Yakov took Sokov and Potukin outside the headquarters, pointed at the truck parked not far away, and said to Sokov: "Misha, I've prepared the automatic gun and supporting equipment for you.
The ammunition is in the car. Do you think my people will send you back to the army now, or will you wait until you finish your work here and then take it back yourself?"
Sokov recalled the tone of Rokossovsky's conversation with him in his mind, and guessed that the other party must have something important to tell him. He might not know when he would be able to go back, and Yakov's mission was to deliver weapons.
He certainly couldn't stay here for too long. Therefore, he decisively said to Yakov: "Yakov, I think it's better to trouble your people and send these weapons to my troops." Then he ordered Potu.
Jin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please act as a guide for the comrades from Moscow to transport these weapons back to the division headquarters."
When Sokov re-entered the headquarters, Yakov pointed to a jeep not far away and said to Potukin: "Comrade Captain, my car is over there, please get in!"
Although Potukin saw the jeep that brought him parked not far away, he thought it was better to leave it to Sokov, so he went over to say hello to the driver and headed towards Yakov's jeep.
Walk over.
The lieutenant who came with Yakov saw Potukin's respectful attitude toward Sokov and couldn't help but curiously asked Yakov: "Comrade Captain, I just saw the lieutenant colonel and Sokov
The major's attitude in speaking is like a subordinate treating a superior, what is going on?"
"Major Sokov is now the acting commander of the 328th Division, and the lieutenant colonel is his chief of staff." After Yakov briefly explained to the lieutenant, he ordered him: "The jeep that the lieutenant colonel and I were in led the way.
, you follow me in the truck."
After Sokov returned to the command post, Rokossovsky gestured to the empty seat next to him: "Misha, sit down. I think we should have a good talk."
When Sokov was in the military hospital in Moscow, he vowed to tell Rokossovsky that based on his analysis, the other party would take up the post of commander of the Bryansk Front in May, and at the same time made a request for the other party to be transferred.
At that time, he also took his troops away with him.
Although it was already May, and the Battle of Kharkov commanded by Marshal Timoshenko was about to begin, there was no sign of Rokossovsky being promoted. So when Sokov heard about Rokossov
When Fsky said he wanted to talk to him, he felt guilty for a while. He forced himself to look cheerful and asked: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what you plan to talk to me about?"
"I remember that when I was recuperating from an injury at the Dimiryazev Agricultural College, you once told me that according to your judgment, I would be given a higher position in May." Rokossovsky looked at it with a half-smile.
Sokov said: "It is already May, and no leader has talked to me before I left Moscow. It seems that your judgment was wrong this time."
Rokossovsky's words made Sokov break into a cold sweat. He only remembered that Rokossovsky took up the post of commander of the Bryansk Front after he recovered from his injury, but he did not remember the specific time.
I don't know. But at that time, in order to avoid being transferred to the Southwest Front Army and used as cannon fodder, I couldn't wait to talk to Rokossovsky about the matter. As a result, I was now riding a tiger with difficulty.
"Comrade Commander," Sokov could only bite the bullet and say: "As you know, before I went to visit you in the hospital, I attended a military meeting chaired by Marshal Timoshenko. The reason why I
What I said to you was entirely based on my analysis of the situation at that time."
Fortunately, Rokossovsky just asked casually. He did not take this matter to heart. He was more concerned about whether the performance of the 328th Division could satisfy him after the offensive campaign began soon. He put the map
He pushed it in front of Sokov and asked: "If your division is asked to attack the enemy on the other side of Zizdra, what are you going to do?"
"The closest point to our forward position from the enemy is only two hundred meters." When Sokovsky heard Rokossovsky ask how to attack the enemy on the other side of Zizdra, his heart suddenly became relaxed. He quickly pointed to the map and said
: "Any disturbance on our position can be clearly seen by the enemy on the other side. If they use firepower to block it, our attacking troops will suffer huge casualties before they reach the river."
"I know the situation you mentioned very well." Rokossovsky asked calmly: "I ask you now, how do you plan to force the troops to cross the Zizdra River?"
Although Sokov, who comes from a later generation, has never been a soldier, he has learned a lot of tactics through various media. If he wants to forcefully cross the Zizdra River, he will definitely not foolishly use people to fill it. If he attacks directly from the position,
To forcefully cross the Zizdra River, not only will the troops pay a heavy price during the distance to the river, but even when they reach the river, they will pay an equally heavy price while waiting to board the ship. In this way, it has not even begun.
If you cross the river, half of the people will die, so how can you fight the rest of the battle?
Therefore, he pointed to the map and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, this is what I think about. At the beginning of the offensive battle, use the artillery fire of the group army to bombard the German positions, and my troops also put on a strong posture.
posture. Of course, these are just to confuse the enemy. The main force of our division will quietly move up the Zizdra River without the enemy noticing, looking for weak points in the German defense to cross the river. When crossing the river from the upper reaches
When troops launch an attack from the enemy's flank, the enemy's attention will definitely be attracted to it. When the troops deployed on the front carry out a forced crossing, casualties can be greatly reduced."
According to Rokossovsky's idea, Sokov would definitely ask himself to bombard the enemy with artillery fire from the army group, and then his troops would forcefully cross the Zizdra River while the enemy was suppressed by artillery fire. He was still thinking,
The troops' landing site was only a few dozen meters away from the German position. No matter how careful the artillerymen were, accidental damage would inevitably occur. But when he heard Sokov's plan, his eyes lit up and he quickly asked: "M
Sha, have you found a suitable place to cross the river?"
"Here." Sokov pointed to the upper reaches of the Zizdra River and said to Rokossovsky: "After our exploration, we found that five or six kilometers upstream, there is a section of the river that flows slowly and shallowly.
, our troops can wade on foot. The most important thing is that our scouts found no trace of German troops nearby."
