Chapter 398

After hearing the ultimatum issued by meletskov, general Gagan did not dare to neglect it. He rushed to the telephone and called his army headquarters, asking the left behind deputy commander roganski to urge the troops to speed up the March and strive to arrive at the designated place within the specified time, so as to ensure that his position would not be removed by the higher authorities due to the slow action of the troops.

But general starikov stayed where he was. He stood motionless at the table, looking down at the map of the sinavino highlands on the table, frowning.

Meletzkov noticed his abnormality, looked up and asked, "general starikov, do you have anything else to say?"

Starikov first pointed to the starting point of our attack on the map, then moved his finger to the position of the German defensive position on the high ground, and said, "Comrade commander, please see, the starting position of our attack is about two kilometers away from the German first line of defense. Without the cover of artillery fire, in such a long impact distance, The German will send out air force to fly over our battle formation for bombing, and the terrorists in the positions will pour shells and mortars on our attacking troops, causing heavy casualties. In a vast minefield in front of the German position, the engineers of our group army, in order to open up a channel for the infantry in previous attacks, almost all of them died under the enemy's muzzle in demining. "

After listening to starikov's explanation, meletzkov pondered for a while and asked, "when the troops attack the Highlands, can't they get any artillery support?"

Starikov thought for a moment and replied, "although the Leningrad front army and the Baltic Fleet can provide us with artillery support, there are limits to this support. Because the enemy has the air supremacy, as soon as our army launches the artillery, the enemy's aircraft will fly to the artillery position or the docking position of the ship to carry out crazy air strikes. At this time, artillery support had to be cancelled. The infantry of our army who attacked the German solid fortifications, because there was no artillery cover, would pay a huge sacrifice every time they went further. The attacking troops soon lost their ability to continue to attack because of heavy casualties. "

Meletzkov got up and walked quietly around the room with his hands behind his back.

I stood by, my brain was also spinning rapidly, thinking about how to provide the necessary firepower cover for our offensive troops? It is unrealistic to send artillery troops from other places to take part in the attack. First, the road is too far. Under the current road conditions, without four or five hours, the artillery can not reach the designated position. In addition, even if the artillery arrived at the front line, without shells, the artillery was just a device, and it could not complete the task of providing firepower support for infantry.

Meletzkov, who was pacing in the room, stopped, turned to starikov and asked, "what's the situation of our artillery position occupied by the German?"

"Comrade report commander, I sent a regiment of troops to counter attack the artillery positions. After fierce fighting, I recaptured our artillery positions," he said Seeing what else meletzkov wanted to ask, he immediately added: "although we recaptured the position, the Germans moved all the mortars before retreating, and the heavy artillery that could not be moved was destroyed by them."

On hearing starikov's reply, meletzkov asked in disbelief“ All blown up? Not a gun left? "

Starikov replied in the affirmative, "yes, comrade commander. After our army recaptured the artillery position, I personally went to check. The mortars were transferred, and the rest of the heavy guns were blasted into a pile of scrap iron. "

There was a look of disappointment on meletzkov's face when he heard that. At this time, it suddenly occurred to me that since we entered the headquarters, starikov only mentioned that the troops had no artillery cover, no air supremacy, and no tanks at all. So I asked tentatively, "general starikov, I want to ask you something."

"Major oshanina, what's the matter? Just ask

"How many tanks are left in the 8th Army?"

"Tank?" When starikov heard my question, he frowned and thought for a while, then said in an uncertain tone: "there are 37 tanks left in the whole army, all of which are now parked behind the starting position of the infantry."

When meletzkov heard me mention tanks, his eyes lit up and he said to starikov, "since you still have dozens of tanks, you can let them provide artillery support when infantry attack."

Starikov shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Comrade commander, you don't know something. All the rest are heavy tanks. These tanks usually carry very few shells. They are all used up on the first day of fighting. "

Heavy tanks, heavy artillery shells, I repeatedly thought about these two things in my mind. Suddenly, I had a flash of inspiration and came up with a fantastic way. Of course, this method was not my initiative, but a post I saw in the military forum later. So he said to them, "two commanders, please don't worry. I've come up with a way to provide artillery support for infantry."

When they heard me say this, they were stunned and looked unbelievable. After a while, meletskov said with half faith, "Rita, do you really think of a way?" Seeing that I nodded with a smile, I hastened: "what's the way? Let's hear it. "

After I asked them to sit down with general Gagan, who had just returned from the phone call, I said, "comrades, although our artillery positions were destroyed by the Germans, there are still many shells left. As far as I know, these shells are used by 152 mm caliber howitzers, and the guns of kV tank are also 152 mm caliber. We can let the tanks use these shells to provide the necessary artillery support for the artillery“ What? " Starikov almost jumped up when I said that. He pointed at me with a look of hatred on his face and said, "major oshanina, do you know what you're talking about? Do you have military common sense? Can heavy howitzer shells be used for tanks Hearing his criticism, I tried to recall the post I read later. I remember that Zhukov himself ordered kV tanks to use howitzer shells because of the shortage of heavy tank shells. Thinking of this, I looked at the generals in front of me, nodded vigorously, and answered earnestly, "comrades general, I think our kV tank can use heavy howitzer shells." Starikov stood up angrily and tried to continue criticizing me. As a result, he was held by meletskov. The commander said slowly, "general starikov, don't remember to draw a conclusion first. As for tanks, we are all laymen. You'd better call the professionals to inquire. "“ Professionals? " Starikov was stunned at first, and then recovered. So he nodded and said, "Comrade commander, you're right. I'll call the tank brigade to ask." When starikov called the tank brigade, my heart was in my throat. I was listening to the conversation between him and the commander of the tank brigade I want to ask, can the shells of 152 mm howitzer be used in our kV Tank? what? You don't know? What do you do for food? Thanks to you or the chief of staff of the brigade, you don't even know this. Let someone who understands speak to me. " With these words, starikov fell silent. I looked nervously at meletskov at the table, trying to get some support from him. I didn't expect that he didn't even look at me. Instead, he looked sideways at starikov who was on the phone. After a while, starikov continued: "Hello! who are you? Oh, it's the brigadier. I want to ask you, can your kV Tank use 152 mm howitzer shells? What, theoretically?! I don't want your theory. I want to hear your exact answer. Can it be used? Yeah, I see. In this case, you immediately send trucks to the artillery positions and pull back all those shells. " After hearing his words, my heart fell to the ground. It turns out that tanks can really use howitzer shells. Starikov put down the phone, came over and reported to meletzkov, "Comrade commander, I just asked the commander of the tank brigade, he said that kV tanks can use howitzer shells, I have ordered him to send people to pull shells." Meletzkov raised his right hand, pressed it down, motioned him to sit down, and then asked, "since the tanks have replenished their shells, how do you plan to let them cooperate with the infantry attack?" Starikov, sitting in his seat, pointed to the area where the infantry had gathered and reported: "Comrade commander, I intend to deploy tanks here and let them bombard the enemy's positions with artillery fire. When the enemy's surface positions are destroyed, I will order the infantry to charge." For his plan, meletskov did not say yes or no, but looked up at me and asked, "Rita, tell me what you think." I looked at meletskov and said without squinting: "Comrade commander, let the tanks take the lead in attacking the German positions, use artillery fire to destroy the most dangerous fire points after approaching, and cover the infantry to occupy the high ground." Starikov once again attacked me discontentedly: "major oshanina, I remind you again. German artillery and mortar companies were deployed on the Highlands, and there were seven or eight anti tank guns per square kilometer. If the tanks attack rashly before our infantry occupy the position, they will be targeted by the enemy artillery and destroyed one by one. "