In the battles that followed in the next few days, each group army achieved good results. The 1st Guards Tank Corps of the 65th Group Army cut off the retreat of five German divisions to the west northwest of Bobruisk,
The enemy was trapped near Bobruisk.
Since the main force of the front army needed to continue to advance forward to the vicinity of Osipovich, Pukhovich and Slutsk, the task of encircling and annihilating the enemy in Bobruisk was given to Batov's 65th
Army group. However, Rokossovsky considered that it was far from enough to surround and annihilate the large German forces in the area with Batov's army group alone, so he called Sokov and asked his troops to move closer to the area.
southeast of the city.
"Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff." Sokov put down the phone, and after recounting the contents of Rokossovsky's call, asked: "Tell me, how should we fight this battle?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin spoke first: "According to the battle report from the Front Army Headquarters, about 40,000 German troops were surrounded in an encirclement of about 25 kilometers in diameter. Now the roads leading to the south and west are blocked by us and the Third Army.
The 65th Group Army is tightly sealed; but in the north and northwest, only the tanks of the tank corps are blocking the enemy. According to my judgment, the enemy may break through from that direction."
"Although there are 40,000 enemies besieged by us, and the north and northwest are the weak links of the encirclement." Ponejelin said: "But they belong to different troops, and I am afraid they will not be able to be united in a short time.
We need to use the rope to find the right direction to break through. Therefore, we still have a good chance of annihilating this group of enemies."
"Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov looked at Ponedelin and asked, "Then how do you think we should attack?"
Hearing Sokov ask himself this, Ponedelin smiled faintly, and then said: "Comrade Commander, I think you already know what's going on, so why don't you tell me."
Sokov did have his own ideas in his heart, but he also wanted to listen to other people's opinions to judge whether the decision he made was correct. But now that Ponedelin put the problem on himself, he could only speak out his own opinions
plan in order to achieve the effect of attracting new ideas.
"I plan to send a division of troops to launch a feint attack on the enemy's defensive positions." Sokov said: "When Germany launches a counterattack, I will order the division to pretend to be defeated and choose to retreat backwards, while giving way to the Germans.
Find a way so that they can adjust the direction of their breakout."
Hearing what Sokov said, both of them couldn't help being stunned. You must know that Rokossovsky's order was to encircle and destroy the besieged German army, but according to Sokov's words, it seemed that he also planned to give Germany
Make way for people.
Ponijelin asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, I don't understand what you mean. Can you explain it to us clearly?"
"Before making a passage for the Germans, I will send troops to occupy both sides of the passage." In order to let the two of them better understand his intentions, Sokov pointed to the map and explained to them: "Once the Germans enter our
After the passage is vacated, I will use sudden artillery fire to inflict heavy damage to the enemy. When their troops suffer heavy casualties and it is difficult to continue fighting, I will order the division on the rear to counterattack. At the same time, the troops on both wings will also attack.
The rear of the German army moved to form an encirclement."
Regarding the plan proposed by Sokov, Ponedelin thought for a long time, and finally nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, I have to say that your plan is very novel. If I were the commander of the German army, I would see the offensive
Once the enemy is defeated, I will immediately launch a counterattack and take the opportunity to open a gap in the encirclement. In this case, they will get into the trap we set for them with artillery fire, and they will definitely suffer heavy casualties."
"Comrade Commander." After Ponejelin finished speaking, Sidorin raised his own question: "If our offensive troops are repelled by the enemy and create a gap for the enemy in the defense zone, will it cause the enemy
Where are your doubts?"
"I don't think so." Before Sokov could speak, Ponedelin said first: "Our offensive battle has been going on for several days. If the Germans see that our attack has been frustrated and the troops are forced to retreat,
They will instinctively think that after several days of fighting, our troops have become exhausted and cannot urgently expand the results, so they can only retreat temporarily. As long as the Germans have such an idea, as soon as they discover that our troops are retreating,
They will turn from defense to offense, launch an attack from this direction, and try to open a gap here."
