Chapter 1151

It took akhromeyev three hours to return to the tent. After saluting me with a tired face, he reported: "Comrade commander, I have been ordered to collect a batch of communication equipment from the 71st and 77th divisions of Jinwei. As the headquarters' signalmen were either dead or wounded in the bombing just now, I also borrowed a communication platoon from Colonel sivakov of the 71st division of the guards. "

"Well done, comrade major." When he said this, lophov, the communications director, who had just found here a few minutes ago and whose head and hands were covered with bandages, said excitedly, "in this way, we can get back in touch with the headquarters of the front army and the front forces."

"We've been out of touch with the outside world for several hours. We don't know what's going on outside." Danilov couldn't wait to say, "Comrade major, it's not too late to tell the messenger to set up the radio station. We need to get in touch with the outside world as soon as possible."

Akhromeyev and lophov promised to go out of the tent. But I stopped, I told them: "first of all, you should restore the telephone line to the headquarters of the front army, so that you can get in touch with the superior as soon as possible."

On hearing my order, lophoff grinned and said, "don't worry, comrade commander. Although the communication room was destroyed, before I came here, I had arranged for people to check several main communication lines, so that normal communication can be restored at any time."

I heard lophoff say that, with a smile on my face, and went up to give him a kick. Seeing his blank expression on his face, I scolded angrily: "since we have checked the communication line, why don't we recover immediately, causing us to wait here for three hours?"

Lophov, who got my foot, said wrongly: "Comrade commander, I only arrived a few minutes earlier than major ahlomeyev. Before that, I had no idea where the headquarters was. Even if I wanted to set up a new telephone line, I didn't know where to go."

Although I know I have wronged lophov, this is not the time to apologize. It's the key to restore the contact with the outside world as soon as possible, so I urged him: "OK, major, don't bother, go and set up the telephone line for me."

In my roar, akhromeyev and the two of them left the tent in a panic. Less than five minutes later, a young and well-dressed Lieutenant walked into the tent with a telephone in his left hand and a bundle of telephone wires in his right.

"Comrade lieutenant," I said, pointing to the table in the middle of the tent, "put the phone here."

"Yes, comrade commander!" The lieutenant agreed to put the phone on the wooden table, and then began to debug it. When he finished the test, he straightened up and told me, "it's ready to use."

Perhaps to prove that his words were correct, the newly installed telephone rang. The lieutenant immediately grabbed the microphone. After listening for a moment, he handed it to me and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, it's from the headquarters of the front army."

"Hello, I'm o'shanina. Who are you, please?" I put the microphone to my ear and asked aloud.

"I'm vatukin." There was a stern voice from the receiver: "I ask you, why can't you get through? Well, what's going on? "

"Yes, Comrade General." I knew for a long time in my heart that if we didn't contact our superiors for several hours like this, we would certainly make vatukin angry. But there was no way. Who told us that our communication system was destroyed in the German bombing. At the moment, we can only report what happened to him truthfully. "A few hours ago, the city where the group army headquarters is located was heavily bombed by the German army, and our communication room was lost in the bombing, so the contact with the outside world was completely interrupted. Now we have got a batch of communication equipment from the 71st and 77th divisions of the guards, and we have barely recovered our contact with the outside world. "

After listening to my explanation, vatujing's anger subsided, and he asked with concern, "are the casualties of the troops large?"

"The casualties are not small." At the thought of the statistical results of casualties, my heart was bleeding: "the guard regiment lost one company, the communication company lost most of its lives, and the group army directly under the unit also lost more than 300 people."

"Comrade oshanina, I am deeply saddened by your casualties in the bombing." "But this is not the time to be sad. If you want to ensure that there is no chaos in the army's command system, you must improve the responsibilities of all departments in the headquarters..." said watujing solemnly

"Comrade commander, I understand." Before he finished, I said.

"You don't understand." Unexpectedly, watujing suddenly raised his voice and said, "I've been to your group army. Many departments have only one empty shelf. Except for the department leaders, there are no staff below. How can such a department play its due role in your command of the battle? "

"Comrade commander, I don't understand what you mean." I was confused by watujing's words. Although I knew that if I asked him, I might be scolded, but I still insisted: "I don't know how to improve the subordinate organizations?"

"Operation Department, the first thing you need to improve is operation Department." To my layman, watujing explained patiently: "all senior commanders know that the combat department is the Department that concentrates and studies information about our army's situation, enemy's situation and the whole combat situation. Its function is to prepare the information the commander needs to make plans based on the information. After the commander has worked out the plan, it is necessary for the combat department to convey it to all units in the form of combat orders, and supervise their execution of orders. As the role of the operations division is particularly important, I suggest that you, your chief of operations, should also serve as the deputy chief of staff of the group army. Do you understand? "

"I see, comrade commander." After his popularization of science, I felt that the power I gave akhromeyev was too small, so that he became a handyman in the headquarters, making him unable to give full play to his talents“ Major akhromeyev, the chief of operations, used to be the chief of staff of the division. He is a commander with rich staff experience. I think he is fully qualified for the post after the reorganization. "

"Very good. I hope you can have a better performance on the battlefield with this fully functional combat office." With a smile, he hung up.

