Chapter 1572 German attack

Zakharov added: "Poltava was originally a fortress city, and its walls are extremely strong. If conventional bombardment methods are used, even a 152mm artillery can hardly break the wall. But direct aiming Shooting a haute, even a 122mm gun, is much more effective than a 152mm gun."

"It's getting late, you guys should go back to the army." Konev saw that the things that should be explained have been explained, so he said to Zadov and Shumilov: "Study a set of practical measures with the artillery commanders as soon as possible." Feasible tactics, must win the city in the shortest time, there is not much time left for you."

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." The two army commanders replied respectfully: "As soon as we go back, we will work out new tactics for artillery in siege warfare with the artillery commander."

   After Zadov and Shumilov left, Zakharov asked Konev: "Comrade Commander, do you think they will adopt new tactics to deal with the strong German fortifications after they go back?"

"I've already said what I have to say." Konev said a little tiredly: "If their siege operations do not make any new progress in a short period of time, I may have to consider replacing them with other troops. attack."

   "Other troops?" Zakharov heard Konev say this, and first thought of Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to let Sokov's troops take over the siege operations?"

   "No, no, no, I won't call Sokov's troops over." Konev waved his hands and said, "I can rest assured only when Sokov is there at the landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River."

  Zakharov heard what Konev said, and originally wanted to express a little different opinion. But after thinking about the several group army commanders in the front army, there was really no one who could beat Sokov. If the landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River is really handed over to someone else, let alone Konev is worried, even his own heart is not at ease.

And in the city of Kremenchug, hundreds of kilometers away, Sokov was saying to Managarov and others: "...Whether it is a frontal attack on the landing field or a battle on the left bank, the Germans will be defeated. But the defeated enemy will never give up so easily, they will definitely come up with a new conspiracy to recapture the landing site..."

  "General Sokov," Derevyanko couldn't help interjecting after hearing this, "tell me, what kind of conspiracy will the enemy use to seize the landing site from us?"

"I don't know, General Derevyanko." Sokov looked at Derevyanko and said seriously: "I am not God, nor is Manstein's chief of staff. I don't know what he will do next. But I know one thing very well, if the Germans fail to attack on the frontal battlefield, they will definitely send out small troops to infiltrate our army and cause damage.”

   "Then how should we deal with them?" Derevyanko continued to ask.

   "We can only strengthen patrols in the defense zone, and at the same time prohibit soldiers from going out after dark, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Germans." Sokov said with some helplessness: "We need to strengthen security work in important areas..."

Derevyanko heard Sokov mentioned that security work should be strengthened in important areas, thinking that the other party was worried that the German squad would attack the headquarters, and said carelessly: "General Sokov, if you are worried about the security of the headquarters, I can tell you, don’t be afraid at all, the guards deployed near the church include not only the 27th Army, but also our 53rd Army, the Germans can’t fly in even if they have wings.”

"General Derevyanko, you are wrong. It is precisely because there are two different troops near the church that the Germans have an opportunity." Sokov explained to Derevyanko: "For example, the Germans Dress up as our army and infiltrate near the headquarters. When my subordinates see them, they will think they are your subordinates; and when your subordinates see them, they will also think that these disguised enemies are my subordinates."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Managarov immediately realized the seriousness of the problem when he heard this, and hurriedly said to Derevyanko: "General Sokov is right, if two different troops guard the headquarters The troops are easily used by the enemy. Let’s withdraw our guard troops to the periphery and hand over the security work here to the guard troops of the 27th Army.”

   After Managarov gave Derevyanko an order in one breath, he did not forget to ask Sokov for his opinion: "General Sokov, do you think this will work?"

After thinking about it, Sokov asked the guards of the 53rd Army to withdraw from the square area and take charge of the peripheral defense. This made it more difficult for the German army to infiltrate, so he nodded and agreed: "Okay, Comrade General, it's up to you It can be done. Your troops will be responsible for the perimeter defense, and my troops will be responsible for the security of the church and the square area."

