Red Moscow

Manstein knew very well that once the Soviet army established a second landing field on the right bank of the Dnieper River, it would deal a fatal blow to the Dnieper River defense line he had established. In order to avoid this worst situation, he decided to take all means to prevent the 7th Guards Army from crossing the river.

Knowing that the bomber formation that was going to bomb the pontoon bridge had failed, Manstein could not help but become angry. He quickly called the commander of the air force and ordered him to dispatch more bombers, escorted by fighter jets, to bomb the pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River.

In order to protect the safety of the pontoon bridge, Goryunov dispatched General Podgorny's 4th Fighter Air Corps, and hundreds of fighters fought over the Dnieper River with the incoming German bombers.

During the battle for air supremacy that lasted several hours, the fighter planes of both sides were constantly hit, either exploding in the air, or falling into the river or nearby open ground with a long black smoke trail, making earth-shattering explosions.

The pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River was unfortunately broken once during the bombing of the German army. Fortunately, Priaskin, the director of the engineering corps, organized emergency repairs and repaired the bridge in the shortest possible time, so that the main force's crossing operation would not be interrupted.

The air battle lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon. Seeing that the task assigned by Manstein could not be completed, the Luftwaffe commander ordered the bombers and fighters participating in the battle to withdraw from the battle. This air battle ended with the German army losing 15 fighter jets, 32 bombers, and shooting down 49 Soviet fighter planes.

Although the losses of Soviet fighter planes were greater than those of the Germans, they successfully defended the pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River, enabling the entire 111th Guards Division and a regiment of the 72nd Guards Division to pass the pontoon bridge smoothly and arrive at On the right bank of the Dnieper River, they began to build their own landing field.

Shumilov, who was commanding the battle on the left bank, learned that he had a complete Guards division and a part of another Guards division, and they had all crossed the river, so he began to consider the issue of establishing a landing field.

He stood in front of the table, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, stared at the map for a while, then raised his head and said to his chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, now there are 15th and 111th guards on the right bank." Division, and part of the 72nd Guards Division, right?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff nodded, affirming Shumilov's statement, and then asked: "You mean to officially start the establishment of the landing site?"

"That's right, that's what I think." Shumilov said in a positive tone: "According to the deployment of the superior, the area on the other side of the bank should be within the scope of our landing field, but the troops stationed there now, It's Sokov's 27th Army, if we can't take over the defense from them as soon as possible, I'm afraid we will become the laughing stock of others in the future."

After hearing what Shumilov said, the chief of staff thought for a long time, and said with some hesitation: "Comrade Commander, since you said that those places are the 27th Army's defense zone, do you think General Sokov will take the initiative to put their defense zone on the ground?" , hand it over to us?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't know General Sokov." Shumilov smiled at what the Chief of Staff said, and then said to him: "He is a commander with a big picture. If I Make a request to him, presumably he will order the troops to hand over the existing area to us."

Although this is what he said, the chief of staff was still not at ease. He felt that he might be directly rejected if he came forward to negotiate with the 27th Army, so he said to Shumilov tactfully: "Comrade Commander, I think it is still up to the You come forward and communicate with the 27th Army, maybe the effect will be the best."

Shumilov doesn't care if he communicates with Sokov himself or if the chief of staff comes forward. Since the chief of staff brought up the matter on his own initiative, he also guessed the embarrassment of the other party, so he nodded with a smile and said: "Okay, comrade chief of staff, then I will call General Sokov and convey our intentions to you. he."

After finishing speaking, Shumilov ordered the director of the communications corps to help him contact Sokov. He planned to personally discuss with Sokov about the transfer of defense.

At this moment, Sokov is listening to Fomenko's report: "Comrade Commander, the Rusuf regiment standing firm in Jingji Town has successfully repelled eleven German attacks, and the troops suffered a lot of casualties. Colonel Ida's 562nd Regiment is the closest to them, do you think they will be sent for reinforcements?"

