Chapter 1861

  However, what responded to them was dense bullets, which knocked out many of the German soldiers who emerged.

  The German soldiers lying on the ground again finally heard the gunshots on the ground, which were emitted by Soviet-made weapons. Only then did they realize that the positions of friendly troops had long been occupied by the Russians.

   The four air fortresses circling in the sky, after firing up all the ammunition they carried, turned around and flew towards the field airport. The German troops on the ground had long been scared away by the terrifying firepower of the aerial fortress, until the plane flew away for a long time, they still lay on the ground and did not dare to move.

   Unwilling to be annihilated, the German commander waited for the Soviet air fortress to go away, organized a commando team of hundreds of people, and launched an attack on the position occupied by the Soviet army. But it is regrettable that the dense firepower on the position formed an insurmountable fire net, and the charging German soldiers fell in pieces.

  The attack had just been defeated, and the pursuing Soviet army came up from behind again, and the fleeing German army was immediately surrounded by two sides. Although many German officers and soldiers who were unwilling to fail were still stubbornly resisting, more soldiers waited for the Soviet commanders to rush in front of them, immediately threw away their weapons, raised their hands high, and surrendered to the Soviet army.

  The troops fleeing from the north of Uman City were blocked by the troops of the 130th Division in the northwest, and then the 57th Army and part of the 31st Army of the Ukrainian First Front rushed up from behind to complete the encirclement of the German army.

  While the final battle was still going on, Chumakov, the commander of the 57th Army, couldn't wait to call the headquarters to report the latest battle situation to Sokov.

Sokov was answering Konev's call at the time, and Smirnov answered the call from Chumakov: "General Chumakov, this is Smirnov, do you have any good news for me?" ?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chumakov reported emotionally: "Our troops have broken through the German defense line, joined forces with the friendly troops coming from the north, and then followed the fleeing enemy and surrounded them all. They are being wiped out little by little in front of the blocking position of the 130th Division."

"Meeting forces?! Great! This is really great." Smirnov said loudly into the microphone: "Which army is joining forces with the friendly army, and which friendly army is joining forces? Tell me , I will write it down!"

He clamped the microphone to his ear with his shoulder, took a pencil from the table, and began to record, repeating loudly: "The unit that joins us is the 340th Division of General Moskalenko's 38th Army. , our unit that joins forces with them is Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's 252nd Division... I have written it all down. General Chumakov, thank you."

Smirnov put down the phone and said happily to Shtemenko who was sitting aside: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, the 252nd Division of the 57th Army has joined forces with the 38th Army under the command of General Moskalenko! And in front of the blocking position of the 130th Division, the encirclement of the fleeing enemy was completed, and the annihilation battle is now underway."

   Sokov, who had just finished the phone call, saw that Smirnov was so excited, and quickly asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, seeing you are so happy, do you have any new results?"

"You're right, Comrade Commander." Smirnov nodded and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov's 252nd Division assisted General Moskalenko's 38th Army and broke through the German army's attack north of Uman." The defensive position of the 130th Division, and successfully joined forces with the 340th Division of the group army. Now they have surrounded the fleeing enemy in front of the blocking position of the 130th Division, and are destroying the enemy little by little."

"Good job." Sokov was naturally happy when he heard the results of the battle. He secretly thought: "As long as Kirillov makes more achievements in this battle, then I can justifiably promote his rank and rank in the future." duty."

  Since Kirillov was mentioned, he naturally thought of Ponegerin, and he sent him to rescue the prisoners of war who were imprisoned in the open pit. So far, there has been no response, and he does not know how their current mission is being completed.

   "Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov looked at Smirnov and asked, "Is there any news about Lieutenant Colonel Ponejielin?"

  Hearing Sokov's question, Smirnov's expression darkened: "No, Comrade Commander. So far, I haven't received any reports about them."

