Chapter 1978

The trainees distributed in various units couldn't help being overjoyed after receiving the notification from Ponejielin and Kirillov. After handing over the work in their hands, they rushed to the designated place as quickly as possible. Place to assemble.

  Knowing that Sokov had assembled all the manpower, Rokossovsky was also unambiguous, and immediately sent two C-47 transport planes to pick up Sokov and his men.

  After Sokov and others boarded the plane in turn, the transport plane took off one after another, and then flew towards the territory of Belarus. After two hours of flying, we finally arrived at the location of the Rokossovsky headquarters.

   But unfortunately, when he arrived, he found that Rokossovsky was not there, only Chief of Staff Malinin was there. Malinin and Sokov are old acquaintances, and have fought side by side in different battlefields. Seeing him coming, they immediately stepped forward and gave him a warm hug.

  After the two hugged each other, Sokov asked curiously, "Comrade General, why didn't you see General Rokossovsky? Where did he go?"

   "Something happened temporarily in the 65th Army, and the commander went to deal with it." After explaining to Sokov, Ma Linin asked curiously, "How many people did you bring here this time?"

  Sokov quickly took out the list he had prepared and handed it to Malinin: "Comrade General, this is the list of personnel I brought this time."

  Ma Lining took the list and quickly browsed it. After reading it, he looked up at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Sokov, why didn't Colonel Muzichenko come over? Also, your cadet team is five people short of the predetermined list. "

   Hearing what Malinin said, Sokov asked in surprise: "Why, Comrade General, you actually have the list of personnel I brought here."

Malinin did not answer Sokov's question immediately, but got up and poured him a cup of tea, put it in front of him, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, you have been transferred to our Belarusian First Front this time. Be sure to find out in advance who you will bring over. So after research by the commander and I, we came up with a possible list, including Lieutenant General Ponedelin, Colonel Muzichenko, Ki Colonel Rylov and the whole cadet team."

Seeing that Sokov still looked puzzled, he continued to say: "Comrade Sokov, you may have forgotten that when you were still recovering from your injuries in the hospital, you sent this student team to us. worked for a while."

"Yes, yes, Comrade General, what you said is absolutely correct." Sokov nodded and said, "It was true that General Pornegerin's advisory group and cadet team went to your headquarters for a period of practice. Time, until I was appointed as the commander of the 53rd Army, these people followed me to the new unit."

"How is it? After these months of observation, have you found any commanders with outstanding abilities?" Ma Linin said in an encouraging tone: "If there are, just tell them directly. Nowadays, many troops are lacking As for the regimental commander, you can let these students under your command fill these vacancies."

Seeing that Malinin and Rokossovsky had paved the way for the students, but did not mention the arrangements for Ponedelin and Kirillov, he asked tentatively: "What about Lieutenant General Ponedelin and Kirillov?" Colonel Rylov, how do you plan to accommodate them?"

"Comrade Sokov, to tell you the truth, Comrade Commander and I are very troubled by the issue of how to place Pornedelin and others." Malinin said awkwardly: "I don't know how to arrange jobs for the three of them. Okay. Now Muzichenko is not here, so we only need to arrange work for two people."

   "Comrade General, tell me about it." Sokov asked curiously: "I want to hear, what duties did you arrange for them?"

"You are about to take over the post of commander of the 47th Army." Malinin said to Sokov: "According to what I know about you, you will definitely not use the original personnel again, and you will definitely adjust the positions of many people. So I plan to Let Ponedelin serve as deputy commander, Muzichenko as chief of staff, and Kirillov, depending on the situation, consider arranging him a suitable job."

  Sokov was thinking in his heart that if Malinin really appointed Muzichenko as the chief of staff, Kirillov would not be able to stay at the headquarters, and could only go down to serve as an army commander or division commander. But judging from the current situation, it is unlikely that he wants to be an army commander, and his superiors will at most appoint him as a division commander. Now Muzichenko has decided to stay in the original army, and the post of chief of staff originally assigned to him can be justifiably handed over to Kirillov.

