In fact, Sokov wanted to use those 12 special rockets to see what the Germans hiding in the solid fortifications would look like after being ignited by napalm. But then he thought about it and realized that it was inappropriate to do so.
, the battle has just begun, and you have hurriedly revealed your trump card, how will you fight the next battle?
In his mind, he identified special rockets as his trump card when attacking Kharkov. They would never be used easily until the critical moment. As for the battle to seize the fruit cannery, General Polubyarov's tank troops would assist.
Marine brigade is done.
After receiving the order from Samyko, General Polubyarov immediately ordered the tanks parked by the river to cross the river through the bridge they had just captured, and rushed to the fruit cannery to reinforce the Marine Brigade fighting there.
.
Just as the tanks of the Tank Army were driving across the bridge at full speed, the Steppe Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army stopped shelling. As a red signal flare was launched into the sky, tens of thousands of commanders and soldiers who had been on standby for a long time, all like tigers descending from the mountain, came towards the bridge.
Belgorod launched an attack.
The force that launched the attack from the northwest of the city was the 53rd Army Group commanded by Lieutenant General Managarov, and the main offensive task was the 241st Infantry Division; the force that launched the attack from the north was the 23rd Army of the 6th Guards Army
375th Infantry Division.
The commanders and fighters of the 241st Infantry Division rushed to the river carrying the river-crossing equipment, put the river-crossing equipment they carried into the river, and braved the hail of bullets from the enemy on the other side to board the ship, preparing to launch a storming attack on the enemy on the other side.
Seeing the Soviet army begin to cross the river, the enemy's firepower on the other side immediately launched a storm of fire. The dense bullets knocked down the officers and men who boarded the ship. Some of the officers and men who were shot fell on the bank, and some fell into the river.
, was washed away by the rushing river.
The leader of the vanguard group immediately organized fire cover to suppress the firepower on the other side and cover his own soldiers boarding the ship. However, the enemy's firepower was fierce and could not be suppressed by a few machine guns. The first batch of commanders and fighters responsible for the assault mission spent nearly half of their time.
After suffering casualties, the boarding was finally completed.
The soldiers listened to the bullets fired from the other side whizzing past their heads. They pressed their bodies against the hull of the ship and rowed sideways as hard as they could, hoping to pass through this section blocked by enemy fire in the shortest possible time.
River surface.
When the Germans saw the Soviet boats coming from the other side, they couldn't suppress them with machine guns alone, so they used mortars to bombard them. For a while, the river was like a boiling pot, and mortar shells hit the boats full of soldiers from time to time.
The boat, amidst the loud noise and fire, the fragments of the human body and the boat were mixed together and blasted into the sky.
Just after the first battalion of the vanguard regiment crossed the center of the river, the small boat was hit by German artillery and machine gun fire, and a third of the boat was lost. The river was filled with floating corpses and burning boat wreckage.
Fortunately, the river was not too wide. After the soldiers suffered heavy casualties, some of them still managed to get on the river bank tenaciously. But as soon as they stepped ashore, they were mercilessly fired by German machine guns. They could only lie down on the spot and shoot at them mechanically.
They fought back against the German firepower. Whether they could hit the target depended on their luck.
The division commander who was staying in the temporary observation post saw that his men suffered heavy casualties while crossing the river. They finally reached the other side, but were suppressed by enemy fire and unable to move.
He put down the telescope and said to his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, please put me through the phone call of the commander of the group army immediately. I want to report to him the situation here."
The chief of staff strongly agreed with the division commander's statement: "Comrade division commander, you are right. Without the support of artillery fire, I think we would not be able to occupy the German positions at all."
The division commander said thoughtfully: "When the commander conveyed the spirit of the meeting to us two days ago, he inadvertently mentioned something."
"what's up?"
"The friendly forces attacking the city from the west are General Sokov's 27th Army." The division commander replied: "It is said that General Sokov once stated his position in public, saying that his troops could successfully capture the enemy within a quarter of an hour.
position along the river."
"Comrade division commander, this is obviously bragging." After listening to the division commander's words, the chief of staff said disdainfully: "Almost half an hour has passed since our division attacked, but our assault troops are only sparse now.
