Merry Christmas to all! I want apples too, just a bite of an apple and sit back and wait......

************

The German front continued to advance towards Kyiv, and six days later it reached the outskirts of Kyiv, and Shulka and others in Kyiv could already hear the "rumbling" of artillery ten kilometers away.

Occasionally, several German reconnaissance planes braved the rain to break into the Kyiv defense line for low-altitude reconnaissance...... Poor visibility in rainy weather is actually a double-edged sword, it is difficult for German pilots to see anything in the air, and the Soviet anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine gunners below only hear the sound of the motor of the aircraft, and when they suddenly appear in front of them, it is too late to shoot, and the enemy plane runs away in the blink of an eye.

"The last line of defense!" Major Gavrilov looked from the window in the direction from which the artillery was coming and said: "It is the main force of the Germans attacking Kyiv, the 1st Panzer Group!" ”

That's for sure, because anyone knows that the Kyiv line of defense is a tough nut to crack, and the Germans, of course, want to concentrate their tanks and assault guns in the Kyiv direction.

"Do you think we're ready?" Major Gavrilov asked.

Shulka shook his head helplessly, a few days of preparation was far from enough, even though the reforms made by Shulka had greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Soviet tank troops.

"I have faith in you!" Major Gavrilov said: "So I'm not worried about this at all!" ”

Shulka could only smile bitterly, knowing that it was the German army that they were going to deal with...... Although the German tanks at this time were technically inferior to the Soviet tanks in terms of firepower and protection, the problem was that the two were incomparable in terms of coordination and training.

So, what it would be like to fight on the battlefield, Shulka didn't have any idea at all.

"Major, sergeant!" At this time, a signal soldier ran in from the rain outside, stood up and saluted: "Comrade Kirponos let you go!" ”

"Coming soon!" Major Gavrilov answered, took two raincoats from the wall, threw one to Shulka, put them on, and walked out the door.

Front Command.

Major Gavrilov and Shulka were already regular visitors here, so the guards did not stop them, saluted the two and let them go.

Walking into the headquarters, I saw Admiral Kirponos frowning and smoking a cigarette on the map.

"Comrade General!" The two stepped forward and saluted the general.

Admiral Kirponos nodded, and then said: "I have just received information that Comrade Budyonny has been relieved of his post as commander-in-chief of the South-Western Direction and replaced by Comrade Timoshenko!" ”

Major Gavrilov and Shulka looked at each other and said nothing.

They all know that this is because Budyonny, like Zhukov, demanded to abandon Kiev and withdraw to the east of the Dnieper, but apparently he also did not succeed.

Changing battles will be a taboo for soldiers, not to mention that the war is imminent.

It can also be seen from this that Moscow will not abandon Kyiv until the last moment, even if the Southwestern Front is in danger of being surrounded.

"They thought they could stop the Germans from outflanking the rear!" Admiral Kirponos got up, then pointed to the map and said: "To the west of Romny is the 21st Army under the command of Comrade Budyonny, and to the east is the Bryansk Front under the command of Comrade Yelmomenko, who are responsible for flanking the armored forces of the Germans and blocking them in the area of Romny!" ”

A front army plus a group army, one left and one right to flank one of Guderian's armored clusters, it stands to reason that it should be successful, the problem is that the Soviet army is too slow to react.

"I've decided that I'm not going to apply for a retreat anymore!" Admiral Kirponos said, straightening up and looking up.

Shulka knew what that meant, and if Admiral Kirponos had been hopeful about retreating, he was now determined.

"I think you need to know about this!" Pointing to the map, Admiral Kirponos said: "According to our reconnaissance, the Germans concentrated the main forces in the north, and in the south most of the Romanian troops!" ”

Schulka knows this, and he probably knows more than Admiral Kirponos:

The German Army Group South consisted of a total of six armies. Among them, there were three armies, the 6th and 17th armies, and the 1st Panzer Group, which was composed entirely of German troops, and the main force was undoubtedly the 1st Panzer Group under the command of General Kleist.

All three units were deployed on the left flank of the German army, to the north, to the north, with the 17th Army in the north, and they were stationed along the Pripyat swamp to prevent Soviet infantry from crossing the swamp and threatening the German logistical supply lines.

The 1st Panzer Group, located in the center, together with the 6th Army deployed on the right flank, formed the main offensive force to attack Kyiv.

On the right flank, to the south, was the 11th Army and the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies, which were a mixture of German and Romanian armies, which were responsible for protecting the right flank of the main German army and advancing towards the Dnieper line.

"There is no doubt about it!" General Kirponos said: "The Romanian army is much inferior in combat effectiveness to the German army, that is...... If we could break through the blockade of the German 1st Panzer Group and the 6th Army, the battle to the south might be much easier, that was their weakness! ”

After a pause, General Kirponos continued: "But here is the question, how can we break through the German blockade, or should we act now?" I mean, we don't need to deploy the 9th Army in Kyiv waiting for the Germans to surround us! ”

Shulka immediately understood what Admiral Kirponos meant.

His fears were justified, the current situation was that the main German forces were pouring towards Kyiv from all directions and surrounding Kyiv.

If it had been carried out as originally planned, then the Soviet 9th Army would have needed to open a gap in this encirclement and move south.

However, what the Soviet tanks lacked compared with the German army was the ability to maneuver, and even the Soviet tanks would run all the way and break all the way, so the German armored forces could easily catch up with the 9th Army that broke through and surround it.

This is also the reason why Admiral Kirponos wanted to deploy the 9th Army outside the Kiev line in advance.

"But, Comrade General!" Shulka objected: "If it is deployed outside the city, it will be difficult to escape the eyes of the Germans!" ”

This is certain, you must know that this is an army, more than 500 tanks and countless cars and motorcycles, and it is almost impossible to deceive the German army that is advancing on all fronts.

"So we need to attack early!" Admiral Kirponos said.

"But this will not achieve the effect of encirclement!" Shulka said: "All we can surround is the enemy infantry who have broken through to the front line of the Dnieper!" ”

"There has to be a trade-off!" Admiral Kirponos replied.

"No, Comrade General!" Shulka thought for a moment and replied, "We can do it!" ”