Chapter 179 Belated Promotion
Yuri fell ill on the second day after arriving in Krasnodar. This illness was not surprising because he had been caught in the rain the day before , and it was after a long flight.
I caught a cold, had a fever, and had a cough. I was so sick that I couldn't attend the meetings arranged by the North Caucasus Front before the offensive campaign. I had to stay in the hospital ward all day to recuperate. Comrade Petrov, the commander of the North Caucasus Front, understood this and did not require me to attend the meetings on time, except to inform him of the final resolution of each meeting.
When Yuri first joined the General Staff as the Chief of Operations, he was marginalized by others, and now, in Krasnodar, he marginalized himself. However, facing the two times of marginalization, Yuri's mood was completely different. This time, he was very relaxed and did not have any worries. The only thing he needed to do now was to stay in the hospital in Krasnodar until the offensive campaign on the southern front was over, or until the Battle of Kursk was over.
The midsummer weather along the Black Sea coast is both hot and humid, which is almost unbearable. It is a little better when it rains, after all, there will be a slight breeze when it rains. What is really terrible is the time when the weather has just turned sunny or when heavy rain is about to come. The feeling of being in a steamer can really drive people crazy.
In the city's national hospital which had been relatively well preserved during the war, Yuri, shirtless and wearing only a small pair of briefs, sat quietly beside a basin of ice, flipping through a battle report on the low table in front of him.
When Arseni knocked on the door with a bag of popsicles, Yuri was picking up a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Putting the popsicle on the low table in front of Yuri, Arseni opened the bag, took out one, and handed it to Yuri like offering a treasure, saying, "General, eat it quickly, or it will all melt in a while."
There are small beans attached to the popsicles, and the cool air emitted from them shines on your face, making you feel refreshed instantly.
"Where did you get it?" Yuri was overjoyed. He quickly took one, put it in his mouth and took a bite, then asked.
"It was sent by the Supply Committee," Arseni said. "Their transport convoy has entered the city. It is said that they will be ready to start the reconstruction work in the next two days."
The so-called Supply Committee is the War Material Supply Committee. This department is not under the jurisdiction of the Council of Ministers, but is a temporary department directly led by the Supreme Command. Although it is a temporary department, its authority is definitely not small. It has jurisdiction over everything from railway and road transportation to the allocation of materials and urban reconstruction.
"So fast?" Yuri twitched his mouth. He felt that both the North Caucasus Front and the Krasnodar Regional Party Committee seemed to be a little too optimistic. They all thought that it was inevitable to drive the German army out of the Taman Peninsula in one fell swoop, but they did not consider what to do in case of defeat.
"Yes, the work of calling on residents to move back has also begun," Arseni also took a popsicle, held it in his mouth and said hesitantly.
Since he decided to stay out of it, Yuri would not comment too much on the war on the southern front. In fact, he did not think that there would be too many repetitions in the war on the southern front. After all, the North Caucasus Front was extremely well prepared.
"Oh, yes," Arseni took two bites of the popsicle and remembered something. He said, "The front headquarters also sent some gifts of comfort."
Having said this, he quickly walked out of the ward and brought in a box from the visiting room outside.
The box was a tin box, originally used to hold machine gun ammunition belts, but now it was filled with cigarettes, champagne and some food from the United States.
Yuri took out a pack of cigarettes, threw it on the low table, shook his head and smiled disapprovingly.
Yuri understood that his "illness" had indeed comforted many people, and it was only natural that they treated him with some respect in return.
"Has today's battle report been delivered?" Yuri asked, no longer paying attention to the things in the box.
"It has been delivered along with the comfort supplies. Do you want to see it?" Arseny asked.
"Here," Yuri nodded, putting the popsicle aside and said.
Although Yuri made it clear that he would not interfere in the operations of the North Caucasus Front, the front headquarters still had to send him the corresponding battle reports in a timely manner. Otherwise, Yuri would get angry and some people would inevitably be in trouble. After all, he was not only the Minister of Operations, but also the representative of the headquarters.
Arseni brought a huge stack of battle reports, which was about six or seven centimeters thick. Yuri flipped through them and found that it contained not only yesterday's battle report of the North Caucasus Front, but also detailed battle reports from various fronts in the past four days sent from Moscow.
Although he had withdrawn from the decision-making level of the Battle of Kursk, Yuri was still very concerned about the war there. Therefore, he took out the combat reports in this direction as soon as possible.
Just four days ago, the Bryansk Front launched an attack on the rear of the German 9th Army north of Kursk, the 9th Tank Army and the 11th Guards Army launched an attack in the area north of Bolkhov, and the 9th Guards Tank Army and the 9th Army launched an attack in the Mtsensk area, and within a few hours, they disintegrated the German defense line on the Oka River.
