Chapter 2246 Adjusting the offensive position

Seeing that the offensive was about to start, Sokov received a call from Bogolyubov: "General Sokov, please come to the Front Army Command with your chief of staff and military commissar. An urgent council of war."

   After receiving the call, Sokov asked in a daze, "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, what is the topic of this meeting?"

But Bogolyubov did not satisfy Sokov's curiosity, but said coldly: "What is the topic of the meeting, you will know when you come." After speaking, before Sokov asked any more questions problem, just hung up the phone.

Sokov held the microphone from the blind voice, and murmured in his heart: "What the **** is going on? The offensive battle will start tomorrow. Rokossovsky is calling everyone for a meeting at this moment. Why? matter?"

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin walked over and asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

"General Bogolyubov, the Chief of Staff of the Front Army, just called me and asked the three of us to rush to the Front Army Command immediately to attend an emergency military meeting." Sokov said to Sidolin and Lunev: "Clean up, everyone. Let's go now."

   "What happened?" Sidolin asked curiously: "Tomorrow will launch an offensive campaign. What kind of military committee will be called today?"

  Sokov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "I don't know either. General Bogolyubov only said that we will know what it is after we go."

  When the three of them arrived at the front army headquarters by car, they found that many jeeps had parked at the door. It seemed that the commanders of all the army groups had been notified to come to the meeting. Seeing this kind of battle, Sokov felt an ominous premonition in his heart, worried that Rokossovsky would modify the battle plan and no longer let his troops participate in the first round of attack.

Entering the conference room, the long conference table was almost full of people. Sokov originally planned to find a place to sit against the wall, but Su Bojing saw it: "General Sokov, there is you at the table." seat, you sit in the front."

  Now that his name was called, Sokov naturally couldn't sit in the corner anymore, so he could only come to the conference table and find the seat reserved for himself. He turned his head and saw Fejuninsky, the commander of the 2nd Assault Army, on the right, and Batov, the commander of the 65th Army, on the left, which happened to be the same as the current deployment positions of the three troops. He laughed and said, "Two generals, the three of us are sitting in the same position as the army's defense position."

After hearing this, Fejuninsky also smiled and said: "Yes, it is indeed a coincidence. The positions of the other commanders of the army group are all sitting randomly, and only the three of us are sitting in the same position as the defense zone of the troops. It seems that In tomorrow's offensive battle, we will play the leading role."

  The meeting began soon. The first to speak was Bogolyubov, Chief of Staff of the Front Army: "Commanders, please be quiet, we are now meeting!"

"According to our recent reconnaissance, the German army on the west bank of the West Oder River began to adjust its combat deployment and force distribution after being hit by us sporadically." Bogolyubov said: "Since the enemy has made adjustments, then our original The offensive plan must be adjusted accordingly."

Bogolyubov went to the wall, stretched out his hand and opened the cloth curtain that blocked the map, then picked up a explaining stick, pointed to it and said to everyone: "After the discussion between Comrade Marshal and I, we are going to launch the offensive that will start tomorrow. The attack position of the battle is adjusted to be within 47 kilometers between Altdamm and Schwerte..."

  As soon as Bogolyubov said this, the expressions of Sokov and Fejuninsky changed drastically.

  Because of the newly defined offensive area, Fejuninsky's combat area was directly excluded. And Sokov changed color because if Fejuninsky's 2nd Assault Army did not participate in the battle, his right wing would be in danger of being attacked by the German army.

After Bogolyubov glanced at Sokov and Fejuninsky, he continued: "The troops participating in tomorrow's offensive operations will be adjusted from the original 2nd Assault Army, 48th and 65th Army to the 48th and 65th Army. The 65th and 70th armies will attack the German army on the front of the Oder River with a width of 47 kilometers. In order to ensure that the troops can effectively break through the German defenses, the attack front of each group army should not exceed five kilometers.

