The appearance of Sokov immediately gave the commanders present a backbone.
Originally, Koida was worried that even if his superiors sent someone to command the battle, he would have to make huge sacrifices if he wanted to seize the city. But now that Sokov appeared, the stone hanging in his heart fell.
For him, Qi Jilin is already within his grasp. It is only a matter of time to capture it, and the casualties will be controlled within an acceptable range.
"Comrade Commander," thinking of this, Koida couldn't help but feel eager to give it a try. He asked Sokov: "I wonder which division you plan to let take the lead?"
"General Fomenko's troops suffered certain losses when they withdrew from the city. It is obviously unrealistic to continue to serve as the main attack." Sokov knew everyone's heart and wanted to know which troops he planned to arrange to fight.
The main attacker smiled lightly and said unhurriedly: "I think the 188th Division of Koida will be responsible for this task."
Hearing that the main attack mission had indeed fallen on him, Koida couldn't help but rejoice, while Gritsenko, who had not received the mission, looked frustrated. If someone else had arranged it like this, he might still have
He wanted to argue a few words, but since it was Sokov who gave the order, he could only choose to remain silent.
What Sokov said next shocked everyone: "Before the attack begins, we no longer prepare artillery fire, but directly attack the city..."
"Comrade Commander," Koida became a little anxious when he heard this: "If we cancel the artillery preparations before the attack, won't we incur huge casualties when we break through the enemy's defense line?"
"Colonel Koida, you are worrying too much." As soon as Koida finished speaking, Fomenko continued: "There are no fortifications that can be deployed from our place to the south of the city. You can rest assured of this. If you
With good luck, we could even rush into the city before the Germans recovered."
"It's easy to rush into the city, but what about entering the city?" Sokov said unexpectedly: "If the Germans set up fire points in the buildings on both sides of the street, add barricades, and use cross fire to block your way forward,
Road. How are you going to deal with them?"
If it were in the past, there would have been commanders who would have said without thinking: "If the first attack is unsuccessful, we will launch a second and third time until we capture the blocks controlled by the enemy."
But in front of Sokov, if anyone dares to say that, it will be a small matter and he will be scolded. He may be sent to the sidelines and someone else will take over your command.
However, Koida's division would be responsible for the main offensive mission. He felt that if he did not ask clearly, he might cause the troops to pay huge casualties, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, what should we do?"
"Colonel Terenga," Sokov turned to face the artillery division commander and said: "Deploy a 76.2 mm artillery regiment to follow the 188th Division of Koida. If you find the enemy's firepower point, destroy it with artillery fire without hesitation.
it."
As Sokov's old subordinates, everyone naturally knows that Sokov likes to use the trick of using cannons with bayonets and letting the artillery regiment follow the 188th Division. He just wants to repeat the same trick. But after thinking about it carefully, it seems that he encountered it in the city
In the situation Sokov mentioned, using artillery to deal with them is undoubtedly the best way.
After Sokov finished instructing the artillery to accompany the 188th Division in attacking, he turned his attention to Koida: "Comrade Colonel, which regiment do you plan to let take the lead?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Majevo's 562nd Regiment," Koida replied: "Their regiment is now fully equipped, and the officers and soldiers are full of fighting enthusiasm. If they take action, they will definitely give the Germans a lesson."
After hearing this, Sokov nodded with satisfaction and said: "It is good to have fighting enthusiasm, which is very beneficial to defeating the enemy. But at the same time, I must also tell Lieutenant Colonel Majevo to fight steadily in the battle and never be in a hurry.
Success, don’t underestimate the enemy. You must know that the combat effectiveness of the city’s defenders exceeds our imagination.”
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Koida said: "The bite of a wounded beast is very painful. I will tell my subordinates that even if they have all the advantages, they must not underestimate the enemy."
Sokov raised his hand and looked at the time and asked: "The battle will start in one hour. All commanders should return to their respective units, make all battle preparations, and be ready to attack at any time."
"Comrade Commander," Gritsenko, who had been ignored by Sokov for a long time, asked loudly: "I would like to ask, what is the mission of our division?"
"Same as the 84th Division, as a reserve." Sokov said to Gritsenko: "I will put your division into battle at the appropriate time."
As a reserve?! After hearing what Sokov said, Gritsenko felt bad: "Comrade Commander, I feel that if our division is also put into battle, the time to liberate Chigilin may be shortened."
"General Gritsenko," Sokov said slowly after the other party finished speaking: "If at the beginning of the attack, we will put all the main forces into the attack. If there is a stalemate with the defenders in the city,
German reinforcements have arrived, what force should we use to deal with them?"
In order to completely convince Gritsenko, Sokov even gave an example of what happened yesterday: "General Gritsenko, you must know that the 84th Division was attacked by the German army last night and was forced to withdraw from the city, right?"
"Yeah. I know."
"Now that you know it, you should know very well that the German Viking Division only dispatched a grenadier regiment and an assault artillery battalion and defeated one of my main divisions." Sokov said seriously: "If I send all the troops
If our army is unable to capture the city and new German reinforcements arrive, what force will we use to stop and destroy them?"
Sokov's words silenced Gritsenko. If the defenders in the city were other troops, there would be nothing to worry about, but the reinforcements they were about to face were Viking divisions, and the nature would be completely different. He asked himself
Even with a superior force, it would probably be very difficult to block the Viking division's attack, let alone take the initiative to attack the opponent.
Seeing that Gritsenko was silent, Sokov waved his hand to him and said: "General Gritsenko, you go back to the army first so that you can deal with various emergencies in a timely manner."
Now that Sokov had said so, Gritsenko knew that there was no point in staying here any longer, so he raised his hand to salute Sokov, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.
But when only Sokov and a few division commanders of the 84th Division were left in the headquarters, Fomenko curiously asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I wonder how the 7th Guards Army plans to cooperate with us?
"
Sokov considered that in the coming days, he might send out to coordinate with the troops of the 7th Guards Army, which was Fomenko's 84th Division, so he did not hide it, but truthfully reported that the 7th Guards Army planned to force the crossing.
A landing site was established on the right bank of the Dnieper River, but the lack of equipment for crossing the river and materials for building bridges was explained to those present.
After hearing this, Belkin sighed softly and said: "Misha, it's a pity that we are downstream of the 7th Guards Army, and there is nothing we can do about their problems..."
From Belkin's words, Sokov seemed to hear something, and quickly asked: "Colonel Belkin, wait a minute, do you want to explain something?"
Seeing that Sokov heard the implication, Belgin nodded and continued: "If we are upstream of the 7th Guards Army, then we can help them build a batch of rafts, and then float them down the river to let them downstream.
Receiving these rafts will solve the problem of river crossing equipment."
"It's a pity that we are downstream of them." Sokov thinks that the method mentioned by Belkin is good. Unfortunately, his troops are stationed downstream of the 7th Guards Army. Even if he wants to provide them with materials, it is impossible.
: "Otherwise, you can try this method."
"Comrade Commander," Fomenko saw that there were no outsiders here, so he took the opportunity to say to Sokov: "Our division suffered a lot of casualties in yesterday's battle. When do you think you can give us more troops?"
"Don't worry, General Fomenko." Sokov doesn't want to replenish the 84th Division, but now he is too clever to make a living without straw. Most of the troops planned to replenish the 73rd Infantry Brigade are still in the field hospital.
To recuperate his body, he could only say helplessly: "When the battle is over, I will find a way to replenish it for you."