After introducing the troops participating in the exercise, Deputy Chief of Staff Ivanov continued to speak.
Sokov looked at the lieutenant general rank on the deputy chief of staff's shoulder straps and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Ivanov graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1930. After graduation, he entered the Leningrad Military District Headquarters as a staff officer. Because of his outstanding performance, he was officially transferred to the General Staff Headquarters in 1936.
During the Battle of the Halekha River in August 1939, due to the need to build a new Stern Group belonging to the Far Eastern Front Command, Stalin urged the General Staff to report to him the detailed whereabouts of General Stern. And Ivanov received
After Schenter sent the telegram to Chita, he took it for granted that he would be able to reach the battlefield in one hour, so he reported it based on this judgment. As a result, Stalin became furious the next day when he received a report that Schenter was stranded at Chita Airport due to bad weather.
.
Because of this incident, Ivanov was sent to a military court and kicked out of the General Staff. He served as chief of staff of the 25th Army of the Far Eastern Front and was promoted to major general on April 6, 1940.
After the outbreak of the Patriotic War, he served as acting commander of the 15th Army. In 1942, due to the lack of experienced staff officers, he was transferred back to the General Staff as deputy chief of staff. Unexpectedly, he was discovered by Stalin not long after, and Stalin could not tolerate lying.
The man stayed in front of him and prepared to drive him away again. Fortunately, Vasilevsky came forward to persuade Stalin on the grounds that talents were rare. Although Stalin temporarily compromised, he also put forward a condition, Ivano
My husband can stay at the General Staff Headquarters, but I can never appear in front of him.
Sokov secretly thought, if Ivanov had not made such a small mistake back then, he might be the chief of general staff now. As for the military rank, even if he is not a marshal, he might be a general, and he would not be like today.
, still carrying the lieutenant general’s military rank plaque.
After Ivanov finished speaking, it was Shtemenko who spoke.
"Marshals, generals and comrades." Shtemenko said: "Next, I want to talk about Austria.
On March 29, 1945, 600,000 Chinese troops with the Second and Third Ukrainian Fronts as the core marched into Austria. On April 15, Vienna was liberated. At the end of April, we established a provisional government in Austria.
At the same time, Austria announced its separation from Nazi Germany and initially established a control system over Austria based on our army.
However, not all of Austria was liberated and controlled by us. Our troops entered Austria from the east and liberated part of its territory. However, the Western Allies were not willing to let our country take the sole credit. So at the end of April of the same year, British and American troops also entered from the west.
occupied Austrian territory: the British army occupied Kärnten, the US army stationed in Salzburg, and the French army moved into Vorarlberg. Even the Yugoslav army joined in the fun and occupied Carinthia and Stili in Austria.
Asia and put forward territorial claims to these two places. The occupying powers had different opinions on how to deal with Austria, making the Austrian issue more complicated.
Therefore, I suggest that the first stage of the exercise is to start with occupying the entire territory of Austria. The commander of the group of troops stationed in Austria today is the familiar General Malinin to all of us. He once served under Marshal Rokossovsky and Zhukov successively.
Under the command of the marshal..."
"General Shtemenko." Zhukov raised his hand and interrupted him: "We are all familiar with General Malinin's resume. Please tell us about the exercise plan you have formulated."
"I have just said that the first goal of our exercise is to occupy the entire territory of Austria and drive out the British, American and French troops entrenched in this country..."
"What about the Yugoslav army?" Bagramyan interjected.
"Yugoslavia is our true ally, and they will cooperate with our actions in the exercise." Shtemenko continued: "We will use the strength of two armies, divided into three lines, to attack Kernten and Salzburg at the same time.
Fort and Vorarlberg launched an attack to completely annihilate the British, American and French troops stationed in three areas. In this area, our army has a large number of troops and absolutely superior technical equipment. We will fight in three to five days.
Within this time, occupy the entire territory of Austria.”
"Comrade Minister of War, can I share my opinion?" Bagramyan interjected again.
"Please tell me, Comrade Bagramyan." Shtemenko made a gesture of invitation to the other party and said politely: "In the early days of the war, you served as the deputy chief of staff and chief of operations of the Western Front. You have rich experience.
