-- Command of the Southwestern Front in Kiev

The Chief of Operations, Colonel Baglamilyan, handed a newly received piece of information to Commander Kirponos, did not leave immediately, but stood upright at the long conference table, waiting for instructions from the other side. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After reading the contents of the intelligence, Kirponos casually handed it to the military commissar Burmystenko next to him, and then looked at the chief of staff, Major General Tupikov, who was sitting opposite him, and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to the latest intelligence, the German Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group has begun to advance south from the Starodub area, and it seems that it is preparing to encircle Kiev with the 1st Panzer Group of their Army Group South. What measures should we take to crush this attempt of the enemy? ”

"Comrade commander," Tupikov replied as soon as Kirponos finished speaking, "the Supreme High Command has apparently seen through the intentions of the German army, and has ordered General Yeremenko's Bryansk Front to strike at Roslavl and pin down Guderian's troops in order to achieve the goal of preventing its southward advance." ”

Kirponos listened to the rumbling of artillery outside the window for a while, and then said to Tupikov: "Chief of Staff, the Germans have successfully crossed the Irpian River and are approaching the outskirts of Kiev. Guderian, knowing the results of his allies, was bound to speed up their forces and complete the encirclement of Kyiv. We must redeploy troops to strengthen our northeast direction and ensure that our rear roads are not cut off by the enemy. ”

"Which force should I send?" Tupikov asked briefly.

Kirponos thought for a moment, and then said decisively: "Let the 40th Army of Major General Poderas complete this glorious mission." ”

"Comrade Commander," Tupikov said with a bitter expression on his face when he heard this order from Kirponos, "you must know that the 40th Army, which was urgently formed, is now only on paper. To be precise, it commanded the 135th and 293rd Infantry Divisions, the 10th Tank Division, and the 2nd Airborne Army. But we all know that the 135th Infantry Division, which has been fighting non-stop since the beginning of the border, it is not difficult to imagine how serious its attrition is; The 293rd Infantry Division, which had just been formed by the replenishment of troops who had been sent to the front; The backbone of the 10th Tank Division was transferred to the newly formed unit in July, and now there are only about 30 tanks in the entire division; As for the brigades of the Airborne Forces, they have suffered considerable losses in the recent fierce battles. ”

After listening to Tupikov's words, Kirponos immediately instructed Baghramyan: "Comrade Chief of Operations, immediately contact General Poderas, I want to speak to him." ”

Bagramian nodded, turned around and walked to a telephone set placed next to the wall, picked up the microphone and put it to his ear, dialed a number, and ordered the signal soldier: "I am Colonel Bagramian, and I will pick up the commander of the 40th Army, General Podras." ”

After a few moments, he held the microphone in both hands, turned to Kirponos, who was standing at the conference table, and reported: "Comrade Commander, the telephone with General Podras has been connected. ”

Kirponos nodded, walked over and took the phone from Bagramyan's hand, put it to his ear, and said, "Hey, is it General Podras?" I'm Kilponos. ”

"Hello, Comrade Commander." Hearing Kirponos's voice coming from the earpiece, Poderas hurriedly and politely said, "What instructions do you have?" ”

Thinking of what Tupikov had just said, Kirponos couldn't help but hesitate, if the troops of the 40th Army really had no combat effectiveness, even if they were transferred to the northeast, they would not be able to stop Guderian from moving south.

