Sokov originally wanted to say goodbye and leave, but was kept by Rokossovsky: "Misha, I think you should leave tomorrow. At least listen to the battle reports from the Allies to see if their attack is successful."
The one you predicted will go well."
"Okay, Comrade General." Since Rokossovsky said this, Sokov was no longer in a hurry to leave, but nodded and said: "Then I will wait until I read the Allied battle report tomorrow.
Bar."
A night of silence.
Early the next morning, Sokov, who was still sleeping in his room, was awakened by a rapid knock on the door.
He hurriedly got out of bed, without even bothering to put on his boots. He walked to the door barefoot and opened the door. Standing at the door was a strange captain. When he saw Sokov appearing at the door, he quickly raised his hand.
Salute and say respectfully: "Good morning, Comrade General!"
"Good morning!" Sokov looked at the other party and asked: "Comrade Captain, do you have anything to do with me?"
"That's right, Comrade General." The captain replied briefly: "Comrade Commander, please go to his headquarters. He has important matters to see you!"
"I understand, Comrade Captain." Sokov knew in his heart that it must be the battle report from the Allied forces. Rokossovsky was anxious to let himself go and take a look, so he nodded to the other party and said: "I'm going to wash up."
Come over when you’re done.”
Five or six minutes later, Sokov appeared in Rokossovsky's headquarters.
Rokossovsky, who was standing at the table talking to Malinin, saw Sokov entering the door and greeted with a smile: "Misha, you are here! Come to me quickly!"
Sokov quickly walked up to Rokossovsky and asked tentatively: "Comrade General, has the Allied battle report arrived?"
"Yes, their battle report has arrived."
Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov's heartbeat couldn't help but speed up. He asked nervously: "How is the situation? Have the Allies successfully landed?"
"Misha, look at the map in front of you."
Sokov looked down and found that there was actually a map of Normandy on the table, with red and blue pencils marking the offensive routes and defensive zones. He thought to himself, the reason why there is a map of Normandy must be
It was Ma Lining who brought it about. Before he came here, the two of them must have been deducing the details of the Allied landing.
"Misha, according to the Allied battle report." Rokossovsky said: "After a day of fierce fighting, the Allied forces successfully occupied Sword Beach, Juno Beach, Gold Beach, Utah Beach and Omaha Beach."
"Of the 29,000 Allied troops who landed on Sword Beach, there were only 630 casualties;"
"The troops landed on Juno Beach were 21,400 troops, with 1,200 Guards casualties;"
"There were 25,000 troops landing on Golden Beach, with only 400 casualties;"
"The Utah Beach landing force numbered 23,000 and suffered only 197 casualties."
"The most intense battle was in the Omaha Sea. The Allied forces suffered huge losses on the beach, with 2,500 casualties alone..."
As a person from later generations, Sokov naturally knew that the beach with the most tragic battles during the Normandy landings was Omaha Beach. In the classic movie "Saving Private Ryan", the most classic war scene was taken from Omaha
Battle on Ha Beach.
"The successful landing of the Allied forces is a great thing." Sokov waited for Rokossovsky to finish and said with a smile: "In order to prevent the Allied forces from penetrating deep into the hinterland of France, the German army will definitely attack from the Eastern Front.
Deploy troops for reinforcements. They think that the focus of our next offensive will be in Ukraine. If we want to mobilize troops, we can only choose to mobilize troops from Belarus. In this way, when Operation Bagration begins, the resistance we encounter will be
Greatly relieved.”
"Comrade Sokov, you are too optimistic." Unexpectedly, as soon as Sokov finished speaking, he was retorted by Malinin: "You know, the German commander commanding the operations in Normandy was Longmei, known as the Desert Fox.
Er. Although the Allied forces have successfully landed on five beaches, it may not be that easy for them to advance inland. The armored forces commanded by Rommel are enough to completely defeat them."
After waiting for Malinin to finish speaking, Sokov first smiled faintly, and then expressed his own opinion: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, your opinion is completely correct under normal circumstances. But this Allied landing operation was their fault.
