Chapter 2238

  After dark, Sidolin sent five reconnaissance teams to cross the river in small boats from different locations, preparing to use the cover of night to board the opposite bank to perform reconnaissance missions.

   About half an hour after the reconnaissance team set off, Sokov heard the sound of rumbling guns outside. Judging from his experience, there should be two or three artillery pieces that were constantly bombarding the river.

  Sokov quickly linked the sudden German shelling with the dispatch of a reconnaissance team. He hastily called Potapov and asked bluntly: "Comrade artillery chief, where is the enemy's artillery shelling?"

   "Report to Comrade Commander." Potapov replied: "According to our observation post report, the enemy is shelling the river, and it may be that some target has been discovered."

   Hearing what Potapov said, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart. The Germans would definitely not bombard the river inexplicably in the middle of the night. It must be that a certain reconnaissance team was launched by the enemy to attract such bombardment. Thinking of this, he told Potapov: "Comrade Artillery Chief, ask your observation post to observe carefully to see what the Germans are shelling. Once you have news, report to me immediately."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Potapov replied simply: "I will let the observation post observe carefully, and I will report to you in time if I find anything."

Sokov put down the phone and said to Sidolin with a serious expression: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have an ominous premonition. The shelling outside should be the German army shelling our reconnaissance team. boat."

Sidolin believed in Sokov's statement, and he said helplessly: "Hey, there is no way, who made this river too wide. It is five kilometers wide, even if our scouts borrow Under the cover of night, no matter how soft the sound of rowing is, it may be difficult for the enemy to detect it."

   Half an hour later, the head of the reconnaissance department came in and reported to Sokov and Sidolin: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff, the reconnaissance team we sent to the West Bank has returned."

"What, are you back now?" Sokov knew very well that at this point in time, he could not reach the other side at all. The reason why the reconnaissance team came back must be because they were intercepted by German artillery fire. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, only Can give up the original task and return to report to myself. He tentatively asked the director of reconnaissance: "How is it? Are there any casualties?"

   "We sent a total of five reconnaissance teams, and three of them have returned. Because they were intercepted by German artillery fire while crossing the river, two of the eight members of one team died and three were injured."

   "What about the remaining two?" Sidolin asked impatiently.

   "One of the small boats was hit directly by artillery fire, and none of the scouts on board survived."

   "Then there is another group?" Sidolin continued to ask.

   "I don't know," the reconnaissance director shook his head and said, "I asked the groups that came back, but no one saw them. It may be that the ship they were on was sunk by German artillery fire, and all the personnel died unfortunately."

At this time Potapov called and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, my observation post told me that the German artillery seemed to be shelling the boats in the river, and one of the small boats was directly hit. Several were withdrawn because they could not break through the blockade of German artillery fire."

   "Well, I see, Comrade Artillery Director." Sokov politely said to Potapov: "Continue to observe, and report to me in time if there is any new situation."

   "Comrade Director of Reconnaissance," Sokov said to the Director of Reconnaissance standing in front of him, "Send someone along the river to search for the remains of the scouts. We must find them. Do you understand?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." The Director of Reconnaissance replied loudly, "I will send someone to search immediately."

   "Comrade Commander, what should we do next?" Sidolin and the reconnaissance director left, and asked tentatively: "The enemy has blocked the river so tightly at night, and our scouts can't cross the river to the other side at all."

   "Yes, this is a problem." Sokov frowned and said, "How can our scouts sneak into the West Bank without anyone noticing?"

   "Or, let's send a few more groups of scouts to cross the river in multiple places." Sidolin suggested to Sukov: "As long as one group can cross the river, it will be a victory."

But Sukov shook his head and rejected Sidolin's proposal without thinking: "Our actions tonight have been discovered by the enemy, and they may strengthen surveillance on the river. If we want to secretly send scouts across the river, I'm afraid It's not that easy."

