Chapter 18 8.retreat to the old fortification area

The enemy's advance to Ostrog and then to Rivne could have serious consequences for us.General Kleist's German tank units continued to be strengthened day by day in this direction.The infantry divisions of the German 6th Army followed closely to support these troops. The powerful wedge-shaped assault of the fascist army is still pointing to the small group of General Lukin, and the enemy is currently being pinned down by the flank impact of several of my mechanized corps.Behind the Lugin cluster up to Kyiv, we have nothing.It is clear that if the Lukin group cannot hold back, the enemy will move forward to the deep rear of the main force of our front.This threat unsettles each of us.In all the conversations the people expressed the idea that the frontier battle had been lost and that the troops should now be withdrawn to the line of the old fortifications.But no one wants to say it outright.It is well known that the fortified areas scattered along the old national borders are not yet ready for reliable defense by armies and security organizations.Too little time and too little power to make them ready for battle.

Moscow is also sharing our worries. On June 30, we received an order that completely changed the originally approved plan of action.The telegram pointed out that the Southwest Front Army should retreat to the front lines of fortification areas such as Korosten, Volynsky Novosibirsk, Shepetovka, Old Konstantinov, and Proskurov before July 9.Therefore, the 18th Army of the Southern Front, which is adjacent to our left flank, should also withdraw its right flank troops to the Kamenets-Podolsky fortification area (along the Zbruch River).In order to gradually level the fronts of the retreating armies, our front was ordered to hold Sarney, the Sluch, Ostrog, Skarat, Choltkov, Kolomya, Bebe before July 6. Middle area of ​​Al Khomet.

Those of us who have been in constant contact with the commander of the front in these days are well aware that the order to retreat to the front lines of the old fortifications is fully in line with his intentions.It was only because Kirponos had always been good at carrying out orders, and was especially convinced that orders were indisputable, that he did not personally ask Moscow for permission to retreat. Without delay, the general plan of withdrawing the troops and organizing the defense in the new area was stated with the utmost clarity and completeness.It seems that he has already carefully considered how to organize the front army to implement this maneuver.In dictating his determination, General Kirponos emphasized the danger posed by the enemy's deep wedge in the rear of the main front forces from the regions of Rivno and Ostrog.In order to prevent this dangerous maneuver, the commander ordered the 5th Army to coordinate with the 6th Army to intensify the assault on the two wings of the enemy assault group and break all its attempts to develop a breakthrough.

Now, the resumption of the counter-assault on the left flank of the 5th Army has a specific meaning: it can contain the enemy's assault group and thus support our army's planned retreat. According to the intention of the commander of the front army, the armies began to retreat at different times: the 5th and 12th armies on the two wings started on the night of June 30; the 6th and 26th armies in the center started on the night of July 1.Our front army chief hoped to level the front (the right wing of the 5th Army and the position of the 12th Army were too far west compared to the rest of my forces).In order to ensure a planned retreat, each army group was assigned an intermediate area which was to be held within a specified period of time.

Convinced that I had correctly made up my mind, the commander let me go and ordered me to submit by 2100 hours a draft battle order for the retreat and the organization of the defense in the new area. As soon as I got back to my war department, I started my mission.In order to make things go faster, I handed over the preparation of the draft battle order to Colonel Zakhvatayev, and I started to draw up the new area defense plan. Time is running out, we are a little anxious.However, the more specific the drafted combat documents are, the more obvious some unsolvable problems will be exposed.One of the things that makes me uneasy is that our army has clearly displayed a first-line configuration in its defense. Neither the group army nor the front army has a second echelon and a strong reserve.If left unchanged, this one-line configuration will inevitably remain in retreat.At that time, the enemy will easily break through my front in certain directions and cut off the communication lines of my retreating army.It was necessary to change the disposition of troops, even minimally, in order to organize the cross-leaps, thus preventing the fascist army and the retreating army of the front from advancing out of the newly defended area at the same time.