"General Fomenko." Knowing that the Rusuf Regiment had suffered considerable casualties under the onslaught of the enemy, Sokov felt very heavy. However, the troops of the 7th Guards Army were crossing the river one after another. Sending Majwo's 562nd Regiment to reinforce and wait for friendly troops to take over the defense will inevitably cause unnecessary confusion. It was precisely because of this consideration that Sokov simply rejected the other party's request: "Lieutenant Colonel Majwo's 562nd Regiment cannot be used. You can only call Colonel Rusuf back and ask him to continue to stand firm. The reinforcements are coming soon." It'll be there soon."

"Reinforcements, where did the reinforcements come from?" Fomenko asked in puzzlement, "Since the 562nd Regiment closest to them cannot be used, where did the reinforcements come from?"

"Are there no other reinforcements except Lieutenant Colonel Madevo's 562nd regiment?" Sokov said: "General Fomenko, don't forget that General Shumilov's troops are crossing the river one after another. When they After the strength of the troops on the right bank reaches a certain percentage, even if I don’t say anything, he will offer to take over our defense area. In this way, there will be new troops to replace Colonel Rusuf and stick to Jingji Town.”

"But, will they make it in time?"

"It should be in time." Sokov said in an uncertain tone.

As soon as he finished speaking, the radio operator said: "Comrade Commander, General Shumilov, Commander of the 7th Guards Army, wants to talk to you."

"You heard it, General Fomenko." Sokov heard the radio operator say that Shumilov was talking to him, guessing that it must have something to do with the handover of defense, so he got up and patted Fomenko's arm, smiling Said: "If I'm not mistaken, General Shumilov should be looking for me to talk about the defense zone."

After putting on the headset, Sokov said into the microphone: "Hello, General Shumilov, I'm Sokov."

"Hello, General Sokov." Shumilov's voice came from the headset, and he said with a smile, "I'm contacting you at this time. Does it affect your commanding operations?"

"No, no." Although Sokov just swore to Fomenko that Shumilov's troops would soon take over the defense of those warring areas, but whether the next situation will go according to his own analysis, is simply a question. Cove still had no idea. Eager to understand Shumilov's true intentions, he asked straight to the point: "What do you want from me?"

"That's right, General Sokov." Shumilov didn't go around in circles, but said bluntly: "All of my 111th Guards Division, and the 222nd Regiment of the 72nd Guards Division have all crossed the river smoothly. We have reached the right bank. Together with General Sivalenko's 15th Guards Division, I already have two divisions and a regiment on the right bank, so I would like to beg you to formally delimit the area assigned to us by your superiors. Hand over to us?"

Hearing what Shumilov said, Sokov couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He knew that his superiors transferred him to this area to fight in order to cooperate with the 7th Guards Army to cross the river. After the new landing field was established, his troops would be transferred to other areas to fight. At the moment, fighting is taking place in the occupied area. If General Shumilov's troops can take over the defense in time, the casualties of the troops can be effectively reduced.

Hearing that Sokov didn't speak for a long time, Shumilov thought he was unwilling, and asked with some confidence: "General Sokov, is there any difficulty? If you can't hand over all the positions to us, You can also hand over part of it first, and the rest of the area can be discussed later when the time is right."

"General Shumilov, you misunderstood me." Seeing that the other party had misunderstood, Sokov quickly explained: "I can follow the order of my superiors and hand over the designated combat areas to you. But..."

"But what?"

"The troops standing in Jingji Town are fighting the enemy." Sokov said: "They have repelled 11 German assaults, and the troops suffered a lot of casualties. I don't know how many troops you plan to send to the town to receive our troops defense?"

For Shumilov, Jingji Town is simply a disgrace. A regiment of the 15th Guards Division stood firm here. As a result, the town was occupied by the Germans after only a few hours of fighting, and the defenders in the town were almost wiped out by the Germans. Now that he wants to take over this area from Sokov again, Shumilov feels that it is necessary to show a little sincerity.

"General Sokov, I plan to send the 222nd Regiment of the 72nd Guards Division to receive defense." Shumilov said: "The regiment has three infantry battalions, a machine gun company and an artillery company, with a total strength of 1900 people. .”

After listening to the data reported by Shumilov, Sokov pondered for a moment in his heart. Although due to the influence of the load-bearing capacity of the pontoon bridge, the artillery artillery could not be transported from the left bank for the time being, but the regiment still had a machine gun battalion. It is not a big problem to block the German attack.

