According to Smirnov's deployment, there are currently five reconnaissance groups deep behind enemy lines, and as many as twelve squads carrying new rockets.
The location of the enemy's air defense positions and airports has long been known by the reconnaissance team, and the specific locations have been provided to the squad. However, the squad's previous mission was to destroy the German missile launch positions, so it was
Passed the enemy's air defense positions and airports.
At this moment, after receiving Smirnov's new order, various reconnaissance groups and detachments launched attacks on the air defense positions they had already mastered. The air defense positions were different from the artillery positions. Apart from the anti-aircraft artillery, there was no covering infantry at all. Therefore, facing the Soviet Union
The army suddenly attacked and they immediately became lambs to be slaughtered.
By dawn, according to the information sent back, a total of seven German air defense positions were destroyed, 47 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers, and 12 anti-aircraft machine guns were destroyed. The German army's originally perfect air defense system in the Uman area had huge loopholes.
.
After listening to Smirnov's report, Sokov was silent for a long time, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why didn't you attack the airport?"
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov heard Sokov's dissatisfaction from the tone of his voice, and quickly explained: "We currently have only two reconnaissance groups near the German airport, and neither of them is equipped with new rockets.
, with just twenty or so of them, there is no way they can get close to the German airport."
Sokov didn't understand that allowing more than 20 infantrymen with light weapons to attack a well-defended German airfield was tantamount to asking them to die. But if they discovered the enemy's airfield and ignored it, this was obviously unfair.
In line with Sokov's character, he continued: "Then contact the squads carrying new rockets as soon as possible, move closer to the airport, and try to launch an attack on the airport before noon."
In response to Sokov's order, Smirnov only paused for a moment and then asked: "Comrade Commander, I want to ask, what are you going to do with the German airport? Destroy all the airports."
aircraft and render the enemy's airport useless?"
"That's not necessary." Sokov knew very well that even if a small team carrying new rockets rushed over, it would not be easy to destroy the German airport. Maybe in the end, the airport would not be killed, but people would be killed.
Everyone is in. "As long as they can destroy a few enemy planes, destroy the runway, and prevent the German planes from taking off for a few hours, it will be a victory. There is no need to make unnecessary sacrifices. Do you understand?"
"Completely understand." Smirnov felt much more at ease when he heard what Sokov said: "I immediately asked the small team carrying the new rockets to move closer to the enemy's airport and destroy the enemy's airport as quickly as possible.
.”
When Sokov put down the phone, Shtemenko who was sitting aside asked curiously: "Comrade Sokov, I want to ask you, since your men have the opportunity to attack the German airport, why don't you just destroy it?"
Woolen cloth?"
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff," Sokov replied: "Why don't I want to completely destroy the German airport? But it's not possible. The enemy's defenses are tight, and our numbers are limited, and our equipment does not have the advantage in firepower.
It is obviously unrealistic to force them to completely destroy the German airport. Therefore, I gave the order to the Chief of Staff to attack the airport with new rockets, destroying several German aircraft and damaging the runway, so that the enemy aircraft could
It won’t be possible to take off in a short time.”
After listening to this, Shtemenko shook his head and said, "Comrade Sokov, why don't you get in touch with Marshal Konev and request the air force to dispatch the enemy's airport to bomb the enemy's airport?"
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, to tell you the truth, I have had such an idea." Sokov said cautiously: "But the enemy's airport has a strict air defense system. If our bomber fighter formation breaks through like this,
It is very likely that huge losses will be incurred.”
"Before the arrival of our bomber fighter formation, you can order the ground troops to use new rockets to destroy the anti-aircraft firepower network in the airport." Shtemenko replied confidently: "As long as there is no anti-aircraft firepower in the German airport, then
Planes parked at the airport will become targets for our military bombers."
Sokov didn't want the air force to send out bombardment of the enemy's airport, but he was worried that his proposal would be vetoed by Konev. In order to avoid this situation, he could only retreat to the next best thing and choose to use infantry to destroy the enemy's airport.