I went to the Chief of Staff and told him what I thought.I suggest allocating as many troops as possible to the second echelon of each group army, and at the same time establishing a reserve force of the front army strong enough to block the enemy's roundabout maneuvers. After listening to my words, the chief of staff, as is customary, did not reply immediately.He studied the map carefully, folded it calmly, put it under his arm, and beckoned me to follow him. We went into the commander's office.Kirponos, who was concentrating on drawing something on the map, raised his head.Purkayev opened his own map in front of the commander and proposed a specific plan for changing the deployment.His advice is clear and detailed.I understand that Purkayev had thought through all these issues before hearing my report.Kirponos paced up and down the office thoughtfully.He stopped, leaned over to look at the map, looked at the map carefully again, and said with an expression of undisguised regret:

"It's late, Maxim Alekseevich. Our retreat is too slow. The Germans may overtake us and cut us off from the old fortified areas. So we don't have time to change our deployment. Let's Ask the commanders of the various armies to change their army deployment as much as possible during the retreat... The front army reserves can be established now. We have ordered the 4th, 8th, and 15th mechanized armies to withdraw from the battle, let them and the 49th infantry Let the two infantry divisions of the corps form the front army reserve." But this is too little!The three mechanized armies have no more than one hundred tanks in total, and these tanks have to move frontally at 500 kilometers! "

Kirponos stroked his gray temples and said coldly: "Unfortunately, that's all we can spare now. The armies are equally stretched, especially our right-wing armies." "okay then……" After the Chief of Staff handed me the map and gave me permission to leave, he spoke to the Commander about some issues concerning the current retreat. A draft battle order and a map were prepared before the appointed time, showing the center of each army's retreat, the new dividing line between the armies, and the defensive zones of the armies along the lines of the old fortified areas.Battle orders were issued at midnight.Samples were given to liaison officers, who flew to the armies without delay.

Thus began a new phase in the combat operations of the Southwest Front.From now on, we will consider retreating. We comfort ourselves: when we have accumulated strength, we will strike and expel the enemy.An officer who came back from the army said that a detachment commander explained the purpose of the retreat to the soldiers in this way: "We retreat to the old national border, where we have a fortified area, and when we have enough tossing the fascists there, Bomb back to Berlin." Yes, it seems that all of us, from fighters to front commanders, have an unshakable belief that we will stop the enemy on the line in the old fortified territory.Going back further is something no one has ever thought of.

The task is difficult: there must be an organized retreat to a new area with a powerful enemy following. People who are not militarily sophisticated often find it easier to retreat than to attack.But the truth is far from it.Retreaters are always at a disadvantage.The retreat is emotionally depressing for soldiers, because there is nothing more distressing than the realization that the enemy is stronger than you this time, that he is already trampling your homeland, and that you are not yet able to end the situation.The attacking warrior has quite a different mood, for he is encouraged by the victorious progress of the battle, and goes forward with courage, each step adding strength to him.

