Chapter 985

The bad news reported by wittkov solidified the air in the headquarters. Everyone was silent and the room was silent. After a while, Romanov took the lead to take off the big cornice hat on his head, and bowed his head to the sacrificial commander in silence. Kirilov, wittkov and even the telegraph operators in the headquarters took off their hats one after another.

I took off my helmet and bowed my head in silence. Although I have never met general kopzov, I feel heartache for his sacrifice at the moment. Shortly after the beginning of the battle, my men lost a general commander. If they continue to fight, I don't know how much they will pay.

When the silence was over and the helmets were on again, I asked wittkov, "chief of staff, who is commanding the 15th tank army?"

After witkov looked at the telegram, he replied, "after general kopzov died, general rebalko appointed lieutenant colonel lozovsky, the military commissar of the army, to take over the command of the army."

After hearing this, I nodded and said: "although lieutenant colonel lozovsky's rank is a little lower, since general rebalko can appoint him as commander, it proves that he is qualified for this position. I hope that his performance will not disappoint us in the next battle."

The German air raid on rebarko's headquarters did not last long, but had to stop because the weather suddenly became bad. When Pugachev, who came in from outside, reported to us that there was a snowstorm outside, kirilov immediately jumped up from his seat excitedly and said to me excitedly, "Rita, it's snowstorm outside. That's good news. If the enemy's aircraft can no longer take off to fight, then our troops attacking Kiev will be able to start ahead of time. "

"Comrade political commissar, I think so too." I gave kirilov a smile, then turned to Romanov and said, "Comrade General, you can give orders to commanders at all levels to start immediately in the snow." At this point, I raised my hand, looked at my watch and set a time for him. "It's three o'clock in the afternoon. I hope that at five o'clock, the troops of the tank 22nd brigade can launch an attack on Kiev."

"No problem, comrade commander." Romanov replied cleanly, "I'll arrange it." After that, he picked up the phone on the desk, dialed the number and said in a loud voice: "Hello, the 22nd division of Jinwei? I'm Romanov. Let your commander, general bantaileiev, answer the phone

I sat next to him, listening silently to him call the three infantry divisions, as well as the military commanders of the tank brigade and artillery regiment one by one, ordering the troops to set out immediately in the snow and launch an attack on Kiev no later than 5 p.m.

Before the troops set out, Zhukov's telegram came. "The supreme command is waiting for the good news of your liberation of Kiev," he wrote briefly in the telegram

Holding this telegram with only one short sentence, I feel a lot of pressure. Although Zhukov's words are short, the meaning is very clear: the supreme command is waiting for your good news. If you can't take Kiev, you will be fully responsible for the consequences.

After reading the telegram, kirilov, wittkov and Romanov all showed the same dignified expression as me. It seems that they also understood the meaning of Zhukov's telegram.

I sat at the table and thought for a moment. Then I looked up to Vitkov and said, "chief of staff, send a telegram to general rebalko to inform him of our impending attack on Kiev. He also ordered him in my name that once the fighting started in Kiev, his troops must re-enter the attack on bruvalli, firmly contain the enemy there, and not allow them to return to Kiev to rescue. Any commander or fighter who hesitates in battle and delays the flight shall be shot on the spot. "

Kirilov opened his mouth wide in surprise when he heard my order. He was also shocked by my severe order. Seeing that wittkov was going to send a telegram, he quickly stopped the other party and cautiously reminded me, "Rita, is your order to general rebalko too strict? Will the general have any bad associations after reading the telegram? "

"Comrade political commissar, I can't care so much." As for kirilov's hesitation, I said without hesitation: "although the content of Marshal Zhukov's telegram is very brief, I think everyone knows what he means. Once we fail to capture Kiev successfully, we may all be sent to the military court." With that, he waved his hand to wittkov, who was still standing in the same place. "Chief of staff, send the news immediately."

As soon as wittkov left, I turned to Romanov and said, "Comrade General, please go and tell the commanders who are going to fight. In combat, we should not blindly fight and rush, but rely on firepower to suppress the enemy. Anyway, we have just captured a batch of ammunition. As long as we can reduce the casualties of the troops, it doesn't matter if the ammunition consumption is larger. "

"Yes, I'll tell them now." With that, Romanov went out of the headquarters to find the commanders who were going to Kiev.

"From Marshal Zhukov, do you need to send him a telegram?" When there were only two of us left at the table, kirilov asked in a low voice, "will you let him know that we are about to attack, so that he can rest assured?"

After thinking about kirilov's proposal, I finally shook my head and denied it: "no, comrade political commissar, I can't report to the higher authorities for the time being. If we report to the marshal, it is necessary for us to report in detail the time of launching the attack, the deployment of troops and the various routes of the attack. Once the intelligence is cracked by the enemy, the consequences will be very serious. Our battle to liberate Kiev has reached the most critical moment. We must not make any mistakes, otherwise all our previous achievements will be wasted. "

"What can we do now?" Kirilov continued.

With a bitter smile, I answered him, "Comrade political commissar, all we can do now is wait. I hope the snow doesn't stop too early, so our troops don't have to worry about the German air attack and can safely get outside Kiev. "

Perhaps seeing that we didn't return the call, Zhukov sent us another telegram. In the telegram, he told us that the fortifications in Kiev were solid. In addition to the fortifications built by our army before, there were also fortifications added by the German army after it was stationed, which was conducive to defending. Therefore, our attack on Kiev must be fast, otherwise our siege troops will be surrounded as soon as the German reinforcements arrive. At that time, not only Kiev will not be won, but the whole army will be destroyed.

