"General Blaskowitz," since the Soviet army launched many cross-river operations in areas of the Dnieper River, Manstein was deploying troops to strengthen defenses to prevent the Soviet army from landing on the right bank. At this moment, he learned that Blaskowitz
Wiz looked for him, so he temporarily put down his work, walked over, picked up the phone, and asked: "What do you want from me?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal," upon hearing Manstein's voice, Blaskowitz quickly reported to him: "My troops are being attacked by the Russians."
Manstein heard what Blaskowitz said, but misunderstood him, thinking that he was talking about the battle in the Chigilin area, so he said disapprovingly: "General Blaskowitz, don't worry. The Russians are attacking
The attack you launched is just a desperate struggle. I believe it won’t be long before we all drive them into the Dnieper River.”
When Blaskowitz heard this, he understood that the other party had made a mistake, and quickly explained: "Your Excellency, Marshal, our troops attacked by the Russians were not in the direction of Chigilin, but at the bridgehead on the right bank of Kremenchug.
.”
"What, the bridgehead on the right bank of Kremenchug?" Manstein couldn't help but be moved: "Is this true?"
"Of course it's true, Marshal." Blaskowitz reported to Manstein: "Now the Russians are using heavy artillery fire to bombard the armored divisions we have left there."
The 1st Army left an armored division and an infantry division south of the Soviet landing site. Manstein knew about this. But when he originally transferred the troops, he repeatedly checked with Blaskowitz and confirmed
The Soviet army there showed no signs of attack, so they confidently and boldly mobilized three divisions from the area to participate in the battle in the Chijilin area and try to eliminate or drive away the defenders in Chijilin City.
At this moment, he learned that the armored division left behind had been attacked by fierce Soviet artillery fire. Manstein's first reaction was that Blaskowitz must have made a mistake. He asked: "Blaskovitz
General Ci, when I transferred the troops from you, didn't you say that the Russians in front of you were building massive construction projects and were in a defensive posture. Why did they turn from defense to offense in less than two days?
?”
Manstein asked this question, still questioning Blaskowitz's statement. You must know that in large-scale corps operations, the commander cannot just slap his head and decide in which direction to launch the attack. This involves
There are too many aspects to it. Not to mention other things, just gathering troops and hoarding supplies will take a lot of time.
"That's right, Marshal." Blaskowitz heard Manstein's doubts and confusion from his tone, and quickly explained: "The Russians are indeed shelling the armored division's defense area. It seems that they are
We plan to make a breakthrough in this direction.”
Manstein quickly unfolded a map on the table and looked at it carefully. In fact, he had already memorized the terrain on both sides of the Dnieper River. Even without looking at it, he could tell that the Soviet army was breaking through the 1st Army.
After the defense line, the next cities to attack must be Alexandria and Kirovgrad. Once these two cities are lost, it means that the Soviet army has a firm foothold on the right bank of the Dnieper River.
Manstein knew very well that once the Dnieper River defense line was broken through by the Soviet army, it would mean that the next battle would start on the right bank of Ukraine. This was something the German high command absolutely did not want to see. In order to avoid this
When the worst situation arises, assisting the troops of the 1st Army to block Sokov's troops is the top priority currently.
"General Blaskowitz," Manstein stared at the map for a while and found that the troops closest to the defense line would have to wait until the next day to arrive. Before that, they could only rely on the 1st Army's troops.
troops to defend the existing defense line. Thinking of this, he said to Blaskowitz: "Once the Russians break through your defense line, they will then direct their troops towards Alexandria. In our
A nail is wedged into the defense zone.”
"Yes, Marshal." Blaskowitz nodded after hearing this and said: "You are absolutely right. Once the Russians break through our defense line, they will be able to quickly find new ones on the right bank.
This is very disadvantageous to us, so we must block and defeat them."
"But the troops closest to your defense area are dozens of kilometers away. Even if you order them to rush for reinforcements now, I'm afraid they will have to wait until tomorrow to reach the designated position." At this point, Manstein asked with some worry:
"General Blaskowitz, do you think your troops can hold out until then?"
