Chapter 1356 Pre-war meeting

   On the last day of July, a lot happened.

  First of all, the headquarters of the Supreme Command decided to hand over the task of capturing Belgorod and Kharkov to Konev's Steppe Front Army.

  Secondly, the 27th Army under the command of Sokov returned to the establishment and continued to be under the command of Admiral Konev.

  Thirdly, all the commanders and fighters of the 62nd Marine Brigade have all experienced the feeling of riding a hovercraft. Some original helmsmen have been able to drive the hovercraft proficiently after a few days of training.

  Fourth, through Yakov's efforts, Asiya was officially transferred to the Armament Department and became a female doctor in the department.

Sokov sent Asiya away, and as soon as he returned to the headquarters, Sameko said to him anxiously: "Comrade commander, just received a call from General Konev, ordering us to rush to the front army headquarters immediately, accept New combat mission."

   "It seems that a new battle is about to start." Sokov said to himself, and then asked: "Do you order me to go alone, or should all the army chiefs go to a meeting?"

   "In addition to you and Comrade Military Commissioner, I will also go to the meeting."

   Half an hour later, the three of Sokov arrived at Konev's Front Army Command.

   After entering the building, Sokov saw that the corridor leading to the meeting room was full of commanders from various units. Judging from their shoulder badges, they were basically generals. Except for two or three people who have the same military rank as Sokov and Sameko, the rest are basically lieutenant generals or generals.

   Seeing the three of Sokov appear, someone immediately greeted them.

The person who greeted Sokov was General Kryuchenkin, the commander of the 69th Army. He held Sokov's hand and said enthusiastically: "Hi, General Sokov, I really didn't expect to meet you here. .”

   "Hello, General Kryuchenkin." When Sokov saw Kryuchenkin, he couldn't help being a little surprised. Isn't the 69th Army affiliated to the Voronezh Front Army? How could he appear at the Front Army Command of the Steppe Front Army?

Kryuchenkin saw Sokov's doubts, and quickly explained to him: "General Sokov, you may not know that as early as ten days ago, our army was officially placed under the command of the Steppe Front Army. Now you and I They are all subordinates of General Konev."

   "This is really great." Sokov grabbed Kryuchenkin's hand and shook vigorously, "We can fight side by side again."

"General Sokov, I may disappoint you." Klitschko's face showed an embarrassing expression: "My troops suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Kursk and were transferred from the Voronezh Front Army. I thought The superiors took us down to make up for it, and there will be no combat missions for two or three months.

   But what I didn't expect was that ten days ago, the base camp ordered the troops of the Steppe Front Army to march towards Belgorod, and our army group followed. Since we have not received the necessary supplements, we may not be able to participate in the next battle. "

"So that's how it is." After listening to Klitschko's words, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little regretful. The 69th Army, which was understrength, obviously couldn't attack the city heavily guarded by the German army. They could only stand aside and watch this battle. It's lively.

The two were talking when the closed door at the end of the corridor opened. An officer stood at the door and said loudly to the people in the corridor: "comrades, commanders, the meeting is about to start, please go in." The commanders who were still chatting together stopped talking immediately when they heard what the officer said, and walked quickly towards the meeting room.

   "Comrade Commander." Sameko came to Sokov and said to him, "Let's go in."

  Sokov and others followed behind the crowd, walked into the conference room, and sat down in a back seat. He chose this position because he wanted to leave the meeting room early after the meeting ended.

  As soon as everyone sat down, Konev, Lieutenant General Susekoff, Military Commissar of the Front Army, and Lieutenant General Zakharov, Chief of Staff, walked in from outside the gate.

  Seeing Konev enter the arena, all the commanders who had been seated stood up suddenly, and saluted the three of them.

  The three went straight to the long table at the end of the meeting room. Konev sat in the center of the table, Susekoff sat on his right, and Zakharov sat on his left.

   "Please sit down, commanders and comrades!" Konev raised his hands and pressed down, and said loudly: "Our meeting will start soon."

After all the participating commanders sat down, Lieutenant General Susekov, the military commissioner of the Front Army, stood up. He held the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and glanced over every commander present. Some excitedly said: "Commanders, hello! During the Battle of Kursk, many of our troops were transferred to friendly forces, and they fought against the enemy tenaciously with them... Now the battle is over, and some troops are officially assigned to Allied command, and some units have returned to the formation of the front army."

