Before Konev could speak, Shumilov intervened and said: "Comrade Commander, this is not the place to talk. Let's go back to the temporary headquarters to talk."
"That's right, Comrade Commander." As soon as Shumilov finished speaking, Pulyaskin continued: "Although we are more than a thousand meters away from the other side, if the German army on the other side has so many senior commanders, If the troops are here, they will definitely mobilize artillery for bombardment. Once there are casualties, the consequences will be very serious."
"Yes, yes, you are right." Konev agreed with the two men's statement: "This is indeed not the place to discuss work. Let's go back to your headquarters."
On the way to the headquarters of the Guards Army, Konev asked Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, how is the progress of your troops? Have they reached Chigirin?"
"When I left the headquarters and came here, the leading regiment of the 84th Division had already rushed into the city and was engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy."
"Oh, have you already rushed into the city?" Sokov's report surprised Konev. He immediately asked impatiently: "Have you gained a foothold?"
"Due to the limited number of troops entering the city, the regiment commander, Colonel Belkin, after occupying two streets, ordered the troops to move to defense on the spot, waiting for the arrival of the main force."
"Why not continue the attack?" Knowing that the troops who rushed into the city were now defending on two blocks, Konev felt disappointed. He stamped his feet and said: "We should continue to advance into the city and wait until the main force When the troops arrive, even if they cannot capture the city, they will occupy a much larger area than they do now."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov saw that Konev was a little greedy at the moment, and quickly reminded him: "The troops we rushed into the city of Chigilin only had one regiment, and they were all light infantry and did not carry any heavy equipment. Weapons. And the enemy has several times more troops than us, as well as tanks and artillery. If the attack continues before the main force arrives, I am afraid that it will not be long before the effective strength of the vanguard regiment is exhausted, and the remaining Commanders and fighters will also be driven out of the city by the enemy."
After Sokov's reminder, Konev realized that he was a bit too blindly optimistic. If the Germans were really so easy to deal with, the 5th and 7th Guards Armies would not be outside Poltava. I've been wandering around for so long.
"So what's the situation now?" Konev changed the subject in time: "Has the main force of the 84th Division arrived?"
"Not sure, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied: "Before I got on the plane, the information I had was that the vanguard regiment commanded by Colonel Belkin occupied two streets in Chigilin City. And rely on the buildings there for defense, waiting for the arrival of the main force of the division."
Seeing that he couldn't find out what he was interested in from Sokov, Konev couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "Okay, Comrade Sokov. After we arrive at General Shumilov's headquarters later, Just make a call and ask to see how the progress is at Qi Jilin’s side.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied readily: "I'll make a call when I get there."
Shumilov's headquarters was three or four kilometers away from the river. Due to poor road conditions, it was impossible to drive, so the group walked for nearly an hour to reach their destination.
The headquarters is a mud house-style bunker half buried underground. Walking down the wooden steps, Sokov entered a dim room. It took him a while to get used to the light in the room.
"Director of the Communications Corps," Shumilov immediately greeted his Communications Corps Director after entering the door, pointed at Sokov and told him: "This is General Sokov, the commander of the 27th Group Army. He needs to communicate with his commander immediately. Get in touch with the command, and you immediately put him on the phone."
With the help of the director of the communications corps, Sokov quickly got on the phone with Samyko. He asked straight to the point: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how is the situation in Chigilin City?"
"The 252nd Regiment and part of the 254th Regiment have arrived in Chigilin and are joining forces with the Belkin Regiment. They are fighting the German attack in the occupied neighborhoods."
When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but frowned: "Since the main force of the division has arrived, why don't they carry out a counterattack, but they still stick to the occupied blocks?"
"There is no way to counterattack, Comrade Commander." Sameko replied with a wry smile: "The enemy has dispatched tanks and armored vehicles, and our troops have no decent anti-tank weapons except for a small number of rocket launchers. If the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles are not destroyed, Armored vehicles, our counterattack will not work at all."
"Then when will our heavy equipment arrive at Qijilin?"
"I'm afraid it will be tomorrow morning at the earliest." Samyko explained to Sokov: "After all, the road conditions are too bad. Whether it is a tank or other military vehicle, driving on such a road will probably not be much faster than walking."
Sokov knew that he could not eat hot tofu in a hurry, so he did not issue a death order to Samek, requiring the troops to arrive at a certain time, because he knew that even if he issued such an order, I am afraid that it would be difficult for the troops below. After completing the task, he simply said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell the two division commanders Fomenko and Koida that whether we can successfully capture Chigilin depends entirely on when our army's heavy equipment can enter the city."
When Sameko reported the situation, he originally thought that the other party would forcefully order the heavy equipment to speed up the march and enter the city before dark. At this moment, after listening to Sokov's words, he suddenly felt much more relaxed: "Comrade Commander, don't worry. Although our troops entering the city currently do not have any heavy equipment, the two blocks currently occupied are composed of two It is not easy for the enemy to seize these areas from their hands."
"What about Koida's 188th Division? Where has it progressed now?"
"Due to the limited number of bicycles, the 188th Division may not be able to reach Qijilin until noon tomorrow."
After Sokov and Samyko chatted for a few more words on the phone, they put down the phone and reported to Konev: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the main force of the 84th Division has basically entered Chigilin. Due to their lack of heavy weapons, The German army, which was unable to possess tanks and armored vehicles, could only rely on existing buildings to resist the German attack."
What Sokov said seemed to have been expected by Konev. After hearing this, he just nodded slightly and said: "Although the role of tanks in the city will be greatly reduced, our army does not have enough anti-tank weapons." , if you want to destroy the enemy's tanks, you will pay huge casualties."
