Red Moscow

"Hey~!" Zakharov sighed, and then said: "When I informed General Goryunov to send a reconnaissance plane, I considered that Zhytomyr Oblast was already controlled by our army, and I wanted to reconnaissance Uman, Vinnitsa, etc. The German defense of the area is a very simple matter, so just ask him to send a reconnaissance plane."

Sokov vaguely felt that the failure of this reconnaissance might have something to do with Zakharov's underestimation of the enemy. The German defenses in the adjacent Uman and Vinnytsia areas will become tighter, not only on the ground, but also in the air."

Hearing what Sokov said, Zakharov was silent for a long time, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, I didn't expect you to see the problem so thoroughly. That's right, the German defense in the Uman and Vinnytsia areas is very Strict. At that time, General Goryunov also felt that sending only one reconnaissance plane would be difficult to complete the task, so he offered to send a squadron of reconnaissance planes to carry out reconnaissance in the area.”

Although Sokov is not an air force commander, he knows the flight organization of the 5th Army of the Air Force. A reconnaissance aircraft squadron is equipped with four reconnaissance aircraft. He was a little surprised and asked: "Could it be that none of the four reconnaissance planes were able to complete the reconnaissance mission?"

"Yes," Zakharov said in an affirmative tone: "The four reconnaissance planes were hit by artillery fire from the ground as soon as they entered the sky over Uman. At that time, one plane was hit by artillery fire. Only one life was saved by parachuting. After the remaining three reconnaissance planes passed through the German anti-aircraft artillery area, they were intercepted by German fighter jets. In just a few minutes, two more were shot down. Fortunately, the remaining The pilot of the reconnaissance plane is an experienced and excellent pilot, he managed to get rid of the pursuit of the German fighter jets and successfully returned to the airport."

Knowing that only one of the four reconnaissance planes returned successfully, Sokov realized that if he wanted to find the open pit, he could not rely on the Air Force. But it would be a waste of time to send a reconnaissance team to reconnaissance. After thinking about it for a long time, he said to Zakharov: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I remember that Comrade Khrushchev used to work in Ukraine. He should be very clear about local affairs. You see, can you get a deal with him?" Get in touch and ask him about the open pit?"

Sokov's words reminded Zakharov: "You are quite right, Comrade Sokov. Now Comrade Khrushchev still holds the title of military commissar in the Ukrainian First Front Army. I will contact him as soon as possible to see if I can get any useful clues from him, just wait for my good news."

Although Zakharov promised to help him contact Khrushchev and learn about the open-pit mine from the other party, Sokov still did not dare to pin all his hopes on the other party. If Khrushchev doesn't know about Uman's open-pit mine, then his hopes will come to nothing.

So he said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, to find out the specific location of the open pit, we can't completely rely on our superiors, we still have to find a way by ourselves."

"But, Comrade Commander." Smirnov said with some surprise: "Didn't General Zakharov promise you to contact Comrade Khrushchev immediately and ask him about the open-pit mine?"

Sokov waved his hand at Smirnov and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although Khrushchev used to work in Ukraine, but he was so busy with his work every day, how could he have time to care about a mine. I don't think so. He couldn’t find any useful information from him. Therefore, to find out the exact location of the open-pit mine, we can only send scouts to conduct reconnaissance around Uman.”

"Okay," Smirnov said helplessly after hearing Sokov's words, "I will immediately contact the director of reconnaissance and ask him to arrange a suitable reconnaissance team to conduct reconnaissance in the Uman area."

"Uman's territory is vast, so just sending a reconnaissance team may not be effective." Sokov added: "Let the director of reconnaissance send several more teams to carry out reconnaissance missions, let them each be responsible for one area, This allows for faster discovery of what we're looking for."

The matter was of great importance, and Smirnov did not dare to neglect it. He immediately picked up the phone and called the chief of the reconnaissance department, ordering him to arrange several capable reconnaissance teams to rush to the Uman area after dark to carry out reconnaissance there.

