This time the troops were set off, and Sokov stayed in his command for the first time, which surprised everyone. Even Zhukov, who called from Moscow, was shocked when he heard the person who spoke, Sokov, and said in confusion: "Misha, according to your personality, have you left the command again and ran to the forefront?"
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov replied with a smile: "The base camp has not just issued a new order. Any commander at the division level or above is not allowed to go to the front line without authorization."
"Is there such a command? Why don't I know?" No matter whether there is such a command or not, Sokov was much more at ease. He didn't want a rising star to fall. "But that's fine, you can only stay in the command center honestly and not run around like an ordinary company commander. To be honest, you are still young and have a long life in the future. I don't want you to lose your life in vain because of your willfulness."
Faced with Zhukov's criticism, Sokov readily accepted: "Comrade Marshal, you are right in criticism. As a commander, I should stick to my post at any time, rather than throwing the troops away from running around."
Although he felt that Sokov was a bit abnormal, Zhukov could not guess the reason. If he knew that the reason why Sokov did not run to all the troops this time was because he was worried that his life would be in danger, he would have scolded him long ago. He continued to ask: "How do you plan to deploy the troops that have arrived in the Prokorovka region?"
Sokov thought that he had not had time to report his own deployment to his superiors. In fact, he knew very well that even if he reported to Konev, he would not care. At this moment, since Zhukov asked, he quickly replied: "I divide the troops into three echelons. The first echelon is the 84th Infantry Division of Major General Fomenko and the 4th Guard Tank Army of General Poluboyarov. They will be deployed on the left bank of the Pushore River; and Colonel Koida's Infantry Division of the 188th Infantry Division of the Colonel Kokhlov is the third echelon, and they are successively equipped on the right bank of the Pushore River."
"Misha," Zhukov reminded him after listening to Sokov's report: "Although there is a bridge on the Pushur River, the river surface is more than 100 meters wide. Once the battle begins, the enemy air force blows up the bridge. How do you plan to mobilize the troops on both sides of the strait?"
"Marson Marshal, I have considered all the issues you mentioned." Sokov explained to Zhukov: "I ordered the engineer battalion to set up a pontoon bridge on the river, and there is a pontoon bridge, which is specially designed for the armored forces to pass."
"A pontoon bridge dedicated to armored troops?" Zhukov heard something wrong from Sokov's words, "Is the other bridge dedicated to infantry?"
"I am really a comrade of the marshal. I guessed my intention at once." Sokov flattered Zhukov in no trace and continued: "You should have seen a simple floating bridge used in the Stalingrad defense war. The workers tied empty oil barrels together with ropes to build a floating bridge that can only be passed by infantry..."
After hearing Sokov's story, Zhukov remembered the scene he saw when he entered the city after the German Sixth Army was completely wiped out. The floating bridges mentioned by Sokov were on the river surface outside the factory. Although they could only be passed by infantry, the installation was simple. It only takes more than ten minutes for skilled personnel to complete the installation of the floating bridge.
"Well, it's thoughtful." Zhukov nodded and said, "Even if the pontoon bridge used by this infantry is blown up by enemy planes, it can be repaired in the shortest time, and the materials and time are not much."
After a moment of pause, Zhukov continued to ask: "Now there are no decent fortifications along the Pschol River, let alone tank trenches. If you encounter an assault from German tanks, how do you plan to use it?"
"Comrade Marshal, although we cannot dig anti-tank trenches in front of the position in a short period of time, we can set up minefields and combine them with rocket launchers to deal with the German tank assault. If necessary, our tank army can also take the initiative to attack and have a tank battle with the enemy's armored forces."
"You are very polite, but if you really fight, I don't know if you can do it." Zhukov said: "I'm just waiting to see how you perform."
"Please wait a moment, Comrade Marshal." Feeling that Zhukov was about to hang up the phone, Sokov quickly speeded up and said, "I want to ask, when will the battle in the Prokhorovka region start?"
"We and the Germans have arrived in the Prokholovka region one after another." Zhukov's expression suddenly became serious when he heard this question: "I can't say exactly when to fight, but I can only tell you one thing: the war is about to begin. You must prepare for the battle as soon as possible."
After Sameko waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, are we really not digging anti-tank trenches in the Prokhorovka area?"
Sokov wanted to dig a few Golan trenches there, so that the Germans could cry in front of the insurmountable tank trenches. But this kind of good thing can only be thought about, but it cannot be achieved at all. The project volume of the Golan trenches is too large. Even with the help of lifting machinery, it will take ten days and half a month to complete. Now, I don’t have to hurry up to sharpen my guns in the face of battle.
"Ah, I really don't dig the anti-tank trenches?" Samico asked in disappointment.
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, we do not dig anti-tank trenches, and the enemy will not give us the chance to dig trenches." Sokov told Sameko: "Besides, anti-tank trenches can not only block the enemy's tanks, but also block our tanks. If the tank army blocks the way forward by the anti-tank trenches when the tank army attacks, how can they cover the infantry's assault?"
"There is no anti-tank trench, and once we encounter an enemy's armored assault, our infantry will be under great pressure." Sokov told Sameko: "So, after ordering the first echelon to enter the position, we must seize the time to lay mines and build several relocated anti-tank firepower points. Even if there is no anti-tank trench, we can rely on landmines and rocket launchers to block the enemy's tanks."
If another commander had no tank trench to say that he could block the enemy's tanks, Sameko would have thought that the other party was bragging. But he had seen the power of the rocket launcher against the tanks and knew that what Sokov said was the truth, so he nodded and said, "Okay, comrade Commander, I will immediately send a report to the first echelon, ordering them to lay minefields in front of the field fortifications they built after reaching the designated position to prevent the enemy's tanks from approaching."
