After receiving Rokossovsky's instructions, Sokov was preparing to rest and reorganize his troops in the next period. However, Ponedelin proposed to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, although we
The troops suffered serious attrition during the battle, but their morale is extremely high. How about we take advantage of the high morale of the troops and launch another attack on the German troops in Poland. How about we start to rest and recuperate after occupying a new city?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin waited for Ponedelin to finish, then looked at Sokov and asked, "Do you intend to adopt this suggestion from the deputy commander?"
Sokov did not immediately express his attitude, but asked Ponedelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I want to ask you, if we continue to attack, which city do you plan to capture?"
"Here." Ponejelin pointed to Sedelce, which is less than a hundred kilometers west of Brest, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Sedelce is only 90 kilometers away from Warsaw. If
By capturing this city, we have a bridgehead to attack Warsaw."
Ponejelin's proposal is very tempting. Sokov's 48th Army is now the closest unit to Warsaw. If he really captures the city of Sedelce, the capital of Sedelce Province, he will be able to deter the defenders of Warsaw.
The army put them in a state of panic all day long.
"This suggestion is good." Sokov first agreed with Ponedelin's proposal, and then raised the problem that the troops are facing now: "But our troops are now too scattered and hastily launched an attack on Sedelce. I am worried that in the end
The city was not captured, but our attacking troops suffered heavy casualties."
Seeing that Sokov indirectly vetoed his own attack plan, Ponedelin felt a little disappointed. He said in a low mood: "Comrade Commander, I know what you are telling the truth. But our army suffered heavy losses, and the German army suffered heavy losses."
The losses are not small, and they have just suffered a disastrous defeat not long ago, and are in a state of disorganization and low morale. If we launch an attack now, I believe we will encounter much less resistance."
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov looked up at Ponedelin and asked: "Do you know which part of the German army is currently stationed in Sedelce?"
"I don't know." Ponedelin answered quite simply. He turned to Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do we have any information about the Sedelce garrison?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Deputy Commander, no." Sidorin said apologetically: "Our army has just entered Polish territory and is not familiar with the area, so we have not sent out reconnaissance personnel to conduct reconnaissance in the Sedrce area for the time being."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov waited for Sidorin to finish speaking and immediately ordered him: "Regardless of whether we will attack Sedelce in the near future, it is absolutely necessary to understand the strength and deployment of the German troops in the city.
of."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "I immediately called the director of the reconnaissance department and asked him to immediately send reconnaissance personnel to Sedelce to find out the strength and deployment of the German troops in the city."
"Also," Sokov continued: "If we really want to launch an attack on Sedelce, the existing troops will not be enough. We must also mobilize the two divisions currently deployed near Lublin.
Come back and make preparations for the attack."
"I agree." Ponejelin promptly expressed his agreement with Sokov's statement: "We must attack the German army with our strength and firmly hold the initiative on the battlefield in our hands.
.”
Just when Ponedelin said that he called the two division commanders and ordered them to withdraw, Sokov specifically added: "Comrade deputy commander, remember to tell the two division commanders that if they are not found on the hillside at this moment,
If there are useful things, leave one or two companies to continue searching, and the rest of the troops will be withdrawn first."
Ponedelin had a complicated expression on his face when he heard what Sokov said: "Comrade Commander, do you really think that there will be treasures buried by the Jews on the hillside of the concentration camp?"
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov nodded and replied in a positive tone: "I completely believe this."
Originally, Ponedelin was a little disapproving when he saw Sokov being so confident, but when he called Lyukikov, he heard the other party say excitedly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I have some good news for you."
"Good news, what good news?" Hearing the excitement in the other party's tone, Ponedelin unconsciously thought of what Sokov said not long ago, and asked tentatively: "You are not on the hillside of the concentration camp.
Did you find a treasure?"
The next moment, Liugekov said excitedly: "That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander, you guessed it completely. We did find treasures buried by Jews on the hillside of the concentration camp, and there were quite a lot of them.
