As soon as he put down the phone, Sokov excitedly waved his fist, and then said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let me tell you good news. The Romanian army in Ceplik took the initiative to send a courier to see the airborne guards.
Lieutenant Colonel Pinkov of the 8th Infantry Regiment said he planned to lay down his arms and surrender to our army."
"This is really great, Comrade Commander." Knowing that the garrison in the city is ready to surrender, even if it is only a part of the army, is still a happy thing. Smirnov said with some excitement: "As long as the enemy is willing
Surrendering can greatly reduce the casualties of our army."
"Where is the director of the engineering corps?" Since capturing Jeplik is only a matter of time, Sokov will naturally not waste his energy on this aspect. The first task now is to cross the South Bug River as soon as possible and establish
A broad and secure landing site to allow more troops to cross the river.
"Comrade Commander," upon hearing that Sokov was looking for the director of the engineering corps, Smirnov quickly reported to him: "The director of the engineering corps is at the South Bug River at the moment, instructing the engineers to build a pontoon bridge."
"Can I contact him?"
"Of course." After Smirnov finished speaking, he ordered the communications troops to establish contact with the director of the engineering corps, and then handed the microphone to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we have been contacted."
"Comrade Director," Sokov heard the voice of the Director of the Engineering Corps coming from the receiver, and immediately asked directly: "How is the construction of the pontoon bridge going?"
"It's not going well, Comrade Commander." The director of the engineering corps replied: "There are a lot of ice floes mixed in the river, which are constantly hitting the pontoon bridge we have erected, which greatly delays the speed of our bridge construction."
When Sokov heard that there was ice floating in the river, he immediately remembered that it was still winter in Ukraine today, and no matter how shallow the river was, the troops could not wade across the river: "Then when can the pontoon bridge be built?"
"It may have to wait until tomorrow morning." After the director of the engineering Corps gave the approximate time, he was afraid that Sokov would be angry, so he specifically explained to him: "This is already the fastest speed."
"What, we have to wait until tomorrow morning to set up the pontoon bridge?!" Sokov was a little angry. Troops from both armies had reached the left bank of the South Bug River. But you told me that we had to wait another night to cross the river?
"Is it true that the bridge-building time cannot be shortened?" When he said this, he suppressed the anger in his heart and did not say anything like "If you can't do it, find someone who can take over your position."
talk.
The director of the engineering corps had been in contact with Sokov for a long time. Naturally, he could hear the anger in his tone, and he quickly defended: "Comrade commander, if you want a large force to cross the river, you don't have to wait for the pontoon bridge I built."
When Sokov heard that the other party seemed to have a way to solve the problem of the troops being unable to cross the river, he asked hesitantly: "Do you have a way?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The Director of the Engineering Corps gave Sokov an affirmative answer: "Actually, three or four kilometers further downstream, there is a bridge. In addition to infantry, it can also pass tanks and armored vehicles.
Heavy vehicles inside.”
"Is there a passable bridge three or four kilometers downstream?" Sokov quickly found the location of the South Bug River, moved his finger along the direction of the river, and came to see an inconspicuous riverside town.
, there is a road bridge in the town, which spans both sides of the South Bug River.
"Found it, Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps." After finding the location of the bridge, Sokov replied excitedly: "There is indeed a bridge."
"Comrade Commander," the director of the engineering corps secretly breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "I suggest ordering the troops to cross the river now. Before my pontoon bridge is set up, at least two divisions of troops can be crossed."
"Thank you, Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps." Sokov expressed his gratitude to the other party and said, "I will adopt your suggestion."
As soon as he put down the phone, Sokov couldn't wait to order Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately notify the two military commanders Melekhov and Chumakov, and tell them to go down to the position where the engineers set up the pontoon bridge.
After walking three or four kilometers, they can see a bridge, so they can rush to that area as quickly as possible to carry out the crossing operation."
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov heard Sokov's order and asked after hesitating for a moment: "Our air defense force is limited. I don't know where to deploy Lida's women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment? Is it erection?
