The communications staff officer quickly placed Vlasov's reply in front of Timoshenko: "Comrade Marshal, this is the telegram just received. It can be confirmed that the commander of the 37th Group Army, General Vlasov, is indeed
Follow this station."
After learning the news, both Timoshenko and Khrushchev showed relaxed expressions on their faces. You know, since the Yagotin area was occupied by the German army, Vlasov has completely lost contact.
For this reason, Stalin personally called Timoshenko and told Timoshenko to intensify the search and be sure to find Vlasov's whereabouts. Now that it was confirmed that Vlasov was still alive, when Stalin asked, they could
Report the good news to the other party.
After Timoshenko and Khrushchev read the telegram, they discussed in a low voice: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you think Vlasov will obey our order, take the plane sent by us, and return to the location of the front army headquarters?
"
Faced with the question raised by Timoshenko, Khrushchev thought for a while and finally said slowly: "We can send a telegram to ask for General Vlasov's opinion. It would be great if he is willing to fly back.
However, if he doesn’t want to, it won’t be too late for us to send someone to convince him.”
"Okay, let's do it like this." Timoshenko also made a decisive decision: "Let's ask General Vlasov for his orders first."
He turned around and said to the communications staff: "Comrade staff, send a message to General Vlasov and ask him to explain his location so that we can send a plane to pick him up." Finally, he specially warned, "Remember, you must ask him.
, are you willing to follow the plane we dispatched and return to the front army headquarters?"
Vlasov, who was in the Lochvita forest at the moment, received a telegram from the front army headquarters and learned that a plane was about to be dispatched to respond. He couldn't help feeling ecstatic.
But he calmed down quickly, knowing that even if the front army headquarters sent a plane to pick him up, I'm afraid there wouldn't be many people on the plane. But now there are hundreds of commanders and fighters here. If he abandons them and leaves, I'm afraid they will feel chilled.
.
Thinking of this, he called Colonel Del and Nikolsky to him and said to them: "The Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar, and the new commander of the Southwest Front, Marshal Timoshenko, sent me a telegram saying that he was ready to send a plane.
Come pick me up. But I think the number of people that can be carried on the plane is limited, and I certainly can’t take everyone away. If I abandon my subordinates at this time, I’m afraid it will make them feel cold. Tell me, what should I do?”
"This is indeed very difficult, Comrade Commander." Nikolsky said with a serious expression: "Although your safety is very important, if we abandon our troops and run away at this time, the soldiers will definitely think that we are greedy for fear.
Death; but it is obviously impossible to take everyone away."
Colonel Del scratched the back of his head and said: "Comrade Commander, the Front Army Headquarters is asking for your opinion. We have no opinion on what you want to do."
Vlasov looked at his two deputies and fell into deep thought.
Yes, if he takes the plane sent by Timoshenko and leaves here, he will indeed be out of danger, but what will the soldiers think of him? Especially what will Sokov and others who rescued him from Kiev think of him?
Own?
Seeing Vlasov's delay in speaking, Nikolsky gave him a suggestion: "Comrade Commander, how about you call Captain Sokov over and ask him for his opinion?"
After hearing this, Colonel Del asked in confusion: "What did you tell him to do?"
Nikolsky said: "He was the one who rescued the commander and you from Kiev. I think he is different. Faced with the difficult choice now, he may be able to give you a good suggestion."
Vlasov followed suit and quickly called a nearby soldier and told him: "Comrade soldier, please call Captain Sokov over."
Sokov was sitting under a big tree dozens of meters away, chatting with Konstantin, Chursin, Zub and others. When he heard the soldier said that Vlasov had something to do with him, he quickly got up and followed the soldier.
Meet Vlasov.
"Comrade Commander." Vlasov quickly came to Vlasov, raised his hand in salute, and asked politely: "I wonder what you want to see me for?"
"Captain Sokov, look at this." Vlasov handed the telegram in his hand to Sokov: "This is a telegram from the front headquarters."
Sokov took the telegram and quickly browsed its contents. When it became clear that Timoshenko planned to send a plane to pick up Vlasov, he immediately raised his head and said: "Comrade Commander, this is really an exciting job."
