Red Moscow

Sidolin's judgment was not wrong. Major General Onu Priyenko called soon to report the progress of the 4th Guards Regiment: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Ma Daqiang's 4th Guards Regiment, is going around After passing through the burning village, I found that the nearby ravines were full of slaughtered livestock, which should be the crime committed by the Germans when they evacuated the village."

"The gully is full of slaughtered livestock?" Hearing Onuprienko say this, Sidolin couldn't help gnashing his teeth and cursed: "The damned German owes us another blood debt. "

Sokov was talking to Ponejielin next to him, and he vaguely heard the conversation between Sidolin and Onuprienko, so he asked curiously: "Chief of Staff, what are you talking about?"

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin quickly replied after hearing Sokov's question, "General Onuprienko reported that after his troops bypassed the burning village, they found a large number of German soldiers in the ravine. livestock killed by man.”

When Sokov heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly said to Sidolin, "Chief of Staff, quickly ask, are there any corpses of villagers in the ravine besides the corpses of livestock?"

"General Onuprienko, the commander asks you," Sidolin immediately relayed Sokov's words to Onuprienko: "Are there any corpses of villagers in the ravine besides the corpses of livestock?"

"Comrade Commander," Pornegering asked in a low voice, "do you think the Germans will massacre the villagers?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you don't know something. The Germans have done this kind of thing many times." Sokov quickly explained to Ponejielin: "I once heard from Comrade General that before his troops attacked Kiev, During the advancement of the Dnieper River, the German army once encountered strong walls and cleared the fields. In the cities, they blew up factories and schools; in the countryside, they burned villages, burned farmland, and robbed livestock. In addition to poisoning wells , and shot all the villagers who did not want to evacuate to the right bank of the Dnieper with them.

Some of us like to say that many crimes committed by the Germans in our country were done by the SS and had nothing to do with the Wehrmacht. But the crimes mentioned by Comrade General were all committed by the Wehrmacht under Manstein. "

After hearing this, Ponegerin couldn't help saying with emotion: "I don't know how long we will have to wait until we can pay back the blood debt they owed to the Germans."

"Hurry up, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov may not be able to say anything else, but he knows exactly when the Soviet army will enter Berlin. He said confidently: "It will take another year at most." At that time, we can not only drive the enemy out of our country, but also push the war into their country, and at that time, it will be time for us to pay back the blood debt."

"Comrade Commander, I asked General Onuprienko." Sidolin said next to him: "He said that there were no corpses of villagers in the ravine except for the corpses of livestock. It seems that the Germans this time Conscience finds that no massacre was committed in the evacuation of the village."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think it's possible for the Germans to realize their conscience." Sokov said with a sneer, "The Germans are very smart, and they brought a large number of villagers into the city. There will be many scruples, and maybe at that time, the battle will be fought with fear. A battle that can be resolved in two days may take a week or even longer."

"Then what can be done to deal with this conspiracy of the Germans?"

"This is not a conspiracy, but an overt conspiracy." Sokov said rather helplessly: "We know that they have kidnapped a large number of civilians and placed them in the city as human shields, but we can only watch helplessly. Tell Austria General Nupriyenko, the troops will attack Bobruysk as planned and see how the Germans react."

"General Onupriyenko, Comrade Commander said, let your division continue to attack Bobruisk according to the original plan, and see how the Germans react."

After finishing the call, Sidolin put down the phone and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, who do you think will be the first unit to rush into the city between us and General Batov's 65th Army?"

Sokov did not immediately express his opinion, but turned his head to look at Ponejielin, and asked with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Commander, tell me what you think. Who do you think will be the first to rush into Bobru?" Isk's troops?"

"Comrade Commander, although the 65th Army used two divisions to attack the city earlier than us, I don't think they will be the first to rush into the city."

"You're right." Sokov nodded and said, "The early attack went smoothly, but it doesn't mean they can be the first troops to rush into the city."

