From a series of war reports received, Rokossovsky realized that although the bombing carried out by the air force of the Front Army had caused considerable losses to the fortified areas of the German army. But if you want to seize these areas, the air force alone is far from enough, and only the army is the branch of the army that determines the final victory.

With this in mind, he ordered his subordinate army groups to send a large number of reconnaissance detachments to the fortified areas controlled by the Germans to understand the enemy's disposition.

Unexpectedly, not two days after this order was given, Fedyuninsky hurried to the headquarters. As soon as he entered the door, he roared and said, "Comrade Marshal, something has happened!" ”

"Something's wrong?!" Hearing Fedyuninsky say this, Rokossovsky's heart couldn't help but chuckle, and then he asked rhetorically: "What's wrong?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Marshal." After sitting down opposite Rokossovsky, Fedyuninsky took the tea on the table and drank it down, and then said: "The three reconnaissance groups we sent yesterday have lost contact. ”

"The reconnaissance group lost contact?" Rokossovsky knew Fedyuninsky's habits, and every time he sent a team, it was a group of seven, and if he really lost contact with him deep behind enemy lines, it could only be explained by the disparity in strength of the German troops. Therefore, he said tentatively: "Is the enemy's defense so deep and so heavily guarded?" ”

"If they had gone missing in a heavily defended place by the Germans, I would not have come specifically to you." Fedyuninsky said helplessly: "After all, this is a situation that everyone can accept." The problem is that the missing reconnaissance teams are all sent to some nearby town, where there should be no enemy heavy guards. On the contrary, the reconnaissance groups I sent in the direction of the German defenses all sent back intelligence ......"

Just when Rokossovsky was puzzled, Military Commissar Su Bojing came over, sat down at the table, looked at Fedyuninsky and asked: "Comrade General, if I am not mistaken, your missing reconnaissance group disappeared into the small town of East Prussia, right?" ”

"That's right, that's right." When Fedyuninsky heard Su Bojing say this, he quickly nodded vigorously and said in an affirmative tone: "Comrade Military Commissar, you are right, our missing reconnaissance group is indeed missing in the small town of East Prussia!" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, what's going on?" Rokossovsky asked with some surprise: "How do you know that the reconnaissance group is missing in the small town of East Prussia?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, you don't know anything." Subotin explained to Rokossovsky: "In the areas of East Prussia that we have occupied, the hostility of the local population towards our troops is high. They would often attack our lone fighters or burn down vehicles parked on the side of the road, but raids like this were rare. ”

"What the hell is going on?" Rokossovsky devoted all his energy to commanding the troops, and he really didn't know anything about what Su Bojing said about the loss, so he hurriedly asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, what is this for, and why are the locals hostile to us?" ”

"This is the case," Su Bojing continued, "after crossing the border, our soldiers witnessed the great difference in the standard of living between Germany and our army, and many of them were puzzled, why should the Germans invade us because their life is a luxury compared to ours?

This huge contrast makes our individual fighters lose their minds. A company of the 3rd Army, having captured a town and seeing that its two-story buildings had beautiful roofs, first ransacked the town and then set fire to it. ”

"Smack!" When Rokossovsky heard this, he was so angry that he said to Su Bojing: "Comrade Military Commissar, we are soldiers and not robbers, how can we do such a thing that is unconscionable? The commander of this company was immediately brought to court-martial, and the rest of the fighters were punished. In addition, their superiors are also responsible for restraining the troops. ”

"After I received the report, I communicated with the military commissar of the group army, and all the officers of the company have been sent to a military court, and they will be punished as they deserve." After Su Bojing finished talking about the disposition of the officers who violated discipline, he sighed and continued: "It is understandable that the soldiers did this, they lost their relatives and homes in the war. Now that there is an opportunity for revenge, it is inevitable that there will be no personal vendetta in the communiqué. ”

"Comrade Marshal," Fedyuninsky could not help but interject when he heard this: "not so long ago, something happened in my troops. ”

"What's the matter?" Rokossovsky asked curiously.

"After the battles of the previous day, an ensign, drunk, broke into a place where prisoners of war were held. Six prisoners of war were forcibly taken out and taken into the street and all of them were shot. Fedyuninsky smiled bitterly and said: "Just as he was about to go in again and take the prisoners out, he was stopped by a passing colonel." The colonel snatched his pistol and told him: if you hate the enemy, you should kill them on the battlefield, but shoot the prisoners who have long since laid down their arms. ”

"The colonel is right." Rokossovsky agreed: "Killing many enemies on the battlefield is an act of bravery, and you will become a hero in everyone's mind; And shooting prisoners of war who have laid down their arms without permission is of a completely different nature. This is an act of cowardice. ”

Rokossovsky realized at this moment that he was focusing only on military affairs and ignoring the fact that the troops were about to enter East Prussia, which was under German rule, so he said to Subozin: "Comrade Military Commissar, we have not had any major battles in a short time, and I propose to immediately hold a special meeting to discuss the question of military discipline of the troops after entering East Prussia." ”

"I agree." In response to Rokossovsky's proposal, Su Bojing immediately agreed: "I propose to start this meeting tonight. ”

During the war, many things were very efficient. Three hours later, the heads of the various army groups under the Front appeared at Rokossovsky's headquarters. When the people came in, they quietly inquired whether Comrade Marshal had urgently summoned everyone here to prepare for an all-out attack on East Prussia. Of the leaders of the army groups who attended the meeting, only Fedyuninsky knew about the topic of the meeting, but he remained silent and did not mention it to anyone.

