Although Stalin's evaluation of Sokov forced Beria to give up the pursuit of Sokov, he was still unwilling to do so. As soon as he returned to his office, he called a deputy and told the other person: "Tell our people in Stalingrad to keep an eye on Sokov, and if he has any problems, report him directly to me immediately. "
Hearing what Beria said, the subordinate couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Since we found something wrong with him, why didn't we arrest him immediately instead of just continuing to monitor him?"
Beria glared at the talkative subordinate and said in a stern tone: "Just do whatever I tell you to do. Don't you know that you can't ask questions that you shouldn't ask? Go and execute the order."
The subordinates hurriedly agreed, and then quietly left Beria's office.
At the same time, Stalin was walking back and forth in his office holding a pipe. Don't look at the fact that he had just praised Sokov as a military genius at the meeting, thereby denying Beria's suspicion of Sokov, but Bailey The things Ya said still inevitably caused doubts in his heart. After reviewing all Sokov's battle cases one by one in his mind, he found that what Beria said was not entirely unreasonable. Sokov's analysis of the situation and grasp of the fighter opportunities could simply be described as perfect.
Some people may say that Sokov was able to achieve such huge results solely because he commanded a unit with outstanding combat effectiveness. If he had been replaced by someone else, he would have achieved the same results. But Stalin clearly remembered that when Sokov sent the injured Rokossovsky to Moscow for treatment, he had left the army for a period of time. The army suffered heavy losses in a battle, so that Sokov did what he did for the first time after returning. One thing is to downsize the troops.
Stalin returned to his desk and sat down, put his pipe on the table, picked up the high-frequency phone, and dialed a number. When the operator's voice from the Kremlin switchboard came out, he said slowly: "I am Stalin. , pick me up from the headquarters of the Stalingrad Front and find Comrade Khrushchev."
After the call was connected, Stalin asked straight to the point: "Comrade Khrushchev, where is Goldov?"
"The German army is launching a fierce attack on us." Khrushchev did not know the purpose of Stalin's call to ask Goldov at this moment, but he still answered truthfully: "Comrade Commander has personally gone to the front."
Hearing Khrushchev's answer, Stalin couldn't help but frowned: "Hell, he is the commander of the front army. His command position should be at the headquarters. Why would he go to the front?" When he said this, Stalin was muttering to himself. : Was it wrong to appoint Gordov as commander of the Stalingrad Front?
Khrushchev was also wondering: Why did Comrade Stalin ask this? Didn't he know that those elderly commanders, when they heard that the enemy had launched an attack in certain areas, usually brought a few guards with them? Get in a car and rush to where the fighting is fiercest? Is there anything wrong with Goldov's statement?
Stalin seemed to have guessed what Khrushchev was thinking, and said on the phone again: "Comrade Khrushchev, when Gordov comes back, please tell him that he is the commander of the front army, not the battalion commander and company commander. We There is no need for him to charge into battle, his command position is in the headquarters. He has no right to risk his own life."
"I understand, Comrade Stalin." Regarding what Stalin said, Khrushchev quickly replied: "I will convey your thoughts to him."
"Also," Stalin hesitated for a moment and decided to tell Khrushchev the current overall situation so that he could be mentally prepared: "Based on the current situation, the German army rushed to the gates of Stalingrad and even rushed into the city. It is possible in the city, so you must be mentally prepared for this..."
"Comrade Stalin, please rest assured." Stalin's words surprised Khrushchev. He quickly expressed his position: "Our commanders and fighters will resolutely block the enemy and never let them get close to Stalingrad."
"Comrade Khrushchev, your idea is very good." In response to Khrushchev's statement, Stalin said bitterly: "I believe that our commanders and fighters can show great courage when facing brutal enemies. and tenacious fighting spirit. But at the same time, we should also clearly realize that the enemy is far more powerful than we imagined, and with our current strength, it is very difficult to stop them."
As the military commissar of the Stalingrad Front, Khrushchev had already prepared for the worst in the face of an unfavorable battle situation. But at this moment, hearing Stalin say such words himself, he still felt uncomfortable. He waited for Stalin to finish speaking, then carefully asked: "Comrade Stalin, what should we do next?"
"You take the time to go back to Stalingrad, as the military commissar of the front army, to understand the construction status of the fortifications in the city." At this point, Stalin paused for a moment, and then continued: "Remember, when you return to the city, you First, go to Mamayev Heights, where the 73rd Infantry Brigade is stationed. Have a good chat with the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, and then report to me in detail what you said."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?" Khrushchev didn't understand why Stalin asked him to meet an infantry brigade commander and even reported the conversation between them. He asked in confusion: "Comrade Stalin, may I ask, is there anything special about the lieutenant colonel you asked me to meet?"
"He is the son of Mikhail Ivanovich Sokov."
After Stalin's reminder, Khrushchev suddenly remembered who Sokov was: "I remembered that he had also participated in the meeting when we formulated the plan for the Kharkov offensive campaign. Now that I think about it, he The opinions expressed at that time were completely correct.”
Khrushchev's words aroused Stalin's great curiosity: "What opinions did he put forward at that time?"
"That's it, Comrade Stalin." Now that Khrushchev knew Sokov's identity and the previous friendship between the old Sokov and Stalin, he could speak freely about some things: "He proposed at the meeting that he wanted to To win the Kharkov offensive battle, in the early stages of the battle, the German army must first eliminate the Barvinkovo salient occupied by the German army. Otherwise, after the battle begins, the German army will launch a counterattack from this area. Regrettably, Neither I nor Marshal Timoshenko sneered at his statement, and Comrade Marshal even scolded him."
