Chapter 402

On the news of seizing the sinavino highland, meletzkov, after finishing his call with the commander of the Leningrad front army, gorvolov, informed stilimah and zaborojez of the left behind front army headquarters by telephone, and asked them to report the good news to the supreme command.

Shortly after the victory report was reported, a communications staff officer came to meletskov with a telegram and handed it to him after standing at attention.

Meletzkov took the telegram and looked at it a few times. He had a tight face and a smile. He happily said to the three of us, "it's the commendation telegram sent by Comrade Stalin himself. I'll read it to you: in order to commend the guards after reading the telegram, he said excitedly to starikov:" Comrade starikov, we should tell the troops the good news immediately, This will boost the morale of our army. "

Starikov agreed, picked up the phone in front of him, shook the handle a few times, then said to the microphone, "I'm Group Commander starikov, get close to the guard." is this true? Comrade commander. " Although this is what starikov said, gorovchner obviously still can't believe it, so he made a special inquiry.

"Of course it's true. It's a congratulatory telegram from Comrade Stalin himself."

"Great, comrade commander." Before starikov finished, golovchner said, "I'm going to ask the staff to inform the commanders and fighters of the 19th infantry division of the guards of this good news."

"Wait a minute, my chief of staff." Stalikov stopped the chief of staff who wanted to hang up and finished what he had just said. "In the commendation telegram, comrade Stalin decided to award you the red flag medal and promote you to the rank of major general."

Golovchner was stunned by the news and did not make any sound for a long time. As for starikov, he thought he hung up the phone and repeatedly fed him. After hearing the response from the opposite side, he asked with concern: "Comrade chief of staff, how do you deploy the troops on the Highlands?"

"Report to commander, after the 19th division of Jinwei conquered the highland, because of heavy casualties, there was only one battalion left in the division. I asked them to withdraw and rest. At present, it is the 140th infantry brigade and an incomplete regiment of Colonel anchufiev who defend the highlands. "

"I know, let them rush to repair the fortifications immediately to prevent the possible German counterattack." After stalikov hung up the phone, he simply reported the situation reported by gorovchner to meletskov again.

After listening to the report, meletskov did not say anything. Instead, he went straight to the wall, stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back, looked at the enemy situation on the map, and thought quietly.

After standing in front of the map for nearly five minutes, he turned around and asked Gagan, who was standing side by side with starikov, "general Gagan, are your troops in place?"

Gagan hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously replied: "Comrade commander, you know, the south of sinavino is full of forests and swamps, and there is no suitable road for marching, so our troops have to lay roads in the marching, so the speed of marching will inevitably be affected."

Meletskov waved to me, and I trotted over and asked, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"

"Go and get lieutenant turchinov." After he gave me orders, he turned his head to starikov and said, "general starikov, now you can order the troops on both sides of the highland to attack the enemy's defense depth. At the same time, you can order the tank troops on the highland to destroy the threatening fire points on the enemy's position as much as possible with artillery fire, so as to reduce the casualties of the attacking troops."

I walked out of the headquarters and saw turchinov and several secret service soldiers standing outside. I went up to him and said politely, "Lieutenant turchinov, comrade general, please come in."

Turchinov looked back at the soldiers around him, and then asked, "do you want me to go alone or take the soldiers in?"

"The general didn't say that. I think it's enough for you to go in alone."

Turchinov followed me into the headquarters and came to meletskov. He passed me, stepped forward and saluted meletskov: "Comrade General, chief of the special service section, Lieutenant turchinov, has been ordered to come and wait for your order."

Meletskov pointed to Gagan and said, "because general Gagan has delayed the fight, I have removed him from the post of commander of the Fourth Infantry army of the close guard. Now you take him down and find someone to take care of him. After the end of the campaign, he will be sent to Moscow and submitted to the military court. "

As soon as meletskov's words came out, not only turchinov was stunned, but I was stunned. Even those staff who were busy were stunned. The room suddenly became silent.

However, turchinov, who was supposed to do this kind of job of arresting people, soon regained his calm, went to Gagan, bent slightly, reached out and made a gesture of invitation, and politely said, "general Gagan, please, let's get out of here."

General Gagan looked at starikov for help, but the Group Commander just shrugged helplessly, spread his hands out and made a helpless gesture. Gagan sighed and had to follow turchinov out dejectedly. When he got to the door, he stopped and looked back at the headquarters again. Then he straightened out and walked out of the headquarters as if he had made up his mind.

Meletskov then called stilimah and said, "Comrade chief of staff, general Gagan has delayed the battle and affected the course of the campaign. I have dismissed him on the spot. The post of commander of the fourth infantry unit of the guards will be replaced by major general rogensky, deputy commander. You will immediately assign this appointment to him. "

It has to be said that meletzkov's move is still very effective. Two hours later, general logansky, the new commander of the Fourth Infantry army of the close guard, called in person and told him that the whole army had entered the designated position.