After the meeting began, to everyone's surprise, it was not Chief of Staff Bogolyubov who spoke first, but Military Commissar Su Bojing. Su Bojing, who was sitting in a crowded group, said: "Comrades commanders, I have invited you here today to discuss the behavior of our commanders and fighters on German soil.

It is clear to everyone that the fascists have inflicted so much misery on the Soviet people, how many terrible crimes they have committed, and our fighters are naturally full of bitter hatred for these human scum. However, I would like to remind you here that we cannot allow the sacred hatred of the enemy to turn into blind revenge against the entire German people. You know, we are fighting against Hitler's army, not against the peaceful inhabitants of Germany. ……

…… As a senior commander, especially a political worker, you are obliged to remind them, while encouraging them to make meritorious deeds: We entered Germany as liberators, to punish the fascist invaders. The Red Army came to help the German people get rid of the rule of the fascist bloc and its deceptive propaganda that poisoned the people. Violations will be severely punished. ”

After waiting for Su Bojing to finish speaking, Rokossovsky slowly got up from his seat, swept his eyes over the commanders attending the meeting one by one, and then said: "Comrade commander, everyone has just heard the speech of Comrade Military Commissar, and I would like to add a few words here. All the commanders and political workers, all the party activists, yo ah tirelessly explained to the fighters about the mission of the liberation of the Soviet state army, its responsibility for the fate of Germany, and its responsibility to all other countries that we have rescued from the shackles of fascism. All officers and soldiers were called upon to follow order in an exemplary manner and to cherish the honor of Soviet soldiers.

……… After entering German soil, we set up special pickets to maintain military discipline. Anyone who behaves incommensurate with the title of a soldier of the Red Army, regardless of the merits he has established, will be sent to a military court, severely punished, and even shot on the spot. At this point, I hope that when you go back, you will sound a wake-up call to the commanders and fighters below. ……”

Before the end of the meeting, the relevant departments printed out the order jointly signed by Rokossovsky and Subotin and distributed it to every commander attending the meeting. Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Rokossovsky waved at them and said, "Okay, this is the end of today's meeting, everyone will go back to their respective units and convey the order we just gave to all the commanders and fighters!" Meeting! ”

After the commanders of the meeting had left, Su Bojing asked with some concerns: "Comrade Marshal, do you say that the soldiers will obey this order we issued?" After all, in the past few years of war, most of our commanders and fighters have lost their homes and relatives because of the fascist invaders, and I am afraid that even if there is an order, it will not be able to control their desire for revenge. ”

Rokossovsky, who has the memory of later generations, only knows that after Germany surrendered, the Soviet army, as the victor, lost the restraint of military discipline and did many things that were indignant to God, and he did not know whether the Soviet army command had issued such an order of his own, so after hearing Su Bojing's worries, he could only sigh and say: "Comrade Military Commissar, we can only resign ourselves to fate in this matter." We have set up a special picket team, and I believe that their presence will make those fighters who violate discipline have some scruples. ”

After saying these words, he suddenly remembered the town that was burned down some time ago, and hurriedly asked Su Bojing again: "Comrade Military Commissar, I almost forgot, how are the residents of the town burned down by the troops of the 3rd Army?" ”

"It's still like this," don't look at Su Bojing as the military commissar of the front army, but he found that he was also powerless in many things. Hearing Rokossovsky's question, he said helplessly: "The Political Department of the 3rd Army sent people to erect some improvised houses next to the town to house those homeless residents. Since there were too few houses to house everyone, they provided an additional hundred tents for the residents to live in. ”

Rokossovsky was worried that after the Soviet troops entered Germany, there would be another loss of military discipline in real history, so he tentatively asked Su Bojing: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you see that the order we just issued should be copied to the Supreme Command to see what kind of opinion they have?" ”

Regarding Rokossovsky's proposal, Su Bojing said with some hesitation: "Comrade Marshal, if a copy is sent to the superiors, some problems existing in our army will be exposed, and I am worried that ......"

"Worried about what? Are you worried that the base camp will criticize us for this? When Rokossovsky heard Subotin's concerns, he strengthened his determination to report to the High Command, so that he knew that even if he did not report, Stalin would have learned about his order by other means. In order to avoid being in an embarrassing position in the future, he said decisively: "Comrade Military Commissar, I have decided to immediately report this matter to the Supreme High Command. If we delay reporting it, when they learn about our orders through other means, things will be passive. ”

In the end, Su Bojing was persuaded by Rokossovsky, and the two joined forces to sign a telegram to the Supreme High Command.

When Stalin received the telegram, he called Antonov to his office, handed him Rokossovsky's telegram and asked: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I wonder if there are any problems that Rokossovsky is facing on other fronts?" ”

Antonov took the telegram, quickly read through its contents, hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said: "Comrade Stalin, in the reports received by the General Staff, similar incidents took place in Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Poland. ”

"If something like this happened, why didn't you report it to me in time?" After listening to Antonov's words, Stalin asked with some annoyance.

"Since many of them are isolated incidents, regimental commanders can handle them." Antonov cautiously said: "That's why I didn't report such a small thing to you. ”

"This is no small matter, Comrade Chief of the General Staff!" Stalin held back his anger and said: "This is related to the image of our Soviet Red Army, and this black sheep must not be tolerated." You immediately refer to Rokossovsky's telegram and draft a new order for the whole army to strictly enforce military discipline and avoid the recurrence of similar incidents. ”