"Report to Comrade Commander," Sokov and Lunev were discussing how to deal with Hott. Samoylov came in from outside and reported to Sokov: "The 4th Guards Tank Corps has a long wave." General Luboyarov and the two commanders of the 1st Artillery Division and the 2nd Artillery Division have arrived and are waiting outside."
The designations of the 1st Artillery Division and the 2nd Artillery Division were temporary designations given to them by Sokov for the convenience of command. The two artillery division commanders were also reasonable people and had no objections to Sokov's arrangement. Therefore, the designations of the 1st Artillery Division and the 2nd Artillery Division appeared in the organization of the 27th Army.
"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov said that to complete his plan, the assistance of artillery and tank troops was indispensable. He originally wanted to wait for Sameko to send telegrams to the infantry divisions, and then ask him to notify the tank commander and the two artillery division commanders to come over. Unexpectedly, the others could not summon them on their own and came to the door on their own initiative: "Hurry up and invite them in! "
A moment later, Major General Polubyarov, commander of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, Colonel Terenga, commander of the 1st Artillery Division, and Colonel Besonov, commander of the 2nd Artillery Division, walked in from outside the headquarters.
After the three people saluted themselves, Sokov and Lunev stepped forward to shake hands with them one by one, and then said with a smile: "Three comrade commanders, I was just about to inform you to come to my headquarters. No. I thought you were here first."
"Comrade Commander!" Major General Polubyarov, the highest ranking among the three, was the first to speak: "Our tank troops and artillery have completed their assembly and are here specifically to request instructions."
"Come here," Sokov walked to the wall, called the three of them to his side, and then pointed to the map on the wall and said to them: "Based on the situation on the battlefield, the enemy will definitely block our deployment tomorrow. positions and carry out a fierce attack. The German army responsible for the offensive today is the Grossdeutschland Division. After dawn tomorrow, more German divisions will enter the battle, trying to break through our blocking positions so that they can smoothly withdraw to Bel. Gorod.”
Based on Sokov's introduction, Polubyarov clearly realized that in the coming battle, only his own troops would maintain direct contact with the German army, so he took the initiative to call for battle and said: "Comrade Commander, my tank corps Now we are only eight kilometers away from the blocking position, and we can enter the position overnight to assist the infantry in defense."
"No," Sokov said with a wave of his hand: "Before the enemy attacks tomorrow, he will definitely concentrate his superior artillery fire on our blocking position and carry out violent shelling. If you deploy the tanks on the blocking position prematurely, then the enemy will During the artillery preparation stage, you will lose a lot of tanks."
Seeing that Sokov rejected his proposal, Polubyarov was not discouraged and continued: "Since you do not agree with us entering the position now, then we can attack from the flanks of the German ground troops during the day. Go out there, beat them up and teach them a lesson they'll never forget."
Hearing what Polubyarov said, Sokov smiled: "Comrade General, haven't you considered that the enemy is stronger than us? If you launch a surprise attack on the enemy prematurely, you may suffer from their advantage." An encirclement by the armored forces? If you are encircled, our infantry holding the blocking position will become isolated and helpless."
Polubyarov did not expect that both of his suggestions were rejected by Sokov. He asked with some frustration: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me when our army should enter the battle?"
"Wait until the enemy breaks through our blocking position."
"After the enemy broke through our blocking position?" Polubyarov asked in confusion: "Is it up to us to block the gap opened by the enemy?"
Unexpectedly, Sokov's answer once again exceeded his expectations: "No."
"What, you put our troops into battle when the defensive position was breached, but it was not to plug the gap that was opened?" Polubyarov was confused: "Then what is the purpose?"
In fact, not only General Polubyarov didn't understand, but also the two commanders of the 1st Artillery Division and the 2nd Artillery Division. Only Lunev, who knew Sokov's intentions, smiled and said nothing.
"Comrade Commander, I don't understand what you mean either." Samyko, who had just finished making the call, came back and happened to hear the question raised by Polubyarov, so he couldn't help but interjected: "If you are in the position When it is breached, if the tank army is thrown into battle, if it is not to plug the gap that has been opened, then what is the purpose?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov did not directly explain the reason to everyone, but asked Samyko: "If you were the German commander, what kind of actions would you order once you discovered that the leading troops had broken through the local blocking troops? Order?"
"My troops have broken through the enemy's blocking position. What order will I give?" After repeating Sokov's words, Samyko said thoughtfully: "I will definitely order the troops to speed up their march. Quickly pass through the torn breach and return to Belgorod as quickly as possible.”
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff. Your analysis is correct. Once it is discovered that our army's blocking position has been breached, Hott will definitely issue the same order." Sokov waited for Samyko to finish and immediately added: " I put the tank army into battle at this time just to let them launch an assault on the retreating German army. At this time, the German army was eager to return to Belgorod as soon as possible, so they had no intention of continuing to fight. , will inevitably be defeated by the tank army."
Sokov's words silenced everyone, and everyone began to think quickly about whether Sokov's statement was reliable and whether there was any hope of success.
After a while, Polubyarov was the first to speak: "Comrade Commander, I think your plan, although bold, has great hope of success. But there is one thing I don't understand. I wonder what you can do with it." Shall I explain?”
"General Polubyarov, if you have any questions, just ask." Sokov said with a smile: "I will definitely tell you everything I know."
"Since you plan to use our tank army to attack the retreating enemy, why not simply open the road and let the enemy return directly to Belgorod?"
"The reason is very simple. If we don't establish a blocking position halfway, the enemy will use alternate cover during the retreat and retreat to Belgorod in an orderly manner." Sokov met Polubyarov If he still had questions, he patiently explained to him and others: "In this way, no matter how strong our troops are, it may be difficult to achieve any results. We can only make a tenacious blockade first and let the enemy think that we want to cut off their retreat. In order to escape for their lives, they will definitely try every means to break through our defensive positions.