"Why is this, Comrade Commander?" Sidolin couldn't help asking when he heard the conversation between the two, as if playing a riddle, "Can you explain?"

"The reason is very simple, Comrade Chief of Staff." Before Sukov could speak this time, Ponegerin said first: "With the destruction of the German 35th Army outside the city, the enemy in the city feels that the chances of escape are not high. High, it will definitely carry out a tenacious resistance. As the first offensive force, the 65th Army will definitely become the focus of the Germans' defense. In order to prevent them from rushing into the city, the Germans will concentrate a considerable part of their forces on the counterattack. The attack of the 65th Army. Our attack will be much later than that of the friendly forces, and the enemy forces in the direction of the attack have become weaker, so our progress will be smoother."

"That's right, what Comrade Deputy Commander said is exactly what I want to say." Sokov waited for Ponedherin to finish, and immediately added: "The attack launched by General Batov's 65th Army, It has successfully attracted the attention of the German army. In order to survive in our encirclement, they will definitely find a way to stop the attack of the 65th Army. The best way is to draw enough troops from other areas where there is no fighting for the time being , to strengthen the area under attack, lest their defense line be broken by our army."

"In this way, our attacking frontal German forces will inevitably be weakened. Under such circumstances, our offensive will achieve twice the result with half the effort."

When Sidolin heard that what Sokov and Ponedelin said were both reasonable, he nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, both of you are very reasonable. I believe that General Onuprienko The performance of the 6th Guards Division will certainly not disappoint us."

Half an hour later, Onupriyenko called Sidolin again to report the progress of the troops: "Comrade Chief of Staff, good news, good news! My troops have broken through the German outer line of defense, It is developing in depth. Now it is less than two kilometers away from the urban area of ​​Bobruysk."

"You did a great job, General Onuprienko." Sidolin was very happy to learn that the 6th Guards Division was going well, and he said into the microphone: "But you can't be proud, if you want Keep it up and try to be the first force to storm the city."

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Onuprienko said confidently: "I will never let you down."

"Comrade Commander," before Sidolin hung up the phone, an intelligence staff officer came in from the outside and handed a piece of paper to Sokov: "This is the information we just received. In the woods in the Dubovka area to the east of Isk, the German army was found to have assembled a large number of infantry, tanks, artillery and other technical equipment. It seems that they intend to attack my attacking troops from the flank."

After reading the information provided by the staff officer, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback. You must know that Onuprienko's 6th Guards Division launched an attack from the southeast of the city. Once the enemy lurking in the woods to the east launches an attack, the 6th Guards Division will be divided into two groups. Second, the morale of the commanders and fighters who were originally high will become low because of this.

"Comrade commander, what should we do?" Sidolin heard the latest enemy report, and said worriedly, regardless of the fact that he was on the phone with Onuprienko: "If the enemy launches an attack on the city in the 6th Guards Division, When they suddenly launch an attack from their flanks, the division may be divided into two by the enemy, and the troops attacking the enemy's position will be encircled, which will deal a heavy blow to the morale and morale of the troops."

"Comrade Commander, the situation is urgent and there is no need to hesitate any longer." Ponejielin suggested to Sokov: "Call up the 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions immediately, resolutely block this wave of enemies, and ensure that the guards The 6th Division's attack went well."

"No, even if we transfer these two infantry divisions, I'm afraid it won't have much effect." Unexpectedly, Sukov shook his head and said: "Facing the German army with tanks and artillery, the infantry division's No matter how heroic the commanders and fighters are, I am afraid that the casualties will not be small."

"Or," Ponedelin suggested to Sokov again: "Return the 109th Infantry Division and the 202nd Tank Brigade from the north and launch an attack from the enemy's rear flank."

