The communications staff officer's face suddenly turned red to the root of his neck. He handed the telegram in his hand to Derevyanko and reported with an embarrassed expression: "The telegram sent by General Solomatin stated that the enemy was targeting the 21st Mechanized Brigade.
After a brief artillery bombardment of the defense zone, the infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched an attack on the brigade's main position."
"Comrade Lieutenant," Derevyanko said disapprovingly after hearing this: "The German army must want to clear the landing site established by our army on the right bank. Isn't it normal for them to launch a ferocious attack?"
"It is normal for the enemy to attack our positions." The staff officer said cautiously: "However, the Germans have opened a gap in the position of the 21st Mechanized Brigade, and more and more enemies have passed through the gap and entered our position.
The depth of the army's defense is in danger of being torn apart."
The staff officer stood not far from Sokov and Managarov, and everything he said fell into the ears of the two people. When Managarov turned to look at the map on the table, Sokov
Kokov asked the staff: "Comrade Lieutenant, did General Solomatin take any action?"
Sokov's words made everyone quiet down. Only then did Derevyanko remember that Solomatin's 1st Mechanized Army was now under the command of Sokov. There was nothing wrong with the other party's question. He hurriedly came over.
, handed the telegram to Sokov, and said: "General Sokov, this is the telegram sent by General Solomatin. The position of the 21st Mechanized Brigade has been torn apart by the powerful German offensive.
There was a gap."
"Chief of Staff," Sokov quickly read the telegram Derevyanko handed him. Seeing that it did not mention any measures taken to deal with the immediate crisis, he ordered Sameko: "Send Sokov immediately.
General Ma Jing called and asked him how he planned to handle the matter."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Samyko replied decisively: "I will call General Solomatin right away to find out what the situation is like there."
When Samyko called Solomatin, Sokov felt vaguely dissatisfied. Now the 1st Mechanized Army was under his command, but when the defense line was in danger, Solomatin did not report the situation to him in time.
, but sent the telegram to the 53rd Army Headquarters. Doesn’t he know that even the 53rd Army must obey his command now?
Soon, Samyko contacted Solomatin and asked in a stern tone: "General Solomatin, the enemy broke through the defense line of the 21st Mechanized Brigade. Why didn't you report to us in time?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Samyko's question reminded Solomatin that his troops were now under the command of Sokov, and his first reaction when his position was breached by the Germans was actually to send troops to the 53rd Army
The headquarters sent a telegram, and it was strange that Chief of Staff Samyko was not angry. He quickly defended: "You also know that my troops have always been commanded by General Managarov. If anything happens, I always send him a telegram directly."
.I just learned that the defense line of the 21st Brigade was breached by the enemy, and I was a little panicked, so I sent a telegram directly to Chief of Staff Derevyanko."
After listening to Solomatin's explanation, Samyko could not continue to have another attack, so he could only ask: "What measures did you take after the enemy broke through the defense line?"
"The troops of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade are gathering," Solomatin replied: "I plan to let them reinforce the 21st Brigade and restore the lost positions."
Before Samyko could speak, Sokov walked over and took the microphone in his hand, put it to his ear and said: "General Solomatin, this is Sokov. The Germans have just broken through your position, and they are still here."
If you don't gain a foothold, you immediately organize your troops to counterattack, and you must drive the enemy out of your defense line. Do you understand?"
"However, the 23rd Mechanized Brigade is too scattered. It will take half an hour at the fastest to assemble them all."
"Comrade General," Sokov said anxiously: "The enemy has just broken through your defense line and has not yet gained a foothold. At this moment, even if you deploy a battalion or even a company from the 23rd Brigade to counterattack, you can destroy the enemy who breaks through the defense line.
"
With a word that woke him up from his dream, Solomatin knew that the lost position should be restored as soon as possible, so he urgently mobilized the troops of the 23rd Brigade. However, so far, only one battalion of troops had been assembled. He originally planned to wait for the entire brigade to arrive.
After all the officers and soldiers were assembled, they launched a counterattack against the Germans. After listening to Sokov's words, he immediately ordered his chief of staff: "Call the commander of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade, put the assembled troops into the breach, and destroy those
Enemies who broke into our defense lines."
