Chapter 1640 Face-to-face instruction

While Sameko was on the phone, Sokov stared at the map in front of him in a daze, thinking to get rid of the three divisions serving as the reserve and auxiliary defense. The only troops he can use now are the 182nd and 188th. , the 254th and 300th Divisions, the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and the First Artillery Division, the Second Artillery Division and the Fourth Guards Tank Corps.

  He picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, and gently drew the attack route he thought of on the map. The first thing the troops should capture is a small city called Pavlish located on the south side of the landing site. It is said that the German army has established a transfer warehouse here, storing a large amount of weapons, ammunition and various military supplies.

   "Comrade Commander," Sameko came to Sokov after calling and reported to him, "I have passed on your order."

Sokov just hummed lightly, and didn't take his eyes off the map. Instead, he was thinking about whether to strengthen the city's defenses once Pavlish was captured, so as not to be attacked by the counterattacking German army. Occupy again.

   Seeing Sokov staring at the map in a daze, Sameko guessed that the other party was considering the next combat operation, so he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, what are you thinking?"

Hearing Sameko ask himself, Sokov looked up at him, then lowered his head again, and tapped the map on the table with the pencil in his hand: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if we want to go to the landing site according to the order of our superiors, To develop in the south, to seize Alexandria and Kirovgrad, first of all we must occupy Pavlish, seize the transfer warehouses set up by the Germans in the city, and use their weapons and ammunition to enrich our troops .”

"Comrade Commander, since we all know that the Germans have a transshipment warehouse in the city of Pavlish, it must be well-defended. If you want to capture it, I'm afraid it will be a fierce battle." Although Sameko felt that Sokov's idea Not bad, but he felt that as the chief of staff, he should still remind Sokov, lest Sokov's expectations are too high, and if he fails to meet his emotions, it will affect his emotions: "Which army do you plan to send to capture Pavlish? ?”

  Sokov saw the situation sent back by the scouts, and knew that this small city was only a little bigger than an ordinary town, and presumably the defenders in the city would not exceed one battalion. If division-level units are used to attack, there is always a feeling of killing a chicken with a sledgehammer, so after thinking for a while, he replied: "I think the 73rd Infantry Brigade of Major Guchakov will carry out this task. .”

Sameko was not at all surprised that Sokov handed over such an important task to the infantry brigade. After all, Sokov had commanded the infantry brigade numbered 73 before. A special feeling, otherwise the post of brigade commander would not have appointed Guchakov whom he trusted.

"I think it's okay. After all, the combat effectiveness of the infantry brigade is obvious to all. I believe they will be able to complete such a task." After Sameko expressed his attitude, he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Guchako needs to be Did Major Husband call to headquarters?"

"Yes." Sokov was not sure when his headquarters would move to the right bank area, so he readily agreed to Sameko's proposal: "Call Major Guchakov immediately and inform him to come here as soon as possible. I will personally assign tasks to him."

  The 73rd Brigade commanded by Guchakov, since the 300th Division moved to their front, they have no chance to confront the Germans. At the beginning, Guchakov was quite happy, which meant that the commanders and fighters of the whole brigade could take a good rest.

   But as time went by, the friendly troops in front and the attacking Germans were fighting in full swing, but his place was deserted, which made him feel a huge gap.

  Equally anxious as Guchakov was the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Askel. He tentatively asked Guchakov: "Comrade brigade commander, you have a good relationship with the commander. Can you discuss with the commander and assign some combat missions to our brigade?"

Hearing what his chief of staff said, Guchakov scratched the back of his head and said in embarrassment: "Comrade chief of staff, this is not easy to handle. I understand the commander. If there is any combat mission that suits us, he He called us a long time ago. Now that he hasn’t received a call from him, it means that he doesn’t have a task suitable for us yet.”

"Comrade Brigadier, although the commander didn't call you, we should still try our best to win the opportunity." Askel was afraid that Guchakov would take his words as a deaf ear, and pointed to the sound of guns "Listen, our friendly troops are fighting the enemy every day, while our commanders and fighters stay on the ground doing nothing. This means that the commanders and fighters of the friendly army have the opportunity to make contributions every day. If it takes a long time, it will definitely It will affect the morale of our commanders..."

