Chapter 1181: sudden change

  Chapter 1181 Sudden change of situation

  The time soon entered July, and since there was no movement from the Germans, the tense strings of the division commanders could not help but relax, and they even complained in private that Sokov was making a fuss over a molehill.

  Sokov clearly remembered that the Battle of Kursk kicked off in the early morning of July 5, so he notified the divisions as early as the 3rd, distributed ammunition to the commanders and fighters, and made all battle preparations.

  The order he gave quickly reached Konev's ears. Konev didn't know what Sokov was up to, so he called him and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Sokov, what are you doing, why are you distributing ammunition to the troops and issuing a battle alarm?"

Sokov would certainly not tell Konev that the German army would launch a surprise attack on the Soviet troops stationed in the Kursk region in the early morning of the 5th, and could only say vaguely: "Comrade commander of the front army, I think After two months of rest, the Germans may launch an attack on our defense area again. You also know that my troops have been training for the past few months, and I put them into combat readiness, purely to test their strength training results."

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." Konev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and said displeasedly: "Even if you want to test the training results of the troops, you can't just distribute ammunition to the troops? You know, the actions of your army group, It caused a series of nasty chain reactions, and the commanders of several other group armies called me one after another, saying why there were combat missions, but they were not notified.”

  Konev's words made Sokov realize that his actions were a bit too reckless. He distributed ammunition to the troops on a large scale and put them on combat readiness. Such an action must not be concealed from the nearby friendly forces, which produced a series of chain reactions and caused unnecessary panic.

When Sokov was thinking about how to explain to Konev, he heard Konev continue to say: "The day after tomorrow, that is, on the morning of July 5, we will hold a military meeting at the commander level of the group army. At the meeting, you have to make a deep inspection of this matter."

Knowing that the meeting was held on the morning of July 5, Sokov couldn't help but secretly heaved a sigh of relief. If the meeting was held tomorrow, he would definitely not be able to escape the fate of being inspected; The Battle of Ersk has already begun, and maybe Konev will secretly feel that he has the foresight, and the inspection will naturally not be left alone.

  After he made up his mind, Sokov quickly said with a correct attitude: "Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will make a profound review of my reckless behavior at the military meeting the day after tomorrow."

   Lunev, who was standing next to him, looked worriedly at Sokov who was on the phone. As soon as the other party put down the phone, he said anxiously: "Comrade commander, do you think I need to talk to my superiors so that you don't have to do the inspection?"

  Sokov knew in his heart that what Lunev said to communicate with his superiors was to prepare to contact Beria, so that he could mediate through Beria and save himself from any punishment. But Sokov, who has a deep understanding of history, knew the exact time when the Battle of Kursk started. Not only would he not be punished during the meeting, but he might also be praised by Konev, so he declined Lunev's offer. Good intentions: "Comrade Military Commissioner, thank you for your kindness. Since this matter is an order from me, no matter what punishment the superior gives us, I will accept it frankly."

  Hearing what Sokov said, Lunev could only sigh softly, unable to say anything more. But Sameko asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, do we need to take back all the ammunition distributed?"

   "No, there is no need to take back the ammunition that has been issued." Sokov said seriously: "On the contrary, tell the division commanders to prepare for battle. Maybe we will be thrown into battle soon."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko couldn't help but secretly shook his head when he heard Sokov say this. He felt that Sokov seemed to be a bit mad, and now the German army showed no sign of attacking at all. It seems that this reserve team has a chance to go to the battlefield, but it is still unknown. Recently, the commander has been mentioning the possibility of war every now and then like a maniac. "Do you really think there will be a war?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov said in a positive tone: "According to my judgment, since the Germans did not launch an offensive in June, they will postpone the offensive until early July, maybe later." In a few days, an unexpected battle will break out."

   "It's over, it's over, Comrade Commander's nerves are a little abnormal." Sameko thought sadly in his heart: "If he leaves the army, who will the superior send to replace him?"