  Rokossovsky called at this time and asked Sokov: "Misha, how is the situation there, have the scouts sent to the west bank landed?"

"Comrade Marshal." Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Sokov replied with embarrassment on his face: "The scouts we sent were spotted by the German troops on the other side when they were crossing the river, and they were subsequently shelled by them. Of the five reconnaissance teams, three came back. The ship of another reconnaissance team was directly destroyed by German artillery fire, and all members died. There is still a team missing, so far, there is still no news."

After listening to Sokov's report, Rokossovsky sighed softly, and then said: "It seems that the German army's defense force is very strong. Even with the cover of night, if the scouts want to row through such a wide water area , is not an easy task.”

"If you can't send scouts, I'm afraid you can only conduct aerial reconnaissance." Sokov cautiously suggested to Rokossovsky: "Or, ask the Air Force to dispatch reconnaissance planes to carry out aerial reconnaissance on the German positions on the West Bank. You know, the intelligence detected by one reconnaissance plane is worth as much as four or five reconnaissance teams I sent out."

"No matter how much information the reconnaissance plane detects, it still needs scouts on the ground to verify it." Rokossovsky said into the microphone: "In case the German army uses models of tanks, assault guns, armored vehicles and artillery to confuse Our pilots, pilots at high altitude are unrecognizable."

   "However, the scouts I sent here have no way to reach the other side."

"Yes," Rokossovsky agreed with Sokov's difficulty, "Since you can't complete the reconnaissance across the river from you, I can only wait for the troops on your left and right flanks to arrive at the designated position before dispatching reconnaissance." Soldiers go to the opposite bank to conduct reconnaissance, hoping that the enemy on the other side of their defense zone will not be so vigilant."

  For the first time in so many years, Sokov was unable to complete the task assigned to him by Rokossovsky, and he was full of guilt. Although Rokossovsky was not in front of him at the moment, he blushed and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, I have failed your trust."

"It's okay, Misha, you don't have to blame yourself." But Rokossovsky comforted him and said, "Don't say it's you, even if I'm in your position, I'm afraid I can't help you. Without realizing it, send scouts to the opposite bank."

  After finishing the conversation with Rokossovsky, Sokov picked up the cigarette case on the table, sat in the corner and started smoking. He wondered in his heart that the troop had to cross such a wide river, could it be bigger than he imagined. No, none of the five groups of scouts sent out could reach the other side. Of course, I can send more reconnaissance teams to cross the river at multiple points to forcibly land on the west bank of the West Oder River, but if I really do this, I will definitely pay heavy casualties.

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin walked over and said to Sokov, "Since we cannot complete the task of crossing the river for reconnaissance, let the friendly army do it. There is nothing shameful about it."

Sokov hummed softly, then stubbed out the cigarette **** in his hand, threw it into the ashtray on the table next to him, got up and said, "It's getting late, I want to sleep for a while, if there is anything, you can wake me up."

  When Sokov was lying on the camp bed, he felt that since the troops had not started fighting, there would definitely be no emergencies tonight. The possibility of Sidolin waking him up was very small, and he could sleep through the night with peace of mind.

But what he didn't expect was that as soon as he fell into a drowsy sleep, he felt someone shaking his shoulders vigorously, and at the same time he was still shouting: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander, wake up quickly, I have There is an urgent matter to report to you."

  Sokov recognized Sidolin's voice, and when he opened his sleepy eyes, he heard the words behind him, and his whole body suddenly became energetic: "Chief of Staff, what happened?"

  "Good news, good news, great news." Standing in front of the bed, Sidolin said with a smile on his face: "Comrade Commander, I want to tell you a great news."

   "What good news?" Sokov asked back: "Could it be that the friendly forces on the left and right wings have arrived at the designated position?"

   "No." Sidolin shook his head like a rattle and said excitedly, "Our scout sent a telegram from the other side."

