The siege of Uman lasted only two days, and when the German troops surrounded the whole of Uman, the defenders sought to break through in the shortest possible time, after all, the Germans' armored forces were too strong, and they broke through one day later, and the risk was greater.

It's a pity that this makes their breakthrough inadequate, and the plan is very simple, in fact, no matter how complicated the plan, in front of the absolutely superior troops, all will be crushed.

The Uman campaign ended, the German army wiped out nearly 200,000 Soviet troops, and captured less than 100,000 at the same time, until now, the southern army finally achieved a beautiful result, such a siege and annihilation battle, in the middle of the army appeared many times, the southern road is only the first time.

However, there is a bigger encirclement and annihilation battle waiting for them on the south road, Kyiv, where there are millions of troops, encircled and annihilated the defenders of Kyiv, and the Ukrainian problem was solved!

And by this time, in Kiev, having received the news of the annihilation of the Uman defenders, Budyonny had already smelled of conspiracy.

As a veteran, Budyonny has a stinky problem, no matter how many battles he wins, in short, he has a high appearance, except for Stalin, no one else gives face, this veteran, as if he is the most capable general of the Soviets.

No matter how big a shelf he was, when he became the commander of the entire Southwestern Army, he had to brace himself and prepare for the worst.

Commanding a battle, many times, like playing chess, must anticipate what the opponent's next move will be, for example, now, Budyonny thinks all day long, what is the enemy's next move?

Last time, I thought it was Kyiv, but it turned out that people pounced on Uman, and now Uman was simply taken down by the other party, so what is the goal of the other party next?

Having eliminated their own flanks, their own Kyiv has become a salient, and there is no doubt that the target of the other side will definitely be Kyiv!

So, the next question is, can Kyiv hold on?

Budyonny put a big question mark in his mind.

Obviously, you can't hold it!

The combat effectiveness of the German army is too strong, and now, if all the southern corps rushes to Kiev, they will definitely not be able to hold it, not only can they not hold it, but it is even impossible to break through, and the results of the Battle of Uman show that once they are surrounded by the German army, their fate is doomed.

So, can we retreat now?

Looking at the map, Budyonny looked at it for a whole day, and now, the best option for the defenders of Kiev is to retreat immediately, so that the troops can be preserved, but can such an action be agreed to by Moscow?

Of course not!

How could Moscow tolerate a retreat without a fight? Now, if Budyonny orders a retreat, he will be shot by Stalin when he returns, and Pavlov will be killed.

"Marshal, are you still worried about the current situation of the war?" Hearing the voice, Budyonny turned his head and saw the short and stocky Khrushchev.

"yes." "Now we have a bad situation here, but we can't retreat, we risk being surrounded," Budyonny said. ”

"Then why don't you tell General Zhukov about these situations?" Khrushchev said.

Suddenly, Budyonny's eyes lit up.

Comrade Stalin was stubborn, but he was able to listen to Zhukov's opinions, and even at critical times, he would call Zhukov back to discuss, and this honor made Budyonny jealous.

But it's better this way, the thunder that Budyonny doesn't want to step on can be stepped on by Zhukov, anyway, this guy looks mysterious, as if he is the god of war.

Sure enough, playing with political means, Khrushchev is definitely a good hand, much more clever than these generals on his side, this moldy head, let Zhukov touch it first!

"Marshal, there is an order from the base camp to transfer our 16th Army to Smolensk." Just then, a new piece of news arrived.

Now, Kyiv is about to face the danger of being surrounded, and in this case, it is necessary to mobilize its own reserves! At this order of the base camp, Budyonny immediately puffed up his beard, quite dissatisfied.

The only reserve is actually going to be transferred!

The 16th Army was formed in the Far Eastern Military District in July last year. When it was first formed, probably in order to cope with the crisis in the east, the deputy commander of the Baikal Military District, Mikhail Fedorovich Lukin, was appointed commander of the army group, and it was just formed this spring.

Then, the Great Patriotic War broke out, and the 16th Army, as soon as it completed its reorganization, received the order to move to the west, and now it has just arrived in Ukraine, and Budyonny has not yet touched a small soldier of this army, and he has already been asked to leave.

This made Budyonny quite dissatisfied, but he also knew that the biggest reason for this was probably because of the tense situation in Smolensk.

After the fall of Belarus, the German army, which seemed to be able to advance to Moscow in another month, at Zhukov's suggestion, mobilized heavy troops between Minsk and Moscow, laid out two lines of defense, and they were racking their brains to protect Moscow.

Compared to Kiev, of course, Moscow is more important, I don't know who fought the idea of the 16th Army, and actually transferred this force.

Although dissatisfied, Budyonny was helpless, he knew that the pressure on Moscow was even greater.

Now, no one realizes that in this magnificent battle, a small person is revealed like this, and he is Lukin!

The beginning of the Barbarossa Project was a hellish darkness for the Soviet Union, and in this darkest period, General Lukin was a shining star who pierced through the darkness.

Lukin's life is legendary.

He was born in a poor family, went to school for a few years as a child, later joined the Russian army, then joined the Red Guards and the Red Army, became a glorious Bolshevik, after the civil war, he continued to rise through the ranks, and like other generals, he did not escape the terrible purge, he was also thrown into prison, but he was one of the lucky ones, and was later released.

Moreover, he continued to rise through the ranks, and now he became the commander of the 16th Army, along the way, he took the train, and his whole body fell apart, and it was easy to get to Ukraine, and he had not yet reached his own position, but he received a new order, to the north, to support Smolensk!

The train gasped and entered the train station.

"Commander, it's time for Shepetovka train station, do you want to go out and breathe?" Lukin's adjutant said.