Chapter 907

"Do you know the number of German troops and technical equipment on the opposite side?" I looked through my telescope at the German artillery position in the distance, bit my back teeth and asked, "besides these antiaircraft guns, do they have any other artillery positions nearby?" The reason why I asked this question was that I took a chance and thought that if there were no German artillery positions around, I could use lieutenant colonel kaverin's artillery regiment to take off the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery positions.

After I finished asking, I didn't hear from Bantai leiev. I frowned, put down my telescope, turned to look at Bantai leiev, and asked discontentedly, "Comrade teacher, didn't you hear my question? Why didn't you answer me?"

Bantai leiev replied awkwardly: "Comrade commander, that's right. Our reconnaissance intelligence was two days ago. At the time of reconnaissance, there were no German artillery positions near here, but it's hard to say whether there are now. "

"In this case, comrade bantailiev, should you immediately organize people to scout the enemy's positions?" After listening to his explanation, I said angrily, "if you want to attack again, you have to find out the enemy's deployment first, don't you?"

Bantai leiev blushed with shame, nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade commander, I'll arrange people to go to the enemy's rear for reconnaissance."

Seeing that he wanted to walk towards the telephone set at the door of the room, I suddenly thought of something. I called him and said, "Mr. Bantai leiev, there is something I need to remind your scouts. Many of our troops have just changed their ranks from the original collar to shoulder bands, so that they can pay attention to identification during reconnaissance, Don't mistake our troops for Germans. "

"I understand," Bantai leiev promised with great candour, "I will definitely explain to the scouts, so as to avoid the Oolong incident of regarding my own people as the enemy of the land." At this point, he asked carefully, "Comrade commander, do you think it's necessary to call Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel cavelin here?"

I wanted to give my consent, but then I thought that the observation post was facing the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery position. Although it was several kilometers away, no one knew whether it had been found by the enemy's artillery observers. If a group of our commanders are meeting here and get two shells, the command system of the army will be completely destroyed. Because of this, I shook my head and replied, "no, sir. For the sake of safety, let them both go to your division headquarters, where we will hold a temporary military meeting later. "

When kirilov went to make a phone call in bandeleev, he came up to me, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. Then he said to me anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, this anti-aircraft artillery position of the German army should be killed as soon as possible. If we do not eliminate them one day, our troops will not be able to advance to zaborosh."

Seeing kirilov's anxious face, I couldn't help asking him curiously: "Comrade political commissar, why do you think the Germans would deploy such an anti-aircraft artillery position to the west of Kuban? You know, if we have a strong force and complete technical equipment, even if the German anti-aircraft guns are doubled, we can break through their defense line. "

Kirilov thought for a while and tentatively analyzed: "could it be that the enemy found out our intention to attack zaborosh, so they sent anti-aircraft artillery troops from other places to stop us from rushing to zaborosh?"

"Comrade political commissar, we have been fighting with the Germans here for several days." I patiently explained to kirilov, "I think the Germans have already guessed clearly where our next attack target is. With this position alone, it is impossible to block our armored assault. I estimate that their intention of setting up this antiaircraft artillery position is to slow down our army's advance speed, so that Manstein can have enough time to deploy his troops. "

Kirilov listened to me with a relaxed expression on his face. He said with disdain: "even if Manstein is given a few days to deploy his troops, it still can't stop the progress of our troops. It just can give those Germans who are hit by us a few more days to survive. According to the progress of the current war situation, in three or five days at most, all the Germans will be driven over the Dnieper River by us. "

I don't agree with kirilov's blind optimism. As soon as he finished, he expressed his own opinion: "Comrade political commissar, I don't think things are so simple. Some time ago, we were able to go smoothly because Manstein let his subordinates give up some towns on their own initiative, so that when we occupied one town after another, we had to leave troops to defend. In this way, our offensive force gradually weakened after seizing a large number of towns. If Manstein is going to withdraw with his troops across the Dnieper River, how can he set up a temporary Anti-aircraft Artillery Force to take such a defensive posture on our way forward? "

"Comrade o'shanina, do you mean that the German army has set up a defensive formation in front of us in such an unusual way, is it a conspiracy they want to engage in?" Kirilov quickly recognized what I was saying and said anxiously, "if this is the case, how can we deal with it?"

"I don't know." After I casually uttered this sentence, I found that there was something wrong with this statement and quickly corrected it, saying: "I'm just guessing now, and there is no conclusive evidence. We can't make an accurate judgment until the Scouts of the 22nd division of the close guard give back the information they have detected. "

We chatted for a while, until Bantai leiev came to report to me that the scouts for the mission had been arranged, and at the same time, we informed Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel kaverin of the meeting at the division headquarters.

Half an hour later, we returned to a solid building in the center of the city, which was originally the Soviet office building. Although the roof of the building was blown through, it did not affect Bantai leiev's headquarters here.

Berey and kaverin arrived earlier than us. When they saw us enter the door, they quickly stood up from their seats, raised their hands and saluted me. At the same time, they reported: "Comrade commander, the commander of the tank brigade (artillery regiment) reported to you that we are ordered to move forward and wait for your instructions!"

