"Hey~!" Zaharov let out a long sigh, and then said: "When I informed General Goryunov to send a reconnaissance plane, I took into account that Zhitomir Prefecture has been controlled by our army and wanted to reconnoiter Uman, Vinnitsa, etc.
The German defense of the ground is a very simple matter, so just let him send a reconnaissance plane."
Sokov vaguely felt that the failure of this reconnaissance was probably related to Zakharov's underestimation of the enemy, and said casually: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I think it is precisely because Zhytomir Prefecture is in the hands of our army, and the prefecture is
The German defenses in the adjacent Uman and Vinnitsa areas will become even tighter, not only on the ground but also in the air."
After hearing what Sokov said, Zakharov was silent for a long time, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, I didn't expect you to see the problem so thoroughly. Yes, the German defenses in the Uman and Vinnitsa areas are very
General Goryunov, who was strict, also felt that it would be difficult to complete the mission by sending only one reconnaissance aircraft, so he took the initiative to send a squadron of reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance in the area."
Although Sokov was not an Air Force commander, he knew the flight organization of the 5th Air Force Group Army. A reconnaissance aircraft squadron was equipped with four reconnaissance aircraft. He asked with some surprise: "Can't four reconnaissance aircraft complete the mission?"
Reconnaissance mission?"
"Yes," Zakharov said in a positive tone: "The four reconnaissance planes were hit by artillery fire from the ground as soon as they entered the sky above Uman. At that time, one plane was hit by artillery fire. Fortunately, the pilots were in time.
I only saved one life by parachuting. After the remaining three reconnaissance planes passed the German anti-aircraft artillery air defense area, they were intercepted by German fighter jets. In just a few minutes, two more were shot down. Fortunately, the remaining three reconnaissance planes were shot down.
The pilot of the reconnaissance plane was an experienced and excellent pilot. He successfully escaped the pursuit of German fighter jets and successfully returned to the airport."
After learning that only one of the four reconnaissance planes returned successfully, Sokov realized that if he wanted to find the open pit, he couldn't rely on the air force. But it would be a waste of time to send a reconnaissance team to conduct reconnaissance. He thought about it for a long time.
, Zakharov said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I remember that Comrade Khrushchev used to work in Ukraine, and he should be very clear about local affairs. Do you think you can get in touch with him and tell me
Does he know anything about open pit mines?"
Sokov's words reminded Zakharov: "You are right, Comrade Sokov. Now Comrade Khrushchev still holds the title of military commissar in the First Ukrainian Front. I
I will contact him as soon as possible to see if I can get any useful clues from him, just wait for my good news."
Although Zakharov agreed to help him contact Khrushchev and learn about the open-pit mine from him, Sokov still did not dare to place all his hopes on him. What if Khrushchev had a crush on Uman?
If you don’t understand the open pit mine, your hopes will be dashed again.
Therefore, he said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, to find out the specific location of the open-pit mine, we cannot completely rely on our superiors, we still have to find a way ourselves."
"But, Comrade Commander." Smirnov said with some surprise: "Didn't General Zakharov promise you to contact Comrade Khrushchev immediately and ask him about the open-pit mine?"
Sokov waved his hand towards Smirnov and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although Khrushchev used to work in Ukraine, he is so busy with his daily work that he has no time to care about a mining problem. I don't think so.
I couldn’t find any useful information from him. Therefore, in order to find out the specific location of the open-pit mine, we can only send our own scouts to conduct reconnaissance in the Uman area."
"Okay," after listening to Sokov's words, Smirnov said helplessly: "I immediately contacted the director of the reconnaissance department and asked him to arrange a suitable reconnaissance team to conduct reconnaissance in the Uman area."
"Uman has a vast territory. Just sending a reconnaissance team may not have much effect." Sokov added: "Ask the director of the reconnaissance department to send a few more teams to perform reconnaissance missions, and let them each be responsible for an area.
This allows us to find what we're looking for more quickly."
This matter was of great importance, and Smirnov did not dare to neglect it. He immediately picked up the phone and called the director of the reconnaissance department and ordered him to arrange several capable reconnaissance teams to rush to the Uman area after dark to conduct reconnaissance there.
