Burning Moscow

Chapter 1499: Shtemenko

Listening to the dialogue between Zhukov and Stalin, a strange thought came to my mind. Since both of them are so optimistic about cooperation with Poland, when the Warsaw Uprising broke out as scheduled a few months later, they would What kind of decision is made to send troops to support it? Or, as in real history, let Zhukov's Belarusian First Front stay on the east bank of the Vistula River to watch the fire, and allow the rebels and the Germans to lose and lose?

At this moment, a telephone ringing on the conference table suddenly rang. Sokolovsky looked at me and walked quickly to answer the phone.

Because of the long distance, I didn't hear the content of his call, but from the serious expression on his face when he returned to us, I knew something must have happened. Zhukov saw Sokolovsky gesturing at him non-stop, and hurriedly said into the microphone: "Comrade Stalin, if there is any progress, I will report to you at any time! ... Yes, I have other things right now. Things have to be dealt with!... I wish you health!"

As soon as Zhukov put down the phone, he asked Sokolovsky, "Chief of Staff, what happened?"

"General Pukhov called and said that his defense area is being attacked by the Germans." Sokolovsky said as he walked to Zhukov's desk, looked down at the map on the table, and pointed with his finger. A certain point said: "The troops of the 2nd SS Army from Lviv are attacking the defense zone of the 21st Infantry Army."

I hurried over and saw Sokolovsky's line of defense, which was very close to the area where we judged the Germans to break through. Zhukov frowned and thought for a while, and then ordered: "The chief of staff, immediately call General Pukhov and order him to intercept the 50th Infantry Division and the 8th Brigade of the Anti-Tank Artillery, and transfer it from the mountain pass where it is now stationed. The frontal defense of the 13th Army blocked the 2nd SS Army of Paul Hausser of the German Army."

"If these two troops are transferred away." Sokolovsky waited for Zhukov to finish, and immediately said worriedly: "Then the German army can easily enter the plains and escape to Kosovo after crossing the mountains. Wolf area."

"Chief of Staff, because we have placed our heavy forces on the south, the forces on the north have become weak." Zhukov is obviously aware of the question raised by Sokolovsky, but at this moment, he can mobilize. There are indeed not many troops, so I can only say helplessly: "The 13th Army is too weak. It cannot withstand the two sides of the German army. Therefore, we can only adopt the tactics of weakening one direction and strengthening the other direction.... …"

While Zhukov was setting up the task, the phone on the conference table rang again. Sokolovs, who was accepting the task, turned his head and looked at the phone, but he didn't move because he was accepting the task. Seeing that I was the only idler in the room at the moment, I quickly walked over to pick up the phone and asked politely, "Hey! This is the front army headquarters. Where did you call?"

The other party hesitated for a while, and then asked carefully: "Is it Comrade Deputy Commander?"

The voice sounded very familiar. After thinking for a moment, I remembered that the speaker was Commander Ukami Krasovsky, so I smiled and asked, "It turns out to be General Krasovsky. You are calling at this time. Is there any good news to report?"

"That's right." Hearing my question, Krasovsky replied hurriedly: "I just called specifically to report to Comrade the Marshal the results of our air force."

"Comrade Marshal is busy," I glanced at Zhukov's position and said into the microphone: "You report to me, it's the same."

My words reminded Krasovsky. He quickly reported to me: "Comrade Deputy Commander, we dispatched three hundred sorties and bombed the German troops who fled into the mountains. However, due to the complex terrain of the mountains, our bombing , The damage to the German army is limited."

In fact, when I made this suggestion to Zhukov, I knew that sending a plane to bomb the German army that was looking through the mountains would have limited results. But in any case, our bombing will affect the German marching speed and buy time for our army to carry out the pursuit.

"Well, I know." After listening to Krasovsky's report, I said calmly: "Comrade General, at dawn tomorrow, we will continue to dispatch the air force to bomb the German troops passing through the mountains."

"What, continue the bombing tomorrow?" Krasovsky heard me say this, and asked in amazement: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I have just said that our bombing of the German army has achieved very good results. Limited. If the bombing continues like this, ammunition and fuel will be wasted."

"Comrade General," I said in a stern tone after he finished speaking, "I know that your bombing of the mountainous area has achieved unsatisfactory results. But if you don't do the bombing, the Germans will be able to pass through the mountainously. Retreat to their defense zone. Our bombing can effectively slow the speed of the German army's transfer and buy precious time for the pursuit troops behind. Do you understand this?"

After hearing what I said, Krasovsky replied somewhat reluctantly: "I see, Comrade Deputy Commander."

From his tone, I heard that he was a little reluctant to give me this order. In order to prevent him from having any resistance, I quickly added: "Comrade General, since the intensive bombing in the mountainous area, it is impossible to achieve the ideal. Effectively, you can use the tactics of a four-aircraft formation to carry out small-scale air strikes against the Germans to slow their advancement speed."

"That's great, this is great." As soon as I finished speaking, Krasovsky immediately became happy. "If we adopt the tactics of four-plane formation and take turns, even if there are not many planes thrown into the bombing. , But it can also cause trouble to the Germans."

After I finished the call, I turned around and saw Sokolovsky. He smiled at me and then explained: "Comrade Oshanina, I want to call General Pukhov of the 13th Army. , Convey the Marshal's order."

"Please, please." I stretched out my hand and made a gesture of request, then turned and walked back to where Zhukov was, wanting to hear if he had any instructions for me.

Zhukov nodded slightly, then smiled and said to me: "Lida, I just heard your order to Krasovsky. Well, very good, I think you are becoming more and more senior commander. I think you will be alone if you stay here for the first half of the year or so."