But if after a fierce battle, they find that our army's position has finally been broken through, their vigilance will be lowered, and then Holt will order the troops to speed up their retreat so that they can all withdraw to Belgorod in the shortest possible time. . We can take advantage of their unwillingness to fight anymore and launch a tank assault on them. When the time comes, the enemy who only thinks about retreating will be defeated by you. "
After Sokov's explanation, Polubyarov finally understood his intention, and a delighted smile appeared on his face. He knew very well that once his tank army launched an assault on the retreating German army, it would achieve great success. What a huge result. By doing this, Sokov put a huge achievement directly into his own hands. I heard that my superiors intended to expand the 4th Guards Tank Corps into a group army after the war. With the bonus of this victory, I am afraid that the position of first group army commander must be mine.
Seeing that Polubyarov's tank corps would achieve huge results in the next battle, the two artillery division commanders could not hold their breath. Colonel Terenga, commander of the 1st Artillery Division, asked: "Comrade Commander, what about What about our artillery? We can't just sit around and do nothing like now, right?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Sokov couldn't remember the names of the two division commanders, so he could only address each other by their military ranks: "In order to make this scene more realistic, I still have a task to give to your artillery."
Knowing that Sokov had a task for him, Terenga couldn't help but his eyes lit up and he quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me what the task is?"
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov picked up the explanation stick by the wall, pointed at the map and said to Terenga: "After dawn tomorrow, you set up several observation positions near the blocking position. When the enemy's tanks and infantry launch attacks on the position, When attacking, you can intercept the enemy's artillery fire and kill their effective forces."
"How far should we hit?" Terenga knew Sokov's next plan, but when he heard the order to bombard the German attacking troops, he asked with some uncertainty: "It's a symbolic firing of a few shots and then stopping. Or keep shelling?”
"As long as the enemy attacks our defensive positions, you have to shell them." Sokov said: "The harder you hit, the better. It doesn't matter even if you use up all the shells."
"What about our division, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Sokov had assigned combat missions to the 1st Artillery Division, but seemed to have forgotten himself, Colonel Besonov, commander of the 2nd Artillery Division, said anxiously: "You can't favor one over the other. .”
"Comrade Colonel, don't worry, I also have tasks for you." Sokov naturally would not favor one division over another, assigning tasks to one division while leaving the other division on the bench. He smiled and said to Bessonov: "When the tank army launches an assault on the retreating German army, you are responsible for providing them with artillery cover and using powerful artillery fire to make the enemy more confused."
Sokov's deployment greatly exceeded Sameko's expectations. According to his idea, after Sokov met with the tank corps commander and the two artillery division commanders, the issue discussed must be how to use artillery fire to kill the German army's effective forces on a large scale, and then use the tank corps to face the enemy's offensive troops face to face. Conduct an assault. But unexpectedly, the other side was actually creative and figured out that after a fierce battle, they would give the enemy a passage, and then use artillery bombardment and tank assault to deal with the retreating German troops.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you thinking about?" Lunev saw Samyko standing aside silently and guessed what he must be thinking, so he asked curiously: "Do you have any objections to Comrade Commander's plan? ?”
Samek nodded first, and then shook his head violently. He might be worried that Sokov would misunderstand him, so he quickly explained: "Comrade Commander, I also think that your tactics can achieve greater results with minimal casualties." The results of the battle. But I am worried..."
"What are you worried about?" Sokov didn't wait for him to finish, and asked himself: "Are you worried that after the superiors knew that our defensive position was breached by the enemy, they not only did not organize forces to block the gap, but also opened the passage to let the enemy pass. , will make mistakes. Is my guess right?"
"That's right." Samek saw that Sokov had spoken his mind, so he did not refute, but nodded in approval. "That's what I mean. What should we do if this happens?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." It was Lunev who answered Samyko's question: "As long as we can destroy more enemies and achieve greater results, even if our superiors know about our approach, they will open our eyes. One eye is closed."
Sameko did not dwell on this issue anymore, but continued to ask: "Then do we need to inform the several infantry divisions participating in the war of this plan?"
"I don't think this is necessary." Sokov said: "If the commanders of the infantry division know my plan, I'm worried that they will not be resolute enough in the battle to stop the enemy. Then even if the German army After breaking through our army's defense line, I'm afraid they will also become suspicious and retreat using alternate covering methods so that our army cannot find a good opportunity to attack."
"Comrade Commander is right." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Lunev added: "If the division commanders responsible for the blocking task know the commander's intention, when the position is breached by the enemy, they will not If we send troops to counterattack but try to block the gap that has been opened, we may arouse the enemy's suspicion and completely ruin our plan."
After reaching a consensus, General Polubyarov and the two artillery division commanders returned to their respective units with satisfaction. However, for the sake of safety, Samyko kindly reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think you should report this bold plan to Marshal Zhukov, so that even if the superiors investigate, he can help you. A few kind words.”
"It makes sense." Sokov thought that he didn't need to tell Konev or Vatutin about this, but Zhukov, who had directly given him an order to let his troops take on the task of blocking, had to inform him. Thinking of this, he quickly called the director of the communications corps over and told him: "Comrade director of the communications corps, please help me get through to the front army headquarters. I want to speak to Marshal Zhukov."
"Is it the Voronezh Front or the Steppe Front?" asked the director of the communications corps.
Sokov frowned: "Of course it's the Voronezh Front. Don't you know that Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Vasilevsky have been staying at General Vatutin's headquarters?"
