Konev was silent. He was thinking quietly. Should he follow Sokov's suggestion and report his opinions to his superiors?
But after thinking for a while, Konev decided not to report it. You should know that not long ago, he refused to attack the German Army Group Center when the time was not ripe. As a result, he was reprimanded by the Supreme Command and dismissed from his job. The extremely important position of commander of the Western Front was withdrawn and he was assigned to the position of commander of the Prairie Front, which has the nature of a reserve force.
He knew very clearly that unless the High Command agreed to Sokov's proposal and stopped the construction of fortifications in unimportant areas, it would cause him some unnecessary trouble. He said slowly: "Major General Sokov, I'm sorry, but I can't report your proposal to the high command."
When Sokov heard this, his whole heart sank. He thought to himself: Damn it, if Konev forcibly ordered him to resume the construction work of the fortifications, would he obey the order or disobey the order? Just obey the order, and your prestige within the army will be seriously affected; if you blindly disobey orders, what awaits you may be removal from your post or being sent to a military court.
Just when Sokov was having a headache, he suddenly heard Konev say: "Major General Sokov, there is something I want to inform you. This afternoon, Marshal Zhukov, as a representative of the base camp, will come to inspect our defense area. If you have any ideas, you can tell him. If he agrees to stop the construction of fortifications, then I will not hold you accountable for disobedience."
When he learned that Zhukov was coming to inspect, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. He knew very well that Konev was in such an embarrassing situation. Even if he agreed with his actions, he would still reprimand himself on the surface. But if Zhukov can be asked to come forward and announce the suspension of fortification construction in certain areas, he can justifiably order the troops to concentrate on training.
After a brief silence, Sokov asked impatiently: "Front Army Headquarters, I wonder when Marshal Zhukov will arrive at our defense area?"
"It's hard to say," Konev said hesitantly: "As you know, he has always been an elusive person, and every time he travels, he doesn't like to bring a large group of followers, so he might just bring a driver and a The guard is running around all over the world, so no one knows when he will appear in his defense zone."
Sokov agreed very much with Konev's statement. He clearly remembered that during the defense of Moscow, Zhukov liked to travel in a light car and often had only one driver around him. Fortunately, he was lucky and did not encounter Germans along the way, otherwise he would definitely end up with the same tragic fate as Vatutin.
Since Konev could not know the exact time of Zhukov's arrival, Sokov could only find a way on his own. After he put down the phone, he ordered Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the commander of the front army told me that Marshal Zhukov will soon come to inspect our defense area. You immediately notify the divisions and monitor the roads closely. If you find any black If the car appears, report it to the army headquarters immediately."
"What, Marshal Zhukov is coming to our defense area?" Sammeko suddenly became excited when he learned that Zhukov was coming to his defense area: "Is this true? Comrade Commander, is this true? ?”
"Of course it's true." Sokov said with some embarrassment: "But even the commander of the front army doesn't know when Marshal Zhukov will arrive at our place. Therefore, we can only order each division to closely monitor the troops in their defense zone. Highway to see if a black car appears."
"Black car?" Sameko said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, why do you think Marshal Zhukov would travel in a black car?"
Samyko's words stopped Sokov. The reason why he mentioned the black car was entirely because in the movie "The Defense of Moscow", the senior officers who appeared on the battlefield, whether it was Zhukov or Roko, Sovsky, their car is a black car. He hesitated for a while and then asked: "Are you going to take other vehicles?"
"The chassis of the black car is too low. When driving on muddy roads like this in the suburbs, it is easy to get stuck in the mud." Samyko explained to Sokov: "So starting from April 1942, commanders at all levels went out for inspections. When we arrived, all we were traveling in were jeeps given to us by the United States."
Samek's explanation made Sokov realize that his information was somewhat outdated. It was no longer fashionable for senior military officers to travel in black cars. The black car has poor off-road capabilities. When driving on muddy roads in the countryside, it is easy to get stuck in a mud pit and be unable to escape, and it is easy to become a target for enemy attacks.
So he promptly changed the order: "Chief of Staff, then order each division to observe whether there are jeeps that do not belong to our group army to defend the area."
"Understood." Sameko replied readily: "I immediately called the divisions and asked them to pay attention to the strange jeeps entering our army group's defense zone."
Two hours later, a convoy of five jeeps drove towards Sokov's headquarters. The sentry standing guard at the headquarters saw Captain Seryosha, the commander of the guard company, standing on the running board outside the car, and immediately realized that the identity of the person coming was not simple. When he was about to go into the headquarters to report, he saw Sokov, Sameko and a group of staff from the headquarters walking out of the room.
As soon as everyone lined up at the entrance of the headquarters, the motorcade stopped in front of them. After an officer came out of the passenger seat, he quickly ran to the back and reached out to open the door.
Soon, Sokov saw the short Zhukov getting out of the car. After Zhukov got out of the car, he closed the door forcefully and walked towards Sokov's location with heavy steps.
When Sokov heard the loud sound when the car door closed, he couldn't help but feel angry. The reason why Zhukov closed the car door so loudly was to vent his anger. He trotted forward quickly, came to Zhukov, stood at attention and saluted: "Comrade Marshal, the commander of the 27th Group Army, Major General Sokov, reports to you. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire group army, I welcome your arrival!"
Zhukov glanced at Sokov, but said nothing and walked into the room with his hands behind his back. Seeing Zhukov's abnormal reaction, Sokov did not dare to neglect, and followed him in with a group of his men.
Zhukov walked into the headquarters, came to the wall and stared at the map hanging on it for a while, then turned and asked Sokov: "Major General Sokov, do you know where your army group is defending?"
