The four enemy planes that broke into the sky above the city were all shot down under the joint attack of ground anti-aircraft fire and fighter squadrons. This was originally a joyful result, but Lunev found that Sokov's face was gloomy and he seemed to be thinking about some important issue.
As soon as the two returned to the church hall, Sameko came to greet them. He had already learned the good news from the staff that all four incoming enemy planes had been shot down. Therefore, as soon as he saw Sokov, he said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, this is really exciting news. The four enemy planes that tried to bomb the city were all successfully shot down by us, and none of them missed the target. "
Unexpectedly, Sokov just hummed casually and walked past him. When Samek saw this, he couldn't help but look confused. He quickly grabbed Lunev who was walking over and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Military Commissar, we shot down four enemy planes, which is a matter of joy. How come Commander?" His expression looks like our army has lost the battle?"
Lunev was actually quite strange. Seeing four enemy planes being shot down one after another, Sokov was originally very happy, but suddenly he thought of something and his expression became serious. Therefore, after hearing Sameko's question, he shook his head with a wry smile and replied: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't know. If you want to know the answer, you might as well ask the commander in person."
"Comrade Commander," Samek, eager to know the answer, followed Sokov back to the table and asked tentatively: "What's on your mind?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," after hearing Samyko's voice, Sokov, who had just sat down, looked up at his Chief of Staff and said seriously: "I was thinking about the enemy plane breaking into the sky above the city."
Samyko felt that he had grasped Sokov's thoughts, so he confidently comforted him and said: "Comrade Commander, although the anti-aircraft fire we deployed in the city is limited, even if the enemy planes break into the city, they will never be able to get a favor." . Just like the four planes that broke in today, not all of them were shot down by us in the end."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Sokov's head shaking like a rattle: "Wrong, Comrade Chief of Staff, wrong. What I am thinking and what you said are not the same thing."
This time it was Samyko's turn to be dumbfounded. He looked at Sokov and asked blankly: "Then what are you thinking about?"
Sokov did not immediately answer Samyko's question, but asked instead: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to ask you, where did the enemy plane fly from?"
Regarding Sokov's question, Samyko answered without hesitation: "According to the report, the enemy planes flew in from the south of the landing site. They passed through our right bank landing site, crossed the Dnieper River, and broke into the city. …”
Before Samek finished speaking, Sokov raised his hand to stop him from continuing: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since you said that the enemy planes came from the south of the landing site on the right bank, I want to ask you whether they passed by more than one division. defense zone, why didn’t we get any report before the enemy plane entered the city?”
As soon as this issue was mentioned, Sokov's heart suddenly became angry. He said angrily: "And we have also deployed powerful anti-aircraft firepower on the bank of the Dnieper River. Why didn't we conduct fire interception and allowed the enemy planes to break through?" Into our city? If the anti-aircraft artillery battalion of the 98th Guards Division had not responded in time, launched anti-aircraft shooting and prevented enemy planes from bombing the city, how much losses would we have suffered today."
Sokov said this with anger. None of his divisions on the right bank or the anti-aircraft fire network deployed by the river seemed to have discovered these four enemy planes. In other words, the commander at the landing site discovered the enemy plane, but felt that the enemy plane was not here to bomb him, so naturally he ignored it.
Fortunately, only four German bombers broke into the city this time. What if what had passed through the entire right bank defense line was a German fast armored column? By then, the defenders in Kremenchug might be caught off guard by the Germans, so Sokov planned to use the topic today to sound a warning to his commanders.
Sameko raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and replied with some embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, I think the enemy plane may have been discovered by our people when it passed our defense line. But I saw that the enemy plane did not fly in front of them. After staying in the defense area, I felt that they must be bombing other areas. As a result, the enemy planes passed through the entire right bank landing site..."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is the serious problem that our army has today." Sokov said with a straight face and an expressionless face: "It was only four enemy planes that broke into the city today. If we ignore this matter, Ask, the next time someone enters the city, it may be a German armored rapid column. By that time, it will be too late for us to regret it."
Samyko heard the other party's anger from Sokov's tone, and knew that the other party would definitely find several commanders to beat him today. He quickly straightened his body and replied: "Comrade Commander, please don't worry, I will investigate immediately." The flight route of the enemy planes provides serious criticism to the commanders who did not warn the enemy planes when they were discovered, as well as the commanders of the coastal air defense forces."
Sokov was very satisfied with Sameko's statement. He nodded and said in a slower tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, now we are fighting with a large corps. As the head of the group army, we cannot cover everything. If commanders at all levels cannot provide timely feedback on the following situations, we will not be able to formulate a combat plan when formulating the battle plan. , there may be deviations.”
"Understood." Sameko replied again: "I will notify the commanders of each division and ask them to report to us on time every day what happened below."
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Sokov waved his hand to Samyko and told him to call the commanders of each division to convey his intentions to everyone.
Lunev sat down next to Sokov and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, no wonder I noticed something was wrong with your expression when you came down from the bell tower. It turned out that you were thinking about this matter."
"We don't have radar, and we didn't detect the movements of enemy planes in advance." Sokov glanced at Samyko who was on the phone not far away, and said to Lunev: "Therefore, it is necessary for us to establish an air defense outpost system so that we can Take all precautions before enemy planes arrive over the city."
"Comrade Commander," Lunev waited for Sokov to finish and then asked tentatively: "I heard you mention 'radar' twice. What is this?"
Listening to what Luniev said, Sokov realized that the Soviet army's large-scale equipment of radars only happened after the end of World War II. There was no radar in the Soviet army at this time, and even a commander of Lunev's level would not know what this was.
