"What?!" When Sokov went back and told Ponejelin and others about the matter, Sidorin immediately jumped up: "The superior has appointed you as the commander of the 48th Group Army. What on earth is going on?
?”
The operational plan for the Belarusian campaign is still top secret at this moment. Except for Rokossovsky, Matvey, Telekin and a few staff officers at the Front Army Headquarters, not even Stalin or the General Staff knows about it. Sokov
Naturally, it was impossible to leak the secret. I could only say vaguely: "I think Comrade General must have made such a decision after careful consideration."
After listening to what Sokov said, Ponedelin shook his head and said: "What on earth is going on with this superior? Why do your appointments keep changing? First you were the commander of the 40th Group Army, and then you were changed again.
Commander of the 47th Group Army. It’s a good thing now, he hasn’t taken office yet, and he has become the commander of the 48th Group Army.”
"I think it won't change this time." Sokov said to the three people: "Comrade General has made it clear that we can take office this afternoon."
"You can take office in the afternoon?!" After Ponedelin asked this question in a skeptical tone, seeing Sokov nodding, he breathed a sigh of relief and said: "It seems that this appointment will not be repeated.
Things have changed, let’s ask the students to pack up and prepare to leave as soon as possible to take up posts in the 48th Group Army.”
Although serving as the commander of the 48th Group Army was already a certainty, Sidorin still asked uneasily: "Comrade Commander, your superiors really won't change their minds again, right?"
"I don't think so."
"That's good, that's good." Sidorin said: "I will inform everyone first and let everyone be ready to go."
Before Sidorin walked out of the room, Kirillov stopped him and then asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what the situation is in the 48th Group Army?"
When Sidorin heard this, he immediately became interested. He was about to take up a post in the 48th Group Army. He should know something about the basic situation of this army. This would be very beneficial to his future work.
Fortunately, before leaving, Sokov specifically asked Malinin about the situation of the 48th Army, so when Kirillov asked about it, he was able to tell the story: "I asked Malinin that this unit was originally the 41st Army.
In August 2016, it was established on the basis of the Novgorod Battle Group of the Northwestern Front. It initially included the 70th, 128th, and 237th Infantry Divisions, the 21st Tank Division, and the 1st Militia Division. The group army has not yet been organized.
Once completed, you will participate in defensive operations.
Because the troops suffered excessive losses in the battle, the headquarters of the 48th Army was abolished, and its affiliated units were used to supplement other group armies.
In April 1942, the group army was reorganized on the basis of the 28th Mechanized Army of the Bryansk Front. This time it included the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions, the 8th, 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions, and the 109th Infantry Division.
118th, 122nd Brigade, 202nd Tank Brigade and other units..."
In order to give everyone a general understanding of the new unit, Sokov told everyone in detail what he knew about the 48th Group Army.
After Sokov finished speaking, Ponejelin nodded and said casually: "So, this unit still has some combat effectiveness. But..."
Sokov is now most afraid of someone saying "but" at the end, which will make his heartbeat inexplicably speed up. At this moment, hearing what Ponedelin said, he asked with some anxiety: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what is it?"
"
"Comrade Commander," Ponejelin didn't notice that Sokov called him a title. He had changed from General So-and-so to Comrade Deputy Commander. He said to himself: "Based on the situation you just introduced.
Look, the 48th Group Army is far stronger than the 47th Group Army. I don’t understand why the superiors didn’t let you be the commander of this army earlier?”
Naturally, Sokov would not tell the other party that the reason why Rokossovsky changed his appointment was entirely because of the combat plan he proposed. The incoming 48th Group Army would be responsible for the main offensive task, and he would be responsible for this task.
The military commander of the army may achieve greater results.
He pretended to frown and said thoughtfully: "Comrade General didn't tell me this. I guess he thought that by handing over a stronger force to me, he could achieve greater success in the next battle.
Let’s see the results.”
After listening to Sokov's words, Ponedelin stared at him for a while, and finally nodded and said, "Well, I think it's possible."
"Comrade Commander," After understanding the actual situation of the 48th Group Army, Sidorin, as the chief of staff, felt much more at ease. He then asked Sokov: "When will we set off?"
