Hearing Shtemenko's praise for herself, Adelina's face blushed slightly, and then she said humbly: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, you are so grateful. I just always keep in mind that I am an intelligence officer."
It’s just a member’s duty.”
"Comrades," Sokov said to everyone: "I think everyone is aware of the enemy's troop deployment. But we cannot launch an attack on the enemy immediately because we have too few troops deployed at the starting point of the attack and there are too few ammunition.
Not enough. If we launch an attack rashly, it will be like letting them die."
The staff officers who watched the slides all agreed with Sokov's statement. Currently, there are only two regiments of the Guards Airborne Corps, which are very close to the German Uman defense line. If they are ordered to continue the attack, it is indeed possible to break through the German army.
line of defense, but it is also possible that it will be surrounded by the German counterattack and then be eliminated bit by bit.
"We have a lot of work to do next." Sokov continued: "First, send a transport team immediately to deliver ammunition and supplies to the two regiments at the front so that they can continue to fight; second, the group army artillery unit
Move forward and deploy in the offensive area as soon as possible, and be ready to provide artillery support to the attacking forces at any time."
"That's right," Smirnov agreed: "Although there are no barbed wire fences, no minefields, or even permanent fortifications in front of the German positions, in order to reduce the casualties of the attacking troops, there are still artillery preparations before the attack.
necessary."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov looked at Smirnov and asked: "Have our troops completely controlled the town of Golovanivsik?"
Smirnov shook his head and replied: "The fighting in the town is still going on, but I estimate that the Germans have almost exhausted their power, and they will be able to control the entire town before eight o'clock at the latest."
"Call Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko," Sokov told Smirnov: "Tell him to speed up the attack and never affect the progress of the later battle because of them."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Smirnov replied readily: "I called him immediately and ordered him to speed up the attack of the troops. The battle in the town must be completely resolved before eight o'clock."
"Misha," while Smirnov was on the phone, Adelina asked in a low voice: "What if the time for a defense change comes and your troops have not completely captured the town of Golovanivsik?"
, what should we do?”
"I will leave one battalion and continue to clear out the remaining German troops in the town." Sokov replied: "But the main force must be transferred to the front line to strengthen the offensive force there."
"Isn't one battalion too few?"
"Quite a few." Sokov explained to Agelina: "Most areas in Golovanivsik town have been controlled by our army. The remaining areas will be cleared with a battalion. We will
I think it's more than enough." At this point, he paused for a moment, and after observing Agelina's reaction, he continued, "Besides, friendly forces are about to take over the defense. Even with our existing forces, we cannot annihilate the people in the town.
If the enemy is remnant, you can also ask friendly troops for help."
"Agelina," Sokov asked tentatively, considering that the headquarters would move forward in a few hours and it would not be appropriate for Agelina to stay here, "What are your plans next?"
Should we return to Moscow immediately, or stay here and wait for orders from our superiors?"
"I don't know." Agelina shook her head and said, "The task I received was to go to Uman to get the information and then rush to Zhitomir to hand it over to the designated person. Who knew that the Germans blocked us?
The road to the north, so I can only change my route to join you. I will stay here and wait for further orders from my superiors before I know whether to return to Moscow or go to a more dangerous enemy-occupied area again to perform more difficult tasks."
"Agelina, you have almost had an accident twice in a row." Sokov waited for Agelina to finish speaking and then said with concern: "I suggest you switch to back office and stay in Lubyanka. This way
Come, at least the danger can be minimized. What do you think?"
"Misha, you are right. If I continue to perform missions behind enemy lines, the chance of something happening will greatly increase." Agelina said: "But have you ever thought about it, if I don't go, my superiors will
Others will be sent, and at that time, the risk originally borne by me will be passed on to the comrades who will perform the task on my behalf."
Agelina shook her head vigorously and said categorically to Sokov: "Misha, I can't be so selfish. Just to avoid danger, I let others take risks on my behalf."