It has been brewing for a long time, and these factors must have been considered long ago, so even if Rommel commanded the armored forces to launch a counterattack, the Allies would still have a way to crack it."
Sokov's words made Rokossovsky's eyes light up, and he quickly asked: "Misha, what's the solution? Please tell me quickly."
"Comrade General," Sokov said looking at Rokossovsky: "In order to successfully land in Normandy, the Allied forces sometimes released a lot of false news to mislead the Germans. Judging from the current situation, their
This deception tactic was successful, at least diverting most of the Germans' attention to the Calais area."
"Since the Germans believe that the Allies will launch a landing operation in Calais, they will definitely not deploy heavy troops in Normandy. And the armored units used for assault should all be deployed close to the Calais area, even if there are troops in Normandy
The armored forces will probably stay away from the coast."
"By the time the Germans discovered that the real landing site of the Allied forces was in Normandy, not Calais, everything was too late. Their armored forces had to march at least hundreds of kilometers, or even further, before they could reach the seaside of Normandy.
Launch an attack on the Allies."
"But will the Allies sit back and let the Germans drive their armored troops to the seaside and drive those Allied troops that have just landed into the sea? This is obviously not the case. The Allies will definitely use their air superiority to attack
The German armored vehicles that appeared on the road started bombarding them indiscriminately. Even if some troops could reach the seaside, they might not have much heavy equipment such as tanks left."
After listening to what Sokov said, Malinin had a smile on his face. He turned to look at Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that Sokov's idea is roughly the same as yours."
Rokossovsky hummed, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you now understand why Mischa was able to serve as the commander of the group army at such a young age and also obtained the rank of general."
"Comrade Commander, you are right." Malinen nodded in agreement: "Sokov's assessment of the situation has always been very accurate."
"Comrade General," Sokov suddenly thought of a key issue. The Allied Forces' provision of battle reports may not be widespread. Now that he knows about this battle report, will it cause unnecessary trouble for him?
What? He asked Rokossovsky tentatively: "This battle report must be kept confidential only by people with high confidentiality rights, so they are qualified to know it. Now that you have told me, will it bring you unnecessary trouble?"
"Misha, you are worrying too much." Rokossovsky explained to Sokov: "Although this battle report can only be read at the level of the front army commander, you once predicted that the Allied forces would land in Normandy, so the highest level
The headquarters has specially said hello and allows you to read this battle report."
I heard that the superiors specifically said hello and granted permission for me to read this battle report. But I should not be able to see this battle report unconditionally. I must put forward some personal opinions.
Thinking of this, he looked up at Rokossovsky and asked: "Comrade General, I wonder what I should do after reading this battle report?"
Rokossovsky and Malinin looked at each other and smiled, and then said to Sokov: "Yes, we just want to hear what you think of the next situation. Do you think the Allies can achieve their campaign goals?
?"
Sokov naturally knew the progress of the Allied offensive after the Normandy landing, but how could he tell Rokossovsky and Malinin such a thing? If the next progress of the Allied forces was completely consistent with his so-called predictions
How should I explain myself?
It was precisely because of this that he deliberately stared at the map on the table in a daze for a while, then shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, to predict the next move of the Allied forces based only on an unclear battle report.
I can not do it."
For Sokov's answer, Rokossovsky had obviously expected it. He said in an encouraging tone: "Misha, I know that the information provided to you is a bit little, but you can tell me what you are thinking.
. Just say whatever comes to your mind. Even if you say something wrong, no one will blame you."
Although Rokossovsky said so, Sokov knew in his heart that everything he said here might be reported to the Supreme Command, so he had to be more careful with his words today.
"Comrade General," Sokov picked up the battle report on the table and said carefully: "Judging from the first day of the battle, the Allied forces as the attackers have a huge advantage. I believe they have
ability to maintain this advantage and defeat the German army's attempt to drive them into the sea."
