"I hope that when the main force of the front army attracts the enemies in the city to fight outside the city, we can continue to develop deeper into the enemy's defenses."
"Why?"
"The bridgehead we have established on the east bank of the Oude River... the landing site." Sokov originally wanted to say the bridgehead, but halfway through the sentence, he remembered that the Soviet army did not have a bridgehead, and quickly changed his words to "landing site": "If we start from the landing site, If we advance deeper into the enemy's defenses, the enemy will definitely mobilize heavy troops to intercept us. The front of the landing site is too narrow, and if there are too few offensive troops, it will not be able to break through the enemy's defenses; if there are too many troops, there will be a problem of being unable to deploy. If the enemy assembles against us Artillery shelling or bombing in the area where the troops are located will cause huge casualties to our troops."
"You are right. This is indeed the problem you are facing today." Zakharov felt that Sokov was right, so he asked curiously: "What if the main force of the German army in the city is attracted by our front troops?" During the decisive battle outside the city, can you launch a fierce attack on the enemy from the existing area?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, please rest assured about this. As long as the main force of the German army in the city is attracted by you, when we launch an attack on the enemy in front, they will not be able to spare many troops to reinforce Kenf's combat group." Cove said confidently: "I believe that with our strength, we can completely break through the enemy's defenses along the Oude River."
"Yeah, yeah, I understand." Zakharov glanced at Konev, who was on the other side of the headquarters, explaining combat tasks to his subordinates, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, I'll tell you the truth. Said that our offensive troops were blocked by the dense minefields laid by the Germans on the way forward, and their artillery continued to intercept our attacking direction with intensive artillery fire. Our advancing speed was very slow, almost every step forward , it will cost dozens or even hundreds of casualties."
Zakharov's words made Sokov feel extremely uncomfortable. He originally thought that his troops would suffer heavy casualties when attacking Dergach, but he did not expect that the main force of the front army would suffer even greater casualties.
Hearing that there was no sound on the microphone, Zakharov continued: "Comrade Sokov, don't worry, I will notify you in time once we have made good progress here. Your main task now is to do Make all battle preparations, wait until the enemy's main force is attracted to us, launch an attack unexpectedly, and break through their defensive positions in the shortest possible time."
"Thank you, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, thank you very much." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Sokov quickly thanked Zakharov: "If we can successfully break through the German defense line and establish new achievements, among them You also have a share of the credit.”
Samyko, who was standing next to Sokov, waited for Sokov to put down the phone and immediately asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, I wonder when the main force of the front army will be able to attract the German troops out of the city?"
Sokov turned to look at Samyko, smiled and asked: "What, Comrade Chief of Staff, you can't wait now?"
"No," Samyko did not hide his opinion. "According to my vision, after our troops occupy the bridge over the Oud River, they should break through the German army's position on the western outskirts of Kharkov as quickly as possible. Defensive position, and then rush directly into the city to fight the enemy to the death.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think it is necessary to remind you that General Konev's battle plan is to attract the enemies in the city and then annihilate most of them outside the city." Sokov said to Samyko: " When our army enters the city, the street fighting with the enemy will not be too brutal."
When Samyko heard what Sokov said, he immediately realized that the reason why Sokov temporarily changed his strategy and did not send troops to attack the city immediately was that he did not want to engage in street fighting with the enemy in the city.
Sameko, who has participated in many battles, naturally knows the brutality of street fighting. Paulus's troops broke into Stalingrad, but they were never able to capture the city. This was because the Soviet army used the buildings in the city to conduct street fighting, making it difficult for the German army, which had superior strength and equipment, to exert its true strength. .
"Comrade Commander, are you worried that after our troops rush into the city, they will have to engage in street fighting with the enemy?"
"That's right," Sokov did not hide his point of view: "Street fighting is not only a war of attrition, but also damages factories and schools in the city, and even causes a large number of casualties among residents. Therefore, I think General Konev The approach is undoubtedly the most correct. It is to attract the enemy's main force to fight outside the city, and then charge into the city after consuming a large amount of their effective strength. Even if they want to engage in street fighting, the strength of the German army will be weakened, which will greatly increase the resistance. weaken."
Sokov's words provided Samyko with a new idea: "Comrade Commander, do you think we can take the initiative to attack the enemy and force them to mobilize their troops from the city to fight with us in the field?"
Regarding Samek's statement, Sokov asked noncommittally: "Judging from the current situation, the German army has formed a circular encirclement on our landing site on the east bank of the Oude River. How do you plan to break through the enemy's encirclement? And attract the enemies in the city?"
Sameko thought for a long time and finally made up his mind: "I think we can take a surprise operation to allow the troops to break through the enemy's defensive positions under the cover of artillery fire and attract the enemy to attack us."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you must have heard something when I was on the phone with General Zakharov just now." Sokov said with a serious expression: "The landing site we have established now is facing a narrow situation. The troops deployed in the attack If there are too few, it will be impossible to break through the enemy's position; if too many troops are used, they cannot be deployed. On the contrary, they may be shelled or bombed by the enemy, causing unnecessary sacrifices."
After listening to Sokov's words, Samek's expression became serious: "Comrade Commander, what should we do? Are we going to continue the stalemate with the enemy like this?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, our troops have established a landing site on the east coast. Is it just to have a stalemate with the enemy?" Sokov smiled faintly, tapped the table twice with his fingers, and then said: "We You can use the 296th Guards Regiment to attract the enemy, and send other troops to attack the enemy from other areas."
"Other areas?" Sameko heard this and asked instinctively: "Comrade Commander, where do you plan to attack the enemy?"