"Let me say a few words." After Sokov waited for both of them to express their opinions, he continued: "We have two purposes for carrying out the feint attack: one is to eliminate the effective strength of the German army; the other is to buy time for the friendly forces to build a
Necessary fortifications to prevent the Germans from jumping out of our encirclement."
"That's right." When Sidorin heard this, he thought, isn't it? The enemies who originally wanted to break through from the north or northwest saw the gap opening in the southeast, and I'm afraid they would transfer their main forces to expand the southeast.
But in this way, they fell into Sokov's trap and bought time for the friendly forces to strengthen their forces. "The Germans may be having a headache at the moment about choosing the direction to break out. If they feel that our direction can
To break through, then the main force will be transferred here and this will be the key breakout point."
"Which army do you plan to use to complete your plan?" Ponejelin asked.
"Major General Onupryenko's 6th Guards Division," Sokov said, "I think they are capable of completing this glorious and arduous task."
"Comrade Commander," Ponedelin said to Sokov after a brief silence: "According to intelligence, the 21st Panzer Division of the 20th Armored Division of the German Army is stationed near the bridge over the Berezina River east of the city.
A battalion of the regiment, they have nearly a hundred Panzer IV tanks. The 6th Guards Division does not have tanks, nor does it have a sufficient number of anti-tank weapons. If it is attacked by this armored force during a feint attack, it may suffer huge losses.
loss."
"I have also considered this." After Sokov waited for Ponedelin to finish speaking, he expressed his thoughts: "I will order an anti-tank company equipped with rocket launchers to hide where the German armored battalion may pass by.
position. I believe that this unit equipped with rocket launchers can cause great losses to the German armored battalion."
Ponejelin has seen firsthand how effective rocket launchers are against tanks. An anti-tank company equipped with rocket launchers is enough to block an enemy armored battalion and cause them huge losses.
"Comrade Commander, are you sure that the 6th Guards Division will be responsible for the feint attack?"
"OK." After giving the other party a positive answer, Sokov added: "At the same time, order the 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions to occupy both wings of the passage, and the 109th, 118th and 124th Infantry Brigades to deploy defenses at the end of the passage."
"When will the feint begin?"
"The battle should start in two hours." Sokov thought for a while and continued: "In order to make this feint attack bigger, let the 202nd Tank Brigade also participate in the attack."
"Okay, I'll pass on your order immediately."
"Comrade Commander," Ponedelin reminded Sokov while Sidorin was on the phone: "Should you inform General Rokossovsky of this combat plan, so as not to have the troops pretend to retreat?"
, causing unnecessary trouble."
"It makes sense." Sokov felt that the other party reminded him in time. If he didn't even say hello to his superiors and rashly implemented such a plan, if he was discovered by nearby friendly forces, it might affect the morale of others.
.Also, if you don’t say hello now, when Rokossovsky finds out about this, I’m afraid he won’t be able to escape the fate of being complained about.
Sokov took the high-frequency phone, dialed the front army headquarters, and said to the person who answered the phone: "I am Commander Sokov of the 48th Group Army. Please ask the commander to answer the phone."
Soon, Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, what's wrong? Isn't the order I just gave you clear and accurate enough?"
"It's quite clear and accurate." Sokov said: "I called you because I have a battle plan. I plan to talk to you first so that you can be aware of it."
"whats the matter?"
Sokov feigned an attack and then pretended to be defeated, deliberately leaving a passage for the German army to lure the German army to break out from this direction, and then using violent artillery fire to kill them. He told Rokossovsky in detail his plan
He went through it again and finally said: "In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings when our department implements the plan, I feel it is necessary to report this matter to you."
"Misha, you did a very right thing." Rokossovsky said: "Your plan is very bold, but the probability of success is also very high. If the enemy is really led by your nose and enters the country, you can do it for them."
After setting the artillery trap, we will definitely suffer a lot of losses, which will be very beneficial to our subsequent encirclement and annihilation campaign."
Rokossovsky paused and asked curiously: "Misha, I'm very curious, why did you come up with such a plan? You know, the strength of your group army, even without the cooperation of the 65th Group Army, is
It is absolutely possible to capture Bobruisk."
