Perhaps hearing Sokov's resolute attitude, Zhukov thought for a moment, and then readily agreed to Sokov's request: "Misha, I will report your matter to the Supreme Commander himself. I believe he is understanding.
After understanding your situation, I will fulfill your wish."
"Great, Comrade Marshal, this is great." Thinking that he could follow Vasilevsky to teach the Kwantung Army a lesson in a few months, Sokov couldn't help but beam with joy: "I express my sincere gratitude to you.
grateful!"
"Misha, don't be in a hurry to thank me." Zhukov said: "I only promised to report your request to the Supreme Commander himself, but I don't know yet whether he will agree. If you fail to go by then, don't blame me.
"
"How can this be possible, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said with a chuckle: "As long as you report my request to the Supreme Commander himself, whether I can go or not depends on my luck. Even if I can't go, I will
I don’t mean to blame you at all.”
"By the way, I'm calling you to ask when your chief of staff will be here?"
"When will my chief of staff come over?" After Sokov said this, he suddenly remembered that Rokossovsky had told him that he was going to say hello to Zhukov so that Sidorin could go to Berlin and get close to Chuikov.
The 8th Guards Army visited his son and asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, Marshal Rokossovsky called you?"
"Yes, Koschka called me last night and explained the situation of your chief of staff." Zhukov explained to Sokov: "You may not know that Chuikov is injured. I'm worried that he doesn't want to see outsiders.
I just called him specifically to ask for his opinion. Unexpectedly, he told me that your chief of staff, General Sidorin, used to be his deputy director of the operations department during the early days of the Battle of Stalingrad...
"
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov was shocked to learn that Chuikov was injured, and quickly asked: "How did General Chuikov get injured? Is the injury serious?" Although he knew that Chuikov was promoted to marshal after the end of World War II.
Now that there is a butterfly like myself who does not belong to this era, I wonder if it will disturb the original history and cause this post-war marshal to be killed by the last bullet before the end of the war.
"After Chuikov made an appointment with Krebs, the German Chief of General Staff, he took his chief of staff to the agreed place to wait. Unexpectedly, he was shot coldly by the enemy and his left leg and knee were injured. The injuries were not serious, but
You need crutches when walking.”
Knowing that Chuikov's injury was not serious, Sokov's heart hanging in his throat finally returned to his stomach. He said into the microphone: "It's okay, it's okay. Now the Germans have surrendered, and for most people
For me, this damn war is over. If something unexpected happens at this time, it’s really not worth it.”
"By the way, when will your chief of staff be here?" Zhukov continued to ask: "I'd better arrange for someone to pick him up in advance. We just occupied Berlin and it's a bit uneasy outside. I'm afraid it will take a while to return to normal. If not
If someone goes to pick him up, something unexpected might happen."
After hearing what Zhukov said, Sokov muttered to himself that the streets of Berlin during this period were probably really not peaceful. Not only did the victorious Soviet commanders and soldiers started to collect loot and enjoy life in the city, but the American troops on the other side were probably
He didn't want to go up or down. If Sidorin entered Berlin rashly, he might really encounter danger. He quickly said: "My comrade, the military commissar, is seriously ill, and the chief of staff stayed to take care of him. Maybe we need to wait for two or three days."
Only then can we return.”
"Okay then." Zhukov said: "When you confirm the time for Sidorin to come to Berlin, remember to call me and let me know. If I'm not here, you can tell Malinin. Anyway, he is an old acquaintance with you. Remember
?"
"Remember, Comrade Marshal." Sokov quickly replied: "I will call you as soon as my chief of staff comes back."
Sidorin and Runev returned to the army headquarters the next morning.
Seeing the appearance of the two men, Sokov hurriedly greeted him, took Lunev's hand and asked with concern: "Comrade Military Commissar, have you recovered from your illness?"