After putting down the phone, Smirnov said with emotion: "Comrade commander, if we had known earlier that there were 20,000 to 30,000 prisoners of war in the Uman open pit, we could have asked Manstein to exchange the prisoners there for us before the exchange. "

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you think too much." Sokov said with a wry smile, "Manstein will never return the prisoners of war in the open pit to us through exchange."

"Why?" Smirnov asked puzzled.

"The reason is very simple. The prisoner-of-war camp in Shebinka is very close to the defense zone of the 5th mechanized army. If the friendly forces carry out an assault, it will take less than two hours to liberate the prisoner-of-war camp." Sokov said: "If the The commander of the SS Army may order to kill all the people in the prisoner-of-war camp and leave none to us. But Manstein is different. He cannot do such a tragic thing. Maybe he is in a dilemma When we asked him to exchange prisoners of war for the remains of General Stemmelmann and the wounded German soldiers, he returned them to us."

"I think Comrade Commander is quite right." Gorokhov, who has always been silent, nodded his head after listening to Sokov's analysis and said: "Manstein was very troubled by the prisoners here in Shebinka, and ordered all Execute, he can't do such a murderous hand; transfer, and it will take a lot of manpower and material resources, and these prisoners of war, which caused him headaches, can be exchanged for General Stemmelmann's body and more than 2,000 wounded German soldiers. It’s a very good bargain.”

After saying this, Gorokhov paused for a moment, and then continued: "But we cannot define Manstein as a good man just because he didn't kill our prisoners of war. I learned from friendly troops that the German army started from the first When retreating from the left bank of the Nieper River, they robbed the villages of grain, cattle and poultry, and forced the villagers to move with them. Those who refused to leave were shot on the spot. In addition to burning down the villages and poisoning the wells, When we retreated from the city, we also blew up factories and bridges, leaving us a devastated land. And the person who can issue such an order is undoubtedly Manstein.”

"Comrade Military Comrade is right." Sokov continued: "In any case, Manstein is the commander-in-chief of the German army, and he is inseparable from the many crimes committed by the Germans on our land. When our army captures him in the future, he will definitely accept the trial and receive the punishment he deserves."

"Comrade Commander, I have one more thing in mind." Smirnov said suddenly: "Before we get these combat-experienced commanders and fighters, we can only recruit locals if we want to replenish the troops. In the German-occupied area, there is no chance to receive military training, even if they are armed, they may not have much combat effectiveness."

"Well, what you said makes sense." Sokov nodded and said, "It takes a long time to train an ordinary civilian into a qualified fighter. And the battle between us and the Germans may happen at any time." It may start, so it is difficult for us to greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the troops through training before the next battle, which is really a headache."

At this moment, Kurishenko, the commander of the 41st Guards Division, called.

"Hello, Comrade Commander!" Kurishenko said politely, "I am Kurishenko."

"So it's General Kurishenko." Sokov asked with a smile, "Call me, what's the matter?"

"It's like this, Comrade Commander." Kurishenko said: "During the battle to defend Height 239 and stop the German 1st Armored Division, our division suffered more than 60% of its casualties. Give us supplements?"

Sokov is also worrying about replenishing soldiers at this moment. Hearing that Kurishenko is also asking for soldiers, he said with a wry smile: "General Kurishenko, I know that your division suffered a lot of casualties in this battle. I also want to add soldiers to you, but where can I find soldiers for you now?"

"Comrade Commander." The reason why Kurishenko wanted to call Sokov was because he had received news that he had just exchanged 3,000 soldiers for 3,000 soldiers with Stammerman's body and 2,000 wounded German soldiers. Many captured commanders and fighters. These combat-experienced commanders and fighters made Kurishenko feel jealous. He was worried that if his movements were slow, these soldiers would definitely be divided up by other divisions, so he called Sokov specifically: "I heard The headquarters has just returned 3,000 captured commanders and fighters from the hands of the Germans. I am not greedy, you can just give me half of the people."

