Seeing that the offensive battle was about to begin, Sokov received a call from Bogolyubov: "General Sokov, please come to the front headquarters with your chief of staff and military commissar. We are going to hold a meeting." An urgent military meeting.”
After receiving the call, Sokov asked in confusion: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I wonder what the topic of this meeting is?"
But Bogolyubov did not satisfy Sokov's curiosity. Instead, he said coldly: "You will know what the topic of the meeting is when you come." After speaking, Sokov did not wait to ask any more questions. question and hung up the phone directly.
Sokov held the microphone that transmitted the blind tone and muttered in his heart: "What on earth is going on? The offensive battle will start tomorrow. What is the purpose of Rokossovsky calling everyone for a meeting at this moment?" matter?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin walked over and asked curiously, "What's the matter?"
"General Bogolyubov, the Chief of Staff of the Front Army, just called me and asked the three of us to rush to the Front Army headquarters immediately to attend an emergency military meeting." Sokov said to Sidorin and Lunev: "Everyone, pack up. Set off immediately.”
"What happened?" Sidorin asked curiously: "The offensive campaign will be carried out tomorrow. What kind of military committee will be held today?"
Sokov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "I don't know, General Bogolyubov only said that we will know what happened after we go there."
When the three of them arrived at the front army headquarters by car, they found that there were many jeeps parked at the door. It seemed that the commanders of each group army had been notified of the meeting. Seeing this kind of battle, Sokov had an ominous premonition in his heart, worrying that Rokossovsky would modify the combat plan and no longer allow his troops to participate in the first round of attack.
Entering the conference room, the long conference table was almost full of people. Sokov originally planned to find a seat against the wall, but Subbotin saw him: "General Sokov, you are at the table." You sit in front of me."
Now that his name was called, Sokov could no longer sit in the corner. He could only come to the conference table and find a seat reserved for himself. He turned his head and saw that sitting on the right was the commander of the 2nd Assault Army, Fedyuninsky, and on the left was the commander of the 65th Army, Batov, which happened to be the same as the current defense positions of the three troops. He laughed and said: "Comrade generals, the positions where the three of us are sitting are exactly the same as the troops' defensive positions."
After hearing this, Fejuninsky also smiled and said: "Yes, it is indeed a coincidence. The positions of the other group army commanders are all sitting randomly. Only the positions where the three of us are sitting coincide with the position of the army's defense zone. It seems that In tomorrow's offensive battle, we will play the leading role."
The meeting began soon. The first person to speak was the Chief of Staff of the Front Army Bogolyubov: "Comrade commanders, please be quiet. We are meeting now!"
"According to our recent reconnaissance, the German troops on the west bank of the West Oder River began to adjust their combat deployment and troop distribution after receiving sporadic attacks from us." Bogolyubov said: "Since the enemy has made adjustments, then we originally The offensive plan must also be adjusted accordingly.”
Bogolyubov walked to the wall, stretched out his hand to open the curtain blocking the map, then picked up an explanation stick, pointed at it and said to everyone: "After the discussion between Comrade Marshal and me, we are ready to launch the offensive tomorrow. The attack position of the battle was adjusted to within the 47 kilometers between Altdam and Schwedt..."
As soon as Bogolyubov said this, the expressions of Sokov and Fedyuninsky suddenly changed.
Because of the newly stipulated offensive area, Fejuninsky's combat area was directly excluded. Sokov's change of color was because if Fedyuninsky's 2nd Shock Army did not participate in the battle, his right wing would be in danger of being attacked by the Germans.
After Bogolyubov glanced at Sokov and Fedyuninsky, he continued: "The troops participating in tomorrow's offensive operation will be adjusted from the original 2nd Assault Army, 48th and 65th Army to the 48th and 65th Army. The 65th and 70th armies will launch an attack on the German front on the 47-kilometer-wide Oder River. In order to ensure that the troops can effectively break through the German defenses, the attack front of each group army should not exceed five kilometers.
