Red Moscow

  Chapter 1910

   After Prochenko landed on the right bank, he and Vanya found a safe place and established a forward headquarters, where he directed the troops to expand the beachhead.

   It was later proved that Prochenko's approach was completely correct. If he had stayed on the left bank and commanded the troops across the river, I am afraid that the orders he issued would not be conveyed to the commanders at the grassroots level in time.

  Now he is constantly giving instructions one after another according to changes in the battlefield situation. Those who can make calls, call; those who cannot make calls, send messengers to convey orders.

   In this way, after landing, the troops that seemed a little chaotic and fighting independently, after receiving Prochenko's combat order, adjusted their deployment in time and continuously expanded the area occupied by the German river defense position.

  When the battle was in full swing, an officer ran over and reported to Prochenko: "Comrade commander, the commander of the friendly army is here!"

  Hearing that it was the commander of the friendly army, Prochenko couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and then asked, "Where is he?"

   "It's coming here, it will be there soon."

Soon, a commander wearing the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Navy appeared in front of Prochenko and introduced himself: "Hello, Comrade Colonel, I am Shamrich, the commander of the 296th Regiment of the 98th Guards Division. Lieutenant Colonel, was ordered to come to support you."

   "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Shamrikh." Prochenko held the opponent's hand and said excitedly: "I am Colonel Prochenko, commander of the 762 regiment of the 254th Division. Welcome to come up."

   "Comrade Colonel," after a brief greeting, Shamrih went straight to the topic: "Let's assign the next combat mission."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, come and see." Prochenko put the map drawn by the staff officer in front of Shamrikh, and said to him: "The position along the side of the river has basically been occupied by our regiment. And When we advanced in depth, we encountered stubborn resistance from the Germans. I think your regiment can bypass the flanks, disrupt the deployment of the Germans, and reduce the resistance we encounter when we attack the fortifications."

   "No problem." Shamrikh pointed to a point on the map and said to Prochenko: "Comrade Colonel, I will order the mortar company to bombard this area later, and then launch a charge."

"Very good, very good." After Prochenko said that the two were very good, he added: "I will transfer a company later to cooperate with you." At this point, he said with some embarrassment, "Now The troops are too scattered, I can only draw so many troops at most, I hope you can understand."

In fact, Shamrih does not need the cooperation of the 762 regiment, and he is sure to win this position, but since Prochenko mentioned cooperation in combat, he can't refuse the other party's kindness, so he said smoothly: "That's really great , with your cooperation, I believe it will be easier to take down the enemy's position."

  The battle on the right bank was in full swing, and Sokov, who was impatient, called Shechtman directly and asked, "Comrade Colonel, how is the situation there?"

"Report to Comrade Commander!" Seeing that Prochenko's 762 regiment had successfully crossed the river, Shechtman spoke with a lot of confidence: "Colonel Prochenko's 762 regiment has successfully landed on the right bank and is on the way. It's a fierce battle with the Germans."

"Colonel Shechtman," Sokov could not help nodding his head slightly when he learned that the vanguard group had landed on the other bank, and then ordered: "Since the vanguard group has landed on the right bank, why don't you hurry up and send troops to reinforce and Strengthen the position on the right bank."

   Shechtman originally wanted to wait for the 762 regiment to completely occupy the position on the right bank before sending two other regiments across the river for reinforcements. Hearing Sokov's order at this moment, he quickly replied: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I will immediately order Lieutenant Colonel Ivan's 764 regiment to cross the river to reinforce Colonel Prochenko."

  After finishing the call with Shechtman, Sokov ordered the communications soldier to connect to the headquarters of the 98th Guards Division.

  After the phone call, he also asked straightforwardly: "General Chuvashov, how is the situation there?"

   "The troops are fighting, Comrade Commander."

   Hearing Chuvashov reply to himself in such a general tone, Sokov couldn't help frowning: "Be more specific."

"The 296th Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Shamrich has merged with the 762nd Regiment crossing the river, and is attacking the deep positions of the German army." Chuvashov quickly picked up the small notebook used by Chief of Staff Uzakov to record. : "The 299th and 302nd regiments are rushing into the depths of the German defenses to completely disrupt their deployment."

