When the tank army under Katukov launched an attack on the place occupying the Bogodukhov logistics base, Sokov was in his headquarters, telling Samyko what kind of attitude should be used to deal with those who had just arrived. Commanders rescued from prisoner of war camps.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said. He knew that in today's era, captured commanders and fighters would be discriminated against by others. He could not change the general environment and could only give them fair treatment within his own army group. But before that, the thoughts of the group army leaders must be unified: "The captured commanders and fighters were starved, beaten, and ridiculed by the enemy in the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp, and were threatened with death all the time.
Since most commanders of our army have an unreasonable distrustful attitude towards commanders and fighters who have been prisoners of war, although these commanders and fighters have been rescued, they still encounter biased and extremely unfair treatment. In their rough fate, this may be the most cruel and humiliating test.
Most of them are people who are worthy of their motherland and people and have fulfilled their obligations honestly. But after being rescued, they will be regarded as aliens for various reasons. They did their part to win the victory for us, but when we won the victory, they became people who had no chance of victory. To them, the terms "prisoners of war" and "traitors" were a kind of intimidation. The mark that makes a person sad to the point of tears..."
When Sokov spoke, Samekko said nothing and remained silent, only nodding occasionally to express his agreement with Sokov's views.
When Sokov finished speaking and picked up the tea cup to drink tea, Samyko said: "Comrade Commander, in the recent battles, battalion and company level commanders have suffered heavy losses. I suggest that from the rescued commanders and fighters, Select suitable candidates to take over the positions of these grassroots commanders.”
Sokov originally planned to select suitable candidates from the newly added commanders and fighters to fill the vacancies of grassroots commanders. At this moment, seeing Sameko take the initiative to bring up this matter, he said smoothly: "Okay, then when you and the commanders of each division discuss the distribution of soldiers, remember to mention this matter to them."
Sameko asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, don't you plan to meet those division commanders?"
"It's not that I don't want to meet, it's just that I don't have time." Sokov said helplessly: "I received a call from Marshal Zhukov not long ago. He said that General Konev is coming towards our headquarters. It will be estimated in half an hour. You'll be there soon."
When he learned that Konev was coming, Samyko could not say anything else. He knew very well that Konev hurried to the army headquarters before the situation was completely stable. There must be something important. I felt it was inconvenient to talk about the matter on the phone and needed to talk to Sokov face to face.
Sure enough, when Konev appeared at the headquarters, he simply asked Samyko about the situation of the troops, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, is there a quiet place? I want to talk to you Let’s talk alone.”
"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov quickly replied: "At the end of the corridor is the conference room. There is no one in it. We can go there to talk."
"Okay, let's go there."
Sokov brought Konev to the conference room. Before entering, he told Samoylov who was following him: "Comrade Lieutenant, the commander of the front army and I have important matters to discuss. You personally lead a few people to guard the corridor. No one is allowed to come near here."
"There are also windows," Konev added, "and no one is allowed to approach them."
"That's right." After hearing what Konev said, Sokov quickly continued: "Send someone to guard outside the window. No one is allowed to come within ten meters."
After arranging the security mission, Sokov accompanied Konev into the conference room.
After a guard brought tea and snacks to the two of them, Sokov asked straight to the point: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, do you have anything important to do?"
After Konev took a sip of the tea in front of him, he said slowly: "The latest troop organization list is here. Your army group has been placed under the command of the Voronezh Front."
As soon as Sokov picked up the cup, his hands trembled when he heard what Konev said. The tea in the cup spilled out, making him grin and grin. He quickly put down the teacup in his hand and asked unexpectedly: "Didn't you say that as soon as the Battle of Kursk is over, our army group will be allowed to return to the formation? Why did the superiors change their minds again?"
"How do you put it?" Konev said helplessly: "The superiors believe that we are just a reserve front army, a strategic reserve of the base camp, and do not have the ability to fight independently. Therefore, we must continue to split them up to separate them. Our troops are organized into armies, corps and even divisions and are assigned to those units that are in urgent need of reinforcements."
As a person from the future, Sokov knows very well that on October 20 this year, the base camp will reorganize all the troops. Vatutin's Voronezh Front was reorganized into the First Ukrainian Front, while Konev's Steppe Front was reorganized into the Second Ukrainian Front.
Later, after Vatutin was injured in an attack, Zhukov temporarily acted as the front commander for a period of time. Because Zhukov had to accept more important tasks, he was transferred soon after. Subsequently, the First and Second Ukrainian Fronts merged to form a super large force with 1.2 million people, with Konev serving as the commander of the front army.
At this moment, Sokov finally understood why the base camp merged the First and Second Ukrainian Fronts. It was because both fronts contained troops that Konev had once commanded. Many army commanders are Konev's old subordinates, and they will spare no effort to support Konev in the process of integrating the troops.
After Konev completed the integration of the troops, the base camp quickly established a new Ukrainian Second Front Army, with General Malinovsky as the commander of the front army.
"What did you think about it?" Just as Sokov was deep in thought, he heard Konev's voice: "Do you want to stay in the Voronezh Front, or return to Japan?"
At this moment, there is still more than half a year before Konev becomes the commander of the First Ukrainian Front. Although he is now Konev's most valued subordinate, if he chooses to stay in the Voronezh Front, a new commander will replace him. status, when he returns to Konev's command, his regard for him will be greatly reduced.
It was out of this consideration that when Sokov heard Konev's question, he replied without hesitation: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army! I am willing to return to the army with my troops even now..."
