Although the scale of the air force's attack was small, according to regulations, Sokov still needed to inform Goryunov about the incident so that the other party would be happy as well.
After the call was connected, Sokov identified himself to the other party and then said: "General Goryunov, your pilots performed very outstandingly in the battle that ended not long ago. Because they successfully destroyed the German
Artillery positions, thus reducing the possible casualties of our army. On behalf of all the commanders and soldiers of the 27th Group Army, I would like to express my gratitude to you."
After learning that his men had won the first leg, Goryunov was very happy, but he still said politely: "As you said, General Sokov, we are friendly forces. In order to achieve the final victory of defeating the enemy,
It is absolutely necessary to help each other. By the way, is there anything else you need help with?"
Sokov made this call to Goryunov, firstly to report the results of the squadron, and secondly, to see if he could get any benefits from him. Since Goryunov took the initiative to ask, he followed the flow and said:
"Comrade General, after the battle not long ago, your two squadrons have run out of ammunition and fuel. Do you think you can replenish them for us as soon as possible?"
Ever since the 5th and 7th Guards Armies launched their attack on Poltava, Goryunov's air force has been in trouble. Due to the strong anti-aircraft firepower in the city of Poltava, every time they attack, they will lose three soldiers.
Five planes. Although the number was small, the sum added up was a considerable loss. For this reason, Goryunov often drank in his office to relieve his sorrow.
But as air cover was provided for the landing site on the right bank, it seemed that things were about to change. Before dawn yesterday, a bomber aviation division was dispatched to bomb the German 8th Armored Division lurking near the No. 1 outpost of the landing site, wiping it out in one fell swoop.
It destroyed two-thirds of the division's strength. But today, just two squadrons attacked and easily destroyed a German artillery position.
Goryunov knew that his good luck was brought about by Sokov, so he was extremely generous with his request: "No problem, General Sokov, I will order someone to help those two flying airplanes as soon as possible."
The squadron provides supplies of ammunition and fuel."
After the two chatted for a while about the next stage of cooperation, Goryunov suddenly asked: "General Sokov, I would like to ask, after you take Kremenchug, is the city still intact?"
"Complete, of course, complete." Although Sokov didn't know why Goryunov asked this, he still answered truthfully: "Because the 98th Guards Division that captured the city infiltrated into the city disguised as German troops,
It did not alert the enemy, so the city was successfully captured without too much fierce fighting."
"Are the shops and restaurants in town open?"
Goryunov's question really stopped Sokov. Even though he had been staying in Kremenchug for a long time, he really didn't know what the situation was like outside. He hurriedly
Covering the microphone with his hand, he looked around and found that neither Lunev nor Gorokhov was there, so he asked General Tsarev at the next table: "Comrade Military Commissar, I would like to ask, what is the situation in the city now?"
How is the situation, are restaurants and shops open?"
The reason why Sokov raised such a question to Tsarev is because since the past two days, Lunev has taken the lead, with Gorokhov and Tsarev as his deputies, responsible for handling various aftermath tasks in the city.
.
"Comrade Commander," after hearing Sokov's question, Tsarev quickly replied: "In those areas that have not experienced fighting, shops and restaurants have begun to open. After all, there are so many people in the city, there must be someone to buy.
A place for food and daily necessities.”
From Tsarev's words, Sokov heard that there were still many places that had not yet opened, and quickly asked what he meant: "Are there many places that have not yet opened?"
"Quite a few," Tsarev asked hesitantly: "Because the enemy was stubbornly resisting in certain areas, in order to seize these areas occupied by the enemy, we used heavy weapons and destroyed the buildings there in pieces, including the shops.
And the restaurant didn’t escape the bad luck.”
Sokov was eager to know more details about the situation in the city, so he released his hand covering the microphone and said: "General Goryunov, some restaurants and shops in the city have resumed normal business. We will wait for you when you arrive.
I’ll treat you to a meal when I go to Klemenkog.”
