Chapter 1878

As soon as Yakov and his hovercraft unit were sent away at noon the next day, Sokov received a call from Konev: "Comrade Sokov, your troops are on the right bank of the South Bug River. Which cities have you occupied? ?”

  After crossing the South Bug River, Sokov's troops, in addition to occupying Tulchin, also successively occupied the three cities of Thomas Piri, Kri Rapiri and Chernivtsi.

Hearing Konev's question at this moment, Sokov replied without hesitation: "Reporting to Comrade Marshal, in addition to occupying Tultsin, we also occupied three cities: Thomas Piri, Kri Rapiri and Chernivtsi. "

"Good job, Comrade Sokov. I congratulate you on the brilliant results you have achieved." After finishing the scene, Konev immediately got back to business: "According to the deployment of the front army, the 52nd Army is about to launch from your left flank. Entering the battlefield, you should immediately prepare to open the passage."

"Give way to the 52nd Army?" Sokov sensed something was wrong from what Konev said, and he asked tentatively, "Comrade Marshal, if I'm not mistaken, you mean to let General Koroteyev The 52nd Army, to complete the task of forcibly crossing the Transnistria?"

"Hehe, Comrade Sokov, talking to a smart person is peace of mind." Konev did not deny Sokov's guess, but said truthfully: "We consider that after repeated battles in your troops, not only the soldiers The consumption of weapons and ammunition is too high, and the commanders and fighters have become exhausted. Letting the 52nd Army go up at this time can just give you a chance to rest."

  Konev's words made Sokov fall into deep thought. You must know that the reason why the current troops are progressing smoothly and can capture the four cities on the right bank of the South Bug River in a very short period of time is entirely because there is no large-scale German army in this area, and the Romanian army is responsible for the defense. , Facing the attack of the Soviet army, they all put down their weapons and surrendered after a little resistance.

   Judging from the current situation, the defenders standing on the right bank of the Transnistria must still be dominated by the Romanian army. This means that the battle to cross the Transnistria will not be as tragic as imagined. At this time, the 52nd Group Army came to take over the task of crossing the river, which was tantamount to picking peaches. Thinking of this, Sokov felt very uncomfortable. His troops had been fighting for so long, but now they made wedding dresses for others.

   "Comrade Sokov, Comrade Sokov, are you still there?" Konev heard the sudden silence from the receiver, thinking that Sokov had hung up the phone, and quickly raised his voice to ask a few words.

   "I'm still here, Comrade Marshal."

"Since you are still there, why don't you talk?" Konev may have guessed what Sokov was thinking, so he comforted him and said, "Comrade Sokov, have you ever thought that if I continue to let you follow the original plan, Attacking Transnistria, I have no doubt that you will achieve another great victory. After this victory, how much combat power can your troops maintain? If our next step is to enter Romania, your Does the army still have the ability to continue to serve as the forward of the whole army?"

  Konev's words stopped Sokov. He only thought about how to destroy the place in front of him, but he ignored the price to be paid to destroy these enemies. Even if the defenders on the right bank of the Transnistria are all Romanian troops with little combat effectiveness, their own troops will still inevitably suffer casualties, and if they receive new combat missions at that time, they may become powerless.

  After trying to understand this point, he said sternly: "Understood, Comrade Marshal. Since we want to give way to the 52nd Army, do we need to let them have one or two of the cities we have captured?"

   "It is absolutely necessary." Konev was thinking about how to persuade Sokov to let him give up one or two occupied cities to the 52nd Army. At this moment, if he took the initiative to mention it, he said smoothly: "You can hand over the city of Kerry Rapili to the 52nd Army, so that they can have a foothold on the right bank of the South Bug River."

   "Comrade Marshal, after we gave way to the 52nd Army, did we stop in place to rest?"

"If you stop attacking suddenly, I'm afraid the enemy will take the opportunity to launch a counterattack." Konev said to Sukov: "So you must continue to attack the enemy in a small area, so that they cannot draw enough troops. The rest of the sector launched a **** counterattack."

"Maintain the offensive in some areas?!" Sokov felt that Konev's plan was good, so he nodded and agreed: "Comrade Marshal, you can rest assured on this point. Even if our army is resting, I will mobilize enough troops. A partial attack on an area defended by the enemy."

   As soon as Sokov put down the phone, Smirnov, who heard the conversation between him and Konev, couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Commander, do we really want to give way to the 52nd Army?"

   "This is for sure, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov looked at the other party and said righteously: "Since it is an order from the superior, then we can only choose to obey instead of discussing the order here."

"It's such a pity." After confirming that he would open the way to the 52nd Army, Smirnov's expression became depressed: "Now on our way forward, there are basically Romanian troops with extremely poor combat effectiveness. If we They made way for the 52nd Army, and they are the ones who will make great achievements next."

  Sokov has already figured it out at this moment. If you continue to attack according to the current situation, then your troops will liberate the Eastern European countries. I am afraid that they will not be able to approach Berlin before the end of the war.

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Seeing Smirnov's frustrated look, Sokov asked with a smile, "I want to ask you a question."

"what is the problem?"

"If, what I'm talking about is if." Sokov said to Smirnov: "If the superiors don't let us stop and rest, but let us continue to advance westward, then after the liberation of Romania, the next attack target What is it?"

"It goes without saying that after Romania is liberated, Bulgaria can be liberated to the south, Yugoslavia can be liberated to the west, and Hungary and Czechoslovakia to the northwest..." Smirnov just said the countries in the direction of attack, in his mind Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and thought of a key question. He stopped and looked at Sokov in shock. After a while, he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, you mean, if we hadn't been ordered to stop Come down to rest, then the next attack will be these Eastern European countries?"

