Red Moscow

  Chapter 1542 Landing field defense battle (fifteen)

The communications officer's face was flushed to the base of his neck, and he handed the telegram in his hand to Derevyanko, reporting with embarrassment: "The telegram from General Solomatin said that the enemy's attack on the 21st Mechanized Brigade After a brief shelling of the defense zone, the infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched an assault on the brigade's main position."

   "Comrade Lieutenant," Derevyanko said disapprovingly after hearing this: "The German army must want to clear the landing field established by our army on the right bank. Isn't it normal for them to launch a fierce attack?"

"It is normal for the enemy to attack our position." The staff officer said cautiously: "However, the position of the 21st Mechanized Brigade has been torn open by the Germans, and more and more enemies have passed through the gap and entered our position. The defense depth of the army, our defense line is in danger of being cut apart."

  The staff officer stood not far from Sokov and Managarov, and every word he said fell into the ears of the two. When Managarov turned to look at the map on the table, Sokov asked the staff: "Comrade Lieutenant, did General Solomatin take any action?"

  Sokov's words made everyone quiet. Derevyanko only remembered at this moment that Solomatin's 1st Mechanized Army is now under the command of Sokov. There is nothing wrong with the other party's question. He hurried over, handed the telegram to Sokov, and said in his mouth: "General Sokov, this is a telegram from General Solomatin. The position of the 21st Mechanized Brigade has already been attacked by the German army. , was torn a gap."

"Chief of Staff," Sokov quickly read the telegram handed to him by Derevyanko. Seeing that it did not mention any measures to deal with the immediate crisis, he ordered Sameko: "Immediately give Solo General Ma Jing called and asked him how he planned to deal with this matter."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko replied decisively: "I'll call General Solomatin and find out what's going on with him."

When Sameko called Solomatin, Sokov felt a little dissatisfied in his heart. Now the 1st Mechanized Army is under his command, but when the defense line was in jeopardy, Solomatin did not report the situation to himself in time. , but sent the telegram to the 53rd Army Command. Doesn't he know that even the 53rd Army is under his command right now?

  Soon, Sameko contacted Solomatin, and he asked sternly: "General Solomatin, the enemy broke through the defense line of the 21st Mechanized Brigade, why didn't you report to us in time?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sameko's question reminded Solomatin that his troops are now under the command of Sokov, and his first reaction to being broken by the German army in his position was actually to the 53rd Army The headquarters sent a telegram, and it's no wonder Chief of Staff Sameko wasn't angry. He quickly argued: "As you know, my troops have always been under the command of General Managarov. If there is anything to do, I send him a telegram directly. I just learned that the defense line of the 21st Brigade was broken by the enemy. Panicked, he sent a telegram directly to Chief of Staff Derevyanko."

  After listening to Solomatin's explanation, Sameko couldn't continue to attack, so he could only ask: "After the enemy broke through the line of defense, what measures did you take?"

   "The troops of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade are being assembled," Solomatin replied: "I intend to send them to reinforce the 21st Brigade and restore lost positions."

Before Sameko could speak, Sokov walked over and took the microphone in his hand, and whispered in his ear, "General Solomatin, I am Sokov. If you don’t have a firm foothold, you immediately organize your troops to counterattack, and you must drive the enemy out of your line of defense. Do you understand?”

   "However, the distribution of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade is too scattered, and it will take half an hour at the fastest to gather them all."

"Comrade General," Sokov said anxiously, "the enemy has just broken through your line of defense and has not yet gained a foothold. At this moment, even if you transfer a battalion or even a company from the 23rd Brigade to counterattack, you can destroy the enemy who broke through the line of defense. "

The words    awakened the dreamer. Solomatin knew that the lost position should be restored as soon as possible, so he urgently mobilized troops from the 23rd Brigade, but so far, only one battalion has been assembled. He originally planned to launch a counterattack against the Germans after all the officers and soldiers of the brigade were assembled. Now after hearing Sukov's words, he immediately ordered his chief of staff: "Call the commander of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade and tell the Germans who have completed the assembly." Troops are thrown into the breach to destroy those who break into our defense lines."

