Red Moscow

"Comrade Commander," Dobrushin grinned upon hearing Sokov's praise, and then thought of a key question: "I would like to ask, can our brigade be used for the forced crossing mission during the attack?"

"To carry out the forced crossing mission, we must have enough ships." The war was imminent, and Sokov found that if his troops wanted to break through the German defenses, they had to carry out forced crossing operations. It is not enough to send a platoon of troops there. Using such a force to carry out a forced crossing is tantamount to hitting a stone with a pebble and letting the soldiers die in vain.

Sokov looked at Dobrushin and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, can your brigade solve the ship problem?"

"It's not easy, Comrade Commander." Dobrushin scratched the back of his head and said in embarrassment: "Although there is a large forest in our brigade's station, the rafts made of these logs go to the river. Once released, it will sink to the bottom of the river at the fastest speed."

"How about we still use the method of reconnaissance squads to cross the river and get all the troops across the river?" Seeing that Sokov and Dobrushin were both in trouble, the third battalion commander couldn't help expressing his thoughts.

"Comrade Major, you think the problem is too simple." Although the third battalion commander's statement was wrong, Sokov did not blame him. On the contrary, he patiently explained to him: "The method of crossing the river from the bottom of the water is only suitable for small troops. , but not suitable for the action of a large force. Moreover, the commanders and fighters passing from the bottom of the river can only carry light equipment and very limited ammunition, so they cannot fight for a long time."

"Then what should we do?" The third battalion commander asked curiously: "Without enough equipment for crossing the river, we can't let our soldiers swim across the river, right?"

"Comrade Commander, I have a bold idea." Dobrushin said, "We can use firepower to cover the engineers to build a pontoon bridge on the river. As long as the pontoon bridge is erected, even if there is not enough equipment for crossing the river, our commanders and fighters can rush to the river." to the other side."

Regarding Dobrushin's proposal, Sokov shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, absolutely not." He looked at Dobrushin and said seriously: "This will make our engineers Huge casualties were incurred. Under the powerful firepower of the enemy, even if all our engineers were sacrificed, it may not be possible to complete the construction of the pontoon bridge.”

Seeing that Dobrushin seemed to have something to say, Sokov hastily stretched out his hand to interrupt him, turned to the third battalion commander and said, "Comrade Major, you have nothing to do here, you can leave."

When the commander of the third battalion heard what Sokov said, he immediately realized that a commander of his level had no right to know what might be discussed next. He quickly agreed, raised his hand in salute, turned and walked out of the headquarters.

After the third battalion commander left, Sokov continued: "Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, tell me, if you are given enough equipment for crossing the river and the necessary artillery cover, how long will it take for you to break through the enemy's defense line? "

"Comrade Commander, the river in front of us is only 150 meters wide, and the current is not too fast. It stands to reason that the difficulty of crossing will not be too high." Sokov and Dobru were the only ones left in the headquarters. Dobrushin did not hide his point of view, and said truthfully: "The only problem is that we can't figure out the enemy's defensive deployment on the opposite bank. When we carry out forced crossing, we are vulnerable to long-range enemy fire and shore attacks. The crossfire of machine-gun fire from the side."

"I'm thinking about whether we can sneak across at night. In this way, the enemy's artillery fire will be useless, and our river crossing troops can also reduce unnecessary casualties."

After thinking for a while, Sokov directly rejected Dobrushin's proposal: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, have you forgotten that the enemy's surveillance of the river is very strict, if we want to carry out smuggling, I'm afraid we won't wait for the smuggling troops to carry it." If the landing boat goes into the water, it will be discovered by the enemy on the other side."

"Comrade Commander, I think we can take risks." Dobrushin recalled the plan proposed to him by the commander of the third battalion, and said to Sokov: "Before we take action, let's send sharpshooters to destroy the enemy on the other side. Searchlight. While they were in chaos, our smuggling troops quickly rushed to the river, put the boats into the water, and then used all their strength to row the boats to the opposite bank. Before the enemy recovered, our vanguard troops Already on the other side."

"Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, the method you mentioned seems to be feasible." Sokov nodded and said, "But this matter is of great importance. I must discuss it with other army chiefs."

Sokov left Dobrushin's headquarters after more than an hour. According to the original plan, he would have gone to the infantry brigade, but at this moment, he was eager to discuss the feasibility of Dobrushin's plan with Sameko and others, so he hurried back to his headquarters.

When Sokov told Dobrushin about the sneak attack plan and told Sameko and Lunev, Sameko suddenly felt his eyes light up, and then said to Sokov anxiously: "Commander Comrade, I think Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin's plan is feasible. Think about it, for sailors, it may only take three to five minutes to row a boat through an area of ​​150 meters. It is very difficult for a chaotic enemy to react in time."

Seeing that Sameko also felt that this plan was feasible, Sokov asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that you agree with Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin's plan very much. Otherwise, we will report this plan to the Front Army Command, What is the opinion of the superior?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I very much agree with Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin's combat plan." Sameko said in an affirmative tone: "When attacking at night, the artillery fire deployed by the enemy in the city will not be able to attack our crossing river." The troops pose a threat. As for those firepower points on the river bank, we can use mortars or new rockets to destroy them so that the troops crossing the river can go ashore smoothly."

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff." Just as Sokov and Sameko agreed, Lunev expressed his opinion: "Whether it is a forced crossing during the day or a smuggling at night, the equipment for crossing the river is essential. Yes. Now we have very little equipment for crossing the river, where should we replenish it?"

Sokov picked up the phone in front of him and said, "I will immediately report this plan to the Front Army Command, and hope that General Vatutin can give us the necessary equipment for crossing the river."

