,!
Runev snatched the telegram and quickly read its contents. After seeing the telegram, he stamped his feet anxiously and said repeatedly: "It's over, it's over, I forgot about it this time. The troops of Marshal Zhukov and Konev have arrived outside Berlin, no matter how fast our army advances, , and it is impossible to enter Berlin ahead of them."
"Comrade Military Commissar, maybe there will be an exception?" But Sidorin said reluctantly: "What if Zhukov and Marshal Konev's troops were stubbornly blocked by the German army outside Berlin, and they would be unable to do anything for a long time. If we move forward and our army accelerates its march, we still have a chance to become the first unit to enter Berlin."
"This is impossible." Although Lunev is not a military commander, he knows many things in his heart. He shook his head and said: "If we want to enter Berlin ahead of friendly forces, we must use airborne troops. Only in this way can we A chance to be the first unit to enter Berlin."
"Comrade Military Commissar, your idea is good, but there is no possibility of it being realized." Sokov vetoed Lunev's statement: "The German army has three huge air defense towers in Berlin, and slow-moving transport planes entered the sky above Berlin. , will become their target. At that time, our paratroopers will be shot to pieces by the German anti-aircraft guns before they can parachute. And even if some paratroopers are lucky enough to successfully parachute, I am afraid that they will be garrisoned in the city after landing. The whole army was wiped out during the encirclement and suppression."
"So, we have missed out on the honorary title of being the first to break into the army." Sidorin said disappointedly: "Hey, now that the war is going on, the commanders and soldiers want to rush into Berlin and occupy the Reichstag Building to see with their own eyes to the destruction of the invaders.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I have a hunch." Sokov tried hard to recall some of what he knew, and found that although Rokossovsky's Second Belarusian Front participated in the attack on Berlin, it seemed that it did not Can enter Berlin. Therefore, he felt that it was necessary to inoculate Sidorin and Runev, lest they find out that by the end of the war, their troops would not have a chance to enter Berlin and feel disappointed: "Maybe our army group will not have a chance to enter Berlin at all. Berlin."
"What, we have no chance to enter Berlin?" Hearing what Sokov said, Sidorin suddenly became excited: "Comrade Commander, we have made so many sacrifices to eliminate the German invaders. How can we see victory in sight? Why don’t you let us enter Berlin?”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is what I think about." Sokov said to Sidorin: "If the Berlin Battle launched by our army lasts for a long time, then in order to completely defeat the enemy for the first time, after our front army has eliminated the enemy on the front, It is indeed possible to participate in the attack on Berlin. But if the capture of Berlin is short-lived, we have no chance of participating in the war at all."
"No way." Sidorin expressed doubts about Sokov's statement: "In any case, Berlin is a big city, and there are hundreds of thousands of German troops defending it. If you want to win this It will take at least several months to build a city.”
Lunev agreed with Sidorin's statement: "Misha, I think the Chief of Staff is right. The German army spent 200 days trying to capture Stalingrad, but in the end it ended in failure. . A city as huge as Berlin, even if our army's offensive is fierce, may not be able to take it down at all in three or four months. Therefore, I think we still have a chance to participate in the attack on Berlin."
In order to persuade Sokov, Runev continued: "On April 12, President Roosevelt passed away. The Germans who learned the news were like a shot in the arm. They felt that Roosevelt's death was a good thing for them. , because they can negotiate peace with the new president. Secondly, yesterday, April 20, was Mustache’s birthday. In order to celebrate the birthday of their head of state, the German SS launched counterattacks in many areas and achieved some results. .”
After hearing this, Sokov just smiled indifferently and asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, I wonder what you want to express by saying this?"
"Misha, what I mean is very simple." Lunev said: "The death of Roosevelt and Mustache's birthday alone are enough to stimulate the German army to continue fighting our army crazily. I even have an ominous premonition. , the Germans might draw troops from the Western Front and use them to deal with us."
