Sokov received a formal notification from Vatutin that all the commanders and fighters rescued from the prisoner of war camps would be integrated into his 27th Army after necessary screening.
This good news made Sokov overjoyed. He immediately replenished his army with 20,000 men, and the vitality of the army was basically restored. Moreover, these officers and soldiers who had been bullied by the German guards were full of hatred for the enemy. As long as they
If they are fully armed, they will be an extremely terrifying force, and they will become a nightmare for the Germans.
Vatutin continued: "After discussion and research, the Front Army Headquarters decided to send Deputy Commander General Apanashenko, as the representative of the Front Army, to your ministry to supervise the implementation of the screening work."
Sokov had been happy for less than two minutes when his heart became cold because of these few words of Vatutin. After the other party finished speaking, he said cautiously: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I
Lieutenant General Lunev, the military commissar of the group army, is a political worker from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I think that with his ability, he can completely complete this screening work."
"Major General Sokov, it's useless what you say." Vatutin said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "More than 20,000 rescued prisoners of war will all be incorporated into your army. If traitors and cowards are allowed to sneak in, they will be killed."
It will bring unexpected consequences to your troops. General Apanashenko took the initiative to apply to go to your place, and you must cooperate with his work. Do you understand, Major General Sokov?"
Hearing that Apanashenko took the initiative to apply to join his army, Sokov felt an indescribable awkwardness in his heart, but since it was a decision made by his superiors, he had no right to object, so he could only answer bravely:
: "Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, we will definitely cooperate with his work."
Samyko didn't seem to care at all whether Apanashenko would come to supervise the work. He was very excited about getting 20,000 soldiers at the moment: "Comrade Commander, I wonder how you plan to allocate the 20,000 soldiers?"
"The 188th Division and the 81st Guards Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in this blocking battle, and they should be the priority to be supplemented." Seeing Sameko holding a pen to record what he said, Sokov slowed down and said:
"The casualties of the 384th Division are also not small, and they will be the second batch of supplementary objects. As for the 84th and 254th Divisions, the two Marine Corps brigades will be the third batch; while the Infantry Brigade and the 182nd Division can be excluded this time
outside the supply plan.”
After writing down what Sokov said, Samyko raised his head and asked, "How many people can be allocated to each division of more than 20,000 people?"
Regarding Samyko's question, Sokov did not give an accurate answer: "You can convene a meeting with the division commanders to discuss how many soldiers should be allocated to each division according to the levels I just divided."
After Samek made a note in his notebook, he asked again: "What about the weapons and equipment?"
"I'm afraid it will take some time to replenish the assault rifles." Sokov also seriously considered what weapons this new batch of soldiers should use. He felt that although the assault rifles were more powerful than the Popov submachine guns, these new soldiers
The joining fighters have no experience in using this weapon. Even if they are equipped with assault rifles, their combat effectiveness may be affected to a certain extent: "And even if the assault rifles are equipped with newly added fighters, they still need an adaptation process. And we can't get through it.
How long will it take for them to launch an attack on Belgorod? It’s a little too late, so I think we should let them continue to use our army’s standard weapons.”
After explaining the distribution of troops and the equipment of weapons to Samyko, Sokov turned to Lunev and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, the Front Army Headquarters plans to send Deputy Commander General Apanashenko over.
Oversee our screening of prisoners of war."
Lunev heard the hidden meaning of Sokov's words and said to him with a smile: "Comrade Commander, don't worry. Don't forget, I am from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There are some things we take second place in, and no one dares to do so."
Recognize No. 1. With or without the supervision of General Apanashchenko, our screening work can be completed smoothly."
After dawn, a convoy of three jeeps and five trucks appeared at the location of Sokov's headquarters.
After conducting an investigation, the officer on duty at the intersection found out that it was the convoy of General Apanashenko, deputy commander of the Voronezh Front, and quickly let it go and notified Sokov by phone.
