Chapter 1626

  The words of the artillery regiment commander made the people present realize that in order to destroy the unsightly Soviet troops on the opposite side, in addition to sending ground troops to attack, they can also be blown to pieces with intensive artillery fire.

Herbert knew very well that the reason why his troops were able to beat the Soviet army all over the place was that apart from well-trained officers and soldiers, rich combat experience and bravery in combat, strong firepower was also one of the main factors for victory. .

"That's right, our advantage is our powerful firepower." Herbert said, "We must know how to use this advantage to deal with those damned Russians. After dawn, we will not attack the town for the time being. There should be It's already in ruins, and it doesn't make much sense to occupy it. If you find the shadows of Russians inside, shoot immediately and wipe them all out."

   "Your Excellency, Division Commander," the division chief of staff waited for Herbert to finish speaking, and reminded him in a low voice: "Our artillery is limited. If we want to eliminate the Russians in the town, we may need to think of other ways."

"You don't have to worry about this." Herbert said confidently: "The troops attacking the town are not only our division, but also other troops, plus their artillery, it shouldn't be too big to wipe out the Russians in the town. question."

   "Yes, the other troops involved in the attack are also equipped with artillery." The artillery chief continued: "They can undertake most of the artillery missions."

  The battalion commander of the Light Infantry Battalion, who had never spoken, couldn't help but asked: "Mr. Colonel, why did you let other troops take on the main artillery task? Could it be that our divisional artillery cannot complete such a task?"

  The battalion commander of the Light Step Battalion is just a major. In such a military meeting, questioning a colonel's words is simply a provocative act, which is a typical subordinate.

Those present thought that Herbert would be furious and reprimand the incomprehensible major, but what surprised everyone was that the always strict division commander said softly to the artillery commander: "Colonel, since the major asked you If you have any questions, tell him the answer."

The reason why Herbert showed such tolerance towards the major is entirely because the battalion suffered heavy losses during the two days of fighting, especially in the shelling that ended not long ago, another company of the battalion was killed by Soviet artillery fire. Reimbursed.

  Although the commander of the artillery regiment didn't know about it, since it was Herbert who spoke, he naturally wanted to explain it to this officer with a lower rank than himself. He coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and said with a bit of dissatisfaction: "Major, the reason why I said that the artillery of the friendly army will bear most of the shelling of the town is because the artillery of our regiment has to bombard the town." A bridge built by the Russians over the Dnieper."

Speaking of this, he sneered and continued: "If the river is not sealed off with artillery fire, once the Russians are allowed to build a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River, they will continuously transfer troops from the left bank to fight in the area where they are fighting now. build a solid bridgehead inside."

  The battalion commander of the Light Infantry Battalion was too low-level to know that the Soviet Army had built a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River, but he obediently shut up after hearing what the artillery regiment commander said. He knew very well that once the Soviet army completed the erection of the pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River, a large number of troops and equipment could be transported from the left bank to the right bank through the bridge.

Seeing that the battalion commander of the Light Infantry Battalion stopped talking, Herbert went on to say: "After listening to the introduction of the artillery regiment commander, everyone should understand why we can't concentrate all the artillery fire to deal with the Russian defensive positions. Because we want to keep enough artillery to destroy the pontoon bridges that the Russians built on the Dnieper."

While the German army was studying the strategy for the next day, Shumilov on the right bank of the Dnieper River received a call from Sivalenko and learned that the artillery of the 27th Army had dealt a devastating blow to the Ratesve garrison. , asked a little excitedly: "General Sivalenko, can you confirm that the defenders in the town of Ratesve were hit by devastating artillery fire?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." Sivalenko replied in an affirmative tone: "I am absolutely sure."

   "What about the troops in front of your position?" After confirming the information, Shumilov asked cautiously, "What action did they have? Have they launched an attack on the town?"

