red moscow

Chapter 2773 Taking Over the Reserve Team

Looking at the transfer order in his hand, Sokov's heart was filled with joy.

In this way, he could leave Vlasov with a clear conscience. As for whether he would become a prisoner of the Germans after the Battle of Lyuban, it had nothing to do with him.

"Comrade Commander," Potapov was now the commander of the 1st Guards Army, and Sokov promptly adjusted his address to him, "When can we set off?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to wait a few more days." Potapov sighed and said, "Although the 1st Guards Infantry Army has a number, it currently has no troops except the army headquarters. I can only officially perform my duties as army commander after the Supreme Command has completed the organization of the troops."

Sokov thought that according to relevant records, Stalin and Shaposhnikov did want to organize the troops in five days. But plans could not keep up with changes. Due to the rapid deterioration of the situation, the time for organizing the troops was shortened from five days to one or two days.

At this moment, a lieutenant colonel suddenly rushed in from outside the restaurant and shouted loudly: "General Potapov! Where is General Potapov?"

Hearing someone calling him, Potapov immediately stood up and said to the lieutenant colonel: "I'm here!"

The lieutenant colonel came up to Potapov, raised his hand to salute, and said respectfully: "Comrade General, I am Lieutenant Colonel Yuri from the General Staff. Marshal Shaposhnikov has something urgent to discuss with you. Please come with me immediately."

"I just got back from the marshal's office less than an hour ago. Do you know what the emergency is?"

Lieutenant Colonel Yuri shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I don't know. I was just ordered to ask you to go to the General Staff."

Potapov realized that he could not get what he wanted from Lieutenant Colonel Yuri, so he stopped asking. But before leaving the restaurant, he specifically reminded Sokov: "Captain Sokov, you must not leave the garrison headquarters before I come back. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander," Sokov replied quickly, "I will not leave the garrison headquarters until you return."

Potapov left the restaurant and came to the courtyard of the garrison headquarters. There was a black car parked there, and the driver was standing next to the car. When he saw Yuri bringing Potapov out, he quickly opened the back door and invited Potapov to get in.

The car drove away from the garrison headquarters and headed forward along the street.

After driving for a distance, Potapov was surprised to find that the car was not heading to Frunze Street and Gogol Boulevard. He quickly asked Yuri, who was sitting in the passenger seat: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this doesn't seem to be the road to the General Staff Headquarters. Where are we going?"

At that moment, a horrifying thought popped into Potapov's mind: "Could it be that a German spy, posing as an officer of the General Staff, wants to kidnap me?"

He couldn't help but secretly regret that he shouldn't have left the garrison headquarters alone. If Sokov was by his side, he would definitely be able to escape danger if he encountered such a situation.

Just as Potapov's hand reached for his waist, Yuri half turned and said, "Marshal Shaposhnikov is in the Kremlin now. I will take you there."

When Potapov learned that the other party was going to send him to the Kremlin, he realized that he had misunderstood. He quickly withdrew his hand from his waist and said embarrassedly: "So you are going to the Kremlin? I thought you were going to the General Staff."

Ten minutes later, Potapov met Shaposhnikov in an office in the Kremlin: "Hello, Comrade Marshal, I am here on orders, please give me your instructions!"

"General Potapov, you are here just in time." Shaposhnikov stood up and said to Potapov, "Come with me to see Comrade Stalin."

On the way to Stalin's office, Potapov asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, has the situation taken an unexpected turn?"

"That's right. The situation is developing in a direction that is unfavorable to our army. The original plan must be adjusted urgently."

Shaposhnikov led Potapov along the red-carpeted corridor for a few minutes and then walked into an open office. Behind the desk sat a bald man whom Potapov recognized at a glance as Stalin's secretary, Poskrebyshev.

Seeing Shaposhnikov coming in, Poskrebyshev quickly stood up and greeted him politely: "Comrade Marshal, you are here!"

Shaposhnikov nodded and then said, "Poskrebyshev, I have General Potapov here. Is Comrade Stalin available?"