Before Sokov could finish speaking, Konev raised his hand and interrupted him: "Comrade Sokov, I understand what you mean, and I am very satisfied with your answer. I will try my best to report to the Supreme Commander. We will fight for you to return to our front army organization."
"Will the High Command agree?" Sokov asked with some lack of confidence. The performance of the group army he led in the Battle of Kursk made him a dazzling star and the object of competition for everyone, so he was very worried that Vatutin would not let him go.
Konev saw Sokov's worry and smiled and said to him: "Comrade Sokov, since you have expressed your stance, let me share some gossip with you. Before coming here, I went to the Voronezh Front Headquarters, go see Marshal Zhukov. He has promised that he will report the return of your army group to the Supreme Command as soon as possible, hoping to adapt the decision made by the superiors."
"Great, this is really great." Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that his troops could continue to stay in the Prairie Front Army, because as long as in the next battle, he could serve as a member of the Prairie Front Army. members and continue to build new meritorious services.
Konev came here specifically to see Sokov today, just to try his best to let Sokov continue to serve as his subordinate. He had even considered that once the Supreme Command did not agree to allow the 27th Army to return to the army, he would also find ways to transfer Sokov back to the Steppe Front without exchanging it with other commanders.
In order to prevent the news from leaking out due to the ears in the partition wall, he requested tight security before the meeting with Sokov. At this moment, he had figured out Sokov's true thoughts and knew that the other party was willing to stay and fuck with him, which made him feel much more at ease.
Just as Konev whispered his promise to Sokov, the door of the conference room was knocked from outside.
Hearing the knock on the door, Sokov frowned and said displeased: "Didn't I tell them not to disturb me? Why did they forget my instructions so quickly?"
Dissatisfaction was dissatisfaction, but Sokov also knew very well in his heart that if there was nothing important, Samoilov, who was standing outside, would not bother him by knocking on the door casually. He got up and walked to the door, opened the door, and asked Samoylov who was standing outside: "Comrade Lieutenant, what happened?"
"Comrade Commander, I'm sorry." Samoylov said to Sokov apologetically: "I don't want to disturb you, but the chief of staff just sent someone to inform you that something important has happened. Please return to the command as soon as possible. department."
Hearing that Samyko had something big to do with him, Sokov did not bother to continue talking to Konev, but walked quickly towards the command headquarters. Konev didn't know what happened, so he quickly followed behind. .
Samyko, who was assigning tasks to the staff and communications troops, saw Sokov and Konev coming in. He quickly stepped forward and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, something happened!"
"Something happened?!" Sokov asked anxiously: "Which of our troops has a problem?"
The reason why Sokov is so anxious is entirely because there are two divisions in the defense area, not far from the Belgorod garrison position. Could it be that they were attacked by the enemy?
With this question in mind, he asked tentatively: "Did our troops to the south have a firefight with the enemy?"
Sameko shook his head and said: "No, Comrade Commander, our southern front is safe. What I'm talking about is the friendly forces. Something happened to them."
When Konev heard this, he couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Which friendly unit is in trouble?"
"It was the 31st Tank Corps under General Katukov. While pursuing the German 11th Armored Division, it was ambushed by the enemy and the troops suffered heavy losses."
"What, General Katukov's troops were ambushed by the Germans?" Even if a shell fell and exploded next to him at this moment, it would not be as shocking as the news about Samyko: "How many troops do they have? The enemy How many troops are left, how can we be ambushed by the enemy?"
In order to prevent the news from leaking out due to the ears in the partition wall, he requested tight security before the meeting with Sokov. At this moment, he had figured out Sokov's true thoughts and knew that the other party was willing to stay and fuck with him, which made him feel much more at ease.
Just as Konev whispered his promise to Sokov, the door of the conference room was knocked from outside.
Hearing the knock on the door, Sokov frowned and said displeased: "Didn't I tell them not to disturb me? Why did they forget my instructions so quickly?"
Dissatisfaction was dissatisfaction, but Sokov also knew very well in his heart that if there was nothing important, Samoilov, who was standing outside, would not bother him by knocking on the door casually. He got up and walked to the door, opened the door, and asked Samoylov who was standing outside: "Comrade Lieutenant, what happened?"
"Comrade Commander, I'm sorry." Samoylov said to Sokov apologetically: "I don't want to disturb you, but the chief of staff just sent someone to inform you that something important has happened. Please return to the command as soon as possible. department."
Hearing that Samyko had something big to do with him, Sokov did not bother to continue talking to Konev, but walked quickly towards the command headquarters. Konev didn't know what happened, so he quickly followed behind. .
Samyko, who was assigning tasks to the staff and communications troops, saw Sokov and Konev coming in. He quickly stepped forward and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, something happened!"
"Something happened?!" Sokov asked anxiously: "Which of our troops has a problem?"
The reason why Sokov is so anxious is entirely because there are two divisions in the defense area, not far from the Belgorod garrison position. Could it be that they were attacked by the enemy?
With this question in mind, he asked tentatively: "Did our troops to the south have a firefight with the enemy?"
Sameko shook his head and said: "No, Comrade Commander, our southern front is very safe. What I'm talking about is the friendly forces. Something happened to them."
When Konev heard this, he couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Which friendly unit is in trouble?"
"It was the 31st Tank Corps under General Katukov. While pursuing the German 11th Armored Division, it was ambushed by the enemy and the troops suffered heavy losses."
"What, General Katukov's troops were ambushed by the Germans?" Even if a shell fell and exploded next to him at this moment, it would not be as shocking as the news about Samyko: "How many troops do they have? The enemy How many troops are left, how can we be ambushed by the enemy?"
