The call was quickly connected, and Fedyuninsky had long been impatient, and as soon as he heard Rokossovsky's voice, he could not wait to ask: "Comrade Marshal, I wonder what conclusions you have reached?" ”

"Comrade Fedyuninsky," although Rokossovsky and Fedyuninsky had a good personal relationship, when assigning combat missions, he still said in a serious manner: "According to the study of the heads of the front, it has been decided that you and Batov will each transfer two divisions to launch an offensive in the Tsopot area." However, the transfer of two divisions of troops must not affect the frontal offensive of your army group. ”

Knowing that Rokossovsky had agreed to his request, Fedyuninsky could not help but be overjoyed, and he hurriedly replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Marshal, I will transfer two divisions from the second echelon of troops for the offensive in the Tsopot area, which will definitely not affect the offensive against the frontal enemy. ”

"Good." Rokossovsky nodded, adding: "Also, when you attack the Tsopot area, you may be attacked by German ships anchored in Danzig Bay, so you have to prepare your commanders and fighters to avoid artillery fire." ”

Fedyuninsky probably did not expect that the troops would be attacked by German warships from Danzig Bay when attacking, so he couldn't help but hesitate for a while before asking: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask, can the superiors provide the necessary artillery cover for our attack?" ”

"You can rest assured of this," Rokossovsky specially emphasized to Fedyuninsky in order not to worry about the future when carrying out combat missions: "The commander of the artillery of the Front, General Sokolsky, is forming a special long-range artillery group, which is ready to suppress the German warships in the Danzig Bay with fire, so that they cannot block the offensive path of our troops with naval artillery fire. ”

"If that's the case, that's great." Knowing that the front artillery would suppress the German warships in Danzig Bay when the troops were attacking, Fedyuninsky suddenly felt much more relaxed: "As long as our artillery can suppress the enemy's warships, our troops will be able to greatly reduce the casualties of the troops when they attack." ”

"Comrade Fedyuninsky," Rokossovsky, in order to know what to do, asked again: "which unit do you intend to send to attack the Tsopot area?" ”

Fedyuninsky hesitated for a moment, then named two infantry divisions and a tank brigade. After hearing this, Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "No, Comrade Fedyuninsky, two infantry divisions and one infantry brigade participated in the offensive at the same time, and there was no corps-level commander to exercise unified command, and it was easy for the troops to have command confusion during the battle. Therefore, I advise you to send the Estonian 8th Army of Lieutenant General Pern to this task! ”

"What, let the Estonian 8th Army go to attack the Tsopot area?" Fedyuninsky asked with some surprise: "Is it appropriate to let them carry out this task?" ”

"What's inappropriate," Rokossovsky said with some displeasure when he saw that Fedyuninsky actually questioned his proposal: "When they attacked Elbin, they didn't play very well." ”

"But, Comrade Marshal." Fedyuninsky was a little embarrassed and said, "They are Estonians." ”

Rokossovsky did not understand what the other party was trying to say, and asked puzzledly: "What's wrong with the Estonians, aren't they Soviets?" ”

"That's not what I meant, Koschika." Fedyuninsky said to Rokossovsky in a more intimate tone: "In a sense, Estonians are not trustworthy, and their use is conditional. ”

Fedyuninsky's words confused Rokossovsky, he happened to see Su Bojing coming in from outside, and hurriedly covered the microphone with his hand and asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, you came just in time, I have something to ask you." ”

Su Bojing walked quickly in front of Rokossovsky and said with a smile: "Comrade Marshal, if there is any problem, you can just ask, as long as I know, I will tell you the truth." ”

"What's going on in Estonia?" Rokossovsky was anxious to know the answer, so he did not go around in circles, but asked straight to the point: "Why did Fedyuninsky say that the commanders and fighters of Estonia were not trustworthy?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky ask such a question, Su Bojing's face showed an expression of surprise: "No, Comrade Marshal, you don't even know about such a thing?" ”

"I don't know." Rokossovsky didn't want to pretend not to understand, so he shook his head and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, what the hell is going on, you quickly tell me about it." ”

After sitting down in the chair opposite Rokossovsky, Su Bojing said: "This matter is a long story, so I will make a long story short. From the beginning of the 18th century, Estonia was under the rule of Tsarist Russia until 1918, when it declared its independence and established the Republic of Estonia.

In November of the same year, our country declared sovereignty over Estonia, but the German population of the country formed a volunteer regiment to resist the offensive of the Red Army and the Red Guards together with the newly formed Estonian army. For various historical reasons, my country was forced to recognize the independence of Estonia in February 1920. It was not until August 1940 that the three Baltic states, including Estonia, were officially incorporated into our country and became one of the union republics. ”

From Subotin's introduction, Rokossovsky keenly grasped a very important information, that Estonia only re-established itself as a Soviet republic in August 1940. Less than a year later, Germany began to invade the Soviet Union, and in such a short period of time, Estonians' sense of identification with the Soviet Union was certainly not very high, and their loyalty was naturally greatly reduced. He asked Subotin tentatively: "Comrade Military Commissar, what was the attitude of the Estonians towards the Germans after the outbreak of the war?" ”

"What else?" When Su Bojing heard this question, he replied with a wry smile: "There are quite a few Estonians who regard the Germans as liberators, and even formed an Estonian division to cooperate with the German army......

"I see." Rokossovsky nodded and said thoughtfully: "In the early days of the war, there will definitely be many Estonians who regard the German army as their liberators, but as time goes by, they finally recognize the true colors of the Germans, so they are back on our side and join hands with us to fight the *** invaders." During the attack on Erbin, Lieutenant General Pern's Estonian 8th Army performed very well. ”

After figuring out what was going on, Rokossovsky let go of his hand covering the microphone and said: "Comrade Fedyuninsky, as I said, send General Pern's 8th Estonian Army to attack the Tsopott area. "I know what you're worried about, but since they all showed fearless sacrifice in their attack on Elbin, what surprise would there be when they let them attack the Tsopot?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Fedyuninsky originally wanted to hide Pern's 8th Estonian Army in this attack, but when he heard Rokossovsky say this, he could no longer refute it, and could only reply stubbornly: "I immediately transferred them to the starting position of the offensive." ”