"General Zakharov, what place did you just talk about?" Zhukov asked bluntly: "Morenchi Village?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal. It is the village of Morenchi!" Zakharov replied: "It is the hometown of the famous Ukrainian folk poet Taras Shevchenko."
After hearing this, Zhukov frowned and said to Konev: "Comrade Konev, let's go to Morenchi Village to take a look at the situation."
Before Konev expressed his opinion on Zhukov's proposal, Zakharov persuaded him: "Comrade Marshal, there has just been an unknown bombing there. I think it's better not to go."
Konev saw that Zhukov's face was livid and knew that the other party was angry, so he quickly came out to smooth things over: "Okay, Comrade Marshal, I will accompany you there. Comrade Chief of Staff," what he said next was to Zakharov, " Prepare two armored vehicles immediately, and we will all go there in the armored vehicles."
"There is no need for armored vehicles." Who knows that Zhukov put forward a different opinion: "Now that the surrounding area is our defense area, there is no need for armored vehicles. If the rockets used by the enemy to bomb are powerful, let alone armored vehicles, we will take tanks. There is still a chance of being destroyed.”
"Okay then, let's take a jeep so we can get to the destination quickly." Konev told Zakharov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, arrange a vehicle for travel immediately."
Although Zhukov advocated traveling with ease and simplicity, the people who went to Morianqi Village this time. They were two marshals and an armored marshal. Once any accident happened to any of them, it would have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, in addition to the three jeeps with the three people in them, Zaharov also arranged a most capable team. A company of guards accompanied him. Even if you encounter a small group of enemies on the road, you can destroy them.
When the convoy of Zhukov and others arrived at Morianqi Village, forty minutes had passed since the explosion.
A major stood at the entrance of the village. When he saw the convoy coming, he quickly waved for the convoy to stop.
Konev was sitting on the first jeep. After he ordered the driver to stop, he opened the door, leaned out half-way, and asked the major: "Are you the garrison battalion commander of Morenchi Village?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Even though it has been less than 24 hours since Konev received the Marshal's epaulette, the commanders and fighters of the entire Second Ukrainian Front knew the good news, so everyone called him quietly. Variety.
Konev got out of the car, stood in front of the major, and said expressionlessly: "Comrade major, tell me about the situation. What happened?"
"Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this." The major introduced the situation to Konev and said: "Less than an hour ago, a huge explosion suddenly occurred in the west of the village, blowing up all the wooden houses near the explosion point, and destroying all the wooden houses in the remaining locations. The glass of the wooden house was all shattered by the shock wave of the explosion..."
"Comrade Major," Zhukov, who had just walked over, interrupted the other party and said straight to the point: "Tell me the specific number of casualties in the village."
The major first saluted Zhukov and then said: "Comrade Marshal, it is difficult to estimate the specific number of casualties. Because all the people near the explosion point were blown to pieces."
"Then where did the number of casualties you reported come from?" Konev asked.
"Comrade Marshal," the major replied with some embarrassment, "we base the statistics on the broken limbs and corpses near the explosion point. Let's put it this way, basically all the people in the west of the village died in the explosion, and the people in the center of the village Either dead or injured. Even the people staying in the east of the village, almost everyone is injured."
"Take us in and have a look." Zhukov said with a straight face.
The major did not dare to neglect, and quickly acted as a guide, leading Zhukov, Konev and others to the west of the village to check the explosion site.
Zhukov looked as he walked and saw that all the windows in the village were shattered and there were glass shards all over the floor. Along the way, you can see people with injuries all over their bodies. Some are lying on stretchers on the roadside and screaming, and some are being simply bandaged by health workers.
Finally, we arrived at the west of the village. All the buildings here were destroyed, leaving only a huge dark crater. There were wisps of green smoke rising from the bottom of the crater. Standing at the edge of the crater, you could feel the scorching heat coming from inside.
Konev stood at the edge of the crater, lowered his head to check the depth and diameter of the crater, then raised his head and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, it seems Sokov is right. This new type of rocket used by the German army not only has a long range And it’s powerful.”
