Far East, Nomenkan.

At the same time that Ogisu was preparing for the final decisive battle, Zhukov planned a large-scale counteroffensive on an unprecedented scale.

Beginning in mid-September, Zhukov asked the Soviet government to plan a large-scale transfer of war materials to the front line to make up for the losses in the previous operations. In early October, the Soviet Union urgently sent another 60,000 tons of munitions to the Ruomenkan area, including more than 20,000 tons of artillery shells alone!

After all, the war on the Western Front had come to an end, and the Soviet troops on the Polish battlefield, under the overall coordination of Timoshenko, finally ended the war against Poland in early October.

Although the area of land occupied was not satisfactory, it was much less than Stalin had predicted. However, it still advanced nearly 140 kilometers to the west, barely achieving the strategic goal of establishing a military buffer zone facing Germany to the west.

That's right, 140 km! That's a full 50 kilometers more than the distance that Timoshenko actually fought!

It was not because Timoshenko dared to deceive Stalin about this final report. The reason for the extra 50 kilometers was that the Germans, after making secret contact with Khrushchev and Yezhov, took the initiative to retreat and concede 50 kilometers so that they could turn back and surrender to Stalin.

As for the reason for the German army's decision, it was by no means purely to help Khrushchev and them do good deeds.

After receiving the request of Khrushchev and others, the 1st SS Panzer Division, which occupied the demarcation line between the Soviet and German armies, immediately informed Reinhardt by telegram. After much deliberation, Reinhardt decided that it would be profitable, and approved Ribbentrop to secretly rush to the junction line to negotiate with full powers.

Reinhardt's request to Ribbentrop was that Khrushchev they could trade 500,000 prisoners of war in exchange for a 50-kilometer retreat for the Germans.

In addition, there are two additional requirements for this transaction.

First, 500,000 prisoners of war are indispensable. Because in Reinhardt's plan, Germany needed so many people to fill the labor construction corps in the newly built labor camps. The Polish campaign has begun to wrap up its work, and the German army is about to begin a new round of resource integration and the climax of weapons production. Germany needs too much labor at the moment.

Second, 50 kilometers is the biggest concession that Germany can make, not an inch more, even if Khrushchev can muster more labor, this must not be compromised. After all, Germany also needed a military buffer zone against the USSR, and the more the better.

Of course, Reinhardt's plan also made a little bit of a fuss about the 50 kilometers back.

First of all, the Germans did not retreat the 50 kilometers evenly, but retained a slight arc, that is, a slight retreat of 5 to 6 kilometers on the flanks.

In this way, in the future, when the German army and the Soviet army fought a war, they could use the two flanks of this slightly forward to dispatch armored troops, and it would be easier to carry out encirclement operations.

Moreover, the Soviets seemed to have gained more buffer space, but in fact they had moved the advantageous defensive area connecting the Vistula and Bug rivers to the northwest to the plains, which was not conducive to the future defense of the German armored forces.

This is a subtle little trick that Reinhardt made after asking Keitel, the veteran chief of staff of the Wehrmacht, to make sure it was feasible. Not to mention the two politicians, Khrushchev and Yezhov, even General Timoshenko, who was called a famous Soviet general by the two of them, failed to see the clues.

Although they were calculated, Khrushchev did not notice it. Instead of thinking about it, they put all their energy into how to gather enough for the 500,000 prisoners of war.

The Soviet troops on the Eastern Front were not fighting as well as they reported to Stalin. Not only were the losses heavy, but they were also far from reaching a tenth of the results of the German army of others. If it weren't for the fact that Timoshenko still had some real material and caught the fighter plane led by the Polish general Felippowitz in time, the Soviets might have to struggle on the border line for a few more days.

The battle was won, but there were not many prisoners.

Even if you include the militia who were pulled by the Polish army to make up the numbers, there are only 300,000 people at full capacity, and there are still 200,000 short of the goal of 500,000 prisoners of war!

Now that the war is over, how can I make up for the 200,000?

Khrushchev and Yezhov were experts in politics, and all kinds of dirty means were at their fingertips, and whimsical ideas were endless.

They summed it up, and since the Polish prisoners of war could not make it up, they would use Polish civilians to make it up. It is not enough to catch strong men in the Polish theater under the control of the Soviet army, and insist that they are militia.

Anyway, what the Germans want is just young and strong laborers, and when they are arrested, they just need to be arrested according to this requirement.

As for the guilt of conscience...... Once the bones are dry, they don't think there's anything wrong with that!

Originally, politicians are not ordinary people, and few crooked bowels in the political circle can be put on the table. Moreover, being able to mix in the current position in Soviet politics, Khrushchev and Yezhov did not consider themselves good people.

In their eyes, the most important thing is to end the war on the Western Front as best possible before Zhukov, who is on the Eastern Front, achieves great results!

As long as you can make a difference in front of the general secretary, win the war, and occupy even an inch of land, the rest doesn't matter!

Although he was disgusted by Khrushchev and Yezhov's methods of doing things without conscience, Timoshenko also turned a blind eye to this matter.

Speaking of which, those two were polite enough to him. The First World War in Poland turned the three of them into grasshoppers tied to a rope.

Besides, if he went back with the record of less than 90 kilometers, he would not explain it to Stalin when he turned back. Can he still admit that he is indeed inferior to those German generals, just a general?

On any general, admitting this kind of thing is a great shame for the general. Moreover, in the Soviet Union, such generals might have been exiled to Siberia to build socialist projects.

From this point of view, Zhukov, who fought in the Far East, was much luckier.

First, he did not have such disgusting high-level politicians as Khrushchev and Yezhov around him. The commissar who was sent to "assist" Zhukov, although stupid, was still able to fool around and did not affect his military plans.

Second, and most importantly, this is the point. That is, Zhukov himself also has excellent military qualities that are not inferior to the German generals, and it is more than enough to deal with the lieutenant general of the Kwantung Army.

On October 10, the day when the Germans had just captured the city of Warsaw, the winner was decided in one game. Zhukov also held a final pre-war meeting before the final round of the strongest counterattack for the upcoming decisive move.

"The Japanese commander has already withdrawn all the troops that can be contracted, and he will do this, only to plan the strongest attack!" In the conference room, Zhukov confidently explained to the generals behind his back with his hands behind his back.

The preparations to be made have already been made, and in this final pre-war meeting, Zhukov and his generals did not even need to refer to the map to smoothly sort out the next combat mission.

Looking at the generals under his command who had been well prepared for a long time, Zhukov nodded with satisfaction: "The Japanese army and we are both preparing for a decisive battle, and now it is just who is faster." ”

"Are you ready?" Zhukov shouted.

"Always be ready!"

Zhukov was responded to with the same confident roar.