Chapter 1692

Trakov's troops had a night's rest in Poznan, and the next morning they began to march towards the Oder River.

The armored car that trekov and I were in was moving in the middle of the marching army. In front of the driving is a radio car, the sound from the horn constantly floated into our car“ Comrades, we are about to enter Germany under Hitler's rule. We all know that Germany has brought great disaster to our motherland. We will soon set foot on their territory to punish them But first of all, we should realize that it was Hitler who initiated the war, and the ordinary German people, like our people, were the victims of the war. Any act inconsistent with the title of a Red Army soldier and any unreasonable infringement on the German people will be severely punished,... The picket team has the right to kill those who commit robbery and rape on the spot... "

After listening for a while to the orders issued by Pronin and I, trekov nodded his head and said, "Rita, it's good to write. I hope our troops can avoid the kind of atrocities in East Prussia when they enter Berlin."

After listening to what trakov said, I didn't speak. I just laughed politely. I thought to myself: in real history, the Soviet general issued similar orders, but the effect was very limited. In addition to Berlin, other cities occupied by the Soviet army, there were burning, killing and looting in varying degrees.

Chief of staff Vladimirov said with a smile: "Comrade commander, our troops are only 70 kilometers away from Berlin. As long as we launch a strong attack on the German army, our troops can rush into Berlin."

As for the current situation, trakov was obviously not as optimistic as his chief of staff. He shook his head and said, "Comrade chief of staff, the situation is not as simple as you think. Although we have successfully liberated Poznan, there are German fortresses in our rear areas, such as snydemuher, arnsworld, blaislaw, grogo and Thorne, We must set aside enough troops to destroy these enemies. "

"General trakov is right," I said immediately after trakov finished, "if we don't clear the German fortresses in these defense areas, then we must leave enough troops to deal with these enemies. In this way, our power to attack Berlin will be greatly weakened.

The offensive campaign launched by our army took advantage of the favorable opportunity for the German forces to concentrate on the western front and carry out counter assault on the Allied forces. Within three weeks, our troops advanced 500 kilometers on a 500 kilometer wide front. Hitler was terrified by the fighting power shown by our army. He hastily withdrew his troops from Arden to strengthen the defense in the direction of Berlin. "

"Hitler withdrew his troops from Arden at this time," Vladimirov asked with a frown. "Don't you worry that the allies will take the opportunity to launch a counterattack against them?"

"The Allied forces have just suffered a heavy blow from the German forces. Even if they counterattack, it would be very good if they could restore the situation before the campaign." I explained to Vladimirov: "it will take time for them to regroup if they are to continue their advance to Berlin. What's more, they are more than 600 kilometers away from Berlin, while we are only 70 kilometers away. If you were Hitler, where would you focus your defense? "

"Needless to say, it is placed to the east of Berlin to block our attack." After Vladimirov said these words without thinking, he tentatively asked me, "if the Germans have transferred their troops to the East, will they not care about the west?"

I was thinking about whether I should tell them that someone at the top of the German army was trying to make peace with the allies in private, but I heard trakov Snort and say, "I think that after the Germans suffer losses from the allies, they may open the way to Berlin to the Germans and concentrate on us."

Trakov's words made Vladimirov even more puzzled: "if the Allies arrived in Berlin, the Germans could not escape the fate of destruction. Were they so stupid?"

"It's not a question of whether they are stupid or not, but what kind of foreign policy they adopt." As a political worker, Pronin is particularly sensitive to such political affairs. After listening to what trakov said, he immediately expressed his own views: "for them, the Soviet is a monster, while British and American capitalism is their potential ally. Therefore, they will certainly fight against our attack, and intend to open the way to Berlin for the allies. "

After listening to the conversation between trikov and Pronin, I couldn't help looking surprised. The reason why I know that the Germans will open the way to Berlin to the allies is that what is going to happen is a known history for me, and the two of them can roughly judge the measures that the Germans may take by relying on some clues. It seems that I really underestimate their ability.

