Following the Battle of Stalingrad, Anatoly Vichmelezhko continued to serve at the headquarters of the 62nd Army, renamed the 8th Guards Army in 1943, and attacked the Polish city of Poznan in January 1945, when Anatoly was on duty that night when the telephone rang.
Battle of Poznań in 1945
"Where is Trikov?" The caller was The Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Zhukov
"The commander went down to the troops, Comrade Marshal," replied Anatoly stationed bluntly
"What about the deputy commander" (Anatoly never said the full name of the deputy commander, Editor's Note)
"I also went down to the troops", in fact, the deputy commander was drunk and sleeping with a woman in the next room.
"Who am I talking to" Zhukov seemed a little angry, Andoli replied carefully: "I am Major Anatoly, the officer on duty at the headquarters", Zhukov paused and said: "You tell Trikov, prepare the assault group before tomorrow morning, there are T-34 tanks, KV tanks, 203 mm howitzers, you must break through the Poznan Defense Line, do you understand?" ”
Marshal Zhukov
"Understand, Comrade Marshal", Anatoly hung up the phone and regretted it, why did not risk waking up the deputy commander, he hurried to the next room to report the situation to the deputy commander, he was holding the woman and snoozing, after being woken up, he did not wait for him to finish before he shouted: "Hell, get out." Then he lay down again and snored.
Battle of Poznan
So Anatoly called another senior officer, but he replied that there was no order from the commander-in-chief, and that he could not assemble all the 203 mm howitzers in a few hours, so Anatoly had nothing to do, and fell asleep unconsciously in the middle of the night, and after a long time, he was suddenly woken up, trikov came back and ordered him to go immediately, he walked into the commander's office, trikov with a whip in his hand: 'You traitor! Anatoly immediately explained that he had informed the deputy commander, who was now standing next to Trikov and said, "No, he didn't tell me anything." Trikov was furious: "How dare you slander a senior commander" His voice was too loud, and after several years of brutal war, Anatoly reflexively touched the pistol around his waist, trikov ordered the guards to lay down Anatoly's weapon, and then solemnly declared: "In view of your failure to convey in time the urgent order of Marshal Zhukov of the Soviet Union, you are now sentenced to death, and this sentence will be issued through a military tribunal, and it will be carried out immediately."
Trikov
Several guards escorted Anatoly to the execution ground, the captain in the lead was his old comrade-in-arms, and kept nagging along the way: "Anatoly, what should I do, we will fight together in Stalingrad, it looks like we are going to hit Berlin, I would rather die with you, Anatoly, what should I do, please tell me", Anatoly knew what he meant, several guards also walked very slowly, but he could not run, if he ran he would always be a traitor, what would his family do, may be sent to Siberia, From Stalingrad to the German border, Anatoly had thought of many ways to die over the years, but he did not think of this one today, and a wave of sadness and helplessness surged in his heart.
Anatoly in his later years
Suddenly, behind them came the sound of horses' hooves, and a Red Army lieutenant officer on horseback caught up with them: "The order is canceled, the commander will let you go back", this officer is Trikov's youngest brother Alexander. Trikov, who has also been working in the headquarters, has a good personal relationship with Anatoly, and when he returned to the headquarters, Trikov only said coldly: "Things are clear, go back to work, you will have good luck."
Trikov's youngest brother Alexander. Trikov
Anatoly and Little Trikov are reunited
Trikov's words came true, and in 1970 Anatoly also became a general, which coincided with Trikov's 70th birthday, and after the banquet, Anatoly, dressed in a general's uniform, dared to ask Marshal Trikov: "Did you really want to shoot me that year?" Trikov smiled: "Of course not, I will not believe that a major dares to frame a major general, that is simply looking for death, I want to gamble, see how the character of my deputy is, after your incident, my relationship with him has become strange." Retired from the army in 1983 with the rank of general, he is 97 years old and lives in a nursing home in Moscow for retired generals.
Now Anatoly Vichmelezhko