Red Moscow

Chapter 2188

In the next two days of fighting, the defense lines of the 3rd Army and the 2nd Shock Army had already been leveled with Sokov's 48th Army. However, it became very difficult for them to continue to advance deeper into the German defense, and the German resistance became extremely tenacious.

After a day of fighting, Sokov and others sat in the headquarters and chatted while having dinner.

Sidolin said puzzledly: "The East Prussian campaign we launched was a desperate defense for the Germans. They had almost no chance of winning. But in the face of our army's attack, they are still resisting tenaciously. Even the People's Stormtroopers, which have little combat effectiveness, have gone into battle, isn't that tantamount to letting civilians die in vain?"

Regarding Sidolin's question, Ponejielin expressed his opinion: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy we are dealing with today is the German army that has just been renamed the 'Northern Army Group'. The Central Army Group, which was defeated by our army in Operation Ang, retreated to East Prussia for repairs after the defeat.

For them, East Prussia is a sacred place in the minds of Germans, and it is of even greater significance to the independence of Germany. Since the 19th century, Germans have considered themselves Prussians, and the concepts of "Prussians will not surrender" and "Prussian generals will not betray the country" have penetrated into their bones. In order to keep their birthplace, the Germans publicized in East Prussia that "the German nation has reached the brink of extinction", and asked a large number of old people and children to wear military uniforms. After simple military training, they joined the army under the leadership of veterans. war. "

Potapov, who was sitting next to Ponedelin, interjected: "I heard that the city of Memel, which originally belonged to Lithuania, was besieged by General Cherniakhovsky's troops as early as October last year, but Three months have passed, and the city still has not been captured."

Hearing that Potapov mentioned Cherniakhovsky, Sokov couldn't help but feel agitated. He clearly remembered that Cherniakhovsky was about to become marshal in the week before, that is, on February 18th. On the 1st, when he drove to the front line for inspection, he was bombarded by the German army, and unfortunately died a heroic sacrifice. What is strange is that none of the four people who traveled with him was injured.

Seeing that a senior general of the Soviet army would die on the battlefield in the near future, but he couldn't remind him, this made Sokov feel very uncomfortable.

At this time he heard Sidolin saying: "The German 3rd Panzer Army and 4th Army have been repaired and supplemented in East Prussia, and a large deep defense belt has been built on the border, with dense fortifications and complex tunnels. .If we want to break through the German defenses, we will probably need the full cooperation of the artillery.”

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the artillery director Potapov waved his hand and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, your idea is good, but if you want to break through the German defenses, our artillery alone is far from enough. We know that many of the German fortifications are located in the blind spots covered by our shelling. No matter how many shells we use, we cannot destroy these German fortifications. Once the infantry of our army launches an attack, these hidden fortifications will cause us damage again. Huge casualties."

Potapov's words aroused Sokov's curiosity, and he asked tentatively, "Comrade Artillery Chief, do you have any good ways to deal with the German fortifications?"

"Bombardment is definitely necessary." As a director of artillery, Potapov will naturally not forget his duty: "We must first destroy the more obvious fortifications on the defensive zone, and those that are concealed and are dangerous to our infantry Fortifications that pose a huge threat should be dealt with by the Air Force."

"That's right, what Misha said is right." Ponegerin echoed: "To destroy the German fortifications, artillery alone is far from enough, and the support of the air force is also needed. Those fortifications that cannot be destroyed by artillery fire are nothing more than They are in the blind spot of artillery fire, but in order to ensure the shooting range, they are located in a particularly conspicuous position, which can just become the target of our air force's bombing."

At this moment, Sokov had already forgotten about Cherniakhovsky. He was eager to know how to destroy the solid German fortifications and open up an attack path for his offensive troops.

Seeing that Sokov seemed to be interested in this topic, Ponegerin took the initiative to say to him: "Comrade Commander, shouldn't you call the Marshal and report to him what we have discussed?"

