Burning Moscow

The friendly attack from the south of Kiev continued until midnight. Kistyakov stood at the window, looking at the red night sky to the north, and said with emotion: "Comrade Commander, the friendly forces have been in a posture that they must take Kiev from the afternoon until now. The main force of the German army will definitely be contained in the south, so that our offensive from the north will be much smoother."

"No, with such a fight of friendly forces, the Germans thought that our army was bound to win against Kiev, so they drew out troops from everywhere to stop our army's offensive." Bezikov said in an interface: "Tavart Kiradze The commander of the army just called and said that the Germans who had attacked Korostviv from the east had stopped their offensive. Except for a small number of troops left to monitor our army, the rest had returned to Kiev."

Hearing Bezikov mentioning Korostlev, Kistyakov couldn't help but asked with concern: "Chief of Staff, how many troops are there now in our troops?"

Bezikov shook his head and said helplessly: "At present, the three divisions add up to 8,000 people, and the tank brigade has nine tanks left. If the Germans continue to attack, it is estimated that it will be difficult for them to support it."

After I waited for Bezikov to finish speaking, I asked, "Chief of Staff, I remember that the Germans from Zhytomyr had a very fierce attack on General Takirazze. How about it? Have you stopped now?"

"It has stopped." Bezikov nodded vigorously and said: "According to General Tavart Kiladze's report, when the German army from Kiev began to retreat, the German offensive page on the west side stopped and is now slowing down. Retreat slowly to Zhytomyr."

When a few of us were standing at the window chatting, we suddenly heard Akhromeyev calling me: "Comrade Commander, your phone number is from the Front Army Headquarters."

I took the microphone and put it in my ear, and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade General."

Vatutin did not greet me either, and asked straightforwardly: "Comrade Oshanina, our 27th Army and 40th Army have been attacking Kiev for more than ten hours. How is the situation there? ?"

"The enemy in the direction of Korostlev has stopped the offensive and retreated to Kiev and Zhytomyr. The fighting in the south is still going on in the southeast of Cherkassy." I briefly reported on my situation. Later, he asked tentatively: "Comrade General, I don't know when our main force can attack?"

Hearing what I said, Vatutin immediately said with a smile: "I can't hide anything from you. Marshal Zhukov asked me to tell you that the offensive will begin in five hours. He asks you to stop the Germans no matter what. The way to escape. How is it, are you sure to block the enemy?"

Kistyakov stood very close to me, vaguely heard the content of the call, and shook his head vigorously at me, as if he had something to say. I quickly covered the microphone with my hand and asked in a low voice, "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you have anything to say?"

Seeing that I was covering the microphone with my hand, Kistyakov immediately said: "Comrade Commander, our troops in Krostwiv have suffered heavy casualties. If the Germans rush towards it desperately, our troops will be It can't be stopped at all."

I nodded at him, saying that I knew it, and then released my hand over the microphone, and said to Vatutin: "Comrade General, we are sticking to the troops in Korostviv. The violent offensive in both directions resulted in a huge reduction in the number of troops. If there is no supplement, it is estimated that it will be very difficult to block the enemy."

After listening to the difficulties I mentioned, Vatutin was silent for a while, and said: "Comrade Oshanina, I understand your situation. I will assign two tank brigades and a cavalry division to your command overnight. They must be deployed to Korostviv as soon as possible. In any case, they must completely cut off the path of German escape to the west. They must not be allowed to join the Zhytomyr garrison. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Although Vatutin only dispatched two tank brigades and a tasteless cavalry division to me, it was better than nothing. It could increase some of the strength of the Krostweif defenders, so I Quickly replied: "I report to you that the Germans will never be allowed to flee to Zhytomyr."

Vatutin heard what I was saying, but he did not criticize me. Instead, he said briefly: "Two tank brigades and cavalry commanders can reach your headquarters in an hour at most, and you will Give them orders directly."

After I put down the phone, I couldn't wait to ask Bezikov: "Chief of Staff, which other unit of our group army has a more complete organizational system?"

Bezikov replied without hesitation: "Comrade Commander, currently the 225th regiment of the 52nd Guards Division is the most complete. I don't know what you are asking for?"

"The commander of the Guards, his name is Yersov?" After I said this, I observed Bezikov's expression, and when I saw him nodded in affirmation, I then ordered: "Take him immediately. Call to the headquarters, I have an important task to be entrusted to him to complete."

Ten minutes later, the heavily armed Lieutenant Colonel Yersov appeared in front of me. He straightened his back and said to me with beaming eyes: "Comrade Commander, commander of the 225th Guards Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Yersov is here, I am waiting for your order, please give instructions!"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have a glorious and arduous task to be handed over to your regiment to complete." From Yersov's expression, I can see that he is eager to fight, but I want to entrust him with the task. It was different from what he expected, so I asked a little hesitantly: "Are you confident to complete it?"

"Comrade Commander," Yersov said confidently: "Don't worry, as long as it's your task, I will spare no effort to complete it."

"Lieutenant Colonel, please come here." I guided him to the map hung on the wall, pointed to it and said to him: "The task I gave you is to lay a road from Corzon to The Shuchai Road in Korostviv"

Yersov was still smiling, but when he heard my order, his smile froze on his face. After I finished speaking, he immediately said with a mournful face: "Comrade Commander, our regiment did not get a fight during this period, and the commanders and fighters are all emotional. Now let them become engineers and pave the way, I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of?" Kirilov took the conversation and said, "Comrade Commander said before: Revolutionary soldiers are a brick, where they need to be moved. Since the superior has given you the task of paving the road, you should obey unconditionally. ."

