After Sokov conveyed the orders from his superiors, he felt that the next work should be to prepare for various attacks, such as galoshes called swamp sleds, which commanders and soldiers wear to walk in the swamp, which can reduce the risk of falling into the quagmire. probability. As well as pallets, rafts and the like carrying machine guns, mortars and small-caliber artillery.
When he was assigning tasks to Sidorin, he unexpectedly received a call from Rokossovsky: "Misha, come to the front headquarters immediately."
After Sokov put down the phone, he said to himself: "Comrade General asked me to go to the front army headquarters. I don't know what happened?"
After hearing this, Sidorin began to analyze to him: "Does the superior plan to add a group of soldiers or weapons and equipment to us?"
The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional. Sidorin's words made Sokov think of a possibility, that is, Belkin arrived with a hovercraft detachment, and Rokossovsky called him over, just to let him pick up these hovercrafts. .
Thinking of this, he couldn't suppress the joy in his heart, and said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, when I called Colonel Belkin, the news I got was that he came to the front line, but which front he went to, it didn't matter which front he went to. No one knows. Comrade General General called me today. It may be related to this matter. I want to rush over immediately to have a look."
"Comrade Deputy Commander and I are in your headquarters. Don't worry." Sidorin said: "The road is not very safe. Please bring more people there."
Sokov took Sidorin's reminder seriously. You must know that a few months ago, Vatutin was attacked by Bandera elements when he was operating in his own defense area. Unfortunately, he was shot and wounded. After being treated in the hospital for two months, he died due to wound infection.
Sokov, who was unwilling to make the same mistake as Vatutin, wanted to go to the front army headquarters, so naturally he took Captain Koshkin and a guard company with him. Half an hour later, a convoy consisting of an armored vehicle, three jeeps and five trucks drove towards the location of the front headquarters.
When Sokov arrived at the front army headquarters, he was greeted by Chief of Staff Malinin: "Comrade Sokov, welcome! How are you? Did you have a smooth journey?"
"It went very well, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov looked around the room and asked curiously: "Why is Comrade General not here?"
"He went to inspect General Batov's 65th Army. I'm afraid it will have to wait a while before he comes back." Malinen said enthusiastically: "You must be thirsty after sitting in the car for so long. I'll get you a cup of tea." "
"Thank you, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I'm not thirsty." Sokov was eager to know the purpose of Rokossovsky calling him here, so he asked Malinin straight to the point: "I want to ask, what is the purpose of Comrade General calling me here?" matter?"
"I think it's better for Comrade General to tell you this matter in person." After Ma Lining said this, he began to ask about the situation in the army: "Have you passed on the battle plan?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, this has been conveyed." Sokov nodded and said: "After all, there are a lot of things to prepare. Let the commanders and soldiers know what they know early, and they can be more decisive when executing orders. Some."
He thought that before he came here, he had guessed that Belkin might be waiting for you here, but now he didn't see anyone. In order to find out whether Belkin had come to the Front Army Headquarters, he tentatively asked Ma Linin: "Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I would like to ask if anyone from the Weapons and Equipment Department has been here in the past two days?"
"No." Ma Lining shook his head and asked in confusion: "What are they doing here?"
Malinin's reply made Sokov's heart freeze. If Malinin said that he had never seen Belgin, it would prove that the other party had not come here at all, and everything was just wishful thinking on his part.
"Comrade Sokov," Malinin saw that after he finished speaking, the expression on Sokov's face turned gloomy, and he asked tentatively: "Did something happen?"
"That's it, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov thought that if Belkin really brought the hovercraft to the front line, Ma Linin and others would know about it sooner or later, so he took the initiative and said: "I used to have a partner named Belkin. Jin, after Yasha was transferred, he was transferred to the Weapons and Equipment Department to take over Yasha's work. Some time ago, I got in touch with him and hoped that he could provide hovercraft to our department..."
"Comrade Sokov, wait a minute." As soon as Sokov said this, he was interrupted by Malinin: "Is the hovercraft you are talking about a new type of vehicle that can travel quickly on swamps or rivers? ?”
