"I have carefully reviewed the conversation records between Zakharov and Sokov, and I feel that Sokov's analysis is very reasonable." Antonov said: "Our General Staff has gathered a large number of staff officers personnel to conduct game maneuvers on where the Allies might land, and Calais was one of the most important locations.”
"Then what's the result of the deduction?"
"Although the distance from Dover in the UK to Calais is only more than 30 kilometers, if the Germans deployed heavy defense forces in Calais, the Allies would have to pay at least two to three hundred thousand people to complete the initial landing operation. ." Antonov said: "According to the character of the Americans, they cannot withstand such heavy casualties. Therefore, in order to avoid such heavy casualties, it is entirely possible for them to choose other directions to carry out landing operations."
"Even if we choose another direction to carry out the landing operation, we may not choose Normandy." Stalin lit his pipe. "It seems that we need to reconsider that matter."
Antonov raised his head and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. There was less than an hour left before the meeting of the Supreme Command was held. If Stalin cannot be persuaded during this period, Sokov may miss a golden opportunity.
"Comrade Stalin," Antonov continued: "We considered other landing sites, but they were either densely populated with reefs or unable to accommodate large corps landings, so we rejected them one by one."
Antonov's little move just now was noticed by Stalin. He said calmly: "The meeting of the Supreme Command will be held soon. I think we should discuss this matter at the meeting. There is still some time before the meeting. You go back and rest for a while until it is time for the meeting. Come again."
Antonov and Ivanov walked out of the office and walked along the corridor towards the General Staff Headquarters. Ivanov asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, I wonder what the topic of today's meeting is?"
Antonov glared at him, and then said unhappily: "Comrade Ivanov, haven't you learned the confidentiality regulations and don't know what you can and cannot ask?"
Ivanov, who was criticized by Antonov, said nonchalantly: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, I am just curious. I was sent by plane to rush to the front to consider General Sokov. But so far, I I don’t even know, what is the purpose of considering him?”
"When it's your turn to know, you will naturally know it." Antonov waved his hand to Ivanov and said: "You have worked hard all the way, go back and rest first. If anything happens, I will send someone to call your."
An hour later, a meeting of the High Command was held in Stalin's office.
The person who presided over the meeting was Vasilevsky. He said straight to the point: "One of our topics today is to discuss the selection of the commander of the Ukrainian Second Front."
Voroshilov, who was sitting below, couldn't help but be stunned when he heard what Vasilevsky said: "Isn't the commander of the Second Ukrainian Front Marshal Konev now? Did he make any mistake, and he wants to do this at this time? Removing him from his post?"
"Comrade Marshal, you misunderstood." Vasilevsky still showed due respect for a veteran marshal like Voroshilov: "The reason why we want to discuss the candidates for the Second Front is because we are ready to Appoint Marshal Konev as Commander of the First Front."
Seeing that Voroshilov seemed to want to ask something else, Vasilevsky jumped in front of him and said: "The position of commander of the First Front Army has always been represented by Marshal Zhukov. As deputy commander-in-chief, he has many more important tasks. Important work needs to be done, and energy cannot be wasted on one unit. Therefore, after our discussions, we are ready to let Konev take over Zhukov's position. As a result, the position of commander of the Second Front will be vacant."
After Voroshilov figured out what was going on, he nodded and remained silent, quietly waiting for the final result. But Timoshenko, who was sitting next to him, interrupted and asked: "Is there a suitable candidate?"
"Yes, Marshal Timoshenko, there are now two candidates, and we are considering who to appoint to the position of commander of the Second Front."
"I wonder which two people they are?"
"One is General Malinovsky, commander of the Third Ukrainian Front!"
"What about the other one?"
"The other is the commander of the Sokov Combat Group, Admiral Sokov!"
After hearing the names of the two candidates, those attending the meeting couldn't help but look at each other. If Malinovsky is appointed as the commander of the Second Ukrainian Front, everyone may not have any opinions. But now there is a young boy named Sokov competing, which makes everyone feel incredible.
