Red Moscow

"Now the bridge over the Dnieper River has been destroyed by German artillery fire." Shumilov said cautiously: "If the 15th Guards Division cannot hold their position and is forced to retreat, it will definitely not be able to cross the river. At that time, they can only retreat towards your defense zone, and I hope you can send troops to meet them at that time."

"Don't worry, General Shumilov." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and immediately answered: "The 254th regiment that captured the towns of Ratesve and Jingji is now stationed near the town of Ratesve. If the 15th Guards Division is forced to abandon the town of Ratseve, they will be responsible for the retreat."

The landing field that had just been established on the right bank, if it didn't last even a day, it might fall, and Shumilov was very unwilling. Knowing that Sokov had troops near the town of Ratesve, he tentatively asked: "General Sokov, since your troops are nearby, I wonder if it is possible to let them join the battle. If possible, we are smashing the After the enemy's attack, you can take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and maybe you can regain Jingji Town, which was occupied by the German army."

"General Shumilov, if the German army really has the ability to quickly break through your defense line," Sokov naturally agreed with Shumilov's proposal, and he didn't go around in circles, and directly stated his point of view: " So if we launch a counterattack at this time, not only will we not be able to repel the enemy, but it may even cause heavy damage to the troops. In this way, our army on the right bank will become weaker, and there are chances of being defeated or even wiped out by the enemy possible."

If Sokov had said this to Shumilov before the fall of Jingji Town, he would not have believed it. According to his thinking, even if there is only one 15th Guards Division on the right bank, he can pass the pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River to continuously transport troops from the left bank to the right bank.

Unexpectedly, the face of reality came so quickly. As soon as he heard the news that Jingji Town was attacked by the German army, he ordered the troops assembled on the left bank of the river to cross the river. Unexpectedly, as soon as the troops crossed the river, the German army captured Jingji Town, set up cannons outside the town, and continuously bombarded the pontoon bridge. After paying a considerable price, only one company of the crossing troops reached the right bank. What role can a company of troops play in a battle of this magnitude?

So after listening to Sokov's words, he could only sigh heavily, and said in a regretful tone: "That's really a pity, we can only watch the enemy regain the territory we occupied."

While Shumilov was feeling emotional, Sokov didn't say a word. He was wondering whether he should transfer the main force of the 188th Division in Koida to the vicinity of the town of Razeve at this moment to prepare for the German attack.

Sokov didn't speak, neither did Shumilov. The two just held the earphones and microphones, thinking about their own thoughts. After an unknown amount of time, Sokov suddenly realized that he was talking to Shumilov, and quickly said into the microphone: "General Shumilov, are you still there?"

Shumilov was awakened by Sokov's voice, and he hurriedly replied, "Still, General Sokov."

"General Shumilov, I think about it this way." Sokov said carefully: "If we want to defeat the Germans, it doesn't mean that we have to occupy too much territory. With more troops, the Germans can concentrate their forces and beat us one by one."

He originally wanted to mention the reason for the failure of the Battle of Kharkov at the beginning of the year. It was because the Soviet army advanced too fast and occupied too much territory. Frontier offensive forces have been weakened. Coupled with the fact that the logistics supply base is far away from the battlefield, those troops fighting the German army could not be replenished in time, and thus suffered a disastrous defeat when the number of people and equipment was superior.

But after thinking about it, Vatutin, the commander of the Voronezh Front, organized troops to carry out an assault without knowing the enemy's strength. As a result, he was defeated by Manstein and exposed the flanks of the friendly troops to the enemy. After the defeat of the battle, Golikov, the former commander of the Voronezh Front Army, was dismissed, but he was only reprimanded, and soon succeeded Golikov as the commander of the Voronezh Front Army. If I really bring up the Kharkov battle at the beginning of the year to talk about it, I am afraid that I will offend many people, including Vatutin.

Thinking of this, he inadvertently changed the subject: "I think we should concentrate our forces, rely on fortifications, and consume the vital strength of the German army, waiting for the reinforcements from the left bank to arrive."

