Chapter 1807 The Great War is Coming (Part 1)

   "Comrade Commander," Smirnov reminded Sokov, "Do you think we should convene a military meeting immediately to assign the combat mission we just accepted?"

"Chief of Staff, you should call the division commanders and tank brigade commanders and ask them to come over for a meeting." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, thinking about the time it would take to summon all division and brigade commanders. Then he said to Smirnov: "A temporary military meeting will be held in forty minutes, so please don't be late."

"General Afunin," Sokov said to Afunin while Smirnov was on the phone, "I will introduce you to other division and brigade commanders during the meeting later. In the next battle, it will be very helpful to your coordinated operations."

   Afuning thought that he had never met the commander of the 41st Guards Division, so he could take this opportunity to get to know him, so he agreed in a hurry.

  Kurishenko learned that his immediate boss, Afunin, was staying at the army headquarters at the moment, so he put down the phone and brought the political commissar and chief of staff over.

When Sokov and Afunin were talking, they saw Kurishenko coming in from the outside, so they stopped talking, pointed with their fingers, and said to Afunin with a smile: "General Afunin, your subordinates Arrived."

After Kurishenko and others finished saluting, Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with the three of them one by one, and then brought Kurishenko to Afunin, and introduced him: "Kurishenko General, let me introduce you, this is Major General Afunin, the new commander of the 18th Guards Corps, and he will be your superior from now on, so please get close to him."

In fact, when Kurishenko just entered the door, when he saw the major general who was chatting with Sokov, he guessed that he might be his new immediate boss, Afunin. Standing at attention, he raised his hand and reported to Afunin: "Comrade Commander, Major General Kurishenko, Commander of the 41st Guards Infantry Division, is reporting to you. I am waiting for your orders, please instruct!"

   After raising his hand to return the salute, Afunin said: "Please rest!" Then he extended his hand to shake hands with Kurishenko and others.

After finishing all this, Afunin introduced the two commanders of the Guards Airborne Division to Kurishenko: "General Kurishenko, let me introduce you, this is Kogne, the commander of the 3rd Guards Airborne Division. Colonel, this is Major General Rumyantsev, commander of the 4th Guards Airborne Division."

   Just as the commanders of the 18th Guards Army got to know each other, Colonel Stirlitz, the commander of the 116th Infantry Division, came.

   It was originally rumored that the 116th, 130th, and 214th Infantry Divisions would form the 49th Infantry Army, and the commander of the army would be selected from among the three division commanders. Regardless of qualifications or military exploits, Colonel Stirlitz is the most suitable candidate. But what is unexpected is that the front army headquarters did not adopt Sokov's recommendation, but directly appointed an elderly major general to serve as the commander of the infantry army.

Seeing the disappointment written on Stirlitz's face, Sokov shook his hand and comforted him and said, "Colonel Stirlitz, this appointment was decided by the head of the front army, and I have no ability to change it." But don't worry, as long as your troops can continue to make achievements in the next battle, I will recommend you to your superiors again. Even if you can't serve as the commander of our army, you can also be transferred to other armies."

  After listening to Sokov's assurance, a gleam of hope flashed in Stirlitz's eyes. He took a deep breath, and then said to him: "Comrade Commander, our division has recruited nearly 3,000 new recruits in the last week and is undergoing intense training. However, our weapons are seriously insufficient. I wonder if the group army can supplement them for us." Is it a batch?"

   Hearing that he was looking for equipment again, Sokov couldn't help feeling a headache. But he still said with a forced smile: "Comrade Colonel, don't worry, the weapons and equipment prepared for us by the superiors are on the way. In two days, they will be delivered to the army, and I can distribute new weapons to you. "

"Really, Comrade Commander?" Stirlitz learned from a friend in the late-stage department of the Front Army that for at least half a month, the superiors would not be able to supplement the 53rd Army with troops and weapons, so he I am skeptical about Sokov's statement: "Can we really get supplements in two or three days?"

   "That's right." Sokov nodded vigorously, and said in an affirmative tone: "Even if you can't arrive within two or three days, within a week, all your commanders and fighters can be fully armed."