   A few minutes later, a battalion of the 23rd Brigade rushed to the breach and fought desperately with the German officers and soldiers who rushed in. Some commanders cooperated with comrades in the 21st Brigade to block the gap and cut off the enemy in the position from the outside world.

  The number of German troops who broke through the 21st Brigade's defense line was small, only seventy or eighty people. When they were attacked by the Soviet army, they were a little bit powerless. Now that the reinforcements from the Soviet army are rushing over, the comparison between the strength and equipment is even more disparity. Just a few minutes later, half of the German officers and soldiers who broke into the position were killed in the battle, while the other half were taken prisoner.

Knowing that the gap in the line of defense was blocked, Sokov couldn't help secretly heaving a sigh of relief, and said to Sameko: "Chief of Staff, please tell General Solomatin that if you encounter any difficulties, please call us at any time. I'll do my best to solve the problem for him."

"General Sokov," while Sameko went to call Solomatin, Managarov handed Sokov a cigarette and asked, "Tell me, German Why the sudden attack?"

"The reason is very simple," Sokov put the cigarette in his mouth, first struck a match to help Managarov light the cigarette, and then lit his own cigarette. After taking a sip, he said: "Before dawn, the Air Force's attack on the German 8th Armored The division carried out an air strike. Although the results of the battle have not been counted yet, I estimate that the enemy suffered a lot. This force is planning to ambush Solomatin's counterattack force and then participate in the attack on the landing site. Now the enemy sees itself The troops on the left have been attacked by air, so they can only adopt storm tactics and get entangled with our army, which will make our air force useless because of rat-tossing weapons."

"Throwing rats?!" Managarov repeated Sukov's idiom, nodded his head and said, "General Sukov, you put it very vividly. If the enemy is really entangled with our army, don't Speaking of the air force, even the artillery dare not fire lightly, so as not to accidentally injure their own people. In this way, the Germans can take advantage of their numbers and equipment to seize the positions they want from our army."

"Comrade General, don't worry, I will never let them succeed." Sokov said with a sneer: "The Germans thought that our army was still the same as it was in the early days of the war. Facing their attacks, they could only hide in the fortifications." Passive defense; or launching unrealistic counterattacks in inappropriate locations.

  If there is a crisis in the defensive area of ​​the mechanized army, I order their right wing troops to attack and give the Germans a head-on blow. We not only want to attack during the day, but also attack at night, so that the enemy can't eat well, can't sleep well, completely disrupt their attack plans, and gradually grasp the initiative on the battlefield in the hands of our army. "

"General Sokov, according to what I know, the German army we have to face has 20 divisions." Managarov said to Sokov: "Except for fighting our army in Poltava now The Germans have four divisions, and the Germans still have more than a dozen divisions in the direction of the landing field, and we will be under great pressure in the future."

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov knew very well in his heart that in order to completely defeat the Germans, he must first establish the confidence to win, so he comforted Managarov and said: "Our current strength is not just after the war after all." What can be compared at the moment of the outbreak. No matter how powerful the enemy is, we are fully capable of dealing with them."

If someone else had said this, Managarov would have walked away long ago, but now the person who said this was Sokov, who was privately known as the Ever Victorious General. Since he said that he had a way to stop the Germans Attack, then it must be blocked.

"Comrade General," Sokov continued, "You should know that the terrain on both sides of our country's rivers is flat on the left bank, which is good for offense but not good for defense; while the right bank is basically a cliff, which is difficult for our army to cross." Combat poses a lot of difficulty."

Regarding Sokov's statement, Managarov agreed: "General Sokov, you are right. If you hadn't taken Klemenchug and the bridge over the Dnieper River by surprise, It is estimated that at this moment we are still trying to cross from the left bank to the right bank and establish a landing field."

"I'm thinking about the battle at the landing site on the right bank. I'm afraid it will last for a long time." Sokov said to Managarov: "The weapons, ammunition and military supplies needed by the troops on the right bank will be an astronomical figure. If we pass every day The bridge over the Dnieper River transports supplies, and I am worried that there will be road blockages that will affect the movement of troops."

   "Then what should we do?" Managarov asked modestly.

