Sokov told his subordinates at the military meeting that there would be no artillery preparations before the attack. But the plan could not keep up with the changes. At dawn, he received a call from Zakharov: "Comrade Sokov,
The artillery units assigned to you by the 7th Guards Army have arrived at the Muza River. Send someone to receive them so they can be put to use when attacking the fortress later."
"The friendly artillery unit has arrived?" Sokov was surprised and asked quickly: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I would like to ask, how many artillery divisions are provided to us by the friendly forces?"
"There are four artillery divisions, two self-propelled artillery regiments, and six Guards rocket launcher battalions." After Zakharov reported the specific parameters, he smiled and said to Sokov: "Well, so many artillery units are enough.
Bar?"
"There are a lot of artillery," Sokov continued, "Is there enough ammunition?"
Zakharov was delighted: "Comrade Sokov, do you know what you are talking about? You must know that the artillery of the 7th Guards Army is tasked with cooperating with the infantry to capture Poltava, so their superiors equipped them with
We have eight bases of artillery shells. Although I am only equipped with three bases of ammunition this time when I am transferred to cooperate with you in the battle, it should still be possible to destroy the defense of Merefa Fortress."
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, thank you so much." Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed to learn that the 7th Guards Army provided him with so much artillery. He kept saying: "With so much artillery, we will win."
The certainty is greater.”
After ending the call, Sokov put down the phone and asked Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the artillery unit of the 7th Guards Army has arrived at the Muzha River. Who do you think should receive the troops?"
When Sokov said this, he was secretly thinking that if Samyko was not willing to make a trip, he would have to do it himself. But he did not expect Samyko to unexpectedly say: "Comrade Commander, since it is
Let the artillery commander be responsible for artillery matters."
Hearing Samyko mention the artillery commander, Sokov then remembered that an artillery commander did come last night, but he was busy preparing to attack the fortress, so he asked Samoilov to take him to rest.
. If Sameko hadn't mentioned it, he would have forgotten that there was such an artillery commander.
Sokov walked to the door and shouted outside: "Lieutenant Samoilov, come to me!"
Following Sokov's shout, Samoylov appeared in front of him, straightened his back and asked: "Comrade Commander, what are your instructions?"
"Didn't the superiors send us an artillery commander last night?" Sokov said to him: "I asked you to arrange for him to rest."
"Yes, Comrade Commander, this is indeed the case."
"Please invite him here, just say that we have something to discuss with him."
When Samoilov went to find the new artillery commander, Sokov curiously asked Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you know the situation of this artillery commander?"
"I know a little bit." Sameko nodded and said: "This artillery commander participated in the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer before the war. After returning to China in 1939, he served as the commander of the artillery regiment and the artillery director of the infantry division. 1941
In April of that year, he served as the commander of the anti-tank artillery brigade of the Kiev Special Military District.
After the war broke out, he led the brigade to fight tenaciously against the Germans within the organization of the Southern Front. Soon, he was promoted to commander of the 5th Artillery Corps. Later, he served as deputy director of artillery of the 18th Group Army, Southern Front and
Commander of the artillery of the 37th Army and the 56th Army of the North Caucasus Front, deputy commander of the North Caucasus Front, etc..."
After listening to Samyko introducing the other party's resume, Sokov couldn't help but gasped, and then asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what is his name?"
"Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin."
After Sokov repeated the name, he felt it felt very familiar, but for a while he couldn't remember where he had heard this name.
Before Sokov could figure out where he had heard this name, Samoilov walked in with a tall commander with a square face: "Comrade Commander, I have invited General Nedelin here.
Got it!"
Sokov looked at the lieutenant general title on the opponent's epaulette, and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. He was only a major general, but the military commissioner was a lieutenant general, and now there was another lieutenant general. He stretched out his hand to the general,
He said enthusiastically: "Hello, General Nedelin, nice to meet you."
"Hello, Commander Sokov." General Nedelin said equally politely: "When I heard that I could join your army, I was very excited, because I could communicate with a general who made the Germans fearful.
