Red Moscow

After Lunev left the hospital, he rushed to the General Staff as quickly as possible. He planned to report Sokov's proposal to Antonov and others.

Arriving at the General Staff, he went directly to Stemenko's office, only to find the door closed. Not finding Stemenko, he turned back to Antonov's office. Unexpectedly, he ran into a wall again here, and still couldn't find anyone.

He stopped an officer passing in the corridor and asked: "Major, do you know where Comrade Antonov is?"

The officer knew Lunev, raised his hand in salute, and replied respectfully: "Hello, General Lunev. Marshal Vasilevsky has just arrived and is calling the chief of staff and several deputy chiefs of staff for a meeting in the conference room." Woolen cloth."

After Lunev thanked the officer, he walked quickly towards the meeting room.

Seeing Lunev walk into the conference room, Stemenko hurriedly stood up to greet him: "Lunev, you are here!"

Lunev nodded at Shtemenko, and then quickly scanned the room, and saw that there were more than 20 people attending the meeting, most of whom he did not know. The person sitting in the main seat was Marshal Vasilevsky, and he took the initiative to greet Vasilevsky: "Hello, Comrade Marshal."

"Hello, Comrade Lunev." Vasilevsky saw Lunev appearing here, with a surprised expression on his face: "Why are you free to come to the General Staff today?"

Although he welcomed Lunev on the surface, he thought vigilantly in his heart: "We are in a meeting, what is he, a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, running here for?"

Fortunately, Antonov spoke in time to dispel the doubts in his heart: "Comrade Marshal, I and Stemenko entrusted General Lunev to go to the hospital to see Comrade Sokov to understand his understanding of the situation in the Zhytomir area." view."

After saying this, Antonov turned his head to look at Lunev, and asked with a smile: "General Lunev, you rushed over here in a hurry, you must have met General Sokov, right?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Lunev showed sufficient courtesy to Antonov: "I have just returned from Sokov, and I also learned about his views on the situation in Zhitomir."

Seeing a map spread out in the middle of the conference table, Lunev knew that before he entered, they were discussing the situation in the Zhitomir region, so he didn't go around in circles, but said straight to the point: "He said that with the strength of the 38th Army Therefore, he suggested that before the formation of the German encirclement, the 38th Army should be ordered to abandon the city and retreat to Kiev."

"Absurd, it's simply too absurd." As soon as Lunev finished speaking, Ivanov, the first deputy chief of the general staff, said: "Zhytomyr is the barrier to protect Kiev's safety. If we give up this easily the Germans could easily rush to Kiev. In order to avoid this situation, we must hold Zhitomyr at all costs and smash the German attempt to recapture Kiev."

The suggestion to let Lunev go to see Sokov was suggested by Stemenko. Seeing that Sokov's plan was questioned by Ivanov at this moment, Shtemenko felt that he had to come out and say a few words: "Comrade Ivanov, I think General Sokov's statement has a certain point. Makes sense. The German army attacking Zhytomyr was the 48th Armored Army under the command of Balck. The Banner Guard Division and the 1st Armored Division alone had more than 400 tanks, while the 38th Army had only four infantrymen. Division, as well as some artillery, cavalry and a small number of tank units, lacked sufficient anti-tank forces..."

"Yes, they do lack sufficient anti-tank forces." Before Shtemenko finished speaking, Ivanov interrupted: "But they can rely on the fortifications to resist the German attack. At the same time, We will send other troops to Zhytomyr for support..."

Seeing that Ivanov and Shtemenko were arguing about whether to defend or retreat, Lunev did not speak. After all, he was not a member of the General Staff and was not qualified to participate in such an argument. Menko sat down in the empty seat next to him, quietly watching the development of the situation.

After the debate lasted for five or six minutes, it finally stopped. Both Ivanov and Antonov turned their attention to Antonov. After all, he is the chief of the general staff and he is qualified to make the final conclusion.

But what they didn't expect was that Antonov didn't express any opinion, but looked at Vasilevsky and asked: "Comrade Marshal, what do you think?"

Vasilevsky did not expect that Antonov would throw this hot potato to himself, he smiled lightly, and then said: "Comrade Antonov, you should remember that when the war first broke out, he was the chief of the general staff. It is Marshal Zhukov." After saying this, he closed his mouth and looked down at the map in front of him.

