Chapter 1999

After Sokov conveyed the orders from his superiors, he felt that the next job should be to prepare for various attacks, such as overshoes called swamp sleds, which can be used by commanders and fighters to walk in the swamp after wearing them. probability. And pallets, rafts, etc. for carrying machine guns, mortars, and small-caliber artillery.

  When he was assigning tasks to Sidolin, he unexpectedly received a call from Rokossovsky: "Misha, you should come to the Front Army Command immediately."

  After putting down the phone, Sokov said to himself: "Comrade General asked me to go to the headquarters of the Front Army. I don't know what happened?"

  After hearing this, Sidolin began to analyze to him: "Is the superior planning to add another batch of soldiers or weapons to us?"

The speaker is not interested in the listener, and Sidolin’s words made Sokov think of a possibility, that is, Belkin arrived with a hovercraft unit, and Rokossovsky asked himself to go there, just to let himself go to pick up the hovercraft .

Thinking of this, he couldn't restrain the joy in his heart, and said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, when I called Colonel Belgin, the news he got was that he came to the front, but which front he went to, he didn't know which front he went to." No one knows. Comrade General called me today, maybe it has something to do with this matter, I have to rush over immediately to have a look.”

   "You have Comrade Deputy Commander and I in your headquarters, don't worry." Sidolin said: "The road is not safe, you should bring more people there."

   Sokov took Sidolin's reminder very seriously. You must know that a few months ago, when Vatutin was active in his defense zone, he was attacked by Bandera elements, and unfortunately he was shot and injured. After two months of treatment in the hospital, he died because of a wound infection.

   Sokov, who was unwilling to repeat Vatutin's mistakes, wanted to go to the headquarters of the Front Army, so he naturally brought Captain Koshkin and a company of guards. Half an hour later, a convoy of one armored vehicle, three jeeps, and five trucks drove towards the headquarters of the Front Army.

  When Sokov arrived at the headquarters of the Front Army, he was greeted by Chief of Staff Malinin: "Comrade Sokov, welcome! How is it going? Did the journey go smoothly?"

   "It went very well, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov looked around the room and asked curiously, "Why isn't Comrade General here?"

"He went to inspect General Batov's 65th Army, and I'm afraid he will have to wait a while before he comes back." Ma Linin said enthusiastically, "You must be thirsty after riding for so long, I'll pour you a cup of tea. "

"Thank you, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I'm not thirsty." Sokov was eager to know the purpose of Rokossovsky's call, so he asked Malinin straight to the point: "I want to ask, what is the reason why Comrade General asked me to come here?" matter?"

   "I think it's better for Comrade General to tell you about this." After Ma Linin finished speaking, he began to ask about the situation in the army: "Have you communicated the battle plan?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, it has been communicated." Sokov nodded and said, "After all, there are a lot of things to prepare. Let the commanders and fighters know what they are doing early, and they will be more decisive when executing orders." Some."

  He thought that before he came here, he had guessed that Belkin might be waiting for you here, but he didn't see anyone now. In order to find out whether Belgin had come to the Front Army Command, he tentatively asked Ma Linin: "The Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I would like to ask, has anyone from the Weapons and Equipment Department come here these two days?"

   "No." Ma Linin shook his head and asked in puzzlement, "What are they doing here?"

  Malinin's reply made Sokov feel cold. If Malinin said that he had never met Belkin, it would prove that the other party had never come here at all, and everything was just his own wishful thinking.

   "Comrade Sokov," Malinin saw that the expression on Sokov's face darkened after he finished speaking, and asked tentatively, "Is something wrong?"

"It's like this, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov thought that if Belkin really came to the front line with a hovercraft, Malinin and others would know sooner or later, so he took the initiative to say: "I used to have a partner named Belkin. Jin, after Yasha was transferred, he was transferred to the weapons and equipment department to take over Yasha's work. Some time ago, after I got in touch with him, I hope he can provide hovercraft to our department..."

