Lunev's call was made promptly. The director of the field hospital and the political commissar were organizing the transfer of medical staff. At this time, a soldier came over and reported to the political commissar: "Comrade political commissar, your phone number."
The political commissar, who was watching the medical staff loading the wounded and medicine into the truck, did not take the soldiers' words to heart and just asked casually: "Who called?"
"It's a call from General Luniev, the military commissar of the Army Group."
Hearing that the call was from Lunev, the political commissar did not dare to neglect it and quickly asked: "Where is the phone?"
"In the old dean's office."
As the headquarters of the 69th Army moved into Kremenchug, their field hospital also moved into the city, and in the shortest possible time, they took over the hospital requisitioned by the original 27th Army Field Hospital. And the hospital
The chief's office was among the first batch of transferred facilities. The person who took over the office was the medical director of the 69th Group Army Field Hospital.
The political commissar looked around and saw no sign of the dean, so he ordered the soldier: "Take me there."
Soon, the political commissar of the hospital came to the president's office, greeted several friendly medical staff inside, and picked up the microphone on the table: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissar, I am the political commissar of the hospital."
"Hello, Comrade Political Commissar." Time was running out, so Lunev did not go around in circles and asked directly: "Has the field hospital started to be transferred?"
"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Although the political commissar of the hospital felt that Lunev asked this question a little strange, he still answered truthfully: "The hospital's facilities have been handed over to friendly forces, and some of the seriously wounded have been sent to Moscow.
The seriously wounded who cannot move will remain in the hospital and will be continued to be treated by friendly medical staff. The remaining lightly wounded will be moved forward with the field hospital so that they can return to the team in time after recovering from their injuries."
Lunev didn't care about the arrangements for the field hospital. The purpose of his call was to prepare well-prepared hospital personnel to rescue the injured Sokov. He then asked: "What about the medical staff, start the transfer
Yet?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, the director is responsible for the transfer of medical staff. I don't know very well." The political commissar of the hospital asked hesitantly: "However, there is a battle with the German army at the front, and some wounded who cannot be treated in the field at the division level will still be sent to
When we enter the city, there should be some medical staff who will not be transferred for the time being."
"Comrade political commissar of the hospital," Lunev was secretly relieved when he learned that some medical staff were staying. Then he told the other party: "Please, please immediately find a few skilled military doctors on standby. There is an important operation that needs to be done."
They took matters into their own hands.”
When the political commissar of the hospital heard what Luniev said, he immediately thought, could it be that a regiment-level commander or even a division-level commander was injured in the battle? Otherwise, how could the military commissar call him personally and order to summon several technicians?
Excellent military doctors, are you ready to perform surgery?
Thinking of this, the political commissar of the hospital asked tentatively: "Comrade Military Commissar, is it a regiment commander or division commander who was injured in the battle?"
"It's not the regiment commander or the division commander." Lunev said seriously: "It's the commander, General Sokov. On his way to the front for inspection, he was attacked by a German bomb and was seriously injured. He has been sent to you.
The hospital..."
"What, Comrade Commander is injured?" The political commissar of the hospital was shocked and asked with a trembling voice: "Comrade Military Commissar, is everything you said true?"
"Of course it's true." Lunev said: "You should arrange military doctors as soon as possible to prepare for the operation on the commander. The chief of staff, General Samyko, and I will be there soon."
The political commissar of the hospital put down the phone and saw the medical director of the 69th Group Army walking in. He grabbed his hand and asked emotionally: "Comrade director, has the military doctor from your hospital come?"
"They are basically still on the way." The medical director didn't know why the political commissar of the hospital was so excited, so he answered truthfully: "I'm afraid we won't be able to get here until after dark at the earliest."
He noticed something was wrong with the mood of the hospital's political commissar, and asked with concern: "Comrade political commissar, has something happened?"
"I just received a call from the Military Commissar saying that the commander was attacked by a German bomb on his way to the front for inspection and was seriously injured. He has been rushed to the hospital." The political commissar of the hospital explained: "You also know
, our field hospital is busy transferring, everything is in chaos, and I’m worried that we can’t find enough manpower to perform surgery on the commander.”
