Chapter 369

General stilimach came up behind meletskov and raised his hand to open the curtain on the wall, revealing the military map that had been hidden. He picked up the explanation stick leaning against the wall, held it in his hand, turned to the people present and said, "Comrade commander, please look at the map."

Because I sit too far away from the map, I can't see the place names clearly. I can only see the blue and red arrows representing the enemy and us. I wanted to have a closer look. As soon as I leaned forward and wanted to stand up, I saw that other people were sitting in their seats, so I gave up the idea of going to see them. If you can't see clearly, you can't see clearly. Anyway, the chief of staff will explain the campaign deployment to you.

After everyone silently looked at the map for a few minutes, meretzkov, commander of the front army, said, "major general stilimah, please introduce the enemy's forces and defense." Seeing that some headquarters took out paper and pen from their briefcase to prepare for recording, he immediately stopped: "no one is allowed to record what the chief of staff has said." The commanders listened to him and obediently put the pen and paper into the briefcase.

Straglimacher faced us and explained without looking at the map: "comrades commander, the new campaign we are about to launch, because the place where we will carry out the campaign is chosen in the schluselburg sinavino bulge, which is called the" sinavino bulge campaign "by comrades commander.

This protrusion was formed in September 1941 when the German army went out to the South Bank of Lake Ladoga. The advantage of choosing this direction is that it is the shortest route from the southeast to Neva River and Leningrad. From the map, the thickness of the encirclement here is the thinnest. Unfortunately, the terrain of the bulge, like that of other areas, is not suitable for offensive operations. The peat mining area here is very large, extending from the lakeside of Ladoga lake to the village of sinavino. To the south of sinavino village, there are dense forests and large swamps, where infantry are difficult to pass. This seriously limits the mobility of the army, but it is very beneficial to the defensive side. The only dry place in this direction is the sinavino highland, which is ten to fifteen meters above the surrounding plains. Naturally, it became the enemy's main position on our offensive route, and the enemy could observe the situation within a few kilometers from the high ground. "

Hearing this, I would like to say that what the chief of staff said is not the same as what captain boroda conveyed to the commanders and fighters below at the division's provisional military meeting. It seems that the launch of this new campaign is imminent.

"... what the German occupation forces have done in the past 11 months is to make the schluselberg sinavino bulge an impregnable fortress. They made use of all kinds of terrain, built defensive positions along rivers, lakes, deep ditches, swamps, highlands and forests, and set up many resistance hubs and supporting points. Artillery and mortar companies were deployed in the center of the resistance hub. The average density of anti tank guns is seven or eight per square kilometer. Personnel in a solid shelter, the front of the position erected barbed wire, laid mines. In this way, the terrain that is not conducive to attack becomes easier to defend and harder to attack. "

When the chief of staff explained this, meletskov waved his hand to him and motioned him to pause. Then he stood up with his hands on the table and said to everyone, "comrades commander, maybe some people will ask, since we are facing a section that is not conducive to attack, why is the front army in a hurry to launch a new campaign?"

Meletskov said here, pausing, as if waiting for a commander on the scene to echo him. But everyone here knows very well that the commander does not really want to ask this question and ask people to answer it. It's just a speech skill of asking and answering questions by himself, so no one foolishly jumps out to be the outsider.

Seeing that no one spoke, meletskov continued: "as we all know, although most of the commanders and fighters of the second shock group army jumped out of the German encirclement, the commander and deputy commander of the group army are still missing. The commanders and fighters are very tired and need to stop to have a rest and take a good breath.

But, comrades, no way! Although I also want the commanders and fighters to have a good rest and replenish their troops and weapons before launching a new campaign against the German aggressors. However, the current situation is very bad. The reason why the base camp decided to launch a new campaign at this time is that it not only has a good wish to break through the Leningrad blockade, but also expects that the positive action of our front army in the northwest direction can contain the enemy's heavy military group and prevent it from transferring its forces to the south, because a decisive battle was being launched in the south at that time.

We choose this direction for two purposes: first, under smooth conditions, we can reach the Neva River in two or three days. Because the front army has no strength to carry out a longer campaign at present. Second, in addition, by launching an attack in a direction unexpected by the enemy, we can guarantee the suddenness of our first attack and gain an advantage by doing so. "

After meletskov finished speaking, chief of staff stilimach immediately said: "yes, it is precisely because of the current bad situation that we have to launch the campaign of siniavino protrusion as soon as possible to contain the German northern army group, so that it can not transfer troops to the south."

At this point, he turned and pointed to the map with his stick, and began to explain to you: "Dear commanders, please see, our attack direction is to the south of the sinavino highlands. The offensive forces will be divided into three echelons. The first echelon is a unit of the eighth group army newly incorporated into the front army. " At this point, he reached out to the side and said, "this is major general starikov, commander of the group army." Hearing his introduction, a black and thin major general stood up beside feijiuningsky, saluted everyone and sat down again.

After introducing general starikov, the chief of staff went on to say: "according to the plan, after the campaign is launched, the 8th group army will take its own close guard 6th infantry Army (including close guard 3rd, 19th, 24th infantry divisions, and 265 infantry divisions) as the main attack. Their attack target is the station south of sinavino, and they will annihilate the German troops on sinavino highlands.

As the second echelon is the second shock group army, which is under the command of former commander General Krakow. As the 2nd shock group army suffered heavy losses in the battle of liuban, it is in the stage of reconstruction. At present, only the 327th infantry division of Colonel Anqiu feyev and the 58th infantry brigade of Colonel zhizoliv are in its organizational structure.