.”
Ponedelin turned his head and glanced at Sokov, who was standing in front of the map by the wall, and muttered to himself: "Could Comrade Commander really be able to predict the future? Otherwise, how would he know that the Jews buried a large amount of property on the hillside of the concentration camp?"
Woolen cloth?"
"Comrade Colonel," Ponejelin withdrew his gaze and asked into the microphone, "I wonder what is there?"
"There are a lot of things," Liujikov said: "Jewelry, clocks, brushes, pipes, lighters, kitchen utensils, etc., I packed them in five or six boxes, and I also buried a lot of them in the soil..."
Hearing this, Ponedelin interrupted Liujikov's words: "What kind of harvest did Colonel Ismailov gain?"
"I think their harvest should be greater than ours." Liujikov said: "It was after they discovered the treasures buried underground that my subordinates made discoveries one after another."
"Comrade Colonel, we will have a new combat mission soon." Ponejelin said into the microphone: "As soon as the supply convoy of the 8th Guards Army arrives, hand over the concentration camp to them, and then you all withdraw.
Come on, do you understand?"
After learning that there was a new combat mission, Liujikov asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder where our next attack target will be?"
"This is a military secret. You will know it when you come back." Ponejelin said: "The troops responsible for the main attack this time should be the 1st and 6th Guards Divisions, and your two divisions are only the second
echelon."
"What, we are just the second echelon?" Liujikov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he learned that his troops could not serve as the main offensive. He even thought that if we did not come to this concentration camp to perform the mission, then we might not be able to do the next offensive mission.
, our division can take on the main offensive mission.
After Ponedelin put down the phone, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, you are really good at predicting things. Both division commanders found treasures buried by Jews on the hillside of the concentration camp, and there were quite a lot of them.
"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, is this all true?" Sidorin couldn't help but ask after hearing what Ponejelin said.
"Of course it's true." Ponejelin nodded and said, "Can I joke about this kind of thing?"
After confirming that what Ponedelin said was true, Sidorin asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we have found so much treasure, what should we do with it and return it to the Jews?"
"The owners of the treasures must have been killed in the concentration camps, and these treasures have become ownerless." Sokov said: "After the treasures are brought back, I will personally hand them over to the front army headquarters for Comrade Marshal to dispose of them.
these things."
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov's mind at the moment was not on the Jewish treasures. He was thinking about how to capture Sedelce. He pointed at the map and said to Ponejelin and Sidorin: "Deputy Commander
, Chief of Staff, I just thought about it carefully. If we attack from Brest, it will take two days for the troops to march on the road. If the attack goes wrong, we will not even have a place to stay. So, I plan to
Choose the first target of attack here in Mienzirec."
"The first attack target was chosen to be Mienzirec?" Sidorin stared at the location on the map and said with some hesitation: "Comrade Commander, according to the intelligence we obtained in advance, this city was occupied by our army at the end of September 1939.
Occupation. In early October of the same year, due to the Soviet-German non-aggression treaty, our country ceded the city to the Germans. With the transfer of governance, about 2,000 Jewish citizens left their original places of residence for the Soviet-occupied areas, while the Germans in the city
Establish a Jewish ghetto with a capacity of 20,000 prisoners."
"Jewish ghetto?!" Hearing what Sidorin said, Sokov said with some surprise: "In this way, this city is equivalent to a concentration camp."
"It is possible." Sidorin said: "If the German Jewish ghetto still exists, after we occupy this city, we may face new supply problems."
But Ponedelin said: "Regardless of the residents living in the city or the imprisoned Jews, only by capturing this city can we shorten the distance to attack Sedelce."
"I agree with the deputy commander," Sokov continued: "Once we capture Mienzirec, it is only thirty kilometers away from Sedelce. Even if our troops march on foot, it will take at most half a day to reach it.
Outskirts of the city.”