Seeing Zhukov's second telegram, not only kirilov, but also wittkov and Romanov were worried. Seeing the anxious expression on their faces, I put the telegram on the table, looked up and asked, "the battle against Kiev is about to start. What do you think?"

"Comrade commander, after reading this telegram from the marshal, I am very worried." The first speaker was Romanov, who said anxiously: "are we too optimistic about winning Kiev? Although it was impeccable in terms of plan, our scouts did not know about the German defense in the city because of time. It's a bit too risky to attack a big city with strong fortifications like this? "

I glanced at Romanov discontentedly and said in my heart that all of you were cheering when making the plan. But now that Zhukov's telegram comes, you're in a panic. Now that you've played the retreat drum. But some words can only be thought of in mind, but can not be said, so he politely said: "Comrade General, what's your idea, let's listen to it?"

Hearing my question, Romanov cautiously replied, "I think we should send a message to the front-line commanders immediately. When they arrive at the periphery of Kiev, they should stop immediately to build fortifications. When the situation in the city is clear, they can launch an attack."

After hearing this, I did not immediately express my opinion. Instead, I turned to Vitkov and asked him, "Comrade chief of staff, what's your opinion?"

Witkov, who was frowning and pondering hard, heard my question and quickly stood up and replied, "Comrade commander, I don't think general Romanov's plan is desirable. Our original plan of seizing Kiev was originally based on sneak attacks, and then turned from sneak attacks to strong attacks when our whereabouts were exposed. If we really stop outside the city and build fortifications, then the enemy will be aware of our actions. Even if the troops in bruvalli do not withdraw, their air force bombing will cause us heavy casualties. "

"The chief of staff is right." As soon as kirilov heard what wittkov said, he immediately expressed his attitude. Then he said to Romanov, "Comrade General, your plan sounds very well considered, but it is not advisable in practice. Once the German forces are on guard and attack with our current strength, even if they pay a heavy price, they will not be able to capture the city. In my opinion, we should continue to adopt the plan of the commander, with sneak attack as the main method and strong attack as the auxiliary method. We should wait until the battle starts to see what to do next. "

Romanov heard kirilov and Vitkov's opinions were highly unified, so he did not ask for my opinions, so as not to run into a wall again, so he had no choice but to promise: "well, we'll wait for the latest news from the front line."

As soon as five o'clock arrived, Pugachev ran in from the outside. He handed a telegram to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, it's a telegram from Colonel andreushenko. He said that the battle against Kiev has begun!"

When I received the telegram, I was afraid to see any bad news, so I handed it to wittkov. I tried to pretend nothing happened and said to him, "chief of staff, look at what Colonel andreushenko's telegram says. Read it for all of us."

Witkov read the telegram at a glance, and then excitedly said to some of us: "Colonel andreushenko reported that when the tank brigade arrived at the periphery of Kiev, it immediately led the infantry of the 308th division with the battalion as a unit to carry out an interspersed attack in the city of Kiev and directly attacked the October revolution square in the pexcela District of the city center. Specific war reports will be reported at any time. "

After listening to wittkov's words, I breathed a sigh of relief, and then told him to say, "chief of staff, you should immediately send a message to general rebalko that our attack on Kiev has begun, and let him immediately attack bruvalli, so that the enemy's heavy army group must be firmly contained there."

"Yes, I'll send it immediately." Vetkov agreed and ran to the telephone to supervise the operator.

I took a look at Pugachev, who was still standing in front of me, and said to him, "major, go and send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov, saying that our attack on Kiev has officially started. We will report the specific war report to him at any time." After wittkov came back from the telephone, he specially reported to me: "Comrade commander, in addition to sending telegrams to general rebalko, I also sent telegrams to Colonel andreushenko and general bantailiev respectively, ordering their troops to fight boldly and resolutely smash all the enemy's stubborn resistance after breaking into the city. When they meet the enemy's firepower points, they will be destroyed by the artillery of the Artillery Corps, so that the enemy will not have the capital to fight our army tenaciously. "“ Yes, chief of staff. " I nodded with satisfaction at wittkov's deployment, praised him and said, "you have arranged it very well. Only by quickly and decisively destroying the enemy's firepower points can the German resistance in Kiev be destroyed in the shortest time. In this way, our chances of taking Kiev will be greatly increased. " Before long, Pugachev came in again. From the smile on his face, I know that he must bring good news. Sure enough, he reported to us that "... According to reports from the front line, our vanguard troops have approached the October Revolution square. Maybe the enemy didn't expect us to attack Kiev at all, so there were no barricades in the streets. In the face of our army's attack, the enemy could only hide behind the vehicles, large and small, which were parked on the roadside. In the face of the enemy's cross fire of rifles, submachine guns and machine guns, there is no threat to our tank forces. At first, the vehicle mounted machine guns made the enemy unable to hold up their heads. Then our tanks rushed up one by one, driving the stubborn enemy hiding behind the vehicle to pieces with tracks. When we saw our tanks rushing forward along the street, the enemy panicked. Many people rushed out of the nearby buildings and tried to destroy our tanks with cluster grenades. But how can the soldiers on the armored vehicles behind the tanks let them succeed and immediately use intensive firepower to fight these audacious enemies with blood and flesh... "