Chapter 2243:

  Chapter 2243

  Early the next morning, Sokov heard the roar of an aircraft engine in the distant sky. Hearing the sound, there were still a lot of planes in the woods. He quickly walked to the window and looked up into the sky, trying to figure out whether the incoming plane was from the Soviet army or the German army.

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin, who was standing by the window looking at the sky, saw Sokov approaching, and said, "Did you also hear the roar of the plane's engine?"

   "Yes," Sokov nodded: "Listen to the sound, there are quite a few planes."

   "There are at least hundreds of planes," Sidolin said, "And the direction of the sound is behind us. I guess it is the fighter planes of the Air Force's 4th Army that are transitioning."

   "It would be great if the planes of the 4th Army of the Air Force were really in transit." Sokov said: "It will be more convenient for them to conduct reconnaissance or bombing of the German fortifications on the West Bank."

  The roar of the aircraft engine changed from small to loud, and after a while, it changed from large to small, and finally disappeared. It should be that the fleet has completed the transition mission and successfully landed at the new field airport.

   Shortly after the sound of the plane disappeared, the roar of artillery fire was faintly heard from the south. Hearing this voice, Sidolin said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, did you hear the sound of artillery in the distance? This should be Marshal Zhukov's troops launching an attack on the enemy."

"Well, that's right, it should be Marshal Zhukov's troops who launched an attack on their frontal enemy." Sokov said: "I hope they can successfully break through the German defenses and have a good start. Wait for us to expand." When attacking, the pressure will be greatly reduced."

"Comrade Commander, I have something to report to you." When Sokov returned to the table, Sidolin chased after him and said, "Considering the limited number of engineers, if we simply let them cut down trees, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for them." It was a waste of time, so I sent two infantry brigades to assist them in felling trees."

"Chief of Staff, what you did is right." Sokov said casually: "It is very beneficial for us to prepare the timber for erecting the pontoon bridge early..." When he just said this, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind , stopped halfway through the words.

  Seeing Sokov staring blankly at the map in front of him without speaking, Sidolin asked in surprise, "Comrade Commander, what are you thinking?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I was thinking that in order to confuse our army's reconnaissance planes, the German army deployed a lot of fake tanks in their defense zone, making us think that one of their armored forces was assembled there." Sukov suddenly He wondered, "Can we also learn from the Germans and make some fake equipment to fool the Germans?"

   "How to fool?" Sidolin asked curiously.

"We disguised the felled trees as artillery on the East Oder River, and covered them with canvas to confuse the enemy on the other side." Sukov said with a smile: "If the Germans find that we have deployed a large number of guns by the river What kind of action do you say they will take after the artillery fire?"

"Does this need to be said? It must be covering our artillery positions to destroy our artillery, so that we cannot get the cover of artillery when we are crossing the river." Sidolin finished the possible reaction of the German army in one breath. After that, he suddenly stared at Sokov with wide eyes in surprise and asked, "Comrade Commander, do you plan to use this batch of wood to make a fuss?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, I just plan to use this batch of freshly felled timber, pull it to the riverside to disguise it as artillery, and cover it all with canvas, so that the Germans on the other side think that we have deployed a large number of artillery On the banks of the East Oder River. In order to eliminate the threat they received, the Germans will definitely use powerful artillery fire to bombard our fake artillery positions. As long as we determine the location of the German artillery positions, we can use artillery fire Suppress it, or send out the air force and bomb their artillery positions."

   "Comrade Commander, this is a good idea." Sidolin was overjoyed after hearing this, and said repeatedly: "I will send people to move all the wood to the river and set up fake artillery positions to confuse the enemy on the other side."

   "We need to communicate with General Potapov about this matter." Sokov said: "After all, after the enemy takes the bait, he needs his artillery unit to use powerful artillery fire to suppress the enemy's artillery."

  Potapov received a call from Sidolin and rushed to the headquarters immediately. After saluting Sokov, he asked bluntly, "Comrade Commander, I don't know if you called me. What's the matter?"

   "That's right, Comrade Artillery Director." Sokov smiled and said, "I want to ask, can the artillery of our army suppress the German artillery positions on the other side?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Potapov couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Commander, I don't know how to answer this question for you. After all, I don't know where the German artillery positions on the other side are and what their positions are. How is the artillery strength?"

Sokov explained to Potapov: "I want to build a huge fake artillery position on the banks of the East Oder to attract German artillery fire. As soon as they fire, I hope your artillery can be fired in the shortest possible time. Time to lock their positions and suppress them with artillery fire. How, can it be done?"

   "Build a huge fake artillery position on the bank of the East Oder River?" Potapov asked with some confusion: "Comrade Commander, what are you planning to use as artillery to confuse the enemy on the other side?"

"Wood." Sokov said: "In a few days, we will launch an attack on the opposite bank. In order to send technical equipment and more troops to the opposite bank, I plan to build a pontoon bridge on the river. Bridge materials, now I plan to use them to disguise as fake artillery, and then cover it with canvas, so that the enemy on the other side thinks that we have deployed a strong artillery position on the shore. In order to avoid being hit by our artillery, I think the Germans We will definitely act first and bombard our fake artillery positions first to eliminate hidden dangers."

"Oh, so that's what happened." Potapov nodded after hearing this, and continued: "I can concentrate fifty artillery pieces with a caliber above 105mm on standby. As long as I lock the position of the German artillery positions, I can immediately launch Shoot them."

