When we got to the south of the city, the troops of govorunanko had just repulsed a wave of German attack. Standing in the humble observation station, you can see the burning tanks and the scattered corpses on the small square with naked eyes.
Govorunanko's observation post, still in accordance with the tradition of the Soviet army, was only three or four hundred meters away from the front line. I looked at the building opposite the square with six tall stone pillars and asked the nearby govorunanko curiously, "Comrade Colonel, where is that?"
"It's the theater of the workers' Cultural Palace." Govoronenko pointed to the building and said to me, "the headquarters of the 73rd German Armored Regiment are there. We launched two charges against the enemy and were defeated by the Germans. After receiving your order, I contracted my forces. As soon as I finished the defense, the German army launched a counterattack against us. But fortunately, we had been prepared early, otherwise our troops would have been defeated by the German attack. "
I looked around at the messenger who was setting up a telephone line next to me, and then asked povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, if we hit the enemy opposite with rockets, will we hurt our own people by mistake?"
Povsky may have been waiting for me to ask this question for a long time. As soon as I finished, he nodded his head and said, "if the close guard rocket battalion volleys at the theater, plus errors and other factors, our deployment in the most advanced position may be affected." At this point, he turned his face and asked govorunanko, "Comrade division commander, can we make the most forward troops retreat 100 meters?"
After listening to povsky's question, govorunanko gave me a guilty look and carefully replied, "Comrade artillery commander, this may not work. If the enemy on the other side finds that our troops are retreating, he may take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and then the troops may fall into chaos. "
As soon as povsky heard this, he was worried and couldn't help raising his voice: "Sir, if the soldiers stay in the trenches during the shelling, even if they are not killed by flying, they will be killed by the huge blast wave alive."
Govorunanko's face showed an expression of embarrassment, which made the soldiers withdraw from the existing occupied positions. He obviously did not agree; But if he wanted to let his soldiers stay in the trenches and be killed by the blast wave, he couldn't bear it. When he was in a dilemma, he could only turn to me for help, hoping that I could come up with a good way.
Seeing their embarrassment, I couldn't help laughing to myself. When povsky also focused on me, I said slowly, "comrades of two colonels, in fact, the solution to this matter is very simple. It's just to extend the impact point of the shell one hundred meters forward. In this way, there is no need for the troops to withdraw from the existing positions and they are not afraid of being injured by mistake. "
"Yes, I didn't think of this way." After listening to me, govorunanko patted the wall excitedly and said: "the troops will stay in the existing position. As soon as the shelling is over, they can launch a sudden attack and seize the enemy's position at one stroke while the Germans are not awake from the shelling."
But povsky was obviously not so optimistic. He frowned and said, "Comrade commander, is this appropriate? You know, if the shooting distance is extended, then the artillery effect we have will be affected. "
When I heard bofsky's worry, I couldn't laugh or cry. I secretly scolded laomaozi for being rigid in his work. If anything changed a little, they would become uneasy because it was different from their original cognition. I sighed a little, and then said to him, "don't worry, Colonel povsky, the salvo of the rocket battalion can destroy not only the theater occupied by the German army, but also the German tanks parked in the parking lot in the back."
"Oh, there are German tanks behind the theatre?" After hearing this, povsky asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, how do you know that it was Mr. govoruninenko who told you?"
I pointed to the burning tanks in the square and said, "Comrade division commander didn't tell me anything. I inferred from the destroyed tanks."
"Comrade commander is right. These tanks are coming around the back of the theater." Govoronenko added in time: "and they came out of the gate of the theatre."
"I see." Povsky nodded and said, "I'm going to arrange a salvo of rocket barracks." With that, he went to the busy artillery observer next to him and explained something to them in a low voice.
I asked govorunanko, who was standing next to me, sideways, "Colonel, how many people can you send if you want to charge after the shelling?"
Govorunanko frowned and thought about it. He replied, "there are about 400 people who can use it, and some of them are light wounded."
"It's only 400 people, too few." I thought he could draw a thousand soldiers out of his hand, but I didn't expect that the soldiers who could take part in the attack were half of what I expected. Even if the 73rd and 74th armored regiments of the German army suffered heavy losses in the early fighting, they could not cope with more than 400 of them.
In order to increase the success rate of the attack, I called tavart killaze who stayed in the headquarters in the north of the city. Hearing his voice, I immediately said, "Comrade General, I intend to launch an attack in the south of the city, but the 375TH infantry division is limited. You should immediately transfer your 51st guard division to support."
