Red Moscow

Although the 84th Division did not perform well in the battles of the previous two days and was driven out of Qijilin by the troops of the Viking Division, Sukov is still full of confidence in the Rusuf Regiment's defense of Jingji Town. .

Therefore, when Fomenko asked him whether to send troops to strengthen the defense of Jingji Town, he waved his hands and said, "General Fomenko, one regiment in Jingji Town is enough. If too many troops are deployed, It cannot be deployed at all. If it is covered by German artillery fire, the troops will suffer unnecessary casualties."

Fomenko remembered that the 44th Regiment, which stood firm in Jingji Town last time, was completely defeated by the Germans in less than half a day. He was worried that the Rusuf Regiment would repeat the same mistakes, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, if the Germans attack Jingji The town launched a fierce attack, and I fear that Colonel Rusuf and the others will not last long."

"You don't have to worry about this." Seeing Fomenko's worried look, Sokov comforted him and said, "They got the new rockets in stock from the Army Group, and they are strong enough to withstand the enemy's fierce attack. Besides, their mission is to block the enemy for a few hours in the direction of Jingji Town, so as to cover the main force of the 7th Guards Army to cross the river."

Although Sokov had already talked about this, Fomenko still said worriedly: "Comrade Commander, I think it will not be so easy for the 7th Guards Army to cross the river in a large scale."

"Why?"

"It's very simple." Fomenko replied: "The Germans will never allow our army to establish another landing field that can threaten their defense line on the right bank of the Dnieper River, so they will definitely do everything possible to prevent the first guard from attacking." The 7th Army crossed the river."

Sokov wanted to refute, but after thinking about it, Fomenko made a lot of sense. Once the 7th Guards Army establishes a second landing field on the right bank of the Dnieper River, it will seriously threaten the safety of the Dnieper River defense line established by Manstein. With Manstein's character, he will certainly nip this danger in the bud.

"You're right," Sokov tapped his fingers on the table, thinking about what methods the German army would use to prevent the guards from crossing the river, and said casually: "The Germans will definitely use various methods , to prevent the guards from crossing the river. But when the problem arises, what method will they use?"

"The method adopted by the Germans yesterday was to block the river with artillery fire, so that the engineering units of the Guards could not build a pontoon bridge." Fomenko said thoughtfully: "Now the artillery positions deployed by the German army by the river have been destroyed. The Sufu Regiment has been destroyed, and within a short period of time, they will certainly not be able to deploy new artillery units to carry out the task of blocking the river."

"Then what method will they use to re-block the river?"

Sokov originally said this sentence casually, but as soon as he said it, he suddenly thought of a possibility. He couldn't help shaking, and his pupils shrank violently: "The air strike, the German army will definitely dispatch the air force to attack the troops crossing the river." bombing."

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Fomenko also agreed with Sokov's speculation: "I think so too."

Seeing that the thoughts of the two coincided, Sokov couldn't sit still any longer. He ordered the radio operator to help him contact Shumilov on the other side, intending to tell the other party about the situation so that he could take preventive measures in advance.

After contacting Shumilov, Sokov said bluntly: "General Shumilov, my troops have occupied the town of Jingji and eliminated the German artillery positions deployed nearby. In a short time, the Germans You can no longer block the river with artillery fire, you can hurry up and repair the pontoon bridge, and then bring more troops across the river."

Knowing that the threat of the German army to the river had been eliminated, Shumilov couldn't help being overjoyed, and thanked Sokov repeatedly: "General Sokov, thank you, thank you and your subordinates very much. In this way, our engineers will We can build a pontoon bridge over the Dnieper without any hassle."

Seeing that Shumilov didn't seem to realize the seriousness of the problem, Sokov quickly reminded the other party: "General Shumilov, although my troops have wiped out the German artillery positions, if you want to get through the second round smoothly For the Niebo River, I am afraid it will not be an easy task."

"Why?" Shumilov asked in surprise.

"The reason is very simple. The Germans will never allow another landing site for our army to appear on the right bank of the Dnieper River." Sokov said into the microphone: "So they will definitely use all means to prevent your troops from crossing the river. "

"Haven't the enemy's artillery been wiped out by you?" Shumilov asked with some surprise: "What other methods can they use to prevent our army from crossing the river?"

