"Comrade Commander," Samyko asked tentatively after Sokov finished speaking: "Look, when will we convene a meeting with the commanders of each division? After all, the offensive battle on the right bank will start soon."
"I think it will be at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon." Considering that the landing site on the right bank might be attacked by the Germans tomorrow morning, Sokov decisively set the meeting time at two o'clock in the afternoon: "By then all division heads should be here Being able to find time.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko said smoothly: "I will call the commanders of each division and order them to come over for a meeting at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon."
…………
Everything was as Sokov expected. The German army launched an attack on the landing site at eight o'clock in the morning, but their attacks were crushed by the Soviet troops who stood firm.
At noon, the Germans stopped their attack on the landing site. Several division commanders and brigade commanders who commanded operations at the front knew that after the German attack failed in the morning, they would not launch a new attack in the afternoon. They left the front with peace of mind and went to the city of Kremenchug to attend the military meeting held by Sokov. Meeting.
"Comrade commanders!" Seeing that all the commanders he had notified had arrived, Sameko stood up from his seat and said to everyone: "We are now officially starting the meeting. First, let me introduce to you the current situation in the right bank area. The situation between ourselves and the enemy.”
After Samyko briefly and comprehensively introduced the situation on the right bank, he turned to look at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, can you say a few words next?"
Sokov nodded, then stood up and faced his subordinates and said: "Comrade commanders, with the liberation of Poltava, the main force of the front army is now moving towards the Dnieper River, which means As our group army is about to launch an offensive against the Germans in the right bank area."
When Sokov said that he was about to launch an offensive against the Germans on the right bank, the eyes of several division commanders and brigade commanders at the front shone brightly, thinking that the day had finally come. They no longer had to wait for the Germans to attack on the position, but took the initiative. Attack them.
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Fomenko stood up and asked loudly: "Comrade Commander, when can we launch an attack on the Germans?"
Sokov was not surprised to see that the first person to speak was Fomenko. You know, about twenty days ago, the 84th Division was ready to launch an attack on the German army, but it was temporarily terminated due to special reasons. For such a long time, Fomenko must have felt aggrieved when he saw friendly forces and enemies fighting fiercely, but there was no movement at all in his own defense area, so he smiled and said to him: "General Fomenko, don't be anxious. . It will take at least a week before we launch an attack on the enemy."
"What, we still have to wait a week?" Fomenko said with some disappointment: "Comrade Commander, I'm worried that if I continue to wait like this, my soldiers will be exhausted."
"We lack supplies for continuous operations. The supplement given to us by our superiors will take almost a week to complete." Sokov said to Fomenko: "You can let the soldiers seize the time to practice riding bicycles. You know, once the German army If the defense line is breached, you may have to ride a bicycle to catch up with the fleeing enemies."
"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this." Fomenko said carelessly: "Our soldiers practice cycling every day, and many of them will definitely get rankings even if they participate in cycling competitions."
Fomenko's words aroused laughter from the commanders present, and the atmosphere in the headquarters became relaxed.
"General Fomenko, I'm afraid I won't have a chance to participate in the bicycle race for the time being, but you can tell the soldiers who has better cycling skills and who can catch up with the enemy faster." After saying this, Sokov continued the topic. : "This attack will start from the 84th Division's defense area."
Fomenko couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that the attack started from his own defense zone. But within two minutes of being happy, his expression turned serious: "Comrade Commander, is it just our division that will attack alone?"
"How is this possible, General Fomenko." Sokov said: "Colonel Koida's 188th Infantry Division will be transferred to you and launch an attack with you. In addition, Major General Gritsenko's 188th Infantry Division will be transferred to you." The 384th Division will serve as your reserve force."
Koida and Gritsenko, who were sitting in the crowd, were extremely excited when they learned that their troops would participate in the attack on the German army. They wanted to shout "Ula" on the spot.
"Colonel Coida."
"arrive!"
"Your division will head towards the defense area of the 254th Division tomorrow. Make the momentum as loud as possible."
