As soon as Samoilov ran down the mountain, Sokov saw an armored repair vehicle driven by a repairman, two technicians got out of the car and talked to the tank soldiers who were leaning out of the tank turret. After a while, the tank soldiers came out of the tank and gestured to the tanks behind, signaling them to bypass them and continue moving forward.
When Sokov saw one tank after another, bypassing the broken tank that was being repaired and continuing to drive forward, he felt particularly heavy. Unexpectedly, after a night of maintenance, the tanks of the Tank Army still had many problems. As soon as they drove a few kilometers, there were broken tanks. After walking these 80 kilometers, how many tanks could be put into battle?
When Samoilov came back, he brought General Poluboyarov also over.
Seeing General Poluboyarov also came over, Sokov first stepped forward and shook hands with him, then said with a smile: "General Poluboyarov, it seems that your maintenance power needs to be strengthened. How far away from the base was there, a broken tank appeared. I am worried that after walking these eighty kilometers, there will be no more complete tanks left."
"Comrade Commander, you misunderstood." Poluboyarov pointed to the tank being repaired on the road and said to Sokov: "This tank did not belong to our army, so it was not repaired last night."
"Isn't your army's tank?" Sokov asked in confusion: "Where did it come out?"
"I heard Colonel Khochlov say that this tank was brought back from the enemy-occupied area."
"The tank I brought back from the enemy-occupied area?" Sokov was stunned at first, and then remembered the T-34 tank with white crosses he encountered when he went to the defense area of ​​the 182nd Division, and asked tentatively: "Is it possible that the tank leader is Coca Jin?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Samoilov, who was on the side, said: "When I went down to check, I happened to meet Cocakin. He told me that after review, he was able to continue driving the tank. However, they temporarily transferred from the 182nd Division to the tank army last night, so there was no repair."
Sokov carefully checked the body of the tank and found that the white cross on the turret was gone, replaced by the Russian "For the Motherland" and the number of a tank. He remembered that only three of Cokakin and the others escaped, and one of them was a woman, as if it was called Kataeva. This old-fashioned T-34 tank required four drivers, and Cokakin and Rikov alone were not enough.
"Comrade General," he asked General Poluboyarov with a side face: "Did you make up for the crew members?"
"No." General Poluboyarov shook his head and said, "When I received this tank, the crew members were all ready, and it should be supplemented by Colonel Khokhlov. You should know that after a long period of battle, many tank troops had lost all tanks, and the tank soldiers changed to infantry because of the loss of tanks. There should be many original tank soldiers in the 182nd Division, and there should be no problem in replenishing several crew members."
"Comrade Commander, I'm here to find you, and there is another important thing."
"What's the matter?"
"According to your order, our army will set up defenses on the left bank of the Pushor River." Poluboyarov said: "If the battle is beneficial to our army, then the position of the attack is very favorable. But once the battle is not going well and we have to choose to retreat, the Pushor River behind us will block our retreat."
"Comrade General," before Sokov could speak, Samoilov interjected, "Isn't there a bridge on the Pushor River?"
"Comrade Lieutenant, do you know how much time it takes for more than a hundred tanks to pass through a bridge?" Poluboyarov replied with a wry smile: "Even if there are no obstacles on the bridge, it will take 30 to 50 minutes. On the battlefield, every minute is precious. If we had taken so long to retreat through the bridge, the enemy would have rushed to us long ago."
Seeing what else Samoilov wanted to say, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop him. If the other party was not his old subordinate, Sokov would definitely criticize him mercilessly. When the senior commander was speaking, what qualifications do you, a small lieutenant, have you been interrupted? He politely said to Poluboyarov: "Comrade General, you are right. I am not considering this matter carefully. I will immediately arrange for the engineering battalion to build a pontoon bridge."
"Is a battalion of engineers enough?" Poluboyarov asked with some concern: "The width of that river is about 120 meters. Even if a battalion works overtime, it is possible to build up two pontoon bridges a day. Can so many of our troops cross the river?"
"Comrade General, you don't have to worry about this." When it comes to setting up pontoon bridges, Sokov has rich experience. He said to Poluboyarov confidently: "I can ask engineers to build two types of pontoon bridges, one for armored troops, and the other for infantry."
Sokov's words confused Poluboyarov. He asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, are there two types of pontoons that pass through armored forces and infantry?"
"Maybe there isn't in other troops." Sokov said with a smile: "But in my troops, there will be."
"What kind of pontoon bridge is that?"
"The kind of pontoon bridge that the armored troops passes is the kind you know, and I won't explain in detail." Sokov smiled and said to Poluboyarov: "As for the bridges that infantry passes, they are connected by a long list of empty oil barrels. It's okay for people to walk on it, but tanks, armored vehicles and cars cannot pass."
"A floating bridge built with oil barrels?" Poluboyarov frowned and pondered for a while, and asked tentatively: "Can it work?"
"Of course, this kind of pontoon bridge was often used in the Stalingrad defense war." Sokov introduced to Poluboyarov: "Some factories were surrounded by rivers, and the workers creatively invented this simple pontoon bridge, connecting abandoned empty oil barrels with ropes, and when they were put on the river, they became simple pontoon bridges. Moreover, the cost of this kind of pontoon bridge was low, and the German artillery fire blew it up. In less than half an hour, the new pontoon bridge could reappear on the water."
"If it is true, but it is really convenient." Poluboyarov nodded and said, "After all, the troops heading to the Prokorovka area this time are basically all infantry except for my tank army. With this simple floating bridge, we can cross the river in the shortest time."
