In the next few days, the 3rd and 6th Armored Divisions sent by Manstein have successively entered the defense area of Blaskowitz's 1st Army.
However, the arrival of the new troops did not make Blaskowitz feel at ease, because the speed of the increase in Soviet troops on the opposite side had far exceeded his imagination. After some weighing, he felt that it was still necessary to ask Manstein
Ask for help, otherwise when the Soviet army launches an attack, it will be impossible to resist it with the current strength of the Soviet army.
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Blaskowitz said straight to the point after answering Manstein's call: "The Russians opposite us continue to increase their troops. According to the observation post report, at least five troops have been transferred over in the past few days.
An infantry division."
"What, five infantry divisions?" Manstein was frightened by Blaskowitz's report: "General Blaskowitz, are you not mistaken?"
"There is no mistake," Blaskowitz said in a positive tone: "The observation post carefully counted the number of Russian trucks and the number of soldiers carried in each vehicle, and calculated that the number of reinforcements they had in the past few days should be
Above 40,000, if each division has 8,000 men, it would be the strength of five divisions."
If it were other Soviet troops, not to mention five divisions, even five armies, Manstein would not only not be worried, but would also be ecstatic, because so many Soviet troops concentrated in one position meant that
Give your own troops a chance to encircle it and fight a great battle of annihilation similar to the Battle of Kiev.
But now the Soviet troops opposite Blaskowitz's 1st Army are commanded by Sokov, who is giving him a headache. Since he dares to concentrate so many troops here, he shows that he is not afraid of being encircled.
Due to the situation, they even planned to break through the 1st Army's defense line in one fell swoop and advance deeper into their own defenses.
Hearing Manstein's delay in speaking, Blaskowitz said anxiously: "Your Excellency, Marshal, in order to prevent possible attacks by the Russians, I ask you to send me more reinforcements."
"Don't you have enough troops in your hands?"
"Of course it's not enough." Blaskowitz said plausibly: "I originally had one armored division and two infantry divisions in my hands. Their defense front was 70 kilometers wide. Even if you just sent two additional armored divisions,
Divisions, each division has a defense range of 14 kilometers. If the Russians take advantage of their numerical advantage to launch an attack on our defense area, I am afraid that my troops will not be able to sustain it for long."
If it had been in the past, Blaskowitz would never have said such a thing. He felt that even if his troops faced the Soviet army that was twice as many as him, they would still be sure to win. But through this half
After many months of offensive, the performance of Sokov's troops taught him how to re-evaluate the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army. He found that when facing the Soviet army on the opposite side, not to mention being at a numerical disadvantage, even if the numbers were equal, his troops would have to
It is basically impossible to win. The history of one division defeating a Soviet army is long gone forever.
"Then how many troops do you need to hold the current defense line?" Manstein asked.
"Unless the 82nd and 90th armies stationed in France are transferred over, we will be able to block a possible Russian attack on the banks of the Dnieper River."
"General Blaskowitz," Manstein said sternly after hearing what the other party said: "The head of state will never agree to transfer the 82nd and 90th armies out of France. You can only rely on your existing strength.
to resist the Russian attack."
"I'm sorry, Marshal, I can't do it." During this period, Blaskowitz investigated Sokov through various channels and found that the other party was a ruthless leader who didn't talk much. The troops he faced were
No one has ever won. Even the most elite Imperial Division, the Skeleton Division, was annihilated by his troops, and even the Flag Guard Division suffered heavy losses. Now that he sees a large-scale increase in troops in the opponent's defense zone, he feels sad
He became even more uneasy, so he said firmly: "If you disagree with my proposal, I can only report my opinions directly to the head of state and ask him to make a fair decision."
In the later stages of the Battle of Kursk, although the Soviet army was constantly counterattacking, as long as Manstein put his reserves into the battle, the outcome of the battle could be rewritten. However, he did not expect that the British and American troops landed in Sicily, Italy, and the Führer did not notice anything.