Listening to Sokov's question, Lunev looked very embarrassed: "Misha, in fact, there is nothing serious. It's just that I drank too much. But unfortunately, I just had an appendix operation some time ago, and the result was
I got an acute illness. But I took a day’s infusion of anti-inflammatory drugs and now I’m fine. Otherwise, the chief of staff and I wouldn’t be able to come back today.”
Since Lunev was fine, Sokov was relieved. He turned to Sidorin and asked: "Chief of Staff, are you tired?"
"I'm not tired." Sidorin thought that Sokov was going to arrange some work for him, so he quickly replied loudly: "If there is any work, you can directly tell me. My current mental state can be put into work at any time."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are mistaken. When I asked you if you were tired, I did not intend to arrange work for you." Sokov waved his hands and said, "I did it for another thing."
"Another thing, what is it?"
"When I was with the British, I told you that Comrade Marshal Rokossovsky promised to let you go to Berlin to visit your son in Chuikov's 8th Guards Army." Sokov said with a smile: "
If you are not tired now, you can set off immediately."
Hearing that he could go to Berlin to meet his son, Sidorin suddenly became excited and said repeatedly: "I'm not tired, I'm not tired, I'm not tired at all. Comrade Commander, when can I leave for Berlin?"
Sokov knew very well that when Sidorin heard about the opportunity to see his son, he couldn't sit still and wanted to leave immediately. However, Sokov had promised Zhukov yesterday that if Sidorin went to Berlin
, you need to call him in advance and ask him to send someone to pick up Sidorin.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, let me call Marshal Zhukov first and tell him that you are going to Berlin."
After hearing what Sokov said, Sidorin hurriedly waved his hands and said: "Comrade Commander, I just went to Berlin to visit my son. There is no need to alarm Marshal Zhukov for such a trivial matter."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, our army has just occupied Berlin, and there is still no peace in the city. If you go there rashly, I'm afraid you will be in danger." Sokov said seriously: "So Marshal Zhukov specially told me that once you decide which day
When going to Berlin, be sure to inform him in advance, he will send someone to pick you up."
Now that Sokov had already spoken to this extent, Sidorin knew that it was obviously inappropriate for him to shirk again, so he could only follow Sokov's arrangement.
Seeing that Sidorin had no objections, Sokov picked up the phone on the table and asked the communications soldier to connect him to the headquarters of the 1st Belarusian Front, preparing to report Sidorin's trip to Berlin to Zhukov.
Make notifications.
Unexpectedly, the person who answered the phone was Deputy Commander Sokolovsky. After listening to what Sokov said, he said with some confusion: "Marshal Zhukov is not here, and he has not explained this matter. You
See if you can wait until Comrade Marshal comes back before you call him?"
Sokov felt dissatisfied with Sokolovsky in his heart. It's a big deal. As the deputy commander of the front army, you can just send two guards at will. You don't have to wait for Zhukov to come back before asking for instructions.
What? Besides, Zhukov had just gone out and it was still unknown when he would come back. How did he know when it was appropriate to call?
Just when Sokov was at a loss, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from the receiver: "Comrade Deputy Commander, who are you talking to?" The speaker was none other than Chief of Staff Malinin.
I happened to come back from outside and happened to hear what Soklovsky said.
"It was a call from General Sokov, the commander of the 48th Group Army." Sokolovsky explained to Malinin: "He said that his chief of staff was coming to Berlin and wanted us to send a few people to respond.
Marshal Zhukov personally explained the matter."
"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." Malinin waited for Sokolovsky to finish, and then quickly added: "Marshal Zhukov did explain this matter, and specifically told General Sokov that if he called, he would
If you are not here, let me arrange the manpower."
After figuring out what was going on, Sokolovsky handed the microphone in his hand to Malinin.
Malinen took the phone and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, General Sokov, I just went out to do some business and didn't receive your call in time. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind, I don't mind." Sokov had a good relationship with Malinin, so he naturally spoke politely: "My chief of staff, General Sidorin, will enter the city from the east of Berlin in an hour. I hope
You can send someone to pick him up."
