Since the battle in the Svetlovodsk district would last for more than three days when the battle plan was reported, the next direction of attack was not mentioned.
Now that the Svetlovodsk district has been easily captured, Zakharov, as the chief of staff of the front army, must understand the next combat goal of the 27th Army. He lowered his head and glanced at the map in front of him, and continued to ask: "Where is your next attack direction?"
Before making the call, Samyko had discussed the next direction of attack with Sokov. Now when Zakharov asked, he replied confidently: "Comrade Commander and I have studied it and feel that the troops should follow the attack direction." Go up the Dnieper River and attack in the direction of Cherkasy to assist the friendly forces on the left bank to cross the river."
"Comrade Commander," Zakharov did not immediately express his attitude after listening to Samyko's report. Instead, he called to Konev who was standing by the wall looking at the map: "Please come here."
After Konev walked in front of him, Zakharov reported to him: "Comrade Commander, the troops of the 27th Army have easily captured the Svetlovodsk District and are preparing to continue to attack the depth of the German defenses. develop."
"Oh, the Svetlovodsk district has been captured?" Konev was also surprised when he heard the news. He originally thought that the battle would end within three days, which was considered very fast. Who knew that Sokov's The troops captured the Svetlovodsk district in less than three hours. He was surprised and asked: "So fast?"
After Zakharov briefly introduced the situation to Konev, he asked: "Comrade Commander, what General Sokov means is to advance northwest along the Dnieper River to capture Cherkasy and take over Our troops on the left bank are crossing the river. I wonder what you mean?"
Konev had just stood by the wall looking at the map, and he was thinking about how to quickly cross the Dnieper River and establish a new landing site on the right bank if he wanted to reach the troops on the left bank. Hearing what Zakharov wanted to say at this moment, it was as if someone gave him a pillow if he wanted to doze off. He quickly said: "I think Sokov's plan is good. Now Shumilov's 7th Guards Army is attacking Pei If they can advance into Levolochnaya, the mouth of the Volskra River, and the Novorlik area, if they can get support from friendly forces, their river-crossing operation will be very smooth."
After receiving Konev's instructions, Zakharov said into the microphone: "General Samyko, Comrade Commander feels that the plan to advance northwest along the Dnieper River is very feasible, and you can implement it as soon as possible. "
After Samek put down the phone, he immediately reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the front army headquarters has no objections to the direction of our attack. The only requirement is that we launch the attack as soon as possible."
Sokov nodded after listening, and then asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, ask General Fomenko how long it will take for his troops to resume the offensive."
"General Fomenko?" Samyko grabbed the phone on the table, connected to the headquarters of the 84th Division, and asked Fomenko, who had just returned to the headquarters, straight to the point: "Comrade Commander, when will Can we launch a new round of attack?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, if we want to attack, we need to regroup the troops. In addition, we need new troops to take over the defense of our division in the Svetlovodsk District..."
"As for the defense of the Svetlovodsk district, I will let Colonel Koida's 188th Division take over." Samyko answered the question simply and asked: "Your division needs to launch an offensive again. for how long?"
"One hour." After Fomenko finished saying this number, he was worried that Samyko would be dissatisfied, so he specifically explained to him: "Due to the search for remnants of the enemy, the troops of our division were scattered..."
Samyko knew that the time Fomenko mentioned should be the limit, so he interrupted what he was saying and said reasonably: "General Fomenko, I will give you one and a half hours. After the troops are assembled, , advance northwest along the Dnieper River, and the target of your attack is Cherkasy. It would be great if you could capture Chigilin halfway along the way."
"Chigilin?!" As a frontline commander, Fomenko looked at the map every day. Naturally, it was only Chigilin that Samyko mentioned. It was almost fifty kilometers away from the Svetlovodsk district, so he said with a smile: " Comrade Chief of Staff, the distance from us to Qijilin is almost fifty kilometers. If we walk, it will take at least a day. But now our division is equipped with thousands of bicycles. At a speed of 12 to 20 kilometers per hour, it is completely possible. Get there before dark."
