"Comrade commanders," Sokov stood up and did not immediately satisfy everyone's curiosity. Instead, he asked first: "Do you know the location of our army group?"
Hearing Sokov's question, everyone couldn't help but be startled, wondering, aren't we east of Moscow? Although they didn't understand the reason for Sokov's question, they still replied in unison: "I know!"
"It's good to know." There was a map posted on the wall behind Sokov's seat. He walked to the map, picked up the explanation stick leaning on the wall, pointed at it and introduced it to everyone: "Let's take a look first.
Looking at the situation map between ourselves and the enemy, to the west and southwest of Moscow are the German Army Group Center and Army Group South respectively. They have the strength to attack Moscow. But if they want to capture Moscow, they will face our Western Front, Gary
Ning Front, Voronezh Front and South-Western Front, as well as the Central Front which is moving south of Moscow."
Sokov tapped the map twice with his explanatory stick and continued: "In addition to our army's five front armies, there are also a large number of troops stationed in Moscow. If the German army wants to break through such a powerful defensive formation of our army, it must
It is basically impossible to achieve the goal of occupying Moscow. Since nothing will happen in Moscow, how can the enemy appear near the defense area of our group army? Since the enemy will not appear, then we will waste a lot of manpower and material resources to build
What’s the point of a batch of defense fortifications that are of no use at all?”
"Comrade Commander," Fomenko expressed his opinion immediately after Sokov finished speaking: "I very much agree with your analysis, but building fortifications in the defense zone is an order from the front army headquarters. If
We stopped the construction work on the fortifications because I was worried that I would be reprimanded by my superiors."
"General Fomenko is right." As soon as Fomenko finished speaking, Major General Gritsenko echoed: "This is disobedience. If your superiors want to pursue it, you may be sent to a military court."
"Major General Gritsenko, thank you for your concern for me." Sokov looked at Gritsenko and said in a friendly manner: "If my superiors want to hold me accountable in the future, as the commander of the group army, I will bear all the consequences.
According to my analysis, I am afraid that the Germans will launch an offensive campaign against our army again in two or three months. Although the Steppe Front Army is only a reserve force, as the battle progresses, it will definitely be put into the battlefield.
I think all division commanders and brigade commanders are very clear about the combat effectiveness of each division and brigade. If we don't seize the time to conduct military training and improve the combat effectiveness of our troops, we will just waste our energy on building fortifications and wait until we actually go to the battlefield.
, I’m afraid everyone won’t be able to cry by then.”
Now that Sokov has spoken to this extent, the commanders present understand that since the other party has made up his mind, no matter how much he objects, the other party will ignore it. Besides, he is the commander of the group army, and he has the say on internal affairs of the group army.
After thinking about this, everyone began to express their opinions, resolutely obeying Sokov's order, stopping the construction of fortifications in the defense zone, and focusing on the military training of the troops.
Seeing that everyone was willing to obey his orders, Sokov couldn't help but nodded happily and began to arrange new tasks for his old troops: "Comrade commanders, I think our troops still lack commanders with rich combat experience.
Commander. It just so happens that when I came from the Red Army Village this time, I brought with me forty outstanding commanders, and I plan to assign them to your army."
Regardless of the lack of experienced grassroots commanders in each unit, everyone still had some resistance when they heard that Sokov was preparing to deploy people into his unit. However, due to the sake of face, no one raised any objections.
I was just thinking about how to politely reject Sokov when he planned to deploy men to his army.
The expressions of the commanders present were seen by Sokov, but he did not criticize him. Instead, he called Belkin in front of him and said to everyone: "This is Colonel Belkin. I am commanding Iraq."
When I served as the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, he was my political deputy battalion commander. Later, when I served as the commander of the 41st Guards Division, he first served as the commander of the drawdown regiment.
He then served as the political commissar of the 124th Guards Regiment and made great achievements in the battle to defend Stalingrad."
After briefly introducing Belkin's resume, Sokov glanced at the people present one by one and asked: "I wonder which division commander is willing to accept him?"
Originally, everyone was worried about Sokov deploying men into their own troops, but when they heard that the colonel in front of them had actually been Sokov's partner, the attitudes of the division commanders changed 180 degrees.
