About half an hour after Konev left, the high-frequency phone placed in front of Sokov suddenly rang. Seeing the phone ringing, Sokov immediately realized that his superiors might have urgent matters to see him.
.
He picked up the phone and put it to his ear, and Zhukov's familiar voice came from the receiver: "Misha, I heard that your troops have successfully captured the riverside positions to the west of the city. This is true.
?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sukov guessed that it was Konev who reported to Zhukov, so he answered truthfully: "My troops have successfully occupied the riverside position on the west side of the city, and now the assault troops are heading towards
Sports in town.”
"Misha, how did your troops capture the enemy's position in such a short period of time?"
Seeing that Zhukov was so curious, Sokov gave him a detailed report on how his troops captured the enemy's position.
"So that's what happened." After Zhukov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, a new idea came to his mind: "Misha, I think about it this way. As soon as the shelling of the Steppe Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army ends, there will be
Launch an attack on the enemy. At that time, you will send troops up the river to attack the enemies who are entrenched along the river, so that the friendly forces can cross the river smoothly."
Sokov felt that Zhukov's proposal was correct. When the friendly forces started to cross the river, his troops would attack from behind the enemy. The enemies who were attacked from both sides would be quickly eliminated. At that time, the friendly forces could successfully cross the river and launch an attack on the city.
After thinking about this, Sokov readily replied: "Comrade Marshal, please rest assured that I will definitely help the friendly troops cross the river smoothly."
Zhukov had always trusted Sokov. When he heard what he said, he nodded with satisfaction and put down the phone.
After Sokov ended his call with Zhukov, he turned to Samyko and asked: "Chief of Staff, have our second echelon troops started crossing the river?"
Upon hearing Sokov's question, Samyko took out a small book and glanced at it a few times before replying: "A regiment of Major General Gritsenko's 384th Infantry Division has successfully crossed the river."
"Marshal Zhukov called me and asked us to launch an attack from behind the enemy holding the river bank position when the friendly forces launch a cross-river operation to cover the friendly forces crossing the river." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch and continued: "The distance to the friendly forces is now
When the bombardment is over and there are still ten minutes left, you immediately send a telegram to Major General Gritsenko and order him to send the troops that have completed the crossing up the river. When the friendly forces carry out the forced crossing, they can launch a surprise attack from the enemy's rear."
Samek looked down at the map, nodded and said: "Comrade Marshal is very thoughtful. When the friendly forces are crossing the river, as long as they can get our support, they will easily cross the river and launch an attack on the city.
.”
Having said this, he raised his head and looked at Sokov and continued: "As long as the friendly forces can successfully cross the river and rush into the city as soon as possible to fight the enemy, the resistance we encounter can be reduced."
"Yes, I think about it this way." Sokov clicked on the map of Belgorod with his hand and said: "If the enemy blocks the friendly forces on the other side of the river, then their defenders in the city
, we can concentrate our energy on dealing with us. In this way, we will pay a huge price for every building and every street we capture."
"I immediately sent a telegram to Major General Gritsenko, ordering his troops not to participate in the attack on the city for the time being, but to turn north." After Samyko said this, he added: "But I think a regiment
The troop strength may be a bit low, should we wait until all the 384th Division crosses the river before pressing them all up?"
Regarding Samyko's proposal, Sokov stared at the map and pondered for a while, and then replied: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, just follow your wishes and speed up the transportation of troops before the friendly forces attack.
Attack the enemy early."
Just as Sokov and Samyko were mobilizing their troops to go north and preparing to help the friendly forces cross the river, Hott, who was in charge of commanding the troops in the city, realized the seriousness of the problem. He quickly called Manstein and said anxiously: "Your Excellency, Marshal.
, the Russian shelling on us has not stopped, but Sokov's troops in the west of the city launched an attack unexpectedly. So far, all the river positions in the west of the city have been lost, and Sokov's troops have entered the city from the west and are on the way.
A fierce battle began between the fruit cannery and the holding 332nd Infantry Division."