  The artillery preparation is scheduled for 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, and the time is one hour. In addition, starting this afternoon, our air force will start bombing the German positions on the west bank of the Oder River, destroying as many German fortifications as possible, and reducing the resistance our army encountered when crossing the river..."

Sokov was thinking at this moment, "If the front of the attack is reduced to five kilometers, then I can concentrate more troops and launch an attack in this area. At that time, my troops will be like a sharp knife." into the enemy's chest."

  After deploying the mission, Bogolyubov asked everyone, "Everyone's mission is clear, is there any problem?"

"I have a problem, General Bogolyubov." As soon as Bogolyubov's voice fell, Fejuninsky stood up and said dissatisfiedly: "In the original attack plan, our army was the first to participate in the attack." Troops, why did the superior cancel our combat mission when the attack was about to start?"

"Comrade Feduninsky, let me explain to you." Rokossovsky got up and said, "According to the hydrological data of the past two days, the Oder River is flooding, and your original offensive area has increased from five kilometers to five kilometers. Six kilometers, with such a long impact distance, the German artillery fire will cause huge casualties to your forced troops. It is precisely because of this consideration that Bogolyubov and I decided to cancel your offensive mission after discussion. It will be done upstream by the 70th Army."

After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Fejuninsky asked unconvinced: "Then what should our troops do? It can't be that all friendly troops are attacking the Germans, but we just stay on the shore doing nothing. ? If this is the case, how can I explain to the commanders and fighters in the army?"

   "Comrade Fejuninsky," Rokossovsky continued to explain to him: "In tomorrow's battle, you are not idle. I have other new tasks for you."

   When Fejuninsky heard that there was a new task assigned, he couldn't wait to ask: "What new task?"

"In order to ensure the success of the attacking troops." Rokossovsky said to Fejuninsky: "You and the 19th Army will release smoke north of Stettin, make a big noise, and make preparations to forcefully cross Jivi. Nof Strait to attract the attention of the enemy."

   "If the illusion of us crossing the river fails to attract the attention of the Germans, what should we do?" Fejuninsky asked unwillingly.

"If the enemy is not interested in your feint attack, then you can turn the feint attack into the main attack." Rokossovsky said: "As long as you can successfully cross the Divinov Strait, you can completely disrupt the German army. Deploy to provide strong support for the attack of friendly forces."

From Rokossovsky's arrangements, Fejuninsky saw that the task given to him was not light. He wanted to make a big disturbance in the lower reaches of the Oder River to attract the attention of the Germans, thereby reducing the pressure on the left-wing troops crossing the river. the resistance encountered.

"General Vershinen," Rokossovsky looked at Air Force Commander Vershinen and asked, "According to the order of the Front Command, your air force will attack the German positions on the West Bank starting at four o'clock in the afternoon. Uninterrupted bombing until the artillery preparations begin tomorrow morning. How, can it be done?"

   "Please rest assured, Comrade Marshal." Vershinen stood up and assured Rokossovsky: "Our Air Force guarantees to complete the bombing mission."

  "General Vershinin," Rokossovsky reminded the other party: "Night bombing is a severe test for pilots. You have no problem?"

   "No problem." Vershinen said confidently: "Our group army has a women's night bombing aviation regiment composed entirely of young girls. I believe they will successfully complete the night bombing mission."

   "I have dealt with them in the past two years." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "I have full confidence in them."

  The meeting ended, and Sokov, Lunev, and Sidolin returned to the army headquarters by car.

  After returning to the headquarters, Sokov stood in front of the map, carefully thinking about the offensive campaign that would start tomorrow.

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin said to Sokov: "Since the superior has shortened the front of our attack to five kilometers, then we can concentrate more troops, achieve a point breakthrough on the German defense line, and quickly attack the enemy." ground into a comprehensive breakthrough.”

"If we want to quickly break through the German positions." Sokov, who was staring at the map, said without raising his head, "We must destroy as many of their fortifications as possible, so that our troops will suffer a lot after crossing the river and landing." The loss can be smaller."