"All right, comrade commander." On hearing my order, tavartkilaze readily agreed: "I immediately sent lieutenant colonel Lukin's 309 regiment over. Their regiment lost at least 2000 people in today's battle."
"Great, general tavartkiraze." When I heard that Lu Jin would bring two thousand fresh troops to support me, I felt a lot more at ease. With so many troops, even if we fight a seesaw war with the German army, we will not lose“ When they come, they should bring more anti tank weapons, otherwise they will not be able to attack Fu's tanks. "
After I put down the phone, I said to govorunanko, "Comrade Colonel, let your offensive troops be ready to launch an attack as soon as the coverage of the rocket battalion is over."
"Yes Govorunanko agreed and began to call his men to arrange for them to attack the enemy occupied area after the shelling.
A few minutes later, the close guard rocket battalion outside the city started shooting. Rockets with long tails swept over our heads and plunged into the German position. Then came the earth shaking explosion. In the deafening successive explosions, smoke and fire soared into the air, turning the area near the landing point into a sea of fire. The houses near the theater were constantly collapsing in the explosion, and the German officers and soldiers who were hiding in them were estimated to be worried about their lives.
After two rounds of volley, the smoke and dust shrouded in the square has not yet dispersed, and the uncomfortable high temperature is still in the air. But without waiting for me to wipe the cold sweat on my head, a tsunami like "Wula" erupted in front of me. Hundreds of commanders and fighters jumped out of the fortification and rushed forward with weapons.
Seeing the troops rush up, govorunanko smiles on his face and says to me, "you know, commander, the Germans have actually done a great thing."
"What's good?" Govoronenko's words confused me, so I asked unexpectedly, "what good can the German army do in our country?"
"If they don't move the residents of the city ahead of time, we will be tied up in a fight." Govorunanko looked ahead and said, "it's a great thing they've done."
If there are residents in the city, the German army will certainly not worry about their casualties, but we should try our best to avoid accidental injuries. In this way, the combat effectiveness of the army will not be brought into full play. It is a good thing that they removed all the residents before the war.
At a distance of two or three hundred meters, our soldiers rushed over, and then searched the ruins of the theater with only a few stone pillars and half a wall left to search for the defeated German soldiers. I looked for a while and found that there were only sporadic exchanges of fire in other places. It seems that the power of the Rockets is really extraordinary. Two rounds of Volley almost wiped out the German army here.
Seeing this, I put down my telescope and said to govoronenko, "Comrade Colonel, order the troops to build fortifications in the existing areas to prevent possible German counter attacks. When the reinforcements of the friendly forces arrive, they will continue to push forward. "
After a loud promise, govorunanko called a correspondent to convey my order to the commanders on the front line, so that they would not rush to attack, but to stabilize the defense line first.
In the process of waiting for Colonel berey, who was circuiting to the German rear, and the Lukin regiment, who was reinforcing the govorunanko division, the troops who occupied the ruins of the theatre sent back a signalman to report the latest information to us. According to the confession of a German major before his death, the 19th armored division only sent 15 tanks to the city to support the 332nd division because of the narrow space in the city, which is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops. There are about 30 tanks outside the city
After govoruninenko sent away the signalmen, he asked me with a worried face: "Comrade commander, the Germans still have more than 30 tanks, but we don't have any effective anti tank weapons. It may not be easy to eliminate them."
"Don't worry, comrade colonel." In order to reassure him, I had to comfort him again, saying: "the infantry regiment brought by lieutenant colonel Lukin will carry a lot of anti tank weapons. Whether we are attacking or defending, German tanks will not get any advantage in front of us any more. As for the tanks outside the city, you don't have to worry about them. The two tank brigades under the command of Colonel berey have made a detour from the west of the city to the south of the city. As long as the German tanks meet them, the whole army will be destroyed. "
Just then, an officer came in and said, "Comrade commander, the friendly troops of the 51st division of the guards are here. Their commander is outside. Would you like to meet him?"
"Invite him in." I ordered briefly.
Soon, Lu Jin went into the observation post, raised his hand to salute me, and reported: "Comrade commander, the 309th infantry regiment has been ordered to come and wait for your order, please give me instructions!"
"You're just in time, comrade commander." Although it's getting dark now, the ruins of the theater in the distance are full of fire, so we can clearly see the situation there. I pointed to the front and said to Lukin, "immediately lead your troops there to take over the defense. After an hour's rest, attack the German army overnight."
After listening to my command, Lukin did not speak, but nodded silently to show that he understood what I meant.
