Zhukov's speech was still in the same style as always, concise and clear, and there was absolutely no superfluous nonsense, "Comrades, everyone knows that the war against the Japanese Kwantung Army in the Far East has reached the final juncture, and our victory is about to come, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the final attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army, and more importantly, to reduce the casualties of our soldiers, Comrade Kirganin, Gregariv, and I have carefully formulated a general attack plan, and below, I will begin to announce the operational deployment ......!" ”

Before Zhukov's words fell, Major General Shilegri, the head of communications of the Far Eastern Front, hurriedly came in and interrupted Zhukov's words, "Comrade commander, there is an urgent telegram from the General Staff, I must interrupt your meeting!" His voice was trembling, anxious, and unspeakably terrified.

Zhukov frowned, with a displeased face, and blamed: "Comrade Shilegri, is there any urgent order that will not wait until the end of the meeting?" What could be more important than the total annihilation of the remnants of the Japanese Kwantung Army? ”

Major General Shilegri did not plead, his face was as ugly as a dead man, and he simply handed the telegram to Zhukov.

Zhukov took the telegram, only glanced at it, his face "swished", became pale without a trace of blood, his tall body, shook a few times, and the commander of the Baikal Front, General Gregariv, who was sitting on his left side, saw the strangeness and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Zhukov, what is the content of the telegram from the General Staff, why do you have such an ugly face, is it some bad news?" ”

Many high-ranking generals of the Soviet army below also saw his strange appearance, looking at the three giants in disbelief, Zhukov handed him the telegram with a somewhat flustered gaze, and his voice was so dry that there was no trace of water. To put it simply, "The Germans invaded the Soviet Union, and war broke out at dawn on April 10!" ”

"What?" The Soviet officers who attended the meeting were like hearing the bad news like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and their brains went blank, how could they not believe that the Germans would suddenly attack their own country, and the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact" had only been signed for a few years, and the war broke out without warning before the ink dried?

But. The commander of the Baikal Front, General Gregariv, whose next words mercilessly shattered their incredulity, "Yes, Comrade Zhukov is right. This was an order from the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Petroshilov, personally. All our troops in the Far East. Immediately return to the European direction, that's what the telegram is all about," General Gregariv's face was much more ugly than Zhukov's.

Most of his own troops were at the exit of the southern foothills of the plain between the Bria Mountains and the Kukan Mountains, blocking the retreat of the Kwantung Army. Although it was firmly holding the blocking line, it was also a situation of facing the enemy on both sides, with the desperate assault of the Japanese Kwantung Army in front and the attack of Japanese reinforcements in the back. Is it easy to give an order to evacuate the battlefield?

General Kirganin, commander of the Outer Xing'an Mountains Front, took the telegram and read it carefully, his expression was blank, the muscles on his cheeks trembled uncontrollably, the three military giants, sitting there like a wood, their minds were in chaos, this telegram was too sudden, the news came shockingly, even if it was the three military giants who had gone through the wind and waves, for the time being, their thinking had not yet reacted.

The hundreds of senior Soviet officers below were even more dumbfounded, their eyes were full of confusion and doubt, and in the temporary conference room, the air was so silent that it was almost solid, and everyone felt that it was difficult to breathe, which was a boundless depression that made people breathless.

I don't know if it was the officer, who couldn't bear this kind of suppression, suddenly stood up, slammed the military hat in his hand to the ground, and shouted hysterically: "Impossible-how could such a thing happen?" I don't believe it, misinformation - it must be misinformation! ”

His roar broke the frozen atmosphere, and hundreds of high-ranking officers of the Soviet Army began to recover from the shock, one by one, they looked excited, gossiping, and said everything, "Could it be that the General Staff made a mistake?" "One order, let us evacuate the battlefield, see the victory of the hand, just give up, I am not reconciled!"

"Even if it is an order to withdraw from the battlefield and return to the direction of Europe, there is no specific specification, in which direction to reinforce and where the troops are assembled, and how can we assemble?" "The situation at the front, we don't know anything, where are the Germans fighting now, are our troops still resisting? Don't know? ”

The discussion of the officers made Zhukov wake up from the boundless shock, and sighed in his heart, "The officers are right, what is the situation in the western battlefield, my more than 4 million troops, there should always be a specific direction for reinforcements, right?" In the telegram of the General Staff, there was not a single mention of it, and it seemed that in the face of the German offensive, the troops in the western border areas had completely lost the ability to resist. ”

"Even the General Staff, which is responsible for commanding the troops in the territory of the entire Soviet Union, cannot grasp the specific situation of the battlefield, cannot designate a clear front for the millions of troops who have returned to help, and is in a hurry, and the General Staff has already behaved at a loss from top to bottom, otherwise, it should not just be a simple order to evacuate from the battlefield, but the specific assembly places of the armies of all sides, Zhukov's heart, a burst of sadness!"