At the same time, the Central Army Group also launched a counterattack in Poneri. The 2nd Tank Army, the 13th Army and part of the 70th Army broke through the defense line of the German 9th Army and quickly advanced towards Kromé, trying to cut off the retreat route of the German Orel Group.
The Western Front also took action at the same time, ordering its 50th Army to launch an offensive in the direction of Bryansk to contain the German Bryansk Corps' support for the Orel direction.
Because the battle was well prepared, the Bryansk Front's advance to the north of Kursk was very smooth. Two days ago, the 23rd Infantry Army commanded by Friesner was surrounded by the Soviet army in the Briukkhov area. This force had just arrived in this area three days ago to garrison, but their defensive line had not been built in time before it was broken through by the 9th Guards Tank Army.
Compared with the smooth advancement of the Bryansk Front, the Central Front's assault encountered great resistance. The German defense in the Krom direction was extremely solid. After encountering a setback, the Central Front used its reserve forces to launch an offensive northward in the Sevsk direction, trying to capture Navria, thus forming a deep encirclement of the German army group in Orel.
Before the battle report was sent yesterday, the German Ninth Army assembled in the Orlyo area had already shown signs of retreat. It is estimated that Model had already realized the Soviet intention. In order to avoid being surrounded and defeated by the entire army, he had to make the choice to retreat.
On the southern front of Kursk, the first to launch a counterattack was the Steppe Front commanded by Konev. Two days ago, the 6th, 9th Guards Army and the 69th Army under the Steppe Front launched an offensive against the German Kempf Battle Group, attempting to attack the heavily defended Belgorod by the German army.
The Voronezh Front's counterattack was launched a day ago. Golikov deployed the main force of the front in the attack in the direction of Boromilia. It must be admitted that Golikov's choice of the direction of attack was very clever, because once the Soviet army captured Boromilia, on the one hand, it could turn south and attack Akhtyrka, thereby threatening the rear of the Kempf battle group, and on the other hand, it could choose to turn north and attack in the direction of Sumy, thus posing a threat to the German Army Group South.
In the Kharkov direction, the Southwestern Front also took action. Its 57th Army crossed the Severo-Donets River and launched an attack on the rear of Kharkov, trying to capture Valki and cooperate with the Steppe Front to encircle the German Kharkov Group.
After reading the battle report carefully, Yuri took a deep breath, letting the hot air stay in his lungs for a while before exhaling forcefully.
There is no doubt that the counterattack in Kursk has already begun in full swing. So far, the battle is progressing very smoothly. If nothing unexpected happens, the Soviet troops on the northern front of Kursk will be able to encircle the German Ninth Army, or at least part of it. On the southern front of Kursk, the current situation is still unclear, but it is certain that at least in the Belgorod and Kharkov directions, it should not be a problem to completely repel the German army.
At present, if we look at this battle with a conservative attitude, the at least result that the Soviet army can achieve is to push the front line to the Dnieper River, thus laying a solid foundation for the subsequent liberation of the entire eastern Ukraine.
There is no doubt that this was a great victory, and the entire battle plan was personally designated by Yuri. For a general, this kind of experience may only come once in a lifetime. If you miss this opportunity, it will inevitably become a lifelong regret. Unfortunately, Yuri missed it.
Sighing, Yuri put the battle report aside, stood up from the stool, picked up the popsicle he had just put down, took a tasteless bite, then picked up the pack of cigarettes, opened it, and lit one for himself.
Now, he felt that the weather was getting even hotter and stuffier, and he couldn't calm down at all. As for the battle reports, he had no mood to read them.
Arseni sensed Yuri's unhappy mood, and he also knew why the general's mood suddenly turned bad, but it was not his turn to comment on such matters.
Seeing that Yuri was in a bad mood and had no interest in reading the battle reports anymore, Arseni walked over, sorted out the pile of battle reports, and when he was about to take them away, he suddenly stopped.
"Huh?" Arseni uttered a strange snort, flipped open a portion of the war report, took out a yellow file bag from the bottom, looked at the cover, and saw that it was a notice from the Military Committee.
"General?" Arseni handed the briefcase to Yuri and whispered, "It's a briefcase from the Military Committee."
"Oh?" Yuri frowned. He felt a little puzzled. Why was the Military Committee's notice sent to him?
Opening the seal of the file bag, Yuri pulled out a notice document stamped with the Military Commission and the National Defense Committee and glanced over it.
There are a lot of words in the notice, but in general, the main point is only one, that is, with the approval of the Supreme Command, the Defense Committee and the Military Committee, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich Kulyokov was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General of the Soviet Red Army.
