Sokov thought for a while and said: "In addition to Koshkin, the people who went with me to accept the German surrender were General Selivanov, commander of the 5th Guards Cavalry Corps. He and his men saw it with their own eyes.
When it comes to Stemmermann's suicide, if the superiors really want to investigate, I think these people can testify for me."
"Well, if it's General Selivanov, that's enough weight." Shtemenko nodded and said, "And he's not your subordinate, so what he says is more credible."
Since Shtemenko said there was no problem, Sokov no longer focused on this, but turned to ask Ponedelin who had just walked over: "How is the situation with Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov? Repulse
German attack?”
"Yes, Comrade Commander, they have been repulsed." Ponejelin reported to Sokov: "The German infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched an attack on the defense line of the 252nd Division. When they were still seven days away from their position,
When we were more than 100 meters away, we were bombarded by artillery directly under the army. Five tanks and more than 100 soldiers were wiped out by our intercepting artillery fire.
Those soldiers and tanks that finally got through the artillery blockade encountered tenacious resistance from the 252nd Division. After a fierce battle, the Germans once again left behind four destroyed tanks and more than 200 corpses.
The ground withdrew their offensive starting point."
"Very good." Sokov was very satisfied with the result: "Tomorrow the attack on Uman will begin. Let all troops stick to the established offensive positions and never let the Germans take them away. Otherwise, we will attack tomorrow.
In order to prepare for the previous artillery fire, we need to readjust the target."
As soon as he finished speaking, Konev called: "Comrade Sokov, I heard that the deputy chief of staff, General Shtemenko, is at your place?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov didn't wait for Konev to ask again, and took the initiative to tell the reason why Shtemenko came to his army: "The Deputy Chief of General Staff came to me to observe how we
The Germans launched an attack."
"Oh, I went to your army group to observe the war?" Konev said with some surprise: "Why didn't I receive any notice? What on earth is going on?"
Sokov didn't know what was going on, but since Shtemenko didn't inform Konev, he must have his reasons. As an outsider, he couldn't say anything. He could only ask tactfully: "Comrade Marshal, Shtemenko
The deputy chief of staff is here, do you need to speak to him?"
Konev was silent for a moment, and then said: "Since he came to the front without notifying me, he must be unwilling to call me. I don't think it is necessary to talk to me."
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov suddenly remembered that Lunev would soon come to the front line to investigate him according to the orders of his superiors. He quickly said to Konev: "There is one more thing I need to report to you."
"whats the matter?"
"I received a call from Lunev not long ago from Moscow, saying that he was about to fly to the frontier to investigate me."
"Investigate you?" Konev was shocked after hearing this: "Comrade Sokov, what happened? Your superiors actually want Lunev to investigate you?"
"It's about the cause of death of Commander Stemermann of the German 11th Army." The reason Sokov wanted to tell Konev about this was because Konev went to the front line shortly after the battle and saw it with his own eyes.
When it came to Stemmermann's body, if he wanted to defend himself, his words would carry more weight than anyone else's.
"What is going on?" Sokov's words confused Konev: "Can you explain it in detail? I am getting more and more confused now, and I have no idea what is going on."
"Someone complained to their superiors," Sokov said helplessly about what had caused him a headache: "They said that Stemmermann did not commit suicide, but was killed by an SS officer when he was preparing to surrender to our army.
Therefore, I was charged with falsely claiming military merit."
"Nonsense, this is simply nonsense." When Konev heard this, he immediately became angry: "It has long been concluded that Stemerman committed suicide. Now someone actually jumps out to make a fuss about this matter. I want to
Immediately report to the Supreme Commander himself and ask him to order what is going on."
"Comrade Marshal, thank you for your kindness." Hearing that Konev wanted to stand up for him, Sokov was quite moved, but he was worried that Stalin had acquiesced in this matter. If Konev rashly defended himself,
It might make the other party feel unable to step down, and then it would complicate a simple matter. He quickly stopped him and said: "However, Lunev will rush to the front line soon, and then let him follow the normal procedures.