After saying this, he called Sokov to the table, pointed to the map placed on it, and continued: "Comrade Sokov, now let's discuss the coordinated operations between your two armies."
Sokov thought that if the 84th Division had not been divided into several parts during the assault today, it might have occupied most of the city by now. Once the heavy weapons arrive tomorrow, we can easily take over the city. But now they only control two streets. If they want to expand the occupied area through these two streets, they will definitely encounter crazy resistance from the German army, and the troops will definitely pay huge casualties by then.
He asked cautiously: "I wonder what we can do?"
"Come and see here." Konev pointed to the Dnieper River on the map and said to Sokov: "We just inspected here with the purpose of preparing to cross the river from here."
"Although the river here is very wide, the current is gentle, and there are not many enemies on the other side. Even if we force a crossing, I am afraid we can easily break through the enemy's fire blockade and successfully board the right bank." Sokov finished speaking. Finally, he looked up at Pulyaskin who was standing across the table: "I think you can build a landing site on the right bank first. After you have established a foothold, you can then build a pontoon bridge on the river."
"Comrade Sokov," Shumilov said as soon as Sokov finished speaking: "Due to the limited equipment we have for crossing the river, the number of the first batch of troops crossing the river will definitely be very limited, and the weapons they carry will be very limited. The amount of ammunition won’t be too much. It’s not much of a problem just to disperse the enemies along the river, but if the Germans discover our intentions and launch a counterattack, these landing troops may be driven into the river.”
"How can we help?" Sokov looked at the map and found that the landing site chosen by the 7th Guards Army was almost fifty kilometers away from Chigilin. Not to mention that Chigilin has not been captured yet, even if it is captured Even though we are in the city, we feel so far away that we are beyond our reach.
Konev tapped his fingers on the table and said to Sokov: "Once the German army discovers that General Shumilov's troops have landed on the right bank, they will definitely deploy troops to attack them. Today, the only cities where the enemy can deploy troops are Cherkasy and Chigilin. As long as you make more noise in the Chigilin area, the enemy will not dare to dispatch troops from there to attack the landing site of the Guards Army."
"What about the enemies in the direction of Cherkasy?" Sokov asked tentatively: "Even if the enemy does not send troops from Chigilin to reinforce them, could it be that the enemies in Cherkasy chose to stand by and watch when they discovered that our army was establishing a landing site on the right bank? ?"
"You don't have to worry about this," Konev said confidently: "We have other troops that are advancing towards Cherkasy at the moment, threatening the security of the city. If the Germans were smart, they would never dare to use them. The defenders of Cherkasy.”
After what Konev said, Sokov discovered that after the 7th Guards Army established a landing site on the right bank, the enemy that threatened them the most was really Chigilin who was in the midst of a fierce battle. He quickly expressed his position to Konev: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, please rest assured that after General Shumilov's troops establish a landing site on the right bank, we will do our best to contain Chigilin's enemies so that they cannot send a single force to the landing site. One soldier."
After listening to Sokov's statement, Konev smiled and nodded, then turned and asked Shumilov: "General Shumilov, when do you plan to cross the Dnieper River by force?"
However, Shumilov did not answer this question. Instead, he raised his chin at Pulyaskin and said: "Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps, it is up to you to answer this question."
Seeing that Shumilov called his name, Pulyaskin was not afraid of the stage. He pointed at the map on the table and began to introduce his plan: "I plan to order each division to search for wood nearby and make weapons that can combine infantry and weapons." Equip the raft for crossing to the other side. Although we will choose to cross the river before dawn so that we will not be easily discovered by the enemy on the other side, we still have to prepare for the worst and deploy artillery and anti-aircraft firepower along the river to ensure the crossing operation. It went smoothly.”
"Comrade Pulyaskin," Sokov said after waiting for Pulyaskin to finish speaking: "Before I took the plane here, I found that there was no forest within a radius of dozens of kilometers. It was necessary for each division to It may take a long time to collect wood. If you want to complete the crossing before dawn tomorrow, time will be very tight."
"You are right, General Sokov." Regarding Sokov's concerns, Pulyaskin agreed: "In order to make the raft as soon as possible, we have two plans: One is to send people to Go to nearby forests to cut down wood and use it to make rafts; another way is to collect all the things that can be used in nearby residential areas, including wooden sheds, door panels, roofs, barrels, fences, etc., and use these materials to Make a raft.”
Upon hearing this, Sokov found that it was not difficult to collect materials that could be used to make rafts from nearby villages and settlements. It was estimated that a lot of raft-making work could be completed before dawn.
The remaining matter was how Shumilov and the others would establish a landing site on the right bank. Sokov felt that as an outsider, he could not intervene at all, so he tentatively asked Konev: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I don’t have anything to do here anymore, can I leave now?”
"It's getting dark, it's not safe for you to fly back." But Konev did not agree to let Sokov leave, but said to him: "For your safety, you should stay here for one night. "
Sokov really had no way to refute the reason Konev put forward. If the other party doesn't send a plane to me, I can't walk back alone, right? After all, no matter how far it was from his headquarters, and the German defense zone had to be passed in the middle, Sokov didn't think he could successfully return to Klemenkoug alone.
Therefore, he could only say helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will obey your order and return to Klementchuk after dawn tomorrow."
"Comrade Sokov, don't leave in a hurry." Shumilov also tried to persuade Sokov to stay: "After our group army established the landing site on the right bank, there are still many places that need your help. Since you are here, why don't we Use this opportunity to have a good discussion about the coordinated operations of the two forces."