After I raised my hand to salute them, I shook hands with them and asked them to sit down: "please sit down, comrade commander. We are about to hold a military meeting to discuss what actions our army should take in the next operation in order to disrupt the enemy's deployment. "

After listening to my words, Colonel berey, who sat down again, complained to me with a bitter smile: "Comrade commander, my tank brigade has four battalions, a total of 110 tanks. In the early stage of the battle, I lost five or six, but this time, I lost one battalion of tanks in vain just to capture Kuban and advance to zaborosh. "

"Comrade Colonel," I asked berey with a smile after he finished, "if you are allowed to direct this attack, how would you like to play?"

"Is that true?" After listening to this question, Colonel berey gave me a strange look and said to himself, "of course, concentrate all the tanks to attack quickly, and the infantry in the truck will follow. Once the tanks break through the German lines, our infantry can get out of the car to occupy the trenches and expand the breach. "

"Yes, comrade Colonel, you are very thoughtful." In order not to attack Colonel berey's mood, I followed his words and said, "this German antiaircraft artillery position has completely blocked our way forward. If you want to continue to pounce on zaborosh, you must first seize the enemy's position. "

After listening to my thoughts, bielei nodded seriously and then asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any new orders?"

"The current situation of the enemy is not clear. We know nothing about the enemy except for the anti-aircraft artillery array to the west of Kuban." Although I also want to rush to zaborosh as soon as possible, I don't want to take risks easily until I have a clear idea of the enemy's situation, so I seriously said to berey, "Comrade Colonel, we need to wait until the scouts have a clear idea of the enemy's troop deployment before we adjust the offensive department."

"Comrades commander," kaverin, who had not spoken for a long time, finally summoned up his courage and asked, "what is the task of our artillery regiment? Or is it to increase the necessary artillery support for the troops when they attack? "

Instead of answering kaverin's question, I turned the topic aside and asked, "Comrade commander, how many guns do you still have in your regiment and how about the ammunition?"

"Report to the commander." when I asked about the number of cannons and ammunition, kaverin quickly straightened up and said to me, "we still have 24 cannons left in our regiment, each with two bases." Speaking of this, he said to me with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, I don't know when the supplementary ammunition will arrive? You know, at present, this kind of shell can only provide artillery support for infantry once at most. As soon as the shells are out, we can only stand behind and watch the excitement in the next battle. An artillery regiment without big guns is not as good as an infantry battalion. "

"About the shells, I will contact the Logistics Department of the group army and ask them to transport the supplementary shells as soon as possible." After I finished these two sentences, I asked kaverin with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, if you have enough ammunition, can you eliminate this anti-aircraft artillery position that is blocking our way forward?"

Hearing my question, carvelling instinctively looked left and right, and then a proud expression appeared on his face. He confidently said to me: "Comrade commander, as long as there are enough shells, it's only a small matter to kill the anti-aircraft artillery position on the opposite side. Those 88mm anti-aircraft guns are OK to fight planes in the sky or tanks running on the ground. They are not qualified to compete with our cannons. "

Kaverin's words caused a lot of laughter, and the atmosphere in the room became relaxed. At this time, a familiar voice came from the door: "everyone is laughing happily! Tell me what's good, and I'll be happy. "

I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a commander in a military coat and a gray cylindrical leather hat at the door. In the dim light, I narrowed my eyes for a long time before I recognized that the person who came in was Mr. oberstein, the political commissar who took over kirilov's post.

Oberstein walked into the room and was stunned to see so many people there. When he recognized kirilov and I sitting at the table, he quickly stepped forward to us and raised his hand to salute us.

I raised my hand and asked with a smile, "how are you, commander oberstein. Long time no see. Where did you just come back from? "

"Report to the commander." although oberstein is now the political commissar of the division, he is still respectful in front of me: "commander Elia and I went to each regiment to learn about the political and ideological work in the army."

After listening to his reply, I nodded, pointed to an empty seat nearby, and said politely, "please sit down, comrade commander. We are meeting to discuss how to break through the German position and seize zaborosh as soon as possible. I'd like to hear if you have any good suggestions. " I just asked casually out of politeness, but after listening, oberstein immediately stood up from his seat, straightened up and said, "report to the commander, I have an idea. I don't know whether to say it or not?"“ Go ahead, comrade commander. " When I saw oberstein standing up from his seat, I remembered that although he was a political worker, he had a lot of military talent. So I encouraged him with a friendly tone and said, "tell us what you think and let us evaluate whether it is feasible." Oberstein agreed, and then began to talk about his views: "Comrade commander, I think that with the strength of the 22nd division of the guards, even if we break through the German anti-aircraft artillery position, it is very difficult to occupy zaborosh in a short period of time. It may turn into a seesaw war like Stalingrad."“ Why? " His statement immediately aroused my interest, so I couldn't help interrupting“ After continuous fighting and two divisions, the current strength of the 22nd Division has been greatly reduced. " Oberstein did not hide his point of view. He said frankly: "it's hard to capture a city like Kuban with such forces and equipment, not to mention zaborosh, a city with an important German command system. There must be a heavy German guard there. The whole division's sacrifice is a small matter, but if it affects the whole campaign, the consequences will be very serious. "