"Comrade Stalin," Voroshilov stood up first and spoke: "I think Malinovsky is most suitable to serve as the commander of the Second Ukrainian Front."
"Everyone should still remember that in the later stages of the Battle of Stalingrad, we had completed the task of encircling the German 6th Army. At this time, Field Marshal Manstein, commander of the German Army Group Don, launched Operation Winter Storm. General Hermann Hoth was ordered to march toward Stalingrad from Kutelnikov, 150 kilometers away, to try to rescue the Paulus Group that was besieged by our army.
When Hott's troops advanced to 25 to 30 kilometers away from Stalingrad, it was Malinovsky who led the 2nd Guards Army. After a fierce battle, he finally stopped Hott's armored corps and pushed them back to Kutelnikov.
It was precisely because of Malinovsky's victory that the fate of the German army surrounded by Stalingrad was determined. Comrade Stalin promoted him to general and awarded him the highest honor of our army at that time, the Order of Suvorov First Class.
In February 1943, Malinovsky once again served as the commander of the Southern Front. In less than two weeks, he drove the German Manstein Army Group out of the Rostov and Don River defense lines, opening up a breakthrough for our army. Road to Ukraine.
In recognition of his merits, Comrade Stalin promoted him to general in March and appointed him as the commander of the South-Western Front - now the Third Ukrainian Front - and ordered him to control the area of the rich industrial area of Donbas. The German troops swept away.
Starting in mid-October, he launched a surprise attack on the German army, attacking and occupying the city of Zaporozhye, where the German army was heavily stationed. This battle successfully eliminated the German troops occupying southern Russia one by one, and besieged the remaining German troops on the Crimean Peninsula. Cut off their escape route. "
After listening to Voroshilov's introduction to Malinovsky's brilliant achievements, Timoshenko also stood up and said: "I agree with Marshal Voroshilov. Although General Sokov's ability is not as good as everyone's It is obvious to all that the troops under his command have achieved a series of brilliant results. However, he has never had any experience in commanding front army troops. He rashly handed over a troop with hundreds of thousands of troops to his command. I am absolutely dissatisfied with the commanders and fighters. irresponsible."
"Marshal Timoshenko," Stalin asked as soon as Timoshenko finished speaking: "So, you support Malinovsky as the commander of the Second Front?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin, I do think so." Timoshenko explained to Stalin: "Malinovsky once served as the commander of the front army on different fronts. Whether it is from command experience , or in terms of personal connections, they are all incomparable to Sokov.”
"Comrade Antonov," Stalin did not express his position. Instead, he turned to Antonov and said, "Tell everyone."
"Comrade commanders," Antonov said: "The reason why we included Sokov on the candidate list is indeed because he has the ability to command a front army. For this purpose, our General Staff specially sent Comrade Ivanov, Deputy Chief of General Staff, went to the front to inspect Sokov.”
"Inspection?!" Voroshilov couldn't help but frown slightly when he heard what Antonov said: "You sent a deputy chief of staff to the front to inspect a group army commander. Won't others notice? ?"
"It won't be noticed." Antonov said confidently: "After Ivanov arrived at the front, he did not show up. Instead, he asked Zakharov, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian Second Front, to replace him at Sokov's The troops conducted a private inspection of Sokov.”
"Can you tell us what the inspection content is?"
"We assume that the Allies are preparing to open a second battlefield in the near future, and then let Sokov tell us what actions the Allies may take." Antonov said: "We analyze that due to the terrain restrictions in Italy, even if the Allies occupy Italy , and it is impossible to launch an attack from there, because there are too many mountains for the armored forces to deploy at all.
After excluding Italy, the next option is if the Allies carry out a landing operation on the northern coast of France, where will they choose the landing site? "
Antonov knew very well that even though everyone here knew the geography of their own countries, they had limited knowledge of the geographical locations of Italy, Britain, France and Germany. So he walked to the map, pointed to the northern coast of France, and said to everyone: "According to the research of our General Staff, the most likely place for the Allied forces to carry out landing operations is Calais, France."