"Here." Sokov pointed to a location on the table and said to Sameko: "According to reconnaissance, the enemy's defense force is the weakest in this area. We can launch an attack from this location."
Samyko looked at the direction of Sokov's finger, then shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, the width of the river in the area you mentioned is about 600 meters. Although the water flow is gentle, it must be forcibly crossed under the enemy's nose. , I’m afraid there will still be huge casualties.”
"Yes, if we use ordinary river crossing equipment to force the crossing, we will definitely pay huge casualties." Sokov smiled and asked: "But what if we use Colonel Yakov's hovercraft force?"
"Where is the hovercraft unit?" Samek's eyes lit up at first, and then the light in his eyes dimmed: "Comrade Commander, our scouts conducted reconnaissance on the positions along the Oude River and found that the enemy was not only on the shore. Minefields were laid, tripods were set up, and barbed wire was put up. I thought I might no longer be able to use hovercraft to easily send troops to the front of the enemy's positions like we did when we liberated Belgorod."
"The enemy only laid mines and arranged obstacles in some important areas." Sokov said to Sameko: "The area I chose, because of the wide river surface, the enemy did not think that we would carry out forcible crossing from here, so The deployed troops are limited. We only need to cross the river with one battalion first, seize the enemy's position, and then use hovercraft to transport the rest of the troops to the other side."
Samyko stared at the map on the table for a while, then looked up at Sokov and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, is this okay?"
"I think it can work."
"Then I'll call Colonel Yakov and ask him to come here immediately. We will also discuss with him the use of hovercraft to transport troops across the river."
"Chief of Staff, when you call, ask the director of the engineering corps to come over as well. I have important tasks to assign to him."
Although Samyko did not know the purpose of Sokov calling the director of the engineering corps, he still faithfully carried out the order issued by the other party and informed the director of the engineering corps to rush to the group army headquarters as soon as possible.
Yakov and the director of the engineering corps walked into the headquarters one after another.
Sokov and Yakov briefly exchanged greetings, then called him to the table, pointed to the map on it and said to him: "Yasha, I plan to carry out a bold forcible crossing tonight. Your troops will assist." He pointed at the location where he was going to carry out the forced crossing, "The place for the forced crossing is right here."
Yakov looked at the position of Sokov's finger and questioned: "Misha, I think the area you chose should be the widest area on the Oud River. Why did you choose this place?"
"Yes, this is indeed the widest section of the entire Oud River." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Because of this, the enemy feels that we will definitely not choose this area to cross the river, because their defense here is the best. Weak.”
"What is our mission?" Yakov asked briefly.
"Same as when attacking Belgorod, first use hovercraft to send the commandos to the front of the enemy's position. While they are fighting the enemy, you return to the west bank and transport the remaining troops to the other side." "Staff Comrade Commander, our troops have established a landing site on the east coast. Is it just to have a stalemate with the enemy?" Sokov smiled faintly, tapped the table twice with his fingers, and then said: "We can use The 296th Guards Regiment attracted the enemy and sent other troops to attack the enemy from other areas."
"Other areas?" Sameko heard this and asked instinctively: "Comrade Commander, where do you plan to attack the enemy?"
"Here." Sokov pointed to a location on the table and said to Sameko: "According to reconnaissance, the enemy's defense force is the weakest in this area. We can launch an attack from this location."
Samyko looked at the direction of Sokov's finger, then shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, the width of the river in the area you mentioned is about 600 meters. Although the water flow is gentle, it must be forcibly crossed under the enemy's nose. , I’m afraid there will still be huge casualties.”
"Yes, if we use ordinary river crossing equipment to force the crossing, we will definitely pay huge casualties." Sokov smiled and asked: "But what if we use Colonel Yakov's hovercraft unit?"
"Where is the hovercraft unit?" Samek's eyes lit up at first, and then the light in his eyes dimmed: "Comrade Commander, our scouts conducted reconnaissance on the positions along the Oude River and found that the enemy was not only on the shore. Minefields were laid, tripods were set up, and barbed wire was put up. I thought I might no longer be able to use hovercraft to easily send troops to the front of the enemy's positions like we did when we liberated Belgorod."
"The enemy only laid mines and arranged obstacles in some important areas." Sokov said to Sameko: "The area I chose, because of the wide river surface, the enemy did not think that we would carry out forcible crossing from here, so The deployed troops are limited. We only need to cross the river with one battalion first, seize the enemy's position, and then use hovercraft to transport the rest of the troops to the other side."
Samyko stared at the map on the table for a while, then looked up at Sokov and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, is this okay?"
"I think it can work."
"Then I'll call Colonel Yakov and ask him to come here immediately. We will also discuss with him the use of hovercraft to transport troops across the river."
"Chief of Staff, when you call, ask the director of the engineering corps to come over as well. I have important tasks to assign to him."
Although Samyko did not know the purpose of Sokov calling the director of the engineering corps, he still faithfully carried out the order issued by the other party and informed the director of the engineering corps to rush to the group army headquarters as soon as possible.
Yakov and the director of the engineering corps walked into the headquarters one after another.
Sokov and Yakov briefly exchanged greetings, then called him to the table, pointed to the map on it and said to him: "Yasha, I plan to carry out a bold forcible crossing tonight. Your troops will assist." He pointed at the location where he was going to carry out the forced crossing, "The place for the forced crossing is right here."
Yakov looked at the position of Sokov's finger and questioned: "Misha, I think the area you chose should be the widest area on the Oud River. Why did you choose this place?"
"Yes, this is indeed the widest section of the entire Oud River." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Because of this, the enemy feels that we will definitely not choose this area to cross the river, because their defense here is the best. Weak.”
"What is our mission?" Yakov asked briefly.