"What did the general say on the phone, Rita?" As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov asked curiously.

"The senior general said that our combat department should be further improved so as to provide us with more favorable help in commanding our operations in the future." With these words, I glanced at all the people in the tent, then looked at Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, among the commanders present, you are the only one who has been a senior commander for a long time and knows all kinds of army functions in the headquarters very well. Now I'll give you full responsibility for strengthening the operations division. Are you ok? "

Danilov shook his head and replied, "don't worry, comrade commander. I'll rearrange the staff to strengthen the combat Department later. At present, there is only major akhromeyev in the whole combat department. I plan to accompany him with 12 staff officers, including the assistant of the director and the main assistant. This can effectively improve work efficiency. "

When I heard Danilov say that, although I had a smile on my face, my heart was itching with hatred. Danilov, the deputy commander, is not authentic. In the whole headquarters of the group army, you are the oldest and know the situation of all departments best. However, after I took over the post of commander, I never reminded me that I should improve the intelligence of all departments in the headquarters. As a result, like a division commander, I only gave orders to the following directors. I didn't even consider that they were almost naked commanders. As a result, they were exhausted.

When akhromeyev came into the tent with a stack of telegrams, I immediately announced to him the appointment of deputy chief of staff of the group army and the decision to transfer staff to strengthen the combat department. However, he was very calm. After handing me the telegram, he said solemnly, "Comrade commander, I have just received telegrams from the 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards."

"How's it going?" I received the telegram, but I didn't read it immediately. Instead, I asked akhromeyev habitually, because he would usually summarize the contents and report to me, "did the defenders of the divisions fight with each other during this period?"

"After dark, the 51st division sent a battalion of the 309th regiment to attack a German logistics camp and successfully seized a batch of materials All the materials that cannot be transported back have been burnt down. " Although akhromeyev had given me all the telegrams, he still explained the situation of the divisions to me in great detail. "The defenders of the 5th position of the 52nd division of the guards, when the German army was defeated in the attack and retreated, resolutely launched a counterattack. Under the cover of tanks, they rushed to the attack assembly site of the German army and destroyed one of their camps. At present, the troops that have achieved success have returned to their positions. "

"Where's Colonel chejerikov?" Because I had ordered shejerikov to lead the 67th division of the guards after dark to counterattack the German troops who had lost the cover of planes, tanks and artillery. I wanted to hear if they had any effect in that direction“ Has their counterattack begun? "

"Two telegrams from lieutenant colonel chejerikov." When akhromeyev heard my question, he immediately replied: "in the first telegram, he said that he used one regiment to launch a sneak attack on the German occupied area, and sent another regiment to detour from the right wing of the German army."

"And the second telegram?" Berzikov asked eagerly, apparently wanting to test as soon as possible whether akhromeyev was suitable for his position as deputy“ What did Lt. Col. chejerikov say? "

"When the offensive troops approached the German forward position, some officers and men accidentally stepped on the mines laid by the enemy and exposed the target, so the sneak attack turned into a strong attack." Akhromeyev said without expression: "because there is no artillery support, the battle from the beginning into a stalemate."

"What about the regiment that detours from the right wing?" When I heard that the troops engaged in the frontal attack were in a bitter battle, I couldn't help asking another regiment sent by chejerikov, "did they attack from the flank of the German army in time?"

Akhromeyev shook his head and said, "it may be too dark. The regiment marching in the forest lost its way. Up to now, lieutenant commander xijerikov has not contacted them."“ Well, I see. " With a long sigh, I waved my hand to akhromeyev and said, "major, go down first, and report back to me when the latest battle report comes." Akhromeyev promised to go out. But he was stopped by Danilov: "major, please wait a moment. I'll go with you and provide you with the necessary manpower for the combat office." With that, he went over, put his hand on akhromeyev's shoulder, took him and went out. Because the map we used had been burned down in the bombing, what we had on the table at the moment was only a small marching map. The situation of the enemy and ourselves was not as clear as a big map. However, bezikov quickly found the seat of the 67th division of the guards. He nodded with his hand and said, "Comrade commander, you see, this is a vast primeval forest. The troops marching in it may have no reference, so they get lost in the forest. If they continue to force the army, they may be further and further away from the right target. Should we send a telegram to shijerikov and ask him to find a way to contact the troops in the forest, so that they can stop for a while and move on after daybreak? " Kirilov and I put our heads together in front of the map for a long time, then expressed our opinions and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I think maybe it's not a bad thing to let the troops continue to March. We need to know where they are going. There is a fierce battle going on. As long as we move towards the place where the gunfire is most intense, we can definitely get out of the forest. " After listening to kirilov's proposal, bzikov immediately asked for my opinion: "Comrade commander, I want to know what your opinion is. Let the troops stand by; Or, as the military commissar said, let them move on? "“ Move on Without thinking, I said, "Lt. Col. chejerikov is also an experienced commander. I believe he knows what to do even if we don't give any orders. Well, let's put the matter of the 67th division aside for the time being. Let's study other defense directions. "