A quarter of an hour later, the transport plane Konev was on, escorted by four fighter planes, flew towards the area where the 7th Guards Army headquarters was located.
After half an hour of flight, a pilot left the cockpit and came to Konev. He bent down and reported loudly to him: "Comrade Commander, we will reach our destination in a few minutes. You still have
Any instructions?"
Konev considered that this place was very close to the battlefield, and he should go to the sky above the battle site to check it out. When the time came to give instructions to Shumilov, he would have an idea in mind, so he ordered the pilot: "Fly to the right bank of the Dnieper River.
I want to see what the German troops are doing on the ground."
The pilot agreed, turned back to the cab, carried out the order given by Konev, and turned around to fly towards the right bank of the Dnieper River. After Konev waited for the pilot to leave, he closed his eyes and began to rest, preparing to wait for the pilot to come and call him.
Then look at the battlefield below from the window.
Then just two or three minutes later, the fuselage suddenly bumped violently, and there was a huge explosion outside the cabin. The pilot just stumbled to Konev and reported to him in a panic.
Said: "Comrade Commander, our aircraft is being intercepted by German anti-aircraft fire. If it continues to fly forward, it will be in danger of being shot down."
Hearing what the pilot said, Konev turned his head and glanced out the window. He saw smoke and burning fires everywhere on the ground. The officers and soldiers on both sides were as small as ants. After observing the situation on the ground for a while,
He sighed softly and then told the pilot: "Comrade pilot, go to the left bank to find a suitable place to land."
After the pilot returned to the cockpit, he and his deputy controlled the aircraft, leaving the blockade area blocked by German anti-aircraft fire and flying towards the safety zone on the left bank.
Just as Konev's plane was returning, it was spotted by two enemy planes hovering over the Dnieper River. The enemy planes immediately turned around and rushed over, trying to shoot down the transport plane that had no self-defense capability. The escorting fighter formation saw the enemy planes.
Flying towards Konev's plane, two planes were immediately separated to greet him, while the remaining two continued to escort Konev's plane.
A few minutes later, Konev's plane landed on a hillside near the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army.
Before the plane could stop, a small force of more than 20 people rushed over. The leader was a second lieutenant. He saw an unknown plane landing near the headquarters and was worried that the Germans were coming to cause sabotage.
, and quickly ordered his subordinates to surround the plane.
The plane quickly stopped and the cabin door opened. A pilot appeared at the door. Without looking at the commanders and fighters outside, he lowered the ramp, then got off the plane and stood straight next to the ramp.
After he finished all this, a person appeared again at the cabin door. After the second lieutenant next to the plane saw the other person's appearance and rank clearly, he was immediately startled and thought to himself: Why is Comrade Commander of the Front Army here?
The second lieutenant trotted forward quickly, came to Konev and raised his hand in salute: "Hello, comrade general. I am the second lieutenant of the security force of the group army headquarters. I follow your orders, please give me instructions!"
After Konev waited for the second lieutenant to finish speaking, he asked lightly: "Comrade second lieutenant, where is your headquarters? Take me there immediately."
The second lieutenant did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly agreed, and then acted as a guide in front to lead the way for Konev.
Soon, Konev arrived at the headquarters of the army group. Perhaps in order to facilitate the command of the battle, Shumilov moved his headquarters closer to the river.
When Konev walked into the headquarters, Shumilov was frightened. He originally thought that Konev was just talking casually and might not come to his headquarters. He hurriedly stepped forward to greet him and asked nervously.
: "Comrade Commander, why are you here?"
"General Shumilov," Konev said angrily when he saw that Shumilov didn't seem to be talking about his absence, "I didn't tell you that I would fly over to meet with you to discuss how to deal with it.
It's the enemy's. How about it? Your troops didn't retreat, did they?"
"No, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff next to him replied in a panic: "Our commanders and fighters of the 24th Guards Corps are still fighting tenaciously with the enemy on the right bank of the Dnieper River. Although many lines of defense have been breached by the enemy, we
The soldiers still stood firm and did not retreat even a step."