Agelina's words made Sokov blush a little. As a general, such words should not come from his mouth. He quickly apologized to Agelina: "I'm sorry, Agelina! Yes!"
I didn't think carefully, but I was really worried about your safety."
"Misha, thank you." Agelina looked around and saw that no one noticed her, so she reached out and held Sokov's hand, and said softly: "You have saved me more than once, every time
I feel a sense of security when I'm with you for the first time. If possible, I really don't want to leave you."
"Cough cough cough!" Shtemenko just finished talking to Smirnov and was walking over to get something. He happened to see Adelina holding Sokov's hand and coughed heavily.
Agelina heard the cough and hurriedly let go of her hand, but her face turned red from shyness.
"Comrade Sokov!" Shtemenko walked up to Sokov and said to him: "I just got in touch with Marshal Konev. He hopes that Comrade Adelina can send the information in person. He
Want to know some details."
Upon learning that Konev wanted to see Adelina, Sokov immediately stood up and shouted toward the door: "Koshkin, Lieutenant Koshkin."
Following Sokov's shout, Lieutenant Koshkin ran in from outside and asked hesitantly: "Comrade Commander, are you calling me?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded, and then ordered Koshkin: "Adelina is going to the front headquarters to meet Marshal Konev. You bring a guard platoon to escort her there."
"One guard platoon is too many." After hearing what Sokov said, Agelina waved her hands in a hurry: "Just send a soldier to be my guide."
"Agelina, although the area from here to the front army headquarters is under the control of our army." Only one soldier was sent to escort Agelina. Sokov was not at ease, so he emphasized specifically.
: "But no one can guarantee that there will be no German stragglers on the road. If you only send one soldier, you will all be in danger once you encounter the enemy."
Seeing that Sokov was so concerned about her own safety, Agelina was very moved and naturally accepted his arrangement: "Okay, Misha. Since you said so, let Lieutenant Koshkin lead the guard platoon.
Send me there."
The reason why Sokov sent Koshkin to escort Adelina was because they both came from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and knew each other. He would feel more at ease if someone familiar escorted him. But even so, he
Still worried that Agelina would encounter danger on the road, he warned Koshkin: "Comrade Lieutenant, from now on, I will hand over the safety of Agelina to you. You must promise me that you will act like
Just as you care for your own eyes, protect Agelina's safety."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Koshkin replied unambiguously: "If I cannot safely deliver Comrade Adelina to the front headquarters, I will rush up and attack us without you shooting me.
The Germans will die together, so you can save that bullet."
Looking at the backs of Adelina and Koshkin leaving, Shtemenko could not help but sigh and said to Sokov: "Adelina is a good girl, but it is a pity that she will never live a stable life."
After hearing this, Sokov asked with some surprise: "Deputy Chief of General Staff, I don't quite understand what you mean. Can you explain it?"
"She is a very capable intelligence agent under Lunev. She often has to go deep behind enemy lines to carry out dangerous missions." Shtemenko said to Sokov: "Although she has successfully escaped danger several times, who knows
Will she die next time because her identity is exposed? Even if she survives until the end of the war safely, there will still be new tasks waiting for her."
Sokov knew very well in his heart that what Shtemenko said was true. Once you become an intelligence agent, it is basically a lifelong matter. You cannot quit if you want to. Unless you die in the line of duty, or you reach the age of seven.
Only at the retirement age of eighty can one have the opportunity to live an ordinary life.
"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko quickly turned the topic back to combat: "About what time will your troops be able to launch an attack on Uman?"
"It will take at least three hours for the troops to reach the forward offensive position." Sokov said cautiously: "After arriving at the designated location, they cannot immediately enter the battle. I am afraid it will take another two hours. In this way,
I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until 1 p.m. at the earliest before we can launch an attack on Uman.”
