Chapter 1571

After discussing the transfer of the 18th army, konev changed the subject and said, "Rita, when I first entered the city, I saw that there were many beaten up soldiers everywhere. In particular, the church on St. George's hill was razed to the ground. "

What konev said with no expression made me feel a little stuttered in my heart. Did he blame me for beating Lvov to pieces? After a short silence, I explained my behavior to him: "as you know, marshal, Lvov is an ancient city built in the 13th century. The buildings in the city are mainly stone buildings. The enemy made use of these buildings to build a solid and perfect defense system, which made our army pay a huge price in street fighting. And the Church of St. George's hill on St. George's hill is the site of German artillery positions. From there, they can use artillery to bombard the 60th group army attacking from the east of the city

"Come on, Rita, you don't have to say it." Before I finished, konev raised his hand to stop me and continued: "I didn't mention it to blame you. If I were in your position, I would give the same order. The ancient buildings can be rebuilt after they are destroyed. If we delay the recovery of Lviv, we will not be able to explain it in front of Comrade Stalin. "

"Marshal," I asked casually after konev's words, "where will the new main attack direction be after our army liberates the whole territory of Ukraine?"

"Rokosovsky's troops have already occupied Lublin in front of katukov on the 24th." Konev said with regret: "in view of the performance of the first front army of Belarus, I estimate that the task of the Supreme Command fighting in Poland will be given to them, and our main attack direction will turn to the south to capture Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, forcing them to withdraw from the axis camp."

I took a look at the map in front of me, and I felt that the possibility that konev said was very big. As soon as he looked up and saw konev smoking in his chair, he did not want to go out for inspection, nor did he want to leave at all, so he asked him curiously, "Comrade marshal, will you return to Rovno later?"

"No, I won't go back." Konev waved his hand to me and said, "before coming here, I have told sokolovsky to transfer the headquarters of the front army to Lvov as soon as possible, so that we can command the next battle."

"Great, that's great." When I heard konev say this, I was overjoyed and set up the headquarters of the front army in Lvov. No matter which direction our troops will be used in the future, it will be much more convenient to command than in Rovno.

"By the way, Rita, there's one more thing I forgot to ask you." Konev continued: "how many German prisoners of war did we capture in the battle to liberate Lvov?"

I thought about it and then replied, "so far, the specific results have not been counted. However, according to my estimation, the number of captured German troops should be more than 7000. "

After listening, konev shook his head and said with regret: "only 7000 people, too few, too few indeed." I know that konev must have some intention in saying this, so I kept silent and waited patiently for him to finish what he said later“ Do you remember the prisoner of war parade we saw in Moscow? I want to do the same in Lviv

I'm in favor of konev's idea. Seeing that he was so embarrassed because of the small number of prisoners of war, I gave him some advice: "marshal, Lvov is a newly recovered City, and the residents in the city are in a panic. Even if we go on a prisoner's tour, there will be very few people around. That will not achieve the desired effect. I suggest that Kiev be chosen as the place for prisoners of war

"Kiev?" Konev looked at me and said with a bitter smile, "but we have captured less than ten thousand enemies. If we take them to Kiev to go sightseeing, the scale is too small."

"If we only use the enemy captured by our front army to visit Kiev, the number of people will be a little less." As for konev's worries, I said with a smile: "Kiev is now in the middle of several front armies. We can make suggestions to Comrade Khrushchev to let him contact the commanders of other front armies and see that the captured German officers and soldiers are temporarily detained there. When the number of prisoners is almost the same, we can go on the street tour."

"This is a good idea. I want to contact Comrade Khrushchev immediately." After konev finished, he turned and rushed to one side to chat with the staff officer, lelushenko, shouting: "Hello, general lelushenko, can you talk to Kiev directly from the phone here?"

Hearing konev's call, lelushenko quickly came over, nodded his head and said: "marshal, the high-frequency telephone you have in front of you can directly communicate with Kiev."

Konev stared at the phones in front of him for a while, then picked up the earphone of a phone and stuck it to his ear. After dialing a number, he said to the phone, "Hello, I'm konev. Connect me with Kiev and find Comrade Khrushchev."

When konev and Khrushchev were talking, I sat next to him and listened to their conversation. Konev exchanged a few simple greetings and asked: "Comrade Khrushchev, some time ago, he conducted an unprecedented German prisoner of war parade in Moscow to show our army's great victory in the battle against the German aggressors and to inspire the army and the people of the whole country. Do you know that? "

"Marshal konev," Khrushchev replied with a smile after konev finished saying, "of course I know about this parade. If I am still a military commissar of the first front army of Ukraine, I would like to have another street parade in Kiev."

"Comrade Khrushchev, your idea coincides with mine." "I'm just calling you to talk about it," konev said excitedly

Khrushchev asked nervously, "marshal konev, how many prisoners of war do you have now?"

"Not too much." Konev hesitated for a moment and replied, "so far, our army has only captured less than 10000 German prisoners of war."

"Ten thousand German prisoners of war?" After listening to the data reported by konev, Khrushchev must say with regret: "the number of people is too small. Even if we have a street tour in Kiev, it will not have much effect."