Seeing that there was no news from Smirnov, Sokov, feeling lost in his heart, changed the topic in time: "Comrade Chief of Staff, when I was talking to Marshal Konev just now, he told me that Ryazanov The air fortress sent by the general caused huge casualties to the German troops on the ground."

   "Really?" Smirnov said with some surprise after hearing this: "Why didn't General Ryazanov call me to report the results of the battle, but reported directly to the Front Army Command?"

   "I think General Ryazanov may have reported the results to General Goryunov, and then General Goryunov reported to Marshal Konev."

Smirnov agreed with Sokov's analysis: "Well, there is such a possibility. General Goryunov is his immediate boss, and it is only natural that he should report the results to General Goryunov first. things."

   "Comrade Sokov, I congratulate you." Shtemenko held out his hand to Sokov and said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to your troops for successfully liberating Uman."

Sokov held Shtemenko's hand, laughed dryly twice, and then asked tentatively: "Deputy Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, since Uman City was liberated by our army alone, will it be awarded in the future? When the honorary title is named after the city, can you give us two more places?"

"Comrade Sokov, you can rest assured about this." Since Shtemenko has been staying by Sokov's side, he naturally knows which army contributed the most in the battle to liberate Uman: "If there are no accidents, , the three divisions of the 18th Guards Corps will all receive this supreme honor."

   "Great, this is really great." Thinking of the last time he commanded the liberation of Kharkov and Belgorod, only three troops won honorary titles in the end, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Although what Shtemenko said at the moment is just a pie for myself, Sokov is still in a very happy mood: "On behalf of the comrades of the 18th Guards Army, I would like to express my gratitude to you!"

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff," Smirnov asked next to him, "judging from the current situation, the battle to eliminate the German Uman Group will not last for a few days. Once the battle is over, you plan to return to the General Staff. Ministry?"

"That's right, Comrade Smirnov." To Smirnov's statement, Shtemenko gave an affirmative answer: "I will return to Moscow as soon as the Battle of Uman is over. I After leaving for such a long time, I must have accumulated a lot of business, and I believe it will take a lot of time to deal with it."

  Although Shtemenko was chatting with Smirnov, he also told Sokov tactfully at the same time: I will leave soon, and it will not affect your next command.

  Sokov heard the meaning behind what Shtemenko said, and secretly delighted in his heart. But what should be said in the scene, he still wants to say: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that you will go back so soon, I really don't want you to leave."

   "Really?" Shtemenko said jokingly: "Or, I will ask the Supreme Command to apply and stay with you until the end of the war?"

If Shtemenko really stayed here until the end of the war, Sukov would probably have a nervous breakdown. He said in a panic: "If you really have a lot of business to deal with, you should go back as soon as possible." .”

Shtemenko laughed loudly: "Comrade Sokov, I was just joking with you. I didn't expect you to take it seriously. Now that Uman has been liberated, I can tell you something. Before I leave Moscow, Comrade Antonov told me that as soon as your troops take Uman, I can return."

He stared at Sokov for a while, and continued: "According to my estimation, you will need at least four or five days to take Uman. But I never dreamed that it would take less than 24 hours , actually liberated the city, it really surprised me."

Sokov knew that at such a time, he should keep a low profile so as not to upset others, so he said modestly: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, since you have been staying at my headquarters, you should understand that we can achieve such It is impossible for our army alone to achieve victory."

   "Tell me in detail."

"First of all, the troops of the First Front Army under the command of Marshal Zhukov took the lead in attacking the German army, making the enemy mistakenly think that the north is the main direction of our army's attack, and the south is just a feigned attacking force to contain their forces. All the troops were transferred to the north to stop Marshal Zhukov's troops."

"Secondly, the 18th Guards Army encountered heavy snow on the way to attack. This is really like the saying goes: God bless Russia! This heavy snow blocked the enemy's sight, so that they could not find our army marching in the snow troops, so that the sneak attack can be carried out successfully and the greatest victory can be achieved with the least casualties."