"He is talking to Marshals Voroshilov and Budyonny," Poskrebyshev said. "But he has told me to let you in once you arrive."

When the door was opened, Potapov saw a rectangular table with a huge map spread out on it. Stalin was sitting facing the door, while Marshals Voroshilov and Budyonny were standing in front of the table with their backs to the door.

Seeing the door open, Stalin looked up and saw Shaposhnikov walking in front. "Boris Mikhailovich!" He called Shaposhnikov by his real name and father's name, and asked politely, "Has General Potapov arrived?"

Potapov, who was standing behind Shaposhnikov, heard Stalin's address to the Chief of the General Staff and thought that the rumors outside were indeed true. When Stalin addressed Marshal Shaposhnikov, he used his real name and his father's name. This was a great honor.

When he heard Stalin calling his name, he stepped forward and saluted Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, Lieutenant General Potapov, commander of the 1st Guards Army, has been ordered to come. I am waiting for your orders, please give me your instructions!"

Because it was his first time meeting Stalin in person, he was inevitably a little excited, so his voice trembled when he spoke.

Stalin nodded to Potapov and said in a serious tone: "General Potapov, according to our original plan, we were going to use five days to form the 1st Guards Army in Moscow and then go to the front. But now the situation has changed unexpectedly, and I can only give you two days. Now Guderian's tank troops are rushing towards Orel. You must immediately fly to the Orel area, find out the situation there, and organize an active and effective defense."

Potapov stared at the map on the table for a while, then expressed his opinion: "Comrade Stalin, please allow me to report my personal opinion."

After getting Stalin's permission, he continued: "It makes no sense for me to fly to Orel now. There are no available troops there. In order to organize defense as soon as possible, I ask you to put the 36th Motorized Regiment and Tula Artillery School as reserves under our command. I will lead them to meet Guderian's troops and do everything possible to stop the enemy."

Voroshilov waited for Potapov to finish speaking, then leaned over to look at the map on the table. After briefly thinking about Potapov's proposal, he looked at Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, I think General Potapov's proposal is acceptable."

Stalin tapped his fingers on the table a few times, then nodded in approval of Voroshilov's statement: "Okay. You must do everything you can to stop Guderian and never let his troops cross Mtsensk. Do you understand?" "Understood, Comrade Stalin." Potapov nodded and said, "As long as we are alive, we must never let the enemy cross our defense line."

"Boris Mikhailovich!" Stalin turned his gaze to Shaposhnikov again. "Later, you will arrange for someone to take General Potapov to take over the 36th Motorized Regiment. Also, call the Tula garrison headquarters and ask them to prepare for the transfer of the Tula Artillery School."

"Okay, Comrade Stalin," the old marshal said slowly, "I will arrange everything."

Coming out of Stalin's office, Shaposhnikov said to Potapov: "General Potapov, I will ask Lieutenant Colonel Yuri to take you to the garrison of the 36th Motorized Regiment to officially take over this unit."

"Then when do we set off?"

"The situation on the front line is tense, so of course the sooner the better."

When Lieutenant Colonel Yuri accepted Shaposhnikov's order and prepared to take Potapov to the base of the 36th Motorized Regiment, Potapov thought of Sokov, and quickly found a phone and called the garrison headquarters directly.

When Potapov heard the voice coming from the receiver, he did not ask who the other party was, but said directly: "I am General Potapov. Please inform Captain Sokov who stayed in the headquarters two days ago and ask him to wait for me at the door immediately. There is an important combat mission that requires his participation."

The person who answered the phone waited for Potapov to finish speaking, and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest: "Okay, Comrade General, we will immediately notify Captain Sokov and ask him to rush to the gate of the headquarters to wait for you."

After Potapov finished his call, Lieutenant Colonel Yuri asked in surprise, "Comrade General, are you planning to transfer personnel from the garrison headquarters?"

