Chapter 1216 The bridge in the distance

As soon as Samoilov ran down the hill, Sokov saw an armored maintenance vehicle driven by a maintenance worker approaching. Two technicians got out of the vehicle and talked with the tank soldiers who came out of the tank turret. . After a while, the tank crew came out of the tank and gestured to the tanks behind, telling them to go around him and continue.

   Seeing one tank after another, bypassing the broken down tank under repair and continuing to drive forward, Sokov felt particularly heavy. Unexpectedly, after a night of repairs, there are still many problems with the tanks of the tank army. After driving for a few kilometers, a broken down tank appeared. After the 80 kilometers, how many tanks can be put into battle? ?

   When Samoilov returned, he brought General Poluboyarov with him.

Seeing General Poluboyarov coming over, Sokov first stepped forward to shake hands with him, and then said with a smile: "General Poluboyarov, it seems that your maintenance force still needs to be strengthened." , No sooner have we left the station than there are tanks that have broken down. I am worried that after the 80 kilometers, there may not be many complete tanks left."

"Comrade Commander, you have misunderstood." Poluboyarov pointed to the tank that was being repaired on the road, and said to Sokov: "This tank did not belong to the organizational system of our army, so it was not repaired last night. repair."

   "Isn't it your army's tank?" Sokov asked at a loss, "Then where did it come from?"

   "I heard from Colonel Khokhlov that you brought this tank back from the enemy-occupied area."

"The tank I brought back from the enemy-occupied area?" Sokov was taken aback for a moment, then remembered the T-34 tank with a white cross painted on it when he went to the 182nd Division's defense area, and asked tentatively: " Could it be that the commander of the tank is coca gold?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Samoilov on the side said: "When I went down to check just now, I happened to meet Gu Kejin, and he told me that after the review, he was able to continue driving this tank. However, they were temporarily transferred from the 182nd Division to the Tank Corps last night, so they did not carry out maintenance."

   Sokov carefully checked the body of the tank, and found that the white cross on the turret had disappeared, replaced by the Russian word "for the motherland", plus a tank number. He remembered that only three of Gu Kejin and the others escaped, and one of them was a woman, who seemed to be called Katayeva. This old-fashioned T-34 tank needs four drivers, two of them are Gu Kejin and Rikov. There are not enough people.

   "Comrade General," he asked General Poluboyarov with a sideways face: "Did you help them make up the crew members?"

"No." General Poluboyarov shook his head and said, "When I received this tank, the crew was complete, and it should be supplemented by Colonel Khokhlov. You know, after a long battle, Because of the loss of tanks in many tank units, the tank soldiers were converted to infantry. There should be many original tank soldiers in the 182nd Division, and there should be no problem with adding a few crew members."

   "Comrade Commander, I have come to see you, and there is one more important matter."

"whats the matter?"

"According to your order, our army will deploy defenses on the left bank of the Pusol River." Poluboyarov said: "If the battle is beneficial to our army, then the location of the attack is very favorable. But once the battle When things don't go well and we have to choose to retreat, the Pushol River behind us will block our way of retreat."

   "Comrade General," before Sokov could speak, Samoilov interjected, "Isn't there a bridge over the Pusyl River?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, do you know how long it takes more than a hundred tanks to pass a bridge?" Poluboyarov replied with a wry smile: "Even if there are no obstacles on the bridge, it will take 30 to 50 minutes. Now, every minute is precious, if it took us so long to retreat across the bridge, the enemy would have rushed to us long ago."

  Seeing what Samoilov wanted to say, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop him. If the opponent is not his old subordinate, Sokov will definitely criticize him mercilessly. When the senior commander is talking, what right do you, a little lieutenant, have to intervene? He said politely to Poluboyarov: "Comrade General, you are right. I didn't think carefully about this matter. I immediately arranged for the engineering battalion to erect the pontoon bridge."

"Is one engineer battalion enough?" Poluboyarov asked with some concern: "The width of that river is about 120 meters. Even if an engineer battalion works overtime, it can build up to two pontoon bridges a day. Did that many troops cross the river?"

"Comrade General, you don't have to worry about this." Speaking of building pontoon bridges, Sokov has a wealth of experience, and he said to Poluboyarov with confidence: "I can let engineers build two kinds of pontoon bridges, one is One for armored troops, one for infantry."

  Sokov's words confused Poluboyarov, and he asked in puzzlement: "Comrade Commander, are there two types of pontoon bridges for armored troops and infantry?"

   "Maybe not in other troops." Sokov said with a smile: "But in my army, there must be."

   "What kind of floating bridge is that?"

"The pontoon bridge that the armored troops pass is the one you know, so I won't explain it in detail." Sokov said to Poluboyarov with a smile: "As for the bridge that the infantry passes, it is a bridge that the infantry passes. Long strings of empty oil drums connected. People can walk on it, but tanks, armored vehicles and cars can't get through."

   "A pontoon built with oil drums connected together?" Poluboyarov frowned and pondered for a while, then asked tentatively, "Is it possible?"

"Of course, this kind of pontoon bridge was often used in the Battle of Stalingrad." Sokov introduced to Poluboyarov: "Some factories are surrounded by rivers, and the workers creatively invented this kind of bridge. A simple pontoon bridge, the discarded empty oil barrels are connected together with ropes, and once they are put on the river, it becomes a simple pontoon bridge. Moreover, the cost of this pontoon bridge is low. The German gunfire blew it up, and it cost less than half Hours later, the new pontoon can reappear on the water.”

"If it's true, it's really convenient." Poluboyarov nodded and said, "After all, the troops going to the Prokhorovka area this time, except for my tank army, are basically all infantry. , With this simple pontoon, we can get more troops across the river in the shortest possible time."

