Chapter 239
In fact, as the Chief of Operations of the General Staff, Yuri had known for a long time that the Polish National Army had crossed the border into Western Belarus to provoke. He also had a full understanding of the underground anti-German fascist organizations in Poland. In this regard, he knew the situation in more detail than Shaposhnikov.
In fact, in Poland, there are not only two underground organizations, the Polish National Army remotely controlled by the exile government and the People's Army led by the Communist Party, but also a Peasant Battalion mainly composed of Peasant Party guerrillas. Among these three forces, the National Army is the most powerful, with a total guerrilla force of more than 300,000. The second is the Peasant Battalion, with a total force of more than 150,000, and the weakest is the People's Army led by the Communist Party.
However, at the beginning of the year, in view of its own weakness and the Peasant Party's distrust of the government-in-exile, the Polish Communist Party won over the left-leaning Peasant Party, held a National People's Congress, merged the Peasant Camps, and formed the current People's Army.
Even when the Germans were at their peak, the struggle between the National Army and the People's Army never stopped. Conflicts and frictions between the two sides continued, and the losses from internal friction were not much less than those from the anti-German war.
Since the middle of last year, the Polish National Army has brought the war to the territory of western Belarus. Their attacks on the Soviet guerrillas were not as light as Shaposhnikov said, but were truly ruthless, involving burning, killing, looting and everything in between.
The grievances between Poland and the Soviet Union were historical. Yuri was too lazy to comment on the Poles' surreal revolutionary romanticism. He only knew that Comrade Stalin attached great importance to the Polish National Army and he needed the troops to eliminate the Polish National Army as a armed force in the process of advancing into Poland.
Now, with the successive victories on the battlefield, Comrade Stalin's reputation in the Soviet Union is growing day by day. In the past, he still needed to rely on purges to consolidate his position, but now, he only needs to rely on his political reputation to defeat all opposition forces. Therefore, Comrade Stalin's decision is the embodiment of the Soviet state will, and as a soldier, Yuri must obey the state will.
What's more, Yuri had no choice but to obey, because the day after Shaposhnikov returned to Moscow, another powerful figure who was responsible for dealing with the Polish National Army arrived at the Belarusian front.
Ivan Alexandrovich Shelov, another legendary figure in the Soviet Union, seems to be not much worse than Yuri in terms of his resume. He started to serve as Stalin's personal secretary at the age of 25, and became the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Ukraine at the age of 33. At the age of 35, he took Khrushchev's current position and began to serve as the Secretary of the Central Committee of Ukraine and the Alternate Member of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Today, Comrade Shelov is the second in command of the State Security Committee. In name, he is Beria's deputy, but in reality, Beria cannot control him. The two maintain a situation of confrontation within the State Security Committee. The State Security Committee's intelligence station in Germany is currently under his command.
Accompanying Shelov were the commanders of the Polish Ninth Army, Zy Berlinger, the commander of the Polish Second Army, Karol Swierczewski, and several members of the Polish Patriotic League. In addition, there were several commanders from the "For Soviet Belarus" guerrilla brigade.
One only needs to look at the speed at which the Polish army was formed and expanded to feel how much Comrade Stalin valued the Polish issue. Just before the launch of the Belarusian campaign, the Polish Ninth Army had just been formed, and now, just after the first phase of the campaign was completed, the Polish Second Army had already been formed in just over ten days.
The Polish Second Army has three divisions, namely the Polish 4th, 5th and 6th Infantry Divisions. In addition, there is a tank brigade, a cavalry brigade, five artillery brigades and two air force squadrons. This is the foundation of the future Polish Defense Forces.
Of course, the combat effectiveness of these so-called Polish armies is really... not to be underestimated. Not to say that they are a complete mess, but at least they are at a very bad level.
During the Battle of Bobruisk, at the request of the Polish Patriotic League, Rokossovsky sent the Polish Ninth Army into battle. They fought together with the Ninth Army and fought on the Chomic Line. During this period, two divisions of the Polish Ninth Army fought for two days and then were withdrawn. Rokossovsky directly arranged for them to be interviewed by reporters.
As for the "For Soviet Belarus" guerrilla brigade, it is a Soviet guerrilla unit active in the Trubechno area. They grew and expanded during the German occupation, and their size exceeded 2,000 people. Since last year, they have come into contact with the Polish , and there have been more than a dozen exchanges of fire.
