Chapter 178 Unwelcome
When getting in the car again, Biryuzov abandoned his old antique and got directly into Yuri's military vehicle.
"Your visit to Krasnodar is not just for inspection, right?" Biryuzov said as he wiped his dripping hair while taking a brand new towel from Yuri.
"I guess so," Yuri also wiped his hair and said, "Apart from inspection work, I can't think of anything else I can do here."
"You are the Chief of Operations and the representative of the headquarters. Why don't you participate in the formulation of the combat plan?" Biryuzov stopped what he was doing, looked at Yuri in surprise, and asked.
"Combat plan? I think Comrade Petrov should have a complete battle plan. Otherwise, why would you, the chief of staff of the Southern Front, come here?" Yuri kept talking and said, "What kind of cooperation does Comrade Petrov need from you? Should we launch an attack on the German corps along the Gulf of Azov to prevent the German army from providing support to Novorossiysk through the transportation lines on the Sea of Azov?"
"Indeed, there is such a plan," Biryuzov nodded and said, "Not only the Southern Front, but also the Azov Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet are included in this operational plan."
"So, I'm not welcome here either," Yuri put down the towel in his hand, smiled self-deprecatingly, and said.
Biryuzov just smiled and said nothing.
There are some things that smart people can figure out. It is useless to say more, and the effect of not saying anything is almost the same.
It is undeniable that in the Soviet commander system, no one likes the so-called headquarters representative, not to mention others, Yuri himself does not like it. Originally, he was the commander of the front, or the chief of staff, and was commanding the battle here, but the supervisor was sent by the higher-ups. The supervisors who know how to behave and have good tempers can only get military merits at most after coming here, while those who are not so good not only want to share the credit, but also have to point fingers at you, find fault with you, and say that this plan is not thorough, or that consideration is not comprehensive. What's worse, if you don't obey, he will make trouble for you - such as Comrade Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis.
Just imagine, in such a situation, who would still expect a "retired emperor" to be sent from above when the battle plan has been finalized and the offensive plan has been approved?
Looking at Biryuzov who was smiling but not saying anything, Yuri suddenly realized that the rain just now was really good.
For the next period of time, the two did not talk about sensitive issues, but only talked about their experiences in the past year or two. During this time, Biryuzov told Yuri that the new commander of the Southern Front, Comrade Tolbukhin, had not officially arrived yet, so he, the chief of staff of the front, became the temporary commander. He came to Krasnodar this time to participate in the Novorossiysk-Taman campaign operational meeting.
Yuri was a little unhappy at first about the news revealed by Biryuzov, but he adjusted his mentality quickly. After all, he had suffered a great injustice before coming to the south this time, so this little thing was not a big deal at all.
…
Krasnodar, the temporary base of the North Caucasus Front Command. The previous war that lasted for several months had completely turned this not-so-large city into ruins. Now, the people from the Wartime Supply Committee and the Reconstruction Committee have not arrived in the city, let alone repaired it. The reason is very simple: the German defense line is less than 70 kilometers west of the city.
Because of this, when Yuri's military vehicle entered the city of Krasnodar, what he saw was a "slum" made up of wooden houses - the houses were made of locally sourced logs and built in the ruins of the city. When the military vehicles passed by these houses, you could see the soldiers living inside pouring water outside the houses with various utensils.
When the North Caucasus Front recaptured the city, there were only six relatively intact buildings in the entire city, including a hospital and a primary school. Currently, the front headquarters is located in this primary school, and the hospital serves as a field hospital, accommodating the wounded.
On the way to the headquarters, Yuri saw many captured German soldiers, who were cleaning the streets full of broken bricks and stones under the supervision of Soviet soldiers. These prisoners had no tools and could only rely on their hands to work. From time to time, some refugees living in broken wooden sheds threw bricks and stones at them. The prisoners were ragged and covered in mud. The dignity and honor of the soldiers had all left them at this time. For them, returning to their homeland alive has become a luxury. The Supreme Soviet has decided that before the winter comes, all the existing German uniforms on the fronts will be moved to the labor camps east of the Urals, including the German prisoners captured under the city of Stalingrad.
