"What the hell, what's going on? Why are there signal flares rising?" The sudden rise of the blue flare hit Gorokhov in the face. He said angrily: "Are there Germans hiding in the city?
Agent?"
"This is normal, General Gorokhov." Sokov said disapprovingly: "We have not liberated this city for a long time, and many tasks have not been sorted out. There is no time to clean up the hidden places in the city.
enemies."
"I wonder what target the special agent gave the enemy plane?"
It was dark outside. How could Sokov know what targets the spies in the city were guiding the German night bombers to? So he turned and asked Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you know what targets the spies were guiding the enemy planes to?"
"
"It should be a nearby sports venue, where a large amount of supplies are stored." After answering this question, Lunev said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we are too close to the enemy bombing site, so we should move quickly.
Let’s avoid unnecessary losses.”
Sokov was not a man who acted like a hero blindly. He knew that the building he was in might soon become the target of German bombing, so he agreed to Runev's proposal and left with a group of people.
He entered the office. But he did not take people to the street immediately. Instead, he entered the air-raid shelter under the building, preparing to leave after the bombing was over.
As soon as they entered the air raid shelter, enemy planes came over the target and began to drop aerial bombs.
Sokov sat in the corner, leaning against the wall, feeling the vibrations coming from the ground, and began to think about how to strengthen the city's air defense.
Managarov's thoughts at the moment coincided with Sokov's. He looked up at the ceiling and said to Sokov thoughtfully: "General Sokov, I don't think there is any air defense force in the city.
No. If German planes dispatched at night, they would probably cause us limited losses; but if they carried out air attacks during the day, our losses would be huge."
"What you said makes sense, Comrade General." Sokov agreed very much with Managarov's statement, but now he is also a clever woman who can't make a cake without straw, so he can only say helplessly: "But our air defense force is already very good.
We are limited, and now in order to ensure the safety of the Dnieper River Bridge, they are deployed on both sides of the bridge. Facing the incoming enemy planes, we have no power to fight back."
"Even if we deploy anti-aircraft artillery units in the city, without the illumination of searchlights, we will not be able to detect the enemy planes in the sky." Lunev said: "We will still be unable to shoot them down."
The city's air defense is a headache for Sokov. After all, every time he captured a city, his troops would leave the city and rush to a new battlefield. Whether it was city air defense or ground defense.
, there are friendly comrades in charge, so he doesn’t have to worry at all.
Now Konev ordered him to hold on to Kremenchug so that after the main force arrived, he could successfully cross the Dnieper River. In this way, what he had to face was no longer just ground defense, but also air attacks.
attack.
The German bombing did not last long. More than a dozen bombers quickly dropped all the bombs they carried and left the sky above Kremenchug.
This bombing did not cause much damage to the city. Since the targets of their bombing were sports venues where supplies were stored, not many targets were destroyed.
When Sokov returned to the headquarters, Samyko came up to him and asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, when I learned that the area bombed by enemy planes was exactly where you were, I couldn't help but feel sorry for you and Managaro.
General Husband is worried."
"Yes, the enemy bombed the gymnasium not far from us." Sokov said disapprovingly: "But before that, we had already moved to a safe area." He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.
Some anxiously asked, "How is it going? What were the losses of our army in the air raid?"
"The Germans air raided the stadium where supplies were stored." Sameko replied with a smile: "But they didn't know that all the supplies stored there were emptied before dark. Even if the entire stadium was blown up, we
The losses suffered will not be too great.”
When Luniev heard what Samyko said, he couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where have those supplies been moved?" The reason why he asked this was because he was responsible for distributing rations to the residents in the city.
When providing food, the supplies stored in the gymnasium were not used at all.
"Didn't the commander yesterday say that caves should be dug on the cliffs along the Dnieper River and supplies should be stored inside to ensure the supply of our army and the enemy in the long-term battle?" Samyko explained to Lunev: "These
The materials originally stored in the gymnasium are now moved to caves on the cliffs of the Dnieper River."
After Samyko said this, he saw Gorokhov eager to give it a try, so he smiled and said to him: "General Gorokhov, these supplies were moved by General Solomatin's 1st Mechanized Army.
That is to say, in the days to come, they will have priority in using this batch of materials."
Don't forget that Solomatin's 1st Mechanized Army is now under the command of Sokov's 27th Army, but whether in the minds of Managarov, Gorokhov, Tsarev and others,
They still regard this unit as part of the army group. Therefore, after what Sameko said, the three of them were still very satisfied.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov thought of the three blue flares he saw. He felt that if he wanted to defend the city, the first thing he had to do was to eliminate the German spies in the city to prevent them from being used by German night bombers.
Instruction target: "I think a special team should be established immediately to eliminate the spies lurking in the city."
"Comrade Commander, I don't think this is necessary." As soon as Sokov put forward his thoughts, he was retorted by Samyko: "Since our army occupied Kremenchug, the superiors sent
An internal affairs force of nearly a hundred people, their duty is to hunt down and eliminate German spies lurking in the city. If we set up a similar force again, wouldn't there be some overlapping of functions?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, if it were before, I wouldn't have worried about clearing out the spies lurking in the city. After all, if there are professionals to do this kind of thing, the effect will be better." Sokov said seriously: "But what happened today
An incident made me understand that if we simply rely on the internal affairs troops sent by our superiors, sometimes it will be counterproductive."
Samyko didn't know about the bakery owner Yulis, so when Sokov said this, his face was full of confusion: "Comrade Commander, I don't quite understand what you mean, can you explain it to me?"
?”
"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov didn't want to waste any time on this kind of matter, so he said to Lunev, who was handling the matter personally: "It's better that you introduce what happened to Comrade Chief of Staff."
