Red Moscow

Regarding Sokov's proposal, Rokossovsky hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and refused: "Misha, thank you for your kindness. I don't know when Marshal Zhukov will take over the command of the troops, so I can't Get out of here casually."

Seeing that Rokossovsky was unwilling to go to his unit, Sokov stopped persuading him, but asked tentatively: "As for your dismissal from the First Belarusian Front, what can I tell other members of the headquarters?" Bring it up?"

Rokossovsky glanced at Pornedelin and Sidolin in the parking lot again, nodded slowly, and said, "Yes. Tell them earlier, so that they have a psychological preparation, so that the troops will not be assigned suddenly. When the Second Front is commanding, they may be resistant."

After a few more chats, Sokov bid farewell to Rokossovsky, turned and went to the parking lot, where he joined Porniedelin and Sidolin.

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin looked at Rokossovsky standing in the distance, and asked curiously, "I don't know what the Marshal said to you. I think you have talked for a long time."

Sokov sighed softly, and then said to Ponejielin and Sidolin: "Some unexpected things happened, get in the car first, and I will tell you slowly on the way."

After the car drove for a certain distance, Sokov suddenly said: "Marshal Rokossovsky will soon no longer be the commander of the First Belarusian Front."

As soon as these words came out, he was immediately shocked. Even the driver who was driving couldn't help shivering, causing the body to twist. Scared, Xidolin quickly shouted at him: "Drive carefully!"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." The driver quickly sat up straight, gripped the steering wheel, stared at the front, and continued to drive intently.

"What's going on here?" Ponegerin has experienced the era of the Great Purge, and he also knows that Rokossovsky was arrested and imprisoned, and was almost shot, because he heard that Rokossovsky After Ji was dismissed as the commander of the front army, many bad associations inevitably arose: "Marshal Rokossovsky was dismissed because he made some mistakes?"

Ponegerin's words were an introduction, and before Sokov could speak, Sidolin began to make up his mind: "If there is any fault, it is that we did not take Warsaw from the Germans. But we can't blame us for that." You must know that the Krajov army who led the uprising strictly blocked the news from us. They launched an uprising on the first day of August, and did not notify us through some special channels until mid-September. Even if we wanted to help them, It's too late..."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, intelligence is not what you imagined." Seeing that the two men had misunderstood what he meant, Sokov hurriedly explained to them: "Marshal Rokossovsky was transferred to the Second Front Army as the commander. , was not dismissed for making any mistakes."

Knowing that Rokossovsky was only leveled, Pornedelin and Sidolin felt a little more at ease, but they still said in surprise: "Comrade commander, why did your superiors do so at such a critical time?" How about transferring Marshal Rokossovsky from his main post to a secondary post? You know, according to the current situation, the troops that will attack Berlin in the future will definitely be our First Front Army. The Second Front means that the honor of capturing Berlin has nothing to do with him."

In fact, there are different opinions on why Rokossovsky was suddenly transferred. But the main reason for his transfer was that because of his Polish origin, Stalin wanted to give the honor of liberating Berlin to a real Russian, and it was Zhukov who echoed this standard.

Of course, Sokov did not dare to tell Ponegerin and Sidolin casually about this kind of statement in later generations. If it spreads out and let others know, he will not be able to bear it and walk away. So he said euphemistically: "I think the reason why the Supreme Command made such a decision at this moment must have their overall consideration. Our level is not enough, so don't worry about it. No matter who we accept, the mission is still the same." It was the defeat of the German invaders."

Hearing this, Sidolin asked Sokov again: "Who does the Supreme Command plan to send to replace Marshal Rokossovsky?"

"Zhukov," Sokov replied, "the Supreme Command has decided that Marshal Zhukov will replace Marshal Rokossovsky as commander."

Knowing that the new commander who is about to take office is Zhukov, whether it is Ponejielin or Sidolin, they all breathed a sigh of relief. In their minds, the only senior commander who can be compared with Rokossovsky is Zhukov, and the new commander who is about to take office now is someone they trust, so it would be great.

