Yakov was about to speak, but Sokov raised his hand to stop him: "Yasha, I think our conversation may not be finished in a short while. We can't stand here all the time. It's better to find a place to sit.
Let's talk." He looked around and saw a pavilion not far away with a relatively wide view. Sitting in it, you can see people coming from any direction. It is a very suitable place to sit and chat.
Yakov knew very well that some things were not suitable to be said in the house. After all, no one knew whether there were bugs inside. If he said something that he shouldn't have said, it might cause unnecessary trouble.
He nodded and followed Sokov to the pavilion.
The two came to the pavilion and sat opposite each other in front of the stone table. Yakov asked: "Misha, do you know about the Battle of Prague?"
Apart from knowing that Prague is the capital of Czechoslovakia, Sokov had no idea about the Battle of Prague that Yakov asked about. So he shook his head and answered truthfully: "Yasha, I have never heard of the Battle of Prague.
Can you tell me what's going on?"
Even though Sokov's military rank is much higher than that of Yakov, since he is only a group army commander, the situations he can be exposed to are very limited. The situation with Yakov is different. After all, he is the third Belarusian Front.
The deputy chief of staff can obtain information from various channels that he cannot obtain.
"This matter also starts with Mustache's suicide." Yakov said: "Admiral Dönitz succeeded as the head of state of the German Empire after Mustache's death. He gave a radio speech on the evening of May 1,
The German troops on the Eastern Front were required to continue fighting and to resist tenaciously even if they were attacked by the British and American Allied Forces.
But two days later, he sent the new naval commander Fredericburg to contact the British Marshal Montgomery and put forward a proposal for partial surrender..."
"What is partial surrender?" Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but interjected and asked.
"The so-called partial surrender means that the German army only surrendered to the British and American troops, but not to the Soviet army." Yakov sneered and said: "After Montgomery asked Churchill for instructions, he agreed to Dönitz's proposal, and two days later,
Accepted the surrender of the German Army Group G and the 19th Army."
At this moment, Sokov thought that when he returned from Montgomery, he encountered a unit that surrendered to the US military. This unit must have belonged to Army Group G or the 19th Army. He nodded and said thoughtfully: "
At that time, I had just returned from the British garrison and encountered a German army on the road. They were ordered to surrender to the American troops who entered the British defense zone."
"In order to completely end the war, the Supreme Command decided to capture Prague as soon as possible and annihilate the German Army Group Center that entered Czechoslovakia." Yakov continued: "When our army attacked Berlin, because my father came forward, the order was originally prepared to attack.
Konev, who entered Berlin, stopped advancing and instead allowed the 1st Belarusian Front commanded by Marshal Zhukov to take the lead in rushing into Berlin.
In order to make up for the regret of Marshal Konev, my father decided to let Marshal Konev command the Battle of Prague. The troops participating in the battle include the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, a total of 20 arms.
Combined army, 3 tank armies, 3 air force armies, 1 cavalry mechanized group, 1 independent infantry corps, 5 tank corps, 1 mechanized corps and 1 cavalry corps, with a strength of 1.77 million and 1,775 vehicles.
Tanks and self-propelled artillery, more than 27,000 artillery and mortars of various calibers, and 2,942 combat aircraft. The total strength of the Polish 2nd Army, the Romanian 1st and 4th Army, and the Czechoslovak 1st Army that cooperated with our army
About 200,000 people.”
Sokov never dreamed that after the German army in Berlin announced its surrender, the Soviet army would actually dispatch such a large force to launch a comprehensive attack on the German army entrenched in Czechoslovakia.
"When our army moved south, the Allied forces also entered Czechoslovakia. Knowing that the troops liberating themselves had entered the territory, the citizens of Prague took active action. They cleared various German symbols in the city and wrote anti-
German slogan. Although there were tens of thousands of German troops stationed in Prague at the time, they were unable to prevent the riots in the city because they were not a unified organization. The German garrison commander gave a speech on the radio, hoping to prevent the Czechoslovaks from hostile actions.
, but it had no effect.
On May 5, there were rumors in the city that the US military had arrived in the west of Prague and was about to enter the city. This rumor successfully boosted the morale of the residents in the city, and the original riot turned into an uprising. After they seized the radio station,
An appeal was issued to the citizens, hoping that they would take action to drive the Germans out of Prague. Instigated by radio propaganda, the number of insurrectionists in the city reached more than 30,000 by evening. They liberated their compatriots in prison and
The captured Germans were put in prison. Barricades were even built on the streets in preparation for the German counterattack."
When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but thought. Isn't this a replica of the Warsaw Uprising? I don't know who is the strongest compared to the Czechoslovaks and the Poles. If the two are evenly matched, then this hasty
If an uprising is launched, there is a possibility of failure. But what Yakov said next shocked him.
