Because this is Ukraine, they already have a dubious attitude towards Moscow.
But this is exactly what Shulka wants... If it can create a certain degree of panic among the people, the German spies will be more convinced that the Soviet army will withdraw its troops from Kiev.
What Shulka didn't know was that the first resistance to this plan came from his own people rather than the enemy... but this seemed to be the norm for the Soviet army.
First, the Commander-in-Chief of the Southwest Front made a phone call to the Southwest Front Army Headquarters.
"What's going on?" Timoshenko asked: "I heard that you withdrew the tank troops to the east coast? You have to know one thing, Comrade Kilponos, Moscow's order is to stick to it!"
"I know, Comrade Marshal!" Admiral Kilponos replied: "Please believe that this is just a transfer, not a retreat!"
"Transfer?" Timoshenko said: "You mean that Kiev does not need tank troops to be garrisoned?"
Of course, General Kilponos's excuse could not be fooled. Timoshenko was a veteran from World War I and had participated in the Soviet-Finnish War not long ago. Of course, he was not so easy to fool.
"I will report to you in detail later, Comrade Marshal!" Admiral Kilponos replied.
Then Admiral Kilponos started to get into trouble.
From a confidentiality perspective, he should not tell anyone about this plan, because the more people who know, the greater the risk of leakage.
But the problem is that if he fails to report to his superiors, this is an act of blatant disobedience to orders. Admiral Kilponos is worried that if this continues, he will be dismissed from his post by Moscow before the plan can be implemented.
As a last resort, General Kilponos had no choice but to fly to Klintsi to meet with Timoshenko in person. General Kilponos believed that this was related to the fate of the Southwest Front and he did not dare to take any risks.
(Note: At this time, Timoshenko held multiple positions. He was originally the commander of the Western Theater Command. After Pavlov, the commander of the Western Front Army, was dismissed, Timoshenko concurrently served as the commander of the Western Front Army. Budyonny, the commander of the Southwest Theater Command, was dismissed.
Later, Timoshenko also served as the commander of the Southwest Theater. It can be said that the entire Ukrainian war was commanded by Timoshenko)
After General Kilponos had a conversation with Marshal Timoshenko, Timoshenko was also shocked by this bold plan.
"Comrade Kilponos, do you know what this means?" Marshal Timoshenko asked: "If the German 1st Armored Group does not cross the river as you guessed..."
"I know, Comrade Marshal!" Admiral Kilponos replied: "All our efforts are in vain. But we at least have a chance now, don't we? Otherwise we can only wait to die in Kiev!"
Timoshenko nodded. He was also one of the many generals who advocated withdrawing the Southwest Front Army from Kiev. He even flew to Moscow to interview Stalin personally about this matter, and this was after Budyonny was dismissed from his post.
But there is no doubt that he also failed to persuade Stalin to change his mind.
"I don't want Moscow to know about this, Comrade Marshal!" Admiral Kilponos said: "This will bring unpredictable risks to this plan. I mean, if the intelligence is leaked..."
Timoshenko hesitated, and then replied: "You don't need to report anything to Moscow, Comrade Kirponos, because you are just deceiving the Germans, and your troops did not actually leave Kiev, so..."
There was no need to say anything more, and Admiral Kilponos couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, the car Sulka was riding in was passing through the busy city, and the speed slowed down due to the congestion of civilian vehicles.
Suddenly, Shulka caught a glimpse of a familiar figure on the roadside... It was Agata, wearing a military uniform and holding an umbrella. He was looking anxiously and expectantly at the military vehicles passing in front of him.
"Agata!" Shulka leaned forward and waved.
Agata was surprised and happy to see Shulka. She ran after the car for a while, waving and shouting: "Where are you going, Shulka?"
"I don't know!" Shulka could only reply.
"I'll be in Kiev!" I don't know whether it was because of excitement or running, Agata replied out of breath: "The 92nd Medical Regiment!"
"We are now the 333rd regiment!" Shulka responded.
"I know!" Agata replied: "I heard..."
Shulka couldn't hear the next words because Agata was blocked by a car. It took a while before Shulka saw her figure flash out from the other side of the car, but they were already too far apart.
Only a vague figure could be seen in the rain curtain, and she could vaguely be seen waving in this direction.
"She's a good girl!" said the actor, "and seems to be in love with our escape hero!"
Immediately, a burst of cheers from the soldiers could be heard in the carriage.
"Comrade Platoon Commander!" Leonlev shouted: "Can you tell us the story of Agata?"
Half of the platoon were new recruits, and they didn't know about Agata.
"She is a chief!" the actor immediately betrayed Shulka: "Comrade platoon leader and she met in the Brest Fortress!"
"Wow!" There was another burst of booing, and then a lively discussion started:
"I wonder if pursuing her requires reporting to her?"
"Idiot, she will order the platoon leader to pursue her!"
…
Don't think that all soldiers are straight men. Because they rarely have contact with women and live in extremely dangerous and monotonous situations, they always find little things to gossip about.
Shulka didn't say anything, he was just worried: Agata is in Kiev, and it is foreseeable that she will not leave for some time in the future. So, if this plan fails... Shulka can't imagine what she will face.
What will it be.
Maybe, like when he broke out of Brest, he left a bullet or a grenade for himself.
This may be the sadness of war. You have no way of knowing whether the meeting just now will be the last, especially in the Soviet Union at this time.
Unknowingly, the convoy had passed the Kiev Bridge and hit the road again.
After driving unsteadily on the road for more than an hour, we stopped at a deserted place and then turned into a warehouse on the side of the road... As cars drove in, the iron door of the warehouse was closed from the outside.
When he got up, the surroundings immediately fell into darkness.
"What's going on?" The thief felt something was wrong.
"Didn't you say retreat?" the actor said, "Why are we locked up like prisoners?"
The veteran seemed to notice something, but he didn't say much.
The order came quickly: "Rest where you are and keep quiet!"
Only then did Shulka learn that General Kilponos’ secretive measure was to lock up all the soldiers of the 9th Army and isolate them from the outside world.