When he learned that the 109th Division had captured von Ludtsov, commander of the German 35th Army, Sokov couldn't help but cheered, and then ordered Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, call immediately to report this important good news to the front army. Headquarters, let Comrade General and the others be happy too."
"Comrade Commander," when Sidorin called the front army headquarters to report the good news, Ponedelin suddenly said: "This battle of the 109th Infantry Division is enough to comfort those comrades who died in Shepetovka. "
Sokov was stunned after hearing this. He remembered that Shepetovka was in Ukraine, but now Bobruisk was in Belarus. The two were completely unrelated.
"Comrade Deputy Commander, what are you talking about?" Sokov humbly asked Ponedelin based on the principle of asking if you don't understand: "How does today's victory have anything to do with Shepetovka?" ?”
"Comrade Commander, do you know where Shepetovka is?"
"I know, of course I know." Sokov nodded and said: "When I was fighting in Ukraine in the past few months, I paid attention to the larger cities. This Shepetovka is located in Uman and Rivno between."
"Yes, Shepetovka is indeed at the location you mentioned." Ponedelin said: "You may not know that in the early days of the war, there were a large number of weapons, ammunition and military equipment stored in the military warehouse there. Supplies. Due to the rapid advance of the enemy, if they are allowed to occupy Shepetovka, the troops of the Southwest Front will be in a situation of no ammunition and no supplies. At this critical juncture, it was General Lukin who led the 16th Army Arrive urgently.
Although there was a 5th Mechanized Army and a 32nd Infantry Army in the structure of the 16th Army at that time, the only troops that actually reached Shepetovka were Colonel Krasnoretsky’s 109th Division and a Tank Corps. 116 regiment. General Lukin relied on this force and the shelter of some dispersed troops to resist the German attack there for two weeks. "
This was the first time Sokov heard what Ponedelin said. After he waited for the other party to finish, he asked tentatively: "What about the losses of the 109th Division?"
"It can be described as heavy losses." Ponedelin said: "First, the division commander, Colonel Krasnoretsky, died, and General Lukin appointed Major Podoprigola, the commander of a regiment of the division, to replace him. The new division commander also died soon after, so General Lu Jin personally acted as the division commander and commanded the troops to repel the German attacks again and again.
When ordered to evacuate Shepetovka, the 109th Division, which originally had 12,000 men, had less than 200 men left, and most of them were injured. After this battle alone, the 109th Division was severely weakened. Although it had participated in combat under different unit structures, the results achieved were mediocre. "
When Sokov heard this, he immediately understood what Ponedelin wanted to express. The 109th Division performed well in the early stages of the war, but due to various reasons, its performance in the rest of the time was mediocre and nothing outstanding. Today, the German 35th Army was annihilated and its commander was captured. This is indeed an amazing victory.
"Comrade Deputy Commander, what you said makes sense." Sokov said: "I think we can award this division the Order of the Red Banner and ask our superiors to grant them the honorary title of Guards Division."
What Sokov said is the highest honor that the army can receive. After hearing this, Ponedelin became emotional: "Comrade Commander, are you really planning to do this?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded and said, "I think the commanders and fighters of the 109th Division are fully worthy of such an honor."
Ponejelin stood up, stood at attention, raised his hand and saluted Sokov with a solemn military salute, "Comrade Commander, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 109th Division, I would like to express my gratitude to you!"
Sokov quickly reached out and pulled the other person's hand from his forehead, "Comrade Deputy Commander, what are you doing? The 109th Division deserves the honor, and there is no need to express gratitude to me specifically."
After Ponedelin sat down, he suddenly said with emotion: "When I mentioned the 109th Division, I thought of General Lukin. I heard that he was captured in the battle of Vyazma, but I don't know if he is still alive today."
Sokov blurted out: "Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander, he is still alive."
"Still alive?" Ponejelin looked at Sokov and asked with some surprise: "How do you know he is still alive?"