"Ah, does it take that long?" Shtemenko asked in surprise: "Aren't you worried that the delay will be too long and let the Germans prepare in advance?"
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, this is what I think about it." Sokov said: "Actually, delaying our attack time is not a bad thing. You just heard Agelina say that the Germans put Marshal Zhukov under the command
The 1st Ukrainian Front regarded it as the biggest threat and therefore transferred a large number of troops to that direction.
As for us here, as long as we don't rush to attack, the Germans will have the illusion that they can contain our main force with a small number of troops. After our troops have completed their assembly, they will suddenly attack the enemy's
A fierce attack on the position will definitely catch the Germans by surprise."
"Well, it makes sense, it makes sense." Shtemenko thought about it for a while and felt that what Sokov said made sense: "If the Germans see that Marshal Zhukov's attack is fierce, but we here have not yet
If there is any movement, they will definitely have the illusion that we are just feigning an attack here, so they will not mobilize large forces for defense, and will only leave a small number of troops to contain us."
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov, who had just walked over, happened to hear the exchange between Sokov and Shtemenko. He asked tentatively: "Do the artillery preparations before the attack still need to be carried out?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, artillery preparations before the attack must be indispensable." Sokov said to Smirnov: "But we can shorten the time of the artillery attack from the planned half hour to a quarter of an hour."
"A quarter of an hour?" Smirnov couldn't help but frowned, "What effect can a shelling of just quarter of an hour have?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, the artillery bombardment only lasted for half an hour, mainly to suppress the Germans on the position so that they could not observe the movements of our troops. Our offensive troops could use this time to quietly attack the enemy
The position was approaching. As soon as the shelling stopped, they immediately rushed to the enemy's trenches as quickly as possible. At this time, the enemy had probably not recovered from our shelling, and faced us like wolves and tigers.
warriors, they will not be able to resist."
"Which troop do you plan to use to participate in the first round of attack?"
"Although the first troops to arrive at the attack site must be General Afnin's 18th Guards Corps, I plan to put them in the second echelon."
After hearing Sokov's decision, Smirnov asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, our most powerful unit today is General Afnin's 18th Guards Army. If they are put into battle first,
We will definitely be able to break through the German defense line in the shortest possible time. If we use other troops to attack, I'm afraid it will waste more time."
Shtemenko had the same idea as Smirnov, why the 18th Guards Army, which has the strongest combat effectiveness, was not used, but the other two armies with lower combat effectiveness were used to attack? But he just thought about it in his mind, but
He didn't ask, but looked at Sokov, hoping to hear him give an answer that satisfied him.
"The reason is very simple, my comrade chief of staff." Sokov explained to Smirnov and Shtemenko: "You are right. If the 18th Guards Corps is used to lead the battle, then the enemy's
The defense line will be a very easy thing. But have you ever thought that breaking through the enemy's defense line outside the city is only the first step of our attack. The next battle will be fought in the city.
The commanders and fighters of the 49th and 57th armies are mostly new recruits. If the task of street fighting is given to them, do you think they can successfully complete this task?"
"No." After thinking for a while, Smirnov gave Sokov a negative answer: "The new recruits may be used for offense or defense in field positions. If they are allowed to enter a strange city and occupy buildings
In a street battle with physical enemies, I don't think they can gain any advantage. On the contrary, they will pay a huge price."
Seeing that Smirnov had guessed his intention, Sokov nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff. Your analysis is correct. I plan to use the elite 18th Guards Army for street fighting, while Ukraine
Let’s leave the outer positions outside Manchester to the other two troops. There is no need to waste our elite manpower in the battle to clear the outer perimeter.”
"Comrade Sokov, you have thought very carefully. You have taken into account all the details that should be considered." The longer Shtemenko stayed here, the more elusive he felt about Sokov. His brain circuit seemed to be similar to that of Sokov.
Ordinary people are different and think about problems from different angles. Maybe this is why the troops under his command can win battles repeatedly.