Chapter 2250:

After Batov learned that Sokov's troops had established a landing field on the west bank of the West Oder River, he was greatly stimulated. He immediately issued an order to the troops below to speed up the crossing of the river at all costs and strive for the shortest possible time. In order to transport more troops and technical equipment to the West Bank, a stable landing field can be established as soon as possible.

  But the active actions of Batov's troops stimulated the German army. Originally, on the flanks of the 65th Army's landing site, there were Fortress Stettin and the German fleet. At this moment, seeing Batov's troops preparing to establish a landing site on the west bank, the fortress guns and naval guns fired at the same time, trying to pass through the intensive artillery fire. All Soviet troops that reached the West Bank will be wiped out.

  The German infantry on the west bank also took advantage of the artillery fire to launch a counterattack. Their attack target was the embankment by the river where supplies could be landed. But how could Batov give up the area he had already occupied to the German army? While ordering Teremov to strengthen the resistance, he ordered the artillery positions deployed in the shallows to fire in the direction of the German fortress and fleet.

Although a few hours ago, when the German army deployed artillery positions on the second line and bombarded the river with intensive artillery fire, the artillery deployed at the shoal was unable to return fire because of insufficient range. Seeing the German Fortress Stettin and the small-scale fleet firing at the infantry landing on the West Bank at this moment, they were naturally not polite, and all the artillery fire was directed at the exposed enemy.

  Under the suppression of the artillery, the artillery fire from the fortress and the fleet became sparse. The commanders and fighters of the 65th Army took the opportunity to use rafts to send some artillery to the west bank, and began to establish artillery positions to bombard the German infantry charging towards the bank.

"General Batov," Rokossovsky called Batov himself after learning about the battle situation in the area where the 65th Army crossed the river, and asked: "If you need any help, just ask, I will do my best." support you."

"Comrade Marshal," Batov was hesitating whether he should ask Rokossovsky to send another air force to attack Stettin Fortress and the German fleet. Hearing Rokossovsky's question now, he decided Said smoothly: "I hope that General Vershinen's air force can bomb Stettin Fortress and the German fleet and disarm them so that our army will not have to pay huge losses due to the enemy's bombardment when fighting on the West Bank." casualties."

For Batov's request, Rokossovsky readily agreed: "No problem, General Batov. The weather is good at the moment, with high visibility, and it is suitable for the Air Force to take off into the air. I will contact Wei immediately. General Kirshinen, let him send a bomber group to bomb the German Fortress Stettin and the German fleet."

  After putting down the phone, Rokossovsky asked Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how is the progress of the 70th Army?"

   "Not ideal, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov replied: "So far, their troops have not been able to reach the West Bank."

   Rokossovsky frowned after hearing this: "What's going on, why is General Popov's progress so slow?"

Bogolyubov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Comrade Marshal, as far as I know, there are many forked canals in the area where they cross the river. The scouts regarded one of the canals as Theodore Therefore, in the artillery preparations before the attack, all the shells hit the west bank, which was not guarded by many enemies. When the troops launched the forced crossing operation, they were hit by powerful firepower from the west bank, and the troops crossing the river suffered huge losses. losses, which led to the failure of the first forced crossing operation.”

"Hell, how could General Popov make such a low-level mistake?" After listening to Bogolyubov, Rokossovsky said dissatisfiedly: "It is precisely because the preparations before the attack were not meticulous, This led to the failure of the offensive. You told General Popov to keep this lesson in mind and never make similar mistakes again."

   "Understood, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov nodded and said, "I'll call General Popov and relay your words to him."

However, after Bogolyubov said this, he did not call immediately, but carefully said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I just received a call from General Fejuninsky. "

   "Well, a call from Fejuninsky?" Rokossovsky raised his eyebrows and asked, "What did he say on the phone?"

   "He said he hoped to use the 48th Army's landing field to transport his troops to the West Bank." Bogolyubov asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade Marshal, I wonder if you can agree to his request?"

Rokossovsky stared at the map and began to think about Fejuninsky's proposal. He felt that if the troops of the assault 2nd Army were allowed to enter the battlefield from the landing field established by the 48th Army, it would not only increase the strength of their own troops on the West Bank, but also At the same time, it can quickly expand the area of ​​the landing field. Thinking of this, he said to Bogolyubov: "I'll call Misha first and ask him what he means. If he doesn't object, I'll ask Feduninsky to contact him again. How should the two parties use it reasonably? This landing field."

  The call to Sokov was quickly connected: "Misha, how is the situation there, is there an enemy counterattack?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal, the enemy's infantry under the cover of tanks launched a crazy counterattack on our landing field." Sokov reported to Rokossovsky on the phone: Rockets and bazookas were sent to the west bank, and with the help of these weapons a great number of German tanks were destroyed, hundreds of German soldiers were wiped out, and the rest of the enemy fled back to their starting positions in haste."

   "Misha, I'm calling because I want to discuss something with you."

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart, and thought to himself: "Is Rokossovsky planning to let me transfer troops to support Batov on the flank? If it is true In doing so, the defenders at the landing site on the West Bank will be weakened, and if the Germans attack again, it may be difficult to fight.” However, since Rokossovsky has spoken, he can’t object casually, he can only tactfully say Said: "Comrade Marshal, if you have anything to do, just say it, as long as it is within my ability, I will definitely do it."