After listening to Zhukov’s compliment, we talked for a while about the current problems faced by the front army, and saw Sokolovsky approaching quickly, he approached Zhukov’s side and whispered: "Comrade Zhukov, I After receiving the call, the Polish People's Army sent someone..." As he said this, he suddenly lowered his voice, so I couldn't hear what he was talking about.

"This is really great. We will go over and meet their representatives now." Zhukov stood up after speaking and walked around the table towards the door.

Although I didn't hear exactly what Sokolovsky said, I guessed it must be related to the Polish People's Army. Seeing both of them walking quickly towards the door, I hurriedly followed, wanting to see what the representative was like.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked to the door, Zhukov stopped his steps, turned his head and said to me: "Lida, I can go with the chief of staff. There can be no one in the command center. You stay here to handle some unexpected incidents. Let's work."

Seeing the two leaving behind, I couldn't help feeling a little bit sour in my heart. As the deputy commander of the front army, I didn't even have the qualifications to meet with representatives of the Polish People's Army. It hurt my self-esteem.

The two went away for an hour. It's strange to say that they were not there, and the phone didn't even ring in the command post. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was nine o'clock in half an hour, and I started thinking: If the two of them don't come back after nine o'clock, should I stay and wait for them? Or do you go back to your room and rest on your own?

When I was facing difficulty in choosing, the high-frequency phone on Zhukov's desk rang. I know that this phone is usually used to contact Moscow or units at the same level, so I didn’t dare to take it lightly. I quickly grabbed the phone and said politely into the microphone, “Hey, this is the front army headquarters. where?"

Unexpectedly, after I finished speaking, there was no sound in the earpiece. I thought it was a problem with the line, and quickly raised my voice: "Hey, hello, hello, where are you, speak up!"

"Is it Comrade Oshanina?" An unfamiliar voice suddenly came from the receiver.

"Yes, I am Oshanina." I tried to recall the voice I heard, trying to connect it with the senior commander I knew. Unfortunately, I felt that I didn’t know such a person at all, so I could only say apologetically: "Excuse me, may I know who I am honored to talk to?"

When the other party heard me talking in official language, he couldn't help laughing. After laughing, he declared himself to me: "Comrade Oshanina, I am General Shtemenko, Chief of Operations of the General Staff."

Hearing the other party’s identity, my mind immediately began to recall the other party’s resume: "Stemenko, Sergei Matvijevic, has served as the Deputy Director of the General Staff’s Operations Department since August 1941. The chief of the division was appreciated by Vasilevsky who was the deputy chief of staff at the time. He has served as division chief since June 1942. As a representative of the Supreme Command, he has been sent to the Caucasus and worked with Beria and Antonov during this period. Formed close comrades in arms. In April 1943, he served as the first deputy head of the Operations Department of the General Staff, and he was formally promoted to head in May.

In the early days of the Great Patriotic War, the post of Chief of Operations of the General Staff was a hot potato. Several ministers had been changed one after another, but the general was unable to find a suitable candidate. Most of these troops only reported to Stalin a few times before being caught. The dismissal caused confusion in the combat department.

Taking over as minister at the critical moment of the transition of the battle, Shtemenko faced a more severe test. However, he quickly won the trust of Stalin with his high theoretical level, excellent organization and coordination ability, sober mind, firm and steady character, and outstanding military talent. "

After briefly recalling Stjemenko’s resume, I asked politely: "Comrade Minister of Operations, Marshal Zhukov is not there. If you have anything important, please tell me the same. When Comrade Marshal comes back, I will Tell him again."

"Comrade Oshanina, I said the same to you." Shtemenko said in a friendly tone: "Because the Ukrainian First Front under the command of Marshal Zhukov successfully reached the foothills of the Karpathians; and The Ukrainian Second Front under the command of Marshal Konev, coordinated by the Ukrainian First Front in mid-February, arranged a "Little Stalingrad" for the enemy in the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky area. The'battle' ended, and then advanced to the Transnistria, and forcibly crossed the Transnistria on the front of 175 kilometers wide, and occupied the railway junction-the city of Belize. Then, Marshal Konev's The troops continued to attack. Just two hours ago, they successfully advanced to the border of the Prut River from the front of 85 kilometers wide."

I am now the deputy commander of the Ukrainian First Front, so all my energy is put on my one-third acre of land, and I don't know much about Konev's situation. At this moment, when I heard Szitemenko’s words, I still felt like I was dreaming. I hesitated for a long time before I asked tentatively: "Comrade Minister~lightnovelpub.net~ If I don’t understand it wrong, Marshal Konev’s troops , Has successfully reached the border of Romania, right?"

"Yes, that's it." Shtemenko said excitedly: "This is the first time our troops have stood on their borders since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War."

Our army has reached the border. This is indeed exciting news, but what puzzles me is that the troops that arrived at the border are under the command of Konev. He called us this number. What are the meanings? ? Just when I was puzzled, I heard him continue to say: "After I got the news, I immediately reported the Supreme Commander himself. The Supreme Commander himself was very happy to hear the news, and ordered to speak for Konev’s troops. Class salute: It is 324 salutes for 24 salvos.

My deputy Gryzkov and I have just finished drafting this order, and the salute will be fired at nine o'clock. I know that although Marshal Zhukov temporarily commands the Ukrainian First Front, he is the representative of the base camp. Both the first and second fronts are under his jurisdiction. Therefore, I must specifically notify him of such a major matter. "

"It turned out to be like this." After I figured out the reason for Shtemenko's call, I said politely to him: "Comrade Minister, I believe that Comrade Marshal will be very happy when he learns this news. I represent Marshal, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the Ukrainian First Front, thank you. Thank you for bringing us such good news!"

  

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