Where is the pontoon bridge or where the main force crosses the river?"
"It is enough to leave an anti-aircraft artillery battalion at the bridge location." Sokov said to Smirnov: "The main force of the women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment should be deployed where the main force of our army crosses the river. After all, they are there.
If our actions are discovered by the Germans, they will definitely send out the air force to carry out bombing."
"I understand, Comrade Commander, I will arrange the work properly."
Melekhov and Chumakov received Smirnov's call and naturally knew what to do. Sokov didn't need to worry about the next thing.
When the troops of the 49th Army and the 57th Army were crossing the river in batches, Marshal Konev called Sokov's headquarters. As soon as he heard Sokov's voice, he asked straight to the point: "How is it?
, Comrade Sokov, have Heysin and Teplik been captured?"
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov quickly and respectfully replied after hearing the call from Konev: "The enemies in Hesin retreated without a fight, and the 41st Guards Division captured the city without a single blow.
But the situation in Jeplik is worse, and the fighting in the city is still going on."
Konev remembered that he had informed Sokov about the escape of the defenders of the two cities, and he frowned and asked: "Comrade Sokov, what's going on? Didn't the Air Force reconnaissance report say that the two cities were deserted?"
Did the defenders abandon the city and flee? Why is the fighting in Jeplik still going on?"
Fortunately, Sokov learned the truth from Afnin, otherwise he would not have been able to answer Konev's question: "Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this. Originally, the defenders in Heysin and Jeplik were all Romanians.
Army. When they learned that our army was approaching the city, they decisively withdrew from the city and prepared to evacuate to a safer place.
As a result, Hesing's defenders successfully evacuated, while the defenders of Jeplik encountered German reinforcements on their way back, and were forced to return to the city for defense. However, our troops attacking Jeplik did not know this.
One point, so the leading troops who entered the city first were ambushed by the enemy and suffered certain casualties."
"So that's it." After Konev figured out the reason why there was still fighting in the city of Jeplik, he continued to ask: "Then when will you take the city?"
"The Romanian defenders in the city have surrendered to our 8th Guards Airborne Regiment." Sokov said: "Our army now controls the north and west of the city, while the east and south are controlled by the Germans.
The battle is still going on in the area. If everything goes well, I think the battle will be resolved before dawn tomorrow."
"Where are the other two infantry corps?" Konev then asked: "Have they started to cross the river?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said: "Although there were some problems with the erection of the pontoon bridge, fortunately, the engineers found a bridge across the South Bug River downstream, which was enough to pass tanks and armored vehicles.
Heavy vehicles. Now the commanders and fighters of the two armies are crossing the bridge in batches, from the left bank area to the right bank area. By dawn, a conservative estimate is that two divisions will be able to complete the river crossing operation."
"Very good, this is really great." Konev said: "I will notify the friendly forces to speed up their actions and move out to the South Bug River as soon as possible. After the main force completes crossing the river, we will be able to move forward on the South Bug River
Establish a huge offensive starting position in the vast area on the right bank and the left bank of the Dniester River."
Sokov knew very well that as long as the main force of the front army crossed the South Bug River, the combat tasks of his own group army would be reduced accordingly, and he would even get a short rest period.
"Comrade Sokov," Konev asked habitually before hanging up the phone: "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Sokov wanted to say no, but suddenly thought of Lyudmila, and said quickly: "Comrade Marshal, I have a request, and I hope to get your support."
"Tell me, what do you want from me?"
"That's right, I think about the next battle, there will be more and more street fighting, and the past thinking of positional warfare will have to be adjusted." Sokov explained to Konev: "If you blindly follow the positional fighting style,
, if you come to fight urban battles or street battles, you will suffer big losses."
"Well, that makes sense. Keep talking." Konev said in an encouraging tone.
