Chapter 1198 Zhukov is here

   "Comrade Sokov, you are very thoughtful." After listening to Sokov's report, Konev said approvingly: "The detour direction is well chosen. Detour from the enemy's left flank will definitely achieve good results."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov felt that it would be impossible to carry out such a large-scale operation in the Shumakovo area without the support of the Air Force, so he tentatively asked Konev: "When we make a tactical detour At that time, I wonder if you can send the air force to cooperate with our actions?"

"What, you need the cooperation of the air force?" Sokov's proposal made Konev feel very embarrassed, because he had just received an order from the Supreme Command not long ago, asking him to immediately dispatch the 5th Guards Army, the The 5th Guards Tank Army was transferred to Prokhorovka to assist the 6th Guards Army in its defense there. The recent mission of the 5th Army of the Air Force to which the Front Army belongs is to compete with the Luftwaffe for air supremacy there: "According to the order of the superior, the task of the 5th Air Force Army is to compete with the enemy for air supremacy in Prokhorovka. No effort to provide air cover for you."

  Konev's words made Sokov's heart sink suddenly. What a joke, the large corps fighting without tanks and cannons is enough to give him a headache, and now he doesn't even have air support! If you were fighting in the daytime, your troops would have the upper hand, but if the enemy dispatched the air force to bombard them indiscriminately, the attack you launched might be disintegrated.

  Thinking of this, he said cautiously: "Comrade Front Army Commander, if there is no air support, I am afraid that we will become very passive in the next battle."

"Comrade Sokov, you are right. An army-scale attack without air support will surely suffer huge losses." Konev did not want Sokov's troops to suffer unnecessary losses. After some consideration, he said to him: "During this time, the two Marshals Zhukov and Vasilevsky, as representatives of the headquarters, have been staying in the Central Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army. , I think there is still a chance to get air support."

Hearing what Konev said, Sokov began to think in his heart: he has achieved great results on the battlefield in the past two years, and his father and Zhukov are old comrades in arms, so he can get a lot of resources. tilt. For example, the new rockets, bazookas, and assault rifles equipped with troops today are given priority to supply their own troops. Also, when I was the commander of the Sixth Army, I even assigned myself two aviation divisions.

  If I really make any request to Zhukov, as long as it is not too much, Zhukov will definitely agree. Thinking of this, he nodded and continued: "Understood, I will find a way to get in touch with Marshal Zhukov."

  After Sokov put down the phone, he began to think about how to get in touch with Zhukov. Even though Zhukov was traveling, he was accompanied by radio operators and communications staff, but it was impossible to contact him by telegram. In order to ensure Zhukov's personal safety and ensure that his whereabouts are not leaked, except for some designated departments, other departments cannot contact his radio station.

  Since Zhukov could not be contacted, Sokov had also considered Vasilevsky. After all, as a representative of the base camp, he had been sitting at the headquarters of the Voronezh Front Army. But he quickly gave up on this tempting idea. What Vasilevsky considered most at the moment was how to ensure the security of the Voronezh Front Army's defense zone, and let him order the air force to dispatch to support friendly forces. It is unlikely that he would agree.

   After going around in a circle, the problem returned to the original point. It seems that only when Zhukov is contacted, can one's own troops have a chance to get air support from the Air Force when they are attacking.

   Seeing that Sokov looked helpless after making the call, Lunev asked curiously, "Comrade Commander, what bothers you so much?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov said with a sad face: "When I spoke to the commander of the Front Army just now, he told me that the air force directly under the Front Army will concentrate on fighting the enemy in the Prokhorovka area in the next few days. Air supremacy. That is to say, we will not receive any support from the air force at all in the battle we will launch in the near future.”

   Hearing what Sokov said, Lunev finally understood what was going on, and he asked quickly, "Then what are you going to do?"

