Chapter 227
With the convening of the military meeting in the Belarus direction, it marked that the Soviet Red Army had shifted the direction of its strategic offensive from the southern section of the Eastern Front to the middle section of the Eastern Front, that is, the "Belarusian Balcony" salient which was defended by the German Army Group Center.
Of course, at this time, except for the Soviet Union, no other belligerent country considered this area of German defense as a "salient" because it was too large and it would be better to call it an occupied area. However, the next battle plan of the Soviet Red Army was to eat up this salient, so as to completely drive the Germans out of Belarus and liberate the entire territory of the Soviet Union.
This salient was actually very important to both the Soviet Union and Germany. It was the core area of the entire Soviet-German battlefield after entering 1944.
By controlling this salient, the German Army Group Center could threaten Soviet troops launching attacks along the Baltic coast, and Soviet troops launching attacks in Ukraine. At the same time, it posed a major threat to Moscow, the heart of the Soviet Union. Behind this salient, the strategic direction from Warsaw to Berlin was protected.
To put it bluntly, this is the core area of the German army's current front line. Once it is crushed by the Soviet army, the entire Eastern Front of the German army will collapse.
Unfortunately, the Soviets had already advanced to Romania on the southern front, and the Soviets had been attacking in the south for almost the entire year of 1943. Therefore, the German High Command, influenced by inertial thinking and not wanting to lose Romania as an ally, had not yet realized the threat from Belarus. A large number of armored units of the Central Army Group were still being transferred to the southern front to strengthen the defense there.
After the operational plan for the Belarusian Campaign was approved, it was signed by Yuri Arkipovich, who had just been promoted to Deputy Chief of the General Staff, and then forwarded to the core commanders of the four major fronts and the participating air force groups. At the same time, members of the People's Commissariat of Defense also received the plan.
According to regulations, the preparation time for this battle is three months. During these three months, the entire Soviet state apparatus will be mobilized around this battle. Whether it is railway transportation, troop recruitment, or counterintelligence work, all will be centered on this battle.
Just four days after the end of the military meeting of the Belarusian Campaign, Stalin issued the Supreme Commander's Order No. 70. This order was copied to embassies and press stations of various countries in Moscow as soon as it was issued, and then spread throughout the world.
In this order, Stalin first listed the great achievements : the Soviet Red Army drove the German fascists to the border on a 400-kilometer front, liberated more than three-quarters of the occupied territories, and introduced the war into Romania. Also in these three years, the Soviet Red Army defeated more than 6 million German fascists and their allied troops.
Subsequently, Stalin pointed out in his order that these achievements were not the final achievements of the Soviet Red Army. After that, the heroic Soviet Red Army would not only liberate all the territory from the Black Sea to the Barents Sea, but also "must track and pursue this wounded German beast and kill it in its cave."
The Soviet Union will liberate all Eastern European countries including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, and all Western European countries including France, Belgium, and Denmark.
Finally, the order also shows the powerful armed forces of the Soviet Red Army. According to the order, the Soviet Red Army currently has 6.6 million troops in the entire battlefield against Germany, with more than 7,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery and nearly 13,000 combat aircraft. Such a large Red Army corps will surely be able to defeat German fascism and sweep across the entire European continent.
Once this order was announced, it immediately caused an uproar within a short period of time.
Western countries, including Britain and the United States, could not sit idly by and watch the Soviets sweep across the entire European continent. That would have had disastrous consequences for the construction of the post-war European political landscape. In order to avoid this outcome, Britain and the United States reaffirmed the agreement reached by the three parties at the Tehran Conference, and began to step up deployment to open up the second front in Europe.
With the issuance of the 70th Supreme Commander's Order, guerrillas and intelligence personnel began to become extremely active in the German-occupied areas. At the same time, guerrillas led by the Communist Party in Eastern European countries such as Poland, Yugoslavia, and Greece also began to take action, creating all kinds of troubles for the German army.
…
Propoisk on the Sozh River.
Soviet soldiers in white cloaks were moving quickly westward through the thick snow-covered jungle. Trucks with white-painted roofs were struggling hard on the half-meter-deep snow in the forest. In the gloomy sky, heavy snow was still falling like catkins, and it looked like it would never stop.
