Antonov said that he had heard of Sokov for a long time, and it was not a polite word. Sokov led his troops to attack Kursk, which made him amazed. Although this battle was very tricky, it greatly changed the enemy-wealth situation in the south of Moscow, allowing the Soviet army to gain a crucial prominent position on the German defense line. When conditions were ripe, they could launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army from here.
It was precisely because he wanted to meet this legendary lieutenant colonel that when he heard that Huasilevsky was going to send someone to the station, he volunteered to accept the task. After saying hello to Sokov, Antonov ordered the officers who followed him: "Go and find the stationmaster and the military representative."
"Comrade General," Sokov quickly called him and said to Antonov in a hint of embarrassment: "The webmaster and the military representative are not here, but a deputy webmaster is responsible."
"Then go and find the deputy stationmaster." Antonov ordered the officer: "Let him move faster."
Not long after, the officer brought the deputy stationmaster to the office. Seeing Sokov and Berkin standing beside Antonov, the muscles on the deputy stationmaster's face twitched involuntarily. He came to Antonov and asked respectfully: "Comrade General, are you looking for me?"
Antonov looked at the other party and asked, "Comrade Deputy Stationmaster, Antonov, Deputy Minister of the Operations Department of the General Staff. The General Staff did not inform you some time ago, saying that the 73rd Infantry Brigade will take a train to Kazan in the near future and ask you to arrange the train in advance. Why do you have to wait for a month and a half now?"
Hearing Antonov's question, the deputy webmaster was sweating profusely. While raising his hand to wipe off the sweat from his forehead, he replied nervously: "Comrade General, I don't know about this matter. The arrangements of the military line have always been the responsibility of the webmaster."
"Where is the webmaster?" Antonov was obviously dissatisfied with the deputy webmaster's answer. He frowned and asked, "Also, where did the military representative go?"
"They went to the city for a meeting!" the deputy stationmaster replied.
“When will I come back?”
The deputy stationmaster raised his hand and looked at the watch carefully, saying, "I'll call them and ask when they will come back." After seeing Antonov nodding and showing permission, he turned around and prepared to walk outside.
"Stop!" Antonov called him, pointed his hand at the phone on the table, and said in a commanding tone: "Just call here!"
The deputy stationmaster did not dare to violate Antonov's order, so he could only walk to the table, picked up the phone, dialed the number tremblingly, and said to the microphone: "I am the deputy stationmaster, please find Semosykin. I have important things and I need to report to him." After a while, Sokov heard an old voice coming from the receiver, "Comrade Deputy Stationmaster, I am Semosykin. What happened? Are you so anxious to find me?"
The deputy stationmaster quickly glanced at Antonov who was sitting next to him and said in a panic: "Comrade Webmaster, General Antonov of the General Staff is in the duty room of the station. He has something important to discuss with you. You might as well come back soon."
"Damn, my meeting has not been completed yet...what, what did you say? Comrades from the General Staff...you ask them to wait for a while, and I will rush back immediately." After Semosykin finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for the deputy stationmaster to say anything.
The deputy webmaster who put down the phone raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his head again, and said with a smile: "Comrade General, the webmaster will be back soon. Please wait here for a while."
"Comrade Deputy Webmaster, you should go and do your own work first." Antonov knew that the station was busy every day. If he kept the deputy webmaster here, it would inevitably affect his normal work. Anyway, the webmaster would come back in a while, so he waved his hand to the deputy webmaster, "When the webmaster comes back later, let him come here to find me."
After the deputy stationmaster left, Antonov also sent his subordinates out. Seeing that only he and Sokov were left in the room, he said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Comrade Sokov, it was our negligence in work that led to such a thing. On behalf of the comrades at the station, I apologize to you." As he said that, he stood up and apologized to the two of them.
"Comrade General, how can you blame you for this? There is obviously something wrong with the station." Seeing Antonov apologizing to them, Berkin quickly winked at Sokov: "You said yes, comrade brigade commander?"
Hearing Belkin say this, Sokov quickly echoed: "Yes, Comrade General, this is all the fault of the station and has nothing to do with you."
After Sokov finished speaking, he smiled faintly, and then said, "This time the base camp will transfer you to Stalingrad to rest. Logically speaking, even if it is two days in the evening, it doesn't matter. But this deputy stationmaster was too much and actually arranged the army transporting you one and a half months later..."