"Don't worry about this." Sidolin said: "Didn't General Bogolyubov say that at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, an hour of artillery preparation will be carried out on the German positions on the west bank of the Oder River. I estimate that after bombing and shelling There are no decent fortifications left in the German positions, and as soon as our troops land, we will be able to push invincibly into the depths of the German defense.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't underestimate the enemy." Sokov said: "The German defense is as deep as ten kilometers away. Even if there is an overnight bombing and an hour of shelling tomorrow, if you want to destroy their defense system, I'm afraid it won't be that easy. You call General Potapov and tell him to come right away."

  After hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin immediately guessed what he meant: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to fire our artillery at the enemy's position when the artillery of the Front Army Headquarters is preparing for artillery fire?"

"Yes." Sokov nodded and continued: "The Supreme Commander himself once said: Artillery is the **** of war! If we want to quickly break through the enemy's defense, we must use artillery to wash the ground to destroy more More German fortifications, opening a passage for our attacking troops."

   Potapov, who received the call from Sokov, knew very well in his heart that if there was no important matter, Sokov would not let himself go to the headquarters. After putting down the phone, he explained a few words to his deputy, and hurried to the group army headquarters.

   "General Potapov," Seeing Potapov's arrival, Sokov said politely: "I invite you to come here because I have something to discuss with you."

   "Comrade Commander, if you have anything to do, just give the order, and I will obey."

"It's like this. We just came back from a meeting at the Front Army Command. The superior adjusted the offensive area to a range of 47 kilometers from Altdamm to Schwert." Sokov pointed to the map and introduced to Potapov Said: "The offensive troops are our 48th Army, General Batov's 65th Army, and General Popov's 70th Army. The offensive front of the entire group army has been reduced from the original 20 kilometers to five kilometers."

   "What, reduced from the original 20 kilometers to five kilometers?" Potapov said in shock: "Is this true?"

   "Yes, it's true." Sokov nodded and gave the other party an affirmative answer.

"Great, this is really great." After confirming the authenticity of the news, Potapov said to Sokov: "If calculated according to the original 20-kilometer front, our army can equip every square kilometer. There are only 40 artillery pieces. If it is reduced to five kilometers, it means that the number of artillery pieces per kilometer will increase from the original 40 to 160 pieces. Such a powerful artillery firepower is enough to destroy any enemy fortifications in front of us."

"General Potapov," Sokov continued: "Starting in the afternoon, General Vershinin's 4th Air Force Army will dispatch bombers to carry out continuous bombing of the German defensive positions. They will spend a whole day and night time to destroy as many enemy fortifications as possible. Also, at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, the artillery unit of the Front Army Command will also carry out an hour-long artillery preparation for the German positions. I asked you to come over to let you find Good target to attack, try not to overlap the bombing and shelling areas of the UI Front Army Command to reduce unnecessary waste. Are you right?"

"You are right, Comrade Commander." Potapov agreed with Sokov's statement, "If the artillery shelling of our army happens to be bombing and shelling the area with the artillery of the Air Force and the Front Army In that case, a lot of shells will be wasted. Maybe after the shooting is over, many fortifications that should have been destroyed are still standing there intact."

"General Potapov, you are the director of the artillery." Sokov looked at Potapov and said, "I think you are the most familiar with which areas the artillery should mainly bombard. So what areas should the artillery bombard, I will leave it to you."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Potapov straightened his body and assured Sokov: "I will choose the enemy's key defense area for intensive shelling, and clear away the obstacles that our army may encounter after landing on the west bank."

"General Potapov, if your artillery can open up a channel for our infantry to attack, that would be a great achievement." Lunev interjected next to him and said, "When I think about it, you will be able to achieve the same level as your military exploits." Matching kudos. Got it?"

   "Understood, Comrade Military Commissar." Potapov replied loudly: "I will definitely not disappoint your expectations."

  (end of this chapter)