"Yes, General Fomenko." Samyko now feels that bicycles are a treasure. Without trains or trucks for transportation, thousands of troops can be quickly dropped on distant battlefields. , this is something that is unthinkable: "The enemy did not expect that our troops were equipped with bicycles, which greatly increased the speed of maneuver. You must take advantage of this skillfully, quickly attack Chijilin, and find a way to defeat the Germans. Before you come to your senses, capture the city and be ready to assist the friendly forces on the left bank to cross the river."
The plan was a good one. Both Sokov and Samyko ignored a key issue when formulating the battle plan: what would happen to Manstein after he learned that the Svetlovodsk district had been lost? Reaction.
The German commander stationed in the Svetlovodsk district saw the fierce Soviet artillery fire, and the artillery shells seemed to have eyes, accurately destroying many fortifications and tanks prepared for assault. He knew that if he continued If I stayed here, I would probably live and die with this town, so I just wiped the soles of my feet and ran away.
However, he knew his responsibilities. Although he voluntarily abandoned the Svetlovodsk area, after arriving in Chigilin, he still reported what happened to the commander of the 1st Army, General Blaskowitz. Report.
Blaskowitz was shocked to learn that the Svetlovodsk district was lost. He quickly checked the map and found that he must have been deceived by Sokov and placed the main force in the wrong position.
Regarding the Soviet attack on the right bank, he felt that he should report it to Manstein immediately so that the other party would be well aware of it. Thinking of this, he immediately called Manstein's headquarters.
Manstein learned that it was Blaskowitz who called him and guessed that the opponent's defense area might have been attacked by the Soviet army. Therefore, after picking up the phone, he asked directly: "Blaskovitz General, was your defense zone attacked by the Russians?"
"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal." Blaskowitz reported emotionally: "The Russians launched a surprise attack on the Svetlovodsk district, and now it has been occupied by them."
"What, the Svetlovodsk district has been lost." Upon hearing the bad news, Manstein's hands trembled and his cigar fell directly to the ground. However, he didn't bother to pick it up at all, but asked rapidly: "General Blaskowitz, is your intelligence accurate?"
"Totally accurate, my lord marshal." Blaskowitz replied: "The commander of the regiment who held the Svetlovodsk district withdrew with part of his people when the town fell. He retreated to Qi Jilin only called me to report."
When he learned that the Svetlovodsk district had been lost, Manstein frowned. He opened the map on the table, looked carefully at the location of Svetlovodsk District, and then said to Blaskowitz: "The Russians captured Svetlovodsk District. Then their next move is to go north along the Dnieper River to capture Cherkasy and establish a bridgehead there."
"You are right, Marshal." Before making the call, Blaskowitz also studied the situation and felt that the possibility of the Soviet army taking the opportunity to attack Cherkasy was very high, so he agreed: "I also I feel that the next target of the Russians is Cherkasy. As long as they capture it, the Russians will have two ferries on our Dnieper River defense line. They can pass through these two places to send more troops and Weapons and equipment are all shipped here.”
"Notify the garrison of Chigilin immediately and order them to be on alert." Manstein said sternly: "If the Russians are allowed to occupy the city, they will wait to be court-martialed."
Blaskowitz heard Manstein say this and knew that the other party was really angry. When fighting the Soviet army on the Dnieper River at the beginning of the year, many regiment-level officers were executed on Manstein's order because of unfavorable combat conditions. The Svetlovodsk district has been lost. If Chigilin is lost again, not only the regiment commander who fled to Chigilin may not be able to save his life, but even the commander of Chigilin's city defense may lose his life.
"I understand, Your Excellency Marshal." Blaskowitz said: "I immediately called the commander of the city defense in Chigilin and ordered him to step up vigilance to prevent possible attacks by the Russians."
