red moscow

Chapter 2768

"You are right." Timoshenko nodded and agreed, "You are right. I have been in the army for decades, but this is the first time I have seen someone who has been awarded the Order of Lenin after only a few months of service. A commander like this must be assigned a more suitable position to match his talent."

After the two reached a consensus, Khrushchev said to Sokov: "Captain Sokov, Generals Vlasov and Potapov will return to Moscow on the plane we prepared for them. After discussion, we decided to let you return to Moscow with them. Do you have any objections?"

Sokov was so excited to learn that he could follow Vlasov and Potapov back to Moscow that he could not refuse. He nodded vigorously and answered decisively: "Comrade Military Commissar, I will resolutely obey your orders and those of Comrade Marshal."

Half an hour later, Vlasov, Colonel Del, Nikolsky, Potapov and Sokov boarded a transport plane to Moscow.

When the door was closed, Colonel Del looked outside and found that there were no other planes except the taxiing transport plane. He quickly approached the pilot and asked loudly: "Comrade pilot, why is there only one plane, don't we have any escort fighters?"

The pilot turned his head and glanced at Colonel Del's rank, then answered loudly, "Comrade Colonel, we don't have enough fighters. They are fighting for air supremacy with the enemy in some important airspace, so we don't have any aircraft escort this time." Perhaps he saw Colonel Del's concern, so he added, "But the route we are about to fly is in our army's defense zone, and the chance of encountering enemy aircraft along the way is very small."

After listening to this, Colonel Del returned to Vlasov's side dejectedly and said with a bitter face: "Comrade Commander, I just asked the pilot, and he said that there were no fighter escorts along the way to Moscow this time."

But Vlasov didn't seem to care at all whether there were fighter escorts or not. He just waved his hand and said, "No, no. From here to Moscow, it's all under our control. As long as our luck is not too bad, we don't have to worry about encountering enemy planes."

At the same time, Khrushchev called Stalin to report that Vlasov and Potapov had returned to Moscow by plane.

Stalin was naturally very happy to learn that Vlasov had flown back to Moscow. After all, he was his favorite general, and it was a relief to see him escape from the German encirclement. However, when he heard Khrushchev mention Potapov's name, he could not help but frowned: "Comrade Khrushchev, General Potapov's 5th Army performed too poorly in the battle to defend Kiev, otherwise how could the Germans occupy Kiev in such a short time?"

Facing Stalin's questioning, Khrushchev quickly explained to him: "Comrade Stalin, the fall of Kiev cannot be blamed on General Potapov. You know, the 5th Army under his command fought very tenaciously in the battle to defend Kiev. But after the German army surrounded our troops in Kiev, Potapov first received an order to retreat, but when the troops began to retreat, they received the opposite order, asking him to defend Kiev at all costs.

It was precisely because of these two completely contradictory orders that his deployment was completely disrupted, giving the Germans an opportunity to take advantage. If General Potapov had followed his original strategy, Kiev could have held out for at least a week or more under the German attack, buying precious time for our army to build new defenses in the direction of Moscow.

If someone had mentioned the possibility of the Germans rushing to Moscow a month or two ago, Stalin would have scolded him, because in his view, this was a completely defeatist argument that would have an adverse impact on the morale of the army. But when he heard Khrushchev mention this, he remained silent.

After a long while, he slowly asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, how do you think we should deal with Potapov?"

"Comrade Stalin," Khrushchev replied cautiously, "I heard that the Supreme Command Headquarters is planning to rebuild the 1st Army. I think you can let him continue to serve as the commander of the 1st Army. Of course, if you have other suitable candidates, just pretend I didn't say anything."

"Yes, I do have another candidate for the position of commander of the soon-to-be-rebuilt 1st Army."

"Who is he, Comrade Stalin?" Khrushchev thought of the 5th Army's original organization as part of the Southwestern Front. If it were reorganized at this moment, the probability of it being incorporated into the Southwestern Front again would be relatively high. It was completely necessary to find out who the new commander was in advance: "Do I know him?"