As I was about to send him away, I suddenly thought of another thing and asked, "Comrade commander, how are you going to distinguish ourselves from the enemy in the night?"
"I'm going to have every commander tie a white towel to his left arm." Lu Jin confidently said to me, "in this way, even in the dark, we can distinguish between the enemy and ourselves."
It seems like one thing to say that we can distinguish ourselves from the enemy in the dark by tying a white towel on our arms, but in practice, it is another thing. When you fight in the dark battlefield, you have no way or time to carefully identify the enemy and ourselves a few steps away through the heavy darkness. All can only rely on hearing or the experience of years of fighting to determine whether the shaking figures slightly away from themselves are enemies or friends.
Although I know that this method is unreliable, it is undoubtedly the most effective one in the current situation. I can only sigh, and then told Lu Jin: "well, comrade commander, since you know how to distinguish between the enemy and ourselves in the night battle, go and fight bravely. By the way, when you assault outside the city, you may encounter our tank troops. We should send someone to contact us in time, or we will fight with each other. That will be a big joke. "
"I see, comrade commander." After Lu Jin said this, he straightened up and asked in accordance with the regulations: "am I allowed to leave?"
"Go, comrade commander." I waved to him and said, "good luck!"
I saw Lukin leading his troops into the ruins of the theatre in groups, resting for about half an hour, and then attacking the German occupied buildings along the streets. Although the light was too dim to see the specific fighting situation clearly, I could also guess that Lukin must have used my method of playing, and made small troops to assault along the street, then entered the building and started a battle with the German army floor by floor and room by room.
Hearing the lively fighting ahead, govorunanko squatting beside the telephone suddenly called me: "Comrade commander, Colonel berey wants to talk to you."
As soon as I heard berey's name, I guessed that his troops might have strayed back. From govorunanko's hands, he heard the sound of guns coming from the earphone and the transmitter. It seemed that he was fighting. He asked in a hurry, "Comrade Colonel, where are your troops?"
"Report to the commander that we have reached the south of the city." "We are at war with the tanks of the 19th Panzer Division..." belay reported loudly
Because the noise from the earphone was too loud, I didn't hear what was said behind bielei, so I asked anxiously, "how is the battle going? Have any German tanks been destroyed by us?"
"Yes, comrade commander." Colonel berey's voice suddenly became clear again. "Our avant-garde battalion encountered German tanks, and there was a battle. In the battle, we had nine t-34s destroyed and four German Tiger tanks destroyed by us. Now the remaining 20 German tanks have fallen into the siege of our army. I believe we will be able to solve the battle in a short time. "
Hearing the 9-4 battle damage ratio, I felt sad, but thinking that our tanks were several times more than those of the German army, my heart became steadfast again. I calmly ordered: "since we are surrounded, then kill them all. Don't let any of them run away! Do you understand? "
"I see, comrade commander." "We will never let go of a German tank," belay promised in a loud voice
Although bere said that the battle would be solved soon, the battle lasted for several hours. Every time I contacted him, he told me briefly that the fighting was still going on, one was fighting with German tanks, the other was fighting with German infantry.
At five o'clock in the morning, Lu Jin sent someone to report to me that his troops had occupied all the buildings on both sides of the South Street of the city and were organizing troops to search for those who had missed the net. As soon as his report was over, berey finally took the initiative to contact me again. On the phone, he reported to me wearily: "Comrade commander, I have the honor to report to you that except for one tank and several motorcycles, the rest of the German officers and soldiers of the 19th armored division were either killed or captured by us. More importantly, we captured the flag of the 19th armored division in the division headquarters of the armored division. "
Captured the flag?! When I heard this news, I was stunned at first, and then I was overjoyed, because an army was destroyed and might be rebuilt. Once the flag is captured, they will have to withdraw from the system. After I calmed down a little, I ordered bielei: "Comrade Colonel, immediately send someone to send the flag to the division headquarters of the 375TH infantry division in the south of the city. I'll wait for you here!"
I put down my earphone and transmitter, patted govoronenko on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Comrade Colonel, do you know? In the battle just ended, Colonel berey's tank troops successfully captured the flag of the 19th armored division of the German army. This is a great achievement
"What, captured the German flag?" When govoruninenko heard this news, he was stunned for a moment, as I just did, and then excited. He said excitedly, "Comrade commander, this is a great achievement. We should report it to the headquarters of the front army immediately and let them inform the whole army of this news, so as to boost the morale of our army."