Although the 84th Division performed poorly in the previous two days of fighting and was driven out of Chigirin City by the Viking Division's troops, Sokov was still full of confidence in the Rusov Regiment's defense of the town of Chigilin. .
Therefore, when Fomenko asked him for instructions on whether to send troops to strengthen the defense of Jinji Town, he waved his hands and said: "General Fomenko, one regiment in Jinji Town is enough. If too many troops are deployed, It cannot be deployed at all. If it is covered by German artillery fire, the troops will suffer unnecessary casualties."
Fomenko thought of the 44th Regiment that held on to Jingji Town last time. It lasted less than half a day and was completely defeated by the Germans. He was worried that the Rusov Regiment would make the same mistake again, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, what if the German army attacks Jingji Town?" We launched a fierce attack on the town, and I’m worried that Colonel Russov and the others won’t be able to hold on for long.”
"You don't have to worry about this." Seeing Fomenko's worried look, Sokov comforted him and said: "They have obtained the new rockets stored in the group army, and they have enough strength to withstand the enemy's fierce attack. . Besides, their mission is only to hold off the enemy in the direction of Jingji Town for a few hours to cover the main force of the 7th Guards Army crossing the river."
Although Sokov had already said this, Fomenko still said worriedly: "Comrade Commander, I think it may not be that easy for the 7th Guards Army to cross the river in a large scale."
"Why?"
"It's very simple." Fomenko replied: "The Germans will never allow our army to establish another landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River that can threaten their defense line. Therefore, they will definitely try every means to prevent the Guards' second landing." 7th Army crosses the river."
Sokov wanted to refute, but then he thought about it and Fomenko made sense. Once the 7th Guards Army establishes a second landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River, it will seriously threaten the safety of the Dnieper River defense line established by Manstein. With Manstein's character, he would definitely nip this danger in the bud.
"You are right," Sokov tapped his fingers lightly on the table, thinking about what methods the Germans would use to prevent the Guards from crossing the river, and said casually: "The Germans will definitely use various means. , to prevent the Guards troops from crossing the river. But the question is, what method will they use?"
"The method used by the Germans yesterday was to block the river with artillery fire, so that the engineering troops of the Guards could not erect the pontoon bridge." Fomenko said thoughtfully: "Now the artillery positions deployed by the German army on the river have been destroyed by reckless The Sufu regiment has been destroyed, and in a short period of time, they will definitely not be able to dispatch new artillery units to implement the task of blocking the river."
"Then what method will they use to re-block the river?"
Sokov originally said this casually, but as soon as he said it, he suddenly thought of a possibility. He couldn't help but trembled, and his pupils shrank violently: "In the air attack, the German army will definitely send out the air force to carry out the air attack on the troops crossing the river." bombing."
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Fomenko agreed with Sokov's speculation: "I think so too."
Seeing that the two people had the same idea, Sokov could no longer sit still. He asked the telegraph operator to help him contact Shumilov on the other side, intending to tell the other party about the situation and let him take precautions in advance.
After contacting Shumilov, Sokov said bluntly: "General Shumilov, my troops have occupied the town of Kinki and eliminated the artillery positions deployed by the Germans nearby. In a short period of time, the Germans You can no longer block the river with artillery fire, so you can seize the time to repair the pontoon bridge and then move more troops across the river."
After learning that the German threat to the river had been eliminated, Shumilov couldn't help but be overjoyed and thanked Sokov repeatedly: "General Sokov, thank you. I really appreciate you and your men. In this way, our engineers will be able to I can now leisurely build a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River."
Seeing that Shumilov did not seem to realize the seriousness of the problem, Sokov quickly reminded the other party: "General Shumilov, although my troops have destroyed the German artillery positions, if you want to successfully survive the first The Niebo River is probably not an easy task either.”
"Why?" Shumilov asked in surprise.
"The reason is very simple. The Germans will never allow another landing site for our troops to appear on the right bank of the Dnieper River." Sokov said into the microphone: "So they will definitely use all means to prevent your troops from crossing the river. "
"Haven't the enemy's artillery been wiped out by you?" Shumilov asked in surprise: "What other methods can they use to prevent our army from crossing the river?"