"General Huot," Manstein learned that Sokov's troops did not respect military ethics and that the bombardment had not ended yet, so he launched an attack first and even rushed into the fruit cannery in the west of the city. He couldn't help but feel a little anxious and quickly ordered
He said to Holt in a tone of voice: "Immediately order the armored division to launch a counterattack against them. We must drive them all out of the city in the shortest possible time."
"Marshal, I cannot send out armored troops." After hearing Manstein's order, Holt said helplessly: "The Russian shelling has not completely stopped. Once they find out that our army has dispatched tanks, they will definitely
They will turn their guns to attack our tanks first. I am worried that the tank troops will be wiped out by Russian artillery fire before they can reach the cannery."
"Your Excellency, Marshal," after Huot said his difficulties, he paused for a moment and then said: "In order to save the defeat, I implore you to dispatch the air force to bomb the Russian artillery positions. In this way, the Russians will not be able to
If we don't stop shelling the city, I can send armored divisions to the west of the city for reinforcements."
In order to save the defeat, Manstein immediately called the Air Force after explaining his conversation with Holt and ordered them to immediately dispatch bombers to bomb the Soviet artillery positions.
When Huot's chief of staff, General Merinjin, heard that Manstein had promised to send out air force support, he asked Huot for instructions: "Your Excellency, Commander, the one we have closest to the west of the city is the 6th Armored Division, but even if they are sent out, it will not be possible."
Whether we can repel the attack by Sokov's troops is still a question."
"Why?" Holt asked puzzled.
Merinjin shrugged his shoulders and said with a wry smile: "Half a month ago, the 6th Armored Division followed your order and advanced towards Prokhorovka to reinforce the Kenf Combat Group, but they and the 19th Armored Division
They were stubbornly blocked by Sokov's troops. The battle lasted for four or five days. Not only did they not advance a step forward, but they also suffered huge casualties. In the end, they had to withdraw to rest. With such a broken army, they went to meet the enemy who had defeated them.
In the Sokov Force, I think the soldiers and officers must have psychological barriers. Maybe their military morale is unstable before the firefight begins."
"Chief of Staff, I do not deny that the situation you mentioned will occur during the battle. But have you ever thought about it, if we do not send the 6th Armored Division for reinforcements, we will only rely on the 332nd Infantry Division to fight against Sokov's troops in the west of the city.
How long can they sustain the offense?"
Mei Linjin asked tentatively: "Perhaps we can mobilize other armored divisions from other directions to strengthen the defense in the west of the city?"
"It's useless, my chief of staff." Hot shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Sokov's troops launched an attack from the west of the city. They only carried out artillery bombardment for an hour, but the Russian troops northwest and due north of the city
, the artillery preparations have lasted for nearly two hours. It can be seen that if they launch a ground attack, they will be much stronger than Sokov's troops. Therefore, we must focus our defense on the northwest and north of the city.
, the armored divisions deployed in these two directions cannot be used casually under any circumstances."
"Okay, Commander." Hearing that Hott had already said this, Mei Linjin had no choice but to say: "I will immediately contact the 6th Armored Division and order them to prepare to move to the west of the city."
The commanders and fighters of the two Marine Corps brigades rushed into the fruit cannery in the west of the city and launched an attack on the troops of the German 332nd Infantry Division who were defending the factory. The early battle went smoothly, and the soldiers of the two brigades
They quickly occupied most of the factory area, but encountered unexpected difficulties when attacking the filling workshop.
The cunning enemy hid in the strong factory building and used machine guns to shoot at the approaching commanders and fighters. Since there was an unobstructed open space in front of the factory building, the commanders and fighters who were not carrying heavy weapons were suppressed by the intensive firepower and were unable to continue to advance.
Knowing that his troops had been intercepted by German fire, Dobrushin quickly came to the front to observe the situation. He saw clearly that the enemy had built fortifications in solid factories. He quickly called a company commander and asked: "
Comrade Captain, the enemy's fire has blocked our way forward, do you think you can use rocket launchers to destroy the enemy's fire points?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I think this is very difficult." The company commander said to Dobrushin: "Look, the distance from where we are hiding to the enemy's firepower point is more than five hundred meters, and the range of our rocket launchers
It's only over a hundred meters away, so we can't hit the enemy at all."