   Poluboyarov wanted to move forward with his own. After chatting with Sokov for a few words, he took his leave and left, got into the armored vehicle parked at the foot of the hill and continued on his way.

   After Poluboyarov walked away, Sokov asked a communications staff officer following him: "Is the phone line with the headquarters connected?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." The communications staff quickly replied, "You can talk to the headquarters at any time."

   "Get me through to the Chief of Staff."

Soon, the call was connected, and when Sameko's voice came from the receiver, Sokov said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have neglected one thing. The troops have reached Prokhorovka After the region, defenses will be deployed on both sides of the Pushol River, which will cause the troops to support each other very unfavorably."

   "Comrade Commander, there is a bridge across the Pushol River in the area we are defending. We can use this bridge to establish a connection between the two banks."

"It's not enough just to have a bridge." Seeing that Sameko hadn't realized the importance of the bridge until now, Sokov reminded them: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we are fighting in a large army. In addition to infantry, there are also a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks passing on the road, and it is easy to be congested with only one bridge."

  When Sameko heard this, he finally understood what Sokov wanted to express. He quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, do you mean that there is still a need to build a pontoon bridge on the Pusol River?"

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff, that's what I mean." Seeing that the other party finally understood his intentions, Sokov nodded and said, "We need to build a few more pontoon bridges on the Pushol River, which will help us quickly mobilize troops."

"Comrade Commander, we only have one engineer battalion, and we are not a professional pontoon bridge force. It is obviously unrealistic for them to build several pontoon bridges within a day or two." Sameko cautiously reminded Sokov : "Or, let's ask the front army headquarters for help and ask them to send us a pontoon bridge unit. As long as we have enough manpower, we can build as many pontoon bridges as we want."

"I think our current strength is enough, so we don't need to trouble our superiors anymore." Sukov knew very well in his heart that the Prairie Front Army had not yet entered the battle, and three group armies were transferred away. As the commander of the Front Army Konev must be furious now, so he won't get into trouble. He said into the microphone: "You just need to order the engineers to build a pontoon bridge for tanks in the shortest possible time. After completing this task, build a pontoon bridge for infantry."

  Hearing this, Sameko asked with some puzzlement: "Comrade Commander, why are there two types of pontoon bridges for tanks and infantry?"

"Yes, our common pontoon bridge can pass tanks, but it is too time-consuming to build, and it is easy to become the target of enemy bombing." Sokov guessed that Sameko should have never seen that kind of oil barrel pontoon, Then he said to him: "As for the pontoon bridge for infantry, it is enough to connect the empty oil barrels together so that people can pass."

"Comrade Commander, is it possible to build a pontoon bridge with empty oil barrels?" Sameko asked cautiously: "You know, although the water flow of the Pusol River is not urgent, but the river surface is more than 100 meters, the empty oil barrels erected Can the pontoon pass people?"

"I said yes, that's for sure." Sukov saw that Sameko had been chattering with himself, and he felt a little unhappy. He thought to himself that you have never seen a pontoon made of empty oil barrels. What is there? Without the right to speak, he said impatiently: "You immediately arrange for the engineering battalion to rush to the Pushol River and start erecting the pontoon bridge."

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." Sameko agreed loudly: "I will immediately send the engineer battalion to drive through the Prokhorovka area by car and build a pontoon bridge for tanks and infantry."

After almost an hour, Sokov, who was about to lose his patience, finally saw a convoy of trucks from the engineer battalion, carrying personnel and a large amount of supplies, pass by the foot of the hill and head towards Prokhorovka .

  Samoilov looked at the convoy going away, and asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, shall we continue to stay here, or follow the engineer battalion to the Pushol River?"

  Although it is a matter of time to go to the Pushol River, Sokov is unwilling to take risks easily at this moment. Who knows what the current situation in the Prokhorovka area is. If he took a platoon of guards and rushed to the Pushol River in a light car, but encountered a small group of German troops, his life might be in danger.

After trying to understand this, Sokov waved his hand and said, "Comrade lieutenant, the next big battle is going to happen. As the commander of the group army, how can I easily leave the army? It will not be too late for us to reach the Prokhorovka area."

In Samoilov's mind, Sokov is an omnipotent person. Seeing that Sokov is unwilling to go to the Pushol River at this moment, he is particularly worried and said: "Comrade Commander, if you don't go As for the Pushore River, I am worried that the pontoon bridge erected by the engineer battalion will not satisfy you."

"Comrade Lieutenant, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov comforted Samoilov and said, "I have already told General Poluboyarov about how to erect the pontoon bridge. I'm afraid I didn't wait for the engineering battalion to erect it. After finishing the pontoon bridge, General Poluboyarov’s tank army has arrived at the designated place, and if he saw that I did not show up, he would take the initiative to explain to the engineer battalion how to erect the pontoon bridge.”

   Not long after, Sokov felt that his decision was correct. Lunev, who was originally staying at the headquarters, hurried over in a jeep. When he saw Sokov standing on the hill watching the troops march, he was relieved and said happily, "Comrade commander, You are still here, I thought you ran to the front again."

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissioner, the battle is imminent, how can I just leave my army casually." Sokov naturally wouldn't tell the other party, because he was worried that he might encounter danger if he rushed to the Prokhorovka area rashly. I just chose to stay. After talking about these high-sounding reasons, Sokov asked Lunev: "Why are you here?"

"When I was mobilizing the commanders and fighters just now, I heard the guards say that you arranged for the engineering battalion to repair the pontoon bridge on the Pushol River." Lunev said pantingly: "I am worried that with your personality, you will follow the engineering battalion. Go to the front, I came here specially to stop you. Recently, the base camp issued an order that commanders above the division level are not allowed to go to the front line without authorization."

  (end of this chapter)