In Sokov's memory, Apanashenko died on August 5. As for the reason for his sacrifice, the information stated that he was bombed by enemy planes when he went to inspect the forward command post, not that he died.
At this moment, I saw that the date of Apanashenko's death actually coincided with history, and the reason for his death was also due to air strikes. Sokov, who wanted to know the details, asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you tell us the specific situation?"
Samyko nodded and told Sokov the details he knew: "Comrade General General took his guard early this morning and drove to the area occupied by the Voronezh Front to inspect the area. As a result, he encountered an enemy plane halfway.
Because he and his guards were traveling in three jeeps and two trucks in a neat formation along the road, they attracted the attention of the German pilots, who dive-bombed the convoy and killed all of them on the spot. A truck was destroyed, and the commanders and fighters on the truck suffered heavy casualties.
Comrade General was riding in a jeep. When the driver saw the enemy plane swooping down from the sky, he immediately realized something was wrong and left the road to hide in the nearby woods. Unexpectedly, when he was about to rush to the woods, he accidentally ran over a landmine, and the jeep was blown over on the spot.
By the time the accompanying soldiers arrived and rescued Comrade General from the car, he was already in critical condition. The accompanying soldiers rushed Comrade General to a nearby field hospital for first aid. Unfortunately, his injuries were too serious. After some rescue efforts, his life could not be saved. "
"Where is Comrade General's body now?"
"It is said that the High Command has sent a plane to transport his body back to Moscow."
After learning the details of Apanashenko's sacrifice, Sokov thought of Chuvashov's troops and couldn't help but ask: "How is the 98th Guards Division doing now? Did they have anything during the transfer process?" Bombed by the enemy?"
Facing the question raised by Sokov, Samyko showed a bitter expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, didn't all the divisions just send you telegrams to report their situation? Didn't Colonel Chuvashov Send you a telegram?"
Sokov looked through the telegrams at hand and found no telegram from Chuvashov. He shook his head and said, "No, he didn't send me a telegram."
"Then I will contact Colonel Chuvashov immediately and ask them about the situation there."
While Samyko went to tell the operator to send the report, Sokov picked up the telegram on the table, called the Reconnaissance Division, and asked the director of the Reconnaissance Division who answered the phone straight to the point: "Comrade Director, the scouts sent out, is there any news?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." The director of the reconnaissance department replied respectfully: "If there is any news, I will report it to you as soon as possible."
After Samek explained the contents of the report to the operator, he walked back to Sokov and happened to hear his conversation with the director of the reconnaissance department. As soon as he put down the phone, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, is there any news from the scouts yet?"
"No." Sokov waved his hand and said, "Maybe there will be intelligence feedback before dark."
"Comrade Commander," Samek said with a sad look on his face: "Our army group's performance was too eye-catching in the battle to liberate Belgorod. Moreover, the new river-crossing equipment assigned to us by our superiors may have been known to the Germans. I am worried that in order to prevent us from forcing our way across the Oud River, the enemy may place obstacles on the shore so that the hovercraft cannot easily rush to the enemy's position like last time."
"Your analysis makes sense." Sokov agreed very much with Sameko's statement. Regardless of the fact that there are a series of confidentiality regulations for hovercrafts, as long as they are used once on the battlefield, the hovercraft is no longer a secret weapon. Sooner or later, the Germans will understand the purpose of the hovercraft through their special channels and develop ways to deal with them. . "I'm afraid it won't be easy for us to break through the Oud River again."
"Before the attack on Belgorod, our artillery had exhausted all the ammunition in stock." Samyko continued: "If our superiors do not give us replenishment, then we may not be able to attack Kharkov. Prepare for artillery fire."
If it were something else, Sokov might be worried, but when Samyko mentioned the lack of shells, Sokov smiled. He clicked on the map with his hand and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget that there are several ammunition depots in Belgorod. The shells stored in them are not only shells used by German artillery. , there are also artillery shells used by Soviet-made artillery. Before the troops move, I have ordered them to move the artillery shells to the south of the city."
"The ammunition in the arsenal was moved?" Samek asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, why didn't I know about this?"
Hearing Samyko's question, an embarrassed expression flashed across Sokov's face. He lowered his head and looked through the telegram in front of him, then pulled out a telegram and handed it to Samyko: "This is the infantry The deputy commander of the 84th Division, Colonel Belkin, sent me a telegram stating that their division had emptied all the captured ammunition depots when it was transferred."
If Sokov was talking about someone else, maybe Samyko would still ask questions, but when he heard that it was Belkin, Samyko wisely remained silent. He knew that Sokov and Belkin were old friends. Partner, even if Sokov doesn't ask for some things, Belkin will know what to do based on his understanding of him.
"Comrade Commander, this is great." Samyko put the telegram back in front of Sokov and said with a smile: "In this way, we don't have to worry about the troops having to attack Kharkov before attacking. No more artillery support.”
"Misha, Misha!" Yakov and Lunev walked in from the outside. When they saw Sokov sitting at the table, they immediately shouted: "Do you know? Something happened, something happened!"
Sokov couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart, and then asked in a panic: "What happened?"
Yakov quickly walked up to Sokov, looked around, and said seriously: "Misha, have you heard? General Apanashenko was attacked by an enemy plane while inspecting the troops. Unfortunately, he died in an air raid."
"I already know about this." Sokov nodded and said: "It's really unfortunate. Our army liberated Belgorod. It was originally a happy thing, but after Apanashenko University... This incident will affect everyone’s mood to some extent.”
