On the last day of July, a lot of things happened.
First, the headquarters of the Supreme Command decided to leave the task of capturing Belgorod and Kharkov to Konev's Steppe Front.
Secondly, the 27th Army commanded by Sokov was reorganized and continued to be commanded by General Konev.
Third, all the officers and men of the 62nd Marine Brigade have experienced the feeling of riding a hovercraft, and some of the original helmsmen have become proficient in driving hovercrafts after several days of training.
Fourth, through Yakov's efforts, Asiya was officially transferred to the Weapons and Equipment Department and became a female doctor in the department.
Sokov sent Asiya away and just returned to the headquarters. Samyko said to him anxiously: "Comrade Commander, we just received a call from General Konev, ordering us to rush to the front army headquarters immediately and accept the call.
New combat mission."
"It seems that a new battle is about to begin." Sokov muttered to himself, then asked: "Should I be ordered to go alone, or should all the army leaders go to the meeting?"
"In addition to you and Comrade Military Commissar, I am also going to attend the meeting."
Half an hour later, the three Sokovs arrived at Konev's front headquarters.
After entering the building, Sokov saw that the corridor leading to the conference room was filled with commanders from various units. Judging from their epaulettes, they were basically generals. Except for two or three people and Sokov, Sokov
Except for Meco, who has the same military rank, the rest of them are basically lieutenant general or general.
Seeing the three Sokovs appear, someone immediately greeted them.
The person who greeted Sokov was General Kryuchenkin, the commander of the 69th Group Army. He held Sokov's hand and said enthusiastically: "Hello, General Sokov. I really didn't expect to meet you here."
.”
"Hello, General Kryuchinkin." When Sokov saw Kryuchinkin, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Isn't the 69th Army affiliated to the Voronezh Front? Why did he appear at the front headquarters of the Steppe Front?
Kryuchinkin saw Sokov's doubts and quickly explained to him: "General Sokov, you may not know that as early as ten days ago, our group army was officially placed under the command of the Steppe Front Army. Now you and I
They are all General Konev's subordinates."
"This is great." Sokov grabbed Kryuchenkin's hand and shook it vigorously. "We can fight side by side again."
"General Sokov, I may disappoint you." Klitschko showed an embarrassed expression on his face: "My troops suffered serious losses in the Battle of Kursk and were transferred from the Voronezh Front. I thought that
Our superiors pulled us down to replenish our troops, and there will be no combat missions for two or three months.
But what I didn't expect was that ten days ago, the base camp ordered the troops of the Steppe Front to march towards Belgorod, and our army followed. Since we have not received the necessary supplements, we may not be able to participate in the next battle.
Already."
"So that's it." After listening to Klitschko's words, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little regretful. The 69th Group Army, which was short of troops, was obviously unable to attack the city heavily guarded by the German army. They could only stand aside and watch this battle.
It's lively.
While the two were talking, the closed door at the end of the corridor opened. An officer stood at the door and said loudly to the people in the corridor: "Comrade commanders, there will be a meeting soon. Please come in." Originally.
The commanders who were still chatting together immediately stopped talking when they heard the officer's words and walked quickly towards the conference room.
"Comrade Commander." Samyko came to Sokov and said to him: "Let's go in."
Sokov and others followed the crowd, walked into the conference room, and found a seat at the back. The purpose of choosing this seat was to leave the conference room early after the meeting.
As soon as everyone sat down, Konev, Lieutenant General Susekov, Military Commissar of the Front Army, and Lieutenant General Zakharov, Chief of Staff, walked in from outside the gate.
Seeing Konev entering, the commanders who had been seated suddenly stood up and paid attention to the three of them.
The three of them walked straight to the long table at the end of the conference room. Konev sat in the center of the table, Susekov sat on his right, and Zakharov sat on his left.
"Please take a seat, comrades commanders!" Konev raised his hands and pressed down slightly, and said loudly: "Our meeting will begin soon."
After all the commanders present sat down, Lieutenant General Susekov, the military commissar of the front army, stood up. He held the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and after scanning every commander present, his emotions
He said with some excitement: "Hello, comrades, commanders! During the Battle of Kursk, many of our troops were transferred to friendly forces and fought with them tenaciously against the enemy... Now that the battle is over, some troops have been officially designated
They returned to the command of friendly forces, and some units returned to the organizational structure of the front army."
