"Is the battalion commander still alive?" Sokov asked.
"Yes, the battalion commander is still alive." Koshkin replied: "But his ears were a bit deafened. You need to speak loudly into his ear before he can hear."
"What is he doing right now?"
"We are organizing manpower to bury our fallen comrades."
"I understand." Sokov nodded and said with a heavy heart: "I will personally greet General Kurishenko and ask him to replenish the anti-aircraft machine gun battalion as soon as possible."
When he learned that the anti-aircraft machine gun battalion suffered heavy casualties, Yakov lamented: "It's a pity that such a good unit suffered more than half of its casualties after suffering a round of air attacks."
The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional. Yakov's words reminded Sokov that there was no air defense unit in the troops directly under the group army. He turned to Shtemenko and said: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, I want to ask you something.
"
"Can you ask me something?" Shtemenko saw Sokov's solemn expression and asked tentatively: "Is it related to replenishing the air defense force?"
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff." Seeing that Shtemenko guessed his intention, Sokov nodded and said: "When I was the commander of the 27th Group Army, I organized a women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment.
Under the direct control of the Army Group, they achieved many achievements in air defense operations."
"I understand, Comrade Sokov." Shtemenko is also a smart man. He knew that Sokov would not mention this matter for no reason, so he took the initiative and said: "After dark, I will call Konev.
, ask him to transfer the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment from the 27th Army and put it under your command."
"Thank you, Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, thank you so much." Seeing that Shtemenko agreed to his request so readily, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed and said repeatedly: "With this air defense force, we will
We are no longer afraid of German air attacks on us."
Sokov took advantage of the lack of battle reports to call the headquarters of the 41st Guards Division.
Hearing Sokov's voice, Sidorin, who answered the phone, thought there was a combat mission assigned, and quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, are there any combat missions that need to be completed by our division?"
"You stick to your current position for the time being. If you are needed somewhere, I will call."
Sidorin felt particularly disappointed, "Oh, I understand, Comrade Commander, we will resolutely obey your order and stick to the existing defensive positions."
"Sidolin, I'm calling you for other reasons." Sokov bluntly explained the reason for his call: "In the battle that ended not long ago, the anti-aircraft machine gun battalion lost all its anti-aircraft machine guns.
, 91 soldiers were sacrificed, 123 were injured, and more than half of the entire battalion suffered casualties. I hope you can replenish this unit as soon as possible."
If it was to supplement other troops, Sidorin might hesitate for a moment. When he heard that it was to supplement anti-aircraft machine gunners, he immediately replied without hesitation: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will complete the supplement within a week. But the anti-aircraft weapons,
I still need you to provide it.”
"That's no problem," Sokov glanced at Yakov who was standing next to him: "I will handle the matter of anti-aircraft weapons."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Yakov: "Yasha, when do you plan to return to Moscow?"
"The unloading of all the cargo was just completed at noon." Yakov replied: "Next, the technicians will need to spend a few hours to repair the hovercraft. At the fastest, I am afraid that we will not be able to set off until tomorrow morning."
"Misha," Yakov guessed what Sokov was thinking: "Don't worry, when I left Moscow this time, I asked the transportation department to store some of the weapons and ammunition in Kursk, including anti-aircraft weapons. If I just go to the warehouse
Ersk, then the round trip can be completed within two days."
Sokov secretly thought to himself that although Yakov said that he could go back and forth in two days, there were many uncertainties on the way, and it would be fast to return in three days. By then, I am afraid that Lida's women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment would have already
He was transferred from the 27th Group Army. He warned: "Yasha, this time you go to Kursk, I hope you will bring more anti-aircraft weapons. Not only anti-aircraft machine guns, but also anti-aircraft guns of various calibers."
"I remember, Misha." Yakov nodded and said, "The next batch of weapons and equipment will be mainly various anti-aircraft weapons."
As the battle continued, the 3rd Airborne Division dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Maxim Pinkov's 8th Regiment to attack the German troops near the town of Golovanivsik to coordinate the 57th Army's frontal attack.
The Germans never dreamed that in addition to frontal attacks, the Soviet army would actually send troops to attack their flanks, and they were immediately thrown into confusion. The German commanders tried to regroup their troops and launch a counterattack, but it was already a step too late.
