Although the enemies who tried to destroy the bridge were annihilated, it also made Sokov realize that there were still many problems in his defense deployment. Otherwise, two sabotage teams with 20 people each would not have been so easy.
Pass through your own defense zone.
After dawn, Sokov ordered Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately inform the division commanders and brigade commanders of each division and ask them to arrive at the headquarters before ten o'clock. I think it is necessary to tell everyone what happened last night.
Sound the alarm.”
Last night's battle was basically directed by Sameko. As an insider, he knew very well what serious consequences would occur once the bridge on the Dnieper River was blown up by the Germans. Therefore, after hearing the news
After receiving Cove's order, he quickly came to the radio operator and ordered him to immediately contact the units under the group army and ask the division commanders and brigade commanders to come over for a meeting.
At ten o'clock in the morning, commanders at all levels who received the order came to Sokov's headquarters.
Looking at the dark area in front of him, Sokov was in a daze for a moment. He didn't know when he had so many division and brigade commanders under his command.
Because there were too many people attending the meeting, the church hall seemed a bit crowded, and Managarov felt that it was inconvenient for him as an outsider to have a meeting of the 27th Army, so he greeted Sokov and then led him
He left the church with a group of his subordinates.
When they arrived outside the church, Derevyanko asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, although the 27th Army held a military meeting, as friendly forces, we can completely observe it, so why did we leave?"
Managarov reached out and took out the cigarette case from Derevyanko's pocket, took out a cigarette, held it in his mouth, and stuffed the cigarette case back. Upon seeing this, Derevyanko quickly took out a match and gave it to him.
Managarov lit a cigarette.
After Managarov took a puff of his cigarette, he said to Derevyanko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. As friendly forces engaged in common defense with the 27th Group Army, we stayed when they held a military meeting.
Observing is completely fine. But I think today’s military meeting will not only discuss the next battle plan, but also a summary of last night’s incident?”
"A summary of last night's events?" After dawn, Derevyanko and others all knew that the German army had penetrated into the Dnieper River Bridge last night and almost blew up the bridge. At this moment, listening to Managarov say this, he felt a little bit
He asked in confusion: "Aren't all the enemies that have infiltrated been eliminated?"
"Yes, the enemies that infiltrated were indeed eliminated." Managarov said with a smile: "But how the enemies infiltrated is probably the focus of today's discussion. If I am not wrong, General Sokov
He would get angry at the meeting, and if we were there, he would feel inconvenienced, so I will take you and leave first."
After listening to Managarov's explanation, Derevyanko finally understood why his commander couldn't wait to leave the church with his men when he saw officers of all levels of the 27th Army entering the church. He asked cautiously: "
Comrade Commander, the military conference will not end for a while, and it has taken such a long time, where should we go?"
"Our troops have already entered defensive positions one after another, but as the highest commander of the group army, we have never inspected the troops." Managarov said carelessly: "Since we have time today, we might as well go to various places.
Go around the troops and get to know the mental outlook of some of the officers and soldiers."
"Okay." Derevyanko nodded, agreed with Managarov, and then asked: "Then where should we go first, the upper reaches of the Dnieper River or the lower reaches?"
Managarov thought for a while and felt that the main force of his army group was concentrated on the upper reaches of the left bank of the Dnieper River, where he would fight against the enemies trying to move south, so he replied: "I think we will go to the 28th Guards on the upper reaches first.
The division has a look. You must know that since the German army crossed the river, they have been fighting the enemy continuously, and the troops have paid a heavy price. As commanders, it is necessary for us to go and see them to boost the morale of the troops.
"
When Managarov led a group of his men to Kremenchug and headed towards the defense zone on the upper reaches of the left bank of the Dnieper River, the military meeting chaired by Sokov officially began.
"Comrade commanders," there was a long table set up near the altar in the church. Sokov, Samyko, and Lunev were sitting behind the table. When a staff officer came over and reported to Samyko in a low voice,
After all the commanders attending the meeting had arrived, Sokov stood up, leaned forward slightly, put his hands on the edge of the table, and said loudly to the many subordinates: "We are called here today mainly for two things.
