Early the next morning, Sokov's troops began to mobilize to the right bank with great fanfare.
Soldiers lined up or single file can be seen everywhere on the road. They walk on one side of the road, leaving military trucks loaded with supplies or soldiers and trucks towing artillery in the middle of the road.
Sokov stood in the church bell tower, raising his telescope to observe the mobilizing troops.
Lunev stood beside him, also raised his telescope and looked at the troops in the distance, and asked: "Comrade Commander, according to your plan, you are not just going to use the tank corps and the 188th Division to confuse the enemy.
Now even the artillery division is used?"
When Sokov heard this question, he put down the telescope in his hand, turned to Lunev and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I feel that the tank corps and infantry alone are not enough. Artillery must be added, so that the enemy can firmly hold
It is believed that our assault direction is to the south of the landing site. After all, the terrain there is flat, which is conducive to the deployment of tank troops."
"After the artillery units arrive at the defense areas of the 254th and 300th Divisions, when do you plan to transfer them?"
"I plan to let them establish new artillery positions within the defense zones of the two divisions." Sokov replied: "I have talked with the two artillery division commanders, and the position they are stationed in can be used for the 84th Infantry Division participating in the attack.
and the 188th Division to provide necessary artillery support."
After saying this, Sokov thought of another crucial thing and asked anxiously: "By the way, Comrade Military Commissioner, how is the situation with General Ponedelin?"
"It's still under review." When Konev heard this question, he sighed softly and said: "The situation of the three of them is relatively complicated. There are many things that need to be verified. I'm afraid it will take some time to get the results.
.”
Sokov knew that the problems faced by Ponejelin and others were very complicated and could not be solved in a short time. But he still asked with a sense of luck: "Comrade Military Commissar, how long do you estimate it will take to get the final result?"
in conclusion."
"It's hard to say," Lunev replied with a wry smile: "If it's quick, maybe a week or two; if it's slow, it could even take half a year or even a year."
Seeing the disappointed expression on Sokov's face, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you really plan to let them serve in our group army?"
"That's right, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov did not hide his true thoughts at all. "In any case, they are senior commanders with rich commander experience. They will serve as military commanders and take charge of us."
The battle down here is very helpful.”
"But," Lunev asked hesitantly, "from what I know, the final outcome of their trial may have been to be shot."
Sokov knew that in real history, Ponedelin was rescued from a German prisoner-of-war camp by the Soviet army in 1945, and then underwent five years of scrutiny, and was finally shot for treason in 1950, until 1956
Nian Cai was rehabilitated. He didn't want this kind of tragedy to happen in front of him, so he tried to change this unfair ending by himself.
"Comrade Military Commissar, I once told you that General Ponedelin and others would never rebel, otherwise they would not have been detained in prisoner-of-war camps by the Germans." After saying this, Sokov let go
He said to Luniev in a gentle tone: "Look, can you tell Comrade Beria to end the review of them as soon as possible so that they can come back before the troops are reorganized?"
Sokov did not mention the reorganization of the troops, and Lunev had not thought of it yet. When he heard Sokov mentioning the old story again, he asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, I was just going to ask you who was responsible for the reorganization of the troops."
Tell you? You know, I once asked Comrade Beria and he didn’t know about it at all.”
When Sokov heard this question, he couldn't help but trembled in his heart. He secretly screamed, "Hasn't the plan for the reorganization of the troops been released yet?" He suddenly remembered that during the Battle of Stalingrad, the designation of the troops defending the city was also changed.
, either called the Stalingrad Front, or the Don Front, or even a Southeastern Front.
"Why, the Supreme Command has no intention of reorganizing the troops?" Sokov asked tentatively.
"Yes, not yet."
Sokov became embarrassed and could only hide it and said: "Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I dreamed it one day while dreaming and mistakenly thought it was a real thing."
After laughing twice, Sokov said reluctantly: "But the so-called reorganization of the troops is not too complicated. Maybe the superior leaders suddenly came up with the idea in the morning and put it into practice in the afternoon."
