Chapter 2000

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, let me tell you some good news." The telephones used by the Front Army Command are better than those used by Sokov, and usually there is no leakage of sound, so the telephone set between Sokov and Ustinov Malinin did not hear the conversation at all, and Sokov said excitedly to him: "Comrade Ustinov told me that Colonel Belkin came to us and acted with him at the same time. hovercraft."

"Great, this is simply great." Malinen said excitedly: "With these hovercraft, your troops can quickly pass through the swampy area and quickly occupy their territory before the Germans recover. position."

"That's right, that's true." Sokov waited for Malinin to finish speaking, and then continued: "In addition to transporting troops, it can also transport supplies. You know, this hovercraft is all-terrain, whether it is in a swamp or muddy The road will not affect its driving speed."

   "It is indeed a good thing..."

   Before Ma Lining could finish speaking, a loud voice suddenly came from the door: "What good stuff?"

   The two turned their heads and saw that it was Rokossovsky who had returned.

   Sokov stood up quickly, raised his right hand to his forehead, and shook hands with Rokossovsky who had just entered the door.

   Rokossovsky stepped forward to shake hands with Sokov, and asked politely, "Misha, when did you come?"

   "I've been here for less than half an hour. Before you came back, I was chatting with Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army."

   "Comrade Commander," Ma Linin said to Rokossovsky with a smile: "Is this visit to the 65th Army a big gain?"

"Big, very big!" Rokossovsky nodded and said, "General Batov asked me to watch the tide of tanks in the swamp behind his army. We watched for an hour and a half to see how the tanks came one after another. One drove into the swamp and climbed out of it. Their tank crews, together with engineers, equipped each tank with fagots, logs and special triangles to enable the tanks to pass through wide ravines."

   After saying this, Rokossovsky remembered that when he entered the door, he heard half of what Malinin said, and asked curiously: "By the way, Chief of Staff, what did you just say was a good thing?"

Malinin did not immediately answer Rokossovsky's question, but turned his attention to Sokov, and said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, I think Comrade Sokov should report this matter to you. I made it clearer."

Seeing Rokossovsky looking at him, Sokov quickly said: "Comrade general, the situation is like this. I have a partner who is now in the weaponry department and has taken over Yasha's original job. I have not long ago Get in touch with him, hope he can provide us with a batch of hovercraft..."

   "Wait a minute, Misha." Rokossovsky interrupted Sukov, and asked puzzledly, "What is a hovercraft?"

"The hovercraft is a new type of means of transportation. It can transport our troops and supplies at high speed on complex terrain such as swamps and lakes..." Seeing that Rokossovsky did not know about hovercraft, Sokov patiently asked He popularized the knowledge of hovercraft, and finally said: "Now 30 hovercraft are about to arrive. With these hovercraft, our department can greatly shorten the time to pass through the swamp and break through the German defensive positions faster."

After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Rokossovsky asked tentatively: "Misha, this hovercraft sounds quite powerful, but has it been tested in actual combat? Don't test it, all performances are good, wait When you go to the battlefield, you will immediately reveal your true colors, not only will you not be able to help, but it will become a burden to you."

"Comrade general, you can rest assured about this." Sokov said confidently: "In fact, we have used hovercraft for a long time, and in the battles against Belgorod and Kharkov, my troops used The hovercraft carried out operations to cross the river, and the German army on the other side easily broke through their river defense positions before recovering."

   "Oh, is this hovercraft really so magical?" Rokossovsky said with emotion: "After Belkin sends the hovercraft to your army, I'm going to go and see it."

   "No problem, Comrade General." Sokov said straightforwardly: "On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 48th Army, I welcome you and the Chief of Staff!"

"Comrade Sokov, I'll forget it." Malinin waved his hands and said, "When Comrade Commander is not at the headquarters, someone needs to be responsible for all affairs here. If we all leave and something really happens, who will To solve it?"

Seeing that Ma Linin could not visit the hovercraft, Sokov did not force it, but said with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, although you have no chance to visit my troops, I can order someone to drive the hovercraft here so that you Take a closer look. What do you think?"

