After Yakov came to the Third Front Army as deputy chief of staff, he quickly became familiar with his job and did it well.
At the beginning, Chernyakhovsky was worried that Yakov was just a bag of embroidered pillows, but after getting along with him for a period of time, he found that the new deputy chief of staff actually had some abilities, which was different from his usual The exchanges gradually increased.
Although the 48th Army was not able to join the Third Front, the 3rd Army was officially placed under the command of Chernyakhovsky according to the original plan.
After several months of hard fighting, the troops of the Third Front finally captured the city of Memel from the Germans and liberated this Lithuanian city.
That night, all commanders and fighters who were not on duty were given their own share of vodka to celebrate the liberation of the city.
While everyone was drinking and chatting, Yakov still stood at the table, looking down at the map above, carefully pondering the next move of the troops.
Pokrovsky put down the wine glass in his hand, stood up, walked to Yakov's side, and asked curiously: "General Yakov, why don't you go drinking with everyone?"
"I don't like drinking very much." Yakov said euphemistically: "After all, I haven't been here for a long time. I want to see more maps and get familiar with the situation of the army, so that in the following days, as your deputy, I can Give you useful and rational suggestions.”
"Don't be anxious, General Sokov." Pokrovsky said with a smile: "You have only been here for a few days. It is not so easy to be thoroughly familiar with this army. You can't eat hot cheese in a hurry. Take your time. Take your time, and over time, you will naturally adapt to the work here."
"Comrade Yakov," Chernyakhovsky, who was sitting at the dining table talking to Makarov, greeted Yakov when he saw that Yakov was still standing in front of the table with the battle map and said to him: " No matter what else you have to do today, put it down first and let's celebrate this great victory." Hearing Chernyakhovsky call him, Yakov realized that if he didn't go through, he would be a bad person. Realizing what was going on, he walked over side by side with Pokrovsky.
Seeing Yakov coming over, Chernyakhovsky stretched out his hand and pulled him to sit down, and said with a smile: "Comrade Yakov, we are all comrades in arms, there is no need to be so restrained." As he said that, he picked up a suit. The teapot full of vodka was handed to Yakov: "Here, take a sip!" Faced with Chernyakhovsky's enthusiasm, Yakov said with some embarrassment: "I don't drink much."
"I don't know how to drink either." Chernyakhovsky said: "But today's situation is different. We are celebrating victory. After months of bloody battles, we finally liberated the city of Memel." A city that belongs to Lithuania." Yakov had no choice but to take the tea jar from Chernyakhovsky's hand, bring it to his mouth, take a sip, and then put it on the table: "Comrade Commander , I think the city of Memel is not that big, why has our troops been unable to capture this city?" Chernyakhovsky, who was originally smiling, smiled when he heard Yakov's question. His face immediately froze. He never dreamed that Yakov would ask such a disappointing topic at such a happy moment.
Fortunately, Chief of Staff Pokrovsky came to Chernyakhovsky's rescue in time: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, you are right, Memel is indeed a small city, but its terrain is very It is dangerous. Three sides of the city are covered with hills and forests, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops. And the only passable road on one side has been under the blockade of German artillery fire for a long time. If our army launches an attack from this direction, it will definitely cost a huge amount of money. casualties."
"When we first started attacking, we were not aware of this problem. Thinking about such a big city, how many defenders can be in the city? One regiment, two regiments, or one division? We used seven or eight times the strength to attack. It will not be easy to capture this city." Hearing Pokrovsky talk about the battle to attack Memel, Yakov adjusted his sitting posture and listened carefully to the other party's story. He wanted to understand , for whatever reason, it took several months to conquer even a small city, and the attacking troops also suffered a lot of casualties.
If every city to be attacked next is as difficult to attack as Memel, wouldn't it take several years to capture the entire East Prussia region?
Just listen to Pokrovsky continue: "The infantry division responsible for the main attack was suddenly attacked by artillery fire from the city when it was approaching the city. The attacking troops were beaten to pieces by the sudden artillery fire. The company commander The division commanders who fought were all seriously injured in the artillery fire. After finally waiting for the enemy's shelling to stop, the troops lost their unified command and fell into chaos. Some rushed towards the city, while others retreated towards the starting position..."
