In mid-May, Sokov suddenly received a call from Rokossovsky: "Misha, this is Rokossovsky."
"Hello, Comrade Marshal." Sokov thought that Rokossovsky was going to assign some task to him, so he quickly asked politely: "What instructions do you have?"
"Come to my headquarters immediately. I have something important to ask you." Rokossovsky said briefly: "As for what it is, don't ask me yet. You will know when you arrive."
of."
Rokossovsky's words blocked Sokov's words: "Comrade Marshal, should I go to the front headquarters alone, or should I take both the military commissar and the chief of staff with me?"
"Just come here alone."
After Sokov put down the phone, he said to Lunev and Sidorin who were sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, Chief of Staff, and Marshal just called me and asked me to rush to the front army headquarters immediately, saying that there was something important.
You need to tell me what happened. I asked if I wanted to call you two, but he refused."
"Comrade Commander, what will happen if the Marshal calls you over at this time?" Sidorin asked.
Before Sokov could answer, Lunev said first: "If I guessed correctly, it seems that Misha wants to go to the Far East. Comrade Marshal called him over at this time just to explain the matter to him.
"
Sokov also felt that Rokossovsky's call to him was most likely about his trip to the Far East, so he did not dare to neglect and immediately drove to the front headquarters.
As soon as he saw Rokossovsky, he asked with some urgency: "Comrade Marshal, you asked me to come here. Is there anything important?"
"That's it, Misha." Rokossovsky said to Sokov: "According to the Yalta Conference agreement, our army will take combat operations against the Japanese pirates in the Far East within two to three months after the end of the war in Europe.
."
Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov couldn't help but feel happy, and asked with some urgency: "Comrade Marshal, is the Supreme Command preparing to dispatch troops from Germany to the Far East?"
"You are right." Rokossovsky agreed with Sokov's statement: "Today, our total strength in the Far East is less than 40 divisions. With such a small amount of strength, we have to compete with the Kwantung Army.
Combat is obviously not enough. Therefore, the Supreme Command established the Far East Command with Marshal Vasilevsky as the commander, intending to gather 1.5 million troops in the Far East to carry out the final blow against the Japanese pirates.
Since our original combat target was the Germans, most of the technical equipment and troops were deployed on the Western Front. From now on, the troops drawn from the Western Front will be driven to the Far East one after another."
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov asked tentatively, "I wonder which troops the Supreme Command plans to transfer from the Western Front to the Far East?"
"Among the troops mobilized this time are the 5th Army and the 53rd Army of the Second Ukrainian Front." Rokossovsky said: "The troops mobilized from our front are the 19th Army and the 6th Guards Tank Army.
, as well as a large number of independent units such as artillery, aviation, engineering, and communications."
Hearing that the troops transferred to the Far East did not include his 48th Army, Sokov was a little surprised and asked: "What, the troops transferred to the Far East do not have my 48th Army?"
"Yes, Misha." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "The superiors intend to keep your troops in Germany and be responsible for the reconstruction of the city."
When Sokov learned that his 48th Army would stay in Germany and engage in urban reconstruction work, his heart dropped. He had no share in attacking Berlin; now he still has no share in fighting the Kwantung Army in the Far East.
Just when Sokov was discouraged and disappointed, he suddenly heard Rokossovsky say: "If you want to go to the Far East to join the war, it's not impossible, but it's just a bit too unfair to you."
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov, who was on the verge of despair, heard what Rokossovsky said, and immediately realized that things could turn around, and quickly asked: "I wonder what I can do to go to the Far East?"
"It's very simple." Rokossovsky looked at Sokov and said: "You and Lieutenant General Romanovsky will be swapped. He will serve as the commander of the 48th Group Army, and you will take over his position as the commander of the 48th Army.
The position of commander of the 19th Army Group."
After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Sokov did hesitate a little. You must know that the 48th Group Army now has 7 infantry divisions, 3 infantry brigades, plus several tank brigades and artillery divisions, with a total strength of ten
Tens of thousands of people. And what about Romanovsky's 19th Army? There are only 2 infantry divisions, 1 Marine brigade, 1 ski brigade and a number of directly affiliated units. At best, it is equivalent to the organization of an army. The total strength is not
Thirty to forty thousand people. If they were swapped, they would indeed suffer a big loss.
After Rokossovsky finished speaking, seeing Sokov not speaking for a long time, he thought that the other party was secretly regretting it, so he continued: "If you don't agree, then I won't force you. After all, you have never had more than hundreds of thousands of people."
The group army was transferred to a group army with only 30,000 to 40,000 people. People who don’t know the inside story would think that you made some mistake and were punished by being demoted.”
Sokov did not immediately give Rokossovsky a positive answer. After all, the matter was of great importance. He would decide whether to agree to the other party after careful consideration. After being silent for a while, he tentatively asked Rokossovsky
Key: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask, how many fronts will the troops fighting in the Far East be divided into?"
"As far as I know, there are three front armies." Rokossovsky replied: "They are the 1st Far Eastern Front commanded by Marshal Meretskov and the 2nd Far Eastern Front commanded by General Purkaev.
, and the Transbaikal Front commanded by Marshal Malinovsky.”
After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Sokov began to think deeply. He weighed it repeatedly in his mind. If he and Romanovsky were swapped, he could indeed satisfy his desire to go to the Far East to fight the Kwantung Army, but he would not be able to do it on his own.
However, the strength of the troops there has been reduced by two-thirds, which greatly reduces the role they can play on the battlefield.
"General Sokov," Suboting, the military commissar of the Front Army, seeing Sokov's gloomy look, comforted him and said, "If you really want to go to the Far East, you will only have 30,000 to 40,000 troops under your command.
