Chapter 256
The atrocities in the Auschwitz concentration camp were quickly reported by media outlets around the world, causing an uproar. Such cruel and inhumane killings have gone beyond the scope of war and have become naked genocide. Those who implement such concentration camp policies must be defined as war criminals and anti-human elements and must be punished internationally.
While this news was being reported around the world, the Soviet Union's national propaganda machine also became busy. A large number of leaflets were printed and delivered to the German-occupied areas and the German defense lines by airdrop.
This was a propaganda war aimed at shaking the morale of the German army and creating an illusion among the German troops fighting on the front line that Germany had been completely isolated in the world and that they were not fighting the Soviets, the Americans , or the British, but were fighting the entire world.
Just as this propaganda was in full swing, in the Arctic direction, the Finns, who finally chose to join the Allied camp, clashed with the Germans in Lapland Province. The two allies who had fought side by side for several years finally turned against each other because of the change in the direction of the war, just like what happened between Italy and Romania.
Yuri stayed in Auschwitz for only one day. In fact, his role was to accompany the Western Allied observers. Almost that same evening, he flew back to the Warsaw front.
With the liberation of Warsaw, the fighting in the general direction of Poland entered a period of adjustment. Considering that the war against the Finns in Karelia had ended, the former Leningrad Front and the Karelian Front made adjustments.
The field command organization of the Leningrad Front was abolished, and its subordinate corps were transferred to the Leningrad Military District. The field command organization of the Karelian Front was also disbanded, and except for a part of its subordinate corps that were transferred to the Leningrad Military District, most of them were transferred to the headquarters reserve.
Considering the importance of the battle in the Polish direction, the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front were reinforced by two army groups respectively, regardless of the fact that these additional forces were still in the process of redeployment and would be difficult to deliver in the short term.
Also during this period, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Baltic Fronts launched a large-scale offensive aimed at liberating Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. In the face of the Soviet Union's powerful offensive, the German Army Group North was quickly defeated. In the end, as many as 26 divisions and more than 200,000 German troops were besieged on the cramped Courland Peninsula, becoming trapped beasts with nowhere to escape.
At this point, following the Center Army Group in the Battle of Belarus, another German heavy force group was crushed by the Soviet Army.
However, the Courland Peninsula had not been liberated at this time, and this large German force had not been completely eliminated. Therefore, the three fronts along the Baltic Sea had to stay in this area to maintain the siege of the German troops and prevent them from rushing out of the Courland Peninsula and threatening the right wing of the Soviet attack on Berlin.
For Yuri, the intermission period did not mean that he could take a break. On the contrary, he would become busier as he needed to understand the status of the troops in all directions: where they needed to be replenished, where they needed to be replenished with weapons and ammunition. In addition, he also needed to analyze the various intelligence sent by the intelligence department, analyze the adjustments made by the German army in the deployment of troops, and so on.
…
Treblinka, a small town on the Bug River.
The warm spring breeze blows across the vast coniferous forest along the river, and the misty drizzle washes away the dust attached to the treetops, making the entire forest lush and green.
In the previous war, Treblinka was not devastated by the flames of war. It was not a strategic location. Due to the vast jungle and dense swamps, the Germans did not deploy too many defenses in this place. When the Soviet army launched a large-scale offensive, the German troops guarding here retreated in a hurry and did not have time to destroy this ancient town. Therefore, most of the buildings in this town are intact.
It was early in the morning. When Yuri walked out of the small building where he temporarily lived, a military jeep happened to be parked on the gravel road in front of the door.
The car door opened and the person who got out was Arseni. He carried a gray-green canvas bag out of the car in the drizzle. The two guards standing at the door hurried over and took the bag from him.
"Bring some fruits over," Arseni clapped his hands, took an oil-paper bag from the car, walked over, stood next to Yuri, and said with a smile, "They are all fresh. I heard they were shipped from the Far East. They are only distributed to commanders at the army level and above."
Yuri nodded. With the improvement of the war situation, especially the recovery of large tracts of land, the Soviet rear area has also entered a stage of recovery and construction. The transportation of civilian supplies across the country has also been restored. Considering the principle of priority distribution during wartime, the treatment of soldiers in the army has also been improved a lot. At least the food is not as bad as it was before. As for the treatment of senior commanders, it has even reached a higher level.
