Chapter 272
With the complete defeat and surrender of the German Third Reich, although the war in the entire European battlefield was not over, including in the Courland Peninsula and southwestern Austria, there were still organized German troops that had not laid down their arms, and in the East, there was still a Japanese fascist waiting to be strangled, but the game between the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain had already begun.
On one side is the socialist Soviet Union, which has a vast territory and rich resources. After the Soviet-German War, the military power of the entire country was mobilized, and there is an army large enough to make the whole world tremble. Tens of millions of troops, tens of thousands of artillery, tanks and combat aircraft, this is a military force that the British and American allies on the European continent cannot resist. Therefore, Churchill was very worried about the power of the Soviet Union.
On the other side were the capitalist Western allies. Although Britain was powerful, it was not something Moscow took seriously. But it was different for the United States. Their powerful navy and air superiority were always what Moscow was most worried about. Therefore, as the supreme commander of the Soviet Union, Stalin had to be vigilant about the existence of the British and American allied forces.
Did Moscow have a plan to continue advancing westward after the war with Germany ended? To be honest, no, at least there was no such plan on Yuri's battle plan. Moscow only needed him to arrange the Soviet defense along the Elbe River and formulate several plans for dealing with wars of different intensities. For example, if a small-scale armed conflict occurred along the Elbe River, how should the Soviet army respond? If a low-intensity local war broke out, how should the Soviet army respond? If a full-scale war broke out, how should the Soviet army mobilize for war in the shortest possible time? And so on.
As for whether the British and American allies had plans to launch an offensive eastward, it is unknown. It depends on the declassification of American secret files 50 or 100 years later. Of course, Yuri is clear about one thing, that is, if the course of history does not change significantly, this war will not break out. Even if the Americans have that ambition, Britain will not lose its mind, not to mention that France still has Charles de Gaulle, the troublemaker.
In the two days before returning to Moscow, Yuri, after consultation with Zhukov, adjusted the garrisons of the First Belorussian Front and the First Ukrainian Front, and set up 34 defense zones along the Elbe River, including Berlin, and on this basis established the "Soviet Army in Germany" cluster. Regarding the establishment of the cluster commander, Yuri recommended Zhukov, and the cluster commander organization was recommended to be reorganized based on the original First Ukrainian Front commander organization.
In addition, under the consultation of the two, a document was specially drafted to propose to Moscow to set up: the Central Army Group of the Soviet Army, mainly stationed in Hungary and Austria, responsible for eliminating the remaining German troops and supervising the establishment of pro-Soviet regimes in the two countries. Konev was recommended as the commander of the group, and the group command was recommended to be reorganized on the basis of the leadership of the 2nd Ukrainian Front; the Northern Army Group of the Soviet Army , mainly stationed in Poland, was responsible for eliminating the remaining German troops and the Polish National Army, and assisting the Polish National Liberation Committee in preparing a new regime. Rokossovsky was recommended as the commander of the group, and the group command was recommended to be reorganized on the basis of the leadership of the 1st Belarusian Front; the Southern Army Group of the Soviet Army, mainly stationed in Romania and Bulgaria, was mainly responsible for supervising the de-fascist regime transformation of the two countries. Tsvetayev was recommended as the commander of the group, and the group command was recommended to be reorganized on the basis of the leadership of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.
This document will be submitted to the Supreme Command, and the candidate for commander will ultimately be determined by the People's Commissariat of Defense.
…
Berlin had been rainy for several days, but the Soviet army's celebratory atmosphere had not diminished at all. For several consecutive days, the Soviet troops that had not entered Berlin before were gradually adjusting their shifts. From high-level commanders to grassroots soldiers, they all hoped to enter Berlin to take a look and take a photo on the steps in front of the Reichstag as a souvenir.
After years of war, these soldiers who have always been fighting on the front line have paid too much. For many of them, they may have served in the army since the day the war broke out, or many of their fathers and brothers may have died in the war, leaving only themselves to survive until the end of the war. For many soldiers, they have been soldiers since the outbreak of the war and they are still soldiers at the end of the war. After years of gunfire and rain of bullets, they may not even get a medal. The evidence that can be used as a topic of conversation in the future is the photo in front of the Capitol.
