Sokov did not expect that his troops would inadvertently have as many as seven infantry divisions, one infantry brigade, one tank corps, two artillery divisions and several directly subordinate tank brigades.
He said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that without knowing it, the size of our army group has grown to seven infantry divisions, plus a number of troops. It is a good thing that the troops have grown, but it also brings us
It’s an inconvenience.”
"Yes." Sameko said in agreement: "In the past, when there were five divisions, it might only take five or six minutes to issue an order. Now that there are so many troops, it will take at least half a minute for us to convey the order.
Hour."
"It takes half an hour to convey a combat order, which is not feasible." Sokov said: "You know, every minute is precious in a war, so it is easy to delay the fighter plane."
"Comrade Commander, you are right." Lunev interjected: "I heard that starting from this year, infantry corps-level units have appeared in the structures of many group armies, and each army has three or four divisions.
.If the superiors give us the organization of two infantry corps, it will facilitate your command in future battles."
"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right, the superiors do have plans in this regard." Sokov said to the two men: "When I went to the front army headquarters today, General Konev told me that it may be possible soon.
Add military-level structures to our group army to facilitate our command."
"Then when can the infantry corps be added?" Samek asked.
Although Sokov knew the date when the unit's designation was changed, he did not know when the infantry corps was restored within the organization of each group army. He could only shake his head and said: "I don't know."
After receiving Sokov's call, Fomenko and Khokhlov immediately rushed to the headquarters as quickly as possible to accept the combat mission.
After shaking hands with the two men one by one, Sokov asked with concern: "How about it, two comrades, division commanders, can your troops continue to fight?"
"Of course we can continue to fight." When Fomenko thought about the thousands of commanders and fighters he had just added, the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up slightly: "You have just added so many experienced commanders and fighters to us, and they are fully capable of carrying out any combat mission.
.”
"What about you, Colonel Khokhlov?"
"Comrade Commander!" Hearing Sokov ask himself, Colonel Khokhlov quickly stepped forward and replied with some excitement: "Ever since our division added a large number of new soldiers in the late stage of the Battle of Kursk, you have been
Let us serve as a reserve force, and no combat missions are assigned to us. A large number of experienced commanders and combatants were added to us in the past two days, which has greatly improved the combat effectiveness of our division, and we are also capable of completing any combat missions assigned by our superiors."
Seeing that the two division commanders were so confident, Sokov nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "Very good, since you are so confident, then I will assign you combat tasks. Although our army liberated Kharkov,
But there are still a large number of German troops in the west, southwest and south of the city. If we want to reach the Dnieper River smoothly, we must find a way to eliminate them."
Fomenko asked: "Comrade Commander, do you know where our attack target is?"
"Merefa Fortress!"
"Merefar Fortress?!"
"Yes, Merefa Fortress." Sokov said to the two of them: "If you want to capture Merefa Fortress and the railway hub, you must first cross the Muza River and find a way to eliminate the enemies hiding on the steep river banks.
And establish a landing site on the left bank."
Knowing that the target of his attack was Merefa Fortress, Fomenko couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Commander, the rivers in that area are not conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops. If we want to carry out a forced crossing, I'm afraid we won't be able to get artillery support."
.”
"General Fomenko," Sokov comforted the other party: "You don't have to worry about the artillery, but when the cross-river operation begins, I will deploy the tank brigade and artillery by the river to directly provide you with artillery cover."
"Comrade Commander," as soon as Fomenko's problem was solved, Khokhlov raised his concerns: "Now that Colonel Yakov's hovercraft detachment has left, we can only use ordinary ships to carry out forced crossings. To pass through Mu
If you cross the river and climb the steep river bank, you may have to pay a huge sacrifice."
"Colonel Khokhlov, we have also taken your concerns into consideration." Samyko said: "In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, we have formulated two plans. One is to send troops to sneak across from the upper reaches of the Muza River, and the other is to
After the illegal smuggling failed, we launched a forced crossing operation from the front."
After Fomenko waited for Samyko to finish speaking, he asked cautiously: "Chief of Staff, which unit do you plan to send to smuggle people over, and which unit will launch a forced crossing operation from the front after the illegal smuggling fails?"
"General Fomenko," Samyko looked at Fomenko and said, "Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Division, due to various reasons, is now at the bottom of the entire army in terms of combat effectiveness. If they are responsible for the task of forcing the crossing, they will definitely
It was not suitable, so Comrade Commander thought that they could carry out the stowaway mission.
