Chapter 1111

"Comrades in command, I think we have all heard what the chief of staff has just said. The commander of the front army has given orders to bombard the German army." I try to make my voice the same as usual, and try to make the teachers feel that I am just arranging routine tasks“ However, we should not expect too much from this shelling, because we are unable to grasp the specific area where the German troops gather for the time being. It is unrealistic to completely destroy the enemy through shelling. The purpose of shelling is to disrupt the enemy's attack plan, so that we can have more time to prepare for war. "

"I'll say a few words." After I finished, Danilov took over the topic and said, "although we have gained three months of deployment time in the Kursk region, we have built a large number of fortifications in the defense area, supplemented soldiers and new weapons and equipment. However, compared with the enemy with excellent equipment and rich combat experience, our army is still at a disadvantage. The shelling in the early morning of tomorrow can only delay their attack time, but cannot stop their crazy attack. Therefore, after returning to their respective units, the division commanders should immediately issue battle warnings and make all preparations for fighting, and be ready to meet the crazy attack of the German army. "

At this point, he stopped for a moment, looked at tavartkilaze and Nekrasov, and then asked, "comrades of division commander, you two divisions are deployed at the forefront of the whole group army. Once the war starts, you will be the first to bear the German attack. Are you ready

The two division commanders, who were named, looked at each other and answered firmly: "please rest assured, deputy commander. We are all ready to fight together and ready to attack the German army at any time."

"The scale of this battle may be beyond our imagination." When I heard the two division commanders' statements, I felt it necessary to say a few words, so I went on to say, "therefore, the operational policy I have given you is to fight for a long time, to defend actively, and to exchange greater victory with the least cost. In defensive operations, don't worry about the gains and losses for a while. It doesn't matter even if the German forces break through your defense lines. Just give me those defensive positions to hold them firmly. This is absolutely not allowed to be lost, because in the future counter offensive, we will rely on these defensive support points to achieve the goal of closing doors and beating dogs. "

"Two teachers and comrades." As soon as I finished, kirilov also stood up and asked with a smile, "the commander means that we must solve some problems in tactics seriously. In other words, we must find some defensible methods so that we can win more at a small price."

"In order to defend effectively, we have worked out some measures." Tavartkilaze, who has a calm character, said: "for example, in the deployment of troops, the former is light and the latter is heavy, and in weapons and equipment, the former is heavy and the latter is light; There is also the organization of appropriate troop withdrawal and counterattack to recapture the lost positions and so on. "

"General tavartkiraze, you are quite right. These measures sound very good." Kirilov took over and said, "to fight a defensive war, you can't just stick to it. We can't defend because of defense. We should take active defensive thinking, give full play to our subjective initiative, and come up with practical and effective methods to offset the German army's strength and firepower advantage. "

Kirilov is worthy of being a cadre of political work. He talks in a series of ways. The commanders here nodded their heads. Danilov whispered to me: "Comrade commander, your old partner has done a good job in his own field and his military level is not low."

Hearing Danilov's praise to kirilov, I didn't speak, just nodded with a smile. Looking at kirilov, who is still talking incessantly, I am really secretly glad that I can have such a tacit deputy, so that when commanding the battle, I will not be hindered by disagreement.

After kirilov finished speaking, I raised my hand and asked tavartkilaze to sit down. After scanning the whole room, I said, "when the division commanders go back, they should seize the time to check their own fortifications. Those substandard fortifications should be reinforced as soon as possible, otherwise they will collapse as soon as the German guns and planes blow up. How can we fight the next war? "

Considering the key point of Prokhorovka's campaign, I asked the infantry stationed there. I didn't think so at first, but later I heard that the division had won the order of Lenin, so I felt more confident. It is believed that the combat effectiveness of the troops who can get medals will not be worse. It will be sooner or later that they will be reorganized into a close guard division.

The meeting lasted for more than half an hour. I saw that I had said almost all the things that should be explained and told. It was meaningless to go on. So I announced the end of the meeting and asked the division commanders to rush back to their troops immediately and prepare for the necessary fighting and the fierce attack of the German army.

While waiting for the shelling to begin, I walked anxiously around the headquarters. Although I know the specific attack time of the German army, and I know that the German army finally became a big loser in the battle of Kursk, I was not sure before the battle really started.

It was not until one o'clock in the morning that pofsky reported to me that all the artillery had entered the designated position and were ready to fire. Although the time when the artillery was in place was several hours later than the time I set, I didn't blame povsky for this, because I knew in my heart that it was not easy for a large regiment to fight and the troops to be transferred.

