Seeing that Konev did not ask whether this harassment operation would be successful, but was worried about his own safety, Sokov was quite moved. He quickly said: "Commander of the Front Army, please rest assured about this, although we
We are facing Manstein's Army Group South, but I will not confront them head-on. Instead, I will adopt harassment tactics to deal with them.
If they are too strong, we will choose to avoid fighting; but once we discover the weaknesses of the German army, we will concentrate our superior forces and attack the German army, striving to annihilate one part of the enemy to relieve the pressure on our army in the next stage of combat.
."
"Comrade Commander," Zakharov came over and said to Konev: "I think Comrade Sokov's suggestion can be considered. If his troops can continuously harass the enemy and disrupt the enemy's deployment, they can provide
We gain more time. Whether it is the replenishment of soldiers or the transportation of weapons, ammunition and military supplies, it will take a long time."
Konev stared at Sokov, as if he didn't hear what Zakharov said. After an unknown amount of time, he finally said: "You have added nearly 40,000 troops at once, and I will definitely not be able to provide you with weapons and ammunition here."
, you can only find a way to solve it yourself."
"No problem, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov thought to himself. His troops have always relied on various seizures to arm themselves, and they have rarely received supplements directly from their superiors. While executing the harassment campaign,
, you can find a way to let your subordinates search the enemy's warehouses. As long as they find a few warehouses, the supply of weapons and ammunition will be solved. So he said confidently: "I will find a way to solve it."
"Comrade Sokov, I know what you are thinking." As Sokov's superior, Konev naturally understood what he had in mind, so he reminded him: "You have captured German warehouses many times before.
, and arm yourself with the weapons and ammunition inside. But in the next battle, it will not be so easy to find such a warehouse again, and you need to be mentally prepared. Do you understand?"
"I completely understand, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov thought to himself, even if it cannot be captured, I can still use Yakov's line to obtain unplanned supplements. "I won't bother you with the issue of weapons and ammunition.
Already."
"Well, since you are so confident, then I will agree to your request, and your department will be responsible for harassing the German troops and disrupting their defense deployment." After explaining the task, Konev also specifically told Sokov
: "Comrade Sokov, as the commander of the group army, for the sake of safety, I hope you will not run to the front casually."
"Okay, okay." Sokov replied absentmindedly: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, thank you for your reminder. I will pay attention to this."
"Comrade Sokov," Zakharov waited for Konev to finish, then called Sokov to the table and said to him: "Let me introduce you to the current situation. Although our army was on August 23
The Japanese liberated Kharkov, but the front troops were still engaged in fierce fighting in the west, southwest and south of the city.
The 5th Guards Tank Army and the 53rd Army, which entered the battlefield through your defense area, were counterattacked by the German 8th Army. The 8th Army, which abandoned Kharkov, still has powerful armored forces. They tried to counterattack through
, to retake Kharkov.”
Sokov believed Zakharov's statement. Although the German army had hastily abandoned Kharkov a day ago and escaped from the city, the centipede insects did not freeze. Their strength
Still strong. After getting rid of the Soviet troops, they regrouped and launched a new attack on the Soviet troops.
"According to the intelligence obtained by our reconnaissance," Zaharov continued: "Long before the start of the Kharkov campaign, the Germans used the Merefa River, the Uda River, the Muza River, and the Oreli River to
The terrain conducive to defense along the Volskra River has built a large number of defensive areas and turned Merefa, Varki, Krasnograd, Poltava and other cities into obstacles to our army's march.
A solid defense zone on the way to the Dnieper River.
The reason why the fighting in the Kharkov area is tenacious and tense is that Mustache tried his best to enable his Donbas group to escape our army's assault. Manstein, on the other hand, has been worried that our army will retreat when they retreat.
Before the Dnieper River, go out to the vicinity of Poltava.”
After Sokov stared at the map on the table for a while, he looked up at Zakharov and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, if I am not wrong in my judgment, the cities of Liubotin and Merefa that are still occupied by the German army
Will the railway hub be an obstacle for our army to advance towards the Dnieper River?"
