When it was just dawn, almost no gunfire could be heard in Uman City, which meant that Sokov's troops had annihilated the defenders in the city and successfully controlled the city.
After Sokov learned that the resistance in the city was over, he said to Military Commissar Gorokhov: "Comrade Military Commissar, the fighting in the city is over, and your work is next."
When Gorokhov heard what Sokov said, he immediately straightened his back, held his head high and said: "Comrade Commander, just give the order. I will definitely not betray your trust."
"According to the intelligence we have in advance, there are at least 170,000 to 80,000 civilians in Uman City." Sokov said: "Although we did not see their shadow at all during the battle, I estimate that they are hiding in basements or air-raid shelters.
to avoid the flames of war."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Gorokhov agreed with Sokov's statement: "I also think that the residents of the city are hiding in basements or air-raid shelters at the moment."
Without waiting for Sokov to say anything else, he guessed the task that the other party was about to assign to him, and he said: "Comrade Commander, I think the order you are about to give me is to take people to shout around and let people hide in the basement.
Or the residents in the air-raid shelters can come out confidently, right?"
"That's right." Seeing that Gorokhov guessed his intention, Sokov nodded and said: "Now that we have liberated the city, we can no longer let the residents live in dark and damp basements. We should let us
Come out as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Gorokhov said: "I immediately arranged for several radio trucks to broadcast in the city, telling the residents that the city has been liberated, so that they can safely and boldly proceed from
Come out of the basement."
"Very good." Sokov said to Gorokhov: "Comrade Military Commissar, let's do this as soon as possible."
After Gorokhov left, Sokov asked Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have General Afnin's troops set off?"
"The 41st Guards Division and a tank brigade, as the vanguard, have already set off for a quarter of an hour." Smirnov raised his hand to look at the time and continued to report: "The 3rd and 4th Airborne Divisions will also be leaving in the middle of the month."
Depart in an hour.”
Sokov hummed, called the director of the communications corps, and asked him to help him get through to the front army headquarters. He was going to personally report the news of the liberation of the city to Marshal Konev.
Sure enough, Konev learned that Uman had been liberated and couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Comrade Sokov, I would like to congratulate you and congratulate your 53rd Group Army on the merits of the Battle of Uman."
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov waited for Konev's words to come to an end and took the initiative to report to him: "Now the troops of the 18th Guards Corps have left the city and are advancing towards the west of Uman."
"Oh, your troops have already set off," Konev said with some surprise, "You guys are moving pretty fast."
"Soldiers need to be quick. We just want to take the Germans by surprise before they recover." Sokov continued: "In addition to the 18th Guards Corps, I also plan to send the 49th and 57th Infantry Corps.
Enter the battle. But in this case, Uman will become an empty city again. I wonder when the troops you sent to take over the defense will arrive? "
"Comrade Sokov, I originally planned to send the 27th Army to take over your defense." Konev said carefully on the phone: "But judging from the current situation, it doesn't make much sense to let them take over your defense. So I
I changed my mind and did not plan to send troops to take over the defense, but to let all troops advance westward."
Sokov was anxious: "Comrade Marshal, if all my troops evacuate the city and you don't send anyone to take over the defense, Uman will become an empty city by then. The German army only needs to launch a small-scale attack.
Maybe take the city back."
"You don't have to worry about this," Konev said with a smile on the other end of the phone: "Marshal Zhukov's vanguard is only about five kilometers away from the city of Uman. No matter how tenacious the German resistance is, the first troops will be defeated by noon at the latest.
The troops of the front army will appear outside the city of Uman."
Knowing that Zhukov's troops were only five kilometers away from Uman, Sokov couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and then asked: "Comrade Marshal, do you need me to send troops to attack from behind the enemy? Facing our army's two-sided attack, the Germans
You definitely won’t be able to hold on.”
"I was just about to call you and ask you to wait until dawn to send troops to attack the rear of the German defense line and assist the comrades of the First Front Army to break through the German defense line." Konev said: "I didn't expect you to call first.
