Sidorin's judgment was correct, and Major General Onupriyenko quickly called to report on the progress of the 4th Guards Regiment: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Ma Daqiang's 4th Guards Regiment is on the way. After passing the burned village, we found that the nearby ravines were filled with killed livestock, which must be a crime committed by the Germans when they evacuated the village."
"The ravines are full of killed livestock?" Hearing what Onupryenko said, Sidorin couldn't help but gnashed his teeth and cursed: "Damn Germans, they owe us another blood debt. "
Sokov was talking to Ponedelin next to him. He vaguely heard the conversation between Sidorin and Onupryenko, and asked curiously: "Chief of Staff, what are you talking about?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin quickly replied after hearing Sokov's question: "General Onupryenko reported that after his troops bypassed the burned village, they found a large number of German soldiers in the ravine. Animals killed by humans.”
When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart, and he quickly said to Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, please ask quickly, apart from the corpses of livestock, are there any corpses of villagers in the gully?"
"General Onupryenko, the commander is asking you," Sidorin immediately relayed Sokov's words to Onupryenko: "Besides the corpses of livestock, are there any corpses of villagers in the ravine?"
"Comrade Commander," Ponejelin asked in a low voice, "do you think the Germans will massacre the villagers?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, you don't know something. The Germans have done this kind of thing many times." Sokov quickly explained to Ponedelin: "I once heard Comrade General say that before his troops attacked Kiev, he During the advancement of the Dnieper River, we encountered the strong walls of the German army. In the cities, they blew up factories and schools; in the countryside, they burned down villages, burned farmland, and stole livestock. In addition to poisoning wells, , and also shot all the villagers who were unwilling to evacuate with them to the right bank of the Dnieper River.
Some of our people always like to say that many of the crimes committed by the Germans in our country were done by the SS and had nothing to do with the Wehrmacht. But the crimes mentioned by Comrade General were all committed by the Wehrmacht under Manstein. "
After hearing this, Ponejelin couldn't help but said with emotion: "I don't know how long it will take before we can repay the blood debt owed to the Germans."
"Soon, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov may not be able to say anything else, but he knew exactly when the Soviet army would enter Berlin. He said confidently: "It will take another year at most. With the time, we can not only drive the enemy out of our country, but also push the war into their country. At that time, it will be time for us to repay our blood debt."
"Comrade Commander, I asked General Onupryenko." Sidorin said next to him: "He said that except for the corpses of livestock, no corpses of villagers were found in the gully. It seems that the Germans are here this time. Conscience realizes that no massacre was committed during the evacuation of the village.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think it is unlikely that the Germans have discovered their conscience." Sokov said with a sneer: "The Germans are very smart and coerce a large number of villagers into the city. When we attack the city and enter the city for street fighting, we There will be many scruples, and maybe by that time, the battle will be too timid. A battle that could have been resolved in two days may take a week or even longer."
"Then is there any way to deal with this kind of conspiracy of the Germans?"
"This is not a conspiracy, but a conspiracy." Sokov said helplessly: "We know that they have taken a large number of civilians and used them as human shields in the city, but we can only watch helplessly. Tell Austrian General Nupriyenko, the troops will attack Bobruisk according to the original plan to see how the Germans react."
"General Onupryenko, Comrade Commander said, let your division continue to attack Bobruisk according to the original plan and see how the Germans react."
After making the call, Sidorin put down the phone and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, who do you think will be the first unit to rush into the city between us and General Batov's 65th Army?"
Sokov did not express his opinion immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Ponedelin and asked with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Commander, tell me what you think. Who do you think will be the first to rush into Boburu?" Isk’s troops?”
"Comrade Commander, although the 65th Group Army mobilized two divisions to attack the city earlier than us, I don't think they can be the first to rush into the city."
"You make sense." Sokov nodded and said, "The success of the early attack does not mean that they can be the first unit to rush into the city."
"Why is this, Comrade Commander?" Sidorin heard the conversation between the two as if it was a riddle, and couldn't help but ask: "Can you explain it?"
