Red Moscow

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov said to the lieutenant colonel: "Can you sit next to me for a while? I need some time to carry out the handover work with General Romanenko."

Hearing what Sokov said, the lieutenant colonel nodded and said briskly: "Okay, General Sokov, then I will wait for you next to you. After you complete the handover, escort General Romanenko back to the Front Army Command .”

After the lieutenant colonel sat at the other end of the conference table, Sokov asked Romanenko, "General Romanenko, what were you discussing before I came here?"

"What else can it be?" Romanenko shrugged his shoulders and said with a look of lovelessness: "Naturally, we are discussing how to build fortifications in the current defense zone to resist the German attack!"

"I don't know how your fortification work is progressing?"

"Very bad." Romanenko shook his head and said, "Our army's defense area is close to the swamp, and water can be found within three feet of the ground. The trench dug with great difficulty was filled with water in less than one night. , causing our soldiers to use water pumps to pump out all the water in the trenches.”

"General Romanenko, I don't understand. Why did you build fortifications?" Sokov looked at Romanenko and asked, "Do you think the German army is still capable of counterattacking us at this time?"

Sokov's words stunned everyone in the 48th Army. They never dreamed that the new commander would actually talk about not repairing fortifications on his first day in office.

After a while, the former chief of staff of the 48th Army said: "General Sokov, although the possibility of the enemy attacking is very small, we should not take it lightly. Instead, we should build necessary fortifications around the defense zone according to the regulations. .”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to the former chief of staff: "Ordinances are dead, but people are alive. As commanders, we have to decide whether to build fortifications according to the specific situation. Now the army's The defense zone is close to the swamp, and I don’t think the Germans have the guts to cross such a wide swamp and attack our defense zone with no chance of success. Therefore, the construction of fortifications can be removed from our agenda.”

"However, General Sokov..." The former chief of staff seemed to want to say something to refute Sokov, but was interrupted by Sokov raising his hand.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov pointed to Sidolin and said, "This is the new Chief of Staff of the Army Group. You immediately hand over your work to him."

Hearing what Sokov said, the former chief of staff was filled with reluctance, but an order is an order, and he could only honestly agree, then walked to Sidolin and sat down, and began to hand over the work to him. .

"Where is the enemy's situation map?"

Hearing Sokov's question, the military commissar sitting next to him immediately pushed a map spread out on the table in front of Sokov, and said politely: "Comrade Commander, this is our 48th Army Group." The situation map of the enemy and the enemy in the defense zone."

Sokov pulled the map in front of him and examined it carefully.

After he had a general understanding of the situation in the defense zone, he raised his head and said to Romanenko: "General Romanenko, let's hurry up and complete the transfer of command of the troops, so that you can return to the front army headquarters as soon as possible."

After finishing speaking, Sokov turned over the map, picked up a red and blue pencil on the table, and wrote with the red end flying around: "Take over the post of Army Commander." He wrote the date and his own name below. After the name, he pushed it in front of Romanenko: "General Romanenko, it's your turn!"

Seeing Sokov's actions, Romanenko was taken aback for a moment, and then understood what was going on. He took the red and blue pencil in Sokov's hand, and wrote "Romanenko handed over the command of the group army to General Sokov."

The transfer of command was completed here, and the former chief of staff next to him also completed the transfer of work to Sidolin.

The command of the troops has been handed over. Romanenko stood up, stretched out his hand to Sokov, and said in a friendly manner: "General Sokov, I will entrust you with the 48th Army in the future. I hope you can lead them to achieve more brilliant achievements." record."

"Don't worry, General Romanenko." Sokov held the opponent's hand and said, "I will work hard to manage this army well, and I will definitely not let you down."

Now that the transfer of command of the troops was over, the lieutenant colonel came and took Romanenko and his chief of staff out of the conference room.

After Romanenko left, Sokov asked the military commissar sitting next to him: "Comrade military commissar, where is your communication room?"

"It's next door."

