After Sokov finished speaking, he spoke, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I'll ask you a question first."
"Comrade Commander, if you have any questions, just ask."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think the enemy may rush into the defense zone of our army? Or do they have the ability to rush to us?"
"It's hard to say, Comrade Commander." Samek said in an ambiguous tone: "In the face of the enemy's attack, our army will resist tenaciously."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, what I want to hear is the truth, not the cliché." Sokov was worried about Sameko's concerns, so he said tactfully: "We are just friends and discussing a possibility privately."
"I think what you are talking about is unlikely." After Sameko said this, without waiting for Sokov to ask again, he continued: "Our army's current defense zone is on the east side of Moscow. In front of us, there are four units of the Voronezh Front, the Southwest Front, the Western Front and the Central Front, with a total strength of nearly two million. If the Germans really rushed to us, unless Moscow fell..."
As soon as Samek said this, he immediately realized that he had lost his words. He hurriedly went to the left and right to find that the communications soldiers and combat staff were on the other end of the room, and he probably couldn't hear him talking, so he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"You are right." Sokov nodded and said in a affirmative tone: "After the Battle of Stalingrad, the strength of the Germans was greatly weakened. They could not break through the defense of our two million troops, let alone occupying the entire Moscow. Therefore, the possibility of their rushing here is basically zero."
Sokov's words made Sameko a little confused. He asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, I don't quite understand what you mean."
"I mean very simple. Is there any need to build the fortifications we ordered to build?"
Sameko thought for a while and replied: "If the Germans really can't rush here, then we can never build any fortifications. After all, these tasks will waste a lot of manpower and material resources."
"I also think so." Sokov's proposal, although he had hit a nail in front of Konev, after repeated thinking, he felt that there was no need to do such a waste of money. Therefore, he told Sameko: "I plan to let the troops dig only a few trenches, and those strong defense fortifications are not necessary."
Sokov's words shocked Sameko, and he asked nervously: "Comrade Commander, we do this, but we are blatantly violating the orders of our superiors. If the superiors pursue it, no one can bear this responsibility."
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov saw that Sameko looked afraid of wolves in front and tigers in the back, so he comforted him and said, "I am the commander of the army. Since it was my decision, if my superiors want to blame him, I will bear all the responsibility."
Sokov was thinking in his mind that instead of wasting so much manpower and material resources to build defensive fortifications that were not intended for use, it was better to concentrate on training so that the troops could form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. Moreover, building a large number of fortifications would definitely destroy the original terrain, so that the armored troops could not move freely.
Thinking of the armored forces, Sokov couldn't help but feel moved, and then asked Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do we have armored forces in our army?"
"Yes, General Poluboyarov's 4th Guards Tank Army." Sameko introduced to Sokov: "This tank unit was formed in June 1942. Its original number was the 17th Tank Army, but due to their bravery and tenacity in combat and their achievements, it was awarded a new number of Guards Tank Army in January this year."
When Sokov heard that there was General Poluboyarov's 4th Guard Tank Army in his army, he couldn't help but lit up. Although he was not familiar with the tank commander, he remembered that this tank army was the first to rush into Berlin City in the future Battle of Berlin. Unexpectedly, this heroic unit became his subordinate at this moment. This was a really surprising surprise.
Sokov hurriedly asked Sameko: "Chief of Staff, can you call General Poluboyarov and ask him to come to the headquarters? I want to have a good talk with him."
"No problem." Since Sokov is the commander of the group army, it is natural that he wants to negotiate with the commander or division commander within the group army, so Sameko answered readily: "I will call him immediately and order him to come as soon as possible."
After Sokov finished calling Sameko, he continued, "Comrade Chief of Staff, this time I came to office, not only brought a guard company with more than 200 people, but also brought forty commanders with rich combat experience. Now they are waiting outside, please send someone to settle them."
When Sameko learned that Sokov had brought forty experienced commanders, he was overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Comrade Commander, it's great, this is really great. Our troops have just been formed and are in need of a large number of officers with command experience from the position of battalion company-level commander."
Sokov knew very well that each of the forty officers he brought could be a good battalion commander or company commander, or even a regiment commander. However, when he first arrived, he rashly placed positions for them, which may cause misunderstandings among everyone. Therefore, he asked Sameko to resettle everyone first, and after he became familiar with the commanders of each division, he would find a way to place these people in each division to serve as commanders of the battalion company.
Samecco's service was very high. He called two staff officers and told them, "You two are responsible for the placement of the officers brought by the commander and the guard company. You must make them live and eat well, do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff." The two staff members replied in unison.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sameko after receiving the order, "There is one more thing I think I need to discuss with you."
"Comrade Commander, what's the matter?"
"Is the defense here a little too lax?" Sokov reminded the other party: "When I went to meet the commander of the Front Army, the convoy was stopped by a checkpoint before entering the town. The other party's reason was to ensure the safety of the Front Army Command. Foreign vehicles were not allowed to enter the town until they were authorized.
Chapter completed!