"This is possible." Lunev quite agreed with Sokov's statement: "I remember that the most frequent time for code changes was during the Battle of Stalingrad, which took less than half a month.
The designations of the two front armies have been changed twice. If this adaptation is just a change in the designations, it should not take long, it only takes a day or two to complete the adaptation work."
Lunev raised his telescope, looked into the distance for a while, and asked casually: "Comrade Commander, what are you preparing to allow the tank army to cross the river?"
"According to the prior arrangement, they will start crossing the river at two o'clock in the afternoon." Sokov said: "We have to do a full show. After the tank troops drive over, the enemy will definitely be deceived and think that we will take the direction of the next breakthrough.
, placed directly south of the landing site."
When the two went down the bell tower, Runev asked about Sokov's family affairs again: "Comrade Commander, have you written a letter to Asya recently?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and said, "With so much work every day, how can I have time to write letters?"
"What about making a phone call?" Runev asked urgently: "If I don't have time to write a letter, I should give her a call."
"There has never been a fight." Sokov said seriously: "How can I occupy the military line for personal matters?"
"Comrade Commander, you can't do this." Lunev said to Sokov in a reproachful tone: "No matter what, Asia is your legal wife, how can you not contact her for a long time?
?If she doesn't get news from you for a long time, she will be worried about you."
Lunev's words reminded Sokov that he felt that he had almost no contact with Asya after sending him back to Moscow, which was a bit too heartless. Thinking of this, he quickly said: "Comrade Military Commissar,
Thank you for the reminder. I will give her a call when I have time to find out how she is doing."
"That's right." Seeing Sokov being so accommodating, a smile appeared on Lunev's face: "You two live separately. If you don't communicate through phone calls and letters, your feelings may change over time.
Dan. It will be very difficult for you to improve the relationship between the two of you."
When the two came downstairs, Lunev took the initiative and asked: "Do you need me to ask the master of the communication corps to help you get through the call in Moscow?"
"No need," Sokov replied in a panic: "I still have a lot of work to do now, and it won't be too late for me to call her when the tank army begins to cross the river."
…………
The large-scale mobilization of Soviet troops alarmed the German troops south of the landing site.
After observing the situation, the German soldiers at the front felt that the matter was of great importance, so they immediately reported it to their superiors, and soon reported it to the commander of the group army, General Blaskowitz.
After receiving the news, Blaskowitz personally came to the front line, raised his binoculars and looked towards the Soviet defense zone. Sure enough, he saw new troops entering the position, and he could even see the shadows of a large number of artillery pieces in the distance.
Based on what he observed, Blaskowitz realized that the Soviet army might launch an attack, and there was a high probability that it would be in his own defense zone.
The first thing he did when he returned to the headquarters was to call the chief of staff and tell him: "Contact Marshal Manstein immediately. I have important information to report to him."
The call was quickly connected, and Manstein's slow voice came from the receiver: "General Blaskowitz, what are you urgently looking for me about?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Blaskowitz said respectfully: "In the Russian defense area in front of our army, a large number of infantry are entering the position, and there are even a large number of artillery deployed in the distance. It seems that they intend to attack me.
The defensive zone launches an attack.”
"Only infantry and artillery?"
"Yes, only infantry and artillery." Blaskowitz heard that there seemed to be doubt in Manstein's voice, so he asked tentatively: "Marshal, is there anything wrong?"
"General Blaskowitz," Manstein on the other end of the phone said slowly while smoking a cigar: "The terrain there is suitable for armored assault, but the Russians only sent additional troops of infantry and artillery.
But there are no armored troops, which shows that they are only for strengthening defense and will not pose a threat to your defense zone."
Manstein's explanation made Blaskowitz dubious, and he asked uneasily: "Marshal, are the Russians really not going to attack my defense zone?"
"Of course, General Blaskowitz." Manstein said confidently: "The Russians are not without armored forces, but they did not move to the bridgehead in front of you, which proves that they have no intention of attacking.
