A quarter of an hour later, Konev's transport plane, escorted by four fighter planes, flew towards the area where the 7th Guards Army headquarters was located.
After half an hour of flight, a pilot left the cockpit and came to Konev. He bent down and reported loudly to him: "Comrade Commander, we will reach our destination in a few minutes. You still have Any instructions?"
Konev considered that this place was very close to the battlefield, and he should check it out from the sky above the battle site. When he gave instructions to Shumilov, he would have an idea in mind, so he ordered the pilot: "Fly to the right bank of the Dnieper River. I want to see what the German troops are doing on the ground."
The pilot agreed, turned back to the cab, carried out Konev's order, and turned around to fly toward the right bank of the Dnieper River. After Konev waited for the pilot to leave, he closed his eyes and began to rest, preparing to wait for the pilot to come and call him, and then look at the battlefield below from the window.
Then just two or three minutes later, the fuselage suddenly shook violently, and a huge explosion was heard outside the cabin. The pilot just stumbled to Konev and reported to him in a panic: "Comrade Commander, our plane is being intercepted by German anti-aircraft fire. If it continues to fly forward, it will be intercepted." Risk of shooting down.”
Hearing what the pilot said, Konev turned his head and glanced out the window. He saw rising smoke and burning fires everywhere on the ground. The officers and soldiers on both sides were as small as ants. After observing the situation on the ground for a while, he sighed softly, and then told the pilot: "Comrade pilot, go to the left bank to find a suitable place to land."
After the pilot returned to the cockpit, he and his deputy controlled the aircraft, leaving the blockade area blocked by German anti-aircraft fire and flying towards the safety zone on the left bank.
Just as Konev's plane was returning, it was spotted by two enemy planes hovering over the Dnieper River. The enemy planes immediately turned around and rushed over, trying to shoot down the transport plane that had no ability to defend itself. When the escorting fighter formation saw the enemy plane flying towards Konev's plane, two of them immediately separated to meet it, while the remaining two continued to escort Konev's plane.
A few minutes later, Konev's plane landed on a hillside near the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army.
Before the plane could stop, a small force of more than 20 people rushed over. The leader was a second lieutenant. He saw a plane of unknown origin landing near the headquarters. Worried that the Germans were coming to cause sabotage, he quickly ordered his subordinates to surround the plane.
The plane quickly stopped and the door opened. A pilot appeared at the door. Without looking at the commanders and fighters outside, he lowered the ramp, got off the plane, and stood straight next to the ramp.
After he finished all this, a person appeared at the hatch again. The second lieutenant next to the plane saw the opponent's appearance and rank clearly, and was immediately startled. He thought to himself: Why is Comrade Commander of the Front Army here?
The second lieutenant trotted forward quickly, came to Konev and raised his hand in salute: "Hello, comrade general. I am the second lieutenant of the security force of the group army headquarters. I follow your orders, please give me instructions!"
After Konev waited for the second lieutenant to finish speaking, he asked lightly: "Comrade second lieutenant, where is your headquarters? Take me there immediately."
The second lieutenant did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly agreed, and then acted as a guide in front of Konev.
Soon, Konev arrived at the headquarters of the army group. Perhaps to facilitate the command of the battle, Shumilov moved his headquarters closer to the river.
When Konev walked into the headquarters, Shumilov was frightened. He originally thought that Konev was just talking casually and might not come to his headquarters. He hurriedly stepped forward and asked nervously: "Comrade Commander, why are you here?"
"General Shumilov," Konev said angrily when he saw that Shumilov didn't seem to notice that he was not here: "Didn't I tell you that I would fly over to meet you to discuss how to deal with it?" It belongs to the enemy. How about it, your troops didn’t retreat?”
"No, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff next to him replied in a panic: "Our commanders and fighters of the 24th Guards Corps are still fighting tenaciously with the enemy on the right bank of the Dnieper River. Although many lines of defense have been breached by the enemy, we The soldiers still stood firm and did not retreat even one step."