As it was getting late at this time, the attacks of both the warhoff front army and the Leningrad front army came to an end for the time being. According to the reported war reports, the 3rd, 24th and 265th infantry divisions of the 8th group army, which attacked from both sides of the Highlands, were wedged into the German defense about two kilometers deep, only three kilometers away from the Neva River.

However, the attack of Leningrad's front army was not smooth. Although after the successful crossing of Neva River, the two divisions' troops and the German troops defending dubrovka District fought to the death, because the German army had strong fortifications, powerful artillery and aviation, our army, which was short of heavy weapons, barely captured the first line of defense of the German army after making great sacrifices, However, they were defeated by the German counterattack before they had a firm foothold. Several thousand officers and men of the two divisions could only return to the valley by the Neva River.

At midnight, the supreme commander in Moscow called in person. On the phone, he said sternly to meletskov: "Comrade meletskov, the situation of Leningrad's front army is very bad now. If the situation continues, thousands of commanders and fighters crossing the Neva River will either be driven down by the German army or destroyed by gunfire, so you must go to the front army of Volkhov tomorrow, that is, in the early morning of July 20, There should be no hesitation in launching a deep defensive attack on the German army. After your attack begins, the forces of Neva group will cooperate with you and attack from the German rear. "

After receiving the phone call, meletzkov began to deploy tomorrow's offensive. He ordered general starikov to immediately issue an order that the troops of the eighth group army launch a fierce attack on the enemy face to face at 4 a.m., in order to coordinate the friendly forces of Neva group trapped in the valley by the river.

However, the plan couldn't keep up with the change. As soon as it was dawn, the sound of guns came from outside. Hearing this, I couldn't help but be stunned. I said in my heart, where are the artillery firing? The artillery of the volhoff front army has no more shells, and it is impossible to provide artillery cover for our offensive troops. Could it be that the heavy artillery of Leningrad's front army and the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet were firing in order to cooperate with the action of double attack?

Just as I was daydreaming, the phone on the desk rang. Because I was close, I grabbed the microphone at any time and said politely, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the eighth group army."

From the microphone came the flustered voice of chief of staff golovchner: "is it major oshanina? Please put general starikov on the phone

I handed the phone to starikov and said, "Comrade General, your phone number. It's general golovchner, chief of staff of the group army. "

Starikov said thank you, took the phone, only heard a few words, then asked back in dismay: "chief of staff, what do you say? Say it again After listening to the chief of staff repeat, starikov's face darkened. After he hung up, he went up to meletskov and solemnly reported, "Comrade commander, the situation has changed. My chief of staff has just called to say that the German army is bombarding the heights of sinavino with heavy artillery fire, and our officers and men are unable to move in the trenches because of the artillery fire. It seems that today's attack plan has to be cancelled. "

After listening to this, meletskov's face became overcast and overcast. After a long time, he said, "Comrade starikov, please call Comrade gorovchner again and ask how the situation is now?"

Starikov agreed and reached for the phone on the desk, ready to call his chief of staff. Unexpectedly, the phone rang first. He grabbed the microphone and put it to his ear. "I'm starikov, chief of staff? How are you doing there? "

The voice in the microphone is very loud, even if I stand a few steps away, I can hear it clearly: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. At the same time of shelling, the German army sent out planes to carry out air strikes on the highlands. The enemy's bombers blasted off the kV tanks which were used as fixed batteries, and the heavy artillery bombarded the area where our army had assembled desperately. At present, my command post has lost contact with the highlands. "

"Keep in touch with highland. If you have any new information, please report to me immediately." Starikov put down the phone and just wanted to report to meletskov, who waved his hand and said, "I heard it. It seems that the German Army wanted to recapture the Highlands, so it would send out air force and artillery to carry out indiscriminate bombardment in an attempt to annihilate all our troops in the position with powerful firepower. "

"Comrade General," starikov asked cautiously, "you see, the German artillery and air strikes are so fierce. Do you think it is necessary to withdraw the troops from the Highlands first, so as not to cause more casualties?"

Meletzkov immediately shook his head and denied his proposal: "no, the enemy's artillery fire is too fierce. At this time, withdraw the troops from the position. If there is no solid fortification to cover the troops, they may be completely annihilated."

The successive reports of war are all bad news. Although the commanders and fighters of Neva group were very brave, they attacked again and again, leaving a mountain of corpses in front of the German defensive positions, and could not make more progress at all. At noon, in order to strengthen the attack and break through the German solid defense line, the Leningrad front army ordered the 86th infantry division and the 11th infantry brigade to cross the river and fight. However, the intensive offensive formation, under the heavy German artillery attack, the casualties of our army rose sharply, and the army had to return to the valley again in the end. The Germans poured thousands of bombs and shells on the highlands of sinavino. It seems that they want to erase this place from the earth and turn all living creatures into ashes. Under such a powerful fire, the temporary reinforcement works were torn to pieces one by one like toys, and the officers and soldiers hiding in them suffered heavy casualties. The attack of Neva group failed, and the heights of sinavino were in danger. The two front armies joined forces to break the German plan of besieging the city, like a beautiful soap bubble.