Red Moscow

As the situation worsened, the situation in the direction of Moscow became bad. In order to better protect the city, the Soviet Supreme Command hastily established the 1st Guards Infantry Corps and prepared to appoint Lelyushenko as the commander of the army.

But just when the appointment was about to be issued, something happened. Vlasov and Potapov, who were originally thought to be missing or captured, escaped from the German encirclement. Compared with these two people, Lelyushenko, as deputy minister of the Automobile, Armored and Tank Headquarters, obviously lacks experience in commanding large corps in combat. Therefore, there were three different opinions on the appointment of military commander, and Lelyushenko, who was originally appointed, became one of the candidates.

At the meeting of the Supreme Command, Stalin, who was walking back and forth in the room with a pipe in his hand, asked: "Tell me, among these three people, who should be the commander of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps? ?”

"Comrade Stalin," the first person to speak was Deputy Chief of General Staff General Ivanov: "Since we have long decided to appoint General Lelyushenko as the commander of the army, we should not adjust the original appointment easily."

Stalin waited for Ivanov to finish speaking, but did not immediately express his position. Instead, he asked the silent Voroshilov: "Comrade Voroshilov, what do you think of this appointment?"

Voroshilov raised his head, looked at Stalin walking back and forth, and said hesitantly: "I don't think General Lelyushenko has been to the front line since the outbreak of the war. Let such a commander with no battlefield command experience... Served as commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Corps and shouldered the responsibility of I think it is obviously inappropriate for Major General Potapov to assume the responsibility of defending Moscow. Since the outbreak of the war, he has been commanding operations at the front and has accumulated rich and valuable combat experience. , I think it’s very appropriate.”

"Comrade Marshal," Ivanov immediately countered: "In the leaflets dropped by the Germans on our army's positions, it was mentioned that Major General Potapov, the former commander of the 5th Army, became their prisoner. How could we allow a general who had been a prisoner of the enemy to command such an important force?"

"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, can't you see that this is a German conspiracy?" Voroshilov, who has been sitting on the bench since returning from Leningrad, cannot tolerate a commander who is lower than himself. The commander refuted himself and said with a straight face: "If General Potapov really became a prisoner of the Germans, how could he appear in Moscow? I still stick to my opinion and let Major General Potapov serve as the Commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Corps."

"What about General Vlasov?" Major General Vasilevsky, who was attending the meeting for the first time, expressed his opinion: "Can't he serve as the commander of the army?"

"I think he is not suitable." Voroshilov shook his head and said: "Anyway, before the loss of Kiev, he served as the commander of the 37th Group Army and the commander of the Kiev garrison. If he is allowed to serve as the army commander , which is equivalent to downgrading. What do you think, old man?" His last words were said to Budyonni, who was sitting opposite him.

As we all know, in the famous 1st Cavalry Army in the 1920s, Budyonny was the commander and Voroshilov was his political commissar. The two had a friendship for more than 20 years. At this moment, Voroshilov threw the question to Budyonny, naturally hoping that the other party would support his opinion.

Sure enough, Budyonny nodded after hearing this and said: "I agree with Marshal Voroshilov's proposal that General Potapov will serve as the commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Corps."

Seeing that the two marshals had reached an agreement, Ivanov no longer insisted on his own point of view, but turned his attention to Shaposhnikov not far away, wanting to hear his opinion. If he can agree with his proposal, then the post of commander of the Guards can be held by Lelyushenko.

But the old marshal remained silent for a long time without speaking. Apparently he was also wondering in his heart who should hold the position of military commander.

Seeing that the conference room became quiet, Stalin returned to his seat knowing that everyone was waiting for him to make a decision. However, he did not sit down, but put his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly: "Since Voroshilov and Budyonny both feel that Major General Potapov is suitable for the position of commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Corps, Then let him take over the position of military commander."

Seeing that Stalin agreed to his proposal, Voroshilov's face showed a smile, and he then asked: "Comrade Stalin, Potapov is now a major general, should his military rank be adjusted accordingly? "

Stalin raised his eyebrows and said nothing. He just looked at Voroshilov quietly, trying to figure out why the other party would make such a suggestion?

