Chapter 1563

When konev put down the phone, he was relieved. As for his reaction, I understand very well that it takes at least one or two days to capture the German occupied cities according to the Convention. When Stalin received the report at noon, he immediately asked us to seize the city before dark, which was a bit difficult.

But fortunately, we were lucky. The German army that held on to hewum was on the verge of collapse, so katukov's troops could easily occupy the city.

Before konev could report the good news to Stalin, the phone call from Moscow came in. The caller was Molotov, member of the people's Committee of foreign affairs. After hearing that the person who answered the phone was konev, he didn't even have any basic greetings, so he went straight to the subject and asked, "Comrade konev, the supreme commander asked me to ask you, what can I do to win haiwum?"

Without waiting for konev's reply, he said, "seizing haium is of great military and political significance as well."

As for the political significance, before Molotov could tell us what he was, konev rushed to say, "Comrade foreign people's commissar, I have good news to tell you that our troops have successfully occupied haiwum."

"What, haium has been liberated?" On hearing this news, Molotov was obviously a little surprised. He was silent for a long time before he asked in a dubious way, "Comrade konev, are you telling the truth?"

"Yes, not too long ago, the vanguard of katukov had rushed into haium." After these words, konev stopped for a moment, then added: "later, I will send the detailed war report to Comrade Stalin."

"I see." When Molotov finished, he hung up.

Seeing that Molotov had hung up, konev just gave a faint smile, then called sokolovsky over and told him, "chief of staff, I have two things for you to do immediately."

Seeing that sokolovsky took out his notebook to prepare for the record, he continued: "first, report a complete war report to the headquarters of the general staff about general katukov's capture of haium; Second, give general katukov an order to investigate the city all night, and make sure to eliminate the remnants of the enemy before dawn tomorrow. "

The first one can understand konev's two orders. After all, no matter who comes to the commander, he will give such orders, so that the supreme commander can know his achievements in time. But the second order is a bit intriguing. Standing in the same place, sokolovsky said with some embarrassment: "although haium is a small city, it may be very difficult to wipe out the remnants of the German army overnight."

"Comrade chief of staff, don't you understand the importance of haium up to now?" Seeing that sokolovsky did not understand his own painstakingness, konev explained bitterly: "Stalin and Molotov are very concerned about this city, proving that this is not only an ordinary city, but a symbol. Do you understand, a symbol?"

"Oh, I see." Sokolovsky made a vague promise, and then carried out the order.

Looking at the figure of sokolovsky leaving, konev sat in his position with a wry smile, pulled out a cigarette from the cigarette box on the table and held it in his mouth. Just as he was looking for matches everywhere, the telephone on the desk rang. He put the earphone to his ear. After listening for a moment, he threw the cigarette in his mouth on the table, stood up from his seat and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade Stalin!"

"Comrade konev," I heard Stalin's voice coming out of the earphone, "I heard that you have successfully liberated haium. Is that true?"

"Yes, comrade Stalin, general katukov's forces have occupied haium." Konev truthfully reported that "Comrade sokolovsky, chief of staff, is preparing a detailed war report. You will see it in a moment."

"I want to know whether the railway and highway to haiwum are open at present."

Konev thought for a moment, and then said decisively: "Comrade Stalin, although the railway and highway are open at present, I don't know whether the German army will cut him off again. If anyone wants to go to haiwum, I suggest that they go by plane. After all, our army has the air supremacy in the battlefield. "

"Then hurry up and repair the airport in hewum," Stalin said slowly. "There will be our guests going to hewum tomorrow."

"I see, comrade Stalin," konev replied, "I'll inform general katukov immediately and ask them to repair the airport overnight to make sure that the plane can take off and land tomorrow."

After konev made the phone call, he held the cigarette on the table in his mouth again. After lighting it, he took a puff and put it out in the ashtray. He stood up and yelled to sokolovsky, who was busy: "chief of staff, send another telegram to katukov, ordering him to stop the attack temporarily and deploy all the troops near hewum, We have dealt with a possible German counterattack. "

…………

Early the next morning, Antonov, deputy chief of general staff, called konev to ask whether the airport was in good condition and whether there were enough defense forces near the city. After receiving a positive reply, he announced to konev: "Comrade marshal, at eight o'clock this morning, a plane full of Polish comrades took off from Moscow. Their destination is haium. I hope that after they enter Ukraine, you can send fighters to escort them. Remember, this is an important political task. "

"Don't worry, comrade Antonov." After Antonov finished speaking, konev immediately said, "I will send a fighter brigade to escort them."

Konev did what he said. As soon as he finished the call, he called krasovsky, commander of the second group army of the air force, and ordered him to prepare a fighter brigade and be ready to serve as an escort at any time.

But after krasovsky heard this, he said bitterly: "marshal, in order to protect Lvov, the German army took off a large number of fighters from the rear to compete with us for air supremacy. If we send a fighter team to escort, then the bombers carrying out the bombing mission will not have enough fighters to cover."