From a military point of view, the retreat is the most complex maneuver.It is necessary to be good at outwitting the enemy, and withdrawing troops from under the enemy's nose with minimal losses, in order to preserve and then gather strength for a new assault.And all of this must be carried out under the condition that the initiative is in the hands of the enemy, and it is difficult to determine where the enemy is going to carry out the next assault and where it plans to set a trap for you. Lenin taught: "If you don't learn the correct attack and the correct retreat, it is impossible to win victory." He took the trouble to repeatedly explain that when it is necessary to retreat, it is very important to be good at making the retreat proceed in the most orderly manner, and the loss of the army will be reduced. The least was saved, and the backbone of the army was preserved the most.Lenin was talking about revolutionary struggle.But this also applies perfectly to the military.Victory cannot be won without mastering all the means and forms of struggle. Needless to say, before the war we mainly learned to attack.However, such important maneuvers as retreating have not been given due attention.Now we are paying for it.Commanders and headquarters were not well trained in organizing and executing retreat maneuvers.Now we actually have to relearn the hardest art of all—the art of retreat—in the second week of the war. When the order had been sent to the army, the commander of the front decided to listen to the report of General Sovetnikov, the assistant commander in charge of the fortification area.The latter had been prepared with the conscientiousness for which he was known.According to him, only the fortified areas of Korosten, Volynsky Novosibirsk, Rediev, etc. can be considered ready for battle.They are occupied by a small but permanent garrison consisting of machine-gun and artillery detachments.So the firepower base here is already established.Once the field army arrives, the defense capabilities of these fortified areas will be significantly improved.As for other fortification areas, there are actually neither launch fortifications ready for combat nor garrison troops.Everything in these fortified areas has to be built from scratch. General A. O. Ilyin-Mitkevich, the Minister of Engineering and Corps of the Front, who is leading the restoration of the fortified areas, added that the abandoned launch sites here are being reorganized hastily, but there are no weapons and equipment.All hopes were pinned on the retreating army to take the fortifications in time and use their weapons there. This is again a task with many unknowns.Will the engineers and artillery have time to build up the fortification area in the remaining days?Can the retreating army seize these areas before the enemy?Can they organize firepower in time?What worried us the most was the fortification area at the junction of the 5th and 6th armies, which happened to be located in the section of our front army where the enemy's main group assault was directed.A similar situation occurred at the junction of the Mogilev-Podolsky fortified area and the Letichev fortified area, that is, the dividing line between our front and the southern front.All measures are now being taken to strengthen these lots.But it takes time. The army has begun to retreat.This maneuver not only attracted our attention, but also the headquarters and the General Staff.Moscow called both Kirponos and Pulkaev to speak several times a day. I was there when our chief of staff spoke to Zhukov on the morning of July 1.From the first few sentences, it can be seen that the threat to the 26th and 12th armies pulling down the troops far away worried the headquarters.At the beginning, Zhukov asked Pulkayev what kind of determination he had made with the armies on the left wing of the Xiangjun Army.After listening to the answer, he emphasized that the connection between our main force and the front line of the fortification area was in danger of being cut off. "We must take into account the enemy's attempt to divide the 6th, 26th, and 12th armies, and show special enthusiasm and ingenuity when commanding the army to retreat." The chief of the general staff warned: If not, catastrophe is inevitable.He suggested that these armies carry out forced marches, cover them with aviation, and deploy all anti-tank artillery weapons near the most dangerous areas. Much to Zhukov's dismay, Pulkayev spoke of General Muzichenko's inability to communicate with the 36th and 37th Rifle Corps and the 14th Cavalry Division after they took over.These regiments were scattered and unable to repel the new German assault on the Brod-Ternopil road.Now the enemy is rounding the right flank of the 6th Army