Chapter 2232

  Ponedelin received a call from Bogolyubov and asked himself to go to the headquarters of the Front Army immediately.

  After putting down the phone, Ponegerin felt very uneasy. He was worried that his superiors would punish him for letting the German army occupy two cities because his troops lost the results of the previous day.

His expression was seen by Chief of Staff Ozerov, and he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, are you worried that the Front Army Command will let you pass because of our army's defeat today, and is planning to punish you?" Bar?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Ponegerin and Ozerov have not been partners for a long time, he feels that he is a trustworthy person, so he nodded in recognition of the other party's statement: "I am like this considerate."

"Comrade Commander," Ozerov said, "I, as your chief of staff, also have an unshirkable responsibility for the defeat in today's battle. If the superior wants to punish, punish me too. Wait for me to explain a few words , and then follow you to the Front Army Command."

"No, no, no." Ponegerin waved his hands and said, "You are just the chief of staff who advises me, and I am the one who makes the final decision. If the superior wants to investigate the cause of the failure, I will bear all the consequences. In my opinion, you If you stay in the headquarters to command the troops, you don’t have to follow me to be punished.”

"Comrade Commander, look at what you said." But Ozerov had decided to advance and retreat with Ponedelin at this moment, so he said decisively: "I have already said that I am your chief of staff. If something happens What matter, I am willing to take responsibility with you. Now that the fighting has stopped, the work can be handed over to other staff members, and I will accompany you now."

Seeing that Ozerov's attitude is now resolute, Ponedelin knew that what he said would be useless, so he nodded with a wry smile and said, "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, since you are willing to go with me to the headquarters of the Front Army, Then I have no objection. But I would like to say hello in advance. The 50th Army has just changed its commander, and the troops are somewhat unstable. If both of us are dismissed, it may not be a good thing for the troops. Therefore, once the superior If someone is responsible for this failure, I will bear everything, and you are not allowed to argue with me, because this army needs you more. Do you understand?"

Ozerov was silent for a long time, finally nodded slowly, and said, "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will listen to you in everything." He said so, but he was thinking in his heart that if the superior really pursued the responsibility, In any case, I have to advance and retreat with the commander and share some responsibilities for him.

However, after the two were about to leave the headquarters, Ponegerin suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned his head and said to Ozerov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't know if I will have a chance to come back this time. Another chance to make another call.”

   "Who are you calling?" Ozerov asked curiously.

"General Sokov, Commander of the 48th Army." Ponedelin explained to Ozerov: "If he hadn't tried to protect me after I was rescued from the German prisoner-of-war camp, I'm afraid I'm still staying in Rupees. In Yanka's cell."

When the call was connected, Ponegerin recognized that the person who answered the phone was Sidolin, and greeted him with a smile: "It turned out to be Chief of Staff Sidolin. I'm Ponegerin. I wonder if Comrade Commander is here." ?”

   "Yes, he is." Sidolin glanced at Sokov who was standing not far away, and nodded vigorously, "I'll let him answer the phone."

  Full of doubts, Sokov took the microphone from Sidolin's hand and stuck it to his ear: "Hello, General Pornegerin, what can you do?"

"Comrade Commander," Ponegerin's address to Sokov remained unchanged even though he had already left Sokov's troops: "I'm calling you today to bid farewell to you. Last call."

  Ponegelin's words surprised Sokov, and he asked quickly: "General Ponegelin, why did you say that, did something happen to you?"

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Pornegering said with a wry smile, "My troops suffered a huge defeat in the German counterattack today. Not only did the results achieved yesterday come to naught, but they also lost two City. I just received a call from the Front Army Command, asking me to rush there immediately. I guess it was to investigate the reason for my failure. I don’t know if I can come back after I go, so I will give you a last call, thank you for your support Everything I do."

  Knowing that Ponegerin was about to be punished, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, and then asked back: "General Pornegerin, you said you were about to be punished, who told you?"

"No one told me." Ponegelin said: "My troops just lost the battle during the day, and at night they received a call from the headquarters of the front army, asking me to rush there immediately. This is not to punish me, but to what is it then?"

Sokov frowned and thought for a while, remembering that in real history, Rokossovsky's Belarusian Second Front Army made a request to the Supreme Command because of its poor performance in the early stages of the East Pomeranian Battle , the first front army mobilized right-wing troops to cooperate. After thinking about this point, he asked cautiously: "General Pornegelin, are you too pessimistic? I think the Front Army Command called you and asked you to rush there immediately, probably because of other things."

   "Anything else?" Pornegerin asked in bewilderment, "It's all like this, what other things can there be?"

"General Ponegerin, although I did not participate in the battle, I know very well that with our current strength, it is very difficult to defeat the German Vistula Group entrenched in East Pomerania. Sokov explained to the other party: "So we must get the support of the friendly army. But which friendly army support can we get? From the analysis of the current situation, we can only ask Marshal Zhukov to mobilize his right-wing troops to assist us. The Second Front Army is fighting. I think Marshal Rokossovsky called you there urgently, maybe it is for the purpose of cooperating with the friendly forces, so you don’t have to worry at all.”

"Is this true?" Ponejielin has been with Sokov for more than a year, so he naturally understands his character and knows that what he said is very accurate. He asked with a promotion: " Comrade Marshal called me over, is it really just to cooperate with the friendly army?"

Sokov could only chuckle dryly at this moment, and then said: "General Ponegerin, you think highly of me, I'm just a small group army commander, how could I know what's going on in the front army headquarters. What I just said is just my analysis, it can only be used as a reference for you, and it is not accurate."

  Although Sokov categorically denied it, Ponegerin put his heart back into his stomach. He knew very well that maybe the other party was right.

