After learning that Baranovichi had been captured, Zhukov showed a rare smile on his face. He said to Batov: "Comrade Batov, it seems that sometimes it is good to put more pressure on you, so that you can inspire
The motivation of the troops.”
"Comrade Marshal, what should we do next?" Bartov asked.
Zhukov stared at the map in front of him and said to Batov: "According to the prior plan, after capturing Baranovichi, you will go to the Svisloch and Pruzhany lines as soon as possible. After annihilating Baranovichi, you will
After the enemy in Ranovichi, attack the enemy in the Sary River area. If they are annihilated, they will pose a threat to the enemy Pinsk Group and force it to begin to retreat. This will speed up General Belov's 61st Army to move along Pripi
The speed of the attack on the north bank of the Yaj River."
After listening to this, Batov asked Zhukov tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask, how long do you think it will take us to drive the Germans away from Belarus?"
Zhukov did not answer the question immediately, but asked: "What do you think?"
"It's hard to say," Bartov replied cautiously: "If we follow the current style of play, I think we will be able to drive the Germans out within half a year!"
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Zhukov slowly shook his head and said: "No, it's too slow! If it really takes half a year to drive the Germans out of Belarus, they will have enough time to build new defenses in the rear.
Fortifications, this will be very detrimental to our army's subsequent operations."
Seeing that Zhukov could not accept the idea of driving out the Germans in half a year, Batov changed his theory: "Comrade Marshal, I heard that General Sokov was full of confidence in the Bagration plan and said that we can completely drive away the Germans in three months."
Within the country, the German army in Belarus will be completely wiped out. Do you think this statement is somewhat exaggerated?"
"If someone else said this, I would think he was too optimistic." After Zhukov waited for Bartov to finish speaking, he immediately expressed his opinion: "But if Misha said this, I don't think there is any debate.
It is necessary. He said that if the Germans can be driven out within three months, then they can definitely be driven out."
Seeing that Zhukov recognized Sokov so much, Batov felt a little sour in his heart. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, do you trust Sokov so much? You know, although he is now a general and still commands
A group army, but after all, it is too young and lacks command experience..."
"Batov, there are no outsiders here, let me tell you a secret." Zhukov leaned close to Batov's ear and whispered: "In fact, the prototype of the Bagration plan was proposed by Misha.
"
Seeing the shocked expression on Bartov's face, Zhukov laughed, and then said: "Are you surprised? Today's huge combat plan was originally proposed by Misha. Get me the 48th Army immediately
Headquarters, I want to know what Misha is doing right now."
At this moment, Sokov was sitting in his seat and sulking. He did not expect that Ponedelin was so fast. Before he left Minsk, he actually liberated Baranovich and the 65th Army.
Together, the troops destroyed the city's defenders without even a chance to show off.
But the phone on the table rang, and he grabbed the receiver and put it to his ear: "I'm Sokov, where are you?" Maybe because he was in a bad mood, he spoke a little loudly.
Zhukov's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, this is Zhukov, how is the situation there?"
Upon hearing that the call was from Zhukov, Sokov quickly stood up and replied respectfully: "Comrade Marshal, the main force of our army is still in Minsk, waiting for General Gorbatov's 3rd Army to come to take over the defense.
Woolen cloth."
"Don't you feel regretful that you couldn't catch up with the liberation of Baranovichi?"
"Comrade Marshal, if you say you have no regrets, you would be lying." Sokov laughed dryly and said, "But Minsk is surrounded by German troops. I can't act rashly until new troops take over the defense. As for the
It is indeed a pity that we did not catch up with the liberation of Baranovichi. But there are still many battles we have to fight next, and I believe that the next time we liberate any city, our group army will still be the key target."
"I just heard Bartov say that you once told others that our army can completely drive out the enemy within three months." Zhukov asked with a smile: "I want to ask where you come from.
confidence?"
Facing the question raised by Zhukov, Sokov began to think in his mind: "How should I answer this question? I can't tell Zhukov that I saw the answer in the history books of the future, right?"