and advancing rapidly towards Ternopil.Zhukov bluntly pointed out that "the chief of the front army did not see through and foretell the enemy's maneuver, which was a big mistake."He ordered the rapid reinforcement of the screen guards on the front lines of Ternopil and Zbarazh, allowing the 139th Infantry Division, which had been diverted by the enemy, to break through.In view of the retreat of the army, Zhukov suggested that the headquarters of the front army be transferred to a new location when he ended the call. Fears that the enemy would attempt to cut off our line of contact with the fortified area were beginning to be confirmed, as the enemy assault groups advancing along the Rovno-Shepetovka road intensified their onslaught, forcing our 5th and 6th armies along the centrifugal direction, thus widening the gap between their flanks.The group of General Lugin fighting at the junction of the two armies held on with all their might.Enemy forces rounded the group from both flanks.It will soon be completely encircled.And precisely at the most difficult moment of the group, its excellent commander left.Moscow summoned General Lugin to the Western Front, since his army had already been transferred there.Only then did I realize that everything was supported by this person's will and perseverance.As soon as he was gone, this dwindling group of heroes, which held the enemy's heavy troops for a whole week, effectively ceased to exist as an army organization.The troops originally under the jurisdiction of the group were incorporated into some corps of the 5th Army.The head of the Front Army intends to use the units of the 206th and 147th Infantry Divisions of the 7th Infantry Corps of our Southern Front to strengthen the direction that was previously covered with great success by the Lukin Group.These cutting-edge forces used in the Shepetovka area will also consolidate the situation at the junction of the 5th and 6th armies.This is why the head of the front army is more at ease in this direction. -------- ① After Lu Jin went to the Western Front, he commanded the besieged Soviet army group near Vyazma in October of the same year. He was seriously injured and captured. He was liberated in 1945 and retired the following year. ——Translator's Note. At that time, the Ternopil-Proskurov direction worried us much more.The measures taken by General Muzichenko to stabilize the situation are of no avail. On July 2, the fascists captured Ternopil.So the enemy divided the front of the 6th Army and began to threaten the rear of the 26th and 12th Army.Add to these disasters the inability of Muzichenko's headquarters to organize the command of the army in any way.From the battle reports we received from him, it can be seen that the head of the Sixth Army was even close to not knowing the real situation of his corps.The commanders of each army could not contact the group army headquarters for a long time, nor could they receive regular notifications on the situation of their neighbors. The commander of the front army had no choice but to ask General Muzichenko to reverse the situation immediately.Colonel Zakhvatayev was sent to the headquarters of the 6th Army.Kirponos told him not to return until he found out what was going on in the army zone. Urgent action is now required.The question is: what will cover the gap near Ternopil?After a short period of contemplation, Kirponos decided to transfer there his last reserves—two divisions of the 49th Infantry Corps and the 24th Mechanized Corps.This is very risky.We have just received notification from Moscow that General Konev's 19th Army, which is deployed around Kyiv, is rushing to the Western Front, which is even more difficult than ours.In this way, there are no troops left in the vicinity of Kyiv.But despite this, we were forced to send the last reserves of the Front near Ternopil.There was no other way out, because the enemy must be held there at all costs, otherwise the planned retreat of the army would inevitably be disrupted.In order to prevent the Ukrainian capital from being directly threatened, the Kyiv fortified area should be put into full combat readiness.It is necessary to mobilize all human and material resources in the city to defend the fortification area.To lead this work, H. C. Khrushchev traveled to Kyiv by car. At the same time, the divisions of the 49th Rifle Corps carried out the order to advance by force to the line of Yampor, Teofipoli, Ulyanovo, and to hold this line as best they could.The corps of the 24th Mechanized Army occupied the defense south of it, and controlled the Ternopil-Proskurov road from both sides in the Volochsk area. Enemy forces advancing in the direction of Ternopil threatened the command post of the Front.It was time for