Chapter 1471

Katukov and his chief of staff were ready to March the troops all night, and to rush decisively to the depth of the enemy before the German army had time to adjust its deployment. As for the deployment of the two, the military commissar expressed his worry. He looked at katukov and said, "Comrade commander, our commanders and fighters have not been well rested after a long battle and have become exhausted. If they are ordered to march all night under such circumstances, I am afraid that the combat effectiveness of the troops will be greatly reduced. " After that, in order to seek my support, he turned his eyes to me and added, "don't you think so, comrade deputy commander of the front army?"

I very much agree with the deployment made by katukov. Under the current situation, only when the troops are expensive and swift can the German army be beaten hard to turn over. Thinking that katukov's military commissar was a political cadre and a layman in military affairs, he explained to him with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, I understand what you mean, though the commanders and fighters are very tired after many battles. However, the huge victory we have just won is bound to boost the morale of the troops and make them more brave in the next battle. At the same time, our pursuit while winning will make the Germans have no time to build fortifications, which will help us further expand our achievements. "

After I finished, katukov added: "yes, comrade military commissar, what Lida said is exactly what I want to say. If nothing happens, our troops will be able to reach the Dniester River during the day

After listening to katukov's words, the military commissar said with a smile: "Comrade commander, you are the chief military officer. You know more about military affairs than I do. Since you said that we can achieve greater results while pursuing victory, I believe that what you said will come true. "

I reminded katukov, "Comrade General, since we have captured jortkov, should you report this good news to the marshal?"

In fact, even if I don't remind katukov, he is ready to report the good news to Zhukov. At the moment, hearing what I said, he pushed the boat forward and said, "well, I'll report to the marshal right now."

Zhukov was also overjoyed after receiving katukov's good news call. After a while, he asked cautiously, "Comrade katukov, can your troops reach the river Dniester today?"

"No problem, comrade marshal." In response to Zhukov's question, katukov answered with confidence: "my troops were divided into two groups and rushed to the Dniester river at the same time. According to our prior reconnaissance, the German army has no particularly strong defense in this area. I believe that my soldiers will be able to complete this glorious task. "

After listening to katukov's reply, Zhukov continued: "at present, rebarko's third group army of close guard tanks is attacking kamenitz podolisky. At the same time, general lelushenko's fourth group army of tanks is also sent to detour westward. We must encircle the first group army of German tanks in the shortest time."

"I see, comrade marshal." Although Zhukov did not explain the specific task, as an experienced senior commander, katukov immediately understood what he should do. He said to Zhukov, "we will capture chernofse in the shortest time and encircle the German tank 1st group army with friendly forces."

Seeing katukov put down the phone, his military commissar said with a smile: "Comrade commander, we are the first group army of tanks, and Hube is also commanding the first group army of German tanks. We will soon see who is really the first."

After listening, katukov laughed at his military commissar, and then asked the chief of staff, "chief of staff, when will our infantry division be able to get to the Dniester?"

I understand katukov's purpose of asking this question. Without the assistance of infantry, it is not difficult to encircle a city only by tank troops, but it is not so easy to capture a city.

Only the chief of staff replied, "Comrade commander, at present, the 24th infantry division is advancing towards the Dniester river with general Gutman's close guard tank 11th army. They are less than 40 kilometers behind the tanks."

"Forty kilometers?" Hearing the data reported by the chief of staff, katukov could not help frowning: "for infantry, forty kilometers is equivalent to a day's journey. Is the distance between our infantry and tanks a little too wide? "

"There's no way, comrade commander." The chief of staff shrugged his shoulders and said with some helplessness, "due to the shortage of vehicles, except for mechanized brigades, ordinary infantry can only walk, so the marching speed is inevitably affected."

After the chief of staff finished, katukov turned to me for help: "Rita, do you think you can apply to Zhukov to provide us with a batch of trucks to transport troops?"

"Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." When he heard katukov say this, his chief of staff could not help but brighten his eyes and quickly added: "I heard that there are a number of new US aid trucks in the headquarters of the front army, whose cross-country performance and load are better than those we are equipped with now. Do you think you can ask the higher authorities to provide us with a batch for transporting soldiers? " Fearing that I would not agree, he added, "not too many, just a hundred will be enough."

A hundred is enough? When I heard the chief of staff say this, I couldn't help laughing bitterly to myself. I said in my heart: do you think there are American aid trucks all over the mountains and fields, and you can easily transfer 100? However, since he made a request and katukov looked at me with expectant eyes, I couldn't help but nod my head and say reluctantly, "OK, I'll try by phone, but I don't know if the superior is willing to provide you with the trucks you need."

Before I called, I thought about it carefully. It would not be appropriate to find Zhukov for this kind of thing. He was full of thoughts about how to capture the city and encircle the German troops. He would never mind such trifles. If you want to do this, you can only go to bogoleubov, chief of staff, who will negotiate with the Minister of logistics to provide necessary trucks for katukov's troops.

I made up my mind. I asked the chief of staff of katukov to call the headquarters of the front army for me. When I heard Bogoliubov's voice, I didn't beat him around the Bush and said frankly, "chief of staff, I have something I want to ask you for help."

Bogoliubov was stunned for a moment when he heard that I had something to ask him for help. Then he asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you want to call me? Do you want to transport soldiers for the first group army of katukov's tanks?"