"The commander of the front army said that I can't disobey the orders of my superiors. If I want to get air support in battle, I can only contact Marshal Zhukov." Sokov worried that Lunev didn't know Zhukov's current identity, and added specifically: " Marshal Zhukov, as the representative of the headquarters, was responsible for the liaison between the Central Front and the Voronezh Front."

   "Then you can contact him." Lunev said, "Won't this solve the problem of air support?"

   "Comrade Military Commissar, the problem is not that simple." Sokov said with a bitter face: "I don't even know where Marshal Zhukov is now, and how to get in touch with him?"

"You can contact him through the radio..." Lunev was halfway through his words, and immediately realized that a person of Zhukov's level needs absolute secrecy where he goes. Sokov couldn't figure out his whereabouts and could not contact him. The radio station is also very normal. He rolled his eyes twice, and immediately came up with a good idea: "Comrade Commander, why don't I send a telegram to Comrade Beria, asking him to inform Marshal Zhukov that you have urgent matters to call him."

  Sokov cannot directly contact Zhukov, but as Beria, he should be qualified to contact Zhukov at any time. If he is allowed to be a bridge, he will be able to contact Zhukov soon. However, he still pretended to hesitate for a long time before asking Lunev, "Is this appropriate?"

   Lunev was really confused by Sokov's illusion, and he replied without hesitation: "There is nothing inappropriate, Comrade Commander, leave this matter to me."

   Lunev moved as soon as he said it, and immediately asked the messenger to connect him to the Kremlin, and then found Beria through the switchboard. When Lunev made his request, Beria asked hesitantly, "Is there anything important you want to do with Zhukov?"

"Comrade Beria," Lunev knew that Beria would not agree to help if he didn't explain the matter clearly, so he briefly introduced the ins and outs of the matter to him, and finally said: "Can you contact us?" Marshal Zhukov, this is related to the results our department can achieve in the next battle, please do help us."

  For Lunev's request, Beria hesitated for a long time, finally nodded and said: "Okay, I will contact Marshal Zhukov as soon as possible, you just wait for my good news."

After receiving Beria's promise, Lunev immediately beamed with joy. As soon as he put down the phone, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, have you heard everything? Comrade Beria is willing to help us contact Marshal Zhukov. I think It won't be long before we get a call or a telegram from him."

   "I hope so." Although Lunev said so, Sokov still had no idea. After all, Zhukov's whereabouts were uncertain at this time, and whether he could receive Beria's telegram in time was also unknown. But facing Lunev who was so enthusiastic, he still tried to squeeze a smile on his face: "As long as Marshal Zhukov is willing to help, then our next battle will be much easier."

"Comrade Commander," Lunev felt that before the air force on the side gained air supremacy, the troops that turned to the left flank of the German army should adopt a covert march to avoid being launched by the German reconnaissance plane. One is to expose their whereabouts and let the enemy advance Be prepared; the second is that you will be attacked by the German army, which will cause huge losses to the troops.

"Yes, General Gritsenko's troops should choose to operate at night when implementing a detour. Even if they have to march during the day, they should choose forest areas so that they will not be spotted by enemy reconnaissance planes," Sokov said. : "I will call General Gritsenko later to explain this specifically."

While eating lunch at noon, Lunev received a call from Beria: "Comrade Lunev, I have sent your request to Marshal Zhukov by telegram. Presumably he will talk to you soon Get in touch."

"That's really great." Seeing that Beria really helped him contact Zhukov, Lunev quickly thanked him: "Thank you, thank you very much. On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 27th Army, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you. Thanks."

According to Sokov's idea, since Beria has already sent Zhukov a telegram, it will not take long before Zhukov will send a telegram or call himself, and then he will be able to send his request to him in detail. report.

