Red Moscow

After introducing the troops participating in the exercise, Deputy Chief of Staff Ivanov continued to speak.

Sokov looked at the lieutenant general rank on the deputy chief of staff's shoulder straps and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Ivanov graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1930 and entered the Leningrad Military District Headquarters as a staff officer after graduation. Because of his outstanding performance, he was officially transferred to the General Staff in 1936.

During the Battle of the Halekha River in August 1939, due to the need to build a new Stern Group belonging to the Far Eastern Front Command, Stalin urged the General Staff to report to him the detailed whereabouts of General Stern. After Ivanov received the telegram from Schint to Chita, he took it for granted that he would be able to reach the battlefield in one hour, so he reported it based on this judgment. As a result, Stalin received the news the next day that Schint was stranded in Chita due to bad weather. Tower was furious after the airport report.

Because of this incident, Ivanov was sent to a military court and kicked out of the General Staff. He served as chief of staff of the 25th Army of the Far Eastern Front and was promoted to major general on April 6, 1940.

After the outbreak of the Patriotic War, he served as acting commander of the 15th Army. In 1942, due to the lack of experienced staff officers, he was transferred back to the General Staff Headquarters as deputy chief of staff. Unexpectedly, he was discovered by Stalin not long after. Stalin could not tolerate the liar staying in front of him, so he was ready to drive him away again. Fortunately, Vasilevsky came forward to persuade Stalin on the grounds that talents were rare. Although Stalin temporarily compromised, he also put forward a condition. Ivanov could stay in the General Staff, but he could never appear in front of him.

Sokov secretly thought, if Ivanov had not made such a small mistake back then, he might be the chief of general staff now. As for the military rank, even if he is not a marshal, he might be a general, and he would not be like today. , still carrying the lieutenant general’s military rank plaque.

After Ivanov finished speaking, it was Shtemenko who spoke.

"Marshals, generals and comrades." Shtemenko said: "Next, I want to talk about Austria.

On March 29, 1945, 600,000 Chinese troops with the Second and Third Ukrainian Fronts as the core marched into Austria. On April 15, Vienna was liberated. At the end of April, we established a provisional government in Austria, announced Austria's separation from Nazi Germany, and initially established a control system over Austria based on our army.

However, not all of Austria was liberated and controlled by us. Our army entered Austria from the east and liberated part of its territory. But the Western allies will not be willing to let our country take all the credit. So at the end of April of the same year, British and American troops also entered Austrian territory from the west: the British army occupied Kärnten, the American army stationed in Salzburg, and the French army entered Vorarlberg. Even the Yugoslav army joined in the fun, occupying Austria's Carinthia and Styria and making territorial claims to these two places. The occupying powers had different opinions on how to deal with Austria, making the Austrian problem even more complicated.

Therefore, I suggest that the first stage of the exercise begins with occupying the entire territory of Austria. The commander of the group of troops stationed in Austria today is General Malinin, who is familiar to all of us. He once served under Marshal Rokossovsky and Marshal Zhukov..."

"General Shtemenko." Zhukov raised his hand and interrupted him: "We are all familiar with General Malinin's resume. Please tell us about the exercise plan you have formulated."

"I have just said that the first goal of our exercise is to occupy the entire territory of Austria and drive out the British, American and French troops entrenched in this country..."

"What about the Yugoslav army?" Bagramyan interjected.

"Yugoslavia is our true ally, and they will cooperate with our actions in the exercise." Shtemenko continued: "We will use the strength of two armies, divided into three lines, to attack Kernten and Salzburg at the same time. We will launch an offensive at Fort and Vorarlberg and completely annihilate the British, American and French troops stationed in the three areas. In this area, our army has a large number of troops and absolutely superior technical equipment. We will do so in three to five days. Within this time, occupy all of Austria.”

"Comrade Minister of Operations, can I share my opinion?" Bagramyan interjected again.