   "I obey the orders of my superiors." Seeing that Ma Linin's arrangement was very in line with his own vision, Sokov nodded and said, "Let everyone carry out their work according to the duties you have arranged."

   Paused for a moment, Sokov asked tentatively again: "Comrade General, when can I take my subordinates to take up the post?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Sokov." Seeing that things went more smoothly than he imagined, Ma Linin said with a smile: "You just got off the plane, take a rest for a while, and wait for Comrade Commander to come back before talking about going to the new army." It's not too late."

   "Then I'll go out and say hello to everyone," Sokov stood up and said, "In case everyone waits outside in a hurry."

  Malinin agreed with Sokov to go out and say hello to everyone, and at the same time warned: "Remember to call Ponedelin and Kirillov in later, and I will assign work to them in person."

  Sokov came outside and saw that the people he called were standing in groups of threes and fours next to several trucks covered with camouflage nets, so he walked over quickly. When those people saw Sokov approaching, they stopped talking and surrounded Sokov.

   "Comrade Commander," Pornedelin asked Sokov curiously, "I don't know what General Rokossovsky said?"

"General Rokossovsky is not in the headquarters, he said he has gone to the troops below." After briefing the situation to everyone, Sokov said, "We may not be able to leave here for the time being, so everyone first Find a place to rest."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, a lieutenant colonel came over. He stood in front of Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and said respectfully, "Comrade General, the chief of staff sent me to receive your subordinates." .”

"The chief of staff is quite thoughtful." After hearing this, Ponejielin smiled and said to Sokov, "I was worried that we would be bored standing here, so I specially sent someone to receive us. Comrade Commander, Go get busy, we will follow this lieutenant colonel."

"Wait a minute, General Pornegerin." But Sokov raised his hand to stop Pornegerin's action, and said to him: "Let the others follow this lieutenant colonel, you, me, and Ki Colonel Rilov, you need to see General Malinin immediately."

   Soon, the three walked into the headquarters and met Ma Lining.

"You are here!" Seeing the three people coming in, Ma Linin simply greeted them, let them sit down on both sides of the long conference table, and then said to Ponegerin: "General Ponegerin, pass by After studying with the commander, I decided to appoint you as the deputy commander of the 47th Army. Colonel Kirillov will serve as the chief of staff of the army. Do you have any different meanings?"

  According to Ma Linin's thinking, such an arrangement is already the best arrangement he and Rokossovsky can make after careful consideration, and the other party should not object.

  Unexpectedly, as soon as his words fell, Kirillov stood up and said politely: "General Malinin, can I talk about my true thoughts?"

   Hearing what Kirillov said, Malinin was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said, "Say it, Colonel Kirillov, if you have any thoughts, just say it!"

"I think I may not be qualified for the position of chief of staff of the army group." Now that Malinin asked himself to express his true thoughts, Kirillov did not go around in circles, but asked directly: "From the moment I became an officer, I have always been As the chief military officer of the army, I have no experience in serving as a staff officer at all. Now that you have appointed me as the chief of staff, I feel that with my own ability, I am afraid that I cannot do this job.”

   Hearing what Kirillov said, Sokov couldn't help worrying about him, fearing that Malinin would fly into a rage after hearing what he said. Unexpectedly, after listening to Malinin, he behaved very calmly. He got up and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, as if thinking about what new position should be assigned to Kirillov.

  Sokov and others were worried about disrupting his train of thought, so no one interrupted him, but silently watched him walk back and forth in the room, patiently waiting for him to make a new decision.

After a long time, Malinin finally stopped, turned his head and said to Kirillov: "Colonel Kirillov, I understand what you mean, you think you are a military officer, and now you are the chief of staff of the group army, I am afraid it will be difficult to be competent." This position. Is my understanding correct?"