  Sokov didn't know that Sameko had already regarded himself as a psychopath in his heart. He was still thinking in his heart, once the grassland front army wants to join the battle, his troops will definitely bear the brunt of it, which division should be the first to enter the battlefield?

  July 4th, Sokov spent all day in anxiety. He knew the exact time of the German attack, but he could not let the Southwest Front Army and the Central Front Army warn, lest he be regarded as a magic stick.

After dark, Sokov did not leave the headquarters. He sat at the table, stared at the map spread out on it, and muttered to himself: "History will not be deviated because of his appearance, right? If the German army did not Launching the attack in the early hours of the morning, I have to make a public review at the military meeting in the morning, which may also affect my image in Konev's mind."

  However, one night passed, and the phone on the table never rang.

Looking at the bright sky outside, Sokov's mood sank to the bottom. Could it be that because of his own appearance, there was a deviation in history, so that the Germans did not report to Kursk in the early morning of the 5th. Army attack?

Sameko, who walked in from the outside, was taken aback when he saw Sokov, who was a bit haggard sitting at the table, and asked quickly, "Comrade commander, did you sit in the headquarters all night?" ?"

"Yes." Sokov picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette from it, put it in his mouth and lit it, and said, "For some reason, I always have an ominous premonition in my heart. People may launch an attack on our army's defense zone?"

"What, the enemy will attack our defense zone?" Sameko said nervously: "Comrade commander, there are no decent fortifications in our defense zone. If the enemy really launches an attack on us, how can we How about stopping them?"

"Chief of Staff, you made a mistake." Seeing that Sameko misunderstood what he meant, Sokov quickly waved his hand at him and explained, "I'm talking about the defense zone of friendly forces. They may be attacked by the Germans in the near future." attack."

"Oh, so that's the case." Seeing Sokov mentioning something that the German army might do again, Sameko couldn't help but feel a little impatient, and quickly changed the subject: "Comrade Commander, you have been sitting here all night. , you must be sleepy and hungry, right? You lie down and rest for a while, and I'll have someone prepare breakfast for you."

  Seeing that the time is already eight o'clock in the morning, but there is no news from the direction of Kursk, Sokov can't sleep. He simply ate something, and together with Lunev, under the protection of Samoilov, he took a jeep to the headquarters of the Front Army for a meeting.

  When Sokov came to the Front Army Command, he found several generals sitting and chatting inside. Seeing Sokov walking into the room, everyone stopped talking and focused their eyes on Sokov neatly.

   "Comrade Commander," Lunev reminded Sokov in a low voice: "Everyone is watching you. It seems that they all know what you are going to inspect at the meeting today."

  Regarding Lunev's kind reminder, Sokov couldn't help but smiled wryly. If there is no news from the direction of Kursk, it is inevitable for him to conduct an inspection at the meeting today, so he began to think about how to conduct a deep review in order to get the approval of his superiors and colleagues?

  People arrived almost before Konev and members of the headquarters appeared in the conference room. When the chief of staff Zakharov passed by Sokov, he cast a worried glance at him, worried that the inspection at today's meeting would cast a shadow on the young army commander's heart.

  After the meeting started, Zakharov, on behalf of the Front Army Command, made a detailed summary of the fortification construction and training of each group army in the past few months. After he finished speaking, it was the turn of the Military Commissioner of the Front Army to speak.

  Although Mekhlis has been transferred away, the Lieutenant General Susaikov who replaced him is also a difficult person to deal with. He stood up, first glanced at the seat where Sokov was sitting, and then said: "comrades generals, a very bad incident happened here the day before yesterday. The commander of a certain group army, without asking for instructions, He distributed weapons and ammunition to the troops without authorization, and at the same time ordered the troops to enter a state of combat readiness. I would like to ask here: Are you a member of the German High Command? Otherwise, how could it be possible to know the enemy's attack time, distribute ammunition to the troops in advance, and Ready for battle?"