"I think it's better to wait until lunch before leaving." After Sokov said this, seeing that Sidorin seemed to want to defend something, he quickly raised his hand to interrupt what he wanted to say, and said directly: "Chief of Staff, I think
After arriving at the new unit today, everyone will probably be busy until late, and I don't want everyone to work hungry. So I decided to have lunch before setting off, and it won't waste much time anyway."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "I will go and inform everyone to prepare for departure."
When Sidorin came to the place where the students stayed and told everyone that they could go to the new unit in the afternoon, everyone cheered. But as Sidorin announced that the unit that was going this time was not the 47th Group Army, but the 47th Group Army.
When the 48th Army arrived, everyone was dumbfounded.
The first person to ask the question was Major Lekashali: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't you say we were going to the 47th Army yesterday? How come it turned into the 48th Army in the blink of an eye? What on earth is going on?"
"Yes, yes." The surrounding students also echoed Major Lekashali: "How come we have become members of the 48th Group Army again?"
"You want to know, and I want to know too." Sidorin said with an aggrieved look: "To tell you the truth, when I just heard the commander say this, I was dumbfounded. I agreed to go to the 47th Group Army.
How come it turned into the 48th Army in the blink of an eye, and I was not prepared at all."
Seeing that they could not get the information they wanted from Sidorin, the students also returned to their rooms one after another and began to pack their things in preparation for reporting to the new unit in the afternoon.
During lunch, many students, including Sidorin, looked absent-minded. They were afraid that they had not rushed there earlier. After eating, the superiors came with a new order, asking Sokov to be transferred to other units.
the commander.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Sokov guessed what they were thinking, but he did not give them any reassurance. Instead, he buried his head in eating. Anyway, he would know after eating whether he could successfully take up his post in the 48th Group Army.
Just after dinner, a lieutenant colonel officer came to Sokov. He raised his hand in salute and said: "I have been ordered to send you and your men to the 48th Group Army. When can we set off?"
"Comrades," after hearing what the lieutenant colonel said, Sokov turned to his subordinates who were still eating in the restaurant and asked loudly: "The car that takes us to the 48th Group Army has arrived. Who hasn't finished eating yet?"
There were a few students who were still dawdling. When Sokov asked, they hurriedly stuffed the remaining pieces of bread on the plate into their mouths and answered vaguely along with everyone: "We've all finished."
"Okay, now that we've finished eating, everyone will immediately go to the dormitory to pick up their luggage, and then go outside to take the bus."
After cheering, all the students rushed out of the restaurant and rushed back to their dormitories to pack their luggage.
The students, who had been afraid of well ropes for ten years after being bitten by a snake, packed their luggage and walked out of the building. They were still very nervous, fearing that something might happen again and they would not be able to go to the 48th Group Army's station.
Sokov can be seen standing next to a jeep, chatting with the lieutenant colonel. Behind the jeep is a convoy of fifteen jeeps and ten trucks, and each truck is standing next to
After seeing the soldiers with live ammunition, everyone suddenly felt more at ease. Needless to say, the convoy was taking everyone to the 48th Group Army, and those fully armed soldiers were the escort troops.
Seeing that all the students had come out, Sidorin quickly asked the students to line up, and then started to roll their names. After confirming that all the students were present, he came to Sokov and reported: "Comrade Commander, all the personnel have arrived, please
instruct!"
Sokov's reply was simple: "Get in the car and let's go!"
A few minutes later, the convoy left the front army headquarters and headed along the road towards the defense area of the 48th Group Army.
At the front of the convoy, naturally, was not Sokov's jeep, but two trucks full of soldiers. There was a machine gun above the driver's seat of each truck, and the machine gunners watched the surroundings with vigilant eyes.
movement.
When Sokov came here this time, he only brought Ponedelin, Kirillov and a group of students from the Frunze Military Academy. The guard force led by Captain Koshkin was not qualified to fly and could only take cars.
I rushed here. Unexpectedly, almost a week passed, and there was still no trace of the other party, which made Sokov worried that something had happened to the other party on the road.
