Vasilevsky said to Sokov in an encouraging tone: "Comrade Major, repeat what you just said to me to General Baglamyan."
Sokov, who was encouraged by Vasilevsky, quickly picked up the explanation stick and explained his point of view again. He also emphasized the importance of Balvinkovo, repeatedly reminding Bagramiyan: "Comrade Minister of Operations, since our army cannot quickly seize Balvinkovo ​​after the start of the battle, then the enemy may gather heavy troops in this area and launch an assault on the Southern Front..."
Since Sokov's attention was focused on Baglamyan, he did not find that Shaposhnikov and Temushingo had not been discovered. When did they return to the rostrum? Shaposhnikov looked at Sokov who was talking and turned his head to ask Temushingo: "Comrade Marshal, is this major from your front army?"
"No, at least not yet." Temuxine shook his head and said, "He was surnamed Sokov, and he is currently affiliated with the 16th Army of the Western Front. He is a subordinate of Zhukov and Rokosovsky."
"Oh, he is Sokov?" Shaboshnikov had obviously heard of Sokov, so when he heard Temuxingo say this, he immediately asked with interest: "He is Mikhail Ivanovic's son?"
"Yes, it's him." Temuxin nodded and said in a affirmative tone: "I heard from Zhukov that he is very good at commanding wars. Two days ago, Ustinov also recommended him to me, so I asked him to attend the meeting."
"Lao Misha is a very good commander, but unfortunately he died too early." Shaposhnikov shook his head and said with regret: "This young man looks good, but unfortunately he is a little short-sighted and he actually comments on such large-scale corps operations. In my opinion, he is at best a battalion commander's material."
"You are very reasonable, Boris Mikhailovich!" Timuxingo quickly echoed: "My troops once launched an attack on Balvinkovo, but unfortunately they ended in failure. After the Kharkov offensive battle started, even if our army could not occupy Balvinkovo ​​in a short period of time, I think it would be impossible for the Germans to launch a counterattack from here."
Shaposhnikov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Temuxine: "The time is almost over, let's prepare for a meeting."
After Sokov finished speaking his opinion to Baglamyan, he accidentally found that the two marshals were standing not far from him. He quickly raised his hand to his forehead and said in a panic: "Hello, comrades of marshals!"
Shaposhnikov nodded at him, then said lightly: "Okay, Major Sokov, you have finished what you want to say. We are going to have a meeting soon, so you should go back to your seat as soon as possible."
After the meeting resumed, Bagramiyan continued to speak on behalf of Temushingo: "... Based on the information we have obtained, the German summer offensive is still Moscow, and they will also launch a secondary offensive in the south to restrain our living forces.
After analysis, after the German army's winter battle, their strength in the south of Moscow was insufficient. Therefore, we used the Bryansk Front, the Southwest Front and the Southern Front in this direction to carry out a comprehensive attack on them, smash the enemy's defense in southern Moscow, and clear out all the German troops east of the Dnieper River..."
After talking about the intention of combat, Bagramiyan looked at the corner where Sokov was and continued: "Just just now I heard a statement in the meeting that some people think that when we launched the Kharkov offensive campaign, the Germans would assemble heavy troops in the Balvinkovo ​​area and launch a sudden strike on the Southern Front troops. After defeating friendly forces, they would attack the flanks of our Southwest Front, so as to achieve the goal of cutting off and siegeing our army. I want to tell the person who said this, your inference is absurd and unrealistic."
Bagramiyan's words immediately caused a stir. The commanders at the meeting looked around and asked, "Who is it? Who made such a ridiculous conclusion?"
When Sokov, who was sitting in the last row, was ashamed of hearing Baglamyan criticize him in public. If there was a crack on the ground, he would have wanted to get in immediately. It was so embarrassing.
Fortunately, before the commander present figured out who said what made Bagramiyan unhappy, Huasilevsky stood up to smooth things over: "Comrade Bagramiyan, you can't say that. After all, the offensive battle we are going to launch involves hundreds of thousands of troops from the three fronts. There is no harm in being cautious."
The meeting lasted until one o'clock noon. Seeing that no one asked any questions, Brother Timuxin announced the end of the meeting.
Hearing that Temuxinge announced the end of the meeting, the people who appeared stood up and left the venue. Sokov also stood up and followed the crowd out. As soon as he walked out of the door, a captain called him: "Is it Major Sokov?"
"Yes, I'm Sokov." Sokov looked at the strange captain and asked in wonder: "Is there anything you have to do with me?"
"It's not me who's looking for you." The captain said politely: "It's General Vasilevsky who wants to talk to you."
When Sokov learned that Vasilevsky wanted to talk to him, he thought to himself that perhaps his views coincided with his ideas, so he wanted to talk to himself privately. In order not to affect the commanders who came out, Sokov and the captain stood by the wall to give way to them.
After almost the people attending the meeting had left, the captain led Sokov to the door of Vasilevsky's office. He raised his hand and knocked on the door twice. Before he could speak inside, he pushed open the door and walked in, and closed the door casually. Not long after, the captain opened the people and walked out of the inside, turned sideways and made a call in the room: "Please, Comrade Major, Deputy Chief of Staff are waiting for you."
When Sokov walked into the room, the first thing he saw was a long conference table. At the end of the conference table was a horizontal desk, and Deputy Chief of Staff Wasseylevsky sat behind the table.
Sokov hurriedly walked around the conference table and quickly came to Huasilevsky, raised his hand to salute him, and said, "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, Major Sokov, the commander of the Istrian Battalion, is ordered to come and report to you. Please give me instructions!"