   Before Askel finished speaking, the phone on the table rang without warning. He grabbed the receiver and whispered to his ear, "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Askel, Chief of Staff. Where are you?"

   "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Askel." Sameko's voice came from the phone: "I'm Sameko."

Hearing that it was Sameko calling, Askel couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He immediately covered the receiver with his hands, and reported to Guchakov emotionally: "Comrade Brigadier, it's Sameko. A call from the chief of staff."

  Guchakov heard that Sameko was calling, and his eyes lit up, and then he motioned for Askel to continue answering the phone. After Askel understood, she let go of her hand covering the microphone and asked respectfully, "General Sameko, what instructions do you have?"

   "Lieutenant Colonel Ashkel, Comrade Commander intends to assign you an important combat mission."

   "Important combat mission?!" Askel asked excitedly, "General Sameko, can you tell me what important mission it is?"

"What Comrade Commander means is that Major Guchakov come to the headquarters, and he will personally explain the task." After Saying this, Sameko paused for a moment, and then continued: "By the way, you also Come along, after all you are the Chief of Staff of the Infantry Brigade."

   "Okay, General Sameko." Knowing that he could also go to the headquarters to accept the mission, Askel couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly said, "We'll be there right away."

After putting down the phone, Askel couldn't wait to say to Guchakov: "Comrade Brigadier, Chief of Staff Sameko informed us that the commander has important tasks to entrust to us. Order you and me to rush to the commander immediately. accept the task."

   "Then what are you still doing?" Guchakov urged anxiously, "Don't hurry up and make preparations."

When Askel picked up the phone and was about to arrange a vehicle to enter the city, he suddenly remembered something and asked quickly: "Comrade brigade commander, we have all gone to the headquarters. What if something happens in the brigade? Or, we During the absence, appoint a person to be responsible for various affairs?"

   "During our absence, let Captain Mikhaiev take charge." Guchakov said: "In any case, he is our deputy brigade commander, and he is duty-bound at this time."

   After Askel handed over the work in the brigade to Mikhaiev, he and Guchakov sat in a jeep and headed towards the city of Kremenchug.

On the way, Askel couldn't hold back his curiosity, and asked Guchakov who was sitting beside him sideways: "Comrade Brigadier, you have been dealing with the commander for a long time, tell me, he asked us to go here this time." Command, what combat missions will we assign?"

   "I don't know the specific mission." Guchakov said carefully: "But I think it must be related to the development to the south of the landing site."

"Are you going to let our brigade take the main offensive?" Askel just put forward this hypothesis, but immediately denied it. He shook his head and said, "No, no, no. We have the 254th and 300th divisions deployed in front. In terms of soldiers and equipment, these two divisions are more suitable for the main attack than us."

After denying his own thoughts, Askel still pestered Guchakov and asked: "Comrade Brigadier, I think you must know something, so you can tell me a little bit. In case I see Comrade Commander, I will Still don't know anything."

  Guchakov heard what his chief of staff said, shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's not that I didn't tell you on purpose, but I really don't know anything."

"really do not know?"

   "I really don't know." Guchakov said with a wry smile: "The two of us are together all day long. If Comrade Commander calls me to assign any tasks, you must be the first to know."

  Askelle thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was really the case. No matter what orders were conveyed by the superiors, or the reports from the subordinates, they had to go through him. If Sokov had something to tell Guchakov, he would definitely know it.

  The speed of the jeep suddenly slowed down. Askel thought he was almost there, but when he looked out the window, he found that the Dnieper River hadn't even crossed, so he asked the driver angrily, "What's going on, why slow down?"

  The driver parked the car on the side of the road, turned his head and reported to Askel: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the road ahead is too narrow, and there are troops coming. I can only stop and wait for them to pass by."

