Red Moscow

Sokov's words gave Konev an idea: "Comrade Sokov, what you said is very reasonable. I have an idea now. I plan to contact the National Defense Committee to see that in the area where we are fighting now, the original establishment How many munitions warehouses. As long as these munitions warehouses are not discovered by the Germans and the materials inside are seized or destroyed, they can be used to arm our troops, thereby reducing the transportation pressure on the logistics department.”

"That's a good idea, Comrade Marshal." Sokov thought of sending people out to find the hidden arsenal, feeling somewhat like looking for a needle in a haystack. If Konev could really get a detailed distribution map from the National Defense Commission, look for Get twice the result with half the effort. "With enough ammunition, we can ensure the continuity of our army's offensive."

"That's right." Konev also agrees with Sokov's statement. After all, no matter how much it is supplemented, the ammunition possessed by the troops cannot be unlimited. After a battle, a new round of attack on the German army must be waited until the logistics are completed. Sometimes it is just waiting, and many opportunities are wasted in vain: "If our troops can find more arsenals, I think we can maintain an offensive posture until May."

Just when Sokov was about to put down the phone, Konev suddenly heard another sentence: "Comrade Sokov, there is one more thing, I want to hear your opinion."

Hearing that Konev said that he wanted to hear his advice, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, thinking that what could he do to advise Konev? However, out of politeness, he still said respectfully: "Comrade Marshal, please tell me, I'll see if I can give you some useful ideas."

"This is the situation, Comrade Sokov." Konev said carefully: "I received a call from the Supreme Commander himself, saying that he intends to gather all the transport aircraft of our army and carry out a large-scale attack in the enemy's rear. Airborne operations."

"What, an airborne operation?" Sokov was shocked by this unexpected news. He never dreamed that Stalin would come up with such a battle plan on a whim. He tentatively asked: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask Comrade Stalin where is he going to let our paratroopers parachute?"

"In the Lublin area of ​​Poland." Konev explained: "According to the Supreme Commander's own thinking, once our army implements an airborne landing in this area, occupies the city and builds a defense line, it will be able to cut off the retreat of the German army in Ukraine."

Konev's words brought a term to Sokov's mind: "Operation Market Garden".

This is a special form of offensive launched by the Allied forces after the successful Normandy landing. Its main purpose was to seize a series of bridges on the main rivers in the Netherlands that were still controlled by the Germans by means of the largest airborne force surprise attack in history, combined with the rapid movement of ground armored forces. The strategic goal is to allow the Allied forces to cross the Rhine River, the last natural barrier on the German border, after gaining control of these bridges, and end World War II in a short period of time while the German army is still standing still. .

The operation was initially considered a success, and the Allied forces captured the Waal Bridge in Nijmegen on 20 September, but ultimately failed because the last bridge in Arnhem could not be fully occupied by infantry reinforcements . Although the 1st Airborne Division of the British Army held on for longer than originally expected, until March 1945, the Rhine was still an insurmountable barrier between the Allied forces and the German mainland. The bridge on which countless Allied and German troops sacrificed their lives was destroyed by a squadron of B-26 bombers to prevent the German counterattack.

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov did not ask Konev how many transport planes the Soviet Air Force had. You must know that this kind of data is absolutely confidential, let alone yourself, I am afraid that even people at Konev's level are not qualified to know. So he changed the way of asking: "I don't know how many troops the superior plans to send to participate in this attack?"

"As far as I know, it is probably an airborne brigade with a total number of about 3,000 people." Konev replied, "However, due to the limited load of the aircraft, they cannot carry heavy weapons."

When Sokov heard this, his head suddenly became dizzy, and he thought that this must be the decision made by Stalin. He dropped three thousand paratroopers into the enemy's heavily guarded rear, and asked them to take the city and cut off the Ukrainian territory. The retreat of the German army, isn't this letting them die?

But there are some things that he can understand in his heart, but he can't say them casually. If you rashly say that after the airborne troops landed in Lublin, no matter how unable to cut off the retreat of the German army in Ukraine, they will be eaten up by the German army. Better yet, they will be criticized by their superiors as nonsense; if it is serious, Some people will directly say that this is obviously a defeatist argument. At that time, I will be on fire.

