Chapter 984

At eight o'clock the next morning, the troops under the command of general rebalko launched an attack on bruvalli on time.

At the beginning of the battle, the fighting progressed smoothly. Before nine o'clock, the troops attacking from both directions broke through the German positions outside the city of bruvalli one after another, rushed into the city from several open gaps, and started a street fight with the enemy.

First of all, vetkov, who got the battle report, was very excited. He raised his telegram and said to me: "Comrade commander, although bruvalli's German army has been strengthened by the Kiev garrison, it is difficult for them to form an effective defense under the attack of general rebalko's powerful armored forces. You see, less than an hour after the battle, we broke through the enemy's fortified peripheral positions one after another. If we continue to fight like this, we may be able to capture bruvalli at noon. "

Influenced by wittkov's mood, Romanov and kirilov are also excited. They even studied on the map which road general rebalko would take to get directly under Kiev after he captured bruvalli.

For the three of them because of the victory of the good news, the reaction shown, I just returned with a faint smile. I know in my heart that although our army has the advantage on the battlefield at present, the German army will not be willing to fail. They will certainly fight back madly next. Apart from other things, the air supremacy of the battlefield is not on our side, which is a headache for me. Even if our armored forces are doubled, as long as the German planes are out, they will only be the targets of bombing.

After ten o'clock, after the friendly forces occupied the East and south of the city, with the resistance of the German forces compressed into a piece becoming more and more tenacious, the speed of their advance to the city gradually slowed down, and some areas even fell into repeated competition, and the war became more and more fierce.

Witkov was upset when he saw the telegram from general rebalko. He walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back, and his mouth was still murmuring: "hell, hell. It's just street fighting. Our troops are several times more than the enemy's. even if we change a few for another, we have already captured the city. "

"Chief of staff," a telegraph operator stood up from his seat and called to Vitkov, who was not far from him, "a new telegram has arrived."

"Is there any bad news?" Vetkov went to receive the telegram and came to me muttering. When he came to me, he just finished reading the telegram, and then said with a heavy face: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. The enemy sent out the air force to bombard the assembly points of our offensive forces. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, general rebalko intends to order the troops to suspend the attack, evacuate and hide on the spot, and prepare for air defense. "

"Damn the Krauts." Romanov, sitting next to him, could not help but scold angrily when he heard this hour.

After I looked at Romanov, I told wittkov: "call general rebalko back, agree to his request, let the troops stop attacking temporarily, and cover up air defense on the spot. After the enemy's plane flies away, it will continue to rush into the city. Besides, the situation on the battlefield is changing so fast that he doesn't have to ask for instructions on everything. Let him decide what he can do. "

Although vetkov was not happy, he did as I told him to send a telegram to rebarko.

As soon as our attack stopped, the German forces in the city of bruvalli, under the cover of the air force, counterattacked the positions occupied by our forces. Although our officers and men were fighting tenaciously, some of the positions they had just occupied were lost one after another because of the enemy's air superiority.

Witkov was a little crazy when he saw one telegram after another with bad news. He said to me in a hoarse voice, "Comrade commander, the situation is getting worse and worse for us. If we only defend and do not fight back, all the positions captured this morning will be taken back by the German army at the latest when it gets dark. "

"Fight back? Chief of staff, tell me how to fight back? " I saw that wittkov was a little feverish, so I threw a basin of cold water on him impolitely, "let our commanders and fighters, in the face of the fierce bombardment of the enemy planes and the intensive gunfire of the German army in the city, carry weapons and sing songs to charge? Do you think that, no matter how brave the commanders and fighters are, their flesh and blood can block the enemy's bullets and shrapnel? "

Wittcrofton was silent when I said that. The next Romanov opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something, but kirilov pulled his sleeve hard and closed his mouth obediently.