Sokov organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then explained to Lunev: "Radar is an electronic device that uses electromagnetic waves to detect targets. With this equipment, enemy aircraft can be detected even if they are hundreds of kilometers away. We can also detect incoming enemy planes and their number through radar..."
"Oh, is there such equipment?" Lunev heard this and asked in surprise: "Why have I never heard of it?"
"So far, only the British and American Allied Forces have this kind of advanced equipment, and even the Germans don't have it." Sokov said without blushing and without skipping a beat: "Last year, several US military officers arrived. The troops came to teach our officers and soldiers how to use rocket launchers, and that’s when I overheard them talking about it.”
The four enemy planes that broke into the sky above the city were all shot down under the joint attack of ground anti-aircraft fire and fighter squadrons. This was originally a joyful result, but Lunev found that Sokov's face was gloomy and he seemed to be thinking about some important issue.
As soon as the two returned to the church hall, Sameko came to greet them. He had already learned the good news from the staff that all four incoming enemy planes had been shot down. Therefore, as soon as he saw Sokov, he said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, this is really exciting news. The four enemy planes that tried to bomb the city were all successfully shot down by us, and none of them missed the target. "
Unexpectedly, Sokov just hummed casually and walked past him. When Samek saw this, he couldn't help but look confused. He quickly grabbed Lunev who was walking over and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Military Commissar, we shot down four enemy planes, which is a matter of joy. How come Commander?" His expression looks like our army has lost the battle?"
Lunev was actually quite strange. Seeing four enemy planes being shot down one after another, Sokov was originally very happy, but suddenly he thought of something and his expression became serious. Therefore, after hearing Sameko's question, he shook his head with a wry smile and replied: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't know. If you want to know the answer, you might as well ask the commander in person."
"Comrade Commander," Samek, eager to know the answer, followed Sokov back to the table and asked tentatively: "What's on your mind?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," after hearing Samyko's voice, Sokov, who had just sat down, looked up at his Chief of Staff and said seriously: "I was thinking about the enemy plane breaking into the sky above the city."
Samyko felt that he had grasped Sokov's thoughts, so he confidently comforted him and said: "Comrade Commander, although the anti-aircraft fire we deployed in the city is limited, even if the enemy planes break into the city, they will never be able to get a favor." . Just like the four planes that broke in today, not all of them were shot down by us in the end."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Sokov's head shaking like a rattle: "Wrong, Comrade Chief of Staff, wrong. What I am thinking and what you said are not the same thing."
This time it was Samyko's turn to be dumbfounded. He looked at Sokov and asked blankly: "Then what are you thinking about?"
Sokov did not immediately answer Samyko's question, but asked instead: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to ask you, where did the enemy plane fly from?"
Regarding Sokov's question, Samyko answered without hesitation: "According to the report, the enemy planes flew in from the south of the landing site. They passed through our right bank landing site, crossed the Dnieper River, and broke into the city. …”
Before Samek finished speaking, Sokov raised his hand to stop him from continuing: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since you said that the enemy planes came from the south of the landing site on the right bank, I want to ask you whether they passed by more than one division. defense zone, why didn’t we get any report before the enemy plane entered the city?”
As soon as this issue was mentioned, Sokov's heart suddenly became angry. He said angrily: "And we have also deployed powerful anti-aircraft firepower on the bank of the Dnieper River. Why didn't we conduct fire interception and allowed the enemy planes to break through?" Into our city? If the anti-aircraft artillery battalion of the 98th Guards Division had not responded in time, launched anti-aircraft shooting and prevented enemy planes from bombing the city, how much losses would we have suffered today."
Sokov said this with anger. None of his divisions on the right bank or the anti-aircraft fire network deployed by the river seemed to have discovered these four enemy planes. In other words, the commander at the landing site discovered the enemy plane, but felt that the enemy plane was not here to bomb him, so naturally he ignored it.
Fortunately, only four German bombers broke into the city this time. What if what had passed through the entire right bank defense line was a German fast armored column? By then, the defenders in Kremenchug might be caught off guard by the Germans, so Sokov planned to use the topic today to sound a warning to his commanders.
Sameko raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and replied with some embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, I think the enemy plane may have been discovered by our people when it passed our defense line. But I saw that the enemy plane was not in front of them. After staying in the defense area, I felt that they must be bombing other areas. As a result, the enemy planes passed through the entire right bank landing site..."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is the serious problem that our army has today." Sokov said with a straight face and an expressionless face: "Only four enemy planes broke into the city today. If we ignore this matter, Ask, the next time someone enters the city, it may be a German armored rapid column. By that time, it will be too late for us to regret it."
Samyko heard the other party's anger from Sokov's tone, and knew that the other party would definitely find several commanders to beat him today. He quickly straightened his body and replied: "Comrade Commander, please don't worry, I will investigate immediately." The flight route of the enemy planes provides serious criticism to the commanders who did not warn the enemy planes when they were discovered, as well as the commanders of the coastal air defense forces."
Sokov was very satisfied with Sameko's statement. He nodded and said in a slower tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, today is a large-scale battle. As the head of the group army, it is impossible for us to cover everything. If commanders at all levels cannot provide timely feedback on the following situations, when we formulate the battle plan, , there may be deviations.”
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Sokov waved his hand to Samyko and motioned him to call the commanders of each division to convey his intentions to everyone.
Lunev sat down next to Sokov and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, no wonder I noticed something was wrong with your expression when you came down from the bell tower. It turned out that you were thinking about this matter."
"We don't have radar, and we didn't detect the movements of enemy planes in advance." Sokov glanced at Samyko who was on the phone not far away, and said to Lunev: "Therefore, it is necessary for us to establish an air defense outpost system so that we can Take all precautions before enemy planes arrive over the city."
