Chapter 2008 Encirclement and Annihilation War (Part 1)

  In the next few days of fighting, all the armies achieved good results. The 1st Guards Tank Corps of the 65th Army blocked the retreat of 5 German divisions to the west in the northwest of Bobruisk, trapping the enemy near Bobruisk.

  Due to the need for the main force of the Front Army to continue to move forward, it went out to the vicinity of Osipovich, Pukhovich and Slutsk. Therefore, the task of encircling and annihilating the enemy in Bobruisk was handed over to Batov's 65th Army. However, Rokossovsky considered that it would not be enough to encircle and annihilate the large German troops in the area with only Batov's one army group, so he called Sokov and asked his troops to approach the city. southeast direction.

   "Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff." Sokov put down the phone, and after repeating Rokossovsky's call, asked, "Tell me, how should we fight this battle?"

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin spoke first: "According to the battle report of the Front Army Command, about 40,000 German troops were surrounded in an encirclement circle with a diameter of about 25 kilometers. Today, the roads leading to the south and west are controlled by us and the 1st Army. The 65th Group Army is tightly sealed; but in the north and northwest, only the troops of the tank army are blocking the enemy. According to my judgment, the enemy may break out from that direction."

"Although there are 40,000 enemies besieged by us, and the north and northwest are the weak links of the encirclement." Ponegelin said: "But they belong to different troops, and I am afraid that they will not be able to be twisted together in a short time. Strand the rope, find the right direction to break through. So we still have a great chance to wipe out this enemy."

   "Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov looked at Ponegerin and asked, "Then how do you think we should attack?"

  Hearing Sokov ask himself this question, Ponejielin smiled lightly, and then said: "Comrade Commander, I think you probably already know it well, why don't you let me tell you."

  Sokov did have his own ideas in his heart, but he still wanted to listen to other people's opinions to judge whether the decision he made was correct. But now Pornegelin has pushed the problem to himself, and he can only talk about his own plan in order to achieve the effect of throwing bricks and attracting jade.

"I plan to send a division of troops to launch a feint attack on the enemy's defensive positions." Sokov said: "When Germany launches a counterattack, I will order the division to pretend to be invincible and choose to retreat, while giving way to the Germans. Find a way so that they can adjust the direction of the breakout."

  Hearing what Sokov said, both of them couldn't help being stunned. You must know that Rokossovsky's order was to encircle and annihilate the besieged German army, but according to Sokov, it seemed that he planned to make way for the Germans.

  Pornegelin asked puzzledly: "Comrade Commander, I don't understand what you mean, can you explain it to us clearly?"

"Before giving way to the Germans, I will send troops to occupy both sides of the passage." In order for the two to better understand his intentions, Sokov pointed to the map and explained to the two: "Once the Germans enter our After the passage is cleared, I will use the method of rapid artillery fire to inflict heavy damage on the enemy. When their troops suffer heavy casualties and it is difficult to continue fighting, I will order the division on the rear to counterattack, and at the same time, the troops on the two wings will also attack. The rear of the German army moved, forming a siege."

Regarding the plan proposed by Sokov, Ponegerin pondered for a long time, and finally nodded and said: "Comrade commander, I have to say that your plan is very novel. If I were the commander of the German army, I would see the attack. When the enemy is routed, I will counterattack immediately and take the opportunity to open a gap in the encirclement. Then they will fall into the trap we have set for them with artillery fire, and they will certainly suffer heavy casualties."

"Comrade Commander." After Pornejelin finished speaking, Sidolin raised his own doubts: "If our offensive troops are repulsed by the enemy and we give the enemy a gap in the defense zone, will it cause the enemy to attack? doubts?"

"I don't think so." Before Sokov could speak, Ponejielin said first: "Our offensive battle has been going on for several days. If the Germans see that our offensive is frustrated and the troops are forced to retreat, They would instinctively think that after a few days of fighting, our troops have become exhausted and unable to expand the results of the battle, so we can only retreat temporarily. As long as the Germans have such thoughts, as soon as they find our army retreating, They're going to switch from defense to attack from that direction and try to open a hole here."

