Chapter 178

Half an hour later, katukov and yevlemenko and I arrived at the headquarters of 1073 regiment. Seeing our arrival, the commander, Colonel chisgakov, was startled. He said in surprise, "Oh, my division commander, how did you come to me? It's too dangerous here. The enemy may attack at any time. You'd better go back to the division headquarters! "

I waved my hand and said, "Comrade commander, you don't have to worry about my safety. I'm not here to wander, I'm here to help you destroy the enemy. " Facing chisgakov, I pointed to the other two and said, "Comrade Colonel, please come here. I'll introduce you: This is general katukov, commander of the 1st tank brigade of the guards; That's major yevremenko, head of the 280th anti tank regiment. " Then he turned to face them, pointed to the colonel and said, "this is colonel chisgakov, head of the 1073 regiment of our division."

When the three people saluted and shook hands, I called around the headquarters made of logs and found that it was similar to my division headquarters. In the middle of the room was a big wooden table with military maps and telephones on it. There is a square observation hole on one side of the wall, and the periscope for observation is placed in front of the hole. On the other side of the wall, there are transmitters, walkie talkies and so on. Because there is no battle outside, the soldiers who are responsible for operating these equipment are sitting there quietly.

I went to the table and looked at the map lying on it. I still couldn't understand it, so I said to the three: "stop chatting, come and study the battle plan!"

When the three came to the front and back of the table, I said to chisgakov, "Comrade commander, first of all, you can tell us about the deployment of your regiment."

"Please come here with me," said the colonel, taking us to the observation hole and pointing out, "the regiment headquarters is located in the forest, 200 meters to the East. It is a battalion defensive position under the command of lieutenant colonel chernukov. About two kilometers to the East, there is a forest in which the enemy's tanks are stationed. "

"How many tanks does the enemy have?" As soon as I heard about the enemy's tanks, the first person to ask about the number was major yevremenko, head of the anti tank regiment. I don't know if this is his professional habit.

"I sent someone to scout last night. It was probably one of the enemy's tank battalions. When they broke through our defense line, they lost several tanks. Now there are still 17 tanks. It's just tanks, no infantry. "

"At present, our brigade has only 30 tanks. If we attack from the front, even if we wipe out all the enemy's tanks, we will suffer a lot of casualties." Katukov said thoughtfully, looking out.

"Can we go around to the back of the enemy and attack them secretly, so that the casualties will be less." Chisjakov made his own suggestion to the tank brigade commander.

"No way!" Katukov immediately vetoed his proposal. "We don't know how the enemy is deployed in the forest. Not only from what direction they approach, they may be found. In that case, the sneak attack will turn into a strong attack, and such a battle is not worth fighting. "

While they were discussing how to attack German tanks, I used a periscope to observe the situation outside. Russia's forest is not the kind of continuous edge can not be seen, a piece of open space will be divided into small irregular forest area. The forest two kilometers away is no exception. It's surrounded by bare open land. No matter how close it is, people inside will find it. I adjusted my periscope and continued to look at the terrain in other directions. I saw that there was still a forest about 500 meters southeast of our army base.

Seeing this, I stood up straight, turned and called chisgakov: "Comrade Colonel, come here and have a look. Are there any troops of our army or the enemy in the forest over there?"

Chisgakov looked at it and said to me, "Comrade division, the area of the forest is too small for the troops to expand, so we didn't set up the defense line there. When the Scout came back last night, he went to check. There was no enemy there. " As he spoke, katukov and yevlemenko also pushed over to the observation hole to see the terrain outside.

When chisgakov finished, I nodded, went back to the table, turned to them and said, "come here, let me talk about how to fight this battle."

I wanted to give directions on the map, but thinking that I didn't know the map and was afraid of making jokes, I picked up a book on the table, tore a page and spread it on the table. I first drew a square on the top and bottom of the paper with a pencil, then drew a horizontal line on the top of the square below, and finally drew a circle on the right of the middle of the paper.

When I finished drawing, I looked up and saw that the three people were all looking at me in a daze. I knew that they didn't understand what I was drawing on the paper. I quickly explained to them, "this is my enemy situation map." Pointing to the square below with a pencil, he said, "this is the location of our headquarters. This line represents our defense line."

"I understand," the reaction of high rank soldiers is quick. As soon as I said this, katukov understood, "the square above is the position of the enemy, and the circle on the right should refer to the forest you just asked?"

"Good job!" Seeing that katukov understood my sketch so quickly, I praised him and then said, "next, I'll set up the combat mission."

"Comrade division commander, I want to remind you that our troops are limited. If we attack, we will pay a great price. When the enemy launches a new offensive, we will not have enough troops to defend." It was chisgakov who said this. He was afraid that my blind command would destroy the whole army“ In this battle, the infantry is only responsible for defense, and the tank brigade is responsible for attack. " Speaking of this, I raised my head and asked katukov, "Comrade General, what kind of tanks do you have? Do you have heavy tanks that can't be broken by enemy shells?"“ Our brigade is equipped with the latest T-34 tanks, not as heavy as you said“ Alas, it's a pity. Otherwise, the enemy will be full of teeth. I'll go on to talk about operational deployment. " I pointed to the horizontal line with a pencil and said to yevremenko, "Comrade major, you will deploy the anti tank regiment here in our defense line." Then he moved the tip of his pen to the circle and said to katukov, "Comrade General, you have put 25 tanks here. Then send the remaining five tanks to the forest where the enemy is. "“ Do you mean to let these tanks undertake the task of luring the enemy? " Katukov asked tentatively. It's easy to talk with smart people. I'm only half way through, and he'll know my plan. But there are still two people nearby. I don't know if they understand my intention. I have to explain to them: "general katukov's tanks are advancing towards the enemy's position. When the enemy bombards them, they will turn around and run to our army, trying to lead the enemy out of the forest. When the enemy's tanks entered range, the anti tank artillery regiment fired. When the enemy was dazed, general katukov's other tanks rushed out of the forest and cut off their retreat. At this time, even if they come back, it's too late for them to turn around and run away. What's waiting for them is the fate of the whole army. Do you understand what I mean? "“ I fully understand The three answered me in unison.