The next night, Sokov received a telegram from the scouts on the other side, which detailed the enemy situation they had detected.
After seeing the contents of the telegram, Sokov couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise: The German defenses built on the west bank of the West River were ten kilometers deep and consisted of two to three positions, each with one or two lines. Long trenches. There is a firepower point every 10 to 15 meters on the river bank, connected with each other by communication trenches and trenches.
At the end of the telegram, it was specifically mentioned that they captured a German staff officer and found important German documents in the briefcase he carried. But since there was no one in the reconnaissance team who knew German, he could not be interrogated. Asked whether to send the German staff officer back so that the headquarters would send someone for interrogation.
After reading the telegram, Sokov handed it to Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are there no scouts sent behind enemy lines this time who understand German?"
Sidorin did not understand the meaning of Sokov's question at first. After quickly reading the contents of the telegram, he finally understood what was going on. He quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I will send a message to the Reconnaissance Department." Give me a call and find out what's going on."
A few minutes later, Sidorin reported to Sokov after making the call: "Comrade Commander, there were two translators among the five groups of scouts sent. However, they were all unfortunately killed when they encountered German artillery fire. The group that luckily managed to cross the river happened to have no German translator.”
"That's such a pity." Sokov knew very well that if the scouts did not understand German, they would not be able to understand what was written on the German documents, and they would not be able to interrogate the captured German staff officers. In desperation, , he could only say to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the scouts have completed their own mission, let them all withdraw."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "We will immediately ask the director of the reconnaissance department to send them a telegram and ask the reconnaissance team to withdraw with the German prisoners."
While Sidorin was on the phone, Sokov made a call to the front army headquarters and gave Rokossovsky a detailed report on the information detected by the reconnaissance team. Rokossovsky was looking at an Air Force reconnaissance report before he received Sokov's call. After he waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he added: "Misha, tell your people not to withdraw in a hurry. I just received a reconnaissance report from the Air Force. There are many photos in it showing that your scouts To the southwest, there is a large armored force deployed. I want your people to go to that area and figure out the size of the German armored force."
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." After learning that a huge German armored force was deployed to the southwest of the reconnaissance team, Sokov immediately became unsettled. If his troops carried out a forced crossing, what would they face after landing? The enemy will be this armored force. He does not think that troops lacking heavy weapons are capable of repelling such a huge armored force. Therefore, we must first understand the true strength of the enemy before we can formulate corresponding countermeasures. "I will send a reconnaissance team to the area to verify."
Seeing that Sidorin's call had not been completed, Sokov quickly stopped him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, cancel the order to withdraw the reconnaissance team. Let them use the cover of night to move southwest, where German troops are deployed. An armored force and let them figure out the true strength of the German army."
Sidorin was startled by Sokov's words. He nodded subconsciously, and then said into the microphone: "Comrade Director, the situation has changed. The reconnaissance team should not withdraw for the time being. The commander said that to the southwest of the reconnaissance team, The Germans have deployed a large armored force, and you send a reconnaissance team to conduct reconnaissance in the area to find out the size of the German armored force."
After Sidorin put down the phone, he asked Sokov in surprise: "Comrade Commander, if the German army really deploys a huge armored force on the other side and they attack after our troops land, we, who lack heavy weapons, will The army will be driven into the Theoder River by the enemy."
"Yes, I think so too." Sokov nodded and said: "So we need to send scouts to conduct reconnaissance. If the German army really deploys a huge armored force, it can only be carried out when our army is landing. , please ask the front army headquarters to dispatch the air force to bomb the German armored units deployed here to reduce the intensity of the attack our army suffered after completing the landing."
The leader of the reconnaissance team performing reconnaissance missions on the west bank of the West River was a sergeant named Stone. After receiving the telegram from the director of the reconnaissance department, he said to the other scouts: "Comrades, I have just received an order from my superiors, asking us to immediately rush to the southwest to conduct reconnaissance. There may be a strong German army deployed there. Armored troops, they may cause huge casualties to our landing troops, and our task is to find out their strength and guide the air force to bomb them."
The other scouts were naturally surprised when they learned that there was a huge armored force deployed nearby. In order to find out what was going on, they all had a quick bite and prepared to go to a new location to conduct a reconnaissance mission.
But just when the reconnaissance team was about to set off, an old scout named Azamat said: "Comrade Sergeant, we have another prisoner here. What should we do with him? You know, if you take him with you, you will definitely It will affect our marching speed."
Stone strongly agrees with Azamat's statement. He thought for a while, then called two soldiers and ordered them: "You two stay, take the captives to find a hidden place to hide, and when we come back, we will return to the other side together."
"Comrade Sergeant," Azamat reminded him when he saw that Stone had actually arranged for two soldiers to guard the prisoners, "We only have eight people in total. If you leave two people to guard them, it does not mean that you have weakened the strength of the reconnaissance team. A quarter?”
Regarding Azamat's statement, several soldiers immediately agreed: "Yes, Comrade Sergeant, if you want to take care of the German prisoners, one person is enough. Why should we leave two people? This is not for us." Are you short-staffed?”
"Comrade Azamat, this prisoner is very important to us." Stone said to Azamat and the other scouts: "If we leave only one person to guard him, if something goes wrong and he escapes, I'm afraid our whereabouts will be exposed. You know, this is German territory after all, and anything can happen."
"Okay, Comrade Sergeant." Listening to this, Azamat couldn't say anything else. He could only nod and said helplessly: "Then according to your arrangement, two scouts will be left to guard this place." A prisoner."
