Chapter 1460 Highland Tug-of-war

   After Sameko ordered the telegrapher to send the report and returned to the table, Sokov looked around the hall and asked tentatively, "Where is the cultural relic expert from Moscow?"

   "I went to rest with General Chistyakov." Sameko explained to Sokov: "It's too late, and the experts have been traveling all night, and they are already very tired."

   "General Chistyakov?" Sokov waited for Sameko to finish speaking, and asked in surprise, "Isn't he the commander of the 6th Guards Army? Why did the superiors ask him to bring cultural relics experts over?"

"Comrade Commander, you don't know something." Before Sameko could answer, Lunev rushed to reply, "General Chistyakov is no longer the commander of the 6th Guards Army. "

   Hearing what Lunev said, Sokov couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and asked tentatively, "Did he make any mistakes and was dismissed by his superiors?"

Lunev quickly waved his hands to stop Sokov from continuing: "Comrade commander, you can't say that. General Chistyakov is not serving as commander because his superiors have a new appointment for him. You may still I don’t know, he is now the representative sent by the base camp to our front army.”

   "Oh, so that's what happened." After a few perfunctory sentences, Sokov shifted the topic to the current battle: "By the way, how is the current progress of General Gritsenko's troops?"

"It's going very smoothly." Hearing Sokov ask about the results of the 384th Division, the haze on Sameko's face was swept away, and he said happily: "It may be that our attack in the direction of the bridge head was successful. Attracted the attention of the enemy, so that they never thought that we would carry out a forced crossing by surprise in the widest part of the Oud River. When the vanguard of the 384th Division rushed into the enemy's line of defense on a hovercraft, the enemy had not turned back at all. god.

  According to General Gritsenko's report, the division now has the strength of two regiments, successfully crossed the Ude River, and established a landing field three kilometers wide and two kilometers deep on the east bank. "

Sakov was very satisfied with the results of the 384th Division. He nodded and said: "General Gritsenko has done a good job. We now have two landing sites on the east bank of the Ud River. If the Germans want to unplug these It's not an easy task to bring two nails into their zone."

   "Comrade Commander, in any case, the enemy's strength is still much stronger than ours." Sameko said worriedly: "Once they attack with force, I am worried that our landing field may be lost."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what's wrong with you, you have so little confidence in our commanders and fighters?" Lunev retorted: "Don't you know that after the commander came to the 27th Army, our record against the Germans Have you always maintained an undefeated record?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, I am the Chief of Staff of the Army Group. I am naturally very clear about the situation of the troops." Sameko replied with a bitter face: "But the main force of the Front Army and the troops of the Voronezh Front Army are still far away from us. Now We are going deep alone. If Manstein is determined to concentrate the superior forces in the city to attack us, whether he can hold the landing site is still a problem."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov comforted Sameko and said, "In any case, this is not the early stage of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. Our air force, artillery and tank troops are not as strong as the enemy's." In comparison, they even have an absolute advantage in some areas. If the enemy really wants to attack our army's landing field after dawn, we can ask the front army headquarters for help and ask for the air force to attack the enemy attacking on the ground."

  Sokov sneered, and said in a contemptuous tone: "Even if the German army has more troops and equipment, as long as our air force is dispatched, the enemy who has lost air supremacy can only become the target of attack aircraft and bombers."

   "Have we reported the news of the second landing field to the superior?"

   "Not yet." Sameko shook his head and said, "I think it's too late, and I'm worried about disturbing General Konev's rest, so I plan to report to him after dawn."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, now that the battle is fierce, General Konev is probably too busy to even sleep." Sokov, although he had objections to Sameko's actions, did not criticize him, but directly Grab the high-frequency phone on the table: "Let me report this to him personally."

  After connecting to the Front Army Command, the person who answered the phone was still Chief of Staff Zakharov: "I am Zakharov, where are you?"

   "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov waited for Zakharov to finish speaking, and hurriedly said, "I have important information to report. Has the commander rested?"

