After dawn, the troops of the Steppe Front and the Voronezh Front continued to attack the enemy in front of them.
Not long after the battle started, Zhukov and Vasilevsky arrived at Konev's forward headquarters.
Konev's forward headquarters was located at the station of the 53rd Army. Seeing the arrival of the two marshals, Konev hurriedly stepped forward to greet them, and asked with some surprise: "Comrade marshals, why did you think of coming to me?
?”
Vasilevsky, who was shaking hands with Konev, deliberately tilted his head when he heard what Konev said, and asked teasingly: "What, Konev explained, don't you welcome us?"
"Where is it!" Konev replied with a smile: "It is my honor for you to come to my headquarters. However, it is very close to the front line. I am worried that you may encounter danger on the way here."
"Comrade Konev, you are worrying too much." Zhukov deliberately said with a straight face: "During the Moscow Defense War, the situation was so dangerous. Didn't I often run to the front with only one driver? Now our army is attacking the enemy.
, and there are so many soldiers accompanying us when we travel, how can there be danger?"
Hearing what Zhukov said, Konev thought of the past event two years ago: "That's right, Marshal Zhukov. I still remember that when you came to the front to take over my position as commander of the Western Front, you only brought
A driver."
Speaking of this, Konev said gratefully: "At that time, I was being examined by Voroshilov, Molotov and Bulganin. If you hadn't put in a good word for me, I would have been sent to the military a long time ago.
Court, it is impossible to hold the position of commander of the Steppe Front Army today."
Zhukov stared at Konev for a while, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him secretly. Konev had been a general before the station, but the war had been going on for two years, and he still carried the epaulettes of a general. And he was back then.
His subordinate Rokossovsky is now a general, and his subordinate’s military rank has surpassed his own. Konev must have felt unhappy in his heart.
But just think about Konev's sad past in your heart, and there is no need to say it out loud. Zhukov walked to the table, looked down at the map spread on it, and asked casually: "Comrade Konev, what are you doing?"
Has the right-wing Sokov made any progress in the past two days?”
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Konev was not sure whether Sokov had reported to Zhukov, so he reported the results achieved by the 27th Army to Zhukov: "They successively captured the town of October and Kasha.
Kazakya Compass Town, when our front army and Voronezh Front Army launched an attack on the Kharkov area yesterday, they launched an attack from Kazakya Compass Town to Dergach.
When the battle progressed until dark, Colonel Shechtman's 254th Division broke through the German defenses, entered the city of Dergach, and occupied most of the area north of the city."
"It was a good fight." Since Sokov did not report the result of the battle to Zhukov, Zhukov still did not know that Sokov's troops rushed into Dergach City. He turned his face to the side.
Vasilevsky said: "This little Misha is really good at fighting. I thought it would take him at least two or three days to reach Dergach. I didn't expect that he captured the north of Dergach yesterday.
, it’s really amazing.”
After talking to Vasilevsky for a few words, he turned to Konev and asked: "How was the battle today? Did they continue to expand their results?"
He originally thought that Konev would report to him a series of Sokov's achievements, but he saw the other party shook his head and said with a grimace: "I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, they did not achieve any results today. Before dawn, their
All the troops were driven out of the city of Dergach by the enemy."
"What, they were driven out of the city of Dergach by the enemy." A trace of anger appeared on Zhukov's face: "What on earth is going on? Aren't Sokov's troops good at defense? Why were they driven out of the city by the enemy?
come out?"
"Comrade Marshal, Sokov's troops were driven out of the city by the enemy. They cannot be blamed at all."
"Can't blame them at all?" Zhukov asked with a straight face: "Why?"
"The Germans used flamethrowers to set fires in the middle of the night, and in the buildings occupied by our army, there were a large number of gasoline barrels discarded by the enemy. In addition, our army was at a disadvantage, so the fire quickly spread everywhere.
There was no way to put out the fire. The troops who were holding on to the city had no choice but to withdraw immediately, thus avoiding the annihilation of the entire army."
