"Should I call you Lyuba or Shevdrova?" Sokov asked after the other party finished speaking.
"Whatever." Liuba Shevzhuova said casually: "Comrade General, you can call me whatever you like."
"Okay, then I'll call you Liuba." After Sokov decisively chose the other person's name, he continued: "Aren't you afraid of being punished when you reveal your identity to me now?"
"Afraid, of course I am afraid." Liuba nodded and said in a positive tone: "But back then I did not complete the task assigned to me by my superiors and send the general safely to the designated place. He was killed in the end and carried the
My documents were snatched away by the Germans, and these have nothing to do with me. Even if I can continue to hide it, I will feel uneasy, so I chose to confess everything to you."
"Liuba," Sokov gently patted Lyuba's shoulder twice with his hand: "If I told you that you can't do anything, would you believe it?"
"This is impossible!" Liuba suddenly raised her voice, "My mistake is enough to send me to a military court and accept the punishment I deserve."
Sokov shook his head, asked Lyuba to sit down, and said to her: "Liuba, you may not know yet, but the mission you accepted was a mission that made you die."
"What, a mission that makes me die?"
"That's right." Ponedelin had already told Sokov the ins and outs of this matter, and Sokov naturally knew what was going on. He explained to Liuba: "The situation at that time was seriously unfavorable to the Southwest Front Army, so
After careful study, the superiors decided to carry out a deception operation against the Germans to disperse their forces. In this way, the main force of our army would have enough time to regroup and launch a counterattack against the Germans.
And the general on board the plane you are flying is just a reconnaissance staff officer with a real military rank of captain. He wore a general's uniform and carried a fake document and flew across the battle lines in order to let the Germans take you.
The plane was shot down, so that when the German search troops arrived, they would be able to find the documents carried by the fake general. These carefully forged documents would mislead the German commander and make him make wrong decisions."
After listening to Sokov's story, Liuba was silent for a long time before she asked: "Comrade General, is everything you said true?"
"Of course they are all true." Sokov nodded and explained to Liuba: "I first heard about this from Corporal Aku who rescued you. In order to confirm the authenticity of this matter, I
I also specifically asked Ponijelin, the commander of the 12th Group Army at the time, to find out what was going on."
"Comrade General, can I say something?" Brass, who had been sitting next to him without speaking for a long time, suddenly interrupted and asked.
"Of course, Comrade Brass."
Brass stood up and said: "Comrade General, I have seen the leaflets dropped by the Germans into the forest. The commander of the 12th Army, General Ponejelin, has been captured by the Germans. How can you find him to understand the situation?
?”
"Comrade Brass, you don't know something." Before Sokov could speak, Smirnov spoke first to help him explain: "General Ponedelin was indeed captured by the Germans, but in the second half of last year
, when we liberated Kremenchug, we had rescued him from the prisoner of war camp. Now he is serving as the division commander in a division under the group army. Therefore, it is very convenient for us to find him to understand the situation.
.”
"Comrade General," although Sokov had already explained the whole thing clearly, Lyuba still felt uneasy: "Am I really okay?"
"Liuba, I'm going to tell you that you have nothing to worry about." Sokov was worried that Liuba was still worried, so he continued: "I sent Aku to Vinnitsa just to find the man who was there.
Scout the remains of the staff officer and, if possible, bring his remains back for burial."
"So, I'm really fine?" Liuba's face was filled with disbelief.
"Of course it's okay," Sokov looked at the other person and said, "What are your plans for the future? Are you willing to stay at the Army Headquarters, or return to the Air Force and continue flying your plane?"
"I haven't flown a plane for many years." Liuba said with a wry smile: "Today's planes are completely different from the planes I flew at that time. I am not sure whether I am still suitable to fly a plane."
Seeing Liuba's indecision, Smirnov said to her: "Comrade Liuba, if you really want to return to the sky, I can help you contact the air force that is willing to accept you."