."
When Sokov spoke, the commanders sitting below remained silent, just looking at Sokov, wanting to hear what he was going to say to everyone.
Seeing that no one spoke, Sokov continued: "After more than ten days of mobilization, the entire army group has arrived at the banks of the Dnieper River. Among them, the 84th, 182nd, 254th and 300th Infantry Divisions, as well as
The 73rd Brigade was deployed at the landing site on the right bank. It has been fighting the enemy for some time and has achieved good results..."
When Sokov was speaking, Colonel Koida, the commander of the 188th Division, who was sitting below, asked the political commissar Mashkov sitting next to him in a low voice: "Comrade political commissar, did comrade commander say when will our division be moved?"
Also transferred to the landing site on the right bank?"
"No." Mashkov shook his head and replied in a low voice: "I didn't hear Comrade Commander mention our division in his speech..."
The whispers between the two were seen by Sameko, who was sitting behind the long table. He knocked on the table with his hand and said in a stern tone: "Commander sitting below, please pay attention. Don't talk. Listen carefully to the commander."
Comrade’s speech.”
After receiving Samyko's warning, Koida and Mashkov immediately shut their mouths, sat upright, and listened carefully to what Sokov said.
After Sokov finished talking about the first thing, the topic turned to the second thing, which was what happened last night when the German army easily passed through the defense zones of several troops along the Dnieper River: "...Next, what I want to talk about
Yes, last night the German army sent two sabotage squads, starting from the upper and lower reaches of the Dnieper River, passing through our army's defense line, trying to blow up the bridge on the river..."
The German army's attempt to blow up the bridge was known to the commanders of the troops deployed on the right bank. But the commanders of the troops deployed on the left bank, even north of Kremenchug, knew nothing about it. Listen to what Sokov said
, they were still muttering in a low voice: "What on earth is going on? How can the enemy pass through our defense zone so easily without being discovered by our troops..."
Seeing the commanders below discussing in private again, Sameko knocked on the table again, stood up and said: "Comrade commanders, please keep quiet! If you want to discuss something, wait until the comrade commander finishes speaking.
Afterwards, we will set aside special time for you to discuss."
After hearing what Samek said, the uninformed commanders present did not dare to discuss it casually, no matter how curious they were. They could only listen obediently to Sokov's account of what happened last night.
After Sokov introduced the situation to the commanders present, he turned his attention to Solomatin, who was sitting in the first row, and said seriously: "General Solomatin, the enemy who occupied the right bank of the Dnieper River Bridge yesterday is
Infiltrated from your army's defense area. What puzzles me is why your subordinates still don't know anything about this matter by the end of the battle?"
When Solomatin received the notice of the meeting, he knew in his heart that Sokov would definitely ask about the infiltration of the German sabotage squad at the meeting. He was thinking about how to deal with it all the way. But unfortunately, it was not until the meeting that
Until now, he still hasn't come up with a suitable solution.
At this moment, when I heard Sokov asking himself, he could only stand up and said nonchalantly: "Comrade Commander, it was all my negligence. I only focused on guarding against the enemy in the front, but I did not expect that the enemy would bypass our flanks and return to our rear."
Solomatin's military rank was higher than Sokov's, so it was very difficult for him to make such a low profile. According to his idea, as long as he explained it like this, Sokov might turn the big deal into a trivial one.
But what he didn't expect was that after Sokov waited for him to finish speaking, he said aggressively: "General Solomatin, don't you even send patrols at night? What if the German army launches an attack at night?
Do I want to catch you off guard?"
"No, no, Comrade Commander." Solomatin argued: "In fact, we also sent patrols to patrol the river, but it rained for a while last night, and our patrol soldiers did not bring rain gear.
, so we found a place to take shelter from the rain. Maybe the Germans passed through our defense line at this time."
"General Solomatin," Sokov saw that Solomatin had no intention of admitting his mistake, but instead defended his subordinates: "Have you ever thought about it, if the German army that passed through your defense line last night was not a sabotage team?
