Chapter 1335

The first reaction of all of us to razumeyeva's report was: wrong. How could the 27th army, which retreated to the rear, cross the river in the direction of cherkaser? There must be a mistake.

As like as two peas, Radhu Meyer Va, I read the telegram, though I was just the same as I mentioned, my mind was full of doubts. In order to say that such a large-scale troop deployment, especially in our defense area, the higher authorities would always give me a chance to get angry.

I waited for the telegram to be circulated in the hands of some of them, and then asked razumeyeva, "Captain, are you sure the contents of the telegram are correct?"

Razumeyeva nodded her head vigorously and answered positively, "don't worry, comrade commander. This telegram is indeed from commander sivakov. There should be no mistake."

Having confirmed that the telegram was indeed sent by sivakov, I knew in my heart that the 27th Army crossing the river into our defense area was a firm fact. I quickly used the high frequency telephone on my desk to call the headquarters of the front army. When I heard a voice coming from the receiver, I quickly said, "Hello, I'm oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of Jinwei. Please help me find general watujing. I have something important to do."

"I'm sorry, general oshanina." Unexpectedly, the person who answered the phone said, "Comrade commander of the front army is not here."

Is vatukin not here? I can't help but feel a little surprised when I heard what the other party said, because in my impression, watujing almost never left his headquarters. How could he not be in the headquarters when the war was so fierce? After a moment's hesitation, I asked, "is the chief of staff here?"

"The chief of staff is not here, either."

"What about the military commissar? Are comrades of the military commissars always here? " When I heard that both watujing and the chief of staff were absent, I had to go to the military commissar to report to him about the entry of the 27th group army into our defense area and find out what happened.

"Sorry, the military commissar is not in either." The other party may be afraid that I will continue to ask, and hastily added: "the head of the front army is not in the headquarters now, and I don't know when he will come back. But I will report to the chief of staff about your call later. " With that, he hung up directly.

Seeing that I put down the phone, chisgakov immediately asked, "well, comrade commander, what did general vatukin say about the 27th army?"

Looking at him, I shook my head and said, "the senior general, the chief of staff and the military commissar are not in the headquarters, and the personnel on duty do not know where they have gone."

"Ah? How could that be? " After listening to me, chisgakov said in surprise: "at present, the war in the southwest of Kiev is fierce. How can the head of the front army leave the command post collectively? It's incredible. "

The 27th military group directly entered our defense zone without notice; At the critical moment, watujing was not in the headquarters. There was something strange about these two things, but I couldn't understand it for a moment, so I directly told razumeyeva: "Captain, you go back to keep in touch with general sivakov, and let him find out the purpose of the friendly forces."

"Yes Razumeyeva agreed, then turned and left the headquarters.

"If the 27th group army can take over the defense of our department in cherkaser," said bezikov, who had not spoken after razumeyeva's departure, "then we can transfer the 52nd close guard division and the 375TH infantry division, who are still there, to take part in the defense of Zhitomir."

"Tell me, what's the intention of the higher authorities to transfer the 27th army to cherkaser all of a sudden?" I didn't answer bzikov's words, but directly asked everyone, "and there was no news before the troops were stationed."

After staring at the map for a while, chisgakov raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, I think there are two possibilities for the troops of the 27th army to enter cherkaser: one is to move southward to capture Alexandria and kilovgrad; The second is to attack to the west to occupy uman and venica. "

After listening to chisgakov's analysis, I quickly looked down at the map, and at the same time I was thinking about whether the two conjectures he said were reasonable. After about five minutes, after considering all the causes and consequences, I looked up and said to you, "comrades commander, the two possibilities mentioned by Comrade deputy commander just now. I don't think the first one is possible. General konev's troops are on the other side of the Dnieper River. If they want to capture Alexandria and kilovgrad, it will be more convenient for them to send troops. Moreover, they will be able to avenge the German army's driving across the river.

As for the analysis of attacking uman and venica, I think this kind of speculation is very accurate. As we all know, the main forces of the German army are all in the vicinity of fastif and Zhitomir at present, while there are only three infantry divisions and some sporadic small parts around uman and venica. The defense force is relatively weak. If we launch a surprise attack at this time, I believe we will achieve considerable results. "

"Comrade commander, you have a point." As soon as I finished, bzikov reminded me: "although the attack on uman and venitza can achieve great results, I don't think it is the commanding style of commander watujing at all. He will never divide his troops to open up new battlefields in the fierce war in both places at the same time."

"If the 27th group army is mobilized to attack uman and venica from the direction of cherkaser, it is really an order from the headquarters of the front army." At this time, I suddenly had a bold idea. Anyway, there was no outsider on the scene, so I said decisively: "that is the replacement of the commander of the front army."

"What, the commander of the front army has changed?" After listening to what I said, chisgakov was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter. He pointed to me and said, "Comrade commander, you must have seen that the atmosphere in the headquarters is too tense. Tell jokes deliberately to make everyone relax. Ha ha ha!"

"Comrade deputy commander, I'm not kidding." Originally, I just had this kind of speculation, but seeing that chisjakov took it as a joke, my mind suddenly became strong, so I said decisively, "I think it's really possible for the commander of the front army to change. The superior suddenly deployed the 27th army near the enemy's weak defense area, This kind of deployment is far from the style of general watujing in peacetime

Bezikov said anxiously: "but now, when the fighting in Kiev is at its most intense, the superior suddenly quietly changes the commander of the front army. Won't this cause chaos in the army?"