Kirilov's crackling training left Yersov speechless. When Kirilov finished speaking, I saw Yersov look downcast, so I comforted him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, go back and tell the soldiers that the battle is endless. You are now an engineer paving the way. It means that there will be no chance to participate in the battle in the future. When you arrive in Korostwiv, you will temporarily stay there under the command of General Tavart Kiradze and participate in the next battle."

Hearing that they could take part in the next battle, Yersov's head was raised again. Seeing that he was in a state of high spirits, I went on to say: "The reason why I asked you to lay the firewood road is to let our tank brigades and cavalry divisions drive to Korostviv. And you guys. Along the way, there may be an encounter with the German army. The responsibility is not light."

"Comrade Commander, don't worry." Yersov figured out his mission and assured me: "Our regiment promised to complete the paving mission within two days." After saying this, he again Asked, "Can you return to the army?"

I waved at him and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, go back and ask the officers and soldiers to prepare more axes and ropes. These can be used when paving the road."

"Yes!" After Yersov replied loudly, he turned and walked out of the headquarters.

After more than an hour, the tank brigade and cavalry division commander Vatutin sent to us arrived. From the clothes of the three of them, I immediately distinguished the identity of each other: the two lieutenant colonels in black tank uniforms must be tank brigades, and the other major general in army uniforms is the commander of the cavalry division.

After shaking hands with the three of them one by one, I asked with concern: "I don't know when the commanders' troops will arrive in Cherkassy?"

The first to answer my question was the commander of the cavalry division. He frowned and said: "Comrade Commander, you also know that due to the heavy rain, the road has been damaged by rain, and the speed of our cavalry will definitely be greatly affected. I guess it won’t be until noon today at the earliest."

I knew what he was talking about was the truth. After a slight nod, I turned to the other two lieutenant colonels of the tank soldiers: "Two lieutenant colonels, I don’t know when your troops will arrive?"

After the two lieutenant colonels looked at each other, a burly lieutenant colonel stepped forward and reported to me: "Comrade Commander, in today's road conditions, our tanks can't move faster than infantry. I It is estimated that the tank brigade can cross the Dnieper River and get here at the earliest tomorrow evening."

Although the three of them are all polished commanders without troops, I called them to the front of the map, pointed them with the explanation stick and said to them: "Comrade three commanders, your tank brigade and cavalry division will Kosson set off and followed our paved Shuchai Road to Korostwiv to strengthen the troops there."

When I finished speaking, the cavalry division commander first asked on behalf of everyone: "Comrade Commander, I don't know when we will leave?"

"Of course, the sooner the better." I pointed the position of Kiev with the explanation stick, and continued, "Our army's offensive on Kiev is about to be fully launched. In the face of our army's powerful offensive, the enemy will be in a very short time. They will be defeated inside. At that time they will desperately rush to Zhytomyr along the road, meet with the defenders there, re-establish a line of defense, to fight against our army. And your task is to cooperate with Koros The defenders of Twiv resolutely blocked the Germans so that they would never have a chance to reach Zhitomir."

"I understand." The cavalry division commander said decisively: "When my cavalry division arrives, I will let the troops rush to Korostviv day and night to strengthen the defense there."

"Don't be so hurry, Comrade General." I thought that even if the main front force launches an offensive from the north, it will not be a task that can be accomplished in one or two days to capture Kiev, so I said to the cavalry division commander in a relaxed tone: "To Korostviv The roads are muddy, and if you force the army, it will damage the horses too much. If you don’t have a horse, can you still be called a cavalry? You only need to be able to get to Korostviv within two days."

"What about our tank?" the burly lieutenant colonel asked quickly.

"After your tank arrives, you will also rush to Korostviv along this road." I looked at the two lieutenants colonel and said, "I also give you two days. You must be within the specified time. Arrive in Krostwiv. Can it be done?"

"No problem, Comrade Commander." The lieutenant colonel replied, "As long as the road is paved, then our tank brigade will definitely be able to arrive in Korostviv on time."

After daybreak, the German army, which had been attacking the defense zone of Smila every day, suddenly became silent. Sivakov, who was commanding operations at the front, hurriedly sent people to check it out. After two hours of reconnaissance, he reported to me an unexpected piece of information: "Comrade Commander, Scout Report: The Germans have given up their occupied positions and are heading towards Alexandria without delay. Ya and Kirovgrad moved in two directions."

After I finished listening, UU looked at www.uukanshu.com and asked the tired-looking Kistyakov next to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what do you think?"

Kistyakov thought for a while, and then replied: "Comrade Commander, I guess it might be like this: The reason why the Germans rushed towards Cherkassy some time ago was because they were going to attack those gatherings. The troops south of Kiev, cut off their back, destroy them or drive them back to the other side of the Dnieper."

I nodded and said approvingly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what you said makes sense, please go on."

"I think the reason why the German army chose to retreat is because it is related to the offensive from the north to Kiev today. The Germans may already know that the attack from the north is the main force of our army, so they adjusted their strategy in time." As Stryakov said, he clicked on the map on the table with his hand, and then said: "Now they withdraw to Alexandria to prevent General Konev from coming back."

"Since the enemy has retreated, then we also need to adjust the deployment of troops." I pointed to the map and said to Bezikov: "Order the 52nd Guards Division, the 67th Guards Division, and the 375th Infantry Division to continue to be responsible for the battle. The defense in the southeast direction of Elkaser. The Eighty-Ninth and 90th Divisions of the Guards took the time to rest and prepare to move in to Krostlev." To be continued. ..