, but it is a powerful force, so is it possible that your army will be surrounded by the German army?"
As soon as Sokov's words came out, the entire hall fell silent. Many of the commanders at all levels present here had been fighting the Germans on the battlefield since the outbreak of the war. The situation Sokov mentioned,
They have all encountered it more or less. Once the German army detours back to the rear of its own troops, everyone is very clear about the consequences. Everyone unanimously focused their attention on Solomatin.
I want to hear how he explains it.
But when Solomajing saw that everyone's eyes were focused on him, he was not only secretly anxious, but he did not expect that a small mistake would actually put him in such an embarrassing situation.
Fortunately, Lunev got up in time to relieve Solomatin: "Comrade Commander, I think General Solomatin was just a momentary negligence. If they can learn from this lesson and strengthen the security work in the defense zone, they will definitely be able to put an end to the problem."
Similar incidents occurred.”
Since Lunev came forward to speak favorably for Solomatin, and since the mechanized army was only temporarily placed under his command and would be reorganized as soon as this battle was over, Sokov could not be embarrassed by this matter.
Solomatin could only sigh softly and said to Solomatin: "Remember the lesson of this time, Comrade General. I hope that similar things will not happen again in the future."
Solomatin was filled with surprise when he saw that Sokov let him go so easily. He quickly expressed his gratitude to Sokov, and then said: "Don't worry, comrade commander, I assure you that you will never
Something like this will happen again."
After the two topics of the meeting were finished, Samyko waited for Sokov to sit down, then stood up and asked: "Commanders, do you have any questions? Feel free to ask them, and Comrade Commander and I will try our best to answer them for you."
."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Samyko had just finished speaking. Polubyarov, commander of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, stood up and asked with a serious expression: "I want to ask when will my tank corps be ready?"
Can I enter the right bank landing site?”
"General Polubyarov," Samyko replied politely to Polubyarov's question: "According to the results of our research, your tank army will continue to stay on the left bank and will not participate in the right bank for the time being.
Battle in the landing field area.”
"Why, Comrade Chief of Staff?" Hearing Samyko's answer, Polubyarov became angry: "Our entire army is ready for all battles, but why are we not allowed to go to the landing site on the right bank to participate in the battle?"
"General Polubyarov, I think it's better for me to answer this question." Sokov felt that it would be more appropriate for him to explain this matter to Polubyarov, so he stood up and said with a smile: "We are here
An assault direction was selected on the right bank, which is the area where General Fomenko's 84th Division is located. There are forests, lakes and swamps everywhere, which is not conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops. On the south side of the landing site, which is conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops, a large number of
The German army will suffer a loss if you go head-to-head with the enemy with the strength of your army. For the purpose of protecting you, after repeated studies, we have decided not to allow the 4th Guards Tank Corps to enter the right bank landing site area at this stage."
"What about us, Comrade Commander?" As soon as Sokov finished speaking, before Polubyarov could express his stance, Koida stood up and asked anxiously: "Tank Corps"
The reason for not entering the right bank for the time being is because the area where the counterattack is being prepared is not conducive to the deployment of tanks. Then why is it that our division cannot be transferred to the landing site on the right bank?"
"Colonel Koida, the battle at the landing site on the right bank will be long and cruel." Sokov looked at Koida who raised questions and said with a smile: "The reason why I don't move your division to the right bank is because I am preparing to move your division to the right bank."
As a reserve force, you will wait until the troops on the right bank are too depleted and unable to continue to undertake combat tasks, and then transfer your division to replace them. Do you understand?"
Koida, who was originally simmering with anger, felt much more comfortable after hearing Sokov's explanation. He quickly said: "I understand, Comrade Commander. I express my position to you on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the division. No matter what you say,
When the time comes, we can be dispatched to the landing site on the right bank, and we can set off in the shortest possible time."
"Very good, Colonel Koida." Sokov smiled and nodded, and said to Koida: "I believe what you said, and I hope you can enter the right bank landing site as soon as possible after receiving the order.
."
This chapter has been completed!