July soon entered. Since I didn't see any movement from the Germans, the tense strings of the commanders of each division could not help but relax, and even complained privately that Sokov was making a big deal.
Sokov clearly remembered that the Battle of Kursk kicked off in the early morning of July 5, so he notified the divisions as early as the 3rd to distribute ammunition to the commanders and fighters, and prepare for all combat.
The order he gave was soon reached Konev. Konev didn't know what Sokov was doing, so he called him and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Sokov, what are you doing? Why are you distributing ammunition to the troops and sending a battle alarm?"
Sokov would definitely not tell Konev that the German army would launch an unexpected attack on the Soviet army stationed in the Kursk area in the early morning of the 5th, and could only say vaguely: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I think the Germans may attack our defense zone again after two months of rest. You also know that my troops have been training for the past few months, and I have put them in combat readiness, which is entirely to test their training results."
"Nonsense, it's simply nonsense." After Sokov finished speaking, he said unhappily: "Even if you have to check the training results of the troops, you can't distribute ammunition to the troops casually? You know, your army's actions have caused a series of bad chain reactions. Several other army commanders called me one after another, saying why there were combat missions, but they did not inform them."
Konev's words made Sokov realize that his actions were a bit too reckless, and distributed ammunition to the troops on a large scale and allowed them to enter a state of combat readiness. Such actions must be unable to hide from nearby friendly forces, resulting in a series of chain reactions, causing unnecessary panic.
When Sokov was thinking about how to explain to Konev, he heard Konev continue: "The day after tomorrow, on the morning of July 5, we will hold a military meeting at the level of the army commander. At that time, you will make a profound inspection on this matter at the meeting."
When Sokov learned that the meeting was held on the morning of July 5, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If the meeting was held tomorrow, he would definitely not be able to escape the fate of conducting an inspection. But if it was delayed until the morning after tomorrow, the Battle of Kursk had begun. Maybe Konev would secretly sigh that he had foresight, and the matter of conducting an inspection would naturally be left unresolved.
After thinking, Sokov quickly said with a correct attitude: "I understand, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will make a profound review of my reckless behavior at the military meeting the day after tomorrow."
Standing next to him, Lunev looked at Sokov who was on the phone with a worried look on his face. As soon as the other party put down the phone, he said anxiously: "Comrade Commander, do you need me and my superiors to get angry so that you don't need to do a check?"
Sokov knew in his heart that what Lunev said was to communicate with his superiors was to prepare to contact Belia so that he could mediate through Belia and save himself from any punishment. However, Sokov, who has a very deep understanding of history, knew the specific time when the Battle of Kursk began. Not only would he not be punished when he held a meeting, but he might also be praised by Konev. So he refused Lunev's kindness: "Comrade Military Commissioner, thank you for your kindness. Since this matter was an order I issued, I will accept it calmly no matter what kind of punishment my superiors gave us."
Hearing Sokov say this, Lunev can only sigh softly, it is hard to say anything else. Sameko asked carefully: "Comrade Commander, do you need to take back all the ammunition distributed?"
"No, no need to take back the ammunition that has been issued." Sokov said seriously: "On the contrary, we must also tell the commanders of each division to be prepared for war, and maybe we will be put into battle soon."
"Comrade Commander," Sameko couldn't help but shake his head secretly when he heard Sokov say this. He felt that Sokov seemed a little obsessed. Now the German army shows no sign of attack at all. Even if it starts, the reserve team of the Grassland Front seems to have a chance to go to the battlefield, which is still an unknown number. The commander has mentioned in recent times that it is possible to fight every few days. "Do you really think you can fight?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov said in a positive tone: "In my judgment, since the Germans did not launch an offensive in June, they would postpone the offensive until early July, and perhaps a few days later, an unexpected battle would break out."
"It's over, it's over, Comrade Commander's nerves are already a little abnormal." Samico thought sadly in his heart: "If he leaves the army, who will his superiors send to take over his position?"
Sokov didn't know that Sameko's heart had already regarded himself as a lunatic. He was still thinking secretly that once the grassland front army was about to join the war, his troops would definitely be the first to be affected. Which division should be allowed to enter the battlefield first?
On July 4th, Sokov spent all his life in anxiety. He knew the exact time of the German attack, but he could not let the Southwest Front and the Central Front warrant warn, so as not to be regarded as charlatans.
After dark, Sokov did not leave the command center. He sat at the table, staring at the map spread on it, muttering to himself: "History will not deviate because of its appearance, right? If the German army did not launch an attack in the early morning, he would have to make public reviews at the morning military meeting, which might also affect his image in Konev's mind."
However, the night passed, and the phone ringing on the table never rang.
Looking at the bright light outside, Sokov's mood couldn't help but sink into the bottom. Could it be that his appearance has really deviated from history, which prevented the Germans from launching an attack on the Soviet army in Kursk in the early morning of the 5th?
Sameko, who walked in from outside, was shocked when he saw Sokov sitting at the table, sitting at the haggard face. He hurriedly asked, "Comrade Commander, have you been sitting in the command center all night?"
"Yes." Sokov picked up the cigarette box on the table, pulled out a cigarette from it, lit it in his mouth, and said, "I don't know what happened, but I always have an ominous premonition in my heart, thinking that the Germans might attack our army's defense zone?"
"What, the enemy will attack our defense zone?" Samico said nervously: "Comrade Commander, there are no decent fortifications in our defense zone. If the enemy really attacks us, how can we block them?"
