Chapter 198 Observer
The car stopped on the side of the road not far from Yuri. A smile appeared on Yuri's originally serious face . He took a step and walked straight towards the car.
The person in the car was Rokossovsky, Yuri's former direct superior and a legendary senior general in the Soviet Red Army.
"Comrade General Konstantin Konstantinovich," Rokossovsky had already pushed the door and got out before Yuri could reach the car. Seeing his burly figure getting out of the car, Yuri greeted him, "Good afternoon."
Rokossovsky's military rank is General, and there are recent reports that the Supreme Command is discussing the issue of awarding him the rank of Marshal, but it seems that this motion was opposed by some people, including Zhukov, on the grounds that Rokossovsky's achievements are not enough to support the title of Marshal. However, no matter from which perspective, it is necessary for Lieutenant General Yuri to give Rokossovsky enough respect when facing him.
"Just call me Konstantin," Rokossovsky got out of the car, straightened his military cap, and then looked Yuri up and down and said with a smile, "You should know that you are no longer my chief of staff."
Yuri smiled and didn't say anything. He just took out a cigarette from his pocket, took out one and handed it to Rokossovsky.
Rokossovsky did not take the cigarette directly. He lowered his head and looked at it for a few seconds. Then he reached out to take the cigarette, lit it with Yuri's lighter, took a puff, and said, "The attack on Leningrad needs to continue. At least, we cannot allow the Germans to gain a foothold on the south bank of the Luga River. Otherwise, our entire subsequent offensive plan will be affected."
Yuri nodded and said, "Of course, the Luga River cannot stop our offensive." He paused and continued, "What is the situation on the southern front?"
In October, the Supreme Command reorganized the Central Front, and a series of army groups were split into four Ukrainian Front command systems. Subsequently, the Central Front was also reorganized into the Belarusian Front. Rokossovsky continued to serve as the commander of this front, and there were no major personnel changes in his entire field leadership organization.
Throughout October and the following one or two months, the focus of the Supreme Command was on Ukraine, especially on the offensive direction of the First Ukrainian Front. In order to ensure the intensity of the offensive in the Ukrainian direction, the strength of the Belarusian Front was continuously weakened. By early December, there were only 6 army groups under the command of the front. Before that, when the Central Front was at its strongest, it had led 12 army groups, including 1 air force army and 1 Dnieper Fleet.
Despite the continuous weakening of its forces, the Belarusian Front, under the command of Rokossovsky, still fought well. Not long ago, the 61st Army captured Mozyr, the 65th Army captured Kalinkovichi, and the 9th Army crossed the Dnieper River and captured the important town of Rogachev in one fell swoop.
However, at this time, Rokossovsky received an order from the Supreme Command and returned to Moscow to accept a new task. The Belarusian Front also switched to defense, and the sound of gunfire in the Belarusian direction temporarily fell silent.
"The offensive went smoothly, but there were also many problems," Rokossovsky summarized the situation on the southern front in one sentence.
That's right. The offensive on the entire southern front went smoothly, especially the offensive of the four Ukrainian fronts was very successful. To the west, the Soviet army had pushed the front line to the Romanian border area. To the north, the First Ukrainian Front had liberated Kiev and was attacking Belarus from south to north, threatening the flank of the German Army Group Center.
As for the problem, it was mainly in the area of logistics and supply, because the offensive in the past few months was too smooth, especially the offensive on the right bank of the Dnieper River. The advance of hundreds of kilometers caused serious problems in the logistics supply chain of the Soviet army. At the same time, the German army also transferred a large number of reinforcements from the west, which effectively curbed the Soviet offensive momentum.
Yuri smiled. These practical issues were all mentioned in the combat plan he had submitted to the Supreme Command.
"I have read the five offensive operation plans you submitted. There is no problem. Your prediction is correct," Rokossovsky quickly mentioned Yuri's operation plan. He said, "It turns out that the Germans are indeed mobilizing the armored forces of the Central Army Group to the south. They should have determined that our next wave of main attack will still be in the south."