"Please tell me, Comrade Bagramyan." Shtemenko made a gesture of invitation to the other party and said politely: "In the early days of the war, you served as the deputy chief of staff and chief of operations of the Western Front. You have rich experience. Please tell us your opinions about your experience as a consultant.”

"If the plan mentioned by General Shtemenko was adopted one or two years ago, I think there would be no problem." Bagramyan said: "But as the United States dropped two missiles in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two A..." When he said this, he suddenly became speechless, as if he couldn't think of the name of what he wanted to say.

"Atomic bomb." Konev reminded from the side.

"That's right, an atomic bomb is an atomic bomb." Bagramyan said with some excitement: "Fortunately, this is an exercise. If there is a real war, the Allies will just confirm the area where our troops are gathering, and directly drop one If the atomic bomb is dropped, our hundreds of thousands of troops will be wiped out. At that time, if the Allies take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, what kind of force will we use to resist their crazy attack? "

Bagramyan's words suddenly made the conference room noisy.

Many of the people present had participated in the August Storm. A few days before and after the Soviet Union declared war on the Japs, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the island nation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties to the residents of the two cities. Therefore, the generals and marshals present knew better than anyone what role the atomic bomb could play on the battlefield. Bagramyan's words cast a shadow in everyone's mind. If this time was not a drill, but actually launched an attack on the British, American and French allied forces, and the United States dropped atomic bombs on the area where the Soviet troops were gathering, wouldn't our own army still be there? If we don't join the battlefield, our entire army will be wiped out.

"Comrades, don't worry." Seeing some panic on the field, Zhukov came out to calm people: "I'll tell you a secret. In fact, our country started the research and development of atomic bombs as early as 1943. The Supreme Command established a The special committee is responsible for the research and development of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of its establishment, the committee encountered many difficulties, including insufficient talent and backward equipment. However, the Supreme Command attached great importance to this work and invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. . In the next few years, our country's nuclear weapons development work has made great progress.

A few months ago, construction of our country's first uranium reactor began at a secret location. It is believed that this nuclear reactor will be put into use in up to three years, providing important raw materials for our country's atomic bomb. "

Zhukov's words were a reassurance to the senior commanders present. If our own country can also build an atomic bomb, there will be nothing to fear. If the Americans can throw atomic bombs on the battlefield, we can also throw them. We have suffered heavy losses, and you can't forgive us either.

Shtemenko continued to describe the preliminary exercise plan formulated by the General Staff. The first step to capture the entire Austria was irreversible. Then they seized German lands controlled by Britain, the United States and France, as well as countries such as Denmark and Belgium. Finally, they divided their forces into two groups and occupied France and Britain respectively.

Regarding the General Staff's exercise plan, most people participating in the meeting expressed their opinions. Only Sokov, who was sitting in the corner, remained silent. He didn’t understand the post-war European pattern at all. Apart from knowing about the August 1st military exercise, he knew nothing about other things. He couldn’t make any decisions based on the situation. Explain your own opinion.

Perhaps seeing that Sokov remained silent, Antonov and Zhukov exchanged glances and specifically named him: "General Sokov, do you have any different views on our exercise plan? "

"No, Comrade Chief of General Staff." Hearing Antonov ask about himself, Sokov quickly stood up and replied: "I think the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff has taken into account all the issues that should be considered. I don't have anything." I need to add something." After saying that, he sat down directly.

When Antonov heard Sokov say that he had no different opinions on the exercise plan, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes. According to his assumption, since Sokov was specially called by Zhukov, he would definitely put forward some unique insights into the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff. Unexpectedly, the other party seemed to have some concerns and was unwilling to express his opinion.

Antonov had no choice but to shrug at Zhukov, hinting that I had asked him for his opinion, but he was unwilling to say it, and there was nothing I could do about it. Then Antonov stood up and said: "Comrade marshals and generals, before the exercise plan is officially announced, I hope you will keep this plan secret to avoid being informed of our exercise plan by the Allies in advance."

"Don't worry, we have learned the confidentiality rules." A general said carelessly: "Don't tell anyone."