As for your 84th Division, its combat effectiveness is among the best in our group army. It is undoubtedly the most suitable for you to be responsible for the frontal crossing mission. Comrade Commander and I are reassured."
Hearing Samyko's praise, Fomenko couldn't help but smile. He quickly expressed his stance to Samyko: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, we will never betray the trust of you and Comrade Commander. Once the battle begins, we will
We will cross the Muza River in the shortest possible time and rush towards Merefa Fortress so quickly that the enemy will not have time to react."
"General Fomenko, I'm glad to see you have such confidence, but you can't underestimate the enemy." Sokov said with a smile: "Although the Germans were driven away from Kharkov by us, to be fair, their
The combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. If you think that the enemy is vulnerable because of this, you will suffer a big loss."
Samyko continued: "General Fomenko, I'm afraid it will be difficult for your superiors to provide you with enough ships, so you must prepare enough river crossing equipment within one day for use in the forced crossing."
Hearing what Samyko said, Fomenko couldn't help but have a headache. After riding a hovercraft, he scorned all boats and felt that no matter how good the boat was, it couldn't be compared with the hovercraft. Not only did the hovercraft travel fast on the river, it also
It is not slow on flat ground, but it is a pity that it has been transported back to Moscow, otherwise it will be of great use in the next battle.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Fomenko asked Samyko with a grimace: "Where should I go to get ships?"
"The superiors will allocate part of it to us." Sameko replied: "But the quantity is far from meeting our river crossing needs, so you must find a way to get some river crossing equipment yourself. For example, door panels, coffins or logs, these are all
It can be used as a river crossing equipment."
When Sokov heard Samyko mention using coffins as river crossing equipment, he couldn't help but shook his head slightly. He used door panels and logs to build a raft to cross the river. He could still accept it. Throwing a few coffins into the river as river crossing equipment was really realistic.
It was so beautiful that he couldn't bear to think about it.
Khokhlov interjected: "Comrade, Comrade Chief of Staff, if our division wants to go upstream to stow away, I'm afraid we won't be able to carry the boat with us. How will we cross the river then?"
"Comrade Colonel, what's wrong with you?" After hearing this, Lunev couldn't stand it anymore, and interrupted and asked: "Is this your first day as a commander? Can't you think of a way to solve this kind of thing?"
"Comrade Military Commissar," Khokhlov replied in a panic: "Although the commanders and soldiers can swim across, there are always some soldiers who are not good at water and cannot cross the river."
Seeing that Khokhlov was in an awkward situation, Sokov quickly came out to rescue him. He looked at Khokhlov and asked: "Comrade Colonel, how many marching pots are there in your division?"
"Marching pot?!" Sokov's words stopped Khokhlov. Although he didn't know why the commander asked about the marching pot, he still answered truthfully: "A company has three marching pots, and a battalion has three marching pots."
Nine pots... There should be hundreds of marching pots in the whole division." He asked in confusion, "Comrade Commander, I don't understand, what is the connection between the marching pots and our smuggling?"
"Of course there is contact." Sokov quickly walked to the table, waved to the other party, and said: "Comrade Colonel, come to me."
When Khokhlov came to the table, Sokov put several tea jars on the table together and said to him: "Comrade Colonel, for example, these tea jars are army pots. You put nine
The pots are tied together and a wooden frame is put on top," Sokov said while placing a few pencils on the teapot. "Isn't this just a simple raft? Can't it carry your men across the river?
?"
Khokhlov stared at the teapot and pencils on the table for a long time, then slammed his hand on the table and said excitedly: "It's wonderful, this is simply wonderful. Nine pots form a raft, and hundreds of them
A dozen rafts can be formed from a pot, and each raft can carry one squad at a time, and more than a dozen squads can be ferried across at one time. It won't take long for the entire division to be ferried to the other side."
After saying this, Khokhlov raised his head and looked at Sokov and said with admiration: "Comrade Commander, you are really a genius. You can actually come up with such a genius method."
Fomenko also nodded and said: "The raft envisioned by Comrade Commander is indeed very clever and easy to carry. I think our division should also prepare such a raft for use when carrying out forced crossings."