   "That's really great." Ma Linin said excitedly: "In this way, I can see the most advanced transportation tools when I stay in the headquarters. This is really great."

"Misha, I want to talk to you about something serious." Rokossovsky said, "Judging from the current distribution of troops, the Third Army is guarding an area north of Rogachev on the west bank of the Dnieper River. A large landing field, which is perfectly suitable for the actions of all arms in the direction of Bobruisk.

  The situation of your 48th Army is much worse. You occupy a zone south of the Zhilobin-Bobruisk railway line on the north bank of the Berezina River, and you have a landing field on the other side of the river. It seems to be very advantageous, but after careful inspection, I found that it is impossible to attack from here. The terrain here is so bad that even if a mortar is placed, a row of logs must be laid on the ground. Moreover, it is surrounded by swamps and small islands covered with shrubs and dense forests. It is impossible to concentrate tanks and heavy artillery to carry out assaults here. "

"That's right, Comrade General, what you said is very correct." Sokov nodded in recognition of Rokossovsky's statement, "But we still need 30 hovercraft provided by our Weaponry Department, and this problem can be solved. Solution. The transport-type hovercraft can transport our tanks and heavy artillery to the opposite side of the swamp, thereby strengthening the attacking capability of our offensive troops."

   Regarding Sokov’s statement, Rokossovsky was dubious: “Can the hovercraft carry a tank weighing dozens of tons?”

   "Yes, Comrade General." Sokov nodded and said, "Each transport-type hovercraft can carry a T-34 tank weighing 32 tons, or 40 soldiers."

  After listening to the data that Sokov said, Rokossovsky was shocked: "My God, the transportation capacity of the transport-type hovercraft is so powerful!"

   "The first hovercraft has weaker functions." Sokov continued: "After the continuous improvement of the Weapons and Equipment Department, today's transportation capacity has been greatly improved."

   "Misha, I suddenly thought of a question." Rokossovsky said.

"what is the problem?"

   "Does this type of transport hovercraft have self-defense capabilities?"

   "Uh, no."

   "If there is no self-defense capability, it will be difficult to handle." Rokossovsky frowned and said: "If it is attacked by the German army during the transportation, it will suffer heavy losses."

"The words of Comrade Commander reminded me of the T-26 tanks that were equipped in the army before." Ma Linin said, "The mobility of this light tank is jaw-dropping, but if it fights on the battlefield, it is basically a German tank. Target. Comrade Sokov, the transport hovercraft you mentioned is similar to the previous T-26 light tank. If it has no self-defense capability, it will be a target for the enemy to attack on the battlefield."

   "Comrade General, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Seeing that the two had misunderstood, Sokov quickly explained: "Although the transport-type hovercraft has no self-defense capability, there is another combat-type hovercraft that can serve as an escort."

   "Oh, there is also a combat-type hovercraft." Ma Linin asked curiously, "What does it look like?"

"The combat hovercraft is equipped with dual 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns." Sokov explained: "It can be used to fight aircraft and shoot flat. When transporting materials, it can serve as an **** mission; but it is used to break through the enemy. It can also provide fire support for transport ships when it is in the river defense position."

  After hearing this, Rokossovsky was silent for a while, and said casually: "I think it is a bit inappropriate to install a 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun on a combat hovercraft."

   "Comrade Commander," Malinin heard Rokossovsky say this, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Why?"

"Because the caliber of 12.7 mm still exists in our army's weapon equipment sequence, the combat functions of the two overlap. Although the 14.5 mm machine gun is more powerful, the range of the two is not much different." Rokossovsky explained Said: "In terms of armor penetration, the 14.5mm machine gun can't penetrate the side armor of German tanks at all. Instead of using it, it is better to directly use the 20mm small-caliber gun. It is far superior to machine gun ammunition, because the warhead is larger, so you can play more tricks in it. No matter in terms of range, power, and armor-piercing thickness, it is much larger than the 14.5mm ammunition, but it is not much different in terms of weight and ammunition carrying capacity. .