"Chief of Staff, you're wrong." Sokov saw that Sameko had misunderstood his meaning, quickly waved his hand at him and explained: "I'm talking about the defense zone of friendly forces, and they may be attacked by the Germans in the near future."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Sameko couldn't help feeling impatient when he saw Sokov mentioning what the German army might have done, so he quickly changed the topic: "Comrade Commander, you must be sleepy and hungry after sitting here all night, right? You lie down and rest for a while, and I'll ask someone to prepare breakfast for you."
It was already eight o'clock in the morning, but there was no news from Kursk, so Sokov could not sleep. He simply ate something, and went with Lunev, under the protection of Samoilov, and took a jeep to the Front Command for a meeting.
When Sokov came to the Front Command, he found several generals sitting and chatting inside. When he saw Sokov walking into the room, everyone stopped talking and focused their eyes on Sokov in a neat manner.
"Comrade Commander," Lunev whispered to Sokov: "Everyone is looking at you, it seems that they all know what you are going to do in the meeting today."
Sokov couldn't help but smile bitterly at Lunev's kind reminder. If there was no news about Kursk's direction for a long time, it would be inevitable that he would conduct an inspection at the meeting today. So he began to think about how to conduct a profound review so that he could get the recognition of his superiors and colleagues?
The people were almost there, and Konev and the members of the headquarters appeared in the conference room. Chief of Staff Zaharov threw a worried glance at him when he passed by Sokov, worried that the inspection at today's meeting would leave a shadow in the heart of the young army commander.
After the meeting began, Zaharov first represented the Front Army Command to give a detailed summary of the fortification construction and training of the armies over the past few months. After he finished speaking, it was the turn of the Front Army military committee member to speak.
Although Mehlis had been transferred, Lieutenant General Susaikov, who took over his position, was also a difficult person to deal with. He stood up, first glanced at the seat where Sokov was sitting, and then said: "Dear generals, the day before yesterday, an incident that had a very bad influence happened here. The commander of a certain army group distributed weapons and ammunition to the troops without asking for instructions, and also ordered the troops to enter a state of combat readiness. I would like to ask here: Are you a member of the German Command? Otherwise, how could you know the enemy's attack time, and distribute ammunition to the troops in advance, and prepare for combat?"
Although Susaikov did not name the name, the commanders present knew who he was talking about. After all, it was a preparation scale of tens of thousands of people, and it was basically impossible to hide it from others.
Lieutenant General Managarov, commander of the 52nd Army, was a good old man. When he heard Susaikov say this, he quickly stood up to smooth things over for Sokov: "Military Comrade, I think the starting point of this commander is good. After all, it is during the war. Only by keeping enough vigilance at all times can we not be caught off guard by the enemy." Seeing Managarov come out to speak for him, Sokov smiled politely at him, as a expression of his gratitude.
"Comrade Commander," Susekov ignored Managarov's words, but asked Konev with a side face: "Aren't you saying that you are going to let the commander who made a mistake make a review in public at today's meeting?"
Konev, who was overtaken by the first army, twitched violently twice, then turned his eyes to Sokov and said slowly: "General Sokov, do you have anything to add?"
When Sokov heard Konev pointing in front of him, he quickly stood up, preparing to make a profound review in front of everyone according to the draft he had made in his heart. But at this moment, a colonel broke in from outside and shouted: "Comrade Commander, telegram, telegram!"
"College," Susekov said unhappily when he saw the colonel breaking into the conference room: "Don't you know that we are holding an important military meeting?"
The head of the intelligence officer of the Front Army was the head of the intelligence service. Knowing that if something important had not happened, he would never have acted so recklessly. He raised his hand to stop Susaikov's words and asked tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, what urgent matter is there?"
"Report to Comrade Commander," replied the Director of Intelligence straightened his body, "I just received an emergency telegram from the General Staff, ordering our department to prepare for combat immediately."
"Where is the telegram?" The expression on Konev's face suddenly became serious: "Read it quickly and listen!"
The Director of Intelligence quickly took out a telegram and read it in public: "... General Rokosovsky's central front army captured a German engineer who was opening a road in the minefield at 1:00 a.m. this morning. He confessed that the German army would launch a powerful offensive on our defense zone at 3:00 a.m. today..."
As soon as the Director of Intelligence was reading here, a commander suddenly said "ah" in surprise, but when he saw Konev's cannibalistic gaze, he obediently closed his mouth and listened quietly to the telegram read by the Director of Intelligence: "... Our army took decisive measures and violently bombarded the German positions at 1:30 in the morning. The shelling time lasted for an hour and forty minutes... The German attack time was disrupted, but they had to postpone the attack time to 5:30 in the morning... Now General Rokosovsky's Central Front, Voronezh Front of Vatutin is in a fierce battle with the enemy. Your headquarters needs to distribute ammunition to the troops immediately, and prepare for all combat, and put it into the battle when necessary. General Staff, signature: Antonov."
After listening to the intelligence director read the telegram, everyone looked at Sokov with strange eyes: What's going on? Why did this guy know that the enemy was about to launch an attack, and gave weapons and ammunition to the troops first, and prepared for all combat preparations? Susaikov, who had just politely criticized Sokov for miscalculation, had a little sluggish on his face. He didn't expect Sokov's prediction to be so accurate. He wanted to apologize in public, but he felt that he couldn't let go.
But Konev showed a gratified smile on his face. He heard Zhukov and Rokosovsky mention Sokov more than once, saying that this person's prediction of the situation was unparalleled. It was ridiculous that he even sneered at the two of them at that time, thinking that they were a bit exaggerated. But judging from today's situation, the precautions that Sokov had already taken were undoubtedly the most correct.
Konev looked at Sokov and asked with a smile: "General Sokov, can you tell us why you can predict that the enemy will launch an attack in the near future and prepare in advance?"
Chapter completed!