Rokossovsky went to Moscow and was sent to the hospital due to an old injury. Sokov, who was far away on the Narew River, knew nothing about it. He is inspecting the defense areas of each division to check the true strength of the troops so that they can be used rationally in the battle against East Prussia.
That day, when he and Ponejelin returned to the headquarters after inspecting the troops, he asked Sidorin who came up to him: "Chief of Staff, has there been a call from the front army headquarters?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Sidorin shook his head and replied in a positive tone: "There was no call."
"Strange, what's going on?" Sokov couldn't help but said to himself: "Comrade Marshal has been in the Second Front for almost a week. Why haven't we received the transfer order yet?"
"Comrade Commander." After hearing what Sokov said, Sidorin immediately expressed his thoughts: "Comrade Marshal may have changed his mind and does not want to transfer troops from the First Front Army to strengthen the Second Front Army."
"This is impossible." Sokov said heartily. According to historical records, after Rokossovsky became the commander of the Second Belarusian Front, the Supreme Command assigned the 48th, 65th and 70th Group Armies to him. Commander, this is an unchangeable fact. But he could not tell Ponejelin and Sidorin the real reason. He could only say euphemistically: "The Second Front is currently relatively weak. It will be very difficult to independently complete the East Prussian strategy. It is also reasonable for the First Front Army to deploy troops to strengthen it."
"Even if we have to mobilize troops, we may not necessarily be mobilized." Sidorin said cautiously: "I think the best we can do is mobilize General Batov's 65th Group Army, because General Batov is not only an old subordinate of the Marshal, but also his troops It’s also closest to the Second Front.”
"That's not what you say." Sokov shook his head and said: "It is unrealistic to strengthen only one front army for the Second Front Army and want to independently complete the strategy in one direction. According to my judgment, at least three troops need to be mobilized. Only the troops of a group army can meet the needs of combat."
"Three armies on the right wing were transferred at once, and the strength of the Second Front has indeed increased." Ponedelin originally supported Sokov's statement, but a week later, Rokossovsky did not The slightest bit of news made him doubt Sokov's judgment. At this moment, he echoed Sidorin: "But as a result, the strength of the First Front Army has been greatly weakened. Comrade Commander, you also said that if we want to attack Berlin, the First Belarusian Front Army commanded by Marshal Zhukov will The Front Army is the main force, while Marshal Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front and Marshal Rokossovsky’s 2nd Belarusian Front are only secondary units responsible for coordination and cover.”
Sokov thought for a while and decided to call the front army headquarters and ask Malinin about the situation to find out what was going on.
Just when Sokov's hand touched the phone, the phone rang first. He grabbed the microphone, put it to his ear, and said urgently: "I am Sokov, where are you?"
When the other party heard Sokov's voice, he hesitated for a moment and said, "I am General Zakharov!"
"General Zakharov?" Sokov couldn't help but be stunned for a moment after hearing the other party's name. He knew very well that before Rokossovsky was transferred to the commander of the Second Front, Zakharov served as commander. member position. He asked a little strangely: "How could it be you?"
Hearing what Sokov said, Zakharov chuckled and said: "Misha, why can't it be me?"
"But, don't you work for the Second Front?"
"Misha, don't you know that I have been transferred to the First Front Army and served as deputy commander?"
Sokov really didn't know that Zakharov was now in the First Front Army. He was a little surprised and said: "You have been transferred to our First Front Army?"
"Yes, that's right." Zakharov said in a positive tone: "Originally, I stayed in the Second Front Army as deputy commander. However, after only two days of staying, I was transferred directly over and took the post again. Position of deputy commander of the front army."
Since the other party mentioned the Second Front Army, Sokov asked casually: "I wonder how Comrade Marshal is doing now?"
"Not sure." Zakharov said hesitantly: "I heard that he was recruited to Moscow by the Supreme Commander himself, and he has not come back yet."
After listening to Zakharov's words, Sokov realized that his troops had not received the transfer order for a long time, which may have something to do with Rokossovsky's departure. If you want to go to the Second Front, I'm afraid you can only wait until Rokossovsky comes back. In order to find out when Rokossovsky would return, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you know when the Marshal will return from Moscow?"