Zhukov and Vasilevsky had been in the army for more than ten or twenty years, and they naturally understood that when the fire was fierce, the task of the troops at the disadvantage was not to put out the fire, but to escape in time.
"What are the casualties of our troops?" Zhukov asked.
"Before the enemy set fire, Sokov sensed something was wrong, so he gave Shechtman an order to withdraw the two infantry regiments of the division from the city, leaving only the 762nd Regiment to hold on to the occupied area."
Konev explained to Zhukov and Zhukov: "It is precisely because of his order that the 254th Division was prevented from being completely annihilated."
"Marshal Zhukov," Vasilevsky said to Zhukov after Konev finished speaking: "It seems that the reason why the 254th Division was able to break into the city of Dergach so smoothly was entirely because the Germans gave him a
They prepared a trap."
"It's rare for Misha to see through the enemy's plot and minimize the losses of the troops." After Zhukov sighed with emotion, he asked Konev: "Have they launched an attack on Dergach now?"
"No." Konev shook his head and replied: "Although the fire in the north of the city has been extinguished, the fire field is still hot and our commanders cannot get close at all, so the attack time can only be postponed until the afternoon."
Zhukov sneered, and then said: "The Germans have suffered too much at the hands of Xiao Misha, and now they are trying every means to set a trap for Sokov and prepare to carry out revenge. However, Xiao Misha is not a vegetarian, he actually predicted the enemy in advance
The conspiracy led to the timely withdrawal of the large troops outside the city, effectively reducing the casualties of the troops."
After chatting for a while, Vasilevsky asked Konev about Konev's next plan: "General Konev, when do your troops plan to rush into Kharkov?"
"Comrade Marshal," after hearing Vasilevsky's question, Konev quickly replied: "The conditions for entering the city are not yet mature. I plan to start a decisive battle with the enemy outside the city."
"A decisive battle outside the city?" Konev's statement made Vasilevskiy feel strange: "Wouldn't it be better to invade the city early and drive the enemy out of the city early?"
"Comrade Marshal," Konev explained in the face of Vasilevsky's doubts: "Although the defense system in Kharkiv is not as good as Stalingrad. But we know clearly that after such careful preparations,
Fighting in a city requires the troops to make a huge effort, which will definitely cause heavy losses of personnel, and the fighting may be protracted. It will inevitably cause unnecessary losses to residents, leading to the destruction of residential buildings and intact industrial enterprises.
Therefore, after study, the Military Commission of our Front Army decided to divide and defeat the enemy groups individually under field conditions, so that they could not cooperate with the tank corps carrying out counter-assaults in the Bogodukhov area, and to separate the city from the west.
Tank reserves isolated."
Konev's words reminded Zhukov of the report given to him by the Southern Front, "Comrade Konev, the day before yesterday the German army mobilized reserves in Donbas in an attempt to strengthen the defense in Kharkov. But General Tolbukhin decisively
Troops from four armies were mobilized to block and pursue the German army, inflicting heavy casualties on them and completely cutting off the German army's possibility of obtaining reinforcements from Donbas."
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Konev nodded and replied: "I know about this. General Tolbukhin's actions strongly supported our attack on Kharkov. From Donbass
The German army was annihilated, which reduced our operational resistance in the next stage."
"Comrade Konev," Sokov took the cigarette that Zakharov handed to him, did not light it, but turned it around in his hand, and said casually: "After your front army invades Kharkov
Vasilevsky and I will stay here until now. If you have any difficulties, please just ask and I will try my best to help you."
"This is really great." Knowing that Zhukov and Vasilevsky were going to stay at his headquarters, Konev couldn't help but feel ecstatic. He was still worried about dealing with the base camp, but now he has
With the two marshals here, if there is any difficult matter, they can come forward to solve it. "On behalf of all the commanders and soldiers of the Grassland Front Army, I welcome the arrival of the two comrades marshals."
