Sokov said this, but he felt a little uneasy in his heart. He knew very well that there were more than 3,000 people in one German regiment. Even if one of the motorized infantry regiments was weakened, the total strength of the two regiments combined would not be enough.
About five thousand people.
The troops dispatched here are nominally two divisions and one brigade. Even though they have just been supplemented with 3,000 soldiers, they are still not fully equipped. The total number is only more than 15,000 people. Although the strength comparison is 3:
1. Considering that the individual skills of the Soviet army are not as good as those of the German army, this battle is not easy to fight.
When the staff officer came in and reported that the troops had been assembled, Ponedelin stood up and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the troops have been assembled. I'll leave first."
Sokov nodded and warned: "Comrade deputy commander, pay more attention to safety. I'm waiting for your triumphant return."
After Ponedelin left, Sidorin asked tentatively again: "Comrade Commander, although the German army only has two regiments, their combat effectiveness is enough to compete with our two divisions. The two divisions and one brigade that went into battle this time,
As far as I know, the troops have been greatly weakened. I am afraid that it will be difficult to defeat this enemy in a short period of time.
Once we are unable to eliminate this group of enemies, the enemy may send reinforcements to rescue us, and at that time, our offensive troops may be attacked from both front and rear by the enemy."
Sidorin's words made Sokov a little hesitant. Not long ago, he had just said that the strength of two divisions and one brigade was enough to annihilate this German army. But not long after, he sent troops to reinforce. Isn't this a little bit
Feeling like a slap in the face?
Sidorin may have noticed Sokov's hesitation, so he continued: "Comrade Commander, I understand your mood at the moment. You are worried that changing the order casually will affect your prestige in the army. It is conceivable that
Have you passed? We still have many battles to fight in the future. If the two divisions and one brigade are seriously injured in this battle, they may not be able to participate in the next phase of the battle."
Sokov was finally convinced: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, I think what you said makes sense. I think so, let the 3rd Infantry Division and the 109th Infantry Division be ready for combat. Once Comrade Deputy Commander comes over,
If the situation is not ideal, throw them into battle immediately."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Sokov had adopted his suggestion, Sidorin was very happy and quickly replied: "I will call the two commanders of the 3rd Infantry Division and the 109th Infantry Division.
Let them prepare for battle. Once Comrade Deputy Commander and their attack are unfavorable, these two divisions can be put into battle in a timely manner."
But after the offensive battle began, the situation on the battlefield was far beyond Sokov's expectations.
Ponejelin first commanded the troops to divide the German army, and after encircling it with two Guards divisions, the infantry brigade launched an attack on the divided German army.
The German commander learned that his troops were under attack and immediately sent troops for reinforcements. Unexpectedly, on their way over, the reinforcements were attacked by the 28th Group Army and the 65th Group Army respectively. The troops originally sent to rescue were instead trapped in
Surrounded by the Soviet army, they could only rely on the terrain to resist and wait for new troops to arrive for reinforcements.
After receiving the battle report from the battlefield, Malinin immediately reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, there is something very strange."
"What happened?" Rokossovsky looked at Malinin and asked, "Did the enemy launch another attack on our defense line?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Ma Linin shook his head and said, "It was not the enemy who launched an attack on us. On the contrary, it was our troops who launched an attack on the enemy."
"Our troops launched an attack on the enemy?" Rokossovsky said with some surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, when did you give them the order? Why didn't I know?"
"Comrade Commander, I did not issue any combat orders at all." Ma Lining said, somewhat dumbfounded: "It was an attack organized by them spontaneously."
"What, an attack spontaneously organized by our commanders below?" Rokossovsky was very surprised and asked with some surprise: "Where is the battle taking place and which unit is it initiated by?"
"Comrade Commander, please take a look." Malinin pointed to the map and introduced the situation to Rokossovsky: "The battle started near Baranovichi. According to the information we have, it was Soko who took the initiative to launch the attack.
General Hu's 48th Group Army used two divisions and one brigade to launch an attack on the two German regiments entrenched here.
