Konev quickly lowered his head to look at the map in front of him. After looking at it for a moment, he couldn't help but frown: "Comrade Sokov, according to the intelligence we have, the German army has gathered heavy troops near the town of Kinki. If you send too few troops,
It will be destroyed by the enemy; if too many troops are sent, it will affect your existing defense zone."
How could Sokov not know that under the current situation, sending troops deep into the heart of the German army was no different from risking death. But as a group army commander, he must consider the overall situation. The only way is to let the troops of the 7th Guards Army to attack as soon as possible.
Cross the Dnieper River and establish a landing site on the right bank, so that his troops will not fight alone. In order to achieve this strategic goal, he felt that this risk was worth taking.
Therefore, he solemnly said to Konev: "Comrade Commander, if our troops do not move decisively towards the town of Kinki and allow the enemy's artillery to continue to block the Dnieper River there, General Shumilov's approach will be
The 7th Guards Army will be unable to cross the river, and your plan to build a new landing site on the right bank will be stranded."
Sokov's heartfelt words made Konev feel shocked. Since the outbreak of the war, he has been dismissed from his post due to his unfavorable command of the Western Front. If Zhukov had not protected him, he might have followed Pavlov's example.
In the past two years, he has been ups and downs and has never been reused. In the end, he was assigned to serve as the commander of the Steppe Front Army as a reserve force. Finally, in the Battle of Kursk, the outstanding performance of the army gave him the opportunity to serve in the army.
Stalin had a lot of points in front of him, but now if he fails to build a new landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River, his superiors may be dissatisfied with him again.
"Okay, Comrade Sokov. I agree with your plan. You will advance to Kinki Town, clear out the German artillery deployed there, and cover General Shumilov's troops crossing the river." Now that Sokov has solved his own problems,
Of course Konev would not owe him anything: "If you need anything, just call me."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov originally wanted to put forward some conditions to Konev. Since the other party took the initiative, he would naturally not miss such a good opportunity: "Since our troops lack the support of tanks and artillery, if we want to carry out the
Surviving the German onslaught may cost a lot of money. Therefore, I ask you to allow the air force to provide us with air cover."
"No problem," Konev naturally would not refuse Sokov's small request: "I will call General Goryunov and ask him to provide air support to your troops."
After figuring out the reason why Sokov's troops did not attack overnight, Konev put down the phone, raised his head and asked Zakharov standing in front of him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think of this matter?"
Zakharov heard the conversation between Sokov and Konev nearby. When he heard Konev asking himself, he immediately replied without hesitation: "I think Comrade Sokov's consideration is completely correct.
. If the 7th Guards Army cannot cross the Dnieper River as soon as possible, it may be difficult to expand the results just by relying on the landing ground opened by the 27th Army."
"You are right." Konev waited for Zakharov to speak and then said thoughtfully: "I remember that the Leningrad Front organized troops to forcefully cross the Neva River at the beginning of last year in order to break the German siege of the city.
, trying to tear a hole into the enemy's encirclement. But unfortunately, they only occupied a small beachhead on the other side of the Neva River.
In such a small area, if too few troops are deployed, it will be impossible to break through the enemy's encirclement; but if a large number of troops are gathered, the Germans will only need to use artillery to bombard them indiscriminately, which will cause huge casualties to the troops there.
Because of this, although the Leningrad Front obtained a landing site on the other side of the Neva River, it was still unable to break through the enemy's defenses.
Although the landing site established by Sokov's troops on the right bank of the Dnieper River is large, it is very difficult for us to launch a powerful assault on the enemy in this area because there are too many forests, lakes and swamps. Therefore, we
New landing sites must be opened to distract the German army's attention so that our army can effectively expand the occupied area on the right bank."
From Konev's words, Zakharov realized that he had made up his mind to open a new landing site on the right bank, and carefully reminded him: "Comrade Commander, General Shumilov should still be waiting for you at this moment.
Please tell me whether you can convey to him what Comrade Sokov said on the phone so that he can be aware of it."