U-turn. Gritsenko first said: "Comrade Commander, please let Colonel Belkin come to our division. I happen to have a regiment that lacks a regimental political commissar, so I will ask him to take up this position."
"General Gritsenko, Colonel Belkin is an old partner of Comrade Commander. Isn't it a bit too shabby for you to only give him the position of political commissar of a regiment?" Colonel Koida, commander of the 188th Infantry Division, told Gritshen.
After Ko's rebuttal, he asked Sokov flatteringly: "Do you think that when Colonel Belkin comes to us, I can give him the position of regimental commander?"
"I think it's better to come to our division." Fomenko said not to be outdone: "Not only can I give him the position of regimental commander, I can even make him the deputy division commander."
"Colonel Belkin," seeing several division commanders arguing over Belkin, Sokov quickly stood up to smooth things over: "Three comrades, division commanders, with Colonel Belkin's qualifications and abilities, only serve as a regiment political commissar or
The regiment commander is indeed a bit unqualified. Then I will officially appoint him as the deputy commander of the 84th Infantry Division now, and he will also serve as the regiment commander."
Hearing that Sokov arranged for Belkin to be in his army, Fomenko showed a proud smile on his face. He knew very well that Sokov had a good relationship with Belkin and would definitely treat him in the future.
With a lot of care, your own troops will also be able to benefit from it.
After arranging for Belgin, Sokov began to arrange for Vanya. When the Sixth Army was reorganized, Sokov felt that Vanya's rank was too low, so he took the initiative to promote him from major to lieutenant colonel. At this moment, Sokov
The husband introduced to everyone: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Vanya. He is the first subordinate to follow me. He fought with me long before the big counterattack under Moscow began. In the battle to defend Stalingrad
, he served as the chief of staff of the 122nd Guards Regiment and also made many achievements."
As expected by Sokov, several division commanders wanted Vanya to serve as chief of staff of the regiment in their divisions. In the end, Sokov made the decision and let Vanya go to Colonel Shechtman.
of the 254th Infantry Division.
The rest of the officers brought by Sokov were also recommended by Sokov to serve as battalion and company-level commanders. Seeing that each division and infantry brigade were assigned commanders with rich combat experience, Qiu of the 84th Marine Brigade
Colonel Vashov was a little anxious: "Comrade Commander, you have arranged new commanders for several infantry divisions and infantry brigades. You must not be partial to our navy. Should you also arrange two?"
"Don't worry, comrade colonel." In fact, at the current position, there are still Lieutenant Commander Shamrih from the Marine Corps Battalion, his instructor Captain Shapovarenko, and deputy battalion commander Captain Yakuda who have not arranged work.
At this moment, when I saw the commander of the Marine Corps brigade asking about this, he said casually: "I still have three commanders from the navy. I can ask them to report to your unit."
"Great, Comrade Commander, this is really great." Colonel Chuvashov said excitedly: "Since they are all commanders from the navy, I believe they will be able to get along with our commanders and fighters after they arrive in the army.
"
After the meeting, the other division commanders and brigade commanders left, but Polubyarov did not leave because Sokov had told him that he was preparing to replace his troops with more advanced T-34 tanks in the near future.
He knew that the tank troops of the Southwest Front encountered the new German tanks in late February. At the same distance, our tanks could not penetrate the armor of the German tanks, but the German tank guns could easily destroy the Soviet tanks.
Tank, in order not to repeat the same mistakes on the battlefield, he was eager to have Sokov update the tank for him as soon as possible.
After listening patiently to Polubyarov, Sokov did not immediately give the other party a positive answer. Instead, he smiled and said: "General Polubyarov, do you think you should lose weight and drink tea regularly?"
You should put two less cubes of sugar in your belly. Look at your belly. If you continue to gain weight, you, the tank general, may not even be able to fit into a tank."
Polubyarov is also a smart man. When he heard that Sokov had evaded the topic and brought the topic to other places, he immediately understood the other party's intention. He quickly stood up and said to Sokov and Samyko: "Comrade Commander
Comrade Chief of Staff, if there is nothing else, I will go back first. After all, specifying a troop training plan is a very time-consuming matter."