Sidorin retorted: "If the Germans mobilize troops from the Western Front, wouldn't they be even more unable to stop the Allied offensive?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't you hear what I just said?" Runev said with some displeasure: "With the death of Roosevelt, the Germans have once again seen the possibility of peace. They will open the channel to the Allies. road to Berlin, and move more troops to the front of our army, continue to fight our army, and prevent our army from entering Berlin."
"The military commissar is right," Sokov nodded: "With Roosevelt's death, his heir may not be so friendly with us, so there is the possibility of starting private peace negotiations with the German army again. And the Germans may Use this opportunity to bring more troops from the Western Front to continue fighting with us."
"It's almost dawn." Sidorin looked at the sky outside and said, "I wonder how we should attack today?"
"On the basis of consolidating the existing defense lines, continue to push the German army's defense depth." After Sokov said this, he asked Sidorin: "Has the construction of the pontoon bridge on the Oder River been completed?"
"So far, only the pontoon bridge from the East Oder River has been completed, and the construction of the pontoon bridge from the West Oder River has not yet started."
"It's too slow, it's simply too slow." Sokov said dissatisfied after hearing this: "Didn't the director of the engineering corps tell me that the construction of the pontoon bridge can be completed within eight hours? Now it has been almost 20 hours, and the result Only a pontoon bridge was built over the East Oder. If there is no pontoon bridge to the west bank, how will our tanks and artillery be transported across the river?"
"Comrade Commander, you don't have to worry about this." Sidorin said to Sokov: "The Front Army Headquarters mobilized several ferries overnight to help us transport the tanks and artillery we need from the West Bank."
"Oh, how many ferries have the Front Army Headquarters prepared for us?" Sokov felt much more at ease when he heard the news. With these ferries, more tanks and artillery can be transported in a very short period of time. to the west coast. Once the troops on the West Bank have these technical equipment, they will be able to better advance deeper into the German defenses.
The phone on the table rang, and Sokov grabbed the receiver: "I'm Sokov, where are you?"
"Misha, it's me. I'm Rokossovsky." Rokossovsky's slightly hoarse voice came from the receiver: "Have you received the notification from the front army headquarters?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal, I have received it." Sokov knew very well that being unable to participate in the attack on Berlin was a heavy blow to Rokossovsky. He quickly said: "If Zhukov Marshal and Marshal Konev's troops have reached the outskirts of Berlin, which means that the High Command may not let us participate in the attack on Berlin."
"Well, Misha, you are right." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "Based on various signs, our superiors will let us continue to advance westward and rush to the Elbe River to meet the oncoming Allied forces. Join forces and complete the siege of Berlin."
Listening to Rokossovsky talking about the Elbe River, Sokov immediately thought of the famous Elbe River rendezvous. But the next moment, he realized that the arrival of the Second Front Army at the Elbe River to join forces with the Allies was completely different from the meeting at the Elbe River recorded in the history books. The joining force recorded in history was Marshal Konev's First Ukrainian Front Army. . Rather than Rokossovsky's Second Belorussian Front.
Thinking of this, Sokov smiled bitterly and said: "We have been cooperating with the Allies for several years, and now we finally have the opportunity to join forces. This is really exciting news."
"Misha, it's too early to talk about joining forces." Rokossovsky said seriously on the phone: "Between our two armies, there are still a huge number of enemies. According to research by the Chief of Staff and I, As a result, in the next battle, the Germans will continuously transfer troops from the Western Front to strengthen the frontal defensive positions of our army. In other words, what we will face in the future will be fierce and bitter battles. The troops can I will be satisfied when I reach the outskirts of Berlin in mid-May."
When Sokov heard what Rokossovsky said, he whispered in his heart: "We can't wait that long. The Germans will surrender in early May. At that time, the enemies in front of us will stop resisting and some of them will flee to the Allies." The areas controlled by the army will surrender to the Allies; and more German troops will become our prisoners."
However, in order not to pour cold water on Rokossovsky, he still followed the other person's intention and said: "You are right, Comrade Marshal. I believe that with everyone's efforts, we will have a chance to reach Berlin in mid-May. Suburbs.”