"I'm not sure about this." After Zaharov said this, he changed the subject in time: "I called you today because I have something else to inform you."
Seeing that Zakharov was unwilling to talk about Rokossovsky, Sokov could not pester him, so he quickly said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, please tell me."
"It's like this. Marshal Zhukov is going to convene a meeting of several group army commanders." Zakharov said: "Misha, you happen to be one of them. I hope you can rush to the front army headquarters as soon as possible to attend the meeting."
"Am I going alone?" Sokov asked.
"You can do it alone."
"Okay, I'll get there as soon as possible."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Ponedelin and Sidorin: "The newly appointed deputy commander of the front army, General Zakharov, informed me to go to the front army headquarters immediately to participate in an emergency meeting convened by Marshal Zhukov."
"Are you going alone?" Ponejelin asked.
"Yes, let me go alone. You two will stay and look after the house." After saying that, Sokov shouted outside: "Koshkin, Captain Koshkin."
Koshkin, who was standing at the door, heard Rokossovsky's shout and immediately walked in. He asked respectfully: "Comrade Commander, what are your instructions?"
"I want to rush to the front army headquarters for a meeting immediately. You can bring a few people with me."
Since the entire route to the front headquarters was under the control of the Soviet army, Sokov did not bring too many people with him this time, so he prepared five jeeps. He and Koshkin took one, and the rest of the guards The soldiers took four other vehicles and rushed to the front army headquarters as quickly as possible.
An hour later, the convoy arrived at the new headquarters of the front army headquarters.
In front of the checkpoint at the intersection, a captain officer was waiting anxiously. When he saw Sokov's motorcade approaching, he quickly stretched out his hand to signal for the car to stop.
After the convoy stopped, the officer ran to the side of the first car and asked loudly: "Is this General Sokov's convoy?"
After receiving a positive answer, he continued to ask: "Which car is General Sokov in?"
The guard sitting in the car in front quickly pointed him to Sokov's vehicle. After the officer thanked the other party, he jogged all the way to Sokov's car.
"Hello, General Sokov!" The officer first bent down and looked into the car. After seeing Sokov clearly sitting in the back row, he took a step back, straightened his body and saluted Sokov, and said respectfully: "I He is the staff officer of the Front Army Headquarters, and he came here specially to pick you up."
Sokov pushed open the car door, then moved inside and said to the other party: "Come up, comrade captain, you will be our guide!"
Unexpectedly, the officer waved his hand and said, "No, General Sokov, my motorcycle is right in front. Just ask your convoy to follow me." After that, he turned and left.
When the officer passed the first car, he leaned close to the window and said in a voice that Sokov could hear: "Comrade driver, my motorcycle will open in front of you later, so you should follow me."
Soon, the officer arrived at the checkpoint and got into the sidecar of a three-wheeled motorcycle parked on the roadside. Following the gesture he made, the motorcyclist immediately started his motorcycle, and the soldier at the checkpoint also raised the crossbar in time.
The motorcycle brought Sokov's motorcade outside the headquarters. The officer got off the motorcycle and quickly came to Sokov who had just got off the motorcycle: "Comrade General, please follow me!"
The officer led Sokov into the building, while Koshkin and the guards he brought could only stay outside and wait.
On the way to the conference room, Sokov asked the officer tentatively: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask, besides me, which group army commanders are coming to attend the meeting?"
When the officer heard Sokov's question, he hesitated for a moment, and finally chose not to say it: "General Sokov, you will naturally know when you get to the conference room."
There was a table at the door of the conference room, and behind the table sat a lieutenant without a military cap. Seeing the captain bringing Sokov over, the lieutenant quickly stood up and walked around from behind the table: "You are finally here. Comrade Marshal has asked me several times."
Although the lieutenant was speaking to the officer who was leading him, Sokov felt that he should explain: “After we received the notice, we rushed over as quickly as possible, but the road conditions were not ideal, so it was delayed a little longer. "
How dare the lieutenant get angry at a commander of Sokov's level? Instead, he smiled and said, "General Sokov, Comrade Marshal and other commanders are waiting for you inside. Please hurry in."
