Chapter 401

The excitement shown by meletskov and starikov is very short-lived. After all, the Neva group of Leningrad's front army began to cross the river, and the highland battle under the command of gorovchner was only the beginning. They had more important things to do.

Starikov asked the signalman to move several important telephones to the conference table. In this way, he and meletskov can receive the reported battle reports by telephone and give orders to the subordinate troops in time without moving their positions.

Meletskov talked with the chief of staff of the headquarters of the front army, stilimah, and the military commissar zaborozetz, telling them the good news that Neva group began to cross the river and was ready to take over the shock troops of the Volkhov front army. At the same time, he reminded them to keep good communication with the headquarters and its subordinate troops, and once there was any important military information, Be sure to call the 8th Army Command in time to inform him.

General starikov, on the other hand, talked to his men and gave them a series of orders. For example, if the 19th division and 140th infantry brigade of the guards were frustrated in attacking the Highlands, which unit should take over the offensive task. If the highland is conquered by our army, which army should take over the defense.

I was standing not far from them when they were on the phone. Although I frown at some orders, I know that when the troops are transferred in this way, the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced due to the exhaustion of the commanders and fighters when they are forced to take the designated position after the army. Without a certain period of rest, they will not be able to play their due role in the fierce battle. But these thoughts are my flash. I am very clear about my identity. In such a large-scale conference, I am not qualified to express any opinions before my superior commanders ask me for opinions.

At this time, meletskov, who had finished the call, suddenly asked Gagan, who was sitting beside him: "Comrade General, I want to ask you, how many special class shooters are there in your army at present?"

General Gagan may not have thought that meletskov would suddenly ask this question. He seemed a little flustered. Then he hesitated and said, "report to general, there are probably 50 or 60 commanders and fighters in our army who can be called super class shooters at present."

Upon hearing his reply, meletskov frowned and said with displeasure, "Comrade Gagan, as early as the end of June, in order to prepare the front army for the attack, we held a meeting of special class shooters, which required that after the campaign was launched, the number of special class shooters should at least reach the standard of 50 per brigade and 100 per division. But what about your fourth army? Seven infantry brigades and one infantry division can only provide 50 or 60 special class shooters. It seems that you didn't accomplish the tasks assigned by your superiors very well. I don't know whether it's your ability or whether you didn't pay attention to the command of the front army. "

In the face of meletskov's reproach, Gagan became even more flustered. While wiping the sweat on his forehead, he defended himself: "Comrade commander, you know that more than half of my troops are recruits. They have only undergone a short period of military training. On the battlefield, it's good to aim at the enemy and shoot the bullets. As for where the bullet went, only God knows. And it's not a matter of time to train top scorers. It takes a long time for them to grow up

Meletskov said with a gloomy face: "Comrade Gagan, in the fight tonight, or later, we need these super class shooters to show their power, but you told me that it will take time to train them. You know, now we are fighting with the Germans, we don't have so much time, let you slowly cultivate the super shooter

General starikov, who had just finished the phone call, heard what the commander of the front army said. He quickly put down the phone and said a good word for his old friend to resolve Gagan's embarrassing situation: "Comrade General, the situation of general Gagan is understandable. After all, his recruits were factory workers, collective farm workers and even young students studying a few months ago. They don't have systematic military training. It's impossible to select enough super shooters from them

On hearing starikov's defense for Gagan, meletzkov did not retort. Instead, he asked mildly, "general starikov, how many super class shooters can you draw from your army?"

It was starikov's turn to be embarrassed this time. He replied in distress: "Comrade commander, as you know, my group army has been fighting continuously since the beginning of the campaign. The troops have been greatly reduced and may not be able to provide you with enough special class shooters."

When I heard that they repeatedly mentioned the word "super shooter", I immediately thought of the sniper. I thought that meletzkov intended to let these sharpshooters kill the German commanders and the artillery, so as to reduce the combat effectiveness of the German army.