Without hesitation, all the reserves that could determine the outcome of the battle were transferred to Europe. Because of this incident, Manstein always had a thorn in his heart.
At this moment, when Blaskowitz said that he wanted to contact the head of state, he couldn't help but frowned. According to his experience, if he reported it to Berlin at this time, the head of state might do something wrong and go directly over him to command the troops below.
In order to avoid the blind command of the head of state, which would lead to the defeat of the battle, he decided to compromise with Blaskowitz: "General Blaskowitz, although I do not have the right to mobilize the troops stationed in France, I can give you another
Send two infantry divisions to strengthen your existing strength."
After hearing this, Blaskowitz was not excited, but asked calmly: "Marshal, I wonder which two infantry divisions you plan to send to strengthen us?"
"The 320th and 282nd Divisions," Manstein thought for a while and decided to transfer the two divisions closest to the 1st Group Army. Although these units had lower numbers, their combat effectiveness was still good: "This
It is the only force I can use. If you are not satisfied, there is nothing I can do."
Blaskowitz thought to himself: To set up a defense line on the Dnieper River, which is hundreds of kilometers long, Manstein's troops were already tight. If he transferred four divisions to himself at once, this would probably be his limit.
, then he said smoothly: "Okay, Marshal, when will these troops arrive at my defense area?"
"I'm afraid it will take two to three days at the earliest." Although Manstein had promised to hand over the troops to Blaskowitz, the forces of these two divisions were too scattered and they needed to be assembled first before being sent to
The defense area of the 1st Group Army will inevitably be delayed a lot of time: "General Blaskowitz, before they arrive, I hope you can build fortifications and establish a complete defense system so that the Russians cannot easily
to break through your defenses."
"Don't worry, Marshal." Blaskowitz replied: "My troops are setting up barbed wire fences, placing anti-tank obstacles, and establishing minefields in front of the position. As long as we complete these tasks, the Russians will want to break through.
Our defense is not an easy task."
Since Sokov had dispatched a large number of reconnaissance teams in the German defense area in advance, any movement of the German army could not escape the eyes of the scouts.
After seeing the report sent by the director of the reconnaissance department, Sokov smiled and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that our plan has been successful. The enemies south of the landing site are increasing their troops on a large scale. They must think that we are
A breakthrough will be made in that direction."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." After reading the report, Sameko said with the same satisfaction: "I really didn't expect that the fake actions we made really deceived the enemy, and even made them attack in the direction of our feint.
A massive increase in troops."
Even though the enemy had fallen into his trap, Sokov did not feel complacent about it. Instead, he stared at the map and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the Germans know that the enemy they are facing is us, so they are so serious about this."
To increase troops. If other friendly forces were replaced, the Germans would not increase troops to the front, but would only strengthen their two wings..."
"Why is this, Comrade Commander?" Sokov puzzled Sameko.
"The reason is very simple," Sokov said slowly: "If the troops facing them are not us, but friendly forces. The Germans increased their troops on both wings in order to detour back to their rear after the friendly forces' attack began and complete the attack.
Encirclement of them. But now that they are facing us, the German commanders have to adjust their strategies and strengthen frontal defense to prevent our troops from easily breaking through their defense lines."
"The Germans may never have dreamed that our attack direction is not to the south at all, but to the northwest of the landing site. That is the focus of our attack." After Sokov said this, he thought of a key question: "Staff Staff
Comrade Commander, although the Germans fell into our trap and sent additional troops to the south of the landing site, if there are their scouts lurking in our defense area, then the plan we made may fail."
"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this." Samyko expressed his position to Sokov: "Once the German scouts enter our defense area, the scam we have implemented may be discovered by the Germans.
.So I organized a lot of patrol teams and patrolled the defense zone non-stop, just to prevent the Germans from infiltrating."
