Of course, Sokov didn't know the swordsmanship in this meeting of the General Staff. He was sitting in a wheelchair, eating lunch face to face with Asiya. Vera didn't want to disturb their world, so she went to the nurse's desk to have dinner with her other nurses.
"Misha!" Asiya asked Sokov curiously: "What did General Lunev want from you today?"
Considering that today's matter was not a top secret, and there were only himself and Asya in the ward, Sokov told Lunev's purpose without any scruples.
When Asya heard Sokov's suggestion to abandon Zhitomir and let the 38th Army withdraw to Kiev, she was surprised and said: "Oh my God, Misha, you are so brave, you dare to make such a suggestion, don't you think so?" Aren’t you worried?”
"Worried?!" Sokov asked in confusion: "What am I worried about?"
"When the Germans approached Kiev, Marshal Zhukov, who was still the chief of the general staff, saw that Kiev could not be defended, so he proposed to abandon Kiev and withdraw the troops of the Southwest Front to the right bank of the Dnieper River to set up new defenses." Assi Ya said: "As a result, he was removed from the post of chief of general staff because of this incident and was sent to the reserve front army."
Sokov saw what Asya said in later movies. But in today's era, this kind of thing is absolutely confidential, how could Asiya know. With this question in mind, Sokov asked: "Asia, how do you know these things?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Asiya blinked at him, pretending to be serious and said: "Misha, have you forgotten what my profession is? As a military doctor, I have to contact a lot of people every day. The wounded, from them, I can get a lot of information that I can't understand from the radio and newspapers."
Sokov did not question Asiya's persuasion. As a military doctor on the front line, her understanding of the battlefield situation is not much slower than that of the army commander herself, because she can obtain the latest intelligence from the wounded brought down from the front line.
"Misha," Asia asked Sokov with some worry: "Once Zhitomyr is lost, will the Germans quickly rush out of Kiev along the Zhytomir-Kiev highway?"
Sokov did not directly answer the question raised by Asiya, but instead talked about the weather: "Asiya, you are also from Moscow. You should know that the weather in November is the strangest."
"Why is it weird?"
"It often snows in the morning, the sun comes out at noon, and then it rains again in the afternoon." Sokov said seemingly complaining: "Such weather makes those dirt roads look fine on the surface, but when you step on them If you go up there, your shoes will sink in, so every season, I have to clean my shoes twice a day..."
Asiya looked at Sokov with a blank expression at first, thinking that I was asking whether the Germans would rush to Kiev, but he told me about the weather. It was like a ghost.
But this complaint did not last long. Asya wanted to understand the meaning of Sokov's words. She asked tentatively: "Misha, you mean that even if the Germans reoccupy Zhitomir, they will Is it possible that the continuous drizzle in November can stop progress?"
Seeing that Asiya realized his intention, Sokov smiled and nodded. He did not dwell on this issue anymore. Instead, he picked up the empty bowl in front of him and said to Asiya: "My dear, please fill it for me." Bowl of soup.”
…………
On November 15, the German attack on Zhytomyr officially began.
The 7th Armored Division rushed to Staniszewka, southeast of the city, on the same day, and captured Ryukov, 12 kilometers east of the city, the next day.
On November 17, the 1st Panzergrenadier Regiment of the Banner Division arrived at Kocherovo on the Zhytomyr-Kiev railway. The 1st Armored Division also turned to attack the Soviet army in Zhitomir with the 7th Armored Division on November 17.
By the evening of the 17th, the 25th Armored Regiment Combat Group of Colonel Albert Schulz of the 7th Armored Division and the officers and soldiers of the Brandenburg Alexander Battalion participated in the attack on Zhitomir.
Under the cover of assault artillery, the 80th Armored Artillery Regiment of the 8th Armored Division, which launched an attack on Zhitomir from the south, encountered tenacious Soviet defense three kilometers away from the city. Repeated attacks were all defeated. The Soviet troops were repulsed. When the "Radowitz" battle group formed by the 8th and 28th Panzer Grenadier Regiments, the "Mitzlav" battle group composed of the 1st Battalion of the 10th Armored Regiment and the 8th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, after arriving at the designated position, also participated attack on the city.
To the west of the city, the 208th Infantry Division's offensive was also very fierce.