"General Chuvashov, the 41st Guards Division has reached the right bank of the Transnistria. They will soon enter the battlefield through the gap you opened and fight side by side with you." Sokov said: "Wait After your two armies join forces, discuss the matter of coordinating operations."

  Hearing what Sokov said, Chuvashov asked: "Comrade Commander, after our two divisions converge, who should be in charge of the unified command of the troops?"

   Sokov was stopped by Chuvashov's words. According to the military rank, it must be the major general Chuvashov who commanded the lieutenant colonel Ponedelin. But in terms of their qualifications, Ponegerin is obviously more suitable to take on this responsibility.

Fortunately, he did not think for a long time, and made a decisive decision: "Comrade Chuvashov, after you join the 41st Guards Division later, the commander of the division, Lieutenant Colonel Ponejielin, will unify you. Command the troops. Do you understand?"

   "Comrade Commander." When Chuvashov heard, what, let a major general accept the command of a lieutenant colonel, he suddenly felt uncomfortable: "Isn't it appropriate?"

"There is nothing inappropriate." Sokov said into the microphone: "Colonel Sidolin, the chief of staff of the division, has been my chief of staff during the defense of Stalingrad. , Although he is only a lieutenant colonel, he was the commander of the 12th Army before the war broke out, and he is much better than you in terms of qualifications and command experience."

   Although Chuvashov had never met Ponedelin, he had heard about him. Now that he has served as the commander of the 41st Guards Division, it is hard to say anything. What's more, this army is still Sokov's old army, and they have deep feelings. It's hard to say anything about accepting their leadership.

   "Yes, Comrade Commander, I resolutely obey your orders!"

  Sokov's next call was to Ponejielin directly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, have the troops reached the right bank yet?"

   "Lieutenant Colonel Duharin's troops have just arrived on the right bank." Ponejelin replied, "However, the commanders and fighters seem a little tired. Do you think it's not too late to let them rest for a while before going into battle?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I want them to take a good rest, but will the Germans give us this time?" Sukov said in an unquestionable tone: "Since the 126th regiment has just arrived on the right bank, let them Enter the battle as the second echelon. Now, what you have to do is to lead the 122nd and 124th regiments and enter the battlefield through the gap opened by the 98th Guards Division. Understand?"

   "I fully understand, Comrade Commander." Pornegelin replied blankly: "I firmly obey your orders."

"there's one more thing."

"Please say."

   "After your division joins General Chuvashov's 98th Guards Division, you will be in charge of the troops."

Knowing that Sokov allowed him to command two divisions at the same time, Ponegerin was naturally overjoyed, but he did not get carried away with it, but said cautiously: "Comrade commander, is this not good? You know, I'm just a lieutenant colonel, how can I command a major general?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Sokov didn't wait for Ponegerin to finish, and interrupted him: "Anyway, you were the commander of the army group before the war, and you must be better than Chuwa in terms of qualifications and command experience." Schauf is much stronger, so I decided to put you in command of these two troops."

After he paused for a moment, he continued: "Also, the 254th Infantry Division on the left bank launched a crossing operation not long ago. At this moment, it has successfully landed on the right bank and joined forces with a part of the 98th Guards Division. After the river defense position was taken, even Colonel Shechtman's 254th Infantry Division was also handed over to your command."

"What?" Ponegerin became restless. Sokov asked himself not to command two divisions, but three divisions. He asked nervously, "Is it appropriate for me to command three divisions at the same time?" ?”

"There is nothing inappropriate." Sokov, who was holding the microphone, glanced quickly at the headquarters, and continued: "There are still many students in my headquarters. If you think you are not strong enough alone If so, I can send you a few more people over there."

Seeing that Sokov had misunderstood himself, Ponegerin quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander, you have misunderstood me. If you just command an extra 98th Guards Division, the problem may not be too big. If another infantry division is added, I am afraid that the commander of the division will not be willing to follow my command."

  The reason why Sokov decided to hand over all three divisions to the command of Ponegerin was because of the consideration of testing Ponegerin's ability through this battle. If you pass your own assessment, you will apply to your superiors after a while to appoint Ponegerin as the commander of the army, and at the same time, your military rank can be improved to a certain extent.