"General Konev is talking about work with Lieutenant General Fomin, the artillery commander of the Front Army." Zakharov knew that if Sokov didn't have important matters, he would never call at this time, so he asked tentatively : "Comrade Sokov, you called at this time, did something happen?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I would like to report to you and General Konev that the 384th Infantry Division of our army has crossed the Oude River and established a three-kilometer-wide and two-deep deep bridge on the east bank. kilometer landing field.”

"Oh, you have established a new landing site on the east bank of the Ude River." Zakharov answered the phone while looking down on the map spread on the desktop to find the location of the new landing site. He said excitedly: " Well done, Comrade Sokov. In this way, you can launch an assault on Kharkov from any point..."

  Before Zakharov finished speaking, Konev, who was discussing work with Lieutenant General Fumin, interrupted him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, who's calling?"

  Zakharov excitedly reported to Konev: "It was the call from Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army Group. His troops have established a new landing field on the east bank again."

"It's great that a new landing site has been established." Konev took the phone in Zakharov's hand, whispered in his ear, and asked, "Comrade Sokov? I'm Konev. You Has the army really established a new landing field on the east coast?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sukov heard that it was Konev who was questioning, and quickly reported the results of the 384th Division to Konev in detail. Finally, he said: "Our army has established two landing sites on the east coast. After dawn, the Germans will definitely launch a counterattack. At that time, I hope you can send the air force to bomb the enemy attacking on the ground."

"Don't worry, Comrade Sokov." After hearing this, Konev said with a smile: "I told you last time, find a way to attract the enemy out of the city and fight them in the field. Now You have established two landing fields on the east bank of the Oude River, and you will definitely be attacked by the enemy on a large scale. We can use this opportunity to kill the enemy's vital forces on a large scale and weaken their defense forces."

After chatting with Sokov for a few words, Konev asked casually: "By the way, Comrade Sokov, I heard from Marshal Zhukov that you took over the 300th Infantry Division under the 5th Assault Army and appointed your own Is there such a thing that the subordinate took over the position of the division commander?"

"Yes, there is such a thing." Sokov worried that Zhukov did not explain the cause and effect of the matter to Konev clearly. In order to avoid misunderstandings, he explained to the other party: "The commander of the front army, the 300th division and the After the 37th Tank Brigade seized the Fesky Kolkhoz, it discovered a huge underground wine cellar containing a large amount of vodka. The two commanders allowed their men to drink too much. When my reconnaissance team arrived in the area, they only I saw people falling asleep and drunk all over the floor, none of them could stand.

  After I learned the news, I was worried that they were in danger, so I quickly sent troops to the area to strengthen the defense there, and decisively ordered someone to take over the positions of the two commanders. "

  When Konev received a call from Zhukov, the other party only told him that Sokov had received an infantry division and a tank brigade from the Fesky collective farm, but Zhukov did not say why he took over these two units. At that time, Konev was still muttering in his heart after hearing this, thinking that Sokov was too bold, relying on his close relationship with Zhukov, he dared to take over the friendly troops blatantly.

  But after listening to Sokov's explanation at this moment, I found that my original opinion was wrong, and said quickly: "Comrade Sokov, you are right. We just can't tolerate such commanders and should punish them severely."

   After a short pause, he continued to ask: "How do you plan to use these two troops in the next battle?"

   "Comrade Front Army Commander, they have already invested in the attack on the German army at this moment."

   "Attack against the German army?" Konev asked in surprise: "Where is the attack on the enemy?"

   "Just to the west of the Fesky collective farm, a German army built fortifications on the high ground. After our reconnaissance, we found out that this enemy belongs to the Viking division."

   "What, is it a unit of the Viking Division?" Konev, as a commander of the front army, naturally has more ways to obtain information than Sokov. Of course, he understands the strength of the Viking Division. He asked solemnly, "Is the 300th Division attacking the troops of the Viking Division at this moment?"