The runway was blocked, making it impossible for their plane to take off in a short period of time.
But now that Shtemenko, the Deputy Chief of General Staff, was endorsing him, Sokov no longer had to worry that Konev would reject his proposal, so he said smoothly: "Okay, Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff. I will contact Konov right away."
Marshal Nev got in touch and asked him to dispatch the air force to bomb the German airports."
After answering the call from the Front Army Headquarters, the person who answered the phone was Chief of Staff Zakharov. After hearing the voice of Sokov, he asked curiously: "Comrade Sokov, I heard that your headquarters was attacked.
German missile attack, how are you, are you not injured?"
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov replied: "The place where the enemy attacked at night is where our headquarters is located. And I have established a forward headquarters in the Safran area. The enemy's attack will be
It didn’t have any impact on me.”
Zakharov was relieved to learn that Sokov was fine. After all, he was someone whom the Supreme Commander valued. If he really had something wrong with him, he would not be able to explain it to his superiors.
"Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov said in a hurry to get the air force dispatched. He had no intention of chatting with Zakharov here, so he directly changed the topic to the normal topic: "I called you because I hope to get the air force."
Help, bomb the German airfield in Uman."
"What, bombing the German airport in the Uman area?" Zakharov frowned after listening to Sokov's words. He said with a straight face: "Comrade Sokov, have you forgotten?
A few days ago, when we sent four reconnaissance aircraft to Uman to perform combat missions, they were attacked by enemy aircraft and ground artillery fire. In the end, only one came back. Is this a painful lesson?"
"Remember, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, of course I remember this." Sokov explained to Zakharov: "We went deep into the reconnaissance groups and detachments behind enemy lines and attacked seven German air defense positions. According to
According to incomplete statistics, 47 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers and 12 anti-aircraft machine guns were destroyed, successfully destroying the German air defense system."
After listening to this, Zakharov said in surprise: "Comrade Sokov, that's a very good record. Your men destroyed so many German air defense weapons, which greatly reduced the threat of the German air defense network to our air force."
"
His actions were recognized by Zakharov, and Sokov was also very happy. He quickly struck while the iron was hot and said: "My men have discovered the German airport, but they are not strong enough and can only cause some damage to the airport."
It is damaged and cannot destroy the entire airport, so I ask you to let the Air Force dispatch bomber fighter formations to bomb the German airports and completely destroy their air power in the Uman area."
Sokov's words made Zakharov a little tempted, but in two days, the front troops will launch an attack on the Uman area. If the German airport in the Uman area can be destroyed in advance, it means that when the ground troops attack,
Basically, it will not be attacked by the German army from the air.
"Okay, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov said, "I will report this to Marshal Konev immediately and see what he thinks."
Sokov mentally estimated that the detachment that had received the order was rushing towards the German airport at a rapid march. If the air force could not arrive as soon as possible, the results they could achieve would be very limited, so he asked anxiously: "Front Army"
Comrade Chief of Staff, I wonder when Comrade Marshal will give you a reply?"
"It's hard to say." Zaharov said hesitantly: "Comrade Marshal should still be sleeping at the moment. I think it won't be too late to report the matter to him when he wakes up at the headquarters at the earliest."
Hearing what Zakharov said, Sokov couldn't help but become anxious: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, time is pressing. Please report to Comrade Marshal immediately, otherwise it will be too late."
Before Sokov could finish speaking, Shtemenko put his hand on his shoulder and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade Sokov, let me talk to General Zakharov." After that,
, and took the microphone from Sokov's hand.
"Hello, Zakharov?" Shtemenko put the receiver to his ear and said, "I'm Shtemenko."
Zakharov never dreamed that he was talking to Sokov when Shtemenko's voice suddenly came from the receiver. He asked with some surprise: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, are you in Sokov's office?"
Headquarters?"
"Yes, I am here in Sokov." Shtemenko turned to look at Sokov and continued: "To be precise, I am staying in his forward headquarters at the moment."
"When did you arrive?" Zakharov asked respectfully, "Why don't I know any news?"
