red moscow

Chapter 2752

According to the summarized intelligence, Vlasov discovered that his 37th Army was being divided into three areas by the German army: in addition to the four infantry regiments and one artillery regiment in the Yagotin area; 10 to 15 kilometers northeast of Kiev, there were five battalions of the 37th Army, commanded by a regimental commander of the 295th Division; 40 to 50 kilometers southeast of Kiev, there was an incomplete infantry division of the 37th Army and two regiments of the 26th Army, covering the flank of the Yagotin area.

After learning about the situation of the troops, Vlasov nodded and said to everyone: "Although my army group was divided into three different areas by Germany, it does not mean that we do not have the strength to resist their next attack. This is what I think. The troops responsible for covering the flank should be firmly in our hands to ensure the stability of the defense line in the Yagotin area. Therefore, I plan to let the deputy commander take over the command there. I wonder if everyone has any different opinions?"

Everyone knew that there were two independent armies in that place, and once a battle broke out, it would be easy for them to fight on their own, and they would be defeated by the enemy one by one. But if the deputy commander of the 37th Army went there, he could unify the command of the two armies. Therefore, everyone answered Vlasov's arrangement in unison: "We have no objection."

"As for the troops in the northeast," Vlasov continued, "although they are a little short in strength, I believe that they can still hold out for three to five days relying on their existing fortifications..."

But before Vlasov could finish his words, he heard a staff officer nearby say, "Comrade Commander, your phone is ringing!"

Upon hearing this, Vlasov frowned and said with dissatisfaction: "Can't you see I'm arranging the work?" As he said that, he was about to ask his Chief of Staff Colonel Del to answer the phone on his behalf.

But the next moment, the staff officer's words made him change his mind: "It was a call from Lieutenant Colonel Anton who was in charge of commanding the troops in the northeast."

Lieutenant Colonel Anton was the commander of the 295th Division. He was in command of the remaining troops of the army northeast of Kiev.

When Vlasov learned that it was this person who called, he changed his mind. He walked to the staff officer, took the phone and put it to his ear. "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Anton! I am the commander of the army group, Vlasov. Do you have any good news to tell me?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before Lieutenant Colonel Anton said in a heavy tone: "I'm sorry, Commander, I think I may have brought you bad news."

Vlasov's heart skipped a beat, wondering if the defense line they organized was breached by the enemy. He asked cautiously, "Lieutenant Colonel Anton, what's the bad news? Did the defense line you organized be breached by the enemy?"

"The defense line is still in our hands for now." Lieutenant Colonel Anton continued, "But our resistance will soon stop. I called you to inform you of this news."

"Why?" Vlasov was immediately furious when he heard what Lieutenant Colonel Anton said. "Since the position is still in your hands, why do you stop resisting? Tell me, why do you do this?"

"Comrade Commander, the Germans have launched a large number of leaflets at our positions." Lieutenant Colonel Anton said slowly, "These leaflets say that our front headquarters has been annihilated by them, and the front commander, Admiral Kirponos, member of the Military Committee Burmistenko, and Chief of Staff Major General Tupikov were killed in the breakout battle, and the commander of the 5th Army, Major General Potapov, was captured..."

"It's fake, Lieutenant Colonel Anton, these leaflets are all fake." Vlasov's heart sank suddenly. Although he knew that the content on the German leaflets might be true, in order to let the troops continue to fight, he still said decisively: "This is false information deliberately created by the enemy in order to undermine the morale of our army. Don't believe this fake propaganda, you should continue to fight, and never let your defense line be handed over to the Germans."

There was silence on the other end of the line again.

This time the silence lasted a very long time. If Vlasov had not heard sporadic gunfire coming from inside, he would have thought that the other party had hung up the phone.

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander." Lieutenant Colonel Anton finally spoke again: "I saw from the command post that the Germans have entered our position, and the soldiers did not put up any form of resistance. The enemy is coming towards my command post. Don't worry, I will never surrender to the enemy."