After chatting with Sokov for a few more words, Rokossovsky put down the phone, and then said to Suboting who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, Misha knows that our army has no chance to enter Berlin, although it is inevitable that there will be some Disappointed, but his mentality is still very good.”
"Hey, Comrade Marshal, if you hadn't taken General Sokov's 48th Army from Zhukov's hands, they might have reached the outskirts of Berlin by now and were ready to rush into Berlin at any time." Subbotin Said with regret: "Now it seems that they have no chance to enter Berlin. I don't know how the commanders and fighters of the 48th Group Army will react when they know the news."
"Comrade Military Commissar, there is no way around this." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "You know, before November last year, I was the commander of the 1st Belarusian Front. I always thought that I commanded The troops will be the first to enter Berlin. But I never dreamed that I would be relieved of my post as commander of the First Front Army and transferred to the Second Front Army. Instead, we would be assigned an offensive direction. It’s the East Prussian region.”
"Yes, yes," Subbotin nodded and agreed: "If from the beginning, our attack direction was Berlin, we would probably have reached the outskirts of Berlin by now. As for which front unit was the first to enter Berlin? , it all depends on one’s ability.”
"Comrade Marshal," Bogolyubov also said beside him: "Actually, I think it is a waste for us to participate in the battle in East Prussia. You know, General Chernyakhovsky's Third Belarusian Army The Front and General Bagramyan’s Baltic Front are sufficient to complete the task of conquering East Prussia.”
Rokossovsky knew very well that the reason why the base camp ordered him to first attack East Prussia and then fight the German army in East Pomerania was to buy Zhukov time to let the Belarusian troops under his command first The Front became the first force to reach outside Berlin. However, some people know what's going on, but they can't say it out loud, lest they cause unnecessary trouble to themselves.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you can't say that." Rokossovsky said with a laugh: "If we don't attack East Prussia first, when our front army attacks westward, the enemies in East Prussia may start from our army. When we launch an attack from behind, we have to stop and turn around to deal with the enemy coming from behind."
"What Comrade Marshal said makes sense." Subbotin expressed support for Rokossovsky's statement: "Before the Battle of East Prussia started, the enemy force that retreated to the East Prussia area was very huge. It is difficult to defeat them with the troops of Chernyakhovsky and Bagramyan. For example, the troops commanded by General Chernyakhovsky laid siege as early as November last year The city of Memel was captured, but it was only captured in February this year, which shows that the enemy is very powerful. And our front army participated in the battle in the East Prussia area, speeding up the defeat of the German army..."
"Comrade Marshal." At this time, a staff officer came over and reported to Rokossovsky: "General Bartov called and said he wanted to talk to you."
Bartov was Rokossovsky's confidant. When he heard that the other party was calling, he guessed that there might be something important, so he walked over quickly and picked up the microphone on the table: "Batov Really? My name is Rokossovsky. Do you have anything important to ask me for?"
"Comrade Marshal, it's almost dawn." Bartov's loud voice came from the receiver: "This means that we will launch a new round of attacks on the German army again to expand the landing site we established."
"That's right, General Bartov, it's almost dawn and our attack is about to start again." Rokossovsky asked: "What are your plans?"
"I plan to focus on attacking the Stettin Fortress today." Batov said: "Only by taking this fortress, we will not be hit by artillery fire from the fortress during the battle to expand the landing site. But just relying on our Strength is far from enough, I hope to get the support of the front army headquarters."
"Hope to get support from the front army headquarters?" Rokossovsky asked: "What kind of support do you need?"
"Air cover." Batov said: "I hope the Air Force can dispatch bombers to bomb the fortress so that they cannot use artillery fire to bombard our attacking troops. In this way, we can arrive near the fortress as soon as possible and launch A full-scale attack.”
"You just want the support of the air force. This is a trivial matter." Rokossovsky said cheerfully: "I will call Vershinin immediately and ask him to send aviation forces to support you."
