When Zhukov and Konev left, they took Ponedelin's men with them. After Sokov learned the news, he was ready to rush to see him off.
Samyko quickly grabbed Sokov and said earnestly: "Comrade Commander, I don't think you should send him off."
"Why?" Sokov asked.
"The reason is simple," Sameko said plausibly: "These three generals were all sentenced to death in absentia by the Supreme Military Court. If you have a too close relationship with them, I am afraid it will be very detrimental to you."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov retorted: "You were also there when I was talking to General Ponedelin just now, and you also saw the scars on his body with your own eyes. You can't fake it. We can definitely Convince Marshal Zhukov to recommend that the Supreme Military Court retry the cases of the three generals and restore their innocence."
While Sokov and Samyko were arguing, Runev laughed and said nothing. When the two were almost finished arguing, he said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think the commander should go see him off."
"Comrade Military Commissioner, aren't you worried that the commander will be implicated?"
"Implicated, what kind of involvement?" Lunev deliberately said with a straight face: "Comrade Commander sent Marshal Zhukov and the front commander General Konev away, what can be wrong?"
Samyko originally wanted to say something, but when he saw Lunev winking at him, he immediately realized that the other party had something to say and wanted to say it to him privately, so he chose to give in to Sokov: "Okay, Comrade Commander, since you insist on going, I will not stop you. There is still a lot of work to be done in the headquarters, so I will not accompany you."
Sokov had something to say to Ponedelin in private. Samyko and others were unwilling to go, and he was getting what he wanted. After a few perfunctory words, he left the headquarters with Samoilov.
As soon as Sokov left the headquarters, Samyko walked up to Lunev and asked curiously: "Comrade Military Commissar, you just kept winking at me. Is there something wrong?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are worrying too much." Lunev asked Samyko to sit down and said to him with a smile: "Do you think that Marshal Zhukov and General Konev took the three of them away to hand them over to the highest military level?" Does the court carry out the death penalty?”
"Is not it?"
"Of course not." Runev shook his head and said, "Didn't you notice that when General Konev was troubled by Nedelin, Marshal Zhukov sat next to him and didn't say a word?"
After Lunev's reminder, Samyko felt that this was indeed the case, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, what on earth is going on, has I been confused?"
"If I'm not wrong, Marshal Zhukov plans to wait for Ponedelin and others to clear their grievances and recover their health before sending them to our army group." Lunev explained to Samyko with a smile: " I think the two of them might have had some time together on the way here and discussed a countermeasure. General Konev launched the attack, while Comrade Commander kept defending Ponedelin. This would increase Ponedelin's influence on him. Only when he is assigned to our group army in the future will he unconditionally obey all the orders issued by the comrade commander."
"Is that so?" Samyko felt that Luniev's statement was somewhat absurd. He asked tentatively: "Then why didn't Comrade Commander see it?" According to his idea, since Luniev can You can see something is wrong, so why can't Sokov find it?
"It's very simple." Lunev said: "As Comrade Commander once said, anything that cares about will lead to chaos, and the authorities will be confused and the beholder will see clearly. When he said these words at the time, I didn't understand what he meant, but now I can understand The meaning of these words is clear. He was just worried about the safety of Ponedelin and others, and did not realize that this was all a ploy by Zhukov and Konev."
"Oh, so that's what happened." Samek nodded vigorously after hearing this, and then asked: "Then do we need to tell Comrade Commander about this?"
"There is no need." Lunev shook his head and said: "Since neither Zhukov nor Konev has told the truth about this matter, then we can just pretend that we don't know."
Sokov rushed to a nearby square, where Zhukov and Konev's motorcade was parked.
Seeing Sokov hurriedly arriving, Zhukov and Konev looked at each other and said with a smile: "Comrade Konev, I think you should deal with Misha. I'm worried that if I come forward, he might see him. There is a flaw.”
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Konev replied very readily: "I will deal with him."
Konev walked towards Sokov and asked with a straight face even though they were still far away: "Comrade Sokov, didn't we just tell you that you can stay at the headquarters and command the troops in operations without coming here?" Send us off?"
