Chapter 1543 Direct Liaison

  Napoleon once said: "If you don't want to be a general's soldier, you are not a good soldier." Sokov's goal is not only to be a general, he even has a dream to become a marshal of the Soviet Union one day in the future. Although this dream is very remote and far away, he never gave up, what if it comes true someday.

   When Sokov was distracted, he suddenly heard Sameko calling him, turned his head and asked, "Chief of Staff, what's the matter?"

   "Commander Konev wants to talk to you." Sameko said, handing over the microphone in his hand.

  Sokov quickly got up and took the microphone in the opponent's hand, put it close to his ear, and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, what instructions do you have?"

Konev's displeased voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Sokov, didn't I tell you that as soon as the losses of the German 8th Armored Division are counted, they should be reported to me immediately? How long has it been? , why didn't you report it?"

   Facing Konev's accusation, Sokov dared not defend himself. He quickly covered the microphone with his hands and asked Sameko in a low voice: "Chief of Staff, have the losses of the German 8th Armored Division been calculated?"

   "I just received the report from the reconnaissance office, and I haven't had time to report it to you." Sameko said, and handed a piece of paper in front of Sokov: "This is the situation of the German army's losses."

Sokov took the paper, quickly browsed through the content, released his hand covering the microphone, and reported to Konev: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, according to the statistics of our reconnaissance team, the bombing before dawn destroyed the 21 German No. 4 tanks, 4 survived; 51 Panther tanks were destroyed, 29 survived; 19 assault guns were destroyed, 11 survived. In addition, German armored vehicles and trucks were also destroyed..."

   "Okay, there's no need to say any more." Before Sokov could finish speaking, Konev interrupted him, "Except for German tanks and assault guns, I don't have any interest in other vehicles."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov was very satisfied with the results of the bombing. The 8th Armored Division originally had 135 tanks and assault guns. After this round of bombing, 91 vehicles were lost, accounting for 67.4% of the total. Such a record is quite gratifying: "The effect of this round of bombing by the Air Force on the German army is very obvious. The German 8th Armored Division has less than half of its tanks and assault guns left. In the next battle, they basically It won’t work much.”

"Comrade Sokov, does such a small victory make you complacent?" Konev said on the phone: "You know, when our bombers bombed the German tanks and assault guns, these battles The vehicles were all standing still, almost like targets, but our bombing still failed to wipe them all out, which is really a pity."

Konev’s words made Sokov dumbfounded. The German 8th Armored Division had only 135 tanks and assault guns in total, and now 91 of them have been blown up. You are not satisfied with such a result. Do you really want the entire German army to be wiped out? ?

However, Sokov did not argue with Konev on this matter, but followed his meaning and said: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, through this bombing, I feel that the support of the air force is really inseparable from the air force to defend the landing site." .As long as they can provide us with air cover at any time, the enemy will never want to take the landing field from us."

   "How much air force do you think I should provide you?"

"I think there are at least two aviation divisions." Sokov replied without hesitation: "One is the bomber aviation division, and the other is the attack aircraft aviation division. The former is to bomb the enemy's artillery and infantry, and the latter is to deal with German tanks. .”

"Yes." What Konev thought in his heart was that as long as Sokov's troops could defend the landing site and ensure that his main force could cross the Dnieper River smoothly, it would be worthwhile to give him more support: "If I give What you want, can your troops hold the landing site?"

   "It's hard to say if only one of our armies stands firm." Sokov said firmly: "Now there are two armies on both sides of the Dnieper River. We are enough to block any attack by the German army."

   "Very good, very good!" Konev was very satisfied with Sokov's answer: "Is there any other request?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Could it be that when Konev asked himself to propose conditions, Sokov naturally would not let it go easily: "Can you let us establish a direct connection with the Air Force, so as not to When we need air support, we need to ask for instructions layer by layer, which leads to the delay of fighter jets."

  As soon as Sokov mentioned the delayed fighter plane, Konev realized the seriousness of the problem. He frowned and thought for a while, and felt that what Sokov said made sense: according to the normal procedure, when Sokov needs air support, he must first call himself or Zakharov to ask for instructions. Harov gave an order to Goryunov of the Air Force, and Goryunov ordered the fleet to prepare after receiving the order to attack. This back and forth, at least half an hour passed, and every minute on the battlefield is precious. If the commanders and fighters who hold their positions do not receive support from the air force for a long time, they may be repelled by the enemy.

  Thinking of this, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, I will inform General Goryunov to contact you as soon as possible, and the two of you will discuss the matter of air-ground coordinated operations."

As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he excitedly said to Sameko, Managarov and others: "Just now the commander of the Front Army has notified me of the request to let us establish direct contact with the Air Force. In this way, when the landing site When the defenders need air support, we can immediately contact the air force to attack, and we don't have to report to each other like before."

Managarov and his subordinates were delighted when they heard the news. They all had experience in cooperating with the air force. Every time they asked the air force to attack, they had to contact the front army headquarters first. After obtaining approval, their request could be completed. to Goryunov. In this way, a lot of time was wasted.

But when Sameko heard the news, he was not as excited as his comrades in the friendly army, but frowned and said to Sokov: "Comrade commander, the airport is hundreds of kilometers away from us. In fact, even if everything goes well, it will take more than half an hour. Since we have to request air force support, it means that the German army is attacking fiercely. I don’t know if the troops holding their positions can hold on until the air force arrives?”

   "I think there should be no problem." Derevyanko said thoughtfully: "Even if the German offensive is fierce, if our commanders persist for half an hour, it should still be possible."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov remembered that when he went to the temporary headquarters of the Mechanized Army, he had seen the airport in the north of the city, and said to Sameko: "Isn't there an airport in the north of Klemenchug? We can have the airfield cleaned up and Air Force fighters put in there, and when we need air support, they'll be there in time."

