Long before the Battle of Kursk, Zhukov and Vasilevsky were sent to the Kursk area as representatives of the base camp, responsible for the coordination between several front armies.
Vasilevsky was usually stationed at the Voronezh Front, and Zhukov stayed there most of the time because he had many things in common with Rokossovsky. The shelling before the battle started was an order he personally gave.
.
As for the Voronezh Front, since Vasilevsky was in charge, Zhukov rarely interfered with the battle plan of the front. He believed that Vatutin's ability was enough to handle various situations.
But what is unexpected is that Vatutin seems to have become a different person since he was defeated at the Dnieper River in early 1943 and was removed from the post of commander of the Southwestern Front and changed to the commander of the Voronezh Front.
In the early stages of the Battle of Kursk, the German army launched a fierce attack on the Soviet defense line from the south. The area under Vatutin's jurisdiction was breached by the German army from the front for about 35 kilometers and was almost penetrated. If it were not for the Supreme Command from Konev's grassland,
The front army promptly mobilized two group armies to help, and this round was really a disaster.
In comparison, the defensive pressure carried by Sokolovsky's Central Front Army was no less than that of the Voronezh Front Army. However, the German army tried its best and only advanced about 12 kilometers before being unable to move forward anymore. Both sides could no longer advance.
The gap between commanding abilities is evident from this.
When he later launched a counterattack, Vatutin continued to apply for reinforcements from Stalin until Konev's entire Steppe Front was placed in the direction he was responsible for, and the enemy was completely defeated.
In the battle to break through the Dnieper River, after Rokossovsky's troops captured the important Ukrainian town of Nezhin, Kiev was within easy reach. However, the Voronev Front commanded by Vatutin fought extremely hard and was far away from Kiev.
There are still more than a hundred kilometers to go, and progress is very slow.
Vatutin, who was eager to become the liberator of Kiev, took advantage of his first-come-first-served advantage, constantly lobbying Vasilevsky, and finally persuaded him to change positions with Rokossovsky's troops and let his troops
Got the chance to liberate Kiev. Rokossovsky's troops were transferred to Belarus.
To be fair, whether it is Rokossovsky, Konev, Zhukov, or Vasilevsky, it is very interesting that they can do this to take care of the face of their colleagues. Their idea is very simple. Now the Soviet army is on the battlefield.
All fronts are winning steadily, and no matter how bad Vatugin is, he probably won't be able to make any difference.
Unexpectedly, not long after the liberation of Kiev, Vatutin stumbled into another big fight in Zhitomir. Manstein ordered the German army to launch a counterattack in Zhitomir. Although the scale was small, it had a miraculous effect. Not only did he re-capture the Japanese
Tomir also defeated the Soviet army.
Seeing that the defense line in the Kiev area was showing signs of collapse, Stalin urgently appointed Rokossovsky as a representative of the base camp and rushed to Kiev to assist Vatutin in commanding the 1st Ukrainian Front to resist the German attack and prevent Kiev from being lost again.
Before Rokossovsky left Moscow by plane, Zhukov personally went to the airport to see him off and had a conversation with him: "Koschka, I have a piece of advice for you!"
"What advice?"
"After you arrive in Kiev, you must take over the command of the troops as soon as possible."
Although Rokossovsky’s conversation with Stalin also revealed his intention to let him replace Vatutin in commanding the First Ukrainian Front when necessary, this matter is of great importance and must be treated with caution. At this moment, I heard
Zhukov had the same idea and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Marshal, as far as I know, you and Vatutin have a good relationship. Why did you give me such advice?"
"In the past, Vasilevskiy and I accommodated Vatutin in every possible way because he was the Supreme Commander's favorite general. However, we never expected that he would be such a weakling and be defeated by the German army even though he had the upper hand.
Zhukov said angrily: "If you want to quickly reverse the situation of the war when you go to Kiev this time, your top priority is to firmly control the command of the troops in your own hands. The overall combat effectiveness of the Ukrainian First Front is still good.
Yes, it’s a pity that I encountered an incompetent commander and ended up in the current predicament.”