"I once said that the Germans' combat thinking is very old-fashioned. They like to make judgments based on experience," Yuri threw the cigarette butt in his hand into the snow and said, "In the past three years, our counterattacks have mostly been concentrated in winter, so the Germans think that we can only fight in winter and gain an advantage in winter operations, but not in other seasons. Since the Battle of Stalingrad, our counterattacks with fruitful results have been mainly concentrated on the southern front , such as the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kharkov, and the Battle of Left Bank Ukraine, etc. Therefore, according to the Germans' stereotyped combat thinking, their main defensive direction in the next stage must also be the southern front. Similarly, since the Battle of Stalingrad, our armored forces have begun to gain an advantage on all battlefields. The Germans' main defensive tactics are likely to be arranged against our armored forces. They will arrange the main defense areas and defense positions in areas suitable for large-scale armored operations. Once we make changes, they are likely to be caught off guard."
"I have read your report. Is this the direct reason why you chose the Pripyat River area as the main offensive direction of the Belarusian Campaign?" Rokossovsky put his hands to his mouth, exhaled, and said.
"Let's go to the command post first." Yuri nodded, and then said, "Haha, actually it can't be called a command post. It should be more appropriate to say that it is a reception office. I am now completely away from the front-line command position."
Rokossovsky smiled slightly, did not respond, and did not return to his car, but followed Yuri into his car.
Since the end of the first phase of the Leningrad counterattack, Yuri has retreated to the rear and is currently living temporarily in the Red Army City. The Leningrad Municipal Party Committee and the Leningrad Military Committee have taken very good care of him, and it is no exaggeration to say that they take care of him in every possible way.
Yuri's residence was not in the Red Army city, but in an old collective farm in the suburbs. Because the Germans retreated hastily from here, they did not have time to destroy the farm. Therefore, there were several well-preserved houses in the farm. The Leningrad Municipal Committee arranged for people to renovate these houses, arrange furniture and other things, and pave the roads of the farm . A company of soldiers was arranged in the farm for defense, and Yuri was temporarily arranged to live there.
As for Rokossovsky, he is still in charge of commanding the 1st Belorussian Front. At the same time, he is also a military observer temporarily arranged by the Supreme Command. There are many senior commanders on the front line with the same status as him, all of whom are temporarily arranged by the Supreme Command, such as General Baghramyan, Admiral Chernyakhovsky, Lieutenant General Poplavsky, Admiral Zakharov, Lieutenant General of the Air Force Gromov, Lieutenant General of the Air Force Porenin, Lieutenant General of the Air Force Rudenko and Air Force Marshal Grevanov , etc.
That's right, the Soviet Supreme Command, including Stalin, fully accepted Yuri's battle arrangement proposal. For this reason, the first phase of the Leningrad counterattack had just ended and the second phase of the battle had not yet begun, but the Supreme Command had already begun to prepare for the Belarusian Campaign to be carried out in a few months. In Yuri's battle plan, the Soviet Belarusian Campaign's operational objectives were not only to liberate the entire Belarusian territory and advance the front to the national border, but also to completely defeat the German Army's massive Central Army Group. In order to achieve this goal that excited Comrade Stalin, the Supreme Command would invest an astonishing amount of troops in this battle.
The 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts swept the Baltic coastal areas to contain the German forces deployed in the north. In the Belarus front area, the Soviet army will deploy four fronts including the 1st Baltic Front, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belarusian Fronts, with a total of 19 combined arms and 2 tank armies, with a total force of more than 1.4 million. In addition, the Supreme Command is also preparing to mobilize the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 16th five air force armies to assist in the battle, with more than 5,000 combat aircraft of various types.
Note! The troops mentioned here are only those prepared in advance, and do not include the large-scale base camp reserve. If these base camp reserves and guerrillas for dealing with emergencies are included, the total number of troops deployed by the Soviet army for this battle will exceed 2.5 million.
This is destined to be an unprecedented, even unprecedented, large-scale battle. The attention it attracts is bound to be unprecedented. Any senior commander who is lucky enough to participate in it will have to put 1,000% of his energy into dealing with this battle. So far, those who can understand the battle arrangements and plans are generals with heavy troops and are included in the list of generals for this battle. Even these people, when they come into contact with the battle plan, are repeatedly warned that the contents of the battle plan must be kept strictly confidential. No matter who leaks the relevant contents of the plan, they will be punished most severely.
Precisely because this battle is so critical and important, Rokossovsky and his party were temporarily appointed as observers. In the near future, they need to understand the detailed situation in Belarus and the entire northern battlefield on the spot.