"No, Marshal." Blaskowitz replied simply, "Let alone tomorrow, it will be difficult for my troops to hold on until dark under the crazy attack of the Russians."
"Then what are your plans?"
Blaskowitz called Manstein just to get help from him. Since the other party took the initiative to ask, he was naturally not polite: "I hope to get air support."
"Air support?" In fact, Manstein had long considered sending the air force to bomb the attacking troops to relieve the pressure on the defenders. But at this moment, because he was organizing his troops to attack the landing site established by the 7th Guards Army, a large number of aircraft were deployed
Having reached that direction, it seems a little powerless to support Blaskowitz anymore. "General Blaskowitz, I'm afraid I can't agree to your request."
"Why?" Manstein's reply surprised Blaskowitz. He asked in confusion: "Why can't we provide air support? Where has our huge air force gone?"
Hearing Blaskowitz's question, Manstein showed a painful expression on his face. He did have a large air force in his military structure, but this air force is now above the Dnieper River, and its number is
More Soviet fighter planes competed for air supremacy on the battlefield.
"General Blaskowitz, you also know that we are attacking the Russians in the Chigilin area and the bridgehead they established." After thinking for a moment, Manstein felt that he should explain to Blaskowitz.
To prevent the other party from misunderstanding: "But the ground is attacking, and a lot of air power is also invested. But regrettably, in just two years, the Russian air force has been large enough to be evenly matched with ours."
.The reason why I say that I cannot provide you with air cover is entirely because our main air force is currently engaged in combat with Russian fighter planes over the Dnieper River."
"Then what should we do, Marshal?" Manstein's words made Blaskowitz despair: "You cannot provide us with air support, and ground reinforcements will not arrive until tomorrow at the earliest.
Come on. Are we just going to watch the Russians occupy our positions?"
After some painful thinking, Manstein made a difficult decision: "General Blaskowitz, if the Russian offensive force is strong, I feel that if necessary, we can give up some insignificant items.
position."
Perhaps because he was worried that Blaskowitz would not understand him, he specifically added: "Abandoning some unimportant positions and concentrating our forces can make our local forces stronger. As for the Russians, as they occupy territories
More and more, they have to divide their troops to guard. As a result, the troops they use to attack will become thin..."
Listening to Manstein's story, Blaskowitz began to wonder: It seemed that Manstein had adopted this tactic at the beginning of the year. Facing the Russians coming from all directions, he decisively ordered
The troops gave up large areas of territory and retreated towards the banks of the Dnieper River. After occupying the territories abandoned by the Germans, the Soviet army had to deploy a large number of troops for defense, which led to the dispersion of forces. As a result, the German army continued to carry out
In the counterattack, he was completely defeated.
Although Blaskowitz clearly remembered the battles in which Manstein was so proud, at this moment he did not know what he was facing. He was not facing ordinary Soviet troops, but Sokov's troops.
Troops, that was the nightmare of most German officers and soldiers. After pondering for a moment, he said slowly: "Marshal, do you think we can deal with Sokov's troops using such tactics?"
"I think it should be possible." Manstein said with the same confidence: "But I think no matter how powerful Sokov is, it is impossible for him not to send troops to defend the position we voluntarily abandoned, right? That's it.
Once this happens, we will be able to form an overwhelming advantage in terms of troops and firepower in local areas."
"Okay, Marshal." Since Manstein said so, Blaskowitz knew that if he continued to say it, he wouldn't be able to change anything. He might as well try the method Manstein said, and there might be no surprise.
The harvest may not be certain: "I will carry out your order right now."
After Blaskowitz put down the phone, he called his chief of staff in front of him and said to him with a wry smile: "Chief of Staff, Marshal Manstein told me that he is temporarily unable to provide us with air support. Because I
A large number of military fighter planes are competing with Russian aircraft for air supremacy on the battlefield over the Dnieper River."