"Comrade General," Seeing Rokossovsky's question, Sokov quickly explained to him: "Bobruisk is a fortress city built by the Germans. There are solid fortifications and complete buildings inside and outside the city.
Defense system, if we launch a forceful attack, even if we can capture the city, we will probably suffer huge casualties.
In order to avoid suffering huge losses in street fighting, I think we should find a way to lure the Germans out of the city, and then use artillery fire to eliminate their effective forces. This way, when we launch a formal attack on the city, we can greatly reduce the casualties of the troops.
"
"Misha, your idea makes sense." Rokossovsky smiled and said, "If you need anything, just call me and I will do my best to help you."
Sokov thought for a while. If he wanted to attack the German fortress, it would not be enough to rely solely on the artillery units he had. After all, the maximum caliber of the artillery used by the troops was only 152 mm, which could not blast through the solid German fortress.
walls. But if the fortress is bombed, the degree of damage to the fortress will be much greater. After all, the top defense of the fortress has always been the weakest.
"Comrade General," Sokov asked tentatively: "If we need the air force to provide air cover when our troops attack, can you allow the air force to dispatch?"
The reason why Sokov asked this was because he had not been in this unit for a long time and was not familiar with the Air Force Commander. Without Rokossovsky’s support, he would not be able to mobilize the Air Force to support him at the critical moment.
of troops.
"No problem," Rokossovsky agreed readily. "I will contact the Air Force Commander immediately so that he can provide strong air support for your troops when necessary."
After calling Rokossovsky, Sokov smiled and said to Ponedelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, it's better if you think carefully and let me call Comrade General, otherwise this plan will not work.
Get his support."
"I remember that when I was still at the Frunze Military Academy, you once told everyone that in the future, the victory of large-scale army operations will depend on the cooperation between various arms. Commanders must not only know how to understand infantry and tanks.
Cooperation, infantry and artillery coordination, but also how to coordinate air-ground operations..."
As soon as Ponedelin said this, Sidorin, who was on the phone, suddenly said to Sokov in a panic: "Comrade Commander, it's bad, something happened."
Seeing Sidorin's expression, Sokov couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat, and asked quickly: "What happened?"
"The Chief of Staff of the 122nd Infantry Brigade reported that the brigade commander unfortunately hit a mine and died half an hour ago."
"What, the commander of the 122nd Brigade hit a mine and died?" Sokov asked in shock: "Is this news reliable?"
"The brigade chief of staff told me personally," Sidorin said with certainty, "There is absolutely no mistake."
"Comrade Commander," Ponejelin said to Sokov with a serious expression: "A new brigade commander needs to be appointed immediately, otherwise it will affect our next phase of combat operations."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, do you have a suitable candidate?" Sidorin asked.
Ponedelin said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the trainees have not been assigned specific positions yet. See if you can find a suitable candidate among them to temporarily act as the commander of the 122nd Brigade."
Sokov's mind began to think quickly. He quickly recalled the students' information, trying to find a suitable candidate to serve as the commander of the 122nd Brigade.
Sidorin saw Sokov frowning and seemed to be thinking hard. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you have a suitable candidate?"
"What do you think of Lieutenant Colonel Victor?"
Ponedelin did not express his opinion, but turned to Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"
"I think it's okay." Sidorin nodded and said, "When I was the chief of staff of the 41st Guards Division, Lieutenant Colonel Victor served as the deputy commander of the 122nd Guards Regiment. According to his experience on the battlefield,
With his performance, I think he is fully qualified to serve as the commander of the 122nd Brigade."
"Chief of Staff, since you have no objections, this matter is settled." Sokov told Sidorin: "You immediately notify Lieutenant Colonel Victor and ask him to arrive at the 122nd Brigade and take up his post as soon as possible. Hurry up and
It’s time to get familiar with the troops. We still have a lot of tough battles to fight next, and it’s hard to control the troops well.”
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "I will convey your message to Lieutenant Colonel Victor."
This chapter has been completed!