"Just when the rebels in the city thought there would be a fierce battle with the Germans, a force entered Prague. But not only did they not exchange fire with the rebels in the city, on the contrary, they also took the initiative to express their willingness to support the rebels and conquer all Germans.
They drove them away. Misha, guess who is commanding this army?"
Sokov was stunned for a moment, but then he thought of Vlasov, whom Yakov had mentioned many times today, and asked tentatively: "Yasha, is it possible that the troops that entered Prague and chose to cooperate with the rebels were
The Russian Liberation Army commanded by Vlasov?”
Yakov gave Sokov a thumbs up: "Misha, you are so amazing, you actually guessed who I was talking about right away."
Sokov secretly thought that the Russian Liberation Army commanded by Vlasov was mainly composed of Soviet prisoners of war and Russian expatriates living in Europe. The total strength was about 50,000 people. With their assistance, it should be impossible to defend Prague.
Question. But when he took the initiative to help the Czechoslovaks at this moment, he just wanted to leave a way out for himself.
Seeing that Sokov had stopped talking, Yakov continued: "On the second day of the Prague uprising, Commander Scheerner of the German Army Group Center issued two orders to all officers and soldiers. The first was according to the new head of state Denny
Following the instructions of Prague, he led the troops to retreat westward and then surrendered to the US military; the second was to send SS troops into Prague to eliminate the rebels in the city and ensure the safety of the German army's westward retreat.
As the order was issued, the German SS troops entered Prague and started a street battle with the rebels in the city. Just as the rebels were gradually at a disadvantage, Vlasov led his troops to Prague and joined the
The rebel army thus reversed the war situation in the city and took control of the main areas of the city."
"I heard that Vlasov only has 50,000 troops under his command," Sokov interjected: "If Scherner throws more troops into Prague, I don't think Vlasov can withstand it at all.
"
"Misha, your information is out of date." Yakov said with a smile: "Vlasov has more than 50,000 men, but 100,000 people." Seeing Sokov's confused look,
, he continued to add, "They are all those Eastern battalions that were active in our country in the past few years. Because the Germans were worried that they would be instigated by our army to rebel, after the Battle of Stalingrad, they withdrew these troops to Europe and let them
Dealing with the guerrillas active in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary and other places. Now that the Germans were about to fail, these Eastern battalions defected to Vlasov one after another, allowing his troops to grow in a very short period of time.
"
"Yasha, although I very much despise Vlasov's character, I still admire his military commanding ability." Sokov looked at Yakov and said: "If there was an uprising in Warsaw, Poland, there would be someone like him.
With troop support, maybe we can liberate Warsaw much earlier. And after he leads the troops into Prague, he will have enough strength to compete with the Germans. I believe Prague will not become the second Warsaw."
"Misha, you are right." Yakov nodded and agreed with Sokov: "As long as Vlasov's troops are in Prague, the Germans will not have more than half a year to seize the city.
It is simply impossible. But our army and the Allied forces entering Czechoslovakia simply cannot give the Germans such a long time.
General Patton's troops crossed the dividing line previously agreed with us and arrived at the western city of Pilsen in a very short period of time. Because Allied Commander-in-Chief Eisenhower was worried that Patton would advance too fast and would misunderstand our army, so he
He was ordered to stop advancing. It was precisely because of the arrival of the US military that the Germans did not dare to concentrate their forces to attack Prague, thus giving Vlasov and the rebels in the city a breathing space.
The rapid advance of our army to the south and the attack of the Second Ukrainian Front forced the German 17th Army and the right wing of the 4th Armored Group to choose to retreat. Our 4th Army Group and the Polish 2nd Army launched behind them.
Pursuit. The troops southeast of Prague also repelled the German 8th Army that was stationed here, occupied the city south of Prague, and approached the suburbs of Prague..."
When Sokov listened to Yakov's story, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It was such a crushing defeat. Army Group Center could be regarded as the elite of the German army. Unexpectedly, it collapsed in just a few days. Even Prague could not be saved.
860,000 people were captured, including 60 generals. Such a record is probably only comparable to the Battle of Kiev where the German army annihilated the Southwest Front in the early stages of the war.
"What about Vlasov?" Sokov knew very well that Yakov told himself the details of the Battle of Prague. The main purpose was still related to Vlasov, so he asked tentatively: "He died in the battle.
Or was he captured alive?"
"On his way to escape the US military zone in an armored vehicle, he was stopped by soldiers of our 25th Tank Corps and was taken prisoner."
"It's a pity, it's such a pity." Sokov shook his head and said: "If he had been killed by German bullets in the battle to defend Prague, he might still have become a great hero in the hearts of Czechoslovak people, and he might still be a hero in the future.
A sculpture will be erected for him to commemorate his great achievements. But now that he has become a prisoner of our army, I feel that the fate that awaits him is probably death."
"Yes, Misha, you are right." Yakov nodded and said seriously: "That's why I want to talk to you privately. I know you have a lot of ideas, but I don't know if you can