"Lieutenant Colonel Pornegelin, don't worry." He comforted the other party and said, "Colonel Shechtman, the commander of the 254th Infantry Division, is also my old subordinate. He dare not disobey my orders. You just Fulfill your duties with confidence and command the troops of three divisions to take on the Germans."

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov waited for Sokov to put down the phone, and asked with some puzzlement: "I don't understand, why did you hand over three divisions to the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ponejielin? Wouldn't it be too risky?"

  Sokov did this out of desperation. Now that he has more and more troops under his command, he definitely can’t take care of everything like before. He must find a few capable subordinates to help him. And the person he chose first was naturally Bonejelin. :

Seeing that Smirnov didn't understand at this moment, he explained to the other party: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am now commanding more and more troops. If I still care about everything as before, I will not be able to handle it even if I have superpowers, so I must There are a few competent subordinates who have come to help me share the work. While reducing the burden on my shoulders, it also improves the efficiency of commanding operations."

"Comrade Commander, since you have already made your own decision, I can't say anything else." Although Sokov had already made a decision on this matter, Smirnov, as his chief of staff, felt it was necessary to remind He paid attention to some details: "However, it is not a trivial matter to let Lieutenant Colonel Ponegerin command three divisions. I suggest you report to Marshal Konev first, so as not to be used as a fuss in the future."

   As Sokov thought about it, Smirnov was right to remind him that although military and personnel affairs on the front line are up to him, there are some things that should be reported to the higher authorities, and should be reported. This is also a kind of respect for the superiors.

  After wanting to understand this, he ordered the director of the Communication Corps to connect to the phone of the Front Army Command and personally report to Konev on the situation of crossing the river.

When Konev heard that the troops involved in the forced crossing had successfully landed on the right bank of the Transnistria, he was also very happy: "Comrade Sokov, it seems that the decision of the superior to form this combat group is very correct. You see, how soon after you were formed, you broke through the German defenses on the Transnistria and successfully climbed to the right bank."

   "Comrade Marshal, I have another important matter that I need to report to you."

  Konev's heartbeat quickened inexplicably when he heard something important, and he said in his heart that Sokov got into trouble, so let me help him clean up the mess? With such a mentality, he said cautiously: "Comrade Sokov, tell me, what is important."

"That's right," Sokov said carefully, "The troops participating in the attack this time also included the 41st Guards Division of Lieutenant Colonel Pornedelin and the 98th Guards Division of Major General Chuvashov. I plan to wait for the troops of the three divisions to seize the German river defense position and successfully join forces, and then they will be temporarily concentrated and used, and Lieutenant Colonel Pornegering will be in charge of command temporarily."

  Konev was a little anxious when he heard that. When Sokov appointed Ponejielin as the division commander, he was worried that someone would make a fuss about it. I didn't expect Sokov to be so bold. It hasn't been long since he was appointed as the division commander. He directly wanted the other party to command the troops of the three divisions. If something goes wrong, no one can afford it.

  Thinking of this, he immediately raised an objection: "No, Comrade Sokov, I do not agree to allow Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin to command the three divisions. You know, he is the lowest rank among the three division commanders."

"Comrade Marshal, you know the reason for his low rank." Seeing that Konev did not agree to let Ponegerin command the three divisions, Sokov hurriedly said good things to the other party: "The reason why I am appointing three divisions I did not take into account the military rank factor when I was in charge, because in my opinion, the level of the military rank does not reflect the level of the level. Lieutenant Colonel Bornejelin was the commander of the group army before the war and has rich command experience. If the With the three divisions in his hands, I believe that good results will be achieved."

  Seeing that Sokov supported Ponedelin, Konev knew that it would be useless to oppose him. Maybe he could come up with one objection reason, but Sokov could find ten reasons to convince himself. So he decided to simply take a step back and let Sokov arrange Lieutenant Colonel Ponejielin to command the troops of the three divisions. If he did not perform well, it would not be too late to dismiss him.

   "Okay, Comrade Sokov, I don't want to argue with you anymore." Konev pretended to be helpless and said: "Just do as you say."

  (end of this chapter)