"Hurry up and invite them all in!"
Soon, two short generals, led by their staff officers, walked into Sokov's headquarters.
Sokov took a look, oh, both of them have high military ranks, they are all lieutenant generals. If you don't get an exceptional promotion, your military rank will be the same as theirs.
The two men recognized Sokov without any introduction by the staff. After all, in this room, Sokov was the only one with the rank of general. They came to stand in front of Sokov, raised their hands in salute, and then began to report.
The pudgy general on the left said first: "Hello, General Sokov, I am Lieutenant General Bogdanov, commander of the 2nd Tank Army."
The general on the right who was slightly thin and looked a bit Central Asian continued: "Hello, comrade general, I am Lieutenant General Kravchenko Tank Corps, commander of the 6th Tank Army."
When Sokov shook hands with the two men one by one, he even looked at Kravchenko. During the Battle of Cherkasy, although Kravchenko completed the rendezvous with the 5th Guards Tank Army and encircled tens of thousands of German troops, he was defeated by Zhukov because he failed to stop the rescue operation carried out by Hube's 1st Armored Army. Downgraded use. However, judging from his expression, this downgrade does not seem to have much impact on him.
After inviting the two of them to sit down, Sokov stopped talking and began to assign tasks to them. "General Bogdanov, your troops are deployed on the right wing of our combat area to assist the troops of the 27th Army in attacking westward."
"General Kravchenko, the mission of your 6th Tank Army is to follow the actions of General Afunin's 18th Guards Army, break through the defenses of the German and Romanian troops to the south, capture Wingene, and enter from this area. Within Romania.”
As a general-level commander, Kravchenko naturally understood the meaning of entering Romania. He stood up abruptly and said with some excitement: "General Sokov, so it is possible that our army group will be the first army to enter Romania?"
"General Kravchenko," although Kravchenko said that this possibility was very high, for the sake of safety, Sokov did not give the other party a definite answer: "Theoretically speaking, it is indeed possible for your army to It is the first unit to enter Romania and will be recorded in history. However, we do not rule out friendly forces from other regions entering Romania ahead of you due to the smooth progress."
"General Sokov," the honor recorded in history is supreme to Kravchenko. He decided to be the first to enter Romania at all costs, so he expressed his stance to Sokov: "Please rest assured." , our army group will definitely not let you down on the battlefield."
Kravchenko's 6th Tank Army may be the first to enter Romania, which makes Bogdanov sitting next to him very jealous. He stood up and asked: "General Sokov, the commanders and fighters of our 2nd Tank Army all have rich combat experience. You put us in an unimportant direction. Isn't this inappropriate?"
Sokov laughed after hearing this, and then said to Bogdanov: "General Bogdanov, the combat mission of your army group is equally important. Look," he pulled the map over and placed it on Bogdanov In front of her husband, she continued, "If you can capture Chernivtsi, you may become the first army to enter Romania."
When Bogdanov heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. But after he saw the map clearly, the luster in his eyes dimmed: "General Sokov, from where we are now, it is indeed not far from Chernivtsi. But this road is full of forests and lakes. and swamps are not conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops at all.”
After listening to Bogdanov's complaints, Sokov smiled lightly, and then said: "General Bogdanov, as far as I know, in addition to the 11th and 16th Tank Corps, your tank army also has infantry. The 60th, 112th and 194th Divisions, as well as units such as the 115th Infantry Brigade, the 28th Ski Brigade and the 11th Guards Tank Brigade.
Even if the terrain on your way forward is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops, the infantry units you have are fully capable of breaking through the enemy's defense line. You know, the number of German troops on this road is not large, most of them are Romanian troops with weak combat effectiveness. "
In order to make the other party willingly carry out his orders, Sokov paused for a moment and used the provocation method to say: "Of course, if you feel that your troops are not capable of this combat task, I can keep you as a reserve team and let others troops to attack instead of you."
This method of motivating generals really worked. For Bogdanov, who valued the honor of soldiers more than his life, it was intolerable to let other troops take over his combat missions. His face flushed and he said: "General Sokov, since our superiors sent us here to accept your command, then what you say is an order. How can you change it at will? You know, you can change the order at will. The order will adversely affect the prestige of your commander."
Sokov felt secretly proud when he saw that Bogdanov had indeed taken the bait. He said to Bogdanov: "General Bogdanov, what you said does have some truth. If the orders I give are changed casually, it will indeed have a negative impact on the prestige of my commander. Okay. , your tank group is responsible for the attack on the right wing of the combat group. I hope you and General Kravchenko will compete to see whose troops enter Romania first."
After seeing off the two generals, Smirnov said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, your method is very effective. I see that both Bogdanov and Kravchenko are holding back a lot of energy. , intending to compete with each other on the battlefield to see whose troops enter Romania first."
"After Marshal Konev sent the 2nd and 6th Tank Armies, we greatly strengthened our strength." Not long ago, Sokov was worried about the shortage of troops in his hands. Now that there are two more tank armies, it is equivalent to an additional 100,000 troops. In this way, the troops suddenly become richer, and his combat deployment will naturally have to be adjusted accordingly. "Now we can give an order to General Afnin. After our negotiations with Kupczny are over, he will immediately lead the 3rd and 4th Guards Airborne Divisions to station in the city. In the next period of time, there will be It has become a very important starting point for our offense.”
"Comrade Commander, I thought of a question." Samek reminded Sokov: "At the beginning, you told General Afunin that his army might become the first army to enter Romania. Now it appears that Kravchenko, I think things are a bit difficult to handle."