Seeing Liuba looking at Smirnov with doubtful eyes, Sokov remembered that he had not introduced Smirnov's identity to the two of them yet, and quickly said: "This is the chief of staff of the group army, General Smirnov."
, he was formerly the principal of the Podolsk Infantry Academy.”
Sokov originally thought that the other party might not know about the Podolsk Infantry Academy, but after hearing this, Brass showed a surprised expression on his face: "So you are General Smirnov, the principal of the Podolsk Infantry Academy.
Hello, hello, I once had a comrade who graduated from the Podolsk Infantry Academy, and I once heard him mention you."
Hearing that Brass was his student's comrade-in-arms, Smirnov couldn't help but feel a little more favorable towards him: "Comrade Brass, I wonder where that student is now?"
"Sacrificially killed," Blas sighed: "Less than a week after the war broke out, he died in the battle."
After hearing this, Smirnov sighed softly and said: "To defend our great motherland, many people gave their lives."
Brass said with emotion: "It's a pity that after someone died, he didn't even know where he was buried, let alone let others remember him."
"Comrade Brass, I think that after we win the final victory, we will build the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in several famous big cities." Sokov said with a serious expression: "In addition to the eternal fire in front of the tomb,
In addition, a row of words should be engraved on it: 'No one knows your names, but your achievements will last forever'."
"Comrade General, is everything you said true?" Blas asked excitedly, "Will you really build such a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to commemorate the thousands of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the battle to defend the motherland?"
"That's for sure, Comrade Brass." Sokov said sincerely that he had seen many such Tombs of the Unknown Soldier in later generations, and naturally he had the most say. He said in a positive tone: "I guarantee you.
"
Since they still had to command the battle, Sokov, Blas, and Liuba chatted for a few more words, then ordered someone to take them down to rest, and planned to talk to them slowly again when they had time.
After such a long delay, Sokov was most concerned about how the fighting was going on on the right bank, so he directly called the headquarters of the 41st Guards Division and asked Ponyjelin who answered the phone straight to the point: "Pony
Lieutenant Colonel Jielin, how is the situation there, has the enemy's shelling completely stopped?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the shelling has completely stopped." Ponedelin reported to Sokov: "Although the shelling has stopped, the Germans have not launched an attack on us. It seems that your analysis is correct.
Our artillery destroyed the German artillery positions, and the German infantry who lost the artillery cover did not dare to risk attacking our positions again."
"Closely monitor all movements of the German army." Sokov was worried that Ponedelin would underestimate the enemy, and specifically warned him: "Don't be careless, lest you be caught off guard by the Germans."
"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this." Ponejelin assured Sokov on the phone: "I have already sent a message to the forward troops and asked them to send reconnaissance teams as close as possible to the enemy's station.
Monitor the enemy's movements closely. If there is any sign of trouble, report it to your superiors immediately."
After praising Ponedelin a few words, Sokov suddenly thought of the female pilot Lyuba, and quickly said: "By the way, Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin, I have one more thing to tell you. The female pilot who was on the mission was
Pilot, found!"
"A female pilot on a mission?!" Ponejelin was stunned for a moment after hearing this. Then he understood what Sokov meant and asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, you mean that I was sent to
That female pilot on a top-secret mission?”
"Yes, that's her." Sokov replied in a positive tone.
"But she has been missing for almost three years. Where did she appear now?"
"Today, a guerrilla team established contact with the 3rd Guards Airborne Division stationed on the right bank. Captain Blas and a female health worker came to my headquarters." Sokov told Ponedelin.
The introduction said: "The female health worker among them is the missing female pilot."
"Oh my God, how did she survive these two or three years?"
"Didn't I just tell you that she was working as a female health worker in a guerrilla army?" Sokov introduced to Ponedelin: "The guerrilla captain Blas turned out to be an officer. After the army was dispersed,
He retreated to the forest area with some soldiers and used the terrain to fight guerrillas behind enemy lines.