After putting down the phone, Smirnov said with emotion: "Comrade Commander, if we had known earlier that there were 20,000 to 30,000 prisoners of war in the Uman open-pit mine, we could have asked Manstein to exchange the prisoners there for us before the exchange.
"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are thinking too much." Sokov said with a wry smile: "Manstein will never return the prisoners of war in the open pit to us through exchange."
"Why?" Smirnov asked puzzled.
"The reason is very simple. The prisoner-of-war camp in Shebinka is very close to the defense area of the 5th Mechanized Army. If friendly forces launch an assault, it will take less than two hours to liberate the prisoner-of-war camp." Sokov said: "If it were changed,
The SS commander might have ordered that everyone in the prisoner of war camp be killed, leaving no one behind. But Manstein was different. He couldn't do such a cruel thing. He might be in a dilemma.
On the occasion, we asked him to exchange prisoners of war for General Stemmermann's body and German wounded soldiers, so he took advantage of the situation and returned these prisoners of war to us."
"I think Comrade Commander is right." Gorokhov, who had always been silent, nodded and said after listening to Sokov's analysis: "Manstein was very worried about the prisoners of war here in Shebinka, and ordered all
Execution, he couldn't commit such a murderous act; transfer, it would require a lot of manpower and material resources, and he could exchange these prisoners of war, which gave him a headache, for the body of General Stemmermann and more than 2,000 wounded German soldiers.
It’s a very cost-effective deal.”
After saying this, Gorokhov paused for a moment, and then continued: "But we cannot define Manstein as a good person just because he did not kill our prisoners of war. I learned from friendly forces that the German army
When they retreated from the left bank of the Nieper River, they robbed the village of grain, cattle and poultry, and forced the villagers to move with them. Those who refused to leave were shot on the spot. In addition to burning down the village and poisoning the well water, they
When retreating from the city, they also blew up factories and bridges, leaving us with a devastated land. And the person who can issue such an order is undoubtedly Manstein."
"Comrade Military Commissar is right." Sokov continued: "In any case, Manstein is the commander-in-chief of the German army, and he is inseparable from the many crimes committed by the Germans on our land.
When our army captures him in the future, he will definitely be tried and punished as he deserves."
"Comrade Commander, there is one more thing I thought of." Smirnov suddenly said: "Before we can obtain these commanders and fighters with combat experience, we can only recruit local people to supplement the troops. Since these people have been in
In the German-occupied areas, there was no opportunity to receive military training, and even if they were armed, they would probably have little combat effectiveness."
"Well, you make sense." Sokov nodded and said, "It takes a long time to train an ordinary civilian into a qualified soldier. And the battle between us and the Germans will happen at any time.
may start, so it is difficult for us to significantly improve the combat effectiveness of the troops through training before the next battle. This is really a headache."
At this moment, Kurishenko, commander of the 41st Guards Division, called.
"Hello, Comrade Commander!" Kurishenko said politely, "I am Kurishenko."
"It turns out to be General Kurishenko." Sokov asked with a smile: "You called me, what's the matter?"
"That's it, Comrade Commander." Kurishenko said: "In the battle to defend Highland 239 and block the German 1st Armored Division, our division's casualties exceeded 60%. I would like to ask when the superiors can
Give us a supplement?"
Sokov was also worried about replenishing his troops at this moment. When he heard that Kurishenko was also asking for troops, he said with a wry smile: "General Kurishenko, I know that your division suffered a lot of casualties in this battle.
I also want to recruit more soldiers for you, but where can I find soldiers for you now?"
"Comrade Commander." The reason Kurishenko wanted to call Sokov was because he got the news that he had just exchanged Stemmerman's body and 2,000 wounded German soldiers for 3,000
Many captured commanders and combatants. These experienced commanders and combatants made Kurishenko jealous. He was worried that if he moved slowly, these soldiers would definitely be divided up by other divisions, so he specially called Sokov.
Phone call: "I heard that the headquarters just got back 3,000 captured commanders and fighters from the Germans. I'm not greedy, just give me half of them."
