After learning that Krivoshein's troops had established a foothold in the north of the city, I hurried back to the command of the 8th Army of Trikov's Guards. Because in my memory, after Hitler committed suicide, the German chief of staff Hans Klebs, went to Trikov's defense zone to discuss surrender negotiations. At that time, the senior commander who received the negotiator with Trikov was Sokolovsky, deputy commander of the Front Army. Now history has shifted here, that is, the people who received Klebs will become me and Cuikov.

However, before leaving, I specifically asked Zhukov for instructions: "Comrade Marshal, I have something to ask you for instructions."

Zhukov was looking at the map. When he heard me say this, he said without raising his head: "Lida, if there is anything, just say that you are also the deputy commander of the Front Army, don't be so restrained."

"Comrade Marshal, if, I mean, "Although I know that as soon as Hitler died, Krebs went to Trikov's defense zone to negotiate as a representative of the German side, but the attack on Berlin was two months ahead of history. I don't know whether Hitler would still stay in Berlin like in history and finally choose to commit suicide, so I could only ask in a hypothetical tone: "The German army sent representatives to negotiate with us, how will we deal with it?"

Zhukov probably wouldn't have dreamed that I would ask him this question. He raised his head and stared at me for a long time, then turned his head to look at Terekin standing next to him, and then laughed and said, "Military Commissioner, look, our troops had already thought about how to surrender as soon as we arrived in Berlin."

"Lida, you are too impatient." Terregin also smiled and said, "Berlin is a super large city. Not to mention that our army has not surrounded it, even if it is surrounded, it will not be able to be captured in ten days or half a month. It is indeed a bit too early to talk about accepting the German surrender."

I couldn't tell them that it would take only ten days at most to capture the city. Just as I was thinking about how to answer the two, Malining hurried over with a telegram and reported to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, I just received a report from the base camp that the British and American air forces will carry out large-scale bombings on Berlin at 8:00 tomorrow morning, and then do a good job of identifying enemies and us to avoid accidental bombing."

Zhukov took the telegram and looked at it, and then ordered Malining: "Chief of Staff, go and inform the troops that have entered Berlin. The British and American Allied Air Force will bomb the city tomorrow morning. Before the air strike is over, no troops are allowed to enter the city, so as not to cause unnecessary accidental injuries."

Kazakov, the artillery commander sitting in the corner, heard Zhukov's order and quickly stood up and asked, "Comrade Marshal, will we continue the shelling we planned?"

"Of course we have to continue," Zhukov nodded and said, "The British and American air forces bombed theirs, and we bombed ours, and we did not interfere with each other. Comrade Kazakov, remember, when shooting, let the artillery fight as accurately as possible, and never hit buildings where civilians live."

I don't agree with Zhukov's statement, because we can't accurately know which buildings are the German defensive positions and which buildings live in civilians. If bombing and shelling are used in two-pronged approach, many civilians will definitely be injured by accident. The best way for them is to escape from the city or hide in the subway, so as to ensure their personal safety.

I took advantage of Kazakov's turn to call and said goodbye to Zhukov and said, "Comrade Marshal, if nothing is wrong, please allow me to return to the 8th Army of the Guards."

"Wait, Lida." Zhukov called me and walked out from behind his desk. "If there is a German representative who really appears and asks you to surrender, you report to me immediately and I will tell you what to do."

"Yes!" I agreed, and just about to leave, I heard Zhukov continue, "Also, according to the latest situation we have obtained, Konev's two tank armies were blocked by swamps, rivers, dense minefields and German defensive positions on the way north. They may not be able to reach the southern suburbs of Berlin tomorrow, so General Katukov's guard tank 1st Army, let's leave behind to cooperate with Cuikov's troops to fight."

I heard that I could keep Katukov's troops, and I felt much more at ease. Although the role of tanks and self-propelled artillery in urban street fighting cannot be compared with that in field battles, it is better than nothing.

After I returned to Cuikov's headquarters, I first told him the news that Katukov's troops would stay and fight side by side with us, and then asked about the situation in the southern suburbs of the city: "General Cuikov, I remember that our convoy advancing south encountered a large number of refugees fleeing on the road. How did you deal with them?"

"What else can it be done? I have asked someone to set up checkpoints on the road to prevent any refugees from entering the city of Berlin, and sent people to send them to the small nearby cities." Trikov looked at me and explained to me specifically: "Let them enter the city at this time be equivalent to letting them die in vain. We Soviet soldiers came to Berlin not to destroy and massacre. We have gone through a difficult road to liberate the land of our motherland and the people of brotherly countries from the hands of fascist invaders. We are now coming to Berlin to rescue the German people from the rule of darkness, to eliminate the most dangerous birthplace of the invasion in Germany, and to forever eliminate the most dangerous birthplace of the invasion."

I heard that Cui Kefu had arranged for people to escort the refugees to a nearby small city, and the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. If thousands of refugees were really allowed to enter the city, they would definitely become victims of our army's battle to attack Berlin. They were either killed by shells or bombs, or they were killed by stray bullets from which side. Cui Kefu sent them to the nearby city, which was also a great thing with great merit.

Early the next morning, dense British and American bombers appeared over the city and dropped countless bombs on the city. The commander of the army artillery, Pozalsky, also asked Cui Kov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, since the Allied aircraft are bombing the city, will the artillery fire we reserved for continue?"

"Comrade Artillery Commander," I replied before Cuikov: "Although the bombing of the Allied forces was fierce, they were not clear about the German defense situation in the city, and the bombing might not necessarily achieve ideal results. If we want to destroy the German fortifications, we should rely on ourselves."

