Chapter 1526

  After receiving the lieutenant's notice, the tank brigade commander immediately rushed to the bridge to meet with Shechtman.

  Because he was only a lieutenant colonel, when he saw the two, he first raised his hand to salute, and said politely: "Two colonels, comrades, hello, I am the brigade commander of the 219th tank brigade, what can I do?"

   "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Colonel Billing said to the tank brigade commander with a smile on his face: "We just heard from your subordinates that after you are stationed near the bridge, you will stop advancing. Is there such a thing?"

   "Yes, Comrade Colonel." The tank brigade commander nodded and gave Colonel Billing an affirmative answer.

   "Can you tell us why?"

Regarding this question, the tank brigade commander did not know Solomatin's true intentions, so he could only answer according to his own understanding: "Comrade Colonel, I think it may be that we have not yet established a unified command with you, and we cannot be sure. After we cross the river, where should we set up our defenses on the landing site, so Lieutenant General Solomatin ordered us to temporarily stay in the area on the left bank near the bridge, waiting for further orders."

  When Shechtman heard the commander of the tank brigade talk about Solomatin, he deliberately mentioned the other party's rank—Lieutenant General, and the muscles on his face couldn't help twitching violently a few times. He thought to himself: Commander Sokov is only a major general, but now there is a lieutenant general, who should command whom?

   After a few more conversations with the tank brigade commander, Shechtman and Billing turned around and crossed the bridge to return to their headquarters.

   On the way, Shechtman said worriedly to Billing: "Comrade Political Commissar, things are in trouble."

   Billing asked in surprise, "What is it?"

"Didn't you just hear from the tank lieutenant colonel that Solomatin, the commander of the 1st Mechanized Army, is a lieutenant general?" Shechtman said with a wry smile, "And Commander Sokov is just a major general. Have you ever seen a situation where a major general commands a lieutenant general?"

Unexpectedly, Billing was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then unexpectedly replied: "Yes. When I was in the Leningrad Front Army, after Marshal Zhukov stepped down, he was replaced by Major General Fejuninsky. , and Lieutenant General Hozin, another general who followed Zhukov to the Leningrad Front Army, served as the commander of the 54th Army, taking over the command of Major General Fejuninsky."

   Billing’s words made Shechtman see hope again: “Comrade Political Commissar, what do you mean, even if General Solomatin has a higher rank than our commander, he still has to accept the command of the commander?”

"I think the superior assigns the 1st Mechanized Army to the command of our group army, just to let the commander command them." Billing Zhengse said: "Who will be in charge of the unified command has nothing to do with the military rank. With the commander's command ability , and his brilliant record on the battlefield, not to mention that he is now a major general, even if he is only a major, the superiors may let him command a general."

As soon as the two returned to the division headquarters, the chief of staff reported to Shechtman: "Comrade commander, I just received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, the chief of staff of the 762nd regiment, and found German activities in their defense area. signs."

  Hearing what the chief of staff said, Shechtman's expression became serious: "Chief of staff, tell me the details."

"The situation is like this," the chief of staff reported to Shechtman: "It was a soldier from the third company of the 1st Battalion of the 762nd Regiment who discovered the situation. It seemed that someone was using a telescope to observe his position, so he reported the matter to the squad leader in time.

   Then, the squad leader reported to the platoon leader, the platoon leader reported to the company commander, and the company commander reported to the battalion commander. When the battalion commander learned about this, he immediately ordered the third company commander to send a platoon of soldiers to search that area. "

   Billing couldn't help but interjected and asked, "Did you find any useful clues?"

The chief of staff glanced at Billing, then cast his eyes on Shechtman again, and continued to report to him: "After some searching, several footprints were found in that area. Judging from the shape of the spikes, , It is indeed the military boots worn by the German army. When the first battalion commander reported the search results to Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, he felt that the matter was of great importance, so he called me."

   After the Chief of Staff finished speaking, Shechtman asked noncommittally, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think of this matter?"

  The chief of staff didn't know what Shechtman meant by asking this question, and stared at him stupidly, not knowing how to answer.

Seeing that the Chief of Staff remained silent for a long time, Shechtman reminded him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think these footprints found in the woods were left by the defeated bridge guards, or did they come from other places?" Left behind by the German scouts who came?"