This question made Sokov look a little embarrassed. He prevaricated: "I think a hero like General Lu Jin is not only admired by us, but also his enemies should maintain the necessary respect for him. It is based on this point that I judge Lu Jin. General Kim must still be alive.”
Regarding Sokov's statement, Ponedelin was silent for a long time, and finally nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, maybe you are right. An excellent commander like Lukin will not only win our Admiration will also be respected by the enemy. I sincerely hope that he is still alive so that I can have a chance to meet him again."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, are you familiar with General Lu Jin?"
"We were once classmates in the senior commander training class of the Frunze Military Academy." Ponyjelin grinned and said, "We are both competitors and best friends at the same time."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, I'm thinking about a question." Sokov recalled the information about Lukin and said, "If General Lukin could fight side by side with you during the Battle of Uman, things might be different. The result. Even if the German attack cannot be crushed, more troops can break out of the enemy's encirclement."
Ponedelin stared at Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, I have thought about it more than once. If you had also commanded a unit to fight in the Uman area at that time, I am afraid that the final situation would have been very different. Maybe you would have returned It can smash the German offensive plan, even eat part of their troops, and reverse the situation in the Uman area."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, you really think too highly of me." When Sokov heard Ponedelin mention Uman, he immediately shook his head and said: "As my deputy, you should know very well that among the troops under my command, The main reason why we can win battles repeatedly is because we have many advanced weapons. Even if I was in Uman at that time, there was no air support, no artillery coordination, and no advanced weapons and equipment. To defeat the well-trained German army, It’s basically impossible. Maybe I’m still in a German prisoner of war camp to this day.”
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin, who had just finished the phone call, came over. He did not notice the conversation between the two and excitedly said to Sokov: "Comrade General ordered us to immediately take the captured von Lu Detzov was sent to the front army headquarters to verify the results we achieved."
"Then you notify the division commander and arrange for personnel to send von Ludtsov to the front army headquarters and hand him over to Comrade General." Sokov warned: "Let them move quickly, and they may be given Assign new combat tasks."
"I have already called the 109th Division." Sidorin said: "The division commander said that he would arrange manpower as soon as possible to send the captured General von Ludtsov to the front army headquarters."
"Comrade Commander," since the conversation was interrupted by Sidorin, Ponedelin did not intend to continue. He looked at Sokov and asked, "Does our original deployment need to be adjusted?"
"Our original plan was to lure the enemies out of Bobruisk, let them enter our encirclement, and then use artillery fire to carry out large-scale destruction. After the enemy's effective forces were massively destroyed by us, we would lay an ambush. The troops will launch another attack and annihilate as many enemies as possible." Sidorin said to Sokov: "The plan is the plan, but it can never keep up with the change of the situation. As the 35th Army was annihilated by us and our friendly forces, we will no longer want the enemy. I’m afraid it won’t be that easy to lure him out from the city.”
"The chief of staff is right." Ponejelin added: "The German army probably never dreamed that their 35th Army would be annihilated by our army in such a short period of time. If we still insist on using The battle plan is obviously inappropriate. I strongly recommend an attack on Bobruisk."
"Okay." Sokov felt that what the two of them said made sense. The enemy had suffered such heavy losses and would not dare to leave the city easily. Therefore, it was undoubtedly the most correct decision for his troops to take the initiative to attack the city. So He readily agreed to their request: "Then attack Bobruisk."
"Comrade Commander, I suggest that the main attack force uses Major Onuprienko's 6th Guards Division." Sidorin explained to Sokov: "Originally, our original plan to lure the enemy was to use the 6th Guards Division. division to complete it. But before the battle started, it was temporarily replaced by the 109th Infantry Division. I think the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division were emotional at this moment. If they are allowed to be the main force in attacking the city, the morale of the troops will surely be high. "
In fact, without saying hello, Sokov replaced the 6th Guards Division, which was tasked with luring the enemy, with the 109th Infantry Division. He was worried that the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division would be emotional and was thinking about how to make up for himself. As for his fault, after hearing what Sidorin said, he nodded and said smoothly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since you have given careful consideration, then do it according to your ideas."
