Chapter 1196

After about half an hour, basmanov, whose face was blackened by smoke, walked into the headquarters with an assault rifle in his hand. After raising his hand to salute both of us, he reported: "two comrades, we have wiped out all the German troops who attacked us and captured five prisoners." When he said this, he stopped for a moment, looked at me and asked, "do you need to send them here for your own interrogation?"

"No need." I replied coldly.

"Wait a minute, comrade major." Danilov will basmanov to leave, quickly stopped him. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, we should listen to why we were attacked by the German army and learn from our experience so as to avoid similar things in the future."

"Well, comrade major, tell me what's going on." I know that Danilov is a strict commander. He won't give up until he has a clear idea of some things. Let basmanov introduce what happened“ How did the Germans get to the village? "

"This is the case." Basmanov had obviously interrogated the prisoners, so he was very confident in answering my question: "our new tank broke its track when it entered the village because of a mine. When the small German troops came up quietly, our tank soldiers were repairing the tanks. Because the noise was too loud, we didn't hear the approaching footsteps of the enemy. One of the tank soldiers inadvertently turned back and found that there was a German approaching, immediately shouting warning. When the German troops saw that their whereabouts were exposed, they opened fire, causing two tank soldiers to die on the spot. The rest of the tank soldiers got into the tank from the bottom of the tank, fired at the enemy with tank guns and machine guns, and suppressed the German troops outside the village. "

"Why did the German army come to the village?" Danilov asked curiously.

On hearing this question, basmanov said with a bitter smile: "Comrade deputy commander, in fact, this German army was ordered to withdraw from the village in the north. When they passed here, they wanted to come in and see if there were any of their own people. As a result, they were found and beaten by our tank soldiers. I rushed up with my troops and wiped them out before long. "

It was a German garrison that had been stationed in a village in the north. Danilov immediately lost interest and asked basmanov to leave. Then he studied with me how to attack Belgorod.

Although our army's attack on Belgorod did not work, Manstein was flustered and quickly drew reinforcements from the direction of tomarovka. When rodimzev called me, his voice became hoarse: "Comrade commander, the German tanks are attacking our division's defensive positions after the shelling“ How can it be compared to that. " After listening to what I said, Danilov said somewhat unconvinced: "the defenders who stick to the city are all the elite troops under Manstein. They not only have better technical and tactical level than our commanders and fighters, but also have rich combat experience. It may not be that easy to beat them. "

Listening to the map, I said to myself, "it seems that this Belgorod can't be beaten today."

"What, Belgorod, can't we fight today?" Although I said it in a low voice, Danilov still heard it. He raised his hand and looked at his watch. He said unconvinced: "it's just noon now, and it's almost ten hours before dark. Can't we capture the city with a limited number of defenders in such a long time?"

I didn't want to argue with him on this issue any more, so I digged off the topic: "Comrade deputy commander, the 89th guard suffered a lot of casualties in the morning battle. In my opinion, let Colonel Chernoff's 90th division be in charge of the attack in the afternoon. What do you mean? "

As for my arrangement, Danilov asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade commander, although we say that the casualties of Colonel seleucin's troops are not small, they have not hurt their vitality. Is it appropriate to withdraw them at this time?"

"Let them have a good rest and attack in the afternoon." When I said this, I specially reminded him: "don't forget that we have recently added a lot of new recruits. It's very helpful to let the new recruits feel the atmosphere of the battlefield properly."

When I said this, Danilov immediately nodded in agreement: "well, you have a point. The tens of thousands of new recruits who have been added to our group army have hardly received any military training. Even if there are some people with military training, they used to be just militia patrolling the city. I'll call Colonel Chernoff and ask him to take his troops to the attack in the afternoon. "

After receiving the order, Chernoff promised to take the troops to the front immediately and make all preparations before the attack. When Xie Liujin heard that I asked his division to take a temporary rest and hand over the offensive task to the 90th division of Jinwei, he was a little worried and said to me in a loud voice on the phone: "Comrade commander, although our two attacks failed, the enthusiasm of the commanders and fighters was very high, and they replaced us with friendly forces of unknown factions. I assure you that as long as we launch another attack, our division will certainly be able to attack Belgorod. This time, I will personally lead the troops to charge. "

"What if your troops can't rush into the city?" Hearing his promise, I immediately poured a basin of cold water on his head without hesitation: "do you think that as long as the fighting enthusiasm is high, you will be able to rush into the city?"

"Anyway, you have no right to let our division stop attacking." "We have so many officers and men who died on the road to bergorod. They are watching us from the sky and how we rushed into the city to destroy the bandits," said Xie Liujin. But you ordered our division to rest in place and change to friendly forces to attack. How can I explain to the soldiers? "“ Comrade Colonel, when I ask you to stop and rest for a while, I do not mean that I do not trust you, but that I have more important tasks to give you. " In order to keep sherekin from feeling down, I made it clear to him: "judging from today's situation, the German defense is very tenacious. If you attack like this morning, you will pay a great sacrifice. Now, replacing the 90th division of Jinwei is to let them get familiar with the environment. After all, to occupy such a big city, you alone are not enough. "“ Comrade commander, you mean...?! " Xie Liujin listened to me and asked tentatively, "when the right time comes, will we still send our division to attack?"“ Yes, that's it, comrade colonel I said to him firmly: "I once made a statement to the commander of the front army, saying that our army group would be the first to rush into bergorod and Kharkov and put our flag on the highest point of the city. And I'll give you the task of rushing into Belgorod first. But before that, you should have a good rest, and at the same time, call together all the commanders who have participated in the battle. They should study the causes of the attack and find out the corresponding countermeasures. Do you understand? "“ I see, comrade commander. " Xie Liaojin said happily, "I understand everything now. I immediately had a meeting with commanders at all levels to analyze the reasons for the failure of today's attack and prepare to succeed in the next attack. "“ Yes, comrade colonel I said approvingly, "that's it. Well, your division can rest until tomorrow. Make good use of this time to rest. " With that, I hung up without waiting for him to speak. Seeing that I put down the phone and stood opposite, Danilov asked strangely, "Comrade commander, do you really think our troops can't rush into the city today?"“ Yes, comrade deputy commander. " I answered positively: "from the current signs, our attack will not be successful. We will not be able to occupy Belgorod until tomorrow." At 5 a.m. the next day, after a new round of artillery preparation, the 89th division of Xie Liujin's guards launched an attack from their own positions while the 53rd and 69th group armies launched an attack. Less than an hour later, I received a phone call from Xie Liujin, who said excitedly: "report to commander, my 270th infantry regiment has successfully rushed into the city and is advancing towards the center of the city."“ Well done, comrade colonel I loudly ordered him to say, "speed up the attack and put the red flag on the commanding height of the city as soon as possible. Do you understand?"