"Comrade Marshal, I don't think it's appropriate to remove a commander of an army group now." Who knows that Bogolyubov actually raised objections to Rokossovsky's proposal: "Moreover, the troops under his command are taking up the main offensive task in East Pomerania, and changing the commander in the current situation may cause unnecessary confusion in the command of the troops." I beg you to think carefully about this matter again. ”

Rokossovsky did not argue with him on this matter, but instructed the other side: "Comrade Chief of Staff, bring all the heads of the front armies in the command headquarters, and we will have a short meeting to discuss this matter." ”

Bogolyubov did not dare to slack off, and in just a few minutes, he summoned the military commissar Su Bojing, the artillery commander Sokolisky, the director of the political department Okrokov, and the commander of the armored corps, the head of logistics, and the director of communications.

Rokossovsky beckoned everyone to sit down at the conference table, and then said straight to the point: "Heads of the Front, I have called you here today to discuss the replacement of the commander of the 19th Army. ”

When Bogolyubov called the crowd, he only said that an emergency military meeting would be held, but the specific content was not disclosed to those who attended the meeting. Therefore, when everyone heard that the theme of the meeting was actually the replacement of the commander of the 19th Army, they could not help but be shocked.

After everyone exchanged heads and discussed for a while, then Su Bojing, the military commissar, asked on behalf of everyone: "Comrade Marshal, you must know that General Kozlov is commanding his troops and fighting in the East Pomeranian region, why do you propose to change the commander at such a time?" ”

"I'm sure everyone has seen the results of these two days." Rokossovsky did not answer this question directly, but shifted the subject to the recent battle report, and seeing that everyone nodded that they had read it, he continued: "The tank army, which had been engaged in fighting for a day after the 19th Army, has now advanced sixty kilometers into the enemy's defensive depth, captured the cities of Baldenberg and Schönau, and smashed one of the enemy's heavy groups there. While the tank army achieved such results, where was our infantry? In two days, they advanced only twenty-five kilometers and were left far behind by the tankmen. ”

"Comrade Marshal," seeing that everyone heard Rokossovsky say this, and began to talk again, Bogolyubov felt that he should come out and say a few fair words, so he quickly stood up and said: "There is a reason for the slow advance of the 19th Army, the tank corps, when advancing forward, deliberately bypassed those areas heavily guarded by the Germans, and our infantry consumed a lot of strength in destroying these enemies, which will undoubtedly reduce the speed of the attack. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, there is a certain truth in what you said." As soon as Rokossovsky waited for Bogolyubov to finish speaking, he began to explain his opinion: "However, this is only one reason for the slow advance of the infantry. In my opinion, the lack of good command in the troops is also the most critical reason. The commander of the group army often lost contact with the corps and could not make the appropriate decisions in a timely manner. The two days of fighting showed that General Kozlov did not have the ability to command such a large corps as the army group, and in order to effectively break through the enemy's defenses, the Front provided him with a lot of technical equipment. In the complex and changeable offensive situation, he did not know how to grasp the fighters, and sometimes even acted panicked, which was very unfavorable to our operation in East Pomerania. In view of these factors, I decided to propose a change in the commander of the army group at such a tense juncture in the war. ”

"Comrade Marshal," seeing that Rokossovsky's reasons were so sufficient, Su Bojing felt that it was imperative to replace the commander of the army group, so he asked: "Do you have a suitable candidate to replace General Kozlov?" ”

"How is General Romanovsky?" After Rokossovsky said the candidate in his heart, he also briefly introduced the other party's resume: "...... In March 1943, he served as the commander of the 42nd Army, and in April he was transferred to the commander of the 67th Army, and led his troops to participate in the Pskov-Ostrov Campaign, the Tartu Campaign, and the Riga Campaign, all of which achieved good results. I think it would be fitting for him to be the commander of the 19th Army. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's proposal, Subotin turned his head to look at the leaders of the front armies sitting around the conference table and asked: "Comrade chiefs, which of you has a different opinion?" ”

"Nope." The first to speak was made by the head of the Political Department, General Okrokov, who said unequivocally: "I agree with Comrade Marshal that General Romanovsky should take over the post of commander of the 19th Army. "Since someone has taken the lead in making a statement, the heads of the armies of other fronts are not to be outdone, and they have expressed their approval of Rokossovsky's candidate. Although Bogolyubov did not agree to change the commander of the army group at such a time, seeing that everyone supported Rokossovsky, he could only choose to agree.