The artillery preparation is scheduled for seven o'clock tomorrow morning and will last for one hour. In addition, starting this afternoon, our air force will begin bombing German positions on the west bank of the Oder River, destroying as many German defenses as possible and reducing the resistance our army encounters when crossing the river..."
Sokov was thinking in his mind at this moment, "If the offensive front is reduced to five kilometers, then he can concentrate more troops and launch an attack in this area. By then, his troops will be like a sharp knife. Plunge into the enemy’s chest.”
After Bogolyubov finished deploying the mission, he asked everyone: "Is everyone's mission clear? Are there any questions?"
"I have a problem, General Bogolyubov." As soon as Bogolyubov finished speaking, Fedyuninsky stood up and said dissatisfiedly: "In the original attack plan, our group army was the first group to participate in the attack. Troops, why did our superiors cancel our combat mission when the attack was about to begin?"
"Comrade Fedyuninsky, let me explain to you." Rokossovsky stood up and said: "According to the hydrological data of the past two days, the Oder River is rising, and your original offensive area has increased from five kilometers to Six kilometers, at such a long impact distance, the German artillery fire will cause huge casualties to your crossing troops. It is for this reason that after discussion, Bogolyubov and I decided to cancel your offensive mission. It will be completed by the 70th Group Army upstream."
After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Fejuninsky asked unconvinced: "Then what do our troops do? We can't have friendly forces attacking the Germans while we stay on the shore and do nothing. ?If this is really the case, how can I explain it to the commanders and fighters in the army?"
"Comrade Fedyuninsky," Rokossovsky continued to explain to him: "In tomorrow's battle, you will not be idle. I have another new task for you."
When Feijuninsky heard that a new task had been assigned to him, he couldn't wait to ask: "What new task?"
"In order to ensure the success of the offensive force." Rokossovsky said to Fedyuninsky: "You and the 19th Army must release smoke north of Stettin, make a big noise, and make preparations to force the crossing of Divi. Nove Strait to attract the enemy's attention."
"What should we do if our illusion of crossing the river fails to attract the attention of the Germans?" Fedyuninsky asked unwillingly.
"If the enemy is not interested in your feint attack, then you can turn the feint attack into a main attack." Rokossovsky said: "As long as you can successfully cross the Divinov Strait, you can completely disrupt the German army's attack." Deployed to provide strong support for friendly forces’ attacks.”
From Rokossovsky's arrangements, Fedyuninsky realized that the task given to him was not light. He wanted to make a big noise in the lower reaches of the Oder River to attract the attention of the Germans and thereby relieve the left wing crossing force. the resistance encountered.
"General Vershining," Rokossovsky looked at Air Force Commander Vershinin and asked: "According to the order from the Front Army Headquarters, your air force will attack the German positions on the west bank starting at four o'clock in the afternoon. Carry out uninterrupted bombing until the artillery preparations begin tomorrow morning. How about it? Can it be done?"
"Comrade Marshal, please rest assured." Vershining stood up and assured Rokossovsky: "Our Air Force guarantees to complete the bombing mission."
"General Vershinin," Rokossovsky reminded the other party: "Night bombing is a severe test for pilots. Do you have no problem?"
"No problem." Vershining said confidently: "Our army group has a women's night bombing aviation regiment composed entirely of young girls. I believe they will successfully complete the night bombing mission."
"I have dealt with them in the past two years." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "I have full confidence in them."
After the meeting, Sokov, Lunev, and Sidorin returned to the army headquarters by car.
After returning to the headquarters, Sokov stood in front of the map and carefully considered the offensive campaign that would begin tomorrow.
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin said to Sokov: "Since the superiors have shortened the front of our attack to five kilometers, we can concentrate more troops to achieve a point breakthrough on the German defense line and quickly The ground becomes a total breakthrough.”
"If we want to break through the German positions quickly." Sokov said without raising his head while staring at the map: "We must destroy as many of their defenses as possible. In this way, our troops will suffer after crossing the river and landing. The losses can be smaller.”