After Polubyarov left, Sokov asked Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can the phone we have here be able to communicate with Moscow?"
"If you want to call Moscow, I'm afraid you need to transfer through the switchboard." Samyko knew that Sokov would not ask this for no reason, so he took the initiative to ask: "I wonder which department in Moscow you plan to call?"
Sokov replied briefly: "Weapons and Equipment Department, call for Colonel Yakov."
"Understood, I will immediately order someone to put you on the phone." Sameko turned to the director of the communications corps and said: "Comrade director, didn't you hear the commander's order? Get in touch with the weapons and equipment department quickly, don't delay the business.
."
The director of the Communications Corps intervened, and in less than five minutes, the call to the Moscow Arms and Equipment Department was answered. Samek took the microphone and said to the person on duty who answered the phone: "We are at the forefront here, and we have important things to discuss with you."
Colonel Koff spoke."
Thanks to Sokov's assistance, Yakov often launched new weapons in the weapons and equipment department, which not only made his reputation famous, but also his position increased. It may be that there were too many people looking for Yakov, so the duty officer
Cautiously asked: "Who is looking for Colonel Yakov?"
Sokov heard the question from the watchman and quickly said from the side: "Please tell Colonel Yakov that Misha is looking for him."
The duty officer knew something about Yakov's situation and knew that he had a friend named Misha at the front. When he heard that the person calling was Misha, he did not dare to neglect and said quickly: "Please wait a moment.
, I will connect you to Colonel Yakov’s office right away.”
After the call was connected, Yakov's somewhat impatient voice came from the receiver: "Hello, who is this?"
"Yasha, it's me." Sokov called the other party's nickname affectionately and said, "I'm Misha."
"Misha, is that you?" Hearing that the person calling him was actually Sokov, Yakov asked in surprise: "Why are you free to call me today?"
"Yakov, I have something to ask you."
"Begging me?" Yakov said with a smile: "Have all the rockets in the army been used up? I heard some time ago that you completely wiped out the Imperial Division and severely damaged the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division. It was really exciting.
.But I know very well that to achieve such results, the consumption of rockets will be huge."
"You guessed it right, all the rockets in the army have been used up."
"I am arranging the expansion of the production line these days. When the new production line is put into operation, the number of rockets you can obtain will be doubled."
"Yasha, let's put the rocket issue aside for now. I don't think my troops will have a chance to fight the Germans within two months." Since the person on the other end of the phone is his life-and-death friend,
Sokov did not talk in circles, but said bluntly: "What I want to talk to you about today is about the tank replacement."
"Tank change?" Yakov asked with some confusion: "I don't understand what you mean."
"During the Battle of Stalingrad, didn't my army capture a new German tank?" Sokov said into the microphone: "Our army's tank troops fought against this kind of tank in late February.
But unfortunately, the T-34 tanks we equip today cannot penetrate the armor of such tanks at a distance of five hundred meters or more."
"Misha, you are not in the military industry. You may not know." Yakov said helplessly on the phone: "Developing a new tank cannot be done in a month or two. It may take a year or two.
, or even longer.”
"I understand what you mean, Yasha." Sokov continued: "I am not calling you to ask you to develop a new tank, but I want to tell you that as early as the battle to defend Stalingrad, we
It is equipped with an improved version of the T-34 tank, with improved armor and firepower."
"An improved version of the T-34 tank?" Yakov asked in surprise: "How did you make it?"
"The Red October Factory helped us produce them, but due to production capacity issues, the number of T-34/85 tanks currently equipped with the army has not exceeded ten."
"Oh, it turns out that it is produced by the Red October Factory." Yakov said thoughtfully: "Then I immediately called the director of the Red October Factory and asked him to provide me with the relevant data. Misha
, I will call you when there is news. I heard that you are now the commander of the Sixth Army, right? "
"Yasha, I regret to tell you that I am no longer the commander of the Sixth Army." Sokov replied: "My superiors have just appointed me as the commander of the 27th Army of the Steppe Front."