"Comrade Stalin, the thing is like this." Voroshilov said: "The commander of the 16th Army Rokossovsky, before the outbreak of the war, was Potapov's subordinate with the rank of major general. Now he has Being promoted to lieutenant general while his original superior, Potapov, still held the rank of major general, is obviously inappropriate. "

After listening to Voroshilov's explanation, Stalin nodded slightly and said: "In that case, then promote him to the rank of lieutenant general. I hope his performance on the battlefield will not disappoint us."

That afternoon, Potapov, who was staying at the garrison headquarters, was taken to the General Staff, where the Chief of General Staff Shaposhnikov personally talked to him: "Comrade Potapov, after the Supreme Command's research and decision, you are appointed as the commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Army and will immediately go to the Orel-Tula direction to build a new defense."

"Thank you for the trust of the Supreme Command in me." Potapov vowed to Shaposhnikov: "I will never let you down and will resolutely block the Germans' advance towards Moscow."

Shaposhnikov was very satisfied with Potapov's statement. He nodded and then asked politely: "General Potapov, you can make any requests. As long as we can do it, we will meet your request."

Hearing Shaposhnikov say this, Potapov immediately remembered his He had a conversation with Sokov, and hurriedly said: "Comrade Marshal, I have a request. I hope to assign Captain Sokov to my command. I lack a talented commander like him."

Unexpectedly, Shaposhnikov frowned after hearing this and asked puzzledly: "What does Captain Sokov do that deserves your attention?"

At this moment, Vasilevsky, who was standing next to him, asked Potapov: "General Potapov, is the Captain Sokov you are talking about the one who won the Order of Lenin in August?"

"Yes, it's him." Potapov nodded and added: "He was promoted to the rank of captain at the same time as the medal was awarded."

After Vasilevsky figured out Sokov's identity, he quickly leaned close to Shaposhnikov's ear and whispered to the old marshal in detail about what he knew. Shaposhnikov didn't take it seriously at first. After all, the war had been going on for so long, and there were countless people who had made contributions. A Lenin medal didn't mean much. But after hearing the merits awarded by Sokov, he was secretly surprised.

After Vasilevsky finished speaking, Shaposhnikov asked: "General Potapov, where is Captain Sokov now?"

"He is in the garrison headquarters now."

"Garment headquarters?" Shaposhnikov asked curiously: "Is he affiliated with the garrison headquarters?"

"No, comrade Marshal." Potapov explained quickly: "He is a subordinate of General Vlasov, commander of the 37th Army. After we escaped from the German encirclement, we were sent back to Moscow by Marshal Timoshenko and temporarily settled in the garrison headquarters."

"Oh, so that's the case." Shaposhnikov nodded and said carelessly: "Since he is free now, let him follow you. As for Vlasov, I will say hello to him."

In this way, without Sokov knowing it at all, he changed from Vlasov's subordinate to Potapov's subordinate.

When Potapov returned to the garrison headquarters, not only did the gold stars on his collar increase from two to three, but he also brought back a transfer order personally signed by Marshal Shaposhnikov.

After getting off the car, he went straight to Vlasov's room.

Seeing Potapov coming to visit, Vlasov couldn't help but feel curious about the extra star on his collar badge: "Potapov, have you been promoted to a higher rank?"

"Yes, Vlasov." Potapov said with a smile: "I was not only promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, but also appointed as the commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Army."

"General Potapov." Vlasov was stunned at first, then he stretched out his hand to Potapov and said enthusiastically: "I would like to express my sincere congratulations to you and congratulate you on obtaining a higher rank."

"Thank you!" After shaking hands with Vlasov, Potapov took out a transfer order from his pocket: "Vlasov, this is a transfer order issued by Marshal Shaposhnikov himself, allowing Captain Sokov to join my 1st Guards Infantry Army from now on."