  After putting down the phone, he took Ozerov to the front army headquarters by car.

On the way, Ozerov saw that Ponegerin looked good, and he looked completely different from when he first received the call. He couldn't help but became very interested in the conversation between Pornegerin and Sokov: "Comrade Commander, what did you say on the phone with General Sokov just now. I feel that you are completely different after the call."

  Ponedelin replied with a smile: "General Sokov told me that the Front Army Command called us urgently, maybe not to punish us for today's failure, but for other important things."

   "Any other important thing?" Ozerov asked a bit puzzled, "What important thing could it be?"

"He said that the failure of our army was entirely due to the lack of troops." Ponegerin explained to the other party: "The front army command called us to send new troops to assist us in the battle. Tonight is our meeting with friendly commanders."

Ozerov questioned Ponedelin's statement: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, our Front has no other forces except the 48th Group Army in the second echelon and some troops directly under the Front. Troops have been mobilized. Have you made a mistake?"

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Out of his trust in Sokov, Ponegerin said in an affirmative tone: "Based on what I know about General Sokov, most of what he said are accurate. Yes. And he also told me that according to his judgment, after we arrive at the headquarters of the front army, it is possible to meet the commander of the friendly army, and then discuss with the other side how to cooperate in the next battle."

  Seeing that Ponejielin trusted Sokov so much, Ozerov was speechless. He shook his head with a wry smile, turned his eyes to the dark window, and hoped that the vehicle would arrive at the front army headquarters as soon as possible, so that he could figure out the reason why the superior summoned the two of them.

   When they arrived at the headquarters of the Front Army, as soon as the car stopped, a lieutenant colonel came over and asked Ponegerin, "Is it General Pornegerin of the 50th Army Command?"

"Yes, it's me."

   "I was sent by Comrade Marshal to pick you up." After the lieutenant colonel finished speaking, he turned his eyes to Ozerov who was beside Ponedelin, and asked tentatively, "Who is this?"

   "He is my chief of staff, General Ozerov."

   After finding out the identity of Ozerov, the lieutenant colonel nodded, and then said to the two: "Please come with me, Comrade Marshal is waiting for you."

  Following the lieutenant colonel to Rokossovsky's headquarters, as soon as the two entered the door, they saw a major general wearing a Polish uniform sitting at the table. Ponegerin couldn't help but secretly rejoice: It seems that Sokov's analysis is correct. Marshal Zhukov really sent troops to assist him in fighting. This major general of the Polish army should be the commander of the friendly army.

   But Ozerov thought in surprise: I remember that there were no Polish troops in the Second Front Army. Where did this Polish general come from?

  The answer will be revealed soon.

After Poniedelin and Ozerov saluted Rokossovsky, Rokossovsky introduced to the two: "Let me introduce to you, this is the Polish 1st Army Commander Po Major General Plavsky. Comrade Major General, these two are Lieutenant General Ponedelin, Commander of the 50th Army, and General Ozerov, Chief of Staff."

After calling everyone to sit down, Rokossovsky said to Ponedelin and Ozerov: "I called you here because in the next few days, you will fight with the troops of the Polish 1st Army. , to jointly attack the German Vistula Group entrenched in East Pomerania. Today is your meeting, let you get acquainted with each other first, which will be very helpful for the next coordinated operations."

  After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Ozerov's face was full of shock. Before he entered this room, he was still laughing at Pornejelin in his heart, thinking that his partner was too superstitious about the original commander Sokov, thinking that the other party was an omniscient prophet. But at this moment, he realized that he was wrong, and it was extremely wrong. He didn't expect the other party's judgment to be correct. It seemed that he could no longer look down on this young army commander.

Rokossovsky caught a glimpse of Ozerov's face turning green and then pale, and asked tentatively: "General Ozerov, your complexion is not right, is there something uncomfortable, or should I call the military doctor?" Come here for you to check?" As he spoke, he raised his hand and called a staff officer, preparing to order him to call for a military doctor.

   "Comrade Marshal, you don't need to call in a military doctor." Ozerov said in a panic, "I'm in good health. I'm fine."

   "But I think your face is not right, is something wrong?"

Seeing that Rokossovsky wanted to break the casserole and ask the end, Ozerov could only say helplessly: "Before we came here, we thought you called us here because you were going to punish us for today's defeat on the battlefield. Well. So before leaving, the commander made a special phone call to the commander of the 48th Army, General Sokov."

"Oh, before you left, you called Misha." Rokossovsky glanced back and forth between Ponedelin and Ozerov, and asked Ponedelin curiously: "Ponedelin General Negelin, what did Misha say to you?"

Knowing that Rokossovsky valued Sokov very much, Ponedelin said without any scruples: "He said that you called us to the headquarters, not to punish us for our defeat during the day, after all Our army's strength is limited, and it is difficult to expand the results of the battle until it is replenished. If you want to defeat the German army in East Pomerania, you must get the assistance of Marshal Zhukov. When you make such a request, Marshal Zhukov may be from the right wing Deploy troops to cooperate with us in combat. Coming to the headquarters tonight may be to discuss matters related to cooperating with friendly forces with us.”

Rokossovsky had a smile on his face after listening to Ponedelin's narration, and said, "This little Misha is really clever. He even guessed what happened here." Negelin nodded and said, "That's right, Misha's guess is right. The purpose of my calling you here is to get to know the commanders of the friendly forces. After all, in the next period of time, you will fight side by side. Our common enemy."

   "Next, General Poplavski will introduce the situation of your troops." Rokossovsky continued: "And what method do you plan to use to conduct joint operations with our troops."

  (end of this chapter)