Regarding the occupation of the position on the right bank of the Dniester River, Sokov reported to Konev by phone.
After hearing this, Konev was stunned at first, and then asked in surprise: "Comrade Sokov, have you really taken down the position on the other side?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov heard that Konev's words were full of doubts, and quickly replied in a positive tone: "We really took it down and established a landing site on the right bank. I plan to use the landing site as a future
The starting point of the attack."
"Well done, Comrade Sokov." Konev expressed his affirmation of Sokov's results: "Your army group was the first to break through the German defenses on the Dniester River. This is a great achievement. You immediately
Arrange manpower and report the orders of the commanders who led the troops to break through the river fortifications. I will personally award them with medals."
"The commanders who led the team to break through the German defense line include Colonel Papuchenko, commander of the 122nd Guards Regiment, and Colonel Burgos, director of the armored forces of the group army..."
"Wait a minute," Konev, who was recording the names of those who had made meritorious deeds, heard this and quickly stopped Sokov: "How come you, the director of armored forces, personally led the charge?"
"Because the tank brigade participating in the battle had just been transferred and had not had time to familiarize itself with the terrain." Sokov explained: "That's why Burgos personally led the troops to attack."
"Comrade Sokov, let it go this time. No matter what, we can't let Colonel Burgos lead the charge next time. Do you understand?" Konev warned on the phone: "You know, as the director of the armored forces, he
The combat position is in the command post, rather than charging into battle on the battlefield like an ordinary tank soldier."
Sokov understood what Konev meant. If a group army commander of Burgos's level were to die in battle, it would have a negative impact on the morale and morale of the troops, especially the armored troops. He hurriedly said: "
Understood, Comrade Marshal, I will explain to him that he will not be allowed to go to the battlefield easily again."
He said this, but Sokov knew very well in his heart that who knew what happened to Burgos and he would run to the battlefield again, drive a tank in person, and compete with German tanks. Among the tank soldiers he knew, Lei
As a tank general, Balco often participated in battles, not to mention an ordinary colonel in Burgos.
"Comrade Marshal." Sokov didn't want to dwell on this issue anymore and promptly changed the subject: "I would like to ask, when can our group army resume its offensive?"
"Comrade Sokov, don't be anxious. When it's time for you to attack, you will naturally be allowed to attack." Konev may be worried about Sokov's mood, so he specifically explained to him: "Your army group is too far forward.
We are almost thirty to fifty highways away from the two friendly forces on the left and right. If you continue to move forward, and the friendly forces on the left and right flanks cannot follow up in time, you will most likely be surrounded by the Germans if you go deep alone."
Sokov fully agreed with Konev's statement. Based on his observations over the past two days, the friendly forces on the left and right flanks were advancing too slowly. If he really advanced lightly and fell into a German encirclement, I'm afraid that
They can't come in time to rescue themselves. Therefore, the safest way is to move forward step by step, trying not to get too far away from friendly forces.
"Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask how the progress of the troops on the left and right wings is?"
"Not ideal, very not ideal." Unexpectedly, Konev said without hesitation: "The 27th Army on your right wing carried out a forced crossing yesterday evening and tried to cross the Dniester River. As a result, it was repelled by the powerful firepower of the Germans.
.As for the 52nd Army on the right, it has just reached the Dniester River and has not had time to prepare to cross the river."
Konev's words made Sokov feel cold. According to the friendly forces' advance speed, his troops would need to hold on to the right bank landing site for at least three to five days to distract the Germans on the Dniester River.
defensive strength to ensure that friendly forces can successfully cross the river.
"Comrade Marshal, their advancing speed is really too slow." Sokov complained feebly: "If they could move more quickly, maybe we could achieve greater results."
"Comrade Sokov," after listening to Sokov's words, Konev suddenly said: "I have an idea and I need your cooperation."
"How to cooperate?"
"The 27th Army is now blocked by the Germans on the left bank of the Dniester River," Konev said on the phone: "I plan to ask them to deploy one or two divisions of troops and use the landing site on the right bank that you occupied to launch from
The German flank launched an attack to crush the enemy's defenses on the Dniester."