our headquarters to move to a safer place, but we were worried about losing command of the army completely, so the head of the front had to stay in Proskurov temporarily.Purkayev commissioned me to draw up a defense plan for the command post in case the enemy's advance troops approached.I have drawn up this plan.The plan also provided for preparations for fighting the paratroopers, not only the actions of the guard units, but also the actions of all officers of the command.A scout was sent close to Proskurov. The arrival of enemy troops at Ternopil also put the 12th Army in a very difficult situation.A considerable portion of the Army's forces remained northwest of Stanislav.The commander of the front army ordered him to withdraw the troops as quickly as possible, and to advance to the front lines of Chortkov, Gorodenka and Kut no later than the morning of July 3. It appears that all measures have been taken to eliminate the threat to the main forces of the front.We are now doing everything we can to free the 6th Army's divided armies from the threat of encirclement and fragmentation.Whether this task can be completed depends to a large extent on whether the 49th Infantry Army and the 24th Mechanized Army can stop the enemy in the Ternopil area. The retreat of the main force of the Sixth Army became more complicated by the hour.Turned on both sides, they fought and opened the way for themselves under the constant assault of enemy tanks and aviation.The worst part is that we hardly know what is going on with them and what help they need.Finally looking forward to Muzichenko's new report.Zakhvatayev, who came back from him, also told a lot about the situation.We learned that the 36th Infantry Army paid a high price to break through the encirclement of the fascist army, and then retreated to the line of Lyakhovtsy and Yang Boer, that is to say, it worked hard to move closer to the right wing of the 49th Infantry Army.The 14th Cavalry Division also retreated there.The 37th Infantry Army repelled the onslaught of the enemy on the lines of Noviki and Ivachuv.The condition of the units belonging to the 6th Infantry Corps and 3rd Cavalry Division, which were encircled west of Ternopil, is not at all clear for the time being.The army commander tried unsuccessfully to support them with elements of the 4th Mechanized Corps.However, the heroic counterattack of the 10th Tank Division of the 15th Mechanized Corps, which had been severely reduced in battle, was an unexpected success: the fascist units were driven out of Ternopil.Unfortunately, by the next day the division, which General C. F. Ogurtsov continued to command with great success, was pushed out of the city. Because some corps of the 6th Army were in trouble, and the troops belonging to the 26th and 12th Army were pulled back too far, and because of fear that the remaining forces of the Front Army would continue to retreat, which would cause greater difficulties in commanding the army, General Kirponos was forced to withdraw on July 3. Make up your mind and try to stick to the line of Sluch River, Slavuta, Yanpol, Gerzhmalov, Choltkov, and Snyatin.The commander of the front army knew that it would not be easy to hold this unprepared area under the onslaught of the enemy's superior forces.Therefore, in the same instruction, he also allows the army to retreat to the front line of the fortified area when the situation is complicated, as long as the enemy does not seize the fortified area.In this case, the 5th Army should retreat to the Koroskyan fortification area (Rudnice, Belokorovich, Khalbe); Vka, Korostky); the 26th Army retreated to the fortification area of ​​Ostropol; the 12th Army retreated to the fortification area of ​​Letichev (Novosinhava, Komarovtsi). Once the armies have retreated to these areas, the 6th Infantry Corps and the rest of the corps of the 4th and 8th Mechanized Corps should be incorporated into the reserve of the Chief of the Front Army.They should all be concentrated around Zhytomyr.We were counting on this to erect a barrier at Kyiv close and far, but it was of course too weak, since these regiments were few in number.But the front commander could not put any other troops into reserve. When the order was printed and sent to General Kirponos for his signature, he added an absolute requirement for the commander of the army group: accurate and uninterrupted command of the troops under his command. (Unfortunately, in the activities of all levels of headquarters, this aspect will continue to be our key point for a long time. The problem is not only the complexity of the situation and the scarcity of communication technology equipment, but also the fact that the various levels of command do not have the necessary skills to command