Red Moscow

  Chapter 1720 Trust

   A few minutes later, a second lieutenant brought the three of them to the dean's office, and said respectfully, "Comrade dean, you have already arrived."

   "Thank you, Comrade Second Lieutenant." The dean said to the second lieutenant politely: "There is nothing for you here, go back to duty."

  The second lieutenant agreed, raised his hand to salute the dean, turned and left the office.

   "Hello, Velyovkin!" As soon as the second lieutenant left, Ponejielin took a step forward and greeted the dean emotionally: "Do you still recognize me?"

"I recognize you, Bornejelin." The dean stretched out his hand to the other party, and said friendlyly: "You once gave lectures in my college, if I can't even recognize you, then this dean is too bad You deserve it."

  Seeing that the other party had already extended his hand first, Ponyjelin quickly reached out to shake hands with the other party. Unexpectedly, after the dean held Ponegerin's hand, he suddenly pulled him in front of him, and then hugged Ponegerin. He patted Pornejelin's back with his left hand, and said emotionally: "My old man, I really didn't expect that you are still alive. I thought I would never see you again in this life."

"Velyovkin," Ponedelin seemed a little flustered in the face of the dean's enthusiastic performance, "I was captured by the German army shortly after the outbreak of the war. I stayed in a German prisoner-of-war camp for two years. , was rescued by General Sokov's troops."

  The dean let go of Bornejelin, took a step back, punched his fist on the other's shoulder, and asked in a reproachful tone: "Since you are back in Moscow, why don't you come to see me?"

   "Veylevkin, I had a special status at the time." Ponejielin said with difficulty: "I am worried that coming here will implicate you."

"General Ponegelin!" Before the dean could speak, Sokov, who was sitting aside, stood up, came to the two of them, and said to the dean: "Now your problem has been clarified, and you don't have any questions. The problem, that is, you can go wherever you want and meet whoever you want."

   "Misha, thank you." Hearing what Sokov said, Ponejielin said in a low voice: "Thank you for everything you have done for us. We will always remember your kindness."

  Sokov didn't want Ponegerin to keep saying he was grateful, so he quickly changed the topic: "General Pornegerin, have you read all the materials I sent you?"

  Two days ago, seeing that the graduation day was approaching, Sokov felt that Ponejielin and others should meet with the students he had chosen, so he contacted Zhukov and asked him to arrange for Ponejielin and the others to return to Moscow. At the same time, he asked Zhukov to hand over the student materials he had obtained from Lunev to Ponejielin.

   "I've read it, Misha." Pornejelin nodded and said, "I've memorized all the fifteen materials you gave me. But I'm still worried about one thing."

   "Worried about what?"

"According to the data, these trainees are very good commanders, and they can be reused when they return to their original units after training." Pornegelin said worriedly: "It may be very difficult to recruit all of them. Big."

After hearing this, Sokov laughed and said: "General Ponegerin, you are too worried. When Comrade Dean announced my identity, not only these fifteen students were willing to join me unconditionally, but also Fifteen new places have been added."

"real?!"

   "Of course it is true." Sokov nodded and said, "If you don't believe me, I will take you to meet those students later. They are waiting for you and me in the classroom."

"Comrade General is right. In addition to the 15 students originally selected, there are 15 additional students." The dean echoed from the side: "Pornegelin, you didn't see the situation at that time. After the list of 15 people in the first row was announced, the unnamed students on the list became impatient and asked to join General Sokov's command. After some discussions, 15 more places were temporarily added."

"That's really great." When the news was confirmed, Pornejelin became excited: "With thirty regimental commanders, the framework of our new army can be set up. Even if the superiors give us What we need is a reserve army, and I am sure that within three months, the troops will form a strong combat capability."

"Comrade General," Muzichenko and Kirillov standing at the door became transparent. Seeing that Sokov had successfully recruited 30 students who had completed the training course for intermediate commanders, Muzichenko Feeling the need to say a few words, he stepped forward and said, "May I say a few words?"

Although Muzichenko's status in Sokov's mind cannot be compared with Ponedelin's, but in any case, others were already lieutenant generals before the war, and the necessary respect is still necessary: ​​"Muzichenko General Ke, please speak."

"Now that enough students have been recruited, I think we should gather everyone and form a temporary command." Muzichenko said: "If possible, this temporary command should be sent to the front line, through observation and practice. , so that the command can complete the running-in and training as soon as possible, and become a real command system."

"Misha, I think Muzichenko is right." Perhaps because he was worried that Sokov would not agree to this suggestion, as soon as Muzichenko finished speaking, Ponedelin chimed in and said, "A mature command, It is necessary to be on the battlefield to grow up quickly. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to send this temporary headquarters to the front line."

   As for the proposal of the two, Sokov felt that it made sense. He nodded slightly, and then asked back: "Which front do you think this temporary headquarters should be sent to?"

After Ponedelin and Muzichenko looked at each other, they looked at Sokov again: "Misha, I think it is best to send to the Belarusian Front Army of General Rokossovsky. He has always regarded you very highly. He must be happy to receive you when he learns that this headquarters is under your command."

   "This is no problem," Sokov replied readily: "I will contact General Rokossovsky later, I believe he is very happy to receive our temporary command."

Seeing that Sokov readily agreed, Ponejielin showed a relaxed expression on his face, and he continued: "Misha, I will be in charge of the temporary headquarters. If it proves that I am not the material, you don't need to tell me, I will I will leave on my own initiative. But I also have to put my ugly words up front. Since you have entrusted me with such an important burden, you must give me enough trust. I believe you are fine in this regard.

