,!
After the order was issued, each division eager to replenish troops sent small teams to friendly forces' defense areas to look for possible prisoner of war camps.
However, the 284th Infantry Division, which was the first to carry out the search mission, did not find any prisoner of war camps, but unexpectedly discovered a concentration camp abandoned by the Germans. When the commanders and fighters entered the concentration camp, the first thing they saw was the corpses of Jews on the ground, as well as a small number of skinny Jews in prison uniforms. Like walking skeletons, they came to the commanders and fighters, stretched out their hands to them, and spoke in broken Russian. , begging for food from them.
Division Commander Yinsmeilov asked Sokov for instructions on the phone: "Comrade Commander, our soldiers have found a total of 126 survivors. How should we place them?"
Yinsmeilov's request troubled Sokov. Regardless of whether these Jews were from Poland or Germany, they would definitely not be able to return to their original residence. After some thought, he replied: "Comrade Colonel, first place these people in a nearby town and let the locals take care of their daily life."
"Let the locals take care of their daily life?" Yinsmeilov said hesitantly: "Is this appropriate?"
"There's nothing inappropriate." Sokov said impatiently: "Since they have suffered so much at the hands of the Germans, isn't it natural for the Germans to take care of them now? Okay, stop talking nonsense, follow my instructions The order is executed.”
When Sokov put down the phone, Sidorin asked with some curiosity: "Comrade Commander, let me ask you a question, why is Mustache so keen on killing Jews?"
"It turned out to be very simple. He was full of hatred for the Jews." Sokov said without hesitation: "After the end of World War I, Germany's economic lifeline was in the hands of the Jews. The currency Mark used by the Germans devalued crazily. A bread god It even cost 500,000 marks. This alone made the Germans full of hatred for the Jews.
When Mustache took control of the entire Germany and prepared to launch a war abroad, he discovered that all military-industrial enterprises were also in the hands of the Jews. At the beginning, he also tried to negotiate to get these Jewish consortiums to support him. But after the negotiation failed, he changed his strategy and simply stopped doing nothing. He destroyed the Jews and confiscated their military factories, completing his ideal of military restoration in one step. At the same time, Jewish property was confiscated and a large amount of wealth was obtained to solve people's welfare problems and appease the emotions of the Germans. Protect Germany's industrialization process at the expense of Jewish lives and wealth. "
After listening to Sokov's tirade, Luniev interrupted and said: "But the Jews in our country are among the poorest people, so how can they be massacred by him?"
"It's very simple. Once the butcher's knife is raised to kill the Jews, it will not be put down easily." Sokov said: "Since the Jews in Germany can be eliminated, the Jews in the occupied European countries can be eliminated. The Jews in our country, although they are smaller than Jews who are not rich in European countries, but they are still Jews after all, so naturally they cannot escape the butcher knife of the Germans.”
He did not want to continue discussing this issue with Sidorin and Lunev, so he changed the topic in time: "Comrade Chief of Staff and Military Commissar, I think we should talk about the capture of Berlin. Now that Marshal Zhukov has left The nearest troops to Berlin are only sixty kilometers away. I heard that General Katukov once promised Marshal Zhukov that as long as his troops were used as the main attack mission, he could reach the city of Berlin in one day and night."
Hearing what Sokov said, Sidorin's eyes widened in surprise: "Comrade Commander, if the information you mentioned is true, it means that if Marshal Zhukov launches an attack on Berlin regardless, he will be attacked by tomorrow at the latest. By night they can reach the outskirts of Berlin."
"Theoretically, this is the case." Sokov nodded and continued: "But if he really does this, the enemies on the left and right flanks of the 1st Belarusian Front will increase their offensive power, forcing Marshal Zhukov to mobilize troops from the front. , to strengthen the defenses on both flanks and thus weaken the forces attacking Berlin."
"Also," he nodded on the map with his hand, and continued: "The road to Berlin is not all smooth sailing. There is also the Zelo Highlands here. Once an effective breakthrough can be implemented, Marshal Zhukov's troops can Unimpeded dash to the outskirts of Berlin."
"Even if the German army deployed strong defenses in this area, they could not stop Marshal Zhukov's army." Sidorin looked at the position of Zelo Heights and said disapprovingly: "As long as the 1st Belarusian Front Army launches a strong attack, it will It opens the way to Berlin."
