Chapter 1377

  In Sokov's memory, Apanashenko died on August 5th. As for the reason for the sacrifice, the information said that he was bombed by enemy planes when he inspected the forward command post, rather than sacrificed.

  At this moment, the date of Apanashenko's sacrifice actually coincides with history, and the reason for the sacrifice was also due to air strikes. Sokov, who wanted to know the details, asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you tell me the specific situation?"

  Sameko nodded, and told Sokov the details of what he knew: "Comrade General took his guards this morning and drove to the area occupied by the Voronezh Front Army to inspect, but encountered an enemy plane on the way.

Because he and his guards took three jeeps and two trucks, lined up in neat formation, and drove forward along the road, which attracted the attention of the German pilots, they dive-bombed the convoy and killed all of them on the spot. A truck was destroyed, and the commanders and fighters on board suffered heavy casualties.

  Comrade General was riding in a jeep. The driver saw the enemy plane swooping down from the sky, and immediately realized that something was wrong, so he left the road and prepared to hide in the nearby woods. Unexpectedly, when he was about to rush to the woods, he accidentally ran over a landmine, and the jeep was blown over on the spot.

  When the accompanying soldiers arrived and rescued Comrade General from the car, he was already in critical condition. The accompanying soldiers hurriedly sent Comrade General to a nearby field hospital for first aid. Unfortunately, his injuries were too serious, and after some rescue efforts, he still failed to save his life. "

   "Where is Comrade General's body now?"

   "It is said that the Supreme Command has sent a plane to transport his body back to Moscow."

After learning about the details of Apanashenko's sacrifice, Sokov thought of Chuvashov's troops, and couldn't help asking: "How is the 98th Guards Division doing? Was bombed by the enemy?"

Faced with Sokov's question, Sameko showed a bitter expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, didn't all the divisions send you a telegram just now to report their situation? Didn't Colonel Chuvashov Send you a telegram?"

   Sokov looked at the telegram at hand, but he really didn't find Chuvashov's telegram. He shook his head and said, "No, he didn't send me a telegram."

   "Then I will immediately contact Colonel Chuvashov and ask them about the situation there."

When Sameko went to order the operator to send the report, Sokov picked up the telegram on the table, connected to the reconnaissance department, and asked the reconnaissance director who answered the phone straight to the point: "Comrade director, the scouts sent out, is there any news?"

   "Not yet, Comrade Commander." The chief of reconnaissance replied respectfully: "If there is any news, I will report to you as soon as possible."

   After explaining the content of the report to the radio operator, Sameko walked back to Sokov again, just in time to hear him talking to the chief of reconnaissance. As soon as he put down the phone, he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, is there any news from the scouts yet?"

   "No." Sokov waved his hand and said, "Perhaps there will be information feedback before dark."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko said with a sad face, "Our army's performance in the battle to liberate Belgorod was too eye-catching. Moreover, the new river-crossing equipment assigned to us by the superiors may have been known to the Germans." I am worried that the enemy may set up obstacles on the bank in order to prevent us from forcibly crossing the Oude River, so that the hovercraft can no longer easily rush to the enemy's position like last time."

   "Your analysis makes sense." Sokov agrees very much with Sameko's statement. Although there are a series of secrecy regulations for hovercraft, as long as they are used on the battlefield once, the hovercraft is no longer a secret weapon. Sooner or later, the Germans will use their special channels to understand the purpose of the hovercraft and work out a way to deal with it . "If we want to break through the Oud River again, I am afraid it will not be an easy task."

"Before attacking Belgorod, our artillery had exhausted all the ammunition in stock." Sameko went on to say, "If the superiors don't replenish us, then we may not be able to attack Kharkov." Prepare for artillery fire."

  If it was something else, Sokov might be worried, but when Sameko said that the ammunition was insufficient, Sokov laughed. He clicked on the map with his hand, and said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget that there are several ammunition depots in Belgorod, and the shells stored in them are not only shells used by German artillery. , There are also artillery shells used by Soviet-made artillery. Before the transfer of troops, I have ordered them to transfer the shells to the south of the city."

   "Did you transfer the ammunition in the arsenal?" Sameko asked in surprise, "Comrade Commander, why didn't I know about this?"

Hearing Sameko's question, Sokov had an embarrassing expression on his face. He looked down at the telegram in front of him, then took out a telegram and handed it to Sameko: "This is the infantry Colonel Belkin, the deputy commander of the 84th Division, sent me a telegram that when his division moved, they had already emptied all the captured ammunition depots.”

If Sokov was talking about someone else, Maybe Sameko would still ask questions, but when he heard it was Belkin, Sameko kept silent knowingly. He knew that Sokov and Belkin were old friends before. Partner, even if Sokov didn't order some things, Belkin knew what to do because he knew him well.

"Comrade Commander, this is really great." Sameko put the telegram back in front of Sokov, and said with a smile: "In this way, we don't have to worry that the troops will have to attack before attacking Kharkov." There is no artillery support."

   "Misha, Misha!" Yakov and Lunev walked in from the outside, saw Sokov sitting at the table, and immediately yelled loudly: "Do you know? Something happened, something happened!"

  Sokov couldn't help but thumped in his heart, and then asked in a panic, "What happened?"

Yakov walked up to Sokov quickly, looked around, and said with a serious expression: "Misha, have you heard? General Apanashenko was attacked by an enemy plane while inspecting the troops. Air strike, unfortunately sacrificed."

"I already know about it." Sokov nodded and said, "It's really unfortunate. Our army liberated Belgorod. It was originally a happy thing, but Apanashenko University This matter will affect everyone's mood to some extent."