"Come on, general krasovsky." After the other party finished complaining, konev said with disapproval, "don't I understand your strength? Not to mention a fighter group, even if two or three groups attack, it will not affect your fight for air supremacy with the Germans in the Lviv region. Well, stop it. It's an order. You have to execute it unconditionally. "

As soon as the phone call was over, general katukov called konev again and reported, "Comrade marshal, our sentinels have found many members of the Polish resistance organization in the vicinity of haium."

"Members of the resistance?" Konev frowned when he heard the report: "ask them what they are going to do?"

"Yes, they said they had received orders from their superiors to come to haiwum to attend the meeting."

"Since they are here to attend the meeting, let them enter your defense area." For the sake of safety, konev specially stressed: "general katukov, for the sake of safety first, when these people enter hewum, they must be disarmed, and when they leave, they will return their weapons to them. Do you understand? "

"I see, comrade marshal." Katukov assured konev: "I will ensure the security of haium area."

…………

In the evening, we learned about the contents of the meeting held in haium through Moscow. The Polish people's Congress held an important meeting in this liberated territory and formally established the Polish provisional government, the Polish national liberation Council.

The committee called on the Polish people to fight for the liberation of Poland from the hands of the German aggressors and for the strengthening of friendship with the Soviet Union, the representative of world power. They also believe that the priority now is to build Poland's own army.

While several of us were discussing the significance of the meeting held in hewum, a communications staff officer came in quickly from the outside, handed a latest telegram received in the telegraph room to sokolovsky, and then turned to leave.

Sokolovsky only glanced at the contents of the telegram, jumped up from his seat and exclaimed, "my God, my God, is this true?"

Konev frowned at sokolovsky's gaffe. He asked slightly discontentedly, "Comrade chief of staff, what's the matter with you?"

Although he was reproached by konev, sokolovsky was still smiling. He quickly walked up to konev, put the telegram in front of him, and said excitedly: "Comrade marshal, according to the latest information we got, on July 20, that is, yesterday, there was an attempt to murder Hitler in the German headquarters. Although the motive of the murderers is not clear yet, the murder itself shows that there are many generals in Germany who are dissatisfied with Hitler. "

"What, Hitler was assassinated?" Klineukov jumped up from his seat and asked excitedly, "isn't this a rumor spread by the German army?"

"I don't think it's a rumor." Sokolovsky said firmly: "the German army is losing and retreating under our attack. If they make such rumors at this time, it is meaningless. On the contrary, it will affect their morale and morale. The Germans will not do such a thing that is not worth the loss."

If it wasn't for this sudden telegram, I would have forgotten the great historical event that Stephen Berger almost killed Hitler with a bomb. I waited for konev to finish reading the phone before I asked, "marshal, is Hitler dead?"

Konev shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "no, his life is really big. It is said that the bomb exploded at his feet, killing many senior German officers, but Hitler survived. "

When he heard that Hitler was ok, kleinukov could not help sighing and said with regret, "it's a pity that Hitler, the leader of the bandit, was not killed. It's really cheap."

"Even if he's not dead, it's great news." Konev handed the telegram back to sokolovsky and said, "tell the commanders of the group army this news to make everyone happy." Seeing that sokolovsky was going away, he added, "two bottles of champagne for dinner. We'll have a good drink for this."

After sokolovsky left, konev said to me and kleinukov, "the telegram about the assassination of Hitler is too simple. I will call Comrade Antonov immediately to ask if he knows the details."

Unfortunately, after several phone calls, Antonov's office was always busy. Konev put down the phone and said, "I can't get through the phone. I think the commanders of the front army on other fronts also got the good news. They are all calling Antonov to get the details. That's why I can't get through to him." After sending a telegram to the commanders of the following army groups, sokolovsky came back and reported to konev: "Comrade commander, just received the war report from the first front army of Belarus. With the artillery support in his dream and the active support of the Sixth Army of the air force, the left wing assault group's subordinate regiments successfully broke through the German defense. Yesterday, the regiments advanced 70 kilometers, entered the xibuge River in the front of Kuanda, occupied Brest fortress, crossed the river by force, and also entered Poland. "“ This rokosovsky is not simple. " When konev heard this, he couldn't help saying: "I thought katukov's army was the only one of our troops to enter Poland. Unexpectedly, his action was quite sharp. He also entered Poland on the same day. Chief of staff, go on, what else Sokolovsky nodded, then reported: "at present, their attack direction turns to the southwest, and they are rushing to Lublin, the great administrative center of Poland." Konev looked at the map in front of him and said thoughtfully, "haium is not far from Lublin."“ That's right, "I added after konev finished saying," it's about fifty or sixty kilometers. If general katukov's first group of guards are ordered to take action, it's estimated that they will arrive in a day and a night. "“ Rita, you have a point. If katukov moves fast, he can get into Lublin before rokosovsky's troops. " After konev finished, he stood up straight and told sokolovsky: "order katukov to immediately mobilize the mechanized army to advance towards Lublin, and seize the city before the arrival of the first front army of Belarus."