"Comrade Commander," Smirnov reminded Sokov: "Do you think we should convene a military meeting immediately to lay out the combat tasks we just accepted?"
"Chief of Staff, please call the division commanders and tank brigade commanders right now and ask them to come over for a meeting." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, mentally calculating the time it would take to summon all division and brigade commanders.
Then he said to Smirnov: "The impromptu military meeting will be held in forty minutes. Please don't be late."
"General Afunin," Sokov said to Afunin while Smirnov was on the phone: "When we have a meeting later, I will introduce you to other division and brigade commanders, so that we can
In the following battles, your coordinated operations will be very helpful."
Afuning thought that he had not met the commander of the 41st Guards Division yet, so he could take this opportunity to get to know him, so he hurriedly agreed.
Kurishenko learned that his immediate superior, Afunin, was staying at the army headquarters at the moment. He dared not neglect him, so he put down the phone and came over with the political commissar and chief of staff.
When Sokov and Afunin were talking, they saw Kurishenko coming in from outside, so they stopped talking, pointed with their fingers, and said to Afunin with a smile: "General Afunin, your subordinates
arrive."
After Kurishenko and others finished saluting, Sokov stepped forward and shook hands with the three of them one by one. Then he brought Kurishenko to Afunin and introduced to him: "Kulishenko
General, let me introduce to you. This is Major General Afuning, the new commander of the 18th Guards Corps. He will be your superior from now on. Please get close to him."
In fact, when Kurishenko first entered the door and saw the major general chatting with Sokov, he guessed that he might be his new immediate boss Afunin. After receiving confirmation from Sokov, he quickly
He stood at attention, raised his hand and reported to Afunin: "Comrade Commander, Major General Kurishenko, commander of the 41st Guards Infantry Division, is reporting to you. I am waiting for your orders, please give me instructions!"
After Afunin raised his hand to return the salute, he said: "Please rest a moment!" Then he extended his hand to shake hands with Kurishenko and others.
After doing all this, Afunin introduced the two commanders of the Guards Airborne Division to Kurishenko: "General Kurishenko, let me introduce to you. This is Konye, the commander of the 3rd Guards Airborne Division.
Colonel Husband, this is Major General Rumyantsev, commander of the 4th Guards Airborne Division."
Just when several division commanders of the 18th Guards Corps were getting to know each other, Colonel Stilitz, commander of the 116th Infantry Division, arrived.
It was originally rumored that the 116th, 130th and 214th Infantry Divisions would form the 49th Infantry Corps, and the candidate for the corps commander would be selected from the three division commanders. Colonel Stilitz was the most suitable candidate regardless of his qualifications or military exploits.
But what is unexpected is that the front army headquarters did not adopt Sokov's recommendation, but directly appointed an elderly major general to serve as the commander of the infantry corps.
Seeing the disappointment written on Stilitz's face, Sokov shook hands with him and comforted him and said: "Colonel Stilitz, this appointment was decided by the head of the front army, and I have no ability to change it.
But don’t worry, as long as your unit can continue to achieve meritorious service in the following battles, I will recommend you to my superiors again. Even if you are unable to serve as commander of our group army, you can be transferred to other group armies."
After hearing Sokov's assurance, a glimmer of hope flashed in Stilitz's eyes. He took a deep breath and then said: "Comrade Commander, our division has recruited nearly 3,000 new soldiers in the past week.
We are undergoing intense training. However, our weapons are seriously insufficient. I wonder if the Army Group can replenish us a batch?"
Hearing that someone was asking for equipment from him again, Sokov couldn't help but feel a headache. However, he still forced a smile and said: "Comrade Colonel, don't worry, the weapons and equipment prepared for us by our superiors are on the way. It will take less than two days.
It can be transported to the army, and then I can distribute new weapons to you."
"Really, Comrade Commander?" Stilitz learned from a friend in the later department of the front army that for at least half a month, the superiors would not be able to replenish the 53rd Group Army with soldiers and weapons and equipment, so he
He was skeptical of Sokov's statement: "Can we really get replenishment within two or three days?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "Even if we can't arrive within two or three days, within a week, all your commanders and fighters will be armed."