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"No, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Potapov shook his head and said, "This captain escaped from the German encirclement with me and is temporarily living in the garrison headquarters. He is a very capable commander. I will lead the troops to the front soon. It will be more convenient to command with a trustworthy commander by my side during the battle."

When the car passed the garrison headquarters, Potapov saw Sokov standing at the gate of the courtyard looking around, and quickly rolled down the window and shouted to him: "Captain Sokov, I'm here!"

Sokov, who was standing at the door waiting, saw Potapov sitting in a black car across the street. He quickly ran over, bent down and asked Potapov: "Comrade Commander, shall we set off now?"

"Yes, we are leaving now." Potapov pushed open the car door and moved back: "Hurry up and get in the car. We need to get to the barracks as soon as possible to take over the troops."

Sokov did not dare to delay, he quickly bent down and got into the car and closed the door.

After driving for more than ten minutes, the car entered a barracks and stopped in front of a two-story building.

At the entrance of the building, there were more than a dozen officers standing, basically all of them were colonel-level officers, and they seemed to be there to greet Potapov.

As soon as the car stopped, Sokov opened the door and got out. Then he stood beside the car, holding the door with one hand and blocking the top with the other to prevent Potapov from hitting his head when getting out.

The officers standing at the door saw Potapov get off the car and immediately came forward to greet him.

The leader was a lieutenant colonel. He raised his hand to salute General Potapov and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander! I am Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin, the commander of the 36th Motorized Regiment. From now on, I will officially become your subordinate."

After shaking hands with Lieutenant Colonel Gushin, Potapov looked at the group of officers standing nearby and asked tentatively, "Lieutenant Colonel Gushin, are these the commanders of the regiment?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Gu Xin hurriedly introduced Potapov: "This is the regiment chief of staff, this is the regiment political commissar, the deputy regiment commander, the first battalion commander..."

After Potapov shook hands with the battalion commanders in the regiment one by one, he turned to Gu Xin and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin, the situation on the front line is critical now. I wonder when your regiment can set out?"

"Comrade Commander." Hearing Potapov's question, Gu Xin quickly replied: "After we received the order from our superiors, we immediately began to assemble the troops. Since we are a mechanized unit, most of the transportation vehicles are still refueling and transferring supplies. It will take at least an hour and a half before we can set off."

Potapov raised his hand to check the time, then said, "I'll give you two and a half hours to prepare. I hope you can be as fully prepared as possible."

After Gu Xin asked the battalion commanders to return to their respective troops, he said to Potapov with a smile: "Comrade Commander, it's a bit cold outside. Come inside and have a cup of hot tea."

Facing Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin's enthusiasm, Potapov turned around and invited Yuri, who had brought him here: "Lieutenant Colonel Yuri, let's go in and have a cup of tea together?"

"No, Comrade General." But Yuri shook his head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but I don't have time. I need to go back and report to Comrade Marshal." After that, he raised his hand to salute Potapov, turned around and walked back to the car parked not far away.

Potapov waited until the car left before he said to Gu Xin: "Come on, Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin, let's go to your headquarters and sit down."

As they walked inside, Gu Xin glanced at Sokov, who was following closely behind Potapov, and asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander, is this captain the commander of your guard company?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin, let me introduce him to you." Potapov tried his best to transfer Sokov to his side, not to make him the captain of his guard company. However, at the moment, the 1st Guards Infantry Army was still an empty shell, so he could only temporarily assign Sokov a special position: "This is my adjutant, Captain Sokov, who I specially transferred from the 37th Army."

Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin had no idea what the 37th Army was or who its commander was. But since Potapov mentioned this unit, he must have something unique to say, and as a subordinate, he would definitely agree. So he took the initiative to extend his hand to Sokov and said in a friendly tone: "Hello, Captain Sokov! I have heard of the 37th Army. You performed very bravely on the battlefield."

What Gu Xin said were all clichés. No matter which troops he mentioned, as long as he said that the other side performed bravely on the battlefield, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Sokov held Gu Xin's hand with both of his own and said politely, "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel! I am glad to fight alongside you!"

(End of this chapter)