Chapter 2011

Knowing that the 109th Division had captured von Ludtsov, the commander of the 35th Army of the German Army, Sokov couldn't help applauding, and then told Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, immediately call and report this important good news to the Front Army." Headquarters, let Comrade General and the others be happy."

"Comrade Commander," Ponedelin suddenly said when Sidolin called the front headquarters to announce the good news, "this battle of the 109th Infantry Division is enough to comfort those comrades who died in Shepetovka. "

  Sokov was taken aback after hearing this. He remembered that Shepetovka was in Ukraine, but now Bobruysk is in Belarus. The two are completely irrelevant.

"Comrade Deputy Commander, what are you talking about?" Sokov asked Ponejielin humbly based on the principle of asking if he didn't understand: "How did today's victory have something to do with Shepetovka? ?”

   "Comrade Commander, do you know where Shepetovka is?"

"I know, of course I know." Sokov nodded and said, "When I was fighting in Ukraine a few months ago, I paid attention to those relatively large cities. This Shepetovka is located in Uman and Rivno between."

"That's right, Shepetovka is indeed at the location you mentioned." Ponejielin said: "You may not know that in the early days of the war, there were a large number of weapons, ammunition and military supplies stored in the military warehouse there." Materials. Due to the rapid advance of the enemy, if they are allowed to occupy Shepetovka, the troops of the Southwest Front Army will be in a situation of no ammunition and no supplies. At this critical juncture, it is General Lukin who leads the 16th Army Arrive urgently.

Although in the 16th Army at that time, there was a 5th Mechanized Army and a 32nd Infantry Army, but the troops that actually reached Shepetovka were only Colonel Krasnoretsky's 109th Division and a tank 1st Army. 116 regiments. General Lukin relied on this force and accommodated some scattered troops, where he resisted the German attack for two weeks. "

   It was the first time Sokov heard what Ponegerin said. He waited for the other party to come to an end, and asked tentatively, "What about the losses of the 109th Division?"

"It can be described as a heavy loss." Ponedelin said: "First, Colonel Krasnoletsky, the division commander, died, and General Lukin appointed Major Podo Prigora, the commander of a regiment of the division, to replace him. The new division commander also died soon, so General Lukin personally acted as the division commander and commanded the troops to repel the German attacks one after another.

   When ordered to evacuate Shepetovka, the 109th Division, which originally had 12,000 people, had less than two hundred people left, and most of them were injured. After this battle alone, the 109th Division was seriously injured. Although it participated in battles in different units, the results achieved were mediocre. "

  When Sokov heard this, he immediately understood what Ponegerin wanted to express. The 109th Division performed well in the early days of the war, but due to various reasons, it performed mediocrely during the rest of the time, and there was nothing outstanding. And today the German 35th Army was annihilated and its commander captured. This is indeed a remarkable victory.

   "Comrade Deputy Commander, what you said makes sense." Sokov said: "I think the division can be awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and ask the superiors to grant them the honorary title of Guards Division."

  What Sokov said is the highest honor the army can receive. After hearing this, Ponejelin became emotional: "Comrade Commander, are you really planning to do this?"

   "Yes." Sokov nodded and said, "I think the commanders and fighters of the 109th Division are fully worthy of such an honor."

  Pornegelin stood up, stood at attention, raised his hand and saluted Sokov with a solemn military salute, "Comrade Commander, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 109th Division, I would like to express my gratitude to you!"

  Sokov quickly reached out and pulled the opponent's hand from his forehead, "Comrade Deputy Commander, what are you doing, the 109th Division deserves the honor, and there is no need to thank me specifically."

  Pornegelin suddenly said with emotion after sitting down: "As soon as I mention the 109th Division, I think of General Lukin. I heard that he was captured in the battle of Viazma. I don't know if he is still alive."

  Sokov blurted out: "Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander, he is still alive."

   "Still alive?" Ponegerin looked at Sukov and asked in surprise, "How do you know he's still alive?"

