Although Sokov canceled the plan to meet with his subordinates, Gorokhov still called the corps commanders, division commanders and brigade commanders of the group army one by one to inform them that the new commander had taken office and asked them to do so tomorrow. Come to the headquarters for a meeting.

Lieutenant General Afnin, the commander of the 18th Guards Infantry Corps, was in a meeting with his three division commanders. When he received a call from Gorokhov, he couldn't help being surprised, and then asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, can I May I ask who the new commander is?"

Unexpectedly, Gorokhov smiled faintly after hearing this, "General Afunin, who is the new commander? You will know when you come to the headquarters tomorrow." In order to prevent the other party from continuing to ask questions, he added In one sentence, "I have to call other commanders, so I won't say any more to you. I wish you good luck!" After saying that, he hung up the phone directly.

Seeing Afunin holding the phone in a daze, Major General Konev, commander of the 3rd Guards Airborne Division, asked: "Comrade Commander, what were you saying on the phone?"

Afuning put down the phone and said to his subordinates with a wry smile: "The military commissar just called me and said that the new commander has arrived. But I asked him who the new commander was, but he refused to tell me. Just say that you will find out when you get to the headquarters tomorrow."

"Thank God, our new commander finally took office." Konev said with some dissatisfaction: "We had just ended the war in Europe, and before we had time to celebrate the victory, the commander was transferred, and then we were loaded onto the truck. Arriving in the Far East. After arriving here, the officers and soldiers were idle every day and didn’t know what to do next.”

"General Konev, since the superiors have transferred our troops here, the mission is very clear." Afunin said with a straight face and expressionlessly: "It is to attack the Kwantung Army entrenched in the Far East and bring them down. Eliminate them all. As long as this is accomplished, this world war that has lasted for six years will truly come to an end."

“I don’t know what the new commander’s level is.” Konev said thoughtfully: “If we meet an average commander, I’m worried that it will affect the honor our army has gained in recent years.”

"General Konev, you worry too much." As soon as Konev finished speaking, Ryazanov, the new commander of the 41st Guards Division on the side, said: "As far as I know, the soldiers transferred to the Far East this time The troops are the most elite troops in our army. In order for us to achieve better results, the new commander sent to us by our superiors will definitely not be too poor in ability."

"I hope so." Afuning sighed and said, "Anyway, we are going to the headquarters for a meeting tomorrow. When we get there, we will know who the new commander is. Let's continue the topic we just left unfinished. Let’s discuss the discipline of the troops.”

As soon as Afuning mentioned the military discipline of the troops, Major General Ye Liaoming, the commander of the 4th Guards Airborne Division who had never spoken, began to complain: "The local comrades came to me yesterday to report that our soldiers broke into a store and took some He took away the goods without paying him, which caused a very bad impact. But I arranged for him to identify the people, but he could not find the soldiers who violated military discipline."

After Afuning waited for Ye Liaoming to finish speaking, he said with a straight face: "Comrade Ye Liaoming, long before our army entered Poland, the superiors issued documents to strengthen military discipline. Anyone who is found to have behaved inconsistently with the status of a Red Army soldier , it must be dealt with seriously.”

“But I have asked local comrades to go to the army to identify the person, but they can’t identify who robbed the store.”

“Send people to look for witnesses and ask them to come to the army to identify the person.” Afuning said in a serious tone: “We must find the bad apples among us, and we must not let them damage the honor of our army.”

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Ye Liaoming nodded and said, "I will let the political commissar handle this matter when I get back."

 The next day, a meeting was held in the headquarters.

Afuning brought his chief of staff, political commissar, and division commanders, political commissar and chiefs of staff of three divisions to the headquarters for a meeting.

As soon as he entered the conference room, he saw Major General Melekhov, commander of the 49th Infantry Army, and Major General Chumakov, commander of the 57th Army, sitting at the conference table chatting, so he walked over to say hello to them. , asked by the way: "Two Comrade Commanders, yesterday the Military Commissioner called us to inform us to come to a meeting to meet with the newly appointed commander. Do you know who the new commander is?"

"I don't know." They both shook their heads at the same time and said, "When the artillery commander Lieutenant General Tsarev was here just now, we asked him the same question, but he told me that when the new commander arrived yesterday, He is not at headquarters."

