Chapter 2201

  As Rokossovsky's Belarusian Second Front Army tore a huge hole in the German Second Army's defense line, the situation on the battlefield developed in favor of the Soviet army. At this moment, Rokossovsky received a call from Antonov: "Comrade Marshal, the time has come. The Supreme Command orders you to turn around and go west immediately to cover Marshal Zhukov's right wing."

   After waiting for Antonov to finish speaking, Rokossovsky asked back: "What about the areas we are occupying now?"

"The area close to General Cherniakhovsky's headquarters will be handed over to the Belarusian Third Front." Antonov said: "You can keep the rest of the area, but the main force should move westward as quickly as possible. , to cover the advance of Marshal Zhukov's troops to the west."

   "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "I will pass on your order immediately."

After putting down the phone, Rokossovsky said to Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately call the commanders of the various armies and order them to stop pursuing the Germans north or east, gather troops and prepare to turn west. .”

   "Understood, Comrade Marshal, I will immediately convey your order to the various army headquarters." After saying this, Bogolyubov shook his fist vigorously, and said excitedly: "Thank God, I have finally waited for this day."

When Sokov received a call from Bogolyubov and stopped attacking to the north, he immediately realized that the main attack direction of the troops had to be adjusted, and asked quickly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you going to let us go to the north?" Xi carried out the attack and advanced?"

"That's right, General Sokov." Bogolyubov gave Sokov an affirmative answer: "We have received an order from the General Staff to stop our offensive to the north and east and turn to the west with all our strength to cover Marshal Zhukov's flank."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, it may take two days for my troops to fully gather." Sokov asked tentatively, "I wonder if I can catch up with the attack to the west."

"It's completely in time, General Sokov." Bogolyubov said: "From the perspective of the attack sequence, it should be the 3rd Army that launched an attack on the enemy first, and our Army followed up as the second echelon, opening the gap from friendly forces. Enter the battlefield and find a way to tear the breach even wider."

   "I see, Comrade Chief of Staff."

  Sokov put down the phone and said to several deputies: "Comrades, a new order from the superior has come down, let us stop the attack to the north and east, and prepare to turn around and move west."

  Sidorin said excitedly: "Great, this is really great. If we turn west now, maybe we can be the first troops to enter Berlin."

   Regarding Sidolin’s statement, both Ponederin and Lunev agree very much. Because in their minds, the performance of the troops commanded by Rokossovsky on the battlefield is better than that of Zhukov's troops. But Sokov knew very well that this was just a good wish of everyone. You must know that when Zhukov's attacking troops were blocked by the German highlands, Stalin himself asked Konev to make way for Zhukov. My love will be the first to enter Berlin.

  While everyone was rejoicing, the phone on the table rang. Sidolin rushed to the table, grabbed the phone on it, and said loudly, "I'm Sidolin, what's the matter?...Ah, what are you talking about? Say it again."

The next moment, Sidolin raised the microphone in his hand and shouted excitedly: "comrades, commanders, good news, good news. Just an hour ago, Marshal Zhukov's troops had successfully crossed the Wei The Swa River successfully occupied Warsaw and wiped out the remaining enemies in the city."

   Hearing that Zhukov's troops had occupied Warsaw, everyone was taken aback for a moment, and then cheered loudly. Although his troops no longer belong to the First Belarusian Front Army, after all, they once launched an attack on Warsaw within the organizational system of this army, but the attack did not achieve the desired results.

"Comrade Commander," Lunev said, walking in front of Sokov, flushed with excitement, "this is a big event worth celebrating. See if you can distribute vodka to the soldiers to make them happy too. "

  Due to the lessons learned from the 300th Infantry Division, Sokov strictly controlled drinking in the army. Anyone who dares to drink alcohol without authorization will be severely punished after being caught; if it is a mistake due to excessive drinking, they may even be locked up in confinement. But today there is such a big happy event, it seems reasonable for everyone to make an exception. So he only thought for a moment, then nodded and agreed: "Okay, Comrade Military Commissioner, let's make an exception today and distribute 200ml of vodka to each soldier, so that everyone can celebrate the victory of the Belarusian First Front Army."

