After Bartov returned to his defense area, he immediately sent out reconnaissance personnel to conduct reconnaissance operations on the Oder River.
According to the feedback from the scouts, there are indeed many river beaches in the upper reaches of the Oder River that are not submerged by water, and they can completely become the starting point for the troops' attack.
After understanding the situation on the Oder River, Batov said to Glebov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if we want to build a pontoon bridge on the East Oder River, we will need a large amount of bridge construction materials. Let the engineering troops seize the time to collect bridge construction materials. Materials. In addition, if you want to successfully cross the East Oder River, you will also need a lot of ships. Please call the director of engineering at the Front Army Headquarters later and ask how many ships can be provided to us? "
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Glebov nodded and said, "I'll call right away."
Glebov called the Front Army Logistics Department. The person who answered the phone was General Blagoslavov, director of the Engineering Corps. After listening to Glebov's story, he said: "General Glebov, I received the call yesterday. Comrade Marshal's notice said that if the troops want to reach the west bank of the Oder River, they need to launch a forced crossing operation, so we are asked to prepare the equipment for you to cross the river. There are probably dozens of flat-bottomed boats and hundreds or thousands of boats of various types. , as well as the wood needed to build the pontoon bridge, etc... In short, in addition to providing you with some boats for crossing the river, you need to prepare the rest of the bridge construction materials yourself. "
"Comrade General," Glebov waited for the other party to finish, then said with a smile: "As long as you can provide us with boats to cross the river, as for the wood to build the pontoon bridge, there are a lot of forests in our defense area, we can Arrange for the engineering troops to cut down trees and use them as materials for building bridges.”
Blagoslavov warned Glebov: "General Glebov, although the air supremacy on the battlefield is in the hands of our army, German planes will still appear in the sky occasionally, and the materials you have prepared are not Be careful not to be discovered by the German air force."
"Understood, Comrade General, you can rest assured on this. We will hide the materials for building the bridge so that the Germans will not discover our intention to build a bridge over the river."
After making the call, Glebov reported to Batov: "Comrade Commander, the Director of the Engineering Department said that they have prepared a boat for us to cross the river, but we need to find the materials needed to erect the pontoon ourselves. "
"There is no problem with the materials for building the bridge." Batov said confidently: "We can organize troops to go to the forest to cut down trees to use as materials for building the bridge."
"Which division do you plan to send as the advance force across the river?" Glebov asked.
Bartov thought for a while and replied: "I think Teremov's division will serve as the advance team to cross the river."
"Well, I'll call Colonel Teremov immediately and inform him of your arrangements."
The day after Bartov's visit, Fedyuninsky also appeared at Sokov's headquarters.
Seeing Feijuninsky's appearance, Sokov couldn't help but be a little stunned, how could the attack on the 2nd Army come so fast. He quickly walked around the table and came to Feijuninsky. After raising his hand to salute him, he said enthusiastically: "General Feijuninsky, welcome to my headquarters as a guest."
Fedyuninsky held Sokov's hand and said with a smile: "General Sokov, my troops will officially enter your right wing area tomorrow. I am here to attack the front line."
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I'm not familiar with it, and I don't know whether the Soviet army used its fleet in order to successfully land on the other side. But then I thought about it, it was not impossible for the Soviet army to get the support of the fleet when they forced the crossing. The shallow-water gunboats equipped by the Volga River Fleet and the Dnieper River Fleet can pass through the Baltic Sea and enter the Oder River area to provide artillery support for Soviet troops carrying out forcible crossings.
He said cautiously: "General Fedyuninsky, if the entrance to the Baltic Sea is controlled by the Germans, then it may not be easy for our shallow-water gunboats to enter the Oder River."
"General Sokov, you don't have to worry about this." Fedyuninski said to Sokov: "Our army group took over the defense zone of the Polish First Army, and General Romanovsky's 19th Army, I will occupy the entrance to the Baltic Sea on my right wing to ensure that the shallow water gunboats sent from the rear can smoothly enter the Oder River."