With your experience as a consultant, please tell us your views.”
"If the plan mentioned by General Shtemenko was adopted one or two years ago, I think there would be no problem." Baghramyan said: "But as the United States dropped two bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two
A piece of..." When he said this, he suddenly became speechless, as if he couldn't think of the name of what he wanted to say.
"Atomic bomb." Konev reminded from the side.
"Yes, an atomic bomb is an atomic bomb." Bagramyan said with some excitement: "Fortunately, this is an exercise. If there is a real war, the Allies only need to confirm the area where our troops are gathering, and they will directly drop one
If the atomic bomb is dropped, our hundreds of thousands of troops will be wiped out. At that time, if the Allies take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, what kind of power will we use to resist their crazy attack?"
Bagramyan's words suddenly made the conference room noisy.
Many of the people present had participated in the August Storm. A few days before and after the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the island country of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, causing countless deaths to the residents of these two cities.
One hundred thousand casualties. Therefore, the generals and marshals present knew better than anyone what role the atomic bomb could play on the battlefield. Bagramyan’s words cast a shadow in everyone’s hearts. If it hadn’t been this time
Instead of conducting an exercise, they actually launched an attack on the British, American, and French Allied Forces. If the United States dropped atomic bombs on the area where the Soviet troops were gathering, wouldn't their own army be completely wiped out before they even entered the battlefield?
"Comrades, don't worry." Seeing some panic on the field, Zhukov came out to calm people: "I'll tell you a secret. In fact, our country started the research and development of atomic bombs as early as 1943. The Supreme Command established a
The special committee is responsible for the research and development of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of its establishment, the committee encountered many difficulties, including insufficient talents and backward equipment. However, the Supreme Command attached great importance to this work and invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources.
.In the next few years, our country's nuclear weapons development work has made great progress.
A few months ago, my country's first uranium reactor has started construction at a secret location. It is believed that this nuclear reactor will be put into use in at most three years, providing important raw materials for our country's atomic bomb."
Zhukov's words were a reassurance to the senior commanders present. If our own country can also build an atomic bomb, there is nothing to fear. If the Americans can throw atomic bombs on the battlefield, then we can also throw them.
, we have suffered heavy losses, and you can't forgive us either.
Shtemenko continued to describe the preliminary exercise plan formulated by the General Staff. The first step was to seize the entire Austria. It was followed by seizing German lands controlled by Britain, the United States and France, as well as countries such as Denmark and Belgium. Finally, the troops were divided into two groups.
, occupying France and Britain respectively.
Regarding the exercise plan of the General Staff, most people participating in the meeting expressed their opinions. Only Sokov, who was sitting in the corner, remained silent. He did not understand the post-war European pattern at all, except that he knew the August 1st
Apart from military exercises, it can be said that I know nothing about other things, and I cannot explain my views based on the situation at all.
Perhaps seeing that Sokov remained silent, Antonov and Zhukov exchanged glances and specifically named him: "General Sokov, do you have any different opinions on our exercise plan?
"
"No, Comrade Chief of General Staff." Hearing Antonov ask about himself, Sokov quickly stood up and replied: "I think the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff has taken into account all the issues that should be considered. I don't have anything to say."
I need to add something." After saying that, he sat down directly.
When Antonov heard Sokov say that he had no different opinions on the exercise plan, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes. According to his assumption, since Sokov was specially called by Zhukov, he would not agree with the plan formulated by the General Staff.
He would definitely put forward some unique insights into the exercise plan. Who knows, but the other party seemed to have some concerns and was unwilling to express his own opinions.
In desperation, Antonov could only shrug at Zhukov, hinting that I had asked him for his opinion, but he was unwilling to say it, and there was nothing I could do. Then Antonov stood up and said: "Everyone
Marshal, generals and comrades, before the exercise plan is officially announced, I hope you will keep this plan secret to avoid being informed of our exercise plan by the Allies in advance."
"Don't worry, we have learned the confidentiality rules." A general said carelessly: "Don't tell anyone."