Dobrushen once again raised his telescope and looked into the distance. The company commander was right. The soldiers were more than 500 meters away from the enemy's fortifications. At such a long distance, the enemy could use firepower to block the advancing enemy.
Roads, but the rocket launchers equipped by the Soviet army could not hit the enemy at all due to range issues.
"What about the new rockets?" Dobrushin thought of the powerful weapons equipped by the troops and quickly asked: "Can they destroy the enemy's defensive positions?"
"Comrade Brigadier, rockets are very effective against infantry, but I think it is very difficult to destroy such a strong factory."
Seeing that his idea was rejected again, Dobrushin couldn't help but feel a little angry. He asked with a straight face: "The rocket launcher can't hit the enemy, and the new rocket can't destroy the enemy's fortifications. So tell me, what should we do?"
?Are we just going to watch the enemy suppress us here?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, what's wrong with you?" At this time, a familiar voice came from behind.
Dobrushin turned around and saw that it was Colonel Chuvashov, commander of the 84th Marine Brigade. He quickly turned around and stood up and replied: "Comrade Colonel, our troops were suppressed by enemy machine gun fire. I am
Consider how to destroy it."
"Don't you have a rocket launcher?"
"Equipped."
"Since it is equipped, why not use it?" Chuvashov asked with some confusion: "Just let the attacking troops be exposed to the enemy's fire blockade. Over time, it will inevitably cause a lot of casualties."
"The range is not enough." Dobrushin explained with a wry smile: "The new rockets cannot destroy such a strong factory building, so my troops were suppressed by enemy fire and unable to move here."
After figuring out what was going on, Chuvasov couldn't help but frowned: "Our troops crossing the river are all lightly equipped. It is really a headache to deal with such a strong enemy's fortifications."
"A strong attack will inevitably cost huge casualties." Dobrushin suggested to Chuvashov: "I think it is better to report this matter to comrade commander."
"Okay." Chuvashov readily agreed to Dobrushin's suggestion: "I will immediately send a telegram to the headquarters and report the situation here to the comrade commander."
After receiving the call, Sokov smiled bitterly and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you know? During the Battle of Stalingrad, my troops stood at the Red October Factory, and the Germans fought for several months.
, failed to seize the factory from our hands. Now the offensive and defensive positions have become our army's attack and the German army's defense. I'm afraid it will take some trouble to seize the factory."
After saying these words, Sokov walked back and forth in the headquarters with his hands behind his back, thinking about how to deal with the defenders in the fruit cannery. Samyko was worried about interrupting Sokov's thoughts, so he did not speak.
He quietly watched Sokov walking back and forth indoors.
When he saw Sokov stopped and frowned, he couldn't help but feel happy. Based on his understanding of Sokov, he should have figured out a way. He quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, have you figured out a way?"
What’s the best solution?”
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov turned to face Sameko and said: "The reason why we were able to hold on to the Red October Factory was because we made rational use of the factory's sewers and turned them into part of the defense system.
Now to seize the cannery, the two brigade commanders Chuvashov and Dobrushin can use the sewers to attract enemy fire on the ground, and send people to sewers to enter the factory occupied by the German army from underground.
"
"This is a good idea." After hearing Sokov's plan, Samek couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and then he nodded vigorously and said, "The enemy never dreamed that our soldiers would sneak into them quietly through the sewers.
The factory they occupy will be able to catch them off guard."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, please wait a moment." Seeing Sameko turning around to send a telegram to the Marine Corps Brigade, Sokov stopped him again and said to him: "As a commander, we have to consider
In the worst-case scenario, if the enemy has foreseen that our troops may attack them through the sewers, and has installed railings, laid mines, or set up defensive fire points in the sewers, then the commanders and soldiers who enter the sewers are going to die."
Seeing Samyko's surprised expression, Sokov did not wait for him to ask questions and said first: "Now that the bridge on the river has been occupied by our army, immediately order General Polubyarov's 4th Guards Tank
The army crossed the bridge and rushed to the cannery to assist the Marine brigade in the attack. I believe that the power of the tank guns is enough to destroy the enemy's firepower."