  When the logistics department notified the divisions to collect vodka, the person who received the call thought someone was playing a prank. Knowing that it was an order from the commander himself, in order to celebrate the liberation of Warsaw by the friendly army, 200ml of vodka was distributed to each soldier. The commanders and fighters who heard the news suddenly became excited.

Lunev saw that Sokov seemed a little unhappy, so he walked over to him and said: "Comrade Commander, this is a happy day. Not only did we break through the defense line of the German Second Army with the cooperation of our friendly forces, They even severely damaged their Great German Armored Army and achieved considerable results. The city of Warsaw, which could not be attacked for a long time, was also occupied by the troops of Marshal Zhukov. This is a great victory, indicating that the road to Berlin has been completely opened gone."

"Comrade Military Commissar, I'm worried that everyone's going to drink too much." Sokov said with a wry smile, "I think you still remember that before we took over the 300th Infantry Division, the division occupied a town and took the spirits seized from the cellar Distributed to every soldier. As a result, thousands of people in the whole division were drunk and unconscious. Fortunately, the Viking division stationed nearby did not find out, otherwise as long as one round of attack was launched, the 300th Infantry Division would have to withdraw from our army's organizational system Disappeared."

"Yes, yes." Lunev agreed with Sokov's statement: "At that time, the superior was going to deal with the division commander. Fortunately, you pleaded for him, so he was demoted by one level and stayed in the school. The division is serving as the deputy division commander. By the way, how is he now?"

   "I don't know. After all, we are not in the same unit now." Sokov shook his head and said, "Maybe he has been reinstated, or he may have died on the battlefield."

   Speaking of this, Sokov suddenly remembered that Lunev had been looking for Shula's whereabouts these two days, and asked with concern: "Comrade Military Commissar, have you found Shula's whereabouts?"

"I can only say that there are clues, but they haven't been confirmed yet." Lunev said, "When I called General Subbotin yesterday, he told me that the Shura I was looking for was definitely not in the Second Front Army." Maybe the other party is in General Cherniakhovsky's Third Front Army. After the battle is stable, I will ask my acquaintances in the Third Front Army to help me find out."

   "If Shula is really in the Third Front Army," Sokov asked tentatively, "Then what should you do?"

   "Find a way to transfer him here." Lunev said: "After all, he is just an ordinary tank soldier, and his transfer will not have much impact on the original troops."

Hearing that Lunev had made a thorough consideration, Sokov stopped talking about the matter, but said to Ponejielin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, how long do you think it will take for our troops to be fully assembled?" time?"

  Ponejielin couldn't help being taken aback after hearing this, and then asked back: "Comrade Commander, when you talked with Chief of Staff Bogolyubov, didn't you say that it would take two days?"

   "Isn't that to leave some leeway?" Sokov said: "I think if we urge the division commanders more, maybe we can increase the speed."

"Comrade Commander, if the higher-ups are not in a hurry to launch an attack to the west, I don't think there is any rush to gather the troops." Ponegerin said: "You think, after the troops occupy the enemy's area, they must eliminate the remnants of the enemy. It is necessary to treat the wounded and collect weapons, ammunition and supplies that can be used. If you rush them to return to the building, you will inevitably make mistakes in your busy schedule."

  Sokov thought about it carefully, and felt that what Ponegerin said was very reasonable. If you rush too quickly, the troops scattered everywhere will definitely make mistakes in order to return to the construction in time, and it will not be good to be self-defeating.

   At this time Rokossovsky called and said to Sokov with a smile: "Misha, you already know."

Although Rokossovsky didn't say what it was, Sokov knew in his heart that the other party was referring to the liberation of Warsaw by Zhukov's troops, and quickly said: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, the liberation of Warsaw. Already know."

After saying this, Sokov reorganized the vocabulary in his mind, and said euphemistically: "It's a pity, if your time in the First Front Army can be extended by two months, maybe you will be the hero who took down Warsaw City." gone."

