Chapter 1209

The second round of attack launched by the 53rd group army soon ended in failure. Seeing our tanks burning on the battlefield and our troops retreating in confusion, I didn't have the heart to continue to watch. After saying goodbye to managarov, I left the observation post with chisgakov in a hurry.

On the way back to the headquarters of the group army, chisjakov, who was sitting next to me, asked curiously: "Comrade commander, although general managarov's second attack failed, they obviously played better than the first, and the commanders and fighters also showed more tenacity..."

"Comrade deputy commander," I interrupted him impatiently before he finished, "the reason why I am in such a hurry to leave is that I really can't bear to see it, because general managarov's wrong way of attack will make us pay a more painful price?"

Hearing what I said, chisgakov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, you should know that in such a tough battle, no matter how excellent the commander is to command the troops, the attacking troops will pay a great sacrifice."

"In order to recover the lost city and defend our great Soviet motherland, we can accept the heavy price." I said in an official voice: "but some wrong tactics, not only can't defeat the enemy, but will make us pay a lot of unnecessary casualties." At this point, I thought of the tragic scene I saw when liuban broke through, and said to him in a low voice, "when liuban broke through, in order to open a gap in the enemy's weak defense line, a general of the second shock group army at that time commanded our army to attack the German position. Because he was afraid that the soldiers would get lost in the forest, he let them charge hand in hand; When the first echelon's officers and men fell at the German's gunpoint, he ordered the second echelon's officers and men to take a truck and attack the German position again. When both echelons were destroyed, he ordered the tanks to launch the final attack, but the tanks that lost the cover of infantry were destroyed one by one under the attack of German anti tank men. "

After I finished the story with anger, chisjakov looked at me with strange eyes and asked innocently: "Comrade commander, I don't understand the connection between liuban's breakthrough and today's offensive?"

"Didn't you find something wrong in the failure of the second attack organized by managarov?" His reaction really made me feel speechless. Even in my heart, I was secretly complaining that maybe he used the same tactics as managarov when commanding the troops, so he was used to many things“ When we attack fortified positions, the purpose of using tanks is to tear a gap in the enemy's line of defense and allow the infantry to expand the breakthrough. But you can see how managarov's troops used tanks. Those tanks followed the infantry and were slow to move. They also stopped from time to time to use themselves as fixed artillery. As a result, they were easily killed by the German anti tank men like shooting targets. "

After hearing what I said, chisjakov realized the seriousness of the problem. He frowned and asked me, "if you command, how to use the tank?"

"Let the tanks charge ahead." I casually replied: "let the commanders and fighters hide behind the tank and rush forward. Our commanders and fighters hide in the dead corner of German light weapons shooting, so it is not easy to pay too much casualties in the process of charging. "

After listening to my explanation, chisgakov nodded and then said, "I estimate that in the short term, our group army will not have any combat tasks. You can seize the time to let the troops carry out drills to reduce the casualties in the next battle."

When we returned to the headquarters of the group army, kirilov and bezikov, who had been waiting all night, immediately met us. Kirilov also asked with concern, "what's the situation, Rita? Has the 53rd army broken through the German defensive position?"

"No," I said, shaking my head, "before we left, general managarov launched two attacks. But it's a pity that all his attacks failed. "

"How?" Kirilov was puzzled and said, "we can also see the artillery preparation before the attack. The sky in the south is red by the fire of the shells. Is the German fortification so strong that it hasn't been destroyed after being bombarded by our artillery for several hours?"

I sighed and said, "it's too much to say." With that, I quickly walked to the map on the wall and turned to greet kirilov: "military commissar, chief of staff, please come here. I'll introduce the situation to you." Seeing all the people around, I pointed to Kharkov's position with a stick and said, "in order to defend against our attack on Kharkov, the German army built seven lines of defense in the north of the city, and the lines of defense were connected by traffic trenches. In this way, when our army starts shelling their first line of defense, the main forces of the German army can be transferred to the second or third line of defense. When our shelling is over and the army launches an attack, they will return to the first line of defense and launch a barrage against us. "

Kirilov listened to me, looked at the map, nodded, and said, "I see what you mean, Rita. Although we made the necessary preparations for the attack, we did not consume much of the German forces. Therefore, we will not only pay huge casualties, but also be difficult to achieve the desired results

"Yes, that's it." I leaned the stick against the wall and continued: "if we are going to fight against Kharkov, we have to adjust our tactics."

"Comrade commander, please tell us about it." as soon as I finished, bzikov said, "let us know what tactics we should use to deal with the enemy."

Hearing his question, I picked up the explanation stick again and pointed to Kharkov's position: "the attack to the east of the city is in the charge of the seventh group army, the close guard of general shumilov; In the north of the city, the three army groups of the grassland front army are in charge. If we want to fight, the most likely battlefield is in the west of the city.