"Comrade General," the speaker was unintentional and the listener was intentional. Sokov heard this and rashly interrupted Antonov's later words: "Do you really think that our travels to Stalingrad is just a rest?"
Sokov's words made Antonov stunned. He looked at Sokov in confusion and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't understand why you said that? You must know that transferring you to Stalingrad to rest is the decision made by the Supreme Command."
"Comrade General," Sokov had a rare opportunity to communicate with senior officers. Since he met today, Ait would not easily miss this opportunity: "I want to ask you, do you think the Germans will attack Stalingrad?"
The room suddenly became quiet, and no one spoke. Antonov and Belkin began to consider the questions raised by Sokov. After a long time, Antonov coughed softly, breaking the silence of the room. He whispered: "From all the signs, the Germans did show signs of attacking Stalingrad, but they did this to divert our attention. Their real goal was the oil of Moscow and the Caucasus."
"Comrade General, if I tell you, the real goal of the Germans is to seize Stalingrad in order to obtain food and oil from the south of our country, and to encircle Moscow at the same time." Sokov said tactfully in order not to scare Antonov, "Will you believe it?"
Hearing Sokov say this, Antonov couldn't help laughing: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I want to ask you, if the Germans are really as you guessed, the next target of the attack is Stalingrad, then why are they still holding their troops in the Central Army Group near Moscow? You must know that those are seventy elite divisions armed to the teeth. If they really join the southern front, with the existing strength of our army, they will not be able to stop them at all."
Belkin was afraid that Sokov would say something too much to Antonov, so he quietly pulled the corner of his clothes and suggested that he should not act impulsively. Sokov, who understood the gods, nodded and then said to Antonov: "Comrade General, according to my analysis, the Germans deployed the seventy divisions near Moscow to create a mistake for us, thinking that their next attack target was Moscow, not another area."
"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you need not say anything." Antonov knew that Sokov's father and more than a dozen big bosses in the army, as well as the Supreme Commander himself, were once comrades-in-arms, and he did have some abilities. He was optimistic about him at this moment, but when he heard him exclaiming, his impression of him was inevitably reduced. He looked stern and said impatiently: "Where to arrange defenses is something that the Supreme Commander and the General Staff should consider, and you only need to obey the orders of your superiors."
After saying these words, Antonov closed his eyes and leaned on the back of the chair to rest. Seeing that Antonov stopped talking, Sokov could only keep silent in his heart in this situation. However, he was not angry with Antonov. He was thinking: If I had been in a different place and heard an intermediate officer question the judgment of the Supreme Command, what would I react?
The awkward atmosphere in the room did not last long. An old man in his fifties, gray hair and wearing military casual clothes hurried in from outside. Seeing Antonov sitting in the room, he asked tentatively: "Is it General Antonov of the General Staff?" After receiving a positive answer, he introduced himself, "I am Semosykin, the stationmaster. I'm sorry, I went to the city for a meeting today and I have only come back now, so I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Antonov stood up and shook hands with Semosykin, then said, "Comrade Webmaster, this is the situation. Our comrade of the General Staff also called you a few days ago and said that the 73rd Infantry Brigade was going to Kazan and asked you to arrange a military train."
"Yes, that's right, that's the case." Semosykin nodded and said, "I answered the phone in person at that time. After answering the phone, I specially arranged a military train for them."
Hearing Semosykin said this, Antonov was very surprised. He turned his head and looked at Sokov and Belkin standing behind him, and asked in surprise: "But your deputy stationmaster just said that the military squads have been full recently. If the troops want to go to Kazan, they will have to wait at least one and a half months."
"Comrade General, since I handled this matter, he may not be very familiar with the situation." Semosykin perhaps took the responsibility on himself in order not to make his family's misfortune come true. He smiled at Antonov and said, "I'll check now what time the army arranged for them."
Semosykin said, walked to the wall, took off the dispatch book hanging on the wall, put on reading glasses and looked carefully. After looking at it for a while, he put down the dispatch book in his hand and smiled and said to Antonov: "Comrade General, you have found it. The army arranged for the 73rd Infantry Brigade will set off at 6:10 tomorrow morning, and the troops can board the train at Platform 9 at that time."
Chapter completed!