Based on the intelligence gathered, Vlasov found that his 37th Army was being divided into three areas by the Germans: in addition to four infantry regiments and an artillery regiment in the Yagotin area; 10 to 15 kilometers northeast of Kiev,
And episode 37
The regiment's five battalions are commanded by a regimental commander of the 295th Division; 40 to 50 kilometers southeast of Kiev, there is an incomplete infantry division of the 37th Army and two regiments of the 26th Army, covering Yago.
The flank of the Kyoto area.
After understanding the situation of the troops, Vlasov nodded and said to everyone: "Although our army is divided into three different areas by Germany, it does not mean that we do not have the strength to resist their next attack. This is how I think about it.
Yes, the troops responsible for covering the flanks should be firmly in our hands to ensure the stability of the defense line in the Yagogin area. Therefore, I plan to let Comrade Deputy Commander take over the command there. I wonder if you are different.
Opinion?"
Everyone knew very well that there were two troops in that place who were not under each other. Once a war broke out, it would be easy for them to fight independently. In that case, they would not be able to avoid the fate of being defeated by the enemy. But if the 37th Group Army's
When the deputy commander goes there, he can unify the command of the two armies. Therefore, regarding Vlasov's arrangement, everyone answered in unison: "We have no objections."
"As for the troops in the northeast," Vlasov continued: "Although the number of troops is a bit small, I believe that they can still hold on for three to five days relying on their existing defenses..."
But before Vlasov finished speaking, he heard a staff officer not far away saying: "Comrade Commander, your phone number!"
Upon hearing this, Vlasov frowned and said dissatisfied: "Didn't you see that I was arranging work?" After saying that, he was about to ask the chief of staff, Colonel Del, to answer the phone on his behalf.
But the next moment, the staff officer's words made him change his mind: "It was a call from Lieutenant Colonel Anton, who is in charge of commanding the troops in the northeast."
Lieutenant Colonel Anton is the commander of the 295th Division, and he is commanding the remaining troops of the Army Group northeast of Kiev.
After learning that the call was from this person, Vlasov changed his mind. He walked to the staff, took the phone and put it to his ear, "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Anton! I am Vlasov, commander of the group army.
, do you have any good news to tell me?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time before Lieutenant Colonel Anton said in a serious tone: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I think I may have brought you bad news."
Vlasov's heart skipped a beat, wondering if the enemy had broken through the defense line they organized? He asked cautiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Anton, what's the bad news? Could it be that the enemy had broken through the defense line you organized?"
"
"The defense line is still in our hands for the time being." Lieutenant Colonel Anton continued: "But our resistance will stop soon. I am calling you to inform you of this news."
"Why?" Hearing what Lieutenant Colonel Anton said, Vlasov immediately became angry: "Since the position is still in your hands, why do you stop resisting? Tell me, why do you do this?"
"Comrade Commander, the German army launched a large number of propaganda leaflets on our positions." Lieutenant Colonel Anton said slowly: "In these propaganda leaflets, it is said that our front army headquarters has been annihilated by them, and front army commander Kiel
General Ponos, member of the Military Commission Burmistenko, and chief of staff Major General Tupkov were killed in the breakout battle. Major General Potapov, commander of the 5th Army, was captured..."
"Fake, Lieutenant Colonel Anton, these leaflets are all fake." Vlasov's heart sank suddenly. Although he knew that the contents of the German leaflets might be true, in order to allow the troops to continue fighting
After going on, he still said decisively: "This is false information deliberately created by the enemy in order to undermine the morale of our army. Don't believe this false propaganda. You should continue to fight. You must not let your defense line be handed over to the Germans."
in the hands."
The other end of the phone was silent again.
There was a long silence this time. If Vlasov hadn't heard sporadic gunshots coming from inside, he would have thought that the other party had hung up the phone.
"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander." Lieutenant Colonel Anton finally spoke again: "I saw from the command post that the Germans had entered our position, and the soldiers did not offer any form of resistance. The enemy was moving towards my position.
Come from the command post, don't worry, I will never surrender to the enemy."