After Konev hummed, his eyes turned to the table. He saw that in addition to the army military commissar Serdyuk, there were two generals who looked very unfamiliar. He pouted at them and asked Shumilo Husband: "Comrade Shumilov, I wonder who these two generals are?"
Before Shumilov could speak, two generals in air force uniforms took two steps forward, raised their hands to salute Konev, and at the same time identified themselves.
"I am Major General Ryazanov, commander of the 1st Assault Aviation Corps."
"I am Major General Podgorny, commander of the 4th Fighter Aviation Corps."
After hearing the two air force generals identify themselves, Konev couldn't help but frown. He was very dissatisfied with the two generals because according to his observation, the two generals failed to organize air cover for the ferry and landing field. What a waste of such good flying weather.
With a straight face, he first attacked Podgorny: "General Podgorny, what happened to your fighter planes? Why did you allow the enemy's bombers to bombard our army's river crossings and pontoon bridges wantonly? The troops caused huge casualties?”
Podgorny, who was scolded by Konev, did not dare to speak because he knew very well that what the other party said was true. Before Konev appeared, he was discussing with Shumilov how to use fighter groups to drive away German bombers raging over the Dnieper River.
Konev came here not to curse, but to solve problems. After reprimanding Podgorny for a few words, he softened his tone and said: "Comrade General, immediately send a sufficient number of fighter planes to conduct uninterrupted patrols over the landing field on the right bank to intercept and destroy enemy bombers in the air. Do you understand? "
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Podgorny waited for Konev to finish and immediately replied loudly: "I will immediately arrange a sufficient number of fighter planes to patrol over the landing site to provide necessary cover for the ground troops."
Regarding Podgorny's answer, Konev nodded with satisfaction, and then said to Ryazanov: "And you, General Ryazanov."
When Konev called his name, Ryazanov straightened up quickly and waited for the other party's reprimand. But surprisingly, Konev did not reprimand him, but said to him: "Your army immediately dispatched attack aircraft carrying anti-tank bombs, and attacked our landing site one wave after another in a dense assault formation." German tanks attacked."
"Understood!" Riazanov replied loudly.
"As for you, General Shumilov." After assigning tasks to the two air force commanders, Konev turned his attention to Shumilov: "Your task is to inform the commander of the battle at the landing site on the right bank. Commanders at the corps and division level will learn about the measures we have taken to resist German ground impacts and air attacks."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Shumilov couldn't help feeling ecstatic after hearing the series of orders issued by Konev. The reason why the troops on the right bank fought so hard was entirely because the German army used powerful armored forces and air force, which put its own firepower at an absolute disadvantage. However, with the participation of the two units of the Fighter Air Force and the Assault Air Force, we will be able to reverse the unfavorable situation on the battlefield in a short period of time: "I immediately informed the commanders on the right bank to let them know that they were about to receive air support from the Air Force. To boost the morale of the troops.”
However, Konev's combat mission was not yet completed. After nodding slightly, he asked to the side: "Where is the artillery commander?"
"I'm here, Comrade Commander." A general with medium height and gray hair took two steps forward, straightened his back and reported to Konev: "I am the commander of the artillery of the group army."
"Gather all your artillery immediately." Konev ordered the other party: "And deploy them on the banks of the Dnieper River to assist the air force and the defenders at the landing site, and use artillery fire to destroy the German tanks."
"Is it all the artillery?"
"Of course." Konev nodded: "As long as it is the artillery of your army, whether it is cannons, howitzers, or mortars and rocket launchers, they are all deployed on the shore. We must use powerful artillery fire to cause huge losses to the enemy. .”
"But, Comrade Commander." After hearing Dokonev's order, the artillery commander said with some embarrassment: "It may take some time to gather so many artillery pieces."
