Chapter 181 Battle Report Meeting
Yuri's speculation about the battle situation on the front line was basically accurate. Just when the front concentrated its superior forces and launched an attack in the directions of Novorossiysk and Timryuk, the German army seized the opportunity in the direction of Crimea and launched a counterattack against the Soviet army.
Early this morning, the German army, led by powerful firepower, quickly broke through the defense line of the Soviet 125th Division in the southeast direction of Crimea, and in the subsequent battle, penetrated nearly 15 kilometers into the Soviet line in one fell swoop. It was not until the 22nd Infantry Army under the 9th Army received an order to detour in that direction that the attacking German army withdrew its defense line.
This German counterattack itself had no practical significance, but during the advance, the bombing of Krasnodar by its air force frightened the commanders of the North Caucasus Front. Unsure of how many troops the Germans had invested in the counterattack on this line of defense, the headquarters had to change its deployment and transfer part of the Ninth Army attacking the Timryuk direction to this direction, thus easing the pressure on the Germans in the Timryuk direction and providing time for them to transfer troops to the Kerch Peninsula.
In short, Comrade Petrov did not perform very well when he commanded the North Caucasus Front in the Novorossiysk-Taman Campaign. He failed to encircle and annihilate the German forces hiding in the area as planned, forcing most of them to retreat to the Kerch Peninsula through the Kerch Strait. From this perspective, the battle was actually a failure.
On the fourth day after Krasnodar was bombed, Yuri received a notice from the front headquarters, in which the front commander, Comrade Petrov, invited him to attend the headquarters' war report meeting. This was also the first time that the front headquarters had invited Yuri to attend a meeting since he arrived in Krasnodar.
As soon as he received the notification, Yuri understood that the battle on the Taman Peninsula should be basically over, or at least the overall situation had been decided. Petrov asked him to attend the meeting in order to ask him to sign the war report to be sent to Moscow after the battle report was completed.
To be honest, Yuri was very dissatisfied with Petrov personally, not only because he rejected him, but also because he was careless in commanding the battle, which almost cost him his life. If Yuri, the representative of the headquarters, was killed by a German plane in Krasnodar, Petrov's career as commander would probably be over.
However, personal emotions are just personal emotions after all. In formal occasions, such emotions cannot be expressed, which means that one's political awareness is not mature enough. For Yuri, as long as the North Caucasus Front did not suffer a defeat and successfully liberated the Taman Peninsula, he had to ask for credit for the commanders of Petrov's headquarters and report that they had achieved a major victory. Otherwise, he would not only offend people, but also make it impossible for his work to proceed smoothly. Only at this time did Yuri understand Zhukov's feelings when he tried to protect Vatutin.
Leaving the field hospital built in the ruins, Yuri took a military vehicle to the headquarters. Along the way, he tried to adjust his mentality and make himself look more cheerful and happier, at least on the surface.
When the car arrived at the front headquarters, Yuri met Biryuzov who came to greet him. After not seeing each other for just a few days, this old friend was about to salute him when he saw him.
"Why are you here?" Yuri asked in surprise when he saw Biruzov appear here again.
"Konstantin Nikolayevich invited me here," Biryuzov said with a wry smile, holding Yuri's arm, "I have a very good relationship with him, and I really couldn't refuse."
Yuri was stunned, then shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly.
Konstantin Nikolayevich was the commander of the 18th Army, Konstantin Nikolayevich Leselidze, and his troops were responsible for the defense of the Crimean direction. Now, at the upcoming war report meeting, Leselidze invited Biryuzov to come over, and the meaning of this was naturally self-evident.
"Konstantin didn't mean anything else," Biryuzov said as he pulled Yuri to a secluded place away from crowds. "He just doesn't know you and is worried that you're young and impetuous and will scold him in front of so many people, making him lose face. That's why he asked me to come and say a few words on his behalf."
If it was a few days ago, Leselidze might not have such worries, after all, his rank was relatively high, Lieutenant General, but now, he had to worry a little more. If he was severely scolded by a young man under 30 in front of so many generals, he would be embarrassed, but if he turned against Yuri on the spot, he was afraid that he would be in trouble. Therefore, it became a very necessary choice to ask Biryuzov to make a turnaround and prepare for a rainy day.