In order to prevent similar tragedies from happening to him, Sokov asked cautiously: "Comrade Marshal, have you ever thought that a paratrooper unit not equipped with heavy weapons landed behind the heavily defended German army? Can you take the city from the enemy and build a defense line to cut off the enemy's retreat?"

Konev thought for a while, and then replied: "I don't think they can stop the attack of the German armored forces at all."

"That's right." Seeing that Konev's thoughts were consistent with his own, Sokov nodded and said, "That is to say, if the airborne brigade is parachuted to Lublin behind the enemy, it is tantamount to letting them die."

"Comrade Sokov, what you said is very reasonable." Konev is also a smart man. From Sokov's simple words, he realized the seriousness of the problem. He said solemnly: "I will put What you mean, feedback to the Supreme Commander himself, hoping he can change his mind and cancel this unrealistic plan.”

"No, Comrade Marshal, please don't come forward." Sokov knew that Konev was in Stalin's heart, and he had only re-established a good relationship with him. So he kindly persuaded him: "I think it's more appropriate to ask someone else to come forward for this kind of thing."

"Ask someone else to come forward?" Konev asked a little puzzled: "Then tell me, who is more appropriate to come forward?"

Sokov carefully recalled it in his mind for a while, and vaguely remembered that in Shtemenko's memoirs, he had seen about Stalin's plan to send airborne troops to Lublin, and he said cautiously: "I think it is possible for Marshal Zhukov and General Stemenko of the General Staff came forward to persuade the Supreme Commander himself to abandon this unrealistic plan of operations."

After listening to the two names proposed by Sokov, Konev thought about it carefully. Although Zhukov is now the headquarters of the Ukrainian First Front Army, he still holds the title of deputy commander-in-chief. It is more convincing for him to come forward in this matter. As for General Shtemenko, the deputy chief of the general staff, who is also the Minister of Operations, the two of them went to see Stalin at the same time, and they were indeed sure to persuade the other party to cancel this unrealistic combat plan.

"Comrade Sokov, what you said is very reasonable." Konev nodded and said, "I will get in touch with Zhukov and Stemenko to see how we can persuade the Supreme Commander himself to change his mind. Cancel this unrealistic battle plan."

When Sokov put down the phone, Trofimenko asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what combat operations are you discussing with Comrade Marshal?"

Sokov looked around, besides Trofimenko, there were also Sameko and Smirnov, he waved to everyone and said, "Come here, I'll tell you what's going on Something happened."

When the three of them gathered around the table and stared at the map on the table, Sokov began to tell them about Stalin's unrealistic plan: "...our army will use all transport planes to parachute an airborne brigade to the In the Lublin area, let them seize the time to build a defensive position after occupying the city, so as to cut off the retreat of the German army in Ukraine."

"This plan is too unrealistic." After listening to Sameko, he immediately shook his head and said, "If this is really done, it is tantamount to letting the commanders and fighters of this airborne brigade go to death..." As soon as he said this, Sameko suddenly His whole body was shocked, and then he stopped talking.

Seeing that Sameko stopped talking, Trofimenko urged curiously: "Say it, Comrade Chief of Staff, why don't you say it?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sameko said with an embarrassed smile, "I am too reckless. This is an order issued by Comrade Stalin himself. How can we discuss it? Naturally, we must obey unconditionally."

Seeing what Sameko said was impeccable, Trofimenko didn't ask any more questions, but turned to look at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Commander, do you think our airborne brigade can finish the job after it airborne in the Lublin area?" Is it the task assigned to them by the superior?"

"It can't be done." Shaking his head, Sokov replied in an affirmative tone: "No matter how elite troops are, if they are air-dropped into this area, they will definitely be attacked by German troops from all directions. They don't have any heavy weapons. Under the strong attack of the German army, it is a problem to be able to persist for a few days, let alone cut off the actions of the German army in Ukraine."

