The convoy arrived at the front headquarters, and Vlasov and others got out of the car one after another.
A colonel trotted up to Vlasov, raised his hand in salute, and asked politely: "Is this General Vlasov?"
"Yes, I am Vlasov."
"I am the adjutant of Comrade Marshal, and I have been ordered to come to greet you." The colonel's adjutant said respectfully: "Comrade General, Marshal Timoshenko has been waiting for you. Please come with me, and I will take you to see Comrade Marshal.
."
Vlasov glanced at Colonel Del and others beside him, and asked tentatively: "This is my chief of staff, Colonel Del, military commissar, and regimental political commissar Nikolsky. Can they go in with me?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade General." The colonel's adjutant gave Vlasov a negative reply without hesitation: "Comrade Marshal only wants to see you. The rest of the people, please stay outside and wait for the time being."
"What about him?" Vlasov pulled Potapov over and said, "This is Major General Potapov, commander of the 2nd Army. He also just escaped from the German encirclement. Comrade Marshal doesn't want to see him either."
Him?"
The colonel's adjutant turned and glanced at Potapov, raised his hand to salute him, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, General Potapov, I did not receive an order to allow you to enter..."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Potapov waved his hands and said: "Since Comrade Marshal did not allow me to go in, I will wait here for a while. Comrade Colonel, please take General Vlasov in first, and don't let Comrade Marshal wait.
I’m anxious.”
Vlasov nodded, and then assured Potapov: "General Potapov, don't worry, I will report your matter to Marshal Timoshenko after I see him later."
"Thank you then."
"General Vlasov, please come with me." The colonel's adjutant said respectfully: "I will take you to see Comrade Marshal."
Led by his adjutant, Vlasov walked into the headquarters.
Timoshenko, who was sitting at the table talking to Khrushchev, saw Vlasov walking in from the outside. He immediately stood up and greeted him, and even extended his hand: "General Vlasov, this is really God."
May you escape safely from the German encirclement. How are you? No injuries?"
"Thank you, Comrade Marshal, for your concern." Vlasov shook hands with Timoshenko and responded politely: "I am not injured."
"Hello, Vlasov." Khrushchev also stood up and shook hands with Vlasov, and said with lingering fear: "In the past few days when you were missing, Comrade Stalin called us several times a day to ask if you were there.
Your whereabouts. We couldn't contact you at that time, so we were extremely anxious. Now that we see you appearing, we can put our worries aside."
"General Vlasov, you have suffered." Timoshenko said kindly: "After the Supreme Command received my report, I immediately arranged for a plane to send you back to Moscow to prepare for accepting a new position."
"I obey the arrangements of my superiors." Vlasov looked at Timoshenko and asked, "Comrade Marshal, when will we set off?"
"In an hour, the plane prepared for you will be ready to take off."
"By the way, Comrade Marshal, there is one more thing I need to report to you."
"What's up?"
"On my way out of the encirclement, I met Major General Potapov, the commander of the 5th Army."
Hearing what Vlasov said, Timoshenko and Khrushchev couldn't help but look at each other, and both saw shock in each other's eyes. Then Khrushchev asked in surprise: "General Vlasov
, what are you talking about, you met the commander of the 5th Army, General Potapov, during the breakout?"
"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev."
"Where is he now?"
"Just outside the headquarters." When Vlasov said this, he looked at the colonel's adjutant standing not far away: "At that time, I asked the adjutant comrade whether to let General Potapov come in to see you.
But he rejected it."
Timoshenko turned to face his adjutant and asked dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Colonel, why don't you let General Potapov in?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal." The colonel's adjutant replied in a panic: "You said that you would only meet General Vlasov, and the rest will stay outside for the time being. I think General Potapov is not on the list of people you met.
I didn't allow him to come in."