Even now, Zhukov was still unwilling to admit that the Germans had a weapon with a range of hundreds of kilometers. He shook his head and said: "Maybe Misha made a mistake. This crater was dropped by a German plane. Formed by bombs.”
"Comrade Major," Konev waited for Zhukov to finish, then turned to ask the major standing behind him: "Where were you when the explosion occurred?"
"I am in the woods to the east of the village." The major explained to Konev: "I am training the newly recruited soldiers and teaching them how to use weapons. While training, a huge explosion occurred in the village of Morenqi, and I I quickly rushed over with my soldiers, but I only saw corpses and wailing wounded all over the ground."
"Then before the explosion, did you see any German planes in the sky?"
"No, absolutely not." The major continued: "Our training location is no more than one kilometer away from the explosion point. If we are really bombed by an enemy plane, we can always see the plane in the sky. However, before the explosion, we Didn’t see anything.”
"Comrade Marshal, we are basically certain." Konev said: "What Sokov said is true. The German army has weapons that can attack our army from a distance, and can attack our key targets hundreds of kilometers away. Carry out a strike."
After hearing what Konev said, Zhukov was silent for a moment and asked: "Comrade Konev, I remember that your headquarters was located in the village of Morenchi not long ago, right? I don't know where it is located?"
"It can still be there." Konev pointed to the dilapidated brick-concrete building two to three hundred meters away: "Well, my headquarters was located there at the time."
Zhukov looked at the crater in front of him, then at the buildings that were obviously knocked down by the explosion shock wave, and said thankfully: "Comrade Konev, fortunately your headquarters has been transferred, otherwise as soon as the enemy's rockets fell, The personnel in your headquarters will suffer huge casualties."
Konev said to himself that the casualties among the members of the headquarters were trivial. When his headquarters was stationed in the village, there was a full battalion of guard troops. If the German rockets fell before the headquarters was transferred, the number of casualties would probably be huge. The level goes up.
"Major, are there any solid buildings nearby?" Konev planned to contact Sokov immediately to get more useful information from him, so he asked the major: "I want to prepare to contact the troops below."
The major looked left and right, and finally pointed to the half-collapsed village Soviet office and said: "Comrade Marshal, the only building in the village with a brick-concrete structure is the strongest building now."
"General Zakharov, what place did you just talk about?" Zhukov asked bluntly: "Morenchi Village?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal. It is the village of Morenchi!" Zakharov replied: "It is the hometown of the famous Ukrainian folk poet Taras Shevchenko."
After hearing this, Zhukov frowned and said to Konev: "Comrade Konev, let's go to Morenchi Village to take a look at the situation."
Before Konev expressed his opinion on Zhukov's proposal, Zakharov persuaded him: "Comrade Marshal, there has just been an unknown bombing there. I think it's better not to go."
Konev saw that Zhukov's face was livid and knew that the other party was angry, so he quickly came out to smooth things over: "Okay, Comrade Marshal, I will accompany you there. Comrade Chief of Staff," what he said next was to Zakharov, " Prepare two armored vehicles immediately, and we will all go there in the armored vehicles."
"There is no need for armored vehicles." Who knows that Zhukov put forward a different opinion: "Now that the surrounding area is our defense area, there is no need for armored vehicles. If the rockets used by the enemy to bomb are powerful, let alone armored vehicles, we will take tanks. There is still a chance of being destroyed.”
"Okay then, let's take a jeep so we can get to the destination quickly." Konev told Zakharov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, arrange a vehicle for travel immediately."
Although Zhukov advocated traveling with ease and simplicity, the people who went to Morianqi Village this time. They were two marshals and an armored marshal. Once any accident happened to any of them, it would have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, in addition to the three jeeps with the three people in them, Zaharov also arranged a most capable team. A company of guards accompanied him. Even if you encounter a small group of enemies on the road, you can destroy them.
When the convoy of Zhukov and others arrived at Morianqi Village, forty minutes had passed since the explosion.
A major stood at the entrance of the village. When he saw the convoy coming, he quickly waved for the convoy to stop.
Konev was sitting on the first jeep. After he ordered the driver to stop, he opened the door, leaned out half-way, and asked the major: "Are you the garrison battalion commander of Morenchi Village?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Even though it has been less than 24 hours since Konev received the Marshal's epaulette, the commanders and fighters of the entire Second Ukrainian Front knew the good news, so everyone called him quietly. Variety.
