Konev was silent. He was thinking quietly whether he should follow Sokov's proposal and report his opinions to his superiors?
But after thinking for a while, Konev decided not to report it. You should know that he refused to attack the German Central Army Group when the time was not right. He was scolded by the Supreme Commander and removed him from the position of commander of the Western Front, which was extremely important, to the grassland front with a reserve force, and served as the commander.
He thought it very clearly that unless the Supreme Command agrees with Sokov's proposal to stop the construction of fortifications in unimportant areas, it will cause him some unnecessary trouble. He said in a slow tone: "Major General Sokov, I'm sorry, I can't report your proposal to the Supreme Command."
When Sokov heard this, his heart couldn't help but sink. He thought to himself: It's over. If Konev forcibly ordered himself to restore the construction of fortifications, would he obey the order or disobey the order? Obey the order, his prestige within the army will be seriously affected; if he blindly disobeys, then what is waiting for him may be dismissal or sent to the military court.
Just when Sokov was having a headache, he suddenly heard Konev say, "Major General Sokov, I want to inform you about something. This afternoon, Marshal Zhukov, as the representative of the base camp, was going to inspect our defense zone. If you have any ideas, you can tell him that if he agrees to stop the construction of fortifications, I can not pursue your disobedience."
Sokov was overjoyed to learn that Zhukov was coming to inspect. He knew very well that Konev's situation was very embarrassing. Even if he agreed with his own actions, he would scold him on the surface. But if Zhukov could come forward and announce the cessation of fortifications in some areas, he could justify order the troops to concentrate on training.
After a brief silence, Sokov couldn't wait to ask: "Federal Command, I wonder when Marshal Zhukov will arrive at our defense zone?"
"This is not easy to say," Konev said hesitantly, "You know that he has always been elusive, and every time he travels, he doesn't like to bring a large group of followers. Maybe he only brings a driver and a guard and runs around the world, so no one knows when he will appear in his defense zone."
Sokov agreed with Konev's statement very much. He clearly remembered that during the Battle of Moscow, Zhukov liked to travel light cars and simply attend the bus. Many times there was only one driver around him. Fortunately, he was lucky and did not encounter Germans along the way, otherwise he would have ended up with the same tragic fate as Vatujing.
Since it was impossible to know the exact time Zhukov arrived from Konev, Sokov could only find a way. After he put down the phone, he ordered Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the commander of the Front Army told me that Marshal Zhukov would soon come to our defense zone for inspection. You immediately notify the divisions and monitor the highway closely. Once you find a black car appearing, report to the Group Army Command immediately."
"What, Marshal Zhukov is coming to our defense zone?" Sameko suddenly became excited when he learned that Zhukov was going to his defense zone: "Is this true? Comrade Commander, is this true?"
"Of course it's true." Sokov said with some embarrassment: "But even the commander of the front army, I don't know when Marshal Zhukov will arrive at us. Therefore, we can only order each division to closely monitor the roads in their defense zones to see if there are any black cars."
"Black sedan?" Sameko said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, why do you think Marshal Zhukov would ride in a black sedan when he traveled?"
Sameko's words stopped Sokov. The reason he said the black sedan was entirely because in the movie "The Battle of Moscow", senior officers who appeared on the battlefield, whether it was Zhukov or Rokosovsky, had their car in the black sedan. He hesitated for a while and asked back, "Will you take other vehicles?"
"The territory of the black sedan is too low. It is easy to fall into muddy roads like this in the suburbs." Sameko explained to Sokov: "So, since April 1942, when commanders at all levels went out to inspect, they were riding in jeeps that the United States helped us."
Sameko's explanation made Sokov realize that his information was a bit outdated. It was no longer fashionable to travel with senior officers. The off-road style of black cars is poor. When driving on muddy roads in the suburbs, one is that it is easy to fall into mud pits and cannot get out, and the other is that it is easy to become a target for enemy attacks.
So he changed the order in time: "Chief of Staff, then order the divisions to pay attention to whether there are jeeps that do not belong to our army to defend the area."
"I understand." Samek replied readily: "I will call each division immediately to let them pay attention to the strange jeep entering the defense zone of my army."
Two hours later, a convoy of five jeeps came to Sokov's headquarters. The sentry standing guard at the headquarters saw Captain Seryosha, the commander of the guard company, standing on the pedal outside the car, and immediately realized that the identity of the visitor was not simple. When he was about to come to the headquarters to report, he saw Sokov, Sameko and a group of command staff members walked out of the house.
As soon as everyone was lined up at the commander's office, the convoy stopped in front of them. After an officer came out of the co-pilot's position, he hurried to the back position and reached out to open the car door.
Soon, Sokov saw Zhukov, who was not tall, get out of the car. After Zhukov got out of the car, he closed the car door vigorously and walked towards where Sokov was with heavy steps.
Sokov couldn't help feeling shudder when the car door closed. The reason why Zhukov closed the car door so loudly was to vent his anger. He quickly trotted forward, came to Zhukov, and stood attentively saluted: "Comrade Marshal, Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Army, will report to you. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire army, I welcome your arrival!"
Zhukov glanced at Sokov, but did not speak, but walked into the room with his hands behind his back. Seeing that Zhukov's reaction was so abnormal, Sokov did not dare to neglect, and followed him in with his men.