"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, don't talk anymore." Before Pokrovsky could finish speaking, Chernyakhovsky interrupted him: "There is no need to talk about things that have passed. After all, we finally took this city, and we can avenge the sacrifice of the soldiers." Yakov originally wanted to ask about the details of liberating the city, but saw that Chernyakhovsky was unwilling to mention it. , guessing that the other party must have received a lot of blame from his superiors for this city. If he asked specifically, it would be like adding salt to the other party's wounds, so he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Makarov handed Yakov two potatoes, pushed a small plate with fine salt in front of him, and said in a friendly tone: "General Yakov, you must be hungry, come and eat two Potatoes." After Yakov thanked the other party, he took the hot potato, carefully peeled off the skin, dipped it in salt, and then put it in his mouth.
"General Yakov," Makarov pushed another plate of sliced sausages in front of Yakov and continued to ask with concern: "You have been here for so long, are you used to the life here?"
"Get used to it, Comrade Military Commissioner." Yakov nodded and said, "After all, I have spent a lot of time on the front line after the war broke out."
"Oh, have you been on the front line?" This was the first time Pokrovsky heard about this, and he asked curiously: "I wonder which army you have been in?"
"I have served in many units, so I won't explain them one by one." Yakov said with a smile: "My main task is to send new weapons to my good friend Misha's unit, so which group army he is in, I Which army group will you stay with after arriving at the front line?" Chernyakhovsky felt bad when he heard Yakov mention Sokov.
Originally, he thought that the combat effectiveness of his third front army was weak. If elite troops like Sokov joined, the combat effectiveness of the front army could be improved.
But unexpectedly, the cooked duck actually flew away. Just the day before the 3rd and 48th Army were to be placed under his command, he received an order from the Supreme Command saying that the 48th Army, which was originally planned to be placed under his command, was because For special reasons, it will remain in the Second Front Army's order of operations.
When he received this order, Chernyakhovsky was quite confused. He didn't know what happened, so that the supreme commander himself changed his mind and assigned the troops under his command to continue. Stay in the original order of operations.
However, after he later learned about it through an acquaintance, he realized that the change in this incident was entirely due to Yakov.
It is said that the Supreme Commander himself was worried that if the 48th Army was assigned to the Third Front, Yakov, who served as deputy chief of staff at the Front Headquarters, would strongly demand to be assigned to the 48th Army because of his friendship with Sokov. .
In order to reduce Yakov's risk on the front line, the Supreme Commander himself finally made the decision to allow Sokov's troops to remain in Rokossovsky's combat sequence.
After figuring out what was going on, Chernyakhovsky secretly regretted that if he could have been more decisive when Yakov called him to beg him, and decisively rejected his request, then Sokov would have The 48th Group Army can be officially placed under its own command.
It's a pity that there is no regret medicine in the world. At this time, even if Chernyakhovsky wanted to regret it, it was too late.
On the first day when Yakov came to report, even though Chernyakhovsky personally brought people to the door to greet him, he was full of resistance in his heart. He wished that the prince was dissatisfied with his territory and turned around. Leave, so that you can fight with the Supreme Commander himself to see if Sokov's troops can be placed under your command again.
But after getting along with him for a period of time, he found that Yakov was actually quite good. He did not act arrogant and arrogant in front of everyone just because he was the eldest son of the supreme commander himself.
On the contrary, he was polite to everyone, and the staff of the headquarters developed a good impression of him in a short period of time.
"Comrade Yakov," Chernyakhovsky picked up the teapot, took a sip of wine, looked at Yakov and asked, "Are you interested in going outside for a walk?"