Sokov recognized Samyko's ability to do things very well. Hearing what the other party said, he nodded slightly and continued: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must not take it lightly. You must know that our actions involve
There are tens of thousands of people. If confidentiality discipline is not strictly enforced, there is a possibility of being discovered by the Germans. Once they are discovered, they will not only increase troops to the area we are about to attack, but they will also gather troops south of the landing site.
It will also launch an attack on our defense line at the landing site, thus completely disrupting our plan."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I assure you that the German scouts will never be aware of the truth of our actions." At this point, Samyko glanced at where Managarov was sitting, with lingering fear.
Said: "Fortunately, the 53rd Army Headquarters is now separated from us, otherwise this plan would involve more people, and if we want to keep it secret, the difficulty will increase exponentially."
In order to ensure that the attack on the landing site on the right bank can be carried out smoothly, Konev made a decision not long ago to fully ensure the supply of weapons, ammunition and various military supplies to Sokov's troops. As a result, the 53rd Group Army received very little supplies and could not
To participate in this offensive operation again, they can only be responsible for the defense of the left bank to prevent the frontal attack Sokov's troops from being taken back by the Germans.
As the 53rd Army withdrew from the offensive battle, the army was no longer under Sokov's command, so the headquarters was moved to another location so that Managarov could better command his troops.
Regarding the departure of Managarov and others, Sokov did not feel disappointed at all. Although this unit was under his command some time ago, due to various reasons, he did not want to hand over those important combat tasks at all.
Let this unit complete it, so as not to make any mistakes and require his own troops to come out to clean up the mess, thus affecting the overall plan. Their departure is undoubtedly a relief for him.
Sokov's thoughts were seen by Samek. He saw that there were no outsiders around him, and then lowered his voice and asked: "Comrade Commander, have you been expecting the other party to leave for a long time?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, I do think so in my heart." Samyko is one of his own, and Sokov has no need to hide his true thoughts from him: "General Managarov has always been very polite to me.
, and his chief of staff always quarreled with me. Even if I wanted to assign a task to them, I was worried that the other party would violate it, which would eventually lead to the failure of the task. Now that they have left, I feel relaxed in my heart."
"Comrade Commander, I have been thinking about a question." Sameko said: "How far can we go without the cooperation of friendly forces?"
"Chief of Staff, your question is meaningless." Sokov said without hesitation: "If you had said this a week ago, I would have been worried that our group army would be attacked from the rear by the Germans after launching an offensive.
.But with the liberation of Poltava, the main force of the front army advanced towards the Dnieper River. It was already impossible for the enemy to cut off our retreat. Otherwise, Commander Konev would not have moved the 53rd Army and the
We split up, because even if there is no 53rd Army, there will be other troops to cover our flanks and rear, so that we can attack the enemy with confidence and boldness."
"Then when do you plan to attack the enemy?"
Sokov looked down at the map in front of him and said thoughtfully: "The order given to us by our superiors is to launch an attack on the German army no later than September 30. But judging from the current preparations, we can definitely
The attack time is advanced."
Sameko was not surprised at all by Sokov's statement. During this period, the logistics department of the front army was working at full capacity to provide various ammunition and supplies for its troops. The supplies currently stored on the right bank can completely
Support the consumption of the troops for half a month.
In this case, it was very necessary to launch an attack on the enemy in advance. So Sameko asked again: "Comrade Commander, when do you plan to launch the attack?"
"I think we can set the date as September 28, which means the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow?" After hearing this date, Sameko thought about it carefully and thought it was more appropriate. He nodded and said, "I agree. Do I need to report to the front army headquarters?"
"There's no hurry," Sokov said, waving his hands: "We also need to seize the time to check the preparations of the troops. If they are not fully prepared and launch an attack in a hurry, they may suffer unnecessary losses."
"Okay." Sameko nodded and said, "I will check with the two division commanders later. If they have completed the preparations, it will not be too late for me to report to the front army headquarters."
"Let's report tomorrow night." Sokov thought for a moment and said, "I believe that the two division commanders Fomenko and Koida will be ready for battle by then."