The two quickly contacted Ponijelin, and first congratulated him on becoming the division commander, and then got back to business and asked him what was going on and why he suddenly became the division commander of the Guards Division.
Before Ponedelin took office, Sokov had a long conversation with him. Naturally, he explained clearly the reasons for appointing him as division commander, and specifically reminded him that if he still failed to carry out the orders of his superiors like Kurishenko did,
Be resolute. If you miss opportunities repeatedly, this division commander will be doomed.
These words were told to him in private by Sokov, so he could not tell anyone, not even Muzichenko and Kirillov, who had been in trouble with him. Therefore, he could only answer vaguely to their questions.
He said: "I don't know the specific situation. Anyway, after I returned from the mission, the commander suddenly announced that I would be appointed commander of the 41st Guards Division."
After Muzichenko put down the phone, he said to Kirillov: "Do you think there is something wrong with Ponedelin? He doesn't seem to be telling the truth." There is a reason why he said this. Before the war broke out, he
He and Ponejelin are old friends, and after being captured, the two stayed in the same prisoner of war camp. It can be said that they know each other very well.
"Muzichenko," Kirillov didn't realize that Ponedelin was prevaricating, but he thought more clearly: "The reason why Ponedelin didn't tell us the truth may have his own reasons.
See, there’s no need to ask anymore.”
Seeing that Muzichenko seemed to want to say something else, he added: "If it can be said, I think Ponedelin will never hide anything from us on this matter."
When Muzichenko heard that Kirillov's words made sense, he stopped worrying about Ponedelin's appointment as the commander of the Guards Division, and instead discussed the city's defense issues with Kirillov.
Sokov, who was staying in Hesing City, was studying with Smirnov how to deploy the defense after the troops reduced the defensive zone. Suddenly, a staff officer came in from the outside and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, the first
General Trofimenko, commander of the 27th Army, has arrived!"
"General Trofimenko?" After listening to the staff's report, Sokov and Smirnov couldn't help but look at each other, confused about the situation at hand. After a while, Sokov asked Smirnov: "Chief of Staff
, why did the commander of the friendly forces appear in the city, what is going on?"
"I don't know, Comrade Commander." No matter what Sokov didn't know, even Smirnov was equally confused: "I didn't receive any notice at all. I don't know what happened to the friendly commander."
Will appear here."
Seeing that he could not get any useful information from Smirnov, Sokov asked the staff officer who reported the news: "Where is General Trofimenko now?"
"He and his convoy are just outside the headquarters." The staff officer asked Sokov for instructions: "What should we do?"
"What should we do? What else can we do?" Hearing this question from the staff officer, Sokov was really dumbfounded: "Why don't you invite Trofimenko in quickly?"
If Sokov heard that Trofimenko had arrived a month ago, he would definitely go out to greet him. But now that he has been promoted to general, there is no reason for a general to welcome a lieutenant general.
Soon, Trofimenko, led by his staff, walked into Sokov's headquarters.
He came to stand in front of Sokov, stood at attention, raised his hand in salute, and said politely: "Hello, General Sokov, I am Lieutenant General Trofimenko, commander of the 27th Group Army."
"Hello, General Trofimenko!" Facing the general who took over his post, Sokov showed due courtesy: "Welcome to my headquarters as a guest."
After Trofimenko and Smirnov also shook hands, Sokov asked tentatively: "General Trofimenko, I wonder if you have anything important to do when you come to my headquarters today?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Trofimenko had a puzzled expression on his face: "What, General Sokov, didn't you receive the order?"
"Order?" Sokov said with a surprised look on his face: "I didn't receive any order?" After that, he said to Smirnov, "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately contact the front army headquarters to see if they
New combat orders were issued to us."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Smirnov replied readily: "I'll make a call right away."
While Smirnov was on the phone, Sokov said apologetically to Trofimenko: "I'm sorry, General Trofimenko, we did not receive any orders from you. Look, I can give you
May I reveal some useful information?"
