Chapter 1596

  Early the next morning, Sokov's troops began to mobilize to the right bank with great fanfare.

   Soldiers lined up or lined up can be seen everywhere on the highway. They walk on one side of the road, and the middle of the road is reserved for military trucks loaded with supplies or soldiers, and trucks towing artillery.

  Sokov stood in the bell tower of the church, raising his binoculars to observe the troops being mobilized.

Standing beside him, Lunev also raised his binoculars to look at the troops in the distance, and asked, "Comrade Commander, according to your plan, you don't just plan to use the Tank Army and the 188th Division to confuse the enemy. Why? Even the artillery division is used now?"

Hearing this question, Sokov put down the binoculars in his hand, turned to Lunev and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I think that the tank army and infantry alone are not enough. Artillery must be added, so that the enemy can be firmly established." It is believed that the direction of our assault is just to the south of the landing site, after all, the terrain there is flat and conducive to the deployment of tank troops."

   "After the artillery units arrive at the 254th and 300th Division defense areas, when do you plan to transfer them away?"

"I plan to let them establish new artillery positions in the defense zone of the two divisions." Sokov replied: "I talked with the two artillery division commanders. and the 188th Division to provide the necessary artillery support."

   After speaking here, Sokov remembered another crucial matter, and asked eagerly: "By the way, Comrade Military Commissioner, how is the situation of General Ponegerin?"

"It's still under review." Konev sighed softly when he heard this question, and said, "The situation of the three of them is more complicated, and there are many things that need to be verified. I'm afraid it will take a while before we can get the results." .”

  Sokov knew that the problems of Ponegerin and others were very complicated, and the results could not be obtained in a short time. But he still asked with luck: "Comrade Military Commissioner, how long do you estimate it will take to reach a final conclusion."

   "It's hard to say," Lunev replied with a wry smile, "If it's fast, maybe a week or two; if it's slow, it might take half a year or even a year."

   Seeing Sokov's disappointed expression, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, do you really plan to let them serve in our army?"

"That's right, Comrade Military Commissioner." Sokov did not hide his true thoughts at all, "In any case, they are all senior commanders with rich experience as commanders, and they will serve as army commanders. The battle that came down was very helpful.”

   "But," Lunev asked hesitantly, "From what I know, their final trial result may be to be shot."

Sokov knew that in the real history, in 1945, Ponejerin was rescued by the Soviet army from a German prisoner-of-war camp, then accepted a five-year review, and was finally shot for treason in 1950 until 1956 Years before rehabilitated. He didn't want this kind of tragedy to happen in front of him, so he tried to change this unfair ending by himself.

"Comrade Military Commissar, I once told you that General Pornegerin and others would never rebel, otherwise they would not have been held in prisoner-of-war camps by the Germans forever." He said to Lunev in a gentle tone: "Look, can you tell Comrade Beria to end the review of them as soon as possible so that they can come back before the troops are reorganized."

  Sokov did not mention the reorganization of troops, Lunev has not thought of it yet. At this moment, when Sokov heard the old story brought up again, he asked inexplicably: "Comrade Commander, I was just about to ask you, who told you about the reorganization of the troops? You know, I once asked Comrade Beria, he Didn't know about it at all."

  When Sokov heard this question, he couldn't help but thumped in his heart, secretly screaming that it's not good, has the plan for reorganizing the army not yet been released? He suddenly remembered that during the Battle of Stalingrad, the numbers of the troops defending the city were also changed. They were either called the Stalingrad Front, the Don Front, or even the Southeast Front.

   "Why, the Supreme Command has no intention of reorganizing the troops?" Sokov asked tentatively.

   "Yes, not yet."

  Sokov became embarrassed, and could only cover up and said: "That may be my mistake, maybe I dreamed it in a dream one day, and it turned out to be a real thing."

  After laughing dryly, Sokov said unwillingly: "But the so-called reorganization of troops is not too complicated. Maybe the superiors suddenly came up with this idea in the morning and put it into practice in the afternoon."