"You can say that." Sokov nodded and said: "If they really provide us with these hovercrafts, then our troops can quickly cross the swamp that gives us a headache in just a few minutes. zone."
As the chief of staff of the front army, Malining knew the terrain of the area where the attack was about to begin. Hearing what Sokov said at this moment, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Comrade Sokov, as far as I know, the swamp area you want to attack is more than a thousand meters at the shortest distance, and the hovercraft can actually travel within a few minutes." Through the swamp. You’re not bragging, are you?”
"Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I'm not bragging, it's all true." In order to increase his persuasion, Sokov specifically mentioned the battles to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov: "At that time, we were liberating Belgorod and Kharkov. In Kharkov, we used hovercraft to quickly break through the German river defense positions and cover the large troops entering the city."
"Is it really that powerful?"
"Yes."
"That's great." Ma Lining became excited: "If each of our army groups can have dozens of such hovercrafts, the time to cross the swamp will be greatly shortened, and our commanders and combatants can also move in the shortest time. Within a certain period of time, break through the enemy’s defense in the main direction of attack.”
"Yes, I just considered that hovercrafts have been used in previous battles, which brought a lot of convenience to our operations." Sokov said: "So when I learned that Colonel Belkin had taken over Yasha's position, , so we took the initiative to contact him, hoping that he could provide us with a hovercraft to enhance the troops’ mobility in swampy areas.”
"So what's going on now?" Ma Lining asked eagerly, "Has he agreed to help you?"
"When I learned that there were 30 newly built hovercrafts in the Weapons and Equipment Department, I made a request to him, hoping that they could be used to equip our troops. But he said at the time that since he had not been in the Weapons and Equipment Department for a long time, many things he did not understand I can’t make the decision yet, I must ask Comrade Ustinov for instructions before he can tell me the result.”
"Then what's the result?" Ma Lining continued to ask: "Did he agree to deliver these hovercrafts to you?"
"When I called him last night, I accidentally learned that he went to the front line." Sokov said with regret: "My wife Asia told me that he went to the front line, but it is regrettable that he went to the front line." , she only knew that Belgin went to the front line, but she didn’t know which front he went to.”
"Oh, no wonder you just asked me if anyone from the Weapons and Equipment Department has come over. So that's what happened." Ma Lining learned that Belgin might be able to provide a batch of equipment to improve the mobility of the troops. He couldn't help but feel itchy. He took the initiative to ask Sokov said: "Comrade Sokov, wait a moment, I will call other troops to see if Colonel Belkin has gone to them."
Seeing that Malinin grabbed the phone and was about to contact other friendly forces, Sokov quickly reminded him: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, don't let the friendly forces know that we want to get the hovercraft, otherwise many people will fight for these things. . Whether the superiors will allocate the hovercraft to our front army at that time is still unknown."
Malinen deeply agrees with Sokov's statement. If he knew which army had a new type of transport such as a hovercraft, he would probably apply to his superiors to equip it with such a transport. Similarly, if Belkin is planning to deliver these hovercrafts to his own front army, if other front armies know about it, they will definitely come to fight for it. In order to avoid this situation, naturally the news cannot be leaked.
Soon, Malinin got through the phone at the headquarters of the Second Belarusian Front. When he heard someone talking, he immediately identified himself: "Hello, is it General Ljubarsky? I am Malinin, Chief of Staff of the First Front. !...Hello, hello! I'm calling you because I want to know one thing...I wonder if anyone from the Arms and Equipment Department has been to your place recently?...What, no?!...Okay OK, I got it! ...Thank you! Good luck!”
After ending the call with General Ljubarsky, Malinin called the four Ukrainian Fronts and the Baltic Front one by one to ask if any personnel from the Weapons and Equipment Department had been there.
When Malinin put down the phone, he shook his head at Sokov and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Sokov, I have called the chiefs of staff of all front armies. Their answers are all the same. There is no weapons and equipment department at all recently." personnel have been there.”
