As Rokossovsky's Second Belarusian Front tore a huge hole in the defense line of the German Second Army, the situation on the battlefield developed in a direction favorable to the Soviet army.
At this moment, Rokossovsky received a call from Antonov: "Comrade Marshal, the time has come. The Supreme Command orders you to immediately turn around and head west to cover Marshal Zhukov's right wing." Rokossovsky. After Kossovsky waited for Antonov to finish speaking, he asked: "What about the areas we occupy now?"
"The area near General Chernyakhovsky's headquarters will be handed over to the Third Belarusian Front." Antonov said: "You can continue to retain the rest of the area, but the main force should move westward as quickly as possible. , covering Marshal Zhukov's troops advancing to the west."
"Okay, Comrade Chief of General Staff." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "I will pass on your order immediately." After putting down the phone, Rokossovsky said to Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately call the commanders of each group army and order them to stop pursuing the German troops north or east, gather their troops and prepare to turn west."
"Understood, Comrade Marshal, I will immediately convey your order to all group army headquarters." After Bogolyubov said this, he waved his fist vigorously and said excitedly: "Thank God, I have finally waited for this day." Sokov received a call from Bogolyubov. After stopping the attack to the north, he immediately realized that the main attack direction of the troops was about to be adjusted. He quickly asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you ready to send us westward?" Are you proceeding with the attack?"
"Yes, General Sokov." Bogolyubov gave Sokov a positive answer: "We have received orders from the General Staff to stop attacking to the north and east, turn to the west with all our strength, and cover Marshal Zhukov’s flanks.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, it may take two days for my troops to be fully regrouped." Sokov asked tentatively: "I wonder if they can catch up with the attack to the west."
"It's totally in time, General Sokov." Bogolyubov said: "Judging from the attack sequence, the 3rd Army should be the first to attack the enemy, and your Army as the second echelon will follow up and enter through the gap opened by the friendly forces. battlefield, and try to find ways to tear the breach wider."
"I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov put down the phone and said to several deputies: "Comrades, there is a new order from the superiors. Let us stop attacking to the north and east and prepare to turn around and head west. Move forward." Sidorin said excitedly: "Great, this is really great. If we turn around and head west now, we might be the first unit to enter Berlin." Regarding Sidorin's statement , both Ponedelin and Lunev strongly agree.
Because in their minds, the performance of the troops commanded by Rokossovsky on the battlefield was stronger than Zhukov's troops.
But Sokov knew very well in his heart that this was just a good wish of everyone. You know, when Zhukov's offensive troops were blocked by the German highlands, Stalin personally asked Konev to give way to Zhukov, just to let him Your love will be the first to enter Berlin.
While everyone was rejoicing, the phone on the table rang. Sidorin rushed to the table, grabbed the phone on it, and said loudly: "I am Sidorin, what can I do?...Ah, what did you say? Say it again." The next moment, Sidorin raised the microphone in his hand high and shouted excitedly: "Comrade commanders, good news, good news. Just an hour ago, Marshal Zhukov's troops successfully crossed the Vistula River. , successfully occupied Warsaw and eliminated the remaining enemies in the city." When they heard that Zhukov's troops had occupied Warsaw, everyone was stunned for a moment, and then cheered loudly.
Although his unit no longer belongs to the First Belarusian Front, after all, he once launched an attack on Warsaw within the organization of this unit, but the attack did not achieve the desired results.
"Comrade Commander," Lunev walked up to Sokov and said with excitement, "This is a major event worthy of celebration. See if you distribute vodka to the soldiers to make them happy. "Due to the lessons learned from the 300th Infantry Division, Sokov strictly controlled drinking in the army.
Anyone who dares to drink alcohol without permission will be severely punished if caught; if someone gets into trouble because of drunkenness, they may even be put in solitary confinement.