  As an infantry support weapon, the 14.5mm machine gun is much lighter than ordinary machine guns, so I still recommend using a 12.7mm machine gun, which can not only carry more ammunition, but also cost less. "

After listening to Rokossovsky's speech, Sokov nodded and said: "Comrade General, after Colonel Belkin arrives, I will convey your meaning to him, and let them understand the combat hovercraft. The weapons carried are improved."

"By the way, Comrade General." Sokov suddenly remembered that Rokossovsky was in a hurry to summon him, and there must be something important, so he asked quickly: "You called me to the headquarters, what is the important thing?" something?"

"That's right, Misha." Rokossovsky nodded and said affirmatively, "I summoned you here for something very important." Sokov didn't speak, just looked at Rocco. Sovsky, quietly waiting for the other party to say the purpose of calling him.

   "A month or two ago, did General Zakharov, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian Second Front Army, ask you about the opening of the second battlefield by the Allies?"

   "Yes, there is indeed such a thing."

   "At that time, you told him that the most likely place for the Allied forces to land was Normandy in the north of France." Rokossovsky continued to ask, "Is there such a thing?"

"Yes." Sokov heard that Rokossovsky suddenly asked about this matter, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He secretly said that the original real history would not be changed just because of the appearance of this little butterfly of his own, causing the Allies Are you planning to land in Normandy? Out of such considerations, he asked tremblingly: "Comrade general, is there something wrong?"

"I heard that after your plan was reported by Zakharov, the people in the General Staff didn't take it seriously. They thought you took it for granted. Instead of launching an attack from Calais, which has a short voyage, you chose to attack from Normandy, which is far away. A normal person would never make such a choice."

  Malinin didn't know about this matter. Hearing what Rokossovsky said, he couldn't help asking: "Comrade Commander, is Sokov's statement correct or wrong?"

Rokossovsky did not immediately answer this question, but instead asked Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the combat plan we designated was also rejected after being reported to the Supreme Command and the General Staff. Okay. With the help of Zhukov, and I argued with the Supreme Commander himself, today’s Operation Bagration came about.”

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Malinin immediately understood his intentions: "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. Although the results of Sokov's analysis are completely opposite to those of the General Staff, his The judgment is correct, do I understand correctly?"

   "Yes, your understanding is completely correct."

   Listening to the conversation between Rokossovsky and Malinin, Sokov realized that he was thinking too much. The Normandy landing is a classic battle recorded in history, and it can be easily changed. After he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, he asked tentatively: "Comrade general, so the Allied forces really plan to land in Normandy?"

"Misha, be more confident." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "The Allied forces are not planning to land in Normandy, but have already launched a landing operation in the Normandy area. It is estimated that we will know the Allied forces by noon tomorrow at the latest. Whether the login was successful."

"Since the Allied forces landed in Normandy just like the real history, then the successful landing will definitely not escape." Sokov thought in his heart, but he said on his mouth: "If the Allied forces landed successfully, It is not known whether the Germans will draw troops from the Eastern Front to reinforce the defenders in Normandy."

   "Misha, tell me, can the Allied landing operation be successful?"

"Comrade General," Sokov said carefully after organizing the vocabulary in his mind: "If the Allied deception before the offensive is effective, then the German army will focus on the Calais area and the Normandy area. The defense will appear relatively weak. In this case, their chances of landing successfully are still very high."

  When Sokov talked about his views, he deliberately used an uncertain tone to conceal the fact that he knew the outcome of the battle.

As expected, Rokossovsky was deceived by him. On the contrary, he said with great interest: "Misha, the Allied forces have launched an offensive in the Normandy area. We will know whether your judgment is correct by noon tomorrow. "

   But Ma Linin poured cold water on the sidelines: "Will the Allied forces inform us of their landing in Normandy within a short period of time?"

   "I think it should be possible." Rokossovsky said: "I will know at noon tomorrow at the latest."

  (end of this chapter)