"No problem, no problem. I will immediately ask the security department to arrange manpower to meet General Sidorin at the east entrance to the city." After Malinin said this, he suddenly asked Sokov tentatively: "General Sokov,
I wonder how the Marshal is doing lately?"
Hearing Malinin's question, Sokov was stunned for a moment. Then he realized that the marshal Malinin was asking was Rokossovsky, and quickly replied: "He is very good. He personally took us to the British Army two days ago."
defense area, and met with Marshal Montgomery. Chief of Staff Malinen, if you have time, you are welcome to visit our Second Front."
"If I have time, I will."
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he said to Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, I have already agreed with General Malinin. He will send someone to wait for you at the eastern entrance of Berlin. You should drive there now. For you
For your own safety, I asked Captain Koshkin to go with you."
Sidorin made no sense to Sokov's arrangement. He nodded and got up and left. He went out to find Koshkin and contact the vehicle. After all, he was the chief of staff of the group army. It was more difficult for him to come forward on this matter than Sokov's.
convenient.
Not long after Sidorin left, Sokov received a call from Rokossovsky: "Misha, have your chief of staff and military commissar returned to the headquarters?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov glanced at Runev, who was sitting not far away, and replied: "The military commissar and the chief of staff are back. But the chief of staff has just left to see his son in Berlin.
I'm afraid it will take two days to come back."
"Since your chief of staff is not here, you can only be responsible for the new tasks."
Hearing that there was a new mission, Sokov immediately became vigilant and thought to himself, what kind of mission would it be? Could it be that the enemy somewhere refused to surrender and Rokossovsky planned to send his own troops to destroy them? He thought
Here, he quickly asked: "Comrade Marshal, I don't know what the combat mission is? Please give the order. I will successfully complete the mission assigned by you."
"I have just received a notice from the Supreme Command, asking us to arrest Nazis in the controlled area." Rokossovsky said in a stern tone: "Whether they are those who escaped home from the army or local people
All Nazis must be arrested and kept under close guard."
"After arresting them, what should we do with them?" When Sokov asked this, he was thinking that if he ordered them all to be executed, it would definitely be the easiest thing to do. He would drag them to some abandoned mine, shoot them, and put the bodies inside.
Throw it away and seal the mine. Isn’t that how the young men in the Young Guards were killed by the Germans, and then all the bodies were thrown into the mine. The frantic enemy was worried that some people were not dead, so they threw them away
Several minecarts enter.
"No, no, no, we can't all be shot." But Rokossovsky retorted: "Not all Nazis are heinous. They can be imprisoned first and undergo strict screening before they are shot.
Corresponding handling. As for the specific handling method, I will inform you after receiving the order from the supreme commander."
Sokov then asked: "Should they be kept alone or together with the German prisoners of war?"
"Whether it is a prisoner of war camp or a concentration camp, it will still have to be demolished two years after it is built. There is no need for us to waste manpower and material resources in this area." Rokossovsky said: "Just lock them in the same building as the German prisoners of war.
In the prisoner-of-war camp, they must be held separately to prevent these people from inciting the prisoners in the prisoner-of-war camp to riot."
"I understand, Comrade Marshal, I will handle this matter properly."
After Sokov ended the call with Rokossovsky, he told Lunev the story and finally asked: "How many thousands of German prisoners are currently held in our army group, if we add those who are about to be captured,
The Nazis, I’m afraid the dozen or so prisoner-of-war camps we have now are not enough.”
"This is easy to do, just build a few more." Lunev said with a smile: "If you are worried about the waste of manpower and material resources in establishing prisoner of war camps, we can completely let the local residents participate in the construction, and according to their workload
, to distribute food to them. In this way, it not only solves the problem of food shortage of local residents, but also avoids the emergence of some unstable factors."