Rokossovsky went to the 50th Army and removed the former Army Commander Bolkin from his post, replacing him with Chief of Staff Ozerov as acting commander. Soon, the news spread within the front army.
, everyone is discussing the reason for his dismissal.
Sidorin approached several friends at the front army headquarters and after inquiring about some details, he said to everyone: "I heard that because he was drunk, he did not follow the order of Comrade Marshal and sent out an observation post to closely monitor the enemy on the opposite side.
The enemy. As a result, the enemy secretly abandoned their position and retreated without our troops knowing it."
Sokov was also very surprised after hearing this. Bolkin actually drank alcohol during the battle and also caused the Germans to escape from under his nose. The nature of this matter was relatively bad. He quickly asked: "Isn't it the rumor?
Is that wrong? You know, even if Bolkin is drunk, doesn’t he still have a chief of staff? Didn’t he do nothing as chief of staff while he was drunk? "
"It is said that in the evening, a reconnaissance team that penetrated deep into the enemy's defenses discovered that the German troops had escaped from the well-defended positions, so they sent this information back via telegram." Sidorin continued: "The director of the reconnaissance department received this information.
After reading the telegram, he felt that the situation was very important and promptly reported it to Bolkin. Unexpectedly, after Bolkin read the telegram, he said that this was not a German conspiracy. They used the captured radio station of the reconnaissance team to give themselves
The false information was sent and no measures were taken at all.
Chief of Staff Ozerov felt that he should find out what was going on. Was it that the scouts were annihilated and the radio station was captured by the Germans? Or was what the scouts said was true? With this mentality, he
He dispatched multiple reconnaissance teams to enter the German defensive positions from different areas to figure out the movements of the Germans. At the same time, he also reported the intelligence obtained by the scouts in the early stage to the Chief of Staff of the Front Army, General Bogolyubov.
.
After Bogolyubov learned about this situation, he realized the seriousness of the problem and reported the information to Marshal Rokossovsky. When the Marshal heard this, he became angry and took the military commissar to the commander of the 50th Army
The marshal found that Bolkin was sleeping. After waking him up, he asked about the enemy's movements. He knew nothing about the matter. In anger, the marshal dismissed him as commander of the group army and replaced him with the chief of staff.
Ozerov instead."
Sokov had already known about Bolkin's dismissal and Ozerov's replacement. He was very concerned about whether the enemy's situation was clear and whether the troops had taken any military action.
Facing a series of questions raised by Sokov, Sidorin, who had already known the details, answered confidently: "The Germans did withdraw from the area they originally occupied. But when did they withdraw, and where did they withdraw?"
Where, no one knew. The first thing General Ozerov did after taking office was to decisively order his 19th and 38th Infantry Corps to attack the German positions. By daybreak, they had already moved towards the German positions.
We advanced five kilometers."
"A very good record." After Sokov said this, he continued: "It's a pity that the enemy had fled long ago, otherwise, attacking them when the German army retreated would have accelerated the defeat of the German army."
"The 50th Army was the worst-performing unit in the battle to liberate East Prussia." Lunev said with emotion: "It stands to reason that in this situation, Bolkin, as the commander, should actively look for fighter opportunities.
, dealt a heavy blow to the German army. But I didn’t expect that he actually gave up on himself and drank all day long. It was only a matter of time before he was dismissed. If he is allowed to continue to serve as the commander of this group army, it may cause greater losses to the army.”
Sokov was thinking secretly in his mind: "This is probably the legend, one soldier is a raging enemy, and a general is raging in a nest. With an irresponsible commander like Bolkin, it is surprising that the 50th Group Army can achieve good results in the battle.
Already."
Although Sokov has never dealt with Bolkin, the bad situation of the 50th Army is probably not caused by Bolkin alone. Even Chief of Staff Ozerov, who is now the acting commander of the Army, may also have some influence.
Responsibility. Thinking of this, he said: "I think that if the 50th Army wants to change the status quo, it must have a capable commander. As for General Ozerov, who is acting as the commander, I think he is not suitable."
