Red Moscow

Sokov, of course, was unaware of the swords and swords in this meeting of the General Staff. He was sitting in a wheelchair, having lunch with Assia face to face. Vera didn't want to disturb their two-person world, so she tactfully went to the nurse's desk to eat with her nurses.

"Misha!" Assia asked Sokov curiously, "What is General Lunev looking for from you today?"

Considering today's matter, it's not a top secret. In addition, there are only himself and Asiya in the ward, so Sokov said Lunev's intentions without hesitation.

When Asya heard that Sokov suggested to abandon Zhitomyr and let the 38th Army withdraw to Kiev, she was surprised and said: "My God, Misha, you are so brave to make such a suggestion, don't you think so?" Don't you worry?"

"Worried?!" Sokov asked inexplicably, "What am I worried about?"

"When the Germans approached Kiev, Marshal Zhukov, who was still the chief of the general staff, saw that Kiev could not be defended, so he proposed to abandon Kiev and withdraw the troops of the Southwest Front Army to the right bank of the Dnieper River to set up new defenses." Assi Ya said: "As a result, he was removed from the post of chief of the general staff because of this incident, and was sent to the reserve front army."

What Asiya said, Sokov has seen in later generations of movies. But in today's era, this kind of thing is absolutely confidential, how could Assia know. With this question in mind, Sokov asked, "Assia, how do you know these things?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Assia blinked at him, pretended to be serious and said, "Misha, have you forgotten what my profession is? As a military doctor, I have to come into contact with many people every day." The wounded, from them I get a lot of stuff that I don't get on the radio or in the newspapers."

Sokov did not question Assia's persuasion. A military doctor at the forefront, her understanding of the battlefield situation is not much slower than the commander of the army group herself, because she can obtain the latest information from the wounded brought down from the front.

"Misha," Assia asked Sokov with some concern: "Once Zhitomir falls, will the Germans quickly rush out of Kiev along the Zhitomir-Kiev highway?"

Sokov did not directly answer Assia's question, but talked about the weather: "Assia, you are also from Moscow, and you should know that the weather in November is the strangest."

"Why is that strange?"

"It often snows in the morning, the sun rises at noon, and it rains again in the afternoon." Sokov seemed to complain. If I go up, I will sink my shoes, so that every season, I have to polish my shoes twice a day..."

Assia first looked at Sokov with a blank face, thinking that I was asking if the Germans would rush to Kiev, but he talked to me about the weather, it was hell.

But this complaint didn't last long, and Asiya wanted to understand the meaning of Sokov's words, and she asked tentatively: "Misha, you mean that even if the Germans reoccupied Zhytomyr, they would Is it possible to stop the progress because of the continuous drizzle in November?"

Seeing that Assia understood his intentions, Sokov nodded with a smile, and stopped entangled in this issue. Instead, he picked up the empty bowl in front of him and said to Assia: "Honey, please serve it for me. A bowl of soup."

…………

On November 15, the German attack on Zhytomyr officially began.

The 7th Armored Division rushed to Staniszevka in the southeast of the city that day, and captured Liukov, 12 kilometers east of it, the next day.

On November 17, the 1st Panzergrenadier Regiment of the Banner Division reached Kocherovo on the Zhytomyr-Kiev railway. The 1st Armored Division also turned to flank the Soviet army in Zhytomyr with the 7th Armored Division on November 17.

By the evening of the 17th, the 25th Armored Regiment Combat Group of Colonel Albert Schulz of the 7th Armored Division and the officers and soldiers of the Alexander Battalion of Brandenburg participated in the attack on Zhytomyr.

Under the cover of assault guns, the 80th Armored Artillery Regiment of the 8th Armored Division, which attacked Zhitomir from the south, was tenaciously defended by the Soviet army at a position three kilometers away from the city. The Soviets repelled. When the "Radowitz" battle group formed by the 8th and 28th Panzergrenadier Regiments, the 1st Battalion of the 10th Panzer Regiment, and the "Mitslav" battle group formed by the 8th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, after arriving at the designated location, also participated attack on the city.