After listening to Antonov's explanation, everyone looked at the map and felt that the possibility of the Allies landing in Calais was undoubtedly the greatest. After reading the map, Ustinov, who had remained silent, said: "Obviously, from Dover, England to Calais, France, is undoubtedly the shortest route. If I were asked to choose a landing site, I would not do it at all. Choose Calais without hesitation.”
Ustinov's words aroused a chorus of agreement. Beria, who was sitting opposite Voroshilov, stared at the map and fell into deep thought. After the room calmed down, he asked Antonov: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, I would like to know whether the analysis made by General Sokov is consistent with your analysis?"
Antonov was worried that no one would ask about this matter. Now that Beria asked about it, he said smoothly: "Comrade Beria, General Sokov's analysis is completely different from our judgment."
Everyone was shocked when they heard what Antonov said. Then Voroshilov asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, can you tell us where Sokov's landing site is?"
Antonov tapped the map twice with his explanatory stick, raised his voice and said: "Here, Normandy!"
"Normandy?!" Voroshilov put on his reading glasses, looked at the map for a long time, and finally shook his head and said: "The distance from the British mainland to Normandy is too far. With the existing maritime transportation capabilities of the Allies, it is simply impossible." Send hundreds of thousands of troops to this location to carry out landing operations."
Seeing that everyone was opposed to Sokov's analysis, Antonov couldn't say anything else. He turned to Stalin and said respectfully: "Comrade Stalin, I've finished."
"Comrades," Stalin stood up and left his seat, holding his pipe and walking back and forth in the room, asking, "Have you made your final choice?"
"Yes!" everyone replied in unison.
"Now that the final choice has been made, please tell me who is the most suitable candidate to serve as commander of the Second Ukrainian Front?"
"General Malinovsky!" half the people were saying this name.
As for Tisokov, there are only three people named Beria, Ustinov and Antonov.
Although Malinovsky was not unanimously approved, it was enough for Stalin to make the final decision: "Comrade Vasilevsky, since everyone is optimistic about Malinovsky, let him be appointed as the Second Secretary of Ukraine. Commander of the Front. The letter of appointment will be issued immediately and he will take up his post as soon as the existing campaign is over."
During the war, many things were done very efficiently. Shortly after the decision was made to appoint Malinovsky as commander of the Second Ukrainian Front, the official appointment documents were printed.
After reading the above content, Stalin smiled and nodded, then picked up the signature pen on the table and signed his name at the bottom of the appointment letter.
After the appointment letter was signed, someone was immediately sent away to prepare for a special person to deliver the appointment letter directly to Malinovsky.
Now that the candidate for the commander of the Second Ukrainian Front has been finalized, the next discussion is about the ongoing battle in Ukraine. However, on the issue of how to use troops, Antonov, Voroshilov, and Timoshenko had serious differences, which triggered a debate.
Later, through the mediation of Vasilevsky, the two sides finally reached a consensus. In order to ensure that the fighting in Ukraine proceeds smoothly, the Belarusian Front Army commanded by Rokossovsky will launch an attack on the enemy's defense areas to contain their forces.
Just as Stalin was about to announce the adjournment of the meeting, his secretary Poskrebyshev opened the door and walked in from outside. After entering the room, he first looked around, then quickly came to Stalin's side, whispered into his ear, and was about to hand a piece of paper to Stalin.
Stalin waved his hand at him and said: "Comrade Poskrebyshev, there are no outsiders here. Please read the contents of the paper to everyone."
"Comrade Stalin, this is a secret message from President Roosevelt to you." Poskrebyshev asked cautiously: "Do you really want to read it out in public?"
"Yes." Stalin nodded and said in an encouraging tone: "Read it."
"Dear Marshal Stalin, I have the honor to tell you that in June of this year, we will open the second battlefield you are looking forward to - the location where the landing operation will be carried out: Normandy on the northern coast of France."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. No one had ever dreamed that not long ago, everyone was saying that Sokov's idea was too unbelievable. Who could be so stupid as not to take the shortcut, but to go such a long way to engage in a landing operation.
But now Roosevelt's telegram clearly tells everyone that Sokov's analysis is completely correct.