   Another point is that you have to give me as much power as possible, and you can't interfere too much with my work. You just have to trust me to do the work, but I have to trouble you to resist the pressure from other aspects. "

Sokov knew very well in his heart that if such an important organization was really handed over to a commander who was suspected of being in charge like Ponegerin, he would definitely face a lot of pressure, so he nodded and said, "No problem, I will You will be formally appointed Chief of Staff of the Interim Command."

Ponegelin said: "Although I served as the commander of the group army in the early days of the war and had experience in commanding operations, I was a prisoner of the Germans anyway. Others may look at me with colored glasses. This will affect our future work. Let me give you a suggestion. Since the troops under your command don't know where they are, don't give me a specific position. You can set up a special advisory group that I will be in charge of first. Let’s talk about the operation of the interim headquarters.”

  Sokov nodded and said: "I think so too, but considering that I don't give you a specific position, the next work is not easy to carry out."

Ponegelin said with a smile: "Misha, the positions are all false. I am here to do things, not just to get back to my post. If you arrange specific positions for me now, I don't know how many people will be there. Poke your spine in the back. Take everything slowly, and it will not be too late to arrange specific positions after you graduate from the military academy and get the troops assigned to you by your superiors."

  Sokov said straightforwardly: "No problem, as long as you don't mind your own business, I am worried that you will feel wronged."

   "How is this possible." Ponegelin said: "If you hadn't helped us, the three of us would still be locked up in the cell of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As long as you trust me, you can delegate power to me."

  Pornegelin is convinced of Sokov's statement. After all, Sukov is his own savior, and he will never cheat himself on this kind of thing.

   After Sokov greeted the three of Ponejielin to sit down, he continued to ask: "Are there any difficulties?"

"Comrade General." Kirillov, who was still silent, said, "Although you have recruited 30 regiment-level commanders in the mid-level commander training class, if you command an army-level unit in the future, these I'm afraid there are not enough people."

Sokov smiled at Kirillov, and then said: "General Kirillov, you don't have to worry, I'm looking for talents everywhere, as long as they are capable, and there is nothing wrong with their political background, I will find a way to recruit them all." I am confident that the troops I will command in the future will become the elite troops with the highest combat effectiveness in our army!"

  If someone else said this, everyone present would think that he was bragging, but when Sokov said it, it seemed so logical. Although it wasn't long before Ponegelin and others were rescued, they all knew about all the battles commanded by Sokov, and they learned a conclusion that the troops commanded by Sokov are peace of mind when friendly troops meet, and when the enemy sees be terrified.

On the way to the classroom with Ponegelin and others, Sokov was thinking in his heart that he should not be in a hurry to appoint these students. After all, even if they return to their original troops, it is impossible for everyone to serve as regimental commander or deputy. For the post of head of the regiment, many people will definitely be transferred to staff officers. Let them go to the front line to exercise for a period of time, and you can see how capable each person is.

But Sokov also thought of another problem. Now all he recruits are regiment-level commanders, and there is a serious shortage of division-level or even army-level commanders. Even if Muzichenko and Kirillov are appointed as army commanders and For the position of division commander, there is still a huge talent gap in his own troops.

   In a few days, I will go to the senior commander training class. It is obviously unrealistic to imagine that the intermediate training class will poach 30 commanders in one go. After the trainees of the senior commander training course are finished, they can also get important tasks when they return to their respective troops. They may not be interested in their own troops.

  Bonejielin, who was walking aside, saw Sokov's preoccupied look, and asked tentatively, "Misha, are you thinking about how to recruit division commanders?"

   Seeing that Ponegelin had guessed what was on his mind, Sokov didn't hide it. He sighed and said, "Yes, the advanced class is no better than the intermediate class. Even if I want to poach people, I'm afraid not many people are willing."

   "You can still try it." Ponejielin said: "You can usually get in touch with those students in the class, test their tone, and if you think it's appropriate, you can directly invite them."

   "Can it work?" Sokov said with great concern: "What should I do if they want to reject me?"

"Misha, according to the agreement in advance, you will participate in the senior commander training class as a lieutenant colonel this time." Ponejielin analyzed to Sukov: "I think that the class will be full of lieutenant colonels and colonels. , A young lieutenant colonel like you will definitely not attract everyone's attention, even if you invite others, the chance of being rejected is very high."

   "That's right, that's what I'm worried about." Sokov knew that Pornegerin would not raise this matter without a reason, so he asked casually, "Do you have any good ideas?"

   "There is a way." Bornejelin nodded and said, "But you must enter the senior commander training class with your true identity, and appear in front of everyone wearing a brand-new lieutenant general uniform."

   "Participate in the senior commander training class in real identity?" Sokov said with some concerns: "Is this possible?"

"There's nothing wrong with it." Ponejielin said: "If the commanders in the advanced training class know that you are the illustrious General Sokov, they will probably take the initiative to approach you, hoping to get in front of you. You look familiar. As for you, you just took advantage of this opportunity to recruit those excellent commanders who have potential."

  When the group returned to the classroom, the students who were talking in different places in the classroom returned to their respective places one after another, waiting for Sokov to explain to them what to do next.

  Seeing Sokov walking up to the podium, Sukharev hastily lifted a chair forward and said to Sokov, "Misha, your leg injury is not healed yet, please sit down first."

   After expressing his thanks to Sukharev, Sokov sat on a chair. He looked at the scattered students and said with a smile: "Students, I have something important to announce to everyone. Please sit at the front."

  Hearing what Sokov said, the scattered students got up one after another and walked towards the podium.

After the thirty students took their seats near the podium, Sokov said: "Students, I may have to stay with the students for half a year. In order not to let you have nothing to do during this time, I plan to form a temporary conductor." Ministry, of which you are all members, will soon be sent to the front for training."

   Speaking of this, he pointed to Ponegerin standing beside him: "Students, let me introduce to you, this Major Pornegerin. He will be fully responsible for the newly formed temporary command."

  (end of this chapter)