To the west of the city, the offensive of the 208th Infantry Division was also very fierce.

The 7th Armored Division fought fiercely with the Soviets for a day on November 18, and found a weakly defended anti-tank gun position an hour before dark. The division commander, General Manteuffel, organized 6 tanks and 100 grenadiers for a night attack. From 17 o'clock on the 18th to 3 o'clock in the morning on the 19th, he finally broke through the Soviet defense and began to clear the Soviet army in the occupied area of ​​the city. resistance.

Moskalenko worried that if he continued to fight, his 38th Army might be wiped out, so he called his superiors for instructions. Vatutin, who originally wanted to keep fighting, saw that the situation of the 38th Army was extremely dangerous, so he could only give an order to Moskalenko to organize his troops to break through and retreat immediately.

News of the 38th Army's breakout quickly reached the General Staff.

Antonov, who heard the news, did not dare to report the matter immediately, but called a meeting of his subordinates to discuss how to deal with the possible bad situation that may arise next.

After the meeting started, it was the deputy chief of the general staff, Shtemenko, who was the first to attack: "Comrades, when we sat here for a meeting a few days ago, I once said that Zhitomir's troops cannot stop the German attack at all. , suggested withdrawing the 38th Army and retreating to rearrange defenses near Kiev. Regrettably, my proposal was rejected."

When he said this, he couldn't help but glance at the first deputy chief of the general staff, General Ivanov, thinking that if he hadn't deliberately played against the tune, his proposal might have been passed.

Antonov saw that Shtemenko's eyes were fixed on Ivanov, while the latter bowed his head in silence, and hurried out to smooth things over: "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and our General Staff is not a god. How can it be accurate?" Can predict how things will develop next.”

Fearing that the two would clash over this matter, he added on purpose: "We have just captured Kiev, and we haven't had time to build a solid and complete defense system. But sticking to Zhitomir can win for the troops remaining in Kiev. Valuable time, giving them time to perfect Kiev's defense."

"Then what should we do next?" Seeing that Antonov was making peace in the middle, Shtemenko no longer insisted on his own opinion, but asked bluntly, "Kiev must not be lost."

"Don't worry, Kiev can't be lost." Although the battle on the Zhytomir defense line ended in the failure of the Soviet army, after all, they made a lot of preparations some time ago: "Reinforcements from all over the place are rushing to Kiev one after another. We I believe that it won't be long before more troops will arrive in Kiev to consolidate the defense there."

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," Shtemenko waited for Antonov to finish speaking, and asked cautiously, "You see, whether to send someone to Sokov's place and hear what he thinks."

If Shtemenko said this in public before the fall of Zhytomyr, he would definitely be opposed by many people, including Ivanov. But the facts of the past few days show that Sokov's judgment is completely correct. Therefore, this time his proposal was passed without any objection.

"I agree with Comrade Shtemenko's proposal." After Antonov agreed with Shtemenko's statement, he handed over the task of meeting Sokov to him: "I think that among the people present, you are the only one." It is the most suitable to meet General Sokov."

Naturally, Shtemenko would not shirk the job Antonov arranged for him, and he readily agreed. But before going to the hospital, he called Lunev and asked him to visit Sokov together.

Lunev has already learned from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' news channels that the 38th Army broke through and retreated after abandoning Zhytomyr. As soon as he saw Shtemenko, he asked bluntly: "I said Sergey, did you ask me to meet Misha in the hospital today because of the fall of Zhytomyr?"

Now that Lunev already knew the truth, there was no point in concealing it, so Shtemenko went all out: "That's right, it was indeed because of Zhytomir's affairs that I came here to visit General Sokov."

When the two were walking towards the hospital, Lunev asked in a low voice: "Since you didn't take his advice last time, why bother to ask again today?"

"You also know that most of the people in the General Staff have never been on the battlefield. They just learn about the situation on the battlefield based on the battle report." Shitemenko explained: "Once the situation gets out of control, they will be at a loss. I am at a loss. Although General Sokov is not a member of the General Staff, he has a lot of ideas for fighting and knows how to adapt to the situation on the battlefield. Maybe he has a good way to resolve the immediate crisis."