"However, the pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River has been destroyed by German artillery fire." Shumilov said angrily: "I am afraid it will take a lot of time to repair the bridge."

"The pontoon bridge was destroyed by the enemy's artillery fire. We can rebuild a new bridge." Regarding Shumilov's concerns, Sukov said lightly: "Even if building a bridge is too difficult, there is still a way to send your troops to the bridge." cross the river."

Hearing Sokov say that there is a way for the troops to cross the river, Shumilov suddenly became emotional: "General Sokov, tell me quickly, is there any good way?"

"The method is very simple. You can order the troops to turn to Klemenchug, cross the river from there, and then rush to the area where the 15th Guards Division is fighting."

Regarding the plan proposed by Sokov, Shumilov pondered for a while, and finally shook his head and said: "General Sokov, your method sounds good, but there are many problems in its implementation."

Without waiting for Sokov to ask, he took the initiative to speak: "I looked at the map. If my troops were transferred to Kremenchug and then rushed to the town of Radeve, it would be about two hundred kilometers away. If it is Before the war, with enough transport vehicles and good road conditions, it was not impossible to cross the river from Klemenchug.

But the current situation is that we do not have enough vehicles for the transportation of soldiers. In addition, even if the roads were destroyed by the German army, even if our soldiers took vehicles, their traveling speed would probably not exceed 20 kilometers per hour. Instead of using so much transportation capacity and taking a day or two to transport troops, it is better to let the engineers find a way to repair the pontoon bridge that was blown up by the Germans, and try to get more troops across the river in a short time. "

"That's fine." Sokov was not too interested in Shumilov's method of crossing the river. After all, he didn't have any affiliation with him, so he didn't want to confide in him. He finally said: "Shumilov General Love, I will greet my troops, and once the town of Ratswe falls, I will send troops to meet the commanders and fighters of the 15th Guards Division."

After waiting for Sokov to put down the phone, Fomenko asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, judging from the current situation, since Jingji Town was captured so easily by the German army, Razeve Town can't last long. In your opinion, should the main force of the 188th Division in Keda be brought up at this moment?"

"Wait a little longer, General Fomenko." Sokov shook his head slightly and said, "Now is not the time to mobilize them."

After hearing Sokov's reply, Fomenko stomped his feet anxiously. Rusuv's 254th regiment is now the most elite unit in his hands. If it is lost in the battle, the entire division will definitely be withdrawn to the rear to make up for it , There is no chance to participate in new battles.

Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help smiling, and then comforted him and said: "Mobilizing troops during the day, one is easy to be detected by the enemy, and the other is that they may be attacked by enemy planes during the march, causing unnecessary losses. So the last A good way is to wait until after dark before ordering the troops to set off. Anyway, the distance between the two places is not far, and the destination can be reached in two or three hours."

At first Fomenko thought that Sokov was going to use the 254th regiment as artillery fire, but after listening to his arrangement, he realized that he had misunderstood the other party, and quickly said: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will inform Colonel Rusuf as soon as possible. , let him be ready to receive reinforcements."

"The location where the 254th Regiment is now has no decent fortifications," Sokov continued: "Colonel Rusov should be informed and the soldiers continue to dig fortifications. This way, when the main force of the 188th Division arrives, there will be enough defenses." The position is armed."

Fomenko agreed, called his chief of staff, and told him: "Comrade chief of staff, have you heard the commander's arrangement? Immediately send a report to Colonel Rusov, ordering him to organize manual excavation so that Accommodate more troops."

While the chief of staff went to the radio operator to send a telegram to Rusuf, Fomenko remembered another important matter, and quickly asked Sokov: "Comrade commander, don't we still have an artillery division? Do we ask them to provide us with the necessary artillery support when our sector attacks?"

"This is no problem." Sokov agreed very readily, "I have already called the chief of staff and ordered him to find a way to speed up the transportation and prepare more shells for the gunners of the First Artillery Division."