"Although the Allied forces successfully landed, they did not carry many heavy weapons themselves, and I am afraid that their offensive strength is slightly insufficient." Malinen said cautiously: "Also, they only occupied five beaches and did not occupy the port. I want to know
, how they transported the heavy weapons, weapons, ammunition and various supplies needed by the troops ashore."
"That's right." Rokossovsky lost no time in adding: "The weapons, ammunition and supplies consumed by hundreds of thousands of troops every day are an astronomical figure. Without a suitable port, they simply cannot transfer the supplies from the ship to
ashore."
"Comrade General, you may have overlooked the strong industrial production capacity of the United States." Sokov reminded Rokossovsky: "If the troops under my command were to carry out such a huge landing operation, the logistics and supply work would definitely be
Priority is given. The successful landing of troops on the beach is only the beginning. How to continuously send follow-up troops and combat materials to the island is the key. After all, the landing troops will soon be vulnerable to enemy counterattacks. If there is no strong follow-up troops to support
, without sufficient combat material support, I am afraid that the entire landing operation may fail."
"There are usually two solutions for completing supplies: the first solution is to use transport barges and tank landing craft to deliver supplies and follow-up troops to the beach; the second solution is to seize the port and let the transport ships directly
Pull into port and unload supplies."
"Although the first option can support the troops and materials needed for beach landing, it cannot meet the transportation capacity requirements for the entire follow-up operation, and is of little value in solving practical problems."
"Although the second option is more practical for the Allies, it still has many problems. That is, the landing site chosen by the Allies is in the Lower Normandy area of the Normandy region. It is basically a beach and there is nothing decent nearby.
port, which means the Allies were unable to obtain an ideal unloading dock."
"Comrade Sokov, what you said makes sense." Malinen asked: "If it were you, how would you solve this problem?"
"The best plan is to build several artificial beaches on the occupied beaches." Sokov continued: "I think that with the shrewdness of the Allied commanders, they should have completed the artificial beaches before the Normandy landings were carried out.
design and construction of the harbors, and ensure that these artificial harbors can be assembled on the Normandy beaches immediately after the Normandy landings."
Sokov did not say what kind of artificial dock it was specifically. It was not that he did not know, but he could not say. After all, he was only in the army and had never been in contact with the navy. How could he possibly imagine the manufacturing process of the artificial dock.
Sure enough, Rokossovsky's next step was to ask Sokov: "Misha, tell me, what does this kind of artificial pier look like, and how should it be assembled on the beaches of Normandy?"
"Comrade General, I can't answer you on this point." Sokov deliberately pretended to be embarrassed and said: "After all, I am an Army soldier and have never dealt with the Navy. How could I possibly know what the artificial docks manufactured by the Allies are?
What kind of thing?"
Malinin opened his mouth, as if he wanted to ask something, but Rokossovsky raised his hand to stop him: "That's it, Comrade Chief of Staff. Misha has already said everything he can think of. The rest is left.
Matters can only be left to professionals for analysis.”
Sokov felt that he had said everything he needed to say, and there was no point in staying here any longer, so he tentatively asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, do you allow me to go back to my own unit?"
"Allow!" Since Sokov's value has been squeezed out, Rokossovsky naturally has no need to let him stay, so he agreed to his request to return to the army, and also warned: "Although from now on
The area from the front army headquarters to your headquarters is under the control of our army, but no one can guarantee whether enemy airborne troops will infiltrate, so you should pay more attention to safety on the way home.
"
"Comrade General, thank you for your concern." Faced with Rokossovsky's concern, Sokov said gratefully: "I will pay attention to safety on the road."
When Sokov came out of Rokossovsky's headquarters and walked along the corridor, he asked the captain who was leading the way: "Comrade Captain, I wonder where my subordinates are now?"
"They have been accommodated in a nearby small hotel," the captain said to Sokov as he walked forward, half turning around: "Comrade General, if you want to see your subordinates, I will inform them immediately."
"Captain, go and inform them that I'm going back and let them get ready to go." Sokov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I've been out for a day, and it's time to go back."
This chapter has been completed!