"What can't be done?" Sokov said confidently: "In the coming days, in order to become the first army to enter Romania, these troops will definitely burst out with super combat effectiveness. I think this is Competition is completely necessary.”
"Comrade Commander, you seem to have forgotten one thing." Trofimenko reminded Sokov: "Our troops are now in a situation of insufficient ammunition. Even if General Afnin's 18th Guards Army is stationed in Kup Zini also has no ability to develop deep into the enemy's defense. In other words, in the next few days or even a week, the only troops that can achieve results are Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army and Klav Chenko’s 6th Tank Army.”
After Trofimenko's reminder, Sokov immediately remembered that his troops were indeed facing an embarrassing situation of insufficient ammunition. Although Konev promised to supply himself as soon as possible, it was still unknown when the supplies would be in place. "It's okay," he could only say bravely: "These two tank armies were placed under my command by their superiors. No matter what results they achieved, they belong to the entire combat group." "Hurry up and get them all. please come in!"
Sokov took a look, oh, both of them have high military ranks, they are all lieutenant generals. If you don't get an exceptional promotion, your military rank will be the same as theirs.
The two men recognized Sokov without any introduction by the staff. After all, in this room, Sokov was the only one with the rank of general. They came to stand in front of Sokov, raised their hands in salute, and then began to report.
The pudgy general on the left said first: "Hello, General Sokov, I am Lieutenant General Bogdanov, commander of the 2nd Tank Army."
The general on the right who was slightly thin and looked a bit Central Asian continued: "Hello, comrade general, I am Lieutenant General Kravchenko Tank Corps, commander of the 6th Tank Army."
When Sokov shook hands with the two men one by one, he even looked at Kravchenko. During the Battle of Cherkasy, although Kravchenko completed the rendezvous with the 5th Guards Tank Army and encircled tens of thousands of German troops, he was defeated by Zhukov because he failed to stop the rescue operation carried out by Hube's 1st Armored Army. Downgraded use. However, judging from his expression, this downgrade does not seem to have much impact on him.
After inviting the two of them to sit down, Sokov stopped talking and began to assign tasks to them. "General Bogdanov, your troops are deployed on the right wing of our combat area to assist the troops of the 27th Army in attacking westward."
"General Kravchenko, the mission of your 6th Tank Army is to follow the actions of General Afunin's 18th Guards Army, break through the defenses of the German and Romanian troops to the south, capture Wingene, and enter from this area. Within Romania.”
As a general-level commander, Kravchenko naturally understood the meaning of entering Romania. He stood up abruptly and said with some excitement: "General Sokov, so it is possible that our army group will be the first army to enter Romania?"
"General Kravchenko," although Kravchenko said that this possibility was very high, for the sake of safety, Sokov did not give the other party a definite answer: "Theoretically speaking, it is indeed possible for your army to It is the first unit to enter Romania and will be recorded in history. However, we do not rule out friendly forces from other regions entering Romania ahead of you due to the smooth progress."
"General Sokov," the honor recorded in history is supreme to Kravchenko. He decided to be the first to enter Romania at all costs, so he expressed his stance to Sokov: "Please rest assured." , our army group will definitely not let you down on the battlefield."
Kravchenko's 6th Tank Army may be the first to enter Romania, which makes Bogdanov sitting next to him very jealous. He stood up and asked: "General Sokov, the commanders and fighters of our 2nd Tank Army all have rich combat experience. You put us in an unimportant direction. Isn't this inappropriate?"
Sokov laughed after hearing this, and then said to Bogdanov: "General Bogdanov, the combat mission of your army group is equally important. Look," he pulled the map over and placed it on Bogdanov In front of her husband, she continued, "If you can capture Chernivtsi, you may become the first army to enter Romania."
When Bogdanov heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. But after he saw the map clearly, the luster in his eyes dimmed: "General Sokov, from where we are now, it is indeed not far from Chernivtsi. But this road is full of forests and lakes. and swamps are not conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops at all.”
After listening to Bogdanov's complaints, Sokov smiled lightly, and then said: "General Bogdanov, as far as I know, in addition to the 11th and 16th Tank Corps, your tank army also has infantry. The 60th, 112th and 194th Divisions, as well as units such as the 115th Infantry Brigade, the 28th Ski Brigade and the 11th Guards Tank Brigade.
Even if the terrain on your way forward is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops, the infantry units you have are fully capable of breaking through the enemy's defense line. You know, the number of German troops on this road is not large, most of them are Romanian troops with weak combat effectiveness. "
In order to make the other party willingly carry out his orders, Sokov paused for a moment and used the provocation method to say: "Of course, if you feel that your troops are not capable of this combat task, I can keep you as a reserve team and let others troops to attack instead of you."
This method of motivating generals really worked. For Bogdanov, who valued the honor of soldiers more than his life, it was intolerable to let other troops take over his combat missions. His face flushed and he said: "General Sokov, since our superiors sent us here to accept your command, then what you say is an order. How can you change it at will? You know, you can change the order at will. The order will adversely affect the prestige of your commander."
"After Marshal Konev sent the 2nd and 6th Tank Armies, we greatly strengthened our strength." Not long ago, Sokov was worried about the shortage of troops in his hands. Now that there are two more tank armies, it is equivalent to an additional 100,000 troops. In this way, the troops suddenly become richer, and his combat deployment will naturally have to be adjusted accordingly. "Now we can give an order to General Afnin. After our negotiations with Kupczny are over, he will immediately lead the 3rd and 4th Guards Airborne Divisions to station in the city. In the next period of time, there will be It has become a very important starting point for our offense.”