After soliciting everyone's opinions, Su Bojing turned to Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade Marshal, since the opinions of the leaders of the front army have been unified, then we will immediately report this matter to the Supreme High Command and ask them to give an order to adjust the candidates. ”

When Rokossovsky saw that the meeting had achieved his desired goal, he waved his hand and declared the meeting adjourned. When he was the only one left in the room, he picked up the high-frequency telephone on the table, connected the Kremlin's switchboard, and said into the microphone: "Hello, I am Marshal Rokossovsky, please pick me up from Comrade Stalin's office." ”

When Stalin heard that it was Rokossovsky calling, he asked excitedly on the microphone: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you have any good news for me?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin, the fighting of our troops in East Pomerania is going very well, our vanguard has already captured the cities of Baldenberg and Schönau and crushed a heavy group of the enemy there with great success."

"Well done." Stalin had a map in front of him, and while answering the phone, he searched for the name of the place that Rokossovsky had said, and after finding the exact location, he asked with interest: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I wonder which unit achieved such great results?" ”

"The offensive in this area was carried out by General Kozlov's 19th Army, and General Panfilov's 3rd Guards Tank Army." Rokossovsky, after reporting the number of the troops, said cautiously: "But the tank corps that occupied the city and crushed the German heavy group, while the infantry still fell dozens of kilometers behind. ”

"What, our tank corps and infantry are separated by such a distance." When Stalin heard Rokossovsky say this, he couldn't help frowning and said: "This is not good, Comrade Rokossovsky." You know, our army is now fighting on enemy territory, and if there is no infantry support, relying solely on the advance assault of tank armies, they will soon run out of fuel and ammunition, and even have the possibility of being wiped out by German anti-tank men. ”

"Comrade Stalin," Rokossovsky continued, seeing that the foreshadowing had been almost done, "since the commander of the 19th Army, General Kozlov, had shown his inadequacy in command during the battle, I beg you to send a more suitable commander to take his place. ”

After listening to this, Stalin said without moving: "How Kozlov behaved on the battlefield, you say come and listen." ”

Rokossovsky hurriedly reported to Stalin in detail Kozlov's performance in the battles of the past few days, and finally said: "Comrade Stalin, the next battle situation will be even more difficult, and with General Kozlov's ability, it is obvious that he is not up to all this, so I implore you to replace the commander with a new one." ”

"Do you have the right person?" Stalin asked briefly.

"Yes," Rokossovsky nodded, "I think General Romanovsky, commander of the 67th Army, is very suitable to take over this position." ”

"Romanovsky?!" Hearing Rokossovsky's proposal, Stalin did not immediately reply, but pressed the summons bell on the table. A moment later, Boskorebeshev appeared at the door, and Stalin instructed him: "Go and get me the information of the commander of the 67th Army, Romanovsky, at once." ”

After Pos Krebeshev left, Stalin said into the microphone: "I asked Pos Krebeshev to find information, it may take a while before I can give you a final answer." By the way, do you have any difficulties there? ”

If Stalin did not ask about this phrase, Rokossovsky also intended to ask him about the problems currently faced. Since Stalin took the initiative to ask, he said casually: "Comrade Stalin, today is the third day of our offensive against the German army, but the 1st Belorussian Front on the left flank has not moved. This is very detrimental to our army, as a result of which the left flank of the troops will be unobstructed in front of the enemy. In particular, Neustain, at the junction of the two fronts, where the enemy has amassed a large number of troops, can at any time attack our flank, which has no cover. ”

"Why, Zhukov's troops have not moved yet?" Stalin asked with some surprise: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you think Zhukov is playing tricks and planning to let you and the enemy fight for attrition first, and when the enemy becomes exhausted, he will attack by surprise?" ”