"Is it really impossible to defend, Comrade Commander?" Unexpectedly, after listening to Trofimenko, he continued to ask: "However, I think people can stimulate their great potential when they are in danger. Maybe our airborne troops Commanders and fighters can create such miracles."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov said to Trofimenko when he saw that he was a little bit arguing with himself today, "I will ask you to pick out the most elite division in the entire combat group, and then deploy you in the Lvov, let's see how long you can last under the siege of the enemy from all sides?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Trofimenko immediately turned his attention to this city on the western border of Ukraine, thinking in his heart, if he really led a division to occupy this city, would he be able to withstand the German troops from all directions? Attack and complete the mission to cut off the German retreat while holding the city.

After deducing it countless times in his mind, Trofimenko found that no matter how he defended, let alone the German attack from all sides, he could not even block the attack from one direction, let alone cut off the retreat of the German army in Ukraine.

Trofimenko stood up straight, shook his head at Sokov, and said with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, I have tried many times, not to mention that the enemies come from all directions, even if there is only one direction to attack, I can't stop them. As for cutting off the retreat of the German army in Ukraine, it is even more impossible."

"I don't know who instilled this idea in the Supreme Commander himself," Sokov knew very well in his heart. The Soviet generals were very unfamiliar with the tactics of airborne combat. It was impossible for anyone to make such a suggestion to Stalin. The only explanation was that The Allied forces' "Operation Market Garden" had begun to be deployed, and Stalin was notified, which gave him the same idea. However, in front of outsiders, he still had to pretend to be ignorant: "Once this airborne plan is implemented, the airborne brigade participating in the battle will definitely not escape the fate of the entire army being wiped out, and such a defeat will also affect our army. It took a huge blow to morale."

"That's right, that's right," Sameko, as a chief of staff, naturally understood what would happen if a single army penetrated deep into the enemy's rear and was besieged by the enemy's superior forces, so he nodded and said: "Take a Putting lightly armed troops in the middle of the enemy is tantamount to letting them die, and I think this unrealistic battle plan should be cancelled.”

The reason why Sameko said this was entirely because of the fact that the 18th Guards Army had two Guards Airborne Divisions, and they were the ones with extremely strong combat effectiveness. If the superior really wanted to implement this risky airborne plan, he might have to draw troops from these two airborne divisions. He couldn't bear to watch his subordinates go down to die.

Sokov knew very well that the discussion here today would definitely reach Stalin's ears through some channels. In order to avoid causing unnecessary trouble, he said: "comrades commanders, in fact, the implementation of airborne operations is not No, but choose the right time."

Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, Sokov continued: "Let me make an analogy. Let's say our army has entered Poland and is advancing towards Warsaw. When our army is still a distance away from this city At 200 kilometers, in order to prevent the German army from blowing up the bridges on the Vistula River, we can implement an airborne operation and drop some airborne troops near the Vistula River, so that they can quickly attack the enemy while the enemy has not recovered. Capture the bridge and defend it, and when our main force arrives, we will be able to cross the river and enter the city of Warsaw smoothly."

"Comrade Commander," Trofimenko shook his head and said, "It's a pity that Warsaw is too far away from us, about the same distance as we are from Bucharest."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, don't be pessimistic." Sokov smiled and said to Trofimenko: "Although we still have more than 1,000 kilometers to Warsaw, we may arrive at the city of Warsaw by the end of the year." , and started a fierce battle with the German army in the city."

"Can we reach Warsaw by the end of the year?" If someone else said this, Trofimenko would definitely sneer, but it was Sukov who said it, and Trofimenko had to pay attention: "You really Do you think our army will be able to reach Warsaw by the end of this year?"

"If our army maintains an offensive posture on the battlefield, I believe that by the end of the year, we will not rule out the possibility that we have already reached the outside of Warsaw." When Sokov said this, he saw Trofimenko's suspicious expression. , did not argue with him, but casually said: "comrades commanders, keep working hard. I believe that by the end of the year, the Germans have been driven out of the country by us, and our army is marching towards Berlin. We will definitely be able to win the final victory."