After receiving the notice, Sokov did not dare to neglect and quickly brought members of the headquarters to the door to greet him.
Seeing the convoy approaching in the distance, Sameko couldn't help but shook his head and said: "What a lie. Three jeeps and five trucks can form a military parade convoy. If discovered by the enemy's reconnaissance plane, the enemy will
You can definitely guess that there are important people in the convoy, and they will be in danger once planes are sent out to bomb."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lunev waited for Samyko to finish, then continued: "You are thinking too much. Now the air control in the entire Kursk region is firmly in the hands of our army. The enemy
If the aircraft does not appear, it will be shot down by our patrol aircraft once it appears."
The convoy came to a stop at the entrance of the headquarters. The passenger door of the second jeep opened. A lieutenant colonel jumped out of the car, came to the back, opened the door, and put his hand on the top of the door to prevent the people inside from bumping into each other when they came out.
.
Seeing the grand arrogance of the other party, Sokov guessed that the person about to get out of the car must be General Apanashenko, and hurriedly trotted forward.
Sure enough, Apanashenko got out of the car. After he stood up straight, he looked left and right, and tugged at the hem of his uniform with both hands.
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, Major General Sokov, Commander of the 27th Group Army, reports to you." Sokov quickly stood at attention, saluted, and reported loudly: "You are welcome to come to us to guide our work."
Apanashenko raised his hand and returned the salute, and said with an indifferent expression: "General Sokov, I would like to ask, what are your troops doing now?"
"Recuperating."
"Recuperating?" Apanashenko shook his head and said, "This answer is too general. I want to know the specific answer!"
"Comrade General," upon hearing Apanashchenko's words, Samyko quickly stepped forward and said, "I am Major General Samyko, Chief of Staff of the Army Group. Please allow me to report to you."
"Report it!"
After Samyko agreed resoundingly, he began to report to Apanaschenko what the divisions, brigades, artillery and tank troops of the group army were doing now. Not only was he very detailed, but he was also very organized.
After listening to Samyko's report, Apanashenko finally had some smile on his frosty face. Sokov quickly introduced Lunev to him: "This is the Army Military Commissar Lieutenant Lunev.
He will cooperate with your work in the coming days..."
"Comrade Lunev and I have known each other since before the war." Looking at Lunev standing straight, the smile on Apanashchenko's face grew wider: "I didn't expect that we would have the opportunity to work together."
After Apanashenko followed Sokov and others into the headquarters, he went straight to the wall and looked up at the large map hanging on it. After looking at it for a while, he turned around and said to Sokov who was standing behind him.
: "General Sokov, can you tell me about your combat situation yesterday?"
Regarding detailed reports on recent operations, Sokov sent special personnel to the front army headquarters after dark. At this moment, hearing Apanashenko say this, he couldn't help showing a bitter expression on his face, feeling that Apanashenko
Xianke doesn't seem to like himself, so he targets himself everywhere.
However, the other party was his superior, and even if he was dissatisfied with him, he could only hide it in his heart. He patiently reported the battles of the past few days in clear and detailed terms.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Apanashenko spoke again: "General Sokov, since you have taken the initiative on the battlefield, why don't you continue to expand the results? You know, if you are determined to defeat the German army,
After the troops arrive, you may rush directly into Belgorod."
"Comrade General," Sokov said, hearing Apanashenko say this, he was dumbfounded: "The troops I can use are very limited, and when the troops pursue the enemy, the organization is completely messed up.
Basically, they fight with battalion-level, company-level units, or even platoon-level units.
After encountering the supporting troops coming out of Belgorod, if we do not retreat quickly and switch to defense on the spot, we may be eaten by the enemy."
After Sokov finished speaking, Samyko quickly echoed: "That's right, Comrade General, our two infantry divisions and tank corps are too scattered and have no ability to attack the fortress. Even if we barely defeated Belgoro
The supporting troops sent out by Germany are also unable to launch an attack on the enemy's well-defended cities."
