red moscow

Chapter 2767

The convoy arrived at the front headquarters, and Vlasov and others got off the vehicle one after another.

A colonel trotted up to Vlasov, raised his hand to salute, and asked politely, "Excuse me, are you General Vlasov?"

"Yes, I'm Vlasov."

"I am the adjutant of Comrade Marshal, and I have been ordered to come to greet you." The colonel adjutant said respectfully: "Comrade General, Marshal Timoshenko has been waiting for you. Please follow me, I will take you to see Comrade Marshal."

Vlasov glanced at Colonel Del and others around him and asked tentatively: "This is my Chief of Staff Colonel Del, Military Commissar and Regimental Political Commissar Nikolsky. Can they come in with me?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade General." The colonel adjutant gave Vlasov a negative answer without hesitation: "Comrade Marshal only wants to see you, the rest of you, please stay outside and wait for the time being."

"What about him?" Vlasov pulled Potapov over and said, "This is Major General Potapov, the commander of the 1st Army Group. He also just escaped from the German encirclement. Comrade Marshal doesn't want to see him either?"

The colonel's adjutant turned around and looked at Potapov, raised his hand to salute him, and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, General Potapov, I didn't receive any order to allow you to go in..."

"It's okay, it's okay." Potapov waved his hand and said, "Since Comrade Marshal has not allowed me to go in, I will wait here for a while. Comrade Colonel, please take General Vlasov in first, don't let Comrade Marshal wait anxiously."

Vlasov nodded, and then assured Potapov: "General Potapov, don't worry, I will report your case to Marshal Timoshenko after I meet him later."

"Thank you then."

"General Vlasov, please follow me," the colonel's adjutant said respectfully, "I'll take you to see Comrade Marshal."

Led by his adjutant, Vlasov walked into the headquarters.

Timoshenko, who was sitting at the table talking to Khrushchev, saw Vlasov coming in from outside and immediately stood up to greet him, and took the initiative to extend his hand: "General Vlasov, it is really God's blessing that you escaped the German encirclement safely. How are you, are you not injured?"

"Thank you for your concern, Marshal," Vlasov said politely, shaking hands with Timoshenko, "I am not injured."

"Hello, Vlasov." Khrushchev also stood up and shook hands with Vlasov, saying with lingering fear: "During the days when you were missing, Comrade Stalin called us several times a day to ask about your whereabouts. We couldn't contact you at the time, and we were so anxious. Now that you appear, I can put my mind at ease."

"General Vlasov, you have suffered," Timoshenko said amiably. "After receiving my report, the Supreme Command asked me to immediately arrange a plane to take you back to Moscow to prepare for your new post."

"I will obey the arrangements of my superiors." Vlasov looked at Timoshenko and asked, "Comrade Marshal, when will we set out?"

"In an hour, the plane prepared for you will be ready to take off."

"By the way, Comrade Marshal, there is one more thing I need to report to you."

"what's up?"

"On my way to break out, I ran into Major General Potapov, the commander of the 5th Army."

Hearing Vlasov's words, Timoshenko and Khrushchev looked at each other, and both saw shock in each other's eyes. Then Khrushchev asked in surprise: "General Vlasov, what did you say? During the breakout, you met General Potapov, the commander of the 5th Army?"

"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev."

"Where is he now?"

"Just outside the headquarters." Vlasov said this, looking at the colonel adjutant standing not far away. "At that time, I asked the adjutant comrade whether to let General Potapov come in to see you, but he rejected it."

Timoshenko turned to his adjutant and asked in dissatisfaction: "Comrade Colonel, why didn't you let General Potapov in?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal." The colonel's adjutant replied in a panic, "You said you would only meet General Vlasov, and the others would stay outside and wait. I thought General Potapov was not on the list of people you were going to meet, so I didn't allow him to come in."

"The reason why I asked you to bring General Vlasov in alone is because I thought General Vlasov was the only important person outside, and I didn't know General Potapov was also outside." Timoshenko's face was full of anger: "Colonel, what are you still standing here for? Go and invite General Potapov in!"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." The colonel's adjutant agreed, turned around and ran out of the command post to invite Potapov outside.

After the adjutant left, Timoshenko paced back and forth in the room. Judging from his expression, he seemed extremely excited at the moment.

"Comrade Vlasov," Khrushchev asked Vlasov amiably, "tell me where you met General Potapov."

Since Khrushchev asked, Vlasov quickly reported to him how he rescued Potapov at the soap factory. However, he deliberately concealed the fact that Potapov was captured, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble for Potapov.

Khrushchev heard Vlasov repeatedly mention Sokov's name and couldn't help asking curiously: "General Vlasov, you seem to think highly of Captain Sokov. You mentioned his name many times in your reports."

"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev." Vlasov nodded and gave Khrushchev an affirmative answer: "If it weren't for Captain Sokov, my colleagues and I would probably have died in Kiev."

The conversation between the two reached Timoshenko's ears. He stopped and came over to urge, "General Vlasov, tell us quickly how this captain named Sokov rescued you from Kiev."

Seeing that both Timoshenko and Khrushchev were interested in Sokov, Vlasov did not hide anything and told the truth about how he escaped from Kiev.

After listening to Vlasov's story, Timoshenko and Khrushchev both widened their eyes in surprise. "General Vlasov, is what you said true?" Timoshenko asked in an incredulous tone: "He pretended to be a member of the Brandenburg Army in front of the Germans, and the enemy really let you pass through the bridge across the Dnieper River?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Vlasov nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "That's right. To be honest, when I think back to what happened at that time, it still feels like a dream."