Come on, I believe everything will be figured out."
"Okay, Comrade Sokov, let's put this matter aside for now." Konev called Sokov to remind him that the Battle of Uman will officially begin tomorrow, and the 53rd Army will be the first offensive force.
Are you ready? "Tomorrow at seven o'clock in the morning, the artillery troops of the front army will carry out powerful artillery preparations on the German defense line. It will take about two hours. If you are not ready yet, I hope that in the last two hours
Within, all deployments can be completed.”
Only then did Sokov know the purpose of Konev's call to him, and he quickly explained: "Comrade Marshal, please rest assured that my troops are ready to attack. Although the enemy is still launching attacks on our defense area at this moment
attack, but we are confident that we will launch an attack on the designated target on time after the battle begins."
"I heard that you don't plan to use armored units when attacking. Is it true?"
"It's true, Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied truthfully: "I have personally checked the road conditions along the offensive route. The roads are very muddy and are indeed not suitable for the use of armored units such as tanks, self-propelled artillery or armored vehicles."
"If you don't use armored units, what will you do if you encounter strong German defenses?"
"Colonel Yakov sent a batch of weapons and ammunition to my troops, including new rockets and rockets for attacking fortresses. I believe that troops equipped with these two weapons are fully capable of breaking through the German defenses."
"Since you are so confident, I feel relieved." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Konev finally said: "Then I wish your troops to achieve more brilliant results in the new battle."
"Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin," Sokov said to Ponedelin as soon as he put down the phone: "The Battle of Uman will officially start at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. You should call the three army commanders immediately and ask them to
Come to my place immediately for a meeting."
"Does General Smirnov need to be notified of this meeting?" Ponedelin reminded Sokov in a low voice: "He is the chief of staff of the group army after all."
Sokov thought for a while and said to Ponedelin: "Call and ask how his physical condition is. If there is no impact, come over for a meeting as soon as possible." The reason why he said this was because of Smirno.
My husband was slightly injured when he was attacked by a missile at the headquarters. If he didn't want to come to the meeting, I wouldn't force him.
Ponejelin worked very efficiently. In just a few minutes, he called Smirnov and the three army commanders, informing them to come over as soon as possible for a pre-war meeting.
After finishing all this, he came to Sokov and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, I have asked General Smirnov, and he said that his injury is not important and will not affect the meeting here at all.
.”
"Very good." Sokov nodded after hearing this and said, "Then we will wait until the chief of staff arrives before formally holding a meeting."
"But the chief of staff still has something to say."
"What did he want to say?"
"He said that now that most of the troops have been moved to the front, the army headquarters is of little use if it remains in the rear. It is better to move it to Safran as well."
"Well, that's a good idea." Sokov considered that if the headquarters continued to stay where it was, Smirnov would have to go back after the meeting. This trip would be too tiring, so he
He readily agreed: "I agree with the chief of staff's opinion, then move the group army headquarters to Safran as soon as possible."
"What about Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov?" Ponedelin continued to ask: "Do you plan to let him stay in the Velishanka area, or stay at the current location of the Army Group Headquarters?"
Shtemenko, who had never spoken next to him, heard this and couldn't help but interjected and asked: "Isn't Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's 252nd Division deployed at the forefront of the Vilishanka area? Why did he appear here again?
Where is your old headquarters?"
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, this matter is very complicated, let me explain it to you." Ponjelin said: "At that time, the headquarters decided to let the 49th Infantry Army and a part of the 57th Army be stationed in Velishan.
In the Ka area, considering that part of the 252nd Division was relatively close to the Vilishanka area, the two regiments of the division were directly deployed in the current combat area, under the unified command of the deputy division commander. And Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov,
He stayed with the remaining regiment and the division field hospital near the group army headquarters."
"Oh, so that's what happened." Only then did Shtemenko understand why after the headquarters was attacked by German missiles, Kirillov was the first person to rush to the headquarters, and at the same time, there were troops at the headquarters.