The commanders attending the meeting arrived one after another. Seeing that everyone was here, Smirnov ran to Sokov and asked him for instructions: "Comrade Commander, everyone is here, should the meeting start now?"
?”
"Okay." Sokov said, "Let's have the meeting now."
After everyone was asked to sit down, the meeting began.
Smirnov, who was in charge of presiding over the meeting, stood up and said to many commanders: "Comrades, commanders, I have called you here today to convey the next step of the battle plan of the front army headquarters. Our front army troops will be ready in a short time."
Within a certain period of time, together with the 1st Ukrainian Front commanded by Marshal Zhukov, we launched an attack on the German Uman Group."
Hearing that the war was about to begin, the commanders present couldn't help but look at each other, and then began to discuss quietly. The topic was nothing more than that their troops had not been supplemented with soldiers and equipment, so how could they launch an attack in a hurry? If you really said that, I'm afraid the troops would
Huge casualties were incurred during the attack.
When the commanders were discussing privately, Smirnov did not stop them, but waited patiently for everyone's discussion to end. After just a few minutes, silence returned to the meeting, and Smirnov continued:
"Next, I will formally convey to you the operational intentions of the Front Army Headquarters.
The purpose of the upcoming Battle of Uman is to crush the German 8th Army, divide their Army Group South, cut off the southward retreat of the enemy's 1st Tank Army, and cooperate with the 1st Ukrainian Front to crush this army.
Having said this, there must be comrade commanders who would like to ask: Which troops do we have participating in this Uman Battle? I can tell you here: the 27th and 52nd Army, the 4th Guards Army, the 2nd Tank Army,
The 5th Guards Tank Army and the 6th Guards Tank Army carried out the main assault in the direction of Uman from the Vinograd, Zvenigorodka, and Shpola lines. The 5th and 7th Guards Tank Armies were led by Kirovg
Le area, carry out auxiliary assault in the direction of New Ukraine Ka."
In order to give everyone a perceptual understanding, Smirnov also specially came to the map hanging on the wall, pointed at the map with an explanation stick, and gave further explanations to everyone.
After Smirnov's explanation came to an end, someone asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why is our group army not included in the offensive force numbers?"
Smirnov looked in the direction of the voice and found that the speaker was a tank brigade commander, so he said to him: "Comrade Colonel, according to the arrangement of the front army headquarters, our group army will serve as the first echelon.
After the battle started, we took the lead in launching an attack on the enemy's Uman Group."
Having said this, he turned back to the map again, raised the explanation stick in his hand, pointed at a certain point on the map and said: "There are two starting points for our group army's attack. One is Safran, which is located directly south of Uman.
And the other one is Vilishankar in the southeast."
After the commanders present knew the starting point of the attack, the next question they wanted to know was the time when the battle would start: "When will the battle be launched?"
"The campaign will be launched on March 9th." Smirnov said with a serious expression: "But all the troops of our army must be in their designated positions on the 8th. Do you have any questions?"
As soon as Smirnov finished speaking, the tank brigade commander just stood up again: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it is really the spring thaw season now, and the roads in Ukraine are not suitable for tanks at all. I am worried that the tanks of the tank brigade will
During the march, he got stuck in a quagmire and couldn't move."
When Sokov heard this, before Smirnov could speak again, he said first: "Is the director of the engineering corps here?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." When Sokov called him, the director of the engineering corps sitting in the crowd quickly stood up and asked respectfully: "What instructions do you have?"
"You must have heard what the colonel said, right?" Sokov pointed at the tank brigade commander, and then asked the director of the engineering corps: "Do you have a way to solve the road problem?"
"It's very difficult, Comrade Commander." The director of the engineering corps sighed and said: "There are more than 70 roads from our current defense area to the designated attack location. I only have two engineering battalions under my command, and there are not enough
With the materials, there is no way I can build a road that can be used by tanks in just a few days."
"Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps, it is actually not difficult to build a road for tanks to pass through." Seeing the helpless expression on the other party's face, Sokov took the initiative to express his thoughts: "Order the engineers to cut down the wood.