"I understand!" After I finished speaking, Pozalsky nodded immediately and said, "I will order the artillery to fire at the city!"

Before the shelling and bombing were over, Katukov ran to Cuikov's command. When he saw me, he asked me directly: "Lida, my tank army is about to attack the city, but the task we face is very arduous. In the street fighting, the squares and streets are empty, and the enemy hides in buildings, roofs and basements to organize defenses. Tanks cannot see the enemy and cannot enter the buildings, roofs and basements. At the same time, tanks are living targets for anti-tank hands. They use burning bottles, especially long-handled anti-tank rockets to deal with our tanks."

The problem Katukov mentioned is also the problem I am worried about. Although I have taught many middle and senior officers theories of street fighting to many middle and senior officers at the Fulongzhi Military Academy, when I encounter actual combat, I still have headaches for some emergencies.

Perhaps it was my frowning and thinking expression that made Katukov misunderstand him. He quickly explained to me: "I am not saying that our tanks and tank soldiers cannot participate in the battles in the city. This is not what I want to express. Tanks are also needed in urban street fighting, but I think it should not be used as an independent army, but they should be equipped with infantry to fight together."

"General Katukov," I took Katukov to the map, pointed to the location in the eastern suburbs of Berlin and said to him: "Look at it, the streets of Berlin are very spacious and perfect for our tank combat. To prevent what you said, we should group the tanks and infantry together and let them fight together.

When attacking, infantry should search and advance about thirty meters in front of the tank, and discover and eliminate the German anti-tank hands in time; while the tanks advance in parallel, and the two tanks can cover each other's flanks during the march. We have used this tactic in the battle to liberate Poznan.

When we discover the enemy's firepower point in the building, our tank artillery should immediately destroy it, cover the infantry commanders and soldiers to rush forward, and eliminate the remaining enemies..."

After listening to the street fighting theory I introduced, Katukov discussed the coordinated combat with Cui Kov, then said goodbye and left, and the shelling came to an end.

I heard Vladimirov ask Trikov: "Comrade Commander, where should we launch an attack?"

"We must first cross the Spree River from here and establish a landing ground on the other side, and then the troops can launch an attack on the city of Berlin." Cuikov pointed on the map with his hand and said: "The source originates from the northern foot of Mount Lausitz in the southeast, flows northward through wide swamps, forming many lakes and flows into the Havre River in the Berlin area. Every spring is its flood season, and I don't know if our troops can cross this river smoothly."

"Comrade Commander, don't worry, our troops will definitely cross the Spree River smoothly." The voice of the engineers chief Tekachenko came from the door, and with him were Major General Pokaznikov, the logistics minister of the group army. After the two came to Cuikov, Tekachenko said excitedly: "We used trucks to transport ten motorboats equipped with Maxim heavy machine guns. It was the comrades of the Dnieper Fleet who helped us. With these motorboats, we can quickly send our troops to the opposite side of the river."

"What, you actually got a motorboat." Trikov jumped from his seat excitedly when he heard Tekachenko say this: "This is great. The Spree River is only two hundred meters wide. If we use a motorboat, it only takes a few minutes to send the troops to the other side. This is great. I want to ask for the merits for you both!"

When they heard that Cui Kev wanted to ask for me, both of them smiled, but Tekachenko still said modestly: "Comrade Commander, we have just done what we should do. If we want to ask for me, we should ask for me, or we should ask for me for these commanders and fighters who had bleed and sacrificed on the front line."

The plan always differs from the actual situation. Cui Kefu and I thought that if the troops wanted to successfully cross the Spree River, they could only rely on the ten motorboats and some wooden boats collected by the engineers and logistics departments. Unexpectedly, after our offensive troops arrived at the river, they unexpectedly found that a large number of kayaks and motorboats were docked on the riverside on our side, and even a few barges with large loads.

After receiving the report, Cui Kefu immediately ordered the commander of the front line: "Immediately order the infantry to board the ship and launch an attack on the other side. We must establish our landing ground in the German defense line in the shortest time."

The troops who received the order immediately boarded the ship and launched an attack on the other side under the cover of machine guns and mortars.

The battle lasted for only a dozen minutes and then ended. From the battle reports on the front line, we realized that the German army thought our army would not cross the river from here, so we only left a garrison with very weak combat power to defend the other side of the river. Faced with our army's rapid attack, these troops with extremely low fighting will only carry out weak resistance, and then put down their weapons and surrendered to our army.

After the troops successfully crossed the Spree River, Cuikov immediately ordered Pozalsky: "Comrade Artillery Commander, our troops have established landing sites on the other side of the Spree River, and have seized several barges with high load capacity. You can use these barges to cross our artillery and see the establishment of artillery positions on the other side."

When he heard that the artillery could be allowed to cross the river, Pozalski immediately smiled and nodded quickly and said, "I understand, comrade Commander, I immediately notify the artillery to rush to the Spree River for safety, and board the boat to cross the river to the other side."

After Pozalsky left, Cuikov called Tekachenko to his side and ordered: "Comrade Director of the Engineer Corps, although we have motorboats and barges to transport infantry and artillery, the speed is still too slow. You immediately organize manpower and set up a pontoon bridge on the Spree River so that our troops can advance quickly to the other side."

After assigning the mission, Cuikov turned his head and looked at me and said, "Lida, as long as our troops have firmly stood on the other side of the Spree River, our headquarters can move there."
Chapter completed!