  Although Susaikov did not call the name, all the commanders present knew who he was talking about. After all, it was tens of thousands of people preparing for battle. It was basically impossible to hide it from others.

Lieutenant General Managarov, the commander of the 52nd Army, is a good old man. When he heard what Susaikov said, he quickly got up to smooth things over for Suskov: "Comrade Military Commissar, I think this commander's starting point is good. , after all, it is a time of war, and we can only be vigilant enough at all times so that we will not be caught off guard by the enemy." Seeing Managarov come out to speak for himself, Sokov smiled politely at him, expressing himself Heartfelt thanks.

"Comrade Commander," Susaikov ignored Managarov's words, but asked Konev with a sideways face: "Didn't you say that the commander who made a mistake is going to make a mistake in public at today's meeting?" Make a review?"

Konev, who was generalized, twitched violently twice, then turned his gaze to Sokov, and said slowly: "General Sokov, do you have anything to add? "

  Sokov heard Konev point his face, stood up quickly, and was about to make a profound self-criticism in front of everyone according to the draft he had written in his heart. But at this moment, a colonel broke in from the outside and shouted: "Comrade Commander, telegram, telegram!"

   "Colonel," Susaikov said displeasedly when he saw the colonel breaking into the meeting room, "Don't you know that we are holding an important military meeting?"

Konev was going to break into the conference room from the Chief of Intelligence of the Front Army. Knowing that if something important hadn't happened, he would never have acted so recklessly, so he raised his hand to stop Susaikov from speaking behind him, and asked tentatively : "Comrade Colonel, what's urgent?"

   "Report to Comrade Commander," the intelligence director straightened up and replied, "I just received an urgent telegram from the General Staff, ordering my department to prepare for battle immediately."

   "Where is the telegram?" The expression on Konev's face instantly became serious: "Read it quickly and listen to it!"

The chief of intelligence quickly took out the telegram and read it in public: "...General Rokossovsky's Central Front Army captured a German engineer who was opening a road in a minefield at 1 o'clock this morning. After his confession, The German army will launch a powerful offensive to our army's defense zone at three o'clock in the morning today..."

As soon as the chief of intelligence read this, a commander suddenly said "ah" in surprise, but when he saw Konev's cannibalistic eyes, he obediently closed his mouth and listened quietly to the chief of intelligence. The telegram read: "...Our army took decisive countermeasures and launched a violent shelling of the German positions at 1:30 in the morning. The shelling lasted for one hour and forty minutes...The German attack time was disrupted, But they had to postpone the attack time to 5:30... Now that General Rokossovsky's Central Front and Vatutin's Voronezh Front are fighting fiercely with the enemy, your ministry needs to immediately distribute ammunition to the troops and do Prepare for all battles and go into battle when necessary. General Staff, signature: Antonov."

After listening to the intelligence director read the telegram, everyone looked at Sokov with strange eyes: What's going on, why did this guy know that the enemy was about to launch an attack, and distributed weapons and ammunition to the troops first, and did all the fighting Prepare? Susaikov, who had politely criticized Sokov for his miscalculation just now, was a little embarrassed. He didn't expect Sokov's prediction to be so accurate. I want to apologize in public, but I feel that I can't let go.

   But Konev had a gratified smile on his face. He heard Zhukov and Rokossovsky mention Sokov more than once, saying that this person's prediction of the situation was unparalleled. It was ridiculous that he scoffed at what the two said at the time, thinking that they were a bit exaggerated. But judging from today's situation, Sokov's prediction and the precautionary measures he has taken are undoubtedly correct.

  Konev looked at Sokov, smiled and asked: "General Sokov, can you tell us why you can predict that the enemy will launch an attack in the near future and make preparations in advance?"

Not only did he want to know the answer to the question Konev asked, but every commander present also wanted to know the answer. Everyone focused on Sokov and wanted to hear what kind of answer he would give. .

  (end of this chapter)