"The reason is very simple, Comrade Chief of Staff." Before Sokov could speak this time, Ponedelin had already said first: "With the German 35th Army outside the city being wiped out, the enemies in the city felt that their chances of escaping were low. High, they will definitely put up a tenacious resistance. As the first unit to launch the attack, the 65th Group Army will definitely become the focus of defense for the Germans. In order to prevent them from rushing into the city, the Germans will concentrate a considerable part of their forces to fight The attack of the 65th Group Army. Our attack will be much later than that of the friendly forces. The enemy forces in the direction of the attack have become weaker, so our progress will be smoother."
"Yes, what Comrade Deputy Commander said is exactly what I want to say." After Sokov waited for Ponedelin to finish speaking, he immediately added: "The attack launched by General Batov's 65th Group Army, has successfully attracted the attention of the German army. In order to survive in our encirclement, they will definitely find a way to prevent the 65th Group Army from attacking. The best way is to mobilize sufficient troops from other areas where there is no fighting for the time being. , to strengthen the areas under attack to prevent their defense lines from being broken through by our army."
"As a result, the German forces on the front of our attack will inevitably be weakened. In this case, if we launch an attack, we will achieve twice the result with half the effort."
When Sidorin heard that what Sokov and Ponedelin said were reasonable, he nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, what you two said is very reasonable. I believe General Onupryenko The performance of the 6th Guards Division will definitely not disappoint us."
Half an hour later, Onupryenko called Sidorin again to report on the progress of the troops: "Comrade Chief of Staff, good news, good news! My troops have broken through the German perimeter defense line. It is developing in depth. Now it is less than two kilometers away from the urban area of Bobruisk."
"What a great job, General Onuprienko." Sidorin was very happy to learn that the 6th Guards Division was progressing smoothly. He said into the microphone: "But you can't be proud. Keep up the good work and try to be the first force to rush into the city."
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Onuprienko said confidently: "I will never let you down."
"Comrade Commander," before Sidorin hung up the phone, an intelligence staff member came in from outside and handed a piece of paper to Sokov: "This is the intelligence we just received. In the woods in the Dubovka area east of Isk, it was discovered that the German army had assembled a large number of infantry, tanks, artillery and other technical equipment. It seemed that they planned to attack our attacking troops from the flank."
Sokov couldn't help but be surprised after reading the information provided by his staff. You must know that Onupriyenko's 6th Guards Division launched an attack from the southeast of the city. Once this enemy lurking in the woods to the east launches an attack, the 6th Guards Division will be divided into two parts. Second, the commanders and fighters who originally had high morale will become demoralized as a result.
"Comrade Commander, what should we do?" Sidorin heard the latest enemy report and said worriedly, regardless of the fact that he was on the phone with Onuprienko: "If the enemy launches an attack on the city in the 6th Guards Division, If a sudden attack is launched from their flanks, the division may be split into two by the enemy, and the troops attacking the enemy's positions will be encircled, which will cause a heavy blow to the morale and morale of the troops."
"Comrade Commander, the current situation is urgent and we cannot hesitate any longer." Ponedelin suggested to Sokov: "Immediately mobilize the 211th and 284th Infantry Divisions to resolutely block this enemy force and ensure that the guards The 6th Division's attack went smoothly."
"No, even if we transfer these two infantry divisions, I'm afraid it won't have much effect." Unexpectedly, Sokov shook his head after hearing this and said: "Facing the German army with tanks and artillery, the infantry division's No matter how brave the commanders and fighters are, I'm afraid the casualties will not be small."
"Otherwise," Ponejelin suggested to Sokov: "Return the 109th Infantry Division and the 202nd Tank Brigade from the north and launch an attack from the enemy's flank and rear."
"It still doesn't work." Ponejelin's suggestion was also rejected by Sokov: "The 109th Division and the Tank Brigade made a lot of sacrifices in the battle to annihilate the German 35th Division. At the same time, ammunition and fuel were also consumed. That’s almost it. What’s needed on the battlefield is not just the number of people, but combat-effective people and equipment. If they are short of ammunition and fuel, even if they rush over, they won’t be able to make much difference.”