"Okay, then we have an agreement." Goryunov said with a smile: "There is a restaurant in Kremenchug that serves Salo. It is very authentic. I used to eat it every time I went there. I don't know how.
Is it possible to eat such authentic Salou?”
The so-called Salo is actually a kind of fatty pork marinated in salt. It is a well-known traditional delicacy in Russia and Ukraine. It has a history of thousands of years. Because of its high fat content, it can bring good energy reserves to people.
So Salou is also known as "cold food".
Hearing that Goryunov wanted to eat Salo, Sokov naturally couldn't displease him, so he smiled and said: "No problem, Comrade General, when you come to Kremenchug, I will definitely treat you to authentic food."
Salou.”
After putting down the phone, Sokov, who was focused on the military, felt that he should also care about people's livelihood, so he looked at Tsarev and asked: "General Tsarev, has the rationing system been implemented in the city?"
"Two days ago, we were counting the population in the city and issuing ration certificates to them." Tsarev replied: "Starting from eight o'clock today, residents in the city can go to the designated location to collect the ration certificates with all their ration certificates.
Food rations and some daily necessities.”
Sokov thought that both Runev and Gorokhov were not here, so he asked tentatively: "Are Generals Runev and Gorokhov responsible for supervising this matter?"
"That's right." Tsarev nodded and replied: "The two comrades of the military commissar were worried that today was the first day to use ration cards and the local residents might not be used to it, so they went to the city to inspect in person. If they found any problems
, which can be resolved in a timely manner.”
Sokov felt that the two military commissars were very considerate. The city of Kremenchug was lost within three months of the outbreak of the war. I am afraid that the residents have not seen what a ration card looks like. What is this about it?
There are still doubts about whether you can receive the food and daily necessities you need at the designated location, and there will inevitably be some resistance. But with two military commissioners in charge, problems will not easily arise.
"Comrade General," Sokov felt that the air force destroyed the German artillery position today. There should not be much fighting in the direction of the landing site. Besides, Samyko and Derevyanko are here. If anything happens, the two of them can handle it well.
All right, he smiled and asked Managarov: "Comrade General, would you like to go out for a walk with me?"
Managarov had the same thoughts as Sokov. He also felt that no major fighting would happen today. In addition, today was the first day of implementation of rationing certificates in the city. It seemed that it would be appropriate to go out and understand the situation outside.
There was nothing wrong, so he nodded and said: "General Sokov, I am happy to accompany you."
Seeing that Managarov agreed to go out for a walk with him, Sokov turned around and shouted: "Samoilov!"
Following the shout, Samoylov appeared in front of Sokov, straightened his body and asked: "Comrade Commander, do you have any instructions?"
"Go and help me and General Managarov find two soldiers' uniforms. I can use them."
Upon hearing Sokov's order, Samoylov did not say a single unnecessary word, but agreed loudly, then turned around and walked out of the headquarters to carry out the order issued by Sokov.
Seeing Samoylov's leaving figure, Managarov asked with some confusion: "General Sokov, we are just going out for a walk, why are we changing into soldiers' uniforms?"
"Comrade General," seeing that Managarov was not satisfied with his arrangements, Sokov explained to him: "I want to know the real situation in the city. If I go out wearing this military uniform, I will only see
Others want me to see things, but they cannot see what I want to see..."
What Sokov said was like a tongue twister, but Managarov actually understood it. He nodded and said: "General Sokov, you are right. If we go out dressed like this, I'm afraid
The people below have even arranged the inspection route for us, but they really can’t see the real situation.”
For ten minutes, Sokov and Managarov, dressed in soldiers' military uniforms, strolled through the streets of Kremenchug. Samoylov and a dozen guards, dressed in casual clothes, followed him from a distance.
In the back, this will not disturb the two commanders talking, and if something happens, they can appear next to them as soon as possible to ensure their safety.
The two walked forward for a while and left the area where the headquarters was located. Gradually, more and more civilians were on the roadside. Some were carrying things and hurried on their way; others were trying to find their way through the ruins on the roadside.