"Yes, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov agreed with Sokov's analysis: "Now the troops of General Rotmistrov and General Managarov are approaching Lyubo
capital city, prepare to capture the city before the enemy recovers, and open a broad road to Poltava."
"To capture the city of Lyubotin, we must first capture Merefa." Sokov took advantage of Zakharov's pause to express his views again, "Merefa is not only a fortress, but also an important railway.
As long as the junction station is still in the hands of the Germans, the enemy can ensure the operation of railway traffic in the area. Therefore, if you want to attack Lyuboking City, you must capture this railway junction station as quickly as possible.
"
"You are right." Zaharov nodded and said, "But Merefa is a major defensive fortress south of Kharkov. The German army first strengthened the defense force in this area to ensure cover from the south.
Kharkov. In addition, they also have strong defense forces on the Muzha River and its steep banks.
"If we want to open the road to Poltava as soon as possible, we must first seize the fortress and railway transportation hub of Merefa, and then launch an attack on the city of Lyubotin."
After listening to Sokov's proposal, Zakharov said lightly: "Comrade Commander has already arranged the troops to attack Merefa, which is General Shumilov's 7th Guards Army. With their strength,
There is no big problem in taking Merefa Fortress."
Unexpectedly, Sokov's expression changed after hearing this, "General Shumilov's 7th Guards Army?"
"Is there anything wrong?"
"Yes," Sokov pointed to the unit number marked on the map and said to Zakharov: "The unit closest to the south of the city now is Lieutenant General Kryuchinkin's 69th Army. If the Guards No.
The 7th Army Group must pass through the defense zone of the 69th Army Group if it wants to attack Merefa..."
"Comrade Sokov," Konev came over and explained to Sokov: "After a long period of fighting, the troops of the 69th Group Army have suffered serious attrition. In a short period of time, it is simply impossible to execute such a plan.
siege operations."
After Konev finished speaking, Sokov took the initiative and said: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, if you trust me, you can leave this task to me."
"Leave it to you to complete?" Konev looked at Sokov, his eyes full of doubts, "Can it be done?"
"Of course it can be done." Sokov answered very simply: "At the beginning of the year, I once commanded the 21st Army to fight in this area, and I am familiar with the terrain here. If the task of attacking Merefa is given to me,
, I will definitely live up to your expectations and capture the Merefa Fortress and the railway transportation hub in a short period of time."
After Konev and Zakharov whispered for a while, they nodded and agreed to Sokov's request: "Okay, Comrade Sokov, since you insist so, then I will complete the task of liberating the Merefa Fortress.
, leave it to your troops to complete."
"Comrade Sokov," Zakharov felt that he needed to say a few words. He waited for Konev to finish and then continued: "In order to block our army's attack, the enemy has blown up the bridge on the Muza River.
.If you want to capture Merefa, you must find a way to cross the Muza River first and ascend the steep river bank that is heavily guarded."
"Chief of Staff, you are worrying too much." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Konev laughed twice and said to Zakharov: "Did you forget that there is a hovercraft unit in his army? The hovercraft can take him
The troops were quickly sent to the other side of the Muza River."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said to Konev with a wry smile: "There is no longer a hovercraft detachment. Yakov has returned to Moscow with his people. In the next battle across the river, we can only rely on
Use your own strength to break through the German defenses along the river."
"What, Yakov brought people back to Moscow?" Konev was surprised when he heard the news. He asked Sokov in surprise: "When did they leave?"
"I just left today. I personally sent him and his men to the train station."
After confirming the news of Yakov's departure, Konev couldn't help but sigh: "Oh, this is such a pity. If they had stayed, it would have made our attack smoother."
"If they stay, they may not be able to help us."
"Why?"
"After the two battles in Belgorod and Kharkov, all the spare parts of the hovercraft have been exhausted." Sokov explained to the two men: "Even if we reluctantly stay, we will not be able to participate in new battles.
"
Sokov returned to his headquarters, immediately called Samyko and Lunev over, told them the tasks assigned by Konev, and finally asked: "You can tell me what you think.
come out."
