The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1242 - 920 Execution by Shooting_2
Chapter 1242: Chapter 920: Execution by Shooting_2
Chapter 1242 -920: Execution by Shooting_2
“No need, Comrade Pavlov,” Marshal Timoshenko said with a gloomy expression, directly interrupting Pavlov’s inquiry and, suppressing his rage, said, “It’s meaningless now, nothing can redeem our losses in Poland.”
“Comrade Marshal, please consider the situation I was in at that time. I believe that anyone in my place would have been equally ineffective,” Pavlov attempted to defend himself.
But what met Pavlov was Timoshenko’s more intense anger and questioning: “I know our soldiers of the Western Front Army lack training, and we have many other issues.
But do you know? We have lost over 600,000 soldiers, including a large number of tanks, airplanes, and cannons, along with the territories we occupied in Poland.
As the commander of the Western Front Army, do you not bear any responsibility?”
“However, the Germans used 15 divisions in Brest, at least 5 of them were tank divisions. And us? We only had 3 tank divisions, and even just 7 divisions among Brest’s defensive forces.
R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.
The German armored troops deceived me. I am willing to accept the blame and earn redemption, returning to the battlefield in any position to make up for my losses to the country,” Pavlov hurriedly said.
Facing someone like Timoshenko from the military, Pavlov still wanted to try his chances.
Because he understood, once it went to the government’s trial, the government officials would not understand him at all, and he would bear the government’s wrath, a cost he likely couldn’t afford.
“Alright, I don’t have time to solve these arithmetic problems,” Timoshenko didn’t give Pavlov a chance, directly cutting off Pavlov’s attempt to save himself, and ended the meeting.
In the room, a pale-faced Pavlov knew he had lost all chances. Now he could only quietly await the government’s trial, no matter the result, he had to accept it unwillingly.
About an hour later, a Lieutenant General from the Supreme Command entered Pavlov’s room and handed Pavlov an arrest warrant.
“Lieutenant General, are you sure there is no mistake?” Pavlov incredulously looked at the Lieutenant General.
“If you are General Pavlov, then there is no mistake,” the Lieutenant General nodded blandly and without any expression signaled the guard to arrest Pavlov.
Although it was the first time for the Russian Government and Stalin to trial a high-ranking officer during the war, trying military personnel wasn’t new to them.
However, due to Pavlov’s significant culpability in the war and Stalin’s rage that had nowhere to vent, the trial lasted less than a week and the verdict was quickly announced.
Western Front Army Commander Pavlov, Chief of Staff Klimovsky, Communications Director Grigoryev, and Fourth Army Group Commander Korobkov were sentenced to be shot for anti-Russian conspiracy and treason and executed immediately.
Russian President Stalin signed the execution orders, crossing out the words “anti-Russian conspiracy,” agreeing to the immediate execution.
Thus, a full general, a lieutenant general, and two major generals were executed immediately, marking the highest-level officers executed during the war by the current Russian Government since its inception.
Although the execution of high-ranking officers of the Western Front Army, including Pavlov, didn’t quench Stalin’s anger,
there was clearly a more critical task at hand, which was to deploy defenses from Minsk to Moscow to ensure the security of the Russian Capital, Moscow.
If the Germans quickly advanced near Moscow, it would be a significant blow to the current Russian Government.
To ensure the capital’s security, the Russian Supreme Command urgently dispatched the reserve Army Group to move from Minsk to Vitebsk, attempting to erect defenses along the Minsk line.
If Minsk could not be held, defenses would be constructed from Vitebsk to Smolensk, with a vow to defend this line to the death.
Following Pavlov, Marshal Timoshenko took over as the commander of the Western Front Army, and Stalin assigned Timoshenko the arduous task of ensuring that Russian territory remained unviolated.
But this task was indeed too challenging for Timoshenko. The original 10th, 3rd, and 4th Army Groups of the Western Front Army were mostly destroyed, with the 3rd Army Group completely annihilated.
The original Western Front Army, totaling 650,000 troops, had fewer than 50,000 that broke out, not even enough to form one army.
Although two Army Groups would be transferred into the Western Front Army from the reserve Army Group, and some troops from around Moscow also helped to rebuild the 10th and 4th Army Groups’ structure and combat effectiveness,
that was a matter for the future. Moreover, without sufficient combat experience, the two newly added Army Groups and the reorganize new recruits of the Western Front Army were actually incapable of combat.
More fatally, the Western Front Army’s heavy weapons, especially the desperately needed tanks and airplanes on the battlefield, were nearly depleted.
Due to the breakout, the fewer than 100 remaining airplanes and several dozen tanks of the Western Front Army all became spoils of war for the Germans.
This was one reason for Stalin’s fury; the current Russian was not wealthy, and these weapons and equipment represented a substantial fortune for Russia.
