The troops deployed by the 41st Guards Division on the right bank were ready for battle. The 126th Regiment remaining in the city of Otac is also mobilizing before departure, preparing to go to the right bank to join the other two regiments, and then launch an attack together on the German river defense positions.
When he learned that the 126th Regiment was about to set off, Sokov said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have to go out, and I will leave the affairs in the headquarters to you."
Hearing that Sokov was going out, Smirnov's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He was deeply afraid that the other party would go to some dangerous place again. Once something goes wrong, the consequences will be disastrous.
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov advised: "The war is about to begin. I think you should stay in the headquarters and command the troops. Don't run around. If something unexpected happens, I'm afraid no one will be able to take the responsibility. "
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, I won't go too far." Sokov knew very well that with the change of his identity, I am afraid that he will not be able to act as freely as before in the future. Where to go, he must first Make it clear to the Chief of Staff to prevent him from worrying about himself: "No, the 126th Regiment will soon cross the river to the right bank of the Dniester River. I will go and see them off."
The 126th Regiment's station is only one block away from the headquarters, and there are a large number of patrols along the way. If Sokov really goes there, there is really no need to worry about safety issues. However, out of caution, Smirnov specifically warned Sokov before leaving: "Comrade Commander, you must pay attention to your own safety."
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov said with a smile: "With Koshkin by my side, I will not be in danger."
Soon, Sokov came to the station of the 126th Regiment. At this moment, the troops were busy gathering, and the scene seemed a bit panicked. Sokov grabbed a passing soldier and asked, "Where is your commander?"
Seeing that the person asking the question was the commander, the soldiers quickly raised their hands in salute and reported: "Comrade Commander, the regiment commander Lieutenant Colonel Harin is still in his office, assigning combat tasks to the battalion commanders."
After Sokov thanked the other party, he led Koshkin and the soldiers of the guard platoon towards the location of the regiment headquarters.
When passing a small square, Sokov suddenly saw a company gathered here, and directly in front of the company, an officer was speaking loudly.
"Comrade Commander," Koshkin saw this and said to Sokov with a smile: "This should be a pre-war mobilization."
Hearing that they were doing pre-war mobilization, Sokov stopped. He wanted to hear how these commanders mobilized the soldiers before the war. He said to Koshkin: "Comrade Lieutenant, let's listen here for a while and listen to how this officer mobilized his men before the war."
Sokov glanced at the officer's epaulette, which showed the rank of lieutenant. He should be the instructor of the company. Just listen to him say loudly: "Comrades, I think many people know that I just returned from the army after being injured some time ago and served as the instructor of the company."
When Sokov heard this, he thought that his guess was quite accurate. The other party was really the instructor of the company.
"I was lucky. The place where I was injured and hospitalized happened to be my hometown." The instructor continued: "After I recovered and was discharged from the hospital, I wanted to go home to see my mother before returning to the team. After all, since the war started, I have not I met my mother. When I came to the building where I lived and looked at the familiar windows and closed curtains upstairs, I couldn’t help but shed tears."
When he said this, the officer's tears flowed down his cheeks. After wiping the tears on his face with his hands, he continued: "Everyone knows that after the war broke out, residents in many places were evacuated. We arrived at the far rear. I didn't know whether my mother had also been evacuated to the rear. To find out, I shouted loudly at the familiar window: 'Mom, I'm back! Your son is back!'
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the sound of opening a window came from upstairs. Not only were the windows I was familiar with opened, but even the windows of the neighbors were all opened. My mother and the mothers of other soldiers stuck their heads out of the window to see if their sons were back. Except for my mother who was ecstatic, all the other mothers had disappointed expressions on their faces. "
"Comrade Commander," Sokov suddenly heard someone talking next to him. He turned around and saw that it was a young soldier. He wiped the tears on his face and said to Sokov, "I haven't seen him in many years. As for my mother, I don’t know how she is doing now.”
"Comrade soldier," Sokov put a hand on the soldier's shoulder and said to him: "Sometimes there is good news when there is no news. My mother was thrown from a German plane while working in a factory last year. Killed by an aerial bomb."