Several boats docked, and the officers and men who barely landed were suppressed by enemy fire and lay on the river bank unable to move."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't say that." Although the division commander did not think that Sokov's troops could seize the enemy's coastal positions within a quarter of an hour, he heard the chief of staff complaining like this and was worried that the other party's words would spread and cause harm to himself.
Causing unnecessary trouble, he stopped him with words: "You know that General Sokov is not only higher in rank than us, but also very skilled in combat. Maybe he really has a way to seize the enemy's position within a quarter of an hour.
indefinite."
"This is impossible." The division chief of staff said loudly, relying on the fact that the temporary headquarters was all composed of his own people: "If his troops can really capture the enemy's riverside positions within a quarter of an hour, I will personally lead them
Soldiers go and charge."
As soon as he finished speaking, the division commander who was holding a telescope for observation saw clouds of soil rising from the German position on the other side. He couldn't help but said in surprise: "What's going on? Is the superior providing artillery cover for us?"
"It's not like that." After hearing what the division commander said, the chief of staff quickly raised his telescope and looked towards the river bank in the distance. After observing for a while, he replied: "Comrade division commander, I saw that the shells seemed to be coming from the German positions.
It's coming from behind."
"What, the artillery shells flew from the enemy's back?" The division commander turned around with confusion on his face and ordered the operator: "Get me through the leading group immediately. I want to find out what is going on."
The radio operator quickly contacted the commander of the vanguard regiment who was directing the operation through the walkie-talkie. The division commander asked loudly into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what is going on there? Where are the enemy shellings?"
position?"
"Comrade division commander," the leader of the vanguard regiment quickly replied, "the shells seem to be flying from behind the enemy's position."
"Flying from the enemy's rear?" Seeing that what his subordinates reported to him was exactly the same as the scene he observed, the division commander continued to ask: "What on earth is going on? How could someone fire from behind the enemy's position?"
"Could they be guerrillas..."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't talk nonsense." The regiment leader was interrupted by the division commander just halfway through his words: "How could the guerrillas appear behind the enemy's rear and dare to bombard the enemy with artillery fire? Aren't they afraid of being attacked by the people in the city?
Are the German troops destroyed?"
"Comrade division commander," as soon as the division commander finished speaking, he heard the regiment commander cheering and saying: "It's our people. Our people launched an attack behind the enemy's position."
"How many people are there?" The division commander, holding the earphone and microphone, quickly turned his head and looked out of the lookout. Unfortunately, the distance was a little far away. He could vaguely see a battle taking place behind the enemy's position, but he couldn't see it clearly.
"There are a lot of people, at least a battalion, no, a regiment." The regimental leader's excited voice came from the earphones, "Judging from their clothes, they are our regular troops, launching an attack from behind the enemy's position.
…”
"Comrade division commander, come and have a look." The chief of staff, who was standing in front of the lookout observing the battle situation, shouted excitedly at this moment: "Friendly troops! Our friendly troops launched an attack from behind the enemy's position. It seems to be assisting us.
The army crossed the river."
The division commander threw down the earphones and microphone, walked to the lookout, raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, frowning and said: "Where are the friendly forces coming from? Could it be the 375th Infantry Division attacking from the north? They are the only ones.
The offensive zone is closest to us."
"No, absolutely not." Although the division chief of staff did not know the numbers of the friendly forces attacking from behind enemy lines, he still said in a positive tone: "Although I cannot identify their numbers, I can tell you with certainty that we will come to support you.
Our unit is definitely not the 375th Infantry Division."
Seeing that his chief of staff was so sure, the division commander asked: "Why?"
"The 375th Infantry Division is on our left, but the friendly forces coming to support us are from the right."
"Coming from the right wing?!" The division commander raised his eyebrows and said with some surprise: "Isn't that General Sokov's attack area? Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't think that the troops coming to support us are General Sokov's.
The 27th Army?"
Although the division chief of staff was unwilling to admit that it was Sokov's troops who came, everything that happened before him told him that his guess was probably correct. Fortunately, he quickly adjusted his mentality, regardless of the incoming troops.
The troops in question were not Sokov's 27th Army, but the opponent's intention was very obvious, which was to destroy the German defenses along the river and cover their own troops' successful crossing of the river.
After thinking about this, he put down his telescope and said to the division commander: "Comrade division commander, while the friendly forces are launching an attack behind the enemy's rear, we should immediately put all our troops into battle and strive to complete the crossing of the river in the shortest possible time."