"It's all the same, it's all the same." Rokossovsky said generously: "As long as it is our troops, whether it is the First Front Army or the Second Front Army, as long as they take this city, it will be a great victory. Mi Sha, there are still a few days before the next attack, I wonder if you are interested, follow me to the city of Warsaw to have a look?"

Going to see the city of Warsaw did not appeal to Sokov at all, because he knew that since the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, almost all the residents in the city had been sent to concentration camps by the Germans, and the buildings in the city had been destroyed. to extensive destruction. According to Mustache, the city of Warsaw should be erased from the earth. When entering the city at this moment, all you can see are ruins and devastation.

Because of this consideration, he politely declined Rokossovsky's invitation: "Comrade Marshal, I'm really sorry, the troops have just finished fighting and just need to add and summarize. I have a lot of work to deal with every day. I'm afraid I don't have time to accompany you to Warsaw City."

   "That's really a pity." Rokossovsky said regretfully: "I will go to Marshal Zhukov later, and then go to Warsaw with him to have a look."

  When Sidolin waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, the Marshal invited you to Warsaw, why did you refuse?"

Sokov smiled bitterly and said: "As far as I know, since the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans sent the remaining Warsaw residents to their concentration camps, and even carried out large-scale explosions on the buildings in the city. At this moment Entering the city, all you can see are ruins and ruins, and apart from our own troops, not even a single resident can be seen."

"This is impossible." Sidolin said in surprise after hearing this: "Even if the residents of the city suffered heavy casualties after the Warsaw Uprising, there were still two to three hundred thousand people. The Germans wanted to move so many residents out of the city." , and sent to concentration camps, how much manpower and material resources will be spent."

"As long as our army is outside the city for one day, the residents in Warsaw will be a huge threat to the Germans." Sokov said: "To eliminate this threat, it is obviously impossible to kill all the residents in the city. You have to ship them somewhere else and destroy the city."

"It's been half a year." Ponejelin said from the side, "It's been half a year since the Warsaw Uprising. If they had sent people to actively contact us when they launched the uprising, maybe it would be a different scene now, and the city would be able to keep , and most of the residents survived."

Sokov could not help snorting coldly when he heard what Ponejielin said, and said: "But the leaders of the Warsaw Uprising, who obeyed the orders of their masters in exile in London, were full of hostility towards our army and tried every means to block the news from us. Until they When they couldn't hold on, they had the cheek to ask us for help, but it was too late, even if we wanted to help them, it was too late."

"To be honest, after entering the territory of Poland, I have seen Poles who are friendly to us and Poles who are hostile to us." Lunev said slowly: "Fortunately, the Poles who are friendly to us occupy Otherwise, even if we enter this country, we may not be able to gain a firm foothold."

"Now that the troops are turning around and heading west, for quite a long time, we will still be fighting on Polish territory." Ponejerin said: "I hope that the Poles in these places will not become accomplices of the Germans, otherwise we will The road ahead is going to be incredibly difficult."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you can rest assured about this." Although Sokov is not very clear about the history of the Second Front Army before it entered Berlin, he also knows very well that if there are Poles who are hostile to the Soviet Army along the way, it must be delayed. They could not reach the outskirts of Berlin at the same time as the 1st Front. So he comforted Pornegelin and said: "We are going to pass by the enemy next, and we have been informed by the Germans for five years. The local people have long hated the Germans. Seeing the arrival of liberators like us, they must Will be greeted with flowers."

"I hope so," Ponedelin continued: "The current situation is that Marshal Konev's Ukrainian First Front Army, Marshal Zhukov's Belarusian First Front Army, and our Second Front Army are three big The arrows pointed at Berlin at the same time. The next thing to do is to see which of these three troops can enter Berlin first and establish immortal feats."

   "Marshal Konev's troops are absolutely impossible." Lunev stared at the map and said: "Now we are fighting side by side with Marshal Zhukov's troops. The first troops to enter Berlin will definitely be born from among us."

  (end of this chapter)