A moment later, a gunshot was heard on the phone, followed by the sound of submachine gun fire and German roars coming from the receiver.
Vlasov put down the phone and told everyone with a heavy heart: "Our troops in the northeast have been completely wiped out."
"How could that be?" Colonel Del asked with a shocked face, "Comrade Commander, could there be a mistake?"
Vlasov did not speak, but gave him a meaningful look, then walked back to the table, stared at the map spread out on it, and continued: "Today's situation is worse than we imagined. It is said that
The front army headquarters was already in the process of breaking through, and the entire army was wiped out, and the commander, chief of staff and military commissar all died."
"How is this possible?" This time it was the turn of Army Military Commissar Nikolsky to be surprised: "How could our front army headquarters be annihilated by the Germans? Rumors, this must be a rumor, the Germans must be trying to disintegrate our army.
A rumor deliberately fabricated to improve morale.”
Vlasov lowered his head and said expressionlessly: "I also hope this is a rumor, but Lieutenant Colonel Anton told me before he died that the enemy launched a large number of leaflets on their defensive positions, which contained information about
The news that the Front Army Headquarters was completely wiped out caused the collapse of our defense line in the northeast. Now, I am worried that if the remaining defense areas learn about the Front Army Headquarters, the defense will collapse."
Hearing what Vlasov said, the expression on Nikolsky's face became solemn: "Comrade Commander, in order to break through our army's defense line as soon as possible, the enemy will definitely use the same tricks again. Therefore, our political workers must strengthen their propaganda work
, let the soldiers understand that the contents of the enemy's leaflets are lies and a conspiracy to undermine our army's fighting spirit."
Nikolsky's words made Vlasov nod his head: "Comrade Military Commissar, you are right. The German propaganda is to undermine the morale of our army. Our political workers want to make the commanders and soldiers
Understand this to avoid being deceived by the Germans. By the way, when Comrade Deputy Commander goes to the flank defense line, ask him to bring a few more political workers there to assist him in carrying out the political work of the army."
"Okay, Comrade Commander, I will make arrangements."
Sokov knew nothing about what happened in the army headquarters. He was fast asleep in the room he had arranged for himself.
I don't know how long I had been sleeping, but suddenly there was a knock on the door outside. Although Sokov was sleeping in a daze at the moment, he was worried that his superiors had some tasks to assign to him, so he struggled to get up, got up and opened the room.
Door.
Standing at the door was Romanov: "Comrade Captain, can you let me in?"
"Come in."
Sokov knew that Romanov must have gone to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, and that he must have something important to come to see him at this time.
Sure enough, the next moment, Romanov asked: "Comrade Captain, have you heard?"
"What did you hear?"
"The front army headquarters was ambushed by the Germans during the breakout. The front army commander, chief of staff and military commissar all died!"
Sokov couldn't help being surprised, and then asked: "Romanov, who told you this news?"
"No one told me." Romanov explained to Sokov: "I overheard it when two staff officers from the headquarters were chatting."
Sokov remembered that the Battle of Kiev ended with a disastrous defeat for the Soviet army, but he did not remember the specific time when Kirponos and others died. When Romanov mentioned this, he understood that they should have died in these two days.
Sokov didn't speak, just stared at Romanov. Since the other person could become an important figure decades later, he must have unique views on certain things. He was silent for a moment and asked: "
Romanov, do you think this is true?"
"I was quite skeptical about this matter. Did the Germans annihilate the Front Army Headquarters if they wanted to?" Romanov said cautiously: "After careful consideration, I think it was a conspiracy by the Germans to deliberately spread rumors to undermine me.
The morale of the army. Later, I heard people from the group army headquarters talking about it, saying that the leaders of the front army had successfully jumped out of the German encirclement and were deploying new defenses in new defensive areas to prepare for the imminent German attack.
"
Sokov knew very well that this was not a rumor at all, but an ironclad fact. However, since Vlasov wanted to cover up the matter, he must be worried that the bad news would cause instability in the military morale. Therefore, even if he knew the truth, he could only pretend
Confused: "Romanov, I think your guess is very reasonable. This means that we must not fall for the rumors spread by the Germans."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was another knock on the door.
