Chapter 1500

Listening to the dialogue between Zhukov and Stalin, I can't help but have a strange idea. Since both of them are so optimistic about the cooperation with Poland, what kind of decision will they make when the Warsaw Uprising erupts as scheduled a few months later, that is, to send troops to support them? Or, as in real history, let Zhukov's first front army of Belarus stay on the East Bank of the visva River and watch the fire from the other side of the river, and let the rebel army and the German army lose each other?

Just then, a telephone on the conference table suddenly rang. Sokolovsky looked at me and quickly walked over to answer the phone.

Because of the distance, I didn't hear his call, but from the serious expression on his face when he came back to us, I knew that something big had happened. When Zhukov saw sokolovsky gesturing at him, he said to the microphone: "Comrade Stalin, if there is any progress, I will report to you at any time!" Yes, I have other things to deal with now I wish you good health

As soon as Zhukov put down the phone, he asked sokolovsky, "chief of staff, what's the matter?"

"General pokhov called and said that his defense area was being attacked by the German army." Sokolovsky went to Zhukov's desk, looked down at the map on the desk, pointed to a certain point and said, "the armed SS 2nd army from Lvov is attacking the defense area of the 21st infantry army."

I hastened to see the line of defense that sokolovsky pointed to, which was very close to the area where we judged the German army to break through. Zhukov frowned and thought about it, and then said, "chief of staff, call general pokhov immediately, and order him to transfer the 50th infantry division and the 8th anti tank artillery brigade from the mountain pass where they are now stationed, strengthen the frontal defense of the 13th group army, and block the 2nd SS army of Paul Hauser of the German army."

"If these two forces are transferred away." As soon as Zhukov and sokolovsky finished talking, they immediately worried and said, "then the German army can not easily rush into the plain and flee to the kovov area after crossing the mountains."

"Chief of staff, as we have placed our heavy forces in the south, the forces in the north have become weak." Zhukov was obviously aware of the question raised by sokolovsky, but at the moment, he did not have many troops to mobilize. He could only say helplessly: "the 13th army is too weak to withstand the German double attack, so we can only weaken one direction and strengthen the other direction."

While Zhukov was setting up his task, the telephone on the conference table rang again. Sokolovsky, who is accepting the task, instinctively turns to look at the phone, but does not move at his feet because he is accepting the task. Seeing that I was the only idle person in the room at the moment, I hurried over to pick up the phone and politely asked, "Hello! This is the headquarters of the front army. Where are you calling? "

The other party hesitated for a moment, then asked carefully: "is it Comrade deputy commander?"

The voice sounded familiar. After thinking for a moment, I remembered that the speaker was karasovsky, the commander of the air station. I asked with a smile, "it's general karasovsky. Do you have any good news to report at this time?"

"That's right, that's right." Listening to my question, krasovsky replied busily, "I just made a special phone call to report the results of our air force to marshal."

"Marshal comrade is busy," I looked at Zhukov's position and said to the microphone, "you report to me, it's the same."

My words reminded krasovsky, and he quickly reported to me: "Comrade deputy commander, we have dispatched 300 sorties to bomb the German troops who fled into the mountains. However, due to the complex terrain of the mountain area, our bombing did limited damage to the German army. "

As a matter of fact, when I made this suggestion to Zhukov, I knew that sending planes to bomb the German troops who were looking through the mountains would achieve limited results. In any case, our bombing will affect the speed of the German March and gain time for our pursuit.

"Well, I see." After listening to krasovsky's report, I said faintly, "Comrade General, at daybreak tomorrow, we will continue to send out air forces to bomb the German troops crossing the mountains."

"What, continue bombing tomorrow?" Krasovsky was a little surprised when he heard me say that: "Comrade deputy commander, I have just said that our bombing of the German army has achieved very limited results. If the bombing goes on like this, it will be a waste of ammunition and fuel. "

"Comrade General," I said sternly and immediately after he finished, "I know that your bombing of the mountainous areas has not achieved satisfactory results. But if they didn't bomb, the Germans would be able to get through the mountains and retreat to their defense zone. Our bombing can effectively delay the German army's transfer speed and gain valuable time for the following pursuit troops. Do you understand that? "

After listening to me, krasovsky reluctantly replied, "I see, comrade deputy commander."

I heard from his tone 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 intensive bombing in the mountainous area can not achieve the desired effect, you can take the tactics of four aircraft formation to carry out small-scale air strikes on the German army and delay their advance."

"Great, that's great." As soon as I finished, krasovsky was immediately happy. "If we adopt the tactics of four aircraft formation and attack in turn, even if there are not many planes involved in the bombing, it can also cause trouble to the Germans."

After I finished the phone call, I turned around and saw sokolovsky. He laughed at me and then explained, "Comrade oshanina, I'm going to call general pokhov of the 13th army and pass on the Marshal's order."

"Please." After I reached out and made a gesture of invitation, I turned and walked back to Zhukov's position to hear if he had any orders for me.

