Chapter 2236

  Sokov's 48th Army, as the vanguard of the Third Front Army, took the lead in advancing westward. The day after their departure, General Popov's 70th Army also moved into action, tasked with covering Sokov's flank.

  Two days later, the 65th Army, which cleared the German army in the Krokau area, also advanced westward. The 2nd Assault Army, which was supposed to go hand in hand with them according to the opportunity, temporarily postponed its departure time because it had to wait until the 5th Guards Tank Army to take over its defense.

The 19th Army, which was sent by the headquarters to strengthen the Third Front, was originally intended to be the main force to attack Berlin. However, due to changes in the battlefield situation, they were left behind by Rokossovsky after the Battle of East Pomerania. The Danzig area is responsible for consolidating this occupied area and avoiding counterattacks launched by the Vistula Army Group.

   Rokossovsky was urgently called to Moscow to receive further offensive orders.

   After he arrived at Stalin's office in the Kremlin, he realized that not only had he come to Moscow, but Zhukov and Konev had also come.

Seeing that the commanders of the three front armies had arrived, Stalin called everyone to sit down, and then said to the chief of the general staff Antonov who was standing aside: "Comrade chief of the general staff, please explain to the marshals their next task." .”

Antonov nodded, walked to the wall, picked up the explaining stick, pointed to the map on the wall and said to the three: "Comrades three marshals, I will now introduce to you the combat order of the headquarters of the Supreme Command: Zhukov Field Marshal's 1st Belorussian Front carried out an assault in the general direction of Berlin, and at the same time detoured the city from the north with part of its forces; Marshal Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front carried out a split assault south of Berlin, detouring the city from the south. And Marshal Rokossovsky's Belarusian Second Front carried out a split assault from the north of Berlin, while ensuring that the Belarusian First Front would not be attacked by the enemy from the north, and drove the enemy north of Berlin to the sea Annihilate them all."

Stalin waited for Antonov to finish introducing the situation, stood up, walked slowly around the room clutching his pipe, and asked at the same time: "Comrades three marshals, what do you have to say about the latest deployment of the headquarters?" ?"

   "Comrade Stalin." Zhukov got up and asked, "When should we launch a full-scale attack on Berlin?"

   "According to the plan, it should be April 16." Stalin put the cigarette **** in his mouth and took a puff. After blowing out the smoke ring, he asked, "Are you all right?"

As soon as his words fell, Rokossovsky stood up and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Stalin, please forgive me, I don't think my troops can launch a new attack on the enemy's defensive zone within the time stipulated by the base camp." .”

  Stalin was taken aback when he heard this, and then asked in displeasure, "Why?"

"Comrade Stalin, you should know that our troops have just finished the Battle of East Pomerania. If we want to launch an onslaught on Berlin, it will take some time to adjust the deployment of our troops." Rokossovsky explained to the other party : "On average, each army needs to walk 300 kilometers. Due to the very bad traffic conditions in East Pomerania, it is difficult for our troops to use vehicles, trains and other means of transportation. They can only march on foot, which seriously greatly affect the speed of our army's mobilization."

Zhukov knew the situation of Rokossovsky's troops best. When he saw what the other party said, Stalin's face showed anger, and he hurriedly said: "Comrade Stalin, what Rokossovsky said The situation is true. The 48th Army, which was the first to set off, was scheduled to arrive in two days. They walked for three days, and when the commanders and fighters arrived at the designated area, they were already exhausted. Fortunately, they only took over The defense of our department is not to fight against the enemy, otherwise they may suffer a lot."

   "The 48th Group Army?!" Stalin repeated the unit number, and asked tentatively, "Is it the group army commanded by Misha?"

"That's right, Comrade Stalin, that's exactly the unit under his command." Zhukov explained: "His unit can be regarded as the most elite unit in our army, and they have been serving as reserves throughout the East Pomeranian campaign. , all stayed in the rear to recharge their batteries and did not participate in any battles. Just a three-day long-distance march, the commanders and fighters of the troops were exhausted, and I dare not imagine whether other troops would be worse."

  Zhukov's narration made Stalin fall into deep thought. He knew very well that in the case of abnormal transportation, it might not be an easy task to deploy all the troops in place according to the plan. Thinking of this, he took the cigarette **** out of his mouth, then pointed at Rokossovsky with his fist clenched on the pipe, and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, tell me, when do you think it will start?" Which is the best attack?"

   Rokossovsky replied confidently: "Comrade Stalin, I think the troops will not be fully ready to attack until early May at the earliest."

"No, absolutely not." As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, Stalin shook his head like a rattle: "If we have to wait until May, it will be too late. By then, we will have enough time." The Germans will strengthen their defense system and deploy more troops to defend, thereby increasing the casualties of our army when attacking. Another point is that the Allied forces are also advancing towards Berlin from another direction. We must not let The British and American armies entered Berlin before us."

  Before the military meeting was held, the three front army commanders were thinking whether they could be the first to enter Berlin before the friendly troops. Hearing what Stalin said at this moment, he immediately realized that his thinking was too narrow. Those who competed with him for the honor of being the first to enter Berlin were not only the friendly forces that were marching towards Berlin with him, but also the allied forces that attacked from another direction.

After thinking about this, Rokossovsky felt that it was obviously inappropriate to postpone the attack on Berlin until the beginning of May, so he humbly asked Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, I don't know where you think my troops should be." When is the time to launch an attack on Berlin?"

Stalin glanced at Zhukov and Konev, and then said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I know the difficulties you are facing, but we really don't have much time left. Even if you can't cooperate with Zhukov and Konev If the husband's troops attack at the same time, the delay should not be too long. I think it will be postponed until April 20th, what do you think?"