However, Yuri himself does not care much about oral enjoyment, after all, he has higher pursuits.
"This is today's newspaper," Arseni said as he opened the oil paper package and took out a bundle of rolled newspapers.
Yuri took the newspaper and did not go back into the house. He just stood under the eaves and unfolded the newspaper in his hand.
There were not just one newspaper, but several, including the major Soviet newspapers such as Izvestia and Red Star, which were published today. These were specially sent from Minsk. Recently, Yuri had to read newspapers every day for entertainment. In order to meet his needs, Comrade Ponomarenko, who had just taken over the position of First Secretary of the Belarusian Central Committee, specifically instructed the Minsk Municipal Party Committee to arrange for someone to deliver several newspapers to Yuri every day.
Although the job of delivering newspapers is not easy, it is really not easy. Every day at three o'clock in the morning, as soon as the new newspapers come out, you have to drive from Minsk and drive nearly five hours to get here. This way, Yuri can see the day's newspaper while having breakfast.
Seeing that he seemed to have no intention of returning to the building, Arseni went into the room and moved out a chair and placed it behind Yuri. After he sat down, he arranged for the orderly to prepare breakfast.
The headline of the Red Star today involves Yuri. The general content is that with the approval of the Supreme Presidium of the Soviet Union, the People's Commissariat of Defense, and the General Political Department of the Army and Navy, five generals including Yuri, Rokossovsky and others were awarded the "Warsaw Liberation Medal".
To be honest, for Yuri now, winning a medal or award would not make him feel excited. Perhaps adding a "Marshal Star" under his collar would make him feel excited. However, as of now, it is probably difficult for him to get this honor in the war, after all, he is not even a general now.
From the end of the Belarusian Campaign to now, the headquarters has not said that it is planning to promote the military ranks of those commanders who commanded the battles on the front line. However, now that the "Warsaw Liberation Medal" has begun to be awarded, it seems that during this interwar period, the headquarters should also start to do the corresponding work.
If you do the math, Rokossovsky should be able to get the rank of marshal this time. Even if it is just to comfort the deeply hurt Poles, this decision must be made.
As for himself, Yuri could only smile bitterly. He had only been promoted to general for a few months. He could only dream of getting the rank of general this time. If all went well, perhaps he would get this opportunity after the Battle of Berlin.
However, this is not bad. Think about it, a general in his early thirties is so rare.
Let’s take a look at the second edition of the Red Star. Ha, the evolution of the war on the Western Front continued the trajectory of the previous life. The crazy Hitler still ordered his troops to launch a large-scale counterattack against the British and American Allied forces in the Ardennes region.
According to the newspaper, the battle was fought two days ago. The German army, with a strength of nearly thirty divisions, launched an attack on the U.S. Meuse River defense line in three directions. It took only one day to break through the U.S. defense line and formed a salient on the U.S. defense line that was more than 100 kilometers wide and more than 30 kilometers deep.
The US military suffered heavy losses in this wave of counterattack. So far, more than 7,000 US soldiers have been captured by the German army.
7,000 people were captured in just two days. The newspaper reports were full of irony. The Soviet-German War had been going on for so many years. Although a large number of people on both sides had been captured and surrendered, there was really no record of surrendering after being surrounded for two days. Did they surrender directly after receiving the news that they were surrounded without even basic resistance? If this was a Soviet Red Army unit, then the fate of these prisoners in the future would be only one, that is, to be sent to be shot.
Of course, for the British and American Allied Forces today, being captured less than 10,000 people is nothing, but the problem is that with the loss of the Meuse River defense line, Antwerp, the main supply port of the Allied Forces, is exposed to the German army. If the German attack on Antwerp cannot be stopped and the port cannot be defended, then all Allied forces entering Western Europe to fight will face the threat of annihilation.
According to the Izvestia newspaper, this defeat could even threaten the direction of the entire anti-Fascist war.
However, Yuri was very clear that the situation on the Western Front was not as bad as Izvestia said. The reason why the Germans achieved such great results was because they caught the British and American forces off guard. Once the Americans reacted, they would be able to reverse the situation quickly with their huge war power.