"The reason why I asked you to bring General Vlasov in alone is because I thought that the only important person outside was General Vlasov. I didn't know that General Potapov was also outside." Timoshin
Brother's face was full of anger: "Colonel, what are you still standing here for? Why don't you hurry up and invite General Potapov in!"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." The colonel's adjutant agreed, turned around, ran out of the headquarters, and went outside to invite Potapov.
After the adjutant left, Timoshenko walked back and forth in the room. Judging from his expression, he seemed particularly excited at the moment.
"Comrade Vlasov," Khrushchev asked Vlasov kindly, "tell me where you met General Potapov."
Since Khrushchev asked, Vlasov quickly reported to him how he rescued Potapov at the soap factory. However, he deliberately concealed the fact that Potapov was captured, so as not to
Causing unnecessary trouble to Potapov.
When Khrushchev heard Vlasov mentioning Sokov's name repeatedly, he couldn't help but asked curiously: "General Vlasov, you seem to think highly of this Captain Sokov. In your report,
His name has been mentioned many times."
"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev." Vlasov nodded and gave Khrushchev an affirmative answer: "If it weren't for Captain Sokov, I and my colleagues would probably have died.
Into the city of Kiev.”
The conversation between the two reached Timoshenko's ears. He stopped, came over and urged: "General Vlasov, tell me quickly, how did this captain named Sokov put it?"
Rescue you from the city of Kiev."
Seeing that both Timoshenko and Khrushchev were interested in Sokov, Vlasov did not hide anything and truthfully told how he escaped from Kiev.
After listening to Vlasov's story, both Timoshenko and Khrushchev's eyes widened in surprise.
"General Vlasov, is everything you said true?" Timoshenko asked in an unbelievable tone: "He pretended to be a member of the Brandenburg troops in front of the Germans, and the enemy
Are you really allowed to cross the bridge across the Dnieper River?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Vlasov nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "That's true. To be honest, when I think about everything that happened at that time, it still feels like a dream."
"Comrade Marshal," Vlasov's narration made Khrushchev have a strong interest in Sokov. He turned to Timoshenko and said: "Comrade Marshal, wait until we meet General Potapov."
, is this captain named Sokov also called over? I want to talk to him."
"Yes, of course." Timoshenko naturally agreed with Khrushchev's proposal. After all, courageous and resourceful grassroots commanders like this are what is most lacking today. He was even thinking in his heart, what if
The other party is indeed capable, and he does not mind giving him a higher position and military rank: "After meeting Potapov, ask the adjutant to call him over."
After a while, the adjutant came in with Potapov.
"Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!" Potapov saw Timoshenko and quickly stepped forward to salute him: "Major General Potapov, commander of the 5th Army, is reporting to you!"
Timoshenko held Potapov's hand tightly and said with some emotion: "General Potapov, I'm glad to see you again. You know, since you lost contact with us, we have been
I'm worried about your safety."
"Comrade Marshal, thank you for your concern." Potapov said: "The main reason is that there is no radio station around me, so I cannot get in touch with the outside world."
"General Potapov," Khrushchev and Timoshenko exchanged glances before asking: "The leaflets dropped by the German army on our positions contained news of your capture. But now you
But you are standing in front of us, what is going on?"
Since Potapov planned to conceal his capture, he naturally would not tell Timoshenko and Khrushchev the truth, so he prevaricated: "I think it was after the German army occupied my headquarters, in order to disintegrate our army.
It is a deliberately fabricated rumor to improve military morale and morale."
"I think it should be like this." After Khrushchev waited for Potapov to finish speaking, he nodded slightly, agreeing with his statement, but it is unclear whether he believed it in his heart: "What are you going to do next?
What are your plans?"
"I obey your arrangement." Potapov said very cooperatively: "If you let me stay in the Southwest Front, I will stay; if you think it is necessary for me to return to Moscow first, then I will return to Moscow. In a word
, I will resolutely obey your arrangements."
When Khrushchev and Potapov were talking, Timoshenko whispered to his adjutant: "Adjutant, go outside and find a captain named Sokov, then bring him here and say
I want to see him."