After saying this, Zhukov paused for a moment and continued: "Think about it, how many results the 27th Army has achieved in the hands of Mischa? The Germans will be frightened when they hear the number of this unit.
Shivering. But with the departure of Sokov, the combat effectiveness of this unit plummeted, and in the end it was unable to participate in the battle to liberate Kiev due to heavy casualties."
The two had a common topic and chatted for hours. The pilot responsible for transporting Rokossovsky to Kiev, although anxious, saw that it was Marshal Zhukov talking to Rokossovsky and did not dare to disturb him.
They could only stand aside and worry.
Fortunately, Rokossovsky noticed that the pilot was waiting impatiently, and quickly said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, the pilot is still waiting to take me to Kiev. If anything happens, we can talk on the phone."
"Okay." Zhukov nodded and said to Rokossovsky: "Kostchka, remember. Although Vatutin is now the commander of the First Ukrainian Front, with his ability, he can only
Although he can be a group army commander, he is simply not qualified to be a front army commander."
Zhukov's words reminded Rokossovsky of Sokov. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, do you think Mischa is capable of serving as the commander of the front army in the future?"
"That's terrible." Although Zhukov was very caring about Sokov, he made a rare objective comment on this matter: "Judging from the results he has achieved so far, he is a qualified group army commander.
.But since he has not received systematic military theory education, he may not be able to command an army with hundreds of thousands of people."
After listening to Zhukov's evaluation of Sokov, Rokossovsky chuckled and said: "Comrade Marshal, I thought you would say that he is definitely qualified for the position of commander of the front army. I didn't expect your ideas and
me too."
"I think that if you really want him to become the sole commander of the front army, in addition to going to a military academy to study military theory, it is best to stay at your headquarters for half a year to learn how to command a large corps in combat."
In response to Zhukov's statement, Rokossovsky said modestly: "Comrade Marshal, you are really honored. If you want to guide him in mastering the skills of large corps combat, it is best to stay with you. You are very good in this regard."
You have more experience than me. After all, before the Great Patriotic War broke out, you once severely beat up Japan in the Far East."
"That's different." Zhukov shook his head and said: "Not to mention that Japan's weapons and equipment cannot be compared with those of the Germans, even compared with us, they are at an absolute disadvantage. Our victory depends entirely on our military strength and
The advantage in equipment is crushing." After saying this, he raised his hand and looked at his watch and found that it was already late, so he gently pushed Rokossovsky's shoulder with his hand, "Time
It's getting late, so hurry up and get on the plane, it's up to you to reverse the situation in Kiev."
Rokossovsky was still very uneasy on the plane to Kiev. He felt that it would be a bit unethical to seize the command of the troops directly from Vatutin when he arrived in Kiev.
But when he arrived at the headquarters, after a brief conversation with Vatutin, he found that the other party was only thinking about asking his superiors for more reinforcements and technical equipment, but how to deal with the situation at hand, but he had no countermeasures at all. In this situation
Under such circumstances, it is nonsense to try to reverse the current unfavorable situation if you still show mercy to the other party.
After thinking about this, Rokossovsky said to Vatutin: "Comrade Vatutin, from now on, I will temporarily take over the command of the First Ukrainian Front until the German army attacking Kiev is completely crushed.
"
"Why?" Hearing that Rokossovsky wanted to take away his command, Vatutin couldn't sit still: "Why should I hand over the command of the troops to you? Who gave you this right?
"
"Comrade Vatutin," Rokossovsky said calmly in the face of the furious Vatutin: "The Supreme Command is very dissatisfied with you for your command mistakes, so that's why I was sent here.
After the conversation just now, I found that if you continue to command the troops, it is basically an impossible task to crush the German attempt to retake Kiev. From now on, I have decided to temporarily take over your command, and then follow my instructions.
way to command the troops to fight the German troops rushing toward Kiev."
Bogolyubov, who had just returned from the phone call, happened to overhear the conversation between the two.
He couldn't help but feel happy when he learned that Rokossovsky planned to take over Vatutin's command. As the chief of staff of the front army, he knew better than anyone what the situation was like during this period. But in such an unfavorable situation
, but Vatutin appeared panicked. Apart from requesting reinforcements and equipment from his superiors, he had no good response measures at all. He relied on the commanders of each group army on the front line to direct the operations alone.
