"Misha, you're right." Zhukov agreed with what Sokov said: "Without air supremacy, the combat effectiveness of our army will be greatly reduced. During the Stalingrad War, the several large-scale attacks launched in the north of the city ended in failure because the offensive troops lost air supremacy. Even if the situation on the battlefield is no longer beneficial to our army, the enemy's planes will bombard the offensive troops indiscriminately, which will cause our offensive to be frustrated."
Hearing Zhukov said so much, Sokov couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope in his heart: as long as the air force cooperates, there is no need to worry about attacking the city. At that time, as long as the enemy's artillery position or tank assembly point are discovered, they can immediately call the air force to attack and destroy the enemy.
It will become extremely difficult for the German army, which has lost the cover of tanks and cannons, to break through the Soviet defense, and the chance of defending the city itself will increase significantly.
He asked Zhukov tentatively: "Comrade General, I wonder if the Air Force can provide us with air cover?"
"Misha, I came here this time as a representative of the base camp." Zhukov did not immediately answer Sokov's question, but said with a smile: "If I want to command a nearby army, wouldn't it be a matter of just one sentence?"
Sokov immediately felt relieved. Since Zhukov appeared here as a representative of the base camp, as long as he ordered, he believed that no one dared to disobey, then the matter of asking for air cover was equivalent to his agreement.
"Great, that's great." Sokov said excitedly: "With air cover, no matter how many enemies there are, we can compete with them."
"There are ten aviation divisions under the 8th Air Force Army. I can order one or two of them to obey your command." Zhukov looked at Sokov and said, "I hope you will not disappoint me when your performance is coming. Otherwise,..."
Although Zhukov didn't say "otherwise", Sokov understood that the outcome would definitely be bad. Even if he was not sent to the military court, he would probably have been dismissed. He quickly promised: "Comrade General, please rest assured, I will definitely not let you down."
But soon, Sokov thought of a key question: "Comrade General, I have a question. Since the Southwest Front has an air force army, why didn't it provide air cover for the Southwest Front troops?"
"The reason is very simple." Zhukov said bitterly: "The garrison of the Eighth Air Force Army is too far from the combat area of the Southwest Front, more than 1,000 kilometers. When the plane arrives at the battlefield, the fuel has been consumed almost all. How can you fight against enemy aircraft or provide air cover for ground troops?"
"So that's how it is." Sokov immediately understood that the reason why Zhukov agreed to the Air Force to provide air cover was entirely because his place was within the combat radius of the Air Force's Eighth Army, so that he could unscrupulously agree to provide air cover for himself.
"Telecom, telegram!" A communications officer rushed over with a telegram and reported to Sokov excitedly: "Comrade Commander, the telegram sent by Colonel Bere, the first tank battalion has successfully broken through the enemy's defensive positions and met with friendly troops coming from the opposite side."
"It's good news to meet." Zhukov snatched the telegram from the staff officer and checked it carefully: "Yes, it's true that we've met. Colonel Bere also saw General Popov with his own eyes."
When Zhukov returned the telegram to Sokov, he asked curiously: "Misha, why did the staff officer call you the commander just now?"
"That's right, comrade General." Since Bere's troops had already met with Popov and the others, Sokov felt particularly good. He smiled and explained to Zhukov: "The staff and communication soldiers here are all from the 41st Guard Division. Although I am now the commander of the combat cluster, I am also the commander of the 41st Guard Division, so they are still used to calling me the commander."
"So that's the case. I thought it was the staff officer who was excited and called wrong." After Zhukov finished speaking, he waved his hand and said to Sokov: "Let's go, let's welcome General Popov."
"Sorry, comrade General." When Vitkov heard Zhukov intend to greet Popov himself, he hurriedly stopped him and said sincerely: "It's too dangerous to go there."
"The soldiers are not afraid of danger. What's the point of being scary about me?" Zhukov said, then reached out and pushed Vitkov away.
His hand just touched Vitkov's shoulder, and Sokov also blocked him and said anxiously: "Comrade General, you are now the representative of the base camp. You have more important work to be completed. You do not have the right to take risks with your life."
"But General Popov had just broken through successfully. As the representative of the base camp, I should appear in front of him and comfort him well." Zhukov said: "After all, after all, they successfully jumped out of the German siege after so many arduous and outstanding battles."
"Comrade General, please stay here with confidence." Sokov said to Zhukov: "I will send a telegram to Colonel Bere, and ask him to send someone to escort General Popov here immediately."
Hearing Sokov said this, Zhukov was not good at saying anything, so he nodded and said helplessly: "Okay, Misha, since you said that, I'll wait for General Popov here."
Half an hour later, Colonel Bere, with a smoke on his face, appeared in the command center with General Popov.
Popov, who had just escaped from the enemy's encirclement, never dreamed that he would see Zhukov here. He thought the other party was here to pursue the matter of his unauthorized order to break through, and he couldn't help but feel nervous. However, he still bit the bullet and raised his hand to salute Zhukov, and said respectfully: "Hello, comrade General, I'm very happy to see you here."
Zhukov stood up and walked to him, looked up and down, pulled his hand off his forehead, and tried hard to put him in his arms, giving him a warm hug, and said excitedly: "It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive. Since the outbreak of the war, I have lost many good comrades, and I even thought I would never see you again. It's a pleasure to see you here."
"I want to thank Colonel Sokov," Popov looked at Sokov standing aside and said with emotion: "If he hadn't taken the initiative to send troops to rescue, my troops would have to suffer greater casualties if they wanted to break through the enemy's siege. Even so, my troops would have suffered heavy losses."
Zhukov called Popov to sit at the table and asked curiously: "Comrade Popov, tell me about the casualties in your army."
"The tanks of several tanks belonging to the rapid cluster were either destroyed in battle or when we broke through the siege, we had to blow up in order not to leave them to the enemy." Popov lowered his head and said in a heavy mood: "As for the only infantry army, the casualties were also very heavy when breaking through, one-half of the soldiers were killed and two-thirds of the commanders were killed and two-thirds of the casualties, and many battalion-level units have been completely wiped out."
Zhukov sighed softly, raised his hand and patted Popov's shoulder a few times, and said, "This is all the price you need to pay to defend the motherland. The soldiers will not sacrifice in vain. We will sooner or later ask the Germans for this blood debt."