the army under combat conditions. have experience.) Scouts keep reporting: the enemy is approaching.It was impossible for the headquarters to remain in Proskurov.A new front command post has been prepared in Kyiv.But to move there would mean a further separation from the armies, with which ties are now, as the saying goes, already in jeopardy. After a long period of hesitation, it was finally decided to transfer the command post to Zhytomyr first.The combat team immediately marched there to establish communications with the army.During the night, the entire headquarters was also evacuated.I led a staff team and was the last to leave again.We will maintain liaison with the armies until we control the signal that the headquarters has opened in Zhytomyr.During these hours, I also made some decisions on behalf of the Front Command.General J. C. Pisarevsky, Chief of Staff of the 5th Army, asked what to do with the 7th Infantry Corps and the 19th Mechanized Corps.Formally, these two armies have been transferred to the 6th Army, but no correspondence has been established with the Army. "So," Pisarevsky reported, "they came to us and asked what to do. Can we assign tasks to them? " I replied that before Muzichenko took over the two corps, let Potapov command them first, and act according to the purpose specified by the latest instruction to the armies.We tried all night to find Sixth Army headquarters in order to inform him of the situation of the two armies on its right flank, but were unable to do so.Muzichenko's headquarters was like a stone sinking into the sea.I sent Major O. C. Afanasyev to look for it.He reached Vilochsk, where the headquarters was located, but heavy fighting was taking place there.He went again to Antoiny - the next point to which Army Command was supposed to move according to plan.But there was no headquarters there either. Since Zhitomir sent an order to go to the headquarters of the front army, we had to stop searching.Nothing special happened on the road this time.Just after dawn, we drove into the outskirts of Zhytomyr.I am familiar with almost every street in the city, having lived here for three years as chief of staff of the 5th Cavalry Division. Zhitomir is located on the steep bank of the small Teterev River.Like most Ukrainian cities, the whole city is hidden in a green shade.Now the green shade hides the ruins of the house after the brutal bombing.I found the headquarters of the Front without much difficulty, reported to General Pulkayev the latest information we had received from the army, and spoke of the fruitless attempts to find the headquarters of the Sixth Army.Was it attacked by German tanks in Volochsk?The chief of staff was as apprehensive about this speculation as I was. "Keep looking." Back in the war department, an unusual silence struck me as strange.The officers left the phone and surrounded my political undersecretary.The second-level battalion political commissar was reading a document to them.I listened too. "...it is a matter of life and death for the Soviet state, life and death for the peoples of the Soviet Union..." The clear words refer to the difficult situation on the battlefield, to what our people should do in the rear and at the front, to what they are doing in the The mission of the holy war against the fascist invaders, these words are worrying and stirring. The depth of thought and originality left no doubt: only Stalin could have said such things. "What is this?" I couldn't help asking. "Speech by Comrade Stalin." The Political Commissar of the Second Battalion replied, carefully putting aside the document he had read. I glanced greedily: "Comrades! Citizens! Brothers and sisters! Soldiers of our Red Army and Red Navy! Our friends, I address you now!" It was as if a haunting, not-too-loud, distinctly earthy voice sounded in my ears.How many times have we heard this sound on the radio with bated breath.Now we understand that the party of the great Lenin addressed us, the people and the army through Stalin. The speech was captivating from the start.Its spiritual impact is enormous.Each of us is more deeply aware of our responsibility for the fate of the motherland and the people. After reading the document, everyone wanted to express their feelings.This special gathering was not long, but how much everyone expressed their feelings during the meeting!People spoke excitedly about what we could and should do for our motherland in times of crisis. As soon as the officers returned to their respective posts, General Pulkayev came and ordered two staff officers to be sent to find the headquarters of the Sixth Army.They went out all day and found it in Stara Konstantinov until evening.Knowing this situation, Purkayev reprimanded the commander of the