Sokov originally thought that he would have to wait until tomorrow night at the earliest before he would have the opportunity to carry out a stowaway operation. After all, there is no hovercraft, and it is a very time-consuming and laborious task to prepare river crossing equipment. But now you can use marching pots to make river crossing equipment and prepare
The time is greatly shortened, and the river crossing operation can even be carried out tonight.
As September approaches, it gets dark earlier and earlier. It used to get dark at eleven o'clock, but now it gets completely dark around nine o'clock. And Khokhlov's troops will set off as soon as it gets dark, heading towards
Heading upstream to the Muza River.
After hearing the news of the departure of the 182nd Division, Samyko asked Sokov with some concern: "Comrade Commander, do you think the 182nd Division can successfully cross the Muza River?"
"It's hard to say." On the battlefield, no matter how well-planned the plan is, it often fails to keep up with the changes in the situation. Even though Sokov appeared so confident when assigning tasks, he was also unsure when he started.
: "We'd better wait patiently for news from them."
At one o'clock in the morning, Sokov received a telegram from Khokhlov. The content was simple: "Our division has arrived at the designated location and is preparing to smuggle in."
After reading the telegram twice, Sokov handed it to Samyko who was standing aside and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the 182nd Division has begun to cross the river. Order the observation posts to closely guard that direction. If there is any movement,
Report to us promptly."
Among those who were eager to know about the situation of crossing the river, in addition to Sokov and Samyko, was Konev in the city. He personally called Sokov and asked with concern: "Comrade Sokov, how is the situation?
"
Upon hearing the call from Konev, Sokov quickly and respectfully replied: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army that the 182nd Division has arrived at the designated position and is making preparations to cross the river."
After listening to Sokov's report, Konev was silent for a moment, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade Sokov, do you think their smuggling operation will be successful?"
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said carefully, "I think the enemy has not yet noticed our intention to cross the river, so there should be no tight defense in the upper reaches. The probability of our success in crossing the river is very high."
Although Sokov's statement was also very uncertain, Konev was convinced of his statement due to the outstanding performance of the 27th Army in the Battle of Kursk and the Battle of Kharkov. He agreed.
After a while, he said to Sokov: "Well, if there is any latest news, please remember to inform me in time."
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Samyko smiled bitterly and said: "Comrade Commander, it seems that General Konev is more nervous about the outcome of crossing the river than we are."
"Yes." Sokov nodded and said: "Whether we can quickly capture the Merefa Fortress will affect whether the friendly forces' attack on Liu Bojing will be affected. As long as we occupy the railway hub, then the enemy
The supply will be interrupted, the enemies in Lyubotin City will not be able to support it for long, and we will be able to open the road to Poltava faster."
Samek raised his hand to look at his watch and suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, please see if you can let the 84th Division also enter the designated position. Once the 182nd Division's stowaway fails, you can order them to take advantage of the cover of night.
, launch a forced crossing to the other side?"
"Forced crossing at night?" Sokov couldn't help but frowned when he heard Sameko's suggestion: "We don't look at the defense situation on the other side at night. If we rashly launch a forced crossing operation, not only will we be attacked by enemy artillery and machine gun fire,
Intercepting, there may even be a situation where you finally make it to the shore but lose your way.”
After expressing his worries, Sokov said with envy: "No, we must not carry out a forced crossing at night. During the day, although we will be frantically intercepted by the enemy, our artillery can play a great role.
"
"Okay then." Seeing Sokov's resolute attitude, Sameko said helplessly: "Then let's wait until dawn before launching an attack on the enemy on the other side of the Muza River."
At two o'clock in the morning, Colonel Khokhlov sent another telegram.
Samyko took the telegram from the hands of the communications staff and couldn't wait to read it. After he finished reading the above content, he shook his fist violently, then raised his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Hoch
Colonel Love reported that their first batch of troops crossing the river had successfully landed on the other side, and no trace of the enemy was found on the shore."
"Great, this is really great." Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard the news. He told Samyko: "Hurry up and send a telegram to Colonel Khokhlov and ask them to set up a landing site immediately.
, to prevent possible counterattacks by the enemy."
"Comrade Commander, I think there is no need to send this telegram." Samyko smiled and said to Sokov: "Khokhlov is also an old commander, and these things are basic common sense to him.
, I think even if he didn’t send a report, he would have ordered the troops to establish a landing site on the other side.”
This chapter has been completed!