After five or six hours on the road, we finally arrived at katukov's headquarters. When he saw us coming, he was overjoyed. He quickly shook hands with trikov and said happily, "Comrade trikov, I'm looking forward to you. With your support, our tanks can move forward again. "

When shaking hands with me, he whispered to me, "Rita, Marshal Zhukov called here to see you. If you have time, please call him back."

I thought Zhukov wanted me to meet him at Rhodes as soon as possible. But when the phone was connected, Zhukov found out where I was, and said, "Rita, now I'll give you the command of trakov and katukov, as well as the troops of the 5th army. You'll make all the preparations immediately. As soon as I get to the Oder River, And immediately attack Berlin. " Although the current situation is very good, after more than half a month of continuous fighting, the commanders and fighters are exhausted. If we continue to attack, the combat effectiveness of our army will be greatly reduced. Thinking of this, I asked carefully, "Comrade marshal, can I raise an objection?"“ Objection? " When Zhukov heard me say this, he said with some displeasure, "what's the objection?"“ According to what I know, the left wing marshal konev's troops are tenaciously defended by the German army in the south, while the right wing's situation is not very good. Marshal rokosovsky's troops are 150 kilometers away from us. " I solemnly said to Zhukov, "our position of the front army is too prominent. Once the main force of the German army detours back to our two wings, we are in danger of being surrounded by the German army. I think we'd better stop for a while, and then continue to advance to Berlin when the superior's supplementary troops and various military supplies arrive. "“ No, "Zhukov denied my suggestion without hesitation." time is precious to both the enemy and us. If we don't take advantage of the fact that the German army hasn't recovered, and continue to attack them, once they have built a deep defense system, we will pay huge casualties to attack again. I'll visit the Oder River tomorrow. Before that, you should be ready for all attacks. Do you understand? " Seeing that Zhukov was so tough, I had no choice but to reply, "I see, comrade marshal." When I put down the phone, katukov immediately asked, "Rita, what did the marshal say?"“ The marshal ordered us to be ready to attack and ready to attack Berlin. " Some people are happy and others are worried when they hear what I say. The people who were happy were the lower level staff officers and so on. But after listening to katukov and trakov, they could not help frowning“ Comrade katukov, how do you think about it? " Trekov asked, looking at katukov. Katukov heard this and said with a bitter smile, "general trakov, you should understand that our troops have advanced 500 kilometers in three weeks. Most of the tanks need to be repaired before they can fight. How can the infantry without the support of tanks, if they want to break through the layers of German defense, even if they pay a huge sacrifice, they will not be able to succeed. "“ What about that? " "Marshal Zhukov is a stubborn man, and what he decides is something that no one can change," he said with some embarrassment I also feel helpless about this kind of difference with Zhukov. I can't give Stalin a small report, saying that the time for attacking Berlin is not ripe, so we should turn to defense on the spot, and then attack Berlin after we have replenished enough troops and materials, right? Seeing that everyone turned their eyes on me, I could only perfunctorily say, "general trakov, go and set up your headquarters first. We will discuss this matter later in the evening." In the evening, at katukov's headquarters, I convened a temporary military meeting among katukov, trakov and berzalin. After I conveyed Zhukov's order to you again, I said, "comrades in command, we are all very clear about the current situation of our army. Marshal Zhukov told us to prepare for the attack and plan to launch an attack on Berlin in the near future. "“ The situation is very bad, comrade deputy commander of the front army. " The first speaker was berzalin, who frowned and said: "after three weeks of fighting, our troops have been seriously reduced. Most divisions have only 50% of the soldiers left, and many of them are wounded. It is impossible to break through the German defence by attacking Berlin with such a force. " Katukov and trakov also expressed the same view. Seeing that the three commanders of the group army had the same opinion, I had a point in my heart. Since everyone thought that now was not the best time to attack, I would have a good talk with Zhukov when he came tomorrow to see if I could make him change his mind.