"Amphibious landing craft?" Batrakov asked: "You mean... to use amphibious landing craft to cross the river?"
"Why not?" Shulka answered while pointing to the map and said: "There are fewer buildings on both sides of the Tsaritsa River with a clear view, which makes crossing the river very difficult!"
Major General Batrakov nodded in agreement.
This is one of the reasons why neither the enemy nor we have considered crossing the river, and it is also the reason why the railway bridge is so important...because of the wide field of vision, any movement on the other side of the enemy's bank cannot escape the opponent's eyes.
Therefore, if we want to conduct a conventional river-crossing operation, let alone moving boats, floats, etc. to the river, we will already be blocked by enemy artillery fire and machine guns on the shore.
Then get on the boat, rush for the ferry, and finally land.
All of this was accomplished amidst a hail of bullets. It is hard to imagine that such an attack could be successful today with so much firepower.
"This is also the reason for my opposition, Comrade Shulka!" Batrakov said.
"But if we have an amphibious landing ship, it's another matter!" Shulka said: "We can hide in the building, prepare in advance, and then drive the amphibious landing ship to suddenly cross the river without the enemy being prepared.
...You know, General, the amphibious landing craft is amphibious. If nothing unexpected happens, our commando team will cross the Tsaritsa River in 15 minutes, and the Germans will not even react at that time!
"
Shulka added: "Of course, I'm talking about night!"
The reaction speed of the Germans is not as clumsy as that of the Soviet army. 15 minutes is enough for them to organize a defense or counterattack... The defense and counterattack here do not mean that the German army has enough troops.
Shulka believed that the German army did not believe that the Soviet army was capable of crossing the river... The Soviet army had been beaten to the point of being unable to fight back, and it was difficult to counterattack, let alone cross the river.
In addition, the German army also wanted to reinforce the north bank through the railway bridge, so the defense on the south bank must be very weak.
The possible German defense that Schulka believed was organized by German artillery.
After all, the German troops on the south bank of the Tsaritsa River were more artillerymen. They only had to turn their artillery fire to blast a wall of fire on the river, and the commandos would also suffer heavy losses.
This is not difficult during the day, but at night, and the German artillery is still under the control of the Soviet army, it is unlikely that a tight defense can be organized in 15 minutes.
Once the commandos landed on the south bank, the German artillery fire also lost its effect.
Batrakov thought about it for a while, then nodded and said, "This is indeed a way!"
"So, you agree?"
"As you said, do we have any other options?" Batrakov replied: "If we continue like this, we will only die. Although this plan is dangerous, it may be our only chance!"
This is indeed the case, so Batrakov has to agree, even if he is a dead horse, he has to support it.
"But..." Batrakov added: "If we plan to do this, we should move faster, otherwise the enemy's train will cross the bridge..."
Shulka knew what Batrakov meant.
The purpose of blowing up the bridge is to prevent enemy reinforcements and supplies from crossing the river. If the supplies and reinforcements have crossed the river, then blowing up the bridge is of little significance.
But Shulka didn't think so.
"No, Comrade General!" Shulka said, "I think we should wait for the enemy train to cross the river before launching a surprise attack!"
"What?" Batrakov was stunned when he heard this: "You are crazy, Shulka, the troops and supplies brought by the train may cause us a lot of trouble!"
"Then it depends on where we choose to land!" Shulka replied.
"What position?"
"I think the granary is fine, Comrade General!"
After hearing this, Major General Batrakov opened his mouth for a long time and could not close it. At the same time, he also knew why Shulka wanted to let the enemy's train cross the river... The granary is upstream of the railway bridge. If you start from the granary and cross Tsary
Check the river, and then go around to the railway bridge to blow it up, which means that the two retreat routes of the German army will be cut off, so the German army will be surrounded instead.
Major General Batrakov asked hesitantly: "Is there any problem with this?"
"What else can go wrong?" Shulka laughed: "The worst thing is that train station No. 1 falls into the hands of the enemy!"
Batrakov nodded, the worst that could happen now.
With Batrakov's approval, the plan was soon put into effect.
The first is to suspend the counterattack plan on the railway bridge.
Of course, on the surface, the Soviet army still had to work hard, that is, continue to launch feint attacks on the railway bridge... This was essential, otherwise the German army would become suspicious and even launch an attack in advance.
The second is reinforcements.
"We still need at least one division of troops!" Shurka pointed to the map and said: "Ensure the safety of our army's flanks, otherwise even if the German army is surrounded by us, it may be attacked from inside and outside and cause our army to collapse across the board!"
"No problem!" Batrakov agreed without hesitation: "The 19th Infantry Division is on the way to reinforce. In fact, their leading troops have already rushed to the flanks of our army and built a defensive line..."
"No, no!" Shulka said: "Don't build a line of defense. I mean we don't need an obvious line of defense. We should use buildings as strongholds to spread our forces, and when the Germans attack, we can consciously put in a few troops!"
"Why?" Batrakov was a little confused.
"An obvious line of defense is easy for the German artillery and air force to take advantage of!" Shulka replied: "I mean, their artillery and air force know where to fire and drop bombs, even at night. But if we use
Build a stronghold and deliberately put in a few troops, so that the enemy's and our defense lines will be intertwined and irregularly shaped, which will cause a lot of trouble to the enemy's artillery and air force!"
Batrakov couldn't help but said "Oh" after hearing this, and then nodded.
There was a bit of embarrassment on his face, as if he had discovered that what he had done before was always wrong. But now he only needed a little skill to change the situation of being bombarded by the enemy indiscriminately.
In other words, it's not "change", but at least it can be improved.
"In addition!" Shulka said: "I hope that the 19th Infantry Division can deploy a large number of mines and barbed wire, which means to consume enemy ammunition and block the enemy's attack, rather than charging or seizing positions!"
"That's right!" Batrakov nodded.
Batrakov also understands why. If the commandos can cut off the two German supply lines at the same time and surround the German army, then time is on the side of the Soviet army. (To be continued)