Chapter 1285

  After the battle started, the Guards Division on the left had been standing still. Although Sokov felt a little uncomfortable, he did not think in his heart that without the support of the friendly forces on the left, he would not be able to win the battle.

  Sokov stared at the map, thinking to himself that the German 19th Armored Division suffered varying degrees of losses, both in terms of personnel and equipment, after fighting during this period of time. Although it is not clear about the specific losses of the German army, Sokov is very clear that in the Battle of the Vistula River in 1944, a Panther tank battalion of the 19th Armored Division destroyed dozens of Soviet tanks like a shooting show. It is absolutely impossible for a tank army to be left behind in today's battle.

Seeing Sokov staring at the map, Lunev thought he was worried about the ongoing battle, so he comforted him and said, "Comrade Commander, don't worry, even if the friendly forces on the left wing don't move out, if the situation is critical, we will fight back." The troops near the banks of the Pushol can be called up and thrown into battle."

"No need, Comrade Military Commissioner." Sokov waved his hands and said confidently: "I believe that the troops that have already entered the battle are fully capable of defeating the German army." After saying these two sentences, he looked up at Same Coe asked, "Chief of Staff, how is our force doing?"

"Comrade Commander," Sameko reported to Sokov with a newly received battle report in his hand: "The 188th Division, which was attacking on the left, encountered desperate resistance from the German armored forces, and its progress was relatively slow. At present, it is blocked by the German army in front of the second line of defense, and the advancing distance is not more than one kilometer. The 384th Division on the right is advancing smoothly, and now it has wedged into the German defense area for five kilometers to support."

   "Oh, wedged into the German defense zone for five kilometers?" Lunev turned to look at Sokov after hearing Sameko's words, and said in surprise: "Major General Gritsenko's troops advanced really fast."

Unexpectedly, Sokov shook his head and said: "It's too slow, it's too slow. Two hours after the offensive started, General Gritsenko's 384th Division actually only advanced five kilometers. Are you learning how to climb a snail?"

Sokov's words confused Lunev. He didn't understand that the 188th Division had advanced only one kilometer. Sokov did not say that their progress was slow; while the 384th Division, which advanced five kilometers, was criticized for its speed too slow. With this question in mind, Lunev asked in puzzlement: "Comrade Commander, I think Major General Gritsenko's troops advanced quite quickly. How can you say that their actions are too slow?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, take a look." Sokov pointed to the map on the table and explained to Lunev: "The German army only has some infantry and a few armored units in front of the 384th Division. The infantry covered by the two tank brigades. If Major General Gritsenko can be faster, they can detour from the flank of the 19th Armored Division to the enemy's rear and cut off the enemy's retreat.

  As long as the encirclement of the enemy is completed, our attack on the 19th Armored Division will no longer be a battle of defeat, but a battle of annihilation. As long as the 19th Armored Division is wiped out, the rear of the German army that is attacking the Oboyan area will be completely exposed to us. "

   Lunev stared at the map and was surprised to find that if the 19th Armored Division on the front was really annihilated as Sokov said, then the enemy attacking the Oboyan area would be in danger of being encircled by the Soviet army. If the enemy does not want the tragedy of Stalingrad to happen again, they will definitely stop their offensive and withdraw their troops to a safe area in time.

  As long as the German army stops attacking Oboyan and retreats to the starting point of the attack, it means that the battle of Kursk initiated by the enemy will end in their failure. At that time, the 27th Army, which contributed to the enemy's retreat, may be directly rewarded by the Supreme Command and won an eye-catching honor.

  Thinking of this, Lunev raised his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, it is necessary to call General Gritsenko and urge his troops to speed up the attack in order to cut off the retreat of the 19th Armored Division."

"I think so too. We must urge Major General Gritsenko to speed up his attack. Otherwise, it will not be so easy to annihilate this army when the German commander comes to his senses." Sokov finished speaking and ordered Sakov Meko said: "Chief of Staff, immediately send a report to General Gritsenko, ordering him to speed up the attack, and be sure to cut off their retreat before the enemy reacts, so as to create favorable conditions for the complete annihilation of the 19th Armored Division."

