Chapter 1471 Two-pronged approach

  Rotmistrov gained a precious 24 hours, which he could use to regroup his troops.

   Seeing a series of numbers, Rotmistrov felt as if his heart had been severely grabbed by someone. He never dreamed that his troops would be bombed by the German army during the assembly process, and he would pay such a heavy price.

  Although the chief of staff knew that Rotmistrov was in a bad mood, he still mustered up the courage to ask tentatively: "Comrade Commander, I don't know about tomorrow's attack. Which unit do you plan to let take the lead?"

Rotmistrov glanced at his chief of staff, and then said: "I think it's better to let the 2nd Guards Tank Army of Colonel Burdeiny take the lead. Although they paid a lot in today's bombing casualties, but the number of tanks available to the entire army now exceeds 150."

"Comrade Commander," who knows that after he finished speaking, the chief of staff put forward different opinions: "Colonel Burdeyne's tank army suffered the most losses in today's bombing, and it has had a negative impact on the morale and morale of the troops. Adverse influence. Do you think it is appropriate for them to lead the charge?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. Colonel Bourdeiny's tank army is the unit with the heaviest losses in today's bombing." Rotmistrov explained to his chief of staff: "Let They took the lead to give them a chance to avenge their hatred. I believe that the commanders and fighters of the army are full of hatred for the enemy, and they will definitely be able to display extremely strong combat effectiveness in tomorrow's battle."

While the 5th Guards Tank Army was reorganizing its troops, Sokov, who was dozens of kilometers away, was puzzled. According to his thinking, Rotmistrov's troops had already begun to attack. Why is there no movement until now?

  Seeing Sokov's pensive look, Tsvetayev asked curiously: "General Sokov, I think you seem to have something on your mind. What are you thinking?"

   "Comrade General," Sokov pointed to the direction across the river, and said, "The enemy on the other side has been launching a counterattack against our landing field, and there is no sign of weakening."

   "That's right, that's right." Tsvetayev was also deeply touched by Sokov's statement: "I think the enemy's counterattack has not weakened, but shows signs of strengthening."

  Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and asked back: "Comrade General, tell me, why is this?"

   "This shows that the enemy has no worries and can throw troops in our direction without any scruples."

"You are right, Comrade General." Sokov nodded and said, "Since the enemy has invested more and more troops in counterattacking our landing field, it proves that the attack of the friendly forces has not restrained the enemy's vital force. .”

"The friendly attack, there is no effective force that can contain the enemy?" Hearing what Sokov said, Tsvetayev asked in surprise: "General Sokov, what do you mean by that, I don't quite understand." ?”

"Comrade General, according to the plan, General Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army will launch an attack on the enemy an hour ago." Sokov said with a wry smile: "However, until now, we have all I have not received any news about the group army, which proves that their offensive did not achieve the desired results."

"It makes sense." Tsvetayev very much agrees with Sokov's statement, but he is now affiliated to the Voronezh Front Army and cannot directly obtain information from the Steppe Front Army. He can only say to Sokov tactfully: "How about , can you contact General Konev to see if he knows anything about the 5th Guards Tank Army?"

   Sokov picked up the phone, dialed his army headquarters, and asked Sameko who answered the phone directly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have any information about the 5th Guards Tank Army?"

Sameko was confused by Sokov's question. After a while, he replied: "Comrade Commander, our location is at least fifty or sixty kilometers away from General Rotmistrov's troops. How could it be possible?" Do you understand their situation?"

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, since you don't know the situation of the 5th Guards Tank Army, please call the Chief of Staff of the Front Army, General Zakharov, to find out about the situation of the Army."

Hearing that Sokov was so eager to understand the intelligence of the 5th Guards Tank Army, Sameko was very surprised: "Comrade Commander, why are you so eager to understand the situation of the friendly forces? You know, our combat area is separated from them. If they are too far away, joint operations are unlikely."

"You are wrong, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Sameko did not understand what he meant, Sokov retorted: "They are closely related to our next military operations. If they launch an attack on the enemy, they can contain the German army A large number of effective forces, thereby reducing the pressure on our left-wing landing site."

   "Did something happen at the left-wing landing field?" Sameko, who was in charge of commanding the right-wing landing field, really didn't know the situation of the left-wing landing field, so he tentatively asked, "Has the enemy launched a counterattack in this area?"

"The enemy's counterattack has not stopped for a moment, but now it seems that their attack is getting stronger and stronger." Sokov said in a stern tone: "So now you need to check with the Chief of Staff of the Front Army, Rotmister Whether General Rove's troops have launched an attack on the enemy and what results have been achieved. Only after knowing the situation of the friendly forces can I know what to do next."

   After Sokov put down the phone, Tsvetayev asked cautiously, "General Sokov, what do you think?"

   "Comrade General," Sokov turned to face Tsvetayev and said, "I want to confirm the current situation of the 5th Guards Tank Army before considering the next military action."

   "Regardless of whether General Rotmistrov's troops have launched an attack on the enemy, I will order the troops on the landing ground to attack the enemy."

Tsvetayev frowned: "General Sokov, I don't understand, since the troops will attack the enemy regardless of whether General Rotmistrov's troops launch an attack or not, then give the front army headquarters a call." Phone, is it still necessary?"

Facing Tsvetayev's question, Sokov replied: "Comrade General, if General Rotmistrov's troops launch an attack on the enemy, then my troops on the left landing field will attack in time, and the troops on the left landing field will also attack in time." Cooperate with them in combat."

   "But what if General Rotmistrov's troops did not attack?"

"If General Rotmistrov's troops do not attack the enemy," Sokov continued, "then I will order the two landing sites to attack at the same time to disperse the enemy's forces. Can be the first to break through."