   After figuring out what Shechtman wanted to ask, the chief of staff thought for a long time before answering, "Comrade Commander, I think it should be the footprints left by German scouts."

   "Tell me your reason?"

"The reason is very simple." The chief of staff replied without hesitation: "It has been a long time since we established the landing field on the right bank. Even if some officers and soldiers guarding the bridge escaped into the woods by chance, they would have fled as far as possible. Maybe it's still in the woods? Isn't it afraid of being discovered by the search force we sent?

  Also, the sentries of the third company did not report until they noticed the reflection of the lens in the woods. If it weren't for the German scouts, how could they use binoculars to observe the movement of the landing field? "

   "Well, it makes sense." Shechtman agreed with the chief of staff's analysis: "Go on."

"Our army occupied Klemenchug and established a landing field on the right bank of the Dnieper River, cutting off the retreat of the German army in the Poltava area. The Germans will definitely not let it go." The chief of staff continued: "They sent people to the landing field. The nearby reconnaissance means that they are preparing to launch an attack on the landing site and try to drive us back to the left bank..."

"Comrade Commander," Billing and the other chiefs of staff immediately reminded Shechtman, "We only have the strength of one division. It may be very difficult to defend such a vast landing field. You see, do you take this matter into account?" Propose to the Group Army Command to ask the commander to send us additional reinforcements as soon as possible?"

"Comrade Political Commissar, you don't have to worry about this. The commander is continuously transferring troops here from Fortress Meriefa, but the journey is far away, and it will take some time to get here." Shechtman Bilin Said: "Even if the Germans attack us before the main force arrives, we can still rely on the terrain to resist. If we really can't hold on, we can ask for help from the 84th Division on the right. I don't believe in the strength of the two divisions." , could not stop the German attack."

"The division commander makes sense." The chief of staff echoed: "The reason why our division directly entered the landing field on the right bank as soon as it arrived at Kremenchug was entirely because the 84th division was preparing to launch an attack on the Svetlovodsk district. Later, because they found that the German army was stationed there with heavy troops, they broke through the defense line with one division, so they temporarily stopped the attack. Now the division has made all preparations for combat. As long as we are in danger here, they can provide us with support at any time .”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, we have three things to do now." Shechtman said to the Chief of Staff: "One is to report to the Army Group Command that there may be an enemy near the landing site; the other is to contact General Fomenko and report The situation here told him to let him have a psychological preparation in advance; the third is to immediately send a reconnaissance team to conduct reconnaissance in the area where the German footprints were found, to see if there is any sign of German army gathering."

Regarding the three things Shechtman ordered, the Chief of Staff said solemnly: "Comrade Commander, I think the second and third points you mentioned can be implemented immediately. But report this matter to the Army Group Command. I think you should be careful."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." As soon as Billing and the chief of staff finished speaking, they immediately expressed their support for his statement: "I think what the chief of staff said makes sense. Who is the enemy who appeared near the 762nd Regiment's defense area?" We haven't figured out what to do, so it's probably not appropriate to report it to the group army headquarters rashly."

   Shechtman frowned and thought for a while, feeling that before he figured out what was going on, he rashly reported to the army headquarters, and he might be blamed by Sokov. So he thought over and over again, and decided to send someone to conduct reconnaissance first, and contact General Fomenko.

Seeing that the chief of staff picked up the phone and began to assign tasks to Colonel Prochenko, the commander of the 762nd regiment, Billing said to Shechtman again: "Comrade commander, don't forget that we are not alone. Except for the right wing In addition to the 84th Division, there is a tank brigade and a mechanized brigade behind us. If our situation is not good, we can still ask for help from this friendly army.”

"If our situation here is critical, will they support us?" Shechtman said cautiously: "You must know that although the 1st Mechanized Army is allocated to the command of the Army Group, who will command whom has not yet been finalized. I am worried that our situation will be critical at that time, and the two brigades on the left bank will still stand still."