"Comrade Sokov, wait a moment." As soon as Sokov said this, he was interrupted by Malinin: "Is the hovercraft you are talking about a new type of transportation that can travel quickly on swamps or rivers? ?”

"It can be said that." Sokov nodded and said, "If they really provide us with these hovercraft, then our troops can quickly cross the swamp that gives us headaches in just a few minutes. zone."

   As the chief of staff of the front army, Ma Linin is very familiar with the terrain of the area where the attack is about to start. Hearing what Sokov said at this moment, I couldn't help but be surprised: "Comrade Sokov, as far as I know, even the shortest distance in the swamp area you want to attack is more than 1,000 meters. through the swamp. Wouldn't it be bragging?"

"The Chief of Staff of the Front Army is not bragging, it's all true." In order to increase his persuasion, Sokov specifically mentioned the battles for the liberation of Belgorod and Kharkov: "At that time we were liberating Belgorod and Kharkov. In Kharkov, the hovercraft was used to quickly break through the German army's river defense positions and cover the large troops into the city."

   "Is it really that powerful?"

"yes."

"That's really great." Ma Linin became excited: "If each of our army groups can have dozens of such hovercraft, the time for crossing the swamp will be greatly shortened, and our commanders and fighters can also fly in the shortest possible time. Break through the enemy's defenses in the main direction of attack within a short period of time."

"Yeah, I just thought that I used hovercraft in combat before, which brought a lot of convenience to our operations." Sokov said: "So as soon as I learned that Colonel Belkin took over Yasha's position , I took the initiative to contact him, hoping that he could provide us with a hovercraft to strengthen the mobility of the troops in the swamp area."

   "So what's going on now?" Ma Lining asked urgently, "Did he agree to help you?"

"When I learned that there were 30 newly-built hovercraft in the Weaponry Department, I asked him to use them to equip our troops. But he said at the time that because he had not been in the Weaponry Department for a long time, many things he had to deal with. You can’t make the decision yet, you must consult Comrade Ustinov before you can tell me the result.”

   "What was the result?" Ma Linin continued to ask: "Did he agree to deliver these hovercraft to you?"

"When I called him last night, I accidentally learned that he had gone to the front." Sokov said with a full face of regret: "My wife Asiya told me about his going to the front, but unfortunately Yes, she only knew that Belkin went to the front, but she didn't know which front she went to."

"Oh, no wonder you just asked me if someone from the weapons and equipment department came over, so that's what happened." Ma Linin felt itchy when he learned that Belkin might be able to provide a batch of equipment to improve the mobility of the troops. Sokov said: "Comrade Sokov, wait a moment, I will call and ask other troops to see if Colonel Belgin has gone to them."

Seeing that Ma Linin grabbed the phone and was about to contact other friendly troops, Sokov quickly reminded him: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, please don't let the friendly troops know that we want to get the hovercraft, otherwise there will be many people fighting for these things. .Whether the higher-ups will assign the hovercraft to our front army is still unknown."

  Malinin deeply agrees with Sokov's statement. If he knew which army had a new type of transportation such as a hovercraft, he might also apply to his superiors for the allocation of such a transportation. Similarly, if Belgin was going to deliver these hovercraft to his front army, if other front troops knew about it, they would definitely come to fight for it. In order to avoid this situation, it is natural not to leak the wind.

Soon, Malinin got through to the headquarters of the Belarusian Second Front Army. When he heard someone talking, he immediately identified himself: "Hello, is this General Liubarsky? I am Chief of Staff Malinin of the First Front Army. !…Hello, hello! I’m calling you because I want to know something…I don’t know if anyone from the weapons and equipment department has been to your place recently?…What, no?!…Okay, okay, I got it!...Thank you! Good luck!"

   After finishing the call with General Liubarsky, Malinin called the four Ukrainian fronts and the Baltic Front one by one, asking if any personnel from the Weapons and Equipment Department had been there.

When Malinin put down the phone, he shook his head at Sokov and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Sokov, I have already called all the chiefs of staff of the front army. Their answers are all the same. Recently, there is no weapons and equipment department at all. people have been to them."