Just as the atmosphere in the command headquarters was harmonious, the high-frequency phone on the table rang. Zakharov stepped forward, picked up the phone, listened for a moment, and then reported to Konev: "Comrade Commander, Air Force Commander Gogo
General Ryunov said that based on the air force's reconnaissance, they found that fighting was ongoing in the direction of Bogudukhov and the Akhtelka area. It seemed that the German army had launched a powerful counterattack against the area occupied by our army.
"
"What, the enemy launched a powerful counterattack in the direction of Bogudukhov and the Akhtelka area?" Hearing this news, the most surprised was Zhukov: "If this is true, why didn't Vatutin tell me
Report?"
Konev murmured quietly from the side: "It's not that I won't report it, I'm afraid it's not too late."
"No, I need to call Vatutin to confirm whether the enemy has really launched a powerful counterattack in the direction of Bogudukhov and the Akhtelka area."
But before Zhukov called Vatutin, he reached for the phone in Zakharov's hand, put the receiver to his ear, and said loudly into the phone: "Is this General Goryunov?
I am Zhukov, please repeat to me the situation you just reported."
Goryunov was startled when he heard that the person speaking on the other end of the phone suddenly changed from Zakharov to Zhukov. Although he knew that Zhukov could not see it, he still straightened his back and turned to Zakharov.
The content of Harov's report was repeated to Zhukov.
Before Zhukov could speak, he said first: "Comrade Marshal, the pilots who conducted the reconnaissance are all completely reliable veteran pilots. I believe that the information they provided will definitely not be wrong."
"I know." Zhukov said angrily, "Thank you, General Goryunov, for the information you provided."
When Zhukov used a high-frequency phone to call Vatutin's headquarters, he unexpectedly encountered a front line. Seeing that the call could not be connected for a long time, Zhukov became angry for no reason. He called the director of the communications corps under Konev and cursed him.
Order the other party to get through to Vatutin's command headquarters within two minutes.
The director of the communications corps turned red in the face after being scolded, but he did not dare to refute, so he could only lower his head and remain silent. Finally, after Zhukov finished training, he ordered his subordinates to do everything possible to contact the headquarters of the Voronezh Front.
After a lot of trouble, the call was finally connected. The director of the communications corps raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and then reported to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, the headquarters of the Voronezh Front has been connected, you can speak!"
"
Zhukov nodded and took the microphone: "I am Zhukov, who are you?"
"Comrade Marshal," the person who answered the phone was Lieutenant General Ivanov, Chief of Staff of the Front Army. The person who heard the speech was actually Zhukov. He quickly and respectfully replied: "I am Ivanov. What instructions do you have?
?”
"Comrade Ivanov," Sokov did not talk nonsense to the other party, but asked straight to the point: "Let me ask you whether the enemy is attacking your troops in the direction of Bogudukhov and the Akhtelka area.
Launched a powerful counterattack?"
"Comrade Marshal, we have also received such information." Ivanov replied: "We are verifying the reliability of the information in order to take corresponding countermeasures."
"At this time, what are you still verifying? Do you have to wait until the enemy reaches your headquarters before you can confirm whether the enemy has really launched a counterattack?" Zhukov said in a stern tone: "What you have to do now
, not to verify the authenticity of this news, but to take timely measures to crush the enemy's counter-assault in the above-mentioned areas."
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Ivanov replied quickly: "I will convey your order to the commander immediately."
"Where is Vatutin?" Zhukov asked displeasedly, "Where is he?"
"Report to Comrade Marshal," Zhukov asked about Vatutin's whereabouts. Ivanov quickly replied: "He went to inspect General Katukov's First Tank Army. I'm afraid he still doesn't know that the enemy is in Bogudu."
Counter-assaults were launched in the direction of Hof and the Akhtelka area."
"Then why are you lingering?" Zhukov said angrily: "Why don't you inform him immediately and let him rush back to the headquarters as soon as possible to adjust the deployment to deal with the German counterattack."