Chief of Staff Glebov understood what Batov was thinking. If a head-on attack was to be carried out against the retreating Grossdeutschland and Brandenburg Divisions, then the troops participating in the battle would definitely be Panov's Don Tank Corps.
It has three tank brigades and one motorized infantry brigade. If it were normal times, such a unit would definitely not be able to defeat the two elite divisions of the German army. But now that the German army is eager to retreat, its strength will be greatly reduced. If it uses a tank army to attack head-on, it will definitely be able to defeat them.
They were beaten to pieces.
After the call was connected, Glebov said to Panov: "General Panov, the commander has a combat order to issue to you."
When he heard that there was a combat mission, Panov quickly said solemnly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please give the order."
When Glebov explained the combat mission, Panov couldn't help but break out in cold sweat on his forehead: "Comrade Chief of Staff, does the commander mean that our army should fight against the German Panzer Army?"
"Don't you think it's possible?" Glebov asked.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Panov said with some embarrassment: "Although the Grossdeutsche Panzer Corps does not belong to the SS division, their combat effectiveness is one of the best in the German Army. Not to mention our tank corps, even if the entire group army mobilizes
If they come up, they may not be their opponents. If you ask us to have an army to stop them, doesn't that mean we are going to die?"
"General Panov, why have you become panicked?" Glebov said dissatisfied: "The Greater German Panzer Army received the order to retreat. They are eager to rush to Königsberg. Even if they are attacked along the way, they will only consider
How to break out of the encirclement instead of staying and fighting us. Therefore, your attack will definitely achieve unexpected results."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I have an idea." Panov looked at the map in front of him and said: "If we can get support from friendly forces when we attack from the front, and attack the German army from the side and rear, we will definitely plunge the German army into chaos.
.Only in this case can our offense achieve the desired effect."
"Okay, General Panov, stop talking." Glebov raised his voice: "Comrade Commander has made overall arrangements for this matter. You only need to take the initiative to launch an attack when the German army appears. Remember
, you are not fighting alone."
After hanging up the phone, Glebov walked back to the table and reported to Batov: "Comrade Commander, General Panov heard that the enemy they were going to deal with was the German Panzer Army Grossdeutschland. He seemed a little panicked and said
Their tank army alone may not be able to complete the attack mission, and friendly forces will need to assist from the enemy's flanks and rear."
"Comrade Commander, you have heard it," Military Commissar Radecki said: "General Panov has the same view as me. With only one tank corps, we have to deal with the Greater Deutsche Panzer Army, even in retreat.
The enemy's strength is also insufficient. I think we should accept General Sokov's suggestion and let his troops follow the enemy in pursuit to divert the enemy's attention. Then General Panov's tank army will launch an assault from the front.
, in order to achieve the effect of severely damaging or even annihilating the enemy."
Hearing that Rajecki's ideas were similar to Panov's, Glebov could not help but be a little shaken. He tentatively asked Batov: "Comrade Commander, how about we contact General Sokov and let him
When the enemy retreats, the 48th Group Army launches an attack from behind to divert the enemy's attention so that our frontal attack can achieve the desired results."
From the moment he declined Sokov, Batov had no intention of letting the 48th Army participate in this battle. At this moment, seeing that his two partners had reached an agreement, he said: "General Sokov's
The troops are too far away from us, so there is little point in involving them. If we really want to find friendly forces for assistance, I think we can contact General Fedyuninsky's 2nd Assault Army. Their combat areas are in many places with ours.
If they overlap, if they are willing to participate in the war, I think they can achieve good results this time."
Seeing that Batov was determined not to let Sokov's 48th Army get a share of the pie, neither Rajecki nor Glebov could continue to persuade him.
After a while, Glebov said: "Comrade Commander, since you have made up your mind, I will immediately call General Fedyuninsky and ask for his assistance."
"I think it's okay." Bartov nodded and said, "Chief of Staff, please contact him now. I hope he can send more troops to participate in this attack."