So Sokov couldn't help but have some ideas when he saw Rokossovsky sending so many troops to escort him. He asked the lieutenant colonel sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, wait until we arrive at the 48th Group Army
After the defense zone, will you stay or return the same way?"
The purpose of his question was to find out whether the other party was just escorting him to the 48th Group Army to take up his post, or whether it was a security force sent by Rokossovsky to him. Now that he is a general, he has a security officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Director, this is a matter of course.
The lieutenant colonel half-turned around and said to Sokov, who was sitting in the back row: "General Sokov, I have been ordered to escort you to the headquarters of the 48th Group Army, and then lead the team back."
Knowing that the other party was only escorting his troops, Sokov felt a little disappointed. After he took over the position of commander, whether his guard troops were reliable was still a question. He could only place his hope on Captain Koshkin.
He and the guard company he led could arrive at the 48th Army and join him as early as possible.
Just when Sokov was thinking this, Ponedelin suddenly said in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, it's been almost a week and I haven't seen the shadow of Captain Koshkin. Could it be that he led the troops?"
47th Army?"
Ponedelin's words made Sokov feel uneasy. He had seen the defense map in the headquarters. The 47th Army was near Kovel, almost two hundred kilometers away from the 48th Army stationed near the swamp.
.If Koshkin really thought that he had gone to the 47th Army and rushed there with the guard company, he would definitely be in vain. But at present, he was unable to get in touch with the other party. Faced with this situation, Sokov could only act anxiously.
.
The lieutenant colonel heard the conversation between Sokov and Ponedelin, guessed something, and quickly added: "General Sokov, the 48th Group Army headquarters has a security office with two guard battalions under it.
We have thousands of people on staff and can fully protect the safety of the headquarters. You can rest assured about this."
"I just arrived in a place, and I am not familiar with the place." Now that the lieutenant colonel had made it clear, Sokov did not hide it, but said with a smile: "There are enough security forces in the headquarters.
I know that. But I like to run to the front often, so I naturally hope to have trustworthy people around me, so that I can feel more at ease."
"So that's it." After the lieutenant colonel figured out what was going on, he asked tentatively: "General Sokov, didn't you bring your own capable security forces when you came from the Second Ukrainian Front this time?"
"When I left, I took a security company with me." Sokov said to the lieutenant colonel: "But we came to the front army headquarters by plane, while the security company came by car. It has been almost a week now, and we are still the same.
No trace of them was seen." He turned and glanced at Ponejelin next to him, and added, "Now my deputy commander is worried that they took the wrong road and went to the 47th Army."
"General Sokov, when I return, I will report the matter to Chief of Staff Malinin and ask him to contact the comrades of the 47th Group Army. If your subordinates are found, I will arrange for them to find you in the 48th Group Army."
Seeing that the lieutenant colonel was willing to help him, Sokov said gratefully: "If that's the case, thank you very much."
As soon as he finished speaking, the car suddenly stopped.
"What's going on?" the lieutenant colonel immediately asked loudly: "Why did you stop?"
"The truck in front of me stopped," the driver replied, "I saw the truck in front of me stopped, so I naturally stopped."
"Damn it," the lieutenant colonel looked out through the car window and said with a frown, "You didn't stop earlier and you stopped late, but you stopped at this time. Did something happen?" As he said, he stopped.
I opened the car door and prepared to get out of the car and go to the front to see what happened.
But just as he was about to get off the car, Sokov stopped him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, wait a minute, don't get off the car!"
The lieutenant colonel turned to look at Sokov and asked puzzledly: "General Sokov, what can I do for you?"
"This car is parked very strangely. For safety reasons, don't get out of the car casually!" Sokov considered the location of the car. It happened to be in the forest, and his car was fifty or sixty meters away from the car in front.
, if there is a German sniper hidden in the forest, the lieutenant colonel walking such a long distance is enough for the sniper to kill him ten or eight times: "I think it is better to wait for the commander in the car in front to report to you."
The lieutenant colonel, who originally wanted to get out of the car to check, realized something was wrong after hearing Sokov's words. He quickly retracted his outstretched foot, closed the door, and waited patiently for the commander in front to come back and report the situation to him.