"Air Force!" Seeing that Shumilov has not yet realized the seriousness of the problem, Sokov can only remind him: "General Shumilov, have you forgotten that the Germans still have a powerful air force. If they send out bomber formations to bombard the floating bridges on the river and the troops crossing the river indiscriminately, I'm afraid your plan to cross the river will fail."

Sokov's words made Shumilov gasp. He realized that he had indeed neglected the most important thing, and quickly said to Sokov: "General Sokov, thank you for your reminder. But we are deploying by the river. There are a lot of anti-aircraft guns, if the German planes don’t come, we will never let them escape easily if they come.”

Seeing that Shumilov had already arranged an antiaircraft artillery unit by the river, Sokov felt that his obligation had been fulfilled, and it had nothing to do with him whether the other party could cross the river smoothly. Before ending the call, he finally said: "General Shumilov, although I have no right to issue any orders to you and your troops, I would like to remind you that you should do everything possible to get more It is necessary to cross the river with more troops, so as to establish a stable landing field before the enemy recovers."

"You are right, General Sokov." Shumilov said naggingly: "Every minute on the battlefield is precious, and I will immediately order the engineers to repair the pontoon bridge so that the troops can recover as soon as possible." cross the river."

After finishing talking with Shumilov, Sokov said to Fomenko: "General Fomenko, I have already contacted General Shumilov, and he promised to send as many people as possible in the shortest possible time. The troops crossed the river. Therefore, the Rusuf regiment only needs to hold fast in Jingji Town for four or five hours, and friendly troops will take over their defense."

"I hope so." In his heart, Fomenko did not believe that Shumilov's troops could cross the river before the bombardment by enemy planes began. But the matter has come to this point, he can only say helplessly: "If the guards are unable to cross the river for a long time, the Rusuf regiment can only hold on in Jingji Town as much as possible, and when the friendly army comes to take over the defense, the troops will almost be wiped out. "

Sokov knew very well that if the Germans really dispatched their air force to carry out indiscriminate bombardment of the Soviet troops crossing the river, maybe Shumilov's troops' crossing operation would be hindered because of this. At that time, I am afraid that the time that the Rusufu regiment will stand firm in Jingji Town will be calculated in days. In this way, it is not impossible for the troops to be wiped out.

However, considering the overall situation, even if Sokov knew that this army would be wiped out, he did not dare to give them an order to retreat easily. Because this is tantamount to ceding Jingji Town to the Germans. When the Germans deploy a new artillery position, they will be able to block the river with artillery fire, and Shumilov's troops will not be able to cross the river.

"Once the enemy's air force is dispatched, I am afraid that the troops crossing the river will be massacred one-sidedly." After expressing his worries, Fomenko took the initiative to ask Sokov: "Comrade commander, please see, should we contact the air force immediately, Ask them to dispatch fighter formations to cover friendly troops crossing the river?"

"General Fomenko, if my troops need air support, I will call General Goryunov without hesitation and ask him to dispatch fighter planes to support us. But..." Sokov shrugged, Spreading his hands, he said to Fomenko: "But the troops that need air support today are not us, but General Shumilov's 7th Guards Army. If they need air support, it is entirely up to General Shumilov Call Goryunov directly so that possible confusion can be prevented."

After careful consideration, Fomenko felt that what Sokov said was very correct. If the commanders of the two army groups simultaneously request General Goryunov to dispatch the air force of the other side to provide air cover for the ground forces, and the locations of the attacks coincide, it may lead to confusion.

"General Fomenko," Sokov couldn't care less about the crossing of the friendly army at the moment. He planned to adjust his deployment to deal with various possible bad situations. He first said to Fomenko: "Wait until the friendly army arrives in Beijing." After Jizhen took over the defense of Rusuf's regiment, you will withdraw the regiment to Chijilin to take charge of the defense of the city."

"Colonel Koida," after giving Fomenko his order, he turned to Koida, who was almost transparent, and said, "You have two regiments in this area now, and you can station one of them in Ratesve near the town, while the other regiment remained here to hold the position vacated by Rusuf's regiment."