After the German army was attacked, they immediately asked for reinforcements from their higher peaks. When those reinforcements passed through the defense areas of the 28th and 65th Group Armies, they were attacked by the two armies respectively and were captured in a short time.
Our troops are surrounding us."
Rokossovsky stared at the map in front of him and said with interest: "This Misha is quite interesting. Without the assistance of the front army headquarters, he was able to use the strength of three armies to attack the German army at the same time.
Launch an attack."
"Then what should we do, Comrade Commander?" Malinin looked at Rokossovsky and asked, "Do we need to ask them to stop temporarily?"
"No, no need." Rokossovsky waved his hand and rejected Malinin's proposal: "Since the battle has started, don't let it stop. Besides, the battle has reached this level, and we can't stop it with just one order.
It stops."
"Comrade Director of the Communications Corps," Rokossovsky saw the Director of the Communications Corps passing by him, so he stopped him: "Please help me get through to the 48th Group Army Headquarters. I want to speak with General Sokov
call."
The director of the communications corps who received the order did not dare to neglect and quickly connected the phone to the 48th Army Headquarters.
"Misha," Rokossovsky took the phone and asked Sokov directly: "I heard that you sent troops to attack the enemies near Baranovichi?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov already knew that once a fight broke out here, Rokossovsky would definitely know about it, so he took the initiative and said: "I saw a German unit nearby, and it was not strong enough.
It is considered too strong, so I thought I could take the initiative to eat it, thereby weakening the German army."
After hearing this, Rokossovsky asked with some displeasure: "Since you plan to launch an attack on the German army, why don't you report your combat plan to the front army headquarters in advance?"
"Comrade General," Sokov heard the displeasure in Rokossovsky's tone and quickly explained to him: "The German army we are attacking consists of two regiments, and the total strength is only more than 5,000 people at best. I think
There is no need to alarm you about such a small battle, so there is no report."
"You think it is a small battle, but it is no longer a small battle until now." Rokossovsky snorted coldly and continued: "Now General Luchinsky's 28th Army and General Batov
The 65th Group Army of the two armies were all engaged in a fight with the enemy who came for reinforcements. What you called a small battle has now become a big battle involving all three armies."
This time it was Sokov's turn to be surprised. He didn't expect that an attack he launched to capture more prisoners would actually cause such a chain reaction. He couldn't help but said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I didn't expect..."
"What didn't you expect?" Rokossovsky interrupted Sokov: "Did you not expect that the German reinforcements would come so quickly? Or did you not expect that so many friendly troops would also participate in this battle?
middle?"
In fact, since the battle started, Sokov has always felt strange. After the besieged German army was divided and surrounded, it was being eaten bit by bit. Why didn't the German army send reinforcements? At this moment, after listening to Rokossovsky's words, he
Knowing that the troops arriving for reinforcements were blocked by the 28th and 65th Group Armies, the two divisions and one brigade participating in the battle avoided the fate of being attacked from both sides.
"Comrade General," Sokov replied with some embarrassment: "I did not expect that the German reinforcements would be blocked by friendly forces, thus reducing the pressure on my offensive troops."
"Tell me, after we just captured Baranovichi, why did you rush to attack the enemy without taking the time to rest and reorganize your troops?"
"Comrade General, didn't you ask us to provide German prisoners to the headquarters?" Now that Rokossovsky had asked, Sokov no longer concealed it, but said truthfully: "I found that there is such a person nearby.
We had an isolated enemy and felt that there would be no problem in eating them, so we sent two divisions and one brigade to attack them."
"Misha, you have been a commander for more than a day or two." Rokossovsky asked: "Didn't you arrange a special force to block the German reinforcements?"
"Ready." Sokov explained to Rokossovsky: "I have arranged the strength of two divisions to wait for the German reinforcements to arrive and immediately attack them to prevent them from rescuing the besieged troops.
"I wonder why the German reinforcements haven't arrived yet after the battle has been going on for such a long time. It turns out that they were intercepted by friendly forces."
Rokossovsky was silent for a moment, and then continued: "However, your attack has produced an unexpected effect, effectively eliminating more of the German army's effective forces, thus easing our difficulties in the next phase of the battle.
resistance."