After hearing Sokov's words, Koida was stunned. His first reaction was that Sokov had given the wrong number when assigning the mission, referring to Fomenko's 84th Division as Shechtman's 254th Division. So he carefully reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, did you say the wrong number? You said the 84th Division was the 254th Division."
"That's right." Sokov looked at him and said, "I'm talking about Colonel Shechtman's 254th Division, not General Fomenko's 84th Division."
Sokov's words made Koida a little confused. He asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, aren't you planning to transfer our division to the 84th Division's defense area and launch an attack on the enemy at the same time with them?"
"Yes, Colonel Koida, I did say this." Sokov said with a smile: "But does this have anything to do with your participation in the attack?"
"Comrade Commander," Koida reminded Sokov cautiously: "The defense area of the 254th Division is to the south of the landing site, but the defense area of the 84th Division is to the northwest of the landing site. The two are not the same place."
Sokov's eyes swept across the faces of the commanders present. Seeing that most of them had puzzled expressions, he smiled and explained to them: "Comrade commanders, do you feel strange inside? Why should I do this?" Give an order to Colonel Koida to participate in the northwest attack, but then order his troops to move south?"
This question was also the answer that everyone present wanted to know. Seeing everyone nodding and trying to figure out what was going on, Sokov continued: "If we mobilize our troops, we will definitely be noticed by the Germans as soon as possible, so I The decision was made to transfer the 188th Division to the south.
When the Germans see us adding troops to the south of the landing site, they will definitely think that we will launch an assault in this direction, and they will definitely recruit troops to strengthen the frontal defense. "
"Comrade Commander, you are right." Koida asked curiously: "In this way, we can indeed confuse the enemy and make them confused about the direction of our attack. But I want to ask, what are your plans? When will we be transferred to the defense area of the 84th Division?"
"Colonel Koida, I just said that your division was transferred to the 254th Division's defense area in the south just to confuse the Germans." Sokov had already had mature thoughts in his mind, and he took this opportunity to tell himself His subordinates listened and asked them to learn the advanced tactics from the ancient Eastern countries: "During the day, you can use trucks to transport the troops to the 254th Division's defense area with great fanfare, and then withdraw them after dark. In this way, add troops to the front during the day, and at night We then quietly withdrew our troops, giving the Germans the illusion that we were about to attack their positions from the south of the landing site, forcing them to disperse their forces."
"Comrade Commander, this is a great idea of yours." Fomenko couldn't help but praise Sokov after hearing this: "The Germans will definitely think that we are constantly adding troops to the 254th Division's defense area when they see us The attack will be launched from that direction."
After Koida figured out Sokov's intention, he thought for a long time, and then put forward his own idea: "Comrade Commander, I think we can secretly transfer the main force of the division to the 84th Division position, and use a regiment to attack Germany. It’s okay for people to use this type of deceptive tactic.”
"No, Colonel Koida, this is definitely not possible." As soon as Koida put forward his idea, he was opposed by Sameko: "If we only use one regiment to move back and forth, it will be easily detected by the Germans. Something is wrong, so your entire division must participate in this deception."
"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff." When Koida said this, he glanced at Sokov intentionally. Seeing him sitting there expressionlessly, as if he had no objection to Samek's statement, he could only force him to He said, "I obey your order and let all the commanders and fighters of the division participate in this deception operation."
"General Polubyarov!"
"Here!" General Polubyarov, commander of the 4th Guards Tank Corps, heard Sokov's order, stood up quickly, and agreed loudly at the same time.
"Starting from tomorrow, your tank corps can move forward to the landing site on the right bank and enter the defense areas of the 254th and 300th Divisions."
Before Sokov could finish speaking, General Polubyarov couldn't wait to ask: "Our army stationed at the landing site is also to confuse the enemy, right?"
"Yes."
After hearing Sokov's answer, Polubyarov continued to ask: "Comrade Commander, with all due respect, there are too many forests, lakes and swamps in the northwest for my tank army to deploy at all."