"I think snipers will become an indispensable role in street fighting." Seeing that Konev was willing to listen to his opinion, Sokov specifically mentioned snipers: "But although there are many sharpshooters in my group army, they can
There are not many commanders and fighters who have become snipers. Therefore, I hope you can hire two sniper instructors for my subordinates to train them."
After listening to this, Konev felt that Sokov's proposal was not too much, so he said reasonably: "Isn't it just to find two sniper instructors? Don't worry, this is just a trivial matter, just take care of it on me.
"
"Comrade Marshal, I have two candidates for sniper instructors." Sokov asked cautiously: "I wonder if you can come forward and say hello to your superiors and ask them to come to my army group to train snipers."
"Tell me which two people they are."
"One is Vasily Zaitsev. During the Battle of Stalingrad, he was my subordinate. It was he who led a small force to defend the famous Vasily Building. The Germans attacked it for several months.
After a long time, we still haven’t been able to capture this building.”
The Vasily Building that Sokov mentioned is the Pavlov Building that everyone is familiar with in real history. However, due to the appearance of Sokov’s little butterfly, many things went wrong. The famous sniper Vasily
Seely occupied the building instead of Pavlov and held on for two full months under the siege of the German army.
"Vasily Zaitsev," Konev wrote the name down in his notebook, nodded and said, "I have an impression of him, but he seemed to have lost one eye because he stepped on a landmine.
, and then I made arrangements to retire.”
"What, Vasily was arranged to retire?" Sokov asked in surprise: "Then where is he now?"
"I don't know." Konev shook his head and answered truthfully: "I'm not sure, but I can ask someone to ask you about it. By the way, who is the other sniper instructor you are interested in?"
"Lyudmila!" Sokov said very quickly: "She is a female sniper who once killed 309 German soldiers on the battlefield..."
"Oh my God, killing 309 German soldiers is really amazing." After Konev wrote down Lyudmila's name in his notebook, he casually asked: "Do you know where she is now?
?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, I don't know." Sokov didn't know where Lyudmila was at the moment, so he could only shake his head and said: "It is said that after she was injured, she alerted the Supreme Commander himself, and then arranged for her to leave on a submarine.
He left Sevastopol and went to Moscow to recuperate.
Later, it was said that she participated in a youth delegation to the United States and was received by Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt, the President of the United States. After returning to China, she was awarded the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. As for where she is now, I don't know.
"
"Comrade Sokov, I will help you find the two people you mentioned as soon as possible." Although Konev agreed to Sokov's request, he felt that he should still give them a vaccination: "But I just
You can do your best. As for whether you can find them, or whether they are willing to teach snipers in your army after finding them, you can only try your luck."
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov knew very well that it would not be an easy task to invite two great snipers to his army to serve as sniper instructors. But he still expressed it to Konev.
Thank you: "Regardless of whether these two instructors can come in the end, on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire group army, I would like to express my gratitude to you!"
Smirnov, who was sitting next to him, had a shocked expression on his face after hearing the conversation between Sokov and Konev. He naturally knew that Sokov wanted to invite Lyudmila.
Yes, but he felt in his heart that the chance of success in this matter was low. Since Lyudmila was an established example, it was obviously unrealistic for her to return to a dangerous frontier and continue to be a sniper.
And another one, Vasily, who is said to have killed more than 400 Germans with snipers, would probably be even more difficult to get him to serve as a sniper instructor.
It was based on this consideration that when he saw Sokov put down the phone, he immediately said: "Comrade Commander, do you think we should consider inviting other snipers to serve as instructors in our group army?"
Didn't Sokov know that inviting these two people over to serve as instructors for the sharpshooters in his army would be tantamount to hell-level difficulty. But no matter what, if you try, you may not succeed; but if you don't try, it will be
There is no chance of success at all.
Therefore, in the face of Smirnov's concerns, Sokov said confidently: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, we cannot give up our efforts. If we can really invite both of them here, then our troops
A large number of excellent snipers will be born here. With these excellent snipers, we will take the lead in the next urban street battles."
This chapter has been completed!