army group in a sharp tone in the order issued in the name of the military committee, and asked him to report in detail the situation in the army's action zone together with the representative of the front army headquarters. Our liaison officers did not return from Muzichenko's headquarters until nighttime.He brought unsatisfactory intelligence.A part of the 36th Infantry Army is still fighting under encirclement, while the rest of the troops have reached the Izyaslav fortification area at the cost of heavy losses, and some detachments of the fascist army have also rushed here from the north.The 49th Infantry Corps temporarily repelled the advance of the enemy, while the 24th Mechanized Corps was forced to abandon Volochisk under the onslaught of the enemy's superior forces. Little is known about the individual units of the 37th Infantry Corps.It had been reported a day and night before that one of its divisions was fighting in the enemy's encirclement north of Zbarazh.The commander of the 6th Army sent his representatives to the 7th Infantry Corps and the 19th Mechanized Corps, but they have not yet returned. Several officers who had been to the army reported that our soldier column and train team were stubbornly marching eastward along the road under the enemy's continuous bombing.Streams of refugees moved with them on both sides of the road.There are thousands of refugees.They left their homeland, abandoned all their possessions, and were prepared to endure any hardship in order to escape fascist slavery.All their hopes are pinned on our Red Army soldiers, because only these dusty and battered soldiers can protect them from sacrifice.Things got tense when we got to the ferry.There are crowds of people, cars and carriages gathered here.Every fascist bomb is looking for a target.But even here, there is no panic phenomenon.After the commanders and fighters collected the remains of the martyrs and the damaged cars and carriages, they repaired the bridge and put down the gate bridge.The refugees waited patiently for their turn.Sometimes the fascist tanks rushed to the ferry, and the desperate struggle began.The suffering of the people and the heroism of the people are really hard to describe in words!We still recall with great emotion the trials that our side's commanders and fighters and peaceful citizens of Ukraine have endured.But we know from various reports that the situation in other fronts is more serious.Therefore the headquarters took extraordinary measures and transferred all the recruits from us to support our neighbors. On July 4, the base camp instructed the 5th Cavalry Corps and eleven artillery regiments, including eight anti-tank artillery regiments, to withdraw from the battle and transfer them to the Western Front.The artillery units were immediately loaded on to Smolensk.The 5th Cavalry Army and the 16th Mechanized Army of the Southern Front should be concentrated in the Mozyr and Kalinkovic areas to form a group of fast cavalry mechanized troops to carry out assaults on the flanks and rear of the fascist "Central" Army Group that penetrated into Belarus.But they could not reach the rendezvous points, because the previous fighting in our front disrupted all plans. The chief concern of our front army is the withdrawal of the main force of the front army threatened by the encirclement, but not so much attention to those corps that have reached the area near the fortification area.As forces there have been gradually assembled and consolidated, we believe that the situation on the front has begun to stabilize.Taking advantage of this opportunity, the head of the front and the headquarters moved to a new command post that had been established near Kyiv in peacetime. On July 5th and 6th, we continued to exercise command over the army from here.The front army reserve composed of the remnants of the mechanized 4th, 8th, and 15th armies was hastily rebuilt.The strength of these armies is too small, so the head of the front army asked the general staff for permission to form a combat-capable motorized division on the basis of each mechanized army.But there are not many tanks left in these armies, and Moscow is worried that we are using tank soldiers as infantry.Therefore, the General Staff did not agree with our proposal, and requested that these armies be withdrawn to the rear and incorporated into the reserve team of the base camp for reorganization.We had to urgently load them into trucks for shipment.These armies left us with only a few dozen tanks and a small number of motorized infantry.We used these troops and weapons to form several mixed detachments.In this way, the strength of our reserve team is minimal. The head and headquarters of the Sixth Army have been unable to establish