"I came here last night with Colonel Yakov." Shtemenko said with a smile: "I came to the front this time mainly to observe how General Sokov directs the battle, so I came directly to his advance
Headquarters, I haven’t had time to say hello to you yet, I’m just sorry.”
After the two chatted for a while, Shtemenko turned the topic down to business: "General Zakharov, Sokov planned to order the squad behind enemy lines to use new rockets to attack the air defense units and runways on the German airport, causing the enemy to
The planes cannot take off. If you can be quick, you can destroy all their planes on the ground before the enemy repairs the runway."
Now that Shtemenko had spoken, Zakharov felt that even if he did not ask Konev for instructions, he could directly give the attack order to Air Force Commander General Goryunov. He quickly said: "You are right, Deputy
Comrade Chief of General Staff. Every minute on the battlefield is precious. I will immediately notify General Goryunov and ask him to send a bomber formation to bomb the German airport in Uman and completely destroy their presence in the area.
of air power.”
Half an hour later, 12 bombers of the 6th Air Force Group Army, escorted by an equal number of fighter aircraft, flew towards the German airport in Uman according to the coordinates provided by Sokov.
The defenders of the German airport never dreamed that the Soviet troops would appear over the airport at dawn. They hurriedly sounded the battle alarm. Although their reaction was very fast, they were still a step too late.
The army's bomber planes swooped down from the sky, and the first thing they attacked was the gasoline barrels piled up like a hill.
As the aerial bombs landed on the gasoline barrels and exploded, a sea of fire immediately formed into the sky, and the German airport began to burn. The fire turned every gasoline barrel into a burning bomb, flying around in the explosion, fiercely
It hit the plane on the runway and the pilot's dormitory next to the runway.
When the second wave of Soviet bombers dropped bombs, an aerial bomb accurately hit the ammunition depot. As the ammunition depot exploded, there was an explosion that shook the entire airport, destroying all the surviving buildings on the airport.
Shocked.
The team that had just joined the reconnaissance team in the distance couldn't help but be stunned when they saw the area-like scene in the airport. Originally, their mission was to use new rockets to destroy the German anti-aircraft firepower and destroy the runway to ensure that the air force
They were able to successfully bomb the German airports. But now it seems that they are simply redundant. The brothers in the Air Force have already done all their work.
Seeing this situation, the scout in charge of taking pictures in the reconnaissance team immediately picked up his camera and photographed the scene of the bombing of the German airport one by one as information for the report.
"Comrades," the team leader said to everyone, "our air force has completely destroyed the enemy's airport. It doesn't make much sense for us to stay here any longer. Let's move now."
When the Soviet bomber fighter formation returned, the German airport was still burning. All the planes were turned into wreckage during the bombing, and all the buildings were razed to the ground in the fire and bomb explosions. The airport was full of debris.
With the burnt bodies of German pilots, ground crew and security personnel, the entire airport has turned into a living hell.
After the bomber fighter formation successfully returned, Goryunov, after confirming the results of the battle, called Zakharov and reported: "Comrade Chief of Staff, all the bomber fighter formations I sent have returned. According to their reports, the German troops are in Ukraine."
Mann's airport has turned into a sea of flames. Judging from the situation, not only all the enemy planes have been destroyed, but no one in the airport will survive."
"Very good, General Goryunov, your men did a good job." After listening to the report, Zakharov said approvingly: "I will take credit for them."
After finishing the call here, he connected to Sokov's front-level headquarters and said with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, I have some good news for you. The bomber fighter formation sent by General Goryunov,
The air raid on the German airport in Uman has been successful. According to the pilot’s description, all aircraft, buildings and personnel in the airport have been wiped out in the air raid.”
"This is really exciting news." Sokov said happily: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, thank you for bringing us such good news."
"I have already helped you solve the German airport." Zakharov knew that Sokov would not take the idea of the airport for no reason. There must be other arrangements next, but since Sokov didn't say anything, he would just forget about it.
I asked, but couldn't get anything out of it, so I simply didn't ask: "If you want to take any action, do it as soon as possible."