Due to the support of friendly forces, the firepower of the German army blocking the river was greatly weakened. The soldiers who were crossing the river sat upright and accelerated their rowing speed, striving to reach the other side in the shortest time.
The boat approached the other side of the river. Before it could stop at the shore, the soldiers on the boat jumped into the water and rushed to the shore with knee-deep river water. The soldiers who were driving the boat all got off the boat when they saw the landing fighters.
, they quickly turned around and rowed the boat back, preparing to take the new troops across the river.
The force that launched the attack from behind the enemy's position was Major General Gritsenko's 384th Infantry Division. Seeing that his troops had successfully rushed into the enemy's coastal position, Gritsenko started fighting with the enemy who was holding on to the trenches.
He called Sokov and reported: "Comrade Commander, my troops have launched an attack on the enemy's riverside positions, and the friendly troops on the other side who are forcibly crossing are gradually boarding the river bank."
"Well done, General Gritsenko."
"What is our mission after assisting friendly forces to cross the river?"
Faced with this question raised by Gritsenko, Sokov began to think about it. If two troops belonging to different army groups fight in the same area, confusion will easily occur due to the lack of unified command. After thinking about this, Sokov
Kokov told Gritsenko resolutely: "Comrade General, after the friendly forces have completed crossing the river, you will immediately hand over the occupied riverside positions to them, and then you will return to the west of the city and engage in battle according to the original attack area.
do you understand?"
Gritsenko was also worried about how the combat area would be divided if the two sides launched an attack from the northwest together with the friendly forces crossing the river. Who would make the final decision to resolve unexpected problems during the battle would be a big problem.
Now that Sokov ordered himself to return to the original combat area after completing the response mission, Gritsenko was naturally overjoyed and quickly replied: "I understand, Comrade Commander. Wait until the friendly troops land safely."
After that, I will immediately return to the original combat area and launch an attack on the enemy."
After Sokov put down the phone, he asked Sameko: "Chief of Staff, has the fruit cannery been taken down?"
"After General Polubyarov's tank army entered the fruit cannery, it has successfully destroyed the German firepower and covered the Marine Brigade commanders and fighters who rushed into the factory. The battle is now going on in the factory," Samyko said.
He looked at his watch and added: "I estimate that the battle can be resolved in an hour at most."
"Didn't I also order the troops to attack the enemy from underground through the sewers?" Sokov then asked: "Have they made any progress?"
"The enemy had long guessed that our army might attack through the sewers, so they deployed firepower points at various exits. As soon as our commanders emerged from the sewers, they were killed by enemy fire and paid a heavy price.
.”
"I really didn't expect that the enemy suffered similar losses in Stalingrad and learned to be smart." Although Sokov had long guessed that the enemy might have a way to deal with the commanders and fighters coming from the sewers, he heard that the commanders and fighters launched an attack through the sewers.
The attack failed, and I was still a little disappointed: "It seems that we will have to think of new ways to deal with the enemy in the future."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko asked tentatively after Sokov finished speaking: "Now the first and second echelons of the army have all crossed the river, and I am arranging for the third echelon to cross the river..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that there were already two Marine Corps brigades and two infantry divisions on the offensive, Sokov shook his head and rejected Sameko's opinion: "If we attack all the troops in one go,
All the troops have been put into battle. Firstly, the troops cannot be fully deployed, and secondly, there is a problem with supplies. I think the main job of the hovercraft before tomorrow is to transport ammunition and supplies to the combat troops, or to evacuate the wounded from the other side."
"Okay." Samyko quickly wrote down Sokov's order: "I will arrange this immediately."
"There is another most critical issue." Sokov thought of the dumb losses he had suffered before, and ordered Sameko: "Each participating army must prepare enough red flags. Every time an important building is captured,
Put up our red flag."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." As an old commander, Sameko naturally understands the significance of placing red flags on important buildings. Each red flag placed on a building represents which army is occupying the building.
Troops. Nowadays, many troops are fighting in the city at the same time. Whoever plants the red flag on the top of the municipal building first means which troop captures the city. He promised Sokov: "I will definitely let us
The red flag was the first to be planted on the top of the municipal building."