After Onupryenko received the call from Sidorin, he immediately summoned his several regiment commanders and said to them; "Comrade commanders, I just received a call from Group Army Chief of Staff Sidorin. The Major General ordered our division to attack Bobruisk immediately.”
But after he finished speaking, several group leaders reacted indifferently. He was very surprised when he saw this, and asked curiously: "What's wrong, comrades, regiment commanders, aren't you happy at all that our division is the main offensive?"
"What's there to be happy about?" Colonel Ivanov, the commander of the 10th Guards Regiment, said with an indifferent expression: "Originally, our superiors asked us to take on the task of luring the enemy. Who knew that the war was about to start, but instead we were replaced by someone from nowhere. The 109th Infantry Division emerged. Now they have destroyed the German 35th Army and still have the enemy's army commander alive. The comrade commander now doesn't know how much he values them."
Unexpectedly, Ivanov's complaints actually aroused the echo of the other two regiment commanders: "That's right, before we all rushed to the city of Bobruisk, the army headquarters suddenly issued an order asking us to stop. Attack, and then switch to other troops to take our credit."
"Comrades, commanders," seeing that his regimental commanders were emotionally unstable, Onupriyenko quickly comforted them and said: "The annihilation of the 35th Army was a complete accident. I guess the 109th Division just wanted to defeat the enemy. He chewed off a piece of flesh from his body, but who knew that the opponent was so vulnerable that he was completely wiped out in just a few hours, and even the commander of the army was captured."
"Comrade commanders, what's wrong with you?" Seeing that several regiment leaders looked unconvinced, the division political commissar tapped his fingers on the table to attract everyone's attention, and then said: "An order is an order. Since our superiors have given us such an order, we must obey it unconditionally. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" several group leaders replied weakly.
"Have you not eaten?" Onuprienko asked angrily.
"Understood!" Several group leaders raised their voices this time.
"Now that you understand, let's go on the mission."
When several regiment leaders were about to leave, Onupriyenko stopped Ma Daqiang, the commander of the 4th Guards Regiment: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please stay here for a moment. I have something else to say to you."
Although Ma Daqiang didn't know what Onupriyenko would say to him, he still stopped and said, "Comrade Commander, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"Come here." Onupriyenko greeted Ma Daqiang to the table, pointed at the map and said to him: "Look, there is a village in the direction of your attack. According to the information provided by the scout, According to intelligence, there are many villagers in the village. When you attack, you must ensure their personal safety, do you understand?"
"Comrade division commander," Ma Daqiang said hesitantly: "If the Germans use the villagers as shields, what should we do? We can't shoot at our own villagers, right?"
As the war situation became unfavorable to the German army, there became increasingly no limits to what the Germans could do. The Germans have done a lot of things like taking villagers as hostages and letting them walk in front of the charge team. Ma Daqiang was worried that something similar would happen, so he specifically asked Onupriyenko for instructions.
Even though Major General Onupriyenko is the division commander, he also has no good way to deal with such difficult matters. He could only say vaguely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you can act according to the situation when the time comes."
The words "play it by ear" made Ma Daqiang look confused. He thought hard about how to deal with this matter. The division commander, General Onupriyenko, seemed to have said something, but it seemed that he didn't say anything. He could only say helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Commander, we will do our best to ensure the personal safety of the villagers."
But what happened next far exceeded everyone's judgment.
But just as the leading battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Ma Daqiang's 4th Guards Regiment approached the village, they suddenly saw fire and flames rising from the village. When the experienced veteran saw it, he shouted: "No, the enemy has started to set fire to the village. Put out the fire, put out the fire quickly!"
When Ma Daqiang learned about this situation, he felt extremely angry and quickly ordered the commander of the leading battalion: "Comrade Major, immediately organize people to enter the village to put out the fire and see if there are any villagers alive. If there are any, they must be removed from the village." Rescued from the fire.”