Vilishankar's front line was fighting against the invading German troops. He couldn't help but sigh and said: "The strength of this division is too scattered."
"That's not true." Ponejelin continued: "If our communications fall behind, there may be confusion in command."
"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko said after listening to what Ponedelin said, he turned to face Sokov and said: "I think a war is imminent. You should not let a unit be too spread out, as this will make the unit
Commanders encounter many headaches when conducting command. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Sokov realized that he was indeed a little careless when assigning tasks to Kirillov. As a result, the three regiments of the division were distributed seventy or eighty kilometers apart.
If any regiment was in danger, the other regiments would not be able to rescue them in time. Faced with Shtemenko's criticism, he readily accepted it: "I will not make similar mistakes again in the future."
The first person to arrive at the headquarters was General Afnin, after all, his headquarters was closest to Sokov.
He guessed that Sokov calling him over at this moment must be related to tomorrow's battle, so as soon as he entered the door and saw Sokov's face, he asked directly: "Comrade Commander, is today's temporary meeting related to tomorrow's battle?"
Offensive related?”
"Yes, although you have known the battle plan for a long time. But today's large-scale battles, before starting, it is still very difficult to hold a pre-war meeting to discuss some problems that may arise and come up with corresponding solutions.
Necessary."
"That's right, Comrade Commander," Afnin was happy to see that Sokov's thoughts coincided with his own. Suddenly, he found a general sitting at the table. He immediately stopped. He looked at him
, secretly thinking to himself, this general looks very familiar, seems to have seen him somewhere?
"General Afunin," Shtemenko saw Afunin looking at him all the time, and asked with a smile: "Do you think I look familiar?"
"Ah, yes..." Afuning replied in a panic: "It looks familiar, but I just can't remember..."
"General Afunin," Sokov introduced next to him: "This is our deputy chief of general staff and chief of operations, General Shtemenko. He came to us specially to inspect our work."
Hearing that the somewhat familiar person in front of him was actually the Deputy Chief of General Staff, Afuning quickly stood at attention and raised his hand to salute: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, please forgive me.
Didn’t recognize you right away!”
Shtemenko returned the salute, stepped forward to shake hands with the other party, and asked with a smile: "General Afunin, have you really never seen me?"
"It can't be said that I haven't seen you before," Afuning replied cautiously: "I have seen your photo in the newspaper, but this was the first time I saw you in person, so I couldn't recognize you right away."
The second person to appear at the headquarters was Major General Melehov, commander of the 49th Army.
After Sokov waited for him to salute him, he asked with a straight face: "General Melehov, I want to ask you why you put the incomplete 252nd Division at the forefront of your defense line? Don't you?
Do you know that this division only has two regiments in the Vilishankar area, and that it is still a force that has been depopulated in battles and is seriously lacking in strength and equipment?"
Facing Sokov's questioning, Melekhov did not dare to say anything, but just lowered his head in shame.
"Have you ever thought that once the 252nd Division's defense line is breached by the enemy, the enemy will rush towards our army's second and third lines of defense? You know, whether our troops are stationed in Safran or Velishan
The purpose of the card is to use this place as the starting point for the attack. There is no way to have any solid defenses.
If our troops are unable to resist the German attack and are forced to withdraw from this area, it will seriously affect the Uman battle plan of the front army headquarters. If this battle fails because of us, then the Uman battle plan will be seriously affected.
Who will be responsible for the resulting responsibilities?”
"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I didn't think well." Melekhov first took the initiative to admit his mistake to Sokov, and then started to talk about the difficulties: "I put the 252nd Division at the forefront just to serve as a warning.
, I never expected that the Germans would act against common sense and take the initiative to attack us."
It is difficult for Sokov to find fault with Melekhov's deployment. After all, this can ensure the integrity of the offensive troops. As soon as the battle begins, the troops who have already been fully recharged can immediately go into battle.