"It's quite possible." Lunev quite agrees with Sokov's statement: "I remember that the time when the number was changed most frequently was during the Battle of Stalingrad. It took less than half a month. The designations of the two front armies have been changed twice. If this reorganization is just a change of designation, it shouldn’t take long, and it only takes a day or two to complete the reorganization.”

  Lunev raised his binoculars, looked into the distance for a while, and asked casually: "Comrade Commander, what are you planning to let the tank army cross the river?"

"According to the prior arrangement, they will start crossing the river at two o'clock in the afternoon." Sokov said: "We have to do a full set of tricks. After the tank troops pass by, the enemy will definitely be fooled into thinking that we will make the next breakthrough direction." , placed directly south of the landing field."

  When the two went down the bell tower, Lunev asked about Sokov's family affairs again: "Comrade Commander, have you written to Asiya recently?"

   "No." Sokov shook his head and said, "With so much work every day, where is the time to write letters?"

   "What about the phone call?" Lunev asked anxiously: "I don't have time to write a letter, so I should give her a call."

   "I haven't fought." Sokov said seriously: "How can I occupy the military line because of private affairs?"

"Comrade Commander, you can't do this." Lunev said to Sokov in a reproachful tone: "Anyway, Asya is your legal wife, how can you not contact her for a long time?" ? If she doesn't hear from you for a long time, she will worry about you."

   Lunev’s words reminded Sokov that he felt that after he sent Asiya back to Moscow, he almost never contacted her. It was a bit unfeeling to do so. Thinking of this, he quickly said: "Comrade Military Commissioner, thank you for your reminder. I will call her when I have time later to find out how she is doing."

"That's right." Seeing Sokov's kindness, a smile appeared on Lunev's face: "You two live apart, if you don't communicate by phone or letter, your relationship may change over time. Light. At that time, it will be very difficult for you to improve the relationship between the two of you."

  The two came downstairs, and Lunev took the initiative to ask again: "Do you need me to ask the master of the messenger to help you connect to Moscow?"

   "No need," Sokov replied in a panic, "I still have a lot of work to do. When the tank army starts crossing the river, it won't be too late for me to call her."

  ...

  The large-scale mobilization of the Soviet army alarmed the German troops in the south of the landing field.

  After observing the German soldiers at the front, they felt that the matter was of great importance, and immediately reported it to the higher levels, and soon reported it to General Blaskowitz, the commander of the group army.

   After getting the news, Blaskowitz came to the front in person, raised his binoculars and looked towards the Soviet defense zone. Sure enough, he saw new troops entering the position, and even a large number of artillery shadows could be seen in the distance.

  Based on what he observed, Blaskowitz realized that the Soviet army might launch an attack, and there was a high probability that it would be in its own defense zone.

  The first thing he did when he returned to the headquarters was to call the chief of staff and tell him, "Contact Marshal Manstein immediately, I have important information to report to him."

  The phone was connected quickly, and Manstein's slow voice came from the receiver: "General Blaskowitz, what do you need to call me urgently?"

"Your Excellency the Marshal," Blaskowitz said respectfully, "in the Russian defense zone in front of our army, a large number of infantry are entering the position, and there are even a large number of artillery deployed in the distance. It seems that they intend to attack me. Zone attack."

   "Only infantry and artillery?"

   "Yes, there are only infantry and artillery." Blaskowitz heard Manstein's voice, which seemed to have doubts, and asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, Marshal, is there anything wrong?"

"General Blaskowitz," Manstein on the other end of the phone said slowly while smoking a cigar, "Your terrain is suitable for armored assaults, but the additional troops the Russians sent are only infantry and artillery. But there are no armored units, which means that they are only for strengthening defense and will not pose a threat to your defense zone."

  Manstein's explanation made Blaskowitz dubious, and he asked uneasy: "Your Excellency, Marshal, will the Russians really not attack my defense zone?"