"Comrade Military Commissioner, please take me there, I need to talk to the commander of the front army immediately."

The Military Commissar of the Group Army led the way for Sokov. The soldiers he met along the way quickly stuck to the base of the wall and stood at attention to make way for them. They still don't know about the replacement of the commander of the group army. They are full of surprise when they see the military commissioner walking with a strange general.

After the two walked away, the soldiers began to discuss: "Who is that general who is walking with Comrade Military Commissioner? It seems that he has never seen it before."

"Strange, a general came to us, but the commander didn't come out to accompany him. It's too strange."

Naturally, Sokov couldn't hear everyone's discussion. He was anxious to report to Rokossovsky about his arrival at the 48th Army.

In the communication room, after passing the radio station and the operator sitting in front of the radio station, the military commissar led Sokov to a telephone.

The communication staff officer sitting by the telephone saw Sokov coming with the military commissar, and quickly stood up from his seat, straightened his body and was about to report, but was interrupted by Sokov: "Comrade staff, next to you Can you get in touch with the front army headquarters?"

The staff officer looked at the general he didn't know before him, and replied in a panic: "Yes, Comrade General, the phone I'm in charge of can communicate with the front army headquarters."

"Connect to the Front Army Command immediately." Sokov said briefly: "After the call is connected, you tell the person on the other side who answered the phone that the new 48th Army Commander Sokov wants to talk to Rokosov. Commander Ski speaks."

When Sokov spoke, he didn't deliberately lower his voice, so that the telegraph operator sitting not far away heard what he said clearly, and all cast their eyes over him. What surprised everyone was not only the sudden replacement of the commander of the group army by the superior, but also the fact that this trusted commander was too young.

The call was quickly connected. Sokov took the receiver and pressed it to his ear, and Rokossovsky's familiar voice came from inside: "Misha, have you taken over as commander?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I have taken over the post of Commander."

"Is there any problem that needs to be reported to me?"

"Comrade General, this is how I think about it." Sokov thought of the ongoing agenda in the conference room, and felt that even if he wanted to cancel it, he needed to talk to Rokossovsky first to see what he meant: " Our army's defense area is close to the swamp. Due to the complex terrain, it is very difficult to build fortifications facing the swamp. The commanders and fighters worked hard to dig a trench, and it was filled in less than one night. Water, if you want to continue to use it, you have to use the pump to drain the water..."

From Sokov's seemingly complaining words, Rokossovsky heard what he wanted to express, and unceremoniously exposed him: "Misha, you told me so many difficulties, is it true?" Didn’t you want to cancel the construction of the fortification?”

Seeing that Rokossovsky easily guessed his thoughts, Sokov chuckled a few times, and then said: "Comrade general, I think this kind of time-wasting and ineffective construction of fortifications can be completely terminated. Let Our commanders and fighters take a good rest before the start of the war."

"It's very simple to cancel the construction of the fortifications, it's just a matter of one sentence." Rokossovsky asked on the phone: "But if the German army finds that you have no fortifications and launches a surprise attack on you, what are you going to do then? manage?"

"Comrade General, this is how I think about it." When Sokov was looking at the map just now, he had already had a preliminary idea in his mind. Since Rokossovsky asked, he took the opportunity to say: "Although you don't need to face the swamp But I will deploy artillery or machine gun fire on some commanding heights, so that I can use firepower to seal off a considerable area around it. If the Germans don’t come, it’s fine. If they come, we can use artillery fire to teach them a lesson , and then order the nearby troops to rush to the edge of the swamp to block it."

"Didn't you say that you don't plan to build fortifications next to the swamp?" Rokossovsky asked, "Then what will the troops coming from nearby rely on to fight the enemy?"

"You can deploy some tanks by the swamp..."

"Stop, stop!" As soon as Rokossovsky heard this, he interrupted Sokov: "I think you should be very clear about the terrain in the swamp. In some areas, even if you set up a mortar After firing the gun, the gun may sink into the quagmire, and if you put a tank weighing dozens of tons, don't you worry that it will sink?"