"If Marshal Rokossovsky is to be transferred to the Second Front Army, will the superior assign some troops to his command?" Ponederin asked cautiously: "Should our group army stay or follow Rokossov? Marshal Ski to the new unit."

Since Ponedelin asked, Sokov did not hide anything, and said truthfully: "Comrade Deputy Commander, if there is no accident, our army group will go to the Second Front with Marshal Rokossovsky, and then take charge Operations in East Prussia."

"In addition to our army group, what other troops will be incorporated?" Ponejielin continued to ask.

Sokov remembered that in the Second Belarusian Army system that he saw in later generations, the 48th, 65th, and 70th Army Groups in the First Front Army are all on the list, so he said cautiously: "According to my estimation In addition to our army, I am afraid that General Batov's 65th Army and General Popov's 70th Army should all go to the Second Front with Marshal Rokossovsky."

Ponegelin nodded after hearing this, and said: "Comrade Commander, the three armies you mentioned are all units on the far right wing of the First Front Army, and it makes sense to place them under the command of the Second Front Army. It seems that Our next main enemy will be the Germans in East Prussia."

"Yes." Sidolin said with emotion: "After attending the meeting today, I thought we would rush directly from Poland to Berlin, but it seems that there is no chance."

"Don't worry, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov remembered that the last troops to enter Berlin were not only the Belarusian First Front Army commanded by Zhukov, but also Konev's Ukrainian First Front Army, and Rokosovs He comforted Sidolin and said: "When we occupy the East Prussian area, we will turn around and fight Berlin. I think it is completely in time. After all, whether it is from Königsberg to Berlin or from Warsaw to Berlin , are only more than 600 kilometers.”

"That's not the same." Sidolin shook his head and said, "We have to attack in the northeast direction first, take Konigsberg and then turn to Berlin. This time there are thousands of kilometers back and forth. I don't think it will be possible. reached Berlin before the troops of the 1st Front."

"Okay, don't think about it so much." Sokov waved his hand at Sidor and said, "Let's think about how to teach the Germans a lesson before leaving the existing defense zone."

After the three of them returned to the headquarters, Sidolin asked the staff officer on duty: "Did anything major happen while we were away?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." The staff officer replied respectfully: "General Onu Prienko, the commander of the 6th Guards Division, called and said that his troops occupied a small village near the defense zone."

"Oh, a small village near the defense area has been occupied." Sidolin's face suddenly brightened when he heard it: "This is good news. Did he say anything else?"

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." The staff officer shook his head: "I just said that I captured a village, and then I didn't say anything else."

"Okay, go get busy." After Sidolin sent away the staff, he frowned and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, something is wrong. Based on what I know about General Onuprienko, even if If he seizes a settlement, he will make a big publicity, why is he acting so low-key this time?"

"Perhaps because we were not at headquarters, he simply reported the results," said Pornegelin.

"I'll call and ask," Sidolin said. "I always feel like something is wrong."

Soon, Sidolin got through to the headquarters of the 6th Guards Division, and he asked straight to the point: "General Onupriyenko, I heard that you took down a village near the defense zone. Is it true?"

"It's true, Comrade Chief of Staff." Onuprienko said lightly.

"General Onuprienko, I think something is wrong with you." Sidolin asked tentatively, "Is something wrong?"

Onuprienko was silent for a while, and finally said: "The battalion commander of the first battalion of the 4th Guards Regiment died."

Hearing that a battalion commander of the 4th Guards Regiment died, although Sidolin felt a little regretful, he still said to Onu Priyenko: "General Onu Priyenko, it is normal to have casualties in battle. You don’t have to be sad about it.”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Onuprienko's voice suddenly became low: "If it wasn't for him, I'm afraid I would have confessed to being in that village."