"Report to Comrade Marshal." Sokov quickly replied: "Our army group is defending the Kosky area east of Moscow."
Zhukov walked up to Sokov with his hands behind his back and asked sternly: "Defense, what are you using to defend? On the way here just now, I looked around. Other armies were still building fortifications in full swing, but your troops , but what kind of training are you doing there? Don’t you know that once the German army rushes to your position, without a solid and complete defense system, HI will not be able to stop the enemy at all? "
"Comrade Marshal, I know very well that the enemy's tanks and self-propelled artillery have the upper hand. Without a complete defense system, it will be difficult to resist them."
"Now that you understand this." Zhukov continued to ask: "Then why did you order your troops to stop the construction of fortifications? Major General Sokov, don't you know that your behavior can be said to be a crime."
Faced with Zhukov's accusation, Sokov calmly replied: "Comrade Marshal, can you let me tell you my reasons?"
"Say it."
"Comrade Marshal, please look at the map." Sokov walked to the wall, pointed at the map and said to Zhukov: "The location of our army group is located in the rear of our army. No matter which direction the enemy attacks from, they need to be hit hard. Only one or two front armies of our army have the opportunity to rush to the defense area of our group army.
I judge based on the situation on the battlefield that although the German army wants to attack, with their current strength, they are simply unable to break through our defense. "Sokov knew that if he could not convince Zhukov, then his troops would have to pick up pickaxes and engineer shovels again and continue to build meaningless fortifications: "If the enemy really has the strength to destroy one or two fronts of our army, , so when they rush here, can we stop their attack with our hastily built fortifications? "
After listening to Sokov's self-defense, Zhukov fell silent again.
"Major General Sokov," after a long time, Zhukov spoke again, breaking the silence in the room: "You said you stopped building the inner fortifications because you considered that there was no possibility for the enemy to rush here?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov nodded and replied affirmatively: "I believe in my own judgment. The enemy will not be able to appear in the defense area of our army group unless they are taken as prisoners."
If someone else said this, Zhukov would definitely think that the other party was exaggerating, but who is Sokov? He had just commanded several infantry divisions, defeated three German SS divisions, and even annihilated the Imperial Division among them. commander. Zhukov asked tentatively: "How certain are you that the enemy cannot reach here?"
Although it was a certainty for Sokov that the enemy would not rush to the Koski area, he still showed enough humility in front of Zhukov: "I think it is about 80% sure."
"Eight-level certainty?" Hearing what Sokov said, Zhukov nodded and said happily: "Based on my understanding of you, if you say you are 80% sure, then it is still a sure thing."
Zhukov walked to the table and sat down, patting the table twice with his hand: "It's been so long since I came in, but no one has poured me tea. Is this how you treat guests?"
When Zhukov was training Sokov, Samyko, who was standing nearby, kept sweating, worried that if Sokov angered the marshal, he might be dismissed from his post on the spot. Just when he was thinking about how to come out and smooth things over, the scene in the room had changed. Marshal Zhukov, who had been scolding Sokov not long ago, actually asked someone to make tea for him.
Sameko did not dare to neglect, and quickly opened the faucet of the samovar, put a cup of hot tea out, brought it over and placed it in front of Zhukov, pushed the small plate with sugar cubes in front of Zhukov, and said respectfully: "Marshal Comrade, here is the black tea and sugar cubes you asked for."
Zhukov picked up two sugar cubes and threw them into the tea vat. While slowly stirring them with a spoon, he asked Sokov: "Misha, you ordered the troops to stop all construction, do you want them to concentrate on training? "
"Yes, Comrade Marshal, that's exactly what happened." Seeing that Zhukov had guessed his intention, Sokov quickly replied: "Most of the soldiers in our group army are militiamen or recruits. They have not undergone systematic military training and have no combat effectiveness." Worrying. Even if it is deployed on the battlefield, I am afraid it will be difficult to put it to use. When I took office, after repeated thinking, I felt that we could stop building fortifications that wasted money and wasted time, and instead concentrated on military training. I believe that at most three Months, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be greatly improved."
"Three months?" Hearing what Sokov said, Zhukov asked with interest: "Misha, do you think the Germans will attack us again in three months?"
"That's it, Comrade Marshal." On this matter, Sokov did not hide his views at all. He knew the specific time when the Battle of Kursk took place, which was less than three months from now. The 27th Group Army entered the battlefield late, and there was still three months of training before it was full: "It is the spring thaw season, and the roads are muddy, which is not conducive to the movement of mechanized troops. And every June and July, it is It is the most conducive season for combat, and I think the Germans will definitely attack the areas occupied by our troops at this stage."
"Misha, what you said makes sense." Regarding Sokov's speculation, Zhukov agreed: "The German army will launch an attack on our country in late June. The sunshine time in summer is long, and the fighting time is It can be extended. It seems that our current task is to prepare to prevent the German army from launching a summer offensive."
"Time is running out, and we need to start preparations now."
"It's difficult, Misha." Unexpectedly, Zhukov sighed unexpectedly after hearing what Sokov said, and said: "Many fronts are busy repairing fortifications, and there is no time to train new recruits to supplement the troops. I'm worried that it will really In a war, these new recruits who have just been added to the army will have no effect at all."
Sokov did not dare to speak casually on this matter. After listening to Zhukov's words, he just laughed twice without expressing any opinions.
Zhukov glanced at Sokov strangely, and then said: "On the way here, I heard one of your division commanders say that they are training. Anyway, it's okay now. Why don't you take me to see your troops?" How to train.”