Then make preparations now and launch an attack on the enemy's rear after daybreak."
"I think we should send troops to attack immediately, and catch the Germans by surprise before they have recovered." Sokov was worried that his plan would be denied by Konev, and took the initiative to say: "If we wait until daylight comes,
At that time, if we send troops to attack again, the enemy will be able to detect us from a long distance, and then they will allocate part of their troops and turn their guns to deal with us."
Konev was silent for a while, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, you are the commander of the army group. You don't need to ask me for instructions on what to do in your own defense area. Everything will be executed according to your judgment. Do you understand?"
From Konev's words, Sokov heard that the other party was letting him go and he would never interfere, let alone give orders beyond his level, so he said with gratitude: "Comrade Marshal, thank you for your trust, I will definitely cooperate."
Comrades of the First Front, eliminate the effective forces of the German Uman Group."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation has changed. The 49th and 57th armies will not move westward for the time being. They have more important combat tasks."
"What combat mission?"
Sokov pointed to the map and said: "According to Comrade Marshal's report, the First Front Army commanded by Marshal Zhukov has now reached the outskirts of Uman, only five kilometers away from the city. I plan to order the 57th Army to attack immediately, starting from the German army
Launch an attack from behind the defense line to assist friendly forces to break through the enemy's defense line."
"What about the 49th Army?" Smirnov asked: "Let them stand by where they are, or should they continue to move westward as planned?"
"They neither need to stay where they are, nor do they need to go west according to the original plan." Sokov clicked twice on the map with his finger and said: "Let them immediately move northwest of Uman to find a suitable area.
, build fortifications and prepare to intercept the fleeing German troops."
Smirnov asked with a surprised look on his face: "The fleeing German army? Where did they flee from?"
"They are definitely not enemies who escaped from the city." Sokov continued: "The rout of enemies I am talking about means that after being attacked from both sides by our troops and friendly forces, they were unable to continue to hold their position and had to retreat.
of those enemies.”
Smirnov stared at the map for a while and then understood Sokov's intention. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, if the enemy finds that their retreat has been cut off during their retreat, they may fight with us."
Desperately."
"Yes, when the enemy finds that their retreat is cut off by us, they will definitely jump over the wall and try every means to break out." Sokov said with a serious expression: "And our troops responsible for the blocking mission will probably make a lot of sacrifices.
.”
"Comrade Commander, since you have seen this, why do you still insist on letting the troops build blocking positions?"
"Yes, Comrade Sokov." As soon as Smirnov finished asking the question, Shtemenko echoed: "Tell me, why would you rather let the troops pay huge sacrifices than to fight in the northwest of Uman?"
How about building a blocking position?"
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff," although both of them asked the same question, Sokov still answered to Shtemenko, who had a higher military rank and position: "Once the fleeing enemies regroup, they will
We will soon regain our combat effectiveness. If we want to destroy them, we will have to pay a huge price.
As for the fleeing enemies, they have basically lost their organization in the process of escaping. Even if individual squads can exert great combat effectiveness and successfully break through our blocking positions, most of the enemies will be blocked by our blocking troops.
, and annihilate them.”
Worried that Shtemenko and Smirnov did not understand their intentions, Sokov continued: "The more enemies escape, the more troops they will gather in the new defense zone. As for our army, we are constantly
In the process of advancing, we have to constantly divide our troops to hold on to the captured positions, which leads to the continuous weakening of the front-end offensive force. In this way, in the next battle, we may face a strong enemy and ourselves.
If we are weak, defeat will be inevitable."
Regarding Sokov's seemingly alarmist statement, Shtemenko thought for a long time before slowly nodding and saying: "Comrade Sokov, what you said makes sense. There were many battles, and our army obviously won, but
However, we did not annihilate many enemies. A good annihilation battle turned into a rout battle. Although we occupied a lot of chassis, our offensive power was further weakened due to the repeated division of troops for defense. Finally, we waited for the Germans to launch a counterattack
, our army simply could not resist it. In the end, not only did it fail to achieve its strategic goal, but it also lost more land."