Knowing that the Soviet army had controlled the entrance to the Baltic Sea, Sokov felt much more at ease. Although the two Oder rivers were five kilometers wide, as long as the Soviet shallow-water gunboats could enter the Oder river, they could Conduct artillery fire on the German positions on the west bank at close range, suppress the enemy's various firepower, and cover the smooth landing of the troops responsible for the forced crossing.
For the first time, Sokov knew that the right wing of Fedyuninsky's unit was Romanovsky's 19th Army, but he also had no idea which unit Batov's left wing was. So he asked tentatively: "General Fedyuninsky, do you know which army is on General Bartov's left wing?"
"General Popov's 70th Army." Fedyuninsky replied without hesitation: "Their task is to cover Batov's left wing and ensure that when our three armies forcefully cross the Oder River, they will not be attacked by enemies. A flanking attack."
Sokov knew very well in his heart that the enemy in front of him was at the end of his life. Although they had a lot of troops, most of them were People's Stormtroopers with little combat effectiveness, or ground crews of the Air Force. These troops used It's fine for defense, but if it's used for offense, it's like letting them die in vain.
However, he still followed Fejuninsky's tone and said: "Yes, when both our wings can be covered, when we launch an attack on the west bank of the Oder River, we can devote all our strength to frontal combat without leaving any traces. What kind of reserve team is there?"
"General Fedyuninsky," Runev interjected from the side: "Misha has been worrying about how to cross the river these two days. The river in front of us looks like one, but it is actually the East Oder River and the West Oder River. The two rivers look like one river because of the spring thaw and the melting of ice and snow, which caused the water level to rise and directly submerged the shoal between the two rivers."
After hearing what Luniev said, Fedyuninsky immediately guessed what Sokov was worried about, and quickly said: "I understand, General Sokov is worried that the shoal submerged by the river will become our Obstacles in forcibly crossing the attack? It doesn't matter. As long as the shallow-water gunboats of our river fleet can enter the Oder River, the German defenses on the left bank will become extremely vulnerable. As soon as they open fire, our gunboats can directly fire on them Suppression, thereby achieving the effect of covering the infantry crossing the river."
"General Fedyuninsky, in fact, even without the support of shallow-water gunboats, it is not impossible for us to successfully cross the river." Sokov said to Fedyuninsky: "Before crossing the river, dispatch the air force to attack the troops on the west bank. The German army carried out intensive bombing on its firepower points, headquarters, communication hubs and artillery positions. When the bombed German army fell into chaos, General Bartov's 65th Group Army could cross the river first and take advantage of the fact that the German army was suppressed by our air force and was unable to organize effective resistance. , quickly cross the East Oder River, seize a shoal that is not flooded by the river, establish an artillery position there, and set up a pontoon bridge to transport more troops and equipment to the shoal, then forcefully cross the Oder River and board the left bank Later, a landing site was established to attract the German troops and attention, creating favorable conditions for our two armies to cross over."
Fedyuninsky had no idea about the agreement reached between Batov and Sokov. When he heard what Sokov said, his eyes suddenly lit up and he said repeatedly: "This is a good idea. Batov's troops can cross the river." At this time, let the shallow-water gunboats enter the Oder River, use artillery fire to destroy the exposed German firepower points, and cover my troops to start crossing the river. General Sokov, as long as I and the Palestinians
General Tov's troops have successfully broken through from both sides of your flanks. If you carry out cross-river operations, you can minimize casualties. "
Sidorin couldn't help but feel a little anxious when he heard what Fedioninsky said. You know, according to the plan of the Front Army Headquarters, it was the 48th and 65th Group Armies and the 2nd Assault Army that were forced to cross the Oder River this time. If the left and right armies were allowed to cross the river first, wouldn't they take the lead? Just when he was about to say a few words, he saw Sokov's hand on the table waved towards him, signaling him not to speak. Sidorin felt that Sokov might have his own ideas, so he kept his mouth shut obediently.
