"Now the bridges on the Dnieper River have been destroyed by German artillery fire." Shumilov said cautiously: "If the 15th Guards Division cannot hold their position and is forced to retreat, they will definitely not be able to cross the river.
At that time, we can only let them retreat towards your defense area, and I hope you can send troops to meet them at that time."
"Don't worry, General Shumilov." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and immediately answered: "The 254th Regiment that captured the towns of Ratseve and Kinki is now stationed near the town of Ratseve.
If the 15th Guards Division is forced to abandon the town of Ratsewe, they will be responsible for supporting the retreat."
The landing ground that had just been established on the right bank could not be held even for a day, and there was a possibility of falling. Shumilov was very unwilling to do so. He learned that Sokov had troops near the town of Ratseve, and asked tentatively:
"General Sokov, since your troops are nearby, I wonder if we can let them join the battle. If possible, after we crush the enemy's attack, we can also take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and maybe we can retake Beijing that was occupied by the Germans.
Ji Town.”
"General Shumilov, if the German army really has the ability to quickly break through your defense line," Sokov naturally agreed with Shumilov's proposal. He did not beat around the bush and put forward his point of view straightforwardly: "
If we launch a counterattack at this time, not only will we not be able to repel the enemy, but we may even cause our troops to suffer heavy losses. As a result, our troops on the right bank will become even weaker, and they may be defeated or even annihilated by the enemy.
possible."
If Sokov had said this to Shumilov before the town of Kinky fell, he would have certainly not believed it. According to his idea, even if there was only one 15th Guards Division on the right bank, he could have passed through Dnieper.
The pontoon bridge on the river continuously transported troops from the left bank to the right bank.
Unexpectedly, reality hit him so quickly. As soon as he learned that Jingji Town was being attacked by the Germans, he ordered the troops gathered on the left bank of the river to cross the river. Unexpectedly, as soon as the troops began to cross the river, the Germans captured Jingji Town and
Cannons were set up outside the town and bombarded the pontoon bridge continuously. After paying a heavy price, only one company of troops across the river reached the right bank. In a battle of this scale, what role could one company of troops play?
So after listening to Sokov's words, he could only sigh heavily and said in a regretful tone: "That's such a pity. We can only watch helplessly as the enemy retakes the territory we occupied."
While Shumilov was lamenting, Sokov remained silent. He was pondering in his mind whether the main force of the 188th Division in Koida should be transferred to the vicinity of the town of Ratseve at this moment to prepare for the German attack.
Sokov didn't speak, and Shumilov didn't speak either. The two of them just held headphones and microphones, each thinking about their own thoughts. After an unknown amount of time, Sokov suddenly realized that he was talking to Shumilov.
He spoke to his husband and quickly said into the microphone: "General Shumilov, are you still there?"
Shumilov was awakened by Sokov's voice, and he hurriedly replied: "Still here, General Sokov."
"General Shumilov, I think about it this way." Sokov said carefully: "Just because we want to defeat the Germans does not mean that we have to occupy too much territory. If that is the case, it will inevitably distract us.
With more troops, the Germans can concentrate their forces and defeat us one by one."
He originally wanted to mention that the reason for the failure of the Kharkov Battle at the beginning of the year was because the Soviet army advanced too fast and occupied too much territory, which resulted in a large number of offensive troops being diverted to defend those occupied areas, resulting in
The forward offensive forces were weakened. In addition, the logistics supply base was far away from the battlefield, so that the troops fighting the German army could not be replenished in time. As a result, they suffered a disastrous defeat despite their superior numbers and equipment.
But then I thought about it. The commander of the Voronezh Front, Vatutin, organized his troops to launch an assault without understanding the enemy's strength. As a result, he was defeated by Manstein, and the friendly flanks were exposed to the enemy.
After the defeat of the battle, the former commander of the Voronezh Front Golikov was dismissed from his post, but he only received a reprimand, and soon took over Golikov's position as the commander of the Voronezh Front. If he really changed his position at the beginning of the year
If the Battle of Kharkov is mentioned as an issue, many people, including Vatutin, may be offended.
