"Hello, General Hogarski." After Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, he asked tentatively: "I would like to ask, how many artillery pieces can you give me?"
"I can put the 8th Artillery Division, the 9th Artillery Division and the 11th Artillery Division at your disposal," Hogarskiy had already thought about which troops to put under Sokov's command before making the call, so he answered without hesitation.
Said: "There are a total of 320 76mm, 85mm, 122mm, and 152mm artillery pieces in the three divisions. However, the reserve of artillery shells is limited, and we can only provide you with forty minutes of artillery preparation at most."
"What, you can only provide us with forty minutes of artillery preparation?" Sokov did not expect that his repeatedly compressed artillery preparation time would be shortened by another ten minutes by Hogarski. He smiled bitterly and said: "Hogarski
General Ski, the artillery preparation time is too short, can it be extended to fifty minutes?"
"No!" Hogarski replied simply: "The artillery shells currently reserved by the army's artillery can barely sustain an hour's bombardment. If all the artillery shells are consumed in the direction of your division, other troops will ask me
Provide artillery support, what should I do?”
Originally, Sokov wanted to try hard to persuade Hogarski to change his mind. As soon as the other party said these words, Sokov immediately blocked all the rest of Sokov's words. After a long time, Sokov felt a little embarrassed.
Question: "General Hogarski, after your artillery preparations are completed, can you use rockets to cover the enemy's second line of defense? You know, the several rocket launchers staying by the river have already
The rockets are gone."
When Hogarski heard that Sokov wanted to launch a rocket attack at the end, he wanted to refuse the other party, but when he heard that the other party actually mentioned attacking the second line of defense, he couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and then asked: "
Colonel Sokov, I don’t understand why you asked us to use rockets to attack the enemy’s second line of defense, but what about the first line of defense?”
"General Hogarski, if nothing else happens," Sokov said confidently, "by the time you complete the forty-minute artillery bombardment, we have successfully occupied the German first line of defense. If you use rockets
If the bullet attacks the first line of defense, won't it hit one of our own people?"
"Hell, how is this possible?" Hogarski couldn't believe his ears. He asked: "Are you planning to attack the enemy's position while the artillery is preparing for artillery fire?"
"Yes, General Hogarski, that's exactly what it is." Although Hogarski was on the other end of the phone and couldn't see his expression, Sokov nodded vigorously and said seriously: "My
Ten minutes after the bombardment begins, the troops will launch an attack on the enemy's position. When the artillery fire extends to the second line of defense, the attacking troops will be able to occupy the enemy's position."
"Colonel Sokov, you are simply crazy." After listening to Sokov's words, Hogarski not only showed no joy at all, but also became angry: "You ordered the troops to attack before the bombardment stopped.
It is simply crazy to launch an attack on the enemy's position. Haven't you ever thought about how much casualties the shrapnel flying in all directions will cause to our army?"
"I have already thought about it, General Hogarski." Considering that the next attack required full support from the artillery, Sokov did not hide it from Hogarski, but said truthfully: "The first
A group of those rushing into the German positions will be Colonel Bely's tank brigade. Even if they encounter flying shrapnel, they will not be harmed. The infantry following the attack will five minutes after the tanks occupy the enemy's position.
Entering the occupied position, your artillery fire has already been extended and will not pose any threat to the infantry."
"Okay, since you said so, then I can ask the two Guards Rocket Artillery Battalions to provide you with a salvo after the artillery preparations are completed, covering the enemy's second position with firepower." After listening to Sokov's introduction.
Later, Hogarski changed his mind and decided to use a rocket launcher battalion to provide support for the attacking troops. He then asked: "Colonel Sokov, I also want to ask, how do you provide shooting parameters for my artillery?"
"General Hogarsky, you don't have to worry about this. You have artillery observers at Mamayev Heights who can provide specialized artillery parameters to the artillery." Sokov finally said: "Comrade General,
Do you think we should establish a special communication line so that I can command the artillery more conveniently?"
"No problem." In response to Sokov's request, Hogarski agreed readily: "I will give the three artillery divisions to you, and I will let the commander of the 8th Artillery Division, Major General Rozanovitch, take unified command.
You can contact him directly."
After Sokov and Hogarski chatted for a few more words, they put down the phone and said to Sidorin and Ivanov who were standing aside: "Chief of Staff, Deputy Division Commander, the situation has changed now. On the east coast,
The artillery's preparation for the enemy's artillery fire has been reduced from the original fifty minutes to forty minutes. Therefore, our original combat plan must also be adjusted accordingly."
"Comrade Division Commander," Ivanov said with a frown after Sokov finished speaking: "According to your statement, when the enemy is bombarded by our army, they will withdraw to the second line of defense, leaving only
A small number of observation posts. In this way, we can easily seize the first line of defense even if we do not destroy the enemy's fortifications. What I am worried about now is that as the artillery preparation time is shortened, whether our army's artillery fire can destroy the enemy's defenses.
Second line of defense?”
The bombardment time on the second line of defense was shortened by ten minutes, which was also a headache for Sokov. He did not answer Ivanov's question immediately, but asked Sidorin: "Chief of Staff,
How long does it take for infantry to go from the first line of defense to the second line of defense?"
Sidorin knew the distance between the two defense lines well, and had calculated the time required for tanks and infantry to move in advance. Therefore, when he heard Sokov's question, he answered without hesitation: "Tanks"
It takes three minutes, the infantry takes eight minutes."
After listening to Sidorin's answer, Sokov ordered: "Then after the artillery preparations are completed, immediately let a part of the infantry ride on the tanks and rush towards the enemy's second line of defense. In terms of time, wait until they approach the second line of defense.
At the defense line, our army's rocket launchers have just completed covering the enemy's position with fire, and the smoke has not dissipated. The enemy must still be hiding in the shelter and has not come out of the anti-gun hole. We can seize the enemy's position at a very small cost.
"
After deploying the mission, Sokov suddenly remembered his agreement with Khogarsky, so he called the communications company commander Maxim over and said to him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, we need to establish a dedicated line with the artillery on the left bank.
You immediately arrange for manpower to set up telephone lines, so as not to affect the subsequent operations."
"Comrade Division Commander," Maxim said timidly after waiting for Sokov to finish: "In fact, there is no need to set up any special line, and there is no time. We can completely use radio to get in touch with the artillery on the left bank.
.”
"If you use a radio to shout, will the signal be poor?" When Golikov heard this, he couldn't help but interjected: "When the fighting in the city was the fiercest some time ago, Chuikov once used a radio in a state of emergency.
We directly communicated with the front army headquarters, but the effect was not good and intermittent. If this happens to us later, will it affect the subsequent battle? "
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Maxim replied respectfully after waiting for Golikov to finish: "If the antenna of the radio station is on the top of the hill, there will be no bad signal like you are worried about.
Case."
Since radio communication can establish contact with the artillery on the other side, Sokov didn't want to waste time and money on setting up any local lines. He turned to Sidorin and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I will contact you with the artillery on the other side."
I'll leave it to you to take charge. You should contact the commander of the 8th Artillery Division as soon as possible..." At this point, Sokov suddenly forgot what the commander's order was, so he paused and frowned as he began to remember.
"The commander of the 8th Artillery Division is Major General Rozanovitch." Seeing Sokov's hard-thinking expression, Sidorin reminded him kindly.
"Yes, yes, that's Major General Rozanovich." Sokov continued: "Establish contact with him immediately and provide him with the time when the bombardment will start and the firing parameters as soon as possible."