Behind the 2nd shock group army is the 4th Army of the close guard infantry, which serves as the third echelon, under the command of major general Gagan. The task of the Ministry is to make a rapid attack after the first and second echelons have torn open the enemy's lines of defense, strengthen the assault force, expand our army's achievements, complete the whole breakthrough and achieve the task of joining forces with the forces of Leningrad

Taking this kind of campaign into consideration, we must overcome the enemy's strong fortified positions in a short period of time and under the circumstances that the enemy may continue to strengthen its resistance. Therefore, the task of the first and second echelons is to break through the whole depth of the enemy's defense, while the task of the third echelon is to destroy the enemy's reserve forces at the final stage of the campaign. The essence of the campaign attempt is to rush to the Neva River quickly before the enemy's reinforcements from other areas arrive.

Of course, in order to prevent the second shock group army from being encircled in the battle of liuban from happening again. The commander of the front army has specially prepared a strong reserve team to cope with the unexpected. This reserve team is composed of five infantry divisions and one infantry brigade, and will be deployed at the junction of the 8th group army and the 54th group army in the south. "

Straglimacher stopped here. He held the explanation stick in both hands and said to everyone, "that's all about the deployment of the battle of the sinavino bulge. Anyone who has any questions can put forward them on the spot and let me answer them."

General Yakovlev, commander of the 52nd group army, stood up and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, I would like to ask you that fighting in such an area requires a lot of artillery and tanks to provide the necessary firepower cover for the attacking forces. I don't know how many such technical equipment can the front army use in the campaign? "

Stilimach replied with a smile: "general Yakovlev, your question is very good. I'll give you a detailed answer. At present, we have 12 artillery regiments and 9 mortar regiments, 4 independent mortar battalions, 3 M-13 Katyusha artillery battalions and 7 M-30 Katyusha artillery battalions. The density of artillery can reach 100 guns per kilometer. "

After listening to the chief of staff's explanation, there was a sigh of relief in the room. It was the first time that artillery firepower of such density appeared in the battle with the enemy.

The chief of staff knocked the explanation stick on the wallboard with his backhand, and stopped everyone's whispering loudly: "comrades, please be quiet, please be quiet. Now let's invite general starikov, commander of the 8th Army Group, to introduce to you the situation of his tank troops. "

The room was suddenly quiet, and everyone's eyes turned to the small general. After he got up, he put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said with a smile, "comrades, my Eighth Army was rebuilt in early June, With the 54th army of fejiuningsky, it was newly incorporated into the order of the front army. Today, I'd like to take the opportunity of the meeting to meet with the commanders of various army groups so that we can fight side by side in the future.

At present, our group army has two tank brigades and five independent tank battalions. A large part of the tanks are kV heavy tanks. Although the movement speed of this kind of heavy tank is much slower than that of T-34, it can give full play to its advantage of thick armor and fierce firepower in this kind of tough battle. Perhaps it is because we have such a good offensive weapon that the commander of the front army will let our group army serve as the first echelon of the campaign. "

Meletzkov listened to him and said with a smile, "general starikov, do you have any difficulty?"

Starikov shrugged and said, "of course there are difficulties. For example, the number of roads in the forest is small, and the mud makes it difficult for various means of transportation to pass, so the railway can only bear all the burden. If all my tank troops want to get to the starting point of attack, they have to rebuild their roads. After the road leading to the rear is repaired, the material supply we need can be guaranteed, so that the troops can fight effectively. And all this, it takes time to prepare. "

After listening to this, meletskov was silent for a while. Then he said, "according to the command, the campaign will be launched in early August. Because during this period, the general headquarters will supplement our weakened corps and provide the front army with a sufficient number of supplementary companies, tanks, rocket troops, shells and material and technical equipment. Comrade general, there are still 20 days to go, which is enough time for you to build roads and assemble troops. "

Having said that, he stood up and said to everyone, "that's all for today's meeting, comrades in command. You can go back to your troops. "

I walked outside the door with the crowd and complained to koshevoy around me: "Comrade Colonel, after talking for a long time, it seems that there is nothing wrong with our 59th group army and your 52nd group army except the three echelons of attack in this campaign."

Koshevoy replied vaguely: "the head of the front army has his own plan. Maybe he will send our two army groups to the army at any time. Didn't you receive the order to assemble the troops some time ago? "“ I got it. I'm busy gathering up troops and preparing to go to the designated place as soon as possible. " Koshevoy nodded and said, "that's right. Since the troops are assembled, it must be intended for attack or defense in a certain direction. Just wait for it. Maybe there will be an order soon. " As we were about to walk out of the shelter along the steps, suddenly a second lieutenant ran up to me, stopped me and asked breathlessly, "excuse me, are you major oshanina?" I looked at such a strange face of the second lieutenant, nodded, some blankly asked: "yes, I am o'shanina. What can I do for you? "“ Major oshanina, I've come to you on the order of commander meletskov. The commander said he had something to discuss with you. Please go to his office for me“ Major o'shanina, I'll go first Koshevoy saw that meletskov had sent for me, so he whispered a word to me, and then he was going out“ Wait for me, will you? " I was a little flustered by meletskov's sudden call“ There's no order for me to go to the commander's office. " Koshevoy reached out to me. "Good luck. We'll see you later." After shaking hands with me, he turned around, stepped up the steps and walked out of the shelter. Seeing the departure of Colonel kosewoi, the second lieutenant urged me: "Comrade oshanina, please go for me, or the commander will be in a hurry." Listening to the second lieutenant, I had no choice but to nod my head and say, "OK, comrade second lieutenant, let's go."