An exciting telegram. If you take the plane sent by the front army headquarters, you can jump out of the enemy's encirclement at the fastest speed."
Vlasov raised his eyebrows, thinking that Sokov did not read the contents of the telegram clearly, and emphasized: "Captain Sokov, you should know that even if the front army headquarters sends a plane to pick me up, there will be no passengers that can be accommodated."
The number will not be too large, and it is impossible to take away all the people here."
"Comrade Commander, I can see the contents of the telegram very clearly." Sokov was secretly happy. This was the best opportunity to get rid of Vlasov. He could take his troops to defect to other important figures and said quickly.
: "You are all group army leaders. If you fall into the hands of the Germans, you will be used by the Germans to spread propaganda and undermine the morale of our army. Therefore, the best way is to take all of you on a plane.
Get out of this dangerous place as soon as possible."
"But what about you?" Vlasov was asked to abandon the troops and leave alone. He still had many worries in his heart. He was worried about chilling the soldiers. This was just a show of words. What he was really worried about was that if Stalin saw him abandoning the troops,
If you escape the encirclement alone, will you get angry and follow in the footsteps of General Pavlov?
"Don't worry." Sokov said with a smile: "After you leave, we won't have to allocate manpower to protect your safety. Even if we unfortunately encounter the enemy, I can put all the men into battle.
"
After Sokov finished speaking, while Vlasov was still thinking, Colonel Derr said first: "Comrade Commander, I think Captain Sokov is right. We are now a burden in the army. Without us,
They will move more freely."
Nikolsky also echoed: "Comrade Commander, we should immediately send a telegram back to the front army headquarters to say that we agree with their arrangements and ask them to send planes to meet us as soon as possible."
"Chief of Staff, Military Commissar, things are not as simple as you think." But Vlasov shook his head and said: "We don't even know our specific location, even if we ask the front army headquarters to send a plane to meet us.
Us, but how can the pilot find us?"
Vlasov's words made Colonel Del and Nikolsky look embarrassed: "Yes, we don't even know our specific location, how can we get the plane to pick us up?"
Seeing that the three of them were silent, Sokov was worried that his plan would fail, so he quickly said: "Three leaders, don't worry. We can send a telegram back to the front army headquarters, tell them the approximate area where we are, and then arrange a suitable
Isn’t this just the pick-up location?”
When Colonel Del heard that what Sokov said was very reasonable, he said to Vlasov: "Comrade Commander, what do you think?"
Vlasov looked at Sokov for a while, then nodded and said: "Just follow what Captain Sokov said, call back the front army headquarters and ask them to arrange a meeting point for us. We will do it as quickly as possible."
Rush over."
In this way, a telegram based on Sokov's proposal was sent to the front army headquarters.
Ten minutes later, the call back arrived.
The content of the telegram is very simple: The corresponding plane will land in the forest two kilometers west of Romney. You must arrive within three hours!
"Comrade Commander, meet our plane in the forest two kilometers west of Romney." After reading the telegram, Colonel Del urged Vlasov: "We must set off quickly, otherwise we will not be able to arrive within three hours."
, rush to the designated pick-up location."
Vlasov did not give the order immediately, but looked at Sokov and asked: "Captain Sokov, can we set off immediately?"
"No problem, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied without hesitation: "There are no wounded in the army and we can leave at any time."
"Then let's set off." Vlasov said: "Let soldiers who are familiar with the terrain lead the way. They must arrive at the designated meeting point within the specified time."
A few minutes later, Sokov gathered his troops and set off.
Constantine also asked curiously: "Comrade Captain, where are we going?"
"Go to Romney!" Sokov said briefly: "We have our people there."
"Romney is still in the hands of our army?" Constantine asked in surprise.
"Well, my expression was inaccurate." Sokov quickly explained: "We are going to the forest two kilometers west of Romney, where our people are."
On the way to the pick-up location, Sokov felt a little uneasy. Because the forest area was so large, it might not be an easy task to find the clearing in the forest where the pilot parked the plane, and it might take a lot of time.