The 7th Armored Division fought fiercely with the Soviet army for a day on November 18. An hour before dark, they found a weakly defended anti-tank gun position. The division commander, General Manteuffel, organized 6 tanks and 100 grenadiers to conduct a night attack. From 17:00 on the 18th to 3:00 on the 19th, he finally broke through the Soviet defenses and began to clear out the Soviet troops in the occupied area of the city. resistance.
Moskalenko was worried that his 38th Army might be wiped out if the fight continued, so he called his superiors for instructions. Vatutin, who originally wanted to keep fighting, saw that the situation of the 38th Army was extremely dangerous, so he could only give Moskalenko an order to immediately organize his troops to break out and retreat.
News of the 38th Group Army's breakout quickly reached the General Staff Headquarters.
After learning the news, Antonov did not dare to report the matter immediately. Instead, he convened a meeting with his subordinates to discuss how to deal with the bad situation that might arise next.
After the meeting began, the first person to attack was Deputy Chief of General Staff Shtemenko: "Comrades, when we were sitting here for a meeting a few days ago, I once said that Zhitomir's troops could not stop the German attack at all. , suggested withdrawing the 38th Army and retreating to the vicinity of Kiev to reposition defenses. But regrettably, my proposal was rejected."
When he said this, he couldn't help but glance at General Ivanov, the First Deputy Chief of General Staff, thinking that if he hadn't deliberately played a different tune, his bill might have been passed.
Antonov saw that Shtemenko's eyes were fixed on Ivanov, but the latter lowered his head and said nothing, and quickly came out to smooth things over: "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and our General Staff is not a god, how can it be accurate? We can predict how things will develop next.”
Worried that the two would clash over this matter, he also specifically added: "We have just captured Kiev and have not yet had time to build a strong and complete defense system. Holding on to Zhytomir can win over the troops remaining in Kiev." Valuable time gives them time to perfect Kiev's defenses."
"Then what should we do next?" Seeing Antonov making peace in the play, Shtemenko no longer insisted on his own opinion, but asked directly: "Kiev must not be lost."
"Don't worry, Kiev can't be lost." Although the battle on the Zhitomyr defense line ended with the Soviet army's defeat, they had made many preparation plans some time ago: "Reinforcements from various places are rushing to Kiev. I I believe that it won’t be long before more troops arrive in Kiev to consolidate the defense there.”
"Comrade Chief of General Staff," Shtemenko waited for Antonov to finish speaking, then asked cautiously: "Do you think you should send someone to Sokov's place to hear his opinion?"
If Shtemenko had said this in public before the fall of Zhitomir, he would have been opposed by many people, including Ivanov. But the facts of the past few days show that Sokov's judgment was completely correct. Therefore, this time his proposal was passed smoothly without any objection.
Of course, Sokov didn't know the swordsmanship in this meeting of the General Staff. He was sitting in a wheelchair, eating lunch face to face with Asiya. Vera didn't want to disturb their world, so she went to the nurse's desk to have dinner with her other nurses.
"Misha!" Asiya asked Sokov curiously: "What did General Lunev want from you today?"
Considering that today's matter was not a top secret, and there were only himself and Asya in the ward, Sokov told Lunev's purpose without any scruples.
When Asya heard Sokov's suggestion to abandon Zhitomir and let the 38th Army withdraw to Kiev, she was surprised and said: "Oh my God, Misha, you are so brave, you dare to make such a suggestion, don't you think so?" Aren’t you worried?”
"Worried?!" Sokov asked in confusion: "What am I worried about?"
"When the Germans approached Kiev, Marshal Zhukov, who was still the chief of the general staff, saw that Kiev could not be defended, so he proposed to abandon Kiev and withdraw the troops of the Southwest Front to the right bank of the Dnieper River to set up new defenses." Assi Ya said: "As a result, he was removed from the post of chief of general staff because of this incident and was sent to the reserve front army."
Sokov saw what Asya said in later movies. But in today's era, this kind of thing is absolutely confidential, how could Asiya know. With this question in mind, Sokov asked: "Asia, how do you know these things?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Asiya blinked at him and pretended to be serious and said: "Misha, have you forgotten what my profession is? As a military doctor, I have to contact a lot of people every day. The wounded, from them, I can get a lot of information that I can't understand from the radio and newspapers."