"yes."

"how is the situation?"

  Sokov did not answer immediately, but turned his head to look at Sameko, and asked the other party if he had received a call back. Seeing the other party shaking his head with a wry smile, he continued to talk into the microphone: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the 300th Division has successfully occupied the position on the mountainside and is competing with the enemy for the position on the top of the mountain."

   "Comrade Sokov," Konev asked solemnly, "Are they capable of taking positions from the Viking division?"

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said sternly, "After I finish handling the affairs here at the headquarters, I will immediately return to the Fesky collective farm and command the battle there. I believe that before dawn, I will be able to take the high ground. "

   "What else do you do in the headquarters?"

"Several cultural relics experts came from Moscow, intending to receive the batch of cultural relics we intercepted." Sokov worried that Konev would not know about this, and specifically reminded: "It was General Chistyakov, the representative of the base camp, who brought them here." of."

   After Sokov reminded him, Konev immediately remembered that General Kistyakov, the representative of the base camp, had indeed brought a group of cultural relics experts to Sokov's troops. He pondered for a moment, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, you can hand over the work of cultural relics to your deputy. Now you must return to the Fisky collective farm immediately and command the troops to attack the highlands." , we must take the high ground before dawn. How about it, are you confident?"

  Since Konev’s words covered this point, Sokov could not say no, and quickly replied: “Don’t worry, Comrade Commander, I will rush back to the Fesky collective farm and personally command the troops to seize the high ground.”

  After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, call Major Guchakov and order him to assemble the second battalion, artillery company, and machine gun company immediately."

When Sameko heard Sokov's order, he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, if the 73rd Infantry Brigade withdraws troops to leave, Dergach's defense will become even weaker. .If the enemy comes to attack, I can't guarantee that the remaining troops can hold the city."

"Major Guchakov's infantry brigade has a total of four battalions, including a machine gun company, an artillery company, and some directly subordinate troops." Sokov faced Sameko and said, "Although I want the second battalion and the machine gun company Even if the enemy launches a sneak attack, the remaining troops in the city and the temporarily formed militia can completely block the enemy for a few hours, and our reinforcements will come to support at that time."

  When Sameko called Guchakov to give an order, the director of the communications corps personally came over with a telegram and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, a telegram from the 384th Division."

   Sokov took the telegram, and saw that there was quite a lot of content on it. He waved his hand at the director of the communications corps, indicating that the other party could leave, and then picked up the telegram to carefully check the content on it.

  It turned out that the battle that took place on the high ground was indeed what Narva reported. The troops were about to occupy all the positions, but they were suddenly attacked by the enemy's artillery fire. Nearly half of the commanders and fighters who were engaged in hand-to-hand combat and close combat with the enemy were killed or injured by the enemy's artillery bombardment. After the shelling ended, the German troops who came to reinforce them drove the remaining Soviet commanders and fighters down from the top of the mountain.

   Unwilling, Weissbach, unwilling to see the victory at his fingertips, just slipped away in vain, and once again prevented the troops from launching a new offensive. But it is regrettable that the three successive charges launched by the troops all ended in failure. So far, the number of casualties of the troops has exceeded 1,500.

   While Sokov was reading the telegram, Lunev, who was eager to know the situation of the battle, also came over. He stood beside Sokov, tilting his head to read the content of the telegram. After seeing the casualties of the troops, he couldn't help saying in surprise: "My God, the troops participating in the attack only had 3,000 people in total, and now, in order to seize a small hilltop position, more than half of the commanders and fighters have been killed or injured." , how did the Weisbach battle go?"

"I think there is a problem with the style of play." Sokov handed the telegram to Lunev, and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, you and the chief of staff are responsible for the handover of cultural relics. I will wait for the infantry brigade After the second battalion, the machine gun company, and the artillery company were assembled, they rushed to the Fesky collective farm as soon as possible, hoping to seize the hilltop position from the Viking division before dawn."

  (end of this chapter)