"Your commander?" After hearing what the political commissar said, the medical director asked tentatively: "Are you talking about General Sokov?"
"Yes, that's him."
Hearing that Sokov was injured, the expression of the director of the medical department became serious: "Comrade political commissar, I immediately contacted the director on the radio to see if he could send a few capable military doctors over to treat General Sokov.
Have surgery.”
The political commissar stepped forward and held the hand of the medical director, shook it vigorously twice, and said gratefully: "Comrade director, thank you. On behalf of all the officers and men of the 27th Group Army, I thank you." After saying that, he let go of the other person's hand.
He took a step back, raised his hand and saluted the other party with a solemn military salute.
Moreover, after Lunev called the political commissar of the hospital, he felt that such a major incident as Sokov's injury must be reported to his superiors immediately, so he asked the communications corps to help him get through to the front army headquarters.
The person who answered the phone was Front Army Chief of Staff Zakharov. Hearing Lunev's voice, he said with a smile: "General Lunev, why are you thinking of calling me today? By the way, the commander of the 69th Group Army
The troops should have entered Kremenchug, have you started moving?"
"General Zakharov," Lunev was eager to report the news of Sokov's injury. He did not answer the other party's question, but said straight to the point: "I called you because something urgent happened. We
The commander, General Sokov, was attacked by a German bomb on his way to the front. He is now seriously injured and is being sent to a field hospital for rescue."
When he heard that Sokov was injured, Zakharov's smile froze on his face. His first reaction was that Lunev was joking with him. How could Sokov be injured? The muscles on his face twitched violently.
After a few clicks, he said in a slightly hoarse voice: "General Lunev, your joke is not funny at all."
"I'm not joking, General Zakharov." Lunev said with a straight face: "Sokov has been sent to the field hospital for emergency treatment. Chief of Staff Samyko and I will go to visit him soon."
Zakharov realized that Sokov's injury was true and that Lunev was not joking with him. He quickly replied: "I will report this to Comrade Commander immediately. Where are you now?"
"Although we have handed over the defense to friendly forces, the troops and field hospitals stationed in the city have not been evacuated yet." Lunev replied: "Of course we are still staying in Kremenchug."
"I understand." Zakharov raised his voice and replied, "I will report the matter to Comrade Commander immediately. Maybe he will rush to your place soon."
After Lunev ended the call, he came out of the church, met up with Samek, who was waiting impatiently outside, and took a jeep toward the location of the hospital.
After Zakharov put down the phone, he turned to call a staff officer and asked: "Have you seen Comrade Commander?"
The staff officer straightened his body and replied respectfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I just saw the commander and Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Vasilevsky eating in the next room."
If it were something else, Zakharov would definitely ask his staff to invite Konev over. But Sokov's injury was a serious matter. He decided to take advantage of Zhukov and Vasilevsky's presence to personally
Report to three people.
When Zakharov walked into the next room, he saw Konev, Zhukov, and Vasilevsky eating around a wooden table. Of course, vodka was definitely indispensable. But in order not to affect the
During the battle, everyone only had a small cup placed in front of them. After drinking this amount, they would not drink again.
Seeing Zaharov walking in, Konev put down the wine glass in his hand, looked up at him and asked: "Chief of Staff, is there any emergency military situation?" According to Konev's idea, since Zakharov himself
Come here to find yourself, something big must have happened, that's why you ask this question.
"Comrade Commander, something serious has happened."
The expression on Konev's face suddenly became serious. He stood up and asked: "Comrade Zakharov, what happened?"
"It's Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army..."
Before Zakharov finished speaking, Zhukov on the side frowned and interjected: "Comrade Zakharov, did Misha do something wrong again? He must have disobeyed my order again and ran to the forefront without authorization.
went?"
