As soon as Samoylov ran down the mountain, Sokov saw an armored maintenance vehicle driven by a maintenance worker approaching. Two technicians got out of the vehicle and talked with the tank soldiers who leaned out of the tank turret.
After a while, the tank soldier came out of the tank and gestured to the tanks behind him, telling them to bypass him and continue moving forward.
Seeing one tank after another, Sokov's mood seemed particularly heavy when he bypassed the broken down tank that was being repaired and continued to drive forward. Unexpectedly, after a night of maintenance, the tanks of the Tank Army still had many defects.
The question is, just after traveling a few kilometers, a tank broke down. After traveling 80 kilometers, how many tanks are left that can be used in battle?
When Samoilov returned, he brought General Polubyarov with him.
Seeing General Polubyarov also coming over, Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with him, and then said with a smile: "General Polubyarov, it seems that your maintenance strength needs to be strengthened.
, just how far away from the station, a broken down tank appeared. I am worried that after walking these 80 kilometers, there may not be many intact tanks left."
"Comrade Commander, you misunderstood." Polubyarov pointed to the tank that was being repaired on the road and said to Sokov: "It turns out that this tank does not belong to the organization of our army, so there was no maintenance last night.
repair."
"It's not a tank from your army?" Sokov asked confusedly, "Then where did it come from?"
"I heard Colonel Khokhlov say that you brought this tank back from enemy-occupied areas."
"The tank I brought back from the enemy-occupied area?" Sokov was stunned for a moment, then remembered the T-34 tank painted with a white cross that he encountered when he went to the 182nd Division's defense area, and asked tentatively: "
Could it be that the tank commander is coca gold?”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Samoylov on the side said: "When I just went down to check, I happened to meet Cocakin. He told me that after review, he could continue to drive this tank.
However, they were temporarily transferred from the 182nd Division to the Tank Corps last night, so they did not perform maintenance."
Sokov carefully looked at the body of the tank and found that the white cross on the turret was no longer there, replaced by the Russian words "For the Motherland", plus a tank number. He remembered that only three of Cocakin and the others escaped.
When I came out, there was another woman among them, her name seemed to be Katayeva. This old-fashioned T-34 tank requires four drivers, and Cocakin and Rykov alone are not enough.
"Comrade General," he asked General Polubyarov with a sideways look, "did you help them fill up the crew?"
"No." General Polubyarov shook his head and said: "When I received this tank, the crew was complete, and Colonel Khokhlov should have added it. You know, after a long battle,
Many tank troops have lost all their tanks, so the tank soldiers have switched to infantry. There should be many original tank soldiers in the 182nd Division, and there should be no problem in adding a few more tank crew members."
"Comrade Commander, I'm here to come to you with one more important thing."
"whats the matter?"
"According to your order, our army will set up defenses on the left bank of the Pushor River." Polubyarov said: "If the battle is beneficial to our army, then the location for the attack will be very favorable. But once the battle
If things don't go well and we have to choose to retreat, the Pushor River behind us will block our retreat."
"Comrade General," before Sokov could speak, Samoylov interrupted: "Isn't there a bridge over the Pushor River?"
"Comrade Lieutenant, do you know how long it takes for more than a hundred tanks to cross a bridge?" Polubyarov replied with a wry smile: "Even if there are no obstacles on the bridge, it will take 30 to 50 minutes. On the battlefield
Every minute is precious. If it took us so long to retreat across the bridge, the enemy would have already rushed in front of us."
Seeing what Samoylov was about to say, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop him. If the other party was not his old subordinate, Sokov would definitely criticize him mercilessly. When the senior commander was speaking, you
What qualifications did a young lieutenant have to interrupt? He politely said to Polubyarov: "Comrade General, you are right, I did not think carefully about this matter. I immediately arranged for the engineer battalion to go and erect the pontoon bridge.
"
"Is one engineer battalion enough?" Polubyarov asked worriedly: "The width of the river is about 120 meters. Even if an engineer battalion works overtime, it can build up to two pontoon bridges a day, which can allow us to
Will so many troops cross the river?"
"Comrade General, you don't have to worry about this." When it comes to setting up pontoon bridges, Sokov has rich experience. He confidently said to Polubyarov: "I can let the engineers build two kinds of pontoon bridges. One is
The other way is to let the armored troops pass, and the other is to let the infantry pass."
Sokov's words confused Polubyarov, and he asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, is the pontoon bridge divided into two types: armored troops and infantry?"
"Maybe not in other troops." Sokov said with a smile: "But in my army, there will definitely be."
"What kind of pontoon is that?"
"The pontoon bridge that the armored troops pass through is the one you know. I won't explain it in detail." Sokov smiled and said to Polubyarov: "As for the bridge that the infantry passes through, it uses a
There are long strings of empty oil barrels connected together. People can walk on them no problem, but tanks, armored vehicles and cars can't get through."
"A floating bridge built with oil barrels connected together?" Polubyarov frowned and pondered for a while, then asked tentatively: "Is it possible?"
"Of course, this kind of pontoon bridge was often used in the Battle of Stalingrad." Sokov introduced to Polubyarov: "Some factories are surrounded by rivers, and workers creatively invented this kind of bridge.
A simple pontoon bridge is made by connecting abandoned empty oil drums with ropes and putting them on the river. Moreover, this kind of pontoon bridge is low-cost. The German artillery bombed it and it only cost half of it.
Hours later, the new pontoon can reappear on the water."
"If true, it would be so convenient." Polubyarov nodded and said, "After all, the troops heading to the Prokhorovka area this time, except for my tank corps, are basically all infantry.
, with this simple pontoon bridge, we can cross more troops across the river in the shortest possible time."
Polubyarov wanted to move forward with his group. After chatting with Sokov for a few words, he said goodbye and left, got on the armored vehicle parked at the foot of the hillside and continued on his way.