I saw that all the people were silent, and then said, "although general rebalko and they have suffered setbacks for a while, our forces are stronger than those of the Germans after all. Even if we are fighting for consumption, we can still afford it. Even if the positions captured in the morning are lost, it doesn't matter. Anyway, as long as general rebalko's forces can keep the main force of the German army on the left bank of the Dnieper River, the pressure on us to seize Kiev will be greatly reduced. "

As soon as I finished, vetkov raised his head again, and his lost confidence was restored. He straightened up and said to me, "Comrade commander, I understand. Kiev is our main target. Whether we win or lose the battles in other areas, we can contain the enemy and cooperate with our actions to capture Kiev. "

As for wittkov's understanding ability, I nodded with satisfaction and said: "as a senior commander, we should keep a good attitude, so that when commanding a large army, we will not have a series of wrong instructions issued due to the impulse of the moment, which will lead to the defeat in the final battle. Well, you can continue to be responsible for the intelligence from general rebalko. I'll consider the plan of attacking Kiev in the evening and see if there are any details that need to be improved. " After witkov left, I gazed at the map in front of me, carefully thought about every step of the attack plan, and carefully thought about whether there was any need to adjust. After a long time, I raised my head and said to Romanov, "Comrade General, please inform your men that the troops will leave at seven o'clock this evening. The first tank brigade to launch an attack must reach the offensive position before eight o'clock. " After I finished, Romanov asked again, "it's about 50 kilometers from here to Kiev. If the infantry walk, they may arrive in the early morning. Is there any problem with the tank brigade fighting alone?"“ Don't we still have hundreds of trucks? " I saw that he had the idea to let the infantry walk. He reminded him immediately, "don't forget, our commanders and fighters who participated in the attack tonight are all wearing German uniforms. They can walk to Kiev in trucks. Even if we meet the enemy on the road, as long as we go to reinforce Kiev, it will not cause doubt. " Pugachev, who was in the telecommunication room next door, suddenly ran in from the outside. As soon as he came in, he exclaimed excitedly, "good news, comrade commander, good news!" When we heard the good news, everyone's frowns stretched out. I asked Pugachev with a smile: "Hello, comrade major, I don't know what kind of good news you have brought us all?" Pugachev straightened himself up in front of me and replied, "I just received a call from major akhromeyev. He said that the vanguard of the 79th division of the close guard infantry had successfully arrived at kaniv and joined their regiment."“ Have you joined up? " On hearing this news, kirilov was the first to react. He said to me excitedly, "Rita, in this way, we will no longer be alone behind enemy lines. At least there are channels that can be connected with the main defensive areas of our army. " I nodded to him with a smile, then turned back and asked Pugachev, "what else did major ahlomeyev say?" Pugachev nodded slightly and replied, "yes, major akhromeyev asked me to ask you if we can send away the 2000 wounded in kaniv through this newly opened channel." Although at the beginning I was prepared to give up the severely wounded who were difficult to move when I had to, I couldn't bear it in the end and finally transferred them all to kaniv. As a result, thousands of our wounded soldiers were suddenly added to the small city, of which 2000 were the most seriously injured. What akhromeyev proposed is to transfer these seriously wounded to the rear of our army through the newly opened channel. Of course, I had no reason to object to his proposal, so I nodded hastily and told Pugachev: "Comrade major, please tell major akhromeyev that besides the wounded, all citizens who are willing to leave can also be sent to the rear of our army through this newly opened channel." Some of us couldn't close our mouths because of the good news, but new bad news came. Wittkov received the new telegram from the operator. After looking at it for a few minutes, he suddenly changed his face. Then he reported to me in a panic: "Comrade commander, something's wrong!"“ What's the matter? " When I heard him say this, my heart hung in the air and asked, "is it the telegram from general rebalko?"“ Yes After answering my question in the affirmative, he went on to say, "general rebalko reported that the enemy planes had bombed the headquarters of the 15th tank army in Borispol. During half an hour's bombing by enemy planes, a bomb directly hit the headquarters of the tank army, in which the staff officers suffered heavy casualties. Major general kopzov, commander of the army, unfortunately died! "