Red Moscow

"Hello, General Khogarsky." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and asked tentatively: "I want to ask, how much artillery can you give me to use?"

"I can entrust you with the 8th, 9th, and 11th Artillery Divisions," Khogalsky replied without hesitation, having already figured out which units to hand over to Sokov before making the call. Said: "The three divisions have a total of 320 76mm, 85mm, 122mm, and 152mm artillery pieces. However, the reserves of shells are limited, and we can only provide you with 40 minutes of artillery preparation at most."

"What, you can only provide us with 40 minutes of artillery preparation?" Sokov didn't expect that Khogalsky would cut down another ten minutes from his repeatedly compressed artillery preparation time. He said with a wry smile: "Hogal General Ski, the artillery preparation time is too short, can it be extended to fifty minutes?"

"No!" Khogarsky replied very simply: "The artillery shells stored by the artillery of the group army can barely sustain the shelling for an hour. If all the shells are consumed in the direction of your division, other troops require me to Provide artillery support, what should I do?"

Originally, Sokov wanted to try his best to persuade Khogalski to change his mind, and even when the other party said this, he immediately silenced Sokov's next words. After a long time, Sokov asked with some embarrassment: "General Khogalski, after your artillery preparations are over, can you use rockets to cover the enemy's second line of defense? You know, stay The rockets by the river have all used up the rockets."

Khogalski heard that Sokov wanted to launch a rocket attack at the end, and wanted to reject the other party, but when he heard that the other party actually mentioned attacking the second line of defense, he couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and then asked: " Colonel Sokov, I don't understand why you let us attack the enemy's second line of defense with rockets, but what about the first line?"

"General Khogarsky, if nothing else happens," Sokov said confidently, "by the time you finished the forty minutes of bombardment, we have successfully occupied the first line of defense of the German army. If you use rockets If you shoot at the first line of defense, you will hit your own people."

"Damn, how is this possible?" Khogarsky couldn't believe his ears, he asked: "Are you planning to attack the enemy's position while the artillery is preparing for artillery fire?"

"That's right, General Khogalsky, that's exactly the case." Although Khogalsky couldn't see his expression on the other end of the phone, Sokov nodded vigorously and said seriously: "My The troops would attack the enemy's position ten minutes after the bombardment began. When the artillery fire extended to the second line of defense, the troops who attacked were just in time to occupy the enemy's position."

"Colonel Sokov, you are simply crazy." After hearing Sokov's words, Khogalsky not only did not have the slightest joy, but was inexplicably angry: "When the shelling has not stopped, you ordered the troops to The enemy's position to launch an attack is simply too crazy. Haven't you thought about how much casualties the shrapnel flying around will cause to our army?"

"I've already thought about it, General Khogalsky." Considering that the next attack will require the full support of the artillery, Sokov did not hide it from Khogalski, but said truthfully: "The first A group of tank brigades rushing into the German positions will be Colonel Bely's tank brigade, and even if they encounter shrapnel flying across, they will not cause any harm to them. The infantry following the attack will be five minutes after the tanks occupy the enemy's position. Entering the occupied position, when your artillery fire has already been extended, will not pose any threat to the infantry."

"Well, since you said that, I can ask the two Guards Rocket Battalions to provide you with a salvo after the shelling preparations are over, covering the enemy's second position with firepower." After listening to Sokov's introduction Later, Khogarsky changed his mind and decided to use the rocket battalion to provide support for the attacking troops. He then asked: "Colonel Sokov, I also want to ask, how do you provide shooting parameters for my artillery?"

"General Khogarsky, you don't have to worry about this. You have artillery observers on Mamayev Post, and they can provide artillery with special artillery parameters." Sokov finally said: "Comrade General, Do you think we can establish a special line of communication so that I can command the artillery more conveniently?"

"No problem." To Sokov's request, Khogarsky agreed very readily: "Give it to your three artillery divisions, and I will let Major General Rozanovich, the commander of the 8th Artillery Division, take command. You can contact him directly."

Sokov and Khogarsky chatted for a few more words before putting down the phone and saying to Sidolin and Ivanov who were standing aside: "Chief of Staff, Deputy Division Commander, the situation has changed now. The artillery preparation for the enemy's artillery fire has been reduced from the original fifty minutes to forty minutes. Therefore, our original battle plan must be adjusted accordingly."

"Comrade Commander," Ivanov said with a frown after Sokov finished speaking, "According to what you said, when the enemy is bombarded by our army, they will retreat to the second line of defense, leaving only A small number of observation posts. In this way, we can easily capture the first line of defense without destroying the enemy's fortifications. Now I worry about whether our artillery can destroy the enemy's A second line of defense?"

The bombardment of the second line of defense was shortened by ten minutes, which was also a headache for Sokov. Instead of answering Ivanov's question immediately, he asked Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, how long does it take for the infantry to go from the first line of defense to the second?"

Sidolin knew the distance between the two lines of defense very well, and had also calculated in advance the time required for tanks and infantry to move, so when he heard Sokov's question, he replied without hesitation: "Tank Three minutes for the infantry, eight minutes for the infantry."

After listening to Sidolin's answer, Sokov ordered: "Then immediately after the artillery preparations are over, let some infantry take tanks and rush to the enemy's second line of defense. Calculated from the time, wait for them to approach the second line of defense." During the defense line, our army's rocket launchers had just finished covering the enemy's positions with firepower, and the gunpowder smoke had not yet dissipated. The enemy must still be hiding in the shelters and anti-gun holes. We can seize the enemy's positions at a very small price. "

After deploying the mission, Sokov suddenly remembered his agreement with Khogalsky, so he called the communication company commander Maxim over and said to him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, we need to establish a dedicated line with the artillery on the left bank. You immediately arrange for manpower to set up the telephone line, so as not to affect the battle later."

"Comrade Commander," Maxim said timidly after Sokov finished speaking, "There is no need to set up a special line, and it is too late in time. We can use the radio to get in touch with the artillery on the left bank." .”

"Calling by radio, will there be a situation where the signal is not good?" Golikov couldn't help interjecting when he heard this: "When the battle in the city was the most intense some time ago, Chuikov once used the radio in a state of emergency. Talking directly to the front army headquarters, but the effect is not good, intermittent. If this happens to us later, will it affect the next battle?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Maxim replied respectfully after waiting for Golikov to finish speaking: "If the antenna of the radio station is on the top of the hill, there will be no bad signal like you are worried about." Case."

Since the radio communication can establish contact with the artillery on the other side, Sokov did not want to waste money and money to set up some local lines, so he turned to Sidolin and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we will contact you with the artillery on the other side. I will leave it to you. You should contact the commander of the 8th Artillery Division as soon as possible..." At this point, Sukov suddenly forgot what the commander called the order, so he paused and frowned and began to recall.

"The commander of the 8th Artillery Division is Major General Rozanovich." Seeing Sokov's expression of deep thought, Sidolin kindly reminded him.

"That's right, that's Major General Rozanovich." Sokov continued: "You establish contact with him immediately, and provide him with the time when the bombardment started and the shooting parameters as soon as possible."