After Polubyarov walked away, Sokov asked a communications staff officer following him: "Has the phone line to the headquarters been connected?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The communications staff officer quickly replied, "You can speak to the headquarters at any time."
"Put me through to the Chief of Staff."
Soon, the call was connected. When Samyko's voice was heard from the receiver, Sokov said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there is one thing I neglected. The troops arrived in Prokhorovka
After the area is cleared, defenses will be deployed on both sides of the Pushor River, which will make the support between troops very disadvantageous."
"Comrade Commander, there is a bridge across the Pushor River in our defense area. We can use this bridge to establish a connection between the two sides."
"Just having one kind of bridge is not enough." Seeing that Samyko had not realized the importance of bridges until now, Sokov reminded them: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we are a large corps fighting, and we have to start from bridges every day.
In addition to infantry, there are also a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks passing through. With just one bridge, it is easy to cause congestion."
After hearing this, Samyko finally understood what Sokov wanted to express. He quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, do you mean that we still need to build a pontoon bridge on the Pushor River?"
"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff, that's what I mean." Seeing that the other party finally understood his intention, Sokov nodded and said: "We need to build a few more pontoon bridges on the Pushor River, which will help us quickly
mobilize troops."
"Comrade Commander, we only have one engineer battalion, and it is not a professional pontoon bridge unit. It is obviously unrealistic to ask them to build several pontoon bridges in a day or two." Samyko carefully reminded Sokov.
: "Otherwise, we ask for help from the front army headquarters and ask them to send us pontoon bridge troops. As long as we have enough manpower, we can build as many pontoon bridges as we want."
"I think our current strength is enough, so we don't need to cause any more trouble to our superiors." Sokov knew very well that before the Steppe Front Army entered the battle, three group armies were transferred. As the commander of the front army,
Konev must be furious now, and he will not get into trouble. He said into the microphone: "You only need to order the engineers to build a pontoon bridge for tanks to pass in the shortest possible time. When this task is completed,
Later, a pontoon bridge was erected for infantry to pass."
When Samek heard this, he asked with some confusion: "Comrade Commander, why are the pontoon bridges divided into two types for tanks and infantry?"
"Yes, our common pontoon bridges can pass tanks, but it takes too much time to build, and it is also easy to become a target for enemy bombing." Sokov guessed that Sameko had never seen that kind of oil drum pontoon bridge.
He said to him: "As for the pontoon bridge for infantry to pass through, it is enough to connect empty oil barrels together so that people can pass through."
"Comrade Commander, is it possible to use empty oil drums to build a pontoon bridge?" Samek asked cautiously: "You know, although the flow of the Pushor River is not fast, the river surface is more than 100 meters long.
Can people pass on the pontoon?"
"I said yes, then it will definitely be okay." Sokov felt a little unhappy when he saw Samyko chatting with him all the time. He thought to himself, you have never seen a pontoon made of empty oil drums. What is there?
He had no right to speak, so he said impatiently: "Immediately arrange for the engineer battalion to rush to the Pushor River and start erecting the pontoon bridge."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Samyko agreed resoundingly: "I immediately sent the engineer battalion to drive through the Prokhorovka area and set up pontoon bridges for tanks and infantry."
After almost an hour, Sokov, who was almost losing his patience, finally saw a convoy of trucks from the engineering battalion, carrying personnel and a large amount of supplies, passing by the foot of the hill and heading towards Prokhorovka.
.
Samoilov looked at the retreating convoy and asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, should we continue to stay here, or follow the engineer battalion to the Pushor River?"
Although it was only a matter of time before he went to the Pushol River, Sokov was unwilling to take risks easily at the moment. Who knows what the situation is in the Prokhorovka area now. If he had just brought a guard platoon and rushed to Pushol easily with a light vehicle.
On the banks of the Shoal River, they encountered a small group of German troops, and their lives would probably be in danger.
After thinking about this, Sokov waved his hand and said: "Comrade Lieutenant, we are going to fight a big battle next. As the commander of the group army, how can I easily leave the army? I think it is better to wait for the troops to complete the deployment.
It won’t be too late for us to reach the Prokhorovka area.”
In Samoilov's mind, Sokov was an omnipotent person. Seeing that Sokov was unwilling to go to the Pushor River at this moment, he was particularly worried and said: "Comrade Commander, if you don't go
As for the Pushor River, I'm worried that the pontoon bridge set up by the engineer battalion will not be able to satisfy you."
"Comrade Lieutenant, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov comforted Samoylov and said: "I have already told General Polubyarov about how to erect the pontoon bridge. I'm afraid it won't be erected until the engineering battalion.
After completing the pontoon bridge, General Polubyarov's tank corps had arrived at the designated location. If he saw that I did not show up, he would take the initiative to introduce to the engineer battalion how to erect the pontoon bridge."
Not long after, Sokov felt that his decision was correct. Lunev, who was originally staying at the headquarters, hurried over in a jeep and saw Sokov standing on the hill watching the troops marching.
, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and said thankfully: "Comrade Commander, you are still here. I thought you ran to the front again."
"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar, the war is imminent. How can I leave my troops casually?" Sokov naturally would not tell the other party because he was worried that he might encounter danger if he rushes to the Prokhorovka area rashly.
He chose to stay. After giving these high-sounding reasons, Sokov asked Lunev: "Why did you come here?"
"When I was mobilizing the commanders and soldiers for combat, I heard the guard say that you had arranged for the engineer battalion to go to the Pushor River to build a pontoon bridge." Lunev said breathlessly: "I'm worried that with your character, you will follow the engineer battalion.
Go to the front, I came here specifically to stop you. Recently, the base camp issued an order that commanders above the division level are not allowed to go to the front line without permission."