After a brief silence, Malinin asked tentatively again: "Comrade Sokov, why don't you call Comrade Ustinov, the People's Commissar of the Armament Department, and ask him about the whereabouts of Colonel Belkin? "

Regarding Malinin's proposal, Sokov hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to refuse: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I don't think it's appropriate. Although I have dealt with Comrade Ustinov, the other party often It was because of Yasha's face that he was polite to me. Now that Yasha has been transferred, if I call again, maybe the other party will ignore me at all."

   "How do you know if you don't try." Malinin pushed the high-frequency phone in front of Sokov: "I'll help you connect, come and talk to Comrade Ustinov."

   After finishing speaking, without waiting for Sokov to express his opinion, Ma Linin dialed a number, and then said into the microphone: "I am General Ma Linin, chief of staff of the First Belarusian Front Army. Please transfer me to the switchboard of the Weapons and Equipment Department!"

  After the switchboard was connected, Malinin identified himself to the operator again, and asked the operator to help him connect to Ustinov's office. When the operator heard that a chief of staff of the front army had called Ustinov, he thought that something serious had happened, so he immediately connected to Ustinov's office.

  Hearing someone talking inside, Malinin covered the receiver with his hands and handed it to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, the call has been connected, and the next words are up to you."

   Things have come to this point, and it is obviously inappropriate to refuse, so Sokov can only bite the bullet and take the microphone and stick it to his ear, and give a hello.

   Ustinov's stern voice came from the receiver soon: "Hi! I'm Ustinov, where are you?"

   "Hello, Comrade People's Commissar." Sokov took a deep breath, and then identified himself: "I am Sokov!"

"It turned out to be Sokov. I just heard the operator say that it was General Malinin, the chief of staff of the First Belarusian Front, who called me. I was shocked and thought something happened." Ustino The husband said with a smile on the phone: "I didn't expect you to be the one looking for me. What's the matter with you?"

"It's like this, Comrade People's Commissar." Sokov said cautiously: "I want to find Colonel Belkin who has just been transferred to the Armament Department. He is replacing Major General Yakov..." The reason why he said After Belkin's name, he specifically emphasized that the other party was replacing Yakov, because he was worried that Ustinov would not know Belkin.

"Oh, you're talking about Colonel Belgin." Ustinov said, "I know him. He came to my office two days ago and said that your troops are about to participate in a large-scale military operation. I hope I can agree to distribute the 30 hovercraft newly manufactured by the Weaponry Department to your troops."

  Sokov was thinking about how to bring up the hovercraft. Now that Ustinov was the first to mention it, his heart beat faster. After Ustinov finished speaking, he tentatively asked: "Comrade People's Commissar, how did you answer him?"

"How else can I answer?! Of course I agreed!" Ustinov said with a smile: "If he applied for someone else, I might have to think about it, but I heard that it is for your troops, so I immediately I agreed without hesitation. I feel that by assigning the hovercraft to your troops, you will surely achieve more glorious victories."

When he learned that Ustinov agreed to assign the hovercraft to his troops, Sokov couldn't help being overjoyed and thanked the other party repeatedly: "Comrade People's Commissar, that's great, this is really great. On behalf of the 48th Army All commanders and fighters, thank you!"

   "I don't need verbal thanks." Ustinov said on the other end of the phone: "If you can use these hovercraft to build more brilliant results, that is my greatest thanks."

   "By the way, Comrade People's Commissar, I have one more thing to ask you!"

"what's up?"

   "Where did Colonel Belgin go?" Sokov asked tentatively, "I haven't been able to contact him since last night."

"Don't worry, Comrade Sokov, Colonel Belkin will not disappear for no reason." Ustinov said on the phone: "He took the hovercraft to your place, and it is estimated that he will be there by tomorrow morning at the latest." arrive."

   Knowing that Belgin was heading towards his headquarters with the hovercraft, Sokov was overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Thank you, Comrade People's Commissar, thank you very much for bringing us such good news."

  (end of this chapter)