Thinking of this, he inadvertently changed the topic: "I think we should concentrate our forces, rely on fortifications, consume the effective strength of the German army, and wait for the reinforcements from the left bank to arrive."
"However, the pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River has been destroyed by German artillery fire." Shumilov said sadly: "It will probably take a lot of time to repair the bridge."
"The pontoon bridge was destroyed by enemy artillery fire. We can still build a new bridge." Regarding Shumilov's concerns, Sokov said easily: "Even if it is too difficult to build a bridge, there is still a way to bring your troops together."
Cross the river."
Hearing Sokov say there was a way to get the troops across the river, Shumilov suddenly became excited: "General Sokov, tell me quickly, is there any good way?"
"The method is very simple. You can order the troops to turn to Kremenchug, cross the river from there, and then rush to the area where the 15th Guards Division is fighting."
Regarding the plan proposed by Sokov, Shumilov pondered for a while, and finally shook his head and said: "General Sokov, your method sounds good, but there are many problems in its implementation."
Without waiting for Sokov to ask, he took the initiative to speak: "I looked at the map. If my troops were transferred to Kremenchug and then rushed to the town of Ratseve, it would be almost more than two hundred kilometers. If so,
Before the war, there were enough transportation vehicles and good road conditions, so crossing the river from Kremenchug was not impossible.
But the current situation is that we do not have enough vehicles to transport soldiers. Also, the roads have been damaged by the German army. Even if our soldiers take the vehicles, they may not be able to travel faster than
20 kilometers. Instead of using so much transport capacity and taking a day or two to transport the troops, it would be better for the engineers to find a way to repair the pontoon bridge that was blown up by the Germans and try to get more troops across the river in a short time.
"
"That's okay." Sokov was not too interested in what method Shumilov would take to cross the river. After all, the other party had no affiliation with him, so he didn't want to confide in him. He finally said: "Shumilov
General Love, I will say hello to my troops, and once the town of Ratsewe is lost, I will send troops to meet the commanders and fighters of the 15th Guards Division."
After Fomenko waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, judging from the current situation, since the town of Kinki was captured so easily by the German army, the town of Ratseve will not be able to hold on for long.
Do you think the main force of the 188th Division from Koida should be transferred up at this moment?"
"Wait a moment, General Fomenko." Sokov shook his head slightly and said, "Now is not the time to mobilize them."
After hearing Sokov's answer, Fomenko stamped his feet anxiously. Rusov's 254th Regiment was now the most elite unit in his hands. If it was lost in the battle, the entire division would definitely be withdrawn to the rear for reinforcements.
, there is no chance to participate in a new battle.
Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but smile lightly, and then comforted him and said: "Mobilizing troops during the day is, firstly, easy to be detected by the enemy, and secondly, during the march, they may be air-attacked by enemy planes, causing unnecessary losses. So in the end
The best way is to wait until dark before ordering the troops to set off. Anyway, the distance between the two places is not far, and you can reach your destination in two or three hours."
Fomenko initially thought that Sokov was planning to let the 254th Regiment serve as artillery fire. After hearing his arrangement, he realized that he had misunderstood the other party and quickly said: "I understand, Comrade Commander, I will inform Colonel Rusov as soon as possible."
, let him be prepared to receive reinforcements."
"There are no decent fortifications where the 254th Regiment is now," Sokov continued: "Colonel Rusov should be informed and the soldiers can continue to dig fortifications. This way, when the main force of the 188th Division arrives, there will be enough
Arm your position."
Fomenko agreed, called his chief of staff, and told him: "Comrade chief of staff, have you heard the commander's arrangements? Immediately send a report to Colonel Rusov and order him to organize manpower to dig fortifications so that he can
Accommodate more troops."
While the chief of staff went to the radio operator to send a telegram to Rusov, Fomenko remembered another important thing and quickly asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, don't we still have an artillery division? When the enemy attacks
When our defense zone launches an attack, do we ask them to provide us with necessary artillery support?"
"That's no problem." Sokov agreed readily. "I have already called the chief of staff and ordered him to find ways to speed up the transportation and prepare more artillery shells for the gunners of the 1st Artillery Division."
