Chapter 218
Moscow, Romanskoyan Air Force Base, Yuri got off a plane and got into a black car parked on the runway, surrounded by several school-level officers.
The Romanskoy base is currently under construction and has only one runway available, which seems a bit busy.
This time he flew back to Moscow from the south . Although the journey was not very long, Yuri still felt tired. Therefore, after getting on the car, he closed his eyes and prepared to take a nap to rest.
Today is Christmas in the Russian calendar. The People's Commissariat of Defense is preparing to hold a grand celebration ceremony tonight to celebrate the great victory achieved by the Soviet army in the previous stage of the battle to liberate Ukraine.
As the commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front on the southern front, Yuri naturally also received a notice. He not only received a notice to participate in the celebration, but also received a notice to be awarded a medal. The General Political Department informed him that at the awarding ceremony tonight, Comrade Stalin will personally present him with a first-class Order of Suvorov.
That's right, although he failed to become the first front commander to break through the Dnieper River defense line, Yuri still received this medal. Besides him, another person who received this medal was Zhukov.
However, Yuri was not very happy about receiving this medal. On the contrary, he felt very lost because his intuition told him that he should not have received this medal originally, and now that he had received it, he must have lost something else.
So the question is, what does he have to lose? Undoubtedly, what he is most likely to lose is the position of commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front. He will miss the opportunity to command troops and annihilate the German heavy forces.
The definition of the Order of Suvorov is that it is specially awarded to military commanders who annihilate the superior forces of the German army in the offensive. When attacking the Dnieper River defense line, the Fourth Ukrainian Front failed to win the first place, so Yuri was not qualified to receive this medal. If he could command the troops to completely annihilate the German army in the Crimean Peninsula, then he would be well-deserved to win this medal. But now, Comrade Stalin gave it to him before the battle was launched, so Yuri had reason to think that this was simply a compensation, and he might be transferred from the Fourth Ukrainian Front soon.
For a senior commander, missing an important battle is undoubtedly a lifelong regret, and this is the emotion Yuri is feeling now.
The campaign against the Crimean Peninsula had been in preparation for some time. Yuri had even worked out a battle plan and had even completed the basic deployment of troops. The battle preparations in three directions had entered the countdown stage. As long as the logistics supply problem was resolved, this annihilation war could be launched. But at this moment...
The Romanskaya base is not far from Moscow, only 36 kilometers, and it takes less than an hour to drive there.
Despite his bad mood, Yuri still took a nap in the car. When he woke up again, the convoy had arrived at Red Square and was entering the entrance of the Kutafya Tower.
Yuri sat up straight in his seat and looked towards the front of the car. Just in front of his car, there was a black car moving slowly forward. When Yuri looked over, the brake lights of the car were on and it was pulling towards the side of the road.
The driver slowed down, and when the two cars were less than five or six meters apart, Yuri saw a man in a military coat getting out of that car and looking towards his own car with a smile on his face.
It was Rokossovsky.
"Stop the car," Yuri smiled and was about to ask the driver in front to stop the car, but Arseni, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said it first.
The car stopped by the roadside, and Arseni jumped out first and opened the door for Yuri.
Yuri got out of the car, his high military boots making a slight crunching sound as he stepped on the snow on the ground.
"Hey, Yuri," Rokossovsky said, smiling, coming over and hugging him, "Have you just arrived in Moscow?"
"I got off the plane half an hour ago," Yuri said, putting his arm around the other man's shoulders and patting his broad back with his hands.
"Would you like to take a walk together?" Rokossovsky said with a smile, holding his shoulders with both hands.
Yuri said nothing, just smiled and nodded. He could tell that his old superior had something to say to him.
"Congratulations, you have received the Order of Suvorov, First Class." Rokossovsky held his left arm, motioned Yuri to walk with him, and said with a smile, "This honor is very rare."
"This is what you deserve. I didn't expect to get it so soon," Yuri smiled bitterly, reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes, took out one and handed it to the other party, then took another one and played with it in his hand, saying.
He was right. The first-class Order of Suvorov should indeed be received by Rokossovsky. If someone had not interfered and acted in an ugly way, he should have been the first person to break through the German Dnieper River defense line.
