Red Moscow

Yakov was about to speak, but Sokov stopped him by raising his hand: "Yasha, I think our conversation may not be finished in a while, we can't stand here all the time, we should find a place to sit Let's talk." He looked around and saw a gazebo not far away, with a relatively wide view, sitting in it, no matter which direction people come from, you can see it, it is a very suitable place to sit and chat.

Yakov knew very well that some things were not suitable to be said in the room. After all, no one knew whether there was a bug installed in the room. If he said something that should not be said, it might cause unnecessary trouble. He nodded and followed Sokov to the gazebo.

The two came to the gazebo, and after sitting opposite each other at the stone table, Yakov asked, "Misha, do you know about the Battle of Prague?"

Apart from knowing that Prague is the capital of Czechoslovakia, Sokov knew nothing about the Battle of Prague that Yakov asked, so he shook his head and replied truthfully: "Yasha, I have never heard of the Battle of Prague. Can you tell me what's going on?"

Although Sokov's military rank is much higher than Yakov's, but since he is only a commander of the group army, the situation he can come into contact with is very limited. The situation with Yakov is different. After all, he is the deputy chief of staff of the Belarusian Third Front, and he can obtain information that he cannot obtain from various channels.

"This matter has to start with the suicide of the little beard." Yakov said: "Admiral Dönitz succeeded as the head of the German Empire after the death of the little beard. He made a radio speech on the evening of May 1. The German army on the Eastern Front is required to continue fighting, even if it is attacked by the British and American allies, it must resist tenaciously.

But two days later, he dispatched the new naval commander Fredeburg to get in touch with the British Marshal Montgomery and proposed a partial surrender..."

"What is partial surrender?" Sokov couldn't help but interjected when he heard this.

"The so-called partial surrender means that the German army only surrendered to the British and American troops, but not to the Soviet army." Yakov said with a sneer: "After Montgomery asked Churchill for instructions, he agreed to Dönitz's proposal, and two days later, Accepted the surrender of German Army Group G and 19th Army."

At this moment, Sokov recalled that when he came from Montgomery, he encountered a unit that surrendered to the U.S. Army. Presumably this unit belonged to the G Army Group or the 19th Army Group. He nodded and said thoughtfully: " I had just returned from a British garrison when I encountered a German unit on the road who had been ordered to surrender to the American troops entering the British defense zone."

"In order to completely end the war, the Supreme Command decided to take Prague as soon as possible and annihilate the German Central Army Group that entered Czechoslovakia." Yakov continued: "When our army attacked Berlin, because my father came forward, the order was originally planned to rush Konev, who entered Berlin, stopped his advance, but let the Belarusian First Front Army commanded by Marshal Zhukov rush into Berlin first.

In order to make up for Marshal Konev's regret, my father decided that Marshal Konev would command the Battle of Prague. The troops participating in the battle, our army alone has the Ukrainian First, Second and Third Front Armies, a total of 20 combined armies of various arms, 3 tank armies, 3 air force armies, 1 cavalry mechanized group, and 1 independent infantry Army, 5 tank corps, 1 mechanized corps and 1 cavalry corps, with a strength of 1.77 million people, equipped with 1,775 tanks and self-propelled artillery, more than 27,000 artillery and mortars of various calibers, and 2,942 combat aircraft. The Polish 2nd Army, the Romanian 1st and 4th Army, and the Czechoslovak 1st Army, which cooperated with our army, had a total strength of about 200,000. "

Sokov never dreamed that after the German army in Berlin announced its surrender, the Soviet army would dispatch such a large-scale force to launch a full-scale attack on the German army entrenched in Czechoslovakia.

"When our army went south, the Allied forces also entered the territory of Czechoslovakia. Knowing that the troops who liberated themselves had entered the territory, the citizens of Prague took active actions. They cleared all kinds of German signs in the city and wrote anti- The slogan of Germany. Although there were tens of thousands of German troops stationed in Prague at that time, they could not stop the riots in the city because they were not unified. The German garrison commander made a speech on the radio, hoping to stop the hostile actions of the Czechoslovaks , but it has no effect.

On May 5th, there were rumors in the city that the US military had reached the west of Prague and was about to enter the city. This rumor successfully stimulated the morale of the residents in the city, and the original riot turned into an uprising. After seizing the radio station, they appealed to the citizens to act and drive the Germans out of Prague. Instigated by the propaganda on the radio, the number of insurgents in the city had reached more than 30,000 in the evening. They liberated the compatriots who were imprisoned and imprisoned the captured Germans. Barricades were even built on the streets to prepare for the German counterattack. "

When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but thump in his heart, secretly saying that this is not a replica of the Warsaw Uprising? I don't know who is the strongest compared to the Czechoslovaks and the Poles. If the two are equal, then this hastily launched uprising may fail. But what Yakov said next shocked him.