Lunev took a few steps forward and suddenly remembered something, so he stopped and asked Shtemenko with a sideways face: "Have you reported the battle report in the Kiev area to the Supreme Commander himself?"

"not yet."

"As a friend, I strongly suggest that you immediately arrange personnel to report this matter to the Supreme Commander himself." Lunev kindly reminded the other party: "Otherwise, when the old man learns about this matter through his news channel , will definitely be furious."

Shtemenko said with some hesitation: "Reporting to the Supreme Commander himself has always been the responsibility of Chief of the General Staff Antonov."

"Today's situation is different." Lunev reminded his old friend that the fall of Zhitomir has secretly threatened the safety of Kiev. If he went to see Stalin alone, the bloody scolding would be light, maybe Will be dismissed directly, and sent to other difficult fronts: "Fortunately, Marshal Vasilevsky is still in Moscow. You can invite him to meet Comrade Stalin together."

"That's a good idea." Shtemenko looked back and forth in the corridor and found that the dean's office was not far away, so he said casually: "I'll go to the dean's office and call Comrade Chief of General Staff and ask him Dare to report to the Supreme Command as soon as possible, and then call Marshal Vasilevsky."

When the two came to the dean's office, the dean was sternly reprimanding a medical staff who had made a mistake. Sensing someone entering the door, he asked without turning his head, "What's the matter?"

"Comrade President," although Shtemenko's military rank was much higher than that of the President, he still said politely, "I'm here to borrow the phone from you."

"I'm not a public phone booth here, and you can come here if you want..." The dean turned around and scolded this ignorant subordinate, but when he turned around, he saw Shtemenko and Lunev standing at the door, The latter words were swallowed immediately. After a while, he asked awkwardly with a smile: "Why is it yours, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff? Why are you free today, come to our hospital?"

"I came here specifically to visit General Sokov, and just as I got here, I suddenly remembered that I had an important call to make." Stemenko explained with a smile on his face, "So I came here to borrow the phone from you. If it's not convenient for you, then I'll try my luck at another office."

"Look at what you said, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." The dean lowered his posture, completely different from the dean who reprimanded the medical staff just now: "You can use my phone as you like."

He even took the initiative to ask: "When you call, do you need me to avoid it?"

Shtemenko was not polite to him either. He nodded and said, "I made an extremely important call, and you cannot stay here at your level. Please avoid it for a while, don't you mind?"

In front of Shtemenko, the dean dared not say a word, and kept saying: "Let's go out now, let's go out now." Saying this, he retreated out of the office and called the medical staff who were scolded by him to join him. leave.

When Antonov received the call from Shtemenko, he was a little surprised: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, did you finish talking with General Sokov so soon?"

"I haven't seen him yet," replied Shtemenko, "I just thought of something important and thought I should call you and remind you."

"Remind me what?" Antonov asked politely on the other end of the phone.

"I think the news of Zhytomir's defeat needs to be reported to the Supreme Commander himself as soon as possible." Shtemenko said into the microphone: "If it is delayed, and he learns about what happened on the battlefield through his own special channels I'm afraid it will have an adverse effect on you."

"Okay, I'll go now."

"I suggest that when you go, it is best to call Marshal Vasilevsky, which may be beneficial to you."

"I understand, Comrade Stemenko." Antonov understood what Shtemenko meant in seconds, and thanked him: "Thank you for reminding me, I am really grateful."

After putting down the phone, Stemenko and Lunev left the dean's office and went directly to Sokov's ward.

Sokov seemed to have expected the arrival of the two of them. As soon as the two entered the door, he greeted them: "Two general comrades, are you coming to see me again?"

After Stemenko nodded in approval, Sokov turned his head to Assia and Vera and said, "We have important things to talk about, so please avoid them first."

Hearing what Sokov said, Asiya and Vera didn't hesitate at all, they simply packed up the things in the room and left the ward quickly.