When everyone got up and walked outside, Zhukov came to Sokov's side and asked with a straight face: "Misha, do you really not see any difference in this exercise plan?"

"No, Comrade Marshal, what I just said is the truth." Sokov straightened his back and raised his chin slightly and said: "I have carefully considered the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff Headquarters, and it is very complete. Not only did he take into account all the issues that I had thought about, but he also considered issues that I hadn’t thought of. ”

Facing Sokov's snake-like reply, Zhukov seemed a little helpless: "Then let me ask you, if you want to solve the Austrian problem, what do you think about it?"

"I think the following principles should be adhered to when it comes to Austria." Sokov replied without hesitation: "Prohibit the reunification of Germany and Austria, prevent Germany from resurrecting, and demand maximum war compensation."

"Misha, if we ask for maximum war compensation from Austria, it means that our army will be hostile to the people of that country in Austria." Zhukov looked at Sokov and asked: "If such a situation occurs, what will happen? What to do?”

"Comrade Marshal, I feel that occupying the entire territory of Austria is not necessarily a wise decision." Sokov organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said slowly: "In this case, after achieving our goal, we will It is absolutely possible to withdraw all our troops.”

"What, you said to withdraw all our troops from Austria?" Zhukov asked with shock on his face: "Did I hear you correctly?"

"Comrade Marshal, you heard that right." Sokov said with a normal expression: "I think with our withdrawal, the British, American, French and Yugoslav troops will also withdraw from Austria. In this way, a demilitarized Austria will , may become a buffer zone between us and Britain, the United States, France and other countries.”

"Demilitarization, buffer zone." After Zhukov repeated the word phrase Sokov said twice, he nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Misha, it seems that it is reasonable for you to participate in such a military meeting. The good thing is that at least you can tell some of your true thoughts.”

At this moment Antonov also came over and said to Sokov: "General Sokov, I think your views are quite novel and your insights are very original. But when I asked you for your opinion just now, what did you say? Don’t you want to say anything?”

"Comrade Chief of General Staff," Sokov replied with a wry smile: "You are asking about the exercise plan. I think the plan you made is quite good. Even if there are some minor flaws, they were solved by the marshals and generals who participated in the meeting. Method. What Marshal Zhukov and I were talking about was how to solve the Austrian problem, which is completely different from the topic of today’s meeting.”

"Oh, that's it." Antonov nodded and said, "I thought you were hiding it on purpose, but you just didn't want to say it."

"Misha, what you said makes sense. When Antonov and I go to see Comrade Stalin later, we will mention this to him." Zhukov asked with a smile: "During this period, you continue to stay here Stay with Asiya at home, and if you have any difficulties, just ask me."

"Comrade Marshal, I really have one thing to ask of you."

"What's up?"

"Some time ago, someone pretended to be the city's housing management department and called me, saying that he was going to allocate a villa to me. Although this matter is no longer in the afternoon, I went to see it on site and found that there were many vacant villas there. I don't know. Can the superiors allocate a house to me?" Sokov was worried that Zhukov would not agree to his request, and specifically said: "With a spacious house, the security troops you arranged for me can also stay, so that I can stay with you when I travel. There will be guards following.”

"Comrade Marshal, I think General Sokov's proposal is not excessive." Antonov said next to him: "There are a bunch of house invaders in society today. They just look for some uninhabited houses. After breaking in, they will Those houses are now vacant. If people are not moved in as soon as possible, I am worried that it will not be long before they will be occupied by house invaders. "

Zhukov was a little hesitant at first. After all, he was not familiar with the person in charge of the city's housing management department. If he wanted to help Sokov find a house, he would need to find someone to help. But when he heard what Antonov said, he immediately changed his mind: "Comrade Antonov, you are right. The house that Misha lives in is too small and we cannot arrange for the guards to protect him to live in it." . If we change to a spacious villa, this problem can be solved. When we go to see Comrade Stalin later, please remind me that I will report this to Comrade Stalin."