When Sidorin heard what Rokossovsky said, he was a little surprised and said: "But Comrade Marshal Ozerov has appointed Ozerov as acting army commander, which proves that he still trusts General Ozerov."
"You can't say that." Sokov shook his head and said: "After Comrade Marshal dismissed Bolkin, he couldn't find a suitable candidate for a while, so he appointed Ozerov to replace Bolkin. This is also a case.
This is a helpless move. I feel that with Ozerov's ability, he may not be able to lead this army well."
"Besides, who else is qualified for the position of commander of the 50th Group Army?" Sidorin looked at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, do you have a suitable candidate who you would like to recommend to Comrade Marshal?
?”
"Yes, I do have such an idea." Sokov said with a smile: "I want to call Comrade Marshal now and recommend a suitable candidate to him."
"Who is it?!" Sidorin asked eagerly: "Do I know him?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov glanced at Ponedelin quickly, and then said: "Of course you know him."
After answering the phone call from the front army headquarters, Sokov found Rokossovsky and said cautiously: "Comrade Marshal, I heard that you relieved Bolkin, commander of the 50th Group Army, from command and appointed him
His chief of staff, General Ozerov, takes over as commander of the army?"
"Yes, there is such a thing." After Rokossovsky answered Sokov's question, he asked curiously: "Why do you ask about this?"
"Comrade Marshal, please forgive my presumption." Sokov planned to recommend a suitable candidate to serve as the commander of the 50th Group Army, so he said seriously: "I called you because I think General Ozerov
, he may be competent as a chief of staff, but he may not be a good army commander."
"What you said makes sense, but I don't have a suitable candidate at the moment." Rokossovsky asked: "Do you have a suitable candidate to recommend?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal. This is really the reason why I called you. I do have a very suitable candidate to recommend to you." Sokov said: "If you can appoint him as the commander of the 50th Group Army
, the face of the force will change in a very short period of time."
Sokov's words aroused Rokossovsky's curiosity: "Who is it? Misha, who do you want to recommend as the commander of the group army?"
Sokov's eyes stayed on Ponedelin and said firmly: "Comrade Marshal, I strongly recommend to you my deputy commander, General Ponedelin. He is fully qualified for this position. You know,
Before the war broke out, he had already served as the commander of the group army. He has rich experience in commanding large groups in combat. If he can be appointed as the commander of the 50th Group Army, I believe it will not take long.
, the face of this army group will undergo great changes."
Ponedelin, who was sitting next to him drinking tea, did not expect that Sokov would recommend him to Rokossovsky as the commander of the 50th Army. He was stunned. After a long time, he said
: "Comrade Commander, this is not appropriate. I think in Comrade Marshal's mind, there must be someone more suitable for this position than me."
The reason why Ponedelin had such scruples was that he had once been a prisoner of the Germans and was relegated to another category in the eyes of some people. If Sokov hadn't protected him, he might not have been qualified to return to the prison.
Became a general and served as deputy commander of the 48th Army.
After Rokossovsky listened to Sokov's suggestion, he fell into deep thought. In his mind, Ponedelin was indeed a suitable candidate. After all, someone else was the commander of the group army before the war, and
At that time, he was just the commander of the 9th Mechanized Army, and his rank was lower than that of the other party. However, because the other party had been captured before, he needed to be cautious about how to use him, otherwise it would bring unnecessary trouble to himself.
"Misha, your proposal is very good." Rokossovsky expressed the possibility of Sokov's proposal, but did not give an accurate answer: "But this matter is of great importance, and I need to think about it carefully.
I will get back to you as soon as possible." After saying that, Sokov hung up the phone without waiting for anything to say.
Seeing Rokossovsky's solemn expression, Suboting asked with concern: "Comrade Marshal, what happened? I think you seem to be worried."