The plan is just to send a reinforcement force to prevent our army from breaking through their position."
Blaskowitz chatted with Manstein for a while and determined that the newly emerged Soviet army did not have the ability to attack him, and he felt much more at ease. After he put down the phone, he said to his chief of staff
: "Chief of Staff, please call the forward division headquarters and ask them to closely monitor the movements of the Russians and report to me in a timely manner if there is any new situation."
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the division commander at the front called Blaskowitz and reported in a panic: "Your Excellency, Commander, we have discovered that a large number of Russian tanks have appeared on the opposite side..."
Hearing that a large number of Soviet tanks appeared across the defense zone, Blaskowitz couldn't help but feel moved: "Mr. Division Commander, have you seen clearly how many tanks the Russians have?"
"According to the forward observation post report," the German division commander replied: "So far, the number of Russian tanks that have appeared in their field of vision has exceeded one hundred. According to my experience, there must be more tanks behind."
Blaskowitz is convinced by his subordinates' statement. After all, the bridges across both sides of the Dnieper River are now in the hands of the Soviet army. They can pass the bridges and move many tanks from the left bank.
He felt that the matter was of great importance and needed to be reported to Manstein immediately, so he ordered someone to answer Manstein's phone.
When he heard Manstein's voice coming again, Blaskowitz said emotionally: "Your Excellency, Marshal, the Russian tanks...the tanks have appeared."
"What, Russian tanks appeared?" After hearing what Blaskowitz said, Manstein secretly wondered: Could it be that his judgment was wrong? Do the Russians really want to launch a new attack in the south?
? He asked tentatively: "General Blaskowitz, how many tanks do the Russians have?"
"According to reports from the forward troops, the number of Russian tanks that appeared in their field of vision exceeded one hundred." Blaskowitz said anxiously: "It seems that there are more tanks behind them that are about to enter the battle. Marshal
Your Excellency, you also know that several of my divisions have been severely weakened during this period of fighting. If they are not replenished in time, it may be difficult to stop the Russians' crazy attack."
Even though Manstein was an excellent commander in World War II, Sokov's tactics of concealment had thousands of years of tradition and still fooled him. When he learned that a large number of tanks appeared at the Soviet landing site, he
The original idea was shaken: "Did I make a mistake in my judgment and the Russians are really preparing to launch an attack on the south side of their bridgehead?"
Thinking of this, he continued: "General Blaskowitz, you must be prepared to resist the Russian attack. Don't let the Russians easily break through your defenses like they did some time ago."
Manstein's words made Blaskowitz embarrassed. Some time ago, Sokov launched a limited counterattack. Originally, he just wanted to consume some of the German army's effective forces. Unexpectedly, while the enemy was defeated, he also occupied some new areas.
, expanded the area of the landing site.
This matter was an indelible shame for Blaskowitz. As soon as Manstein finished speaking, he immediately expressed his stance: "Marshal, please rest assured that I will never let the Russians do it again."
Easily broke through my defense line."
"General Blaskowitz, considering your actual difficulties, I will immediately dispatch reinforcements to strengthen your defenses." Manstein considered that the Soviet army had assembled a large number of tanks at the landing site. If an armored assault was carried out,
Blaskowitz's two infantry divisions alone could not stop them, so he made the decision to reinforce them in the shortest possible time: "I will send the 3rd and 6th Armored Divisions to reinforce you.
.”
"Great, Marshal, this is great." Although these two armored divisions suffered extremely heavy losses in the battle some time ago, Manstein has seized the time to supplement them. Now
If it is used to strengthen itself, it will be more certain to deal with the Russian armored assault: "With these two armored divisions, I think the Russians will never be able to break through our defense line unless they double their strength."
"I will arrange this as soon as possible. The two armored divisions will be able to reach your defense area no later than tomorrow afternoon." Manstein continued: "I hope you can seize the time to repair the fortifications and set up obstacles and obstacles in front of the fortifications.
Minefields prevent the Russians from easily approaching your defense areas."