A moment later, a gunshot was heard over the phone, followed by the sound of submachine gun fire and shouting in German.

Vlasov put down the phone and said to everyone with a heavy heart: "Our troops in the northeast have been completely wiped out."

"How could this be?" Colonel Del asked in shock, "Comrade Commander, could this be a mistake?"

Vlasov didn't say anything, but just looked at him meaningfully, then walked back to the table, stared at the map spread out on it, and continued, "The current situation is worse than we imagined. It is said that the front headquarters has been wiped out in the process of breaking out, and the commander, chief of staff and military commissar have all died."

"How is this possible?" This time it was the turn of Army Group Military Commissar Nikolsky to be surprised: "How could our front headquarters be annihilated by the Germans? Rumors, this must be a rumor, it must be a rumor deliberately fabricated by the Germans in order to undermine the morale of our army."

Vlasov lowered his head and said expressionlessly: "I also hope this is a rumor, but Lieutenant Colonel Anton told me before he died that the enemy launched a large number of leaflets at their defensive positions, which contained news that the front headquarters had been annihilated, causing our defense line in the northeast to collapse. Now, I am worried that if the remaining defense zones learn about the front headquarters, will their defense collapse."

Hearing what Vlasov said, Nikolsky's expression became serious: "Comrade Commander, in order to break through our defense line as quickly as possible, the enemy will definitely use the same old tricks again. Therefore, our political workers must strengthen propaganda work and let the soldiers know that the contents of the enemy's leaflets are all lies and are a conspiracy to undermine the morale of our army."

Nikolsky's words made Vlasov nod his head repeatedly: "Comrade Military Commissar, you are right. The German propaganda is aimed at undermining the morale of our army. Our political workers must make the officers and soldiers understand this so that they will not be fooled by the Germans. By the way, when the deputy commander goes to the flank defense line, let him bring a few more political workers with him to assist him in carrying out the political work of the troops."

"Okay, Comrade Commander, I'll make the arrangements."

Sokov knew nothing about what was happening in the army headquarters. He was sleeping soundly in the room assigned to him.

I don't know how long I slept, but there was a knock on the door. Although Sokov was half asleep, he was worried that his superior had some tasks for him, so he struggled to get up and opened the door.

Standing at the door was Romanov: "Comrade Captain, can you let me in?"

"come in."

Sokov knew that Romanov would not come to him for no reason, and that he must have something important to tell him at this time.

Sure enough, the next moment, Romanov asked, "Comrade Captain, have you heard?"

"What did you hear?" "The front headquarters was ambushed by the Germans during the breakout. The front commander, chief of staff and military commissar were all killed!"

Sokov was shocked and asked, "Romanov, who told you this news?"

"No one told me," Romanov explained to Sokov. "I overheard two staff officers from the headquarters chatting."

Sokov remembered that the Battle of Kiev ended with a disastrous defeat for the Soviet army, but he did not remember the exact time when Kirponos and others died. When Romanov mentioned this, he realized that they should have died in the past two days.

Sokov didn't say anything, just stared at Romanov. Since he could become an important figure decades later, he must have unique opinions on certain things. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "Romanov, do you think this is true?"

"I was skeptical about this matter. Did the Germans want to annihilate the front headquarters?" Romanov said cautiously. "After careful consideration, I think it must be a conspiracy by the Germans, deliberately spreading rumors to undermine the morale of our army. Later, I heard people from the army headquarters talking about the fact that the front leaders had successfully escaped the German encirclement and were deploying new defenses in new defensive areas to prepare for the upcoming German attack."

Sokov knew very well that this was not a rumor at all, but an ironclad fact. However, since Vlasov wanted to cover up the matter, he must be worried that this bad news would cause instability in the army. Therefore, even if he knew the truth, he could only pretend to be confused: "Romanov, I think your guess makes sense. This is a rumor spread by the Germans. We must not be fooled."