"So, it is very appropriate to choose this place as the breakthrough point." Rokossovsky waited for Sokov to finish and said with satisfaction: "Major Sokov, our attack will start in a week.
You can start preparing for the attack now. If you need anything, just call me or the chief of staff, and we will try our best to meet your needs."
Next, Malinin introduced to Sokov the offensive battle that would begin soon, and pointed out their next offensive direction on the map.
When Sokov left the headquarters, he thought he could only walk back to the division headquarters. However, he accidentally saw that the jeep that brought him and Potukin was still parked on the roadside, so he hurriedly walked over.
The driver, who was taking a nap in the car, saw Sokov approaching him and quickly got out of the car and saluted him. At the same time, he reported: "Comrade division commander, shall we go back to the division headquarters now?"
Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade driver, why are you still here? Why didn't you go back to the division headquarters with the chief of staff?"
"Comrade division commander," after hearing Sokov's question, the driver quickly replied: "The chief of staff took another jeep and went back to the division with the commander from Moscow. He was worried that you would not be able to return to the division headquarters without a car.
It’s convenient, so I specifically asked me to stay and wait for you. Please get in the car, we can set off at any time!”
Sokov returned to the division headquarters and saw a pile of things covered with canvas next to the headquarters. He immediately judged that this was the automatic rifle sent by Yakov and the others. However, just to be on the safe side, he walked over and lifted it.
He opened the canvas and took a look. Sure enough, it was a wooden box containing rifles and bullets. He waved over a soldier from the guard platoon and ordered him: "Comrade soldier, go back and tell your platoon leader to send two people to guard it.
No one is allowed to approach these weapons without my order."
Seeing Sokov walking in from the outside, Potukin said with surprise: "Comrade Commander, you are back!"
"Back!" When Sokov spoke, he quickly scanned the headquarters and found that apart from Potukin, there were only a few staff officers and communications soldiers. He asked curiously: "Where are the comrades from Moscow?"
"They have already left!" Potukin quickly replied: "They unloaded their weapons from the car and left in a hurry. I originally wanted to invite the captain in for tea, but he said there were urgent matters and he needed to rush right away.
I didn’t keep them when I returned to Moscow.” After a pause, Potukin asked again, “Comrade division commander, how should we distribute these new automatic rifles?”
Seeing Potukin's embarrassed look, Sokov knew in his heart that the number of this batch of assault rifles was too small, only fifty, and no matter how he distributed it, it would not be enough. So he said decisively: "This batch of new assault rifles
Give the automatic rifles to the division guard platoon and let them change their equipment."
The reason why Sokov wanted to hand over the assault rifles to the guard platoon was because the soldiers supplemented by his superiors had been enriched in the regiment battalions, so that the original division guard battalions had to be temporarily changed to a platoon structure due to insufficient numbers.
The number of people defending the division headquarters is small. If the weapons are worse, if the enemy surprises the division headquarters, there will be no way to fight back.
After solving the problem of gun distribution, Potukin then asked: "Comrade Division Commander, can I ask what Comrade Commander discussed with you?"
"In another week, we will launch another attack on the enemy." Sokov slapped his hand on the map in front of him: "The first thing we have to break through is the enemy position in front of the 1135th Regiment."
After listening to Sokov's words, Potukin couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade division commander, you should know that the regiment's forward position is only two hundred meters away from the enemy's position. As soon as our troops leave the position,
, they will be killed by German firepower from the other side. After arriving at the river, our soldiers will have to board the ship under a hail of enemy bullets, and the casualties will be even more horrific."
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right." Sokov stared at the map in front of him and said: "If we order the 1135th Regiment to take a forced crossing operation, half of the commanders and fighters will be under enemy fire before crossing the river.
They were eliminated by the river, so we must adopt new tactics."
"New tactics?" Potukin couldn't help but be stunned when he heard what Sokov said, and then asked: "What new tactics?"
"It's very simple. Before the attack, the artillery of the group army will provide us with artillery support and bombard the German troops on the other side." Sokov drew a small arc on the map with his hand and continued: "We can order
The 1135th Regiment put up an offensive posture to attract the enemy's attention. As for our main force, we went up the river, crossed the river here, and detoured back to the side of the German army."
"This is very interesting." Although Potukin felt that Sokov's tactics were very novel and had hope of success, he still said with some concerns: "But Comrade Division Commander, if our actions are discovered by the Germans, then in
The troops crossing the river upstream will be in danger. What can you do to prevent the enemy from discovering our army's intentions?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I have a way." Sokov tapped his finger twice on the position of the 1st Battalion of the 1135th Regiment, and then said: "Early tomorrow morning, order Colonel Bindasov to move the other two
The battalion was transferred into the position of the first battalion."
"What, transfer the other two battalions into the first battalion's position?" Hearing what Sokov said, Potukin asked in confusion: "Comrade division commander, although the first battalion's position has been reinforced, at the same time, such a
I think it is very inappropriate to have too many troops in the forward position. In this way, the enemy will quickly determine what actions our army will take in this area, which will expose our strategic intentions."
"The troops were mobilized during the day and quietly withdrawn at night. Then after dawn, they were sent to the front again." Sokov ignored the stunned Potukin and said to himself: "We just want to give the Germans a
The illusion makes them think that we are constantly increasing troops at the front, making them mistakenly believe that we will launch an attack here first to attract them to transfer more troops."
Potukin is capable of being the chief of staff of the division. After Sokov's explanation, he immediately realized: "I understand, comrade division commander, I understand everything. We are constantly adding troops to the front, and the Germans must think that
We will carry out forced crossings at any cost in this area, so they will focus all their attention here and relax their surveillance of other areas, so that our troops crossing the river in the upper reaches can successfully cross Zhid.