The next day, Sokov's 48th Army began to advance eastward.
Shortly after the troops set off, Sokov received a call from the 6th Guards Division, which served as the vanguard. The new division commander Yinvanov said to Sokov anxiously on the phone: "Comrade Commander, we The way forward is blocked!”
"The way forward is blocked?!" Sokov couldn't help but be startled after hearing this. Since the end of the Battle of Eastern Pomerania, there was no trace of the Germans at least twenty kilometers in front of him, blocking the guards. Where did the enemies on the 6th Division's path come from? With this question in mind, he asked: "Colonel Yinvanov, where did the enemies blocking your way come from? How many troops do they have and what is their firepower configuration?"
Unexpectedly, after Sokov finished asking, Yinvanov fell silent. After a while, he finally said: "Comrade Commander, you are mistaken. It is not the German troops that are blocking our way, but the fleeing refugees."
"What, refugees?" Sokov asked in confusion: "How come they blocked your way?"
"My political commissar went to inquire about it. These German refugees all escaped from East Prussia. They believed Goebbels's rumors and thought that after we occupied East Prussia, we would massacre them, so they started their The road to escape." Yinvanov explained: "After the end of the current Battle of East Pomerania, the Vistula Army Group in Himla was beaten by us and did not dare to show up. After our army occupied the East Prussian region, , and there was no disturbance to the people, so the German rumors were naturally self-defeating. These refugees who originally fled returned to their homes one after another after learning that our army would not embarrass them."
"Oh, that's it." After Sokov figured out what was going on, he ordered the other party: "Immediately send out personnel to maintain order and help the refugees return to their homes in an orderly manner. As long as the roads are cleared, you Only in this way can we speed up the march and reach the Schwedt area in the shortest possible time to take over the defense of the First Front Army."
Just after calling Invanov, the head of the logistics department of the group army called again, complaining to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the situation has changed. The materials originally scheduled to be transported by rail may have to be transported by trucks. transportation."
After hearing this, Sokov couldn't help being surprised and asked: "Comrade Director, why is this?"
"I have asked the logistics department of the front army." The chief of the logistics department said: "Since we have just occupied the Eastern Pomerania region, the railway traffic situation has not been fully restored. The trains running on the railways now have different driving speeds and walking speeds. Almost. Their transportation tasks are heavy. They have to complete hundreds of thousands of soldiers, thousands of artillery pieces, tens of thousands of tons of ammunition and countless material transportation tasks. Therefore, the transportation plan to match our actions needs to be adjusted accordingly. Only tanks and Combat vehicles that rely on tracked marching can be transported by railway, and other equipment, materials and personnel can only be transported by trucks, horse-drawn carriages or other means of transportation."
Sokov knew very well that the battle was all about logistics. In the Third Battle of Kharkov in early 1943, why was the Soviet army beaten to a pulp by Manstein even though it had superior strength and equipment? It was simply because the army's logistical supply lines were stretched too long, which resulted in a large number of tanks and artillery having to be abandoned on the battlefield due to lack of fuel and ammunition, and became trophies of the German army. If I push towards Berlin this time, I'm afraid the prospects are not good.
Thinking of this, he tentatively asked the director of the logistics department: "Comrade director, is there no room for change in this matter?"
"No, Comrade Commander." The chief of the logistics department replied in a positive tone: "After my repeated efforts, the logistics force of the front army agreed that the tanks of our tank brigade can be transported through their railways."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Sidorin and Lunev in front of him: "Comrade Chief of Staff and Military Commissar, we have encountered a little trouble now. Since the front army has just occupied the Eastern Pomerania region, supplies and The transportation of personnel cannot return to normal in a short period of time. Therefore, the infantry divisions that were originally scheduled to be transported by rail could only move forward by marching on foot. Now the only ones that can move forward by train are our tank brigades. .”