"Comrade Commander, there is so much work here every day, how can I have time to go out and walk around." Yakov politely rejected Chernyakhovsky's proposal and said to himself: "I think I'd rather stay in the headquarters to sort out the battle report, which seems more fulfilling." Yakov's words caused everyone to laugh. Pokrovsky picked up the teapot on the table and handed it to Yakov. In his hand: "General Yakov, let's take another sip." It was hard to refuse the hospitality, and Yakov couldn't refuse, so he took another sip of wine and immediately put down the glass.
He asked tentatively: "Now that we have captured Memel, shouldn't the location of the headquarters also be moved forward?"
"That's for sure." Pokrovsky continued: "We just captured Memel today. The troops have to rest for two days before continuing to advance. Comrade Commander, I think it is better to let the troops How about resting in place for two days, and on the third day, we can move the headquarters forward?" After hearing Pokrovsky's suggestion, Chernyakhovsky thought for a while, and then lit The leader said: "I think it's okay." Since the troops were about to move forward, Yakov felt that his time to make suggestions was up, and quickly said: "After this period of fighting, the commanders and fighters of each group army are very tired, and the ammunition is also consumed. It’s very big, and it will take some time to replenish troops and ammunition. I think it’s better to move the newly arrived 3rd Army to the forefront, okay?”
"Of course." After hearing what Yakov said, Pokrovsky said with a face of surprise: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, to tell you the truth, I was thinking the same thing just now. I didn't expect you to say it first. .”
"Comrade Sokov, I will do as you wish." Chernyakhovsky said: "You have been here for so long, and I haven't taken you to the troops below. This time I will take advantage of the opportunity. The 3rd Army Group has moved to defense. I will take you to get to know the commanders of each Army Group. This will also be helpful for your future work." Even if Yakov is still reluctant to leave the headquarters, after hearing what Chernyakhovsky said, He could only bite the bullet and agree: "Okay, Comrade Commander, since you want to take me to get to know the commanders of each group army, after the troops complete the task of moving defense, I will follow you downstairs." Hearing this. Chernyakhovsky planned to take Yakov to each group army to familiarize himself with the environment. Pokrovsky took the initiative: "Comrade Commander, I think you can take the deputy commander with you after the troops complete the task of moving defenses." The chief of staff will go take a look at the 3rd Army first to see how their mental outlook is."
"I think it's okay." Regarding Pokrovsky's proposal, Chernyakhovsky naturally felt that it made sense. In any case, a unit had just arrived in a new environment. If their new superiors could Visiting them immediately can also boost morale for the commanders and soldiers.
Therefore, he secretly wondered in his mind when he should take Yakov to visit the 3rd Army to understand the actual situation of this army.
After Chernyakhovsky and others were almost drunk, they left the command post one after another, leaving only Yakov who was still awake on duty.
When Yakov saw a communication soldier dozing off in his seat, he pointed at him and shouted: "Communication soldier!" Hearing Yakov calling him, the communication soldier suddenly stood up, straightened his body and looked Looking at Yakov, I wanted to find out why he called me.
"Can our phone make outside calls?"
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." The communications soldier nodded and said, "We can attack outside lines. Do you want to attack Moscow or some other city?"
"No." Yakov shook his head and said, "I want to call the 48th Group Army Headquarters. How about it? Can you get through?"
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff. However, it may take a little longer. Please wait patiently."
"Then call quickly." A few minutes later, the communications soldier reported to Yakov: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, the call has been connected." Soon Sokov's voice came from the other end of the phone: "I am Sokov, who are you?"
"Misha, it's me. Yakov!"
"Ah, Yasha?!" Hearing Yakov's voice from the receiver, Sokov asked in surprise: "Where are you?"
"Where else can I be, of course at the Third Front Army Headquarters." Yakov said, "I have nothing to do tonight, so I just wanted to call you and have a chat."
"I heard that you are now the deputy chief of staff of the Third Front. Congratulations." Sokov asked with a smile, "How are you, are you used to life there?"
"Yes, I'm used to it."
"Have you visited various armies to get to know the commanders?"
"Not yet." Yakov shook his head and said, "But the commander promised me to take me to the front lines in a few days to get to know the commanders of each group army. This will also be very beneficial to my future work. .”
