Chapter 1679

After learning the news of the liberation of Rhodes, the first thing I did was to send a message to Zhukov and report the good news of the liberation of Rhodes to him. Knowing that Zhukov's telegram couldn't come for a while, I followed him to the entrance ceremony.

The car we were in drove into the city, close to the infantry dragon who entered Rhodes at a rapid marching speed. As soon as I entered the city, I saw a crowd of welcome standing on both sides of the street. People's faces were full of joy, cheering at the troops passing in front of them. On the roofs, balconies and windows on both sides of the street, the national flags of the Soviet Union and Poland are flying everywhere.

Seeing this scene, trikov said with emotion: "Rita, for the first time since our troops entered Poland, I saw the Polish people spontaneously organize and stand on both sides of the street to welcome us."

Trikov's words surprised me. After all, our army has been in Poland for half a year, and many cities have been captured. How can it be that there is no mass organization to welcome our troops into the city? With this question, I asked curiously, "general trakov, when you liberated Lublin, were you not welcomed by the masses?"

"No," Pronin replied decisively, "when our army entered Lublin, the Polish people showed indifference to us as if we were not their liberators but new aggressors. Even if our commanders and fighters take the initiative to help them, these people keep a high degree of vigilance against us. "

"It's all the good work of the Ukrainian nationalists," trakov said angrily. "They slaughtered nearly 100000 poles in eastern Poland by bloody means in 43 to 45 years, which made the two peoples form an irreconcilable hatred."

I haven't heard of what trakov said before. I wanted to ask more details, but I heard that trakov ordered the driver to stop. As soon as the car stopped, trakov opened the door, got out of the car and walked towards a group of people at the entrance of the square. I quickly opened the door, got off the other side and followed.

At the entrance of the square stood a group of young people in festival costumes, including beautiful girls and handsome young men. They crowded together and looked at the troops passing by with a smile. In front of them stood an old man with white hair and beard.

Seeing trikov walking towards them with a smile on his face, the old man quickly welcomed them, followed by two young girls holding plates. As soon as I look at this posture, I know that the old man is one of those people with high prestige who welcome us on behalf of the whole city. Next, they should send round bread and salt to trikov.

When I came to trekov, I saw the old man take the bread and salt from the girl's hand, holding them in both hands, bowing to trekov's hand respectfully. Trikov took the bread and salt in the old man's hand, turned and gave it to a staff officer behind him. Then he held the old man's hand tightly and began to chat.

The old man excitedly said to trikov, "general, we've been looking forward to you for so many years, and finally we're looking forward to you."

Trakov politely replied, "you have suffered, old man. We beat away the Germans, and you can live a happy life again. "

The old man pointed to the square behind him and said to trikov, "general, since the German occupation of the city, they have carried out transformation according to their style. For example, this square used to be called" Freedom Square ", but the German changed it into" Germanic square ". In this way, they tried to tell us that Poland no longer exists, that it will be German land, and that they are the owners of this land.

On the streets with German street names, the signs of all the shops are written in German. They even write in front of the cafes and restaurants: "only Germans are welcome, poles and dogs are not allowed in.".

In addition, in the last half month, due to the shortage of materials, they no longer rationed grain to us in an attempt to starve them to death. If you hadn't driven them away, their plot might have succeeded. "

After the old man nagged, a girl carrying the tray behind him said, "they are very cruel to us. Not long ago, a young man passed by. When he saw the body of a German soldier killed by the guerrillas on the street, he couldn't help laughing. I didn't expect to be seen by a German officer. He pulled out his pistol and killed him

"Yes, yes, a neighbor of mine was killed on the spot because he didn't point the way to the German correctly." Another girl added: "another person I knew was arrested in the Gestapo prison for saying the forbidden word" Russia "when talking to others in the street, and his life and death are still unknown."

Seeing that his compatriots and a Soviet general were having a cordial conversation, those onlookers who had stood far away gradually gathered around. After hearing the two girls' complaints against the German devils, they also expressed their views one after another.

A mechanic said to us in skillful Russian: "Mr. general, we all know that only you can save us from the evil claws of the Communist Party and the innocent from the torture room of the Communist Party. We all know that there is a terrible concentration camp outside the city of Rhodes, which is divided into several districts, surrounded by barbed wire, and no one who is locked up there is alive. "

It is said that there is a concentration camp outside the city of Rhodes. The first thing I think of is Auschwitz. After all, it is the name of the concentration camp that I have heard the most in later generations. I asked Pronin in a low voice: "Comrade military commissar, how far is Auschwitz from here?"

"To the south of Rhodes, near Krakow, Poland's third largest city, hundreds of kilometers from here, is the area of the first front army of Ukraine." After introducing the situation to me, Pronin asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what do you want to do with this?"

"Nothing, just ask." When I learned that the famous Auschwitz concentration camp was not near the city of Rhodes, I immediately lost interest. Instead of worrying about a place I could not manage, I would better consider the next action plan of the army.

"... we're finally looking forward to you," the mechanic said excitedly. "The bandits ran away with their tails in a mess. They even didn't have time to take the property they robbed, so they ran away in a hurry."