Although Trofimenko did not know why Sokov did not receive the order, since the other party asked, he still answered truthfully: "Our army group was ordered to take over the cities of Heysin and Jeplik, and to
In the next battle, you will be responsible for the security of the right wing of your army group."
Sokov was originally worried that if he continued to advance westward, his troops would soon evolve into a lone force due to the lack of cover on both wings. Once the German army concentrated its superior forces to implement a detour on both wings, the 53rd Army would be in danger of being encircled.
But judging from the situation in the past two days, Konev has already arranged countermeasures. Now the left wing is Korodeev's 52nd Army, and the right wing is Trofimenko's 27th Army, with friendly forces covering it.
On both wings, even if the enemy launches a counterattack, as long as the troops deployed on the front are more effective, the enemy will not be able to pose any threat to its main force.
"General Trofimenko," since he wants to hand over the occupied area to friendly forces, Sokov must want to figure out the other party's next move so that he can formulate combat missions: "I want to ask, what is your next move?"
What is the direction of action?"
"Here," Trofimenko glanced at the map that Sokov pushed in front of him, pointed to the west of Hessin and said: "According to the instructions of the front army headquarters, after taking over part of your defense area, our group army will continue to
Push westward and capture Nemirov on the way."
Sokov's eyes only stayed at Nemirov's position for a moment, and then he saw Vinnitsa above him and asked tentatively: "General Trofimenko, is the mission of your group army to capture Vinnitsa?"
Nicha?”
"That's right." Nemirov is south of Vinnytsa. The two cities are only 20 kilometers apart. Anyone can see the significance of capturing Nemirov, so Trofimenko doesn't care.
Kokov concealed: "The task of our group army is to launch an attack from the south of Vinnitsa and cooperate with the comrades of the First Front Army to seize the city."
"With Vinnitsa captured, the First and Second Front troops will be able to form a complete line of defense." Sokov felt that capturing Vinnitsa was a matter of course. If the Germans were allowed to occupy it all the time, then what would happen next?
Zhitomir's troops did not dare to push to the west easily, otherwise their left wing would be vulnerable to attacks from the direction of Vinnitsa. "We will then be able to freely choose where and when to launch a new attack on the enemy.
attack."
"Yes, it is indeed like this." Trofimenko can naturally see the situation that Sokov can see: "As long as Vinnitsa is liberated, the friendly forces stagnant in Zhitomir can continue to attack
Push westward.”
While the two were chatting, Smirnov came back and reported softly to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I called General Zakharov and he said that Marshal Konev did make a decision.
Let us hand over all the cities on the right wing to the 27th Army. But I didn't expect that General Trofimenko came so quickly, even faster than they issued the notice."
Sokov did not stupidly ask Trofimenko why you came so quickly. He knew very well that Trofimenko must have arrived near his defense area long ago, so as soon as he received the order from the front army headquarters, he
Without even waiting for his own troops, he brought the security troops over to take over the defense.
"General Trofimenko," Sokov saw through the situation and asked deliberately: "Since you are here to take over the defense, I will hand over the city to you now and then withdraw with the troops."
"No hurry, no rush." Trofimenko waved his hands as expected and said: "My troops are still on the way. Even if you hand over the defense area to me now, I will not have troops to take over. If the Germans take advantage of our troops
With empty defenses and a surprise attack, I feared the city would fall back into German hands."
"General Trofimenko, since your troops have not arrived yet, our relocation work will be temporarily postponed." After Sokov said this to Trofimenko, he ordered Smirnov
: "Call Lieutenant Colonel Ponejelin and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately."
After receiving the call, Ponejelin did not dare to neglect and trotted to the headquarters. After raising his hand to salute Sokov, he asked directly: "Comrade Commander, what are your instructions?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin," Sokov said to Ponedelin seriously in front of Trofimenko: "The headquarters will be transferred to the right bank of the South Bug River soon. Your 41st Guards
The division will stay here, waiting for the main force of the 27th Army to arrive and hand over the city's defense to them. Do you understand?"