Sokov did not speak, but thought silently in his heart: As the Allied forces landed in Normandy and posed a serious threat to the German mainland, the German high command had to transfer some troops from the Eastern Front back. In this way, as long as he
The more effective forces of the German army are eliminated, the faster they will be defeated.
Rokossovsky did not know that Sokov was distracted at this time and continued to speak according to his own thoughts. When he felt that he had finished saying what should be said, he gave a final warning: "Misha, once that
The German army has been annihilated, remember to report to me in time!"
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov replied readily: "I will report to you as soon as I have the latest battle report."
After Sokov put down the phone, he looked at Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any recent progress with the Deputy Commander?"
Sidorin shook his head and said: "The troops are still attacking the divided and surrounded enemies. There is no latest battle report yet."
"How long did the battle last?"
Sidorin raised his hand and looked at his watch: "Four hours and twenty-seven minutes."
"The fight has lasted long enough." Sokov frowned and said to Sidorin: "Send a telegram to the deputy commander and ask him to resolve the battle within two hours."
"Two hours?!" Sidorin couldn't help but be startled when he heard what Sokov said. In his opinion, it would take at least one or two days to eliminate 5,000 German troops, and Sokov gave Poneje
Lin's time was only six and a half hours. He carefully reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, is six and a half hours too short?"
"It's not short at all." Sokov said to Sidorin: "The German troops who came for reinforcements were blocked by the 28th and 65th Group Armies. They had no chance to rescue the besieged troops, so we must fight quickly.
Let’s resolve this battle as soon as possible.”
"Okay, I will send a telegram to Comrade Deputy Commander immediately." Since Sokov had given such an order, Sidorin naturally would not argue with him, but walked behind the telegraph operator and drafted the telegram.
He handed it to the other party and ordered: "Send this telegram to comrade deputy commander immediately."
Ponejelin, who was directing operations at the front, was a little surprised after receiving the telegram. He called two division commanders and a brigade commander to his temporary headquarters to convey the headquarters' decision to them.
"Speed up the attack?!" Tolstikov waited for Ponedelin to finish speaking, then frowned and said, "It's easy to say that, but we must not leave any reserves to wait for the enemy's reinforcements to arrive.
, used to deal with enemy reinforcements."
"The enemy's reinforcements will not come." After Ponejelin finished saying this, he saw everyone staring at him with surprised eyes and doubtful expressions on their faces, so he explained to them: "Before the attack started, I
Allowing each unit to leave reserves is to prepare reinforcements to deal with the Germans. But in the telegram sent by Comrade Commander, it was specifically mentioned that the German reinforcements were being attacked by the 28th and 65th Group Armies, and even
There are also troops trapped in the encirclement.
Under such circumstances, it doesn’t make much sense for us to continue to maintain reserve forces. The purpose of calling you here is to put the reserve forces of each department into battle as soon as possible, so as to achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy."
Since it was Sokov's order, Victor first expressed his support. After thinking about it for a while, Tolstikov and Onupryenko also decided to obey Sokov's order and prepared to send their reserve troops
Everyone joins the fight, thereby speeding up the entire battle process.
With no troops to worry about, after all the reserves were put into battle, the progress of the entire battle suddenly accelerated. Originally, in many areas, because the German army relied on fortifications to carry out stubborn resistance, the Soviet army failed several consecutive attacks due to lack of troops.
The battle was a bit overwhelming.
Now all the troops followed Ponejelin's order and put all their reserves into the battle. The Germans, who were already struggling to support themselves, could no longer hold on. The originally dilapidated defense line was quickly destroyed by the Soviet army.
breakthrough.
Seeing that the defense line was breached, some officers and soldiers who knew how to distinguish themselves from the current situation knew that there was no point in continuing to resist, so they decisively raised their hands and surrendered to the onrushing Soviet troops.
At the end of the battle, two thousand German soldiers became prisoners of the Soviet army. After counting the results, Ponedelin immediately called Sokov and reported: "Two German regiments were completely wiped out by our troops.
Two thousand people were captured. I have ordered the troops to move to defense on the spot and seize the time to rest and recharge for the next stage of the battle."
