A German tank blended into the Soviet offensive formation and caused a lot of casualties to the Soviet army. This was indeed an embarrassing thing.
When Sokov heard the news, he really couldn't laugh or cry. He said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that the Germans would be so cunning, causing our troops to pay many unnecessary casualties."
"Yes, Comrade Commander, no one would have thought that in an area that was heavily bombarded by our army, a German tank could survive." Sidorin said: "What is even more unexpected is that, After this German tank blended into our army's combat order, no one noticed it and thought it was one of our own tanks. If they hadn't exposed their identity when they bombarded our command cabin, we don't know what they would have brought to us in the future. What a loss."
"We must learn this lesson." Sokov said to Sidorin: "After this battle is over, we will hold a summary meeting to discuss this matter and see what our commanders should pay attention to when fighting. Something. Never cause huge losses to the troops because of your own underestimation and carelessness."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sidorin wrote down Sokov's words in his notebook: "I remembered it, and at the summary meeting after this battle, I am going to focus on discussing this matter to avoid similar situations. The incident happened again in future battles."
"Yes, it should be like this." Sokov said to Sidorin: "The battle is almost over. I think we can report our results to the front army headquarters."
"I have already written the report." Sidorin took out the written report and handed it to Sokov: "I will send someone to the front army headquarters later." When Sidorin called the communications troops, he prepared When he was asked to send the report to the front army headquarters, Lunev said: "Misha, I think there is no need to bother with this. Comrade Marshal has so much work every day, how could he notice such a small thing?"
"This incident is our negligence, and we should learn a lesson." Sokov said: "If we report this matter, Comrade Marshal may also inform the entire front army, so that all troops can take a warning. Try to avoid similar incidents from happening in the future." After saying that, he waved his hand to the communications soldier and ordered,
"Hurry up and send the report to the front army headquarters." Half an hour later, Rokossovsky received the report sent by Sidorin. After reading it, he couldn't help but frowned.
Seeing this, Bogolyubov quickly asked: "Comrade Marshal, what's wrong with you? I see that you seem to have something on your mind after reading the report sent by the 48th Army."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I am very sad." Rokossovsky threw the report on the table and said: "We have not yet achieved the final victory, but there is actually a situation of competing for credit in the army. If it were not for Fei Zuninsky made his own decision, and I am afraid that the attack on the German Panzer Army will end in failure." After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Bogolyubov quickly picked up the report on the table and carefully Browse.
After reading the report, his expression became serious: "Comrade Marshal, I really didn't expect that General Bartov would do such a thing." After hearing this, Suboting sitting next to him quickly asked: "Marshal Comrade, Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened? Why did I notice something was wrong with both of you?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is like this." Bogolyubov knew that it would take a lot of time to read the report again, so he focused on explaining to Subbotin: "General Sokov's men captured from the German army He learned from his mouth that the German Panzer Army Grossdeutschland would retreat at night. After learning the news, General Sokov took the initiative to contact General Batov to discuss joint operations. But General Batov excused himself , privately took the initiative to contact Fejuninsky's 2nd Assault Army, and wanted to join forces with them to attack the retreating Grossdeutschland Panzer Army." Suboting said with some surprise: "But our army's attack on the Grossdeutschland Panzer Army The attack was successful. Moreover, the participating troops included not only General Batov's 65th Army, General Fedyuninsky's 2nd Shock Army, but also General Sokov's 48th Army. They refused to fight with Sokov's troops. Where does the term cooperation come from?”
"Comrade Military Commissar, don't worry, this is exactly the point I want to explain." Bogolyubov said: "When Fedyuninsky received the call from Batov, he looked at the map carefully and found that Although its own combat area borders the 65th Group Army and even has some overlapping areas, in order to enter the position to attack the Grossdeutschland Panzer Army, it still needs to pass through a section of the area occupied by the Germans. The operations of the 48th Group Army and the 65th Group Army Although the area is separated by his combat area, due to the faster advancing speed of the friendly forces on both wings and leaving him far behind, the closest place is now only five kilometers away. If they fight together, can achieve good results. After repeated consideration, General Fedyuninsky felt that it was necessary to contact General Sokov. Only the 48th Group Army sending troops could cause huge damage to the retreating German army. But he also considered assisting In the name of the 65th Group Army, inviting Sokov's troops to participate in this battle might hurt General Batov's face. So he changed his mind and asked them to invite the 48th Group Army to assist him in the battle. Participate in this ambush." Bogolyubov finally said: "If General Batov could agree to Sokov's request earlier and join forces with the 48th Army, he might be able to achieve greater results." After listening Suboting couldn't help but frown at Bogolyubov's narration.
He looked at Rokossovsky and asked: "Comrade Marshal, if what is written in General Sokov's report is true, then General Batov should be criticized."
"Don't be anxious, Comrade Military Commissar." But after hearing this, Rokossovsky waved his hand and said to Subbotin: "I'll call Fejuninsky and see what he says." Golyubov heard that Rokossovsky was going to speak to Fedyuninsky and quickly dialed the phone.
When he heard someone speaking on the microphone, he took the initiative to identify himself: "I am General Bogolyubov, Chief of Staff of the Front Army. Is your commander, General Fedyuninsky here? Comrade Marshal wants to speak to him." A moment later, Fedyuninsky's voice came from the receiver: "Hello, General Bogolyubov, I am Fedyuninsky."
"Please wait a moment, General Fejuninsky, I will ask Comrade Marshal to answer the phone right away." Bogolyubov covered the phone with his hand and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal Fejuninsky General Key is waiting to speak with you online."