   Hearing that his attack time was only delayed by four days, Rokossovsky had a embarrassed expression on his face. I just wanted to ask Stalin to give me a few more days of grace, but when I thought that the Allied forces approaching Berlin from the west might enter Berlin ahead of me, I changed my mind and nodded in agreement with Stalin's arrangement: "Okay , Comrade Stalin, since you have given the order, we will officially launch the attack on April 20."

"Marshal Rokossovsky," Antonov, who was standing next to him, interjected, "Actually, the attack time set by the base camp has been carefully considered. Now there is a strange phenomenon on the battlefield. The German troops received an order from Mustache, allowing them to put down their weapons and surrender to the Allies if conditions permit. However, the German troops facing our side received the exact opposite order. We must fight resolutely to the last man, and no one is allowed to surrender to our army."

   "Really?" Konev, who had never spoken, asked with some surprise: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, is everything you said true?"

   "That's right, Marshal Konev." Antonov nodded and answered Konev in a positive tone: "This is proven and reliable information."

"Everyone is clear about the current situation." Stalin continued: "The Allied forces are closer to Berlin than we are, and the Germans have also received orders not to resist. The troops in Berlin may be Allied forces, which we absolutely do not allow."

"A few months ago, we discovered that the Germans had sent secret envoys to secretly contact the Allied forces." Antonov said: "This is an attempt by the Germans to negotiate a separate peace with the British and American troops, and then more troops can be drawn from the Western Front." More troops to stop our advance to Berlin. Since their conspiracy was discovered by us and stopped in time, the Germans lost the opportunity to negotiate a separate peace, so they racked their brains and used other methods to try to reverse the current threat to them. Unfavorable situation."

"I understand, Comrade Chief of General Staff." Rokossovsky, who originally thought that the attack was launched on April 20, was a little rushed, but he really realized the seriousness of the problem, and had to launch the final general attack on the enemy as soon as possible. , to enter Berlin before the Allies. Therefore, he stated again: "My troops will follow the order of the Supreme Command and launch the final general attack on the German army on April 20."

  In order to ensure that the troops can launch an attack on the enemy on time within the specified time, before leaving the Kremlin, Rokossovsky prepared to call Bogolyubov and inform him of the content of the meeting.

Bogolyubov couldn't help being surprised when he heard this, and quickly said: "Comrade Marshal, most of our troops today are staying two to three hundred kilometers away from the designated area. There are not enough means of transportation. Our commanders and fighters can only take it on foot The method of marching is to advance to the designated area, and when they reach the destination, they are already exhausted, so how can they still have the energy to fight the enemy?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky interrupted Bogolyubov's words and said in a serious tone: "I am the commander of the front army. I know the situation of the troops as well as you. The superiors let us The decision to launch the offensive on April 20 was made after considering the practical difficulties we were facing. Since it is an order from the superior, we have no room for bargaining and can only execute it unconditionally. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov heard that Rokossovsky was very angry, so he could only say helplessly: "I will immediately convey your order and let all the troops speed up their march and arrive at the designated place as soon as possible." Assemble at the location and make all preparations for the attack."

After listening to Bogolyubov's reply, the expression on Rokossovsky's face softened. He was worried that the other party would not realize the seriousness of the problem, and he specifically explained: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to remind you One thing, the troops advancing towards Berlin now, in addition to me, Zhukov and Marshal Konev's troops, there are also large Allied forces to the west, and they are now in a position closer to Berlin than we are. You will not I want to give the honor of being the first to enter Berlin to the British and American troops."

"What, the Allied troops are also approaching Berlin?" Rokossovsky's words made Bogolyubov break out in a cold sweat: "If they attack Berlin before our army completes its deployment, It will definitely enter Berlin earlier than us, and it seems that I will urge the troops to speed up the march to ensure that they can reach the designated location within the specified time and make all preparations for battle."

   "Has Misha's troops arrived at the designated location?" Rokossovsky asked.

   "Here we are." Bogolyubov replied, "He called not long ago and said that General Belov's 61st Army has handed over defense to him, and his troops are gradually entering designated combat positions."

   "How is the situation in the area controlled by the 61st Army?" Rokossovsky asked: "Have all the enemies there been eliminated? Can our newly stationed troops solve part of the supply problem from the local area?"

Facing the two questions raised by Rokossovsky, Bogolyubov replied with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, I don't think I can answer your question. General Sokov should report There was no mention of it at all.”

"Strange, how could this be?" Rokossovsky said with some surprise: "Misha has always been a more careful person, so why didn't he report such an important matter to you?" He thought for a while, and asked The other party said, "Well, you can call him and ask about the situation there."

   "Okay, Comrade Marshal, I'll call him right away."

   Bogolyubov did not expect that when he was on the phone with Rokossovsky, Sokov was furious in his headquarters.

"What the hell, the troops have been stationed here for nearly a week, but they still haven't figured out whether all the enemies in the defense zone have been cleared out, and where to solve part of the troop's supply mission." Sokov took off the big-brimmed hat on his head, He fell heavily on the table, and said angrily: "How did this commander become?"

Lunev next to him quickly comforted him and said, "Misha, don't get angry. I think the reason why General Belov couldn't provide us with such information is because he completely regarded this place as a temporary transit point, so I'm sorry. He is not interested in finding out the situation here. When the defense was just handed over, he also seemed very impatient, thinking that we arrived two days later than the stipulated time, which delayed their departure to the new area."

After Lunev's persuasion, Sokov's mood gradually stabilized. He said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although General Belov did not provide us with any useful information when the defense was handed over, but Since we are going to be stationed here for a period of time, it is imperative to find out the local situation. You immediately send a reconnaissance team to carry out reconnaissance nearby, and you must find out whether the German troops in the defense area have been completely wiped out. "

  (end of this chapter)