Man, I have indeed wronged you so much. So I suggest you consider this matter seriously and don't make a decision easily."
After expressing his gratitude to Subbotin, Sokov stood up and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, please forgive me for not being able to give you an accurate answer now. Can you give me two days to give me a good answer?"
Think about it?"
"Okay." Rokossovsky said reasonably: "Then I will give you two days. When the time is up, you can give me a final answer."
After raising his hand to salute Rokossovsky and Subbotin, Sokov turned and walked out of the headquarters.
As soon as he returned to his headquarters, Sidorin came up to him and asked impatiently: "Comrade Commander, what did the Marshal say?"
"The Supreme Command has made a decision, in order to comply with the Yalta Conference agreement, to prepare to dispatch troops from the Western Front to the Far East and launch a final offensive against the Kwantung Army entrenched there in two to three months."
"Comrade Commander, this is a good thing." When Sidorin heard what Sokov said, he couldn't help but cheered: "This way, you can go to the Far East."
"It would be nice if things were really that simple." Sokov shook his head and said: "According to the order of the Supreme Command, three combined arms armies and one tank army were mobilized from the Western Front this time, but it is regrettable.
What is surprising is that our army group is not among these four group armies."
"What, among the troops transferred to the Far East, our group army is not included?" Sidorin asked in surprise: "Then which troops were selected?"
"The 5th and 53rd armies of the Second Ukrainian Front, the troops transferred by our front are the 19th Army and the 6th Guards Tank Army." Sokov said with a bitter look on his face: "Comrade Marshal said, if I still persist
If you go to the Far East, you will need to exchange positions with Lieutenant General Romanovsky, the commander of the 19th Army."
When Sidorin heard this, his eyes widened in surprise: "Comrade Commander, this means that if you still insist on going to the Far East to participate in the war, you can only go as the commander of the 19th Group Army?"
"Yes, that's exactly it."
"No, no, absolutely no." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Sidorin waved his hands desperately and said: "Our 48th Army has more than 100,000 people, while the 19th Army only has 30,000 or 40,000 troops."
It's a horizontal transfer, but you've been demoted. If others knew about this, they would think you made some mistake and were demoted by the Supreme Command."
"Misha, if you want to go to the Far East, can you only go as the commander of the 19th Army?" Lunev asked from the side: "Is there no room for maneuver in this matter?"
Sokov smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
"That's not necessarily true." But Lunev said with a smile: "Misha, have you forgotten that you were once the commander of the 53rd Army Group. Since the troops transferred to the Far East this time include the 53rd Army Group, why did you
Can’t you serve as the commander of this group army and go to fight in the Far East?”
"Yes, why didn't I think of this problem?" After listening to Lunev's words, Sidorin slapped his hands on the table and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander once served as the 27th and 53rd Army Group
He holds the position of commander, and there are still many old subordinates in these troops. If he can really lead the troops to fight in the Far East as the commander of the 53rd Army, the old subordinates of the army will definitely help him."
The words of Luniev and Sidorin made Sokov's mind come alive. Yes, he had served as the commander of the 53rd Army before. There were many of his old troops in the army. If he had held the position of commander in the past,
You will probably be able to get familiar with the troops very quickly. But if you are transferred to the 19th Group Army and there are no subordinates you are familiar with there, you will have to start from scratch. Maybe you will not have time to get familiar with the troops and the war will be over.
After thinking about this, Sokov felt much better. He stood up, picked up the phone, and called the front headquarters. After hearing the voice of Chief of Staff Bogolyubov, he politely said: "Hello,
Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, this is Sokov. I have something urgent to call Comrade Marshal. Please let him answer the phone."
Soon, Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, this is Rokossovsky, what can I do for you?"
"Comrade Marshal, I have already thought about it." Sokov said, "I want to tell you the answer now."
"Misha, didn't I give you two days?" Rokossovsky said with some displeasure: "This matter is of great importance. Don't make any decisions so hastily, lest you be tempted by today's impulse in the future.
And regret it.”
"Comrade Marshal, please listen to me. I have a new idea and would like to seek your opinion."
"What do you think? Tell me."
"Since I want to go to the Far East, I have to swap commanders with other troops, so why can't I swap with the commander of the 53rd Group Army?" Sokov said: "You know, I went to Belarus first
Before joining the Front Army, I was the commander of the 53rd Group Army. This unit has a large number of my old subordinates. If I go there, I can shorten the running-in with commanders at all levels. What do you think?"
Rokossovsky did not expect that Sokov actually wanted to go to the 53rd Army, and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed: "Misha, it is not my decision to decide which army you go to. I am just a messenger, telling my superiors
I will convey the order to you, and then feedback your thoughts to the superiors."
"Comrade Marshal, this is what I think about." Sokov said: "If I go to the 19th Army, the strength of the army is greatly reduced, and there are no familiar people around me, even if I assign combat missions, the following
Whether the commander will obey my orders is still unknown.
The situation in the 53rd Group Army is different. I have stayed in that unit for a long time and am very familiar with commanders at all levels. If I were really transferred there, maybe I would be able to get to know the unit very quickly.
Everything." Sokov said cautiously: "Comrade Marshal, you should know that the more familiar the superior commanders are with the grassroots cadres and soldiers, the more tacit cooperation they will have on the battlefield. There are many of my old subordinates in this army.
Seeing me return to the 53rd Group Army, I believe these commanders and fighters will fully assist me."
After listening to Sokov's words, Rokossovsky fell silent. If the other party didn't mention it, he almost forgot that Sokov once served as the commander of the 53rd Army, but which group Sokov and
The exchange of commanders of the troops was the intention of the Supreme Command, and he had no control over it. After thinking for a while, he said slowly: "Misha, I will convey your intention to the Supreme Command and see what they plan to do."