"Air force!" Seeing that Shumilov had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem, Sokov could only remind him: "General Shumilov, have you forgotten that the Germans also have a powerful air force. If they send out a bomber formation to bomb the river, I'm afraid your plan to cross the river will fail."
Sokov's words made Shumilov take a breath. He realized that he had indeed neglected the most important thing, and quickly said to Sokov: "General Sokov, thank you for the reminder. But we are deploying by the river. We have fired a lot of anti-aircraft artillery, and the German planes will not come. Once they come, we will never let them escape easily."
Seeing that Shumilov had already arranged anti-aircraft artillery units by the river, Sokov felt that he had fulfilled his obligations. Whether the other party could successfully cross the river had nothing to do with him. Before ending the call, he finally said: "General Shumilov, although I have no authority to issue any orders to you and your troops, I would like to remind you that you should do everything possible to deliver the updated information in the shortest possible time. Cross the river with more troops so that we can establish a stable landing site before the enemy recovers."
After finishing the call with Shumilov, Sokov said to Fomenko: "General Fomenko, I have contacted General Shumilov, and he promised to send as many people as possible in the shortest possible time. The troops crossed the river. Therefore, the Russov regiment only needs to hold on to the town of Jinji for four or five hours before friendly forces will take over their defense."
"I hope so." Fomenko did not believe in his heart that Shumilov's troops could cross the river before the enemy bombing began. But at this point, he could only say helplessly: "If the Guards are unable to cross the river, the Russov Regiment can only hold on as hard as possible in Jingji Town. Maybe when the friendly forces come to take over the defense, the troops will be almost exhausted. "
Sokov knew very well that if the Germans really dispatched their air force to carry out indiscriminate bombing of the Soviet crossing troops, the crossing operation of Shumilov's troops might be hindered by this. By then, I am afraid that the time that the Rusuf regiment will hold on in Jingji Town will be measured in days. In this way, it is not impossible for the troops to be wiped out.
However, for the sake of the overall situation, Sokov did not dare to give them an order to retreat easily, even though he knew that the troops would be wiped out. Because this is equivalent to handing over the town of Jinji to the Germans. When the Germans deploy a new artillery position and can block the river with artillery fire, Shumilov's troops will be unable to cross the river.
"Once the enemy's air force is dispatched, I am afraid that the troops crossing the river will be massacred one-sidedly." After Fomenko expressed his worries, he took the initiative to ask Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think we should contact the air force immediately? Ask them to dispatch a fighter formation to cover the friendly forces crossing the river?"
Although the 84th Division performed poorly in the previous two days of fighting and was driven out of Chigirin City by the Viking Division's troops, Sokov was still full of confidence in the Rusov Regiment's defense of the town of Chigilin. .
Therefore, when Fomenko asked him for instructions on whether to send troops to strengthen the defense of Jinji Town, he waved his hands and said: "General Fomenko, one regiment in Jinji Town is enough. If too many troops are deployed, It cannot be deployed at all. If it is covered by German artillery fire, the troops will suffer unnecessary casualties."
Fomenko thought of the 44th Regiment that held on to Jingji Town last time. It lasted less than half a day and was completely defeated by the Germans. He was worried that the Rusov Regiment would make the same mistake again, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, what if the German army attacks Jingji Town?" We launched a fierce attack on the town, and I’m worried that Colonel Russov and the others won’t be able to hold on for long.”
"You don't have to worry about this." Seeing Fomenko's worried look, Sokov comforted him and said: "They have obtained the new rockets stored in the group army, and they have enough strength to withstand the enemy's fierce attack. . Besides, their mission is only to hold off the enemy in the direction of Jingji Town for a few hours to cover the main force of the 7th Guards Army crossing the river."
Although Sokov had already said this, Fomenko still said worriedly: "Comrade Commander, I think it may not be that easy for the 7th Guards Army to cross the river in a large scale."
"Why?"
"It's very simple." Fomenko replied: "The Germans will never allow our army to establish another landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River that can threaten their defense line. Therefore, they will definitely try every means to prevent the Guards' second landing." 7th Army crosses the river."