Build a wooden frame on the road, and then lay logs on it. In order to make the road stronger, you can also ask the soldiers to collect charcoal residue and lay it inside the frame so that the wooden roadbed will not be damaged by the crushing of tanks.
sink."
After listening to Sokov's suggestion, the director of the engineering corps pondered for a long time, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, your work of first building a foundation with logs and then laying them on will not take long. However,
Where can I collect so much carbon residue at once?"
"Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps," Sokov said with a smile: "Don't forget that Ukraine is a place rich in coal. The urban residents here use coal for cooking and heating. For them, the disposal of charcoal residues
But a big problem is that no matter where it is dumped, it seems to be a nuisance. Now you are just recycling waste. Using the charcoal residue that gives residents a headache to pave roads is simply a good thing that kills two birds with one stone."
"Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps," Smirnov said when the conversation between Sokov and the Director of the Engineering Corps came to an end: "If our army wants to reach Safran or Vilishanka, it must first cross Gniloydikichi.
Although the river is too wide and the water is very shallow, if you want to pass it smoothly, you must build bridges on the river. Tell me, how many bridges can you build?"
Sokov originally wanted to ask the same question, but since Smirnov asked it first, he remained silent and wanted to hear how the director of the engineering corps answered.
Regarding the question raised by Smirnov, the director of the Engineering Corps thought for a long time and replied: "Based on our current strength, we can build two pontoon bridges for tanks and heavy vehicles and three to five for infantry in three days."
A bridge for traffic.”
After listening to the answer from the director of the engineering corps, Sokov nodded with satisfaction. He knew that the opponent's strength was too weak and it would be very difficult to build roads and bridges at the same time, so he took the initiative and said: "If there are not enough manpower, just try
Open your mouth and I will specially arrange troops to assist you in your work."
However, he did not wait for the director of the engineering corps to speak, and said to the commanders present: "Comrade commanders, everyone knows that now is the season when the roads in Ukraine are muddy. If we rely solely on the engineering corps of the group army to build roads, the speed will be very high."
It will be very slow. I hope that after everyone returns to their respective units, they will also organize efforts to build roads in the defense area to reduce the pressure on the engineering troops. Do you understand?"
"I understand!" the commanders present responded in unison.
"Very good!" Sokov nodded and gestured to Smirnov, indicating him to continue speaking.
Smirnov, who understood it well, continued: "In terms of deployment, we have arranged it like this: the troops stationed in Safran are the 18th Guards Infantry Corps of Major General Afnin; the troops stationed in Vilishanka are infantry
Part of the 49th Army and the 57th Army. The remaining troops serve as reserves and operate with the Army Group Headquarters.
After arriving at the designated position, each unit has actively dispatched reconnaissance teams to conduct reconnaissance behind enemy lines to understand the German troop deployment and firepower distribution..."
After Smirnov finished speaking, he returned to his seat and sat down. After a pause, he asked: "Who has any questions?"
There was silence in the conference room. This did not mean that everyone had no questions, but that the commander present had to reorganize the vocabulary in his mind before asking the questions he wanted to ask.
Sure enough, after a minute, countless hands were raised, all wanting to ask Smirnov questions.
After Smirnov's eyes swept across everyone's faces one by one, he stopped on the face of the commander of the 49th Infantry Corps: "Now, let me ask the commander of the 49th Corps to ask questions."
After the commander of the 49th Army stood up, he looked at Smirnov and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although my army has three divisions, in the battle of Cherkasy that ended not long ago, the troops of these divisions
We have all been seriously weakened. We are an army in name, but the total strength of all the troops is only one division. At the same time, after the fierce battle, our ammunition is seriously insufficient, let alone a battle, even a battle.
Even a moderately sized battle cannot be sustained."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said calmly after the other party finished speaking: "You can replenish the soldiers by recruiting local residents or soldiers who have recovered from injuries. As for the weapons, you don't have to worry, your superiors
The weapons and equipment provided to us are on the way now, and I believe they will be distributed to you in less than two days."
This chapter has been completed!