I thought about it and said to povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, according to the order, we are going to bombard the enemy's area for 40 minutes. When the shelling is over, you should order the artillery regiments to quickly retreat to their original positions. While ensuring speed, there should be no chaos in the troops. Can it be done? "

Povsky's face was embarrassed by my request. Seeing his reaction, I said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade Colonel, after our shelling, the German army will certainly launch an attack. If we put the artillery in the present position, then as long as the German armored forces come to the last assault, there will be a risk of total annihilation. The scale of this battle will be very large. Without artillery, we will suffer greatly. "

Bowski's brows wrinkled when I told him so much. After a while, he tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, it will take at least two hours to withdraw the artillery from the existing position. I just don't know if the Germans will give us such a long time. "

"Don't worry, comrade colonel." I clearly remember that the German attack on the south line was launched at 6 a.m., and it took them time to break through our first line of defense. Therefore, within five or six hours, as long as the German air force did not bomb, the artillery array deployed in front of the second line of defense would be relatively safe. Although I can't tell the truth, I still want to say a few words: "I think we can get at least three hours of transfer time after our shelling. In such a long time, is it OK to move the artillery regiment back to its original position? "

When povsky heard me say this, he immediately smile on his face, and then confidently said: "Comrade commander, since we can have such a long time, there is no problem in the safe transfer of artillery." In order to enhance the persuasion, he specially stressed that "the reason why the artillery regiment spent so much time entering the position was that they had to build bunkers, so they wasted a lot of time."

"I see, comrade colonel." I was deeply afraid that he would not finish what he said, so I hastened him: "call the artillery regiment quickly, let them have a psychological preparation first, so as not to announce the withdrawal as soon as the shelling is over, which will cause unnecessary confusion."

At two o'clock sharp, vatukin called me in person. "Comrade oshanina, how are you doing there?" he asked in a smooth tone

"Comrade report commander," I answered with confidence immediately after hearing his question, "we are ready for all battles, and we will be able to give you your orders."

"Good. You did a good job." After praising me, vatukin said, "let's check our watch. It's 2:01 a.m. on July 5. Remember, at 2:20, fire on the possible German assembly area. "

"I see, comrade commander."

Put down the phone. I'll call povsky and have him check my watch. No, I don't know. A pair of them were surprised. His watch was five minutes slower than mine. After adjusting the time, he said happily, "Comrade commander, it's lucky that the time is right, otherwise we will fire five minutes later than other artillery units."

Seeing that the time of povsky's watch was not accurate, I was even more worried about the artillery regiment leaders below. I quickly told him: "Comrade Colonel, call each artillery regiment leader immediately and check the time with them. Don't delay the fight because the watch is not accurate." Povsky knew the seriousness of the matter and immediately agreed to call his subordinates.

With the last five minutes to go before the shelling began, major lophov, the chief of communications, brought in a telephone and called all the commanders of the artillery regiment and the rocket battalion in turn. When all the calls were completed, major lophov straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, all the artillery commanders are in contact."

I nodded, raised my hand and looked at the time. Seeing that there were only the last two minutes left, I asked povsky, "Comrade Colonel, time is coming. Get ready."

At my command, povsky took the microphone in lophoff's hand, stuck it to his ear, and stared at me, waiting for my order to fire.

My eyes were staring at the second hand on my watch, and I could not help holding my breath because I was nervous when I saw a little bit of it walking towards 12. Almost when the second hand and minute hand pointed to 12 at the same time, I gave the order decisively: "fire!"

At the same time, povsky, who received my order, said loudly to the microphone, "command, all artillery, fire!"

A moment later, the whole defense zone of Voronezh's front army was ablaze with thousands of guns. Besides the artillery of our group army, the artillery directly under the front army also opened fire at the same time. The sound of heavy artillery bombardment and the explosion of "Katyusha" mingled together, earth shaking and soul stirring.

The famous Kursk battle broke out!

Listening to the faint explosion outside, Danilov seemed a little absent-minded. After walking back and forth in the room, he stopped in front of me and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, can our shelling really work?"

At this time, I was sitting in my group army headquarters, but my mood was calmer than before. Seeing that Danilov was so uneasy, I laughed and comforted him: "don't worry, comrade deputy commander, the German army never thought that we would take the initiative to fire on them, and we would be beaten to ashes. Don't worry about it. "