After listening to Vasilevsky's words, Antonov couldn't help being taken aback, thinking that Marshal Zhukov served as the chief of general staff in the early days of the war. What connection does it have with our meeting today? With this question in mind, he just wanted to speak, but out of the corner of his eye, he accidentally caught a glimpse of a place name on the map, and his expression changed drastically, and he understood the reason why the other party said this.

After taking a deep breath, Antonov looked at Vasilevsky and said, "Comrade Marshal, in this case, it is absolutely necessary to stick to Zhitomir."

"Yes." Seeing that Antonov understood what he meant, Vasilevsky nodded and said, "In any case, we need the 38th Army to find a way to keep the Germans in the area west of Zhitomir."

The conversation between the two was like a riddle. Most people in the conference room understood it, but some couldn't understand it. An officer from the Operations Department asked his colleagues in a low voice: "Do you know that Marshal Vasilevsky What do the words mean?"

The colleague replied in a low voice: "Don't you know that when the German army approached Kiev, Marshal Zhukov told the Supreme Commander himself that Kiev could not be defended at all, and suggested to abandon the city and retreat to the left bank of the Dnieper River to rebuild a new line of defense. , As a result, he was dismissed as chief of the general staff and sent to the then reserve front army as the commander of the army."

"So that's how it is." After listening to his colleagues' explanations, the officer finally realized: "It's no wonder that Comrade First Deputy Chief of Staff has a tough attitude and insists that the 38th Army stay and stick to the city."

"Well, even if you can't defend it, you have to defend it." The colleague continued: "Under the current situation, no one dares to issue an order for the 38th Army to abandon the city."

While the two were whispering, Antonov had already made his final decision: "Then I will immediately call Comrade Vatutin and order the 38th Army to hold Zhytomir at all costs."

Vasilevsky nodded and added: "The 38th Army that sticks to Zhitomir lacks enough anti-tank weapons. If it wants to block the German armored forces, it will inevitably pay huge casualties. You tell General Vatutin, he Stop hiding the air force in your hands and do your best to provide air support to the defenders to ensure that the Germans cannot take the city."

"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Antonov said respectfully, "I will convey your thoughts to General Vatutin."

He paused, and then asked: "Comrade Marshal, I have a question. What should we do if the 38th Army really can't hold Zhytomir?" Don't see that Antonov obeyed Vasilevs According to Ki's advice, he intends to allow General Moskalenko's 38th Army to continue to stick to Zhitomyr, but he still has to plan for the city to fall.

"I think we can inform Rokossovsky about this matter and ask him to keep at least one army group east of Kiev from the troops that have not been fully transferred to the north, and make plans to support Vatutin at any time."

After saying this, Vasilevsky saw that Antonov hesitated, and immediately guessed what the other party was worried about, so he sighed softly and said, "I will call Marshal Zhukov later, It is most appropriate for him to come forward in this matter."

According to the original plan, the troops that liberated Kiev should be the Belarusian Front Army commanded by Rokossovsky. Although the October offensive failed, as long as the deployment is readjusted and the attack is launched again, there is a chance to take Kiev. But just as Rokossovsky's troops were preparing to attack again, they received an order from the Supreme Command to move all the troops to the north to make way for the Ukrainian First Front Army, and Vatutin's troops came. Liberate Kiev.

Although this is an order from the Supreme Command, Rokossovsky must still have knots in his heart. If he is directly ordered to keep the troops and be ready to reinforce Kiev at any time, he will definitely be greatly reduced when he executes the order. Even left a group army that was severely weakened in the battle to cope with the orders of the superiors.

"I think one army group is not enough, and more troops are needed." Vasilevsky added: "Comrade Antonov, what other troops do you think can be mobilized?"

"Comrade Shtemenko," Antonov turned to look at Shtemenko, and asked, "Tell me, what other troops can be mobilized to Kiev for reinforcements?"

Hearing Antonov ask himself, Shtemenko quickly stood up, opened the book in his hand, looked at it, and then replied: "I think it is still possible to transfer General Katukov's 1st Tank Army, and the 18th Army of General Resselidze."