Clean up something useful from the middle.
After walking a block, Sokov suddenly saw a long queue at the door of a store in front of him. Managarov, who had rich experience, took a look and said to Sokov: "General Sokov, if
If my guess is correct, such a long queue should be waiting to receive rations."
Sokov walked to the queue and asked the old man at the end: "Old man, what are you doing lining up here?"
Seeing that it was a soldier asking himself, the old man answered truthfully: "We are here to receive rationed food and daily necessities."
"Can we get it too?"
Hearing Sokov's question, the old man shook his head first, then nodded vigorously, and replied in a panic: "It should be okay. It seems that anyone in the city can carry it."
"You can't get it if you don't have a ration card." A middle-aged woman wearing a headscarf standing in front of the old man turned around and said: "When the ration card was issued two days ago, I specifically asked if I want to receive rationed food and daily necessities in the future.
There must be ration cards issued specifically to us."
"Can't I buy it with money?" Sokov asked tentatively.
"Buy with money?!" After the middle-aged woman repeated Sokov's words, she shook her head and said, "Comrade soldier, look at what you said. If you buy things with money before the ration card officially takes effect, maybe
You can still buy it, but you have to buy it in German marks, and no one wants our rubles at all.”
After chatting with the middle-aged woman, Sokov became depressed. Fortunately, Managarov saw his embarrassment and quickly waved him away.
As the two continued walking along the street, Managarov asked with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, if I guess correctly, you are still thinking about what the middle-aged woman said,
But I still have a grudge against it."
"What words?"
"It's just that no one in the city is willing to ask for rubles." Managarov reminded Sokov lightly and continued: "Actually, this can't be blamed on them. After all, we lost it shortly after the war broke out.
In this city, for more than two years, all they used was German currency."
A bold idea suddenly came to Sokov's mind. Since the currency used in the German-occupied areas today is German marks, why not forge a large number of them and then put them on the market in the German-occupied areas to disrupt the economy there?
As soon as the idea popped up, Sokov couldn't get it out of his mind, and he had to start thinking about some of the details of forging and using fake marks.
"Two comrades, please wait a moment." Just as Sokov was thinking wildly, a strange voice suddenly came from behind. Sokov turned around and saw that it was a strange man wearing a hat.
He was wearing a peaked cap, wearing a black coat, and the collar of the white shirt underneath was a little yellow.
"What do you want?" Sokov asked.
The man looked around, then approached Sokov and whispered: "Comrade soldier, I just heard you said you wanted to buy food and daily necessities in the store, right?"
"Yes." Sokov felt that the man in front of him looked suspicious, but in order to find out his origin, he asked coquettishly: "Can you get food and daily necessities?"
The man took out a stack of cardboard, waved it in front of Sokov and Managarov, then quickly put it into his pocket, pretending to be mysterious and said: "See, I have a lot of ration certificates here,
I can provide you with as much as you want."
When Managarov saw this, he couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Where did you get so many ration certificates?"
"Of course I have my own way." The man said dryly: "How about it, do you want it?"
"How much does it cost?" Sokov pretended to touch his pocket: "I'll give you the money."
Unexpectedly, the man shook his head and said, "I don't want money."
"You don't want money?!" This time it was Sokov's turn to be stunned: "You don't want money, what do you want?"
"Gun and bullets." The man said without any scruples: "A Mosin-Nagant rifle with 120 rounds of ammunition, or a Bobosha submachine gun with two drum magazines, can be exchanged for a ration card."
Sokov asked calmly: "What do you want a gun and bullets for?"
"You don't have to worry about it."
At this moment, Sokov had determined that there was something wrong with the man, so he made a gesture to Samoilov and others who were following him. After seeing the signal, Samoilov immediately rushed up with two soldiers, and quickly
After subduing the man, he asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, how should we deal with him?"
"Bring him back to the headquarters first." Sokov felt that he should be able to get a lot of what he wanted from this man, so he ordered Samoilov: "I will interrogate him after I get back."