The reconnaissance team came to the area where the German army deployed armored troops, and unexpectedly found that the enemy's defense here was very tight. In addition to fixed sentries, there were also patrols with wolfdogs walking back and forth. It is obviously impossible to get close to the enemy for reconnaissance without anyone noticing. Stone had no choice but to hide in the distance and observe with a telescope, silently counting how many tanks and assault guns the German army had.
After more than half an hour of observation, he roughly counted the number of German tanks and assault guns, and there were actually 125 of them. If the 48th Group Army was attacked by such a large German armored force during the landing, then the landing force would definitely not be able to escape the end of annihilation.
"Comrades, the situation is clear." Stone turned to the scouts lying next to him and said, "Let's go back."
Just when everyone was about to leave, a strong wind blew, and then snowflakes started to drift.
"Damn weather," Stone muttered in a low voice, "It's already April, and it's still snowing."
Azamat, who was lying next to him, said in a low voice: "The weather in Moscow is not the same. Sometimes in early May, there will still be strong cooling or heavy snowfall..." But he hadn't finished speaking yet. It suddenly stopped, as if something interrupted his subsequent words.
Stone pushed his shoulder with his hand and whispered: "Azamat, what's wrong with you?"
"Comrade Sergeant, I seem to have seen something strange."
"Strange thing?" Stone asked in confusion: "What weird thing?"
"I saw tanks and assault guns in the distance. Why are they moving?"
"What, the tanks and assault guns are moving, you can't see it wrong, right?" Stone said, raising his binoculars and looking in the direction of the parked tanks and assault guns.
At this sight, I was immediately startled. The tanks and assault guns I just saw were swaying in the wind, as if they were about to be blown away. He stared at one of the tanks for a long time and found that the tank seemed to be fixed by several ropes. No matter how the wind blew, it would not be blown away at all because of the ropes.
At this moment, he finally understood that what kind of German equipment was there? It was just a bunch of foam models of tanks and assault guns. If he put it there, the reconnaissance planes in the air would definitely regard them as real tanks and assault guns. .
"Damn old German," Stone gritted his teeth and cursed: "Fortunately, the wind blew suddenly, otherwise I would have provided wrong information to my superiors and asked our air force to send out to bomb a bunch of foam models, wasting aerial bombs. "
"Comrade Sergeant, now that the situation has been clarified, let's withdraw first." Azamat said to Stone: "Report the situation observed here to your superiors as soon as possible."
After the reconnaissance team withdrew to a safe location, Stone immediately drafted a telegram and handed it to the operator: "Send it back to the reconnaissance office quickly and let them know that those so-called armored units are just a bunch of foam models. .”
The director of the reconnaissance department, who received the intelligence from the reconnaissance team, personally ran to the headquarters to report to Sokov and Sidorin.
After Sidorin tilted his head and read the contents of the telegram, he said in surprise: "Hell, the armored forces detected by the Air Force are just a bunch of foam models. This damn German is so cunning."
"Well, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right, the enemy is indeed very cunning." Sokov nodded and said: "We need to report this situation to the front army headquarters to prevent Comrade Marshal and others from being deceived by this wrong intelligence. .”
Rokossovsky couldn't help being surprised when he received the call from Sokov: "Misha, you are saying that the armored units detected by the Air Force are just a bunch of foam deployed by the German army. Model?"
"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said in a positive tone: "My scouts reported this to me. I believe their information will not be wrong."
"Did they seize any German documents or capture any prisoners during their reconnaissance on the other side?" Rokossovsky asked.
"We captured a German staff officer and seized the important military documents he was carrying." Sokov replied with some embarrassment: "But unfortunately, no one in the reconnaissance team understands German. This means , they were unable to interrogate the prisoners, let alone see what was written in the German documents."
"Then why don't you have a scout who understands German in the reconnaissance team?" Rokossovsky said displeased: "This way we can understand the real situation of the German army in a timely manner."
"Comrade Marshal, in fact, the reconnaissance team sent this time did include scouts who knew German." Sokov hurriedly explained to the other party: "But they were shelled by the German army when they were crossing the river, and they all unfortunately died."
"Oh, it turns out that's the case. That's such a pity." Rokossovsky said into the microphone: "Now that the mission of the reconnaissance team has been completed, let them return with the prisoners and documents as soon as possible. You must organize the manpower to attack the prisoners as soon as possible. Conduct interrogations to find out the troop deployment and equipment on the other side."
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said: "As soon as the reconnaissance team comes back, I will immediately have people interrogate the German prisoners."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidorin after putting down the phone: "Immediately order the reconnaissance team to return with the prisoners and documents. In addition, call the artillery director Potapov Bonus. Once the Germans are discovered, When the artillery fires into the river, they immediately implement artillery suppression to ensure that our scouts can return safely."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sidorin assured Sokov: "This time we will prepare the artillery first. Once we find that the German troops on the other side are firing again, we will immediately suppress them with fire to ensure that they cannot attack them. Returning scouts deal damage.”
"Very good." Sokov was very satisfied with Sidorin's answer, nodded and said, "Then you should hurry up and make a call."
"Misha, I want to talk to you." Lunev waved to Sokov, motioned for him to sit down next to him, and then said: "Even if we figure out the deployment and deployment of German troops on the west bank of the West Oder River, Due to the equipment situation, it is still very difficult to successfully carry out a forced crossing. The five-kilometer-wide river alone will become an insurmountable chasm."
"You are right, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov has always had a headache over this matter, but thinking of the friendly forces that were about to arrive on the left and right wings, he said with luck: "Maybe after the attack begins, the front army headquarters will Order the troops on the left and right wings to attack first to attract the attention of the German army. When the enemy has turned its main force and attention to the direction of the friendly forces' attack, we can then launch a forced crossing, which may reduce the casualties of the troops."
