"A reverie of arming?"

"Yes."

After Yegorov finished speaking, he pulled Stalin to the battle map, which he had already memorized in his mind, and said. "You see, the Romanians' forces are mainly concentrated on the two lines of the central and northern routes. Among them, the Romanian is in the middle, with Kalilovka as its support point. Because of the railway to Kyiv, the unit is also the most deployed, reaching 210,000 troops. And its artillery, machine guns and other equipment, is also the most. And the tentative attack of the 14th Army on it proved that it was completely undesirable to attack it. ”

Let's talk about the middle lane with the strongest troops. Egorov went on to speak of the other two routes: "And the Romanian Northern Front; Because the terrain was less undulating and easier for us to pass, the Romanians had 130,000 troops here. If we turn here to attack, it is also completely undesirable. Because it is useless if there are fewer troops, and if there are more troops, it is easy to penetrate the front. ”

After saying that, he began to talk about the southern front, which Romania had the least number of troops. "And on the southern front; Due to the topography and vegetation, Romania has only 70,000 people deployed here. This is the line where they have the least number of troops. ”

"So you want to fight their idea on the southern front?"

In the face of Stalin's inquiry, Yegorov said unabashedly: "Yes, the southern front is our only chance. ”

After speaking, he pointed to the small town of Nemilov, which was the main point of defense of the Romanian army on the southern front, on the combat map, and said: "There is a road from Vinnitsa to Uman, and I know that this is a road that can carry three trucks in parallel." So as long as we can take it quickly, we can go straight to Vinnitsa. At this time, our troops on the front line immediately entangled the enemy in the center and the enemy on the northern front, creating an opportunity for the roundabout troops to take Vinnytsia. ”

Stalin looked at the location of the small town of Nemilov on the operational map. Will this inconspicuous town really become the key point for the two armies of Luo Su to decide the outcome of the victory, at this moment he was a little difficult to decide.

"So we can approach this town without being discovered by the enemy?"

After thinking for a while, Stalin asked the key point. You must know that Romania is currently in the air at any time, but there are planes in the air at any time, even where they are located, Berdichev, these nasty Romanian flies, come twice a day. And between this small town of Nemirov and Katotin (the main concentration of troops of the Western Front), there were many rounds of patrols in a day.

"I've thought about this for a long time."

Pointing to the area marked as woods on the combat map, Yegorov said: "I intend to use the means of marching day and night under the cover of these trees and vegetation. And in order to block the enemy's possible reconnaissance, three times as many reconnaissance troops will be dispatched to clean up this area. The premise of this plan was not to be detected by the enemy, otherwise the troops who attacked by surprise would suffer huge losses. ”

"And how many troops are you going to send?"

Faced with Stalin's questioning, Yegorov said what he planned to think. "I intend to send out all the 6th and 9th armies, and to strengthen them with machine guns and artillery in the warehouses of the front. The success of this raid is our only chance, and we must have absolute superiority in our forces and increase our firepower. ”

The 6th and 9th armies that Egorov was talking about, Stalin, of course, also knew. The 6th Army was relatively well-known all the time. Participated in, defeated Yudenich's attack on St. Petersburg, repelled Denikin's voyeurism of Moscow, and was definitely a good fighting force. And the 9th Army also performed well in repelling the Kolchak attack.

These two units add up to nearly 200,000 people, and they are basically composed of soldiers with rich combat experience, who are capable of this sneak attack.

However, Yegorov said one of the difficulties: "But if you want to sneak up on your opponents, you can't let them find out that we are abnormal." If we lose 200,000 people, the other side must be alarmed. If this problem is not solved, the risks we take cannot be reduced. ”

Hearing Yegorov's words, Stalin thought for a moment and said: "This is easy to do. ”

"200,000 troops is not a small number, and no matter how tightly we blockade it, the enemy can detect it."

Thinking that Stalin was going to rely on the method of blocking the news, Egorov hurriedly stopped it and said that it would not work.

Seeing that Yegorov was thinking about it, Stalin said directly: "I also know this, of course, 200,000 people can't rely on blocking the news." I'm going to add 200,000 people to go in. ”

"We don't have 200,000 people."

"I know, but the Ukrainian government has."

Stalin's proposal, a moment to open the mind of Egorov. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Stalin's method was good.

The Ukrainian Soviet Government, which was single-handedly supported and controlled by Soviet Russia, of course, also expanded its army to liberate Ukraine. So since the capture of Kyiv, the Ukrainian Red Army has conscripted more than 200,000 people. However, these soldiers were not trained, and there was a shortage of armaments, so they were not transferred to the front line to fight. This is exactly cheaper Stalin them.

After solving the hidden danger caused by the vacancy, Yegorov discussed with Stalin overnight the issue of supplies, ammunition, and the route of the march. After two days of preparation, in the evening. The 6th Army, as the vanguard, was the first to set out from Katotin.

And Stalin and Egorov personally put it into practice for them.

"Comrade Sklev, your actions this time will be the key point in this battle. If you succeed, the Romanians will surely be defeated. And I think that only your 6th Army and the 9th Army will be able to accomplish this difficult task. ”

On the side of a large road outside Katotin, Comrade Iron and Steel spoke earnestly to the commander of the 6th Army, Sklev, who was about to depart, about the importance of this mission.

"Rest assured, Comrade Commissar. Our 6th Army will definitely complete the tasks delivered. We will not let the Motherland down on us. ”

Sklev, dressed in military uniform, assured the two chiefs.

"We're waiting for your good news this time."

Egorov, who felt that he needed to say something, thought that he had already informed them of all his plans, so he could only say a few words of blessing.

"Please rest assured, take care."

Look at Sklev, who mounted his horse and marched away with his men.

Stalin turned to Yegorov and said: "Now that they have been sent out, the next thing can only wait for news." ”

"yes."

After replying with a sigh, Yegorov continued: "At the moment, only 30,000 people from Ukraine have rushed to Katotin, which is not good. Tomorrow the 9th Army will also depart, and there will be no one to fill the vacancies. ”

"I've rushed the Kyiv side, and they say that 80,000 people are already on their way. Of those, 50,000 will arrive tomorrow. As for the rest of the troops, they are currently on their way to us. ”

Stalin's words made Egorov feel much better. Let's hope everything goes well this time.