   After finishing speaking, Sokov turned to Sameko and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, make arrangements immediately."

When Sameko got up to make a phone call, Sokov smiled again and said to Derevyanko: "General Derevyanko, you misunderstood one thing. The important location I mentioned did not refer to our headquarters. , although the importance of this place is irreplaceable, it is indeed not the location I want to talk about."

   "Then where is the important location you mentioned?"

"Here." Sokov got up and walked to the opposite table, pointing to the map spread on it: "In order to prevent the worst situation from happening, the enemy successfully broke through our defense after crossing the river to the left bank. , joined forces here in Klemenchug, cut off the retreat of the troops on the right bank, and dug a lot of caves on the cliffs beside the river on the right bank, and stored the weapons, ammunition and supplies needed by the troops in them. I am worried about the Germans Teams that infiltrate the rear of our army will destroy these caves where supplies are stored."

Hearing what Sokov said, Derevyanko knew in his heart that he had misunderstood Sokov. There was indeed a large amount of supplies stored in the newly dug caves by the river on the right bank. There will be a shortage of supplies. Once the supply is low, it becomes difficult to block the enemy.

After figuring out what was going on, Derevyanko quickly stated: "General Sokov, all those on the right bank are now your troops. If you want to strengthen the management of these materials, you can only be responsible. I We can send our troops to patrol the left bank and provide necessary fire support to friendly forces on the right bank if necessary."

"I think it's okay." Sokov felt that the plan proposed by Derevyanko is not bad. Now the two armies are on the right bank and the other is on the left bank. If joint patrols are implemented on both sides of the bank, it will indeed reduce the possibility of successful German infiltration. . "The several bridges on the Dnieper River are heavily guarded by our army. If the Germans want to cross the river, they can only choose to swim. If the two banks are patrolling at the same time, it will be very difficult for the enemy to succeed."

  The joint patrol of the two armies at night was settled, and the two chiefs of staff immediately called the commanders of the troops along the river and ordered them to form a capable patrol team to perform night patrol missions along the river.

  The commanders of the troops stationed by the river did not dare to neglect when they received the notice from their superiors. They quickly mobilized 20 or 30 patrol teams to patrol the banks of the Dnieper River.

  A series of things that happened later proved that Sokov's deployment was completely correct.

  The Germans suffered losses on both sides of the Dnieper River, and they must not be reconciled. After standing in front of the map for nearly an hour, Blaskowitz turned around and asked the chief of staff not far away: "Chief of staff, tell me, what can we do to throw the Russian defenses into chaos."

The German chief of staff thought for a while and replied: "Your Excellency, on the eve of attacking Russia, we sent a large number of Brandenburg troops, disguised as Russians, to go deep into the Russian rear, destroy their communications, and blow up their troops." Warehouses and bridges, and even after the war broke out, they directly attacked their headquarters, and it was the Russian troops who lost their unified command and fell into chaos."

After hearing what the chief of staff said, Blaskowitz couldn't help frowning slightly. He is a traditional soldier who is used to the frontal attack style. It is despised.

Seeing that Blaskowitz was silent, the chief of staff guessed what he was thinking, and quickly said: "Your Excellency, I understand your thoughts. If it is an ordinary Russian army, as long as we keep on attacking, we will It is possible to destroy their defenses, but the Russians who are fighting us today have caused our troops to suffer unprecedented defeats, and I think it is time for us to change tactics."

   "Change tactics?" Blaskowitz turned around and walked back to his desk and sat down, looking at his chief of staff and said, "Let's hear it, how about a change?"

"We can send small detachments and penetrate the depths of the Russian defenses." The chief of staff said to Blaskowitz: "Blow up their bridges, warehouses and logistics supply bases. Once the Russians occupy the bridgehead on the right bank, because the bridge If they are cut off and supply is difficult, our troops can decisively launch an offensive, destroy their defenses in one fell swoop, and drive them all into the Dnieper River."