A few minutes later, a battalion of the 23rd Brigade rushed to the breach and started a desperate struggle with the German officers and soldiers who rushed in. Some commanders and soldiers cooperated with their comrades from the 21st Brigade to block the gap and cut off the enemy in the position from the outside world.
connect.
The number of German troops who broke through the 21st Brigade's defense line was not large, only seventy or eighty. When they were faced with constant counterattacks by the Soviet army, they were somewhat overwhelmed. Now that the Soviet reinforcements have arrived, the comparison in strength and equipment is even more dramatic.
The disparity was huge. After just a few minutes, half of the German officers and soldiers who broke into the position were killed in the battle, while the other half were taken prisoner.
Knowing that the gap in the defense line was blocked, Sokov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said to Samyko: "Chief of Staff, please tell General Solomatin that if you encounter any difficulties, please call us at any time.
I will try my best to solve the problem for him."
"General Sokov," while Samyko went to call Solomatin, Managarov handed Sokov a cigarette and asked: "Tell me, the Germans
Why the sudden attack?"
"The reason is very simple." Sokov held the cigarette in his mouth, first struck a match to light Managarov's cigarette, and then lit his own cigarette. After taking a puff, he said: "Before dawn, the Air Force attacked the German 8th Panzer
The division carried out an air attack. Although the results have not yet been calculated, I estimate that the enemy suffered heavy losses. This force planned to ambush Solomatin's counterattack force and then participate in the attack on the landing site. Now the enemy saw that they
The troops on the left wing were attacked by air, so they could only adopt force-attack tactics and get entangled with our army, which would make our air force useless because of the enemy."
"A weapon that prevents rats?!" Managarov repeated Sokov's idiom, nodded and said: "General Sokov, you said it very vividly. If the enemy is really entangled with our army, don't
Speaking of the air force, even the artillerymen dare not fire easily, lest they accidentally injure their own people. In this way, the Germans can seize the positions they want from our army by virtue of their numerical and equipment advantages."
"Comrade General, don't worry, I will never let them succeed." Sokov said with a sneer: "The Germans think that our army is still like what it was in the early days of the war. In the face of their attack, they can only hide in the fortifications.
Passive defense; or launching unrealistic counterattacks at inappropriate locations.
If there is a crisis in the defense area of the mechanized army, I will order their right-wing troops to attack and give the Germans a head-on attack. We will not only attack during the day, but also at night, so that the enemy cannot eat or sleep, and completely destroy the enemy.
Disrupt their offensive plan and gradually put the initiative on the battlefield into the hands of our army."
"General Sokov, according to what I know, the German army we have to face has 20 divisions." Managarov said to Sokov: "Except for the current battle with our army in Poltava,
The Germans have four divisions and there are still more than a dozen divisions in the direction of the landing site. We will be under great pressure in the future."
"Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov knew very well that in order to completely defeat the Germans, he must first establish confidence in victory, so he comforted Managarov and said: "Our current strength is not the strength of the war after all.
Nothing can be compared to the moment of the outbreak. No matter how powerful the enemy is, we are fully capable of dealing with them."
If someone else had said this, Managarov might have walked away long ago, but now the person who said this is Sokov, who is privately known as the victorious general. Since he said that there is a way to stop the Germans
If you attack, you will definitely be able to block it.
"Comrade General," Sokov continued: "You should know that the terrain on both sides of the river in our country is that the left bank is flat, which is conducive to attack but not conducive to defense; while the right bank is basically cliffs, which is difficult for our army to cross.
The battle brought great difficulties."
Managarov agreed with Sokov's statement: "General Sokov, you are right. If you hadn't taken Klemenkoug and the bridge over the Dnieper River by surprise,
It is estimated that at this moment we are still trying to force a crossing from the left bank to the right bank and establish a landing site."
"I am considering that the operation at the landing site on the right bank may last for a long time." Sokov said to Managarov: "The weapons, ammunition and military supplies required by the troops on the right bank will be an astronomical figure. If it is passed every day
The Dnieper River Bridge transports supplies, and I am worried that there will be road blockage, which will affect the mobilization of troops."
"Then what should we do?" Managarov asked modestly.
"Comrade General, don't you think there are too few bridges on the nearby Dnieper River? Once the main force of the front army arrives and a large-scale crossing of the river is needed, there will definitely be congestion." Sokov had considered crossing the river in large numbers a few days ago.