"Well, yes." Sokov was very in favor of Konev's idea: "Judging from the current situation, the German defense in our area is the weakest. Friendly forces that use the landing site can bypass it.
Behind the German river defense positions, they were caught off guard."
"Since you have no objection, I will call General Trofimenko immediately and ask him to mobilize the elite of the 27th Army to cross the river from the area under your control to attack the German flanks and rear," Konev said on the phone.
He warned: "You must do a good job in handling the situation and avoid any misunderstandings."
"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said confidently: "As soon as friendly troops enter our defense area, there will be people to support them along the way. I don't think there will be any low-level mistakes such as misunderstandings."
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he immediately called Smirnov in front of him and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I just discussed with Comrade Marshal to let the troops of the 27th Group Army borrow the passage from us.
Cross the Dniester River and launch an attack from the side and rear of the German river defense positions."
"Okay, I will call right away to notify the troops in the defense area and let them prepare to meet friendly forces." After Smirnov said that, he picked up the phone and called the troops deployed on the right wing of the defense area to ask them to pay attention.
The 27th Group Army will be ready to respond to friendly forces at any time.
Before the call was finished, Koshkin walked in quickly from outside and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Yakov is here!"
"Ah, Yasha is here!" Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that Yakov was here. This meant that the weapons and ammunition that the troops urgently needed had been delivered: "Where is he?"
"I saw him just walking into the building, he should be there soon."
As soon as Koshkin finished speaking, Yakov's voice came from the door: "Misha, I'm here! How are you doing recently?"
"I am fine, and you?"
"I am fine too!"
The two shook hands first and then hugged.
After they separated, Sokov asked with concern: "Yasha, has the hovercraft unit arrived?"
Unexpectedly, Yakov shook his head and said: "No, the hovercraft unit is still on the way. I'm afraid it will take two days to get here. I was worried that you were impatient, so I rushed over by car in advance."
Smirnov, who had just finished the phone call, happened to hear what Yakov said next, and he couldn't help but asked nervously: "Colonel Yakov, why do you have to wait two days?"
"Hey, there is no way." Yakov said helplessly: "Maybe the hovercraft has been used too frequently. During the transportation of supplies, it repeatedly broke down, causing our trip to be delayed."
"So, maybe this is the last time we will transport supplies to us." Smirnov heard Yakov say this and asked tentatively: "Am I right?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Yakov explained to Smirnov: "These hovercrafts are used too frequently, which affects their lifespan. I estimate that after this transportation is over, many hovercrafts will
Declared scrapped."
"Yasha, if the hovercraft can no longer transport supplies to us, we will have to find a way to replace it with other means of transportation."
Yakov looked at Sokov and asked curiously: "Misha, what kind of transportation do you think can replace the hovercraft in use today?"
"How about the Kirov airship?" Sokov asked cautiously: "Although the flight speed is a bit slow, its load capacity is okay. We can completely consider using it to replace the hovercraft."
"Kirov airship?!" After Yakov repeated the word, he turned to Smirnov who was standing aside and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have you ever heard of such a thing?"
"No." Smirnov shook his head and said, "Never heard of it."
"Yeah, I haven't heard of it either." Yakov looked at Sokov with a strange expression and asked: "Misha, where did you hear about this thing? Anyway, I don't know about this kind of thing, and
This is the first time I heard about it today.”
This time it was Sokov's turn to be dumbfounded. In the Red Alert game he had played before, the Kirov airship was a powerful Soviet air force unit that could attack ground targets by densely dropping large bombs, completely destroying buildings in the entire area.
objects and combat units.
"What, you haven't heard of it?" Sokov asked in shock: "Are you kidding me?"
"Misha, how could I joke with you about this kind of thing?" Yakov asked cautiously: "What does the Kirov airship you mentioned look like? Can you draw a picture for me to see?"