Listening to what Sokov said, Runev couldn't help but frown. He tried hard to think of ways to improve the current unfavorable situation. If the troops operating at the front cannot receive timely support from friendly forces and replenishment of ammunition and various supplies, I am afraid they will not be able to sustain it for long. By then, let alone breaking through the German defenses, it would be considered good if they were not wiped out by the Germans.
Sidorin asked angrily: "Comrade Commander, since the superiors have assigned our army to be the main force in the attack on Berlin, can't we find ways to improve our marching conditions? If the troops marched on two legs, our original combat would be The plan will be completely disrupted.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, there is no way around this." Sokov said helplessly: "Our army has just occupied Eastern Pomerania, and it will probably take a long time for the railway transportation system to be put into normal operation. . Prior to this, we could only transport troops by road. In addition to cars, we should also collect horse-drawn carriages, bullock carts, and other transportation tools that can be collected."
Hearing what Sokov said, Sidorin suddenly remembered a past incident: "Comrade Commander, I remember that the weapons and equipment department used to have a batch of hovercrafts. Those things not only travel fast, but are not restricted by terrain. If the superiors can If we deploy those hovercrafts to us, I think we can improve our transportation situation."
Sokov did consider hovercrafts, but after thinking about it, he relied on twenty or thirty hovercrafts. No matter how large their transport capacity was, they could not transport enough ammunition and supplies for his army. It’s a drop in the bucket. To really solve the problem, we still need to rely on railway and road transportation.
"Misha, I remember when we liberated that city, because there was lack of adequate transportation, didn't you use all the bicycles that could be collected in the city?" Lunev reminded Sokov: "If we Being able to collect a large number of bicycles in the existing area can provide some troops with marching speed."
"Comrade Military Commissar, this is not realistic." Sokov simply rejected Lunev's proposal: "In the cities under our control, it is rare to see people riding bicycles. Even if we order a collection, I'm afraid we won't be able to collect it. The number of bicycles arriving will also be very limited, which will not solve the big problem at all.”
"Then what should we do?" Sidorin saw that the two transportation plans proposed in succession were rejected by Sokov, and he couldn't help but become a little impatient: "Are we just watching our troops disappear due to insufficient logistics supplies? Is it still too late to push towards Berlin?”
The hovercraft was out of use, and a sufficient number of bicycles could not be collected, which made Sokov very anxious. He walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and began to think about how to solve this problem.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, he finally stopped. When he looked back at the map hanging on the wall, Sidorin's face showed joy, and he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Commander, have you thought of any good ideas?"
Sokov did not answer his question immediately, but quickly walked to the map, pointed to one of the locations, and said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to our original plan, the 6th Guards Division will They will arrive at this location in an hour. Although their marching speed is now affected by German refugees blocking the road, I think they will be able to reach this location in two hours at the latest."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and confirmed Sokov's statement: "They can indeed arrive in two hours."
"From the map, this is an open area." Sokov said to Sidorin: "We can request the front army headquarters to use transport planes to transport the weapons, ammunition and various materials needed by the vanguard to this area. To this area. You know, with the end of the Battle of East Pomerania, the air superiority of the entire East Prussia region is firmly in the hands of our army. Even without fighter escort, our transport planes can land safely in this area. "
"This is a good idea." After hearing this, Lunev nodded repeatedly and said: "Even if the transport plane cannot land because of the muddy roads on the ground, they can also use airdrops to deliver the weapons, ammunition and various materials needed by our army. Airdropped.”
Sokov picked up the phone on the table and called the front headquarters. After hearing Bogolyubov's voice coming from the receiver, he said politely: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I am Sokov. I have something urgent to report to Comrade Marshal."
When Bogolyubov learned that Sokov had something important to report to Rokossovsky, he did not dare to neglect it at all. He quickly handed the microphone to Rokossovsky next to him: "Comrade Marshal, your The call is from General Sokov."
"Misha, this is Rokossovsky." Rokossovsky asked directly into the microphone: "What can I do for you?"