"Konstantin still has the mind to think about this?" Yuri really didn't know what to say. He looked at Biryuzov and asked with a wry smile.
"He couldn't say that directly," Biryuzov smiled and explained, "It must be Leonid Ilyich who gave him the idea."
When Yuri heard this, his eyes narrowed immediately. Leonid Ilyich, he had actually forgotten about this guy. Yes, isn’t he the political commissar of the 18th Army now?
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. Although Yuri didn't know much about the Soviet Union in his previous life, he still knew this person. I'm afraid that few people of his time had not heard of this name. Speaking of which, this military comrade will also be a big shot in the future. If it weren't for him, Khrushchev's political career would probably not have ended so bleakly, right?
"Yuri, if you ask me, the North Caucasus Front fought very well this time," Biryuzov didn't understand what Yuri was thinking. Seeing Yuri's eyes narrowed and his expression was a little unfriendly, he tried to smooth things over and said, "There's no need to dwell on some small mistakes made by Crimea."
"Don't worry, I don't have such thoughts," Yuri said with a smile, "I came to the meeting today with only one hand for signing. As for the rest, I left them in the field hospital."
"That's great," Biryuzov said with a relieved smile, "In fact, you were also transferred from the front line to Moscow. You should be very clear about the difficulties faced by those of us who command operations on the front line, and you should also be able to understand it."
Yuri smiled and nodded, indicating that he knew what to do.
The two men talked for a few more words before turning to the open-air meeting place temporarily arranged by the front army.
Today is a very important day for the North Caucasus Front, and this meeting is also a very important meeting, because two days ago, the front headquarters had received a message from comrades in Moscow that after the battle, the mission of the North Caucasus Front would be completely completed. The front will be reorganized at its current location, the front organization will be disbanded, some combat units will be transferred to the Southern Front, and the remaining units will be reorganized into an independent coastal combat group, and the front field command organization will also be disbanded and reorganized.
In other words, this may be the last general commanders' meeting of the North Caucasus Front.
When Yuri arrived at the venue under the leadership of Biruzov, the entire venue was already full of people. After a quick look, Yuri found more than a dozen generals: Commander of the 18th Army Leselidze, Commander of the 56th Army Lieutenant General Grechko, Commander of the 9th Army Major General Grechkin, Commander of the 46th Army Major General Ryzhov, Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Lieutenant Admiral Vladimirsky, Commander of the Azov Sea Fleet Rear Admiral Gorshkov, Commander of the elite 3rd Mountain Infantry Army Major General Luchinsky, and so on.
As for the members of the headquarters, they had already sat down in the main meeting seats. The vacant seat next to Commander Petrov was reserved for Yuri, the representative of the headquarters.
Yuri walked along with a smile on his face. When someone came to shake his hand, he would take the initiative to compliment them, such as:
" ...the Ninth Army's performance was very good. Your heroic blocking provided strong support for the front's swift offensive on both wings." This was said to the Ninth Army's Chief of Staff Filipovsky.
"...The strong support of the Air Force is the biggest guarantee for us to quickly break through the German defense line." This was said by Ustinov, Chief of Staff of the 4th Air Defense Force.
"…The fleet's heroic fighting made our smooth landing behind enemy lines possible. The contribution of our naval comrades cannot be ignored." This was said to Kulakov, the military commissar of the Black Sea Fleet.
All in all, along the way, Yuri said only nice words to wish everyone a happy new year, as if he had not noticed any of the problems exposed by the front in the previous offensive.
After finally squeezing to his seat, Yuri first greeted the commanders of the headquarters who stood up to greet him, and then sat down with everyone else.
On the table in front of his seat was a battle report summarized by the front headquarters. Yuri flipped through it casually, especially focusing on the part that marked the German losses at the end.
According to the battle report, in this battle, the front defeated nine German divisions, including the 73rd, 79th, 98th, 125th, 370th Infantry Division, 101st Light Infantry Division, 4th Mountain Infantry Division, and the 19th and 10th Romanian Infantry Divisions. At the same time, it also annihilated the German 9th and 50th Divisions, as well as the 9th Romanian Cavalry Division. It can be said that the results were fruitful.
But according to what Yuri knew, the so-called nine defeated divisions were not seriously damaged, and they had already retreated to the Kerch Peninsula through the Kerch Strait.
