Chapter 1303

Seeing me holding the microphone in a daze, kirilov came up and asked, "what's the matter with you, Rita?"

Kirilov pulled me out of my absence. I put the receiver close to my ear and listened. There was a blind sound in it. Vatujing didn't know when he had hung up. I put the receiver on the base of the phone, looked at kirilov and said without expression: "Comrade military commissar, general vatukin told me that the plane on which major travkin's reconnaissance team was flying was found by the enemy's anti-aircraft fire before it arrived in Lutsk. Now the headquarters of the front army has lost contact with the pilots on the mission. At worst, they may have died because of the plane crash

"Ah, crash?" Kirilov was startled by the news I said. He hesitated for a moment, just like I did, and said in a skeptical tone: "Rita, maybe they succeeded in parachuting before the crash. The reason why we can't get in touch may be that the radio station installed in the airborne backpack is broken, or they haven't found the backpack after landing, so they can't send us a message for the time being. "

"It's possible." I still have a bit of illusion about the loss of contact between them. So I told the director of communications, lophov, to him and said, "Comrade major, the reconnaissance team of major trafkin has lost contact with us. I order you to use two radio stations to make continuous calls and try to get in touch with them."

"Yes, comrade commander." Lophoff simply replied, "I'm going to arrange it."

After lophov left, bzikov said anxiously, "Comrade commander, now major trafkin is missing. Who should we send to command the reconnaissance camp? You know, they are indispensable to the reconnaissance around Zhitomir. "

"It is necessary to arrange the new commander of the reconnaissance battalion as soon as possible," kirilov said solemnly. "The reconnaissance battalion is tantamount to our eyes and ears. Only through them can we know the German's every move in time."

"Commander, military commissar, I have a suitable candidate." "I just don't know if you agree or not," chisjakov said slowly

"Who is it, comrade deputy commander?" Kirilov asked anxiously.

"It's major basmanov, the commander of the security battalion who has been running around with the commander recently." After giving his choice, chisjakov asked for our advice: "do you think it's suitable?"

I see everyone's eyes are focused on me, and I know everyone is waiting for me to make a statement. As for chisjakov's proposal, I was in favor of ten thousand people. In an important position, who is not willing to promote the person I trust most? So I nodded decisively and said, "I agree with the deputy commander's proposal."

"Me too!" Kirilov waited for me to finish, then echoed.

Seeing that both of us agreed to let basmanov take over the post of commander of the reconnaissance battalion, bezikov naturally would not object. After agreeing, he asked, "who will take over the post of commander of his guard battalion?"

It was kirilov who gave his opinion this time. What he recommended to me was a commander he valued: "I think captain Rosenberg will take the post. He was an excellent grass-roots commander. In the battle of capturing kaniv for several months, he personally led a small boat to cross the Dnieper River full of floating ice in the late night, and made great contributions to our capture of the river crossing bridge; In the battle of Kursk, the troops under his command... "

Before kirilov had finished his words, lophov, who had just left, hurried into the headquarters, handed me a telegram, and said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, this is the telegram from the 52nd division of the guards. They found that there was a change in the German army in uman."

"What, there is a change in the German army of uman?" I listened to what he said and quickly brought the telegram to my eyes and looked at it carefully.

After a brief introduction of Captain Rosenberg, kirilov turned to me and asked curiously, "what's in the telegram, Rita?"

After reading the telegram, I handed it to chisjakov and bezikov and asked them to study it slowly. Then I said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, division commander Nekrasov said in the telegram that the scouts they sent to uman found that the German armored forces were gathering all night long. It seemed that they were ready to take big action."

When I talked to kirilov, chisjakov, bezikov and akhromeyev stood head to head in front of the map on the wall to study the possible direction of the German army's next move.

In my memory: after the liberation of Kiev, the Soviet army launched an attack on Zhitomir a few days later, and soon captured the city. But at the moment, I can't find any useful information in my mind about what kind of action Wurman's German army is going to take, so I can only turn to my deputies for help. I quickly walked up to chisgakov and asked with concern, "well, have you judged the direction of the German army's next move?"

"Comrades commander," akhromeyev said on the map, picking up the stick beside the wall, "according to our judgment, it is entirely possible for the German army of uman to go north along the road and carry out counter attacks from the southwest of Kiev through chakhkov and bazerkovi."

After listening to akhromeyev's explanation, I turned to chisjakov and bezikov again: "do you two have the same views as the major?"

Chisgakov nodded and replied, "yes, comrade commander, we think so. You should know that the road a few days ago made the road muddy. Only on the road to the north can the large-scale German armored forces be launched. "

Although I think what chisjakov said is very reasonable, he still asked: "will the German armored forces of uman not regard other places as the main direction of attack except to attack Kiev upward?"

"No, comrade commander." "I can say for sure that uman's armored forces will fight back to Kiev with the cooperation of the enemy in the direction of Zhitomir after they go north," chisjakov said firmly

"But, comrade deputy commander," kirilov, who had just come by, could not help but ask curiously after hearing what chisjakov said: "although Kiev has just been liberated, there are five or six army groups of our front army, and the German army is fighting back at this time. Isn't that beating the stone with the egg?"