Sokov wanted to refute, but then he thought about it and Fomenko made sense. Once the 7th Guards Army establishes a second landing site on the right bank of the Dnieper River, it will seriously threaten the safety of the Dnieper River defense line established by Manstein. With Manstein's character, he would definitely nip this danger in the bud.
"You're right," Sokov tapped his fingers lightly on the table, thinking about what methods the Germans would use to prevent the Guards from crossing the river, and said casually: "The Germans will definitely use various means. , to prevent the Guards troops from crossing the river. But the question is, what method will they use?"
"The method used by the Germans yesterday was to block the river with artillery fire, so that the engineering troops of the Guards could not erect the pontoon bridge." Fomenko said thoughtfully: "Now the artillery positions deployed by the German army on the river have been destroyed by reckless The Sufu regiment has been destroyed, and in a short period of time, they will definitely not be able to dispatch new artillery units to implement the task of blocking the river."
"Then what method will they use to re-block the river?"
Sokov originally said this casually, but as soon as he said it, he suddenly thought of a possibility. He couldn't help but trembled, and his pupils shrank violently: "In the air attack, the German army will definitely send out the air force to carry out the air attack on the troops crossing the river." bombing."
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Fomenko agreed with Sokov's speculation: "I think so too."
Seeing that the two people had the same idea, Sokov could no longer sit still. He asked the telegraph operator to help him contact Shumilov on the other side, intending to tell the other party about the situation and let him take precautions in advance.
After contacting Shumilov, Sokov said bluntly: "General Shumilov, my troops have occupied the town of Kinki and eliminated the artillery positions deployed by the Germans nearby. In a short period of time, the Germans You can no longer block the river with artillery fire, so you can seize the time to repair the pontoon bridge and then move more troops across the river."
After learning that the German threat to the river had been eliminated, Shumilov couldn't help but be overjoyed and thanked Sokov repeatedly: "General Sokov, thank you. I really appreciate you and your men. In this way, our engineers will be able to I can now leisurely build a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River."
Seeing that Shumilov did not seem to realize the seriousness of the problem, Sokov quickly reminded the other party: "General Shumilov, although my troops have destroyed the German artillery positions, if you want to successfully survive the first The Niebo River is probably not an easy task either.”
"The reason is very simple. The Germans will never allow another landing site for our troops to appear on the right bank of the Dnieper River." Sokov said into the microphone: "So they will definitely use all means to prevent your troops from crossing the river. "
"Air force!" Seeing that Shumilov had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem, Sokov could only remind him: "General Shumilov, have you forgotten that the Germans also have a powerful air force. If they send out a bomber formation to bomb the river, I'm afraid your plan to cross the river will fail."
Sokov's words made Shumilov take a breath. He realized that he had indeed neglected the most important thing, and quickly said to Sokov: "General Sokov, thank you for the reminder. But we are deploying by the river. We have fired a lot of anti-aircraft artillery, and the German planes will not come. Once they come, we will never let them escape easily."
Seeing that Shumilov had already arranged anti-aircraft artillery units by the river, Sokov felt that his obligations had been fulfilled. Whether the other party could successfully cross the river had nothing to do with him. Before ending the call, he finally said: "General Shumilov, although I have no authority to issue any orders to you and your troops, I would like to remind you that you should do everything possible to deliver the updated information in the shortest possible time. Cross the river with more troops so that we can establish a stable landing site before the enemy recovers."
After finishing the call with Shumilov, Sokov said to Fomenko: "General Fomenko, I have contacted General Shumilov, and he promised to send as many people as possible in the shortest possible time. The troops crossed the river. Therefore, the Russov regiment only needs to hold on to the town of Jinji for four or five hours before friendly forces will take over their defense."
"I hope so." Fomenko did not believe in his heart that Shumilov's troops could cross the river before the enemy bombing began. But at this point, he could only say helplessly: "If the Guards are unable to cross the river, the Russov Regiment can only hold on as hard as possible in Jingji Town. Maybe when the friendly forces come to take over the defense, the troops will be almost exhausted. "