When he said the last sentence, he cast his eyes on Sokov, who was sitting in the last row. After his eyes stayed on Sokov for a while, he moved to other places. He continued: "Comrade commanders,
The headquarters of the Supreme Command ordered us and the Voronezh Front to launch an attack on the enemies entrenched in Belgorod-Kharkov and completely eliminate them in this area. The specific combat deployment will be made by Chief of Staff Zakharov
The general will tell you."
After Susekov sat down, Zakharov stood up and said with a normal expression: "Comrade commanders, the main forces of the Voronezh Front and the Steppe Front are now assembled north and northwest of Belgorod respectively.
This created the conditions for a large-depth and wide-frontal assault on the junction between the German 4th Tank Army and the 'Kenf' Battle Group.
The order from the headquarters of the Supreme High Command to our front forces is to carry out a split assault from the northwest area of Belgorod to the general direction of Varki and Novodolaga in order to split the enemy Belgorod-Kharkov Group
, and then encircled and annihilated the enemy forces in the Kharkov area..."
After Zakharov introduced the general situation, like Susekov, he focused on Sokov: "As for the west of Belgorod, General Sokov's 27th Army will be responsible for the attack.
"
Zakharov had already called his name, and it was obviously inappropriate to continue sitting still. Sokov quickly stood up and replied loudly: "Our army promises to complete its mission."
"General Sokov," who knew that after listening to Sokov's statement, Konev stopped Zakharov who was about to continue speaking, looked at Sokov and asked: "I want to ask, how old are you?
How long will it take to break through the German defenses west of Belgorod?"
Based on the information fed back by the scouts, Sokov knew the situation of the German troops in the west of the city very well. When he heard Konev's question at this moment, he quickly replied: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army, if we only break through the German troops in the western suburbs of the city,
I think a quarter of an hour is enough for our defensive position."
Sokov's words were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a red-hot pot, causing it to explode.
"What, a quarter of an hour, break through the German outer positions on the outskirts of the city? Did I hear that right?"
"You heard it right, what I heard was also a quarter of an hour."
"His tone is a bit too crazy. If it is left to my troops to attack, it will take a day to break through the enemy's defense. He said it only takes a quarter of an hour. This is simply a fantasy."
Listening to the other commanders talking about him, Sokov said nothing, as if the person the other commander was talking about was not him, but an unrelated person.
Konev naturally heard these comments, but he did not express his position immediately. Instead, he quietly observed Sokov's expression. Surprisingly, he found that Sokov's expression was as usual, and he did not seem to take other people's comments to heart at all.
.
After the conference room became quiet again, Konev asked the question that everyone was concerned about: "General Sokov, do you know the enemy's defensive deployment in the west of the city?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I understand very well." Sokov replied: "It may only take a quarter of an hour to break through the enemy's defensive positions on the outskirts of the city, but after the troops enter the city, they must clear out the enemies in the west of the city, at least
It will take two days.”
"Oh, it only takes you a quarter of an hour to break through the defensive positions on the outskirts of the city." Konev asked curiously: "Then why does it take two days to capture the western part of the city?"
"Now our defense area and the enemy's defense area are only separated by a river." Seeing countless suspicious looks from around him, Sokov decided to use this opportunity to explain to everyone: "The enemy thought that we did not have enough equipment to cross the river.
The river can be crossed, hence the fortifications on the shore, as well as a few trenches and some civil fire points."
"Even if you have enough equipment to cross the river, if you want to force the crossing under the enemy's fire blockade, even if you succeed, you will inevitably pay huge casualties." A lieutenant general sitting not far away said in a contemptuous tone: "
In a quarter of an hour, your troops may not even be able to reach the other side, so how can they possibly seize the German outer positions?"
Zakharov has always had a good impression of Sokov, but now seeing that he was questioned by others, he quickly came out to smooth things over: "I knew General Sokov as early as during the Moscow Defense War. I know his character very well. He
He is not a person who talks big words casually. Since he said he could seize the enemy's position within a quarter of an hour, he can definitely do it."