"Comrade Marshal, is the Captain Sokov you are talking about in the troops brought by Generals Vlasov and Potapov?"
"That's right." Timoshenko urged: "Bring him here quickly."
"General Potapov," Khrushchev said to Potapov: "We are going to let General Vlasov return to Moscow. You can go back with him. After returning, the Supreme Commander himself may receive you.
We will assign new positions to you, so you must be mentally prepared."
"No problem, Comrade Khrushchev." Potapov quickly replied: "I will resolutely obey the arrangements of my superiors."
Sokov followed the colonel's adjutant into the headquarters. When he saw Khrushchev and Timoshenko, he was extremely excited. You know, these two are old acquaintances. Especially Khrushchev, last time
When traveling through time, he learned that his army was short of soldiers, so he temporarily recruited tens of thousands of new soldiers to supplement his army.
However, no matter how familiar we are with Khrushchev and Timoshenko, it was only from the last time we traveled through time. At this time, the two people probably don't know me yet.
Sokov quickly came to Timoshenko, raised his hand and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!"
Then he turned around and saluted Khrushchev: "Hello, Comrade Khrushchev!"
Khrushchev asked in surprise: "Do you know me?"
"I have seen your portrait before, so I recognized you at a glance." Sokov's words are not necessarily a lie. After all, Khrushchev is the top leader in Ukraine. His portrait and Stalin's portrait are usually the same.
Hang on some important occasions.
"Oh, that's it." Khrushchev said with a smile, "I thought we had met before."
Sokov secretly muttered: "Not only have we met, but we have a good relationship. We even visited Marshal Zhukov's home on New Year's Day in 1946."
Timoshenko's eyes were attracted by the medal on Sokov's chest. He asked curiously: "Comrade Captain, how come you have the Order of Lenin?"
Timoshenko also has a medal of Lenin hanging on his chest, but this was earned by him through hundreds of battles and repeated military exploits on the battlefield. Now I see a young captain actually getting such a medal.
The honor naturally aroused his interest.
"Report to Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied briefly: "This Order of Lenin was awarded to me by the Supreme Command last month. General Vlasov knows the specific situation very well."
Sokov knew very well that he had no right to speak in this headquarters, so he could only explain the origin of the medal through Vlasov.
Vlasov obviously understood Sokov's intention. He nodded, and without waiting for Timoshenko and Khrushchev to ask, he took the initiative to tell the two about the origin of the medal.
In fact, not only Timoshenko and Khrushchev were unclear, but also Potapov who was traveling with him was also unclear about the origin of this medal. After listening to Vlasov's story, everyone was surprised.
With their eyes widened, they couldn't believe that this ordinary-looking captain in front of them actually dared to rush into the German armored column alone and force them to surrender. If it hadn't been for seeing the brand new medal, and by
What Vlasov told them, they simply would not believe it was true.
"Well done, Captain, you're well done." Khrushchev gave Sokov a thumbs up, and then asked: "Your surname is Sokov, what's your given name, your birth name and your father's name."
"Mikhail Mikhailnovitch." Sokov quickly said his real name and father's name.
After hearing this, Khrushchev nodded, turned around, pulled Timoshenko aside, and whispered: "Comrade Marshal, I think it would be a waste of talent if such an excellent commander is assigned to be a commander at the grassroots level.
.How about letting him return to Moscow with Vlasov and Potapov, maybe the superiors will arrange a more suitable position for him?"
According to the original arrangement, after Vlasov and Potapov returned to Moscow by plane, the commanders and fighters they brought with them would be dispersed and organized into various units. After all, after a long battle, all the
There is a shortage of manpower in the army. And
Sokov will also be incorporated into a certain unit and be sent to the front line to participate in the battle at the right time. But now both Timoshenko and Khrushchev think that he is a talent, and it would be a little bit to use him as an ordinary commander.
It was too wasteful, so I decided to let him follow him back to Moscow.