After the call was connected, the voice of Ivanov, Chief of Staff of the Front Army, came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, Major General Sokov! I am Ivanov. You are calling so late, what can you do?"

"Is Marshal Zhukov at the headquarters?"

"It's so late, he and Marshal Vasilevsky have gone back to their residence to rest."

"What about General Vatutin?" Knowing that Zhukov was not in the headquarters, Sokov felt somewhat lost. Without Zhukov's support, his speed of obtaining supplies would be greatly slowed down.

"He also went to rest." Through Sokov's question, Ivanov realized that he might have something urgent, and quickly asked: "If you have anything to do, please tell me. I am on duty tonight. I can handle anything."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation is like this." Seeing that Zhukov and Vatutin could not be found, Sokov could only report the smuggling plan proposed by Dobrushin to Ivanov, and finally said: "Staff Comrade Chang, regardless of whether we resort to forced crossing during the day or smuggling at night, river crossing equipment is essential. I called you so late because I hope that the Front Army Command can help us solve the problem of river crossing equipment."

"Major General Sokov, I'm afraid it will be difficult." Regarding Sokov's request, Ivanov also felt very embarrassed: "You know, not only is there a river blocking the west of Belgorod, even the north is blocked. There is also a river separating us from the German defense line. If you want to attack Belgorod, not only will your troops need river-crossing equipment, but even troops attacking from the north will also need a huge amount of river-crossing equipment."

From Ivanov's words, Sokov realized that it might not be an easy task for him to obtain the equipment for crossing the river. He tried to explain the difficulties he was facing now: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our army has limited equipment for crossing the river, and can only send at most one platoon of troops to the other side at a time. If you really want to attack Belgorod Attack, this 150-meter-wide river will become the biggest obstacle on our way to attack."

"Major General Sokov, I understand the difficulties you are facing now." Ivanov has a good impression of Sokov, and he also wants to help him, but a good woman can't live without rice, and he also lacks the equipment to cross the river. , Even the troops attacking from the north were not satisfied, and the west side where Sukov was located was even more neglected. However, in order to prevent Sokov from getting emotional, he felt that he had to explain: "The base camp may not have considered that we will launch an attack on Belgorod in such a short period of time, so we did not prepare enough crossing equipment... "

Sokov patiently listened to Ivanov's explanation, and immediately understood in his heart that the matter of the river-crossing equipment was useless, and he could only find another way to solve the problem of the river-crossing equipment.

Seeing Sokov put down the phone and sitting there sullenly smoking a cigarette, Sameko immediately realized that he might have run into trouble with the Front Army Command, so he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, what happened?"

"The chief of staff, General Ivanov, answered the phone. He told me that not only do we have enough rivers here and the enemy's positions, but we also face the same problem in the north." Sokov said with a dejected expression: "Because the river crossing provided by the base The equipment is limited, and the troops in the north can’t satisfy it, let alone us. His implication is to let us find a way to solve the equipment for crossing the river.”

"My God." Sameko said with his hands on his forehead, "We are an army, not a navy. Where can we find so many river-crossing equipment?"

"Comrade Commander, I don't think you need to worry." Compared with Sokov and Sameko's anxiety, Lunev seemed much calmer. "You have channels to get suitable river crossing equipment."

"I have a way to get the equipment for crossing the river?" Lunev's words made Sokov feel puzzled, but he quickly thought of a possibility: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you want me to ask Yakov for help?"

"That's right." Seeing that Sokov had always guessed his intentions, Lunev said with a smile: "You know, Yakov is from the Weapons and Equipment Department, so it shouldn't be a big deal to get you a batch of river crossing equipment." question."

"However, it is no problem to ask Yakov to provide us with weapons and equipment, but can he get us the equipment for crossing the river?"

"Comrade Commander, I don't think you need to worry about this." Lunev comforted Sokov and said, "I don't know if you remember, when I was just transferred to serve as your deputy, I told you that the weapons and equipment department A new type of transport is being developed."

Lunev's words reminded Sokov that he remembered that Yakov had been organizing manpower to develop the hovercraft, and he didn't know how it was going. Then he asked Lunev cautiously: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you mean to let us use that new type of transportation to forcefully cross the river?"

"That's right, that's how I thought about it." Seeing Sameko's blank expression, Lunev said to the two of them, "I have known about this kind of transportation, and it is said that it can travel on any terrain. Since it can drive on swamps, I don't think it's a big problem to drive on rivers."

"I called Yakov to see if he could provide us with such a transport."

Sokov picked up the high-frequency phone on the table, put it down again before dialing, and said nervously: "It's so late, I think Yakov may have rested, I'd better call him tomorrow during the day. "

"Comrade Commander, it is a time of war, and the normal work and rest time has long been forgotten by everyone." Lunev said to Sokov with a smile: "You might as well make a phone call, maybe he is still working overtime in the office. maybe."

Although there is no such thing as 996 yet, as Lunev said, it is a time of war, and everyone is working overtime voluntarily in order to make greater contributions to the motherland. Sokov called Yakov's office and found that Yakov really stayed in the office.

Hearing the call from Sokov, Yakov was a little surprised: "Misha, you called me so late, is there any urgent matter?"

"Yasha, I want to ask you, can you get enough equipment for crossing the river?"

Yakov did not answer Sokov's question directly, but asked instead: "What do you need the river crossing equipment for?"

"It's like this. I'm afraid we will launch an attack on Belgorod soon." Sokov knew that with Yakov's status, it would not be difficult at all to understand the Soviet army's next move, so he didn't go around in circles. , but said bluntly: "But our defense area and the enemy's defense area are blocked by a river. If we want to capture the city, we must find a way to cross the river, but now we lack sufficient crossing equipment, so we can only ask you Help."