How could Vatutin hand over his command so easily? He continued to roar: "Comrade Rokossovsky, although you are the representative of the base camp, you can only assist me in commanding, but cannot replace my commanding. Everything here
I will report exactly what happened to the Supreme Commander himself."
"Comrade Vatutin," although Vatutin was already furious, Rokossovsky said with a normal expression: "Whatever you want to do, just do it. I think even if you contact the Supreme Commander himself, I'm afraid
You won’t get the results you want either.”
Rokossovsky's words made Vatutin realize that since the other party dared to say something to replace him, he must have received instructions from above, or even Stalin himself. If he had called to complain regardless, he might have
Will get a reprimand.
"Okay." Vatugin can be regarded as a wise man who knows the current affairs. Seeing that handing over the command is a done deal, he is no longer stubborn: "I will hand over the command of the army to you. I hope
Don’t let me down with your performance.”
"Don't worry, General Vatutin." Seeing that Vatutin agreed to hand over the command of the troops, Rokossovsky breathed a sigh of relief. In this way, when he issued various combat orders, he would not
Someone will come to restrain you. "I will never let you down. If something goes wrong, I will bear all the responsibilities."
Since Rokossovsky had already said this, Vatutin no longer persisted, but called all the people in the headquarters over and told them in front of them: "Comrades, from now on,
The First Ukrainian Front is under the command of General Rokossovsky. If you have anything to report or ask for instructions, go directly to him."
When Vatutin said this, he thought that many people would stand on his side and say a few words of sympathy. But he didn't expect that after he finished speaking, he saw expressions of relief on most people's faces.
My heart suddenly felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar, and it became so cold.
"Comrades," Rokossovsky waited for Vatutin to finish, and then continued: "From now on, the First Ukrainian Front will be commanded by me. I hope that everyone will abide by their responsibilities and fully assist me.
Get to work. Do you understand?"
"I understand!" everyone in the room replied loudly in unison.
"Now that you understand everything, let's go back to our respective posts and continue working." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he called Bogolyubov to him and told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff
, you immediately inform the commanders of each group army about my taking over the command of the troops, so that they can be well aware of it."
Bogolyubov agreed loudly, but he did not leave immediately. Instead, he asked tentatively: "General Rokossovsky, do you have any new arrangements to give to the troops below?"
Rokossovsky stared at the map and said: "I see that Major General Pukhov's troops are still intact, so I immediately ordered them to advance towards Korosten and assist the 60th Army in capturing the city."
Hearing Rokossovsky's order, Bogolyubov couldn't help but be startled, and then reminded Rokossovsky: "General Rokossovsky, are you mistaken? You know, now
The most dangerous situation is General Moskalenko's 38th Army, which is in urgent need of support."
"Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky waited for Bogolyubov to finish and asked rhetorically: "Even if we send the 13th Army to support the 38th Army, will they be able to stop retreating?"
Bogolyubov thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "Even if the 13th Army is deployed, it will be very difficult to completely block the German attack."
"Since we can't stop it, why do we need to invest all our precious effective forces in areas that are destined to fall into a stalemate?" Sokov clicked on the map with his finger and said to Bogolyubov: "If the 13th Army can
Assisting the 60th Group Army in capturing Korosten can not only coordinate with the Belarusian Front troops, but also disperse the German forces attacking Kiev, thus achieving the purpose of weakening the German offensive power."
When Bogolyubov heard this, what Rokossovsky said seemed to make some sense. Then he stared at the map and considered it carefully. It was a stroke of genius to send the 13th Army to reinforce the 60th Army in the northwest. As long as the troops occupied
With the addition of Korosten, and the 3rd Guards Tank Army in the southwest, they formed a vague encirclement of the German troops heading towards Kiev.
He quickly said: "I understand, Comrade Commander. I will immediately convey your order to the 13th Army and ask them to rush to the Korosten area as soon as possible to support the 60th Army fighting there."