Hearing what the driver said, Askel quickly measured his head, and observed the road ahead through the front windshield. Sure enough, he saw a large number of troops approaching. The infantry walked on both sides of the road. A truck carrying supplies was driving in the middle of the road.

  Askel opened the door and got out of the car, then turned to ask Guchakov who got off from the other side: "Comrade Brigadier, look, which unit is this?"

Since the standard-bearer at the forefront of the team was only holding an ordinary red flag in his hand, Guchakov couldn't judge the number of the opponent's troops at all, so he could only shake his head again and replied dumbfoundedly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff." , I can’t confirm their numbers. But judging from the weapons they carry, they are definitely not troops of our 27th Army.”

  The marching troops soon passed in front of Guchakov and Askel. Guchakov looked at the trucks passing in front of him, some of them were loaded with supplies; some of them had two rows of soldiers sitting opposite each other, with artillery behind them.

  Although he does not know the number of the opponent for the time being, Da Guchakov can tell from the Bobosha submachine gun and Mosin Nagant rifle carried by the soldiers that this unit is definitely not affiliated with the 27th Army. Because no matter how many soldiers are added to the army, a considerable number of commanders and fighters can be seen in the team equipped with assault rifles. As for the commanders and fighters who just passed in front of them, none of them carried an assault rifle, and they were obviously friendly troops.

   "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant." Seeing an officer passing by, Askel stopped him and asked curiously, "Can you tell me which part you belong to?"

Seeing that it was a lieutenant colonel who stopped him, the officer quickly stopped and reported to Askel: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, we are the 37th Infantry Brigade under the 69th Army, and we were ordered to come here to receive defense. "

   As for where to receive the defense, the officer did not say, and Askel did not ask. Because he knew very well in his heart that even if he asked about these confidential matters, the other party would probably not tell him, so it was better not to ask.

  After the officer finished saying the number of the unit, seeing that Askel was silent, he raised his hand to salute him, then quickly caught up with the unit and continued to march south.

   "It turned out to be a unit of the 69th Army!" Guchakov began to mutter in his heart: "Didn't it mean that General Gargan's 57th Army would take over the defense of the landing field, so why did it become the 69th Army?"

  With such doubts, Guchakov and Askel came to the headquarters by car.

  Sokov shook hands with the two of them one by one, and after telling them to sit down, he ordered the staff to prepare refreshments for them, and then he asked, "You guys are taking the opportunity, have you been attacked by enemy planes?"

   "No, Comrade Commander." The two replied in unison: "It was very peaceful along the way, and there was no air attack by enemy planes."

   After saying this, Guchakov added another sentence: "However, we encountered a unit on the road to take over the defense. After questioning, we learned that they belonged to the 37th Brigade of the 69th Army."

Sokov waited for Guchakov to finish speaking, and first asked back: "Comrade Major, you must have heard recently that the 57th Army will take over your defense, but now it is suddenly replaced by the 69th Army, do you feel Weird?"

   "That's right, Comrade Commander." In front of Sokov, Guchakov didn't want to hide his true thoughts, so he said it without hesitation: "I think it's strange too."

"The situation on the battlefield has changed, and some of the original plans of the superiors have to be adjusted accordingly." Sokov said to Guchakov: "For example, the troops that take over your defense have changed from the 57th Army to the 57th Army. The 69th Group Army is the result of a temporary adjustment by the superior."

Sokov didn't want to get entangled in this matter for too long, so he changed the topic in time: "Major Guchakov, Lieutenant Colonel Askel, I called you here today because I have an important combat mission. Arranged for you."

   Hearing that Sokov was going to personally assign important combat tasks to him, the two Guchakov quickly concentrated and waited quietly for the other party to assign tasks to them.

Sokov called the two to the map, pointed to the small city of Pavlish on the south side of the landing site, and said, "The mission I gave to your brigade is to occupy Pavlish and capture the enemy's material transfer warehouse here. "

   "Seize the enemy's transshipment warehouse?" Guchakov couldn't help raising his eyebrows when he heard this, and said without thinking: "Comrade Commander, please forgive me, it may be difficult for us to complete such a task."

  (end of this chapter)