When Sokov was about to open the door, Romanov had already stood up from his seat and said proactively: "Comrade Captain, I'll open the door."
The door opened, and the person who appeared at the door this time was Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen.
Seeing that the person who opened the door for him was actually Romanov, Zhu Kewen couldn't help being surprised and asked instinctively: "Why are you here?"
"Comrade Romanov came here to chat with me." Seeing Zhukov suddenly appearing, Sokov immediately guessed the purpose of his coming here, and said to Romanov: "Romanov, I and I
Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen has something to discuss, so you should go back first."
Romanov knew in his heart that he was not qualified to listen to the conversation between Sokov and Zhukov, so he wisely said goodbye and left.
After Sokov closed the door, Zhu Kewen said impatiently: "Comrade Captain, I just heard some amazing news, so I came here to tell you."
"What's the matter?" Sokov asked pretending to be confused.
"I got terrible news from my friends at the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Zhu Kewen said seriously: "During the breakout process, the front army headquarters encountered a superior enemy. After a fierce battle, the commander and chief of staff
and the military commissar were all killed. In short, the front headquarters was annihilated by the Germans, and not a single person was left alive."
"Really?" Sokov continued to pretend to be confused: "How come I didn't hear about such a big thing?"
"It is estimated that General Vlasov was worried that this matter would be known by the commanders and soldiers below, which would affect the morale of the army, so he chose to conceal the matter." Zhu Kewen was confused by Sokov's performance and thought that he really did not know.
Regarding this matter, he specifically explained to him: "If I had not learned the truth about this matter from my friends in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I am afraid that even if I saw the leaflets distributed by the Germans, I would have thought they were spreading rumors."
"Well, Comrade Second Lieutenant, what you said makes perfect sense. Maybe something happened to the front army headquarters during the breakout." Sokov thought of the many times Vlasov had stayed in the forest outside the village last night.
The communications staff officer was asked to send a telegram to the front army headquarters, but he never received any reply. This is very illustrative of the problem.
"Comrade Captain, I think you are different from others and have a unique perspective on many things." Zhu Kewen looked at Sokov and asked: "What kind of outcome do you think this battle will have if it continues?
"
If Romanov asked himself, maybe Sokov would tell him truthfully. But the Zhu Kewen in front of him is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Even though he is under his command now, if he said something wrong or did something wrong
What's the matter? When he returns to the internal affairs force one day, he might personally lead people to arrest him.
Therefore, he said in an official tone: "Although the Germans have the advantage in strength and equipment, our commanders and fighters will fight tenaciously to the last man and shoot out the last bullet, and would rather let their corpses be exposed in the wilderness.
And I will never give up my position."
Sokov's snake-like answer obviously did not satisfy Zhu Kewen. He looked at Sokov and said with some laughter and tears: "Comrade Captain, I just want to understand your true thoughts. You don't need to speak to me in official terms."
."
Sokov said to himself: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, please remember our identities. We are just small grassroots commanders, and our responsibility is to protect the safety of the headquarters. As for how to fight the Germans on the front line, that is up to the commander."
We are simply not qualified to care about matters that should concern the commander and the chief of staff."
Zhu Kewen chatted for a few more words, but inside and outside he wanted Sokov to talk about the upcoming battle situation and whether it would be beneficial to the Soviet army. Seeing that the other party kept asking questions, Sokov was avoiding the important and taking the easy.
Said a few words.
Seeing that he couldn't get the answer he wanted from Sokov, Zhu Kewen had no choice but to stand up and leave.
But when he reached the door, Zhu Kewen stopped again and said to Sokov: "By the way, Comrade Captain, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you."
"What's going on?"
"Isn't the 37th Group Army divided into three different areas by the German army?" Zhu Kewen said: "According to reliable information, the combat group located northeast of Kiev was annihilated by the German army before dark."
"Is it true?" Sokov did not expect that part of the 37th Army would be wiped out by the Germans so easily. He asked in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, is it true?"
"Of course it's true." Zhu Kewen said quietly: "When the troops in other places are almost wiped out, the Germans should concentrate their forces to deal with us."