Zhukov nodded slightly, then said to me with a smile, "Rita, I just heard your order to krasovsky. Well, that's good. I think you're more and more like a senior commander. I think as long as you stay here for another half a year or so, you can be on your own. "

After listening to Zhukov's praise, we talked about the current problems faced by the front army for a while. Then we saw that sokolovsky came quickly. He approached Zhukov and said in a low voice, "Comrade Zhukov, I received a call and the Polish people's army sent someone to come..." when he said this, he suddenly lowered his voice, I couldn't hear what he was saying.

"That's great. Let's go and meet their representatives now." Zhukov got up and walked around the table towards the door.

Although I didn't understand what sokolovsky said, I also guessed that it must have something to do with the Polish people's army. Seeing that both of them walked towards the door quickly, I quickly followed them to see what the representatives were like.

But as soon as he got to the door, Zhukov stopped, turned to me and said, "Rita, I can go with the chief of staff. There can't be none in the headquarters. You can stay here to deal with some unexpected work."

Looking at their back, I can't help feeling a little sour. As the deputy commander of the front army, I didn't even have the qualification to meet the representatives of the Polish people's army. It really hurt my self-esteem.

It was strange that they had been away for an hour. They were not there, and the telephone didn't ring in the headquarters. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was nine o'clock in half an hour. I began to think: if they don't come back after nine o'clock, should I stay and wait for them? Or go back to your room and have a rest?

Just as I was faced with a difficult choice, the high-frequency telephone on Zhukov's desk rang. I know that this phone is usually used to contact Moscow or other units at the same level, so I dare not take it lightly. I quickly grabbed the phone and politely said to the microphone, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the front army. Where are you?"

But after I finished, there was no sound in the receiver. I thought there was something wrong with the line, so I quickly raised my voice: "Hello, Hello, Hello, where are you? Speak quickly!"

"Comrade oshanina?" A strange voice came out of the receiver.

"Yes, I'm o'shanina." I tried to remember the voice I heard, trying to connect it with the senior commander I knew. Unfortunately, I don't know such a person at all, so I can only say apologetically, "excuse me, can I know who I'm talking to?"

When the other party heard me speak in an official voice, he couldn't help laughing. After laughing, he showed me his identity: "Comrade oshanina, I'm general shijmenko, chief of operations of the general staff."

When I heard the other party's identity, my mind immediately began to recall the other party's resume: "Sergei matvievich, shigemenko, served as deputy director of the direction Department of the general staff combat department since August 1941, appreciated by vasilevsky, then deputy chief of staff, and served as director since June 1942. As a representative of the supreme command, he was once sent to the Caucasus, during which he formed close comrades in arms with belia and Antonov. He was the first deputy director of the combat Department of the general staff since April 1943, and was officially promoted to minister in May.

In the early days of the patriotic war, the post of War Minister of the general staff was a hot potato. Several ministers were successively replaced, but the general staff could not find a suitable person. Most of these troops were dismissed after reporting to Stalin only a few times, which caused chaos in the war department.

At the critical moment of the transformation of the war situation, shijmenko is facing a more severe test. However, with his high theoretical level, excellent organization and coordination ability, clear mind, firm and steady character and outstanding military talent, he soon won Stalin's trust. "

After briefly recalling shijmenko's resume, I politely asked, "Comrade combat minister, Marshal Zhukov is not here. If you have anything important, please tell me the same. When the marshal comes back, I will convey it to him. "

"Comrade oshanina, I say the same to you." Shijmenko said in a friendly tone: "because the first front army of Ukraine, under the command of Marshal Zhukov, successfully arrived at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains; In mid February, under the command of Marshal konev, the Ukrainian second front army, with the cooperation of the Ukrainian first front army, arranged a "battle of little Stalingrad" like ending for the enemy in the Korsun shevchenkovsky region, then pushed forward to the Dniester River, and crossed the Dniester River in the front with a width of 175 km, Occupied the railway hub - beliqi city. Then, marshal konev's troops continued to attack. Just two hours ago, they successfully advanced to the border with the Prut River on the 85 km wide front. "

I am now the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine, so all my energy is focused on my one mu and three cents, and I don't know much about konev. At the moment, when I heard what szemenko said, I still felt as if I was dreaming. After a long hesitation, I tentatively asked, "Comrade minister, if I don't understand correctly, marshal konev's troops have successfully reached the border of Romania, right?"“ Yes, it is "This is the first time since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War that our troops have stood on their own borders," shjemenko said excitedly Our army has arrived at the border line, which is really exciting news. However, what puzzles me is that the troops arriving at the border line are under the command of konev. What does he mean by calling us? Just when I was puzzled, I heard him continue to say: "after I got the news, I immediately reported to the Supreme Commander himself. The Supreme Commander himself was very happy to hear the news and ordered to fire a first-class salute for konev's troops: 324 salutes for 24 volleys. My deputy gretzkov and I have just drafted this order, and the firing of the salute will take place at nine o'clock. I know that although Marshal Zhukov temporarily commands the first front army of Ukraine, as the representative of the base camp, both the first and second front army are under his jurisdiction. Therefore, I will definitely inform him of such an important matter. "“ So it is. " After I found out the reason why szemenko called, I politely said to him, "Comrade minister, I believe Marshal will be very happy when he learns of this news. On behalf of the marshal and all the commanders and fighters of the first front army of Ukraine, I would like to thank you. Thank you for bringing us such good news! "