The commanders who attended the meeting did not expect that the Chief of Staff of the Front Army would support Sokov in public, and they couldn't help showing expressions of astonishment on their faces.
"I think what Comrade Chief of Staff said makes sense." As soon as Zakharov finished speaking, Konev continued: "General Sokov's commanding ability, even the Supreme Commander himself was very impressed, saying that it seems that there is no such thing as him
Unfinished call."
Konev mentioned the Supreme Commander's own affirmation of Sokov, which played an excellent role. Sokov saw curiosity and approval on the faces of those attendees who looked at him, even those who had just attacked him.
The general's eyes flashed with an uncontrollable smile.
"Okay, General Sokov, don't play tricks." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Konev asked Sokov directly: "Tell everyone quickly, how can you ensure that your troops will be ready within a quarter of an hour?"
Inside, seize the enemy’s defensive positions on the outskirts of the city?”
After Konev finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on Sokov, trying to figure out what was the reason that gave the young general Sokov so much confidence.
"Comrade General is right. If we use conventional river-crossing equipment and brave the enemy's bullets, even if the width of the river is only 150 meters, we won't even be able to get close to the enemy's side of the bank in a quarter of an hour."
Everyone was confused by Sokov's words, thinking that since he also admitted that within a quarter of an hour, even the enemy's side of the shore could not get close, who gave him such confidence that he dared to say that it would take a quarter of an hour to capture it?
What about the ravings from enemy positions?
Sokov continued in the eyes of everyone: "The superiors have just equipped us with a new type of river crossing equipment, which can reach a speed of thirty-five to fifty knots. In other words, even if the starting point of our assault force is
We are four to five hundred meters away from the enemy's position, and it only takes a minute or two to rush to the enemy's position. Before the enemy has even recovered, our soldiers can rush into their fortifications and start a fight with them.
Melee and hand-to-hand combat.”
"New river crossing equipment?" Except for Samyko and Lunev, the other commanders couldn't help looking at each other after hearing Sokov's words. They asked each other in a low voice: "Have you heard of it?
?"
"Have you ever heard of any new river-crossing equipment? Could it be that they borrowed amphibious speedboats used by the Navy?"
"I think it's possible. It's said that amphibious speedboats have four wheels. They can not only run fast in the water, but can also run on land. Only this kind of river-crossing equipment can directly cross the land from one side.
Cross the water and rush in front of the enemy."
Seeing that everyone was talking about the mysterious river crossing equipment, Sokov just smiled lightly, and then said: "Comrade generals, since this new type of river crossing equipment is still in the confidentiality stage, I cannot disclose any more information to you. etc.
After we capture Belgorod, I will definitely invite everyone to see this river-crossing equipment."
The commanders who came to the meeting were all veteran officers who had been in the army for more than ten or twenty years. Naturally, they understood the confidentiality regulations. Since Sokov specifically mentioned that this kind of river crossing equipment needed to be kept secret, everyone kept their eyes closed.
He didn't ask any further questions.
Konev didn't know what the Weapons and Equipment Department had sent to Sokov. He wanted to keep Sokov for questioning after the meeting, but he was worried that Sokov would not use it on the grounds of confidentiality.
Be willing to tell yourself that if you hit a soft nail when the time comes, you will be asking for boredom.
After thinking about this, he raised his head and said to Zakharov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please continue to assign respective combat tasks to each group army unit."
After Sokov sat down, he continued to listen to Zakharov's assignment. When he heard that there was a city called "Bogodukhov" in the city he was about to capture, he couldn't help but asked Samyko in surprise:
"Chief of Staff, isn't Bogodukhov in the direction of Oboyan? How come he appears near Belgorod again?"
"Comrade Commander," Lunev, who heard Sokov's question, leaned towards him and said, "Bogodukhov in the direction of Oboyan is just a small town with a thousand people; while Belgoro
Bogodukhov, near Germany, is a city with a population of more than 50,000 people."
When the two of them were talking in a low voice, Zaharov, who was assigning tasks above, saw him. Thinking that Sokov wanted to keep a secret from himself, Zaharov felt somewhat uncomfortable. He knocked on the table with his hand.
After two clicks, he said unhappily: "Commanders at the back, please don't talk. Please stay quiet and don't affect my assignment of tasks."