Although Ponejelin was surprised by the sudden handover of defense, his long military career had allowed him to develop a good habit of obedience. He quickly agreed: "I understand, Comrade Commander."
Not only did Hessing need to be handed over to the 27th Army, but even Teplik in the south also needed to be handed over. Before calling Afunin, Sokov specifically asked Trofimenko: "Comrade General, I wonder if you will take over the Czech army?"
When will the troops from Pulik Defense arrive so that I can arrange the defense change?"
"Even if they rush on their way, I think it will take three hours at the earliest."
As for the time Trofimenko said, Sokov silently multiplied it by two in his mind, thinking that he could arrive within six hours, which was already considered a very fast soldier. However, he saw through it and did not say it, but politely said
Trofimenko said: "I will notify the Ceplik troops and wait until your defense troops arrive before evacuating the city."
After seeing Trofimenko's agreement, Sokov picked up the phone and connected to Afunin's headquarters, saying bluntly: "General Afunin, friendly forces will be stationed in Jeplik in a few hours. From your
Take over the defense from our hands."
"Friendly troops will take over the defense?" After hearing this, Afuning asked with some surprise: "After the transfer of defense, where should our troops go?"
"After crossing the South Bug River, your army can go to Tulchin and station there." Sokov said into the microphone: "General Afnin, you can divide the army into two parts. One part will stay in
In the city, we are waiting for the friendly forces to take over the defense of Jeplik, while the other part of the army seizes the time to cross the river and try to catch the Japanese army celebrating Tulichin."
"Comrade Commander, I want to ask." Afunin remembered that after the commander of the 41st Guards Division Kurishenko was dismissed from his post, Sokov directly sent him to his army headquarters, and wanted to find out what happened.
What happened, he asked tentatively: "What mistake did General Kurishenko make, and why was he suddenly dismissed from his position as division commander?"
Sokov felt that the war was going on, and if he told the real reason for Kurishenko's dismissal, it might affect the morale of the troops. In order to avoid this situation, he said impatiently: "General Afnin
, let me remind you that it is the Army Headquarters that commands the Army, not the Army that commands the Army Headquarters, do you understand?"
"clear."
"Now that you understand, let's quickly assemble the troops according to my troops and prepare for transfer."
"General Trofimenko," Sokov said politely to Trofimenko after putting down the phone: "I have already said hello to General Afnin who is stationed in Ceplik City. As long as your
As soon as the troops arrive, the defense will be handed over to them immediately."
"That's great. Thank you, General Sokov."
After the two chatted awkwardly for a while, Sokov remembered that the 27th Army was all his old subordinates. In order to find out their current situation, he couldn't help but curiously asked: "General Trofimenko, I want to ask
, are your troops at full strength now?"
"How is this possible?" Trofimenko shook his head and said: "After I applied to my superiors, we were given some additional troops. But so far, the division with the largest strength only has 80% of the troops; ordinary
The division has only 60 to 70% of its troops."
After listening to this, Sokov couldn't help but curse Trofimenko in his heart as a prodigal. When he handed over the group army, the division with the smallest number had 80% of its troops, and the division with the largest number was even overstaffed. But after handing over the group army, Sokov could not help but curse him.
After Trofimenko fell into the hands of Trofimenko, the casualties were so heavy in less than half a year.
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov, who supervised the disassembly of communication equipment by the communications troops, came over and asked Sokov: "Everything is almost packed. When do you think we will set off?"
"Now that everything is sorted, let's set off now." Before walking out of the headquarters, Sokov extended his hand to Trofimenko and said in a friendly manner: "General Trofimenko, goodbye! Hope.
We may meet again if we have a chance.”
Regarding Ponejelin who came to see him off, he also specifically warned him: "Lieutenant Colonel Ponejelin, I don't know when the friendly forces will arrive. But you should be prepared for battle, lest the Germans come for a sneak attack.
Caught you off guard."
"Comrade Commander, don't worry." Ponejelin patted his chest and assured Sokov: "I think every inch of the city will be handed over to friendly forces."