"Well, Comrade Deputy Commander, what you said makes sense." Regarding Ponegerin's proposal, Sokov nodded and said, "I'll call him right away."

When the front army headquarters was connected, the person who answered the phone happened to be Rokossovsky. When he recognized that the person calling him was Sokov, he asked directly: "Misha, what do you want from me?" ?"

"Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this." Sokov said into the microphone: "Although the fronts of the 3rd Army and the 2nd Assault Army have been leveled with our army, but because the German fortifications are too strong, we continue to attack the enemy. Moving forward, it becomes very difficult.”

"That's right, the situation is indeed like this." Rokossovsky felt that Sokov would not call himself for no reason, and he must have something important to say, so he took the initiative to ask: "Did you come up with something?" What's the best way?"

Sokov glanced at Potapov who was sitting next to him, and said modestly: "Comrade Marshal, in fact, this method was thought up by my artillery director, General Potapov. Covering means that some fortifications in dead ends cannot be destroyed, and these indestructible fortifications will cause us huge casualties when our infantry launches an attack, so other methods must be used to destroy these German fortifications.”

"Then have you thought of a good way?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal, we have already figured out a solution." Sokov said: "Those fortifications that cannot be destroyed by artillery fire are usually located in more conspicuous positions. If we dispatch the air force, we can easily destroy them."

"In the past two days, we have also dispatched the air force to bomb the enemy's defensive positions." Rokossovsky said with a sigh: "But the effect achieved is not obvious."

"The accumulation of quantity will inevitably lead to a change in quality." Sokov continued after finishing this pretentious sentence: "I think the reason why the bombing in the past two days has not achieved the desired results is that the air force we dispatched is too large. Small."

"The air force dispatched is too small?" Hearing what Sokov said, Rokossovsky couldn't help frowning, "Our 6th Army of the Air Force dispatches fighter planes of an aviation division every day to carry out mad attacks on the German ground targets." Bombing indiscriminately, but still not much effect."

"Less, there are too few planes in an aviation division." Sokov shook his head and said, "If you want to completely destroy the German defense system, you must adopt large-scale, uninterrupted bombing, so that the Germans have no time at all. Repair the fortifications. In this case, our army will attack the enemy's defense line again, and the chance of breaking through their defense line will be greatly improved."

"Misha, if according to what you said, the large-scale and continuous bombing of the German positions will consume more ammunition and fuel." Rokossovsky said with some hesitation: "If If we do this, the ammunition and fuel stored by the air force can only last for a few days. After the ammunition and fuel are exhausted, our air force will no longer be able to provide air support to ground troops for a long time.”

"You are right, Comrade Marshal." Sokov agreed with the concerns expressed by Rokossovsky, but he continued: "But have you ever thought about it, maybe after the bombing of the past few days is over, The German defense line will be torn open one after another, and our troops will be able to penetrate into the depths of their defense through these openings."

Regarding Sokov's statement, Rokossovsky frowned and thought about it, thinking it was very reasonable. He nodded and said, "Misha, what you said is very reasonable. But this matter is of great importance. I still need to discuss it with the leaders of the front army before making a final decision."

The call between Rokossovsky and Sokov was also heard by Chief of Staff Bogolyubov. As soon as Rokossovsky put down the phone, he couldn't wait to say: "Comrade Commander, I think General Sokov's proposal cannot be adopted."

Rokossovsky asked noncommittally: "Why?"

"The reason is very simple." Bogolyubov said: "During this period of time, our air force has mastered the air supremacy of the battlefield, but if, as General Sokov said, a large number of uninterrupted bombings of the German defensive positions , then the fuel and ammunition stored by the air force will be exhausted soon. Aircraft without fuel and ammunition will be unable to fight at all. In this way, the German air force will regain the air supremacy of the battlefield, which will lead to our The ground forces have no access to cover from the air when attacking."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I admit that what you said is very reasonable." Rokossovsky looked at Bogolyubov and said: "But we have been shelling and bombing the German positions non-stop for the past two days, but we have not been able to Destroyed the strong German fortifications, thereby slowing down the progress of the troops."

