Zhukov and Timoshenko looked at each other, sighed silently, and then walked out of the conference room without looking back.
Then, Pavlov, who stayed in the conference room, saw three people coming in from the door. The leader was a fat lieutenant general, followed by two young and tall soldiers who were majors.
Although Pavlov had never met this lieutenant general and did not know what department he belonged to, the political literacy he had developed over the years still gave him a different premonition.
The lieutenant general also saluted Pavlov politely, informed him of his long list of Russian names, then took out a thick piece of paper from his briefcase, glanced at Pavlov again, but immediately
He looked away again and adjusted his glasses subconsciously.
After coughing twice, the fat lieutenant general stretched out his hand and slowly handed the paper to Pavlov, and said softly: "General Dmitry Grigorievich Pavlov, please do it yourself
Take a look at this document..."
Pavlov, who was sitting there blankly, stared at the unfamiliar fat general in confusion, and kept taking the piece of paper with his hand.
But as soon as Pavlov's peripheral vision touched the paper, his whole body trembled immediately, he couldn't help but take a breath of cold air, his eyes widened, his mouth slightly opened, and he was speechless for a long time.
The reason why he was so shocked was that he found a line of thick black characters printed on the piece of paper: "Arrest Warrant"!
"Since you are speechless, then come with us first and think about this explanation." The fat lieutenant general saw how bad Pavlov's current state was, and did not force him to speak immediately.
It was decided to take Pavlov into custody first according to the procedure.
Then, Pavlov was taken to a prison on the outskirts of Moscow, where the same fat lieutenant general from before interrogated him.
Seeing that Pavlov's condition was a little better after a short rest, the fat lieutenant general asked in a tentative tone: "I have a question. I still don't understand why the Western Front has such a strange situation.
Why did you deploy the three armies so close to the border? The consequences of this deployment could be seen very clearly even during the exercise between you and General Zhukov half a year ago."
Pavlov did not answer immediately, but stretched out his trembling hand and said to the fat lieutenant general: "Can I have a cigarette?"
Behind the fat lieutenant general, the two tall majors looked at each other, stunned, wondering whether they should comply with Pavlov, a sinner's small request.
"Give him a cigarette." The fat lieutenant general was not particular about such trivial matters.
Moreover, looking at Pavlov's still pale face, if he wasn't given a cigarette to calm down, he probably wouldn't be able to speak clearly.
"Yes." After receiving the instruction, a major immediately took out a box of cigarettes in his pocket, took out one, lit it, and handed it to Pavlov.
The cigarettes that the major took out were very easy to smoke, and they looked like good cigarettes at first glance. Those who knew the cigarettes could easily find that these were high-end cigarettes imported from Germany by the Soviet high-level officials before the trade between the Soviet Union and Germany was interrupted.
Although the trade between the two countries is currently interrupted, there is still a lot of inventory, which is among the personnel and inventory of important departments.
Pavlov took a puff of German cigarette to calm himself down, and then said slowly: "All exercises and training are arranged according to the military region's plan. I have no right to cancel this plan, it was approved by the General Staff
.”
"But at least we should think of getting all kinds of weapons into their respective positions as soon as possible...
"I didn't get an order." Pavlov interrupted the Lieutenant General hastily, but he took a puff of cigarette and slowed down again, "I didn't get any order to do this.
"You have the responsibility to arrange these military affairs in advance!" the lieutenant general said dissatisfiedly, "You visited the border in person a few months ago, why didn't you take any relevant response measures?
Pavlov finally couldn't bear it anymore. He stood up and strode around the room: "Go and look at the orders of the General Staff a few months ago. Are there any instructions in those orders before the war started?"
The war is about to begin? It’s all about not being provoked and irritating the Germans. I believed the orders of the General Staff, but this was wrong! Who would have thought that the high command suddenly changed its mind and asked us to attack
Germany? How could I have imagined that so many things would happen?"
The fat lieutenant general didn't know what to say for a moment. After all, the incident happened suddenly. Stalin suddenly ordered a sneak attack on Germany's eastern front. It was because Britain was losing too quickly and it was a last resort.
He paused and then said: "But after the war started, why didn't you withdraw your troops when the battle on the front line went unfavorably? Instead, you transferred your reserves to continue the meaningless counterattack?"
Beads of sweat appeared on Pavlov's forehead. He said: "The order from the high command was for me to invade Germany, but the front line was broken through by the German army. If I can't use the reserve team to regain the lost ground, I will lose my head."
I have to try it!”
The fat lieutenant general slapped his fat right hand on the table, his voice rose several times, and he addressed Pavlov as "you": "You are worried about your head, but do you know how many Red Army soldiers there are?"
The soldiers and commanders lost their heads because of this!"
"Think about General Zhukov," the fat lieutenant general sighed heavily and said in a deep voice: "When faced with the same situation, he would rather change his mind than resist the orders of the headquarters, and he was almost sent to Siberia for this.
.”
"But now, all of us, including myself, respect General Zhukov's character and actions." The fat lieutenant general said calmly.
Pavlov finally had nothing to say and could only lower his head.
Compared to Zhukov, who he had been suppressing and framed, Pavlov really had no face to talk about.
There was another moment of silence.
"Okay, that's it for now. You can wait here for notification." The fat lieutenant general waved his hand and led the two majors away, leaving Pavlov alone in a daze, holding a German cigarette that had burned out at the end of the road.
.
Just two short days later, the restless Pavlov waited for Stalin's "sentence" to him - death penalty.
Pavlov was not afraid, because he had deeply regretted his mistakes countless times in his heart. But he continued to read his sentence, and was suddenly shocked to find that he was sentenced to treason!
Pavlov almost went crazy. He shouted loudly: "I am not treason, I am loyal to the Soviets!"
He asked the fat lieutenant general to see Stalin.
This time was different from the situation when he framed Zhukov. No one framed him at all, and no one specifically spoke ill of him. Everything was directly judged by Stalin based on his own judgment.