"Major Sokov, you are here!" Huasilevsky pointed at the empty chair next to the conference table and said with a smile: "Don't stand, please sit!"
After Sokov sat down, Vasilevsky said, "Comrade Major, I have something to notify you. Since you attended this important military meeting, you may have to stay in Moscow for a period of time in order to prevent leaks. At the same time, the Istrian Battalion under your command will also be transferred from the Western Front to the Southwest Front participating in the Kharkiv offensive campaign."
Although Sokov had long guessed in his heart that his troops would most likely participate in this offensive battle, when he really heard Vasilevsky say this, a wry smile appeared on his face.
"We all see the merits that the troops you command have made in the past few months." Huasseyevsky continued: "The headquarters of the Supreme Command will soon supplement the Southwest Front. Forces like the Istrian Battalion with combat experience and great military achievements must be supplemented with the main attacking troops... I hope that in this battle, your battalion can establish more brilliant merits."
Sokov was really amused and amazed at Huasilevsky's expectations. Because he clearly remembered that the German army suffered only 20,000 casualties in this battle, while the Soviet army was nearly 80,000 and was captured 240,000. No matter how hard his troops could fight, he had only one battalion of troops, and in the battle between nearly one million troops on both sides, he probably couldn't even make a wave. Not to mention making meritorious contributions, it was very difficult for him to survive this battle.
The expression on Sokov's face was seen by Vasilevsky. He smiled faintly and asked, "Comrade Major, do you have no confidence in this offensive battle?"
"No, not at all." Sokov blurted out his words and realized that he had said the wrong thing. He quickly corrected it: "Deputy Chief of Staff, I say this, not a defeatist argument, but based on the current situation. In the early stages of the battle, perhaps our army can achieve some exciting results. But if Balvinkovo ​​is not taken down, it will become our army's nightmare."
After listening to Sokov's words patiently, Vasilevsky remained silent for a while and said, "Major Sokov, in fact, I have similar views to you. At present, the conditions for our army to launch an attack in southern Moscow are not yet mature. But there is no way. This is the Supreme Commander himself. We can only formulate an offensive plan with a major political meaning based on his wishes. Do you understand?"
Sokov had long known that this Kharkov battle was arranged by Stalin himself. What he said to Huasilevsky and Baglamyan at the venue was nothing more than hoping that his little butterfly could help the Soviet army avoid this unnecessary defeat. But from the final effect, no one except Huasilevsky believed him. Baglamyan even criticized himself without naming in front of hundreds of commanders.
"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff," Sokov asked tentatively: "Since you know that our offense is difficult to succeed, why not..."
"Why don't you dissuade the Supreme Commander himself, right?" Huasilevsky said first without waiting for Sokov to finish his speech: "When Marshal Temuxingo proposed this plan, I had raised objections. Not only me, but also Marshal Shaboshnikov, Chief of General General Zhukov, the commander of the Western Front, all proposed to the Supreme Commander himself that our army should adopt a cautious defensive move in the southern part of Moscow, and then launch a counterattack after a large amount of German vitality was consumed. However, our opinions were rejected. Therefore, we can only cooperate with Marshal Temuxingo and others to formulate this offensive plan."
"I understand, Comrade General Staff." After confirming that even if Huasilevsky and Zhukov came forward, they could not change anything, Sokov completely gave up. He asked a little discouraged: "Are you allowed me to leave?"
"Wait a minute, Comrade Major." Huasilevsky called him and asked curiously: "I heard that you designed a new type of rocket launcher. Is this a matter?"
"Yes, this is the case." Sokov nodded and replied: "The preliminary tests were conducted yesterday. If they went well, they would probably be put into production in March."
Perhaps because of the confidentiality, even as the deputy chief of staff, Huasilevsky did not receive a new rocket launcher development report. If you want to understand the situation, you must ask the designer Sokov: "I wonder how powerful this rocket launcher is?"
"The 107mm caliber rocket launcher I designed is similar to the one we are equipped with now." If someone asks about the new rocket launcher, Sokov may refuse to answer, but the person who asked him the question at the moment was Huaseylevsky. Even if he didn't say it, he would soon learn the details. Therefore, he said readily: "But its total weight is light and can be quickly decomposed and combined. The weight of a single component after disassembly is no more than 30 kilograms. In order to meet the requirements of the human back, the decomposition part has the following characteristics in terms of structural dimensions: the upper part is not the neck (easy to raise the head), the lower part is not the hip (easy to step), the wider part is not the shoulder (easy to pass), and the center of gravity is close to the body (preventing to twist the waist). If the mass production of this rocket launcher deteriorates, it will be the most advanced rocket launcher in the world."
When Sokov said this, he thought to himself: Don’t talk about now, even decades later, this kind of rocket launcher is not comparable to other rocket launchers. However, after hearing his words, Vasilevsky did not take it to heart. He had seen the power of the rocket launcher that the troops are now equipped with, and it would be too early to say that it is better than the existing equipment of the troops.
After talking to Sokov, Vasilevsky suddenly asked, "Comrade Major, where is your father buried?" Before Sokov could speak, he continued to say to himself, "When your father passed away, I happened to be in another place, and it was a pity that I could not see him for the last time."
Vasilevsky's problem made Sokov stunned. Because he did not inherit the memory of his former master, he was really at a loss when facing his cheap father's long-lasting old comrades. Just when he was in a dilemma, the phone ringing on the table rang. Vasilevsky picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then stood up from his seat, straightened his back and said, "Okay, Comrade Marshal, I'll go to your office right away."
Chapter completed!