Yuri and Shelov met in a remaining residential building in Krasnaya Bereg. It was not the first time they met, but they were not very familiar with each other.
Shelov, who was not even 40 years old, looked older than his actual age. Perhaps because he was worried about too many things, there were already obvious wrinkles on his forehead. The key point was that his back looked a little hunched, and he seemed to be unable to stand straight. His face was a little thin, and I don’t know if it was because of the angle of the light, but his cheeks seemed to be sunken, giving people a sarcastic feeling.
He was not wearing the uniform of the State Security Committee, but a gray Lenin suit, with no hat or coat, only a long smoky gray scarf around his neck.
The living room of the house seemed a bit cramped, and there was a hole in the corner of the wall on the right side blown by a shell. Although a soldier blocked the hole with a quilt, it still leaked a bit of air.
Shelov had severe rheumatism. Yuri suspected that his hunchback might be related to this disease. Therefore, he arranged for someone to light the stove in the living room to drive away the damp and cold air in the room. Sure enough, Shelov specially chose a position close to the stove. After he warmed up, his face, which looked a little blue, also had a hint of redness.
This time, Shelov brought an order issued by the People's Commissariat of Defense - although his position was relatively high, without such an order, he had no right to ask Yuri to cooperate with him.
The content of the order was not complicated, only a short page, requiring Yuri to coordinate the work of the four fronts and cooperate with Comrade Shelov to complete his task, and his task was to launch a limited anti-counterrevolutionary "operation" in the "region" of Western Belarus, search for the remaining Germans and all " enemies of the Soviet state", and eliminate them.
Under the words "region", "action", and "enemy of the Soviet state", there are specially marked red lines. This is the key point and Yuri needs to carefully understand it.
This was not a difficult problem for Yuri. He knew what it meant without thinking about it carefully. The so-called Western Belarus region should not refer to Western Belarus, but the entire region including the Soviet-occupied area in Poland. In other words, wherever the Soviet army fights, the anti-counterrevolutionary action will be carried out.
The reason why "action" is marked as an emphasis is that it means that this is a secret action rather than a massive campaign. Things need to be done, but they cannot be done in a high-profile manner so that everyone knows about it. There needs to be a balance.
The so-called "enemies of the Soviet state" refers to all forces and armed forces that oppose the Soviet Union. They are targets that need to be eliminated. Whether it is the Polish National Army or the nationalist guerrillas, they are all within the scope of the elimination.
In addition to the order, Shelov also brought the latest news from Moscow: the commander of the Polish National Army, Major General Tadeusz Komorowski, had submitted a note to Moscow, rejecting Moscow's request to disband the National Army or merge it into the Polish People's Army. Instead, he demanded to take over the administrative power of Polish territory behind the Soviet Army as the Soviet Army advanced towards Berlin.
In Yuri's opinion, this request was really a bit strange. The Polish National Army had always been hostile to the Soviet Army, and they even fought against the Soviet guerrillas. In this case, the Soviet Army was fighting in the front, but they demanded to take over the administrative power behind the Soviet Army while retaining the army.
Are you kidding me? Not to mention that Moscow would not agree to this request, even Yuri himself would not agree to it. Which army commander would allow a hostile force to retain armed forces behind his offensive route? Isn't this courting death?
After folding the order and stuffing it back into the envelope, Yuri placed the envelope on the table, put one hand on it, looked at Shelov across from him, and asked with a smile: "Comrade Ivan Alexandrovich, I accept the order from the People's Commissariat of Defense and will fully cooperate with your work . Next, is there anything you need me to do?"
"I plan to appoint several comrades from the guerrilla brigade as the leaders, select capable soldiers from the internal security forces, and form 20 anti-counterrevolutionary teams," Shelov said. "Comrade Yuri Arkipovich, I hope you can coordinate with the commanders of the four fronts and fully cooperate with the anti-counterrevolutionary teams in their clearing operations when necessary."
After a pause, he continued, "In addition, our intelligence personnel have contacted a national army guerrilla group active in the Dusse Lake area. Recently, we will take action against this unfriendly armed force. I hope you can coordinate with the 3rd Belarusian Front to provide us with military support."
"No problem, Comrade Ivan Alexandrovich," Yuri nodded and said, "I will contact the front later."
"Okay, Comrade Yuri Alshepovich," Sherov stood up, smiled and extended his hand, "I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation."
