Sokov originally wanted to reject Tsvetayev's proposal. After all, the river here is wide and there are no bridges. It is easy for artillery to cross the river. But if he wants to come back, it may not be that easy: "Comrade General, the Uzbekistan in front of us is There are no bridges on the De River. If after all the effort to transport the artillery to the other side of the river, the enemy counterattacks us and our troops cannot stop them, wouldn't it be equivalent to giving the artillery to the enemy in vain? "
Hearing what Sokov said, Tsvetaev felt that it made some sense. After all, there was no bridge on the river, so he could only rely on Colonel Yakov's hovercraft to transport him to the other side one by one. Once the defenders on the landing site on the east coast cannot stop the enemy's attack, these artillery will not have time to transport them back, and they will all fall into the hands of the Germans.
"You are right, General Sokov." Tsvetayev said with a wry smile: "I thought of the problem too simply..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade General." A bold idea suddenly came to Sokov's mind, and he said to Tsvetayev: "I suddenly had a new idea. Maybe we can move the artillery to the river. The landing field on the other side.”
"But, but..." Tsvetayev was confused by Sokov's words. He asked in confusion: "Didn't you just say that it is easy for artillery to cross the river, but it is very difficult to come back again."
"Yes, I did say this." Sokov did not deny what he had said, "But now I have a bold idea to use artillery units to attract the attention of the Germans."
Seeing Tsvetayev's confused look, Sokov continued: "Didn't Marshal Zhukov order us to find a way to rush into the city before dark? I have decided to complete this task on the right wing landing site, and on the left wing Troops at the landing site consolidated existing areas.
In order to give the enemy an illusion, I think we can use a hovercraft to transport an artillery regiment across the river, making the enemy think that we are preparing to strengthen the attack firepower at the left landing site, so as to achieve the purpose of rushing into the city as soon as possible. In this way, they will concentrate their forces on our left wing, while the right wing will inevitably become empty. Our assault troops at the landing site on the right wing will be sure to tear open the enemy's defense line and smoothly rush into the city. "
"Just by moving artillery to the east coast, I'm afraid the enemy won't pay attention to it." Regarding Sokov's plan, Tsvetaev thought for a while and put forward his own opinion: "I think we can also concentrate on the two aviation The division's strength carried out violent bombing on the German positions in front of the left wing troops, making the enemy mistakenly think that we would use this as a breakthrough, and they would inevitably mobilize forces from other directions to block the advancement of our left wing troops."
After listening to Tsvetayev's proposal, Sokov couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Ginger is still too old. If Tsvetayev's proposal is followed, the two aviation divisions that provide air cover will attack the German positions. By carrying out intensive bombing, I am afraid that the Germans will wishfully believe that their troops will choose that direction to break through.
"Okay, Comrade General." Sokov nodded and said, "I agree with your opinion. We should gather the planes of the two aviation divisions and carry out violent bombing on the German positions in front of the left wing troops, causing a heavy blow to the enemy. There is an illusion that we will put the breakthrough there.”
The troops responsible for providing air cover for the right wing landing site were from the Steppe Front. If they wanted to change the direction of the attack, they would naturally need to consult with Konev.
When Sokov got through to the front headquarters, the person who answered the phone was Zakharov. After he heard Sokov's voice, he quickly lowered his voice and asked Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, have you heard about the incident in Kharkov?"
When Sokov heard this question, he was stunned for a moment. Then he realized that Zakharov was asking about the bearded man reporting wrong intelligence to military attachés from various countries, and nodded quickly. After nodding, he remembered that he was on the phone and the other party could not see his movements, so he quickly added: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I have received this news from Marshal Zhukov."
"Comrade Sokov," there was silence for a while before Zakharov's voice came out again: "Now that your troops are closest to Kharkov, I wonder if they can enter the city before dark?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly. Sokov had no confidence in answering Zakharov's question and could only say vaguely: "We will do our best."