"Comrade Khrushchev, don't worry." After looking at me, konev continued: "although we don't have many prisoners of war, we can still capture a large number of enemies in the next battle. What's more, Rita also gave me a suggestion. She said that if the number of prisoners of war is too small, we can also gather several other prisoners of the front army and have a huge parade of prisoners of war. "

"Several other prisoners of war of the front army?" Khrushchev probably didn't understand what konev wanted to express for a moment. He said in surprise, "marshal konev, I don't understand what you mean. I don't know which front army can provide us with prisoners of war for holding a huge parade of prisoners of war?"

"Have you forgotten where Kiev is?" Konev saw that Khrushchev did not understand his own meaning, nor was he worried, but patiently explained to him: "whether it is my first front army of Ukraine, the second front army of Ukraine and the first and second front army of Belarus, to transport the prisoners to the rear, they have to go through Kiev. We can gather all the prisoners of war of the four front forces together and hold a huge POW parade one day next month. Do you understand? "

"I see. I see when you say that." Khrushchev then asked, "I don't know when we should hold such a street tour?"

Konev put his hand over the microphone, looked down and asked me, "Rita, which day do you think is the best time for us to set up a street tour?"

"The prisoner of war parade in Moscow is on July 17. I think we should set the tour time in Kiev on August 15." The reason why I chose this date is that I still have some bad taste, because I clearly remember that one year later, the Japanese emperor issued an imperial edict declaring that Japan would unconditionally surrender to its allies“ When I think about it, there will be enough German prisoners around Kiev to participate in the parade. "

After listening, konev nodded slightly, then released the palm of his hand covering the microphone and said to the microphone, "Comrade Khrushchev, I think we will set the date of the prisoner's parade on August 15."

"Yes, I remember." Khrushchev said happily: "I will report this matter to Comrade Stalin, and then contact the commanders of all front forces, so that they will be held in the prisoner's camp outside Kiev before they are escorted to Siberia."

I heard not only konev's conversation with Khrushchev, but also lelushenko, who was not far away. After konev put down the phone, he immediately stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "Comrade marshal, I want to ask if I can go to the scene on the day when the prisoners of war roam the streets in Kiev."

Konev turned to stare at him for a long time, and finally said, "general lelushenko, if there is no combat mission that day, I will allow you to visit Kiev."

"Great, that's great." After he was happy, lelushenko asked, "what about the prisoners of war in the city at present? Do you want to take them to Kiev first?"

"No, comrade lelushenko, our transport capacity is very tight now. In addition to bringing up weapons, ammunition, materials and supplementary soldiers from the rear, we should also transport back the wounded and seized materials from the front line. Where is there any spare truck to transport these prisoners of war? " After saying this, konev thought for a long time, and finally said: "first send an army to escort them to Rovno, where there are several prisoners of war they built, let's lock them up first."

"Marshal, I have an idea." Hearing that the prisoner of war would be transferred to Rovno, I quickly stood up and said to konev, "I don't know whether to say it or not."

"Say what you think."

"Well, comrade marshal, the 18th army of general afuning's guards will be under the command of the second front army of Ukraine in a few days." I looked at konev and said, "when I saw this, I asked them to send these prisoners of war to wuman pit, so that the Germans could also feel the torment suffered by our captured commanders and fighters."

"Let the 18th guard escort the prisoners to wuman pit?" Konev was startled by my proposal. He looked at me for a long time before he said, "Rita, don't you know that most of the officers and men in this army have a deep hatred for the Germans? If they are allowed to escort the prisoners, I am afraid that at least half of them will not get to their destination. "

"Marshal," lelushenko said to konev, "among the captured German soldiers, the number of the wounded is very small, and it's summer now. No matter the weather or the road conditions, it's very suitable for marching on foot. It shouldn't cause large-scale disappointment to the prisoners of war."“ Comrade lelushenko, you are mistaken. I said that half of the prisoners could not reach their destination, not that the road conditions were poor or there were many wounded people. " Konev's face showed a helpless expression: "but worried that the officers and men of the 18th army of the guards, because of their hatred for the German army, would wantonly shoot those unruly prisoners on the way."“ Anyway, they are all enemies. Kill them. " Hearing konev say so, lelushenko said with disapproval: "I remember who said: the dead enemy is a good enemy." Konev looked at lelushenko and said solemnly, "general lelushenko, I remind you that we intend to use these prisoners of war to participate in the activities of Kiev's streets. It doesn't matter how many people die. If thousands of people die, it is absolutely not allowed." I can tell from what konev said that he is firmly opposed to the escort of prisoners of war by the troops of the 18th guards. However, at present, the war is tense, so it is very unrealistic to transfer personnel from other army groups to escort prisoners to uman. Therefore, I said to konev tactfully: "marshal, we can call the main leaders of the 18th army of the guards to explain to them the importance of these prisoners of war and strictly prohibit the maltreatment and killing of prisoners of war in the army." Konev did not speak, folded his hands on his chest, frowning, thinking about what I had just said. When I saw his reaction, I knew that he was interested in my proposal and said while the iron was hot: "don't worry, marshal. Although the commanders and fighters who have been prisoners of war in the 18th guards hate the Germans to the bone, if we give specific orders, I think they will obey unconditionally. "“ Marshal, I think Rita is right After my words, lelushenko said: "our soldiers are the most obedient to orders. If you give an order forbidding the maltreatment and killing of prisoners of war, I think they will send these prisoners of war to wuman pit smoothly even if they have great hatred for the Germans." Seeing that I agreed with lelushenko, konev was no longer opinionated. He nodded and said, "all right, Rita, you call afuning and bonejerin and ask them to come here to accept the battle order."