The third and fourth lines of defense were successively broken through by troops of the 57th Army. In desperation, they had no choice but to retreat to the town of Golovanivsik, trying to establish new defenses there to resist the Soviet attack.
attack.
Seeing that the remnants of the German troops had retreated to the town of Golovanivsik, the commander of the 57th Army, Chumakov, called Sokov to report the good news: "Comrade Commander, I have good news for you. The front of our army is...
The enemy, under our powerful offensive, was unable to continue to resist and had fled into the town of Golovanivsik."
"Well done, General Chumakov." After hearing the battle report, Sokov was also very happy. He told the other party: "The number of German troops in the town will not be too many. You have the advantage in strength. Attack
Don't stop for a moment, let the Germans have no time to regroup, so that you can successfully capture the town in the shortest possible time."
After Sokov ended the call here, he asked a staff officer: "Do you have the latest battle report from the 18th Guards Army?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." the staff officer replied: "Currently, the Baryshev Regiment of the 4th Guards Airborne Division has reached a position 18 kilometers away from Uman, where they encountered a tenacious German obstruction.
There is no way to seize the enemy's position while marching."
Sokov stared at the position on the map. After looking at it for a while, he raised his head and asked the staff: "How far is the nearest friendly force from the Baryshev Regiment?"
The staff officer pointed to the map and said: "Colonel Kravtsov's 12th Airborne Regiment is at this location, about five kilometers away from Lieutenant Colonel Baryshev's 15th Regiment."
"The distance is five kilometers?" Sokov couldn't help but frowned when he heard this data. After a day of fighting, not only did the commanders and soldiers become exhausted, but there were also varying degrees of attrition. Lieutenant Colonel Baryshev's airdrop
The 15th Regiment is now alone in the depths. Once the German army discovers that their troops are weak, it is entirely possible to counter-encircle them. Once encircled, the regiment is in danger of being annihilated.
Although in large-scale battles, the losses of a regiment are basically negligible, but Sokov understood that such losses would affect the morale of the troops, so this situation must be avoided. Thinking of this, he ordered his staff:
"Contact me General Afnin."
After the call was connected, Sokov said into the microphone: "General Afnin, Lieutenant Colonel Baryshev's 15th Airborne Regiment rushed too fast, then suspended the attack and switched to defense on the spot."
After hearing Sokov's order, Afnin said reluctantly: "Comrade Commander, the Baryshev Regiment is only 18 kilometers away from Uman. If it continues to advance, it can completely rush into the city overnight..."
"General Afnin," Sokov did not wait for the other party to finish speaking, interrupted him and asked in a stern tone: "Tell me, how many troops are left in the Baryshev Regiment now?"
"The regiment originally had more than 2,500 people. After half a day of fighting, there should be about 1,600 left."
"There should be a lot of wounded among the 1,600 people, right?" Sokov said rudely: "And the consumption of ammunition is also very large. You let such a force with insufficient strength and ammunition attack Uman overnight.
, is equivalent to asking them to die, do you understand, General Afunin!" Afunin did not dare to speak, and could only listen to Sokov's reprimand.
"Immediately order the regiment to move to defense on the spot, seize the time to build fortifications, and wait for the arrival of follow-up troops." Sokov was worried that Afnin was violating his orders, and specifically emphasized: "The regiment does not have the main force with the division.
Before the rendezvous, no unauthorized attacks on the enemy's positions are allowed."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Now that Sokov had spoken to this extent, Afunin knew that it was of no use to sing the opposite, so he nodded and agreed: "I will convey your order to
Major General Rumyantsev, ask him to assemble the troops quickly."
"Also," Sokov waited for Afunin to finish, and then continued: "The 3rd Airborne Division has rested for a long enough time. I think that except for Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov's 8th Airborne Regiment, which stayed to rest, the division's
The rest of the troops can move forward."
Sokov put down the phone and stared at the map in a daze again, thinking to himself that the larger the chassis he occupied, the more dispersed his troops would be, because they would have to allocate troops to separate guards.