Fight alongside."
After Sokov introduced Samyko to the other party, he returned to the subject: "General Nedelin, the situation is like this. In order to allow us to conquer the Merefa Fortress more smoothly, the superiors specially deployed the artillery of the 7th Guards Army.
Come to support, these troops are now by the Muza River."
Nedelin is also a smart man. After hearing what Sokov said, he immediately understood what the other party meant: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to let me receive these artillery troops and direct them to bombard the German fortress?"
"Yes, that's what it means." After giving the other party a positive answer, Sokov asked: "Is there any question?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Now that Sokov has spoken, Nedelin naturally wants to tell the problems he is facing: "First, you have to send a reliable person to assist me in receiving the troops. After all, I am new here.
, not to mention the artillery comrades who don’t know him, even the commanders and soldiers of the 27th Group Army don’t know him.”
"No problem, I will send Lieutenant Samoilov to accompany you later." Sokov replied very readily: "He is the person I trust most. Even if people in the entire army group do not know him, they will listen to him."
I mentioned his name and with him accompanying you, you will definitely be able to receive the troops smoothly."
After finishing his first request, Negerin continued: "Second, if the artillery is to assist the infantry in attacking, it must have a prepared bombardment direction. You can't order the artillery to fire towards the place where the sun rises, right?"
Nedelin's words aroused laughter from Sokov and others. After the laughter subsided, Sokov said to him: "Comrade General, originally according to our plan, only the 1st Artillery Division provided artillery support for the attacking infantry, and
The tactics of close-range artillery fire were adopted, so artillery observers were not dispatched to collect accurate data."
After hearing Sokov's words, Nedelin couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Commander, I don't understand why there is no artillery preparation before attacking such a fortress?"
"Is artillery preparation useful?" Sokov asked rhetorically: "You know, we are facing a solid fortress. Without heavy artillery over 152 mm and using condensate-breaking bombs, it is impossible to destroy those solid fortifications. Since
So, why should we waste precious artillery shells? It is better to let the artillery push the artillery closer to the fortress, which can directly destroy the enemy's firepower points and open up a path for our infantry."
"Comrade Commander, your words have successfully aroused my curiosity." Nedelin waited for Sokov to finish and then asked curiously: "As far as I know, your troops never conduct any offensive operations before they start.
Prepare for artillery fire, but use the new rockets and rocket launchers provided by the Weapons and Equipment Department to deal with the German fortifications. Am I right?"
"Exactly, Comrade General." Sokov said to Nedelin: "I feel that the effect of artillery preparations before the attack is very limited."
"Tell me, why is the effect limited?"
"The Germans are very cunning," Sokov explained to him: "As soon as our army starts shelling, except for a few people who are left as observation posts, the rest of them will withdraw along the communication trenches to the second line of defense, and our artillery shells will
It was like landing in an uninhabited open space. As soon as our shelling ended, the Germans returned along the communication ditch and re-entered the defensive position to resist the attack launched by our army."
After patiently listening to Sokov's words, Nedelin shook his head and said: "Comrade Commander, I do not deny that what you said is true. But I think that artillery preparations before the attack are still completely necessary. After all, we
Violent shelling can destroy the German fortifications. Even if only part of the fortifications are destroyed, when our offensive begins, a considerable number of enemies will be unable to rely on the fortifications to resist..."
Sokov disagreed with Nedelin's statement. He immediately retorted: "Comrade General, I don't agree with your statement. You know, even if our artillery fire destroyed part of the German fortifications, they would return
As the first line of defense, we can also find new fortifications to resist our army's attack."
Then, the two had a dispute over whether artillery preparation should be used before the bombardment. Sokov came from a later generation, so he naturally knew that the Soviet army's two- or three-hour bombardment was a waste of little meaning.
.Instead of wasting precious artillery shells in these places, it is better to directly use rockets or bayonets on cannons to shoot at close range, which will achieve greater results.
