"As long as we cut off the enemy's supply line, no matter how many of their numbers are, they will not be able to hold on for long in the face of our powerful offensive." Sokov said to Merkulov: "When the enemy's ammunition and supplies are almost exhausted, you can put the entire division into battle. Even if you cannot wipe out this enemy completely, it should be fine to hurt them severely."
When Merkulov heard Sokov say this, he was overjoyed. He hurriedly said, "I understand, Comrade Commander, I will arrange the troops immediately and want the enemy in Luojinsik to launch a feint attack..."
"General Merkulov," Vitkov interrupted, "I remember your division does not seem to have that new rocket, right?"
"Yes." When Merkulov answered this question, he also looked at Sokov with a special look: "This new rocket is basically used to equip the 41st Guard Division, and the rest of the divisions do not have it at all."
"Comrade Commander," Vitkov knew in his heart that if he wanted to equip other divisions with new rockets, he had to obtain Sokov's consent, so he looked at Sokov and said, "How about you draw a company from the 41st Guards Division to carry new rockets to assist General Merkulov's troops?"
"No problem," Sokov said, picking up the phone on the table, letting the communications troop connect to the division headquarters of the 41st Guards Division, and said to Cidolin, who was answering the phone: "Comrade Colonel, I plan to let General Merkulov's troops launch a feint attack on Rokinsik. I need to borrow one of your companies to assist them in the battle."
"I just need a company?" Hearing Sokov's order, Cidolin asked with some confusion: "Comrade Commander, what role can a company play in battle?"
When Sokov heard that Sidolin was still calling his division commander, he couldn't help but smile and then said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, if it were just an ordinary infantry company, I would definitely not call you. Now I have so many troops under my command, let alone a company, even a battalion, can be drawn from other troops at any time. The company I borrowed from you refers to the kind of company that can use new rockets, do you understand?"
"I understand, comrade of the division commander." Sidorin immediately understood what Sokov meant and quickly replied: "I can immediately send the most elite company to support General Merkulov. But..."
Seeing that Sidolin was talking hesitantly, Sokov asked quickly, "But what?"
"The German imperial divisions stationed in the town of Rokinsik. They had fought with our division and knew that we were equipped with a large number of new rockets that could carry out long-range strikes on them." Sidorin reminded Sokov: "Once the enemies in the town of Rokinsik find that they were attacked by new rockets, they would definitely think that our division launched an attack on the town and would definitely transfer more troops from the rear. I am worried that the pressure that General Merkulov would be under will be very great."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry." Sokov comforted Cydolin, "I just want the Germans to send more troops to the town of Rokinsik so that we can easily eat this enemy so that the next battle is not that difficult to fight."
Sidolin and Sokov have been partnering for several months, so naturally they know that he often has a lot of fantasy ideas. Now he has asked himself to draw personnel but assist General Merkulov's troops. He must have his intention. If the other party is still the former division commander, he can ask him what happened, but now the other party is the commander of the army, and he is just a chief of staff of his division, so he is not qualified to ask about many things. Therefore, he did not ask about the reason, but said obediently: "I will draw personnel as soon as possible and rush to the defense zone of the 67th Guards Division, so that they can accept the command of General Merkulov."
After implementing the troops' problems, Merkulov asked Sokov for advice: "Comrade Commander, when should we launch an attack on the enemy?"
It is now April, and it is bright at 4 o'clock every morning. Although it is early, the Germans still get up at 7 o'clock every day. Sokov understands this and after thinking for a while, he said to Merkulov: "Comrade General, your attack will be carried out one hour after dawn. At that time, your commanders and soldiers can see the target of the attack clearly, while the enemy's officers and soldiers are sleeping soundly. Choose this time period to attack and catch the enemy off guard."
After Merkulov left, Sokov felt that although he was just a feint, he sent troops to attack the enemy's positions. Once a problem occurred in a certain link, the situation might be out of control, so it was still necessary to report to his superiors. Thinking of this, he quickly called the director of the communications corps and ordered him to connect with the Front Command to himself.
The communication line of the Front Command was busy. It took half an hour before the communications officer contacted the command's phone number. After hearing Malining's voice coming from the receiver, Sokov quickly straightened his body and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Sokov."
"Oh, it's Major General Sokov." Malining asked in a friendly tone: "You call, is there anything?"
"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff. I plan to launch a small-scale attack on the imperial troops entrenched in the town of Rokinsik tomorrow morning." Sokov said cautiously: "But I am worried that such a small-scale attack may stimulate the enemy's nerves and cause their large-scale revenge, so I will share your anger with you."
"Oh, are you going to attack the imperial division stationed in the town of Rokinsik?" After checking the map on the table, Malining found that he had only one regiment, so he asked Sokov curiously: "General Sokov, how many troops do you plan to dispatch to eliminate the enemies in the town?"
"The troops that were put into combat this time were only one infantry regiment, a company equipped with new rockets, and some artillery." Sokov said to Malining: "The target of this attack is to harass the enemy, not to destroy the enemy."
"What's going on?" Malining was still ecstatic when he heard Sokov say he wanted to attack the enemy. He felt that with Sokov's strength, there was no problem in eating this isolated enemy. But when he heard that it was just harassing the enemy, not to destroy the enemy, he couldn't help frowning: "What's the use of dispatching troops to harass the enemy at this time, besides attracting revenge from the Germans?"
