On the other end of the phone, Sokov, who put down the phone, had already walked to Ponejelin and Potapov.竨
The two people who were talking immediately stopped. Ponedelin pointed at Sokov and said to Potapov: "Misha, let me introduce to you. This is Sokov, the commander of the 48th Group Army. This is me. Immediate boss."
Seeing such a young general in front of him, Potapov had a look of astonishment on his face. He didn't expect that the other person was so young and looked to be less than thirty years old. In his memory, there had never been a general under the age of thirty in the Soviet army. To have the rank of general and to hold the position he held now, there must be something special about this person.
Although he was full of curiosity, he also knew that this was not the best time to inquire further, so he took the initiative to reach out to the other party and politely said: "Hello, General Sokov!"
Sokov held his hand and gently patted the back of the other person's hand twice with his left hand. "General Potapov, you have suffered for so many years."
"Thank you for your concern." Potapov's eyes were red: "Compared with those comrades who sacrificed their lives, I am lucky. At least I can still return to my own people alive."
Sidorin, who had been standing nearby for a long time, finally found a chance to interrupt: "General Potapov, I want to ask you a question, is that okay?"
"Okay, Chief of Staff Sidorin."
"I heard that there were as many as 50,000 prisoners of war brought here with you, but now there are only 2,000 left." Sidorin asked cautiously: "Am I right?"
"You are right, Chief of Staff Sidorin." Potapov nodded, and after confirming Sidorin's statement, he continued: "Although I don't know the specific number of people, the number of people who were escorted here, There are definitely more than 50,000 people. But in the past few years of heavy labor, the vast majority of prisoners of war died of exhaustion or malnutrition, and in the end we were the only ones left."
"I wonder what kind of manual labor you usually do?" Sidorin then asked.
"What else can be done, of course, is to build roads, dig tunnels, build fortifications, etc." Potapov said with a grimace: "Everyone usually eats less, and with such heavy physical labor, how can we Those who survive are the lucky ones.”
"Wait a minute, General Potapov." Sokov keenly captured several key words from Potapov's words: "The Germans asked you to build roads, dig tunnels and build fortifications in East Prussia? "
Potapov replied affirmatively: "Yes, it is these manual labors."
Sokov felt a burst of ecstasy in his heart at this moment. If Potapov had really been engaged in construction work in East Prussia for several years, he must have a certain understanding of the German fortifications. Thinking of this, he asked tentatively: "General Potapov, so you have a certain understanding of the situation of the German fortifications?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Potapov was stunned for a moment, then understood Sokov's intention, nodded and said affirmatively: "Yes, General Sokov. Although there are some core fortifications The Germans built it themselves, but their main defense system was built by us prisoners of war."
Sokov asked: "Can you provide me with some information about the German fortifications?"
"Okay." Potapov agreed readily. His eyes quickly swept around the room, and then he pointed to the map hanging on the wall and asked for Sokov's opinion: "General Sokov, I can use you. Map?"
"Of course, General Potapov." Seeing that the other party was willing to tell the information he knew, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. He quickly pulled him to the wall and put the explanation stick leaning against the wall into his hand. Here, let him explain the German defense situation to everyone.
Potapov, who had been engaged in manual labor in East Prussia for three years, naturally knew a lot about the German fortifications. But what he focused on at the moment was the enemy's defenses in front of the 48th Group Army.
Sokov listened for a while and felt that the information provided by Potapov was very useful. He quickly called Sidorin and ordered him: "Chief of Staff, ask a few staff officers to record the situation introduced by General Potapov."
"Comrade Commander." Sidorin replied with a smile: "You are too late. My subordinates are currently recording what General Potapov said."
Sokov looked to the side, and sure enough he saw four or five staff officers with notebooks and pens in their hands. They looked up from time to time at Potapov who was explaining, and summarized what he heard and saw. Record it in detail in the notebook.
While Potapov was explaining, Ponedelin stood beside him and rubbed his hands excitedly. After Potapov finished speaking, he stepped forward and took the other person's hand, saying repeatedly: "That's great, simply great. The information you provided is better than what we sent one or two hundred scouts to detect." There are more things.”
Regarding Ponedelin's praise, Potapov smiled bitterly and said: "Pavel, when I saw the soldiers dying beside me, I silently swore in my heart that if I could return to my side alive, I would We must avenge them.”
After chatting for a while, Sokov called Koshkin and asked him to take Potapov to rest, take a bath, shave, and change into suitable clothes.
After Koshkin left with Potapov, Sidorin looked at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, according to regulations, these rescued generals must be sent to Lubyanka in Moscow for review. General Potapov has provided us with so much useful information, do you think we can help him?"
Regarding Sidorin's statement, Sokov did not immediately express his position. After thinking for a long time, he said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately sort out the information provided by General Potapov and arrange for someone to send it to the front army headquarters. Leave it to the Marshal. What fate he will face next depends entirely on how seriously his superiors take the information he provides."
Upon hearing this, Sidorin immediately understood Sokov's intention. He nodded vigorously and replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will sort out the information he provided immediately."
With the efforts of everyone, it took less than an hour to turn the information provided by Potapov into written materials, and the staff even marked the deployment of German defensive positions on the map in detail.
Sokov carefully read what the staff compiled, with a satisfied smile on his face. He handed it to Sidorin and said: "Chief of Staff, immediately send someone to send the information to the front army headquarters. Can we Helping General Potapov depends on whether this information can be approved by the superiors."
Two hours after the signal corps sent away the intelligence, Sokov received a call from Rokossovsky.