"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko asked curiously, seeing Sokov looking thoughtful, "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking that the more territory we occupy, the more dispersed our forces will become. As a result, the force used for frontal attack will become weaker."
"So how do you want to solve this problem?"
"There is one way." Sokov pointed to the map and said to Shtemenko: "That is to ask the front army headquarters to send a second echelon of troops to take over our defense, so that we can concentrate all our forces and continue to attack the German army.
The entrenched Uman advances."
"I agree with you." Shtemenko agreed with Sokov's idea: "Since your group army is responsible for the main offensive mission, it should continue to advance forward, how can you continue to disperse your forces for defense.
"
Seeing that Shtemenko agreed with his opinion, Sokov picked up the phone and called the Army Group Headquarters. He said to Smirnov who answered the phone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please call the Front Army Headquarters.
To say that our tension went well, the forward has approached the outskirts of Uman. However, due to the shortage of troops, we hope to order the second echelon to quickly take over the area occupied by our unit to ensure that we have enough troops to continue attacking in the direction of Uman.
"
After Smirnov recorded Sokov's words, he asked again: "Comrade Commander, when will you return to the headquarters?"
"I won't go back." Sokov said briefly: "After you contact the front army headquarters, immediately order someone to move the group army headquarters forward. As the troops move forward, our headquarters should also move forward.
The soldiers must understand that we are always with them."
"Comrade Commander," who knew that after Sokov finished speaking, Smirnov unexpectedly said: "I am opposed to moving the command forward again. You know, we just came from dozens or hundreds of kilometers away yesterday.
, many things have not been straightened out, and if we move forward hastily, I am afraid it will cause unnecessary confusion."
"Then do you have any good suggestions?"
"I think the group army headquarters will stay where it is for the time being. When the main force of our army arrives outside Uman, it will not be too late to move forward." After Smirnov said this, he was worried that Sokov would be unhappy, so he deliberately
He emphasized: "Of course, this is just my personal opinion. It is up to you to decide whether the army headquarters will stay in place or move forward."
Smirnov's words made Sokov realize that he had not thought carefully. The observation post at the moment was only a few kilometers away from the headquarters. If the headquarters was really moved here, I am afraid that it would not last long and would have to move forward again.
.It is better to stay far away temporarily and wait for the main force of the group army to establish a foothold outside Uman City before moving forward.
After thinking about this, he said into the microphone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. Our headquarters just moved here yesterday, and it has moved forward in a hurry today. I'm afraid it will cause unnecessary confusion. I think it's still...
Just stay where you are for now.”
Shtemenko waited patiently for Sokov to finish the call, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, we have been in the observation post for a day. Now that it is dark today, even if we stay here, we can't see
If you have arrived at something, why not go to the headquarters of the 41st Guards Division to rest for a night, and then decide where to go tomorrow."
When the group returned to the headquarters of the 41st Guards Division, Kurishenko and Sidorin were eating.
Suddenly seeing so many people pouring in from outside, Kurishenko was about to get angry, but when he saw clearly that it was Sokov, Shtemenko and others, he quickly stood up and saluted. His mouth was full of food and his speech was a bit slurred.
Qing: "Comrade Commander, Major General Kurishenko, commander of the 41st Guards Division, is having dinner. I am waiting for your orders. Please give me instructions!"
"Comrade Division Commander," Sokov asked the other party with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff and I are also hungry. Have you prepared dinner for us?"
"Yes, yes." Before Kurishenko could say anything, Sidorin rushed to answer. He called a staff officer and gave a few instructions in a low voice. After the staff member left, he said with a smile on his face.
Said: "The two commanders came to our place, how could they make you hungry? Please sit down for a while, your dinner will be here soon."
After Kurishenko swallowed all the food in his mouth, he asked Sokov and Shtemenko to sit down, and then asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, how is the war outside?"
Sokov knew that other troops were charging, but Kurishenko's troops were sitting in the trenches doing nothing. Anyone else would be on pins and needles. He smiled slightly, and then said: "Our left wing is playing well.
, among which a regiment of the 4th Guards Airborne Division has now reached a position 18 kilometers away from Uman. After the main force of the division joins them tomorrow, it will continue to advance towards Uman."