Although Shtemenko did not mention the specific battle, nor did he name any commander, Sokov knew very well that the other party was talking about the Kharkov battle last year. Originally, the Soviet army was in
They had a huge advantage in terms of troops and equipment, but when faced with a commander as ambitious and incompetent as Vatutin, their good cards were shattered. The battle that originally had a high winning rate ended in a disastrous defeat for the Soviet army.
Smirnov picked up the phone on the table and first called the 57th Army headquarters: "General Chumakov, I am now officially informing you that the original order to move west of Uman has been cancelled."
"What, the order has been cancelled?" Chumakov was shocked when he heard what Smirnov said: "Why?"
"Now that the enemy situation has changed, your army's combat missions must be adjusted accordingly." Smirnov said into the microphone: "You leave a small number of troops to maintain security in the city, and the remaining troops immediately move north to go
Attack the German defense line five kilometers away and open a passage for friendly forces heading south."
"Friendly troops going south?" Chumakov asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you talking about the comrades of the First Front Army commanded by Marshal Zhukov?"
"That's right, it's them." Smirnov said in a positive tone: "Their vanguard is now only five kilometers away from the city of Uman, but it was blocked by the solid defense line of the German army, and they made several attacks without success.
"
Chumakov, who had just participated in the battle to liberate Uman, was full of confidence at this moment. As soon as Smirnov finished speaking, he immediately expressed his position and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, our army will definitely assist friendly forces.
Destroy the German defenses."
"Very good," Smirnov nodded and said: "Seize the time to assemble the troops, and then move north of the city, so as to launch an early attack on the German positions."
After calling Chumakov, Smirnov called the commander of the 49th Army, Melekhov. He asked straight to the point on the phone: "General Melekhov, your troops are now
Can we still continue to fight?”
"Of course, Comrade Chief of Staff." Melekhov thought that Smirnov was urging them to set off, so he quickly explained: "My troops are gathering. In about twenty minutes, the leading group will be able to set off."
"General Melekhov, the situation on the battlefield has changed. You don't need to move west for the time being."
"Not moving to the west?" Melekhov asked in surprise: "Why?"
"Comrade Commander's new order is for your army to immediately rush to the northwest of Uman, choose a suitable place to build a defensive position, and prepare to stop the enemy fleeing from the northeast."
"Enemies escaping from the northeast?" Melekhov said confused: "But our army group troops are all in the city, how can there be enemies escaping from the northeast of the city?"
"General Melekhov, the situation is like this. The troops of the First Front commanded by Marshal Zhukov have appeared north of Uman, five kilometers away from the city, but they were blocked by the German defense line." Smil.
Nov explained to the other party: "The commander has mobilized the 57th Army to go north, but he is assisting the friendly forces to break through the German defense lines. The German troops who are attacked from both sides will definitely not be able to hold their position, and their defense system will soon collapse.
The defeated German army will retreat to the northwest, and your army's task is to block them and consume as much of the Germans' vitality as possible. How can it be done?"
"No problem at all, Comrade Chief of Staff." After figuring out what was going on, Melekhov said confidently: "I think as long as our army establishes a blocking position, no German will be able to pass through our position.
We will cooperate with the friendly forces that catch up and completely eliminate them."
It is good to have confidence, but Smirnov knew very well that even if the Germans lost the battle, they were still stronger than the 49th and 57th armies, so he reminded the other party: "General Melekhov, you can't do it just because of the defeat."
If you are proud and complacent after you have liberated Uman, you will easily make the mistake of underestimating the enemy. When you lose the battle, it will be too late to regret it."
Smirnov's words sounded the alarm for Melekhov. He suppressed the smile on his face and replied seriously: "I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will arrange defenses as soon as possible and try to prevent more enemies from passing through.