Before the attack, we should still follow the usual practice of shelling the German first line of defense. Forty minutes after the shelling, the artillery extended and smashed the shells into the enemy's second line of defense. Let the Germans have an illusion that we will launch an attack soon, and they will go back to the first line of defense from the second line of defense which is being shelled, along the traffic trench, to prepare for the battle. When the enemy almost all returned to the first line of defense, our artillery fire suddenly returned from the second line of defense to the first line of defense, attacking the Germans who had just entered the position. "

"And then we attack the enemy's position at this time?" When bizikov heard this, he couldn't help interrupting and asked, "before the end of the shelling on the enemy, let the troops rush up. Will they be hurt by their own people's gunfire?"

"Chief of staff, please hear me out." After a discontented look at bezikov, I said, "when our artillery fire extended to the depth of the enemy again, the tanks took the lead in charging, and the armored cars full of soldiers followed. After the tank troops tore open the German defense line, the soldiers on the armored vehicles came down to clean up the enemy in the trench, expand and consolidate the breakthrough... "

When I was talking about my offensive tactics, everyone nodded while listening, and no one raised any objection. After I finished, I held the stick in both hands, looked around, and then asked, "who has a different opinion?"

When akhromeyev heard my question, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, your plan is almost impeccable. But the premise is that our tank army, many artillery regiments and close guard rocket barracks can be built on time before the battle starts. "

It turned out that everyone saw the dawn of victory, but the expression on akhromeyev's face darkened when he heard that. Bezikov sighed and said, "although commander vatukin has said for a long time that several infantry divisions, the tankers and the artillery should be returned, there has been no movement for such a long time."

Seeing that all the people became dejected, I coughed quickly and said to them, "well, comrades, even if we are going to fight, we will not be in these two days. That is to say, we still have enough time to wait for the return of tomarovka's troops. As for this period of time, we should urge all divisions to seize the time to train their troops, especially in street fighting. The German army will never be willing to let us take Kharkov from them. The street battle in the city will be fierce. Let the commanders and fighters carry out targeted training, and in the future, the casualties of the troops will be greatly reduced. "

When everyone was busy with their own work, kirilov pulled me aside and asked in a low voice, "Rita, when you saw the defeat of the 53rd army in the observation post, didn't you just express your opinion?"

I shook my head and replied, "no, comrade military Commissar. As you know, I just went to them to learn about the situation on the front line. I can't tell the way the friendly forces fight. "

"That's good, that's good." When kirilov said this, he reached out and secretly wiped the sweat on his forehead, "so I can rest assured."

Kirilov's words confused me, and I asked, "Comrade military commissar, why do you say that?"

Kirilov looked around and saw that the other commanders were far away from us. He could not hear us say yes, so he came close to me and whispered, "Rita, in other people's eyes, you belong to Marshal Zhukov's family. General managarov, on the other hand, belongs to another department. There is a deep contradiction between his backstage and Zhukov. As for who this man is, please forgive me for not being able to tell you. If you see that managarov's troops have failed in the attack, feel free to express your views and make suggestions to him. The victory of the army's attack is undoubtedly the credit of managarov; But if you fail again, you will take the responsibility. "

Kirilov's words surprised me in a cold sweat. I didn't expect that the factional struggle within the army would begin before the Germans were driven away from the territory of the Soviet Union. In everyone's eyes, my body is branded with the mark of Zhukov. In the coming days, I will definitely be suppressed by another faction, so I will be more cautious in my words and deeds in the future, so as not to be caught by others.

Just as I was struggling with the unexpected news, there was a faint voice calling for a report outside the door. Bezikov was close to the door. After hearing the sound, he said to the outside, "come in!"

As soon as his voice fell, two commanders in general's uniform entered the headquarters. After I looked up to see who was coming, I was overjoyed and rushed to meet them. Far away, I reached out my hands to them and said excitedly, "welcome back, Colonel berey and Colonel povsky!" The next moment, the three of us held hands together. As we shook hands, kirilov came up to me and said with a smile, "Rita, you've just got the wrong name. They're not the Colonel anymore, they're the general." Then he reached out to berey first. "Hello, Colonel berey, welcome back to the headquarters." The two men who came here were Brey, commander of the tank army, and povsky, artillery commander of the group army. Perhaps their superiors promoted them from Colonel to major general in recognition of their performance in the battle. After I asked them to sit down at the table, I took two cups of tea from akhromeyev and put them in front of them. Then I asked with a smile, "two general comrades, do you come back to the headquarters today to report to me, or do you formally lead the troops back to the headquarters?" Hearing my question, the two people who just picked up the tea cup quickly put down the cup and stood up. Bielei respectfully reported to me: "Comrade commander, we received an order from our superior a few hours ago that we should complete the reconstruction work within today. As it took time for the troops to move in, I was afraid you would be in a hurry, so I and Comrade povsky came by car first. " I waited for berey to finish, and then I turned to bezikov standing beside me and asked, "chief of staff, have you received the notice from the headquarters of the front army?"“ No, comrade commander. " Bezikov shook his head and said, "I didn't receive any notice, so I didn't know that the artillery and tank troops would be built today."“ Major ahlomeyev. " In order to avoid confusion, as soon as bezikov finished speaking, I called the director of operations who was not far away, "I'll give you full responsibility for receiving the returned troops. We must arrange our tank forces and artillery forces, and we must not have any confusion. "