Stalin's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. To know this, there was no information provided in Beria. It seems that this little Misha is really not simple, and his judgment of the battle situation is so accurate. Thinking of this, he quickly said to Khrushchev in a hoarse voice: "Comrade Khrushchev, go to Mamayev Heights as soon as possible, talk to Xiao Misha, and listen to his views on the next war situation. Pay attention, he He has said on many different occasions that sooner or later the German army will rush into Stalingrad, and the enemy and we will start a brutal street battle in the city. You'd better understand how he came to such a conclusion."
"Understood, Comrade Stalin, please allow me to rush to Stalingrad now." Khrushchev heard what Stalin said and immediately realized that the matter was urgent and quickly requested: "Only in this way can I help you find you Wanted answers.”
In response to Khrushchev's request, Stalin was silent for a moment, and then said: "Now that Gordov is not at the headquarters, then you should hand over the command to the chief of staff, Major General Nikishev."
Khrushchev put down the phone, called the Chief of Staff, Major General Nikishev, and said to him with a serious expression: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have given an order from the Supreme Commander himself to return to Stalingrad immediately. Everything here, I’ll leave it to you.”
Even though Nikishev was the chief of staff of the front army, since the command power was in the hands of Gordov and Khrushchev, he was just a decoration in many cases. At this moment, when I heard that Khrushchev said that he would hand over the command to himself, he was immediately overjoyed and quickly expressed his position to the other party that he would keep everything in the headquarters normal.
Everything that happened in Moscow was unknown to the person involved, Sokov. Seeing that he kept sneezing, Belkin, who was sitting opposite him, asked with concern: "Comrade Brigadier, do you have a cold? Otherwise, I'll call Asiya and ask her to come over. Take a look."
"No, no," Sokov quickly waved his hands and said, "I don't have a cold, maybe I'm allergic to something. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine in a while. Let's continue the topic. Our field hospital should be placed in What position."
"In my opinion," Belkin said confidently, "there are so many buildings on the nearby pier that can accommodate our field hospital. Why not just put it there?"
"No, absolutely not." Sokov firmly opposed Belkin's proposal: "Once the battle moves from outside the city to the inside, the direction of the dock will be the focus of German bombing and artillery. If we put the field hospital Being in a building near a dock puts casualties at risk."
"But, Comrade Brigadier, have you ever thought about it. If you follow your idea and put the field hospital in the tunnel, because the air inside is not circulating and there is a possibility of collapse at any time, our wounded will really be saved. Putting it in a dangerous situation." Belkin said tit for tat: "Another reason why I suggest putting it at the dock is that our wounded can be sent to the other side through ships traveling between the two sides."
While the two were quarreling with each other, Seryozha broke in from outside and reported hurriedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander and Political Commissar, a big shot is here and is inspecting our fortifications."
"Big shot?" Sokov asked curiously after hearing what Seryosha said, "Is he the leader of the city or the city defense committee?"
Seryosha thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's not like that. If they are the leaders of the city or the city defense committee, Major Ozor should know him, but I just saw them looking like they were meeting for the first time."
"Let's go, Comrade Political Commissar." Seeing that Seryozha couldn't tell who was coming, Sokov rushed to Belkin who was sitting opposite and said: "Let's go meet this big shot."
After leaving the tent, Seryosha pointed to the hills in the distance and said to Sokov and Belkin: "The brigade commander and political commissar, that big shot, accompanied by Major Ozor, have gone to the southern slope to inspect Our defenses are gone.”
Knowing that the big shot had climbed up the south slope, Sokov and Belkin climbed up again with Seryosha. Unexpectedly, as soon as they climbed halfway, they were blocked by several Ministry of Internal Affairs soldiers wearing blue hats.
"What do you mean?" Sokov was very annoyed when he was blocked in his defense zone. He asked loudly to the soldiers blocking the road: "Which part are you from? Come here. What are you here for?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a familiar voice: "Is that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?"
Sokov looked in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a short, fat man wearing military uniform and a little bald standing side by side with Ozor on the hill. However, it only took a moment for Sokov to recognize that the person standing next to Ozor was actually Khrushchev, the military commissar of the Front Army. He did not expect that he would actually come to Mamayev Hill, so he was a little confused. He replied in a panic: "Yes, I am Sokov."
"Come, come to me, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov!" Khrushchev shouted, so Belkin suppressed his panic while passing through the two soldiers who gave way and headed towards Khrushchev. Xiaofu walked away.
Sokov came to a stop two or three steps away from Khrushchev, straightened his body, raised his right hand to his forehead in salute, and said nervously: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissar of the Front Army, Infantry 3rd Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Brigade, reports to you, I obey your orders, please give instructions!"
"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." The smiling Khrushchev waited for Sokov to finish his salute, shook his hand, and said in a loud voice: "I was ordered to come to the city to inspect the construction status of the fortifications. When I was passing by here, I saw someone building fortifications on the hill. Out of curiosity, I came over to take a look. How about it? Is it not disturbing your work? "
When Sokov heard Khrushchev's question, he smiled awkwardly and said to himself: You should ask Ozor next to you about this. What do you mean by asking me? However, he still said in a respectful manner on the surface: "Comrade Military Commissar, you are welcome to come to Mamayev Heights to guide our work. I would like to invite you to visit our newly built fortifications, and then give us some valuable suggestions." .”
"Okay, I was just listening to the major introduce the tunnel fortifications you designed. I heard it is very unique." Khrushchev said with a smile on his face: "Next, please take me to visit."