Rokossovsky picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette from it, put it in his mouth, lit it, took a puff and said: "Misha just told me on the phone that he felt that General Ozerov
He was not a suitable candidate and recommended his deputy chief of staff, Ponejelin, to serve as commander of the 50th Group Army."
"Comrade Marshal," Subotin knew Ponedelin and naturally knew his former identity, so he said to Rokossovsky: "I think General Sokov is right. Ponedelin
General Lin's appointment as commander of the 50th Group Army may change the mental outlook of the army. Last night I went to the 50th Group Army with you. My impression of this army was, how should I put it, that it was simply sluggish and lifeless?
There is no vitality at all. Maybe one person is really needed to change all this status quo, and Ponejelin is undoubtedly the game-breaker."
"Comrade Military Commissar, I agree with you." Rokossovsky put out the cigarette he had taken two puffs on in the ashtray, then looked up at Subbotin and said, "But General Ponedelin was once
He was captured by the Germans and was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for review after he was rescued, so I need to be cautious about how to use him."
"Comrade Marshal, as far as I know." Suboting said: "As the situation on the battlefield becomes more and more favorable to our army, we have rescued more and more commanders from prisoner-of-war camps, and even some generals.
But where are these people now? Either they were sent to Siberia to dig potatoes, or they were imprisoned in a cell in Lubyanka. Who can be like General Ponedelin, who not only regained his official position, but even became an elite member?
He holds the position of deputy commander in the group army? No, right?"
"Indeed, no."
"This shows that the Supreme Command turned a blind eye to his affairs." Suboting said to Rokossovsky: "If we appoint him as the commander of the 50th Group Army, I will
I think the high command will still agree."
Suboting's words made Rokossovsky completely determined. He nodded and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, what you said is very reasonable. Then do as you say, and I will give you
Comrade Antonov called and asked him to convey the matter to the Supreme Commander himself and see what the old man had to say."
"Then General Sokov, do you need to inform him?"
"No, no need." Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "Don't disturb him for now. It won't be too late to tell him when we have good news."
In the headquarters of the 48th Group Army, Ponedelin seemed a little frightened. He said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I know that you recommended Comrade Marshal out of good intentions, but I know my own affairs.
Because being captured by the German army has become a stain on my life resume. I am already satisfied to serve as your deputy commander, and I dare not expect to obtain a higher position."
When Sokov didn't get a reply from Rokossovsky on the spot, he felt a little uneasy. Maybe he was too reckless and should have communicated with Rokossovsky in advance instead of directly recommending Ponejelin to him.
.The result is better now, but it is equivalent to putting Rokossovsky on the fire and putting him in an embarrassing dilemma.
However, in front of everyone, Sokov did not show this concern. He also deliberately pretended to be relaxed and said to everyone: "If Comrade Marshal can agree, naturally everyone will be happy; even if he disagrees, there will be no consequences."
Thanks to the relationship, General Ponejelin is still my deputy."
While everyone was having lunch, a staff officer walked into the headquarters and came directly to Sokov. After raising his hand in salute, he handed him a cowhide envelope: "General Sokov, this is Rokosov."
Marshal Ski ordered me to give you the document!" After saying that, the staff officer raised his hand and saluted, then turned and walked out of the room.
"What is this?" Sokov stared at the kraft envelope in his hand, hesitated for a long time, and finally opened the envelope. There was a folded piece of paper inside. After opening it, you could see a few lines of words written on it: "The Scriptures
After studying the decision and reporting it to the Supreme Command for approval, Lieutenant General Ponedelin, the former deputy commander of the 48th Army, was officially appointed as the commander of the 50th Army. He immediately went to the new unit to take up his post. Signed: Rokossovsky
.”
Sokov read the words on the paper over and over again, and finally understood that what Rokossovsky sent to him was actually a letter of appointment. He slapped the letter of appointment on Poneje
In front of Lin, he said with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Commander, no, you should be called Commander Ponejelin now. Congratulations, you have been officially appointed as the commander of the 50th Group Army by Marshal Rokossovsky."