In the evening, the mechanized brigade of General Poluboyarov's tank army was the first to reach the left bank of the Pushore River. After the troops arrived at the designated location, the brigade commander began to arrange manpower to build simple field fortifications and lay anti-tank mines in front of the fortifications to prevent the German tanks from approaching.
By dark, the troops had completed several trenches of 200 meters and more than twenty and a half-buried shelters under the ground. Seeing that it was getting late, the brigade commander left more than a dozen sentries on duty and drove the other commanders and soldiers to bed. According to his idea, the large troops on the ground had not arrived yet, and the enemy would not launch an attack for the time being.
At two o'clock in the morning, the brigade commander was awakened by a dull explosion. He suddenly sat up from the marching bed and listened to the movement outside. Not long after, he heard the dense gunshots outside. He quickly heard the sound of assault rifles shooting, and it seemed that the sentry and the enemy were fighting fire.
He quickly turned over and got out of bed, bent down to put his boots, and shouted the Chief of Staff who was sleeping not far away: "Chief of Staff, wake up quickly, it seems that there is a fight outside."
The chief of staff, who was originally sleepy, heard that the troops outside and the enemy were getting angry, and he immediately became energetic. He turned over and got out of bed, and didn't even have time to put on his clothes and boots. He hugged him and ran out, shouting: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I'll go and see what happened outside."
The brigade commander was dressed neatly. When he arrived at the command center, he saw the chief of staff calling, and seemed to be asking the troops where the sound of gunfire was coming, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I have figured it out." When the Chief of Staff put down the phone, he saw the brigade commander sitting opposite him and quickly reported to him: "There is a German squad, composed of several motorcycles and two tanks, probably trying to seize the bridge on the Pushore River, but accidentally broke into our minefield. A leading tank was blown up on the spot, alarming nearby sentries. He immediately fired a gun and fired at the enemy's motorcycle..."
After hearing the report, the brigade commander raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and said with gratitude: "Fortunately, the commander ordered our brigade to speed up the marching speed and arrive here as soon as possible to set up defenses. If it comes one day later, the bridge on the river will either be controlled by the enemy or blown up, so we can only stay on the other side and stare at us."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, after some battle, our commanders and soldiers have wiped out this squad." The Chief of Staff said to the Brigade Commander: "Do we need to report the situation here to General Poluboyarov?"
"It's all right. Comrade Chief of Staff, of course he has to report it." The brigade commander asked the Chief of Staff, "Can the phone be used?"
"It can be used." The Chief of Staff nodded and said, "When the troops were building fortifications, I ordered the communications soldiers to set up communication lines with the rear so that they could contact their superiors."
After connecting with the military headquarters, the brigade commander, who was still in fear, reported to General Poluboyarov: "Comrade Commander, not long ago, the defense area of ​​our brigade was attacked by the German army. After a battle, the invading German squad was eliminated, and two tanks and motorcycles were destroyed..."
"What, you were attacked by the German army?" Hearing the report of the brigade commander, General Poluboyarov was immediately shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. If the headquarters had not repeatedly sent telegrams to urge him to send a fast troops to the left bank of the Pushore River to seize the time to build fortifications, he would have planned to wait until tomorrow afternoon to enter the designated location.
At this moment, he heard the report from the brigade commander of the Mechanized Brigade, and asked carefully: "Have you conducted reconnaissance to see if there are other German troops nearby?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." The brigade commander quickly replied: "Because it's too dark, we can't perform effective searches in the neighborhood."
General Poluboyarov looked out of the tent. There were no stars or moons in the sky outside. To be honest, it would not be very effective to conduct a search. Therefore, he had to change his mind and said to the brigade commander: "Then order your soldiers to open their eyes when they sleep, so that the enemy would not know whether they touched you."
"Comrade Commander, don't worry." The brigade commander replied with a smile: "I have set up a lot of secret whistles outside the position. As long as I find the enemy's movement, they will immediately fire a warning."
Since the mechanized brigade was attacked by the German army, General Poluboyarov felt that such important news must be informed to Sokov immediately, so he answered the call from the headquarters: "I am General Poluboyarov. Please help me find the commander comrade. I have important things and I need to report to him."
The war was about to come, and in order not to delay the formality, Sokov ordered people to set up several camp beds in the corner of the command center for him, Sameko, Lunev and others to rest. Hearing the duty officer saying that General Poluboyarov was looking for him, Sokov didn't even care about his boots, he walked straight to the table and took the phone call from the duty officer: "I am still Sokov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander, I'm sorry for disturbing your rest." General Poluboyarov said apologetically on the phone: "But something very important has happened and needs to be reported to you immediately."
General Poluboyarov's way of speaking made Sokov very disgusted. He thought that there was something wrong and insisted on laying the groundwork. He said impatiently: "Comrade General, if there is nothing important, I will go back to sleep." After that, he deliberately yawned.
"That's right. Not long ago, the mechanized brigade deployed on the left bank of the Pushore River was attacked by the German army..."
"What, the mechanized brigade was attacked by the enemy?" Sokov asked nervously: "What's the situation? Have you repelled the enemy's attack?"
"The enemy who attacked the mechanized brigade was just a small army, with only two tanks and several armored vehicles." General Poluboyarov said cautiously: "According to our analysis, they might have wanted to seize the bridge on the Pushore River, but they did not expect that they accidentally broke into the minefield we buried. On the spot, a tank was blown up, and the motorcycles of the remaining tanks were all destroyed in the fierce battle. In short, the enemy who attacked us had been completely destroyed."
Chapter completed!