The reconnaissance team was very efficient and sent back a lot of reconnaissance information the next night.
Based on this information, Sokov knew that an armored regiment of the Imperial Division was currently stationed in the town of Roginsik, north of the Red Army Village, and controlled more than a dozen villages around the town; two regiments of the Skeleton Division were stationed in the northwest.
Controlled more than twenty settlements and villages.
After listening to the report of the director of the reconnaissance department, Sokov asked rhetorically: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, according to your reconnaissance, how are the enemies stationed in these places replenished?"
"According to our reconnaissance," after hearing Sokov's question, the director of the reconnaissance department quickly replied: "The supplies of the Imperial Division come from the direction of Barvinkovo. The supplies of the Skull Division come from the northwest direction of Bav.
Logler.”
After Sokov learned about the supply routes of the two German troops, he nodded slightly and said again: "Go on."
"The Germans' supplies to the left bank of the Dnieper River are transported through two routes." The director of the reconnaissance department pointed to the map and introduced to Sokov and Vitkov: "One is through Dnepropetrovsk.
The Dnieper River Bridge transports supplies to Pavlograd, and then to Izyum and Barvinkovo. The other is the Dnieper River Bridge in Zaporozhye, which transports supplies..."
Seeing that Sokov was asking very detailed questions about the German transport lines, Vitkov asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to cut off the German supply lines?"
"Yes, because we have insufficient material reserves and not many troops to go into battle, it is unlikely that we will surround the enemy. Therefore, we can only attack the transportation lines to cut off the German army's supplies."
"According to the intelligence we have, due to the major counterattack carried out by our army some time ago, the guerrillas that were originally active behind enemy lines have basically joined forces with the main force and been incorporated into various units." Vitkov reminded Soko.
Husband said: "Therefore, I think it is unrealistic to use guerrillas to attack the German transportation lines."
If the troops were located in Russia, Sokov would still have some qualms about requesting guerrillas to attack the German transportation lines. However, the composition of the guerrillas in Ukraine is complex. Even if you know that there are several guerrilla groups behind the German army,
Team, but how do you know whether he is pro-Soviet or pro-German?
Sokov did not want to take risks, so he decided to solve the problem of disturbing the German transportation lines by himself. He said to Vitkov: "Chief of Staff, do our reconnaissance teams deep behind enemy lines carry new rockets?"
"No." Vitkov shook his head and said, "In order to obtain information about the German army as quickly as possible, the scouts we sent were lightly armed and only carried some conventional weapons."
Sokov felt a little disappointed when he learned that the scouts were all lightly armed and carried conventional weapons. Such equipment was fine for dealing with lone enemies, but once they encountered organized enemies, they would have to run for their lives.
. He thought for a while and told Vitkov: "Chief of Staff, you immediately call the division commanders of the first echelon and ask them to send destruction squads to the enemy with more new rockets to attack the German transportation lines.
We must not allow the enemy to smoothly transport supplies to the front."
"Comrade Commander, the sabotage team we dispatched can only carry a small number of rockets each time, and it is far away from the target area." Vitkov said with concern: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to achieve the desired results."
"Now we can only treat a dead horse as a living horse," Sokov said with a sigh: "In fact, there are better ways to destroy the enemy's communication lines. But in the current situation, we can only think about it,
But it’s difficult to put it into practice.”
Lunev, who had remained silent, heard what Sokov said and couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Comrade Commander, what solution are you talking about? Why don't you tell us. Maybe I have a solution that can solve your problem."
The problem may not be determined.”
Sokov knew very well that even as Lunev, it would be difficult to meet his conditions. But it would be worth it if he could feed back his ideas through him. Sokov
He opened his mouth and said: "If the superiors are willing to dispatch the air force to carry out non-stop bombing of the German transportation lines, then the German army confronting us will not be able to obtain sufficient supplies, and it will be very beneficial to attack us at that time."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Witkov retorted: "Comrade Commander, I think it is a waste to send out the air force to bomb the German transportation lines."
"Why?" Sokov asked with some confusion.
"Comrade Commander, think about it, every time our bomber formation attacks, we need at least three four-plane formations and 12 aircraft, right?" Vitkov said to Sokov: "If it is to bomb a fixed target, then it will consume some
Ammunition and fuel are reasonable. But we have no idea when the German transport convoy appears every day and how large it is. If we send out several times in a row and don't even see the shadow of the enemy transport convoy, I'm afraid you will be embarrassed.
We asked Commander Rokossovsky to help us contact the Air Force."
Sokov agreed very much with Witkov's statement. He knew very well that unless he accurately provided the location of the German transport team before requesting the air force to dispatch, the air force could carry out effective bombing. If
They just blindly requested the other side to dispatch bombers to search for the enemy's transport convoy. Although those air force pilots would not disobey orders, they would not pay too much attention when searching for attack targets.
Just when Sokov was struggling with whether he should call Rokossovsky and ask him to help him contact the Air Force, a staff officer came in and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, there are several Air Force personnel outside.
The commander wants to see you."
"The air force commander wants to see me?" Sokov couldn't help but be stunned for a moment when he heard the report. He thought to himself, "Why did the air force commander come to see me?" In order to find out what was going on, he quickly ordered his staff: "
Invite them in!"
Soon, four air force commanders followed the staff officer who just came over. They came to Sokov, raised their hands in salute, and reported their names, positions and ranks in turn: "Hello, Comrade Commander.
, I am Colonel Nechepolenko, commander of the 202nd Bomb Aviation Division."
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Shalimov, political commissar of the 202nd Bomb Aviation Division."
"I am Colonel Nemtsevich, commander of the 205th Fighter Aviation Division."
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Ananyev, political commissar of the 205th Fighter Aviation Division."
After listening to the reports of the four people, Sokov instinctively raised his hand and returned the salute, and said with some confusion: "Comrade commanders, what are you doing here?"
Colonel Nechepolenko lowered his head and took out an envelope from his satchel, stepped forward and handed it to Sokov, and said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, you will understand what is going on after reading this official letter.
"
The confused Sokov opened the envelope and took out the official letter inside. After reading the contents clearly, he was stunned. He saw that it read: "In order to effectively strengthen the Sixth Combined Arms Group Army's
Air power, from now on, the 202nd Bombing Aviation Division and the 205th Fighter Aviation Division will be assigned to your command. The signature is Deputy Chief of General Staff Antonov."