"Hello, Comrade Marshal!" Sokov said, "I'm calling you because I have an important matter that requires your support."
"What's important? Let's talk about it."
"That's it, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said: "My logistics director told me that the leader of the front army's logistics department informed him that due to the unsatisfactory railway transportation situation, the original plan was to help us transport troops and weapons and equipment. Cancellation, at best it can only transport tanks or other combat vehicles marching on tracks..."
When Rokossovsky heard this, he immediately covered the microphone with his hand, repeated Sokov's words to Bogolyubov, and then ordered the other party: "Call the Minister of Post-production and ask what happened. what happened."
Bogolyubov nodded, walked aside, picked up another phone, and called the logistics minister to learn about relevant matters.
A few minutes later, Bogolyubov returned to Rokossovsky and repeated to him what the logistics minister had said. Rokossovsky nodded after hearing this, then released his hand covering the microphone and said: "Misha, I have inquired about it. The logistics department is currently facing a lot of transportation pressure. In order to transport more troops to the airport as soon as possible, Frontline, had to change the original transportation plan, I hope you can understand them."
"Comrade Marshal, I can understand the difficulties of the logistics department." Sokov said into the microphone: "But my troops are about to launch an attack on the German army. If there are not enough weapons, ammunition, various supplies, and corresponding reinforcements, I am afraid that You will suffer a big loss in the battle."
After hearing this, Rokossovsky couldn't help laughing: "Misha, since you called me, you must have thought of a way to deal with it. You might as well tell me and I'll see if I can help you. busy."
"Yes, yes, of course." Sokov nodded vigorously, and then said: "Comrade Marshal, although the situation of railway and road transportation is very serious, can we use air transportation to solve the problem of weapons, ammunition and supplies we need? What’s the situation?”
Rokossovsky was stunned for a moment when he heard what Sokov said. Then he saw on the map the location where the 6th Guards Division had arrived today, and asked tentatively: "Misha, are you planning to attack In the area where the 6th Division arrives, will a field airport be established so that transport planes can transport enough weapons, ammunition and supplies to you?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal, that's what I think about." Sokov replied readily: "But I don't have time to build any field airport. It is naturally good for the transport aircraft to transport supplies to land. If it cannot land, it can also Just airdrop the supplies and I'll have the troops collect the airborne supplies down below."
Regarding the suggestion put forward by Sokov, Rokossovsky thought for a while and felt that this should be a good way to solve the current shortage of transportation capacity. He nodded and said: "Okay, Misha, I will talk to the Air Force Commander right away. Make contact and ask him to arrange for thirty transport planes to transport supplies for you. But whether to land directly or airdrop requires me to discuss with the other party before I can give you an accurate answer."
"Great, Comrade Marshal, this is really great." Sokov did not expect Rokossovsky to agree to his request so readily, thanked him repeatedly, and expressed his position: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to express my gratitude to him." You guarantee that as long as the vanguard troops can obtain ammunition and supplies in a timely manner, they will be able to rush to the Schwedt area to join the troops of the 1st Belarusian Front at the specified time, and after taking over their defense, they will attack the front The enemy launches an attack."
"Well, I believe you can do what you say." Rokossovsky said: "I will call General Polainin now and ask him to arrange a transport plane to transport ammunition and supplies for you. If possible, then It’s not impossible to transport troops to you.”
After putting down the phone, Sokov excitedly said to Sidorin and Lunev: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Comrade Military Commissar, and Comrade Marshal have agreed to my request and said that they will immediately negotiate with General Polainin and ask him to dispatch Transport aircraft transport the required ammunition and supplies for our leading troops. Even at critical moments, they can directly transport the troops in the rear."
"That's great." Sidorin said happily: "Although the transport plane can't transport as much as the train, it is faster than the train. As long as they come a few more times, our vanguard will be able to have enough ammunition and supplies to carry out the next phase of combat operations."