Just as he finished speaking, there was another knock on the door.

When Sokov was about to open the door, Romanov stood up from his seat and said, "Comrade Captain, I'll go open the door."

The door opened, and the person who appeared at the door this time was Lieutenant Zhu Kewen.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Seeing that the person who opened the door for him was actually Romanov, Zhu Kewen was shocked and instinctively asked, "Why are you here?"

"Comrade Romanov came here to chat with me." When Sokov saw Zhu Kewen suddenly appear, he immediately guessed the purpose of his coming here, and said to Romanov: "Romanov, Lieutenant Zhu Kewen and I have something to discuss, you go back first."

Romanov knew that he was not qualified to listen to the conversation between Sokov and Zhukov, so he tactfully said goodbye and left.

After Sokov closed the door, Zhukov said impatiently: "Comrade Captain, I just heard an astonishing piece of news, so I came to tell you."

"What's the matter?" Sokov asked in a confused manner.

"I got terrible news from my friends in the Ministry of Internal Affairs," Zhu Kewen said solemnly, "During the breakout, the front army headquarters encountered a superior enemy. After a fierce battle, the commander, chief of staff and military commissioner were all killed. In a word, the front army headquarters was annihilated by the Germans, and no one was left alive."

"Really?" Sokov continued to play dumb: "Such a big thing, how come I haven't heard about it?"

"General Vlasov probably chose to conceal the matter because he was worried that the officers and soldiers below would know about it and it would affect the morale of the army." Zhukov was confused by Sokov's performance and thought that he really didn't know about it. He even explained to him: "If I hadn't learned the truth of the matter from my friends in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I would probably think that the Germans were spreading rumors even if I saw the leaflets they distributed."

"Well, Comrade Second Lieutenant, what you said makes a lot of sense. Maybe something really happened to the front headquarters during the breakout." Sokov remembered that he spent the night in the forest outside the village last night. Vlasov had asked the communications staff to send telegrams to the front headquarters many times, but never received any reply. This was very telling.

"Comrade Captain, I think you are different from others and have unique insights into many things." Zhukov looked at Sokov and asked, "What do you think will be the outcome of this war?"

If it was Romanov who asked him, maybe Sokov would tell him the truth. But Zhukov in front of him was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Even though he was under his command now, if he said something wrong or did something wrong, he might personally bring people to arrest him when he returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs one day.

Therefore, he said in an official tone: "Although the Germans have the advantage in manpower and equipment, our officers and soldiers will fight tenaciously until the last man and the last bullet. They would rather leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness than give up their positions."

Sokov's all-purpose answer obviously did not satisfy Zhu Kewen. He looked at Sokov and said with a smile: "Comrade Captain, I just want to know your true thoughts. You don't need to talk to me in an official tone."

Sokov said to himself: "Comrade Lieutenant, please remember our identities. We are just small grassroots commanders. Our responsibility is to protect the safety of the headquarters. As for how the front line fights the Germans, that is the commander and chief of staff's business. We have no right to ask."

Zhukov talked a few more words, but his words were all about wanting Sokov to talk about the next battle and whether it would be beneficial to the Soviet army. Seeing that the other party kept asking questions, Sokov just avoided the main point and said a few irrelevant words.

Seeing that he couldn't get the answer he wanted from Sokov, Zhu Kewen had to get up and say goodbye.

But when he reached the door, Zhukov stopped again and said to Sokov: "By the way, Comrade Captain, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you."

"what's up?"

"Wasn't the 37th Army divided into three different regions by the Germans?" Zhu Kewen said, "According to reliable information, the combat group located northeast of Kiev was annihilated by the Germans before dark."

"Really?" Sokov didn't expect that part of the 37th Army was so easily annihilated by the German army. He asked in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade Lieutenant, is it true?"

"Of course it's true." Zhu Kewen said quietly, "Once the troops in other places are almost wiped out, the Germans will concentrate their forces to deal with us."

(End of this chapter)