After meeting the enthusiastic Polish people in the street, we went to the headquarters in the municipal building to continue to study the next direction of the army.

The chief of intelligence, Colonel gradky, hurried out of the communication room, handed a telegram in his hand to trikov, and reported in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the incoming call from the front army."

Trikov took the telegram from the other side with a puzzled face. After browsing the above content, he was immediately happy. He raised the telegram over his head, shook it a few times, and said to us, "comrades commander, this is the telegram that Marshal Zhukov just sent us. He said that the Supreme Commander himself was very happy to learn that we had successfully captured the city of Rhodes, so he temporarily decided to salute in red square this evening to celebrate our victory

"Is it all true?" Pronin, hearing what trakov said, quickly took the telegram from him, looked at it carefully twice, and then said with tears in his eyes: "Comrade commander, if I remember correctly, since our army entered Poland, it seems that the supreme command has not captured any city for us, but fired a salute in red square to celebrate, Even the 47th group army and the first polish group army won Warsaw, they did not enjoy this honor. "

"Yes, comrade military commissar," trekov nodded his head and said with approval, "we must always remember this day. This is the greatest honor our 8th group army of guards has won since it entered Poland."

I took the telegram from Pronin's hand and read it carefully. I found that Zhukov only mentioned that he was going to salute in red square this evening. He didn't mention the direction of the army's next action at all. I put down the telegram, raised my head and asked Colonel gradky, who was standing nearby, "Comrade Colonel, can you speak directly to the headquarters of the front army?"

After listening to my question, trikov and Pronin, who were very happy and could not help themselves, calmed down and focused on gladsky, listening to how he was going to answer me.

Colonel gradky shook his head and replied, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, although our signalmen are laying telephone lines, they have to wait until after noon if they want to use them properly. Now we can only communicate with the headquarters of the front army by telegraph. "

Trikov asked me curiously, "Rita, I see you are in a hurry to get in touch with the headquarters of the front army. Is there anything important?"

"There are two things. One is to ask the direction of the army's next move." I stretched out two fingers and explained to trakov, "second, after my observation, I found that in addition to killing prisoners, there were even officers and soldiers who violated military discipline and robbed local Polish people. It won't be long before our troops will enter the German mainland. I'm worried that the commanders and fighters who have deep blood feuds with the Germans will launch crazy revenge on the Germans. If we don't take preventive measures in advance, there may be a situation of lax military discipline at that time. "

"Comrade deputy commander of the front army, you are very considerate." As soon as I had finished, Pronin echoed, "what you said does exist in our troops. Two days ago, when I went to the grass-roots units for inspection, I saw a second lieutenant take several prisoners out of their rooms, and then shoot them one by one in the snow. "

"What, is that the case?" When trikov heard this, he couldn't help but ask Pronin: "Comrade military commissar, why didn't you report to me in time?"

"We have been fighting with the Germans for so many years, and the Germans have committed countless heinous crimes in our territory," Pronin said helplessly. "Now the war situation is developing in favor of our army. Many commanders and fighters feel that the opportunity to revenge is coming, so they can't help but be cruel to the prisoners of war."

After listening to what Pronin said, trikov immediately declared his position to me: "Rita, I agree with you. I should report the actual situation of the army to Marshal Zhukov and formulate relevant regulations to avoid excessive retaliation and violation of military discipline."

At noon, the phone with Lublin was finally connected. Because of the long distance and the problem of the line, the bell rang very loud, but the voice was so light that I had to shout at the top of my voice when talking with Zhukov: "Hello, marshal, I'm oshanina. I have something important to report to you!"

"I know you've captured Rhodes," Zhukov said calmly. "The next task I've arranged for you is to rush to the Oder River and set up a landing site on the other side. As for Poznan encountered on the road, it was handed over to the 1st group army of katukov's close guard tanks and the 69th group army of kolpakchi to complete. Be sure to take Poznan before the 10th of this month. " When I heard Zhukov's command, I looked down at the enemy situation map on the table and found that the vanguard of the 69th group army was more than 150 kilometers away from Poznan. I said to Zhukov in a hurry: "marshal, the 69th group army is slow. It's too far away from Poznan at present. I think we should let them take the task of seizing the fortress, It's a bit unrealistic. "“ What do you think about that? " Zhukov asked noncommittally“ I suggest that the task of seizing Poznan be completed by general trakov's close guard 8th Army. " I looked at trakov from the corner of my eye and continued, "according to my observation these days, their attack was very effective. According to the campaign plan, the 8th group army of the guards should go out to Rhodes 10 to 12 days before the launch of the campaign. It took them and the shock 5th army only six days to reach the area and successfully capture the city. The original plan is to advance 10-12 kilometers every day and night, while they have advanced more than 25-30 kilometers every day. " Zhukov was silent for a long time. At last, he said, "well, Rita, since you think trakov's close guard 8th Army is the best candidate to capture Poznan fortress city, I will give them this glorious task, hoping that they can liberate this important city within the specified time." After my phone call, trakov immediately issued an order to march through his chief of staff to the troops: "the troops of the group army immediately stopped recuperation, advanced to Poznan by alternate cover, and besieged the German troops who stayed in the city."