"Comrade Commander," Koyda waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately reminded him: "Didn't you say that the troops of the 15th Guards Division should take over the defense area of ​​the Rusuf Regiment?"

"I have thought about it carefully. Although it is possible for the 15th Guards Division to take over the defense area of ​​the Rusuf Regiment." Sokov said cautiously: "But no matter what, the opponent is not under my command. If on the battlefield The situation has changed unexpectedly, and I am worried that the situation will get out of control because I can't command this force."

Regarding Sokov's statement, Koida did not express any objection. He even thought in his heart that if the commander of the friendly army gave him an order, he would probably ignore such an order. After all, the other party If he is not his immediate boss, even if he disobeys the order, the other party will have nothing to do with him.

When Koyda left the command post and went back to his troops to adjust the deployment, Sokov called Major General Gritsenko, commander of the 384th Division, and asked, "Comrade General, how is the situation there? A shadow of the Germans?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Gritsenko replied bluntly: "Since the enemy reinforcements in Chijilin were repulsed by our army, we have never seen their traces again. Not only can we not see them here, Even in the outposts of the friendly forces, there was no sign of the Germans."

Gritsenko's words reminded Sokov that he suddenly remembered that the opponent's troops were now deployed on the second line, and in front of them was a regiment of the Koida Division. Since no trace of the Germans has been found so far, it seems that they do not plan to attack from this direction.

"Comrade General," Sokov said, considering that once the 7th Guards Army gained a firm foothold on the right bank, his army would definitely not be able to stay in this area any longer. Anyway, the troops will be withdrawn sooner or later, so it is better to quietly retreat some troops in unimportant positions: "Since there are no Germans in front of your position, then you can leave a regiment in the position." The rest of the troops slowly withdrew to Qijilin and rested in the city."

Although after the fierce battle the day before yesterday, Gritsenko couldn't wait to let his troops retreat to the city to rest, but at this moment when he heard Sokov give him such an order, he couldn't help becoming hesitant.

After a while, he asked, "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, why did you withdraw our division to Qijilin City to rest at this time?"

Sokov was taken aback by Gritsenko's question. He hesitated and asked, "Why, Comrade General, don't you plan to let the troops withdraw to rest?"

"That's not the case, Comrade Commander." Gritsenko hastily explained to Sokov, "I just find it strange, why at this time, we have to withdraw our division to the rear to rest?"

Faced with Gritsenko's suspicion, Sokov was a little dumbfounded, but he still patiently explained to the other party: "Comrade General, our troops have regained the towns of Ratesve and Jingji and are covering the guards. The main body of the 7th Army crossed the river. Once the friendly forces completed the large-scale crossing, they would establish a new landing field in this area.

With the completion of the landing site, our mission has come to an end, so we must withdraw from this place. Anyway, you don't have any wars there, why don't you let you retreat to the city to rest for a while. Even if things change in the future and you need to go into battle again, the troops that have been rested will burst out with even stronger combat effectiveness in the battle.

Comrade General, do you understand what I mean? "

"Understood, understood." Gritsenko didn't understand Sokov's meaning at this moment, and nodded quickly: "Comrade commander, I completely understand what you mean. I will immediately arrange a regiment to stay on defense, and then I personally took the other two regiments back to Qijilin City."

When Sokov was arranging matters related to the retreat, the radio operator reported to him: "Comrade Commander, there is a call from the headquarters of the Front Army, is it connected?"

Knowing that it was a call from the Front Army Command, Sokov knew there must be something important, so he quickly ordered the operator: "Call the Front Army Command immediately, and ask them what's the matter?"

When Sokov put on the headset handed over by the operator, he immediately heard Zakharov's voice: "Hello, is this Comrade Sokov? I'm Zakharov."

"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov asked quickly, "Do you have any instructions?"

"I heard that you have successively captured the towns of Ratswe and Jingji. Is it true?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army. My troops are preparing to rely on the existing defense system to resist the German attack and cover the river crossing operation of the 7th Guards Army."