After Konev hummed, his eyes turned to the table. He saw that in addition to the army military commissar Serdyuk, there were two generals who looked unfamiliar. He pouted at them and asked Shumilo
Husband: "Comrade Shumilov, I wonder who these two generals are?"
Before Shumilov could speak, two generals in air force uniforms took two steps forward, raised their hands to salute Konev, and at the same time identified themselves.
"I am Major General Riazanov, commander of the 1st Assault Aviation Corps."
"I am Major General Podgorny, commander of the 4th Fighter Aviation Corps."
After hearing the two air force generals identify themselves, Konev couldn't help but frown. He was very dissatisfied with the two generals because according to his observation, the two generals failed to organize air cover for the ferry and
Landing site. Such good weather suitable for flying is wasted.
With a straight face, he first attacked Podgorny: "General Podgorny, what happened to your fighter planes? Why did you let the enemy's bombers bombard our army's river crossings and pontoon bridges wantonly?
Troops inflicted huge casualties?”
Podgorny, who was scolded by Konev, did not dare to speak because he knew very well that what the other party said was true. Before Konev appeared, he was discussing with Shumilov how to use the fighter group to drive away
German bombers wreaked havoc over the Dnieper River.
Konev came here not to curse, but to solve the problem. After scolding Podgorny a few words, he softened his tone and said: "Comrade General, immediately send a sufficient number of fighter planes to the landing site on the right bank.
Conduct non-stop patrols in the sky to intercept and destroy enemy bombers in the sky. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Podgorny waited for Konev to finish and immediately replied loudly: "I will immediately arrange a sufficient number of fighter planes to patrol over the landing site to provide necessary cover for the ground troops."
Regarding Podgorny's answer, Konev nodded with satisfaction, and then said to Ryazanov: "And you, General Ryazanov."
When Konev called his name, Ryazanov quickly straightened his body and waited for the other party's reprimand. But surprisingly, Konev did not reprimand him, but said to him: "Your army immediately dispatched with counterattacks."
Attack planes carrying tank bombs, in a dense assault formation, attacked the German tanks attacking our landing site one wave after another."
"Understood!" Riazanov replied loudly.
"As for you, General Shumilov." After assigning tasks to the two air force commanders, Konev turned his attention to Shumilov: "Your task is to inform the commander of the battle at the landing site on the right bank.
All corps and division-level commanders should be aware of the measures we have taken to resist German ground impacts and air attacks."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." After listening to the series of orders issued by Konev, Shumilov couldn't help feeling ecstatic. The reason why his troops on the right bank fought so hard was entirely because the German army used powerful armor.
The army and the air force put themselves at an absolute disadvantage in terms of firepower. However, with the participation of the fighter army and the assault aircraft army, we can definitely reverse the unfavorable situation on the battlefield in a short period of time: "I will immediately notify the right bank
Commanders, let them know that they are about to receive air support from the Air Force to boost the morale of the troops."
However, Konev's combat missions were not yet completed. After nodding slightly, he turned to the side and asked: "Where is the artillery commander?"
"I'm here, Comrade Commander." A general with a medium build and gray hair took two steps forward, straightened his back and reported to Konev: "I am the commander of the artillery of the group army."
"Gather all your artillery immediately." Konev ordered the other party: "And deploy them on the banks of the Dnieper River to assist the air force and the defenders at the landing site, and use artillery fire to destroy the German tanks."
"Is it all the artillery?"
"Of course." Konev nodded: "As long as the artillery of your group army, whether it is cannon, howitzer, or mortar or rocket launcher, is deployed on the shore. We must use powerful artillery fire to cause huge losses to the enemy.
.”
"But, Comrade Commander." After hearing Dokonev's order, the artillery commander said with some embarrassment: "It may take some time to gather so many artillery pieces."
"I'll give you one hour." Konev said in an unquestionable tone: "If the time is up and your artillery has not bombarded the enemy attacking the landing site on the right bank, then I will replace you with someone else.
.”