"This won't work, that won't work either." Ponjelin saw that all the plans he proposed were rejected by Sokov without exception, and he couldn't help but feel a little impatient: "Then what do you think we should do? We can't just watch. The 6th Guards Division will be divided and surrounded by German troops from the flanks, or even completely annihilated, right?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, don't worry." Seeing that Ponedelin was getting extremely excited at this moment, Sokov quickly comforted him and said: "I have thought of a way to rescue our troops from this predicament. "
"What can we do?" Sidorin urged impatiently: "Comrade Commander, tell me quickly."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov saw that Sidorin was still holding the microphone in his hand and knew that the call between him and Onu Priyenko was not over yet, so he told him: "First tell Onu Priyanko General Priyanko, let his troops continue the attack on the city, and let him not worry about the enemies on the flanks."
After seeing Sidorin put down the phone, he told the other party: "Put me through the headquarters of the 16th Air Force Group Army. I want to speak to General Rudenko."
Sidorin's eyes suddenly shone when he heard what Sokov said: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to have the air force attack and bomb the enemy?"
"Yes, that's what I think." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "The enemy has no air supremacy. Facing attacks from the air, they are just a bunch of lambs waiting to be slaughtered. As soon as our air force arrives, The battlefield is the end of this enemy.”
After the call was connected, Rudenko was a little surprised when he learned that the person calling him was Sokov: "General Sokov, do you have any advice?"
"General Rudenko, my troops are launching an attack on Bobruisk, but in the woods of Dubovka east of the city, a large number of German infantry, tanks, artillery and other technical equipment have been gathered. It seems that We plan to take advantage of our army's siege time to launch an attack from the flanks to achieve the purpose of dividing our attacking troops."
"I understand, General Sokov." Rudenko waited for Sokov to finish and immediately asked, "What can I do for you?"
"Of course it is to provide air support for my troops and carry out saturation bombing of the enemy hidden in the woods of Dubovka."
"Saturation bombing?!" Rudenko may have heard this term for the first time, and asked with some confusion: "What does it mean?"
"Saturation bombing refers to assessing the bombing target's invulnerability in advance, and then concentrating on using a bombing yield greater than the target group's invulnerability to attack, in order to destroy the enemy's effective forces in one go." After finishing the awkward terminology, Sokov probed He asked Rudenko: "General Rudenko, do you understand?"
When he said this, Sokov was still muttering in his heart. If the other party didn't understand what he meant, he would still need to find a way to explain it to him in a simple and easy-to-understand way.
Unexpectedly, Rudenko was smarter than Sokov imagined, and actually understood what Sokov wanted to express. He smiled and said: "General Sokov, I didn't expect you to know so much. Don't worry, I will immediately Arrange for the aviation division to attack and carry out saturation bombing on the German troops in the Dubovka area, so that they can taste the power of our bombs."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Ponejelin and Sidorin: "Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff, no matter which division is sent to strengthen the flanks of the 6th Guards Division, it will take several hours. A German attack on the flank of the 6th Guards Division could happen at any time, and we simply did not have that much time to mobilize our troops.
Even if the troops were in place sooner than we thought, the infantry division, which lacked heavy weapons, was no match for the German army equipped with tanks and artillery. In the end, it might not only fail to help the 6th Guards Division to relieve the encirclement, but would instead pay unnecessary costs. A big sacrifice. Now I request the air force to dispatch to bomb the German troops hiding in the woods. This will completely defeat this enemy force that poses a great threat to us at a very small cost. "
"You are right, Comrade Commander." Ponedelin waited for Sokov to finish speaking and then defended with a smile: "After all, I am old. The first thing I think of is still the old tactics. I only think about fighting with the enemy. I saw something real on the ground, but I didn’t expect that the air force could be used to use bombs to destroy this enemy that posed a threat to us.”
