Chapter 1290

In the next two days, while Chernoff's 90th division of guards fought the German attack tenaciously, a guard regiment of the sherekin division approached uman, known as the fortress, and tried to attack.

There were fortifications built by the Soviet Army on the periphery of uman. After the German army occupied the area, all fortifications were reinforced. According to our information, there was only one German battalion in the city, but they resisted by relying on solid fortifications. Many attacks launched by the guards ended in failure.

When I saw a series of war reports sent back from the front line, I couldn't help frowning. At the same time, I realized in my heart that I was opening my clenched fist when I used my troops so scattered. If Zhukov can launch an attack to the north of Kiev as soon as possible, we can get rid of the current predicament, otherwise the troops will be defeated by each other.

As my deputy, chisgakov obviously found out this problem. He tentatively asked me, "Comrade commander, I think such use of troops will make our strength more dispersed. According to the war report received today, general konev's troops are in a bad situation. It is inevitable that they will be defeated by the German army. Once they are defeated, our scattered troops may fall into the encirclement of the German army. "

"Ah?" Kirilov was startled by his words. He looked at me and then at kirilov again. Then he asked in an uncertain tone, "general konev has hundreds of thousands of troops and has been strengthened by the other two front forces. Can't he really stop the attack of the two German armored forces?"

On hearing this question, chisjakov did not speak. He just sighed for a long time. Then he looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, I think it's more appropriate for you to answer this question."

I nodded and said solemnly, "comrades of the military commissar and deputy commander, what they said is true. Judging from the current situation, it is only a matter of time before general konev's troops are defeated. In order to contain the German forces, we put our only four divisions into the battle. If the German forces crush the friendly forces from the northeast, the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division outside kilovgrad will be in danger of encirclement. "

"Do we need to shrink our forces?" As soon as I finished speaking, chief of staff bezikov said anxiously, "if the German forces attack the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division, and at the same time send a force to rush to cherkaser along the road, we have no force to stop them."

"Chief of staff, you have a point." I looked down at the map and found that the city that the 52nd division of Jinwei held fast to was just like chicken ribs. On the surface, they occupied the city and successfully cut off the traffic between uman and kilovgrad. Once the troops outside kilovgrad had to retreat, they would fall into the situation of being attacked by the German left and right. I don't think they can defend a city without danger under the German attack. Therefore, I made my own decision in a very short time. I looked at bezikov and said, "call general Nekrasov and ask him to immediately withdraw the 52nd division of the guards to its original defensive position."

Bezikov agreed. He just wanted to convey my order, but he was stopped by chisgakov. The latter kindly reminded me: "commander vatukin ordered us to take a big action to attract the attention of the German army, so as to cover the advance of friendly forces to the north of Kiev. If we withdraw our troops without asking for instructions, will it affect the overall arrangement of our superiors? "

"Well, comrade deputy commander, as you said, report this to the headquarters of the front army." I waved to him and said feebly, "I'll give you full responsibility for this matter."

When chisjakov called the headquarters of the front army, I called bezikov to him, pointed to the map and said to him, "chief of staff, I think the attack on uman should stop immediately. We put in too few troops and have no heavy weapons. Apart from sacrificing our commanders and fighters in vain, it is also easy to stimulate the enemy. According to my judgment, in order to prevent the loss of uman, it is entirely possible for the Germans to transfer more troops from venica. In this way, not only the guard regiment may not be able to keep it, but even the 89th division of the guard may be entangled by the enemy. "

"OK, I'll call general Xie Liujin and ask him to withdraw the guards." Bezikov didn't talk any nonsense. After recording my orders, he went to call sherekin directly.

I sat at the table and looked up at chisgakov, who was calling vatukin. From the change of his face, I knew that the situation we are facing is extremely serious. After he put down the phone, I immediately stood up and asked with concern, "deputy commander, what does the senior general say?"

Chisjakov shook his head and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad now. Due to days of heavy rain, the road has become muddy, and our troops moving north of Kiev are now trapped in the heavy rain. It will take at least three to five days for the troops that could have entered the attack position today. "

"What about general konev?" As soon as he stopped, I immediately asked, "can they block the German attack?"

Chisjakov shook his head again and said bitterly, "Comrade commander, I'm sure I'll let you down again. Commander vatujing said that in addition to the fact that general konev's close guard seventh group army stayed at clemenzuk, the main force of the Ukrainian second front army had withdrawn across the Dnieper River. "

"What, general konev's troops retreated across the Dnieper?" Kirilov was startled by the sudden news. After a long time, he asked tentatively, "is this all true?"

"In the intercepted German war report, they claimed that they destroyed 400 tanks of our army, killed and wounded more than 80000 people of our army, and captured nearly 10000 people." With a wry smile, chisgakov added: "although there is a lot of moisture in the German war report, we can also judge that general konev's troops have suffered heavy losses, otherwise they would not have retreated to the other side of the Dnieper River in such a hurry."

"As for our request to shrink our troops, has general vatukin agreed?" The defeat of konev's troops has a direct impact on us. If we don't gather up the troops in time and wait for the main force of the winning German army to turn around, our troops will also face the fate of being defeated or encircled.