"Let me say a few words." Sokov waited for both of them to express their opinions, and then continued: "We have two purposes for carrying out a feint attack: one is to destroy the vital forces of the German army; necessary fortifications to prevent the Germans from jumping out of our encirclement."

"That's right." Upon hearing this, Sidolin thought, isn't it? The enemy who originally wanted to break out from the north or northwest saw a gap opened in the southeast. I'm afraid they will transfer the main force to expand the southeast direction. breakthrough. But in this way, they fell into Sokov's trap, and at the same time bought time for the friendly forces to strengthen their forces. "The Germans may be having a headache at the moment to choose the direction to break through. If they think that we can break out in this direction, they will transfer the main force here and use this as the key breakout location."

   "Which army do you plan to use to complete your plan?" asked Bornejelin.

   "Major General Onuprienko's 6th Guards Division," Sokov said: "I think they are capable of this glorious and difficult task."

"Comrade Commander," Ponedelin said to Sokov after a brief silence, "According to intelligence, near the bridge over the Berezina River to the east of the city, the 21st Armored Division of the 20th Armored Division of the German Army is stationed. A battalion of the regiment, they have nearly a hundred Panzer IV tanks. The 6th Guards Division has no tanks, nor does it have a sufficient number of anti-tank weapons. loss."

"I have also considered this point." Sokov waited for Ponegerin to finish speaking, and expressed his thoughts: "I will order an anti-tank company equipped with rocket launchers to hide in the place where the German armored battalion may pass by." position. I believe that this bazooka-equipped force can cause great damage to the German Panzer Battalion."

   How effective is the bazooka against tanks? Ponejelin has seen it with his own eyes. An anti-tank company equipped with a bazooka is enough to block an armored battalion of the enemy and cause them huge losses.

   "Comrade Commander, are you sure that the 6th Guards Division will be responsible for the feint attack?"

"Okay." Sokov gave the other party an affirmative answer, and added: "At the same time, order the 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions to occupy the two wings of the passage, and the 109th, 118th and 124th Infantry Brigades to deploy defenses at the end of the passage. "

   "When will the feint begin?"

   "The battle should start in two hours." Sokov thought for a while, and then continued: "In order to make this feint attack bigger, let the 202nd Tank Brigade also participate in the attack."

   "Okay, I will pass on your order immediately."

"Comrade Commander," Ponejielin reminded Sokov while Sidolin was on the phone: "Should you inform General Rokossovsky of this battle plan, so that when the troops pretend to retreat , causing unnecessary trouble.”

"It makes sense, it makes sense." Sokov felt that the other party's reminder was timely. If he didn't even say hello to the above, he would rashly implement such a plan. If he was discovered by nearby friendly troops, it might affect the morale of others. . Also, if you don't say hello at this moment, when Rokossovsky finds out about this, I'm afraid he won't be able to escape the fate of being blamed.

   Sokov took the high-frequency phone, dialed the front army headquarters, and said to the person who answered the phone: "I am Sokov, the commander of the 48th Army. Please ask the commander to answer the phone."

   Soon, Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, what's wrong? Is the order I just gave you not clear enough?"

   "Quite clear and accurate." Sokov said: "I called you because I have a battle plan, and I plan to talk to you first, so that you know what's on your mind."

"whats the matter?"

Sokov pretended to retreat after feigning an attack, deliberately leaving a passage for the German army, luring the German army to break through from this direction, and then used fierce artillery fire to kill him, and explained in detail to Rokossovsky After reading it again, he finally said: "In order not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings when our department implements the plan, I think it is necessary to report this matter to you."

"Misha, you are very correct." Rokossovsky said: "This plan of yours is very bold, but the probability of success is also very high. If the enemy is really led by your nose and enters the place where you serve them After setting the artillery trap, we will definitely suffer a lot of losses, which will be very beneficial to our subsequent encirclement and annihilation battles."

Rokossovsky paused, and then asked curiously: "Misha, I'm curious, why did you come up with such a plan? You know, the strength of your army group, even without the cooperation of the 65th army group, would not be enough." Bobruisk can definitely be taken."