Zhukov walked into the headquarters, came to the wall and stared at the map hanging on it for a while, and turned around and asked Sokov: "Major General Sokov, do you know where your army defends?"
"Report to Comrade Marshal." Sokov quickly replied: "Our army defends the Kosky area located east of Moscow."
Zhukov walked to Sokov with his hands behind his back and asked sternly: "Defense, what do you use to defend? On the way I just came, I looked around. Other armies were still building fortifications, but your troops were doing some training there. Don't you know that once the German army rushed to your position, if there is no solidity and a complete defense system, would HI not be able to stop the enemy at all?"
"Comrade Marshal, I know very well that the tanks and self-propelled artillery that I face with the superiority of the enemy will be difficult to resist them without a complete defense system."
"Since you understand this," Zhukov continued, asking, "Why order the troops to be ordered to stop the construction of fortifications? Major General Sokov, don't you know that your behavior can be said to be a crime."
Faced with Zhukov's accusations, Sokov replied calmly: "Comrade Marshal, can I tell you my reasons?"
"Tell me."
"Comrade Marshal, please look at the map." Sokov walked to the wall and pointed to the map and said to Zhukov: "The location of our army is located in the rear of our army. No matter which direction the enemy attacks, they need to severely damage one or two fronts of our army to have the opportunity to rush to the defense zone of our army.
I judged based on the situation on the battlefield that although the German army wanted to attack, with their current strength, they could not break through our army's defense at all." Sokov knew that if he could not convince Zhukov, his troops would have to pick up the pickaxe and engineer shovel again and continue to build fortifications that were meaningless: "If the enemy really has the strength to destroy one or two fronts of our army, then when they rushed here, can we block their attack with the fortifications we have built in hastily?"
After listening to Sokov's self-defense, Zhukov fell silent again.
"Major General Sokov," After a long time, Zhukov spoke again and broke the silence of the room: "You said you stopped the construction of fortifications in defense, because the enemy was not able to rush here at all?"
"Yes, comrade Marshal." Sokov nodded and answered affirmatively: "I believe in my judgment that the enemy cannot appear in the defense zone of our army, unless they are prisoners."
If someone else said this, Zhukov would definitely think that the other party was exaggerating. But who is Sokov? He had just commanded several infantry divisions, defeated the three German SS divisions, and even wiped out the commander of the Imperial Division. Zhukov asked tentatively: "How sure are you sure that the enemy cannot reach here?"
Although it was a foregone conclusion for Sokov to not rush into the Kosky area, he showed enough modesty in front of Zhukov: "I think I'm about 80% sure."
"Eighth level of confidence?" Zhukov nodded and said with relief: "From my understanding of you, you say you are 80% sure, that's a sure thing."
Zhukov walked to the table and sat down, slapped the table twice with his hands: "I have been in for so long, why didn't anyone pour me tea? Is this your way to treat guests?"
When Zhukov was scolding Sokov, Sameko, who was standing next to him, kept sweating, worried that if Sokov angered the marshal, he might be removed from office on the spot. Just as he was thinking about how to come out to smooth things over, the style of the painting inside the house had changed. Marshal Zhukov, who was scolding Sokov not long ago, actually asked someone to make tea for him.
Sameko did not dare to neglect, so he quickly turned on the faucet of the samovar himself, put a cup of hot tea out, brought it over and placed it in front of Zhukov, and pushed the small plate containing the sugar cube to Zhukov, and said respectfully: "Comrade Marshal, this is the black tea and sugar cube you want."
Zhukov picked up two pieces of sugar and threw them into the teapot. When he was stirring slowly with a spoon, he asked Sokov: "Misha, you ordered the troops to stop all the construction. Do you want them to concentrate on training?"
"Yes, comrade Marshal, that's exactly what it is." Sokov saw that Zhukov guessed his intention, and quickly replied: "Most of the soldiers in our army are militias or recruits. They have not undergone systematic military training and their combat effectiveness is worrying. Even if they are brought to the battlefield, it may be difficult to send them to use. When I took office, after repeated thinking, I felt that I could stop building fortifications that waste money and waste time, but concentrate on military training. I believe that at most three months, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be greatly improved."
"Three months?" Zhukov asked with interest when he heard Sokov say this: "Misha, do you think the Germans will attack us again in three months?"
"That's right, comrade Marshal." Sokov did not hide his point of view in this matter. He knew that the specific time of the Kursk Battle was less than three months away. The 27th Army was put into the battlefield late, and there were still three months of training: "Now is the season of spring thawing, and the roads are muddy, which is not conducive to the movement of mechanized troops. June and July of each year are the season that is most conducive to combat. I think the Germans will definitely launch an attack at this stage."
"Misha, you make a lot of sense." Zhukov agreed with Sokov's speculation: "The German army's attack on our country is chosen in late June. The sunshine in summer is long and the combat time can be extended. It seems that our current task is to prepare to prevent the German army from launching a summer offensive."
"Time is tight, and now we are about to start preparing."
"It's very difficult, Misha." Unexpectedly, Zhukov sighed unexpectedly when he heard Sokov say this, and said, "Many fronts are busy repairing fortifications and have no time to train recruits who replenish the troops. I'm worried that the fight will really start, and the recruits who have just replenished the troops will not play any role."
Sokov dared not speak casually on this matter. After hearing Zhukov's words, he just laughed twice without expressing any opinion.
Chapter completed!