the other party that the reason why Rokossovsky changed his appointment was entirely because of the combat plan he proposed. As the military chief of the army, it is possible to achieve greater results.

He pretended to frown and said in deep thought: "This point, Comrade General didn't tell me. I guess he felt that handing over a relatively strong force to me would enable him to achieve greater success in the next battle." The result."

After hearing Sokov's words, Ponegerin stared at him for a while, and finally nodded and said, "Well, I think it's possible."

"Comrade Commander." After learning about the actual situation of the 48th Army, Sidolin, the chief of staff, felt more at ease. He then asked Sokov, "When shall we set off?"

"I think it's better to leave after lunch." Sokov said this, seeing that Sidolin seemed to want to defend something, he quickly raised his hand to interrupt what he wanted to say, and said directly: "Chief of Staff, I think After arriving in the new army today, everyone will be busy until very late, and I don’t want everyone to work hungry. So I still have lunch before setting off, anyway, it won’t waste much time.”

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidolin nodded and said, "I'll go and inform everyone to prepare for departure."

When Sidolin came to the place where the students were staying and told everyone that they could go to the new army in the afternoon, everyone immediately cheered. But when Sidolin announced that the troops going this time were not the 47th Army, but the 48th Army, everyone was dumbfounded.

Major Lekashari was the first to ask the question: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't you still talk about going to the 47th Army Group yesterday? Why did it become the 48th Army Group in a blink of an eye? What is going on?"

"Yes, yes." The surrounding students also echoed Major Liekashari: "Why have we become members of the 48th Army again?"

"You want to know, and I want to know too." Sidolin said with an aggrieved face: "To tell you the truth, I was also dumbfounded when I heard the commander say that just now. It was agreed to go to the 47th Army. Why did it become the 48th Army in the blink of an eye, which made me unprepared at all."

Seeing that they could not get the information they wanted from Sidolin, the students also returned to their rooms one after another, started to pack their things, and prepared to go to the new army to report in the afternoon.

During lunch, many students, including Sidolin, were absent-minded. They were afraid that they hadn't rushed there earlier. After the meal, the superior issued a new order to let Sokov transfer to another unit commander.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Sokov guessed what they were thinking, but he didn't give them any reassurance, but buried his head in eating. Anyway, whether he can take up the post in the 48th Army smoothly, he will know after eating.

Just after eating here, a lieutenant colonel officer came to Sokov. He saluted and said, "I was ordered to send you and your men to the 48th Army. When can we leave?"

"Comrades," hearing what the lieutenant colonel said, Sokov turned to his subordinates who were still eating in the dining room, and asked loudly, "The car that took us to the 48th Army has arrived. Who hasn't finished their meal yet?"

A few students were still dawdling, but upon hearing Sokov's question, they hurriedly stuffed the remaining slices of bread into their mouths, and replied vaguely, "It's all over."

"Okay, since we've finished eating, everyone will immediately go to the dormitory to pick up their luggage, and then go outside to take a bus."

After cheering, all the students scrambled to leave the restaurant and rushed back to their dormitory to pack their luggage.

The trainees who had been bitten by snakes for ten years and were afraid of well ropes packed their luggage and walked out of the building, feeling extremely apprehensive, fearing that something might happen again, and they would not be able to go to the 48th Army's garrison.

It can be seen that Sokov is standing next to a jeep, chatting with the lieutenant colonel, and behind the jeep is a convoy of fifteen jeeps and ten trucks, and each truck is standing After the soldiers with guns and live ammunition, everyone felt more at ease. Needless to say, the convoy was to send everyone to the 48th Army, and those heavily armed soldiers were the guards responsible for the escort.

Seeing that the students had all come out, Sidolin hurriedly ordered the students to line up, and then began roll call. After confirming that all the students were present, he came to Sukov and reported: "Comrade commander, all the personnel have arrived, please instruct!"

Sokov's reply was simple: "Get in the car, let's go!"

A few minutes later, the convoy left the Front Army Headquarters and headed along the road towards the defense zone of the 48th Army.

The front of the convoy was naturally not the jeep that Sokov was riding in, but two trucks full of soldiers. There is also a machine gun mounted above the cab of each truck, and the machine gunner watches the surrounding movement with vigilant eyes.