"It's like this." Rokossovsky said: "Feyuninsky called me not long ago and said that he hoped that you would agree with his troops to enter the West Bank through the landing field you established and carry out the next step. Combat missions." Perhaps because he was worried that Sokov would disagree, he added on purpose, "Although I can make the decision on this matter, I still think I should communicate with you first. After all, the two troops are not affiliated to each other. Using the same area to cross the river may cause some confusion."

Seeing that Rokossovsky was talking about this matter, Sokov felt more at ease. He was worried that although his troops had established a landing field on the west bank, there were no friendly troops on the left and right flanks. When attacking from both wings, I am afraid that they will disperse their offensive forces. Now Fejuninsky intends to borrow his own landing field to send troops to the west bank to fight, which is really what he wished for. He quickly said: "Comrade Marshal, if General Fejuninsky's troops can go to the west bank through my landing field, It is tantamount to eliminating the threat of my right wing, and I wish for it.”

   "Well, since you have no objection, I will contact Fejuninsky immediately and ask him to discuss with you how to cooperate in the next step."

After Rokossovsky finished talking with Sokov, he immediately contacted Fejuninsky: "Ivan, I have some good news for you. Misha has agreed to allow your troops to use the landing site on the West Bank. You Get in touch with him immediately to discuss the details of the next step of cooperation, so as to avoid unnecessary confusion when using the landing field."

Knowing that Sokov allowed his troops to use the landing field on the west bank, Fejuninsky was overjoyed: "Great, Kosticka, this is really great. I will contact General Sokov and discuss letting The matter of borrowing the troops."

  Two hours later, the 128th and 147th Infantry Divisions, borrowed from the 48th Army's landing field, launched an attack on the German army in Ankram. The German army standing here has been monitoring the river surface to prevent the Soviet army who is posing an offensive posture on the opposite side from carrying out crossing operations. But after waiting for a long time, they found that the Soviet ships on the other side had launched into the water, but they stayed in place without moving. Just when the enemy was puzzled, they were attacked from the flanks and were caught off guard.

  The German commander quickly organized troops to counterattack, trying to stop the Soviet attack and stabilize his defense line. But at this moment, the boats staying on the opposite bank suddenly started to cross the river, and the German army was in a hurry. While blocking the Soviet attack from the flank, they blocked the Oder River with artillery fire and intercepted the ships crossing the river.

Regrettably, although the measures taken by the German commanders were correct, due to limited forces, they could not stop the flood of Soviet troops. Soon, Ankram fell into the hands of the Soviet troops. , the remaining German troops had to withdraw to the next line of defense.

  After occupying Ankram, Fejuninsky ordered the troops to strengthen the fortifications on the spot to prepare for the German counterattack, and at the same time dialed the phone number of the Front Army Command to report the good news of the establishment of the landing site to Rokossovsky.

"Ivan, well done." Knowing that Fejuninsky also established a landing field on the west bank, Rokossovsky's heart suddenly became more at ease. Three of the four army groups that participated in crossing the river have now established a landing field. , which means that the first step of the offensive campaign has achieved great success. Next, it only needs to stabilize the existing position and continue to develop in depth to the enemy's defense. It will take at most one month to reach outside Berlin.

  After finishing the phone call with Fejuninsky, the enthusiastic Rokossovsky asked Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any latest news from General Popov?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Bogolyubov said beamingly, "When you were talking to General Fejuninsky just now, General Popov called and said that after a hard fight, his troops had Successfully landed on the west bank and seized a German position."

"Not bad." After listening to Bogolyubov's report, Rokossovsky said with satisfaction: "I was still thinking just now that three of the five army groups that participated in the offensive successfully landed on the west bank and stood firm. The heel, for our offensive campaign, is a good start. Unexpectedly, even General Popov's 70th Army is now on the west bank."

   "Now only the 19th Army is left." Bogolyubov said: "If their troops can also land on the West Bank, our operation today will be considered perfect."

"Whether or not the 19th Army landed on the West Bank does not have much impact on us." Rokossovsky said: "After all, the task assigned to them at the beginning was to pretend to cross the river to attract the attention of the German army, thereby reducing The pressure of other troops crossing the river. Let them stay in the existing area and continue to maintain a deterrent to the German army, making it easy for the Germans not to send troops into the Oder River to reinforce their troops under attack."

When it was dark, not only Sokov's troops established a landing field eight kilometers wide and five kilometers deep, but even the 65th Army Group, which was repeatedly disrupted by German artillery fire, now established a landing field that was six kilometers wide and a little deeper. Five kilometers of landing field. Coupled with the 2nd Assault Army that occupied Anklam, after a day of fighting, the three armies had already occupied a huge area on the west bank of the West Oder River controlled by the German army. The German army wanted to retake this area. Unless more troops and technical equipment are used, the counterattack they launched is just a last-ditch struggle.

   And Popov's troops performed quite well in the last few hours. Although they made a mistake in reconnaissance during the first ferry crossing, the first forced crossing still ended in failure after paying a huge sacrifice. But after the troops landed on the West Bank, they played a very strong battle. Regardless of the area they occupied, it was just two trenches of the German army. Relying on such trenches and the bravery and tenacity of the commanders and fighters, they fought back and forth. The Germans counterattacked 16 times. In front of their positions, they were filled with the wreckage of destroyed German tanks and the bodies of hundreds of German officers and soldiers.

After Rokossovsky learned about the results of the 70th Army, he nodded with a smile and said with satisfaction: "General Popov has done a good job. I thought he would hold back the entire front army, but I didn't expect them to follow up." His performance was also good, and he managed to gain a firm foothold under the crazy counterattack of the enemy, which alone is worthy of praise."