Rokossovsky smiled, as if he had forgotten this annoying experience. He took out a lighter and lit his cigarette. Seeing that Yuri's cigarette was not lit, he handed him the lighter.
Yuri took the lighter and lit the cigarette, but his eyes were attracted by the lighter.
The lighter was made of gold and was beautifully crafted. There was a swastika on the front and a pattern of a lion and Pegasus on the north side, with some German letters below the pattern.
"This thing is pretty good. Was it confiscated?" Yuri asked curiously while playing with the lighter.
"It's from Paulus," Rokossovsky said, glancing at his hand. "If you like it, I'll give it to you."
Yuri nodded and put the lighter into the pocket of his military coat without any hesitation.
"The night before yesterday, I discussed the Belarusian issue with Comrade Stalin," Rokossovsky said, not caring about the lighter. "I read your previous 'five-strike' operational plan."
Yuri turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I think the time for the fifth strike has come," Rokossovsky continued. "After the impact of the Ukrainian campaign, the German army's combat situation on the southern front has almost collapsed. Therefore, according to the intelligence we have received, in the past month's deployment, the Germans have transferred the 3rd, 10th, and 19th armored divisions, as well as the 24th and 48th armored corps, to the southern front. In the area north of the Pripyat River, the German army's strength has been severely weakened. In my opinion, they should be preparing to launch a counterattack in the direction of Kiev."
Yuri nodded and said, "I think their counterattack direction should not only be limited to Kiev, but also Nikopol, which is also one of their counterattack targets."
Rokossovsky nodded and said, "However, I think the German counterattack should be delayed for three to four months, and the offensive will be launched after the weather warms up. Therefore, I plan to launch a campaign in the Belarus direction during this gap."
Yuri didn't say anything. He understood Rokossovsky's intention. To be honest, the reason why this old superior launched the Belarusian Campaign at this time was, on the one hand, because the timing was indeed very good, and on the other hand, it was also because launching the Belarusian Campaign at this time was most beneficial to him.
At present, the Soviet army's southern front corps has just finished a major battle, and the German army is stepping up its deployment and may launch a counterattack at any time. Therefore, the three corps on the southern front must actively prepare for war, and all the front-line commanders are unlikely to move easily. At this time, launching the Belarusian campaign, Rokossovsky at least does not have to worry about some people coming to pick peaches.
In fact, Rokossovsky's position in the Soviet Army's senior command system was somewhat awkward. He was a Russian-Polish mixed-race, and the attitude of the Soviet high-level officials towards Poland was well known to the world, so it was difficult for him to gain Stalin's complete trust.
Why was it that in the previous battle, some people were able to easily take the peach from his hand? Wasn't it because of this reason?
However, Rokossovsky is also capable. He has achieved his current status by fighting one battle after another.
In Yuri's previous life, after the end of World War II, the Americans asked the surviving German generals to write memoirs in the 1950s to summarize the war experience. At that time, a question was raised: Who was the best field commander of the Soviet Army? At first, everyone thought the answer would be Zhukov, but in the end the answer the Americans got was Rokossovsky.
"Yuri, I hope you can support me on this plan," Rokossovsky said earnestly, not noticing that Yuri was distracted. He continued walking forward, "Also, I hope you can fight for the selection of the representative for the headquarters."
Yuri was stunned for a moment and was about to say something when a car behind them slowly approached and stopped less than two or three meters in front of them.
A tall major got out of the car first. He saluted the two men and then opened the back door.
When Yuri saw the major, he knew who was in the car. The major's name seemed to be Roschenko, a Ukrainian, and his identity was Konev's guard captain.
Sure enough, as the car door opened, Konev, also wearing a military coat, got out of the car.
"Ivan," Rokossovsky went up to him and embraced him, smiling.
"Yuri," Konev hugged him with a smile on his face, then opened his arms and smiled at Yuri, "Long time no see."
"Long time no see, Ivan," Yuri walked over, hugged him, and asked, "Didn't you go back to Moscow last week?"
"Yes, I came back last week," Konev nodded. "I went back home to check on my family and plan to leave early tomorrow morning."
After he finished speaking, he looked at the two of them and said, "What are you doing..."
“Just walking around,” Rokossovsky smiled.
"Then, together?" Konev's eyes flashed and he smiled.