"Of course, General Blaskowitz." Manstein said confidently: "It's not that the Russians don't have armored troops, but they didn't move to the bridgehead in front of you, which proves that they didn't attack." The plan is just to prevent our army from breaking through their position, and send a reinforcement force."

   Blaskowitz and Manstein chatted for a while, and confirmed that this new Soviet army did not have the ability to attack themselves, and they felt more at ease. After he put down the phone, he said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, you call the division headquarters at the front and ask them to closely monitor the movements of the Russians, and report to me in time if there is any new situation."

  At three o'clock in the afternoon, the division commander at the front called Blaskowitz and reported in a somewhat flustered tone: "Your Excellency, Commander, we found a large number of Russian tanks on the opposite side..."

  Hearing that a large number of Soviet tanks appeared on the opposite side of the defense zone, Blaskowitz couldn't help but feel moved: "Mr. Commander, have you seen how many tanks the Russians have?"

   "According to the report from the forward observation post," the German division commander replied: "So far, the number of Russian tanks that have appeared in their field of vision has exceeded one hundred. According to my experience, there must be more tanks behind."

Blaskowitz is deeply convinced of this statement by his subordinates. After all, the bridge across the Dnieper River is now in the hands of the Soviet army. They can use the bridge to transport many tanks from the left bank. Ship it. He felt that the matter was of great importance and he needed to report to Manstein immediately, so he ordered someone to connect Manstein's phone.

  When he heard Manstein's voice again, Blaskowitz said emotionally: "Your Excellency, the Russian tanks...the tanks appeared."

"What, the Russian tanks have appeared?" Hearing what Blaskowitz said, Manstein thought to himself: Could it be that his judgment was wrong, and the Russians really wanted to launch a new offensive in the south? ? He tentatively asked, "General Blaskowitz, how many tanks do the Russians have?"

"According to reports from the forward troops, the number of Russian tanks that appeared in their field of vision exceeded one hundred." Blaskowitz said anxiously: "It seems that there are more tanks that are about to go into battle. Marshal Your Excellency, you also know that several of my divisions have been severely weakened during the battle during this period, and if they are not replenished in time, it may be difficult to stop the crazy Russian attack."

  Although Manstein was an excellent commander in World War II, the deception tactics used by Sokov have thousands of years of inheritance, and he still played him around. Knowing that there were a large number of tanks in the Soviet landing field, his original thoughts were shaken: "Could it be that my judgment was wrong, the Russians are really planning to launch an attack on the south side of their bridgehead?"

  Thinking of this, he continued: "General Blaskowitz, you must be prepared to resist the Russian attack, and don't let the Russians easily break through your defense line like a while ago."

Manstein's words made Blaskowitz shy. Some time ago, Sokov launched a limited counterattack. He originally wanted to consume some of the German army's vitality. Unexpectedly, the enemy was defeated and occupied some new areas. , expanding the area of ​​the landing field.

This incident was an indelible shame for Blaskowitz. He waited for Manstein to finish speaking, and immediately stated: "Your Excellency, Marshal, please rest assured that I will never let the Russians Break through my line of defense with ease."

"General Blaskowitz, considering your actual difficulties, I will immediately deploy reinforcements to strengthen your defense." Manstein considered that the Soviet army had assembled a large number of tanks at the landing site. Only relying on the two infantry divisions of Blaskowitz could not stop it at all, so he made a reinforcement decision in the shortest possible time: "I will send the 3rd and 6th armored divisions to reinforce you .”

"That's great, Your Excellency the Marshal, this is really great." Although the two armored divisions suffered extremely heavy losses in the battle some time ago, Manstein has already seized the time to supplement them. If they are used to strengthen themselves, then they will have greater confidence in dealing with Russian armored assaults: "With these two armored divisions, I think the Russians will never break through our army's defense line unless they double their strength."

"I will arrange this matter as soon as possible. The two armored divisions will be able to reach your defense zone by tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Manstein continued: "I hope you can hurry up and repair the fortifications, and set up obstacles and barriers in front of the fortifications." Minefields that prevent the Russians from easily approaching your defenses."

  (end of this chapter)