"Don't worry about this." Sidorin said: "Didn't General Bogolyubov say that at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, there will be an hour-long artillery preparation for the German positions on the west bank of the Oder River. I estimate that after bombing and artillery shelling, There are no decent fortifications left in the German position, and once our troops land, they will be able to push invincibly deep into the German defenses."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't underestimate the enemy." Sokov said: "The German army's defense is ten kilometers deep. Even if there is an all-night bombing and an hour of artillery fire tomorrow, if you want to destroy their defense system, I'm afraid it's not that easy. Call General Potapov and ask him to come over immediately."
Sidorin heard what Sokov said and immediately guessed what he meant: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to fire our artillery at the enemy's position when the artillery at the front headquarters is preparing for artillery fire?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded and continued: "The Supreme Commander himself once said: Artillery is the god of war! If we want to quickly break through the enemy's defense, we must use artillery to wash the ground to destroy more Many German fortifications opened a passage for our attacking troops."
Potapov, who received Sokov's call, knew very well that Sokov would not let himself go to the headquarters if there was nothing important. After putting down the phone, he explained a few words to his deputy and hurried to the army headquarters.
"General Potapov," Sokov said politely upon seeing Potapov's arrival, "I invite you here because I have something to discuss with you."
"Comrade Commander, if you need anything, just give the order and I will resolutely obey it."
"It's like this. We just came back from a meeting at the front army headquarters. Our superiors adjusted the attack area to a 47-kilometer range from Altdam to Schwedt." Sokov pointed to the map and introduced to Potapov Said: "The offensive troops are our 48th Group Army, General Batov's 65th Group Army, and General Popov's 70th Group Army. In order for the troops to concentrate on using their effective forces and quickly break through the German defense line, the front army headquarters assigned each The offensive front of the group army has been reduced from twenty kilometers to five kilometers."
"What, it was reduced from twenty kilometers to five kilometers?" Potapov said with a shocked face: "Is this true?"
"Yes, it's true." Sokov nodded and gave the other party a positive answer.
"Great, this is really great." After Potapov confirmed the authenticity of the news, he said to Sokov: "If calculated based on the original 20 kilometers of frontage, our army can equip every square kilometer. There are only 40 artillery pieces. If it is reduced to five kilometers, it means that the number of artillery pieces per kilometer will increase from the original 40 to 160. Such powerful artillery firepower is enough to destroy any enemy fortifications in front of us."
"General Potapov," Sokov continued: "Starting from the afternoon, General Vershinin's 4th Air Force Army will dispatch bomber planes to carry out non-stop bombing of the German defensive positions. They will spend all day and night time to destroy as many enemy fortifications as possible. Also, at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, the artillery unit of the front army headquarters will also carry out an hour-long artillery preparation for the German positions. I called you here because I want you to find For a good target to attack, try not to overlap the bombing and artillery bombing areas of the UI front army headquarters to reduce unnecessary waste. Are you right?"
"You are right, Comrade Commander." Potapov agreed with Sokov's statement, "Suppose the area where our army's artillery bombards happens to be bombarded and shelled by the air force and front artillery. Area, that would waste a lot of artillery shells. Maybe after the firing, many fortifications that should have been destroyed are still standing there intact."
"General Potapov, you are the artillery director." Sokov looked at Potapov and said: "I think you should be the most familiar with which areas the artillery should mainly bombard. So what areas should the artillery bombard? I’ll leave it to you to take charge.”
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Potapov straightened his body and assured Sokov: "I will select the enemy's key defense areas to carry out intensive shelling to clear the obstacles that our army may encounter after landing on the west bank."
"General Potapov, if your artillery can open an attack channel for our infantry, this will be a great achievement." Lunev interjected from the side: "I think in time you will be able to achieve the same results as your military exploits." Honors to match. Got it?”
"Understood, Comrade Military Commissar." Potapov replied resoundingly: "I will never let you down."
(End of chapter)