"General Sokov," Apanashchenko picked up the explanation stick leaning against the wall, tapped the map on the wall, and said to Sokov and others: "You fought this battle too conservatively.
If you continue to attack the city, even if you are unable to make progress for the time being, it does not matter much. But after the front army headquarters learns that you have launched an attack on Belgorod, it will send troops to attack the city from other directions to reduce the impact on you.
Main force."
"Also." Apanashchenko turned around, holding the explanation stick in both hands, looked at Sokov and said displeasedly: "We are a regular army, but judging from the series of tactics you used, it is completely guerrilla
It’s the team’s style of play. If you use such tactics to deal with the enemy, even if you win, it’s still a big chance.”
Faced with Apanashenko's criticism, Sokov really couldn't laugh or cry.
He suppressed the anger in his heart and asked: "Comrade General, can you tell me, what should the regular army fight like?"
Apanashenko didn't notice Sokov's face, and was still talking to himself: "Since we are a regular army, we should fight according to the regular army's fighting style, such as using fortress against fortress and attack against attack.
…”
"Do we need to conduct some short assaults during defense?" Sokov asked with a sneer.
"Yes, that's right, Major General Sokov, it seems you still understand this." When Apanashenko saw that Sokov finally understood how to fight a regular war, he asked him: "Since you understand the regular army
How to fight, so why do we always like to use the tactics of guerrillas? You know, our commanders and fighters are very brave. In regular combat, they can crush the enemy through their courage."
"Comrade General," seeing Apanashenko still clinging to the outdated formula, Sokov's heart was full of dissatisfaction with him. As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately said without being humble or condescending: "I think as long as we can defeat
The enemy can use any tactics."
Seeing that Sokov actually refuted his opinion, Apanashenko was even more dissatisfied with him. He said with a straight face: "General Sokov, do you know that no matter how many battles you win with this kind of guerrilla tactics?"
, the enemy still looks down upon you and thinks you don’t know how to fight."
"Comrade General, I just want to destroy more enemies. As for how they evaluate me, I don't care at all." Sokov said in a high-pitched tone: "I don't care whether I use regular tactics or guerrilla tactics on the battlefield.
For me, as long as it can defeat the enemy, it is a good tactic."
Samyko and Lunev on the side both heard the strong smell of gunpowder from the conversation between Sokov and Apanashenko, but they did not know how to persuade them for a while. The atmosphere in the headquarters
Became extremely embarrassed.
After a while, Lunev broke the silence: "Comrade General, have you brought the information on those prisoners of war?"
"Bring it!" Lunev's words successfully diverted Apanashchenko's attention: "Most of the more than 20,000 prisoners of war were captured in the Oboyan area, and those from Prokhorovka
There is very little direction.”
"Why is this happening, Comrade General?" Lunev asked.
Apanaschenko sighed and gritted his teeth and said: "The enemies participating in the attack on the Prokhorovka area include two SS divisions - the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division. These damn beasts, seize our army
After the commanders and fighters were killed, most of them were shot directly, and only a few of the able-bodied ones were sent to a prisoner-of-war camp near Oboyan, ready to be sent to Germany to serve as laborers after the Battle of Kursk."
"It seems that Hott in the direction of Oboyan is still a good soldier. At least he did not wantonly massacre our captured commanders and fighters." Lunev said: "In this regard, he is much better than other German generals.
Already."
"Yes, he did not order the massacre of our prisoners of war, just to prevent his hands from being stained with the blood of innocent people." Apanashenko said: "But when they evacuated the Oboyan area, Hot
But he issued an order to his troops to hand over more than a dozen prisoner-of-war camps in the Oboyan area to a cavalry regiment of the SS, and these murderous beasts would take care of the prisoner-of-war camps. If our troops hadn't arrived,
Quickly, not only more than 4,000 people will die, but also several commanders and fighters held in prisoner-of-war camps will be killed by these beasts."