But today there is such a big happy event that it seems reasonable for everyone to make an exception. So he only thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay, Comrade Military Commissioner, I will make an exception today and distribute 200 ml of vodka to each soldier so that everyone can celebrate the victory of the First Belarusian Front." When the logistics department notified each division to come and collect vodka, the person who received the call thought someone was playing a prank.
It was learned that the order was personally given by Comrade Commander. In order to celebrate the liberation of Warsaw by friendly forces, 200 ml of vodka was distributed to each soldier.
The commanders and soldiers who heard the news suddenly became excited. Lunev saw that Sokov seemed a little unhappy, so he came over and said to him: "Comrade Commander, this is a happy day. Not only did we break through the defense line of the German 2nd Army with the cooperation of friendly forces, They even severely damaged their Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps and achieved considerable results. The city of Warsaw, which had been unable to be conquered for a long time, was also occupied by Marshal Zhukov's troops. This was an amazing victory, indicating that the road to Berlin was completely opened. ”
"Comrade Military Commissar, I'm worried that everyone will get into trouble while drinking." Sokov said with a wry smile: "You must still remember that before we took over the 300th Infantry Division, the division occupied a town and would seize the liquor from the cellar. Distributed to every soldier. As a result, thousands of people in the entire division were drunk and unconscious. Fortunately, the Viking Division stationed nearby did not notice it. Otherwise, as long as a round of attack was launched, the 300th Infantry Division would have been removed from our army's organization. Disappeared."
"Yes, yes." Lunev agreed with Sokov's statement: "At that time, the superiors were preparing to deal with the division commander. Fortunately, you interceded for him, and he was demoted one level and stayed there. The division serves as the deputy division commander. By the way, how is he doing now?"
"I don't know, after all, we are not in the same army now." Sokov shook his head and said, "Maybe he has been reinstated, or he may have died on the battlefield." At this point, Sokov suddenly thought of the two Lunev Tian was looking for Shula's whereabouts, and he quickly asked with concern: "Comrade Military Commissar, have you found Shula's whereabouts?"
"We can only say that there are clues, but we have not yet received final confirmation." Lunev said: "When I called General Suboting yesterday, he told me that there was definitely no Shula I was looking for in the Second Front. , maybe the opponent is in General Chernyakhovsky’s Third Front. After the war stabilizes, I will ask my acquaintances in the Third Front to help me find out."
"If Shura is really in the Third Front," Sokov asked tentatively, "then what should you do?"
"Find a way to transfer him over." Lunev said: "After all, he is just an ordinary tank soldier, and his transfer will not have much impact on the original troops." Hearing that Lunev had already made a comprehensive Considering this, Sokov stopped talking about the matter and said to Ponedelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, how long do you think it will take to gather all our troops?" Ponedelin listened. He couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, when you talked to Chief of Staff Bogolyubov, didn't you say it would take two days?"
"Isn't that to leave some leeway?" Sokov said: "I think if we urge the division commanders more, we might be able to increase the speed."
"Comrade Commander, if the superiors are not in a hurry to launch an attack to the west, I think it is better not to worry about gathering the troops." Ponejelin said: "You think, after the troops occupy the enemy's area, they must eliminate the remaining enemies. We need to treat the wounded, and we need to collect weapons, ammunition and materials that can still be used. If you rush them to return to the building, you will inevitably make mistakes in the rush." Sokov thought about it carefully and felt that what Ponedelin said was very reasonable.
If you rush too quickly, the troops scattered all over the place will definitely make mistakes in order to return to the army in time, and it will be self-defeating.
At this time Rokossovsky called and said to Sokov with a smile: "Misha, you know everything, right?" Although Rokossovsky did not say clearly what was going on, Sokov was thinking But it was clear that the other party was referring to the liberation of Warsaw by Zhukov's troops, and he quickly said: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, I already know about the liberation of Warsaw." After saying this, Sokov reorganized in his mind After looking at the vocabulary, he said euphemistically: "What a pity. If your time in the First Front could be extended for two months, you might be the hero who captured the city of Warsaw."