"Yes, I should call General Shumilov." Konev picked up the phone and turned to Zakharov and said: "Let him try every means to cross the Dnieper River and make Soko
My husband's troops will not fight alone."
Shumilov, who was guarding the phone, heard the phone ringing. He grabbed the phone and put it to his ear, saying loudly: "I am Shumilov, comrade commander?"
Seeing that Shumilov was waiting for him by the phone, Konev smiled slightly and deliberately asked: "General Shumilov, have you been waiting for my call?"
Shumilov laughed dryly and replied: "Comrade Commander, you also know that unless the situation with General Sokov is clear, I won't be able to sleep even if you let me sleep."
"You, you!" Konev shook his head and said, "If I don't call, are you going to wait for dawn next to the phone?"
"How is that possible, Comrade Commander?" Shumilov said with a smile: "I have already made a plan. If you don't call within an hour, I will definitely take the initiative to call you. After all, I won't do it.
Knowing General Sokov's true intentions makes me feel uneasy."
"Comrade Shumilov," Konev's next words involved the future of himself and the entire front army. Konev suppressed the smile on his face, "I want to hear the truth from you. How many of your troops can survive after dawn?"
Dnieper River?”
"I'm afraid this is very difficult, Comrade Commander." Hearing Konev's question, Shumilov suddenly panicked: "The German army blocked the river with artillery, and the pontoon bridge we erected was destroyed by enemy artillery fire.
I'm afraid we won't be able to transport troops to the right bank."
Hearing Shumilov's answer, Konev felt very angry. For the sake of the overall situation, Sokov was willing to send troops to the vicinity of Jinki Town to eliminate the German artillery deployed there. But Shumilov
Well, just because the German artillery fire blocked the river, it seemed to be timid.
"Just because the enemy has blocked the river with artillery fire, are you going to give up letting the troops cross the river?" Konev asked sternly: "Is it the enemy's artillery fire that makes you panic?"
Shumilov couldn't help but tremble when he heard this, and then explained: "Comrade Commander, you have misunderstood. You should know that in the area where our army group is located, it is very difficult to collect wood for building bridges and making rafts.
, you have to drive more than ten kilometers away to cut down trees, which will waste a lot of time..."
"Okay, General Shumilov," Konev interrupted Shumilov: "I understand everything you said. What I want to hear from you now is how many troops you have after dawn.
Can I cross the Dnieper?"
Since Shumilov could become the commander of the group army, he would naturally not be a slow-responsive person. When he heard Konev asking the same question twice in a row, he realized that there must be some mystery in it. He organized it in his mind.
After some vocabulary, he said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, I feel that if General Sokov's troops can occupy the town of Ratsewe, it will be very helpful for our troops to cross the river. Maybe we can cross a river in one morning.
The division's troops are transported from the left bank to the right bank."
"The town of Ratsewe has turned into ruins after the shelling." Konev said slowly: "Even if it is occupied, it doesn't make much sense. The artillery positions deployed by the Germans in Kinki Town can still be bombarded."
The floating bridge you built."
"Then what should we do?"
"General Shumilov, let me tell you the truth. I have already contacted Comrade Sokov. He said that occupying Ratseve Town at this moment does not make much sense. He plans to send troops to Jinki Town to eliminate the people there.
German artillery, cover your main force to safely cross the Dnieper River."
"What, General Sokov's troops will advance to Jinki Town?" Even if Shumilov didn't look at the map, he knew the significance of Sokov's troops advancing to Jinki Town. As long as the troops reach there, even if
Without capturing the town, they could also drive away the German artillery deployed nearby. In this way, their own engineering troops could repair the bombed pontoon bridge in the shortest possible time, allowing the troops staying on the left bank to quickly cross the river.
"Yes, that's what he told me." After Konev finished saying this, he noticed that Shumilov seemed to want to say something else, so he added: "General Shumilov, your 15th Guards Division
Now they are still staying on the right bank. When Sokov's troops move forward near the town of Kinki, they can order Sivarenko to cooperate with the actions of friendly forces and establish a new landing site as soon as possible. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Shumilov quickly replied: "I will give Sivarenko the order immediately."