"Comrade General, I have already considered this." Sokov explained into the microphone: "I will order the engineers to use logs to lay some shooting platforms for tanks at the edge of the swamp. These platforms will be very strong, even if a few A ten-ton tank can press it up without worrying about getting stuck in the mud.”

"If it is really necessary to lay a shooting platform that can be used by tanks, will the amount of engineering be huge?"

"No." Sokov replied: "According to my idea, it is more appropriate to deploy 15 to 20 tanks per kilometer, so the amount of engineering will not be too large for our engineers."

After listening to Sokov's words, Rokossovsky thought for a while, and finally made up his mind. He nodded and said, "Okay, Misha, since what you said is so reasonable, then follow what you said. Do."

With the consent of Rokossovsky, Sokov became more confident about the next work.

On the way back to the meeting room, he remembered that he had asked the military commissioner of the group army to be his guide, but he didn't know the name of the other party, so he asked apologetically, "Comrade military commissioner, I still don't know your name, I don't know what to call you?"

"My name is Pugachev!"

"Pugachev?!" Sokov repeated the surname and said with a smile: "This is a remarkable surname. In 1773, your ancestors gathered 80 Cossacks to launch the Pugachev uprising. , opened the prelude to a peasant war against the oppression of serfdom in Russian history."

Hearing what Sokov said, Pugachev had a smile on his face, "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect you to know about the peasant uprising led by Pugachev at such a young age. You know, this history has long been disappeared from textbooks, so most students are unaware of the peasant uprising that once threatened the tsarist rule."

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov said: "When we defeat the German invaders, the peasant uprising led by your ancestors will have a chance to be included in the history textbook again."

"Really?" Pugachev asked dubiously.

Sokov remembered that he had seen the record of the peasant uprising in his eighth grade Russian history textbook, so he nodded and said, "That's for sure, Comrade Military Commissar, I assure you."

Although he knew that Sokov could not influence the decision of the Textbook Compilation Committee, Pugachev was still happy with what the other party said: "Comrade Commander, on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire army, welcome to our place." .If you have any difficulties in your work in the future, just tell me, and I will fully cooperate with you."

Sokov was worried that it would take some time to open up the situation, but he did not expect that the military commissioner would cooperate so well, which would be very beneficial for him to carry out his work in the future.

The commanders who were discussing in a low voice in the meeting room saw Sokov and Pugachev walking in from the outside, immediately stopped talking, sat up straight, and stared at Sokov intently, watching what he would do next. what will do.

After Pugachev asked Sokov to sit down, he faced the division commanders who were in the meeting and said: "Commanders, on behalf of the commanders, I would like to announce one thing: From now on, the ban on building fortifications on the edge of the swamp will be cancelled." Take action, let the soldiers take advantage of this rare opportunity and take a good rest for a while."

"What, don't build fortifications on the edge of the swamp?" Although Sokov had announced before going out to make a call, he would no longer discuss how to build fortifications on the edge of the swamp. But when Pugachev said on his behalf that he would not build it, the teachers sitting below still started whispering and discussing in a low voice.

"If we don't build the fortifications, what if the enemy on the other side of the swamp launches fortifications against us?"

"Yes, if there is no fortification to rely on to avoid the enemy's attack, it may be difficult for us to stop it."

"..."

When the teachers were discussing, Sokov did not interrupt them, but quietly listened to their various opinions, thinking about how to refute the different opinions put forward by these teachers one by one later.

"Quiet, comrades, please be quiet!" Pugachev couldn't help feeling a little anxious when he saw that everyone was discussing endlessly. Everyone explained the reasons for not building fortifications."

It has to be said that Pugachev still has some prestige within the group army. Hearing him speak, the division commanders who were still talking in a low voice calmed down and turned their attention to Sokov again, waiting for him Give you a reasonable explanation.