When Sidolin heard this, he couldn't help being taken aback, and hurriedly asked: "General Onuprienko, what's going on here, tell me quickly."

Sukov vaguely heard something, and came over and asked with concern: "What's going on, what happened?"

"General Onuprienko," Sidolin said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander is by my side. Please tell us what happened today. We all want to know what happened."

"It's like this," Onuprienko began to tell his story knowing that Sokov was by Sidolin's side: "Today I received a report that the German army was retreating in a village near our defense zone. I immediately sent people to reconnaissance, and found that it was indeed the case, so I personally led the 4th Guards Regiment to attack the village.

The Germans only set up a defensive line around the village, and after being attacked by our troops, they withdrew from the battle. In this way, we successfully occupied the entire village with only slight resistance.

At that time, when Lieutenant Colonel Ma Daqiang, the head of the 4th Guards Regiment, and I were about to enter the village, we were stopped by the battalion commander. He said that the situation in the village was unknown and we could not enter without authorization. Wait outside the village. After confirming that there is no trace of the enemy in the village, it is not too late to notify us to enter the village.

After getting my permission, he led a dozen soldiers towards the village. Unexpectedly, less than a hundred meters away, there was a sudden 'boom', a puff of smoke rose from where he was, and people were also blown into the air, and many soldiers who followed were blown up by the blast turn. Since I didn't hear the sound of the shell being fired, I guessed that I might have guessed the mine.

Seeing this, Ma Daqiang quickly ordered someone to hand over the engineers, and let the engineers clear the landmines in the village first. Before the engineers arrived, the commanders and fighters who entered the village and carried a battalion commander to the entrance of the village. When I went to check, I found that he had already died. This mine killed three of us and injured five. If he hadn't prevented Lieutenant Colonel Ma Daqiang and me from entering the village, then the two of us would have died. "

After figuring out what was going on, while Sidolin felt regretful, he also felt very fortunate. If the battalion commander hadn't insisted on letting Onu Priyenko and Lieutenant Colonel Madaqiang stay at the entrance of the village, the 6th Guards Division would have died. It is possible to lose a teacher.

"General Onuprienko," Sidolin said earnestly, "comrade commander once issued an order that division commanders are not allowed to go to the front line casually, just because they are worried about any danger you will encounter. You are lucky, just now The captured villages have not even had time to wipe out the remnants of the enemy, and you want to enter the village yourself, which is simply nonsense."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I was wrong." It may be the sacrifice of his subordinates, which made Onuprienko feel very guilty. He admitted his mistake to Sidolin: "In the future, I will not disobey my superiors casually." Order, entered the battlefield without authorization."

"Well, we won't hold you accountable for your first offense this time." Sidolin said with a serious expression: "But next time if you go to the frontier to take risks at will, you will be punished."

After Sidolin put down the phone, Sokov said thoughtfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm thinking about one thing. Maybe we have fought so smoothly in recent months that many commanders and fighters have underestimated the enemy." For example, the case of General Onu Priyenko is a good illustration of the problem. A village that has just been captured, let alone a division commander, even a regiment commander, cannot immediately enter. At least After the village is completely controlled by our army, it’s not too late to go in and check.”

After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Sidolin nodded and said, "I understand, Comrade Commander. I suggest that at the right time, hold a meeting of commanders above the regiment level, and give everyone a good beating so that they don't As for the emergence of the idea of ​​​​underestimating the enemy."

"I think there may be no chance." Sokov shook his head and said: "Comrade Marshal may leave at any time, that is to say, our troops don't know when they will leave, and there is no chance to hold such a meeting. I think so Well, it's better for you to call the commanders of each division next to each other and beat them well so that they won't make similar mistakes in the future."

Hearing what Sokov said, Ponegerin suddenly thought of an important thing: "Comrade Commander, if it is really as you have analyzed, and the three right-wing armies are to be transferred to the Second Front Army, then our army Is there any change in the unit you belong to?"