After Fedyuninsky answered Glebov's call, he stared at the map in front of him without speaking for a long time. His chief of staff came over and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what did Chief of Staff Glebov tell you? I
I see you seem to be worried."
"That's it, Comrade Chief of Staff." Fedyuninsky said to his Chief of Staff: "According to General Glebov's account, the German Panzer Army Grossdeutschland will pass through our combat area tonight and withdraw to Konis.
Fort area. General Bartov is preparing to send troops to attack the retreating German army head-on, and he hopes that after the battle begins, we can attack from the enemy's flank and rear to accelerate the collapse of the Germans."
The chief of staff looked in the direction of Fedyuninsky's finger, and then said in confusion: "Comrade Commander, why did General Batov not let the 48th Group Army attack, but came to find us?"
"Yes, this is what I am puzzled about." Fedyuninsky pointed at the map and said: "Although our combat areas overlap with General Bartov's in many areas, if we want to intercept the Grossdeutsche Panzer Army before they
When launching an attack from the enemy's flank and rear, we must first enter some areas still controlled by the Germans. If our army is unable to enter the attack position on time due to the stubborn resistance of the Germans in these areas, then the frontal attack launched by the 65th Group Army will
There is a risk of becoming a lone warrior.”
As soon as Fedyuninsky finished speaking, his chief of staff added: "On the contrary, although the 48th Group Army and the 65th Group Army are separated from us, there are two friendly forces that are advancing very fast. Now they
The nearest position was less than five kilometers away. If Sokov's troops followed the Germans when they began to retreat, and waited until they were attacked head-on by the 65th Group Army before decisively launching an attack, they would surely have achieved good results.
. We can all see this move, why can’t General Batov see it? What is going on?”
Fedyuninsky thought for a moment and figured out the reason for the problem. However, he did not explain it immediately. Instead, he asked his Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, after the battle to liberate East Prussia began, which unit achieved the victory?"
The most successful results?"
Upon hearing Fedyuninsky's question, the chief of staff replied without hesitation: "No need to ask, it must be General Sokov's 48th Army."
Fejuninsky nodded and continued to ask: "If according to the analysis of the two of us, they took advantage of the retreat of the German Panzer Army Grossdeutschland and sent elite troops to follow it, waiting for the enemy to be blocked by the 65th Group Army.
At this time, if we launch an attack unexpectedly, what kind of results will we achieve?"
"As far as I know, the troops commanded by General Sokov have relatively strong combat effectiveness." The chief of staff said: "If they cooperate with the 65th Group Army in attacking the Grossdeutschland Panzer Army, they will definitely achieve good results."
"Yes, that is indeed the case." Fedyuninsky nodded and said: "If the Grossdeutsche Panzer Army is defeated, everyone will think that this is the credit of the 48th Group Army, and the 65th Group Army, which is responsible for the main offensive task, will be defeated.
People ignore it. Do you think General Bartov is so magnanimous that he can hand over such great credit to others?"
After Feijuninsky's analysis, the chief of staff suddenly realized: "Oh, I understand, it turns out that General Batov is afraid that General Sokov will take away his credit." After understanding Batov's intention, but
What should we do next? The chief of staff asked Fejuninsky for instructions, "Comrade Commander, what should we do? Should we participate in the attack on the German Panzer Army Grossdeutschland?"
"Since General Batov has sent us an invitation, it is definitely inappropriate not to participate." Fedyuninsky made a decisive decision: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you immediately dispatch two divisions and order them to do a good job.
Prepare for battle and wait until night to cooperate with friendly forces to attack the retreating enemy."
"However," the chief of staff said in embarrassment: "There are still many German defense lines on the way to the attack area. If we don't pull out these nails as soon as possible, we will never be able to reach the designated position."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is what I think about." Fedyuninsky explained to the Chief of Staff: "Our troops are still advancing to the designated position, but at the same time I communicated with General Sokov and asked him to send troops to follow.
The enemy moves and, if necessary, attacks from the German flank and rear."