After capturing the town of Jingji, the German army quickly rushed to the town of Ratswe, and fought fiercely with the Soviet troops who were standing in the town. The main attack task was the 5th Armored Light Infantry Battalion of the Viking Division. Although this unit was defeated by the 188th and 384th Divisions in the southwest of Chijilin yesterday, it faced Sivalenko's Guards 1st Battalion. The 15th Division, their performance was exceptionally outstanding, and soon rushed into the town, and started a fierce battle with the Soviet army in the town.

The 254th Regiment stationed near the town of Ratsewe saw the fighting in the town in full swing. Although Rusuf wanted to help the opponent, but considering the order given to him by his superiors, he was required to stand by and stand by for orders, so he had no choice but to give up. Instead of this tempting idea, he urged his men to continue digging trenches in the controlled area.

The strength of the troops in the town of Latsewe is twice that of the town of Jingji, and there is also the 43rd Guards Artillery Regiment that has just retreated. Facing the onslaught of the German army, they are carrying out a tenacious defense. Although the line of defense had been breached in many places, those troops trapped behind the enemy line still fought to the death, causing considerable casualties to the enemy.

At this moment, the liaison officer sent by Colonel Rusuf came to the division headquarters of the 15th Guards Division.

When Sivalenko learned that Rusuf had sent a liaison officer, he quickly ordered someone to call the liaison officer into his headquarters, and asked straightforwardly, "Comrade Lieutenant, are you sent by Colonel Rusuf?"

"Yes, Comrade General." The liaison officer replied respectfully: "He asked me to inform you that if the town cannot be defended, you can retreat to our defense area..."

"Shut up!" Before the liaison officer could finish speaking, the chief of staff of the division interrupted him and said angrily: "As long as we have one soldier alive, we will never give up the town of Ratseve. Even if the enemy wants to If you want to rush into the town, you must step on our corpses to enter..."

Regardless of the high-sounding words of the division chief of staff, the liaison officer just smiled and said to the division chief of staff: "Comrade colonel, it is useless for you to get angry at me. I am just following orders. Our regiment commander said, commander Based on the analysis of the situation on the battlefield, comrades feel that it is only a matter of time before the fall of the town of Ratseve. In order to preserve the vitality of our army, you should decisively abandon the town of Ratsewee when the situation is critical, and alternately withdraw to our headquarters to build fortifications."

After the 254th Regiment withdrew from the town of Ratseve, the enemy began to attack the town of Jingji. The attention of the chief of staff of the division was drawn to the direction of Jingji town. The presence of friendly forces.

Hearing what the liaison officer said at this moment, he couldn't help asking in surprise: "Comrade Lieutenant, what did you just say, that your regiment actually built fortifications outside the town?"

"That's right." The liaison officer nodded and said in a positive tone: "Our regiment was in the process of evacuating, and we heard the gunfire before the German army attacked Jingji Town. The regiment leader guessed that there might be something that could help you. , then ordered the troops to stop, choose a more secluded area, and began to build fortifications."

"So, your 254th Regiment is still outside the town of Ratswe." The division chief of staff asked cautiously: "Comrade Lieutenant, is my guess correct?"

"Exactly, Comrade Colonel." The liaison officer replied with a smile: "Now we are hurrying to repair the fortifications to ensure that more troops can be accommodated there."

"I don't know whose idea it is to build fortifications outside the town?" When the division chief asked this question, he thought that it was at best a plan made by a regiment chief of staff, and he was fully capable of making the opponent change the battle plan.

But I didn't expect the liaison officer's expression to become serious after hearing this: "Comrade Colonel, this battle plan was conceived by our commander, General Sokov. He was worried that the friendly forces would not be able to hold the position, so he ordered our regiment here Stand by. If the enemy does take over the town, our task is to rescue more comrades and put them in a safe place."

Hearing that it was Sokov's idea, the chief of staff of the division immediately put away the contemptuous expression on his face, but said solemnly: "It turned out to be General Sokov's arrangement, then we should reconsider the next battle." How should we fight?"