Fortunately, with good luck, we didn't encounter any more German troops along the way and arrived in the forest west of Romney smoothly.
After entering the forest, Colonel Del became a little uneasy. He looked into the sky from time to time and muttered: "Is this plane coming or not?"
"Let's find a clearing in the forest first." Vlasov pondered for a moment and then made a decision: "Then we will send a telegram to the front army headquarters and ask if the plane has reached the designated position."
"Okay, that's it."
It took another ten minutes to find a clearing in the forest, enough for the transport plane to take off and land normally.
Colonel Del asked the communications staff to send a report to the front army headquarters, telling the other party that Vlasov and others had arrived in the forest two kilometers west of Romney, and asked the other party whether a corresponding aircraft had been sent.
After two rounds of telegram exchanges, the two sides agreed on the rendezvous location. Del raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, walked up to Vlasov and said to him: "Comrade Commander, the Front Army Headquarters called back and said that the meeting
Our plane will arrive in about forty minutes, so let us light three fires near the landing site to guide the plane to land."
"Captain Sokov," Vlasov quickly gave Sokov an order: "Immediately arrange three firewood piles in the forest clearing. When you see a plane appearing in the sky, you will immediately light it and guide the plane to land.
"
"Okay, Comrade Commander, I will make arrangements right away."
"Captain, hurry up." Colonel Del reminded Sokov: "The plane will arrive in about forty minutes."
Sokov hurriedly went back to gather people, picked up dry firewood in the forest, and piled it in the forest clearing, preparing to light it as soon as the corresponding plane arrived.
Half an hour later, three firewood piles were piled up in the forest clearing. Sokov arranged two soldiers next to each firewood pile, asking them to light the firewood pile as soon as they saw an aircraft appearing in the sky.
The responding plane landed safely.
A few minutes later, the roar of airplanes was heard in the sky.
Hearing this sound, Colonel Del said excitedly to Vlasov: "Comrade Commander, did you hear it? The plane to meet us is coming!"
Before Vlasov could speak, he shouted at Sokov: "Captain Sokov, what are you still doing? Why don't you hurry up and let your subordinates light the firewood pile?"
Since it was Colonel Del who gave the order, Sokov was naturally unambiguous and quickly sent a signal to the soldiers standing next to the firewood pile, asking them to light the fire so that the aircraft in the sky could find the landing place on the ground.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the three fires were lit, a plane appeared over the forest.
After seeing the shape of the plane clearly, Sokov was shocked. Therefore, it was not a Soviet plane, but a German reconnaissance plane called "Frame". He quickly shouted loudly: "Hurry up!
Put out the fire, put out the fire, put out the fire!”
The soldiers who heard his shouts quickly pulled out the unburned dry firewood and tried to put out the fire quickly. However, the lit fire could not be extinguished, and the smoke generated when extinguishing the fire rolled up.
toward the air.
The German reconnaissance plane was originally passing by here, but suddenly discovered a fire on the ground. Realizing that something was wrong, it immediately turned around and returned, constantly circling over the forest glade, trying to see clearly whether there were any Soviet troops on the ground.
"It's over, it's over." Seeing this situation, Colonel Del couldn't help but feel despair. The whereabouts of his small unit was discovered by a German reconnaissance plane, and then a group of bombers would appear next, and maybe the ground troops would also head towards this location.
When the search came, the situation would be even more unfavorable to his side. He asked Vlasov in a panic: "Comrade Commander, what should we do?"
"What else can we do?!" Vlasov straightened his face and ordered decisively: "If we continue to stay here, we will become a target for German bombers. We must move immediately."
"However, we have made an appointment with the front army headquarters to have the planes sent by them to meet us here." Colonel Del quickly pulled Vlasov and reminded him: "If we leave, the planes that will come to meet us will be here."
Didn’t it just come to nothing?”
"We have been exposed, move immediately." Vlasov said without hesitation: "Even if the responding plane arrives, do you think an unarmed plane can escape the hunting of German fighter jets?"