  In fact, the advancement speed of the 384th Division could not satisfy Sokov, not because of the strong resistance they encountered along the way. On the contrary, during the offensive, the resistance they encountered was negligible compared with the 188th Division on the left. Sometimes the firepower on the enemy's position is quite fierce, but as long as the tanks that cover the infantry's assault and fire a few shots at the enemy's position, the infantry will charge again, and the enemy's resistance will soon collapse.

   Gritsenko had never fought such a smooth battle, so smooth that he wondered if he had fallen into the enemy's trap. Therefore, every time he captured a German position, he would send troops to search nearby to confirm that there was no ambush laid by the German army, and then order the troops to attack the next German position.

After receiving the order forwarded by Sameko at this moment, Major General Gritsenko realized that his performance on the battlefield was too conservative. The Germans resisted and detoured to the rear of the 19th Armored Division, completely cutting off their retreat.

  The German troops resisting the attack of the 384th Division, as soon as the position was lost, they immediately withdrew to the reserve position. Taking advantage of the favorable opportunity of the 384th Division's hesitation, they hurriedly adjusted and arranged organizational defenses. According to Schmidt's idea, the Russian army attacking its left flank will gradually weaken its offensive strength as the front stretches. In the end, I only need a small amount of troops to easily block their attacks.

Unexpectedly, the 384th Division changed its attack speed without warning. After capturing the position, it no longer stopped to search and eliminate the remnants of the enemy, but only left a small number of troops to stick to the occupied position, and its main force was still with the tank troops. From behind, he kept rushing towards the depth of his defense.

Schmidt noticed a sudden change in the Soviet army's style of play, and quickly asked his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, under the strong offensive of the Russians, our left wing may not be able to last long. Tell me, what can you do? Save the defeat?"

"Your Excellency, Division Commander," replied the Chief of Staff, "I have been watching the Russians since the beginning of the battle. One thing is very strange. Although Sokov's troops launched a fierce attack on us, their left flank The guards and tank units have remained on hold."

  Schmidt had noticed what the chief of staff said a long time ago. Hearing him mention this matter now, he asked with some hesitation: "These Russian troops have not made any movement. Could there be some conspiracy?"

"Master Commander, I think you are overthinking." The chief of staff explained to Schmidt: "According to my observation, the cooperation between Russian troops is very poor. Don't look at the troops on Sokov's left wing, who once fought with him They fought side by side, but after all they belonged to different units and were under the command of different commanders."

  The chief of staff didn't know that Sokov's troops had been temporarily assigned to Vatutin's command. He still thought that Sokov's troops were commanded by Konev. It was precisely because of the serious lag in intelligence that he made a wrong suggestion to Schmidt: "I think we can leave a small number of troops on the right wing to monitor the Russians opposite us, and then transfer the main force to the left wing to deal with the Soviet Union. Cove's troops."

"Okay, Chief of Staff." Schmidt knew that if he didn't give reinforcements to his troops on the left wing, the defense line there would be lost one after another, so he only thought for a moment before agreeing to the chief of staff's proposal: "Leave an army on the right wing." The battalion of infantry and one company of tanks watched over the Russian Guards divisions and tank units, and the rest were immediately transferred to the left flank to strengthen the defense there."

  The 188th Division, which served as the left-wing attack, was originally struggling. As Schmidt transferred the troops from areas where there was no fighting to areas where the fighting was fierce, Division Commander Koida quickly realized the seriousness of the problem. Report the situation to Sokov.

   "Comrade Commander," Koyda said anxiously on the phone, "During our offensive, our division found that the enemy seemed to be showing signs of increasing their troops."

Knowing that the enemy was mobilizing troops, Sokov was not worried at all. He said to Koida: "Comrade Colonel, don't worry about your flanks and rear. I will arrange other troops to cover you. What you have to do is Continue to attack forward. After the 384th Division has completely cut off the retreat of the 19th Armored Division, you can start encircling and destroying the enemy."