After capturing the town of Kinki, the German army quickly rushed to the town of Ratsewe and launched a fierce battle with the Soviet troops who stood in the town. The main offensive task was the 5th Armored Light Infantry Battalion of the Viking Division. Don't look at this.
Yesterday, the detachment was defeated by the 188th and 384th Divisions in the southwest of Chigilin. However, facing Sivarenko's 15th Guards Division, their performance was outstanding and they quickly rushed into the town and
The Soviet army launched a fierce battle in the town.
The 254th Regiment stationed near the town of Ratsewe saw the fierce fighting in the town. Although Rusuf wanted to help the other party, considering that the order given to him by his superiors required him to stay on standby, he could only give up.
Instead of thinking about this tempting idea, he urged his men to continue digging trenches in the controlled area.
The number of troops in the town of Ratsewe was twice that in the town of Kinki, and there was also the 43rd Guards Artillery Regiment that had just retreated. Facing the fierce attack of the German army, they carried out a tenacious defense. Although the defense line was blocked in many places
Although they broke through, those troops trapped behind enemy lines still fought to the death, causing considerable casualties to the enemy.
At this moment, the liaison officer sent by Colonel Russov arrived at the division headquarters of the 15th Guards Division.
When Sivarenko learned that Rusev had sent a liaison officer, he quickly ordered someone to call the liaison officer into his headquarters and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant, are you sent by Colonel Rusev?"
"Yes, Comrade General." The liaison officer replied respectfully: "He asked me to inform you that if the town cannot be defended, you can retreat to our defense area..."
"Shut up!" Before the liaison officer could finish speaking, the division chief of staff interrupted him and said angrily: "As long as we have one soldier alive, we will never abandon the town of Ratsewe. Even if the enemy wants to
If you want to rush into the town, you have to step on our corpses to get in..."
Despite the high-sounding words of the division chief of staff, the liaison officer just smiled and said to the division chief of staff: "Comrade Colonel, it's useless for you to get angry at me. I'm just following orders. Our regimental commander said, Commander
Based on the analysis of the situation on the battlefield, comrades feel that the fall of Ratsewe Town is only a matter of time. In order to preserve the effective strength of our army, you should decisively abandon Ratsewe Town when the situation is critical, and alternately cover the retreat to our headquarters to build
of fortifications.”
After the 254th Regiment withdrew from Ratsewe Town, the enemy began to attack Jingji Town. The division chief of staff's attention was drawn to the direction of Jingji Town, and he had no idea that there was another regiment outside the town.
The presence of friendly forces.
When he heard the liaison officer talking about it, he couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Comrade Lieutenant, what did you just say? Your regiment actually built fortifications outside the town?"
"That's right." The liaison officer nodded and said in a positive tone: "While our regiment was in the process of evacuating, we heard the sound of artillery before the German army attacked Jingji Town. The regiment leader guessed that there might be something that could help you.
, he ordered the troops to stop, choose a more secluded area, and start building fortifications."
"So, your 254th Regiment is still outside the town of Ratsewe." The division chief of staff asked cautiously: "Comrade Lieutenant, is my guess correct?"
"Exactly, Comrade Colonel." The liaison officer replied with a smile: "Now we are seizing the time to repair the fortifications to ensure that more troops can be accommodated there."
"Whose idea was it to build fortifications outside the town?" When the division chief of staff asked this question, he thought that at best it was just a plan made by a regiment chief of staff, and he was fully capable of making the other party change the battle plan.
But unexpectedly, the liaison officer's expression became solemn after hearing this: "Comrade Colonel, this combat plan was thought up by our commander, General Sokov. He was worried that the friendly forces could not hold their positions, so he ordered our regiment here
Stand by. If the enemy really takes over the town, our task is to rescue more comrades and place them properly in a safe place."
Hearing that it was Sokov's idea, the division chief of staff immediately put away the contemptuous expression on his face and said solemnly: "It turns out that it was General Sokov's arrangement. Then we should reconsider the next battle."