"Comrade commander, why do you think that the friendly forces will stand still?" Billing asked his own question: "Don't they worry that after we are defeated or even wiped out by the Germans, they will become the next target of the Germans? "

Hearing what Billing said, Shechtman sneered: "Comrade my political commissar, maybe they want to watch us being defeated by the Germans, and then they attack from the left bank. Even if they can't stop the enemy, they can. Effectively **** the advance speed of the German army, and then choose to retreat into the city of Klemenchug.

   If they can stop or even smash the German attack, they will get great honor, because they can defeat an enemy that even the heroic 27th Army cannot defeat. The superior commanders will definitely look at them differently because of their outstanding performance. "

Billing felt that Shechtman's statement was quite reasonable. If his troops were defeated by the Germans, and the Mechanized First Army currently stationed on the left bank could crush this enemy's attack, he would definitely receive great honor, and even In the near future, the unit will also be awarded the honorary title of Guards.

After the chief of staff called the 762nd regiment, he reported to Shechtman with some surprise: "Comrade commander, Colonel Prochenko reported that Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, chief of staff of the regiment, has dispatched three reconnaissance teams. At the same time, conduct reconnaissance to the south, east and southeast of the landing site."

  Hearing what the chief of staff said, Shechtman quickly pulled the map on the table in front of him, bowed his head and began to study it. After looking at it for a while, he slammed his fist on the map and said repeatedly: "This Lieutenant Colonel Vanya is not simple. He actually sent a reconnaissance team in three directions at the same time. In this way, no matter where the German army is Assembling in one direction, the reconnaissance team can find out at the first time and feed back the information in time."

"Comrade commander, have you forgotten that Lieutenant Colonel Vanya was originally an old subordinate of the commander." Billing said to Shechtman with a smile: "He has learned a lot about the commander's skills. It won't be long before we figure out what's going on."

   "Comrade Commander," the chief of staff asked for instructions, "will you call General Fomenko, or will I call?"

   "I won't make any calls for the time being." Shechtman shook his head and said, "We don't know yet whether there is a German army gathering near the landing site. We don't need to make a fuss now. Let's wait patiently for the intelligence from the reconnaissance team."

   "What about General Fomenko?" asked the chief of staff.

"When the enemy starts to attack us aggressively, it will not be too late for us to ask General Fomenko for help." Shechtman said confidently: "Anyway, the defense zones of our two divisions are very close, and they can fight in the shortest possible time. Come over to support us."

  A communications staff officer walked over quickly and handed over a telegram just received to the chief of staff. After quickly browsing the above content, the chief of staff had an expression of surprise on his face, and he hurriedly reported to Shechtman: "Comrade commander, good news, comrade commander has boarded the vehicle with the 73rd Infantry Brigade at this moment, ready to Come to us."

   "Oh, Comrade Commander is coming?!" Hearing what the chief of staff said, Shechtman grabbed the telegram in his hand and browsed it carefully. When he confirmed that the content above was consistent with what the chief of staff reported, he also showed a relaxed expression, "This is really great, Comrade Commander will be able to arrive at Klemenchug in a few hours. , then we don’t have to worry about who will command the troops.”

Shechtman gave Billing the telegram in his hand, and continued: "Comrade Commissar, you are right just now. With the commander's command ability, even if his rank is lower than that of General Solomatin, Kremen All the troops here in Chug still need to obey his command."

"Since the commander is coming, it means that the main force will continue to enter the landing field on the right bank." After reading the telegram, Billing asked Shechtman curiously: "Comrade commander, do you think the commander will finally come?" Where will our division be placed on the landing field?"

Shechtman looked at the map and said confidently: "The Battle of Kursk, the liberation of Belgorod and Kharkov, our division has performed well, I think the commander has seen it all. And The south side of the landing ground is flat, which is very conducive to the deployment of troops. This is undoubtedly the best place for the German army to attack. A force with strong combat effectiveness like ours is naturally responsible for the defense of the most difficult area."

   "Comrade Commander, in this way, our troops may suffer huge casualties."

"Don't worry, Comrade Political Commissar." Shechtman said, "No matter how heavy the casualties of the troops, Comrade Commander will supplement us. I hope that through this battle, the troops will be like the 84th Division and the Guards 1st Division." The 98th Division received a high honor."

  (end of this chapter)