"Comrade Artillery Officer, in fact, I still plan to let your artillery suppress them after the enemy's shelling starts, and at the same time ask the higher-ups to send out the air force to bomb the German artillery positions." Sokov said: "But I am worried about the German artillery. People are not fooled, so we haven't contacted the front army headquarters yet."

"Comrade Commander, I think the air force should be contacted as soon as possible." Potapov analyzed to Sokov: "You must know that it takes time to refuel and reload the aircraft. Without taking off, the enemy's artillery shifted its position, and by the time our air force arrived, the bombing target had already been lost."

Sokov felt that what Potapov said was very reasonable, so he nodded and said: "Comrade Artillery Director, what you said is very reasonable, I will call the Front Army Command right now, and hope that the Air Force can make preparations sooner and be able to prepare for it in the future." Strike in time at the critical moment."

   After speaking, Sokov picked up the phone on the table and started calling the Front Army Command.

After the call was connected, when he heard Bogolyubov's voice coming from the receiver, Sokov said politely: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, this is Sokov, is Comrade Marshal there? I have Report to him."

   "I'm sorry, General Sokov." Bogolyubov said apologetically: "Comrade Marshal went to inspect the troops, and he is not at the headquarters."

   Knowing that Rokossovsky was not in the headquarters, Sokov couldn't help being a little disappointed. He continued to ask, "I wonder when he will come back?"

   "This is not very clear." Bogolyubov said: "If you have anything important, you can tell me the same. When Comrade Marshal returns, I will tell him."

Since Rokossovsky was not there, Sokov could only lure the German artillery to expose its position, hoping to destroy it with artillery and aviation. He told Bogolyubov again, and he finally said: "The front army Comrade Chief of Staff, we look forward to the strong cooperation of the Air Force in the implementation of the plan."

Bogolyubov, who figured out what was going on, promised: "Don't worry, General Sokov, I will tell Comrade Marshal what you said as soon as he comes back. The 4th Army of the Air Force has just completed the transition mission , A considerable number of aircraft need to be overhauled, and I am afraid that the number that can be put into combat in a short period of time is not many."

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I request the air force to carry out bombing, in order to completely destroy the German artillery positions, so as to reduce the artillery fire damage our army suffered when fighting across the river." Sokov said: "So when we need, I hope the Air Force can send more planes to provide air support."

"Okay, okay." Bogolyubov said impatiently: "General Sokov, I already understand what you mean. When Comrade Marshal returns, I will convey your meaning to him. Don't worry. Let's go." After speaking, he hung up the phone without giving Sokov a chance to speak.

Sokov held the phone in a daze for a while, then put down the phone and said to Sidolin and Potapov: "Comrade Field Marshal is not at the Front Army Command at the moment, the chief of staff, General Bogolyubov, answered the call. Promise me that we will call on the Air Force to provide us with air support when the need arises."

  When Sokov called, Sidolin and Potapov were chatting and did not hear the conversation between Sokov and Bogolyubov. After listening to Sokov's words at this moment, both of them couldn't help being overjoyed. Potapov said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, let me tell you this. If only our artillery fires, the German army finds that something is wrong, and they will immediately move their positions. But if they had the support of the air force, they would have no way to retreat, and the possibility of being wiped out was very high. If the German army did not have the support of artillery fire, when we launched the attack, the casualties paid by the troops would be much smaller."

  But Potapov still raised a question: "Comrade commander, what if the enemy doesn't take the bait after we set up artillery positions by the river?"

This question really caught Sokov. After thinking for a long time, he tentatively said: "How about deploying a few real artillery pieces in the fake artillery positions? If the enemy doesn't fire at us, we can fire at them." If the enemy's positions are bombarded, they will certainly return fire, thus exposing their artillery positions."

"That's right, I think what Comrade Commander said makes sense." Sidolin echoed from the side: "When the Germans saw our false position by the river, I'm afraid they still hesitated, wondering if they should take the lead in attacking us. Launch an attack. But if we fire at them first, the Germans will take the fake artillery positions as real, and in order to avoid greater losses, they will definitely fire back without hesitation."

"Okay then, Comrade Commander." Potapov nodded and said, "We are now making two preparations: one is that the Germans will directly fire at the fake artillery positions, and I will order the prepared artillery to fire at their artillery positions." Second, if the enemy does not dare to fire first, then we will fire at them, making them think that the false position deployed on the shore is the artillery position established by our army, so as to attract their artillery fire."

"Okay, then it's settled." Sokov said to Potapov: "Comrade Artillery Chief, you should go back to the army to prepare. Maybe the German artillery fire came as soon as our false positions were set up. .”

  When Potapov went out, he happened to meet Lunev who had just come in from the outside. He greeted him, then turned and left.

  Looking at the back of Potapov leaving, Lunev asked Sokov curiously: "Misha, what is General Potapov doing here?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, here's the thing. I'm going to set a trap for the Germans." Sokov told Lunev about his plan in detail, and said, "It depends on whether the Germans will be like us. As expected, just jump into the trap we dug for them."

"Misha, I think your plan is good." Lunev affirmed Sokov's plan: "If I were the commander of the German army, and suddenly there was an additional artillery position in the enemy's position on the other side, in order to For my own safety, I will definitely find a way to eliminate it first. Even if I don't know the situation here, I dare not fire easily, but if I am bombarded by this side, I will fight back anyway. But in this way , the artillery positions on the west bank will be completely exposed, and they will be suppressed by artillery fire and bombed by aircraft."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lunev turned to Sidolin and said, "Please let the comrades of the infantry brigade speed up the logging. Sub-scene."

  (end of this chapter)