   Putting down the phone, Sokov felt that he could get in touch with Zhukov at this moment and inform him of the situation on the battlefield. Then he ordered the director of the communications corps: "Comrade director, immediately connect me to the headquarters of the front army. I have important information and I want to report it to Comrade Marshal."

   Taking advantage of the time when the director of the communications corps answered the phone, Sameko asked Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade commander, what is the purpose of calling Comrade Marshal at this time?"

"The purpose is very simple." Sokov pointed to the map and said to Sameko: "The enemy is transferring their troops from the right flank to the left flank to strengthen the defense there. Now in front of General Marankin and General Trufanov, the enemy The defense is like a fake, as long as they launch an attack, they can quickly advance to the depths of the enemy like a zipper."

  Sameko stared at the map and thought about it, and felt that what Sokov said made sense. Then he nodded and asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, tell me, is the reason why the Front Army Command didn't allow General Marankin's troops to attack the enemy at the same time as us, is it just waiting for such a situation?" What time?"

"It's entirely possible." Sokov agreed with Sameko's statement very much. He nodded and said, "If General Marankin's troops attack at the same time as ours, the enemy will definitely resist desperately. Once the attack fails If it goes smoothly, then the war will fall into a stalemate.

   But now we are attacking alone, and the enemy is afraid that General Marankin's troops will also participate in the attack, so they dare not easily mobilize troops. When they found that their left wing could no longer hold on under our attack, the enemy could only take the risk of transferring troops from the right wing to the left wing to strengthen the defense there. As a result, the enemy's right flank has become weaker, and it should be the best time for General Marankin and the others to launch an attack at this moment. "

   Before Sameko could speak, the call was connected. Sokov took the microphone and heard Zhukov's voice from inside: "Misha, I heard that your battle is going well. The 384th Division, which launched an attack on the right, has already detoured to the enemy's rear, and will soon be able to completely Cut off the enemy's retreat and complete the encirclement of the 19th Armored Division."

Seeing that Zhukov knew the situation on the battlefield so well, Sokov couldn't help but feel secretly happy, so that when he persuaded the opponent to use his friendly forces on the left wing, he could save some words: "Comrade Marshal, you are right, my troops are progressing very smoothly. .Now, in order to block our attack, the enemy has to transfer their troops from the right flank to strengthen the defense of the left flank.”

   "So," Zhukov interrupted Sokov without waiting for Sokov to finish, "There are not many Germans left in front of General Trufanov and General Marankin?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied: "As long as they launch an attack, they can easily destroy the enemy's defense. Next, they can join us in encircling Schmidt's 19th Armored Division." .”

"Misha, you are very good." After Zhukov sincerely praised Sokov, he continued: "The reason why Comrade Vatutin didn't let Marankin and the others attack with you is waiting for such an opportunity. It won't be long before you see your troops on the left, attacking the enemy."

"Comrade Marshal," said Vatutin, seeing Zhukov put down the phone, and said with a smile on his face, "I really didn't expect that after only four or five hours of fighting, General Sokov forced Schmidt to send the main force of his right wing. , they were all transferred to the left flank to strengthen the defense there. In this way, the front of Trufanov and General Marankin, the enemy's defense became extremely weak. As long as we attack, we can quickly wedge into the German army defense in depth."

"Comrade Vatutin," Zhukov urged Vatutin after he had finished speaking, "since the best time to attack has come, why hesitate? Give the troops an order immediately, and let them take advantage of the enemy's emptiness. At the same time, decisively break through the enemy's defenses and create conditions for the complete annihilation of this German army."

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." After Vatutin agreed, he turned and told Ivanov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please give the two generals Trufanov and Marankin a combat order to attack across the board immediately. , stormed the frontal German 19th Armored Division, and assisted General Sokov's troops, striving to wipe out this German army."

  (end of this chapter)