"How should I put it?" Sokov organized the vocabulary in his mind and said carefully: "I analyzed it based on interrogating prisoners and obtaining intelligence. Since I was transferred to the 1st Belarusian Front, I have been constantly
I thought about which direction to attack in order to catch the Germans off guard and enable our army to achieve huge results. After thinking about it for several days, I finally had the prototype of Operation Bagration and told the front army about this plan.
Commander."
"Misha, I have to admit that although your plan is very bold, it is very effective." Zhukov said with emotion: "When I first saw the plan drafted by Rokossovsky, I thought
I cursed a lot, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized the subtlety of this plan. If it can really be implemented, it can catch the Germans off guard."
"But I think the three months you mentioned to completely eliminate the German army in Belarus is a bit too optimistic. If nothing else, the new commander of the German army, Marshal Model, not only defeated the enemy in Rzhev
I have suffered big losses, and even Konev and Rokossovsky did not take advantage of them. I think this is probably why Mustache asked him to clean up the mess in Belarus."
"Comrade Marshal, I admit that Model has made you suffer before and caused great losses to our army." Sokov knew that although Mustache sent Model to Belarus to take charge of the overall situation, the situation is over now.
He is powerless on his own.
"However, today is different from the past. Our troops are stronger and better equipped than before, and our commanders have richer command experience. It is simply impossible for him to defeat our army again and reverse the German army's unfavorable situation in Belarus."
"Well, Misha, it seems that you are really confident." Zhukov was very satisfied with what Sokov said. He smiled and said: "Then I wish you a more brilliant victory in advance.
.”
"Thank you, thank you Comrade Marshal for your trust." Sokov said into the microphone: "I will never betray your trust."
In the evening, a middle-aged general came to Sokov's headquarters.
"Hello, General Sokov!" The middle-aged general raised his hand to salute Sokov, and announced his home address: "I am Major General Terelenko, commander of the 4th Infantry Corps of the 3rd Army, and I have been ordered to come to replace you.
defense."
"Hello, General Terelenko." Sokov learned that the other party was here to take over the defense of Minsk, so he was naturally very enthusiastic: "Didn't I say that you had to wait until noon tomorrow to arrive? How come you arrived so quickly?
"
"Our superiors urgently allocated a group of vehicles to us to speed up our march, so we were able to arrive in Minsk half a day ahead of schedule."
"I wonder how many troops have come?" The purpose of Sokov's question is to find out how many troops he can take with him tomorrow?
"Our army has three infantry divisions, one tank brigade and two artillery regiments." Terelenko replied: "The troops entering the city now are two of the infantry divisions and the tank brigades."
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin waited for Terelenko to finish and asked Sokov for instructions: "Look, where should they go to take over the defense first?"
"Chief of Staff, the troops used for defense in the city will not be moved for the time being." Sokov ordered Sidorin: "Let the newly arrived friendly troops take over the troops responsible for the offensive mission. The two divisions and two brigades fought so hard with the Germans.
After a long period of time, the commanders and fighters must be very tired, so take them down first to rest and recuperate."
"General Terelenko," after Sokov finished explaining to Sidorin, he felt that there were some things that must be made clear to Terelenko in advance to avoid blaming each other in the future: "After the German army stopped attacking Minsk, in order not to let
The enemy slipped away, so I mobilized two divisions and two brigades to conduct a diversionary attack against the Germans. I hope your troops can go over and change defenses with them as soon as possible, so that I can take the troops who have been replaced to carry out new combat missions elsewhere.
.”
After listening to Sokov's words, Terelenko acted very reasonable: "No problem, General Sokov, I will let my troops take over the defense wherever you tell them."
"Then hurry up and change defenses." Sokov urged: "This will allow our commanders and soldiers to seize the time to rest. When they set off to the new destination at dawn, they will not be affected by exhaustion and their marching speed will be affected.
.”
The defense change went smoothly. In less than two hours, the troops of the 4th Infantry Corps replaced the troops Sokov planned to take away. Sokov called the two division commanders and two brigade commanders to his headquarters.