And Poderas, who was on the other end of the phone, found that the receiver suddenly stopped sounding, but he never hung up, and quickly called softly twice: "Comrade commander, comrade commander!" ”

Podras's voice woke Kirponos from his contemplation, and he felt that he should first understand the strength of the 40th Army before deciding whether to assign them a mission: "General Podras, what is the current strength of your army?" ”

"Today the 5th Brigade of Anti-Tank Artillery has joined the formation of our Army Group," Podiras reported to Kirponos with a little pride, "and with the addition of artillery, we already have a little bit of a ability to compete with the Germans." ”

"Great, that's great." Kirponos thought that since they had an anti-tank artillery brigade, there should be no problem in dealing with Guderian's armored forces, so he assigned a task to Podras: "Comrade General, now I order you to spread your troops on the line of Shostka, Kolop, and Lesser Ustye north of Konotop and Bakhmachi, and then along the Desna River to Stepanovka, and occupy defensive positions to block the advance of Guderian's troops. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Podras looked at the map in front of him, and silently memorized in his mind the list of place names that Kirponos had said. Then he replied stubbornly: "I will immediately send Colonel Ragutin, with his 293rd Infantry Division, to occupy the defensive positions of Shostka." ”

When Kirponos walked back to the conference table, Tupikov, who was unsure, spoke again: "Comrade commander, with the existing strength of the 40th Army, they simply cannot stop Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group. Do you think we need to report this situation to the High Command immediately? ”

The muscles on Kirponos's face twitched violently, and a fierce battle of ideas was going on in his heart. If the matter here is reported, it will definitely be reprimanded by the Supreme Commander himself; If he didn't report it, he could still find out about it through other channels. After weighing it repeatedly, he nodded and said, "Okay, I will personally report this matter to the High Command." ”

-- Moscow

Shaposhnikov, who had received a telegram from Kirponos, came to Stalin's office and gave Stalin a detailed report on the situation facing the Southwestern Front.

After listening to Shaposhnikov's report, Stalin, after walking back and forth in the house a few times, stopped, pointed at the other side with his hand holding the cigarette butt, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, is the situation in Kiev really as serious as Comrade Kirponos said?" ”

Shaposhnikov looked at Stalin intently and replied in the affirmative: "Yes, Comrade Stalin. The 51st Army of the so-called 6th Army of the German Army Group South crossed the Dnieper and advanced in the direction of the Desna River in an attempt to meet the German 2nd Army moving south, but was blocked by the troops of the Southwestern Front on the west bank of the river.

To the southeast of Kiev, the 1st Panzer Army of the 3rd Panzer Group captured Dnepropetrovsk on the 25th and captured a bridge over the Dnieper River there. Our 6th Army, in order to recapture this bridgehead, concentrated five incomparable divisions, two cavalry divisions and one armored division, and launched a counter-assault on three German divisions. However, under the stubborn defense of the German army, our army did not achieve the goal of counterattack, but was repulsed by the Germans. ”

"The situation is serious, Comrade Chief of the General Staff." After listening to Shaposhnikov's report, Stalin's brows could not help but tighten, he walked to the conference table on the side of the room, looked down at the map spread out on it, and looked up and asked Shaposhnikov: "Isn't it possible that neither our Bryansk Front, nor the 40th Army of the Southwestern Front, can stop the southward advance of Guderian's troops?" ”

"Because the enemy is superior in forces and equipment, and he has air supremacy on the battlefield." Shaposhnikov said helplessly: "So it is very difficult to block them. Unless..."

"Unless what?" When Stalin saw that Shaposhnikov looked like he was about to speak and stopped, he hurriedly asked: "Do you have any good suggestions?" ”

"Comrade Stalin, look." Shaposhnikov walked up to Stalin's side, pointed to the map and said to him: "If Zhukov can draw an army group from his front and strike in the direction of Starodub and strike at the left flank of the 2nd Panzer Group, he may be able to contain the enemy's forces." ”

Stalin did not immediately reply to Shaposhnikov's suggestion, he put the pipe he had been holding in his hand, put it in his mouth, lit it with a match, took a puff unhurriedly, spit out a series of smoke rings, nodded and said: "Well, Comrade Chief of the General Staff, you immediately go and call Zhukov and ask him to find a way to transfer an army group to attack in the direction of Starodub, to contain Guderian's armored forces, so that they cannot move south to join the 1st Panzer Group and crush their attempt to encircle Kiev." ”

-- Command of the Reserve Front

Since the troops of the 43rd Army were unable to break through the defensive zone of the German 24th Infantry Division, Zhukov called the commander of the army, Kurochkin, to the headquarters and worked with him on how to adjust the offensive.