"What, you can't provide us with air cover?" The chief of staff was shocked when he heard this: "Your Excellency, commander, without the support of the air force, how can our troops block the Russian attack?"
"Marshal Manstein said," Blaskowitz said helplessly: "If the Russian offensive is fierce and our defense strength is seriously insufficient, we can consider abandoning some insignificant positions and use
A way to shrink our troops to resist the Russian attack."
When it came to shrinking troops to resist the Soviet attack, the Chief of Staff naturally thought that this must be Manstein's idea. After all, he used this method to defeat the troops and equipment on the banks of the Dnieper River.
The main force of the Soviet army had the upper hand and completely turned the tide of the war.
The chief of staff asked Blaskowitz tentatively: "Your Excellency, Commander, which insignificant areas do you think should be abandoned and thrown to the Russians skillfully without arousing their suspicion?"
"Yeah, which areas should be given up?" Blaskowitz stared at the map in front of him, lost in thought.
Just when Blaskowitz was thinking about which unimportant positions should be abandoned in order to achieve the purpose of concentrating his forces, the Soviet artillery bombardment of the armored division was coming to an end.
Samyko raised his hand to look at the time, and then introduced to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the bombardment will end in three minutes."
Sokov hummed softly, and then asked: "Have the troops started to move towards the enemy's position?"
"Yes, the vanguard of the attack has quietly moved towards the enemy's position five minutes ago." Sameko said with some rapid breathing: "The first troops to set off should be no more than two meters away from the German position at this moment.
100 meters.”
Taking advantage of the favorable opportunity when shelling the German army and unable to observe the battlefield situation, the offensive troops moved to the enemy positions in advance and made all battle preparations after entering the designated position. This is an offensive tactic commonly used by Sokov's troops. In order to prevent accidental damage from artillery fire
When it comes to his own people, Sokov once ordered his troops to stay 300 meters away from the shelling area, but today's commanders and fighters are eager to fight, and they directly advance the offensive position to an area 200 meters away from the German position, or even closer.
In order to immediately launch an attack on the enemy's position as soon as the bombardment is over, catching the enemy by surprise.
Sokov originally planned to stop the risky behavior of the commanders and soldiers, but he was worried about hurting their self-esteem, so he turned a blind eye. As long as he was not accidentally injured by his own artillery fire, he did not intend to interfere.
this matter.
"Comrade Commander," Lunev, who rarely came to the headquarters recently, appeared in front of Sokov at this moment and asked tentatively: "Do I need to send a broadcast truck?"
Lunev asked this because a batch of propaganda vehicles had just been equipped. In addition to carrying out propaganda for the German troops in daily life, the loudspeakers on the vehicles could also play various impassioned songs for the Soviet troops when they attacked to boost their morale.
function.
Although Sokov knew that Lunev's newly launched broadcast truck could play a huge role in boosting morale during offensive battles. However, after careful consideration, he felt that it was better not to use the broadcast truck for the time being. If it was destroyed by German artillery fire, I am afraid that
It will be counterproductive to morale.
It was out of this consideration that he slowly shook his head and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, I think that in today's offensive battle, the broadcast truck will not be used to boost morale for the time being."
"Why?" Lunev asked puzzledly.
"The reason is very simple. What we are about to attack are German fortifications in the suburbs. If we use broadcast trucks, they will easily become targets for German artillery in the open and unobstructed land." Sokov was a little disappointed when he saw Lunev.
, then added: "Comrade Military Commissar, don't worry, these radio trucks will be put to use when we attack Alexandria. They can hide in the blind spots of German fire and broadcast non-stop morale-boosting
music, or shouting to the stubbornly resisting German troops, urging them to lay down their arms and surrender to us."
Runev thought about Sokov's words for a while, and felt that they still made sense. Letting the broadcast truck broadcast in the open area was equivalent to asking the people in the car to die. It would be different if it was a siege. The broadcast truck could
Hiding in a place where the German guns could not reach him, he carried out propaganda and agitation work non-stop.