Sokov did not question Asiya's persuasion. As a military doctor on the front line, her understanding of the battlefield situation is not much slower than that of the army commander herself, because she can obtain the latest intelligence from the wounded who were brought down from the front line.
"Misha," Asia asked Sokov with some worry: "Once Zhitomyr is lost, will the Germans quickly rush out of Kiev along the Zhytomir-Kiev highway?"
Sokov did not directly answer the question raised by Asiya, but instead talked about the weather: "Asiya, you are also from Moscow. You should know that the weather in November is the strangest."
"Why is it weird?"
"It often snows in the morning, the sun comes out at noon, and then it rains again in the afternoon." Sokov said seemingly complaining: "Such weather makes those dirt roads look fine on the surface, but when you step on them If you go up there, your shoes will sink in, so every season, I have to clean my shoes twice a day..."
Asiya looked at Sokov with a blank expression at first, thinking that I was asking whether the Germans would rush to Kiev, but he told me about the weather. It was like a ghost.
But this complaint did not last long. Asya wanted to understand the meaning of Sokov's words. She asked tentatively: "Misha, you mean that even if the Germans reoccupy Zhitomir, they will Is it possible that the continuous drizzle in November can stop progress?"
Seeing that Asiya realized his intention, Sokov smiled and nodded. He did not dwell on this issue anymore. Instead, he picked up the empty bowl in front of him and said to Asiya: "My dear, please fill it for me." Bowl of soup.”
The 7th Armored Division rushed to Staniszewka, southeast of the city, on the same day, and captured Ryukov, 12 kilometers east of the city, the next day.
On November 17, the 1st Panzergrenadier Regiment of the Banner Division arrived at Kocherovo on the Zhytomyr-Kiev railway. The 1st Armored Division also turned to attack the Soviet army in Zhitomir with the 7th Armored Division on November 17.
By the evening of the 17th, the 25th Armored Regiment Combat Group of Colonel Albert Schulz of the 7th Armored Division and the officers and soldiers of the Brandenburg Alexander Battalion participated in the attack on Zhitomir.
Under the cover of assault artillery, the 80th Armored Artillery Regiment of the 8th Armored Division, which launched an attack on Zhitomir from the south, encountered tenacious Soviet defense three kilometers away from the city. Repeated attacks were all defeated. The Soviet troops were repulsed. When the "Radowitz" battle group formed by the 8th and 28th Panzer Grenadier Regiments, the "Mitzlav" battle group composed of the 1st Battalion of the 10th Armored Regiment and the 8th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, after arriving at the designated position, also participated attack on the city.
To the west of the city, the 208th Infantry Division's offensive was also very fierce.
The 7th Armored Division fought fiercely with the Soviet army for a day on November 18. An hour before dark, they found a weakly defended anti-tank gun position. The division commander, General Manteuffel, organized 6 tanks and 100 grenadiers to conduct a night attack. From 17:00 on the 18th to 3:00 on the 19th, he finally broke through the Soviet defenses and began to clear out the Soviet troops in the occupied area of the city. resistance.
Moskalenko was worried that his 38th Army might be wiped out if the fight continued, so he called his superiors for instructions. Vatutin, who originally wanted to keep fighting, saw that the situation of the 38th Army was extremely dangerous, so he could only give Moskalenko an order to immediately organize his troops to break out and retreat.
After learning the news, Antonov did not dare to report the matter immediately. Instead, he convened a meeting with his subordinates to discuss how to deal with the bad situation that might arise next.
After the meeting began, the first person to complain was Deputy Chief of General Staff Shtemenko: "Comrades, when we were sitting here for a meeting a few days ago, I once said that Zhitomir's troops could not stop the German attack at all. , suggested withdrawing the 38th Army and retreating to the vicinity of Kiev to reposition defenses. But regrettably, my proposal was rejected."
When he said this, he couldn't help but glance at General Ivanov, the First Deputy Chief of General Staff, thinking that if he hadn't deliberately played a different tune, his bill might have been passed.
Antonov saw that Shtemenko's eyes were fixed on Ivanov, but the latter lowered his head and said nothing, and quickly came out to smooth things over: "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and our General Staff is not a god, how can it be accurate? We can predict how things will develop next.”