"Comrade Fedyuninsky?" Rokossovsky took the phone and put it to his ear. Instead of calling the other person by his nickname as before, he called him by his first name: "Tell me about the German troops near you at night. The situation of the German Panzer Army. Who initiated this matter?" Fedyuninsky knew that the paper could not contain the fire. Even if he did not report it, Rokossovsky might be able to know through special information channels. of this matter.
When he asked about it, he truthfully reported what happened to Rokossovsky.
Rokossovsky confirmed from Fejuninsky's report that the 48th Group Army's report was accurate. He nodded and said: "Comrade Fejuninsky, you did the right thing. That's right. It is because of your selflessness that we were able to achieve such huge results in the battle to ambush the German army." Suboting waited for Rokossovsky to put down the microphone, and then said with a clear heart: "Comrade Marshal, fortunately, in this matter, With General Fedyuninsky, if he had not invited the 48th Army to participate in the battle in his own name, I think last night's ambush would have been difficult to achieve the desired results. On the contrary, the troops involved in the attack might have suffered huge losses. . What do you plan to do with General Batov?" Although he asked this, Subbotin didn't think so in his heart. He knew that Batov was Rokossovsky's favorite general. Even if he did something wrong, At most, you can say a few words to him without any substantial punishment to him.
This matter is neither big nor big. It is entirely possible that Rokossovsky will turn it into a big thing and turn it into a trivial matter, and finally let it go.
Regarding the question raised by Suboting, Rokossovsky was silent for a long time, and finally said: "I will call to criticize Bartov later to prevent him from making similar mistakes in the future." Upon hearing this, Suboting said Everything turned out to be as he had judged. Rokossovsky was reluctant to punish his favorite general, so he simply criticized him verbally.
After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively: "What about General Sokov?"
"I'll call Misha to explain," Rokossovsky said helplessly: "I hope he can be reasonable and won't continue to struggle with this matter." Sokov received a call from Rokossovsky. When receiving the call, he was prepared to be criticized. After all, he allowed a German tank to sneak into his combat unit and caused a certain degree of casualties.
Unexpectedly, when the other party opened his mouth, Sokov was startled. He only heard Rokossovsky say: "Misha, I'm so sorry, you have been wronged by this matter." Sokov was stunned after hearing this. , what does it mean to make yourself wronged?
Shouldn't I criticize myself because due to negligence, a German tank blended into the middle of the team without being noticed?
He hesitated for a long time and said quietly: "Comrade Marshal, I thought you called me because you were going to criticize me."
"Criticize you?!" Rokossovsky was stunned after hearing this, and then asked: "Why should I criticize you?"
"Didn't you read the report we sent?"
"I just called you to apologize after reading the report." After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov turned his head and glanced at Sidorin next to him, wondering in his mind what exactly he was reporting. What was written in it? Why did Comrade Marshal not only fail to criticize himself after reading it, but instead called him specifically to apologize to himself?
"Comrade Marshal, I don't quite understand. After reading the report, shouldn't you call us to criticize our work for not being meticulous?" Sokov would not be able to ask Sidorin what he wrote in the report in a short period of time. , could only bite the bullet and say: "But how can you apologize to us, I don't understand." Although Rokossovsky didn't understand why Sokov said this, he felt that there must be some misunderstanding.
So he further explained: "You mentioned in your report that you made a request for joint operations to General Bartov, but he rejected it. If Fedyuninsky hadn't made his own decision, you would have been allowed to participate in this I'm afraid we won't be able to cause such losses to the enemy in this night attack." After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Sokov immediately understood what was going on.
Emotion Rokossovsky focused his attention on joint operations, and did not pay attention to such a small thing as a German tank taking advantage of the night to sneak into the middle of the combat troops.
"Misha," Rokossovsky continued: "I am very clear about Bartov's approach. He is worried that your troops will steal his limelight, so he deliberately took steps in this night attack. Through you, I contacted Fedyuninsky directly..."
"Comrade Marshal, you don't need to say any more." Sokov interrupted Rokossovsky's words and said directly: "I can understand General Bartov's mood. After all, after the night attack started, his troops suffered The pressure is the greatest. And we are following the enemy's actions, launching an attack in the dark, and it is difficult for the enemy to organize a decent resistance. Maybe in the end, my troops will not suffer many casualties, but they will achieve considerable results. And Bartov The general's troops made huge sacrifices but achieved very limited results."
"Misha, I didn't expect you to be so generous." Rokossovsky was very satisfied with Sokov's performance: "I did not misjudge you." After a pause, he thought of Sokov What I just said, I can’t help but ask,
"Misha, you said that after reading the report, I would call you specifically to criticize you. What on earth is going on?"
"Comrade Marshal, there is something mentioned in our report." Sokov sneaked a German tank into the army at night, and launched a surprise attack when the commanders and soldiers were unprepared, causing certain losses to the participating troops. A detailed report was made to Rokossovsky.
When Rokossovsky read the report, he did see this content, but he didn't take it seriously at all. After all, it was just a German tank. How much threat could it pose to the troops?
At worst, during the post-war summary, I would specifically mention this to the commanders who participated in the meeting, so that everyone could be more vigilant in future operations to avoid similar things happening again.
"Misha, it turns out this is what happened. I know it." Rokossovsky said lightly: "Just be careful in the future and don't let similar things happen again." Wait for Sokov to finish After the call with Rokossovsky, Lunev came over and said to Sokov: "Misha, what I said is right. For Marshal Rokossovsky, who commands thousands of troops, It's just a small matter, no matter how small. Even if you write it in the report, he won't care about it." Sokov nodded helplessly and said in agreement: "Comrade Military Commissar, you are right, we will put it in the report. It is indeed a bit unnecessary to include this matter in the report.”