   "The two landing sites launched an attack at the same time?!" Tsvetayev said in surprise: "General Sokov, with your current strength, can you break through the German defense line?"

"If I were the only army group, it would be very difficult to complete such a task." Sokov looked at Tsvetayev and said with a smile on his face: "But now with your help, it means that I have more money out of thin air." With a few divisions, it will not be a big problem to expand the landing field and break through the enemy's defense line in this way."

Tsvetayev thought about Sokov's words carefully, and felt that it was true. In order to help Sokov's troops break through the enemy's line of defense, he dispatched an artillery division, a tank brigade, and two soldiers to the left landing field. An artillery division, with such a powerful force, coupled with an infantry division of Sokov, it is not difficult to consolidate and expand the landing field.

Tsvetayev shook his head with a smile, nodded at Sokov with his fingers, and said dumbfoundingly: "General Sokov, why do I feel like I'm on a pirate ship. That's right, you are in Ude On the east bank of the river, a left-flank landing field has been established, but now my troops have more than half of them."

Seeing that Tsvetayev saw through his little trick, Sokov laughed dryly, and then said: "Comrade General, although you have adjusted the direction of attack without asking for instructions. But I assure you, from here Launching an attack on the enemy will surely achieve great results.”

Regarding Sokov's statement, Tsvetayev did not immediately express his opinion, but asked instead: "General Sokov, my artillery unit has already set up a launch position. I wonder when you plan to let them How can it be used?"

"Don't worry, Comrade General." The two artillery divisions provided by Tsvetayev are Sokov's secret weapons. There is no reason to expose his cards before the attack has started. He quickly replied: "Wait until we The artillery will be ready to use before the attack begins."

"Can it be used before the attack?" After repeating Sokov's words, Tsvetayev asked in surprise: "General Sokov, didn't you say that soon after the shelling preparations before the attack began, the enemy Withdrew to the rear position through the communication trench, is our bombardment just a position without many enemies?"

"Comrade General," Sokov replied with a smile, "if the artillery only bombards the enemy's positions before the attack begins, the results will indeed be very limited. But if our artillery bombards the enemy's positions when they attack There was a rush of artillery fire, and while they were fleeing, our tanks led the infantry into the charge."

   "Why do you do this?" Tsvetayev asked puzzled.

"It's very simple. The enemy has launched many attacks on our landing field, but our artillery has never fired." Sokov explained: "In this way, the enemy has an illusion that we have no artillery at all. They let their guard down when they attack.

  When we bombard them, the enemy will instantly mess up. While the enemy was fleeing, we decisively launched an attack and followed the enemy in pursuit. The German army standing on the line of defense saw our army rushing towards with their own troops. In order to prevent accidental injury, they did not dare to fire at will. Even if they fired, such resistance was negligible. "

"So that's how it is!" Tsvetayev couldn't help his eyes shining when he heard this: "As long as our army follows the fleeing enemy and launches an attack on the enemy's defense line, the enemy staying in the fortifications will definitely be killed in order to prevent accidental injury. If we don’t dare to open fire casually, we can easily break through the enemy’s line of defense.”

Sameko called back, and he said in a heavy tone: "Comrade Commander, I just asked General Zakharov, and General Rotmistrov's troops haven't launched an attack yet? "

  Sokov asked in wonder: "Why? According to the plan, shouldn't they have attacked the enemy long ago?"

"There is something wrong, Comrade Commander." Sameko lowered his voice and reported to Sokov: "When the 5th Guards Tank Army was gathering in various villages, it was accidentally bombed by enemy planes, and the troops suffered heavy losses. The scheduled attack time had to be postponed by 24 hours."

   "I see, Comrade Chief of Staff." After expressing his gratitude to Sameko, Sokov asked back: "How about the troops on the right-wing landing field, are they ready to attack?"

  Sameko was once again stunned by Sokov's statement. He looked at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Commander, do you intend to let the right wing troops also attack the enemy?"

"That's right, that's what I thought about." Seeing that Sameko understood his intentions, Sokov nodded and said, "The left and right landing fields attack the enemy at the same time, and at the same time disperse the enemy's forces, find a way to break through. their defense."

   Knowing that an attack on the German army was about to be launched, Sameko hurriedly asked: "Then can our artillery be used?"

   "Of course it can be used." Sokov replied very simply: "Use artillery fire to destroy some of the enemy's vital forces first, and the next battle will be easier to fight."

   "However, we don't have the coordinates of the enemy's position. It may be difficult to inflict heavy damage on them with artillery."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, our artillery does not shell the enemy's positions." Sokov repeated to Sameko what he had just said to Tsvetayev, and finally emphasized: "As soon as the enemy's rout begins, Our commanders are about to launch an attack, and must follow the enemy into their positions."

   After Knowing Sokov's battle plan, Sameko continued to ask: "Then when shall we launch the attack?"

  As the commander of the 27th Army, Sokov naturally knew the situation of his troops well. He asked into the microphone, "Is two hours enough?"

   "That's enough, Comrade Commander." After pondering for a while, Samecollo replied decisively: "Within two hours, all offensive troops can enter the landing field on the right wing and prepare for the attack."

  After Saying this, Sameko thought that there was only one infantry division in Sokov's place, so he asked cautiously: "Your troops are too weak, do you need me to increase your troops?"

"It's not necessary." Sokov rejected Sameko's kindness and said to him: "On the left landing field, in addition to Major General Gritsenko's 384th Infantry Division, there are also General Tsvetaev's troops. , including tank brigades and artillery divisions. With our current strength, we shouldn’t have much problem breaking through the enemy’s defenses.”

  (end of this chapter)