"Comrade Marshal," Vlasov's story made Khrushchev very interested in Sokov. He turned to Timoshenko and said, "Comrade Marshal, after we meet General Potapov, can we also call this captain named Sokov over? I want to talk to him."

"Yes, of course." Timoshenko agreed with Khrushchev's proposal. After all, such brave and resourceful grassroots commanders are the most needed nowadays. He even thought that if the other party is really capable, he would not mind giving him a higher position and rank: "After meeting Potapov, ask the adjutant to call him over."

After a while, the adjutant came in with Potapov.

"Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!" When Potapov saw Timoshenko, he hurried forward and saluted him: "Major General Potapov, Commander of the 5th Army, reporting to you!"

Timoshenko held Potapov's hand tightly and said excitedly: "General Potapov, it's great to see you again. You know, we have been worried about your safety since you lost contact with us."

"Comrade Marshal, thank you for your concern." Potapov said, "The main reason is that I don't have a radio, so I can't get in touch with the outside world."

"General Potapov," Khrushchev asked after exchanging glances with Timoshenko, "The Germans dropped leaflets on our positions that reported your capture. But now you are standing in front of us. What's going on?"

Since Potapov intended to conceal the fact that he was captured, he naturally would not tell Timoshenko and Khrushchev the truth. He evaded the question by saying, "I think it must be a rumor deliberately fabricated by the German army to undermine the morale of our army after they occupied my headquarters."

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"I think so." After Potapov finished speaking, Khrushchev nodded slightly, agreeing with what he said, but it was unknown whether he believed it in his heart: "What are your plans next?"

"I will obey your arrangements." Potapov said very cooperatively: "If you let me stay in the Southwestern Front, I will stay; if you think it is necessary for me to return to Moscow first, then I will return to Moscow. In a word, I will resolutely obey your arrangements."

While Khrushchev and Potapov were talking, Timoshenko whispered to his adjutant: "Adjutant, go outside and find a captain named Sokov, then bring him here and tell him that I want to see him."

"Comrade Marshal, is the Captain Sokov you are talking about in the detachment that followed Generals Vlasov and Potapov?"

“That’s right,” Timoshenko urged, “Bring him here quickly.”

"General Potapov," Khrushchev said to Potapov, "We are going to let General Vlasov return to Moscow. You should go back with him. After you return, the Supreme Commander himself may meet with you and assign you new positions. You should be mentally prepared."

"No problem, Comrade Khrushchev," Potapov replied quickly, "I will resolutely obey the arrangements of my superiors."

Sokov followed the colonel adjutant into the headquarters. When he saw Khrushchev and Timoshenko, he was very excited. You know, these two are old acquaintances. Especially Khrushchev, when he traveled through time last time, he learned that his troops were short of manpower, so he temporarily recruited tens of thousands of new soldiers for himself to supplement his troops.

However, no matter how familiar he was with Khrushchev and Timoshenko, that was the last time he traveled through time. The two of them probably didn't recognize him at this moment.

Sokov walked quickly to Timoshenko and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!"

Then he turned around and saluted Khrushchev: "Hello, Comrade Khrushchev!"

Khrushchev asked in surprise: "Do you know me?"

"I have seen your portrait before, so I recognized you at first sight." Sokov's words were not necessarily false. After all, Khrushchev was the top leader of Ukraine, and his portrait and Stalin's portrait were usually hung on some important occasions.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Khrushchev said with a smile, "I thought we had met before."

Sokov muttered to himself: "Not only have they met, but they have a good relationship. They even went to visit Marshal Zhukov's home together on New Year's Day in 1946."

Timoshenko's eyes were attracted by the medal on Sokov's chest. He asked curiously: "Comrade Captain, how did you get the Order of Lenin?"

Timoshenko also had a Lenin medal on his chest, but this was earned through his many battles and achievements on the battlefield. Seeing a young captain also receive such an honor naturally aroused his interest.

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov replied briefly, "This Order of Lenin was awarded to me by the Supreme Command last month. General Vlasov knows the details."

Sokov knew very well that he had no say in this headquarters, so he could only explain the origin of the medal through Vlasov.

Vlasov obviously understood Sokov's intention. He nodded, and without waiting for Timoshenko and Khrushchev to ask, he took the initiative to tell them the origin of the medal.

In fact, not only Timoshenko and Khrushchev did not know the origin of the medal, but even Potapov, who was traveling with them, did not know the origin of the medal. After listening to Vlasov's story, everyone widened their eyes in shock. They could not believe that this ordinary-looking captain dared to rush into the German armored column alone and force them to surrender. If they had not seen the brand new medal and had not heard it from Vlasov, they would not have believed it was true.

"Well done, Captain, you are great." Khrushchev gave Sokov a thumbs up and then asked, "Your last name is Sokov, what's your name, your birth name and your father's name?"

"Mikhail Mihaylnovich." Sokov quickly said his real name and father's name.

Khrushchev nodded, turned around and pulled Timoshenko aside, whispering, "Comrade Marshal, I think it would be a waste of talent if such an excellent commander were assigned to serve as a commander at the grassroots level. Why not let him return to Moscow with Vlasov and Potapov? Maybe his superiors will assign him a more suitable position?"

According to the original arrangement, after Vlasov and Potapov flew back to Moscow, the officers and soldiers they brought with them would be dispersed and assigned to various units. After all, after a long period of fighting, all units were short of manpower. Sokov would also be assigned to a unit and sent to the front line to participate in the war when appropriate. But now Timoshenko and Khrushchev both thought he was a talent, and it would be a bit of a waste to use him as an ordinary commander, so they planned to let him return to Moscow.

(End of this chapter)