Chapter 1446

Since it is such an important post as the commander of the Belarusian second front army, I am definitely not the only one. Therefore, after listening to vasilevsky's question, Ivanov immediately nodded his head and replied, "yes, Comrade General Staff, there are two other candidates."

"Tell me all about it." Stalin, who had been silent, suddenly said.

Suddenly hearing Stalin's voice, Ivanov could not help shivering, but he soon returned to normal and said in a calm tone: "one is Ivan danilovich, general chernyahovsky." Thinking that the commander he mentioned was an ordinary division commander before the war, he grew up step by step under the attention of vasilevsky. After a quick glance at vasilevsky, he quickly told us chernyahovsky's resume, "... In February 1941, he served as the division commander of the 28th tank division of the 12th mechanized Army. On June 23, he took part in the battle in the eighth group army of the northwest front army, and the tanks of the whole division were lost in the battle. In December, his headquarters was changed into the 241st infantry division.

He was granted major general on May 3, 1942, and served as commander of the 18th tank army in June, holding Voronezh. In July, he served as commander of the 60th group army, fighting successively in the Voronezh front army, the central front army and the first front army of Ukraine.

On February 14, 1943, he was awarded the title of Soviet hero on October 17, 1943 in recognition of his courage and bravery in crossing the Dnieper River.

March 5, 1944

"Yes, a very good commander." Stalin, who initially said that he would only listen in and not speak, interrupted Ivanov again. He looked at vasilevsky and asked, "Comrade General Staff Chief, do you agree with me?"

Vasilevsky quickly got up from his seat and replied respectfully, "yes, comrade Stalin, my opinion is the same as yours. I think Comrade chernyahovsky is an excellent commander. Moreover, he has served as commander of the group army for two years and has rich experience in command. I think he will take the post of commander, It's very appropriate. "

Vasilevsky basically thought that Stalin would go along with his proposal. Unexpectedly, the latter waved his hand after hearing his proposal and said unexpectedly, "no, comrade vasilevsky, I don't think it's appropriate for chernyahovsky to be the commander of the front army."

Stalin's words stunned everyone here. Vasilevsky, in particular, put forward this candidate only after he heard Stalin's praise for chernyahovsky. Unexpectedly, he was rejected. When everyone did not know how to respond, Stalin continued: "the scale of the second front army is too small. There are only the 47th, 61st and 70th group armies, as well as the 6th group army of the air force. It's a bit too condescending for an excellent commander like chernyahovsky to serve as commander. The Belarusian third front army, which we plan to set up in April, has not only a combined group army of three arms and an airborne army, but also a fifth group army of close guard tanks. Such a team needs commanders like him. "

It was said that Stalin intended to appoint chernyahovsky as commander of the third front army. Vasilevsky was secretly relieved. He turned to Ivanov and said, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, please continue to talk about the next candidate."

"The other candidate is general Pavel alexeyevich kurozhkin." Compared with chernyahovsky, kurotchkin's resume is much better. Therefore, when Ivanov introduced him, he felt that he had enough confidence: "he was the old red guard who once attacked the winter palace. He was the cavalry division commander in 1935. During the Sufen war, he once commanded an army excellently. Since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he has successively served as commander of the 20th, 43rd, 11th and 34th group army, deputy commander and commander of the northwest front army and deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine. He has a clear and definite working method in leading and running the army and commanding operations. "

But when Ivanov introduced kurotchkin's resume, Stalin got up from his seat, walked slowly around with his pipe, and occasionally turned to take a look at Ivanov who was speaking. After Ivanov finished, vasilevsky quickly turned his eyes to Stalin to see if he would express any opinions. Who knows to see Stalin's pipe is not in his mouth, but continue to hold in his hand, still walking back and forth in the room without expression.

Seeing that Stalin did not intend to speak, vasilevsky had to ask Ivanov, "Comrade deputy chief of staff, who do you think is more appropriate to be the commander of the second front army of Belarus?"

Ivanov had intended to propose kurotchkin, but when he saw that Zhukov, who had always been careless, suddenly sat upright and stared at him without expression, his heart was a little flustered. He knew the friendship between Zhukov and me very well. Seeing Zhukov's performance, he knew that Zhukov wanted me to be the commander, He quickly changed his words and said, "although kurotchkin is old, he is not familiar with Belarus. I suggest Comrade oshanina take the post of commander."

After Ivanov's words, Zhukov turned to vasilevsky and asked, "Comrade vasilevsky, what's your opinion?"

Seeing that Zhukov gave himself the difficult problem of choice, vasilevsky quickly glanced at Stalin who was pacing. Then he coughed gently and was about to express his opinion. Suddenly, everyone heard Stalin's voice: "I don't agree to let Comrade oshanina take the post of commander of the front army."

When he heard Stalin's decision, Zhukov was stunned. He turned and looked at Stalin standing behind Ivanov in surprise, thinking about why the other party made such a decision.

Stalin did not pay attention to everyone's surprised eyes, but walked slowly to his desk and sat down. Then he said slowly: "I admit that o'shanina is a very good commander. The army she commands has achieved a series of brilliant results that many male commanders can't match..."

