Red Moscow

Time soon came to the next day, and there were still three hours before the bombardment before the offensive. Shtemenko, who woke up early, said to Sokov, who had not slept all night: "Comrade Sokov, I want to go to the Go ahead and see."

"No, no." Shtemenko's proposal scared Sokov into a cold sweat. If he really let the other party go to the front to observe the battle, in case something goes wrong, there will be troubles, and he can't afford that. Responsibility: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, the frontier is too dangerous, I have no right to let you take risks."

"Yes, General Shtemenko." After Sukov finished speaking, Smirnov also echoed: "You are the representative sent by the headquarters to our army, how can you let you take risks easily? What if What went wrong, it’s a trivial matter for me to be implicated, and it might affect the future of Comrade Commander.”

If Smirnov persuaded directly, maybe Shtemenko would still be stubborn. But since the other party brought up Sokov to talk about the matter, he couldn't say anything more. After all, as the deputy chief of staff, he knew the inside story that many frontline commanders didn't know. He didn't want a promising commander like Sokov to ruin his future because of his recklessness.

"Well, I don't have to go to the forefront." Shtemenko said: "But after the offensive campaign starts, I want to observe the progress of the battle directly in a place close to the front line and relatively safe. I don't want to stay at the headquarters Here, use telegrams or telephone records to understand the progress of the battle."

Sokov saw that although Shtemenko had expressed a compromise, he still did not give up the idea of ​​going to the front to observe the progress of the battle. He thought for a while, and then said to Shtemenko: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, I think you can go to the headquarters of the 3rd Guards Airborne Division, which is no more than three kilometers from the front. You can go to the observation post. We can clearly see the progress of our army."

"That's right, Comrade Commander is right." Smirnov heard that if he really chooses the observation location at the headquarters of the 3rd Guards Airborne Division, he can not only see the frontline combat situation, but also Ensuring the safety of Stemenko can be said to kill two birds with one stone. "I think General Stemenko is going to observe the battle at the 3rd Airborne Division."

Smirnov raised his hand to look at the time, and said, "The artillery preparations before the attack will start in two hours. I think you should rest for a while. After the artillery preparations start, you will have time to rush over."

"That's right." Sokov felt that what Smirnov said made sense. This place is only a few kilometers away from the headquarters of the 3rd Airborne Division. It would not take much time to walk there, so he echoed: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff , you rest for a while, and I will accompany you there later."

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov said in a hurry when he heard that Sokov was going to the front, "do you want to go to the front to observe the battle situation?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov said to Smirnov: "If this is only the forward command, I may stay here to command. But the command has been moved here last night, and I am not in the command When the time comes, you can completely command instead of me."

"But the injury on your leg hasn't healed yet."

"It's okay." Sokov waved his hand and said confidently, "I can go by car, and the injury on my leg is not a problem at all." In order to dispel Smirnov's worries, he added, "Don't worry, Chief of Staff Comrade, I will keep in touch with you at any time."

Now that Sokov had already made a promise, Smirnov knew that no matter what he said, he could not change Sokov's decision, so he could only nod his head and said helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Commander, everything depends on it." You. But you have to promise me that you must pay attention to safety, and there must be no accidents. "

"You can rest assured about this," Sokov looked sideways at Shtemenko, and said with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget, the Deputy Chief of Staff is with me, as long as you make sure There is no question of his safety, my safety."

Sokov's words caused a burst of laughter, and the tense atmosphere in the room disappeared without a trace.

While several people were talking, the phone on the table rang. Smirnov grabbed the receiver and put it close to his ear and said, "I'm Smirnov, where are you?"

Sokov thought it was a call from one of his subordinates, so he didn't pay attention, but talked to Stemenko in a low voice. But inadvertently, he noticed that Smirnov's face changed drastically, and he guessed what might have happened. He quickly stopped talking, and asked urgently, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened?"

"Comrade Commander." Smirnov covered the receiver with his hand and reported to Sokov: "The call is from General Zakharov, who said that the offensive plan needs to be adjusted, and the artillery preparation time will be advanced by one hour. conduct."

"Preparation for artillery fire an hour in advance?" The notice from the Front Army Command surprised Sokov. He asked in amazement, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened? Why do you need to prepare artillery fire in advance?"

Sokov got up in a hurry, reached out to Smirnov, took the microphone and put it next to his ear, "I'm Sokov."

"So it's Comrade Sokov, I'm Zakharov."

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov asked at a loss: "I would like to ask, why do you have to prepare for the shelling an hour in advance? If you do this, will it disrupt the original offensive deployment?"

"Comrade Sokov, a bit of an accident happened." Zakharov said with a wry smile: "We just received a report that the Ukrainian First Front Army under the command of Marshal Zhukov had already implemented an attack on the German positions half an hour ago." Violent shelling. This actually means that their attack on the Uman area will be at least half an hour earlier than our army."

When Sokov heard this, he immediately guessed Konev's intentions. He wanted to attack the Uman area at the same time with the first front army commanded by Zhukov to see who had the ability to take the city first.

After trying to understand this, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, could it be that Marshal Konev meant to prepare to launch an attack on the Uman area at the same time as the First Front Army, and then see who will capture the city first?"

"That's right, Comrade Sokov." Seeing that Sokov had guessed Konev's intentions, Zakharov didn't hide anything, and replied truthfully, "That's what Marshal Konev thinks about."

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, if the deployment is temporarily adjusted, it may cause unnecessary confusion." It was confirmed that Konev wanted to launch a ground attack on Uman at the same time as Zhukov, but Sokov did not agree with this approach in his heart: "I think we should follow the original plan and launch an attack on the Uman area."