Poluboyarov wanted to follow his own, and after chatting with Sokov for a few words, he said goodbye and left, and took the armored vehicle parked at the foot of the hillside to continue on his way.
After Poluboyarov walked away, Sokov asked one of his communications staff: "Have you connected to the headquarters' telephone line?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The communications officer replied quickly: "You can call the headquarters at any time."
"Tele me with the Chief of Staff."
Soon the phone was connected. When he heard Sameko's voice coming out of the receiver, Sokov said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have neglected one thing. After the troops arrived in the Prokholovka area, they will deploy defenses on both sides of the Pushore River, which will lead to the support between the troops being very unfavorable."
"Comrade Commander, in the area where we are deploying, there is a bridge across the Pushol River, through which we can establish a connection between the two sides of the strait."
"It is far from enough to have a bridge alone." Seeing that Sameko had not realized the importance of the bridge at this moment, Sokov reminded them: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we are fighting in large corps. In addition to infantry, there are also a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks that pass through the bridge every day. It is easy to get congestion by relying on just one bridge."
When Samek heard this, he finally understood what Sokov wanted to express. He asked quickly: "Comrade Commander, do you mean that you still need to build a pontoon bridge on the Pushore River?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, that's what I mean." Seeing that the other party finally understood his intention, Sokov nodded and said, "We need to build a few more pontoon bridges on the Pushore River, which will help us quickly mobilize the troops."
"Comrade Commander, we only have one engineer battalion, and we are not a professional pontoon bridge unit. It is obviously unrealistic to let them build a few pontoon bridges within one or two days." Sameko carefully reminded Sokov: "Otherwise, we ask the Front Command for help and ask them to send us pontoon bridge units. As long as we have enough manpower and want to build a few pontoon bridges, we will build a few pontoon bridges."
"I think our existing strength is enough, so there is no need to cause trouble for our superiors." Sokov knew very well that the grassland front army had been transferred away before it even entered the battle. As the commander of the front army, Konev must be furious now so that he would not get into trouble. He said to the microphone: "You only need to order the engineers to build a pontoon bridge for tanks in the shortest time. After completing this task, build a pontoon bridge for infantry."
When Samek heard this, he asked with some confusion: "Comrade Commander, why are there two types of pontoon bridges that can be used by tanks and infantry?"
"Yes, our common pontoon bridges can pass through tanks, but they take too much time to build and are easily targeted by enemy aircraft bombing." Sokov guessed that Sameko had never seen such an oil barrel pontoon bridge, so he said to him: "As for the pontoon bridges that infantry pass through, it is enough to connect empty oil barrels together for people to pass through."
"Comrade Commander, can this work with empty oil barrels to build a pontoon bridge?" Sameco asked cautiously: "You know, although the water flow of the Pushore River is not urgent, the river surface is more than 100 meters. Can the pontoon bridge built by empty oil barrels be passed by?"
"I said ok, that's sure." Sokov felt a little unhappy when he saw Sameko chatting with him. He thought to himself that you had never seen a floating bridge made of an empty oil barrel, so there was no say in it, so he said impatiently: "You immediately arrange the engineering battalion to rush to the Pushore River and start building the floating bridge."
"Yes, comrade commander." Sameko agreed loudly: "I will immediately send the engineer battalion to complete the Prokhorovka area by car and build a floating bridge for tanks and infantry."
After almost an hour, Sokov, who was almost losing patience, finally saw a convoy of trucks from the engineering battalion carrying personnel and a large amount of supplies passing by the foot of the hill and heading towards Prokholovka.
Samoilov looked at the convoy away and asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, should we continue to stay here, or follow the engineer battalion to the Pushore River?"
Although it would be a matter of time before going to the Pushore River, Sokov was unwilling to take risks easily at this moment. Who knows what the situation in Prokholovka is now? If he brought a guard platoon and rushed to the Pushore River from the ground, he encountered a small German army unit, and would probably be in danger of his life.
After understanding this truth, Sokov waved his hand and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, there will be a big war next. As the commander of the army, how can I easily leave the army? I think it is not too late to wait until the troops have completed the defense, and we will arrive at the Prokhorovka area."
In Samoilov's mind, Sokov was an omnipotent person. Seeing that Sokov was unwilling to go to the Pushore River at this moment, he said with great concern: "Comrade Commander, if you don't go to the Pushore River, I am worried that the pontoon bridge built by the engineering battalion will not be satisfied with you."
"Comrade Lieutenant, don't worry about this." Sokov comforted Samoilov and said, "I have already told General Poluboyarov about how to build a pontoon bridge. I'm afraid that before the engineering battalion has finished building a pontoon bridge, General Poluboyarov's tank army has arrived at the designated location. If he saw that I did not appear, he took the initiative to introduce to the engineering battalion how to build a pontoon bridge."
Not long after, Sokov felt that his decision was correct. Lunev, who was originally in the headquarters, rushed over in a jeep. Seeing Sokov standing on the hill watching the troops march, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with gratitude: "Comrade Commander, you are still here. I thought you ran to the front again."
"Don't worry, comrades-military committee member, the war is imminent, how can I leave my own troops at will?" Sokov naturally would not tell the other party. He chose to stay because he was worried that he might encounter danger when he rushed to Prokorovka's area. After saying this high-sounding reason, Sokov asked Lunev: "Why are you here?"
Chapter completed!