Red Moscow

  Chapter 2050

   "Misha," Khrushchev called Sokov by his nickname affectionately, and said to him, "After a long period of fighting, your troops must have been seriously attrition?"

"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev." Sokov did not deny Khrushchev's statement, but said truthfully: "After more than a month of fierce fighting, all divisions and brigades under our army have Units have experienced reductions in personnel to varying degrees, and individual divisions have even suffered more than half of their casualties. But unfortunately, under the current circumstances, I cannot supplement the troops.”

"Comrade Bulganin," Khrushchev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then turned his head and said to Bulganin on the side: "Look, I'm not wrong, although Misha's troops have achieved good results, But the casualties of the troops are not small. If they are not replenished in time, I am afraid that in the next battle, they will suffer a lot due to insufficient troops."

"Comrade Khrushchev," Bulganin replied with some embarrassment: "In fact, not only the 48th Army, but all the armies on the right wing of the Front Army have similar problems. Although we have fought very smoothly during this month , but the casualties of the troops are also quite a headache."

   "So what do you have to ask the Supreme Command about supply?"

   "It goes without saying." Bulganin replied: "For this matter, Comrade Commander has called the Supreme Command several times, hoping to get some supplementary troops."

   "How did the Supreme Command reply to you?"

"It is said that the troops that need to be supplemented now are not only our Belarusian First Front Army, but also the troops on the front lines such as the Belarusian Second Front Army and the Baltic Sea Front Army. Regarding the order of supply, we may have to wait until September before we can get a supplement from the base camp reserve team."

   "Oh, we have to wait until September." Khrushchev asked calmly: "Comrade Bulganin, can you wait until September?"

  "If the troops turn to defense on the spot and no longer launch active attacks on the enemy, I think we should be able to wait until September."

   "Now the attack is so smooth, even if you want to stop the attack and switch to defense on the spot, I am afraid the Supreme Command will not agree." Khrushchev said: "You should find a way to solve the problem of troop supply."

   "It's not easy, Comrade Khrushchev." Bulganin shook his head and said, "If you want to add more troops, you need at least a hundred thousand troops. Where can I find so many people at once?"

   "You can't find it, but I have it in my hand."

  Bulganin couldn't help being taken aback when he heard what Khrushchev said, and then asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, what do you mean? Are you trying to annoy us on purpose?"

   "Where is it, Comrade Bulganin, you misunderstood." Seeing the displeasure on Bulganin's face, Khrushchev explained to him: "This is the purpose of my coming here today."

  Sokov heard this, vaguely guessed something, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Khrushchev, you are here today to send soldiers for us, right?"

   "General Sokov, how is this possible..."

   Before Bulganin could finish speaking, Khrushchev interrupted him and said with a smile: "What is impossible?"

"But, Comrade Khrushchev, the soldiers in your hand are recruits from Ukraine." Although Bulganin also guessed Khrushchev's intentions, he asked in an uncertain tone: "Ukraine recruits Is it appropriate for recruits to supplement Belarusian troops?"

   Khrushchev waved his hand and said disapprovingly: "There is nothing inappropriate. They are all Soviet troops, and they are all for defeating the German invaders. As for whether the soldiers are from Belarus or Ukraine, does it make a difference?"

  Sokov heard this and realized that Khrushchev came here today just to send troops to himself. So he stopped going around in circles, but asked bluntly: "Comrade Khrushchev, I wonder how many soldiers you can add to me?"

   Khrushchev didn't finish speaking, but just raised his right hand and opened his palm.

   "Five thousand?!" Sokov asked tentatively.

  Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Khrushchev smiled and shook his head, indicating that Sokov's guess was wrong.

  Sokov's breathing became short, and he asked in an unbelievable tone: "Could it be 50,000?"

"That's right, it's 50,000." Fortunately, Khrushchev didn't give a shit, but nodded in agreement with Sokov's statement: "However, 50,000 people are not just recruits, they enlisted at the end of April. After three months of military training, apart from having no combat experience on the battlefield, he can basically be regarded as a qualified soldier."