But as an artillery commander, Nedelin naturally did not agree with Sokov's view. On the contrary, he felt that his statement was too ridiculous, so he refused to give in.
The dispute between the two was a matter of public opinion and mother-in-law opinion, but neither could convince the other.
Samyko was caught in the middle and was in a dilemma. Fortunately, Samoilov reminded him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think the debate between the commander and the artillery commander will not stop for a while. Why don't you give the artillery a try?"
The commander of the First Division made a phone call and asked him to send a few artillery observers to the front to indicate the direction of the artillery attack to the incoming artillery."
"Comrade Lieutenant, what you said makes perfect sense." Samyko accepted Samoilov's suggestion. He immediately picked up the phone, blocked one of his ears with a finger, and gave the command to the 1st Artillery Division.
Department calls.
After Samek finished explaining the arrangement of artillery observers to Colonel Terenga, he saw that the two were still arguing, so he came out to smooth things over: "Comrade commanders, please stop arguing."
The two people who had been arguing for a long time finally stopped when they heard what Sameko said.
Seeing that the two men were no longer arguing, Samyko reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I just called Colonel Terenga, commander of the 1st Artillery Division, and asked him to send artillery observers to conduct close reconnaissance and prepare for the new arrivals.
The artillery provides accurate firing parameters."
After hearing what Samyko said, Nedelin felt much more at ease. No matter what Sokov thought, at least his chief of staff was on his side, and he also helped him contact the artillery observer. In this way, etc.
When you direct the artillery to fire, you can have accurate shooting targets.
After Samek finished his report, he cautiously asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, are we preparing artillery fire before attacking?"
Sokov and Nedelin argued for a long time, but could not come up with a reason. At this moment, hearing Samyko's question, he said angrily: "Since General Nedelin likes to prepare for artillery fire, then let's do it later."
Let him arrange this."
During the meeting last night, all the commanders attending the meeting were told that there would be no artillery preparations before the attack. But now they have temporarily increased the artillery preparations. Sokov felt that he should communicate with everyone in advance to avoid calling to inquire later.
What's going on? Sokov told Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you immediately contact all the troops participating in the war and tell them that there will be a period of artillery preparations before the start of today's attack, so that they can postpone the original attack time.
.”
"Comrade Artillery Commander," Sokov said to Nedelin while Samyko was on the phone to the division commanders: "Are you satisfied now?"
Nedelin chuckled and said: "Comrade Commander, although you have achieved many victories with your methods before, you might as well try my method this time to see if the effect can be better."
After seeing off Nedelin and Samoylov, Samyko smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, this new artillery commander seems to be a stubborn person. I guess you and him will be together in the future."
There will be a lot of quarrels between us."
The speaker was unintentional and the listener was intentional. Samyko just casually said that Nedelin was a stubborn person. Sokov immediately remembered who the other party was. Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin, the future Soviet Army
He was the artillery commander and served as the first commander-in-chief of the Strategic Rocket Force after the war.
It's a pity that he is a tragic figure. On October 24, 1960, Nedelin went to observe the rocket launch in person. As a result, the rocket had some malfunctions when it was ready to launch. He stubbornly refused the commander-in-chief of the Baikonur launch site to postpone the launch.
Advice. And ordered the engineers present to inspect the missile in violation of regulations.
During the inspection, he violated safety regulations again and did not return to the underground cement shelter. Instead, he sat on a stool not far from the rocket to supervise the maintenance work of the staff on site. During this period, the launch site director twice asked him to move to
A safe place, but he ignored it.
In the end, tragedy happened. A pipe broke somewhere, and a dazzling fire emerged from the thruster, turning the scene into a sea of fire. The high temperature of 3,000 degrees Celsius destroyed Nedelin and dozens of general-level rocket experts and technical experts.
All the personnel were burned to death. Those who were a little further away were burned until only their outlines were left. However, in Nejelin, they were burned so much that not even ashes were left. Only half of the scorched shoulder badge of the artillery commander was found.
, and the key to the office safe that had melted down.
