Samek was not surprised at all when he heard Sokov's instructions. On the contrary, he nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, you should indeed gather the commanders of each division and brigade for a meeting and let them get to know you. This will be very helpful for your future work." of."
After Samyko spent a few minutes on the phone, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, let me introduce to you the structure of the group army. Our subordinates include the 84th, 182nd, 188th, 254th and Five infantry divisions, including the 384th Division, as well as the 46th Infantry Brigade, the 62nd and 84th Marine Brigades, General Polubyarov's 4th Guards Tank Corps, and two independent tank battalions. "
After listening to the introduction, Sokov asked with some surprise: "Didn't the superiors assign us special artillery?"
"No." Samyko shook his head and replied: "The Steppe Front Army has just been established, and all armies need artillery, so we have not assigned artillery units for the time being." Seeing Sokov's disappointed expression, he quickly added Said, "Comrade Commander, it is not accurate to say that there is no artillery. Each of our five artillery divisions is equipped with a 76.2 mm caliber cannon regiment."
"Let's talk about the artillery later." Sokov once again ordered Samyko: "Send someone to find the subordinates I brought, and ask Colonel Belkin and Lieutenant Colonel Vanya to attend the meeting at the headquarters."
Although Samyko didn't know the purpose of Sokov's arrangement, he still nodded: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I will send someone to call these two commanders over immediately."
Ten minutes later, the division commander, brigade commander and their political commissars who had received the notification appeared in the headquarters one after another. Seeing a strange young general sitting on the main seat, with two strange colonels and lieutenant colonels standing behind him, everyone showed confused expressions. They all turned their attention to those who came first, trying to understand from them the reason why the chief of staff suddenly summoned everyone.
But those who came first know as much as those who come after. Seeing Paoze casting a questioning look at them, they could only shrug their shoulders and spread their hands, indicating that they didn't know anything.
"Comrades, commanders, please be quiet!" Seeing that everyone was here, Samek stood up and shouted to everyone: "Now is the meeting! Before the meeting begins, let me introduce to you the new commander of the group army. .”
When Sokov heard that Samyko was about to introduce himself, he stood up and said proactively: "Hello, fellow commanders, let me introduce myself. My name is Mikhail Mikhailnovitch. Sokov, who was the commander of the Sixth Army not long ago, has just taken over as the commander of the 27th Army today. I have called you all together today just to get to know each other, so that we can carry out the next work."
"Sixth Army?!" After hearing this number, a general who was a little far away from Sokov's position immediately spoke first: "Is it the same army that was defeated by the Imperial Division, the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division at the end of February? "
There was a hint of disdain in his tone. After all, this was the first failure the Soviet army suffered during a large-scale attack. And it was precisely because the group army was defeated by the German army that led to General Popov's rapid grouping and became a lone army deep into the enemy's hinterland. After listening to the commander's words, the nearby commanders also began to discuss in low voices.
Facing the discussions of the commanders, Sokov did not interrupt them, but allowed them to express their opinions. Samyko leaned close to Sokov's ear and whispered: "Comrade Commander, the first general to speak was Major General Fomenko, commander of the 84th Infantry Division. His eldest son was in the Sixth Army at the end of February. He was killed in action."
After listening to Samyko's explanation, Sokov immediately understood why Major General Fomenko had so much resentment against the Sixth Army. After he waited for the conference room to become quiet again, he continued: "General Fomenko is right. Our Sixth Army was indeed defeated by three German SS divisions at the end of February, which led to The entire Southwest Front was defeated.”
When the commanders here heard what Sokov said, many people had sneers on their faces. They thought that a commander who had lost the battle had now come to be the commander of our group army. I wonder if he would still be the commander in the future. Will we continue to lose the battle and make our 27th Army a laughing stock in the military?
"Comrade commanders, you have misunderstood." Seeing that Sokov did not explain to everyone, Samyko was worried about any misunderstanding. He quickly stood up and said to everyone: "The Sixth Army commanded by our new commander is not The one that was defeated by the Germans. On the contrary, he commanded the troops to annihilate the Imperial Division, severely damaged the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division, and killed the commander of the Skeleton Division, Ike, and captured alive the Imperial Division Commander, Major General Al, and the acting commander of the Skeleton Division. After Colonel Shimon, he served as commander of the newly formed Sixth Army."
Sameko's explanation stunned the commanders present. After a long time, Major General Fomenko asked tentatively: "General Sokov, can you tell me which unit you commanded before becoming the commander of the Sixth Army?"
"Yes!" Sokov, who was standing with his hands on the edge of the table, replied readily: "Before serving as the commander of the Sixth Army, I was the commander of the Sokov Combat Group and concurrently the commander of the 41st Guards Division."
"The 41st Guards Division?" Hearing Sokov say this, a general sitting on Sokov's left suddenly stood up and asked tentatively: "Is it the division that holds Mamayev Heights?"
To the general's question, Sokov answered truthfully: "Yes, throughout the entire battle to defend Stalingrad, the troops under my command have always stood on Mamayev Heights."
"So you are that Colonel Sokov, no, now you are Major General Sokov." The general straightened his body, raised his hand and saluted Sokov with a solemn military salute, and said respectfully: "I am an infantryman. Major General Gritsenko, commander of the 384th Division, on behalf of the officers and soldiers of the entire division, I express my position to you that we will resolutely obey your orders and follow your instructions!"
After the commanders learned Sokov's true identity, their attitude towards him immediately changed 180 degrees. Especially when they saw Major General Gritsenko expressing his stance to Sokov and being willing to obey his orders unconditionally, they all stood up and raised their hands to salute Sokov, expressing the same intention to him. Even the instigator, Major General Fomenko, finally stood up and apologized to Sokov embarrassedly.
Seeing the change in everyone's attitude towards him, Sokov realized that in today's army, in order to gain everyone's respect, military rank and position are secondary, and whether he can establish immortal merits is the most important.
He raised his hands, pressed them down, motioned for everyone to sit down, and said to everyone: "Comrade commanders, I have summoned everyone here today. In addition to getting to know each other, I also want to announce an important decision to everyone. "
After hearing this, none of the commanders present spoke. They just stared at Sokov, quietly waiting for him to announce that important decision.
"Everyone knows that the soldiers of our army lack sufficient training. If such a unit is brought to the battlefield, it will be difficult to win the battle." Seeing that no one spoke, Sokov said to himself: "Because, I now announce that the construction of all fortifications in the defense zone will be stopped, and all divisions and brigades will focus on military training."
Sokov's words were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a red-hot pot, causing it to explode.
"Ah, is it appropriate to stop building fortifications and focus on military training?"
"Yes, building fortifications is an order from our superiors. If we really stop, will our superiors blame us?"
"..."
Samek waited for the voices in the room to gradually subside, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, no one understands why you made such a decision. You should explain it to everyone."