   When he said the last sentence, he cast his eyes on Sokov who was sitting in the last row. After lingering on Sokov for a while, he moved to another place, and he continued: "Commanders, the headquarters of the Supreme Command ordered us and the Voronezh Front Army to confront each other in Belgorod-Kharko. The enemy launched an attack and completely wiped them out in this area. The specific combat deployment will be told by the chief of staff, General Zakharov."

After Susekov sat down, Zakharov stood up and said with a normal expression: "Commanders, the main forces of the Voronezh Front Army and the Steppe Front Army are now assembled in the north and northwest of Belgorod respectively. Conditions were created for the large-depth and wide-frontal assault on the junction of the German Tank 4th Army and the 'Kenff' Battle Group.

The order from the headquarters of the Supreme Command to our front army is the determination to carry out a split assault from the northwestern region of Belgorod to the general direction of Varki and Novvodolaga in order to split the enemy Belgorod-Kharkov group , and then surrounded and annihilated the enemy in the Kharkov area..."

After Zakharov introduced the general situation, he, like Susekov, kept his eyes on Sokov: "As for the west of Belgorod, General Sokov's 27th Army will be responsible for the attack. "

  Zakharov has already called his name, and it is obviously inappropriate to continue to sit still. Sokov quickly stood up and replied loudly: "Our army promises to complete its mission."

"General Sokov," Konev, after listening to Sokov's statement, stopped Zakharov who was about to continue, looked at Sokov and asked, "I want to ask, how long have you been?" Will time break through the German defenses west of Belgorod?"

   Based on the information returned by the scouts, Sokov knew the situation of the German army west of the city. Hearing Konev's question at this moment, he quickly replied: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army. If it is just to break through the German defensive position in the western suburbs of the city, I think 15 minutes will be enough."

  Sokov's words were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a red-hot pot, and it immediately exploded.

   "What, for a quarter of an hour, to break through the outer positions of the German army on the outskirts of the city? Did I hear correctly?"

   "You heard me right, what I heard was also a quarter of an hour."

   "His tone is a bit too crazy. If my troops were to attack, it would take a day to break through the enemy's defense. He said it would only take a quarter of an hour. This is simply a fantasy."

  Listening to other commanders talking about him, Sokov didn't speak, as if the person he was talking about wasn't himself, but someone completely irrelevant.

Konev naturally heard these arguments, but he didn't express his opinion immediately, but quietly observed Sokov's expression, and unexpectedly found that Sokov's expression was as usual, and he didn't seem to take other people's arguments to heart at all. .

   After the meeting room became quiet again, Konev asked the question that everyone cared about: "General Sokov, do you know the enemy's defensive deployment in the west of the city?"

"Yes, Comrade Front Army Commander, I understand very well." Sokov replied: "It may only take a quarter of an hour to break through the enemy's defensive positions on the outskirts of the city, but after the troops enter the city, they must clear the enemy west of the city. It will take two days."

   "Oh, you only need a quarter of an hour to break through the defensive positions on the outskirts of the city." Konev asked curiously: "Then why did it take two days to capture the western part of the city?"

"Now our defense area and the enemy's defense area are only separated by a river." Seeing countless suspicious eyes from around, Sokov decided to use this opportunity to explain to everyone: "The enemy thinks that we don't have enough equipment to cross the river. The river can be passed, hence the fortifications on the bank, as for a few trenches and some civil fire points."

"Even if you have enough equipment for crossing the river, if you want to cross the river under the blockade of enemy fire, even if you succeed, you will inevitably suffer huge casualties." A lieutenant general sitting not far away said in a contemptuous tone: " In a quarter of an hour, your troops may not even be able to land on the opposite bank, so how could it be possible to seize the outer positions of the German army?"

Zakharov has always had a good impression of Sokov. Seeing that he was questioned by others at this moment, he hurried out to smooth things over: "I knew General Sokov as early as during the Moscow Defense War. I knew him very well. He He is not a person who speaks big words casually, since he said that he can seize the enemy's position in a quarter of an hour, then he can definitely do it."

