Chapter 1192

But before I left, the phone rang in the headquarters. I picked up the earphone and heard Zhukov's voice. Without any greetings, he said frankly, "please report the fighting in tomarovka."

Listening to the sound of his reading the telegram from the receiver, I knew that he was eager to know the situation here in tomarovka, so he began to report to him calmly as usual: "Comrade marshal. At present, the German army in the 676th regiment of tomarovka has been taken down by the 71st and 51st divisions of the guards under the command of Colonel sivakov, and the head of the regiment has also been killed. The German army there has lost its unified command and is in chaos. In half an hour at most, our troops will be able to completely control the west of the city. In the east of the city, the 52nd division of the close guard of Col. Nekrasov failed to move forward from the area where so much blood had been shed due to the tenacious resistance and constant counterattack of the German army. In addition... "

"What's the direction to the south of the city?" Zhukov suddenly interrupted me and asked, "you know, the division of the 332nd infantry division of the German army is stationed there."

"The 375TH infantry division of Colonel govoruninenko is fighting in the south of the city," I replied hastily. "They were already close to the German division headquarters, but the situation there became serious because the German 19th armored division put the 73rd and 74th armored regiments into the area."

"Did you find the German tanks?" Zhukov continued.

"Yes, comrade marshal." To Zhukov's question, I immediately and unambiguously replied: "according to the report of Colonel govoronenko, they found that the German tanks were assembling and preparing to launch a counterattack."

"What measures have you taken?" Zhukov asked in a low voice.

"I ordered Colonel berey to lead two tank brigades out of the city from the west to the south, so as to attack the 19th armored division back and forth with the 375TH infantry division." After introducing the situation, I explained my intention to Zhukov: "if our tank troops can successfully detour, we can cut off the retreat of the 19th armored division and the 332nd infantry division and annihilate them all."

"That's good." After hearing this, Zhukov said thoughtfully, "the tactics of German armored divisions have deviated more and more from the original ideas of penetration and attack of group tactics. Instead of pursuing breakthrough, they are seeking encirclement. Now they have completely lost the ability to launch a group breakthrough. It's time to teach them a lesson."

Hearing Zhukov's praise, I couldn't help feeling a little complacent. As soon as he finished, I added: "marshal, I plan to go to the area of the 375TH infantry division together with the artillery commander of the group army, Colonel povsky, to guide the artillery direction outside the city, and strive to cripple the 19th armored division with strong artillery fire."

Zhukov was silent for a moment. After weighing what I said, he said, "well, Rita, I agree with your plan. Let Colonel berey lead the tank troops to attack as soon as possible. By the way, I would like to remind you that in the future, don't put hundreds of tanks in the city where the battle formation can't be launched. If the German army now holds the air supremacy of tomarovka, your tank troops will have been completely destroyed in the bombing. Do you remember? "

"Remember, comrade marshal." I blushed and answered, then asked carefully, "do you have any other instructions for us?"

"Very simple, just one sentence: destroy the enemy." Zhukov said in a flat tone, "well, report to me tomorrow. Good luck

Although there were bursts of blind sounds in the receiver, I still kept holding the earphone. At the same time, my mind kept thinking: "destroy the enemy". As for how to destroy the enemy, Zhukov didn't know a word, so I had to rely on myself to understand.

"Comrade commander, what are you thinking?" The voice of general tavartkilaze suddenly rang out in my ear.

I answered him a little flustered and said, "Oh, I'm thinking about the last sentence that marshal said."

My words aroused his curiosity and asked, "what did the marshal say?"

"He told us to destroy the enemy." After repeating this sentence, I shrugged my shoulders, put down the microphone, and then reluctantly said, "to tell you the truth, I didn't understand his real intention."

Tavartkilaze thought about it and then said to me, "Comrade commander, it's very simple. Marshal's meaning is: to destroy the enemy and destroy the opponent, whether the tactics of frontal attack or rear surprise attack are adopted, they should be decided by the front-line commander. As a high-level commander, he does not care about the process, but only about the result. "

"So it is," I suddenly realized after listening to tavartkilaze's explanation. Zhukov said this in the hope that I would use my own way to solve the enemy forces of tomarovka. As for how to fight, I has the final say. He will never interfere with my command, as long as he can complete his task.

Thinking of this, I picked up the phone and made a call to the headquarters. When I heard bzikov's voice coming out of the receiver, I immediately said to him, "chief of staff, please record my order: in addition to the 67th division of the guards, the 89th and 90th divisions of the guards on standby and the 77th division of the guards who have just completed the repair move to the northwest of Belgorod overnight."

Bezikov didn't express any objection to my sudden order. He just reminded me: "Comrade commander, if we send out three guard divisions at the same time, we may need a unified command, right? Otherwise, once a fight starts, the forces that fight separately will not be able to achieve effective cooperation. "

He doesn't say, I haven't paid attention to this problem. As soon as he reminded me, I immediately remembered that the commander of the 71st division of Jinwei was sivakov, or the commander of the 22nd army of Jinwei. But at the moment, his troops are entering a crucial stage. If he is taken down to Belgorod to command the other three divisions, the two troops in the west of the city may be in unnecessary chaos due to the adjustment of their commanders. So after thinking for a while, I said to the microphone, "Comrade chief of staff, please give the phone to Comrade deputy commander. I have something to say to him."