After a brief silence, Malinin asked tentatively: "Comrade Sokov, how about you directly call Comrade Ustinov, the People's Commissar of the Department of Weapons and Equipment, and ask him about Colonel Belgin's whereabouts? "
Regarding Malinin's proposal, Sokov hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to refuse: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I don't think it is appropriate. Although I have dealt with Comrade Ustinov, he often He was polite to me because of Yasha's sake. Now that Yasha has been transferred away, if I call him again, he might just ignore me."
"How will you know if you don't try." Malinin pushed the high-frequency phone in front of Sokov: "I will connect it for you, and you come and talk to Comrade Ustinov."
After finishing speaking, without waiting for Sokov to express his position, Malinin dialed a number and then said into the microphone: "I am General Malinin, Chief of Staff of the First Belarusian Front. Please transfer me to the switchboard of the Weapons and Equipment Department!"
After the switchboard was connected, Malinin once again identified himself to the operator and asked the other party to help him get through to Ustinov's office. The operator heard that it was a chief of staff of the front army who called Ustinov. He thought something big had happened and he didn't dare to neglect, so he immediately connected Ustinov's office.
Hearing someone talking inside, Malinin covered the phone with his hand and handed it to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, the call has been connected. It's up to you to say the next words."
Things had come to this point, and it was obviously inappropriate to refuse any more. Sokov could only bite the bullet and took the phone, put it to his ear, and spoke.
Ustinov's stern voice soon came from the receiver: "Hello! I am Ustinov, where are you?"
"Hello, Comrade People's Commissar." Sokov took a deep breath, and then revealed his identity: "I am Sokov!"
"It turned out to be Sokov. I just heard the operator say that it was General Malinin, the chief of staff of the 1st Belarusian Front, calling me. I was shocked and thought something had happened." Ustino My husband said with a smile on the phone: "I didn't expect that the person looking for me would be you. What can I do for you?"
"That's right, Comrade People's Commissar." Sokov said cautiously: "I want to find Colonel Belkin who has just been transferred to the Weapons and Equipment Department. He is taking over the post of Major General Yakov..." The reason why he was saying After mentioning Belkin's name, he specifically emphasized that the other party was taking over Yakov's position because he was worried that Ustinov would not know who Belkin was.
"Oh, you are talking about Colonel Belgin." Ustinov said: "I know him. He came to my office two days ago and said that your troops were about to participate in a large-scale military operation. I hope that I can agree to distribute the 30 hovercraft newly manufactured by the Weapons and Equipment Department to your troops."
Sokov was originally thinking about how to mention the hovercraft, but when Ustinov mentioned it first, his heart beat faster. After Ustinov finished speaking, he asked tentatively: "Comrade People's Commissar, I wonder how you answered him?"
"How else can I reply?! Of course I agree!" Ustinov said with a smile: "If he was applying for someone else, I might have to consider it, but when I heard that it was for your troops, I immediately applied. I agreed without hesitation. I feel that by assigning hovercraft to your troops, you will definitely achieve a more glorious victory."
When he learned that Ustinov agreed to allocate the hovercraft to his troops, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed and expressed his gratitude to the other party: "Comrade People's Commissar, this is great, this is really great. On behalf of the 48th Army To all the commanders and fighters, thank you!”
"I don't need verbal thanks." Ustinov said on the other end of the phone: "If you can use these hovercrafts to achieve more brilliant results, it will be my greatest gratitude."
"By the way, Comrade People's Commissar, I have one more thing to ask you!"
"what's up?"
"Where did Colonel Belgin go?" Sokov asked tentatively, "I haven't been able to contact him since last night."
"Don't worry, Comrade Sokov, Colonel Belkin will not disappear for no reason." Ustinov said on the phone: "He took those hovercrafts to your place. It is estimated that they will be available tomorrow morning at the latest." arrive."
When he learned that Belkin was heading towards his headquarters with a hovercraft, Sokov was overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Thank you, Comrade People's Commissar, thank you so much for bringing us such good news."
