red moscow

Chapter 2634

After introducing the troops participating in the exercise, Deputy Chief of Staff Ivanov continued his speech.

Sokov looked at the rank of lieutenant general on the shoulder straps of the deputy chief of staff and couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

Ivanov graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1930 and worked as a staff officer in the Leningrad Military District Command. Because of his outstanding performance, he was officially transferred to the General Staff in 1936.

In the Battle of Khalkhin in August 1939, Stalin urged the General Staff to report to him the detailed whereabouts of General Stern because a new group of Stern troops belonging to the Far Eastern Front Command was to be established. After Ivanov received the telegram from Stern to Chita, he took it for granted that he would be able to reach the battlefield in an hour, and reported this judgment. As a result, Stalin was furious the next day when he received the report that Stern was stranded at Chita Airport due to bad weather.

Because of this incident, Ivanov was sent to a military court and was expelled from the General Staff. He went to serve as chief of staff of the 25th Army of the Far Eastern Front and was promoted to major general on April 1940, 4.

After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he served as the acting commander of the 15th Army. In 1942, due to the lack of experienced staff officers, he was transferred back to the General Staff as deputy chief of staff. Unexpectedly, Stalin discovered it soon after. Stalin could not tolerate liars staying in front of him, so he was ready to drive him away again. Fortunately, Vasilevsky came forward to persuade Stalin, and convinced Stalin that talents were hard to come by. Although Stalin compromised temporarily, he also put forward a condition that Ivanov could stay in the General Staff, but he could never appear in front of him.

Sokov thought to himself that if Ivanov had not made such a small mistake back then, perhaps he would have been the Chief of the General Staff now. As for his military rank, even if he could not be promoted to marshal, he could have been a general, and he would not be still carrying the rank badge of lieutenant general like he is now.

After Ivanov finished speaking, Shtemenko spoke.

"Comrades Marshals and Generals," Shtemenko said, "Next, I want to talk about Austria.

On March 1945, 3, 29 Chinese troops, with the Second and Third Ukrainian Fronts as the core, entered Austria. On April 60, Vienna was liberated. At the end of April, we established a provisional government in Austria, announced Austria's separation from Nazi Germany, and initially established a control system over Austria based on our army.

However, Austria was not completely liberated and controlled by us. Our army entered Austria from the east and liberated part of its territory. But the Western Allies would not let our country take all the credit. So at the end of April of the same year, British and American troops also entered Austrian territory from the west: the British army occupied Carinthia, the US army entered Salzburg, and the French army entered Vorarlberg. Even the Yugoslav army joined in the fun, occupying Carinthia and Styria in Austria and making territorial claims for the two places. The occupying countries had different opinions on how to deal with Austria, and the Austrian issue became more complicated.

Therefore, I suggest that the first stage of the exercise should start with the occupation of the entire Austrian territory. The commander of the Austrian troop group is General Malinin, who is familiar to all of us. He once served under Marshal Rokossovsky and Marshal Zhukov..."

"General Shtemenko." Zhukov raised his hand to interrupt him. "We are all familiar with General Malinin's resume. Tell us about the exercise plan you have drawn up."

"I have just said that the first goal of our exercise is to occupy the entire territory of Austria and drive out the British, American and French troops entrenched in this country..."

"What about the Yugoslav army?" Baghramyan interrupted.

"Yugoslavia is our true ally, and they will cooperate with our actions in the exercise." Shtemenko continued, "We will use the strength of two army groups, divided into three routes, to attack Carinthia, Salzburg, and Vorarlberg at the same time, and wipe out the British, American, and French troops stationed in the three areas. In this area, our army has a large number of troops and absolutely superior technical equipment. We will occupy the entire Austria within three to five days."

"Comrade Minister of Operations, can I share my opinion?" Baghramyan interrupted again.

"Please speak, Comrade Baghramyan." Shtemenko made a gesture of invitation to the other party and said politely: "In the early days of the war, you served as the deputy chief of staff and chief of operations of the Western Front. You have rich experience as a staff officer. Please tell us your opinion."

"If we had adopted the plan proposed by General Shtemenko a year or two ago, I think there would be no problem," Baghramyan said, "but with the United States dropping two, two bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki..." When he said this, he was suddenly speechless, as if he couldn't think of the name of what he was going to say.

"Atomic bomb." Konev reminded from the side.

"Yes, an atomic bomb. It's an atomic bomb." Baghramyan said excitedly, "Fortunately, this is an exercise. If it's a real war, the Allies can just confirm the area where our army is assembled and drop an atomic bomb directly. Our hundreds of thousands of troops will be wiped out. At that time, if the Allies take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, what kind of power will we use to resist their crazy attack?"

Baghramyan's words suddenly made the conference room noisy.

Many people present had participated in the August Storm. A few days before and after the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties to the residents of these two cities. Therefore, the generals and marshals present knew better than anyone what role the atomic bomb could play on the battlefield. Baghramyan's words cast a shadow on everyone's mind. If this was not an exercise, but a real attack on the British, American and French Allied Forces, and the United States dropped atomic bombs on the area where the Soviet army was assembled, wouldn't their army be wiped out before it even entered the battlefield?

"Comrades, don't worry." Seeing that people on the field were a little panicked, Zhukov came out to calm people's hearts: "I'll tell you a secret. In fact, our country started the research and development of atomic bombs as early as 1943. The Supreme Command established a special committee to be responsible for the research and development of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of its establishment, the committee encountered many difficulties, including insufficient talent and backward equipment. But the Supreme Command attached great importance to this work and invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. In the next few years, our country's nuclear weapons research and development work made great progress.

A few months ago, our country's first uranium reactor began construction at a secret location. I believe that within three years at most, this nuclear reactor will be ready for use and will provide important raw materials for our country's atomic bombs."