"General Polubyarov, I think you misunderstood." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking before he said: "After your army enters the defense areas of the 254th and 300th Divisions, it must be prepared The armored assault posture, coupled with the repeated mobilization of the 188th Division to the front, gave the Germans the illusion that the next stage of our army's offensive direction was just south of the landing site, causing them to concentrate their forces in the wrong direction. "
The division commanders and brigade commanders present were all veteran commanders who had experienced many battles, but they were still surprised after hearing Sokov's arrangement. According to their thinking, if they want to attack a certain place, they only need to concentrate their forces in that direction, and after intensive artillery bombardment, they will use infantry to launch an assault.
What Sokov said about pretending to assemble a large number of troops in an unrelated direction was to launch an unexpected attack on the Germans in other directions, thereby achieving the purpose of quickly breaking through the German defense lines. This is the first time for most of the commanders present to hear of such novel tactics, but this does not prevent them from thinking about the entire offensive operation process.
"Comrade Commander," the speaker this time was Major General Gritsenko, commander of the 384th Division. He said with some excitement: "Your method is really good. Mobilizing troops south of the landing site with great fanfare will definitely attract the attention of the Germans. .As a result, the defenses on the northwest line of defense that we really want to attack will become lax, and then as soon as we launch an attack, we will be able to break through the German defenses in the shortest time."
Managarov and his deputies were not far away to observe the military meeting chaired by Sokov. After hearing the tactics Sokov was planning to implement, several people were stunned. Managarov turned to Derevyanko and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, General Sokov's tactics are good. You must Make a note of it, maybe we can use it someday."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko asked tentatively after Sokov finished speaking: "Look, when will we convene a meeting with the commanders of each division? After all, the offensive battle on the right bank will start soon."
"I think it will be at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon." Considering that the landing site on the right bank might be attacked by the Germans tomorrow morning, Sokov decisively set the meeting time at two o'clock in the afternoon: "By then all division heads should be here Being able to find time.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko said smoothly: "I will call the commanders of each division and order them to come over for a meeting at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon."
…………
Everything was as Sokov expected. The German army launched an attack on the landing site at eight o'clock in the morning, but their attacks were crushed by the Soviet troops who stood firm.
At noon, the Germans stopped their attack on the landing site. Several division commanders and brigade commanders who commanded operations at the front knew that after the German attack failed in the morning, they would not launch a new attack in the afternoon. They left the front with peace of mind and went to the city of Kremenchug to attend the military meeting held by Sokov. Meeting.
"Comrade commanders!" Seeing that all the commanders he had notified had arrived, Sameko stood up from his seat and said to everyone: "We are now officially starting the meeting. First, let me introduce to you the current situation in the right bank area. The situation between ourselves and the enemy.”
After Samyko briefly and comprehensively introduced the situation on the right bank, he turned to look at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, can you say a few words next?"
Sokov nodded, then stood up, facing his subordinates and said: "Comrade commanders, with the liberation of Poltava, the main force of the front army is now moving towards the Dnieper River, which means As our group army is about to launch an offensive against the Germans in the right bank area."
Hearing Sokov said that he was about to launch an offensive against the Germans on the right bank, the eyes of several division commanders and brigade commanders at the front shone brightly, thinking that the day had finally come. They no longer had to wait for the Germans to attack on the position, but took the initiative. Attack them.
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Fomenko stood up and asked loudly: "Comrade Commander, when can we launch an attack on the Germans?"
Sokov was not surprised to see that the first person to speak was Fomenko. You know, about twenty days ago, the 84th Division was ready to launch an attack on the German army, but it was temporarily terminated due to special reasons. For such a long time, Fomenko must have felt aggrieved when he saw friendly forces and enemies fighting fiercely, but there was no movement at all in his own defense zone. He smiled and said to him: "General Fomenko, don't be anxious. . It will take at least a week before we launch an attack on the enemy."