This is the Ninth Army on the march. They are moving towards Rogachev. The heavy snow increases the difficulty of the troops' march, but they cannot stop because the order issued by the front command requires them to arrive at the designated location early tomorrow morning.
Deep in the dense forest, on a piece of woodland close to the banks of the Sozhi River, a makeshift tent stands there. The tent is white and can hardly be seen unless you look closely.
Inside the tent, a brazier made from a gasoline barrel was placed on the cleared ground. At this moment, flames were coming out of the brazier, and what was burning were pieces of pine wood. Amid the crackling sounds, a pine scent filled the entire tent.
Next to the brazier, Yuri, wearing a military coat, sat on a rough wooden block, flipping through a document in his hand in the light coming in from outside the tent.
This is the latest battle report from Moscow. The main content is about the battle on the Crimean Peninsula, and another part is about the battle on the Karelian Isthmus.
To be honest, Yuri was not interested in the battles in these two directions at all. In his eyes, they were trivial matters and had nothing to do with him. However, considering his identity as the Minister of Operations, he still took a closer look.
Since being promoted to Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Yuri has twice requested Stalin to resign from the post of Minister of Operations, but Comrade Stalin has never approved it. Even though he is not in Moscow and still serves as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, the position of Minister of Operations has to be reserved for him.
There was a creaking sound coming from outside the tent, which was the sound of military boots stepping on the snow.
Yuri put down the report in his hand and looked towards the tent entrance.
"Swish," with a slight sound, the curtain at the entrance of the tent was lifted and two people walked in.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," said the man walking in front. He was tall and thin, his beard was not shaved cleanly, and he had a short stubble on his chin, looking a little sloppy.
"Comrade Alexander Petrovich," Yuri stood up and greeted the other person with a smile. Then, he smiled at the second person behind him and said, "Comrade Alexander Vasilyevich, hello."
"Hello, Comrade Yuri Arispovich," the latter took two steps forward, shook hands with him, and said with a stiff expression.
Yuri was already somewhat familiar with these two people. The former was Pokrovsky, the chief of staff of the 3rd Belarusian Front, an experienced staff officer who had always been Chernychekhovsky's assistant, and the two worked well together. As for the latter, it was Gorbatov, the current commander of the 9th Army, who was also an experienced army-level commander.
However, Yuri could feel that Comrade Gorbatov had very complicated emotions when facing him, and he even knew where these emotions came from.
Gorbatov's life was also very bumpy. When he was young, he worked as a salesman in a shoe store. He had a tragic experience of "my girlfriend got married but the groom was not me". During the subsequent Great Purge, he was dismissed twice and even went to prison and was abused. The person who almost killed him at that time was named Yefim Afanasyevich Shatenko.
That's right, it was when Yuri was the commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front on the southern front and a member of the Military Committee of the front that Yuri had a good relationship with.
In addition, when Gorbatov was suffering and imprisoned, a comrade commander took great risks and took great care of his wife and family. He could be considered his benefactor. This comrade commander was named Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko, the unlucky guy who became cannon fodder in the struggle between Yuri and Zhukov.
It was precisely because of these two days that Gorbatov always deliberately kept his distance from Yuri. Although he had no hostility, he would never get close to him.
In fact, Yuri still admired the veteran Gorbatov very much, because he was good at learning and his command style was decisive and bold. He was an outstanding senior commander and his professional qualities were also very prominent in the entire command system of the Soviet Army.
Unfortunately, this is the fate between people. Two people with similar temperaments and personalities may not necessarily become friends. Due to their respective interests and interpersonal relationships, they may even become enemies.
Yuri didn't mind Gorbatov's deliberate alienation from him. He was not made of gold and didn't expect everyone to like him.
After asking the two men to take a seat and asking Arseni to pour them some water, Yuri looked at Pokrovsky and asked, "Have you got the latest intelligence on the German deployment?"
"I got it, Comrade Yuri Arisipovich," Pokrovsky nodded, put the briefcase he brought on his lap, took out a piece of brown paper from it, and said, "The situation seems to be better than we thought."