   "No, Comrade Commander." Ever since he knew that the artillery of the 27th Army was bombarding the town of Ratesve, Sivalenko sent an observation post to watch the friendly positions to see if they would take any action. But until the shelling ended, there was no sign of any attack on the friendly army's position, so he truthfully reported to Shumilov: "I sent someone to watch nearby. If there is any action by the friendly army, I will know it immediately. But so far, there is no sign of friendly forces attacking."

Hearing what Sivalenko said, Shumilov couldn't help but frowned. He thought to himself: What kind of tricks is this Sokov going to do? According to the previous tactics, after the shelling is over, shouldn't he organize troops to attack immediately, taking advantage of it? When the enemy was bombed, he decisively regained the lost position.

   After finishing the call with Sivalenko, Shumilov thought about it and decided to report the matter to Konev and talk to him about his thoughts.

Konev was awakened from his sleep by the adjutant. He was somewhat unhappy, but when he heard that it was Shumilov, he realized that something might have happened. He quickly got out of bed, put on his military coat and came to his Headquarters, picked up the microphone on the table: "Shumilov, I'm Konev, what happened to you?"

"Comrade Commander," Shumilov reported respectfully over the phone, "I have just received a call from General Sivalenko, who said that the artillery of the 27th Army shelled the town of Ratsve, killing the Germans who occupied the town. deal a devastating blow.”

  The 15th Guards Division abandoned the town of Ratsve. Before retreating, Sivalenko still reported the matter to Shumilov, and Shumilov reported the matter to Konev. Therefore, Konev was not surprised to hear Sivalenko's report at this moment, but said lightly: "General Shumilov, as far as I know, the 15th Guards Division is now deployed in the rear of the 27th Army. , even if the town is bombarded, the troops involved in the attack will not be their turn. If he wants to ask for a fight, don't agree to him for now, let him take the troops to rest for a few days before talking. Do you understand?"

"Comrade commander, you have misunderstood me." Hearing what Konev said, Shumilov immediately realized that the other party had misunderstood, and quickly explained: "Although the friendly forces dealt a devastating blow to the enemy, they did not initiate ground attack."

"What, what did you say?" This time it was Konev's turn to be surprised, and he asked in confusion: "General Shumilov, didn't you say that the artillery of the 27th Army caused a devastating blow to the enemy, and they Why not attack?"

   "I don't know." Shumilov called Konev at such a time, just to find out what Sokov thought. I am at the same level as Sokov, so it is inconvenient to ask about many things, but it is different when Konev comes forward. "Comrade Commander, why don't you call him and ask what's going on?"

   "I'll think about it." Konev said with some hesitation, "I'll call you after I understand the specific situation."

After finishing talking with Shumilov, Konev sat at the table and asked his adjutant to bring him a cup of strong tea with sugar. While sipping the tea carefully, he wondered why Sokov's troops didn't take the opportunity Launch a counterattack.

   Before finishing a cup of tea, Chief of Staff Zakharov appeared in the headquarters. He must have also been awakened from his dream, and he greeted Konev with a yawn: "Comrade Commander, you are here too."

   "Well, the adjutant said that General Shumilov had something to ask me, so I came to answer the phone." He looked at Zakharov standing in front of him, and asked curiously, "Why are you here?"

"It was a combat staff officer at the headquarters who woke me up," Zakharov sat opposite Konev, and said, "It was said that it was General Shumilov, commander of the 7th Guards Army, who called me. I was worried about something important, so I came here to take a look."

"That's right, General Shumilov did call." Konev decided to find out what the other party was thinking before calling Sokov, so he tentatively asked Zakharov: "Chief of Staff Comrade, you have been in contact with Sokov before, so you should know him well, right?"

   "It's fairly familiar, Comrade Commander, if you have any questions, as long as I know, I will tell you the truth."

"General Shumilov told me," Konev said unhurriedly, "Sokov's artillery bombarded the town of Ratesve, dealing a devastating blow to the defenders in the town. "

As Konev's chief of staff, Zakharov naturally knew the reason why the 15th Guards Division abandoned the town of Ratsve. He nodded and said: "Sokov did a good job. This shelling will definitely hit the enemy. Great damage has been done. Next, he will organize his troops and attack the town to retake it from the remaining enemies."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you guessed wrong." Unexpectedly, after listening to his words, Konev shook his head and said: "The artillery of the 27th Army did cause devastating casualties to the enemy, but after the shelling ended, simply Corf's troops show no signs of attacking. Do you know what's going on?"

