Chapter 2247: early action

  Chapter 2247 Action in advance

  The next morning, when the 4th Air Force Army was still bombing the German firepower points, headquarters, communication hubs and artillery positions on the west bank of the Oder River, Batov called Rokossovsky. Rokossovsky took the microphone from the staff officer, put it close to his ear and asked with a smile, "General Batov, are your troops ready to attack?"

   "Comrade Marshal," Batov said on the phone: "The situation on the battlefield has changed unexpectedly. I hope to launch an offensive in advance."

   "Initiate an attack in advance?" Rokossovsky frowned and asked, "Why?"

"The wind is blowing on the river," said Batov: "My subordinates reported to me that the water of the Oder River is rising, and part of our offensive position is flooded by the river, which has caused a lot of inconvenience to our crossing operations. Also, the troops we sent to the West Bank seem to have been noticed by the Germans. They are facing the bombing of our army and moving towards the area we occupy. I think it is necessary to rush there to support as soon as possible, otherwise the troops who will establish a landing field , there is a possibility of being annihilated by the German army."

   Rokossovsky knew very well in his heart that the troops Batov sent to the West Bank were only one battalion, even if they were annihilated by the German army, it was nothing. But now the offensive campaign is about to start. If a battalion-level unit is annihilated by the Germans in the early stages of the campaign, it will have a huge impact on the morale of the troops.

It was precisely because of this consideration that Rokossovsky agreed to Batov's request after a little thought: "Okay, General Batov, I agree with your proposal to take offensive actions. But not now, At least until the air force has completed its bombing mission and the front artillery on the ground starts firing again, it won’t be too late to launch the river crossing operation, understand?”

  Batov heard what Rokossovsky said. When the shelling started, the enemy was suppressed by the artillery fire, and it was impossible to observe the situation on the river. At that time, there should be little resistance to sending troops to cross the river. He quickly said: "I understand, Comrade Marshal. After the artillery of the front army opens fire, I will order the troops to launch a forced crossing operation."

After putting down the phone, Batov said to Glebov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the marshal has agreed that we take action an hour in advance. You tell the division commander in charge of the forced crossing mission that the forced crossing must be carried out as soon as possible after the front artillery fires. We will land on the west bank at a high speed, meet with the advance battalion standing there, and consolidate our landing field so that the main force can smoothly land on the west bank."

   "Well, I got it." Glebov said: "I immediately called and asked the troops to carry out the forced crossing operation immediately after the artillery of the front army opened fire."

The German positions on the West Bank suffered from an overnight bombing, and there were flames and gunpowder smoke everywhere. Most of the German soldiers hid in shelters or air-raid shelters to avoid Soviet air raids, and had no time to observe the river. movement.

  When the Soviet bombing ended, the German positions fell into a brief silence. The German soldiers who had been bombed all night heard the roar of aircraft engines and the explosion of aerial bombs outside. They came out of their hiding place with lingering fear and looked up into the sky, wanting to confirm whether the Soviet bomber fleet had left. .

When the German soldiers found that there were indeed no traces of Soviet aircraft in the sky, many officers and soldiers fell powerlessly in the trenches, and began to cry and laugh, thankful that they could still save their lives after being bombed all night .

  However, they were not happy for long, and there was another scream of shells piercing the air in the air. Before the German officers and soldiers could shout, shells rained down on the position and exploded, blowing up many officers and soldiers who had not had time to hide. The remaining officers and soldiers saw that the shelling of the Soviet army started again, and fled back to their hiding places in a panic, preparing to continue to avoid the violent shelling of the Soviet army.

   And Batov's troops began their crossing operation while the German army was under heavy shelling and fell into chaos. As soon as the wooden boat was put into the water, the soldiers waved the engineering shovels in their hands and used them as oars to row quickly, hoping to land on the west bank as soon as possible and join the advance battalion standing there.

  Sokov arranged an observation post near the crossing point of Batov's troops, so that he could know in time when the other party started crossing the river, so that he could arrange the troops to cross the river according to the situation at that time.

  When the artillery of the front army was just shelling the opposite bank, a call from the observation post entered the headquarters. After answering the phone, Sidolin couldn't help but be surprised. He asked loudly, "Is what you said true?"