"Comrade Commander," the soldier clenched his fist and said to Sokov: "Don't worry, we will severely attack the German invaders and avenge your mother and those compatriots who died!"
Just listen to the instructor in the distance continue to say: "Comrades, I know that you all miss your mothers in your hearts, and your mothers are also looking forward to your safe return. We are about to fight a war. After this battle is over, , I think there are many soldiers who may not be able to come back..."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov was interrupted by a voice as soon as he heard this. He turned around and saw that it was Lieutenant Colonel Harlin, the commander of the 126th Regiment. He jogged up to Sokov, somewhat out of breath. He asked: "Why are you here?"
"I knew you were going to war, so I came here specifically to see you." Sokov pointed to the instructor who was doing pre-war mobilization in the distance and asked, "Who is that officer?"
Xiaoshuting app
After taking a look, Dukhalin replied: "Comrade Commander, that is Lieutenant Valko, the instructor of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion." He didn't understand why Sokov asked about his subordinates, and thought that the other party had done something wrong. He quickly smoothed over the other person, "He has not been the company instructor for a long time, and his level may not be high. If he has offended you in any way, please forgive him."
"Comrade Dukhalin, you said his level is not high?!" Sokov said with a smile: "On the contrary, I think his theoretical level is very high. Look at the soldiers of this company, after listening to his pre-battle After mobilization, morale immediately became high, and I believe that we will achieve great results in the following battles."
After seeing off the 126th Regiment, on his way back to the headquarters, Sokov suddenly remembered that he had not just finished listening to Varko's mobilization speech, and curiously asked Koshkin: "Comrade Lieutenant, what did Varko say later?" What?"
Koshkin did not expect that Sokov would suddenly ask this question. After thinking for a long time, he answered: "He told the soldiers that if they want to go back to see their mother, they must hit the German devils hard in the battle. At the same time, , but also learn to protect yourself and know how to achieve the greatest victory at the smallest cost."
After hearing this, Sokov's impression of Lieutenant Varko deepened. He thought to himself: "There is a shortage of excellent commanders everywhere nowadays. If this battle is over, Lieutenant Varko can still survive." , then you can arrange for him to serve as an instructor in which camp."
When Sokov returned to the headquarters, Smil could not help but be a little surprised. In his impression, every time Sokov left the headquarters, he would not see anyone for hours at least or for days at most. Like this time, when I came back less than an hour after going out, it was like the sun was rising in the west.
"Comrade Commander, are you back so soon?"
Facing Smirnov's surprise, Sokov calmly replied: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't I say that I would go out to send the 126th Regiment out? Since they have already set off, I will naturally come back."
After a pause, he asked again: "Has the 98th Guards Division launched an attack on the enemy's river defense positions?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Smirnov nodded and replied: "They launched an attack on the flank of the German river defense position ten minutes ago. General Tsarev's artillery provided them with long-range artillery support. , destroy the enemy's fortifications and suppress those firepower points that threaten the attack."
"Good job." Hearing that the troops' attack had begun, Sokov couldn't help but nodded. According to his assumption, the 98th Guards Division launched a sudden attack from the flank of the river defense fortifications, which would definitely catch the Germans by surprise. Coupled with the artillery support of the group army, breaking through the enemy's position is only a matter of time.
However, the attack on the right bank is only part of the entire offensive plan. Sokov then asked: "What about the 254th Division on the left bank? Are they ready to attack?"
"I haven't had time to call Colonel Shechtman yet." Hearing Sokov's question, Smirnov replied with some embarrassment: "So I don't know what the situation is there yet."
Sokov didn't waste any time and asked the director of the communications corps to get through to the 254th Division's headquarters.
As soon as the call was connected, Sokov heard Shechtman's voice coming from the receiver, and asked directly: "Colonel Shechtman, the offensive battle on the right bank has begun. How are you prepared?"
"Report to Comrade Commander." Shechtman quickly replied: "Lieutenant Colonel Shamrih's 296th Regiment has arrived at the river with a boat and is preparing to launch a forced crossing as soon as the boat is lowered into the water."
"Comrade Colonel, let me remind you." Sokov said into the microphone: "Every minute on the battlefield is precious. You tell Lieutenant Colonel Shamrich to speed up the crossing of the river and be sure to wait until the Germans have returned. Cross the Dniester before God.”