"It's all the same, it's all the same." Rokossovsky said magnanimously: "As long as our troops, whether it is the First Front Army or the Second Front Army, capture this city, it will be a great victory. Mi "Sha, there are still a few days before the next attack. I wonder if you are interested in following me to the city of Warsaw?" Going to the city of Warsaw to have a look did not appeal to Sokov at all. Because he knew that since the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, almost all the residents of the city had been sent to concentration camps by the Germans, and the buildings in the city had also been extensively damaged.
According to Mustache's intention, the city of Warsaw is to be wiped off the face of the earth. When entering the city at this moment, all that can be seen are ruins and devastation.
Because of this consideration, he politely declined Rokossovsky's invitation: "Comrade Marshal, I'm really sorry. The army has just finished fighting and needs to supplement and summarize. I have to deal with a lot of work every day. I'm afraid I don’t have time to accompany you to Warsaw City.”
"That's such a pity." Rokossovsky said regretfully: "I will go find Marshal Zhukov later, and then go to Warsaw with him to have a look." Sidorin waited for Sokov to put down During the phone call, he asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, the Marshal invited you to go to Warsaw, why did you refuse?" Sokov smiled bitterly and said: "As far as I know, since the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans have The residents of Warsaw were sent to their concentration camps, and even large-scale demolitions were carried out on the buildings in the city. When entering the city now, all you can see are ruins and ruins. Except for our own troops, not even a resident can see Not even."
"This is impossible." Sidorin said in surprise after hearing this: "Even after the Warsaw Uprising, the residents of the city suffered heavy casualties, but there are still 200,000 to 300,000 people. The Germans want to move so many residents out of the city. , and send them to concentration camps, how much manpower and material resources will be spent.”
"As long as our troops are outside the city for a day, the residents in Warsaw will be a huge threat to the Germans." Sokov said: "To eliminate this threat, it is obviously impossible to kill all the residents in the city. We can only transport them to other places and then destroy the city."
"It's been half a year." Ponejelin said from the side.
"It's been half a year since the Warsaw Uprising. If they had sent people to actively contact us when they launched the uprising, maybe it would be a different situation now. The city could be saved and most of the residents could survive." Soko When the husband heard what Ponejelin said, he couldn't help but snorted and said: "But the leaders of the Warsaw Uprising were the masters who were ordered to live in exile in London. They were full of hostility towards our army and tried every means to block the news from us. Until they could no longer support it. When they were staying, they shamelessly asked us for help, but it was too late, even if we wanted to help them, it was too late.”
"To be honest, after entering Polish territory, I have seen Poles who are friendly to us and Poles who are hostile to us." Luniev said slowly: "Fortunately, the Poles who are friendly to us occupy We must have a majority, otherwise even if we enter this country, we may not be able to gain a firm foothold."
"Now that the troops are turning westward, we will still be fighting on Polish territory for a long time." Poniejlin said: "I hope the Poles in these places will not become accomplices of the Germans, otherwise we will The road ahead is going to be extremely difficult.”
"Comrade Deputy Commander, you can rest assured on this." Although Sokov didn't know much about the history before the Second Front entered Berlin, he also knew very well that if there were Poles who were hostile to the Soviet army along the way and were holding them back, they would probably be held back. They were unable to reach the outskirts of Berlin at the same time as the 1st Front.
Therefore, he comforted Ponejelin and said: "We are going to pass through the enemy next. We have been notified by the Germans for five years. The local people have long hated the Germans. When they see liberators like us coming, they will definitely We will welcome you with flowers."
"I hope so," Ponedelin continued: "The current situation is that Marshal Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belarusian Front, and our Second Front, three major The arrows point to Berlin at the same time. The next thing to do is to see who among these three troops can enter Berlin first and establish immortal achievements."
"Marshal Konev's troops are absolutely impossible." Lunev stared at the map and said: "Now that we are fighting side by side with Marshal Zhukov's troops, the first unit to enter Berlin will definitely be born from among us."