Kirilov, who has always said little, interjected: "perhaps the supreme command has seen the poor performance of general vatukin recently. In order to save the current situation and ensure that Kiev will not be reoccupied by the enemy, it is possible to send a new commander to replace him. But who will be sent by the supreme command to take over the post of commander of the front army? "

After listening to kirilov's question, I had five or six names in my mind: Zhukov, rokosovsky, konev, torbhusin, Malinowski and trakov. But I soon ruled out one by one that Zhukov was busy coordinating the overall situation and would never be a commander in the first front army of Ukraine; Rokosovsky and konev are now commanders of the front army. They are commanding their own troops to fight with the German army. If they are flat at this time, they will not only have a bad impact on the original troops, but also not be familiar with the environment in just a few days. As for trekov, it is even more impossible. At present, he is just a commander of the close guard group army, and he is suddenly promoted to the position of commander of the front army. It is estimated that he is not qualified for this position.

Just as I was daydreaming, tavartkilaze called from Zhitomir and told me, "Comrade commander, the German army has rushed into Zhitomir from the west of the city and occupied a street on the edge of the city. At present, our troops are engaged in fierce fighting with the enemy."

"Comrade commander, immediately organize forces to take back the lost street for me." I sternly ordered tavartkilaze to say, "tell the commanders and fighters to fight for every inch of land with the enemy, to fight for every street, every building with the enemy, and to let them go further, they have to pay a huge price."

"Understand, I immediately organize the strength to take back the lost street." After giving me a pledge, tavartkiraze continued: "the enemy who is attacking Zhitomir has chosen the direction of attack to the West and the north. They have invested a large number of troops in these two directions in an attempt to open a breakthrough quickly."

"Please tell the soldiers that they should make more use of the fortifications in the city to eliminate the enemies who break into the city." After I finished this sentence briefly, I hung up.

I put down the phone and said to chisgakov and bezikov, "general tavartkiraze reports that some of the enemies have broken through our defense in the west of the city, rushed into the city and occupied a street. I have ordered them to fight back immediately and take the streets back from the enemy. "

The battle of Zhitomir did not stop until late at night. Finally relieved, I told tawalter killazer to be more vigilant to prevent the possible German attack at night.

Just as I was dozing on my desk, the telephone rang. I picked up the phone, put the receiver to my ear, heard each other's voice, said feebly: "Hello, I'm o'shanina, where are you?"

"Hello, Comrade General." A low male voice from the other side said, "I'm the combat staff officer of the headquarters of the front army. The commander wants to speak to you."

I didn't know what watujing was looking for at this time. Besides, he was sleeping in a daze, so he said vaguely, "well, staff officer, please give the call to the commander."

"Are you sleeping, Rita?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the receiver: "how can I speak powerlessly?"

Hearing this sound, I had a cold war, and the sleepers disappeared. I took a deep breath and asked cautiously, "is that general rokosovsky?"

"Yes, Rita, it's me." "If my phone calls disturb your sleep, I'm here to apologize to you," rokosovsky said with a smile on the phone

"Look what you said, Comrade General." Rokosovsky and I always talk casually, so we jokingly said, "if I knew it was you, I would jump out of bed to pick up your call even if I fell asleep."

Rokosovsky chuckled twice, and suddenly asked unexpectedly, "the 27th group army should have entered your defense area, right?" In front of me was a telegram received not long ago. It was sent by sivakov himself. He wrote in the telegram: "about 80000 troops entered the cherkaser area and took the initiative to occupy some positions we gave up because of the shortage of troops... It seems that they are preparing for a big war." At this moment, when I heard rokosovsky ask about it, I quickly replied, "yes, comrade general, since the afternoon, the troops of the 27th group army have crossed the Dnieper River on a large scale and entered the cherkaser area without prior notice to us." When I said this, I suddenly remembered how he knew about the transfer of the 27th army. Was he really transferred to the post of commander? So I asked tentatively, "Comrade General, how do you... How do you know..." without waiting for me to finish, rokosovsky said the question I wanted to ask first: "Rita, you want to ask me how do I know about the transfer of the 27th army, right?"“ Yes, comrade general, that's it. " I replied quickly“ Because I am now the acting commander of the first front army of Ukraine, I am very clear about the situation of troop movements. " Rokosovsky announced to me with great surprise: "moreover, I personally ordered the 27th group army to enter cherkaser. This is the first order I gave after I took office." Although I had long guessed that rokosovsky might take the post of commander again, I was surprised when the news was verified. I quickly asked, "where has general navatukin gone?" As for my question, rokosovsky said lightly, "Comrade vatukin, because of his health, went back to Moscow to train himself today. The Supreme Command asked me to take over his post temporarily." After listening to rokosovsky's words, I couldn't help but smile bitterly, because when I called vatukin in the morning, I heard his voice lively. How could his health be in trouble before one day? In addition, the 27th group army crossed the river from below and entered cherkaser. It is not possible to mobilize tens of thousands of troops in an hour or two. It must have been arranged two days ago. However, since rokosovsky does not want me to know the truth, I will not entangle in this matter, but change the topic: "Comrade General, I have a question to ask you. I don't know where the 27th group army will attack next when it enters cherkaser? " Rokosovsky laughed and asked, "Rita, aren't you very analytical? Guess what the next target of the 27th army is? " As for the attack targets of the 27th army, chisjakov once analyzed them to us in the afternoon. Since there are konev's large troops on the other side of the river, it is purely superfluous to let us attack Alexandria and kilovgrad. Therefore, attacking uman and venica is the most possible. Thinking of this, I answered decisively: "Comrade General, if I guess correctly, your next attack target should be uman and venica?" After I said that, rokosovsky was silent for a moment, and then said in surprise: "Rita, you are really not simple. You can see clearly my intention of fighting at once. Fortunately, you are not on the enemy's side, otherwise our attack will definitely suffer setbacks. "“ Comrade general, "I asked cautiously," can I ask you whether the 27th group army, which has just finished its consolidation, has the strength to capture uman and venica? "