Chapter 214
The report Yuri sent to the Moscow Headquarters was quickly approved, and Comrade Stalin approved his combat plan. Not only that , in order to motivate the troops fighting on the front line, Comrade Stalin also issued a special order: the first Soviet unit to break through the German Dnieper River defense line will be commended by the headquarters, the front-level commanders will be awarded the First Class Suvorov Medal, the army-level commanders will be awarded the Second Class Suvorov Medal, and the commanders at all levels of the first unit to cross the river will be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
This order applies not only to the 4th Ukrainian Front, but also to all fronts and combat units participating in the Battle of the Dnieper.
As this order was issued, the Soviet troops on the entire Ukrainian front were in an uproar. Within one day, Yuri received nearly 140 letters of request to fight. All the subordinate troops of the entire Fourth Ukrainian Front requested to serve as commandos. Only the Air Force did not respond.
Almost at the same time this order was issued, another telegram signed by the Supreme Command and issued by the People's Commissariat of Defense was also transmitted to every region of the Soviet Union. This was a more thorough mobilization order.
The order required all Soviet male citizens between the ages of 16 and 40 to register at a military depot and be ready to be drafted into the army and sent to the front line at any time.
Through this mobilization order, the People's Commissariat of Defense plans to recruit another 3.4 million to 4 million new soldiers. These new recruits will be added to the front-line combat corps or form a new headquarters reserve before the arrival of late autumn.
Military mobilization during wartime is unreasonable. No matter who you are, as long as you are within the conscription age, you must enlist in the army. Otherwise, you will be labeled as a traitor or a coward to the country, and what awaits you is not a stable life, but suffering worse than death.
The 4th Ukrainian Front suffered heavy losses in previous battles, with serious damage to its military equipment, weapons and ammunition. Yuri was unable to launch a new round of offensive before receiving sufficient supplies.
Most importantly, winter was approaching, and the soldiers needed to replenish winter clothes and more cold-resistant supplies. However, the poor transportation conditions restricted the delivery of military supplies. Therefore, starting from the beginning of October, the war on the entire southern front came to a brief stagnation.
In the German-controlled area across the river, at the end of October, Manstein also made deployment changes to the German troops stationed in Melitopol. Perhaps sensing some threat, he transferred the Romanian 24th Infantry Division and the 16th Armored Infantry Division directly under the 1st Tank Army to the Molochnaya River line to strengthen the German defense force on this line.
However, Manstein's main defense focus was still not adjusted to Melitopol, but concentrated on the Krivoy Rog-Nikopol line, because it was an important iron and tungsten mining area, and at the same time, it also protected the security of the northern wing of the Crimean cluster.
During this period of calm, Manstein received a large number of reinforcements, including four infantry divisions from Army Group Center and 32 replacement battalions from the West.
Unfortunately, Manstein did not focus his main defense on the southern front, but instead focused on Kiev. After all, the two Soviet fronts were launching attacks in that direction, creating great pressure on the German Dnieper River defense line.
Although the war had entered a calm period, Yuri still paid close attention to the situation of the German troops on the Molochnaya River line every day. The frequent movements of the German troops made him feel very anxious. He was worried that the German combat group in the Crimean Peninsula would escape, although the possibility was very small.
That’s right, unless it was absolutely necessary, the Germans would not voluntarily withdraw from the Crimean Peninsula, because it was too important for them. Losing the Crimean Peninsula meant that the Soviet Red Navy would regain control of the entire Black Sea, and the Germans would lose the oil transportation port of Novorossiysk. At the same time, they would also lose 32 forward airports, which would completely interrupt the bombing of the Ural industrial zone by the German long-range air force, and make it difficult to continue the bombing of Gorky, Saratov, and Grozny.
Moreover, if the Black Sea was lost, the political situation in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, as allies, would inevitably be turbulent. Perhaps what just happened in Italy would happen again in these countries. Based on this, the German Crimean combat group would inevitably be nailed to the spot. As long as the Soviet army could act quickly, they would not let them escape.
Time passed day by day as both the enemy and us waited. In early November, the 4th Ukrainian Front received the first batch of reinforcements transferred from the rear.
This batch of new recruits numbered nearly 80,000. They traveled thousands of miles from Yekaterinburg by train to Voronezh, where they received less than 20 days of military training before heading south again to Stalino for reorganization.
