Red Moscow

  Chapter 312 He is a genius

  Sokov never dreamed that his every move and words in Stalingrad would be compiled into documents and secretly sent to Moscow. At this moment, the information about him was placed on Beria's desk.

  This middle-aged man with a pair of round glasses and a little bald head looks like a kind university professor on the outside, but in fact his name can make people shiver. After repeatedly checking the information about Sokov, he couldn't help but start to ponder. He felt that Sokov's rise was too miraculous. Not only did he accurately judge the enemy's situation, but he also grasped the opportunity very timely.

  The sudden ringing of the phone interrupted his meditation. He picked up the microphone and stuck it to his ear, and Boskrebyshev's voice came from inside: "Comrade Beria, please come to Comrade Stalin's office immediately for a meeting, Vasilevsky and Antonov The general is already here."

  Belia, who is in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is also a member of the National Defense People's Committee and the vice chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers. Recently, due to the unfavorable war situation in the Don and Volga river basins, he has participated in many such meetings. He closed the folder and got up to go outside. After walking a few steps, he stopped again, thinking that he should make a detailed report to Stalin about his suspicions about Sokov. So, he bent down to pick up the folder, put it under his arm, and then walked out quickly.

When Beria came to Stalin's office, Antonov was pointing to the map with a stick to introduce the situation to everyone. In addition to Stalin and Vasilevsky, the people sitting at the conference table also included Kalinin, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. , People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov, Marshal of the Soviet Union Budyonny and others were present. Seeing Beria's arrival, everyone nodded slightly at him, and continued to listen to Antonov's explanation.

After Beria found his seat and sat down, he began to listen carefully to Antonov's introduction of the front line situation: "...the line of defense we have established from Pavlovsk to Upper Kurmoyarskaya, the front line The width is 530 kilometers, and the depth is 120 kilometers. The 21st, 62nd, 63rd, and 64th armies are used as the first echelon; the 57th, 28th, and 38th armies are used as reserves..."

  Hearing this, Kalinin couldn't help interjecting and asked: "General Antonov, I want to ask, since we have such an army, why can't we stop the German attack?"

Regarding Kalinin's question, Antonov did not answer immediately, but cast a questioning look at Stalin, and after getting permission, he continued: "Many of our armies just stay on written reports, and some of them are We took in the troops formed by the skirmishers who retreated from the direction of Kharkov; The field fortifications in the area did not pose any real threat to the fiercely attacking German army."

After listening to Antonov, Kalinin turned his head to look at Stalin and said: "So, the Germans will soon rush to the city of Stalingrad, and our troops are not yet fully prepared to defend the city. preparation."

"Yes, the Germans are constantly rushing towards Stalingrad." Stalin put his pipe on the table, stood up and said: "But I believe that our city defenders will do it before the enemy approaches the city." Get all defenses ready."

   "Comrade Stalin," Beria felt that he should stand up and say a few words when he heard Stalin mentioned the defense of Stalingrad. He quickly interjected, "Can I express my opinion?"

  Although Beria is a member of the National Defense People's Committee, he rarely speaks at such military meetings. Today's contrasting performance aroused Stalin's great interest. He looked at Beria and said, "Comrade Beria, if you want to say something, just say it."

"That's right, Comrade Stalin." Beria raised the folder in his hand and said to Stalin: "I just received a report from Stalingrad. From all indications, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade There's something wrong with Cove."

"Sokov?!" Stalin recited the surname silently in his mind, and then remembered who Beria was talking about, and asked with great interest: "Comrade Beria, tell me, what's wrong with him?" ?”

"According to the information," Beria put the folder on the table, opened it, picked up one of the papers, and said after a quick glance at the contents: "Rokossovsky ordered him to lead his troops to Go to the Tim area to cooperate with the tank army to harass the German transportation line, but with the sacrifice of the commander of the tank army, General Lijukov, this order was cancelled.

  After the cancellation of the order, he did not immediately lead the team back to Yelets to return to the construction, but interrupted the contact with the Front Army Command without authorization. By the time Rokossovsky contacted him again, his troops had already captured Kursk. "

"Comrade Beria, you are right." Regarding Beria's statement, Vasilevsky, the chief of the general staff, echoed: "After the mission of attacking the transport line was cancelled, Sokov did not respect Rokossovsky ordered to return to Yelets immediately. Instead, he decisively seized the opportunity to attack Kursk, which was weakly defended by the German army, and gained a crucial position for our army in the German defense line. department."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Beria put down the document in his hand, looked sideways at Vasilevsky and said, "you know, the distance between Tim and Kursk is not short, how did he know the strength of the troops in the city?" weak, and decisively lead troops to attack?"

After Vasilevsky was speechless, Beria turned to Stalin and said: "Comrade Stalin, according to the information I have, shortly after the Ministry entered Kursk, he declared on different occasions that the German army The next offensive target will be Stalingrad. You know, at that time, Huot's 4th Panzer Army was rushing towards the Caucasus region. Even our intelligence department believed that the enemy's attack was aimed at the Caucasus oil. How does he know the enemy's attack direction?"

   After hearing these words, Stalin did not express his opinion, but said noncommittally: "Go ahead."

"After being reorganized into the 73rd Infantry Brigade, the German 297th Infantry Division once launched an attack from the east of the city, but they all ended in failure." Beria continued to report: "During the battle, our commanders captured some prisoners. But he let it go without any explanation. I suspect that he did this to let these prisoners pass some information to the German army."