"How could it be?" Afuning asked in surprise: "Comrade Military Commissioner took people to the train station to pick him up. Shouldn't he stay at the headquarters? How could he not know who the new commander is? Did he do it on purpose? Not telling you?"

"I think this possibility is unlikely." Chumakov shook his head and said: "General Tsarev told me that the military commissar contacted him via the radio yesterday and said that the commander was infiltrated on his way back to the headquarters. The enemy's shelling resulted in the death of two of our men and one person was seriously injured. The commander ordered the shelling of the enemy's mountain pass position. After receiving the order, he rushed to the artillery headquarters to direct the shelling operation."

“So that’s it.” After hearing this, Afunin looked around the room, hoping to find traces of Gorokhov.

Melekhov saw his intention and said to him with a smile: "General Afnin, are you looking for Comrade Military Commissar? Don't bother. He is not here. He should be looking for the commander. I won’t be back during the meeting time.”

While the three of them were talking, a lieutenant colonel suddenly ran in from outside the door. He shouted inside: "Comrade Commander is here!"

Hearing the lieutenant colonel's shout, the conference room, which was originally as lively as a market, suddenly became quiet. All the commanders stood up in unison and turned their attention to the door.

After the lieutenant colonel finished shouting, he turned to one side and stood at attention, waiting for people outside to come in.

Soon, everyone saw a wheelchair being pushed in. Sitting in the wheelchair was a general with the rank of lieutenant general, and the person pushing the cart for him was a major. Gorokhov, who had never been seen, was at this moment. Standing side by side with the Major.

When everyone saw the general sitting in a wheelchair, they couldn't help but have the same thought in their minds: "Hell, this general without legs is our new commander, right? God, how could the superiors send If a disabled man comes to serve as our commander, if other troops find out, he will definitely become their laughing stock."

However, when many people saw a familiar face appear at the door, as Sokov's old subordinate, they all knew Yakov, who was still working in the weapons and equipment department at the time. This commander who had a good relationship with the commander, He often personally leads people to deliver some advanced weapons to the troops to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. It must be a good choice for him to serve as the commander. Watching Yakov walking behind the wheelchair and Gorokhov towards the other end of the conference table, many people were filled with expectations. No matter what Yakov's level is, as long as he is there, the army will certainly not lack a variety of new weapons.

 But what happened next surprised everyone. Yakov did not sit in the middle, but sat opposite Gorokhov, and the major pushing the wheelchair pushed the wheelchair to Gorokhov's side, and then he sat down carelessly. In the middle position.

When a division commander of the 57th Army was about to have a seizure, he heard his commander Chumakov exclaimed: "Oh my God, it's General Sokov!"

The originally quiet conference room suddenly became lively with his voice. When Sokov wheeled in just now, everyone's eyes were focused on Lukin and Yakov. Who would pay attention to a small major. But now they all recognized that the major sitting in the main seat was actually the former commander, General Sokov.

"Comrade Commander." When he saw that the person sitting in the middle was actually Sokov, the most excited person was Afnin. He stood up and looked at Sokov and asked excitedly: "You are the one who has returned to our 53rd Army Corps. The position of Army Group Commander?”

"Yes, General Afunin." Sokov smiled at Afunin and then said: "From now on, I am the new commander of the 53rd Army."

"Great, this is great. It is an honor for our 18th Guards Army to fight under your command." After Afnin expressed his loyalty to Sokov, he asked with some surprise: "But you Why do you show up dressed like this?"

Sokov knew very well that not only Afunin, but also the commanders present had such doubts, so he simply took this opportunity to explain to everyone: "Comrades, I think everyone is very strange, why do I act like this?" Such an image appears in front of you, right?"

Seeing everyone nodding in affirmation, Sokov continued: "This time we send troops to the Far East to attack the Kwantung Army. This is a military operation that needs to be kept secret. In order to prevent the identity of the commander-in-chief of the Far East Command from being leaked, Marshal Vasilevsky and the commanders of the three front armies all used pseudonyms and false identities. And I also followed the orders of my superiors to use pseudonyms and false military ranks to confuse enemy spies. Now my external identity is Ma Major Tevosyan. Do you remember him?"