Yuri was not optimistic about these new recruits. After all, they had not received systematic military training, and most of them could only shoot. If nothing unexpected happened, by the end of the new battle, these tens of thousands of new recruits would be reduced by almost two-thirds.
Of course, it is always good to have troop reinforcements. Even if these 80,000 new recruits are cannon fodder, by the end of the battle, those who are still alive will be veterans. Most of the Soviet front-line combat troops were trained in this way.
What made Yuri somewhat happy was that by mid-November, the pontoon column transferred from the headquarters had also been delivered. This would be a powerful weapon for the Fourth Ukrainian Front to force a crossing of the Dnieper River.
…
Since the outbreak of the war, winter seemed to have come much earlier in the Soviet Union. However, it was only late November when the first snow of the year fell in Melitopol, located on the Black Sea coast.
The snow was not heavy, but fine and fragmented, like salt particles falling from the sky. It melted quickly on the ground and did not accumulate, but it made the roads muddy and difficult to walk on.
On the south bank of the Molochnaya River, in the ruins of the October New Village collective farm, Yuri's jeep was stuck in the mud and couldn't get out. Even after stuffing straw under the wheels, the four wheels kept slipping, and the mud and water splashed everywhere, covering people's heads and faces.
Wearing a brand new military coat and a thick suede cap on his head, Yuri walked through the ruins under his feet, passed a completely burned-down mill, and climbed up a hill outside the farm.
Looking north from the top of the hill, through the charred jungle and dead trees beside the big river, you can vaguely see the embankment on the opposite side of the river. This big river is the Molochnaya River, and on the other side of the river is the German defensive position.
Yuri took the telescope from Arseni and looked across the river for a while. From the sight across the river, he could see the machine gun positions set up by the German army on the river bank and a series of swaying figures.
Standing beside him, Arseny looked a little nervous. Yes, this place was very dangerous. If the Germans fired a shell, the entire Fourth Ukrainian Front would be paralyzed for two days if they were lucky.
While he was thinking about these things, he heard a muffled "bang" coming from not far away . He didn't need to ask, he knew it was a cannon fire just by listening to the sound.
However, it was not the Germans on the other side of the river who were firing, but the Soviet artillery on this side of the river that was calibrating.
After the gunfire, within a few seconds, a ball of fire exploded on the bank on the other side of the river, and mud flew everywhere. Then the roar of the explosion crossed the river and reached this side. Arseni looked back at the bottom of the hillock. At this moment, a tank was dragging a jeep stuck in the mud pit out. It looked so easy.
"General, it's time for us to go," Arseni stepped forward, moved closer to Yuri, and whispered.
Yuri didn't say anything. He looked across through the telescope for a while. Until a shell exploded on the river bank hundreds of meters away, he handed the telescope back to Arseni and turned to walk down the slope.
Through the brief observation just now, combined with the information previously provided by the Air Force and intelligence departments, Yuri confirmed one thing, that is, the logistics supply and transportation situation of the German army is much more difficult than that of the Soviet army.
Apart from anything else, the fact that the soldiers have not yet changed into their winter uniforms is enough to explain the whole problem.
As the war progressed, the Soviet guerrillas active in western Ukraine also became mobile. They attacked German transport trains, blew up bridges and railways, and caused a lot of trouble for the German army. Also in this land, the Germans could no longer get support from the Ukrainians, and even the so-called Ukrainian Liberation Army was about to fall apart.
After going down the hill, Yuri got back into the jeep. The car started moving quickly and drove south along the muddy road. After about forty minutes, it entered the headquarters of the 4th Ukrainian Front in the town of Kuninovo.
"I want the latest battlefield situation map." Yuri took off his military cap and threw it on the table. He picked up someone's cup on the table, drank the lukewarm water in it, and then said loudly, "I want to know the current position of each unit."
The headquarters staff quickly brought over the latest situation map, spread it out on the table, and introduced the location of each unit.
The deployment was made two days ago. According to the plan, all participating troops should have arrived at the designated locations. Yuri does not intend to wait any longer. He plans to advance the original launch time of the battle by four hours and launch it in full at 3 o'clock tonight.
"Send a telegram to Moscow," Yuri said after listening to the staff officer's introduction and looking at his watch. "The latest plan of the 4th Ukrainian Front Field Command Organization. Since all participating troops have arrived at the designated positions in advance, the battle will be launched at 3 a.m. Please approve it from the headquarters."