After thanking the lieutenant, Sokov quickly walked to the closed door and shouted inside: "Report!"
Zhukov's majestic voice came from inside: "Come in!"
Sokov opened the door and walked in quickly.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw a long wooden table opposite. Zhukov, Malinin, Telekin and Zakharov were sitting behind the table, and next to them sat several commanders with shining stars.
Sokov didn't care to see clearly who the generals were. He quickly walked to the table, raised his hand and saluted Zhukov and others, and then said loudly: "Comrade Marshal, Commander of the 48th Group Army Sokov I have been ordered to come, please give me instructions!”
Before Zhukov could finish speaking, Zakharov, who was sitting next to him, spoke up. He smiled and said, "Misha, you are late. Among the commanders participating in the meeting today, you were the latest to arrive."
Just as Sokov was thinking about how to answer this question, Zhukov spoke. Today he seemed very reasonable: "Misha's station is too far away from the headquarters, and the time of receiving the call is also the latest, so it is understandable that he comes later." As he said, he pointed to the side with his hand, "You can do whatever you want Find a seat and sit down.”
Sokov agreed, and when he turned to look at the generals sitting next to him, he found that sitting next to him were Batov and the infantry division, plus an unknown general. He quickly walked to the empty seat next to Bartov and sat down. At the same time, he glanced at the general and muttered to himself: "Who is this general? Why have I never seen him before?"
"Misha, you came a little late and missed the self-introduction just now." Zhukov said to Sokov: "Sitting between General Batov and General Popov is the commander of the 33rd Army Tsvetaev. General, he was just transferred from the Second Front Army."
Sokov quickly stood up and stretched out his hand to the other side across Batov: "Hello, General Tsvetaev."
"Hello, General Sokov." Tsvetayev also stretched out his hand and shook Sokov's hand.
After the two sat down again, Zhukov continued: "I now officially announce something: According to the order of the Supreme Command, the 48th, 65th and 70th Group Armies were assigned to Rokossovsky's Belarusian Third Army. The Second Front is commanded. The 33rd Army of the former Belarusian Second Front was placed under our command."
When Bartov heard this, his face showed joy, and he quickly asked: "Comrade Marshal, when will we officially be included in the Second Front Army order?"
"Don't be anxious, Comrade Batov." Zhukov said: "After I asked Comrade Stalin for instructions, he agreed to keep your three armies for a while until the situation on the front of our army stabilizes."
"Comrade Marshal," Batov asked, "if I stay for a while longer, will it affect the implementation of the Second Front's combat deployment?"
"No." Zhukov shook his head and said, "Judging from the current situation, the Second Front will not take any military action for the time being."
When Bartov heard what Zhukov said, he couldn't help but have a disappointed expression on his face. But he couldn't say anything more, so he could only sit down obediently.
"According to the original battle plan, an attack on the Modlin Fortress should be launched in the near future." Although Bartov sat down, Zhukov's eyes still stayed on him, "What are your thoughts on this operation?"
Bartov stood up again and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, the German army has strong artillery firepower in the Modlin Fortress. If we cannot suppress the enemy's artillery when we attack, then our attacking troops will Under heavy artillery fire, they suffered huge casualties.”
"Comrade Marshal." Malinin said from the side: "Some time ago, we also tried to attack the German positions in the triangle area. However, because the path of attack was within the coverage of German cross-fire and Modlin Fortress fire, Rokossov Commander Ski decisively terminated the offensive operation after the artillery preparations were completed."
"I know this." Zhukov nodded, then turned his attention to Sokov: "I saw the attack plan at the General Staff Headquarters. It was originally intended that Mischa's 48th Group Army would be the main offensive, but because of the enemy The artillery fire was too fierce. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, Rokossovsky canceled the offensive operation after consulting the Supreme Commander himself."
After a pause, Zhukov continued: "But this time the situation is different. Not only can we use artillery fire to suppress the enemy's artillery positions and fortresses, but we can also dispatch the air force to bomb the above-mentioned areas to ensure the success of our attack."