"Great, this is really great." Knowing that the 50,000 soldiers that Khrushchev was about to add to him were not recruits without any military literacy, but quasi-veterans who had undergone three months of military training, If the supplement of these 50,000 people is obtained, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be able to rise to a higher level.

  Sokov took a few deep breaths to stabilize his emotions, and asked cautiously, "Comrade Khrushchev, when will this group of recruits arrive at my defense zone?"

"This group of troops arrived in Minsk yesterday." Khrushchev said: "Now that the railway line connecting the Brest Fortress and Minsk has been restored, they will be able to reach your defense zone by car tonight. Arrange for manpower to meet them."

   "Understood, Comrade Khrushchev." Sokov tried to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "I will arrange people to meet them at the station."

"Comrade Commander," he heard that 50,000 soldiers were about to arrive in Brest, Ponejielin could not sit still, he got up and asked Sokov: "Let me take care of the recruits. Finish it."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," but Sokov did not agree to Ponejielin's request, but said to him: "There are still battles to be commanded, and the task of receiving recruits should be handed over to other people. "

   "Then who are you going to send?"

"Colonel Malyshev, director of the Armored Corps," Sokov proposed the suitable candidate in his mind: "As early as in the Smolensk Defense War, he had successively held some important positions, including the commander of the city defense. I recognize his ability. I am more at ease in entrusting him with the reception of recruits."

  Khrushchev heard the conversation between Sokov and Ponedelin, and asked curiously: "Misha, where are you going to attack next?"

"Here." For Khrushchev and Bulganin, Sokov did not hide his intentions for the next battle. He pointed to the map and said to the two: "I plan to send troops to capture Mizyrets first, and then Then use this as the starting point of the attack to attack Siedlce. As long as Siedlce is captured, the defenders in Warsaw can be deterred."

Hearing Sokov talk about Warsaw, Khrushchev said thoughtfully: "I have heard some rumors about Warsaw that if our army approaches the outer suburbs of Warsaw, some actions may be taken in the city to flank us. offensive."

   Sokov looked at Khrushchev with some surprise, and said to himself: The Warsaw Uprising happened on August 1, 1944, which is the day after tomorrow. Did he hear something?

  Bulganin asked curiously: "Comrade Khrushchev, I wonder if you heard the rumor?"

   "It is said that there are armed forces in Warsaw that are friendly to our army and are about to launch an attack on the defenders in the city to support our attack and cooperate with us in capturing the city."

"As long as General Sokov's troops capture Siedlce, our army will be less than a hundred kilometers away from Warsaw." Bulganin said excitedly: "If the resistance organization in the city takes armed action against the German army, there is indeed It will help us take the city."

  Seeing how happy the two were, Sokov really didn't want to pour cold water on each other. Although many materials in later generations condemned the Soviet army for inexplicably stopping its advance after it arrived near Warsaw, allowing the Warsaw uprising army to fight bitterly with the dominant German army in the city without taking any action.

   After reading a lot of materials, Sokov found that this kind of accusation is unfair. When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, the Belarusian First Front Army commanded by Rokossovsky arrived near Warsaw and met with the leaders of the rebel army in person to discuss joint dealings with the German army.

But what is unexpected is that the representatives of the rebel army who came to negotiate with Rokossowski belonged to the Krajov Army loyal to the Polish government-in-exile in London. They hoped that the first to enter Warsaw would be the The British and American armies, not the Soviet army, made things difficult in the negotiations, and they refused the help of the Soviet army with a strong attitude.

  After these negotiators returned to Warsaw, they massacred officers of the pro-Soviet Lyudov Army, Lyudov Guards, and Peasant Battalion and other insurgents. Even in the battle with the German army, the Krajov army evacuated its position without even saying hello, exposing the flanks of the Lyudov army to the German army, causing them to be surrounded or even wiped out.