Sokov's words made Sameko's eyes shine: "Comrade Commander, this is a good idea. If the Air Force's fighter planes can really enter the airport in the north of the city and take off from here, they can reach the battlefield in a few minutes at most. Troops provide air support and carry out air strikes against the enemy."

  Derevyanko laughed when he heard this, and seemed to disagree with Sokov and Sameko's proposal.

  Managarov turned his head to look at his chief of staff, and said with some displeasure: "Comrade chief of staff, do you disagree with General Sokov's proposal?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Derevyanko replied seriously: "Having the air force stationed at the airport north of Kremenchug city can indeed reach the battlefield in the shortest time and provide air cover for our ground troops. But Have you ever thought about how much fuel and ammunition are needed to launch so many fighter planes? Since Poltava is still controlled by the Germans, our transportation line can barely maintain the supplies of our two armies. If there are two more aviation divisions, can their supplies be satisfied?"

Derevyanko reminded Sokov that letting the fighter planes of the aviation division stationed at the airport in Kremenchug can indeed arrive at the battlefield in the shortest time and provide air cover for the ground troops, but the fuel required by the fighter planes And ammunition is a huge problem. He doesn't think that today's unstable transportation lines can ensure that the fuel and ammunition needed by fighter planes can be delivered in time. Fighters have no fuel and ammunition, so they can only park at the airport as a target.

"Comrade Commander, your call." When Sokov was considering how to solve the fuel and ammunition problem of the fighter plane, a staff officer nearby reported briefly and hastily: "It is General Goliunov, commander of the 5th Army of the Air Force. here."

Sokov was waiting for a call from Goryunov. When he heard that the other party had called, he hurriedly followed the staff officer to the phone, picked up the receiver and pressed it to his ear, and asked politely, "Hello, may I ask you?" Is it General Goryunov? I am Sokov, Commander of the 27th Army."

"Hello, General Sokov. This is Lieutenant General Goryunov of the Air Force." Goryunov said on the phone: "I received a call from Commander Konev, saying that you want to establish direct contact with us." , in order to better carry out air-ground coordinated operations.”

"Yes, General Goryunov, I do have such an idea." Sokov replied in a positive tone: "As long as we establish a direct link between us, when we need air support, we can be there." Make a request to you in the shortest possible time to shorten the time for fighter jets to reach the battlefield."

"General Sokov," Goryunov said noncommittally to what Sokov said, "Our airport is two to three hundred kilometers away from the landing site on the right bank. Even if you make a timely request to us, It also takes half an hour or even longer for our fighter planes to reach the battlefield."

"I understand, Comrade General." Sokov hesitated for a moment, but still said what he had just thought: "I have an idea, that is, to invite your aviation division to station at the airport north of Kremenchug, so that your Fighters can appear in the sky above the battlefield in the shortest possible time.”

   "General Sokov, don't you think your idea is too absurd?"

  Sokov was taken aback: "Where is the absurdity?"

"Although Klemenchug is in our hands now, there are still enemies in many nearby areas." Goryunov said: "If the enemy bombards the airport, the aircraft in the airport will definitely suffer serious losses. "

  Sokov knew that Goryunov had something to say, so he didn't interrupt him, but listened quietly. Sure enough, Goryunov continued: "Even if the enemy doesn't bombard the airport, have you ever considered how much fuel and ammunition would be needed if so many fighters were to attack every day? Do you think that with our current supply capacity, we can Do you have enough fuel and ammunition for the fighters?"

"You are quite right, Comrade General." Sokov waited for Goryunov to finish speaking, and then said: "It is indeed too big a goal to put the fighter planes of the two aviation divisions on the Klemenchug airport. This will not only attract the attention of the Germans and make them try their best to destroy it, but also the supply of fuel and ammunition will be a big problem. How can the aircraft participate in the battle without fuel and ammunition?"

"General Sokov," Goryunov couldn't help smiling when he saw that Sokov had the same opinion as himself, and then asked, "Since your opinion is the same as mine, why do you still insist on letting the fighter planes of the aviation division station in Kremlin?" Menchug?"

"If both aviation divisions are stationed, it is obviously not possible." Unexpectedly, Sokov said unexpectedly: "After all, our communication lines are not stable, and we will certainly not be able to provide them with enough fuel and ammunition. But if they are stationed in Croatia The fighter planes at Limenchug Airport are not two aviation divisions, but two aviation regiments? Comrade General, do you think the ammunition and fuel they need can be supplied in time?"

   Goryunov's smile froze on his face: "General Sokov, so you still hope to have fighter jets stationed at Klemenchug's airport?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov worried that Goryunov would reject his proposal, so he took the initiative to lower his request: "If you think that there are too many aviation regiments, then it is also necessary to equip us with two squadrons." Okay, so there shouldn’t be any problem in satisfying their fuel and ammunition supplies.”

   "Two squadrons?" Goryunov exclaimed in surprise after hearing Sokov's request: "My God, what role can two squadrons play on the battlefield?"

"Comrade General, you can't underestimate these two squadrons." Seeing that Goryunov didn't understand his intentions, Sokov explained to him: "The fighter planes that go up early can contain the enemy's role. More fighter planes arrived to buy precious time."

   Goryunov thought about it, and it seemed that this was indeed the case. As long as the number of planes dispatched by the German army at a time is not large, the two squadrons of its own can fully play the role of interference and containment, buying precious time for more fighter planes to rush to the battlefield. Thinking of this, he said briskly: "Okay, General Sokov, you have successfully persuaded me. How about this, you send someone to clean up the airport first, and tomorrow morning, two squadrons will be stationed at you airport."

  (end of this chapter)