Before Malining could finish his words, Rokosovsky, who was looking at the map, snatched the microphone over. He asked in a stern tone: "General Sokov, please tell me, what is your purpose in doing this?"
Sokov did not expect that in just a moment, the person who answered the phone changed from Malinin to Rokosovsky. He replied in a panic: "Report to the commander of the front army, the purpose of our sending troops to harass the enemy is to make the enemy increase troops to the town of Rokinsik."
"To increase the enemy's troops?" Rokosovsky asked in confusion: "Why do you do this?"
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the Aviation Division under our group army, dispatched a bomber squadron today to attack the German transport line from Pavlograd to the Skeleton Division defense zone, destroyed nearly forty trucks, and made the enemy unable to provide supplies to the Skeleton Division within two days..."
"What I asked is, why did you send troops to attack the town of Rokinsik?" Before Sokov finished speaking, Rokosovsky interrupted his words and asked impatiently: "What is the connection with this when you send the air force to attack the enemy's transportation line?"
"There is a lot of contact, comrade, the commander of the Front Army." Seeing that Rokosovsky had not guessed his intention, Sokov explained to him: "Since we can use the air force to destroy the supply line of the Skeleton Division, we can also send the air force to cut off the supply line of the Imperial Division. But now there are too few enemies in the town of Rokinsik, and it is a bit too wasteful to send the air force to cut off their transportation line. Therefore, I want to force the enemy to increase troops to Rokinsik through harassment of the enemy. After their troops in this area increase, we will send the air force to cut off their transportation line.
Think about it, if the enemy's supply line was cut off by our air force, no matter how many troops they had, it would be difficult for us to resist the attack launched by our army. In this way, we may eliminate more living forces from the German army during the attack."
"Well, Misha." After hearing Sokov's words, Rokosovsky's name changed from surname to nickname: "I don't deny that the Air Force can destroy the enemy's traffic lines, but it is impossible to cut it completely."
"For example, the German army needs for forty vehicles every day," Sokov saw that Rokosovsky had questions, so he explained to him further: "But under our air strikes, they can only get half or even less. Without enough supplies, they dare not attack us easily, but we can take the initiative in the offensive, and attack whenever we want, so that the Germans cannot defend themselves."
"Your idea is good, but if the Germans find that their transport convoys will be air strikes during the day, adjusting their transport time to night, what should you do?" Rokosovsky reminded Sokov: "You know, our Air Force is not effective in bombing moving targets at night."
Regarding Rokosovsky's concern, Sokov quickly explained: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I have considered the issues you are worried about. Now we have sent a lot of sabotage teams deep behind enemy lines. They all carry new rockets that can attack the enemy's transport convoy at a long distance. In short, no matter whether the enemy transports supplies during the day or at night, they are within our attack range. We can use all means to reduce the supply obtained by the enemy to the minimum level."
After listening to Sokov's statement, Rokosovsky remained silent for a long time and finally spoke: "Misha, your tactic is very novel. It attracts the enemy to concentrate a large number of troops on the front line, and then sends air force and sabotage teams to cut off their transportation lines, so that they can face the dilemma of exhausting ammunition and food. I think if the plan is successful, it can cause a large number of enemies to lose their combat effectiveness in a short period of time."
"Comrade Commander of the Front, I have a request." Sokov thought that he wanted to send the air force to cut off the German supply line. Even if the number of aircraft was small, the ammunition and fuel needed to be consumed were not a small amount, so he tactfully proposed to Rokosovsky: "I wonder if we can give priority to the two aviation divisions under our army to supplement fuel and ammunition?"
"If you can really achieve ideal results," Rokosovsky did not give Sokov a clear answer, but said seriously: "Even if you don't make this request, I believe that Moscow's logistics department will take the initiative to provide you with priority supplies."
After a moment of pause, he continued: "Misha, I got a news not long ago. Yakov has developed a new type of transport that can drive at high speed on muddy roads under full load. If he is willing to use this transport to transport you ammunition, fuel and supplies, it will be enough to support you in a long battle."
When Sokov learned that Yakov had developed a new type of transportation, he couldn't help but itch. He asked curiously: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, do you know what kind of transportation it is?"
"I don't know." Rokosovsky replied very simply, "I heard an old friend who came to the forefront occasionally mention this news. Since this means of transportation is still top secret now, not many people know the inside story. I know that Yakov and you are good friends. If you ask him directly, he might give you a satisfactory answer."
Seeing Sokov hung up the phone, Vetkov, who heard a few words on the side, couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Commander, what kind of transportation is the kind of transportation that General Rokosovsky said? What kind of transportation can drive at high speed on muddy roads?"
When Sokov heard this question from Vitkov, he shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and replied with a wry smile: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think I can answer this question. Unless I see the real thing, I don't know what new type of transportation is actually being studied."
Lunev came over and said to the two: "Are you talking about the new type of transportation developed by Yakov?"
"That's right." Sokov heard Lunev's taste and seemed to have some understanding of this new type of transportation, so he asked curiously: "Military Commissioner, have you ever seen this new type of transportation?"
Chapter completed!