   But soon Sokov found out that he was wrong. Until the evening, he did not receive a telegram from Zhukov, let alone a call. Although Sokov was disappointed in his heart, he tried his best to pretend that nothing had happened, called Gritsenko and told him some precautions: "...Since the enemy's air force controls the air supremacy in this area, in order to prevent During the detour, your division suffered heavy casualties from German air raids. You should choose to march at night. Even if you have to march during the day, you should try to march in forest areas to avoid enemy reconnaissance planes ..."

Before Sokov could finish his sentence, he saw Samoilov barging in from the outside and said excitedly, "Comrade Commander, I have some good news for you. Zhukov, Marshal Zhukov is here at our headquarters." gone."

"What, Marshal Zhukov is here?" Samoilov's news startled Sokov. He thought that Zhukov was at Rokossovsky's headquarters at the moment or on the way back to Moscow, but I didn't expect that the other party would appear directly here. "where?"

   "He's walking towards us." Samoilov said out of breath, "In a few minutes at most, we will enter our command post."

   Knowing that Zhukov was coming, Sokov couldn't sit still. He quickly called Lunev who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, come with me to meet Marshal Zhukov."

  Sokov walked out of the headquarters with Lunev and several staff officers in the headquarters. As soon as he went out, he saw two armored vehicles and several jeeps parked on the side of the road not far from the headquarters, and Zhukov was talking to a group of commanders standing beside the vehicle with his hands behind his back.

   Sokov trotted up to Zhukov, raised his hand to salute, and reported excitedly: "Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Army, is here to report to you. On behalf of all commanders and fighters, I welcome you!"

   After shaking hands with Sokov, Zhukov said, "Misha, I heard that you are in some trouble here, so I came here specially to see if there is anything I can do to help you."

  Sokov wanted to report the detailed combat plan to Zhukov, so he said politely: "Comrade Marshal, this is not a place to talk, let's go in and talk about it."

Back at the headquarters, Sokov moved the map on the table to Zhukov, explained his battle plan to him in detail, and finally said: "Comrade Marshal, if we are lucky, we can definitely Annihilate the Imperial Division one more time, and make the enemy tremble when they hear our number."

Zhukov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, grinned silently, and then said: "As far as I know, many Germans will tremble when they hear your name. If the Imperial Division is wiped out again, I am afraid the enemy will If you know where you are, you must be prepared to retreat in advance."

  Seeing Zhukov praising himself so much, although Sokov tried his best to control his emotions, the corners of his mouth still turned up unconsciously.

Just when Sokov was getting carried away, he heard Zhukov's tone become severe: "Last time in the battle, you wiped out the Imperial Division and captured the commander of the division, Major General Val. But why didn't you capture it?" The flag of the division? You know, once the flag of the Imperial Division is captured by you, it will be the real destruction of the entire army. Give up that idea."

   Zhukov's criticism made Sokov realize his negligence. In the battle to encircle and annihilate the Imperial Division, he only cared about ordering the troops to destroy the enemy as much as possible, but forgot to organize the manpower to capture the enemy's flag. As a result, it took a lot of effort, thinking that the Imperial Division could be removed from the German army's organizational system, but because the army flag was not captured, the Germans could use the wounded in the rear as a basis in a short period of time. The force was formed.

   "Comrade Marshal, don't worry." Sokov assured Zhukov: "We will fight against the Imperial Division again this time, and we will definitely try our best to capture their flag."

   "I hope so." After Zhukov finished speaking, he continued to ask: "I want to ask, how large-scale air support do you need when you launch an attack on the German army?"

   "At least one aviation division is needed." Sokov replied confidently: "Only an air force of this size can control the air supremacy on the battlefield."

   "Is one aviation division enough?" Just when Sokov thought that Zhukov would think that he was demanding too much, he unexpectedly heard the other party say: "Is this the way to gain air supremacy on the battlefield?"

   "It is absolutely possible, Comrade Marshal." Sokov quickly replied: "One aviation division can control the air supremacy on the battlefield, so that when our army launches an attack on the enemy, the attack will not be defeated due to the enemy's air attack."

  (end of this chapter)