  This question made Sokov look a little embarrassed. He evasively said: "I think a hero like General Lukin is not only admired by us, but even his enemies should maintain the necessary respect for him. It is based on this that I judge that Lu Jin General Kim is definitely alive."

Regarding Sokov's statement, Ponegerin was silent for a long time, and finally nodded and said: "Comrade commander, maybe you are right. An excellent commander like Lukin will not only get our Admiration, but also the respect of the enemy. I sincerely hope that he is still alive, so that I have the opportunity to meet him again."

   "Comrade Deputy Commander, are you familiar with General Lukin?"

   "We used to be classmates in the training class for senior commanders at the Frunze Military Academy." Pornejelin grinned and said, "We are both competitors and best friends at the same time."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, I'm thinking about a question." Sokov recalled the information about Lukin, and said: "If General Lukin could fight side by side with you during the battle of Uman, maybe there will be a difference. As a result. Even if the German attack cannot be smashed, more troops can break out of the enemy's encirclement."

Ponedelin stared at Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, I have thought more than once that if you were also commanding a unit in the Uman area, the final situation would be very different. It can smash the German offensive plan, even consume part of their troops, and reverse the situation in the Uman area."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you really think highly of me." Sukov immediately shook his head when Ponejielin mentioned Uman and said, "As my deputy, you should be very clear that the troops under my command Therefore, the main reason why we have been able to win many battles is because we have many advanced weapons. Even if I was in Uman at that time, there was no air support, no artillery coordination, and no advanced weapons and equipment. To defeat the well-trained German army, It's basically impossible. Maybe I'm still in a German prisoner-of-war camp to this day."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin, who had just finished the phone call, came over. He didn't notice the content of the conversation between the two, and said excitedly to Sokov: "Comrade General ordered us to take the captured von Lu Detsov sent to the headquarters of the front army to verify the results we have achieved."

"Then you inform the commander of the division and arrange for someone to send von Ludtsov to the headquarters of the front army and hand it over to Comrade General." Sokov urged: "Let them act quickly, and they may give them more Assign new combat missions."

   "I have already called the 109th Division." Sidolin said: "The division commander said that he will arrange manpower as soon as possible to send the captured General von Ludtsov to the Front Army Command."

   "Comrade Commander," since the conversation was interrupted by Sidolin, and Ponegerin did not intend to continue, he looked at Sukov and asked, "Does our original deployment need to be adjusted?"

"Our original plan was to lure out the enemies in Bobruisk, let them enter our encirclement, and use artillery fire to kill them on a large scale. After the enemy's vital forces are killed by us on a large scale, lay in ambush attack as much as possible.” Sidolin said to Sokov: “A plan is a plan, but it will never catch up with the changes in the situation. As the 35th Army is wiped out by us and our friendly forces, if we want to wipe out the enemy I'm afraid it won't be so easy to lure them out of the city."

"The chief of staff is right." Pornegelin added: "I am afraid that the German army never dreamed that their 35th Army was wiped out by our army in such a short period of time. If we insist on using The battle plan is obviously inappropriate. I strongly recommend an attack on Bobruisk."

"Okay." Sokov felt that what the two said made sense. The enemy had suffered such heavy losses, so how could they dare to leave the city easily, so it was undoubtedly the most correct decision for his troops to take the initiative to attack the city, so He readily agreed to their request: "Then launch an attack on Bobruisk."

"Comrade Commander, I suggest that the main attack force use Major General Onuprienko's 6th Guards Division." Sidolin explained to Sokov: "Originally, our original plan to lure the enemy was to be led by the 6th Guards Division." But before the battle started, it was temporarily replaced by the 109th Infantry Division. I think the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division were all emotional at the moment. If they were the main force to attack the city, the morale of the troops would surely be boosted. "

In fact, without saying hello, Sokov replaced the 6th Guards Division, which was in charge of luring the enemy, with the 109th Infantry Division. Hearing what Sidolin said, he nodded and said smoothly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since you have thought carefully, then do it according to your idea."