The areas where they operated were in Ukraine and Moldavia. When the German army's encirclement and suppression in Ukraine made them unable to stand, they retreated to Moldavia. After the encirclement and suppression of Moldavia began, they
Then they moved to Ukraine in time. In this way, they dealt with the German army for almost three years."
Sokov's description of Bras made Ponejelin have a strong interest in him. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, there is an extreme shortage of battalion and company level commanders in our division today. Can you see if you can let him
Captain Blas, come to my division and I can appoint him as battalion commander."
"I will talk to him later and listen to his opinion." Sokov said: "If he is willing, I will arrange manpower as soon as possible and send him to your army."
"Great, this is really great." There are many commanders under Ponedelin, but only a handful of them can be considered excellent. Now that Yuan Sokov is willing to send the guerrilla captain to his own army,
I couldn't help feeling ecstatic, and I quickly said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander, thank you!"
After a pause, Ponejelin said: "Comrade Commander, I have a bold idea."
"Oh, what do you think?" Sokov said with interest: "Tell me about it!"
"Since the German infantry did not dare to attack us because they lost the cover of artillery, why didn't we attack the enemy?"
Sokov looked down at the map in front of him, thinking in his mind that currently there are only three divisions commanded by Ponejelin on the right bank of the upper reaches of the Dniester River. If they advance as a whole, they must be mobilized from other areas.
troops to fill this defensive gap.
Smirnov, who was next to him, heard the conversation between Sokov and Ponedelin, so he came over and whispered: "Currently stationed in Chernivtsi are two divisions of the 49th Army.
Let’s see if they can be mobilized to move westward to fill the defensive gap left by Ponejelin’s troops.”
After hearing this, Sokov stared at the map for a while. He felt that Smirnov's plan was quite reliable, so he nodded in agreement: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, according to what you said, the garrison will be
The two divisions in Chernivtsi were transferred over to fill the defensive gap left by Ponejelin."
After saying this, Sokov said into the microphone: "Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin, I agree with you in principle. You can launch a probing attack on the enemy's position first. If it goes well, then the whole army will attack
Move forward and rush into the depth of the enemy's defenses."
"After we advance forward, we will inevitably leave a defensive gap." Ponedelin reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I hope you can mobilize troops to fill it as soon as possible, otherwise we may fall into a situation where we are attacked from both sides.
Dilemma.”
"Lieutenant Colonel Ponejelin, you can rest assured on this." Sokov comforted the other party; "I will dispatch other troops as soon as possible to take over the defensive positions you left behind, so as to ensure that you can have no worries when attacking.
.”
Smirnov did not wait for Sokov to end the call with Ponedelin, then picked up another phone and contacted the commander of the 49th Army, Major General Melehov: "Mellekhov established
General? I am Smirnov."
Upon hearing the call from the Army Chief of Staff, Melekhov respectfully asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have any instructions?"
"General Melekhov," Smirnov said on the phone: "According to the commander's order, the 116th Division and the 130th Division under your army immediately advanced westward. After crossing the Dniester River,
Take over the right bank position left by the friendly forces and hold it firmly. Do you understand?"
When he heard that his troops were being asked to take over the defense on the right bank, Melekhov did not hesitate at all and replied resoundingly: "Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will immediately give the troops the order to set off."
"General Melekhov, what kind of troops do you plan to put in charge of the security and defense of Chernivtsi?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Melekhov replied: "There are probably more than a thousand troops directly under the army. They can be used to maintain security and defense in the city. There shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Since there is no problem, let's arrange for the troops to set off as soon as possible." Smirnov was worried that the other party was deliberately delaying, and specifically emphasized to him: "The positions vacated by friendly forces cannot be left vacant for too long. Otherwise, if they are discovered by the Germans,
, it is possible for them to detour from both wings of the attacking force, thereby cutting off the connection between the attacking force and the rear forces."