Lunev, who was standing next to Yakov, sighed softly and said regretfully: "As far as I know, the reason why the Supreme Command arranged for Comrade General to serve as the deputy commander of the Voronezh Front Army is to let him follow General Vatutin. Learn how to fight the Germans. After he has actual combat experience, he will be assigned to serve as the front commander of a certain front. But now that he has died, the arrangement from his superiors has been ruined."
"Alas, what a pity." Yakov said regretfully: "He was also the highest-ranking commander of our army who died after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War."
"Colonel Yakov, this was a pure accident." After hearing this, Samyko couldn't help but interjected: "I believe that similar tragedies will not happen again in the future."
Sokov secretly thought: Apanashenko's sacrifice is just the beginning. In a few months, Vatutin of the Voronezh Front will die; then, the young general Chernyakhov will die. A few days before he was promoted to marshal, Ski was unfortunately killed in a German shelling attack.
However, Sokov can only keep these things in his heart and cannot tell others, otherwise they will definitely be regarded as crazy by others.
After everyone lamented Apanashenko's sacrifice for a while, they inevitably mentioned the next battle to liberate Kharkov. Lunev asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you think our commanders and soldiers can still perform as outstandingly as they did in the liberation of Belgorod in the battle to liberate Kharkov?"
"It's hard to say, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov said with a wry smile: "I think our army will probably pay a heavy price when we forcefully cross the Oud River."
"What, forcibly crossing the Oud River will cost a lot?" Lunev seemed to disagree with Sokov's statement. He asked with some confusion: "Since we have a hovercraft, are we still worried about being unable to break through the enemy?" The riverside position?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, I do not deny that the hovercraft played a role that cannot be underestimated in the battle to liberate Belgorod." Sokov said to Lunev sincerely: "But we cannot think that the hovercraft will be used every time because of this. It can play a great role in the battle. I am even considering that maybe in the battle to liberate Kharkov, we will not find any occasion to use the hovercraft."
Sokov's words made Yakov frown, and he asked displeasedly: "Misha, why do you say that?"
For Yakov, the hovercraft that made a splash in the battle to liberate Belgorod was like his own child, and he would not let anyone speak ill of it, not even an old friend like Sokov.
Seeing the expression on Yakov's face, Sokov realized that he might have said the wrong thing, and quickly explained to Yakov: "Yasha, please don't misunderstand. I said that the hovercraft was playing a role in liberating Kharkov." It is only used in combat, and it is difficult to find a place to use it. This is entirely because the Germans already know that we have hovercraft that can quickly cross the river. I think they are taking remedial measures at this moment to set up obstacles along the river positions so that our hovercraft cannot Landing ashore again as easily as last time.”
After listening to Sokov's explanation, the expression on Yakov's face softened a lot.
Yakov quickly walked up to Sokov, looked around, and said seriously: "Misha, have you heard? General Apanashenko was attacked by an enemy plane while inspecting the troops. Unfortunately, he died in an air raid."
"I already know about this." Sokov nodded and said: "It's really unfortunate. Our army liberated Belgorod. It was originally a happy thing, but after Apanashenko University... This incident will affect everyone’s mood to some extent.”
Lunev, who was standing next to Yakov, sighed softly and said regretfully: "As far as I know, the reason why the Supreme Command arranged for Comrade General to serve as the deputy commander of the Voronezh Front Army is to let him follow General Vatutin. Learn how to fight the Germans. After he has actual combat experience, he will be assigned to serve as the front commander of a certain front. But now that he has died, the arrangement from his superiors has been ruined."
"Alas, what a pity." Yakov said regretfully: "He was also the highest-ranking commander of our army who died after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War."
"Colonel Yakov, this was a pure accident." After hearing this, Samyko couldn't help but interjected: "I believe that similar tragedies will not happen again in the future."
Sokov secretly thought: Apanashenko's sacrifice is just the beginning. In a few months, Vatutin of the Voronezh Front will die; then, the young general Chernyakhov will die. A few days before he was promoted to marshal, Ski was unfortunately killed in a German shelling attack.
However, Sokov can only keep these things in his heart and cannot tell others, otherwise they will definitely be regarded as crazy by others.
After everyone lamented Apanashenko's sacrifice for a while, they inevitably mentioned the next battle to liberate Kharkov. Lunev asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you think our commanders and soldiers can still perform as outstandingly as they did in the liberation of Belgorod in the battle to liberate Kharkov?"
"It's hard to say, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov said with a wry smile: "I think our army will probably pay a heavy price when we forcefully cross the Oud River."
"What, forcibly crossing the Oud River will cost a lot?" Lunev seemed to disagree with Sokov's statement. He asked with some confusion: "Since we have a hovercraft, are we still worried about being unable to break through the enemy?" The riverside position?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, I do not deny that the hovercraft played a role that cannot be underestimated in the battle to liberate Belgorod." Sokov said to Lunev sincerely: "But we cannot think that the hovercraft will be used every time because of this. It can play a great role in the battle. I am even considering that maybe in the battle to liberate Kharkov, we will not find any occasion to use the hovercraft."
Sokov's words made Yakov frown, and he asked displeasedly: "Misha, why do you say that?"
For Yakov, the hovercraft that made a splash in the battle to liberate Belgorod was like his own child, and he would not let anyone speak ill of it, not even an old friend like Sokov.
Seeing the expression on Yakov's face, Sokov realized that he might have said the wrong thing, and quickly explained to Yakov: "Yasha, please don't misunderstand. I said that the hovercraft was playing a role in liberating Kharkov." It is only used in combat, and it is difficult to find a place to use it. This is entirely because the Germans already know that we have hovercraft that can quickly cross the river. I think they are taking remedial measures at this moment to set up obstacles along the river positions so that our hovercraft cannot Landing ashore again as easily as last time.”
After listening to Sokov's explanation, the expression on Yakov's face softened a lot.