After Onuprienko received the call from Sidolin, he immediately summoned several regiment leaders under him and said to them; Major General's order, let our division attack Bobruysk immediately."

   But after he finished speaking, the reactions of several regiment leaders were very indifferent. He was very surprised when he saw this, and asked curiously: "What's the matter, comrades, don't you feel happy at all for our division's main attack?"

"What's there to be happy about?" Colonel Ivanov, head of the 10th Guards Regiment, said with a cold expression: "The superiors originally assigned us the task of luring the enemy, but who knew that the war was about to start, and it was replaced by someone who didn't know where. The 109th Infantry Division that came out. Now they have wiped out the 35th Army of the German Army, and the enemy’s army commander is still alive. Comrade commanders don’t know how much they value them now.”

Unexpectedly, Ivanov's complaints actually aroused the echo of the other two regiment leaders: "That's right, don't wait for us to rush to the city of Bobruisk, the army headquarters suddenly issued an order to let us stop Attack, and then switch to another unit to take our credit."

"Comrades, regiment commanders," Onu Prienko quickly comforted them when he saw that his regiment commander was unstable, "The annihilation of the 35th Army was completely an accident. I guess the 109th Division only wanted to kill the enemy. Who would have thought that the opponent was so vulnerable that he was wiped out in just a few hours, and even the commander was captured."

"Commanders, what's the matter with you?" Seeing the unconvinced faces of several regiment leaders, the political commissar of the division tapped his fingers on the tabletop to attract everyone's attention, and then said, "An order is an order. Since the superior has given us such an order, we must obey it unconditionally. Do you understand?"

   "Understood!" Several regiment leaders replied weakly.

   "Didn't you eat?" Onuprienko asked angrily.

   "Understood!" Several group leaders raised their voices this time.

   "Now that you understand, let's go to perform the task."

  When several regiment leaders were about to leave, Onu Priyenko stopped Ma Daqiang, the commander of the 4th Guards Regiment: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please stay here, I still have something to say to you."

  Although Ma Daqiang didn't know what Onuprienko would say to him, he stopped in his tracks: "Comrade commander, is there anything else you want to order?"

"Come here." Onu Priyanko called Ma Daqiang to the table, pointed to the map and said to him, "Look, there is a village in the direction of your attack. According to the information provided by the scouts, Information, there are still many villagers in the village, when you attack, you must ensure their personal safety, understand?"

   "Comrade Commander," Ma Qiang said hesitantly, "If the Germans use the villagers as shields, what should we do? We can't shoot at our own villagers, right?"

  As the war situation became unfavorable to the German army, what the Germans did seemed to have no limit. The Germans have done a lot of things like taking villagers as hostages and letting them walk in front of the stormtroopers. Ma Daqiang was worried that something similar would happen, so he specifically asked Onuprienko for instructions.

   Don't look at Major General Onuprienko as the division commander, but he also has no good way to deal with such difficult matters. He could only say vaguely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you should play it by ear when the time comes."

  The phrase "play by ear" made Ma Daqiang seem very confused. He tried hard to think about how to deal with this matter. The division commander, General Onu Priyanko, seemed to have said it, but he didn't seem to say anything. He could only say helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Master, we will do our best to ensure the personal safety of the villagers."

   But what happened next far exceeded everyone's judgment.

  But Lieutenant Colonel Ma Daqiang's vanguard battalion of the 4th Guards Regiment had just approached the village when he suddenly saw flames and flames rising from the village. When the experienced veteran saw it, he shouted: "No, the enemy has started to set fire to the village. Put out the fire, put out the fire quickly!"

When Ma Daqiang learned of this situation, he was extremely angry, and quickly ordered the battalion commander: "Comrade major, immediately organize people to enter the village to fight the fire and see if there are any villagers alive. rescued from the sea of ​​fire."

  (end of this chapter)