"In addition to raising the alert for Chigilin's city defense commander, General Blaskowitz, you have one more thing to do."
Blaskowitz asked in surprise: "What happened?"
"Now that I think about it, the movement of the Russians in the direction of the bridgehead was an act of deception." Manstein realized at this time that he might have been deceived by Sokov, and said to Blaskowitz: "But this It’s not a bad thing for us. We have assembled a large number of troops south of the Russian bridgehead, and you can take the opportunity to order the troops to attack.”
"An attack on the Russian bridgehead now?"
"Yes." Manstein replied: "Even if they cannot break through their defense lines, they can still contain a large number of Russian troops, preventing them from deploying enough troops to attack Chigilin and Cherkasy. Do you understand? ?”
"I completely understand, Marshal." Blaskowitz replied: "I will immediately understand the troops south of the bridgehead and launch an attack on the Russians to disrupt their offensive plan."
After ending the call with Manstein, Blaskowitz personally called Chigilin's city defense commander: "Colonel, according to various signs, the Russians who captured the Svetlovodsk district will soon There is a possibility of an attack on Qijilin, so you must be vigilant and take all precautions.”
"Your Excellency, Commander," the city defense commander said respectfully: "We are almost fifty kilometers away from Svetlovodsk District. Even if the Russians are dispatched now, they will not reach us until noon tomorrow at the earliest. Don't worry. , such a long time is enough for us to take all preventive measures."
"I'm about to command the troops to attack the bridgehead." After hearing the city defense commander's reply, Blaskowitz said with great relief: "I'll leave it to you at Chigilin. If anything happens, just call me. , I will find a way to help you solve it."
"Your Excellency, Commander," after hearing what Blaskowitz said, the city defense commander took the opportunity to say: "I only have one regiment of troops in hand, plus a battalion that retreated from the Svetlovodsk district. , the total strength does not exceed 5,000. If the Russians attack with all their strength, I am worried that it will be difficult to defend the city with their own strength."
"Colonel, don't worry." Blaskowitz comforted the other party and said: "I will send an infantry division to you as soon as possible. They will reach your city before the Russians launch an attack on the city."
After receiving Blaskowitz's promise, the city defense commander felt much more at ease. He thought that with the existing 5,000 men and an infantry division, unless the Russian troops attacking the city were at the group army level, there would be no way to capture the city.
After putting down the phone, he called in several of his battalion commanders and deployed defense matters to them.
Although the battalion commanders guessed that the Soviet army might take the opportunity to launch an attack on Qijilin, they felt that the two places were so far apart that it would probably take a day or two for the Soviet army to get here without transportation. Therefore, The tasks assigned by the city defense commander were not carried out immediately and vigorously. Instead, the residents of the city were slowly summoned to help them build fortifications.
What the Germans didn't expect was that General Fomenko's troops had completed their assembly, got on their bicycles again, and were moving rapidly along the bumpy road.
"Colonel, don't worry." Blaskowitz comforted the other party and said: "I will send an infantry division to you as soon as possible. They will reach your city before the Russians launch an attack on the city."
After receiving Blaskowitz's promise, the city defense commander felt much more at ease. He thought that with the existing 5,000 men and an infantry division, unless the Russian troops attacking the city were at the group army level, there would be no way to capture the city.
After putting down the phone, he called in several of his battalion commanders and deployed defense matters to them.
Although the battalion commanders guessed that the Soviet army might take the opportunity to launch an attack on Qijilin, they felt that the two places were so far apart that it would probably take a day or two for the Soviet army to get here without transportation. Therefore, The tasks assigned by the city defense commander were not carried out immediately and vigorously. Instead, the residents of the city were slowly summoned to help them build fortifications.
What the Germans didn't expect was that General Fomenko's troops had completed their assembly, got on their bicycles again, and were moving rapidly along the bumpy road. The one at the front was naturally Belkin's 258th Regiment.