At this time, Sokov suddenly heard someone talking quietly inside: "Chief of Staff, who called?"
"It's Comrade Sokov."
"Give me the phone. I want to talk to him."
A moment later, Konev's voice came from the receiver: "Is it Comrade Sokov? I'm Konev!"
"Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army."
"You must be very aware of the current situation." Konev did not beat around the bush and asked straight to the point: "Tell me truthfully, whether your troops can rush into the city before dark?"
Regarding the question raised by Konev, Sokov did not dare to answer casually whether he could or could not. He could only say euphemistically: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, we are making preparations for the attack. I believe there is a high chance that we can do it in the sky." Heiqian rushed into the city."
Sokov said it euphemistically, but to Konev's ears, it meant something else: "We will definitely be able to rush into the city first before dark." The reason why he thought so wishfully was entirely due to his wishful thinking. Because the performance of Sokov's troops on the battlefield has always been very eye-catching.
Konev laughed cheerfully, and then asked Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, if there is anything we can do to help you achieve this task, please feel free to ask."
"That's right. I'm calling you to ask you to ask the aviation division supporting us to change the direction of attack."
"Change the direction of attack?" Konev asked in surprise: "Where do you plan to change it?"
"The troops currently receiving air cover from the aviation division are the troops at the landing site on our right wing." Sokov said into the microphone: "I would like to ask you to ask the aviation division to support the troops at the landing site on the left wing and bomb the German positions in front of them. "
"Oh, isn't there an aviation division sent by the Voronezh Front?" Konev said puzzledly: "Isn't it enough for one aviation division to cover one of your combat directions?"
"No, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the situation is not what you imagined." Sokov quickly explained: "I plan to use the power of two aviation divisions to carry out indiscriminate bombing of the German positions in front of the left landing site, inflicting heavy damage to the enemy. It creates an illusion and makes them think that we will choose that place as a breakthrough point.”
"Comrade Sokov, if I remember correctly, according to the results you reported, the troops at the left landing site are now less than one kilometer away from the main highway in Kharkov. As long as a powerful offensive is launched, it will be enough to break through the enemy. defense, why would you consider abandoning that direction?"
"There are many reasons, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov said: "First, there are too few troops at the left landing site. After they occupy a vast area, they have to allocate a lot of troops for defense, which leads to participation in the offensive. The number of personnel has been greatly reduced. In this case, even if we are close to the city, it is very difficult to completely break through the enemy's defense line." Sokov originally wanted to reject Tsvetayev's proposal, after all, here The river is wide and there are no bridges. It is easy for artillery to cross the river, but it may not be so easy to come back: "Comrade General, there are no bridges on the Oude River in front of us. If we go through all the effort, After transporting the artillery to the other side of the river, the enemy counterattacked us, and our troops were unable to stop them, wouldn't it be equivalent to giving the artillery to the enemy in vain?"
Hearing what Sokov said, Tsvetaev felt that it made some sense. After all, there was no bridge on the river, so he could only rely on Colonel Yakov's hovercraft to transport him to the other side one by one. Once the defenders on the landing site on the east coast cannot stop the enemy's attack, these artillery will not have time to transport them back, and they will all fall into the hands of the Germans.
"You are right, General Sokov." Tsvetayev said with a wry smile: "I thought of the problem too simply..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade General." A bold idea suddenly came to Sokov's mind, and he said to Tsvetayev: "I suddenly had a new idea. Maybe we can move the artillery to the river. The landing field on the other side.”
"But, but..." Tsvetayev was confused by Sokov's words. He asked in confusion: "Didn't you just say that it is easy for artillery to cross the river, but it is very difficult to come back again."
"Yes, I did say this." Sokov did not deny what he had said, "But now I have a bold idea to use artillery units to attract the attention of the Germans."