The matter of erecting a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River was just because his pontoon bridge troops were still in Merefa Fortress, so he could only put the matter on hold for the time being. When he heard Managarov ask about it, he said casually:
“First of all, we should build several pontoon bridges on the Dnieper River that can accommodate tanks and various types of vehicles, so that large troops and various weapons and equipment can cross the river.
Secondly, we need to dig caves on the cliffs on the right bank to store the supplies needed by the troops. In this way, even if the bridge on the Dnieper River is destroyed by enemy planes, the troops on the right bank can rely on these hoarded supplies to survive a long period of time.
Hard days.”
Seeing doubts on Managarov's face, he seemed ready to ask himself, since these problems have been taken into account, why not build a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River? Sokov quickly added: "Comrade General, my pontoon bridge unit
Why are you still at Merefa Fortress? I’m afraid it will take another week to get here.”
"So that's it." After figuring out what was going on, Managarov turned to Derevyanko and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, inform our pontoon and bridge troops that we must erect three bridges on the Dnieper River within two days.
A pontoon bridge that can accommodate tanks and various combat vehicles.”
"Two days are a bit tight." Derevyanko originally wanted to say it was difficult, but seeing Managarov's serious expression, he quickly straightened his back and said, "But as long as the Arkbridge troops seize the time, it should still be possible to complete it.
Erection work of three floating bridges.”
Seeing that Managarov had arranged the erection of the pontoon bridge, Sokov couldn't help but feel happy. As long as the pontoon bridge was erected, he would be able to continuously supply the weapons and ammunition, military supplies and soldiers needed on the right bank.
Transport across the river.
Although the Soviet Air Force has now taken the initiative on the battlefield, Sokov is still worried that he will encounter bombing by enemy planes during the process of building the bridge, so he tentatively asked Managarov: "Comrade General, I don't know if you
Is there an anti-aircraft artillery division in the organization of the group army?"
"Yes." Managarov guessed Sokov's intention, "When the pontoon bridge troops are setting up the pontoon bridge, I will order the anti-aircraft artillery division to establish an air defense position by the river. If the enemy's planes don't come, that's it. If they do
Once they are here, they will never come back if they are disciplined.”
The problems of the pontoon bridge and air defense were solved, and Sokov arranged the rest of the work for Samyko: "Chief of Staff, immediately contact Major Guchakov and tell him to closely observe the situation of friendly forces on the left. Once they are discovered,
When you are in danger, you can take necessary measures decisively without asking us for instructions."
Managarov did not know that Guchakov was the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and thought that he was just a battalion commander. After hearing that Sokov assigned Samyko the task, he said in embarrassment: "Soko
General Fu, there is only one battalion on the right wing of the mechanized army. Isn’t the force too weak?”
"A battalion?!" Managarov's question confused Sokov. After thinking for a moment, he immediately figured out what was going on and explained to the other party with a smile: "Comrade General, you are mistaken.
Now, Major Guchakov is not the battalion commander but the brigade commander, the brigade commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade."
"What, brigade commander?" Managarov asked in surprise: "The brigade commander actually has the rank of major?"
"Comrade General, there is a reason for this." The matter was too complicated. Sokov knew that he could not explain it in a few words, so he said briefly: "In any case, before the battle of Kursk started, we were all in the reserve team.
Therefore, the military chiefs of some combat units generally have low military ranks. I think after the war situation stabilizes, superiors may make corresponding adjustments."
Managarov felt that Sokov's explanation was quite reasonable. Not to mention the commanders below, even Sokov's military rank was unreasonably low. Even the rank of Solomatin, the commander of the Mechanized Army.
The military rank is higher than him, so how can this be justified? He raised his hand and patted Sokov on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "General Sokov, don't worry, based on the merits you have established in the past few months.
I think after the war situation stabilizes, your superiors will definitely promote your rank and position."
In fact, Sokov also felt that his military rank was low. In recent months, his superiors often ordered commanders whose command positions and military ranks were higher than his own. Although those people did not dare to disobey his orders due to the orders of their superiors,
But I still have some grudges in my heart. If my military rank is the same as these commanders, or even one level higher than them, no one will gossip when I command them in battle.