"Comrade Marshal, the situation is worse than you imagined." Now that Zhukov has spoken, Zakharov can only report to him first: "The 27th Army's attack on the south side of the landing site has achieved good results. Sokov
The general took a guard platoon to the front. Unexpectedly, he was attacked by the Germans on the way and was seriously injured by a bomb..."
"What, Misha was seriously injured by the explosion?" Zhukov stood up suddenly and asked with a look of shock: "How was he injured? Where is he now and how is his injury?"
When Lunev reported the situation to Zakharov, he did not know the specific situation of Sokov at all, so he reported very briefly. At this moment, faced with Zhukov's series of questioning, Zakharov hesitated for a long time, and finally said cautiously: "
Sorry, Comrade Marshal, I don't know the specific situation. I only know that he was injured by a German bomb on the way to the front."
"Comrade Marshal," since Zakharov could not get any specific information from him, Konev felt that it was necessary to go to Kremenchug in person to understand the whole story, so he took the initiative to say to Zhukov: "I
Let’s go to Kremenchug and find out what happened.”
Knowing that Sokov was seriously injured, Zhukov could not sit still. He said to Konev: "Comrade Konev, I will go with you." When he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered that he and he were both representatives of the base camp.
Vasilevsky was still there, and he quickly stopped again, turned around and said apologetically, "Vasilevsky, I am going to Kremenchug with Konev, so please stay here with Zaha
Harrov took care of everything."
When Vasilevsky heard that Sokov was injured, he originally wanted to go with Zhukov and others. However, since Zhukov had already said this, it was obviously inappropriate to insist on going to Kremenchug, so he decided
He said smoothly: "Okay, then I will stay here. Comrade Marshal, if there is any latest news, please call me in time."
Zhukov was stunned for a moment when he heard what Vasilevsky said, and then he understood what he meant. In any case, Sokov's troops play a decisive role in today's battlefield. If Sokov is injured and unable to
Commanding the troops would probably seriously affect the subsequent battle. Maybe he would report the matter to the Supreme Command as soon as he stepped forward.
After thinking about this, Zhukov nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Vasilevsky, I will call you once I have the latest news."
It takes four hours to drive from the front headquarters to Kleminchug, and that's without traffic jams. A large number of troops and supplies are now being transported in the direction of Kleminchug.
Impossible. Zhukov and Konev held high positions and could not leave the headquarters for a long time, so they both chose the fastest means of transportation and took a plane to the northern suburbs airport of Kremenchug.
When they arrived at the field hospital, Runev greeted them at the door.
After the two sides saluted and shook hands, Zhukov couldn't wait to ask: "General Lunev, how is the situation?"
"The operation is still continuing." Lunev said with a solemn expression: "The military doctors are doing their best to rescue him, and he will probably be out of danger."
Zhukov was obviously dissatisfied with Runev's answer, but he still tried hard to control his emotions and asked expressionlessly: "Tell me, what is going on and why are you being attacked by the Germans?"
The bomb caused serious injuries?”
Lunev had already figured out the cause and effect of Sokov's injury from the accompanying staff. Hearing Zhukov's questioning, he quickly reported to him: "Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this. The commander led a guard platoon to the front
, when passing an abandoned railway crossing, he met a team of engineers. The other party told him that there were mines on the road ahead, and they were conducting demining operations..."
Before Lunev could finish speaking, Konev, who was following Zhukov, interrupted and asked: "Did Sokov couldn't wait any longer and ordered the driver to risk driving through the minefield, and unfortunately he was injured by the mine?"
"No, General Konev, the intelligence is not what you imagined." Lunev said to Konev with a sideways face: "I later learned that this engineering team was disguised by the German army, and there were no obstacles on the road ahead.
There were no landmines. This was how they forced Sokov's convoy to park next to the road guard room. There were bombs in the road guard room that they had planted long ago, and they were just waiting to blow up the convoy when the time came. They would
After the explosion, quickly rush to the explosion point and eliminate those surviving commanders and fighters."
Zhukov found that the development of the matter was very different from his imagination. He raised his eyebrows and then said: "Go on, what happened next?"