At the beginning, when the Political Bureau decided to use troops on a large scale in Outer Mongolia and the Far East, he did not agree very much, but he was far away from the center of power, and he was not a person who could influence the decisions of the Political Bureau, especially this decision, which was strongly advocated by Comrade Stalin, who could convince him?

Zhukov's heart was in sharp pain, and this pain prompted him to make arrangements as much as possible, "Comrades, stop talking unnecessarily, what we have to do now is how to carry out the orders of the General Staff as much as possible, and it is not the time to complain, the matter is urgent, and it is too late to hold a meeting with the comrades to study, so I will make an arbitrary decision." ”

"I order that Comrade Gregariv's Baikal Front immediately withdraw from Birobidzhan and Khabarovsk, let the passage of the Eastern Army's retreat be closed, and turn to the direction of the Ural Mountains through Kulen, and the troops of Comrade Kilganin's Trans-Khingan Front immediately withdraw from the battlefield and go to the western battlefield through the direction of Chita and the Ural Mountains, and the troops of the Far Eastern Far Eastern Front will continue to maintain the offensive against the Japanese Kwantung Army, and leave the battlefield on April 13 to return to the western direction!"

"As for the troops that remain in the Eastern Theater as stipulated by the General Staff, let's draw them from the Far Eastern Front and withdraw from the battlefield operations, starting this evening, after the meeting, the comrades of the various armies will go back and make arrangements for the movement of the troops as soon as possible. Zhukov's eyes were blazing, and his tone was as tough as a stone, although the last sentence was asking for everyone's opinion, but everyone could hear it, there was no room for negotiation, and Zhukov's deployment was impeccable.

More than 4 million troops hastily withdrew from the battlefield and changed from attacking on all fronts to withdrawing on all fronts, and the completely opposite approach was like a car speeding at full speed, suddenly turning around, and it would inevitably overturn, and the Baikal Front, giving way to the opening, and the Japanese Kwantung Army, which was eager to break through, would definitely think that their attack day and night had worked, and they still thought too much, seized the opportunity, and did not desperately seize the road and escape!

The troops of the two fronts withdrew from the battlefield without any delay, and the troops of the Far Eastern Front continued to attack, and there was no problem in terms of troops, moreover, it also gave the Japanese Kwantung Army the illusion that it would not turn around and bite back, and the offensive of the Far Eastern Front was actually covering the withdrawal of the other two fronts, and the burden was not light, and in a hurry, Zhukov was not in a hurry and behaved in a hurry, and he was able to make such a sophisticated and meticulous deployment, and his military quality and command ability can be seen.

All the officers who attended the meeting, including the commanders of the other two fronts, had no opinion, and no one could do this kind of thing in the face of great changes, and no one would be able to do it better than Zhukov, and the officers hurriedly got up, their hearts were heavy, and they left with a nervous face, and this night, for them, was shocked and dazed before.

General Kirganin, commander of the Outer Khinganling Front, hesitated before leaving, and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Zhukov, do we need to report the situation with Comrade Vasilevsky of the Outer Mongolian Front, perhaps, we can act jointly, he is facing the troops of the Chinese Tang Qiuli, which is an even more difficult and cunning opponent!" ”

Zhukov smiled bitterly and replied: "Comrade Kirganin, the Outer Mongolian Front is responsible for an independent offensive direction, and the General Staff should have a special telegram to Comrade Vasilevsky, and the current situation of the Outer Mongolian Front is much better than ours, at least, so far, they have not exchanged fire with Tang Qiuli's independent division, and there should be no difficulty in evacuating the operation." ”

"Comrade Vasilevsky, he is an experienced commander, he should have his own arrangements and arrangements, you must trust him, if you need to cooperate, he will send a telegram, what do you say, Comrade Kirganin?"

Zhukov knew that Kirganin and Vasilevsky had an excellent personal relationship, and he was worried that the troops in the Far East had been evacuated, leaving the Outer Mongolian Front Army, and they would have to face Tang Qiuli's independent division and the wounded Japanese Kwantung Army.

"It's me who is overwhelmed, Comrade Zhukov!" General Kirganin said with a smile, "I only hope that the withdrawal of the Outer Mongolian Front will go more smoothly, that Chinese is a difficult character!" ”

However, General Kirganin did not see the flash of melancholy in Zhukov's eyes.

(To be continued)(To be continued......