Regarding the chief of staff's statement, Blaskowitz said with great concern: "Chief of staff, I understand what you mean. But if we send a sabotage team, can we really go deep into the rear of the Russians? "

"You are right, Commander." The chief of staff did not question Blaskowitz's statement, but offered his own plan: "If the sabotage team is allowed to enter the Russian defense zone from the front, It was very difficult to get through the many lines of defense of the Russians without revealing your identity."

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm worried about." Blaskowitz nodded and said, "If we can come up with a good way, the sabotage team we sent can pass through the Russians smoothly." Layers of defense, that might cause some trouble for the Russians."

"Actually, there is a way, Your Excellency Commander." The chief of staff quickly walked to the wall, looked up at the map hanging on it, picked up the explanation stick on the side, and said, "We can let the destruction team Along the bank of the Dnieper River, quietly detoured to the bridge..."

   Blaskowitz stood up and came to the map, frowning and asked: "Let our people go along the river, won't we encounter Russian patrols on the way?"

"It is possible to encounter Russian patrols." Regarding Blaskowitz's concerns, the chief of staff did not shy away: "But based on our past experience in dealing with Russians, even if they deploy patrols by the river , but the number will not be too many, and our sabotage team can completely avoid them."

Hearing this, Blaskowitz finally made up his mind, and he immediately ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately send two sabotage teams, disguised as Russians, from the upper and lower reaches of the Dnieper River, quietly Approaching the Dnieper bridge and trying to blow it up would deprive the Russians on the right bank of supplies for a period of time and create favorable conditions for our attack."

   "Send only two sabotage teams?" The chief of staff reminded Blaskowitz: "Your Excellency, Commander, is the number too small?"

"A lot, my chief of staff." Blaskowitz shook his head and said: "A sabotage team consisting of 20 people, carrying explosives and mines, quietly approached the bridge over the Dnieper along the river. , find a way to blow it up."

"Even if there are 20 people in each squad, the total strength is still too small." The chief of staff continued: "If the bridge bombing operation changes from a surprise attack to a storm attack, our strength will be wiped out by the Russians soon. "

"No more persuasion." Blaskowitz waved his hand at the chief of staff: "Just do what I want, immediately notify the troops closest to the Russians, form an elite sabotage team, and go deep into the Russian defense zone sabotage."

After dark, the first sabotage team set off from the downstream, a total of 20 people, led by a German captain who could speak Russian, and a group of them wore Soviet uniforms, left the defense area, and walked along the first line. The right bank of the Dnieper, heading towards the Dnieper Bridge upstream.

  When we first set off, the team leader was worried that he might encounter a Soviet patrol, but after walking seven or eight kilometers along the river, there was no one there, so he relaxed his vigilance.

  The area they passed was the defense zone of the 1st Mechanized Army. Although Sokov's order also came here, Solomatin did not pay enough attention to it. He felt that if the Germans wanted to launch a sneak attack, they would wait until now. So I just said to my chief of staff: "Notify the troops to be vigilant, and don't let the enemy penetrate into our defense zone."

   After saying this, Solomatin went to sleep with peace of mind, and even ordered his orderly: "Before dawn, if there is nothing particularly important, don't wake me up."

  The commander of the army was asleep, and the chief of staff did not take this matter to heart, and did not follow Solomatin's order to call the commanders of the brigades below to ask them to take precautions.

   The 23rd Mechanized Brigade is responsible for the defense of the Dnieper River bank. The brigade usually only sends a patrol team of eight people to patrol along the river. And this patrol team saw that it was raining during the patrol process. The captain felt that nothing happened for such a long time, and nothing would happen tonight, so he took the patrol team to find a place to shelter from the rain.

  The German squad that carried out the sabotage mission took advantage of the favorable conditions of the rain to speed up the march. As soon as the Soviet patrols withdrew, the German detachment passed the area smoothly.

  (end of this chapter)