Lunev nodded and told Samyko about the bakery owner Yulis. Finally, he said: "I think the way the Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel handle things is too simple, rough, and even goes to extremes. If the purges are eliminated,
If the task of hiding spies in the city is given to them, I think more innocent people may be implicated."
"I agree with General Lunev's statement." As soon as Lunev finished speaking, Gorokhov began to express his agreement: "If the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs continue to mess around, it will not be possible to eliminate the agents in the city.
The purpose may even be to cause panic and cause the residents of the city to resist us."
"That's right." Seeing that Gorokhov supported his opinion, Sokov was very pleased. He continued: "Therefore, we have to reorganize a special company to hunt down the secret agents hidden in the city, and at the same time, avoid
Accidentally injuring innocent people in order to maintain the stability of order in the city."
Now that Sokov had made his position clear, Samyko wisely did not play against the opponent, but cautiously asked: "Comrade Commander, how big is the special company you mentioned, and who is going to lead it?"
?”
On the way back, Sokov had already considered this issue carefully. Although it was a special company, the establishment must be more than one company, otherwise it would not be possible to carry out work in such a large city. Therefore, he answered slowly:
: "The troops garrisoned in the city now are the 98th Guards Division. They transferred a company, plus a guard company from the headquarters, to form a new special company. The company commander is Lieutenant Samoilov.
He comes from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he can be regarded as a professional in how to eliminate hidden spies in the city."
Lunev had taken Samoilov to deal with the matter of Yulis during the day, and felt that it was very suitable for him to serve as the commander of the special company. As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he took the lead and said:
"I agree with Comrade Commander, let Samoylov serve as the commander of this special company."
Samyko knew that Samoilov was Sokov's confidant. The two had established a deep friendship as early as the battle to defend Stalingrad. Now that he was given such a position, it was not too much to consider, so he nodded.
Agreed. Since Managarov, Gorokhov and others were members of the 53rd Army, they naturally would not express their opinions casually on the appointment and dismissal of personnel in the 27th Army. So, Samoylov naturally
Became the company commander of the special company.
Seeing that no one had objections, Sokov called Samoilov over and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant, in order to eliminate the German spies lurking in the city, we have decided to set up a spy company. Each will be composed of 98th Guards Division.
Each of you and the group army's security force will allocate a company to form this unit. And you are the company commander of this special company."
After Samoylov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, which company in the headquarters security force do you plan to organize into a special company?"
Sokov thought for a while and replied: "Lieutenant Serelkov's guard company is good, I will integrate them into your company first."
"Great, this is really great." Samoylov has dealt with Serelkov and feels that this elderly commander not only has rich combat experience, but also has a lot of luck.
. Could anyone else exchange a car of vodka for a car of prisoners? Although he was excited, he humbly asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, I wonder where we should start investigating the lurking spies?
"
"Anyway, we are new here and are not familiar with the situation in the city. If we still use the same methods as before to deal with lurking enemies, not only will the effect be poor, but we may also cause panic among the residents." Sokov.
He also had little experience in maintaining order in the city, but he still proposed his idea to Samoilov: "You can rely on the residents of the city and let them provide you with clues to find the enemies lurking in the crowd.
"
After hearing this, Samoilov said with some embarrassment: "But Comrade Commander, we have not been in Kremenchug for a long time, and we are not familiar with the residents of the city. Will they assist us in our work?"
"Comrade Lieutenant, I know that it is a very difficult task to track down the spies hidden in the city." Sokov emphasized to Samoilov: "So you must find ways to get the support of the residents. If you do it in the early stage
If you have difficulty in carrying out the work, you can go to Yulis. As a bakery owner, he has contact with many people. You should be able to get useful information from him."
A word awakened the dreamer, and Sokov's words made Samoilov ecstatic: Yes, how could he forget Yulis? You know, he can be regarded as his savior, if he hadn't left him today
After being rescued from prison, he will be dragged out and shot tomorrow. If I want to ask him to help me find some clues, there shouldn't be much problem.
After thinking about this, Samoilov immediately replied excitedly: "Understood, Comrade Commander. I will get in touch with Yulis as soon as possible to see if I can get useful information from him."
Sokov was very pleased to see that Samoilov understood his intentions. In any case, Yulis is the best entry point now. In addition to the wide range of people he usually comes into contact with, he also protected 32 people.
Jews. These Jews are now restored to heaven, and their hearts are full of gratitude to him. If he makes any request, these people will definitely try their best to fulfill his wish.
He waved his hand at Samoilov and said: "Comrade Lieutenant, if nothing happens, hurry up and form your company. If you can achieve good results this time, you will not only get higher qualifications in the future
With your military rank, I will let you take on more important positions."
After Samoilov left, Samyko tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you really think that the special company commanded by Lieutenant Samoilov can eliminate lurkers in the city in a short time?"
Agent?"
Whether the special company can eliminate the spies in the city in a short period of time, Sokov should not be too arbitrary. After thinking for a while, he said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we all know that Lieutenant Samoilov is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and is handling this matter."
This kind of thing is very experienced. I believe that if he takes action, even if the spies in the city cannot be eliminated in a short time, the enemy's activities can be restrained."
After talking about the problem of secret agents lurking in the city, Sokov raised the issue of air defense: "Comrade Chief of Staff, air defense in the city is a big problem now. If enemy planes launch air strikes during the day, we can also ask Goliu
General Nove's air force was dispatched to drive them away from the sky above the city.
But if there is an attack at night, we do not have searchlights installed and cannot detect the location of enemy aircraft in the air. We can only watch helplessly as the enemy's aerial bombs fall on the city and explode, causing us huge losses."