The phone on the table rang, and Liapin walked over to pick up the phone and asked, "I'm Chief of Staff Liapin, where are you?" … Hello, Comrade Marshal! … Yes, Comrade Commander is at the command, please wait, I'll let him answer the phone right away..."

After speaking, Lyapin turned to Zhukov and said: "Comrade commander, it's Marshal Shaposhnikov's phone, he said that there is something important to talk to you immediately. ”

Zhukov walked over, took the microphone from Liapin's hand and put it to his ear, and then greeted warmly: "Hello, Comrade Chief of the General Staff, you are calling me at this time, are you going to send me a new reserve?" ”

"It's a pity, Comrade Zhukov." Shaposhnikov said dryly: "I am calling you this not to prepare to send you reserves, on the contrary, I intend to draw a unit from you and leave." ”

Zhukov, who was already holding back the fire in his belly because the offensive did not go well, couldn't help frowning when he heard Shaposhnikov say this, and then asked coldly: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I don't know which unit you plan to transfer?" ”

Shaposhnikov heard the anger in Zhukov's tone, and quickly explained: "Comrade Zhukov, the current situation in Kiev is very bad, the German 2nd Panzer Group and the 2nd Army, moving south from the Starodub and Gomel regions, respectively, are preparing to join the 1st Panzer Group of Army Group South to encircle the Southwestern Front in Kiev.

At the moment the General Staff has ordered General Yeremenko's Bryansk Front, to strike in the direction of Roslavl and Starodub, to carry out a surprise attack on the left flank of Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group in order to prevent its southward movement. In addition, the Southwestern Front also sent the newly formed 40th Army, which spread along the Desna River, relying on river obstacles to stop the southward movement of German troops.

Although we have taken such measures, we are at an absolute disadvantage compared to the Germans, both in terms of troops and equipment. I have consulted the Supreme Commander himself, and he has instructed that a force be drawn from you to strike in the direction of Starodub, and that the Bryansk Front should pin down Guderian's panzer clusters and prevent their southward movement. ”

"I see, Comrade Marshal." As soon as Zhukov figured out what was going on, his mind began to think quickly about which force should carry out this task, but he replied quickly: "I will immediately arrange for my troops to attack Starodub overnight, and I have restrained the German forces and prevented them from moving south." ”

Zhukov put down the phone, returned to the table and sat down, staring at the map in front of him without saying a word. Lyapin cautiously asked: "Comrade commander, don't you know that Marshal Shaposhnikov called, what is the matter?" ”

"Guderian's troops are moving south, preparing to converge with the 1st Panzer Group of their Army Group South to encircle our forces in Kyiv." Zhukov said without raising his head: "The Chief of the General Staff called me just to transfer a force to attack in the direction of Starodub, to contain the enemy and prevent them from advancing south. ”

After hearing what Zhukov said, Liapin immediately said: "However, our troops are attacking Yelnya, and if we send our troops to other battlefields at this time, it will inevitably weaken the forces attacking the fortifications. ”

Zhukov automatically filtered out Lyapin's whining, and after staring at the map for a long time, he looked up and said to Kurochkin: "Comrade General, I will leave the task of attacking Starodub to your army group. You immediately rush back to the troops, ready to go. ”

"But, Comrade Commander." Kurochkin said with an embarrassed expression: "The troops of our army group are attacking the outer positions of Yelnya, what if they want to withdraw from the battle at this time, and the Germans take the opportunity to launch a counteroffensive?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Kurochkin." Zhukov said with a normal expression: "After our artillery fire, the living forces of the German 24th Infantry Division have been greatly depleted. Their existing forces, for defense, may be sufficient; But to fight back, it's not enough. I will call General Kalinin and ask him to immediately send troops to change the guard with you. (To be continued.) )