"I'll give you one hour." Konev said in an unquestionable tone: "If the time is up and your artillery has not bombarded the enemy attacking the landing site on the right bank, then I will replace you with someone else. .”
The artillery commander was frightened by Konev's words. He quickly expressed his stance to the other party and said: "Don't worry, comrade commander, I assure you. In an hour, the artillery deployed on the Dnieper River will attack The enemy at the landing site carried out a heavy artillery bombardment."
When he said this, he was secretly thinking that it was obviously impossible to gather the artillery of the entire army group within an hour. The only way is to gather all the artillery units that can be assembled and let them bombard the German troops attacking the landing site on the right bank within the specified time. The remaining troops can use this time to continue to assemble towards the bank of the Dnieper River.
After Konev assigned the task, he took the tea handed by a staff officer, took a sip, waved to everyone and said, "Now that your tasks are clear, start executing them immediately."
Ryazanov had a radio station, which was placed in Shumilov's headquarters. He turned around and came to the radio station, and dictated various combat orders to the operator, asking him to immediately send them to each aviation division, so that they could take off as soon as possible to destroy the German tanks and reduce the pressure on the defenders of the landing site.
Seeing this, Konev couldn't help but nodded slightly. When Riazanov returned to him, he smiled and said: "General Riazanov, it seems that you have thought very carefully and actually put a radio here..."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Ryazanov rushed to say before Konev could finish: "In order to facilitate the command of the troops in combat, I will carry a radio with me wherever I go. In this way Come, not only can I convey my orders in the shortest time, but I can also accurately guide the attack aircraft group to attack the enemy's target according to changes in the situation on the battlefield."
However, Konev's combat mission was not yet completed. After nodding slightly, he asked to the side: "Where is the artillery commander?"
"I'm here, Comrade Commander." A general with medium height and gray hair took two steps forward, straightened his back and reported to Konev: "I am the commander of the artillery of the group army."
"Gather all your artillery immediately." Konev ordered the other party: "And deploy them on the banks of the Dnieper River to assist the air force and the defenders at the landing site, and use artillery fire to destroy the German tanks."
"Is it all the artillery?"
"Of course." Konev nodded: "As long as it is the artillery of your army, whether it is cannons, howitzers, or mortars and rocket launchers, they are all deployed on the shore. We must use powerful artillery fire to cause huge losses to the enemy. .”
"But, Comrade Commander." After hearing Dokonev's order, the artillery commander said with some embarrassment: "It may take some time to gather so many artillery pieces."
"I'll give you one hour." Konev said in an unquestionable tone: "If the time is up and your artillery has not bombarded the enemy attacking the landing site on the right bank, then I will replace you with someone else. .”
The artillery commander was frightened by Konev's words. He quickly expressed his stance to the other party and said: "Don't worry, comrade commander, I assure you. In an hour, the artillery deployed on the Dnieper River will attack The enemy at the landing site carried out a heavy artillery bombardment."
When he said this, he was secretly thinking that it was obviously impossible to gather the artillery of the entire army group within an hour. The only way is to gather all the artillery units that can be assembled and let them bombard the German troops attacking the landing site on the right bank within the specified time. The remaining troops can use this time to continue to assemble towards the bank of the Dnieper River.
After Konev assigned the task, he took the tea handed by a staff officer, took a sip, waved to everyone and said, "Now that your tasks are clear, start executing them immediately."
Ryazanov had a radio station, which was placed in Shumilov's headquarters. He turned around and came to the radio station, and dictated various combat orders to the operator, asking him to immediately send them to each aviation division, so that they could take off as soon as possible to destroy the German tanks and reduce the pressure on the defenders of the landing site.
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Ryazanov rushed to say before Konev could finish: "In order to facilitate the command of the troops in combat, I will carry a radio with me wherever I go. In this way Come, not only can I convey my orders in the shortest time, but I can also accurately guide the attack aircraft group to attack the enemy's target according to changes in the situation on the battlefield."