Konev got out of the car, stood in front of the major, and said expressionlessly: "Comrade major, tell me about the situation. What happened?"
"Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this." The major introduced the situation to Konev and said: "Less than an hour ago, a huge explosion suddenly occurred in the west of the village, blowing up all the wooden houses near the explosion point, and destroying all the wooden houses in the remaining locations. The glass of the wooden house was all shattered by the shock wave of the explosion..."
"Comrade Major," Zhukov, who had just walked over, interrupted the other party and said straight to the point: "Tell me the specific number of casualties in the village."
The major first saluted Zhukov and then said: "Comrade Marshal, it is difficult to estimate the specific number of casualties. Because all the people near the explosion point were blown to pieces."
"Then where did the number of casualties you reported come from?" Konev asked.
"Comrade Marshal," the major replied with some embarrassment, "we base the statistics on the broken limbs and corpses near the explosion point. Let's put it this way, basically all the people in the west of the village died in the explosion, and the people in the center of the village Either dead or injured. Even the people staying in the east of the village, almost everyone is injured."
"Take us in and have a look." Zhukov said with a straight face.
The major did not dare to neglect, and quickly acted as a guide, leading Zhukov, Konev and others to the west of the village to check the explosion site.
Zhukov looked as he walked and saw that all the windows in the village were shattered and there were glass shards all over the floor. Along the way, you can see people with injuries all over their bodies. Some are lying on stretchers on the roadside and screaming, and some are being simply bandaged by health workers.
Finally, we arrived at the west of the village. All the buildings here were destroyed, leaving only a huge dark crater. There were wisps of green smoke rising from the bottom of the crater. Standing at the edge of the crater, you could feel the scorching heat coming from inside.
Konev stood at the edge of the crater, lowered his head to check the depth and diameter of the crater, then raised his head and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, it seems Sokov is right. This new type of rocket used by the German army not only has a long range And it’s powerful.”
Even now, Zhukov was still unwilling to admit that the Germans had a weapon with a range of hundreds of kilometers. He shook his head and said: "Maybe Misha made a mistake. This crater was dropped by a German plane. Formed by bombs.”
"Comrade Major," Konev waited for Zhukov to finish, then turned to ask the major standing behind him: "Where were you when the explosion occurred?"
"I am in the woods to the east of the village." The major explained to Konev: "I am training the newly recruited soldiers and teaching them how to use weapons. While training, a huge explosion occurred in the village of Morenqi, and I I quickly rushed over with my soldiers, but I only saw corpses and wailing wounded all over the ground."
"Then before the explosion, did you see any German planes in the sky?"
"No, absolutely not." The major continued: "Our training location is no more than one kilometer away from the explosion point. If we are really bombed by an enemy plane, we can always see the plane in the sky. However, before the explosion, we Didn’t see anything.”
"Comrade Marshal, we are basically certain." Konev said: "What Sokov said is true. The German army has weapons that can attack our army from a distance, and can attack our key targets hundreds of kilometers away. Carry out a strike."
After hearing what Konev said, Zhukov was silent for a moment and asked: "Comrade Konev, I remember that your headquarters was located in the village of Morenchi not long ago, right? I don't know where it is located?"
"It can still be there." Konev pointed to the dilapidated brick-concrete building two to three hundred meters away: "Well, my headquarters was located there at the time."
Zhukov looked at the crater in front of him, then at the buildings that were obviously knocked down by the explosion shock wave, and said thankfully: "Comrade Konev, fortunately your headquarters has been transferred, otherwise as soon as the enemy's rockets fell, The personnel in your headquarters will suffer huge casualties."
Konev said to himself that the casualties among the members of the headquarters were trivial. When his headquarters was stationed in the village, there was a full battalion of guard troops. If the German rockets fell before the headquarters was transferred, the number of casualties would probably be huge. The level goes up.
"Major, are there any solid buildings nearby?" Konev planned to contact Sokov immediately to get more useful information from him, so he asked the major: "I want to prepare to contact the troops below."