The artillery commander was frightened by Konev's words. He quickly expressed his position to the other party: "Don't worry, comrade commander, I assure you. In an hour, the artillery deployed on the Dnieper River will move toward the attack."
The enemy at the landing site carried out a heavy artillery bombardment."
When he said this, he was secretly thinking that it was obviously impossible to gather the artillery of the entire group army within an hour. The only way was to gather all the artillery units that could be assembled and let them
Within the specified time, shell the German troops attacking the landing site on the right bank. The remaining troops can use this time to continue to assemble towards the bank of the Dnieper River.
After Konev assigned the task, he took the tea handed by a staff officer, took a sip, waved to everyone and said: "Now that your tasks are clear, let's start executing them immediately."
Ryazanov had a radio station, which was placed in Shumilov's headquarters. He turned around and came to the radio station and dictated various combat orders to the operator, asking him to immediately send them to each aviation division so that they could be upgraded as soon as possible.
Air combat was carried out to eliminate German tanks and reduce the pressure on the landing site defenders.
When Konev saw this, he couldn't help but nodded slightly. When Riazanov returned to him, he smiled and said: "General Riazanov, it seems that you have thought very carefully, and you have actually put something here."
The radio station..."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Ryazanov rushed to say before Konev could finish: "In order to facilitate the command of the troops in combat, I will carry a radio with me wherever I go. In this way
Not only can I convey my orders in the shortest possible time, but I can also accurately guide the attack aircraft group to attack the enemy's target according to changes in the situation on the battlefield."
After Konev chatted with Ryazanov for a while, he turned his attention to Podgorny not far away, thinking that he would also give combat orders to his troops through the radio. But what he didn't expect was that
, Podgorny was on the phone, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, his behavior seemed a little flustered.
Seeing his performance, Konev immediately understood that the other party did not carry a radio everywhere like Ryazanov, so that now he could only call unknown people through the phone in Shumilov's headquarters.
The fighter group deployed somewhere gives the order to attack. If he does this, the attack of the fighter group will become extremely slow.
Not long after, Konev's guesses became a reality. Attack aircraft under General Ryazanov used a nine-plane formation to attack the German tanks attacking the landing site on the right bank. After several rounds of bombing, the Soviet positions
Burning German tanks could be seen everywhere in the front, and the enemy's attack was forced to terminate.
When Shumilov received the report from his subordinates, he immediately reported happily to Konev: "Comrade Commander, good news, good news. Thanks to General Ryazanov's attack aircraft group, the effective attack on the ground was
The attack destroyed a large number of German tanks and temporarily halted the German attack on the landing site on the right bank."
After hearing this, Konev did not get carried away. He nodded and said to the artillery commander: "Comrade artillery commander, are your artillery in place?"
Hearing Konev ask himself, the artillery commander quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, we have assembled more than 300 artillery pieces of various types on the bank of the Dnieper River and are ready to fire."
Knowing that the artillery force had more than 300 artillery pieces of various calibers deployed on the banks of the Dnieper River in a short period of time, Konev showed a satisfied smile on his face. He said to the other party: "Since the enemy's attack
, have been temporarily repelled by our air force and infantry, then your artillery bombardment can wait. Wait until the German army dispatches a large number of tanks to attack the landing site, and then use your powerful artillery fire to teach them a lesson."
Due to the effective tactics, the German attack on the landing site was successfully prevented, and the smiles returned to the faces of the commanders. Just when Konev wanted to say a few more words, the phone on the table rang, and the chief of staff picked up the
After listening to the phone, he handed it to Konev: "Comrade Commander, this is your phone number!"
"My phone number?" Konev asked casually as he reached for the phone, "Who's calling?"
"It's General Zakharov, Chief of Staff of the Front Army."
"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Konev put the microphone to his ear and asked, "What happened?"
"Comrade Commander, I have something to report to you."
"whats the matter?"
"After repeated consideration, I am ready to send General Kryuchinkin's 69th Army to take over the defense of the 27th Army at the landing site on the right bank of Kremenchug."