, asked straight to the point: "Comrade commanders, I want to hear the truth from you. If our superiors give us new combat orders, can your troops still go into battle?"
"No problem, Comrade Commander." Hearing Sokov's question, the four commanders replied without hesitation: "Our troops are fully capable of continuing to fight."
Sokov knew in his heart that after more than half a month of fighting, the troops had suffered a lot of casualties. Some divisions had nearly half of their casualties, and they had not received any supplements. The commanders in front of them had suffered casualties.
Basically, more than one-third of the casualties were suffered. The reason why they still insisted that their troops could continue to fight was simply because they did not want to transfer them to the rear for rest and replenishment, thereby losing the opportunity to make contributions in a major battle.
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin approached Sokov and whispered: "Their casualties are not small, basically close to 40%. Do you really plan to let them continue fighting?"
Sokov did not speak, but nodded silently. He paused for a moment, and then said to the four people: "Comrade commanders, I still know the casualties of your troops. But regrettably, we may
It is impossible to obtain replenishment in a short period of time, so you can only find ways to solve the problem of insufficient soldiers."
"Comrade Commander," as soon as Sokov finished speaking, the commander of the 109th Brigade asked curiously: "I would like to ask, how can we solve the problem of insufficient troops?"
"It's very simple, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov glanced at the opponent's military rank and said: "To solve the shortage of soldiers, there are usually three ways: First, recruit local residents and integrate them into the army. The advantage is to expand the army.
The speed is fast, but the shortcoming is also very obvious, that is, they have not received military training and do not have any combat experience. After being incorporated into the army, although the number of people increases, the combat effectiveness of the army will be diluted."
"The second method is to let the wounded soldiers who have recovered and been discharged from the hospital return to the team. Everyone knows that most of the wounded soldiers who have returned from the hospital have rich experience, so there will be a lot of people competing for them."
"The third method is to find a way to liberate the prisoner-of-war camps built by the German army, rescue all the commanders and fighters of our army who are locked up in them, and use them to supplement our troops. After these commanders and fighters have undergone rigorous military training and are incorporated into the troops, they will soon
It can form a powerful fighting force.
Moreover, these officers and soldiers suffered all kinds of inhuman torture in the German prisoner-of-war camps, suffered a lot, and were filled with hatred for the German army. If they were allowed to go to the battlefield, they would definitely be able to exert their super combat effectiveness."
"But, Comrade Commander, are there any enemy prisoner-of-war camps nearby?"
When Sokov heard this question, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking to himself, if I knew where there was a prisoner of war camp, why would I have to worry about staying here? He shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, comrade colonel, I don't know where there is a prisoner of war camp nearby."
.But you can send out scouts to conduct reconnaissance everywhere, and you might be able to find the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp."
"This method is good, this method is good!" After hearing what Sokov said, the commander suddenly became excited and said repeatedly: "Comrade Commander, don't worry, as soon as I return to the division, I will send out scouts immediately.
Go and conduct reconnaissance nearby to see where the Germans have established prisoner of war camps."
Sokov was very pleased with his subordinates' ability to draw inferences from one instance. He gave the other party a thumbs up and said: "That's right, Comrade Colonel. There are some things that we don't need to say hello to. You can take the initiative and send people to nearby areas to deal with them."
Reconnaissance to find out the enemy's defense situation and whether there is a prisoner of war camp. Once you know that there is a prisoner of war camp nearby, you can rush over as soon as possible to eliminate the guards of the prisoner of war camp and rescue our commanders and soldiers."
The commander of the 109th Brigade asked: "Comrade Commander, in addition to the three situations you mentioned, are there other ways to replenish our troops as soon as possible?"
Sokov thought for a moment, then stretched out four fingers and said: "The fourth method is also the simplest and most convenient. Aren't there many guerrilla groups operating near our city? You can consider recruiting one or several groups
Guerrillas. Although their combat effectiveness is not strong, after all, they have been fighting the German army in the past few years and have rich combat experience. After being incorporated into your army, not only will they not dilute the combat effectiveness of the troops, on the contrary, they can also