"Of course, General Malinin!" Hearing Malinin ask himself this, Kirillov replied in a panic: "First of all, thank you for the position you have arranged for me, but I feel that with my own ability, I am not qualified for this position. Rather than working for a period of time and being dismissed due to lack of ability, it is better to actively refuse.".

   "Then what position do you think is more suitable for you?"

"When the war first broke out, my position was the army commander." Kirillov said: "But I was captured in the Battle of Uman not long after and spent two years in the German prisoner-of-war camp. It is precisely because of the lack of After these precious two years, I realized that the tactical thinking I was familiar with had seriously failed to keep up with the situation. Although with the help of General Sukov, my ability has been improved to a certain extent, but Wanting to be an army commander like in the early days of the war, I feel that my ability is still somewhat insufficient, so the position of division commander should be the most suitable for me. And before coming here, I served as the division commander."

After Malinin listened, he laughed and said: "Colonel Kirillov, you are embarrassing me. You must know that the chief of staff of the 47th Army died in a battle not long ago, and we can't send a suitable candidate for a while." Come to take up this position. Therefore, the original idea was that Colonel Muzichenko would take up this position, but he did not come this time, which disrupted our plan, so we temporarily decided to let you take over this position. "

  After figuring out the situation, Kirillov didn't want to embarrass Malinin, so he took the initiative to lower his conditions: "General Malinin, if there is no suitable division commander, I can be the regimental commander."

Malinin did not nod or shake his head, but said cautiously: "This matter is of great importance. I will wait for Comrade Commander to come back and discuss it with him. Comrade Sokov, if Colonel Kirillov is not willing to serve as Chief of Staff, Then we need to find a new chief of staff candidate."

   "Comrade General." Sokov waited for Malinin to finish speaking, and said with a smile: "There are a lot of talents in the Belarusian First Front Army. I don't think there is any problem in finding someone to be the chief of staff of the army group."

"Comrade Sokov, the situation is not as optimistic as you imagined." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Ma Linin shook his head and said: "Nowadays, the formation of one new front army after another requires a large number of middle and senior commanders. Especially at the division level The above-mentioned commanders are the most sought-after, except for the 47th Group Army, the division commanders of the other units have not yet been filled, let alone the position of chief of staff of the group army."

Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but have an idea: "Comrade General, since you said that there is no more suitable position for Colonel Kirillov in the 47th Army, why not send him to another army as a division commander?" how?"

   Unexpectedly, as soon as Sokov's words came out, Ma Linin refused: "No, it must not work."

  Kililov saw Malinin answering so bluntly, and his face became a little ugly. He didn't understand why the other party objected to being a division commander in another army group?

Fortunately, Malinin noticed his strangeness, and explained: "Comrade Kirillov, there are no outsiders here, so I will say something directly. Although you served as the commander of the army before the war, after all, you were once killed by the German army. Prisoners, in the eyes of many people, are classified as separate books. If you stay in the 47th Army and have Sokov's care, you will have no problems. But if you go to other troops, you will inevitably be discriminated against and excluded , and it will not be conducive to your work at that time."

  Malinin's words made Kirillov and Ponegerin understand that they can have today's status because of Sokov's care. If it weren't for this young commander, I'm afraid the two of them would still be in the cell of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, undergoing interrogation every three days.

   At this moment, Kirillov thought of Muzichenko who was still in the 53rd Army, and thought that with Sokov's departure, his situation in the Second Front Army would become more and more difficult.

The phone on the table rang, and Malinin stepped forward to pick up the receiver, listened for a while, then turned to the direction where Sokov and the others were sitting, and said with a smile: "Yes, Comrade Commander, Sokov and his subordinates have arrived Now he, General Ponedelin, and Kirillov are sitting in our conference room... Well, that Colonel Muzichenko didn't come!... The specific reason is not clear on the phone, I'll let Sokov report to you in detail after you come back."

  After putting down the phone, Ma Linin said to the three: "Comrade Commander just called back and said that his affairs have been settled, and he will be back here in at most an hour. Let me entertain you well."

  (end of this chapter)