  The commanders who participated in the meeting arrived one after another. Seeing that everyone was here, Smirnov ran to Sokov and asked him for instructions: "Comrade Commander, everyone is here. Is the meeting starting now?"

   "Yes." Sokov said: "Let's have a meeting now."

   After everyone is greeted to sit down, the meeting begins.

Smirnov, who was in charge of presiding over the meeting, stood up and said to the many commanders: "Commanders, I have called you here today to convey the next step of the Front Army Command's operational plan. Within a short period of time, together with the Ukrainian First Front Army commanded by Marshal Zhukov, they launched an attack on the Uman group of the German army."

  Hearing that the battle was imminent, the commanders present couldn't help but looked at each other, and then began to discuss in a low voice. The topic is nothing more than that one's own troops have not been supplemented with soldiers and equipment, how can they rush to attack? If this is true, I am afraid that the troops will suffer huge casualties during the attack.

  When the commanders discussed in private, Smirnov did not stop them, but waited patiently for the end of everyone's discussion. After just a few minutes, silence was restored in the meeting, and Smirnov continued: "Next, I will formally convey to you the combat intention of the Front Army Command.

  The upcoming Battle of Uman, the purpose of the campaign is to crush the German 8th Army, divide their Southern Army Group, cut off the southward retreat of the enemy Tank 1st Army, and cooperate with the Ukrainian 1st Front Army to smash the Army Group.

  Speaking of which, there must be commanders who would like to ask: Which troops do we have to participate in this Uman battle? I can tell you here: the 27th and 52nd Army, the 4th Guards Army, the 2nd Tank Army, the 5th Guards Tank Army, and the 6th Tank Army consisted of Vinograd, Zvenigorodka, The Shipora line carried out the main assault in the direction of Uman. The 5th and 7th Guards Armies carried out auxiliary assaults from the Kirovgrad area in the direction of New Ukraine. "

  In order to let everyone have a perceptual understanding, Smirnov also deliberately came to the map hanging on the wall, pointed at the map with a commentary stick, and gave further explanations to everyone.

  After Smirnov’s explanation came to an end, someone asked, “Comrade Chief of Staff, why isn’t our group army included in the designation of the attacking force?”

Smirnov looked in the direction where the voice came from, and found that it was a tank brigade commander who was speaking, so he said to the other party: "Comrade Colonel, according to the arrangement of the Front Army Command, our army will serve as the first echelon. After the battle begins, take the lead in attacking the enemy's Uman group."

Having said that, he turned to face the map again, raised the explaining stick in his hand, pointed to a certain point on the map and said: "There are two starting points for our army's attack, one is Safran, which is located in the south of Uman, And the other one is Velishanka in the southeast."

  After the commanders here know the starting point of the attack, the next question they want to know is when the battle will start: "When will the battle start?"

   "The start of the battle is March 9." Smirnov said with a serious expression: "But all the troops of our army must have entered the designated position on the 8th. Do you have any questions?"

As soon as Smirnov's words fell, the tank brigade commander just stood up again: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it is really the spring thaw season, and the roads in Ukraine are not suitable for tanks at all. I am worried that the tanks of the tank brigade will During the march, he got stuck in the quagmire and couldn't move."

  Hearing this, Sokov didn't wait for Smirnov to speak again, and said first: "Is the chief engineer here?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." Hearing Sokov calling himself, the chief engineer sitting in the crowd quickly stood up and asked respectfully, "What instructions do you have?"

   "You must have heard what the colonel said, right?" Sokov pointed at the tank brigade commander with his hand, and then asked the engineer director: "Do you have a way to solve the road problem?"

"It's very difficult, Comrade Commander." The director of the engineering corps sighed and said, "There are more than 70 roads from our current defense zone to the designated offensive location. I only have two engineering battalions under my command, and there are not enough There is no way I can build a road for tanks in just a few days."

"Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps, in fact, it is not difficult to build a road that can pass through the tanks." Seeing the helpless expression on the other party's face, Sokov took the initiative to express his thoughts: "Order the engineers to cut down the wood, Build a wooden frame on the road, and then lay logs on it. In order to make the road stronger, you can also let the soldiers collect charcoal and lay it inside the frame, so that the wooden roadbed will not be damaged by the rolling of tanks. sink."

After listening to Sokov's proposal, the chief engineer pondered for a long time, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, your job of building a foundation with logs first and then laying logs on will not take long. But, Where do I go to collect so much charcoal in a short time?"

"Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps," Sokov said with a smile: "Don't forget that Ukraine is a place rich in coal. The urban residents here use coal for cooking and heating. For them, the disposal of charcoal But it is a big problem, no matter where it is dumped, it seems to be a hindrance. Now you are recycling waste, and using the charcoal residue that makes residents headaches to pave roads is simply a great thing that kills two birds with one stone."

"Comrade Chief of Engineers," Smirnov said at the end of the conversation between Sokov and the Chief of Engineers: "If our army wants to reach Safran or Vilishanka, we must first cross the Gniloydikic The river, although the river is too wide and the water is very shallow, but if you want to pass it smoothly, you must build bridges on the river. Tell me, how many bridges can you build?"

  Sokov originally wanted to ask the same question, but since Smirnov asked first, he remained silent, hoping to hear how the chief engineer would answer.

Regarding the question raised by Smirnov, the director of the engineering corps pondered for a long time, and replied: "According to our current strength, we can build two pontoon bridges for tanks and heavy vehicles within three days, and three to five bridges for infantry. Bridge of passage."

  After listening to the engineer chief's reply, Sokov nodded in satisfaction. He knew that the opponent's strength was too weak, and it would be very difficult to strengthen road construction and bridge building at the same time, so he took the initiative to say: "If you don't have enough manpower, just ask, I will specially arrange troops to assist you in your work."

However, he did not wait for the director of the engineering corps to speak, and said to the commanders present: "comrades commanders, everyone is very clear that it is the season when the roads in Ukraine are muddy. It will be very slow. I hope that after everyone returns to their respective troops, they will also organize forces to build roads in the defense zone to reduce the pressure on the engineering troops. Do you understand?"

   "Understood!" The commanders present replied in unison.

   "Very good!" Sokov nodded, and gestured to Smirnov again, motioning him to continue talking.

Smirnov, who understood, continued: "In terms of deployment, we have arranged it like this: the troops stationed in Safran are the 18th Guards Infantry Corps of Major General Afunin; the troops stationed in Velishanka are infantry troops. Part of the 49th Army and the 57th Army. The remaining troops acted as reserves and moved with the Army Headquarters.

  After arriving at the designated location, each unit has actively dispatched reconnaissance units to conduct reconnaissance deep into the enemy's rear, in order to find out the deployment of German troops and the distribution of firepower..."

   After Smirnov finished speaking, he returned to his seat and sat down. After a pause, he asked, "Who has any questions?"

   There was silence in the conference room. It's not that everyone has no problems, but that the commanders here need to reorganize the vocabulary in their minds, and then ask the questions they want to ask.

   Sure enough, after a minute, countless hands were raised, all wanting to ask Smirnov a question.

  Smirnov glanced over everyone's faces one by one, and then stopped on the face of the commander of the 49th Infantry Army: "Next, let the commander of the 49th Army ask you questions."

After getting up, the commander of the 49th Army looked at Smirnov and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although there are three divisions in my army, in the Battle of Cherkasy that ended not long ago, the troops of these divisions We have been severely weakened. We are an army in name, but the total strength of all the troops is only the original division. At the same time, after fierce fighting, our ammunition is seriously insufficient, let alone a battle. A medium-sized battle cannot be sustained."

"Comrade Commander," Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and said unhurriedly: "Soldiers, you can recruit local residents or soldiers who have recovered from injuries. As for weapons, you don't have to worry about them, superior." The weapons and equipment provided to us are on the way now, and I believe they will be distributed to you within two days."

  (end of this chapter)