I didn't expect that before I spoke, Bogoliubov guessed what I was going to do and asked curiously, "chief of staff, how do you know I want to ask you for a truck?"

Bogoliubov snorted, and then replied: "recently, I have received phone calls from various army groups every day. They are all about the idea of new American dodge trucks..."

When I heard Bogoliubov say the name of dodge truck, the image of Jiefang Truck, which is common in later generations, appeared in my mind. This kind of truck not only transports many soldiers, but also can pull heavy artillery. Compared with it, the trucks the Soviet army is now equipped with are a pile of rubbish.

After he finished, I said in a deliberative tone: "Comrade chief of staff, at present general katukov's first tank group army is advancing towards the Dniester river. Due to the shortage of transport vehicles, the infantry are far behind the tanks. You should know that without the cooperation of infantry, it is very difficult for tank troops to capture a city. "

I don't know if it was my words that moved Bogoliubov, or if he thought about my identity and hesitated for a moment, he asked carefully, "how many cars do you want?"

"I'll take as much as you can give me." Next to katukov, they heard bogoleubov was willing to provide us with trucks, and they all came together. I gave a few people a smile, and then said: "it's better not less than 200."

When I said this, I knew in my heart that even if the Logistics Department of the front army had 200 dodge trucks, it would not be possible to give them all to me. When I say this, I'm just thinking about asking exorbitant prices and repaying money on the spot. I always want to give Bogoliubov a bargaining space. If I only want 100 cars, he may only give me 80 or even less in the end.

When katukov heard that I wanted 200 trucks, he opened his eyes wide in surprise. However, at this time, he did not dare to speak, so he could only write a few strokes on the paper and then handed them to me. I quickly looked through the contents on the paper and saw that it said: "there are too many 200 cars. The superior won't give them to me. A hundred will be enough! "

After reading the contents of the paper, I nodded to him slightly, indicating that I knew, and then waited for Bogoliubov's reply. Bogoliubov, on the other end of the line, was silent for about two or three minutes. Then he said with some embarrassment, "Comrade deputy commander, at present, there are only less than 300 trucks in the logistics department. If you have to walk 200 trucks this time, you can't meet the needs of other troops. Besides, it may also cause gossip that I am too eccentric... "

"Come on, chief of staff, stop talking. I understand what you want to say. " I didn't wait for him to finish, so I interrupted him and asked decisively, "just say, how many trucks can I have?"

"I can't give you two hundred." Bogoliubov bit his back teeth and replied, "I can only give you 120 at most. No more."

In order to prevent Bogoliubov from going back on his words, I pretended to regret and said, "there are only 120. It's too few. But there's no way. After all, it's a big regiment fighting now, and we can't give all the materials in the rear. In this way, the commanders of other troops will have opinions on you, so I'll take these 120 vehicles. But there is a condition, you should give me all the drivers, and then drive to... "Speaking of this, I covered the microphone with my hand and asked katukov in a low voice," Comrade General, where do you want them to drive the truck? "

When he heard that I had asked for 120 American trucks from my superior, katukov was very happy for a long time. He gave me a thumbs up and then whispered, "let the driver drive all the trucks to jortkov."

I nodded, released my hand covering the microphone, and then said, "Comrade chief of staff, let the driver drive the truck to jortkov. We can let the infantry wait there."

"Great, comrade deputy commander. How wonderful you are After I put down the phone, the chief of staff, like katukov, gave me a thumbs up and said with admiration: "it was very difficult for me to get a hundred trucks, but I didn't expect that with a few words from you, we wanted 120 trucks."

After listening to the chief of staff's praise, I just smile and say that in future generations, I am a businessman in your country. This kind of bargaining is just a piece of cake for me. However, my face did not show complacency. Instead, I turned to katukov and asked, "Comrade General, don't you know these trucks are enough to transport your troops?" Katukov thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "enough. As long as the carriage of dodge truck is slightly modified, one car can hold at least 30 soldiers, 120 cars can hold 3600 people. The 24th Infantry Division has only 5000 people, so half of the commanders and fighters can ride on cars, and the rest can walk, so that the combat will not be affected. "..." Bogoleubov's truck arrived at jortkov at noon. The 24th infantry division, who had been waiting here for a long time, after waiting for cars one after another, the motorcade advanced along the main road to the banks of the Dniester river. In the evening, encouraging news came from the troops ahead. Col. gorelov's 1st Brigade of close guard tanks and Col. babajanian's 20th brigade of motorized infantry arrived in the zareshiki region and the Dniester river. The 11th army of general Gutman's bodyguard tanks also entered the Dniester river. After receiving this series of good news, katukov couldn't help cheering. After he was happy, I asked him with a smile, "Comrade General, since your two armies have reached the Dniester River, what are you going to do next?"“ Chief of staff, "katukov turned to his chief of staff," have the troops chosen a good crossing point? " The chief of staff shook his head and replied, "Comrade commander, because all the bridges on the river were destroyed when the German army retreated, our army is unable to cross the river for the time being." When I looked at the map, I found that the shape of the Dniester river was nine bends and eighteen bends. I couldn't help interrupting and saying, "general katukov, look at the shape of the river. Although the bridge on the river was destroyed by the German army, we can build bridges in the gentle section of the river, and then cross the Dniester River from this section."