"Comrade General, don't you think there are too few bridges on the nearby Dnieper River? Once the main force of the front army arrives and needs to cross the river in a big way, there will definitely be congestion." Sukov considered a few days ago. The matter of erecting a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River was only because his pontoon bridge troops were still in the Meriefa Fortress, so he could only temporarily put the matter on hold. Hearing Managarov’s question at this moment, he pushed the boat forward and said: “First of all, we should build several pontoon bridges on the Dnieper River that can be used by tanks and various vehicles for large troops and various weapons and equipment. cross the river.

  Secondly, we will dig caves on the cliffs on the right bank to store supplies needed by the troops. In this way, even if the bridge over the Dnieper River is destroyed by enemy planes, the troops on the right bank can rely on these hoarded supplies to survive the most difficult days. "

   Seeing doubts on Managarov's face, he seemed to be ready to ask himself, now that these problems have been considered, why not build a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River? Sokov hurriedly added: "Comrade General, why is my pontoon bridge force still in Fortress of Merefa? I'm afraid it will take another week to arrive here."

"It turned out to be like this." After figuring out what was going on, Managarov turned his head and said to Derevyanko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, inform our pontoon bridge force that they must set up three bridges on the Dnieper River within two days. A pontoon bridge for tanks and various combat vehicles."

"Two days is a bit tight." Derevyanko originally wanted to say it was difficult, but seeing Managarov's serious expression, he straightened his back and said, "But as long as the pontoon bridge unit seizes the time, it should still be possible to complete." Erection work on three pontoon bridges."

Seeing that Managarov had arranged for the erection of the pontoon bridge, Sokov couldn't help but burst into joy in his heart. As long as the pontoon bridge was erected, he would be able to supply the weapons, ammunition, military supplies and soldiers needed on the right bank continuously. transported across the river.

Although the Soviet Air Force has taken the initiative on the battlefield today, Sokov still worried that he would encounter enemy aircraft bombing during the bridge building process, so he tentatively asked Managarov: "Comrade General, I don't know if you In the organizational system of the group army, is there an anti-aircraft artillery division?"

"Yes." Managarov guessed Sokov's intentions, "When the pontoon troops are erecting the pontoon bridge, I will order the antiaircraft artillery division to establish an air defense position by the river. If the enemy's planes don't come, that's fine. Come, discipline them, there will be no return."

The pontoon and air defense problems were solved, and Sokov arranged the rest of the work to Sameko: "Chief of Staff, immediately contact Major Guchakov and tell him to closely monitor the situation of the friendly forces on the left. Once you find them When you are in danger, you can decisively take necessary measures without asking us for instructions."

Managarov didn't know that Guchakov was the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. He thought that the other party was just a battalion commander. General Husband, there is only one battalion on the right wing of the mechanized army, is the force too weak?"

"A battalion?!" Managarov's question confused Sokov. After thinking for a moment, he immediately figured out what was going on, and explained to the other party with a smile: "Comrade General, you made a mistake." Well, Major Guchakov is not the battalion commander but the brigade commander, the commander of the 73rd Rifle Brigade."

   "What, brigade commander?" Managarov asked in surprise: "The brigade commander is actually a major?"

"Comrade General, there is a reason for this." The matter was too complicated, and Sokov knew that he could not explain it in a few words, so he said briefly: "Anyway, before the battle of Kursk, we were all in the reserve team. Therefore, the military chiefs of some combat units generally have low ranks. I think that after the battle situation stabilizes, the superiors may make corresponding adjustments."

  Managarov felt that Sokov's explanation was quite reasonable. Not to mention the commanders below, even Sokov's military rank is unreasonably low, and even Solomatin, the commander of the mechanized army, has a higher military rank than him. He raised his hand and patted Sokov on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "General Sokov, don't worry, based on the achievements you have made in the past few months. I think the superior will definitely promote you after the battle situation stabilizes." rank and position."

  In fact, Sokov also felt that his military rank was low. In recent months, his superiors often ordered commanders whose command positions and military ranks were higher than his own. Although those people dare not disobey their own orders due to the orders of their superiors, they still have a grudge in their hearts. If his military rank is the same as these commanders, or even one level higher than them, no one will gossip when commanding them to fight.

  (end of this chapter)