"That's right, there is indeed some element of luck involved in the success of this attack." Shtemenko analyzed objectively: "But when it snows, only your troops are moving, while the other troops are moving." Resting. It is because you are good at grasping the opportunity that you can achieve such a victory."

   After a short pause, Shtemenko asked Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, I'm going back to Moscow soon. I wonder if there is anything I can do for you?"

  "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff," Sokov's biggest headache today is naturally the problem of soldiers. Originally, the recruits added to the army were Ukrainian civilians who had no military training or any combat experience, which seriously diluted the combat effectiveness of the army. After this battle, the casualties of the troops reached an astonishing number. If they continue to replenish troops from the local area, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be further diluted. It was precisely because of this worry that Sokov said to Shtemenko: "I wonder if you can add some soldiers to me? It is best to have people who have undergone strict military training and have combat experience."

"My God, where can I find such soldiers for you?" Although Shtemenko is the deputy chief of the general staff, he does not have much say in the issue of replenishing soldiers. After listening to Soko After his husband's request, he said with a wry smile: "If there are such soldiers, the superiors will definitely give priority to replenishing the Guards Army. The ordinary combined arms army is the second echelon of replenishment. It depends on the performance of this unit in battle."

Seeing Sokov's annoyed expression, he raised his hand and patted Sokov's shoulder lightly, saying earnestly: "Comrade Sokov, please wait patiently for a while, I think the soldiers and soldiers you need Weapons and equipment will be replenished."

  Sokov was thinking in his heart that the chance of getting supplements from his superiors would infinitely approach zero. And use prisoners of war to supplement the troops, not to mention whether Ponegelin and the others can find the prisoners of war, even if they find them, it is still unknown how powerful these prisoners of war who have suffered inhuman torture by the German army will be. If it doesn't work, you can only recruit soldiers from the local area and let them improve in battle.

  After having this idea, he asked Smirnov: "Chief of Staff, has Comrade Military Commissar come back?"

"Not yet." Smirnov shook his head and gave Sokov a negative answer. He continued: "Anyway, Uman is not a small city. If Comrade Military Commissar wants to let the people hiding in the basement It may take a lot of time for the residents to call out."

   "Comrade Commander," Smirnov felt that Sokov would not ask Gorokhov for no reason, so he asked tentatively, "Do you have anything to do with him?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov glanced at Shtemenko intentionally when he said this, with a helpless expression on his face: "You must have heard what Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff said just now. It is impossible to get supplementary soldiers from the superiors. So I consider that some recruits should be recruited in Uman City to make up for the soldiers we lost in the battle."

Knowing that Sokov planned to recruit troops in Uman, Smirnov carefully reminded him: "Comrade Commander, since these areas became German-occupied areas shortly after the outbreak of the war, the residents living here, Whether men, women, old or young, have the opportunity to receive military training, if recruiting local recruits and supplementing them into the army, not only will it not be able to strengthen the strength of the army, on the contrary, it will greatly dilute the combat effectiveness of our army because of the existence of such people .”

He was worried that Sokov would not listen to his opinion, and he specifically emphasized: "The 49th and 57th armies are typical examples. It turns out that the units of these two armies belong to the strongest combat effectiveness. As a result, new recruits were added. , so that the combat effectiveness of the troops plummeted. Today, the strongest force in our army is the 18th Guards Army of General Afunin. They paid a huge sacrifice in the battle to liberate Uman. The recruits recruited locally will inevitably make their combat effectiveness as weak as the two infantry armies."

If he had a choice, Sokov would naturally not use new recruits to supplement the 18th Guards Army, but the three divisions that this army belongs to have all suffered more than 50% casualties in the battle to liberate Uman, so he has no ability Find so many commanders and fighters with rich combat experience to supplement the 18th Guards Army.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said rather helplessly, "First recruit a group of recruits and replenish the troops. As for training, there are so many veterans in the company, and the veterans can teach the recruits some applicable methods." Combat experience to help recruits grow up quickly."

  (end of this chapter)