Seeing Sidorin being so optimistic, Sokov shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are too optimistic. I think Marshal Zhukov's troops will definitely have to go through fierce battles and even pay heavy losses if they want to pass through this highland. You can only pass here after you have suffered casualties.”
This time even Lunev couldn't stand listening: "Misha, do I think you are too pessimistic? I agree with Chief of Staff Sidorin. Even if the German army is heavily guarded on the Zelo Highlands, the area it occupies The area is limited. If Marshal Zhukov launches a strong attack, the Germans will not be able to stop their hundreds of thousands of troops. I think one day at most, no, half a day will be enough. Marshal Zhukov's troops will be able to destroy the enemies on the high ground and open the way. The road to Berlin.”
Sokov knew very well that continuous victories had inevitably caused commanders at all levels to underestimate the enemy. Even the famous Zhukov was no exception. He may be calculating at this moment that once the threats on his two wings are eliminated, He never considered how long it would take for the troops to rush into Berlin. The Zero Heights, which he ignored, almost became his Waterloo.
"Comrade Chief of Staff and Military Commissar, come take a look." Sokov pointed to the map and said to the two men: "According to the information provided by the Front Army Headquarters, the deployment of the German Vistula Army Group is as follows: the right-wing 9th Army is deployed in Austria The left bank of the De River is responsible for the frontal defense of the 1st Belorussian Front's attack in the direction of Berlin; the 2nd Army is deployed on the left wing, responsible for preventing our Second Front from advancing westward, and ensuring the Danzig Corridor to protect the connection between Danzig and the Zemland Peninsula. The 11th Army is deployed in the middle section, and according to the requirements of the German high command, they will gather a large number of armored forces to launch a counterattack against our army."
After listening to Sokov's introduction, the expressions on Sidorin and Lunev's faces became serious. They realized that if they wanted to launch an attack on Berlin, they must first clear out the German Vistula Army Group so that they could concentrate The troops carry out the next step of action.
"Misha," Lunev asked first: "According to your analysis, how long will it take for our army to defeat the Vistula Army Group blocking our way and continue to advance westward?"
"I estimate that this battle will last until at least April." Sokov said cautiously: "Now is the spring thaw season, and the forests and swamps have adversely affected the movements of both sides' troops. Only when the ground reopens Only when we become more conducive to combat can we achieve final victory."
Lunev quite agreed with Sokov's statement. He went out to inspect the troops two days ago. As a result, due to continuous rain, the road became muddy. The jeep did not go far before it got stuck in a mud pit and could not move. . Fortunately, a patrol passed by nearby and with their help, he was able to lift his jeep out of the mud. This is true for ordinary roads, let alone the battlefield.
"Misha is right. The current road conditions are indeed not conducive to the deployment of the troops on both sides." Lunev nodded and said, "At least until mid-to-late March, when the roads become hard, the troops on both sides can carry out real operations. decisive battle."
It was not until the beginning of March that Zhukov saw that the coordinated operations between the Polish 1st Army he sent and friendly forces did not achieve the desired results. After some careful consideration, he readjusted the deployment. He deployed General Simoniak's 3rd Assault Army, Katu General Kov's 1st Guards Tank Army, General Belov's 61st Army, 2nd Army, 47th Army, and the Polish 1st Army, which had not achieved any results, formed a new assault group to attack Eastern Pomerany. The Vistula Army Group launched a comprehensive offensive.
Under the powerful offensive of Zhukov's troops, the German defenses were broken through, and the areas of Keslin and Kolberg on the Baltic Sea coast were successively occupied. As the German defense line was separated by the Soviet army, each group army fell into the encirclement of the Soviet army, and the situation on the battlefield developed in a direction favorable to the Soviet army.
The fighting lasted until March 10. The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front had basically liberated the Baltic Sea coast to the mouth of the Oder River. Only the Kolberg area was defended by a huge German garrison. Zhukov handed over the battle to eliminate the German troops there to the Polish 1st Army. The Polish troops who received the mission continued to attack the German army and captured the Kolberg Fortress on March 18.
Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front, with the cooperation of Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Army, successfully advanced towards the Bay of Danzig. On March 28, the Front troops occupied Gdynia after fierce fighting, and occupied Danzig on March 30, thus ending the Eastern Pomerania Campaign.
With the end of the Eastern Pomerania campaign, the attack on Berlin was put on the agenda again. Just as Zhukov summoned his men to discuss how to seize the Zero Heights and open the road to Berlin, Rokossov Ski convened an emergency military meeting with his subordinates to plan the next steps for each group army.
In this battle of Eastern Pomerania that lasted for more than a month, Sokov's 48th Army had been acting as a spectator. In the following battle, Rokossovsky planned to take on the most arduous task. Leave the task to them.
Rokossovsky said in front of the commanders attending the meeting: "Comrade commanders, after more than a month of hard fighting, we finally completed the Eastern Pomerania campaign assigned to us by the base camp. It dealt a heavy blow to The Vistula Army Group under the command of Shimlai made them unable to launch any form of active attack on us. Next, our task is to fight with Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belarusian Front and Marshal Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front. Together with the front army, march towards Berlin!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire venue burst into warm applause. Although everyone knew that after the Battle of Eastern Pomerania, the next move would be to march to Berlin, but when they heard Rokossovsky say this personally, the commanders present could not control themselves. Emotionally, he received warm applause for his speech.
Rokossovsky paused, wanting to wait until the applause stopped. But after waiting for a while, he found that the applause not only did not stop, but became more enthusiastic. In desperation, he could only raise his hands and press down a few times to signal everyone to stop applauding.
After finally waiting for all the applause to stop and the room to become quiet again, Rokossovsky continued: "In the Battle of Eastern Pomerania, the troops of each group army were weakened to varying degrees. At the same time, , a lot of ammunition has also been consumed. Therefore, in the next period of time, the front army headquarters will seize the time to replenish you with soldiers, weapons and ammunition. During your replenishment period, all combat tasks will be carried out by General Sokov The 48th Group Army will complete it."
When everyone heard what Rokossovsky said, they couldn't help but feel a little defensive, thinking that their troops had fought bloody battles on the battlefield some time ago, while Sokov's 48th Army was watching the fun. After finally waiting until the end of the battle, all the units were disabled and had to stop and recuperate. The 48th Army, which had been recuperating, was qualified to take the lead in launching an attack in the direction of Berlin.
Some people wanted to stand up and protest against Rokossovsky’s arrangements, but then they thought about it. Not only did Rokossovsky value Sokov, but the results achieved by the group army since the beginning of Operation Bagration were not theirs. What can be compared is that if you really protest, the person who will be unable to step down in the end may be you. Thinking of this, those who originally wanted to raise objections all shut their mouths. No one wanted to be the one who stood out.
When Rokossovsky expressed his thoughts, he was also worried that the commanders below would say that he was biased. By arranging such an important combat mission for Sokov's troops, he was giving up the greatest honor in the future to the 48th Army. . But after waiting for a while, he found that no one spoke, seeming to acquiesce to his arrangement, and he couldn't help but feel relieved. The reason why he has not let Sokov's troops take the field is because after entering Berlin, he must have a strong force to attack the symbol of Germany, the Reichstag, and the only force capable of this task is Sokov. Apart from the 48th Group Army, there are no other units.
Now that no one opposed his arrangement, Rokossovsky called Sokov up and told him in front of everyone: "General Sokov, the task your army has accepted is glorious and arduous. Whether you can be the first to seize the Reichstag in Berlin and win an honor worthy of being recorded in history for our Second Belarusian Front depends on your performance."
Now that everything has been said, it would be somewhat unjustifiable for Sokov not to express his position. He quickly straightened his body and said loudly: "Comrade Marshal, please rest assured that I will never betray your trust in me. I assure you that as long as my 48th Army enters Berlin, it will definitely be the first to capture Berlin." The troops of the Reichstag let the honor that belongs to our Second Belarusian Front go down in history forever.”
When Sokov said this, he was secretly thinking that if it was really the troops under his command who were the first to capture the Reichstag in Berlin, then the victory flag that would appear in later generations and the number written on it should be " 1st Belorussian Front Assault 3rd Army Infantry 79th Army 150th Division" became "2nd Belorussian Front 48th Army".