After receiving the affirmative report from the other party, Sidolin put down the phone, came to Sokov, and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, we arranged to report to the observation post at the 65th Army, and the friendly army has already started to carry out the operation of crossing the river. .”

"What, the friendly army has started to cross the river?" Sukov heard the news, his face showed an expression of disbelief: "As soon as the artillerymen of the front army started shelling the opposite bank, they started to cross the river? Aren't they afraid of being attacked by our army?" Was it accidentally injured by artillery fire?"

"Comrade Commander, I have asked the observation post carefully." Sidolin pointed to the map and introduced to Sokov: "In the area where the 65th Army crosses the river, the artillery fire is the sparsest. According to my analysis, General Batov Taking action should be approved by Comrade Marshal, otherwise the artillery fire in their attacking area will not become so sparse."

"It makes sense, it makes sense." Although Sukov didn't have much time to deal with Batov, he knew Batov very well and knew that he was a cautious person. With Rokossovsky's permission, he dared not make decisions casually: "I agree with you. General Batov's early action should have been ordered by Comrade Marshal."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin asked Sokov tentatively: "Since the friendly forces have all acted, what should we do? We can't just sit here and do nothing, and only wait for the shelling to end before we start the forced crossing operation." Bar?"

Sokov knew very well that if he waited until the shelling was over before arranging for the troops to cross over, the German troops, suppressed by the shelling and unable to raise their heads, would have already entered their respective combat positions, waiting for their own troops to enter their range. Will entertain with artillery, machine guns, rifles and submachine guns. Thinking of this, Sokov felt that he should also adjust his plan, and not wait until the shelling was over before organizing troops to carry out forced crossing operations.

  He picked up the phone on the table, and after connecting to the artillery command, he said to Potapov: "General Potapov, the 65th Army on our left wing has already started to move, and it is now forcibly crossing the Sioder River."

  Potapov was surprised when he heard this: "My God, don't you go under the fire of our army when crossing the river now? I don't know how much accidental injury it will cause."

"I don't think it's possible for accidental injury to happen. According to the analysis between me and the chief of staff, General Batov's advance action should have been approved by Comrade Marshal, otherwise he would never have the guts to do so." Sokov said: "Since they have all started to act, we can't sit still. We must take advantage of the favorable opportunity when the enemy is suppressed by our army's artillery and can't lift their heads, and launch an impact on the West Bank."

Hearing what Sokov said, Potapov thought for a while, and then made his own suggestion: "Comrade Commander, can you see if this works? I ordered the artillery to fire smoke bombs towards the west bank, and use the smoke to block the German observation post." There was no movement, so that he couldn't see our actions at all."

  Sokov thought that the west bank is filled with gunpowder smoke, and if he fires smoke bombs towards the opposite bank, will the effect not be obvious? He said with such doubts: "General Potapov, the opposite bank is already filled with gunpowder smoke. Isn't it a bit unnecessary for us to fire smoke bombs?"

"Comrade Commander, it is absolutely necessary to release smoke bombs to the opposite bank." Potapov explained to Sokov: "Don't see our air force carry out an overnight bombing of the West Bank, but due to the German defense It is ten kilometers deep and wide. I think most of the fortifications have survived the bombing. Even if the artillery of the front army is bombarding the west bank at this moment, if we act rashly, we will still be discovered by the German observation post. They couldn't get into defensive positions under fire, but they could call in fire from the rear to hit our boats crossing the river."

  After Potapov’s explanation, Sokov immediately realized that he thought the problem too simply. Whether it was the overnight bombing or the bombardment at this moment, there was a certain distance from the river, which meant that the enemy's observation post could still keep abreast of the movement on the river. If he directly ordered the troops to start crossing, then the troops operating in the river would suffer heavy casualties under the German artillery fire.

"General Potapov, I agree with your proposal. Immediately fire smoke grenades to the opposite bank to block the view of the German observation post so that they cannot detect our actions." Sokov said: "Wait until the smoke on the west bank is enough to block the Germans." When the line of sight is clear, our troops can begin to cross the river."

