The Germans never dreamed that while the Soviet army continued to attack the bridge, they quietly sent an armored force to successfully cross the river to the left bank through the floating bridge set up downstream.
The tank troops crossing the river soon entered the offensive battle. The Germans deployed some No. 3 and No. 4 tanks on the left bank were all tanks of No. 3 and No. 4, which were not opponents of the T-34 tanks. In less than ten minutes, six German tanks parked on the left bank were shot and fired one after another, while the Soviet army lost only two tanks.
The Soviet army, which occupied the bridgehead of the left bank, launched an attack on the enemy who was still controlling the right bank under the cover of the tank. The German army was desperately sniping at the Soviet army from the right bank, but unexpectedly, the bridgehead of the left bank was lost and was temporarily trapped in a situation of being attacked by both sides.
Although the Leopard tank is the nemesis of the T-34, these tanks are parked in the pit. Even if they want to turn the gun, they are blocked by the soil on both sides. They can only watch the armor-piercing bullets of the Soviet tanks penetrate the rear armor of these tanks, causing the ammunition in the car to explode and the violent explosion, causing the German soldiers hiding around to suffer.
It seems that the two attacking troops successfully met on the right bank of the bridge. Sokov breathed a sigh of relief. He put down his telescope and said to Poluboyarov: "Comrade General, immediately order your troops to enter the defensive positions on the left bank and be prepared to face the enemy's attack."
When Poluboyarov commanded his troops to drive towards the left bank along the bridge that was still smoke, two German bombers suddenly appeared in the air. After they discovered the target on the ground, they immediately dived down, dropped bombs and strafing, causing the troops marching on the ground to fall into chaos.
Sokov stared at the sky with his brows frowned. He thought to himself: Zhukov once promised himself that he would send an aviation division to provide air cover for his troops, but where is the aircraft that is now used as cover?
Fortunately, the number of enemy planes was not large. After five or six minutes, they raised their height and flew towards the airport. Seeing that the enemy planes had flew away, the originally scattered and hidden troops returned to the road and continued to head towards the left bank.
When Major General Fomenko's 84th Division appeared beside the bridge, two planes appeared again in the air. "Hehe, the enemy's plane is here again!" Sokov just thought in his mind when he heard the commanders and fighters marching cheer. He looked into the air and found that there were only two Soviet planes, but he felt inexplicably at ease.
"Comrade Commander," Samoilov saw that the tank army had all entered the left bank position, and the 84th Division of Formenko was also crossing the bridge in an orderly manner, while Sokov had been standing in front of the temporary command center in a daze, so he asked tentatively: "Are we going back to the headquarters now?"
"What are you doing when you go back to the headquarters?" Sokov asked casually.
For Sokov's safety, Samoilov certainly hoped that he would return to the headquarters early, so he found a reason that was not too far-fetched: "The communication here is inconvenient, which is not conducive to your command of the troops."
"Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov turned to look at Samoilov and said, "According to our original order, all the troops will reach the coast of the Pushore River before dark today. In other words, we will return to the headquarters now and will come here again soon. I don't think there is any need to go back and forth."
"Comrade Commander, this place is too unsafe, let's change the place." Samoilov was very afraid of the enemy who suffered a great loss, so he found that there were a large number of troops here, and suddenly a shelling or bombing came. Sokov would be in danger of his life, so he persuaded him tactfully: "This is also for your safety."
Seeing that Samoilov was considering his own safety, Sokov looked around and found a forest not far behind. He pointed at it with his hand and said, "Then let's go there for a while. After the headquarters is transferred, it will not be too late for us to leave."
When he came to the woods, Sokov accidentally discovered that there were many tents built on the clearings in the forest. It was vaguely visible that this was a field hospital. He turned his head and said to Samoilov: "Let's go, let's go and take a look."
The wounded men who sat silently outside the tent saw Sokov appear, stood up or stood up with the help of their comrades, and saluted Sokov who was walking among them.
Soon, Sokov saw a familiar face. He stared at the other party for a while and asked tentatively: "Are you Kataeva?"
Kataeva, who was embarrassed by Sokov's view, heard the other party calling out his name. He was stunned at first, then nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, comrade Commander, I am Kataeva."
Sokov smiled at the other party and said friendly: "Katayeva, we have met before."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Kataeva stared at Sokov for a long time before she could barely recognize the general in front of her, the commander she met on the road on the day she escaped from the enemy, Cocakin and others.
After Sokov looked at the other party carefully, he asked curiously: "Which unit is now working as a health officer?"
"Report to the commander," Kataeva quickly straightened her body and replied, "I am in the field hospital of the 84th Division."
"Oh, it's the 84th Division's health officer. I thought you were the sanitary officer of the Tank Army." Sokov continued after expressing his regret: "Have you met Rikov and Cocakin recently?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Kataeva replied expressionlessly: "I have never seen two of them again since the last review, and I don't know where they are now."
"They were incorporated into the tank army some time ago, and I thought you had met."
"Comrade Commander, can I ask you something?"
"What's the matter?" Sokov asked politely: "Please tell me!"
"If you can see Cokakin or Rikov, please tell them and say that I am now working in the field hospital of the 84th Infantry Division." Kataeva said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, I don't know if this is a violation of discipline, but I still hope you can help me."
"Don't worry, Kataeva, as long as I see Cokakin or Rikov, I will definitely tell them your whereabouts." In order to dispel the other party's concerns, Sokov smiled and said, "After all, you have experienced life and death together."
When they learned that Sokov had come here, the director and political commissar of the field hospital rushed over. Just as they were about to raise their hands to salute, Sokov stopped him: "Director, political commissar, you must remember one thing in the future, and never salute those who are higher than your military rank."
