"Misha," Zhukov waited for Sokov to finish and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Comrade Marshal, as early as when I sent out the reconnaissance personnel, my troops were ready for battle." Sokov replied: "Now that it has been determined that the enemy is going to retreat, I absolutely cannot let them leave Bel so easily. Gorod, I will attack the Germans in a quarter of an hour."
After Zhukov ended his call with Sokov, he said to Vasilevsky and Vatutin who were sitting at the table: "Comrade commanders, Misha's scouts reported to him that the enemy is withdrawing in an orderly manner. The position seems to be planned to evacuate Belgorod overnight.”
"Comrade Marshal, could this be a conspiracy?" As soon as Zhukov finished speaking, Vatutin said: "You know, the enemy still has tens of thousands of defenders in Belgorod, including two armored divisions. And a large number of artillery. If they want to retreat overnight, the tanks and artillery will certainly not be able to take them away and will have to be thrown away. Do you think the Germans will do such a stupid thing?"
When Zhukov fell silent, Vasilevsky continued: "Comrade Marshal, even if the information provided by General Sokov is correct, the enemy really intends to use the cover of night to withdraw from Belgorod. But. Is there anything we can do, order the troops to attack?"
When Zhukov heard what Vasilevsky said, he did not speak. He just glanced meaningfully and raised his chin, indicating that he should continue speaking.
Vasilevsky, who received Zhukov's instructions, continued: "You know, the combat order we issued to the troops not long ago was to stand firm and prevent possible night attacks by the enemy. But only an hour later, we ordered the troops to From defense to offense. If this order is issued during the day, it will cause heavy losses to the enemy. I have no doubt about this. But when we attack at night, what should we do with the coordination among so many troops? Once When we fall into chaos and the enemy takes the opportunity to counterattack, how should we respond?"
After Vasilevsky finished speaking, there was a silence in the room, and everyone was quietly thinking about what he said. If the troops are ordered to attack overnight, what will happen to the coordination among the many troops? What should we do if the enemy takes advantage of the chaos of the troops and launches a surprise counterattack?
"Comrade Vasilevsky," Zhukov said after a long time: "If I understand correctly, do you mean to let our troops stand still and watch the enemy withdraw from Belgorod?"
"Comrade Marshal, I think in the current situation, we should be more cautious and never act rashly." Vasilevsky said to Zhukov earnestly: "Although the intelligence provided by General Sokov said that the enemy is retreating , but we don’t know whether the enemy is really retreating or whether it is a trap to lure our troops into a trap.”
Zhukov tapped his fingers lightly and thought about it, as if considering what Vasilevsky said. After a long time, he finally nodded slowly and said, "Comrade Vasilevsky, you are right. If you order the troops to attack across the board, it will be a big problem for so many troops to coordinate operations at night. Once the attack If things go wrong and the German army launches a counterattack, the position we finally captured may fall into the enemy's hands again."
Hearing what Zhukov said, Vatutin had an expression of surprise on his face: "Comrade Marshal, do you mean there is no need to attack?"
"The large forces continue to stay in place and we can dispatch battalion-level combat units to attack the retreating enemies." Zhukov said to everyone: "Even if this retreat is a conspiracy arranged by the Germans, we will not pay too much. price."
Seeing that Zhukov agreed not to send large forces to counterattack across the front, Vasilevsky and Vatutin couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After a while, Vasilevsky asked again: "If the Steppe Front Army and Sokov's troops want to attack the enemy overnight, do we need to intervene?"
"No, Comrade Vasilevsky." Zhukov waved his hands and said: "The situation in Konev is different from ours. If they attack overnight, I believe they will be able to achieve good results, and at the same time they can also occupy the areas they occupied. The area is connected into a large area, which will be very helpful for our subsequent operations. I think it is not appropriate to interfere too much with the combat determination of the front army chiefs. It is up to them to decide what to do."
Konev, who was more than 20 kilometers away, suddenly started sneezing non-stop. Susekov, who was sitting next to him, smiled and said according to Russian tradition: "I wish you health! I wish you health!"
Konev finally stopped sneezing and said strangely: "It's really weird. I basically haven't left the headquarters today. How could I catch a cold?"
"Isn't it someone who is talking about you behind your back?" Zakharov said jokingly with a smile: "Maybe Major General Sokov is talking about you in his heart, which is why you keep sneezing."
"What is he talking about me for?" Konev snorted and said: "I have told him very clearly that the visibility at night is not high and is not suitable for large group operations. In order to avoid chaos, the main force of the front army will not participate. Night’s Counterattack.”
"Comrade Commander," after hearing what Konev said, Zakharov asked with some worry: "Can only one of Sokov's troops launch an attack and achieve results?"
"I believe Comrade Sokov, he must be able to destroy more enemies." Konev said with a normal expression: "The reason why I did not order the troops to go on the offensive is to give him more room for performance. Let’s see how many enemies he can annihilate before dawn.”
"Are we just going to watch Sokov's troops fight with the tens of thousands of defenders in the city?" Susekov frowned and said, "Once the enemy launches a counterattack, I'm worried that they will suffer a loss."
"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar, Sokov will never suffer a loss." Konev said to Susekov with a smile: "Our troops entering Belgorod have already prepared for battle. Once I find out that Sokov is in a bad situation, I will send troops to support him and I will never let him fight alone."
Sokov reported the reconnaissance information to Zhukov and Konev respectively. But what he didn't expect was that both of them believed his report, but due to various reasons, they were unable to send troops to cooperate with him. This means that if Sokov wants to send troops to attack the retreating German army, he will have to fight alone.
Not only Sokov saw this, but also Chief of Staff Sameko. He looked at Sokov and asked worriedly: "Comrade Commander, neither the Voronezh Front nor the main force of our front army can send troops, so what should we do next? Should we stay in the position and wait for the troops, or should we attack according to the original plan?"