Thinking of this, Sokov nodded, and then said: "Okay, General Shumilov, I will immediately notify Colonel Rusuf who is standing in Jingji Town, and let him be ready to hand over defense with the 222nd regiment you sent. "

Seeing that Sokov agreed to hand over the defense of Jingji Town, Shumilov went on to say: "I plan to let the 111th Guards Division take over the defense of Ratesve Town and the nearby ferry, and General Sivalenko's near The 15th Guard Division will take over the defense of Qijilin City. What do you think?"

When Sokov heard it, well, every inch of the area that his troops finally occupied would be handed over to Shumilov. Although he was a little bit unwilling, he still said generously: "No problem, Shumilov." General Milov, I will greet the commanders and fighters below and ask them to hand over defense to your troops."

"Great, this is really great." Seeing that Sokov agreed to his request, Shumilov couldn't help being overjoyed: "I will immediately notify the commanders of the divisions on the right bank to take over your defense."

After finishing the conversation with Shumilov, Sokov turned around and told Fomenko: "General Fomenko, you can send a telegram to Colonel Rusov, saying that the 222nd Guards Regiment of the friendly army is about to take over their defense. Get them ready to hand over defense."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Knowing that the 222nd Guards Regiment was about to take over the defense of the Rusuf Regiment, the sorrow on Fomenko's face was swept away. Much vitality. "I immediately notified Colonel Rusuf and asked him to prepare for the transfer of defense."

"Also," just as Fomenko turned around to ask his chief of staff to send a telegram to Rusuv, he heard Sokov say again: "Contact Colonel Belkin again, and say that the 15th Guards Division of the friendly army Going to take over City's defense and get him ready to switch as well."

"Ah, even the city of Chijilin will be handed over to the friendly army this time?" Sokov's words surprised Fomenko, and he asked in amazement: "The occupied areas have been handed over to the friendly army, so let's stay here." Where is it?"

"Needless to say, General Fomenko. Since the area we controlled has been unconditionally handed over to friendly forces, there is no point in staying here anymore. The next thing to do is to withdraw to the original landing site and prepare to break through from there. German defenses, expanding the area of ​​our landing field.”

Fomenko's expression became serious: "Comrade Commander, we now have three infantry divisions and one artillery division. It may take two days at the fastest to withdraw all of them to the original landing site."

"If we let all the troops complete the assembly and then start to retreat to the old landing site, it will definitely delay a lot of time." After thinking for a while, Sokov said to Fomenko: "We use the regiment as a unit and withdraw in batches. Here, retreat to the original landing site."

After explaining to Fomenko, Sokov called Koida again and asked, "Colonel Koida, I have an official notice to you. Immediately hand over all the areas controlled by your division to the friendly forces. The 111th Guards Division. After the transfer of defense is completed, you will use the regiment as a unit and retreat in the direction of the original landing field. Do you understand?"

Koyda was very surprised when he heard this, and asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, we fought well here, why did we withdraw to the original landing site?"

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov said curtly to Koida, "General Shumilov called me not long ago, and their troops will take over all the areas under our control. So we stay here again, It doesn't make much sense, so we can only choose to withdraw to the original combat area."

Then, Sokov notified Colonel Terenga, the commander of the First Artillery Division, and ordered him to withdraw the artillery from the existing artillery positions in regiments and move towards the original landing site.

The last notification was Major General Gritsenko, commander of the 384th Division.

After the phone call, Sokov exchanged a few words of greeting briefly, and then asked, "Comrade General, have all your main troops withdrawn to the city?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, the two infantry regiments have withdrawn to the city." Gritsenko replied loudly: "Now the troops are taking a short rest in accordance with your order."

"Comrade General, I am now formally notifying you that your troops will stop resting immediately."

Before Sokov could finish speaking, Gritsenko rushed to ask: "Comrade Commander, let us stop resting immediately. Is there any location that needs our reinforcements?"

"You misunderstood, Comrade General." Sokov said: "I am not going to send you to the battlefield. On the contrary, I want you to immediately retreat to the original landing site. When you get there, I will give you at least three Days to rest."