"Okay!" Sokov picked up a pen and paper and began to draw a picture of the Kirov airship according to his memory. Yakov and Smirnov tilted their heads and stood aside to watch curiously.
A few minutes later, Sokov drew a picture of the Kirov airship, and drew a sickle and ax symbol on the body of the ship. Then he pushed the paper in front of Yakov: "Yasha, this is the Kirov airship.
, you should have seen it, right?"
Yakov picked up the picture drawn by Sokov, looked at it carefully for a long time, and then said: "If I remember correctly, this thing looks like a German Zeppelin airship."
"Yes, I also think this thing is very similar to the German Zeppelin airship." After Smirnov agreed, he curiously asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, how could you mistake the German airship for ours?"
Where is your own?"
The reaction of the two made Sokov realize that he might have made a stupid mistake and actually regarded the combat units that appeared in the computer game as real things. However, out of caution, he still asked tentatively: "
Does our army really have no Kirov airships?”
"Really not." Yakov and Smirnov answered in unison this time.
"Maybe I made a mistake." Sokov said, taking the paper back from Yakov's hand and tearing it into pieces.
"Misha," Yakov said to Sokov: "During World War I, the Germans dispatched Zeppelin airships to bomb London and caused considerable damage to London. Although the British dispatched fighter planes to intercept them at that time,
Because the firepower of the aircraft equipment at that time was too weak, at best it could only punch a few holes in the fuselage of the airship, but could not cause substantial damage to it.
Nowadays, as the aircraft equipped by various countries become more and more advanced, and the weapons they carry become more and more powerful, airships, which are huge and slow in flight, will become the best targets for fighter planes if they appear in the air again.
.As a result, the Germans no longer used this type of air combat unit on the battlefield."
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov said to Sokov after hearing what Yakov said: "Colonel Yakov is right, let alone that our army does not have such a thing now, even if it does,
It cannot be used on the battlefield. This kind of air unit is large in size and slow in movement, making it undoubtedly the best target for enemy aircraft to attack."
"Yasha," the hovercraft cannot be used, and the Kirov airship is also non-existent. Sokov can't help but worry about the next transportation: "Do you have any good way to ensure that the material transportation of our army group is not interrupted?
?”
"This is not easy to handle." Yakov scratched the back of his head and said with an embarrassment: "Normal transportation is nothing more than through railways, roads and air. If the hovercraft really cannot be used, I really can't think of it.
I don’t know what to replace it with.”
"Comrade Commander, I think this issue should be reported to Marshal Konev immediately." Smirnov reminded Sokov: "You know, our group army is currently the farthest from the logistics supply depot. Once weapons and ammunition appear
Insufficient supplies and military supplies may affect our subsequent combat operations."
Sokov agreed with Smirnov's statement. In the Battle of Kharkov at the beginning of last year, the Soviet army had an absolute advantage in terms of troops and equipment. This was because of the stretched logistical supply lines.
It was too long, and the ammunition and supplies of the front troops were exhausted, while the rear could not be replenished in time, which led to the disastrous defeat of Kharkov and allowed the German army, which was originally on the verge of destruction, to make a comeback.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is what I think about it. It is necessary for us to build a number of warehouses close to the front line, and store the weapons, ammunition and supplies transported from the rear inside, so that the troops can be replenished in a timely manner.
Sokov said to Smirnov: "Without further delay, you should arrange for the manpower to establish this supply warehouse as soon as possible. Be sure to stockpile enough weapons, equipment and supplies in the warehouse before the new offensive operation begins."
"No problem, I will hand over the matter to the Minister of Logistics immediately." Smirnov said to Sokov: "He is a professional and knows where to build the logistics warehouse, which is the most suitable place."
"Also," Sokov thought of something as important as repairing the warehouse, and added: "The logistics warehouse must be protected by capable troops to prevent it from being destroyed by the Germans and causing us heavy losses, thus affecting the
Until the next combat operation. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Smirnov vowed: "I will definitely arrange the security force so that there will be no mistakes in the warehouse."
This chapter has been completed!