After finally waiting for Fedyuninsky to leave, Sidorin urgently asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, how can we let the friendly troops on the left and right wings cross the river first? You know, we are the vanguard assigned by the front army headquarters. .”
But after hearing this, Sokov just smiled indifferently, and then asked: "What's wrong with letting them cross the river first?"
"If we let them cross the river first, wouldn't it mean that they have taken the lead?"
"Even if they take the lead, what does it matter?" Sokov said lightly: "You know, landing on the west bank of the Oder River does not mean the end of the battle. On the contrary, it is just It's a beginning, and what awaits us is a forty-kilometer-deep defense depth. It doesn't matter who gets to the west bank of the Oder River first; which troop can be the first to break through the German army's forty-kilometer defense depth and reach the outside of Berlin first. , that is the real success.”
After Sokov's explanation, Sidorin's worry about gains and losses suddenly calmed down: "Yes, even if we land on the west bank, what we have to face next is a defense system with a depth of forty kilometers. Who can break through first? The defense of the German army can be regarded as the first achievement."
Before Fedyuninsky's visit, Sokov was still worried that if he wanted to cross the Oder River, he might have to detour through the defense area of the 65th Army and cross the river through the pontoon bridge they had built. But now it seems that he can let some of his troops carry out forced crossing operations. After establishing a landing site on the other side, he can then build a pontoon bridge connecting the two sides of the strait. Then he can send his technical equipment and more troops to the other side.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidorin, "I think it is necessary for us to build a pontoon bridge on the river so that the technical equipment and soldiers needed on the other side can be sent across more quickly."
Sidorin just wanted to remind Sokov that the danger of building a pontoon bridge on the Oder River was too high, but then he thought that the 65th Army on the left wing would establish an artillery position in the middle shoal area to suppress the enemies on the left bank with artillery fire; The 2nd Assault Army will also be supported by shallow-water gunboats, which will use naval guns to cover the forced crossing of the troops. With these two friendly armies distracting the German army's strength and attention, our troops in the middle can minimize losses no matter how they cross the river. Especially after the troops arrive on the other side, how to send more soldiers and important technical equipment there is a big problem. It is definitely unrealistic to transport them by small boats. The best way is to set up pontoons to achieve rapid transportation.
"Okay, Comrade Commander, I will immediately notify the director of the engineering corps and ask him to arrange manpower to cut down trees in the nearby forest and make rafts as materials for erecting pontoon bridges."
When Sidorin called the director of the engineering corps, Sokov asked Lunev, who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, what is today's date?"
"The 15th." After Lunev said the date casually, he may have felt that the expression was not accurate enough, so he quickly added: "April 15th!"
Sokov thought that Mustache committed suicide on April 30, which meant that Mustache's life had entered a countdown. In another half a month, he would commit suicide in the bunker, and then his body would be thrown into a Craters, poured with gasoline and burned to coke.
Lunev saw Sokov's half-smiling expression and couldn't help but ask: "Misha, is there anything that makes you happy?"
"I was thinking that in five days, that is, April 20, we will launch an attack on the enemy in front." Sokov said with a smile: "What a coincidence, this day happens to be Mustache's birthday. I wonder how he felt when he heard the news that the Oder River had been lost."
"I think he will definitely scold the marshals and generals under him, saying that it is because of
Their incompetence caused our army to advance outside Berlin. "Lunev said with a smile: "I really want to see with my own eyes how funny the mustache's angry look is."
"Comrade Military Commissar, I would like to, but there is no chance." Sokov said with a smile: "Situations like this that damage the image of the head of state cannot be known to outsiders, otherwise it will damage their military morale and morale. It will cause a huge blow."
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin reported to Sokov after making the call, "I have already agreed with the director of the Engineering Department that they will start cutting down trees in the forest from today and store them until we It will be used to build a floating bridge on the day of crossing the river."