"But didn't General Batov give up on General Sokov?" the chief of staff said with concern: "Is it appropriate for us to extend an invitation to him?"
"There is nothing inappropriate." Fedyuninsky said confidently: "General Batov's decision not to invite General Sokov is a personal matter for him. We invited General Sokov to participate in this attack because I think
We need support from friendly forces."
After hearing Fedyuninsky's explanation, the chief of staff immediately realized: "Oh, Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. I will call Sidorin, the chief of staff of the 48th Group Army, to ask them
Cooperate with our actions at night.”
Besides, Sokov had been a little absent-minded after he put down the phone. He was thinking repeatedly about whether Bartov would choose to cooperate with him. But as time passed and he never received a call from Bartov, he felt
This matter has basically gone haywire.
Just when he was disappointed, he heard the high-frequency phone on the table ringing. When he reached out to answer it, Sidorin had already picked up the phone first: "Hey, this is the 48th Army Headquarters. May I ask?
Where is it?...What, the headquarters of the 2nd Assault Army?! Hello, hello! I am Chief of Staff Sidorin..."
When he heard that the call was from the 2nd Assault Army, Sokov's face was full of surprise. He didn't understand that he didn't have a close relationship with Fedyuninsky. Why was he calling him at this time?
?
After finally waiting for Sidorin to put down the phone, Sokov asked with some urgency: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I wonder what the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Assault Army said to you?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin said to Sokov with some excitement: "The chief of staff of the 2nd Assault Army told me that General Batov invited them to attack the retreating Grossdeutschland Panzer Corps at night..."
When Runev heard this, he couldn't help but snorted: "As for the news and route of the retreat of the Grossdeutschland Panzer Army, we took the initiative to inform General Bartov. If they want to invite friendly forces to participate in the war, they should invite us, not others.
troops."
"Comrade Military Commissar, don't be anxious." From Sidorin's beaming smile, Sokov realized that the matter might have turned around. He interrupted Lunev's words and looked at Sidorin and said: "
Chief of Staff, if you continue, I think it should be good news."
"Comrade Commander, how do you know this is good news?" Sidorin said quite proudly: "The chief of staff of the friendly forces said that in order to enter the designated attack position, they still need to pass through some areas occupied by the enemy. If they are in
If we are on the move and engage in battle with the enemy, we may not be able to attack the agreed attack position on time. So they hope that we can send troops to cooperate and follow closely behind the enemy when they begin to retreat. When the 65th Group Army launches an attack from the front to the retreating troops
At the same time, we and the assault troops of the 2nd Army launched attacks from the enemy's flank and rear at the same time, completely disrupting the enemy's march."
After listening to Sidorin's words, Ponedelin couldn't help laughing: "I think General Fedyuninsky's move is better. If they cooperate with the 65th Group Army to attack alone, they will inevitably fight with the enemies along the way.
, maybe it is impossible to reach the designated combat location within the specified time, and General Bartov's troops may be fighting alone. But with our participation in the war, the probability of victory has been greatly improved.
"
But Lunev still didn't understand. He asked Sokov in confusion: "Misha, what did Comrade Deputy Commander say? Can you explain it in more detail?"
Sokov explained: "Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is like this. Although there is a 2nd Assault Army between us and the 65th Army, because our two units are advancing very quickly, the closest one is now
The location is less than five kilometers. And Feijuninsky's troops, although the combat area is close to the 65th Group Army, and even some areas overlap, they still have to walk at least ten kilometers or even 10 kilometers to reach the agreed attack site.
We still have to fight with enemies along the way, and by the time they arrive on the battlefield, the battle is almost over."
"General Fedyuninsky took the initiative to invite us to participate in the battle, which is equivalent to telling us that he may not be able to participate in this battle. The burden of destroying the enemy still falls on us and the 65th Group Army."
"We rashly joined the war without an invitation from General Batov. Wouldn't he be unhappy?"
"We are here to help the 2nd Assault Army, not them." Sokov said with a sneer: "Whether General Batov is satisfied or not is not within our scope of consideration."
This chapter has been completed!