   "Transfer information?" Stalin heard this, tapped his pipe on the ashtray twice, and asked impatiently: "Comrade Beria, tell me clearly, what information is to be conveyed?"

  Beria was silent for a moment, and then announced in a shocking manner: "I suspect that he is a spy sent by the Germans."

"Impossible." Hearing what Beria said, Vasilevsky retorted instinctively: "Comrade Beria, you must have made a mistake. How could he be a German spy? Since you have With so much information on him, don’t you know the many meritorious deeds he has established?”

"That's right, I checked carefully, so I have such doubts." Beria said slowly after scanning everyone's eyes: "Don't you all realize that his judgment on the battle situation and the fighter's Are the grasps surprisingly accurate? It seems that everything is going according to his arrangement, if it happens once or twice, it can still be said to be a coincidence, but there will be problems if it happens every time.”

  Hearing this, Stalin stood up, without even taking a pipe, and walked back and forth in the spacious conference room with his hands behind his back, thinking about everything Beria said. After walking for about five or six minutes, Stalin stopped and asked casually, "What is he doing in Stalingrad now?"

"Comrade Stalin," Vasilevsky stood up quickly, and replied to Stalin behind him: "From the moment he entered Stalingrad, he has been organizing manpower to build fortifications. According to him, our troops are very difficult to stop The German offensive, the final battle between the enemy and us, will take place in the city of Stalingrad."

Although Vasilevsky had reported this matter to Stalin, for the Supreme Commander himself, he didn't take such a small matter to heart at all, so until now, he didn't know that Sokov's troops were stationed Where: "Where is his army building fortifications?"

"On Mamayev Hill, Comrade Stalin." Beria said without losing the opportunity: "From there you can overlook the entire city and the Volga River. If Sokov is really a German spy, once the German army rushes into Stalingrad , he can cooperate with the Germans inside and out..."

"It's impossible." Before Beria could finish speaking, Marshal Budyonny, who had long been marginalized, interrupted him: "Comrade Beria, no matter how much evidence you have, but you say Soko Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is a German spy, it is completely impossible.” At this point, the Marshal stood up, looked at Stalin and said: “Comrade Stalin, you should know exactly what kind of person our old comrade-in-arms Sokov is. .Do you think his son, a Red Army commander with rich combat experience and many military exploits, could be the enemy's spy?"

Regarding Budyonny's question, Stalin did not answer immediately. He returned to his seat and sat down, filled the pipe with shredded tobacco, relit it and said: "Budyonny is right. Old Misha is not only brave in battle, but also a member of our party. A loyal member. I think, no matter how bad his son is, he will not become a spy for the Germans. Beria, could it be a German spy lurking inside our army who deliberately provided wrong information to you? ?”

Seeing that Stalin did not agree with his statement, and even suspected that the person who provided him with information was a German spy, Beria said unwillingly: "Comrade Stalin, the person who provided me with information has been tested and completely credible. Yes. After Sokov arrived in Stalingrad, he not only started construction on Mamayev Hill, but even left his defense area without authorization, and ran to the city center to give instructions on the defense construction work there."

  Hearing this, Kalinin gave Beria a meaningful look, and then asked curiously: "Comrade Beria, tell me, how does he give instructions on other people's defense construction work?"

"Some time ago, he took a female hygienist to go shopping." Beria, who was in a dilemma, could only bite the bullet and continued: "When they arrived at the department store in the downtown area, Sokov saw the second floor of the building. After the sandbags on the platform were not piled up into the shape of the fortification according to the regulations, they were furious at the experience of the department store..."

Kalinin waited for Beria to finish speaking, and asked back: "Comrade Beria, if I remember correctly, as early as May, the National Defense Committee issued an order to the Stalingrad City Defense Committee, asking them to seize the time Build solid fortifications inside and outside the city, you signed this document yourself, right?"

  Hearing Kalinin's question, Beria could only nod and replied, "That's right, I signed it."

"Since you signed the order, you should be very clear that in order to prevent the enemy from taking the city, we should build the city into a strong fortress." Kalinin looked at Beria, frowned and said, "I'm going to Passing the department store in Stalingrad, where the second-floor platform is a good defensive position, and it is absolutely necessary to build a defense there. I think Sokov, as a commander, did nothing wrong with what he did. "

"Okay, don't talk anymore." Seeing that Beria seemed to be arguing with Kalinin, Stalin stopped the two in time: "We are discussing how to stop the enemy rushing towards Stalingrad, but you are talking about the topic?" Turning to the discussion of whether an ordinary lieutenant colonel is an enemy spy, this is too absurd. Comrade Antonov, go on."

"But, Comrade Stalin." Beria saw that Stalin had changed the subject on his own initiative, and based on his understanding of him, if he didn't convince him in the shortest possible time, then talking about it later would have no effect. The husband continued before: "What should Sokov do? No matter how you look at it, his analysis and judgment seem a bit too unbelievable."

"Comrade Beria," Stalin said impatiently seeing that Beria was still struggling with this topic, "you said that his analysis and judgment of the enemy's situation, and his grasp of the fighter's opportunity, were all very accurate and timely. There is nothing surprising about this." Yes, if he didn't have this ability, how could he grow from a corporal to a lieutenant colonel in a short period of time? If you still don't understand, I can only tell you: he is a genius!" After finishing speaking, He waved his hand at Antonov, motioning him to continue talking.

  (end of this chapter)