When Zhukov heard Stalin's comments on me, he frowned and murmured to himself, "Comrade Stalin, since you appreciate her so much, why don't you let her be the commander of the front army?" Although he thought so, he also understood that some words could only be kept in his heart, but could not be said casually, so he had to be patient and wait for Stalin to solve the final mystery.

"... the reason why I don't agree with her to take the position of commander of the front army is that she is young and hard to convince the public even if she has made great achievements in the war; Second, her rank is the lowest of the three candidates... "

Zhukov heard Stalin's reason, turned around and looked at Vasilevsky next to him, and said, secretly, "if you make complaints about Lida's low rank, you can be promoted." When the war broke out, vasilevsky was only a major general. And you think that his ability is outstanding, is not to promote him to marshal. Because I'm afraid that I will have a problem with you if I promote him too fast, I'll promote him to a general first, and then to a marshal a week later. "

When Zhukov was full of complaints, he only listened to Stalin's final decision: "I think the post of commander of the second front army of Belarus should be taken by kurotchkin in the future. This appointment should be immediately given to Comrade kurotchkin in the form of an order, so that he can go to Belarus immediately to form his army. "

Now that Stalin has made the final decision, no one can raise any objection. So vasilevsky quickly stood up, after a promise, told Ivanov: "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, you immediately go to prepare the order?"

Ivanov nodded, turned and walked out of the room.

When Ivanov's back disappeared from the door, Stalin's facial expression became serious. He looked at vasilevsky and asked, "Comrade vasilevsky, I don't know when you can change your deputy?"

"Comrade Stalin," vasilevsky obviously did not expect that Stalin would bring up this matter again. He replied awkwardly, "at present, there is no suitable person to replace Comrade Ivanov."

As soon as Zhukov heard Stalin mention the replacement of the post of deputy chief of general staff, he immediately understood why he opposed me as commander of the front army. Originally, he was implicated by Ivanov. Zhukov knew very well that Stalin didn't like Ivanov. As early as in the battle of halaha River, Stalin urged the general staff to report Stern's whereabouts. Ivanov, who worked in the general staff, received a telegram from stern to Chita, He took it for granted that the other side would arrive at the battlefield in an hour, and reported the result based on this inference. As a result, Stalin was furious the next day when he received the report that schonte was detained at Chita airport due to bad weather. He not only sent Ivanov to the military court, but also drove him out of the general staff.

It was not until 1942, due to the lack of staff, that he had the opportunity to return to the general staff as deputy chief of the general staff. As a result, after Stalin found him, he was ready to drive him away, because the Supreme Commander himself could not tolerate liars staying in front of him. After vasilevsky repeatedly interceded with him for reasons of rare talent, Stalin withdrew the order and agreed to let Ivanov stay in the general staff, on the condition that he would never appear in front of him.

It is precisely because of a small mistake he once made that even if he was full of talent, he could not be appreciated and trusted by Stalin. On the contrary, many of his proposals or recommendations were usually brutally rejected by Stalin. And I was defeated in the competition for the position of commander of the front army this time, which was inseparable from him.

When Zhukov wanted to understand the cause and effect, he immediately had an idea in his mind. He said to Stalin tactfully, "Comrade Stalin, may I talk about my views on this appointment?"

Stalin guessed that he might be trying to intercede for me, but as for his most effective commander, he said in a reasonable way: "Comrade Zhukov, just say what you think. Even if it's wrong, I won't blame you. "

After getting Stalin's permission, Zhukov expressed his own opinion: "I don't think it's appropriate to have Comrade kurotchkin as commander of the front army. Although he has held many important positions, his performance on the battlefield is mediocre. If he is really allowed to hold the post of commander, I am afraid that unexpected problems may arise in our counter offensive against Belarus in the next stage. "

Zhukov had the courage to say this. He was afraid that his opposition to Stalin would cause the other party to be furious, and even demote himself to the reserve army. However, it was unexpected that Stalin nodded in agreement with his statement and said, "yes, comrade Zhukov, you have analyzed a lot. Kurotchkin is really not suitable for the position of commander of the front army." Stalin's words made Zhukov and vasilevsky dumbfounded. They looked at each other and saw confusion in each other's eyes. Seeing that they were at a loss, Stalin explained to them with a smile, "I admit that Rita is far better than kurotchkin in directing the war. But when it comes to the formation of troops, I don't think Rita can be compared with kurotchkin at all. "“ Oh, so it is. " Zhukov is also a wise man. Listening to Stalin's words, he immediately felt like a mirror: "you are going to appoint kurotchkin to other posts after he has completed the formation of the army."“ We are going to set up the third front army of Belarus in April. After Comrade chernyahovsky takes office, his post as commander of the 60th group army will be vacant, won't it Stalin stopped for a moment, struck a match and lit the cigarette end, and then continued: "let Comrade kurotchkin be the commander of the group army then." Both Zhukov and vasilevsky understood the ability of kurotchkin. They agreed to hear that Stalin's next position for him was commander of the 60th army. After a puff of smoke, Stalin then asked vasilevsky, "I heard that the chief of staff of rokosovsky, malining, is an excellent staff officer. What do you think of him swapping with Ivanov?"