"Comrade military commissar, you don't know something." Chisjakov patiently explained to kirilov, who did not understand military affairs, "although our troops in Kiev have five or six army groups in name, what kind of troops are they? After a long period of fighting, not only the troops were greatly reduced, but also the commanders and fighters were exhausted. I am sure that the vast majority of the officers and men are resting. Once the battle starts, perhaps more than half of the troops will not be able to gather and fight in a short time. "

"It seems that we are going to report the situation to the headquarters of the front army." when I picked up the phone from my desk and prepared to call vatukin, I asked chisgakov: "Comrade deputy commander, can our troops build a defense line on the road and delay the speed of the German army's recommendation to Kiev?"

"We could have done that before yesterday's day, but not now." Chisgakov said with some regret: "we have transferred three relatively complete close guard divisions near cherkaser here, and the remaining two divisions have been severely reduced in the early fighting. They are barely enough to defend the existing defensive positions. If we want them to slow down the advance of the German army, I don't think we can do it. "

After I got a definite answer from chisgakov, I immediately called vatukin. As soon as I got through the phone, I immediately reported to vatukin: "senior general, according to our scout's report, the German armored forces in uman are assembling. It seems that they have a big operation."

Hearing my warning, vatukin said absently: "we have just liberated Kiev, and the main forces of your group army have gathered near Zhitomir. They can't even take care of their defense now. Where can any forces take the initiative to attack us?" He stopped for a moment and asked, "according to your judgment, where will the enemy choose the direction of attack?"

"Kiev!" I replied briefly.

"Kiev?" Vatukin raised his voice and asked me, "Hey, comrade oshanina, did you hear about the plane crash of the reconnaissance team and lose your mind because of too much grief. The main force of the German army was devastated by us in Kiev. How dare they launch a counterattack against Kiev? "

Holding the microphone in my hand and staring at the map on the wall, I cautiously reminded vatukin: "senior general, although the main force of the front army liberated Kiev and controlled korostev and obukoshiv, the two medium-sized cities in the middle, baitserkovi and fastif, are still under the control of the German army. Their armored forces can take these two cities as the starting point of their attack, gather the dominant forces and counter attack Kiev. "

After a moment's silence, vatukin said, "Rita, judging from all the signs, it's quite possible that what you said will come true. In order to smash the German attempt to recapture Kiev, I intend to deploy the 38th group army in the southwest and let them block the German forces from uman. "

After I put down the phone, I said to chisgakov: "the general is ready to transfer the 38th army to the southwest of Kiev, and build fortifications there to resolutely block the German armored forces from uman." Then I told akhromeyev, "major, you go to the communication room and send a phone call to general nikolasov, so that they must find out the number of the German troops..."

Before I had finished speaking, lophov came in again in a hurry. "Comrade commander, general Nekrasov called to tell me that they had figured out the number of the enemy's armored forces."

"Which army is it?" I asked chisgakov in unison.

Lophov looked at us and replied in a flurried way, "it's the 25th German armored division, and the division commander is major general Scher. According to the Scout's report, the German army was strengthened by two Tiger Tank companies before departure, about 16 Tiger tanks. "

When we heard about German Tiger tanks before, we still felt a little pale. After all, in the battle of Kharkov at the beginning of the year, our tanks met German Tiger tanks, which were lambs to be slaughtered. However, with the help of fleuning engineers, 40 rocket launchers and t-5455 tanks were developed in advance, and the German tank superiority in the battlefield disappeared. If our army's tank tactics are used properly, it will not be a big problem for a tank company to clean up a tank battalion.

I waited for lophov to finish, then I asked bzikov with a side face: "chief of staff, how many new tanks do we have in the Fifth Army of our close guard tanks?"“ There are 31 more, "bezikov said after turning over his Notepad." at present, these new tanks have sufficient ammunition. As long as the German army does not send air force bombing or heavy artillery bombardment in the battle, the whole battle will become one-sided. "“ Don't worry, chief of staff. " "Now that we have recovered Kiev, we can deploy the air force group forces to the airports around the city," chisjakov said with a smile to bezikov. If the runways of these airports are made of reinforced concrete, our fighter planes can go out normally on sunny or rainy days. "“ If so, that would be great. " Bezikov, who had been suffering from frequent German bombing, had a relaxed expression on his face: "as long as the air supremacy of the battlefield is in our hands, the German armored forces are not enough for our tank troops to plug their teeth." After all, the performance of the new tank is far better than that of the German Tiger tank, so they are not opponents of the same level. As long as they meet on the battlefield, the Tiger tank will only have to flee. Staring at the map spread out in front of me, I asked bzikov without looking up: "chief of staff, are the troops of the 67th and 90th divisions in position?"“ Yes, comrade commander. " "They are a few hours ahead of schedule. At present, the commanders and fighters of the two divisions are in the designated area to rush to repair the fortifications," bezikov replied respectfully“ Chief of staff, please call the two division commanders immediately and ask them to come to the headquarters immediately. " I specially stressed that "their task is not only to protect the safety of this base, but also to launch an attack on Zhitomir as the main force of the group army when necessary."