"This is impossible, General Kurishenko." Hearing that Kurishenko wanted to take half of the people from him, Sokov couldn't help raising his voice: "You're right, we did indeed More than 3,000 commanders and fighters were exchanged from the Germans, but because they were all in prisoner-of-war camps and suffered inhuman torture, most of them were in very poor physical condition. At best, there are only about 1,500 people."

Sokov knew that the other party was still entangled with him, so he took the initiative to say: "General Kurishenko, let me tell you the truth, in this battle, not only your division suffered heavy casualties, but even the 252nd Infantry Division suffered a lot. , and even the teacher was seriously injured. If you want to add, they also have to add, I only have more than 1,500 people in my hand, how can I satisfy everyone's request at the same time?"

Kurishenko heard some voices from Sokov, and his tone suddenly softened: "Comrade Commander, I understand your difficulties. But you still have to consider our actual situation."

"What's the actual situation?"

"The loss is also heavy, but our forward position is only less than five kilometers away from the enemy's forward position." Kurishenko explained: "That is to say, we may fight the enemy at any time. The 252nd Infantry Division Well, they are now in our army's defense zone, unless the enemy bypasses our division's defense zone, the possibility of them being attacked is very small."

Sokov thought about it, and what Kurishenko said was indeed reasonable. Now in the entire group army, the division and the German army's defense zone are the closest. Once the German army launches another attack, they will definitely bear the brunt of it. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to replenish troops. Thinking of this, he said into the microphone: "General Kurishenko, it must be unrealistic to give you all the 1,500 people. Otherwise, I will give you 800 people first."

Kurishenko cried bitterly: "Comrade Commander, 800 people is too little, right? You have more than 1,500 people, or you can give me 1,000 people?"

"No, absolutely not." Sokov refused resolutely: "Eight hundred is the limit I can give you. Even if other troops are not likely to be attacked by the German army, I will also add some troops to them. .If you really feel that I have given you too few people, you can find a way to supplement it yourself."

"Find a way to supplement it yourself?" Kurishenko asked curiously: "How to supplement it?"

"It's very simple." Sokov said: "Didn't we rescue many civilians who were kidnapped by the Germans near Height 239? They are all in good physical condition, and they can become powerful fighters with a little training. .”

When Kurishenko heard that the rescued civilians could be incorporated into the team, he couldn't help but burst into ecstasy. But after a while, he realized a key problem: "Comrade commander, these civilians can be captured by the Germans to carry supplies and wounded, and there must be no problem in their physical condition. However, they have lived in the German-occupied area for a long time, and they must have not undergone any military training. Training, even if they are included in the army, I am afraid they will not have much combat effectiveness."

"No one is born a qualified fighter." Sokov said earnestly: "First put these people into the army to supplement the soldiers you lost in the battle. Then you have the backbone of the army and train them. You Don't worry, in addition to the 800 people I've added to you, I will also send some instructors to your army to help you train your recruits."

"Great, this is really great." Knowing that he could get nothing from Sokov, Kurishenko hurriedly said, "Comrade Commander, I will arrange for people to recruit those who were rescued." Ukrainian civilians and integrate them into the army as soon as possible."

"Are there enough weapons?"

"Enough, enough." Kurishenko replied: "We have seized a batch of weapons on the battlefield, and it is absolutely possible for everyone to have their own weapons."

Now that Kurishenko said that there are enough weapons, Sokov feels more at ease. If the division's weapons are insufficient, he needs to find a way to get weapons as soon as possible. Go all out.

He said to Kurishenko: "General Kurishenko, you replenish your troops as soon as possible, and then start training. When the time is right, I will find a way to help you replace a batch of weapons."

When Smirnov waited for Sokov to hang up the phone, he specifically reminded him: "Comrade Commander, if you follow the normal steps to replace the troops with new weapons, I'm afraid it will take a year or two. Why don't you go to Yakov directly?" The colonel asked for help, maybe ten days and a half a month after boarding, our soldiers will be able to equip new weapons."