"Comrade Sokov," Zakharov said unhappily after hearing this, "Don't you know that the Supreme Command arranged for our two front armies to attack Uman at the same time, which is actually a contest in disguise? , to see which army can capture Uman earlier. If we still launch the attack according to the original time, it means that we have lost at the starting line."

"I have a different opinion." Sukov felt that hastily changing the attack time would disrupt the rhythm of the troops participating in the battle, so he boldly expressed his opinion: "The troops participating in the first round of attack may be doing it at this time." Deploy before the battle. If one hour advances hastily, it will definitely disrupt their original plan. Even if an attack is launched in a hurry, I am afraid that many troops will have problems in coordination due to lack of preparation. Therefore, I strongly recommend not to Adjust the attack time at will, or follow the original time for artillery preparation, and after the bombardment is over, launch a ground attack on the enemy's defense line."

"This is absolutely impossible, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov said firmly: "I have notified other troops first, if I tell them again, the order just now is invalid, and the original order should be implemented, you Tell me, will it have an adverse impact on the prestige of our front army headquarters?"

After putting down the phone, Sokov smiled wryly and shook his head, thinking that if what Zakharov said was true, there might be accidents in some coordinated operations that had been previously agreed.

"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko, who had already learned about the situation from Smirnov, leaned over and asked, "What did General Zakharov say?"

"He said that he had already issued an order to other troops, saying that the shelling would be carried out one hour earlier, and the ground attack time would also be advanced one hour earlier." Sokov sighed and said, "I advise him to launch the attack according to the original time. But it was vetoed by him. He also said that other troops had been notified in advance, and if the order was changed overnight, it would have an impact on the prestige of the commander.”

"Comrade Sokov, please forgive me." As the deputy chief of staff, Shtemenko must have a more comprehensive view of the problem than Sokov: "Actually, Marshal Konev made such a decision. There are also his reasons. Although both It is to attack the invaders of Faxi Temple, but this time the base camp arranged for their two front forces to attack Uman at the same time, which is tantamount to a competition in disguise. Whoever can conquer Uman first will gain the trust and support of the Supreme Commander himself. appreciation."

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, I understand what you mean." Sokov waited for Shtemenko to finish speaking, and said quietly: "The reason why I suggested to General Zakharov not to modify the attack time is entirely because other considerations."

"Considerations at other levels?" Shtemenko asked puzzledly: "Comrade Sokov, I don't quite understand what you mean, can you explain it to me?"

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, please look at the map." Sokov picked up a pencil on the table and drew a few dotted lines on the map: "Our army is going to attack the Uman area, and it is not at all important to the Germans. What a secret. They probably have been thinking about which direction our army will attack from during this period of time? Is it from Zhytomir in the north or Kirovgrad in the south? It is precisely because we can't figure out the direction of our attack. So the Germans didn't know which direction to focus when deploying their forces."

"Comrade Sokov," Shtemenko felt that what Sokov said made sense, and after slightly nodding his head, he asked, "If you were Manstein, how would you deploy your troops?"

"If I were Manstein, without the ability to fight on two fronts, I would definitely choose one direction as the key defense. The north is Marshal Zhukov's Ukrainian First Front Army, while the south is Marshal Konev's Ukrainian Second Front Army .From the perspective of comprehensive strength, the first front army poses a greater threat to them."

"That is to say, Manstein might focus his defense on the north of Uman?"

"Yes, the situation is indeed like this." Sokov continued: "However, in order to prevent our army from cooperating with the first front army, they have recently frequently launched missiles at our front army's defense area, just to pass this long-range attack. Attack, to disrupt the speed of our troop assembly, thus buying precious time for them to consolidate the city defense."

"Your words have some truth, go on."

"The Germans didn't know which of our troops would be the first to attack them, so they were in a state of uncertainty in terms of troop deployment. Today, Marshal Zhukov's troops fired ahead of time, which would give the Germans an illusion. It is believed that our army will first attack from the north of Uman, and Manstein will transfer the main force to this area in the shortest possible time to start a decisive battle with the main force of our army."

"If Manstein really did this, then the obstacles we will encounter when we attack will be greatly weakened." Sokov said with a smile: "In this way, even if we launch an attack, it will be faster than Marshal Zhukov's time." The troops were late, but our entry into the city was not necessarily later than them."

If someone else said this, Shtemenko would definitely sneer, but the words came from Sokov's mouth, so he had to pay attention to them. After thinking for a long time, he asked: "You mean, if we still launch the attack according to the original time, then the Germans will be focused on Zhukov who took the lead in preparing for artillery fire, and the main force will be transferred to to the north of Uman, thereby creating favorable opportunities for us?"

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff. If we still carry out the artillery preparations for the German positions according to the original time, then even if the enemy finds out that they have been fooled, they will not be able to bring back the troops transferred to the north in time. And we have never When attacking from the south, it is easy to break through the weak German defense line. Maybe when the comrades of the 1st Front Army are still fighting fiercely with the enemy on the outskirts of the city, my troops have already planted the red flag on the top of the municipal building."

Sokov's statement was very tempting, and Shtemenko couldn't help but be moved. He knew very well in his heart that it didn't matter which army captured Uman, the important thing was to shorten the combat time to reduce the casualties of the troops.

He stared at the map for a long time, raised his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, I think your idea is very good, why don't I communicate with Marshal Konev and let your troops continue to operate according to the original timetable?" The attack made the Germans mistakenly think that the direction of the attack was from the north, so they mobilized troops from the south to reinforce the north."

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Since Shtemenko offered to communicate with Konev, Sokov is really looking forward to it. If he can really persuade Konev to attack according to the original time, it may greatly reduce his own Troop casualties. Thinking of this, he nodded vigorously, and said sincerely: "Then I'll leave it to you."