When Sokov came this time, he only brought Ponegerin, Kirillov and a group of students from the Frunze Military Academy. The guards led by Captain Koshkin were not qualified to take a plane and could only come here by car. Unexpectedly, almost a week later, there was still no trace of the other party, which made Sokov worried that something happened to the other party on the road.

So Sokov saw that Rokossovsky had sent so many troops to escort him, so he couldn't help but have some ideas. He asked the lieutenant colonel sitting in the co-pilot position: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, after we reach the defense zone of the 48th Army, will you stay or go back the same way?"

His purpose of asking this question was to find out whether the other party was just escorting him to the 48th Army to take up his post, or whether it was the security force Rokossovsky sent to him. Now that I am a general, it is only natural that I have a chief of the security department with the rank of lieutenant colonel under him.

The lieutenant colonel half turned around and said to Sokov who was sitting in the back row: "General Sokov, I was ordered to escort you to the headquarters of the 48th Army, and then lead the team back."

Knowing that the other party was only escorting his troops, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. After I took over the post of commander, whether the security force under my command is reliable is still a problem. I can only place my hope on Captain Koshkin. I hope that he and the guard company he leads can reach the 48th Army and join him as soon as possible. .

When Sokov thought so, Ponedelin on the side suddenly said in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, it's been almost a week and I haven't seen Captain Koshkin. Could it be that he took the troops to The 47th Army?"

Ponegerin's words made Sukov feel uneasy. He had seen the defense map in the headquarters. The 47th Army was near Kovel, about 200 kilometers away from the 48th Army stationed near the swamp. If Koshkin really thought he was going to the 47th Army and rushed there with a company of guards, he would definitely miss it. But at present, he cannot get in touch with the other party, and Sokov can only act anxiously in the face of this situation.

The lieutenant colonel guessed something when he heard the conversation between Sokov and Ponejielin, and quickly added: "General Sokov, the 48th Army Headquarters has a security office with two guard battalions under it. You can rest assured that there are thousands of people in the formation status, which can completely protect the security of the headquarters."

"I just arrived in a place, and I'm not familiar with the place." Now that the lieutenant colonel had made it clear, Sokov didn't hide it, but said with a smile: "There are enough guards in the headquarters. I know one thing. But I like to run to the frontier often, and I naturally hope to have trustworthy people by my side, so that I can feel more at ease in my heart."

"So that's the case." After finding out what was going on, the lieutenant colonel asked tentatively, "General Sokov, didn't you bring your own capable guards when you came from the Ukrainian Second Front this time?"

"When I left, I took a guard company with me." Sokov said to the lieutenant colonel: "But we came by plane to the headquarters of the front army, and the guard company came by car. It has been almost a week now, and it is still the same. No sign of them." He turned his head and glanced at Pornejelin next to him, and added, "Now my deputy commander is worried that they went the wrong way and went to the 47th Army."

"General Sokov, I will report this matter to Chief of Staff Malinin when I go back, and ask him to contact comrades in the 47th Army. If your subordinates are found, they will be arranged to find you in the 48th Army."

Seeing that the lieutenant colonel was willing to help him, Sokov said gratefully: "If this is the case, then I am really grateful."

As soon as he finished speaking, the car stopped suddenly.

"What's going on?" The lieutenant colonel immediately asked the lieutenant colonel loudly: "Why stop?"

"The truck in front stopped," the driver replied, "I saw the truck in front of me stop, so I stopped."

"Damn it," the lieutenant colonel looked out through the car window, frowned and said, "If you don't stop in the morning and don't stop in the evening, you just stop at this time. Is there something wrong?" Pushing open the door, I was about to get out of the car and go to the front to see what happened.

But just as he was about to get out of the car, he was stopped by Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, wait a moment, don't get out of the car!"

The lieutenant colonel turned to look at Sokov, and asked puzzledly, "General Sokov, what do you want?"

"This car is parked strangely. For safety's sake, don't get out of the car casually!" Sokov considered the location of the car, which happened to be in the forest, and his car was fifty or sixty meters away from the front car. , if there are German snipers hidden in the forest, the lieutenant colonel can walk such a long distance, enough for the snipers to kill him ten or eight times: "I think it's better to wait for the commander in the car in front to report to you."

The lieutenant colonel, who originally wanted to get out of the car to check, realized something was wrong after hearing what Sokov said. He quickly retracted his outstretched foot, closed the car door, and patiently waited for the commander in front to come back to report the situation to him.