He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, and continued: "You know, the East Prussian campaign has only been carried out for three days, but our army has suffered more than 70,000 casualties, and the defense zone wedged into the German army is only a mere one." If we continue to fight like this, not only will the morale and morale of the commanders and fighters be affected, but the Supreme Command will also be dissatisfied with our performance."

Bogolyubov, who originally wanted to refute Rokossovsky, shut his mouth obediently when he heard the other party mention the Supreme Command. Yes, the Belarusian Third Front's offensive failure some time ago made Stalin furious. If his Second Front Army cannot achieve brilliant results in a short period of time, it may also cause dissatisfaction with the Supreme Commander himself.

After a pause, Bogolyubov asked cautiously: "Comrade Marshal, what is your plan?"

"The battle has progressed so far, and our top priority is to break through the German defenses as soon as possible and lead the war to the enemy's control area." Rokossovsky said: "I think we should follow Misha's suggestion and dispatch all the air forces. Carry out large-scale and continuous bombing of German positions, completely destroy the German defense system, and open gaps for our offensive troops."

"Comrade Marshal," seeing that Rokossovsky had made up his mind, Bogolyubov knew that he would not change anything if he tried to persuade him, so he changed the topic in time: "I think the logistics department should be informed. Seize the time to grab the ammunition and fuel needed by the air force. Our air force has enough ammunition and fuel to strengthen the bombing of German positions while ensuring the necessary air cover for ground troops.”

"Well, we should say hello to the logistics department." Rokossovsky said: "But I also want to remind them that while increasing the delivery of ammunition and fuel to the Air Force, it should not affect the supply transportation to other troops. .”

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov nodded and said, "I will immediately convey your order to the logistics department."

Rokossovsky nodded and said with emotion: "Wars today are all about logistics. If the supplies can't keep up, even if we have the advantage in strength and equipment, we can't win the final victory. This point, in the It was confirmed when the three Kharkov campaigns were in place."

As a senior commander, Bogolyubov naturally knew that the third Battle of Kharkov mentioned by Rokossovsky was after the end of the Stalingrad Defense War. The Southwestern Front and the Voronezh Front on the left bank of the Dnieper River The attack on Manstein's troops.

At the beginning of the battle, the Soviet army had an absolute advantage both in terms of strength and equipment. From the very beginning, this battle was a bit like an adult beating a child. The Soviet army was the adults, and Manstein's German army was the child. At that time, almost everyone felt that it would be easy to eliminate the enemy on the left bank of the Dnieper River.

But the subsequent development was far beyond everyone's expectations, because the Soviet army's logistics supply base was more than a thousand kilometers away from the front, and the roads, railways, bridges, and culverts along the way were all damaged by the German army to varying degrees , As a result, the supply came very slowly and very little, which was not enough to make up for the consumption of the Soviet army on the battlefield.

As a result, at the end of the battle, the Soviet army, which was supposed to win, was beaten to the ground by the weak German army. This battle achieved Manstein's prestige. After he won the title of "Conqueror of Sevastopol", he fought again and became a demon that terrified the Soviet army.

"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov assured Rokossovsky: "Our Second Belarusian Front is not the Southwest Front, nor is it the Voronezh Front. We will never lose to the Germans."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I am relieved to see that you have such confidence." Rokossovsky waved Bogolyubov and said, "Hurry up and call the Minister of Logistics to inform us of our decision." he."

While Bogolyubov was on the phone, Rokossovsky looked up at the map on the wall, thinking to himself: Is Misha's suggestion really effective? While our artillery is preparing for artillery fire on the German defensive positions, we also dispatch the air force to carry out large-scale, continuous bombing of the enemy, which can really destroy the German defense system and open the way for our troops to rush into the depths of the enemy's defense. the notch?