"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev, you know him." Stalin said, "He is Major General Lelyushchenko, Deputy Minister of the General Staff of the Automobile Armored Tank Headquarters. At today's meeting, we plan to appoint him as the commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Army. After he adapts to his new identity, he will be appointed as the commander of the st Army Group."

When Khrushchev heard this, he immediately understood that Lelyushchenko had no experience in commanding troops, and it would be inappropriate for him to directly serve as the army commander. Therefore, he arranged for him to serve as the commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Army as a transition. After confirming that his abilities were suitable for a higher position, he was officially appointed as the commander of the 5th Army.

Although Stalin had a suitable candidate for the post of commander of the 5th Army in mind, Khrushchev was unwilling to give up easily. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Stalin, don't you really intend to consider General Potapov?"

"Potapov has been fighting for several months since the outbreak of the war. I believe he is already exhausted both physically and mentally." Stalin waited for Khrushchev to finish speaking, then said calmly: "I think it is necessary to arrange for him to go to the hospital for a physical examination and find a place to rest for a few months. It will not be too late to consider arranging his work."

After hearing what Stalin said, Khrushchev fell silent. He knew very well that Stalin's arrangement was equivalent to hiding Potapov. As for when he would be put back in office, it was still unknown. Thinking of this, he silently mourned for Potapov for a few seconds.

"What about General Vlasov?" Khrushchev asked.

"The 37th Army was disbanded this morning," Stalin said. "I plan to let him take a break for a while. Once a new unit is formed, I will immediately assign him a task."

Although Potapov and Vlasov will not be assigned jobs immediately after returning to Moscow, their situations are very different: the former faces the fate of being hidden away, while the latter is just taking a real break.

"By the way, how is the situation there?" Stalin did not dwell on the matter of Vlasov and Potapov, but directly changed the subject: "Can you hold Kharkov?"

Hearing Stalin's question, Khrushchev's face became solemn. He quickly covered the microphone with his hand and said to Timoshenko: "Comrade Stalin asked us if we can hold Kharkov?"

Timoshenko frowned and thought for a moment, then said in a firm tone: "Comrade Khrushchev, please tell Comrade Stalin that we will defend Kharkov even if we fight to the last man."

After hearing Timoshenko's answer, Khrushchev released his hand covering the microphone and said solemnly: "Comrade Stalin, although the enemy is far stronger than us, we will bravely fight the enemy. Even if there is only one soldier left, we will never give up Kharkov." Stalin was very satisfied with Khrushchev's answer. He smiled and nodded, saying: "Comrade Khrushchev, I feel at ease to hear that you have such confidence. Although we have lost in the Kiev area, the battle between us and the Germans is not over yet. I hope you can teach the Germans a lesson they will never forget in the Kharkov area."

"Don't worry, Comrade Stalin," Khrushchev vowed, "We will definitely crush the Germans' attempt to occupy Kharkov."

After hanging up the phone, Khrushchev looked at Timoshenko and asked, "Comrade Marshal, do you think we can really hold Kharkov?"

Timoshenko smiled bitterly and replied: "If the Germans are not allowed to occupy Kharkov within a week or two, I can still guarantee it. But after a long time, it is hard to say."

"So, the loss of Kharkov is only a matter of time?"

"That's right." Timoshenko nodded and said, "You also know that the Southwestern Front we took over was originally incomplete. In addition, the original leaders of the front were killed in the breakout battle. It is impossible to say that it has no impact on the morale of the troops. With insufficient manpower, limited ammunition, and a demoralized and low morale, can the troops defeat the Germans who just won the Battle of Kiev?"