normal communication with their corps fighting in a wide area.The consequences were especially severe near Shepetovka.Not long ago it was defended by the Lukin Group, but now it is the 19th Mechanized Army and the 7th Infantry Army.However, these two armies were also attacked by the main force of General Kleist's tank group.The divisions of the 7th Infantry Corps were approaching us along the railway from the Southern Front Reserve, and they had to enter the battle directly from the transport echelons.Under such conditions, it is impossible to gather troops to form an assault group, and the divisions have to enter the battle individually according to the order in which they arrive at the battle site.The difficulty of the army's situation is also because there is no communication with the neighboring 19th Mechanized Army, and the commander of the 19th Mechanized Army can only fight independently.As a result, our army was repulsed by the enemy in this area.They attempted to hold on to the front line of the old fortified area south of the new town of Volynsky.However, the enemy launched a rapid attack and did not give our troops time to organize a defense.Moreover, the power is too disparate. The leaders of the "South" Army Group concentrated twelve (some sources say fourteen) tank divisions, motorized divisions and infantry divisions in this direction.With the heavy support of the aviation force, this powerful group carried out a violent assault in a narrow area.The exhausted General Feklenko's 19th Mechanized Army and General Dobrocheldorf's 7th Infantry Army had difficulty holding on.The front line was broken in the Vronsky Novosibirsk and Novi Miropol areas.This sudden onslaught by the enemy practically destroyed our entire attempt to withdraw our troops to the front line of the old fortified area.The enemy's breakthrough between Vronsky Novosibirsk and Novomiropol opened a gap in the front which, like a crack in a dam, disrupted the entire new fortified area. The tank and motorized divisions of the German 48th Motorized Army rushed towards Berdichev.There is no force left to block their advance. At 11:00 on July 7, the advance troops of the 11th German Tank Division captured Chudnov and broke into Berdichev Street at 16:00.Neither the Sixth Army Headquarters nor the Front Army Headquarters knew about this situation at the time. Only in the evening did General C. E. Dobrocheldorf's first report arrive that the fascist tank and motorized units had broken through near Novi Miropol and were rushing southeast.We knew even later that enemy troops had entered Berdichev.When Pulkayev reported this to Kirponos, he said distressedly: "This breakthrough will cost us dearly!" After a short consideration, he instructed: "Tell Muzichenko that if he fails to regain his original posture in the Novomiropol area, he will be severely punished. Tell him to transfer there all the troops he can mobilize. Order Potapov to immediately send the mechanized 22nd The army was transferred to Berdichev to take part in the annihilation of the tank forces advancing there." Soon, General Muzichenko reported that he had transferred mixed detachments of the 4th and 15th mechanized armies to the breakthrough site.We knew that these troops were small in number, so we understood that this was far from sufficient to accomplish the task, but in the Army Commander's Reserve, there were no more troops, because all the corps were extremely tense to hold off the enemy in other sectors. Front headquarters reported what had happened to Moscow.The base camp immediately judged the danger of the situation.The commander of the front army received an absolute order: "immediately close the fortification area and destroy the intruding enemy."At the same time, the base camp notified that the 16th Mechanized Army headed to Moziri was transferred to our command.But we don't know where its regiment is at this time.We only know that they are distributed in a wide area southwest of Vinnytsia.The nearest regiment was also a full hundred kilometers away from Berdichev.Therefore, the army cannot arrive soon. Where else can troops be transferred from?General Kirponos asked Pulkayev to join me in finding a way out. 我提起突破地点附近有步兵第6军和骑兵第5军。但是，这两个军虽然已经退出战斗，我们却还不能使用。步兵第6军刚刚突围，在战斗中损失了很多人员和很大一部分火炮，现在急需进行补充。况且它刚开赴日托米尔。要集中该军和将其投入战斗，是需要时间的。而骑兵第5军按大本营号令应开赴莫济里地域。我们只有得到莫斯科准许后才能使用它。我们想起了大本营从我们这里调走的八个反坦克炮兵团。它们现在该多么合用啊！司令员马上和总参谋长联系，请求归还这几个团。B·C·朱可夫回答，这些团大本营现在一个也不能给，他建议火速用高射炮兵组建几个反坦克团。 方面军司令员没再坚持自己的请求：他知道莫斯科方向和列宁格勒方向的局势比我们还要困难。敌人夺取了普斯科夫，正扑向卢加。在西线，敌人合围了苏军很大一部分兵力，已进抵第聂伯河。这就是大本营将所有兵力都投到这一方向的原因。基尔波诺斯勉强向总参谋长保证，他将试图在方面军内寻找预备队。朱可夫在结束通话时说：“我不明白您怎么会让敌人通过舍佩托夫卡筑垒地域。要采取措施，不让敌人切断第6、26、12集团军的联系。” 敌人在旧国界线突破我筑垒地域。实际上标志着边境交战在我方面军地带的结束。尽管我军发扬了英雄主义，但边境交战仍以我们的失利告终。我们面临一个新的斗争阶段，看来，这个阶段将比战争最初时日还要艰难。