"This is impossible, General Kurishenko." Hearing that Kurishenko wanted to take away half of his people, Sokov couldn't help but raise his voice: "You are right, we did today
More than 3,000 commanders and combatants were exchanged from the hands of the Germans, but because they were all in prisoner-of-war camps and suffered inhuman torture, most of them were in very bad physical condition. Those who could really be incorporated into the army and fight were
At best, there are only about 1,500 people."
Sokov knew that the other party was still entangled with him, so he took the initiative and said: "General Kurishenko, let me tell you the truth, in this battle, not only did your division suffer heavy casualties, but even the 252nd Infantry Division suffered a lot of casualties.
, even the division commander was seriously injured. You want to supplement, and they also want to supplement. I only have more than 1,500 people, how can I satisfy everyone's requests at the same time?"
Kurishenko heard something from Sokov's voice, and his tone suddenly softened: "Comrade Commander, I understand your difficulty. But you still have to consider our actual situation."
"What's the reality?"
"We also suffered heavy losses, but our forward position is only less than five kilometers away from the enemy's front line." Kurishenko explained: "In other words, we may fight the enemy at any time. And the 252nd Infantry Division
Well, we are now in our army's defense area. Unless the enemy bypasses our division's defense area, the possibility of them being attacked is very small."
Sokov thought about it and realized that what Kurishenko said did make sense. Within the entire army group, this division was the closest to the German defense area. Once the German army launched another attack, they would definitely bear the brunt, so it was completely necessary to replenish their troops.
Thinking of this, he said into the microphone: "General Kurishenko, it is definitely unrealistic to give you all these 1,500 people. Otherwise, I will give you 800 people first."
Kurishenko cried bitterly: "Comrade Commander, eight hundred people are too few, right? You have more than fifteen hundred people, how about you give me one thousand people?"
"No, absolutely not." Sokov refused resolutely: "Eight hundred people is the limit I can give you. Even if other troops are not likely to be attacked by the German army, I will give them some additional troops.
.If you really feel that the number of people I have given you is too few, you can think of ways to make up for it yourself."
"Find a way to supplement it yourself?" Kurishenko asked curiously: "How to supplement it?"
"It's very simple." Sokov said: "Didn't we rescue many civilians who were held hostage by the Germans near Hill 239? Their physical condition is very good, and after being incorporated into the army, they can become strong warriors with a little training.
."
Kurishenko couldn't help but feel ecstatic when he heard that the rescued civilians could be incorporated into the team. But after a moment, he realized a key problem: "Comrade Commander, these civilians can be captured by the Germans to carry supplies and wounded people."
, there is definitely no problem with their physical condition. However, they have lived in the German-occupied areas for a long time and must not have received any military training. Even if they are incorporated into the army, they may not have much combat effectiveness."
"No one is born a qualified warrior." Sokov said earnestly: "First integrate these people into the army to replace the soldiers you lost in the battle. Then you will have the backbone of the army's combat and train them. You
Don’t worry, in addition to the 800 additional people for you, I will also send some additional instructors to your army to help you train new recruits."
"Great, this is really great." Kurishenko knew that he would not get anything from Sokov, so he quickly spoke faster and said: "Comrade Commander, I will arrange for people to recruit those who have been rescued."
Ukrainian civilians and integrate them into the army as soon as possible."
"Are there enough weapons?"
"That's enough, that's enough." Kurishenko replied: "We have captured a batch of weapons on the battlefield. It is completely possible for everyone to have their own weapons."
Now that Kurishenko said there are enough weapons, Sokov feels a lot more at ease. If the division does not have enough weapons, he needs to find a way to get weapons as soon as possible. He cannot let the soldiers fight the Germans with wooden sticks.
Go for it.
He said to Kurishenko: "General Kurishenko, replenish your troops as soon as possible and start training. When the time is right, I will find a way to help you replace a batch of weapons."
When Smirnov waited for Sokov to hang up the phone, he specifically reminded him: "Comrade Commander, if we follow the normal steps to replace the troops with new weapons, I'm afraid it will take a year or two. It's better to contact Yakov directly."
Colonel, please ask for help. Maybe within ten and a half days of boarding, our soldiers will be equipped with new weapons."