"Just when the insurgents in the city thought that there would be a fierce battle with the German army, a force marched into Prague. But instead of exchanging fire with the insurgents in the city, they also took the initiative to express their willingness to support the insurgents. people to drive away. Misha, guess who is in command of this army?"

Sokov was taken aback for a moment, but then he thought of Vlasov whom Yakov had mentioned many times today, and asked tentatively: "Yasha, could it be that the troops who entered the city of Prague and chose to cooperate with the rebel army are Russian Liberation Army commanded by Vlasov?"

Yakov gave Sokov a thumbs up: "Misha, you are so amazing, you actually guessed who I was going to talk about right away."

Sokov thought to himself that the Russian Liberation Army under the command of Vlasov is mainly composed of Soviet prisoners of war and Tsarist Russian nationals living in Europe. The total strength is about 50,000 people. With their assistance, it should be impossible to hold Prague. question. But at this moment, he took the initiative to help the Czechoslovaks because he wanted to leave a way out for himself.

Seeing that Sokov stopped talking, Yakov continued: "On the second day of the Prague Uprising, Schörner, the commander of the German Army Group Center, issued two orders to all officers and soldiers. The first is according to the new head of state Denny According to Ci's instructions, he led the troops to retreat westward, and then surrendered to the U.S. Army; the second was to send SS troops into Prague to clear out the rebels in the city and ensure the safety of the German army's westward retreat.

With the order issued, the German SS marched into Prague and started street fighting with the rebels in the city. Just when the rebel army was gradually losing the wind, Vlasov led his troops to Prague and joined the rebel army, thus reversing the situation in the city and controlling the main areas of the city. "

"I heard that Vlasov's men only have 50,000 troops," Sokov interjected, "If Scherner sends more troops into the city of Prague, I don't think Vlasov will be able to withstand it at all. "

"Misha, your news is outdated." Yakov said with a smile: "Vlasov has not only 50,000 men, but 100,000." Seeing Sokov's bewildered expression , he continued to add, "They are all the Eastern battalions that were active in our country a few years ago, because the Germans were worried that they would be rebelled by our army. After the Battle of Stalingrad, they withdrew these troops to Europe and let them Against partisans active in Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary etc. Now seeing that the Germans were about to fail, these eastern battalions defected to Vlasov one after another, allowing his troops to grow in a very short period of time. "

"Yasha, although I look down on Vlasov's character very much, I still admire his military command ability." Sokov looked at Yakov and said: "If Warsaw uprising in Poland, there is his With the support of troops, maybe we can greatly advance the time for liberating Warsaw. And after he led the troops into Prague, he will have enough strength to compete with the Germans, and I believe that Prague will not become the second Warsaw.”

"Misha, you are right." Yakov nodded, agreeing with Sokov: "As long as Vlasov's troops are in Prague, the Germans will not have more than half a year to seize the city. It is simply impossible. But our army and allied forces entering Czechoslovakia, it is impossible to give the Germans such a long time.

General Patton's troops crossed the demarcation line agreed with us before, and arrived in the western city of Pilsen in a very short time. Because the Allied Commander-in-Chief Eisenhower was worried that Patton was advancing too fast and would have a misunderstanding with our army, he ordered him to stop advancing. It was precisely because of the arrival of the US military that the Germans did not dare to concentrate their forces to attack Prague, which gave Vlasov and the rebels in the city a respite.

The rapid advance of our army to the south and the attack of the Ukrainian Second Army forced the German 17th Army and the right wing of the 4th Armored Group to retreat. The 4th Army of our army and the Polish 2nd Army were behind them chase. And the troops in the southeast of Prague also repelled the German 8th Army who stood firm here, occupied the city south of Prague, and approached the suburbs of Prague..."

When Sokov listened to Yakov's narration, he couldn't help feeling secretly in his heart that the army was defeated like a mountain. The Central Army Group can be regarded as the elite of the German army. Unexpectedly, it collapsed in just a few days and could not even keep Prague. 860,000 people were also captured, including sixty generals. Such a record is probably only comparable to the Kiev campaign in which the German army annihilated the Southwest Front Army at the beginning of the war.

"What about Vlasov?" Sokov knew very well in his heart that Yakov told himself the details of the Battle of Prague. The main purpose was still related to Vlasov, so he asked tentatively: "He died in battle, Or was he captured alive?"

"On his way to escape to the U.S. defense zone in an armored vehicle, he was stopped by soldiers from our 25th Tank Corps and taken prisoner."

"It's a pity, it's a pity." Sokov shook his head and said, "If he was killed by German bullets in the battle to defend Prague, he might still become a great hero in the hearts of Czechoslovakians. A sculpture will be erected for him to commemorate his great achievements. But now that he has become a prisoner of our army, I feel that the only fate waiting for him is death."

"That's right, Misha, you're right." Yakov nodded and said with a serious expression, "That's why I want to talk to you in private. I know you have a lot of ideas, but I don't know if you can Give me an idea..."