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Shechtman replied: "I will immediately convey your order to Lieutenant Colonel Shamrih."
Soon, the 296th Regiment, under the command of Shamrih, began a forced crossing.
The Germans, who were stunned by the artillery fire from the 98th Guards Division and the Army Group, suddenly discovered that the Soviet troops on the left bank were beginning to cross the river. They immediately deployed some mortars and combined with machine gun fire to block the river and prevent the Soviet troops from crossing the river.
For a moment, the water surface of the Dniester River began to boil like a boiling pot, and water columns rose into the sky. From time to time, small boats were hit by artillery shells. The fragments of the hull and the bodies of the soldiers were lifted into the air by the air waves, and then fell heavily into the river, and were washed away by the rushing river water.
Some small boats were overturned by water jets, and the soldiers on board fell into the water. Some of them were immediately washed away by the river. The remaining people swam desperately to a nearby boat. After being rescued on board, they continued to rush to the other side without hesitation.
In this way, the 296th Regiment successfully landed on the right bank after losing more than 30 boats and more than 200 soldiers. The heavy machine gunners immediately dragged their machine guns off the ship, found a suitable place, established a machine gun position, fired at the enemy's fire points, and covered their comrades' landing.
Many small boats were still more than ten meters away from the shore, and the infantrymen on board jumped off the boats one after another, wading into the water and rushing to the shore. As soon as they landed, they rushed towards the enemy's position, preparing to seize the position from the Germans under the cover of machine gun fire.
Shamrih was watching the battle on the left bank and saw that his men had boarded the right bank and were fighting for positions with the enemy. He could not stay still and quickly issued an order to the soldiers next to him: "Prepare a boat for me. I want to go to the other side.”
Hearing that Shamrih was going to the other side, the regiment political commissar Shapovarenko quickly reminded him: "Comrade regiment leader, the fighting on the other side is still going on. If you go there now, you may be in danger. I think it's better to wait. After our warriors have established a foothold, it will not be too late for you to cross the river."
But Shamrih glared and said to Shapovarenko: "Comrade Comrade Political Commissar, are you afraid? The soldiers are bleeding and dying at the front. They are not afraid of death. Do we commanders even think about the soldiers?" Not as good as anything?"
After saying that, he quickly walked out of the observation post and walked quickly towards the river.
When he came to the river, there happened to be a small boat returning from the other side, so Shamrih jumped on it. Before he could give the order to sail, a cannonball landed in the water not far away and exploded. The water column raised caused Shamrih to fall directly into the water.
Shapovarenko, who followed closely, was frightened and hurriedly shouted to the side: "The leader has fallen into the water, hurry up and save people."
When the surrounding soldiers heard the shouts of the political commissar, they rushed to the river and prepared to dive into the water to rescue the regiment leader who fell into the water. But unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived at the shore, they saw a wet Shamrih emerging from the water.
Seeing Shamrih emerge from the water, Shapovarenko felt much more at ease, but he still shouted to him: "Comrade leader, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Shamrih waved his hand to Shapovarenko and said with a smile: "Comrade Political Commissar, don't forget, I am a sailor, and such shallow water will not kill me."
After saying that, Shamrih climbed back into the boat and shouted at the stunned soldiers on the boat: "What are you still doing? Why don't you row to the other side quickly?"
But before the boat left the shore, Shapovarenko climbed onto the boat and said to Shamrih: "Comrade commander, don't forget, I am your political commissar. On the battlefield, regardless of the commander, No matter where you appear, as the political commissar, I will always stay by your side."
After hearing what Shapovalenko said, Shamrih, who originally wanted to drive him off the boat, changed his mind: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, since you said so, let's go to the other side together." Then he stood on the bow of the boat. The soldier made a gesture and loudly ordered him: "Comrade soldier, sail the ship!"
The soldier agreed loudly, then rowed the oars desperately and drove the boat towards the right bank where the battle was raging. Perhaps it was because the regimental leader and political commissar were both on board his boat. At this moment, he was full of courage. The water pillars rising into the sky nearby did not affect the speed of the boat at all.