"Comrade commander." Danilov, who spoke to me, said, "if I guess correctly, are you going to let me command these three guards?"

"Yes, comrade deputy commander." Since Danilov had guessed my intention, I would not beat around the bush with him and simply said, "bezikov has no experience in commanding a large regiment. Let him command three divisions at once. He is not qualified for this job. So after much consideration, I think you are the best person to command the army. I don't know what you mean. Are you willing to accept my appointment? "

Danilov did not answer me immediately, but tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, half of our army is not attacking tomarovka. How can they think of attacking bergerode at the same time? We should know that such a division of forces is a big taboo for military strategists in tackling difficult battles. "

After organizing some words in my mind, I said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, judging from the current situation, our army will be able to seize tomarovka tomorrow morning at first. Next, the main force of our group army will take part in the offensive operations of bergorod and Kharkov. Therefore, it is not a bad thing to place our troops at the starting point of the offensive ahead of time. "

My words surprised Danilov: "why, comrade commander, have you received a new attack order from the superior?"

"Yes, comrade deputy commander." I went on in my own way of thinking: "long before the counterattack in southern Kursk began, the order our group army received was to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov. So far, the order has not been cancelled, so we should be ready to attack at any time

"But with the strength of our group army, can we capture these two cities?" Danilov asked anxiously, "have you considered the consequences you would have to bear if the attack failed?"

"Don't worry, comrade deputy commander." I said to him with a smile: "this attack is not only participated by our group army, but also by general konev's Grassland front army. You have to understand that under the attack of such a powerful force of our army, the garrison in the city can't hold on at all. "

My words finally made a big stone fall from Danilov's heart, so he said frankly: "in that case, comrade commander, I agree to take over the command of the three divisions. I assure you that our troops will be the first to rush into Belgorod. "

After I finished talking to Danilov, I called govorunanko again. On the phone, I ordered him: "Comrade Colonel, don't be busy attacking for the time being. First, gather up the troops and build a solid defense line to prevent the German armored forces from attacking. Remember to lay mines and barbed wire to make it easier for enemy infantry to rush up. "

"I see, comrade commander." Govoronenko sighed on the phone, then said: "although most of our positions are within the range of German machine gun fire and mortar attack, it is necessary to lay minefields, and should be as close as possible to the German positions, we have no choice..."

"All right, comrade colonel." I heard him start to nag again. I interrupted him immediately. "Now that the task is clear, what are you delaying? The Germans are preparing for a counterattack in front of you. Gather up the troops immediately. Move quickly! Whether we can successfully annihilate the 19th German armored division depends entirely on the performance of your division. Do you understand? "

"Yes, comrade commander." Govorunanko replied excitedly, "please allow me to assign tasks to the commanders below immediately."

When I finished the call, I saw povsky walking into the temporary headquarters with several people. Except for two officers who looked like staff officers, the rest of them were ordinary signalmen with all kinds of communication equipment. I pointed to the officers and men and asked povsky curiously, "Comrade Colonel, what do they do?"

After listening to my question, povsky said in surprise: "Comrade commander, didn't you say you want to go to the south of the city? These two officers are artillery observers and these signalmen. They will come with us and set up artillery observation points there to provide firing parameters for the artillery outside the city and guide our artillery to destroy the enemy. "

Finding out that the person who appeared with povsky was actually an artillery observer, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said to povsky, "Comrade Colonel, since you are ready, let's go. When it's dark, it's hard to go

As soon as I walked out of the headquarters, basmanov brought several soldiers to meet me and reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have assembled the guard company. I can start at any time. Please give me instructions!" When I turned to look at the soldiers of the guard company assembled in front of the ruins, povsky on one side might be afraid that I would try to show off my ability, and he would go to the front with ease, and quickly persuaded me: "Comrade commander, it's about four kilometers from the temporary headquarters to the headquarters of Col. govorunanko. Although the German army in this area has been basically eliminated by our army, it is inevitable that there are still some fish in the net. In order to prevent possible attacks, I suggest that the guards should be attached In fact, even if pofsky doesn't say anything, I plan to take the guard company with me. In addition to protecting my safety on the road, I can still use it as an ordinary infantry company at the critical moment after I get to the defense area of the 375TH infantry division. Now that he had brought up the matter first, I said, "well, since that's the case, I'll take the guard with me." When our small unit was marching towards the south of the city along the street full of bricks and stones, povsky, who was walking side by side with me, suddenly asked, "Comrade commander, when I heard you call, I asked the chief of staff to transfer troops to take part in the attack on Belgorod. Do you need the artillery of the regiment to provide artillery cover for them?"“ No need, comrade colonel. " Without hesitation, I gave him a negative answer: "the main forces attacking Belgorod are general konev's Grassland front army and general shumilov's close guard seventh army. They have more than enough artillery."“ Comrade commander, I don't understand. Why don't we launch the attack on bergorod before we have captured tomarovka? " Povsky asked me a little puzzled: "is it not faster to defeat the enemy by concentrating on superior forces?" As for his doubts, I patiently explained, "Comrade Colonel, the German line of defense at tomarovka is not just the city where we are now. Even if we occupy this city, we are only wedging a nail in the enemy's line of defense. It will take us a long time to wipe them out completely. "