On the phone, Rokossovsky's voice was trembling with excitement: "Misha, I saw the intelligence you sent. Where did you get this information? Is it accurate?"
"Comrade Marshal," since Rokossovsky asked, Sokov naturally wanted to explain to him: "This is what General Potapov provided to us. He and other prisoners of war participated in the construction of these fortifications. Work. I think this defense map should be reliable."
But Sokov also understood that Rokossovsky, commanding hundreds of thousands of troops in combat, would never make a battle plan at will just for a piece of information he provided, and some things would definitely need to be verified. Thinking of this, he specifically added: "Comrade Marshal, although the accuracy of this information is very high, for the sake of safety, I still recommend that you send someone to verify it."
"Yes, Misha, I also have such considerations." Rokossovsky said: "I will send someone to verify the relevant information as soon as possible."
Before Rokossovsky hung up the phone, Sokov rushed to ask: "Comrade Marshal, I wonder what you plan to do with General Potapov?"
"I had a conversation with Marshal Zhukov not long ago." Rokossovsky said slowly: "He said that we should choose the right time and report the matter to our superiors. We may achieve unexpected results."
Rokossovsky's answer seemed to say nothing, but he seemed to have said everything that needed to be said. Sokov couldn't help but be a little confused after hearing this, but he was very sensible and did not pursue the question further. Instead, he said smoothly: "When do you want to see him, just make a call and I will send him to you."
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Ponedelin immediately asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, I wonder how the marshal plans to arrange Potapov?"
"Stay with us first, and then send him there when necessary." After Sokov finished saying this, he said to Ponedelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, General Potapov is in the German camp." He has been in a prisoner of war camp for several years and his physical condition is not ideal. You can find a doctor to look at him later and find a way to recuperate his body. Otherwise, I am worried that his body will not be able to withstand thousands of kilometers. of bumps.”
"Don't worry, I will take good care of him."
Two days later, Rokossovsky called Sokov again. Sokov thought that Rokossovsky was calling because he wanted him to send someone to send Potapov there, so he took the initiative and asked: "Comrade Marshal, I will send General Potapov to you now." "?"
"No, Misha, I called you for another matter." Rokossovsky said on the phone: "We have sent people to conduct reconnaissance in individual areas, and we have obtained the information about the German defensive positions. , roughly the same as what General Potapov provided.”
Perhaps because he was worried about what Sokov was asking, he took the initiative and said: "The reason why they are roughly the same is that after our prisoners of war completed the construction of the outer fortifications, the German army added some new fortifications, which led to the deviation."
"Will this deviation have a negative impact on our next attack?" Sokov asked cautiously.
"No." Rokossovsky replied: "The map provided by General Potapov can provide a reference for our subsequent reconnaissance, thereby making the scouts more efficient."
"Then how to place General Potapov?" Sokov asked tentatively: "Should he continue to stay with me, or should he be sent to you?"
"No rush, no rush, just wait." Unexpectedly, Rokossovsky said: "Marshal Zhukov went to Moscow today, and when he met with the Supreme Commander himself, he would mention Potapov's matter by the way. If General Potapov is to be placed, it will depend on the opinion of the Supreme Commander himself."
Knowing that Zhukov was going to meet Stalin in person and might even raise Potapov's matter in person, Sokov couldn't help but feel nervous. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, what do you think the result will be?"
Sokov's words left Rokossovsky silent for a long time. Just when he thought the other party would hang up the phone directly, he heard Rokossovsky say: "I don't know, Misha, I really don't know. But since Zhukov has come forward in this matter, I believe there will be a good one." ending."
After Rokossovsky said this, he was about to put down the phone when he suddenly remembered something: "By the way, your troops rescued Ponedelin, Kirillov and Muzychenko." After they came out, they were also sent to the Lubyanka for a period of time for review. Fortunately, you were their guarantee and they were able to return to the army. This time, General Potapov had me and Marshal Zhukov as guarantees. I believe Things will be better.”
Although Rokossovsky did not give a clear answer, his attitude has shown that he and Zhukov will ensure that Potapov is fine, which reassures Sokov. In addition, Sokov worked hard to recall historical information about Potapov during this period, and found that after this man was rescued and returned to his country, not only was he not punished, but he was promoted, indicating that he would survive this time safely.
The most nervous person is Ponejelin, not only because Potapov is his good friend, but he has also experienced Lubyanka's review. He knows what is going on there better than anyone else. So as soon as Sokov put down the phone, he came over and asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, how is the situation? What did the marshal say? How do they plan to relocate Potapov?"
"Marshal Zhukov went to Moscow to meet Comrade Stalin." Sokov said to Ponedelin: "He will mention this matter to Comrade Stalin at the appropriate time. How he will handle it in the end depends on what Comrade Stalin does. considerate."
"If Comrade Stalin has any thoughts about Potapov, it means that Potapov will be imprisoned and then subject to endless scrutiny." Ponedelin said solemnly: "His body is so How can I bear it if I am weak?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov thought that Potapov was safe in the end, so he comforted Ponedelin: "I believe that General Potapov will eventually return to the army like you. ” 竨
While the two were talking, the phone on the table rang again.
The person who called this time was actually Zhukov.
He asked bluntly on the phone: "Misha, is General Potapov at your place now?"
Sokov heard Zhukov calling him "General Potapov" and realized that the outcome of the matter might be better than imagined. He quickly replied: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, he is here with me now."
"Well, I will send a plane to you as soon as possible." Zhukov said: "When the plane arrives, you let General Potapov take that plane to Moscow. Comrade Stalin wants to see him."
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