  Zakharov was shocked, and then asked in surprise: "After finishing the shelling of the town of Ratsve, he didn't organize troops to continue the attack?"

   "That's true."

   "Why on earth is this, Comrade Commander?" Zakharov asked puzzledly, "Why didn't Sokov send troops to attack?"

  Konev looked at Zakharov with a faint smile, and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that I asked you this question first."

  After being reminded by Konev, Zakharov realized that the other party had indeed asked this question. He had to rack his brains and start thinking, why did Sokov give up such a good opportunity?

   But after thinking for a while, he couldn't come up with an answer. He could only shake his head, and said to Konev with a wry smile: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, although I spent more time dealing with Sokov, I really can't think of why he would give up such a good opportunity." .”

Since Zakharov couldn't guess the purpose of Sokov, Konev drank the rest of the tea in the cup and said, "Since you and I can't guess the answer, the best way is to immediately Call Sokov and ask him what's going on."

   Hearing that Konev planned to call Sokov, Zakharov was about to remind him that it was getting late, but then he thought, Konev was not calling Stalin, but had to pick a time. If you call a subordinate like Sokov, you can call whenever you want.

  Konev ordered the communications staff officer on duty to connect Sokov's phone.

   "Comrade Sokov, I'm Konev." Konev said with a smile: "I heard that your artillerymen launched a fierce shelling on the German army in the town of Ratesve. Is this true?"

   "That's right, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, there is indeed such a thing." Sokov is a smart man, and he guessed the real intention of the other party from Konev's question. So without waiting for the other party to continue to ask, he asked first: "You are calling me at this time, do you want to know why there is no ground attack?"

   Seeing that Sokov had guessed his intentions, Konev laughed a few times, and then said, "Comrade Sokov, can you tell me the reason?"

"The town of Ratsve has been reduced to ruins under the shelling of our army. Even if our army reoccupied it, it may be difficult to build any decent fortifications." Sokov explained to Konev: "Although I have ordered the troops to enter the town after daybreak and eliminate the remaining enemies inside. But after all this is done, they will move to other areas and rebuild the fortifications."

   "So, you don't plan to deploy forces to defend the town of Ratswe?"

"That's right, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, that's exactly what I think about it." Sokov worried that Konev would misinterpret his words, and explained to him specifically: "Not to mention that the town has been turned into ruins, it is difficult to become a A strong firepower point; even if a perfect defense could be established, I would not intend to defend here."

"why?"

"At the beginning, my troops captured the towns of Ratswe and Jingji in order to support the friendly forces to cross the river and establish a reliable landing site on the right bank." Sokov said plausibly: "But with the fall of Jingji Town, even if we concentrate The troops stick to the town of Latseve, and the Germans can also block the river with artillery fire to prevent friendly troops from erecting a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River. If there is no pontoon bridge, the troops crossing the river to the right bank will become a lone army, and eventually they will run out of ammunition and food. and was annihilated by the enemy."

   Regarding Sokov’s statement, Konev didn’t think it was alarmist, on the contrary, he thought it was very reasonable. As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he immediately asked back: "Then what can you do to prevent the enemy's artillery from blocking the river?"

"It's very simple, recapture Jingji Town." Sokov said: "As long as our army controls Jingji Town, the enemy will not be able to establish artillery positions near the town. Disappeared."

"Well, Comrade Sokov, what you said is very reasonable." Konev praised Sokov a few words, and then asked suddenly: "Then which army do you think is suitable to be the main force to capture Jingji Town? "

   "Comrade Front Army Commander, if you trust me," Sokov said sternly, "I can let my troops try. Even if the town can't be recaptured, the enemy's artillery can't fully block the river."

  (end of this chapter)