"Comrade Commander," Sameko was silent for a moment and expressed his concerns: "Since the enemy has blown up the bridge on the Muza River, if we want to cross the river, we can only carry out a forced crossing. The other side of the river is steep.
On the river bank, even if our troops can break through the enemy's firepower and successfully reach the other bank, if they want to climb the steep river bank, they will probably pay a lot of casualties."
"You're right." Sokov did not deny Samyko's concerns, but expressed his thoughts: "I plan to deploy tanks or artillery by the river and directly bombard the enemy with artillery fire.
The firepower point opened a breakthrough for our assault troops."
"Comrade Commander is talking about forced crossing," Lunev asked with a smile. "But I know you must have other plans. You might as well tell us."
Seeing that Luniev had guessed his intention, Sokov smiled sheepishly and continued: "Comrade Military Commissar, you are right, you can't just rely on violent attacks to fight a war, you must know how to use your brain. In this way
Only by this can we effectively reduce unnecessary casualties among the troops and achieve greater results."
He pointed to the map and said to the two of them: "According to my observation, there is a section of the river in the upper reaches of the Muza River that is relatively gentle. We can choose to sneak across there. After the troops have crossed the river, they can then go down the river quietly.
Approach Merefa Fortress and catch the Germans by surprise."
"How about it, Comrade Chief of Staff." Lunev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then said with a smile: "I know that Comrade Commander has already had a plan in his mind, let alone there is only one river in front of us, even if
There are ten or eight, and he can command the troops to cross the river smoothly."
Facing the high hat that Lunev put on himself, Sokov laughed dryly and continued: "We must attack Merefa Fortress quickly, otherwise the enemies in Liubotin City will have enough time to attack.
Reinforce their defenses. When our friendly forces capture the city, they will pay an even heavier price."
Sameko said disapprovingly: "Comrade Commander, don't worry. Although Merefa is also a fortress, it is not large in scale. With the combat effectiveness of our troops, there should be no big problem in capturing it within two days."
"
But Sokov's thoughts were different from Sameko's. He thought of the famous Brest Fortress. After the fortress was suddenly attacked by the Germans, the remaining commanders and fighters in the fortress were seriously short of ammunition, food and even water.
Despite the situation, they still fought with the Germans for several days. Major Gavrilov, one of the commanders of the fortress, held on to the fortress alone for thirty-two days. He was finally wounded and was discharged.
German prisoners.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Samyko with a serious expression: "Even if the fortress in Merefa is small, we cannot take it lightly. Once our attack is contained by the Germans, it will affect
Friendly forces attacked Liubojing City, thus disrupting the overall deployment of the front army headquarters."
After Sokov finished speaking, Lunev also added: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think the commander is right. No matter how weak the enemy is, we cannot make the mistake of underestimating the enemy when attacking, otherwise we will suffer big losses."
of."
Samyko suppressed the smile on his face and asked Sokov seriously: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what you think about it?"
"We have to make two preparations." Sokov said: "The first is to arrange for the troops to sneak across from the upper reaches, and then go down the river to clear the German defense lines along the river so that our main force can cross the river smoothly. The second is to do a good job on the front.
In preparation for the storming, the Germans have suffered a lot from me. Knowing that the troops attacking Merefa are commanded by me, they will definitely strengthen the defenses along the river. By then, no matter how well prepared we are, the illegal crossing may become a problem.
Chengqiangdu."
"Then how many troops do you plan to invest?"
"Too many troops are not conducive to deployment. But if there are too few, the offensive force will be weak." Sokov said thoughtfully: "I plan to invest two infantry divisions, one infantry brigade, plus one artillery division and one artillery division."
A tank brigade."
When Samyko heard that the troops mentioned by Sokov included an infantry brigade, he knew it was Guchakov's 73rd Infantry Brigade. After he wrote down the number of this unit, he continued to ask: "Then which two do you plan to send?"
Where are the infantry divisions joining the war?”
"Major General Fomenko's 84th Infantry Division, and Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Infantry Division." Sokov said without hesitation: "The other four infantry divisions serve as the second echelon, waiting for the forward attack to fail.
, and then throw them into the battlefield.”
This chapter has been completed!