Zhukov's words were a reassurance to the senior commanders present. If our country could also make an atomic bomb, there would be nothing to be afraid of. If the Americans could drop an atomic bomb on the battlefield, then we could do the same. We suffered heavy losses, and you would not be able to get away with it either. Shtemenko continued to talk about the preliminary exercise plan formulated by the General Staff. The first step was to seize the entire Austria, which was irreversible. Then, the German land controlled by Britain, the United States and France, as well as Denmark, Belgium and other countries, were seized. Finally, the troops were divided into two groups to occupy France and Britain respectively.

Most of the people who attended the meeting expressed their opinions on the General Staff's exercise plan. Only Sokov, who was sitting in the corner, remained silent. He had no idea about the post-war European situation. Apart from knowing about the August 1st military exercise, he knew nothing else and was unable to express his own opinions based on the situation.

Perhaps because they saw that Sokov remained silent, Antonov and Zhukov exchanged glances and specifically called out his name: "General Sokov, do you have any different opinions on our exercise plan?"

"No, Comrade Chief of the General Staff." Hearing Antonov asking him, Sokov quickly stood up and replied: "I think the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff has taken into account all the issues that should be considered. I have nothing to add." After that, he sat down directly.

When Antonov heard Sokov say that he had no different opinions on the exercise plan, he could not help but flash a trace of surprise in his eyes. According to his assumption, since Sokov was specially called by Zhukov, he would definitely put forward some unique insights on the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff. However, the other party seemed to have some concerns and was unwilling to express his own opinions.

Antonov had no choice but to shrug at Zhukov, hinting that he had already asked for his opinion, but he was unwilling to speak, and there was nothing he could do. Then Antonov stood up and said, "Comrades marshals and generals, before the exercise plan is officially announced, I hope you will keep it secret to prevent the Allies from learning about our exercise plan in advance."

"Don't worry, we've learned the confidentiality regulations." A general said carelessly, "Don't tell anyone."

When everyone stood up and walked outside, Zhukov came to Sokov and asked with a straight face: "Misha, do you really have no different views on this exercise plan?"

"No, Comrade Marshal, what I just said is true." Sokov straightened his back and raised his chin slightly and said, "I have carefully considered the exercise plan formulated by the General Staff. It is very complete. It not only takes into account all the problems I have thought of, but also takes into account the problems I have not thought of."

Faced with Sokov's all-purpose reply, Zhukov seemed a little helpless: "Then let me ask you, if we want to solve the Austrian problem, what do you think?"

"I think the following principles should be adhered to on the Austrian issue," Sokov answered without hesitation: "Prohibit the reunification of Germany and Austria, prevent Germany from making a comeback, and demand the maximum amount of war reparations."

"Misha, if we demand the maximum amount of war reparations from Austria, it means that our army will be hostile to the people of Austria." Zhukov looked at Sokov and asked, "If this happens, what should we do?"

"Comrade Marshal, I don't think occupying the entire Austrian territory is necessarily a wise decision." Sokov organized his words in his mind, and then said slowly: "In this case, after achieving our goal, we can completely withdraw our troops."

"What? You said to withdraw all our troops from Austria?" Zhukov asked in shock, "Did I hear you right?"

"Comrade Marshal, you heard it right." Sokov said calmly, "I think that with our withdrawal, the British, American, French and Yugoslav troops will also withdraw from Austria one after another. In this way, the demilitarized Austria may become a buffer zone between us and the British, American, French and other countries."

"Demilitarization, buffer zone." Zhukov repeated the word phrase that Sokov said twice, nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "Misha, it seems that it is also good to let you participate in such a military meeting. At least you can express some of your true thoughts."

At this moment, Antonov also came over and said to Sokov, "General Sokov, I think your views are quite novel and your insights are very unique. But when I asked for your opinion just now, you refused to say anything?"

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," Sokov replied with a wry smile, "You asked about the exercise plan. I think the plan you have drawn up is quite good. Even if there are some minor flaws, the marshals and generals attending the meeting have proposed solutions to them. And what I discussed with Marshal Zhukov was how to solve the Austrian problem, which is completely different from the topic of today's meeting."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Antonov nodded and said, "I thought you were hiding it on purpose and didn't want to say it out."

"Misha, what you said makes sense. When Antonov and I meet Comrade Stalin later, we will mention this to him." Zhukov smiled and asked, "During this period, you should continue to stay at home with Asia. If you have any difficulties, feel free to tell me."

"Comrade Marshal, I do have something to ask of you."

"what's up?"

"Some time ago, someone pretended to be from the city housing authority and called me, saying that they were going to allocate a villa to me. Although this matter has been postponed for a while, I went to the site and found that there are quite a few vacant villas. I wonder if the superiors can allocate one to me." Sokov was worried that Zhukov would not agree to his request, so he deliberately said, "With a spacious house, the guards you arranged for me can also move in, so that when I travel, I can have guards with me."

"Comrade Marshal, I think General Sokov's proposal is not excessive." Antonov said beside him, "Nowadays, there is a group of house breakers in society. They look for uninhabited houses, break into them, and take them over. If the vacant villas are not quickly arranged for people to move in, I am afraid that it will not be long before they will be occupied by those house breakers."

Zhukov was a little hesitant at first, after all, he was not familiar with the person in charge of the city's housing management department. If he wanted to help Sokov find a house, he would need to find someone to help. But when he heard what Antonov said, he immediately changed his mind: "Comrade Antonov, you are right. Misha's current house is too small to arrange for guards to protect his safety. If we move to a spacious villa, this problem can be solved. When we go to see Comrade Stalin later, remember to remind me, and I will report this matter to Comrade Stalin."