As the supreme commander of the battle in the Berlin direction, Yuri made a decision for the first time without Moscow's approval. From now until the end of July, in less than two months, Soviet soldiers who did not participate in the Battle of Berlin and did not enter Berlin were allowed to visit Berlin in regiment units. The relevant work was coordinated by the Soviet Army Group in Berlin and the groups stationed in Eastern Europe.
Today, the troops entering Berlin were part of the 65th Army from Rostock, the 304th and 321st Infantry Divisions. In the battle to attack Rostock, these two divisions suffered heavy losses and are currently resting. They traveled more than 200 kilometers and entered Berlin in the early morning. Then they walked along the same route that the senior commanders of the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom took when they visited the Reichstag, and then left Berlin before noon and returned to their base.
In the slowly moving jeep, Yuri could see the soldiers who had traveled more than 200 kilometers just to see Berlin. Their uniforms were very clean, their boots had obviously been wiped, the dust and dirt on their faces had been washed away, and each of the unfamiliar faces was filled with a bright smile.
For these people, being able to visit Berlin was the best reward for years of war, which made them feel very happy. But for more Soviet people, perhaps the happiest thing was the end of the war.
Of course, as for the names written on the Brandenburg Gate and the walls of the Reichstag, don't worry about them anymore.
After the Battle of Berlin, the Soviet army took two days to repair the airport in Luckenwalde. Yuri had to drive more than 30 kilometers to catch a plane back to Moscow.
This time, Comrade Stalin specially arranged for his private plane to pick up the people - even though he was afraid of air crashes and had never been on this plane, the fact that he made this arrangement was enough to show his respect for the front-line commanders including Yuri.
Of course, it’s not just Yuri who is being brought back this time. Others include commanders of the 1st and 2nd Belarusian Fronts and the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts.
As the saying goes, where there are people, there will be conflicts. Even among the commanders of the same Soviet army, the division of camps was very obvious.
Take the trip to Luckenwalde for example. Although it was only 30 kilometers away, Zhukov and Yuri went separately. The main commanders of the 1st Ukrainian Front followed Zhukov, while the main commanders of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts waited for Yuri to set off together. The two sides were clearly separated and kept to themselves.
In Marx's theory, there is a theory on the transformation of major contradictions and secondary contradictions. This theoretical summary is really awesome because it is easy to verify in real life and that is the fact.
With the end of the Soviet-German War, the contradictions between the Soviet Union and Germany, the Soviets and the Germans, and the Allied Forces and the German fascist axis disappeared, and thus, the contradictions that were originally in a secondary position rose to become the main contradictions. For example: the contradictions between the Soviet Union and Western countries such as Britain and the United States based on the state system; for example, the contradictions within the Soviet Union; and the contradictions that existed for a long time among the Soviet high-level officials but were hidden because of the war.
These strange contradictions will eventually emerge one by one with the end of the war. Each contradiction means a challenge, and each challenge may contain opportunities, which are precious opportunities for many people.
The plane carried Yuri to Moscow. He could sleep on the plane. It was already night when he arrived in Moscow.
The cabin of the plane was very quiet. Although everyone seemed happy, there was actually no joy in their hearts, at least that was the case with Yuri.
Human habits are terrible. Once you get used to something or a certain state, you will think it is normal, just like war. After several years of war, everyone on the plane got used to the sound of gunfire and poured all their lives and energy into the war. Now that the war has suddenly ended, everyone has a sense of confusion about the future, not knowing what they should do, what they can do, and what they will do in the future.
Perhaps this is why soldiers like war.
The plane was not able to arrive in Moscow directly on time. When passing through Minsk, it encountered a large-scale thunderstorm. To be on the safe side, the plane landed at Minsk Airport. The rest of the journey was transported by a special train that was coordinated by the railway transportation department.
After this incident, when everyone arrived in Moscow, it was already eight o'clock in the morning of the next day. They got off the train at the Minsk Railway Station in Moscow, and the convoy responsible for picking them up was already waiting at the train station.
The major of the Internal Security Forces in charge of security brought a message to everyone that Comrade Stalin postponed the meeting and gave them a day to rest. The meeting will officially be held at six o'clock this evening at the Grand Kremlin Palace.