 “Remember!” everyone replied in unison.

Sokov nodded and began to introduce his deputies to everyone. The first person he introduced was Yakov: "This is Major General Yakov, the new chief of staff of the group army. When I was the commander of the group army, he had served many times. Send us weapons and ammunition, and we are familiar with each other. I believe there will be no problems with your cooperation in the future."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, applause broke out in the conference room, and everyone welcomed Yakov, the chief of staff, with applause.

Sokov then continued to introduce Lukin to everyone: "Comrades, this is Lieutenant General Lukin. He is my deputy and deputy commander of the group army."

 After saying this, Sokov observed everyone's expressions and found that there was a puzzled expression in the eyes of some commanders. It was obvious that they were extremely puzzled by their superiors' sending a disabled person as deputy commander. Considering that everyone was not familiar with Lukin, Sokov introduced: "Comrades, commanders, you may not be familiar with Lieutenant General Lukin. You must know that in the early days of the war, he commanded the 16th and 20th Group Armies successively. He fought tenaciously against the invading German troops in Ukraine and Russia. Whether it was Shepetovka in Ukraine or Smolensk in Russia, the troops he commanded successfully curbed the advance of the German troops and recovered Received a commendation from the Supreme Command.

 But everyone knew in their hearts that in the early days of the Patriotic War, the enemy far surpassed our army in both strength and equipment. Although the troops commanded by Comrade Lu Jin defeated the enemy time and time again, due to the disparity in strength and equipment, the troops he commanded unfortunately fell into the encirclement of the German army. After a fierce battle, Comrade Lu Jin was unfortunately killed because he was seriously injured. German prisoners. In the German concentration camp, the enemy tried to lure him to surrender many times, but he sternly refused every time. His two legs had to be amputated after the wounds became infected and suppurated because he did not receive timely treatment in the concentration camp. "

 Most of the people present did not know Lu Jin, but they had heard more or less about Lu Jin’s deeds. At this moment, when I heard Sokov introduce Lu Jin so solemnly, I naturally understood that for a disabled person to take up the post of deputy commander of the group army, he must have received the approval of the Supreme Command, and naturally there would be no more resistance. .

After Sokov introduced his deputies to everyone present, he looked at Major General Konev sitting behind Afunin and said with a smile: "Commander Konev, I haven't seen you in a year. I didn't expect that." You have become a general!"

Hearing what Sokov said, Konev laughed dryly, and then said: "I was promoted to the rank of major general in September last year. Compared with the other two division commanders, my promotion is nothing. "

Sokov looked for the commander of the 4th Guards Airborne Division and the commander of the 41st Guards Airborne Division, but saw no sign of them. He couldn't help but ask Afunin: "General Afunin, there are two more Master, why haven’t we seen them?”

"Comrade Commander, some personnel changes have taken place in the army in the more than a year since you left." Afnin introduced to Sokov: "The original commander of the 4th Guards Airborne Division, Alexander Major General Luofu has been transferred to another army group to serve as commander, and his replacement is Major General Ye Liaoming."

"Hello, Comrade Commander." After hearing Afunin mention his name, a major general sitting next to Konev stood up, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and identified himself: "I am the one who is close to you. The current commander of the 4th Guards Airborne Division is Major General Ye Liaoming."

"Hello, Commander Ye Liaoming. Nice to meet you!" Sokov gestured to the other party, indicating that he could sit down: "Please sit down."

Afnin then introduced the commander of the 41st Guards Division to Sokov: "Major General Ryazanov, the commander of the 41st Guards Division!"

When Ryazanov stood up to salute Sokov, Afunin said to him: "Comrade Ryazanov, you may not know that during the Stalingrad defense war, Comrade Commander once served as the 41st Guards The division commander!”

Hearing Afunin say this, Ryazanov couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise, but he quickly returned to normal, raised his hand and saluted Sokov, and said respectfully: "Hello, Mr. Teacher, It’s an honor to meet you!”

Sokov stood up and walked to Ryazanov, took the initiative to extend his hand to him, and said with a smile: "General Ryazanov, it is also an honor for me to know you. Let us serve as commanders of the 41st Guards Division. Come shake hands.”