"You mean...let the 9th Army continue to stay in Kiev?" General Kirponos asked.
"You can say yes, you can say no!" Shulka replied.
"What's the meaning?"
General Kilponos and Major Gavrilov looked at Shulka doubtfully.
"Yes, because we really want the 9th Army to continue to stay in Kiev!" Shulka said: "It's just that we can't continue to train openly as before!"
"Hide it?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"Yes!" Shulka nodded and said: "Hide it in Kiev! It will be much easier!"
General Kirponos nodded in agreement. Kiev is full of houses and warehouses. It is the third largest city in the Soviet Union, with a total area of more than 700 square kilometers. There are thousands of tanks, not to mention more than 500.
No big problem either.
On the other hand, the city of Kiev is controlled by the Soviet army and will not be occupied by the German army at any time like the southern area. It is of course much easier to hide it.
"But it won't mean anything if the German armored forces surround us outside Kiev!" Major Gavrilov said.
This is of course correct. What the Soviets were worried about was the German armored forces, the 1st Armored Group commanded by Kleist.
As mentioned before, as long as the 1st Armored Group is near Kiev, the newly formed 9th Mechanized Army by the Soviet Army cannot do much.
After all, it is a German armored group, which is currently rampaging across the European continent as if it were in no man's land. They have rich combat experience, not the mechanized Soviet army that Shulka proposed several improvement plans to increase combat effectiveness in a short time.
The army can compare.
If the German 1st Armored Group was entangled, the Soviet 9th Army would have no chance to counter the encirclement. Not only would it not have any chance, but it would probably be wiped out in the first battle out of Kiev.
Shulka knew this, Major Gavrilov knew this, and General Kilponos knew this.
But of course, Shulka won't let this happen.
"So, we want 'no'!" Shulka said.
"What does 'not' mean?" Admiral Kilponos asked.
"'No' means that we want the Germans to believe that the 9th Army is not in Kiev!" Shulka explained.
"Pull the 9th Army out of Kiev to fight?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"No!" Shulka said, "We are retreating to the east bank of the Dnieper River!"
General Kilponos couldn't help but nodded after hearing this and said: "I understand what you mean, Sergeant. We made the Germans mistakenly think that we were beginning to retreat."
"Yes!" Shulka said: "During the day, we evacuated the tanks and vehicles of the 9th Army to the east bank through the Kiev Bridge, and then transported these tanks and vehicles back by ship at night. In this way, the Germans would
I thought the 9th Army was no longer in Kiev!"
"Will they believe it?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"Yes!" General Kilponos said with certainty: "Believe me, Major, there will be many more spies in Kiev than you think!"
Of course, as mentioned before, these spies are not only Germans, but also many Ukrainians. There are even rebellions in many places in southern Ukraine... They occupied villages and towns where the Soviet army did not have enough troops to welcome the Germans.
s arrival.
Major Gavrilov nodded, but then said: "But, what's the use of this? I mean, if the German 1st Armored Group is always near Kiev..."
"They won't!" Shulka said: "Let us analyze the possible development of the next battle situation..."
As he spoke, Shulka pointed to the map and said: "If I were the German commander and knew that the 9th Army, Kiev's tanks, had withdrawn to the east coast, then I would not worry about the Soviets breaking out, because without tanks
, the German army only needs to rely on a small number of light tanks and infantry to implement an effective blockade of Kiev!"
As he spoke, Shulka turned his attention to Admiral Kilponos.
General Kilponos nodded in agreement. This was something he could not deny, because until now, the Soviet army seemed to have only retreated, defended, retreated and defended again, and the offensive battle...the attack of the Soviet infantry
Their performance has always been poor. They just launched a sea of human charges towards the enemy, wave after wave. Under the bombardment of German machine guns and artillery, they could not get anything but casualties.
Therefore, Admiral Kilponos sometimes did not even know how to fight this battle.
"If you are convinced of this!" Shulka continued: "I believe that the Germans will not keep the 1st Armored Group near Kiev, because this is a waste. The Germans have always believed that a tank must be mobile to be called a tank.
Instead of staying nearby and surrounding Kiev as an iron wall!"
"Then where else can they go?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"They will first let the air force blow up the Kiev Bridge!" Shulka said: "In this way, it will be difficult for the 9th Army to return to Kiev from the east coast in a short time, which means they don't need to worry about our tanks at all!"
"That makes sense!" General Kilponos said: "The Kiev Bridge is our supply line. Blowing it up will make it difficult for us to connect with the east coast, and the Germans will be able to free their armored forces!"
"Yes!" Shulka continued: "Then, I think the Germans will move the 1st Armored Group southward..."
"But we don't have much defense in the south!" Major Gavrilov said: "They can occupy the south without the 1st Armored Group. This is a redundant move for the Germans!"
"Going south does not mean going to fight!" Shulka's finger drew a horizontal line heading east on the map and said: "They will cross the Dnieper River..."
"This is impossible!" Major Gavrilov interrupted Shulka: "There are our shallow-water heavy gunboats in the Dnieper River, and there is also the Southern Army Group on the east bank!"
"Shallow-water heavy gunships are easy to deal with!" Shulka said: "They just need to lay mines in the river!"
"That's the German armored group, Sergeant!" General Kirponos said: "We will blow up all the bridges, which means the Germans have to build pontoon bridges to cross the Dnieper River!"
"Yes!" Shulka said: "This is indeed dangerous, but they have a need to do it!"
"What's necessary?"
Shulka then moved his finger northward and said: "Join the German Army Group Center to complete the encirclement!"
Hearing this, General Kilponos and Major Gavrilov were stunned.