When the two were talking, no one could have imagined that in the next two years, Kharkov would become a nightmare for the Soviet army. With the victory of the Battle of Moscow, many senior commanders began to underestimate the enemy and thought that the Germans were nothing special. Therefore, when organizing the second Battle of Kharkov, there were great problems in the combat deployment. As a result, after the battle started, the Soviet army won first and then lost. Not only did it suffer heavy losses, but the German army also took the opportunity to launch a summer offensive and pointed its troops at Stalingrad, thus triggering this major battle known as the turning point of World War II.

The Third Battle of Kharkov was launched jointly by the Southwestern Front and the Voronezh Front after the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad. At that time, the Soviet army had an absolute advantage in manpower and equipment. No matter how you look at it, the Germans who held on to this area were doomed.

But the final outcome was surprising. Facing the offensive organized by Manstein, both the Southwestern Front and the Voronezh Front were beaten to a pulp. After the battle, the commander of the Southwestern Front, Vatutin, escaped punishment because he was favored by Stalin and was transferred to the post of commander of the Voronezh Front. Another commander of the front, Golikov, became a scapegoat and was dismissed by Stalin.

"Kharkov is an important tank production base for us," Khrushchev said. "If it really falls into the hands of the Germans, then the tanks used by our army can only be produced in Leningrad and Stalingrad. The former is now surrounded by the Germans. It may not be easy to transport the built tanks out of the city. The situation in Stalingrad is not much better. It will waste our precious transportation capacity to transport the produced tanks from such a far place."

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"You are right, Comrade Khrushchev." Timoshenko agreed with Khrushchev's statement: "Kharkov is an important industrial base for us. There are a large number of military-industrial enterprises here. If it really falls into the hands of the Germans, it will be a disaster for us. Therefore, we must do everything we can to defend this city."

While Timoshenko and Khrushchev were discussing how to defend Kharkov, the plane flying to Moscow had successfully landed at a military airport in the south of the city after an hour and a half of flight.

As soon as everyone got off the plane, several cars drove in from outside the runway.

Seeing a car coming, Vlasov guessed that it was coming to pick him up, so he stood there without moving.

Soon, several cars stopped in front of them.

The door opened and a lieutenant colonel got out. He saluted and asked politely, "Excuse me, are you Generals Vlasov and Potapov?"

"Yes, I am Vlasov." Hearing this, Vlasov stepped forward and replied: "He is Potapov."

"Comrade Generals," the lieutenant colonel said to the two men, "I have been ordered to send you to the garrison headquarters first, and then go to the Kremlin tomorrow afternoon to meet Comrade Stalin."

Vlasov looked back at Colonel Del, Nikolsky and Sokov behind him, then turned to the lieutenant colonel and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, where are my colleagues and subordinates? How do you plan to accommodate them?"

"They will naturally live in the garrison headquarters." The lieutenant colonel waved his hand and said, "Get in the car."

Sokov was overjoyed when he learned that he and his companions would be sent to the Garrison Command. The last time he came to Moscow, he was placed in the Garrison Command, and the officers and soldiers he brought with him were assigned to the Garrison Command. He would definitely see a lot of familiar faces this time. He was even thinking that if he could leave the Garrison Command tomorrow, he would go to Victoria, reminisce with her, and discuss privately how to return to the modern era.

Soon, the convoy arrived at the yard of the garrison headquarters.

When everyone got off the bus, Sokov saw someone he knew walking through the yard and shouted, "Andrei, Andrei!"

Andrei, who was not far away, was stunned when he heard someone calling him. He soon saw that the person calling him was Sokov, and immediately walked over and hugged Sokov. He patted Sokov's back and asked excitedly: "Sokov, thank God, I am so happy to see you alive."

"Why, did you think I was dead?"

"I heard that our troops deployed in the Kiev area were annihilated by the Germans." Andrei looked around and found that they were all important people. He was worried that what he said would be heard by them and he would be criticized, so he lowered his voice and said, "You followed Vlasov to Kiev. It would be strange if I didn't worry about you getting into trouble."

(End of this chapter)