But before I could figure this out, the phone on the desk rang. It was stilimacher calling from the headquarters of the front army. He reported to meletskov: "Comrade commander, according to the information from the Leningrad front army, the 55th army is participating in the river crossing battle. The 43rd infantry division and the 268th infantry division crossed the Neva River from left to right and launched a fierce attack on the dubrovka district on the West Bank of the river. In front of them was a German SS division. In order to block the Neva group that came to join us, the Germans sent out a large number of tanks and planes to bombard the attacking troops. The fighting was very fierce. Our army has to make great sacrifices every step forward. "

Meletskov put down the microphone and said in a heavy voice: "comrades, the current situation is very serious. The troops of Leningrad Front Army crossing the Neva River to meet us are blocked by German tanks and aircraft guns. It seems that in order to realize the joint division of the two armies, we still need our front forces to strengthen their offensive strength. "

Just then, the phone in front of general starikov rang. He picked up the phone and listened for a while. He got excited. He said excitedly, "well done! Chief of staff. To keep the troops moving forward, we must seize the high ground, and then bombard the German defense depth with artillery fire, so as to reduce the pressure on the river crossing troops. "

Putting down the phone, he immediately reported to meletskov, "good news, comrade commander! My chief of staff has just reported to me that the 19th division of the guards, under the cover of tanks, has captured the first line of defense in the sinavino highlands. At present, the commanders and fighters are continuing to rush to the second line of defense. The 140th infantry brigade is entering the first line of defense, preparing to take part in the final attack on the Highlands except for a small number of troops leaving repair works. "

"Great!" For this sudden good news, Gagan lost no time to jump out and applaud. At the same time, he suggested to meletskov: "Comrade commander, do you think we should report this result to Comrade Stalin immediately?"

"Yes, Comrade General." General starikov also echoed: "at present, the campaign is in a stalemate. We should immediately report such good news to the supreme command."

As for the two men's proposal, meletzkov hesitated: "our troops have just won the first line of defense, and they are in a hurry to report victory to Comrade Stalin. If our offensive forces are blocked by the second line of defense and make no progress, comrade Stalin will criticize them. "

As soon as they spoke, they were speechless. As we all know, what meletskov said is reasonable. Although the attack of the 19th division of the guards is going smoothly, no one can tell what will happen next. Stalin is very eager for a victory, but if anyone dares to deceive him and lie about the military situation, he will surely be enraged. At that time, he will be dismissed, or he will go to the military court.

After a long time, meletzkov said mildly, "general starikov, I'll talk about reporting victory to Comrade Stalin later. What you need to do now is to keep in close contact with colonel golovchner and keep abreast of the progress of the battle on the highlands. "

Time passed in our uneasy waiting. When the phone in front of general starikov rang again, he quickly grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "chief of staff golovchner? I'm starikov. How's it going? The position has been taken. It's great! Chief of staff, you are so wonderful! I want to thank you and the commanders and fighters of the 19th infantry division of the guards. "

At this point, meletzkov had already come around him from the other side of the table and asked in a low voice, "have our troops occupied the high ground?"

Starikov did not care to cover the microphone, so he replied loudly: "yes, comrade commander, the 19th division of the guards, under the cover of tanks, has occupied the second line of defense of the German army, and is now cleaning up the remnant enemy."

"Give me the phone." With these words, meletskov took the microphone from starikov's hand and said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade golovchner, this is meletskov. I congratulate you, Congratulations! When I report the victory to Comrade Stalin, I will point out that you personally came to the front and led the 19th infantry division of the guards to capture the sinavino highland occupied by the German army. You made immortal contributions to the meeting of the two front armies and breaking the siege of the German army on the city. At the end of the campaign, I will ask for your credit and ask Stalin to give you the honor you deserve. "

When he heard that meletskov said that he would personally ask for credit for Col. gorovchner, general starikov was also very excited, because the honor of the 19th guard Division also had his share of credit.

But golovchner's next report threw a basin of cold water on his head, making his expression serious. The chief of staff of the group army hesitated to report: "Comrade General, although only two kV tanks involved in the attack were destroyed by German artillery fire, the rest also broke down one after another, unable to continue to open the way for infantry. At present, these tanks are all parked on the high ground as fixed battery."

"I see, comrade colonel. At present, what you have to do is to take the time to rest the troops and reinforce the fortifications to prevent the possible German counterattack. "

Putting down the phone, he called starikov and Gagan back to the map and began to assign combat tasks to them. I listened carefully to every word he said and learned something useful from it. From the heart, meletzkov is a commander with rich combat experience. Although he is not as capable as Zhukov in commanding battles, his platoon and array arrangement is absolutely in line with the standard of the command course taught in the Military Academy of vorongze.

After the deployment of the two men, he called the commander of the Leningrad front army, govolov, and told him that the troops of the Volkhov front army had occupied the sinavino highland and were preparing to launch a deep attack on the German defense from three directions at the same time, in order to coordinate the battle of Neva group in dubrovka district.

Next, meletzkov and govorov further studied the specific issues such as the movement route of the troops, the time sequence of launching attacks and the artillery cooperation.