  The commanders who participated in the meeting did not expect that the chief of staff of the Front Army would support Sokov in public, and they couldn't help but show a look of astonishment on their faces.

"I think Comrade Chief of Staff is right." As soon as Zakharov finished speaking, Konev went on to say: "General Sokov's commanding ability, even the Supreme Commander himself is very impressed, saying that it seems that without him Unfinished call."

  Konev mentioned the affirmation of Sokov by the Supreme Commander himself, which played an excellent role. Sokov saw curiosity and approval on the faces of the attendees who were watching him. Even the general who had just attacked him had an uncontrollable smile in his eyes.

"Okay, General Sokov, don't play tricks." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Konev asked Sokov bluntly: "Tell everyone quickly, how can you ensure that your troops are ready for a quarter of an hour?" to seize the enemy's defensive positions on the outskirts of the city?"

   After Konev finished speaking, everyone's eyes were on Sokov, wanting to figure out what was the reason that made the young General Sokov so confident.

   "The general comrade is right. If we use conventional river crossing equipment and brave the enemy's bullets to carry out the forced crossing, even if the width of the river is only 150 meters, we will not even be able to approach the enemy's side of the bank for a quarter of an hour."

Everyone was puzzled by Sokov's words, thinking that since he also admitted that the enemy's side of the shore would not be able to approach within a quarter of an hour, who gave him such confidence to dare to say a quarter of an hour to seize it? What about the wild words of the enemy's position?

Sokov continued in the eyes of everyone: "The superior has just equipped us with a new type of river crossing equipment. Its speed can reach 35 to 50 knots. In other words, the starting point of our assault force, even if It is four to five hundred meters away from the enemy's position, and it only takes a minute or two to rush to the front of the enemy's position. Before the enemy has even recovered, our soldiers can rush into their fortifications and start fighting with them. Melee and hand-to-hand combat."

"New river crossing equipment?" Except for Sameko and Lunev, the other commanders couldn't help but look at each other after hearing what Sokov said, and they asked each other in a low voice: "Have you heard of the ?"

   "Have you heard of any new type of river crossing equipment? Could it be that they borrowed the amphibious speedboat used by the navy?"

"I think there is such a possibility. It is said that the dual-purpose speedboat has four wheels. It can not only run fast in the water, but also run on land. Only this kind of river-crossing equipment can directly travel from the land on one side. Across the water, rush to the face of the enemy."

Seeing that everyone was talking about the mysterious river-crossing equipment, Sokov just smiled lightly, and then said: "Commrades generals, since this new type of river-crossing equipment is still in the confidential stage, I cannot disclose more information to you. Wait After we capture Belgorod, I will definitely invite everyone to see this river crossing device."

The commanders who came to the meeting were all veteran officers who had served in the army for more than ten or twenty years. They naturally understood the secrecy regulations. Since Sokov specifically mentioned that this kind of river crossing equipment needs to be kept secret, everyone closed their eyes tactfully. Mouth, no further questions.

Konev didn't know what the Armament Department had sent Sokov. He wanted to keep Sokov for questioning after the meeting, but he was worried that Sokov would keep it secret. Ken told himself that if he hit a soft nail at that time, he would be asking for trouble.

  After thinking about this, he raised his head and said to Zakharov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you continue to assign their own combat tasks to each army group."

After Sokov sat down, he continued to listen to Zakharov assigning tasks. When he heard that there was a city called "Bogodukhov" in the city that was about to be captured, he couldn't help asking Sameko in surprise: "Chief of Staff, isn't Bogodukhov in the direction of Oboyan? Why did he appear near Belgorod again?"

"Comrade Commander," Lunev, who heard Sokov's question, leaned closer to him and said, "Bogodukhov in the direction of Oboyan is just a small town of a thousand people; Bogodukhov, near Germany, is a city with a population of more than 50,000."

   When the two were talking in a low voice, they were seen by Zakharov, who was assigning tasks above. Thinking that Sokov wanted to keep it a secret from himself, Zakharov felt somewhat uncomfortable. He knocked on the table twice and said displeasedly: "The commanders behind don't talk, please keep quiet. Don't interfere with my assignment."

  (end of this chapter)