Lunev, who was standing beside Yakov, sighed softly, and said regretfully: "As far as I know, the reason why the Supreme Command appointed Comrade General as the deputy commander of the Voronezh Front Army was to let him follow General Vatutin. Learn how to fight the Germans. After he has actual combat experience, he will be assigned to be the commander of a front on a certain front. But now that he is dead, the arrangement of the superiors will be ruined."

   "Oh, what a pity." Yakov said regretfully, "He was also the commander with the highest rank who died in our army after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War."

   "Colonel Yakov, this is purely an accident." Hearing this, Sameko couldn't help interjecting, "I believe that similar tragedies will never happen again."

Sokov thought to himself: Apanashenko's sacrifice is just the beginning. In a few months, Vatutin of the Voronezh Front Army will be sacrificed; then, the young general Chernyakhov A few days before he was promoted to marshal, he was unfortunately killed by German shelling.

   But these things, Sokov can only rot in his heart, but can't tell others, otherwise he will definitely be regarded as crazy by others.

  After mourning Apanashenko's sacrifice for a while, everyone inevitably mentioned the next battle to liberate Kharkov. Lunev tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade commander, do you think our commanders and fighters can perform as well in the battle to liberate Kharkov as they did in liberating Belgorod?"

   "It's hard to say, Comrade Military Commissioner." Sokov said with a wry smile, "I think our army will pay a big price when we forcefully cross the Oud River."

"What, forcibly crossing the Ud River will cost a lot?" Lunev seemed to disagree with Sokov's statement, and he asked a little puzzled: "Since we have hovercraft, are we still worried that we will not be able to break through the enemy?" Is it a position along the river?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, I do not deny that the hovercraft played a role that cannot be underestimated in the battle to liberate Belgorod." Sokov said to Lunev earnestly, "But we can't think that the hovercraft will be used every time. It can play a great role in combat. I even think that maybe in the battle to liberate Kharkov, we will not find occasions to use hovercraft at all.”

  Sokov's words made Yakov frowned, and he asked displeasedly, "Misha, why do you say that?"

  For Yakov, the hovercraft that shined in the battle to liberate Belgorod is like his own child, and he won’t listen to anyone saying anything bad about it, even an old friend like Sokov.

Seeing the expression on Yakov's face, Sokov realized that he might have said something wrong, and quickly explained to Yakov: "Yasha, don't get me wrong. I said that the hovercraft is liberating Kharkov. Combat only, hard to find use for, purely because the Germans already know we have hovercraft that can go fast across the river, I think they are taking remedial measures at the moment, putting up barriers along the river so that our hovercraft can't Land again as easily as last time."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, the expression on Yakov's face softened a lot: "Misha, you are too pessimistic. Our hovercraft can travel on any complicated terrain, even if the Germans deploy in front of the riverside position Landmines will not cause much harm to the hovercraft."

  This time it was Sameko's turn to be puzzled: "Why?"

"The reason is very simple." Regarding the question raised by Sameko, Yakov patiently explained: "The reason why the hovercraft can be used on various complex terrains is that when it is driving, the hull is vacated, and the There is a certain distance between the bottom and the ground, even if it passes through a minefield, the damage it suffers is negligible."

Just as Sameko was feeling relieved by what Yakov said, Sokov lost no time to pour cold water on him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't be too happy. Even if the enemy's minefields cannot The hovercraft pose a real danger, but what about the obstacles the Germans put up? Like the triangular cones for anti-tank, or those big triangles, which can block the way of the hovercraft."

  The room was silent for a while, and Yakov said with difficulty: "Misha is right. If the Germans use anti-tank obstacles to deal with our hovercraft, they can indeed prevent our hovercraft from approaching their defensive positions quickly."

   "Is there any good way?"

"There is a way," Yakov looked at Sokov and said, "Before the attack, use intensive artillery fire to bombard the German coastal positions, destroy all kinds of anti-tank obstacles arranged by the enemy, and provide our hovercraft Open a passable road. However, I remember that the shells you hoarded were all consumed before the attack the morning before yesterday."

"Comrade Commander," Lunev said anxiously to Sokov when he heard Yakov say this: "We should immediately report to our superiors that our shells have been exhausted. Please replenish our shells as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be difficult to open up the next stage of offensive operations.”

Hearing what Lunev said, Sokov and Sameko looked at each other, then smiled and said to Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, before you and Yasha entered the headquarters, I was just talking to Comrade Chief of Staff. As far as the cannonball thing..."

   Lunev had a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, did the superior agree to give us priority in replenishing shells?"

   Sokov shook his head.

   Lunev's smile froze on his face.

   Seeing Lunev's expression, Sokov smiled slightly, and then said: "Although the superior can't replenish the shells for us for the time being, we can find a way to solve it?"

"How to solve it?" When Lunev asked this, he couldn't help but turned his head and glanced at Yakov who was standing next to him, wondering if Sokov was playing with the Weaponry Department again. Fortunately, Colonel Yakov Here, it is not difficult for him to come forward to ask for weapons and ammunition.

"Comrade Military Commissar, you have misunderstood." Sokov guessed what Lunev was thinking, and explained to him: "During yesterday's battle, the 84th Infantry Division occupied several ammunition depots of the German army. In addition to these kinds of weapons and ammunition, there are also a large number of shells, some of which are standard shells of our army. No matter when the superior orders us to launch an attack on the enemy, the shells used for artillery preparation before the attack are still barely enough.”

   "How can there be our army's standard shells in the enemy's arsenal?" Lunev asked puzzled.

"The reason is very simple." Before Sokov could speak, Yakov explained to Lunev first: "Belgorod used to be an important military stronghold of our army, and it is normal to hoard weapons and ammunition there. But After the city was occupied by the Germans, these weapons and ammunition unfortunately fell into the hands of the Germans. Fortunately, we have now liberated the city, so these weapons and ammunition stored in the warehouse have returned to our hands.”

  (end of this chapter)