The elementary school used as the front's headquarters was small, with only a four-story building. Yuri's military vehicle stopped in front of the building, and when he got out of the car, he could see that the outer wall of the building was covered with bullet holes, and there were still bloodstains in many places. Even with the heavy rain, the scarlet color was difficult to fade.
Petrov, as the commander of the front, had received the news of Yuri's coming in advance and should have come down to greet him in person. As for the chief of staff and the military commissar, they could not be absent. However, after getting off the car, the first person Yuri greeted was not these people, but Kuleshov, the deputy commander of the Soviet rocket artillery force, who was also a representative of the headquarters and came to the North Caucasus Front to guide the artillery work .
After a brief conversation with Kuleshov, the front chief of staff, Raskin, followed.
To be honest, Yuri was a little envious of Raskin . This guy was very lucky. His career should not be chief of staff, but negotiator. Under the city of Stalingrad, it was this guy who went to negotiate with Paulus and successfully brought back the news of Paulus' unified surrender.
After Raskin came the front's military commissar Fominekh. Compared with the previous two people, this military commissar was much more enthusiastic towards Yuri. Seeing that Yuri's uniform was all wet, he didn't even introduce the people behind him to Yuri. He directly called the guards to take Yuri to change clothes, but ignored Biryuzov who was also soaked.
Of course, Fominekh's enthusiasm was justified. This military-level political commissar had called Khrushchev by his full name since five years ago. It might be a bit too much to say that he was Khrushchev's lackey, but it was no problem to say that he was working towards becoming Khrushchev's lackey. And who was Yuri? This was recognized by the Soviet high-level officials. He was Khrushchev's only high-level representative in the army. How could Comrade Fominekh not be enthusiastic about Yuri?
Fominykh was not very tall, even shorter than Yuri. He enthusiastically took Yuri to the second floor and led him to the temporary dormitory arranged for him by the front. Then he remembered something and explained, "Oh, yes, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, Comrade Petrov was originally going to come to greet you today, but something important happened in the front and he rushed over to deal with it, so he is not at the headquarters now."
Yuri felt a little funny. This military comrade was obviously not very particular. The confidentiality of his mouth must have not been inspected, so he couldn't wait to reveal something to everyone.
Listen to what he said, "A major event suddenly occurred on the front." The two words were emphasized, and it was obvious that he was expecting Yuri to ask what this major event was.
"Oh?" Yuri was also curious, so he certainly didn't mind asking more. "What's the big deal, Comrade Military Commissar?"
"Last night," said Fomineh, "Comrade Simon Alexeevich Bobkov, commander of the artillery of the 44th Army of the Front, was hit by German artillery fire on his way back to his base and was killed on the spot."
Yuri was stunned, and then speechless.
He knew Bobkov, who was a relatively capable artillery commander. However, who would have thought that he was inexplicably hit and killed by a German artillery shell on the eve of the outbreak of the war.
On the southern front, the German army currently has no offensive, and their artillery bombardment is probably just a regular tentative bombardment. To put it bluntly , the German commanders determine where the Soviet artillery may be stationed, and then carry out some deterrent artillery attacks on the area according to this prediction. Such bombardments are generally not large-scale, and their purpose is only to intimidate the Soviet army so that they dare not place artillery units in this place when threatened. According to Fominekh, Bobkov was bombarded when he was returning to his base, which means that he was in a car at the time, and he was hit by sporadic artillery fire. How unlucky is this general?
Now, regardless of how Bobkov died, as a general in the North Caucasus Front, his death was by no means a good thing for Petrov. At least, he needs to bear certain responsibilities.
After receiving such information, Yuri became even less interested in this trip to the North Caucasus - losing a general before the war even starts is not a good sign.
The orderly quickly brought a new military uniform. Yuri went into the dormitory by himself. While changing clothes, he hid in the room to smoke a cigarette. When he came out after more than ten minutes, he declined Fomineh's invitation to have lunch on the pretext of feeling unwell, and only asked to see the battle plan formulated by the front.
Yuri has already made up his mind that as long as there are no major problems with the offensive plan formulated by the North Caucasus Front, he will not make any comments. From today on, he will pretend to be sick.