The dean had just entered the army and didn't understand many things. When he heard Sokov say this, he couldn't help but ask in wonder: "Comrade Commander, why is this?"
"On the battlefield, there may be snipers who are hiding nearby. If you salute someone with a high rank, it is equivalent to telling the enemy: Look quickly, there is a high official here, shoot him quickly!"
Sokov's words made Kataeva laugh. Seeing that Kataeva laughed as if no one was around, the political commissar quickly said to stop her: "Comrade Health Caregivers, be serious, don't you see what occasion this is."
Kataeva, who was criticized by the political commissar, stuck out her tongue in embarrassment, then lowered her head and stood behind the president and the political commissar, dared to speak again. "Comrade in health," the president was worried that Kataeva's existence would cause Sokov's unhappiness, so he took the initiative to slam him away: "There is nothing to do here, so you can take care of the wounded."
When Kataeva left, Sokov's eyes kept staring at her back until she disappeared into a tent. Sokov's actions caused a misunderstanding to the political commissar. Seeing Sokov was so young, he thought to himself that the commander was so concerned about the female health worker. Could it be that the two had a relationship? He secretly wondered whether Kataeva should be arranged for a job that was both relaxed and safe so that he could please Sokov.
Sokov is not the roundworm in the political commissar's belly, so he naturally doesn't know what he is thinking. Sokov looked at the dean and asked, "Comrade Dean, are there enough medical staff in your field hospital?"
"How can I say this, Comrade Commander." The dean said hesitantly: "Due to the long-term combat of the troops, not only did the commanders and soldiers suffer a large number of casualties, but even the health workers who rescued the wounded on the battlefield also suffered considerable casualties. Although we have made additional supplements, the number of medical staff is only two-thirds of the specified number."
"Comrade Dean, although you are short of one-third of the staff, I can only regret to tell you that in a short period of time, I am simply unable to supplement you with sufficient medical staff."
"I understand, I understand." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, the dean nodded vigorously and said: "In fact, not only the field hospitals of our division lack medical staff, but almost all the troops have the same problems."
Although it is not possible to supplement medical staff for the other party for the time being, Sokov is still ready to equip the other party with enough personnel when the time is right. After all, the more medical staff there are in a hospital, the higher the chance of the injured recovering: "Where are the medical staff you supplemented?"
"There are generally two channels." The dean stretched out two fingers and said: "One is to supplement directly from the medical school; the other is to draw appropriate personnel from the health school or the army for short-term training. The personnel supplemented by the former can be regarded as future military medical training; while the latter can only be used as health workers, which are used to rescue the wounded on the battlefield or take care of the wounded in the hospital."
"It's really not easy for you." Sokov thought that fortunately, Asia had become an assistant military doctor, and she no longer had to go to the battlefield to rescue the wounded as before. In a few hours, her 182nd Division would enter this area. After she could meet her, it would not be too late to return to the headquarters.
The plan could not keep up with the changes. Since the 182nd Division was walking, it had not reached its designated position until dark. Sameko and Lunev, with their command members, established a new command center five or six kilometers away from the river.
Since the new command has been established, Sokov naturally no longer needs to stay outside for a walk. He could only return to the headquarters with the regret of not seeing Asia, Samoilov and others.
After Sokov returned to the headquarters, he saw that it was still busy here, so he asked Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, has there been any important thing happening during the period when I left?"
"Comrade Commander," said Sameko cautiously: "If it is within the army, then I can tell you that nothing major happened except the battle to fight against the enemy for a bridge."
"What about our friendly forces?" Since nothing happened to his own troops, Sokov wanted to understand the situation of the friendly forces and infer the enemy's next action.
"It is said that a tank unit under the Fifth Army of Guards Tanks encountered a German armored force in a certain area of ​​Prokholovka, and the two sides fought fiercely."
When Sokov learned that there had been a war in the Prokholovka area, he hurriedly asked, "What is the final battle? Who won?"
"In the decisive battle of tanks, nearly forty tanks of our army were destroyed by the enemy, and the enemy's losses were only fifteen." When Sameko saw Sokov heard this, he hurriedly added: "Fortunately, the 678th Heavy Artillery Regiment was deployed nearby. They used 18 152mm howitzers to bombard the enemy's tanks. After suffering huge losses, the enemy had to withdraw from the battlefield."
"What is the loss ratio of this battle?" Sokov asked with a frown.
"It's basically one to one." After Sameko said this, seeing the expression on Sokov's face becoming more serious, he quickly laughed and said, "Although the remaining twenty tanks were destroyed by our army's heavy artillery, they were in the same battle after all, and it's okay to say that the damage to the battle is one to one."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov did not expect that the Soviet tank troops suffered such heavy losses in just a small-scale confrontation. He asked tentatively: "Can you figure out the models of our tanks that were destroyed?"
"Comrade Commander, the tanks equipped by the 5th Guards Tank Army are all T-34 tanks, and even KV heavy tanks. For old tanks, there are probably only some of General Katukov's troops."
Sokov remained silent for a long time, and then asked Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to ask you, what kind of combat-loss ratio can our tank army get when the enemy's large-scale tank troops exchange fire?"
Sokov's question stopped Sameko. After a long time, he replied in an uncertain tone: "Comrade Commander, I think with the strength of the tank army, if it faces the enemy's armored forces, the combat loss ratio may be three to two, that is, we lose three vehicles, and the enemy lose two."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, your idea is too optimistic." Sokov realized that although the Imperial Division was eliminated, the strength of the German armored troops was still strong. He only had a tank army of more than 100 tanks in his hand. If he fought head-on with the Germans, he would definitely suffer a great loss. "If our troops were allowed to fight a war face to face with the Germans, I would probably have a war loss ratio of at least three to one, four to one."