Vlasov's face changed. Potapov came to poach Sokov in front of him yesterday, which made him very dissatisfied. Unexpectedly, today the other party actually turned Sokov into his subordinate directly through Marshal Shaposhnikov.

But even though he was dissatisfied, Vlasov also understood that since it was an order from his superiors, he could only obey unconditionally and there was no room for bargaining at all.

He handed the transfer order back to Potapov and said with a forced smile: "General Potapov, although Captain Sokov has not been in the army for a long time, through my contact with him, I think he is an excellent commander. He should be able to establish more merits by following you."

Potapov originally thought that even with Shaposhnikov's transfer order, Vlasov would not let Sokov leave easily, but he did not expect the other party to agree so readily.

When Vlasov sent Potapov out of the door, he happened to meet Colonel Del and Nikolsky who came to Vlasov.

The two were also surprised to see that Potapov's rank had changed.

This work is organized and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~

As soon as the three returned to the house, Colonel Del couldn't wait to ask Vlasov: "Comrade Commander, I saw Potapov's rank has become Lieutenant General, what's going on?"

"He has just been promoted to Lieutenant General and is also the commander of the newly established 1st Guards Infantry Army."

"My God, he is so lucky that he was appointed as the commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Army." Colonel Del said with emotion: "And the four of us have to stay here and continue to wait. I don't know when our superiors will wait to assign us new positions."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are mistaken." Vlasov corrected Colonel Der: "It is not four people, but three people. From now on, Captain Sokov is no longer our subordinate."

"What's going on?" Del asked puzzledly: "Our new positions have not been arranged yet. Who will assign a new position to Captain Sokov?"

"General Potapov just brought a transfer order, which was personally signed by Marshal Shaposhnikov." Vlasov sighed and said: "Transfer Captain Sokov to the 1st Infantry Guards. Army, that is to say, from now on, Captain Sokov is a subordinate of General Potapov.”

"What, Captain Sokov became General Potapov's subordinate?" Hearing what Vlasov said, Colonel Del frowned: "General Potapov knew that Captain Sokov was a member of the 37th Army An officer, how could he poach us?"

"There is no way." Vlasov shook his head and said: "Starting from today, the 37th Army has officially been disbanded. Our future is still unknown. How can we put such a talented commander as Captain Sokov under his command?" Comrade, he is wasting his time by staying with us. Maybe he can achieve more glorious feats by following Potapov."

"Comrade Commander, you are right." Nikolsky echoed: "With Captain Sokov's ability, there should not be much problem in achieving great achievements. But unfortunately, these achievements It has nothing to do with us anymore.”

Potapov came out of Vlasov's room and immediately rushed to find Sokov.

Sokov, who was chatting with several familiar fighters in the restaurant, saw Potapov coming in from outside.

I saw the other party standing at the door and looking around for a while, and then walked towards his location with long strides. Seeing this, Sokov guessed that the other party might be here to find him. He quickly stood up and was about to speak. He unexpectedly discovered that the original two stars on Potapov's collar badge had become three stars. This It means that he has just been promoted to military rank.

"Captain Sokov, do you have time now?" Potapov asked: "I want to talk to you alone."

Sokov quickly replied: "Yes, yes, Comrade General, I have time now."

When the soldiers sitting next to him heard Potapov saying that they had something to talk to Sokov, they immediately got up and left, making room for the two of them.

After Potapov sat down at the dining table, he made a gesture of invitation to Sokov: "Captain Sokov, stop standing, please sit down quickly."

After Sokov sat down, he asked bluntly: "General Potapov, did you come to me to ask me to be your subordinate?"

"Yes." Potapov did not hide anything, but said truthfully: "I do need outstanding subordinates like you. I wonder if you will agree to my invitation?"

"General Potapov," Sokov replied seriously: "I am now a subordinate of General Vlasov. If you can get the order, I will be very happy to become your subordinate."

"Since you said so, I'm relieved." Potapov said, took out the transfer order from his pocket and placed it in front of Sokov: "This is your transfer order, sent by Chief of General Staff Shaposhny Signed by Marshal Koff personally."