After Sokov ended the call with Konev, he turned to Fomenko and asked: "General Fomenko, I have made a guarantee to the commander of the front army that after dawn, a force will be sent to Jinki Town.
Nearby. How about Colonel Russov's 254th Regiment, can it complete this mission?"
Knowing that Sokov planned to let his troops carry out this near-death mission, Fomenko couldn't help but fell silent. After thinking for a while, he said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, I believe Colonel Rusov and his
My subordinates will faithfully carry out your orders."
Sokov waited for Fomenko to finish speaking, then turned to Koida and said: "Colonel Koida, since our battle plan has changed, when the Rusov regiment advances towards Jinki Town, you will deploy a regiment to follow.
The main purpose of their actions is to help the friendly forces when they attack; or to take the initiative to take over the friendly forces' attack when the friendly forces' attack fails."
"No problem." Knowing that his troops were fighting, Koida suddenly became excited. He said excitedly: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will dispatch troops to follow the 254th Regiment to attack the German defenses.
Depth."
After Sokov assigned the task to the two of them, he casually asked: "Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Koida replied: "I would like to ask, who will be responsible for unified command when the troops I dispatch and friendly forces cooperate with each other?"
Sokov glanced at Fomenko and replied: "Colonel Koida, the commanders of your regiments all have the rank of lieutenant colonel, and Rusov has a higher military rank than them. Naturally, they should be allowed to obey Rusev's command."
"Well, okay, Comrade Commander." Koida said somewhat unhappily: "I will resolutely obey your order and let the commanders of the troops obey the command of Colonel Rusuf."
Although Sokov saw the dissatisfaction in Koida's heart, he deliberately pretended not to see it, and turned to Fomenko and asked: "General Fomenko, what about you, do you have any questions?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Regarding the dispatch of troops out of Jingji Town this time, Fomenko was still quite worried. You must know that the German army was constantly approaching the area where he was located, and the area around Jingji Town
There is even a heavy concentration of troops. If the Russov regiment is sent there, there is a danger of being surrounded by the German army at any time.
"The Rusov Regiment is a lightly-armed regiment and has no tanks or artillery at all. If we want to capture Jinki Town, we will probably have to pay a lot of casualties." When Fomenko said this, his eyes couldn't help but stare at Sokov: "I don't know what's going on.
How to deal with the enemy?"
"General Fomenko, it turns out that this is what you are worried about." Sokov waited for Fomenko to finish and said with a smile: "You can rest assured about this. I have already made an agreement with Comrade Commander of the Front Army. He
Let me directly contact the commander of the Air Force and ask the other party to dispatch a sufficient number of aircraft to provide us with the necessary air cover over the battlefield. It turns out that in addition to replenishing our troops, our superiors also provide us with air cover."
"Yes, this is a promise made to me by the commander of the front army," Sokov said to Fomenko with a smile: "Although your troops do not have the support of tanks and artillery fire, as long as the air force is dispatched, as soon as the enemy tanks and armored vehicles appear,
, it will immediately become a target for attack by the air force."
Hearing this, Fomenko couldn't help laughing. He said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, others say that the Germans have strong combat effectiveness. But without the help of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery, their combat effectiveness will be reduced."
It will be greatly reduced. I believe that the enemies of the 254th Regiment can defeat them.
Originally, I was quite worried about the 254th Regiment, but now it seems that I was overly worried. Comrade Commander, I assure you that the Russov Regiment will be able to well complete the tasks you assigned them."
"Very good." Sokov agreed with Fomenko's statement and said with a smile: "If the army wants to win the war, the commander must first have confidence, otherwise the soldiers may see you looking sad all day long.
It affects morale.”
After Sokov arranged the tasks, he felt that for such a big matter, he should communicate with his chief of staff Samek, so that he would be well aware of it, so as not to be discovered by his superiors that he left early.
Thinking of this, he picked up the phone on the table and put the receiver to his ear: "Operator, this is Sokov. Please help me call the group army headquarters and Chief of Staff Samyko. I have something important to ask."
Talk to him."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." The operator did not dare to neglect and quickly connected Sokov to the group army headquarters.