"Since they are unwilling to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, then we don't need to worry about them." Sokov said decisively: "Chief of Staff, immediately issue orders to all divisions and brigades, leaving only a few troops to proceed. Outside the defense, the remaining troops immediately launched an attack on the enemy."
"clear."
Sokov picked up the pencil, drew a circle in the direction of the Chengnan Railway Station, then tapped twice with the pen, and told Samyko: "Tell Colonel Koida that his 188th Infantry Division must capture the south of the city first. train station, smash the enemy's attempt to withdraw troops through railway transportation, and keep as many enemies in the city as possible."
"Understood." Samyko nodded and said, "I will tell Colonel Koida to concentrate on capturing the train station so that the enemy cannot leave Belgorod by train."
The battle soon began.
Koida knew that a large number of German troops were gathering at the railway station, trying to take a train to leave Belgorod. Therefore, he went against the norm and no longer used the 562nd Regiment to launch an assault. Instead, he sent the 564th and 568th Regiments to detour towards the train station from both wings, intending to occupy the train station in the shortest possible time.
"Misha," Zhukov waited for Sokov to finish and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Comrade Marshal, as early as when I sent out the reconnaissance personnel, my troops were already ready for battle." Sokov replied: "Now that it has been determined that the enemy is going to retreat, I absolutely cannot let them leave Bel so easily. Gorod, I will attack the Germans in a quarter of an hour."
After Zhukov ended his call with Sokov, he said to Vasilevsky and Vatutin who were sitting at the table: "Comrade commanders, Misha's scouts reported to him that the enemy is withdrawing in an orderly manner. The position seems to be planned to evacuate Belgorod overnight.”
"Comrade Marshal, could this be a conspiracy?" As soon as Zhukov finished speaking, Vatutin said: "You know, the enemy still has tens of thousands of defenders in Belgorod, including two armored divisions. And a large number of artillery. If they want to retreat overnight, the tanks and artillery will definitely not be able to take them away and will have to be thrown away. Do you think the Germans will do such a stupid thing?"
When Zhukov fell silent, Vasilevsky continued: "Comrade Marshal, even if the information provided by General Sokov is correct, the enemy really intends to use the cover of night to withdraw from Belgorod. But. Is there anything we can do, order the troops to attack?"
When Zhukov heard what Vasilevsky said, he did not speak. He just glanced meaningfully and raised his chin, indicating that he should continue speaking.
Vasilevsky, who received Zhukov's instructions, continued: "You know, the combat order we issued to the troops not long ago was to stand firm and prevent possible night attacks by the enemy. But only an hour later, we ordered the troops to From defense to offense. If this order is issued during the day, it will cause heavy losses to the enemy. I have no doubt about this. But when we attack at night, what should we do with the coordination among so many troops? Once When we fall into chaos and the enemy takes the opportunity to counterattack, how should we respond?"
After Vasilevsky finished speaking, there was a silence in the room, and everyone was quietly thinking about what he said. If the troops are ordered to attack overnight, what will happen to the coordination among the many troops? What should we do if the enemy takes advantage of the chaos of the troops and launches a surprise counterattack?
"Comrade Vasilevsky," Zhukov said after a long time: "If I understand correctly, do you mean to let our troops stand still and watch the enemy withdraw from Belgorod?"
"Comrade Marshal, I think in the current situation, we should be more cautious and never act rashly." Vasilevsky said to Zhukov earnestly: "Although the intelligence provided by General Sokov said that the enemy is retreating , but we don’t know whether the enemy is really retreating or whether it is a trap to lure our troops into a trap.”
Zhukov tapped his fingers lightly and thought about it, as if considering what Vasilevsky said. After a long time, he finally nodded slowly and said, "Comrade Vasilevsky, you are right. If you order the troops to attack across the board, it will be a big problem for so many troops to coordinate operations at night. Once the attack If things go wrong and the German army launches a counterattack, the position we finally captured may fall into the enemy's hands again."
Hearing what Zhukov said, Vatutin had an expression of surprise on his face: "Comrade Marshal, do you mean there is no need to attack?"
"The large forces continue to stay in place and we can dispatch battalion-level combat units to attack the retreating enemies." Zhukov said to everyone: "Even if this retreat is a conspiracy arranged by the Germans, we will not pay too much. price."
Seeing that Zhukov agreed not to send large forces to counterattack across the front, Vasilevsky and Vatutin couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After a while, Vasilevsky asked again: "If the Steppe Front Army and Sokov's troops are going to attack the enemy overnight, do we need to intervene?"
"No, Comrade Vasilevsky." Zhukov waved his hands and said: "The situation in Konev is different from ours. If they attack overnight, I believe they will be able to achieve good results, and at the same time they can also occupy the areas they occupied. The area is connected into a large area, which will be very helpful for our subsequent operations. I think it is not appropriate to interfere too much with the combat determination of the front army leaders. It is up to them to decide what to do."
Konev, who was more than 20 kilometers away, suddenly started sneezing non-stop. Susekov, who was sitting next to him, smiled and said according to Russian tradition: "I wish you health! I wish you health!"
Konev finally stopped sneezing and said strangely: "It's really weird. I basically haven't left the headquarters today. How could I catch a cold?"
"Isn't it someone who is talking about you behind your back?" Zakharov said jokingly with a smile: "Maybe Major General Sokov is talking about you in his heart, which is why you keep sneezing."
"What is he talking about me for?" Konev snorted and said: "I have told him very clearly that the visibility at night is not high and is not suitable for large group operations. In order to avoid chaos, the main force of the front army will not participate. Night’s Counterattack.”