  Sokov couldn't help being taken aback after hearing this, and then asked back: "Comrade Chief of Staff, after I went to sleep, you secretly sent a new reconnaissance team?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Sidolin shook his head again and explained, "I didn't send a new reconnaissance team, but the original reconnaissance team." When he said this, he saw Sokov's confused face , and did not go around in circles, but went straight to the topic: "Didn't we send out five reconnaissance teams, and three came back, and the boat that one team was on was sunk by German artillery fire, and the other team disappeared..."

Hearing this, Sokov immediately guessed a possibility, and interrupted Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, you mean that the missing reconnaissance team successfully landed on the West Bank and sent us a telegraph?"

"That's right, that's exactly how it is." Sidolin nodded and said with affirmative tone: "When they were shelled by the German army, their boat was overturned by the water column produced by the explosion, and then everyone fell into the In the water, half of the people caught the capsized boat and floated down the current. After floating for an hour or so, they reached a shallow bank where they gathered everyone and capsized the boat. Come here and continue paddling to the other side."

  When Sokov heard this, he didn't even care about putting on his boots, so he rushed to the table quickly and looked at the map on the table. He pointed at the lower reaches of the East and West Oder Rivers, and said, "According to what they said, their current location is already far away from our planned reconnaissance area. Right?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sidolin nodded and said, "If we continue to follow the original plan, they must walk back along the river bank to the designated area and conduct reconnaissance on the German troops there. "

"Forget it, let them stay at the landing site for reconnaissance." Sukov felt that it would be dawn soon, and walking by the bare river would be easily spotted by the Germans. area for reconnaissance. After dark, go to the original location for reconnaissance: "After dark, find a suitable time to go up the river and go to the area we designated for them to conduct reconnaissance."

   "I understand." Sidolin nodded vigorously, and said, "I will inform them right away and let them conduct reconnaissance around the landing site first."

After dawn, Sokov received another call from Rokossovsky: "Misha, I have asked the Air Force to send a reconnaissance plane to the west bank of the West Oder River to conduct reconnaissance of the German defense deployment. But I Again, the efficiency of air force reconnaissance is indeed very high, but the targets they reconnaissance still need ground reconnaissance to make final confirmation, so as not to be confused by the enemy's camouflage. Before the arrival of your friendly forces on the left and right wings, I still I hope you can send a reconnaissance team to try again, to see if there is a chance to cross the river successfully?"

"Comrade Marshal, I'm about to report something to you." Sokov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and immediately continued: "Of the five reconnaissance teams we sent last night, the one identified as The missing team has successfully landed on the west bank at this moment, and is conducting a detailed reconnaissance of the deployment and equipment of the German army near the landing site according to my order."

Knowing that one of the reconnaissance teams sent by Sokov successfully landed, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Misha, is this true?" Before Sokov could answer, he continued: " It seems that your luck is good. In the case of being bombarded by the German army, a reconnaissance team can land smoothly. After the air force reports the reconnaissance report, I will send you a copy, and then let your scouts carry out Check to see if there is any discrepancy between the Air Force's reconnaissance and the actual situation."

"Comrade Marshal, you can rest assured." Sokov replied without hesitation: "After receiving the Air Force reconnaissance report from you, my reconnaissance team will immediately go to the area to check the reconnaissance information of the Air Force brothers. Check to make sure you don't fall for the Germans' false pretense."

   "Very good, very good." Rokossovsky was very satisfied with Sokov's answer. After saying two good things in a row, he finally said: "I am waiting for your good news."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidolin after hanging up the phone, "After Comrade Marshal sends the Air Force's reconnaissance information, you immediately arrange for the Chief of Reconnaissance to send it to the scouts in front and let them sneak into the Air Force." In the reconnaissance area, continue to carefully verify the reconnaissance information, so as not to fall into the trap of the Germans."

   "No problem." Sidolin nodded and said, "Our scouts all have rich experience in reconnaissance. No matter how ingenious the German camouflage is, they can see through it."

  (end of this chapter)