Seeing that it was Konev blocking his way, Sokov quickly stopped and raised his hand to salute Konev. Naturally, he could not directly say that he came to say goodbye to Ponejelin and others, but changed the subject in time: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the reason why I came here is because I have something to ask you for advice."
"Oh, do you have anything to ask me for?" Sokov's words aroused Konev's curiosity: "Tell me, do you have anything to ask me for?"
"That's right. Now that our department has taken control of Kremenchug, I would like to ask what our next task is." After Sokov finished speaking, he added without waiting for Konev to speak. : "Do I mean to only hold on to Klementchuk, or continue to expand the occupied area?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Konev replied without hesitation: "The Germans are definitely not willing to lose Kremenchug, and they will definitely launch a crazy attack there next. If you spread your forces and occupy other area, I’m afraid it will be difficult to defend the landing site established on the right bank of the Dnieper River.”
"Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov straightened his back and said: "I will transfer the main force of the group army to the area as soon as possible to consolidate the established landing site."
"Comrade Sokov, don't worry, you are not fighting alone." Konev said to Sokov in an encouraging tone: "There are enough troops to attack Poltava now, and I plan to send the 53rd Army to reinforce you. . I believe that as long as two armies are placed at the landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River, no matter how crazy the German attack is, they will never be able to drive you into the Dnieper River."
While Sokov was talking to Konev, his eyes couldn't help but look around, trying to see where Ponedelin and others were. Konev noticed something unusual about Sokov, and deliberately asked: "Comrade Sokov, what are you looking at?"
Seeing that Konev was aware of his purpose, Sokov did not hide it and asked truthfully: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I want to see General Ponedelin. Is it okay?"
Faced with Sokov's request, Konev did not make things difficult. He pointed to a covered truck standing in the distance: "Here, the three of them are in that truck. If you have anything to say, just stand under the truck and say it."
Just when Sokov agreed and was about to turn around and leave, Konev added: "Remember, you only have five minutes. When the time is up, we will set off."
Sokov agreed and ran away quickly.
He came to the back of the covered truck and slapped his hand twice on the tailgate. The tarpaulin lifted a corner, and a captain poked his head out, looked down at Sokov under the car, and asked politely: "General Sokov, what can I do for you?"
"I want to see General Ponejelin."
"I'm sorry, General Sokov." The captain replied politely but distantly: "The front commander has an order that no one is allowed to see the people in the car until they reach their destination."
"I came here on the order of the commander of the front army." Sokov was afraid that the captain would not be able to do it, and pointed at Konev who was standing in the distance: "No, you can ask him." Zhukov and Konev left At that time, he took Ponejelin's people with him. After Sokov learned the news, he was ready to rush to see him off.
Samyko quickly grabbed Sokov and said earnestly: "Comrade Commander, I don't think you should send him off."
"Why?" Sokov asked.
"The reason is simple," Sameko said plausibly: "These three generals were all sentenced to death in absentia by the Supreme Military Court. If you have a too close relationship with them, I am afraid it will be very detrimental to you."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov retorted: "You were also there when I was talking to General Ponedelin just now, and you also saw the scars on his body with your own eyes. You can't fake it. We can definitely Convince Marshal Zhukov to recommend that the Supreme Military Court retry the cases of the three generals and restore their innocence."
While Sokov and Samyko were arguing, Runev laughed and said nothing. When the two were almost finished arguing, he said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think the commander should go see him off."
"Comrade Military Commissioner, aren't you worried that the commander will be implicated?"
"Implicated, what kind of involvement?" Lunev deliberately said with a straight face: "Comrade Commander sent Marshal Zhukov and the front commander General Konev away, what can be wrong?"
Samyko originally wanted to say something, but when he saw Lunev winking at him, he immediately realized that the other party had something to say and wanted to say it to him privately, so he chose to give in to Sokov: "Okay, Comrade Commander, since you insist on going, I will not stop you. There is still a lot of work to be done in the headquarters, so I will not accompany you."