When the three of them were studying the deployment of the attack, Koshkin ran in from outside and said to Sokov in a panic: "Comrade Commander, a big shot is coming!"
"A big shot is here?!" Sokov asked disapprovingly: "Who is it?"
"General Bulganin, Military Commissar of the Front."
"Oh, General Bulganin is here." When he learned that it was Bulganin who was here, Sokov said to himself: "What's wrong with Koshkin? It's not like you haven't seen a big shot before, but you're just a front military commissar. I'll let you behave."
He was so rude. But he didn't blame the other party, he just asked casually: "Is there anyone else?"
"Yes. Comrade Commander."
"who is it?"
"It's Comrade Khrushchev."
Koshkin's words shocked Sokov. You must know that Khrushchev was now sent to Ukraine by Stalin to take charge of the work in Ukraine. But now his troops are in Belarus and Poland, and he ran over
do what?
When Khrushchev and Bulganin walked in side by side, Sokov and others quickly stepped forward to salute, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Khrushchev, General Bulganin, why are you here at my headquarters?"
?”
Bulganin said with a smile: "I heard that your troops fought well, and we came here specially to see you."
When Khrushchev shook hands with Sokov, he smiled and said: "Comrade Sokov, we meet again."
"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev." Although Sokov could not remember the last time they met, he still responded politely: "We haven't met for a long time."
"I heard from Yakov," Khrushchev did not immediately let go of Sokov's hand, but continued: "Two years ago, when you and Yakov went to Nizhny Novgorod, we had
I saved Leonid’s life, is it true?”
Khrushchev's words reminded Sokov of what happened in Nizhny Novgorod two years ago. At that time, Yakov took himself to Leonid's friend's house as a guest. Leonid was drunk because he was drunk.
He put a pistol to his head and shot. He originally thought it was an empty gun, but he didn't expect that there was a bullet in it. If Sokov hadn't pushed his hand away in time, I'm afraid the bullet would have killed him.
He was shot in the head.
Two years have passed since this incident. If Khrushchev hadn't mentioned it, Sokov would have completely forgotten about it. He chuckled twice and said: "I didn't do anything at the time, I just watched him shoot the gun."
When I put it on my forehead, I was worried that he was in danger, so I raised his hand up, but I didn't expect that there were actually bullets in the gun."
After Ponedelin asked Khrushchev and Bulganin to sit down, he asked people to bring them tea and snacks, and said with a smile: "You have worked hard all the way, drink some tea and eat something first."
Unexpectedly, Khrushchev neither drank tea nor ate snacks, but said to himself: "I left the army in the 1920s and worked as the deputy mine director of the Ruchenkov Mine in Ukraine.
In 1922, there was a famine in the mining areas of Donbas, and even horrific cannibalism occurred. The situation in the countryside was worse than in the mining areas. My ex-wife died in the famine in 1921. Her death made me devastated. I am a
I have two children to take care of, my son Leonid and my daughter Yulia.”
Sidorin didn't know the situation of Khrushchev's family members. After the other party finished speaking, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Khrushchev, are your son and daughter okay?"
"Chief of Staff Sidorin!" As soon as he spoke, Bulganin said sternly: "Don't you know that Comrade Khrushchev's son Leonid has died in an air battle with the Germans?
?"
At this time, Sokov no longer cared whether Khrushchev's son died in an air battle or was captured and executed by Stalin's men after surrendering to the enemy. He only wanted to know what the real purpose of Khrushchev's coming here was.
"I'm sorry, Comrade Khrushchev." Sidorin, who was scolded by Bulganin, immediately realized that he had said the wrong flower and quickly apologized to Khrushchev: "I don't know the situation at your home. If
If I made any mistakes, please forgive me."
Fortunately, Khrushchev did not argue with Sidorin. He waved to him first, then turned to Sokov and said: "Misha, I came here today because I have something important to tell you.
"
"Please speak, Comrade Khrushchev." Sokov made a gesture of invitation to Khrushchev and said respectfully: "I am all ears."