"I think it's okay." Vasilevsky was very satisfied with the two troops proposed by Shtemenko, nodded and said: "Then immediately inform them to move closer to Kiev."

Lunev, who was sitting next to Shtemenko, had doubts about Sokov's proposal at first, but after listening to the speech at the meeting, he realized that Sokov's proposal was very correct, but due to special The reason is that knowing that Zhitomir cannot be defended, but still find a way to carry out a resolute defense here.

When Antonov announced the end of the meeting, Lunev immediately stood up and strode out. His idea was simple, go to the hospital immediately and tell Sokov the decision made at the General Staff meeting.

As soon as Lunev walked out of the building of the General Staff Headquarters, a lieutenant colonel officer ran out of the building quickly. He came to Lunev's side and raised his hand to salute and asked, "Excuse me, are you General Lunev?" ?”

"Yes, I'm Lunev." Lunev looked at the other party blankly and asked, "What's the matter, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel?"

"That's right, General Lunev." The lieutenant colonel explained to Lunev with a smile: "I am today's star officer, and I just received a call from the deputy chief of the general staff of Shtemenko, and he asked you to go to his A trip to the office."

Lunev knew in his heart that Stemenko's calling himself to his office must have something to do with the just-concluded meeting. After thanking the officer, he walked into the building again.

Walking into Shtemenko's office, Lunev saw that Shtemenko had just put down the phone, and asked straight to the point: "What do you want from me?" Thinking of going to the hospital to ask Sokov for advice, but When it was brought to the meeting but was easily rejected, Lunev was very unhappy in his heart, and naturally there was a trace of anger in his tone when he spoke.

"Don't be angry, old man." Shtemenko naturally understood Lunev's mood at the moment, and quickly asked him to sit down, and poured him a cup of hot tea: "Tea, please!"

"I know, you feel aggrieved by what happened today." After returning to his desk and sitting down, Shtemenko looked at Lunev and said, "Actually, my opinion is the same as that of General Sokov. Mir has no meaning, but will consume the precious vital forces of the Ukrainian First Front."

After saying this, he let out a long sigh and continued: "But there is no way. If our army voluntarily abandons Zhytomyr, not only Erhard Raus's 4th Armored Army will get a respite, but also Barr The 48th Armored Army of Russia can also rush directly to the outside of Kiev along the Zhitomir-Kiev Highway. By then, Berdichev's 3rd Guards Tank Army and the attacking Korosken The 60th Army will be cut off from retreat and become a lone army hanging behind the enemy's rear."

"But what will you do if Zhitomir falls?" Lunev said with a sneer: "Even if the 38th Army can break through the encirclement of the German army, it will probably suffer heavy casualties and be unable to participate in the defense of Kiev. By that time At that time, the capital of Ukraine is still in danger of being lost."

"We have also considered this point." Shtemenko said with a wry smile: "Didn't you hear that at the meeting, Marshal Vasilevsky proposed that Rokossovsky send troops nearby to reinforce Kiev? Also, I just called the other two army commanders and ordered them to move towards Kiev as quickly as possible, and they must enter the designated position and prepare for all battles before the German army reaches the outside of Kiev."

"How to deploy defenses is a matter for your general staff." Lunev said with some displeasure: "Then why did you call me back?"

"Lunev, if I'm not mistaken, you are in such a hurry to leave, you must want to go to the hospital to find General Sokov, and tell him what you heard at the meeting." Stemenko looked at Lunev Asked, "Am I right?"

"That's right, I was thinking about it." Lunev didn't hide his true thoughts, and asked instead, "Is there anything wrong?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't go to the hospital." Shtemenko reminded Lunev: "Even if you told Sokov what you heard and saw at the meeting, what can he do?" What? He has not recovered from his injuries, and it is impossible for him to return to the 27th Army to command the troops to resolve the current predicament."

"Stemenko, I understand what you said." Lunev also sighed and said, "I didn't think carefully. Don't worry, I won't go to the hospital anyway. I can't change anything anyway. I still have something to do. gone."

"I'll see you off." Seeing that Lunev was about to leave, Stemenko quickly got up and walked out from behind the table.

He personally sent Lunev out of the building of the General Staff, shook his hand and said gratefully: "Lunev, although General Sokov's suggestion was not adopted today, I still thank you on behalf of the General Staff." .”