"Commander watujing said that you are in charge of the sixth group army." Chi Sky Kopf looked at me and said, "you has the final say whether the army is in the status quo or the troops are being reduced. However, the only requirement is that before the main force of the front army attacks from the north of Kiev, you should confine the main force of the German army to the vicinity of cherkaser, so that they can not join the German army cluster in Kiev. "

"There's no problem with that." As long as vatuking allows me to gather up the troops, I have the confidence to block the German army from Alexandria to Kiev, even if I pay more casualties. I solemnly said to bezikov, "chief of staff, immediately give orders to the divisions to withdraw their original positions under alternate cover."

"Comrade commander, I want to remind you of one more thing." After I gave the order, chisgakov said with some embarrassment, "I don't know whether to say it or not."

"Go ahead, comrade deputy commander." I don't know what other things chisgakov thought were neglected by me, so I said in a reasonable way, "whatever you think, just say it."

Although he got my consent, he still hesitated when he said: "well, in the recent battle arrangement, I think you seem to have forgotten the existence of the two guards commanders..."

Before I had finished, I clapped myself on the forehead. If he didn't remind me, I really forgot the two guards commanders. I always ask bzikov to directly inform the division commanders of what orders to give. I forgot all about the two commanders.

Now that chisgakov has reminded me, if I choose to ignore it again, it will be a little too unkind. I watched bezikov on the phone and turned my attention to akhromeyev. I waved to him. When he passed, I asked, "major, do you know where the two commanders of the guards are?"

Akhromeyev took out a book, looked at it, and then reported clearly: "general tavartkiraze, commander of the 23rd army of the guards, is in the 375TH infantry division; General sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, is in the 90th division of the guards. "

After listening to akhromeyev's report, I laughed awkwardly at chisgakov, and then said, "Comrade deputy commander, it's a coincidence that the two commanders are now on the outskirts of kilovgrad, and I don't know who they are and who they are commanding during the war."

After I finished, kirilov suggested to me, "Rita, our headquarters is very spacious anyway. Why don't we have two commanders working here. In the future, any combat task can be assigned to them directly, and then they will give orders to the troops below. What do you think? "

"Well, good idea." I also know that commanding at a higher level is very annoying. If the orders issued by different superiors are the same, the commanders below also know how to do it. Once the order contradicts itself, the commander who accepts the task will fall into confusion. So I readily agreed to kirilov's proposal, and told akhromeyev: "major, immediately inform the two commanders of our resolution, and let them report to the headquarters as soon as possible."

With a series of orders issued, the part that was fighting with the German army quickly broke away from contact with the enemy and retreated to the original defensive position under alternate cover.

In the evening, tavartkiraze and sivakov reported to me that their troops had retreated to the designated positions as ordered.

According to the reports of the reconnaissance units, shortly after our troops withdrew from their positions, they were occupied by the German troops who rushed to them. Perhaps for fear of being attacked by our army, the German army, after entering the position, did not care to rest, so they rushed to repair the fortifications in the rain. In the city of uman, another tank regiment entered at about 3 p.m. After seeing this information, I can't help but feel relieved. Fortunately, I stopped the meaningless attack of the guards in time, otherwise they might have been defeated by the new German tanks.

The troops near cherkaser have been gathered and we are safe for the time being until the German forces near kilovgrad attack. I think of the troops in korostvev. I don't know how they are now. I haven't got their information for more than a day. I called the chief of communications, Mr. lophoff, to me and asked, "major, what's the matter? Why haven't we contacted the troops in korostvev?" There was an expression of embarrassment on lophov's face. He argued: "Comrade commander, we have not received a telegram from korostev since yesterday afternoon."“ What measures have been taken? " Asked chisgakov, grimacing. Lophoff nodded hard and then replied, "we kept calling, but we didn't get in touch. So in the early hours of this morning, I sent a communication team, carrying a radio station, to korostev quietly to get in touch with the garrison in the city. "“ Is there any news back? " This time it's my question. Lophoff shook his head and replied awkwardly, "I'm sorry, comrade commander. So far, I haven't got any information. I think the road is muddy and difficult to walk, so the communication team I sent has not reached the destination yet. " I didn't blame him. I just told him briefly, "if you have any news, report it to me immediately." When I returned to the table, chisgakov asked with some worry, "Comrade commander, we have lost contact with korostev for more than a day. What's the accident?" Although I feel uneasy at the moment, I still try to calm down and say, "don't worry, maybe their radio station is broken, so I can't get in touch with us. You know, they have been there for such a long time. It's not easy for the Germans to destroy them. "“ Comrade commander. " As soon as I finished, tavartkilaze continued, "I know my commanders and fighters. They don't think they will step back even if there is one left."“ Yes, comrade commander. " Seeing that tavartkilaze had made a statement, sivakov naturally did not dare to fall behind. He also said loudly, "our officers and men of the 22nd army of the guards will shed their last drop of blood in order to defend our motherland."