Seeing Tsvetayev's confused look, Sokov continued: "Didn't Marshal Zhukov order us to find a way to rush into the city before dark? I have decided to complete this task on the right wing landing site, and on the left wing Troops at the landing site consolidated existing areas.
In order to give the enemy an illusion, I think we can use a hovercraft to transport an artillery regiment across the river, making the enemy think that we are preparing to strengthen the attack firepower at the left landing site, so as to achieve the purpose of rushing into the city as soon as possible. In this way, they will concentrate their forces on our left wing, while the right wing will inevitably become empty. Our assault troops at the landing site on the right wing will be sure to tear open the enemy's defense line and smoothly rush into the city. "
"Just by moving artillery to the east coast, I'm afraid the enemy won't pay attention to it." Regarding Sokov's plan, Tsvetaev thought for a while and put forward his own opinion: "I think we can also concentrate on the two aviation The division's strength carried out violent bombing on the German positions in front of the left wing troops, making the enemy mistakenly think that we would use this as a breakthrough, and they would inevitably mobilize forces from other directions to block the advancement of our left wing troops."
After listening to Tsvetayev's proposal, Sokov couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Ginger is still too old. If Tsvetayev's proposal is followed, the two aviation divisions that provide air cover will attack the German positions. By carrying out intensive bombing, I am afraid that the Germans will wishfully believe that their troops will choose that direction to break through.
"Okay, Comrade General." Sokov nodded and said, "I agree with your opinion. We should gather the planes of the two aviation divisions and carry out violent bombing on the German positions in front of the left wing troops, causing a heavy blow to the enemy. There is an illusion that we will put the breakthrough there.”
The troops responsible for providing air cover for the right wing landing site were from the Steppe Front. If they wanted to change the direction of the attack, they would naturally need to consult with Konev.
When Sokov got through to the front headquarters, the person who answered the phone was Zakharov. After he heard Sokov's voice, he quickly lowered his voice and asked Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, have you heard about the incident in Kharkov?"
When Sokov heard this question, he was stunned for a moment. Then he realized that Zakharov was asking about the bearded man reporting wrong intelligence to military attachés from various countries, and nodded quickly. After nodding, he remembered that he was on the phone and the other party could not see his movements, so he quickly added: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I have received this news from Marshal Zhukov."
"Comrade Sokov," there was silence for a while before Zakharov's voice came out again: "Now that your troops are closest to Kharkov, I wonder if they can enter the city before dark?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly. Sokov had no confidence in answering Zakharov's question and could only say vaguely: "We will do our best."
At this time, Sokov suddenly heard someone talking quietly inside: "Chief of Staff, who called?"
"It's Comrade Sokov."
"Give me the phone. I want to talk to him."
A moment later, Konev's voice came from the receiver: "Is it Comrade Sokov? I'm Konev!"
"Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army."
"You must be very aware of the current situation." Konev did not beat around the bush and asked straight to the point: "Tell me the truth, can your troops rush into the city before dark?"
Regarding the question raised by Konev, Sokov did not dare to answer casually whether he could or could not. He could only say euphemistically: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, we are making preparations for the attack. I believe there is a high chance that we can do it in the sky." Heiqian rushed into the city."
Sokov said it euphemistically, but to Konev's ears, it meant something else: "We will definitely be able to rush into the city first before dark." The reason why he thought so wishfully was entirely due to his wishful thinking. Because the performance of Sokov's troops on the battlefield has always been very eye-catching.
Konev laughed cheerfully, and then asked Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, if there is anything we can do to help you achieve this task, please feel free to ask."
"That's right. I'm calling you to ask you to ask the aviation division supporting us to change the direction of attack."
"Change the direction of attack?" Konev asked in surprise: "Where do you plan to change it?"
"The troops currently receiving air cover from the aviation division are the troops at the landing site on our right wing." Sokov said into the microphone: "I would like to ask you to ask the aviation division to support the troops at the landing site on the left wing and bomb the German positions in front of them. "