   It was precisely because of the disunity within the rebel army and various open and secret struggles that the Warsaw Uprising, which had the potential to succeed, ended in a disastrous defeat.

   "General Sokov," Bulganin, who was in high spirits, looked at Sokov and asked, "Do you think that if the resistance organization in Warsaw takes military action, it will help our army seize the city as soon as possible?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said cautiously: "My personal opinion is that even if a large-scale uprising is launched in Warsaw, the chances of success in the end will not be too high. "

  Sokov's words made the whole room fall into silence. Everyone looked at Sokov with surprised eyes. They didn't understand why Sokov would say such a thing.

After a while, Khrushchev asked with a straight face: "Misha, can you tell me the reason? Why did the uprising in Warsaw fail to succeed? You know, our hundreds of thousands of troops are near Warsaw. Perhaps in just a few hours, we will be able to rush into Warsaw and, with the cooperation of the rebel army, annihilate the German defenders in Warsaw."

"Comrade Khrushchev, you said that this is an ideal situation." Sokov felt that the more such a head-scratching situation was, the more he wanted to pour cold water on everyone: "There are many different people on the battlefield. Determining factors that lead to a thing that has a high probability of success, ends up in failure."

  Hearing this, Khrushchev's face turned livid, and he asked with a straight face, "What uncertain factors?"

"Comrade Khrushchev," Sokov said, looking at each other, "after my troops entered Poland, they occupied some towns and villages, but according to their reports, I found that the attitude of the Polish people towards us was polarized. .Some are friendly towards our officers and others are hostile."

   "The people who may be hostile to you are those who served the Germans during the German occupation of Poland." Khrushchev said disapprovingly: "This doesn't explain anything."

"Comrade Khrushchev, this is how I think about it." Seeing that Khrushchev didn't seem to take his words to heart at all, Sokov continued: "In Poland, there are ordinary people who are close to our army, and there must be People who are hostile to our army. If a large number of people who are hostile to our army occupy important positions in the leadership of the Warsaw Uprising, do you think they will welcome our army into Warsaw?"

   "General Sokov, I don't understand." Bulganin frowned and asked, "Why are there people who are hostile to us in Poland? Besides our army, whose troops do the rebels want to enter Warsaw first?"

"According to my analysis, there should be two different forces in Poland." Sokov said cautiously: "One force is a pro-Soviet force that is close to our army and friendly to our army, such as the Polish 1st Army. Commanders and fighters. There is also a force that obeys the Polish government in exile in London. They hope to hand over Poland after the war to the British and American administration, so the troops that want to enter the city first should be the British and American troops.”

   "What about our army?" Bulganin asked a little angrily: "Our troops have all reached outside Warsaw. Are the rebels still not allowing us to enter the city?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, don't worry." Seeing that Bulganin was angry, Sokov quickly explained to him: "I have already said that there are two forces in Warsaw, one is the friendly forces that support our army. The other is a hostile force that is hostile to our army and obeys the command of Britain and the United States. It depends on which force can gain the upper hand after the outbreak of the uprising, which is related to whether our army can enter Warsaw smoothly."

Khrushchev nodded slightly after hearing this, and said, "Misha, what you said is very reasonable. As far as I know, there are indeed a large number of people in Warsaw who support Britain and the United States. With the upper hand, our army may really be impossible to enter Warsaw City."

   "Comrade Khrushchev, what should we do?" Bulganin looked at Khrushchev and asked, "Do you need to report this to your superiors immediately?"

"That's for sure, Comrade Bulganin." Khrushchev is also aware of the seriousness of the problem at this moment. If the citizens of Warsaw really don't welcome the Soviet army to enter the city, will there be any residents who block the war when the soldiers approach the city? In front of the troops, organize troops to enter the city: "I think we need to report this matter to the Supreme Command as soon as possible, and listen to the opinions of the superiors."

  (end of this chapter)