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff, you guessed right, it is indeed the case." Sokov said to Smirnov: "If we continue to fight in this area, then the battle to liberate Berlin in the future will not be our turn at all." To our army."

Although Smirnov understood Sokov's intentions, he still asked in puzzlement: "Comrade Commander, even if Marshal Konev stops our offensive at this moment, judging from the current situation, the Ukrainian where we are located The attack direction of the Second Front Army is the countries I just mentioned, and I am afraid that there is no chance to participate in the battle to capture Berlin."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what you said makes sense. If Marshal Konev has been commanding the Second Front Army, then the next combat mission of your army and mine is to attack Eastern Europe and save the enslaved people from the Germans. Liberated under the iron heel." Sokov smiled and said: "But have you ever thought that if Marshal Konev took over the command of the First Front Army, would our army have no chance to participate in the battle to attack Berlin?"

"Isn't the commander of the First Front Army General Vatutin?" Smirnov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately raised his own doubts, "Although he was injured, the command has been handed over to Zhukov. Marshal. I believe it will not be long before General Vatutin will be able to return to his combat post."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is how I think about it." Sokov naturally would not tell Smirnov that although Vatutin was not seriously injured, he died on April 15 due to a wound infection. He deliberately used an assumption and said to Smirnov: "General Vatutin may not be able to recover in a short period of time due to the deterioration of his injuries; and Marshal Zhukov, who replaced him, has more important work to do. It is impossible to act as the commander of the front army for a long time, and he will leave sooner or later."

   Sokov continued: "Under such circumstances, the Supreme Command must look for suitable candidates to take over the position of the First Front Army. Who do you think are qualified for this position?"

Smirnov calculated with his fingers for a while, and finally said: "There are only two people who are qualified to be the commander of the First Front Army. One is General Rokossovsky, but he is now commanding the Belarusian Front Army. It is obviously unrealistic for him to serve as the commander of the First Front Army."

   "What about the second person?" Sokov asked calmly.

"The second person is our Marshal Konev." Smirnov said thoughtfully: "If Marshal Zhukov can't act for a long time, and General Vatutin can't return to his combat post for a while, then there is really a possibility. It may happen that what you said happened, the superior made Marshal Konev the post of commander of the First Front Army."

  Sokov clearly remembers that when Vatutin died of infection from his injuries, Zhukov proposed to find a suitable candidate as soon as possible to replace the commander of the Ukrainian First Front Army. It was at this time that Konev was included in the list of candidates by Stalin.

  After some weighing, Stalin finally decided to replace Zhukov with Konev. In order to ensure a safe transition, he even ordered the merger of the first and second front armies. After Konev completely controlled the situation, he separated the two fronts again and appointed General Malinovsky as the commander of the second front.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, according to my analysis." In order not to make Smirnov suspicious, Sokov estimated that it was based on his own analysis, "It is estimated that General Vatutin has little chance of returning to his original post, so I It is still preferred that Marshal Konev take over this position."

"I hope so." Smirnov said both to Sokov and to himself: "Marshal Konev really served as the commander of the First Front Army, in order to stand firm as soon as possible. Heel, will definitely deploy one or two trustworthy troops to help him open up the situation. Then will the troops he chooses be our army group?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what's the matter with you? It's not like your personality to be so unconfident in yourself." Sokov said with a smile: "Since the beginning of the Battle of Uman, the results of our army are obvious to all. If he arrives in a new unit and wants to open up the situation as soon as possible, he will definitely transfer a trustworthy unit with strong combat effectiveness. Think about it, who else can meet this standard except us?"

   But there was still no smile on Smirnov's face. He said with some hesitation: "I think Marshal Konev may mobilize our army group, but I'm worried about another thing."

  Sokov looked at each other and asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

"Comrade Commander, you also said just now that the combat effectiveness of our group army ranks among the top in the entire front army, and Marshal Konev will definitely choose us first." Smirnov said worriedly: "But if it is a newcomer If the commander does not agree to let people go, then our defense zone adjustment will be affected."

   "There is no need to worry about this." Regarding Smirnov's worries, Sokov just smiled lightly, and then said confidently: "I believe Marshal Konev is capable of handling this matter."

   "How to deal with it?" Smirnov still couldn't think of any good way to make the new commander of the front army in the future agree to assign such a powerful force like himself to the command of friendly troops.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, let me give you an example." Sokov pointed to Smirnov and then to himself, and said, "Suppose we are commanders of different units. If you want to take the most combat-capable troops out of your army, you will definitely not want to. Right?"

   "That's for sure," Smirnov said in an unquestionable tone, "Why should I ask you to transfer my strongest troops?"

"But if the superior merges our two troops, I will serve as the military chief officer, and you are only my deputy." Sukov said in the simplest way: "In this way, the transfer of troops will become by I have the final say on internal affairs. When the superior decides to split us in two again, I have the right to choose the troops first."

"Isn't that realistic?" Smirnov questioned Sokov's statement: "The First Front Army now has 700,000 people, and our Second Front Army has about 500,000 people. The two troops add up to a total of 1.2 million people. I don't think anyone is capable of commanding such a huge army."

"In order to facilitate the transition of Marshal Konev, it is entirely possible to merge the two troops in a short period of time." Sokov said casually: "As for whether my analysis is accurate, you will be able to see when the Battle of Uman is over. Understood."

   "Well, I hope so." Smirnov was dubious about Sokov's statement. However, in order to prevent Sokov from stepping down, he still pretended to agree with the other party: "If Marshal Konev really became the commander of the First Front Army, and the Supreme Command also ordered the merger of the two front armies, we do have Opportunity to choose where to fight."

  (end of this chapter)