When everyone got up and walked outside, Zhukov came to Sokov's side and asked with a straight face: "Misha, do you really not see any difference in this exercise plan?"
"No, Comrade Marshal, what I just said is the truth." Sokov straightened his back and raised his chin slightly and said: "I have carefully considered the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff Headquarters, and it is very complete.
Not only did he take into account all the issues that I thought of, he even considered issues that I didn’t think of.”
Faced with Sokov's snake-like reply, Zhukov seemed a little helpless: "Then let me ask you, if you want to solve the Austrian problem, what do you think about it?"
"I think the following principles should be adhered to when it comes to Austria." Sokov replied without hesitation: "Prohibit the merger of Germany and Austria again, prevent Germany from making a comeback, and demand maximum war compensation."
"Misha, if we ask for war compensation from Austria to the maximum extent, it means that our army will be hostile to the people of that country in Austria." Zhukov looked at Sokov and asked: "If such a situation occurs, what will happen?
what can we do about it?"
"Comrade Marshal, I feel that occupying the entire territory of Austria is not necessarily a wise decision." Sokov organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said slowly: "In this case, after achieving our goal, we will
It is absolutely possible to withdraw all our troops."
"What, you said to withdraw all our troops from Austria?" Zhukov asked with a face full of shock: "Did I hear you correctly?"
"Comrade Marshal, you heard me right." Sokov said with a normal expression: "I think that with our withdrawal, the British, American, French and Yugoslav troops will also withdraw from Austria. In this way, a demilitarized Austria will
, has the potential to become a buffer zone between us and Britain, the United States, France and other countries.”
"Demilitarization, buffer zone." After Zhukov repeated the word phrase Sokov said twice, he nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Misha, it seems that it is reasonable for you to participate in such a military meeting.
The good thing is, at least you can tell some of your true thoughts."
At this moment, Antonov also came over and said to Sokov: "General Sokov, I think your views are quite novel and your insights are very original. But when I asked you for your opinion just now, what did you say?
Are you unwilling to say anything?"
"Comrade Chief of General Staff," Sokov replied with a wry smile: "You are asking about the exercise plan. I think the plan you made is quite good. Even if there are some minor flaws, they were resolved by the marshals and generals who participated in the meeting.
Methods. And what Marshal Zhukov and I were talking about was how to solve the Austrian problem, which is completely different from the topic of today's meeting."
"Oh, that's it." Antonov nodded and said, "I thought you were hiding it on purpose, but you just didn't want to say it."
"Misha, what you said makes sense. When Antonov and I go to see Comrade Stalin later, we will mention this to him." Zhukov asked with a smile: "During this time, you continue to stay here
Please stay with Asiya at home, and if you have any difficulties, just ask me."
"Comrade Marshal, I really have one thing to ask of you."
"What's up?"
"Some time ago, someone pretended to be the city's housing management department and called me, saying that they were going to allocate a villa to me. Although this matter is no longer in the afternoon, I went to see it on site and found that there were many vacant villas there. I don't know.
Can the superiors allocate a house to me?" Sokov was worried that Zhukov would not agree to his request, and specifically said: "With a spacious house, the guard troops you arranged for me can also stay, so that when I travel, I will be surrounded by people.
Then there will be guards following you.”
"Comrade Marshal, I think General Sokov's proposal is not excessive." Antonov said next to him: "There are a group of house breakers in society today. They just look for some uninhabited houses, break in, and destroy them.
I have taken those houses as my own. If people are not arranged to move into the vacant villas as soon as possible, I am worried that it will not be long before they will be occupied by those who break into the houses."
Zhukov was a little hesitant at first. After all, he was not familiar with the person in charge of the city’s housing management department. If he wanted to help Sokov find a house, he would need to find someone to help. But when Antonov said this, he immediately changed his mind:
"Comrade Antonov, you are right. The house that Misha lives in now is too small to arrange for the security personnel to protect his safety. If you change to a spacious villa, this problem can be solved. Later.
When we go to see Comrade Stalin, remember to remind me that I will report this matter to Comrade Stalin."