"It still doesn't work." The suggestion of Ponegerin was also rejected by Sokov: "The 109th Division and the tank brigade paid a lot of sacrifices in the battle to annihilate the 35th Division of the German Army. At the same time, ammunition and fuel were also consumed. It’s almost there. What is needed on the battlefield is not just numbers, but people and equipment with combat effectiveness. Even if they rush over when ammunition and fuel are insufficient, they will not be of much use.”

"This doesn't work, and that doesn't work either." Seeing that his proposals were all rejected by Sokov without exception, Ponegerin couldn't help being a little impatient: "Then what do you think we should do? We can't just sit back and watch." The 6th Guards Division was divided and surrounded by German troops from the flank, or even wiped out?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander, don't worry." Seeing that Ponejielin became extremely agitated at this moment, Sokov hurriedly comforted him and said, "I have already thought of a way to rescue our troops from the predicament. "

"What way?" Sidolin urged impatiently: "Comrade commander, hurry up and listen."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov saw that Sidolin was still holding the microphone in his hand, and knowing that the call between him and Onu Priyenko had not ended, he told him, "You tell Onu Prienko first. General Prienko, let his troops continue the attack on the city, and leave the enemy flanks alone."

After seeing Sidolin put down the phone, he told the other party: "Help me get through to the headquarters of the 16th Air Force Army. I want to talk to General Rutenko."

When Sidolin heard what Sokov said, his eyes lit up immediately: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to let the air force attack and bomb the enemy?"

"That's right, that's what I think." Sokov nodded, and said in a positive tone: "The enemy has no air supremacy, and facing air strikes, they are a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered. As soon as our air force arrives The battlefield is the end of this enemy."

After the call was connected, Rudenko was a little surprised when he learned that the person who called him was Sokov: "General Sokov, do you have any advice?"

"General Rudenko, my troops are attacking Bobruisk, but in the woods of Dubovka to the east of the city, a large number of German infantry, tanks, artillery and other technical equipment have been assembled. I plan to take advantage of our army's siege to launch an attack from the flanks to achieve the goal of dividing our attacking troops."

"I understand, General Sokov." Rudenko waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Of course it is to provide air support for my troops and carry out saturation bombing against the enemy hidden in the Dubovka woods."

"Saturation bombing?!" Rudenko may have heard this term for the first time, and asked a little puzzled, "What does it mean?"

"Saturation bombing refers to assessing the invulnerability of the bombing target in advance, and then focusing on using a bombing equivalent greater than the invulnerability of the target group to attack, in order to destroy the enemy's vital force at once." After finishing the difficult-to-pronounce terminology, Sokov tried He asked Rudenko calmly: "General Rudenko, do you understand?"

When he said this, Sokov was still muttering in his heart. If the other party couldn't understand what he meant, he still needed to find a way to explain it to him in a simple way.

Unexpectedly, Rudenko was smarter than Sokov imagined, and he understood what Sokov wanted to express. He said with a smile: "General Sokov, I didn't expect you to know so much. Don't worry, I will immediately Arrange aviation divisions to attack and saturate the German forces in the Dubovka area, and let them taste the power of our bombs."

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Ponejielin and Sidolin: "Deputy commander, chief of staff, no matter which division is sent to strengthen the flank of the 6th Guards Division, it will take several hours. And The German attack on the flank of the 6th Guards Division could happen at any time, and we simply didn't have that much time to mobilize our troops.

Even if the troops arrived sooner than we thought, the infantry divisions lacking heavy weapons were no match for the German army equipped with tanks and cannons. Maybe in the end, instead of helping the 6th Guards Division, they paid unnecessary expenses. Great sacrifice. Now I ask the air force to dispatch and bomb the German army hidden in the woods, so that this enemy army that poses a great threat to us can be completely defeated at a very small cost. "

"You are right, Comrade Commander." Ponegerin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then argued with a smile: "After all, I am old, and the first thing I think of is the old tactics before, and I only want to fight against the enemy. I saw a real story on the ground, but I didn’t expect that there was an air force that could use it to use bombs to destroy this enemy that threatened us.”