Sokov had something to say to Ponedelin in private. Samyko and others were unwilling to go, and he was getting what he wanted. After a few perfunctory words, he left the headquarters with Samoilov.
As soon as Sokov left the headquarters, Samyko walked up to Lunev and asked curiously: "Comrade Military Commissar, you just kept winking at me. Is there something wrong?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are worrying too much." Lunev asked Samyko to sit down and said to him with a smile: "Do you think that Marshal Zhukov and General Konev took the three of them away to hand them over to the highest military level?" Does the court carry out the death penalty?”
"Is not it?"
"Of course not." Runev shook his head and said, "Didn't you notice that when General Konev was troubled by Nedelin, Marshal Zhukov sat next to him and didn't say a word?"
After Lunev's reminder, Samyko felt that this was indeed the case, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, what on earth is going on, has I been confused?"
"If I'm not wrong, Marshal Zhukov plans to wait for Ponedelin and others to clear their grievances and recover their health before sending them to our army group." Lunev explained to Samyko with a smile: " I think the two of them might have had some time together on the way here and discussed a countermeasure. General Konev launched the attack, while Comrade Commander kept defending Ponedelin. This would increase Ponedelin's influence on him. Only when he is assigned to our group army in the future will he unconditionally obey all the orders issued by the comrade commander."
"Is that so?" Samyko felt that Luniev's statement was somewhat absurd. He asked tentatively: "Then why didn't Comrade Commander see it?" According to his idea, since Luniev can You can see something is wrong, so why can't Sokov find it?
"It's very simple." Lunev said: "As Comrade Commander once said, anything that cares about will lead to chaos, and the authorities will be confused and the beholder will see clearly. When he said these words at the time, I didn't understand what he meant, but now I can understand The meaning of these words is clear. He was just worried about the safety of Ponedelin and others, and did not realize that this was all a ploy by Zhukov and Konev."
"Oh, so that's what happened." Samek nodded vigorously after hearing this, and then asked: "Then do we need to tell Comrade Commander about this?"
"There is no need." Lunev shook his head and said: "Since neither Zhukov nor Konev has told the truth about this matter, then we can just pretend that we don't know."
Sokov rushed to a nearby square, where Zhukov and Konev's motorcade was parked.
Seeing Sokov hurriedly arriving, Zhukov and Konev looked at each other and said with a smile: "Comrade Konev, I think you should deal with Misha. I'm worried that if I come forward, he might see him. There is a flaw.”
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Konev replied very readily: "I will deal with him."
Konev walked towards Sokov and asked with a straight face even though they were still far away: "Comrade Sokov, didn't we just tell you that you can stay at the headquarters and command the troops in operations without coming here?" Send us off?"
Seeing that it was Konev blocking his way, Sokov quickly stopped and raised his hand to salute Konev. Naturally, he could not directly say that he came to say goodbye to Ponejelin and others, but changed the subject in time: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the reason why I came here is because I have something to ask you for advice."
"Oh, do you have anything to ask me for?" Sokov's words aroused Konev's curiosity: "Tell me, do you have anything to ask me for?"
"That's right. Now that our department has taken control of Kremenchug, I would like to ask what our next task is." After Sokov finished speaking, he added without waiting for Konev to speak. : "Do I mean to just stick to Klementchuk, or continue to expand the occupied area?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Konev replied without hesitation: "The Germans are definitely not willing to lose Kremenchug, and they will definitely launch a crazy attack there next. If you spread your forces and occupy other area, I’m afraid it will be difficult to defend the landing site established on the right bank of the Dnieper River.”
"Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov straightened his back and said: "I will transfer the main force of the group army to the area as soon as possible to consolidate the established landing site."
"Comrade Sokov, don't worry, you are not fighting alone." Konev said to Sokov in an encouraging tone: "There are enough troops to attack Poltava now, and I plan to send the 53rd Army to reinforce you. . I believe that as long as two armies are placed at the landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River, no matter how crazy the German attack is, they will never be able to drive you into the Dnieper River."