Sokov put down the phone and said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, now that the 65th Army has begun to cross the river, we cannot sit idle. Order the 120th Guards Rifle Division and the 109th Rifle Division to enter combat readiness and wait for the artillery After the smoke bombs fired blocked the view of the German observation post, the river crossing operation began."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sidolin replied loudly: "I will immediately call General Nikitin and Colonel Braginsky to prepare their troops for the attack and wait for the smoke bombs fired by the artillery After blocking the view of the German army on the West Bank, we immediately took a forced crossing operation."

  Firing smoke bombs to the west bank was indeed a good move. Facing the sudden rise of smoke, the German observation post thought it was the smoke produced by the shell explosion. After all, the west bank was under heavy shelling by the Soviet army, so they did not arouse enough vigilance.

Through the binoculars, Sokov saw that the position on the west bank had been shrouded in smoke, so he turned his head and said to Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, give the troops an order to start the forced crossing immediately, and the enemy must be able to move smoothly before the enemy recovers." On to the West Bank."

"Yes!" Sidolin agreed, and then said into the microphone to Nikitin and Braginsky, who had already been waiting for orders: "Two commanders, comrades, start to act. The opportunity to make contributions is at hand. I hope you can get it." Brilliant fighter."

As the order was issued, the soldiers who had been waiting by the river shouted and rushed into the river, and put the boat in their hands into the water, regardless of the splash of water soaking their clothes, they were at a loss. He climbed into the boat with his feet, and used the engineering shovel as a paddle to paddle quickly.

  When the soldiers crossed the East Oder River and reached the shoal area, they jumped off the boat one after another, lifted the boat again, and moved forward with difficulty in the knee-high river. After finally entering the West Oder River, the soldiers put the boats back into the river, and continued to advance to the west bank without taking a break.

   At this time, Batov's vanguard has successfully crossed the West Oder River and joined the advance battalion standing here.

  The German army, which was originally suppressed by artillery fire, was shocked when they discovered that the large Soviet troops had landed on the west bank, and hurriedly reported to their superiors. General Mantefil, the commander of the 3rd Armored Army, was shocked when he learned of this. He quickly ordered his chief of staff: "Immediately order the artillery to attack the place where the Russians landed, and at the same time mobilize another armored regiment, After our shelling is over, we will carry out an assault, and we must drive all the Russians into the Oder River."

"Your Excellency, Commander," the chief of staff quickly reminded Mantefil, "Now we don't have air supremacy. Once the artillery reveals its position, I'm afraid it will be bombed wildly by Russian planes. Also, our tank troops are seriously short of fuel and ammunition , even if they are ordered to fight back, it may be difficult to achieve the desired effect."

   Mantefil didn't know what the chief of staff said. But he knew better in his heart that if the Russian troops that landed were allowed to gain a firm foothold on the West Bank, it would mean that more Russian troops would land, and the Oder River defense line that he had painstakingly experienced might be broken through. It was based on this consideration that Mantefil hardened his heart and said to the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, execute my order. If you don't take decisive action, then the Russians will soon be able to gain a foothold on the West Bank. Wait for more After more Russians landed on the West Bank, it will not be so easy for us to drive them into the Oder River."

   "Understood, Your Excellency Commander." The chief of staff heard what Mantefil meant, that he planned to sacrifice artillery to ensure that the position on the West Bank would not be breached by the Russians. However, after he gave the order, he asked, "Does it need to send armored troops to carry out an assault to drive the Russians into the Oder River?"

Mantefil knew that his armored force was seriously short of fuel and ammunition. If he rushed into battle, he might soon be lying down due to lack of fuel, and then he would become a living target on the battlefield and be shot by Russian cannons. Or the plane blows up to scrap iron. He shook his head and said: "Forget it, we have already sacrificed our artillery, there is no need to let the armored troops die, let them stay where they are. Wait for the superior to replenish us with enough fuel and ammunition, and then launch a counterattack against the Russians." Not too late."

   "Okay, Your Excellency, Commander." The chief of staff nodded and said, "I will immediately convey your order to the artillery, and fire at the Russians who have landed on the west bank."

  (end of this chapter)