"Comrade General," Sokov saw Rokossovsky's questioning, and quickly explained to him: "Bobruisk is a fortress city built by the Germans. For the defense system, if we carry out a strong attack, even if we can capture the city, I am afraid that we will pay huge casualties.

  In order to avoid huge losses in street fighting, I think we should find a way to lure the Germans out of the city, and then use artillery fire to destroy their vital force, so that when we launch a formal attack on the city, we can greatly reduce the casualties of the troops. "

   "Misha, your idea is very reasonable." Rokossovsky said with a smile after hearing this: "If you need anything, just call and I will do my best to help you."

Sokov thought for a while, if he wanted to attack the German fortress, it would not be enough to rely solely on the artillery in his hands. After all, the maximum caliber of the artillery used by the army was only 152mm, which would not be able to blast the strong German fortress. the walls. But if the fort is bombed, the damage to the fort will be much greater. After all, the top defense of the fort has always been the weakest.

   "Comrade General," Sokov asked tentatively, "If the air force is needed to provide air cover when our army is attacking, can you let the air force dispatch?"

  The reason why Sokov asked this is because he has not been in this unit for a long time, and he is not familiar with the air force commander. Without the support of Rokossovsky, it would be impossible to mobilize the air force to support its own troops at critical moments.

   "No problem," Rokossovsky agreed very readily, "I will immediately contact the Air Force Commander, so that he can provide your troops with powerful air support when necessary."

After calling Rokossovsky, Sokov smiled and said to Ponejielin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you should be more considerate and let me call Comrade General, otherwise this plan will not work." Get his support."

"I remember when I was still at the Frunze Military Academy, you once said to everyone that in the future, if a large corps fights, if it wants to win, it depends on the cooperation between the various arms. To be a commander, you must not only understand infantry and tanks Coordination, infantry coordination, and knowing how to cooperate in air and ground operations..."

  Pornegelin had just said this, and Sidolin, who was on the phone, suddenly said to Sokov with a panicked expression: "Comrade Commander, it's not good, something happened."

   Seeing Sidolin's expression, Sokov couldn't help but thumped in his heart, and quickly asked, "What happened?"

   "The Chief of Staff of the 122nd Infantry Brigade reported that the brigade commander unfortunately struck a mine and died half an hour ago."

   "What, the commander of the 122nd Brigade was struck by a mine and died?" Sokov asked in shock, "Is this news reliable?"

   "The chief of staff of the brigade told me personally," Sidolin said affirmatively: "There is absolutely no mistake."

   "Comrade Commander," Ponejielin said to Sokov with a serious expression, "a new brigade commander needs to be appointed immediately, otherwise it will affect our next phase of combat operations."

   "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you have a suitable candidate?" Sidolin asked.

  Ponedelin said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the trainees have not yet assigned specific positions. You can see if you can find a suitable candidate from among them to temporarily act as the commander of the 122nd Brigade."

  Sokov's mind started to think quickly, and he quickly recalled the information of the students, trying to find a suitable candidate from among them to serve as the commander of the 122nd brigade.

  Sidorin saw Sokov frowning, as if he was thinking hard. He tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, do you have a suitable candidate?"

   "What do you think of Lieutenant Colonel Victor?"

  Pornegelin did not express his opinion, but turned to Sidolin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

"I think so." Sidolin nodded and said, "When I was the chief of staff of the 41st Guards Division, Lieutenant Colonel Victor served as the deputy head of the 122nd Guards Regiment. According to his experience on the battlefield I think he is fully qualified for the post of commander of the 122nd brigade."

"Chief of staff, since you have no objection, then this matter is settled like this." Sokov told Sidolin: "You immediately notify Lieutenant Colonel Victor and let him rush to the 122nd Brigade as soon as possible. It's time to get familiar with the troops. We still have a lot of tough battles to fight, and it's not good if we can't control the troops well."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sidolin nodded and said, "I will convey your opinion to Lieutenant Colonel Victor."

  (end of this chapter)