Chapter 1220

Then, chisjakov pointed out some shortcomings. I accept his criticism and instruction with an open mind. At the same time, I am secretly grateful to Zhukov, who sent him as deputy commander. It is very helpful for me to let such a general with rich combat experience be my deputy.

Before the battlefield in the forest has been cleaned up, the tanks that failed to take part in the battle have successively appeared near our observation post. After the tank troops have assembled here, they will guide the troops of the 90th division of the guards to attack the German stronghold along the river UD.

At this moment, there was the roar of the plane's motor in the air. Hearing this sound, managarov's face showed a surprise expression. He said excitedly: "our bomber formation is coming!"

But I was not so optimistic. I immediately told babahin standing beside me: "Comrade Colonel, immediately send some soldiers to the open area with red flags to wave, so that the air force can know that our troops are next, so as to avoid misunderstanding."

The reason why I give this order is that in Stalingrad, trekov and I were accidentally bombed by friendly forces. If it wasn't for my big life, I would not have been such a person in the world. Now our army's victory is in sight. It would be unjust if there were another false bombing.

After my order was given, babashin stood still. Seeing that he didn't move, I asked with some dissatisfaction, "Comrade Colonel, why don't you carry out my order?"

Babahin looked at the sky outside, and then said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, it's day now. Our air force should not be able to distinguish ourselves from the enemy, right?"

"Captain, now that the commander has given the order, you should go and carry it out quickly." Then he gave him another kick and urged him to "hurry up. Maybe something will happen later."

Babashin heard what chisjakov said so seriously, so he had no choice but to promise. He called his chief of staff and ordered them to let several soldiers carry red flags to the open area and wave them for a while, so that our air force could identify them.

There is a reconnaissance plane in front of the flying formation. It may have found the troops and tanks assembled on the ground, so it lowered its altitude and circled above us. I pointed to the reconnaissance plane in the air and said to babashin, "Colonel, you see, this reconnaissance plane is a Pathfinder. If he finds out that the troops on the ground are not our troops, the bombers behind will dive down and drop bombs at us. How many people do you think your troops can survive under such intensive bombing? "

My words scared babashin into a cold sweat, especially when he saw the soldiers waving the red flag in the open space, the reconnaissance plane raised its height again and flew to the distance. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead and said: "Comrade commander, you are still considerate. If you don't send someone out to wave the red flag, maybe something big will happen."

As the dense formation of bombers flew over our heads, I said to them at the top of my voice, "two general comrades, do you see? Such a spectacular flying formation launched continuous and concentrated bombing on the enemy's transportation lines. Think about it. How spectacular it is for bombers to circle over the enemy's rear every day! When our bombers blow up the Germans so that they can't get a bullet or a piece of bread into the city, the German resistance will be completely destroyed. No matter how tenacious the German officers and men are, they can only raise their hands and surrender to us when they have no ammunition, supplies or medicine. "

As the bombers went away, I again turned my attention to the next combat target. I thought that the tenacity of German defense was far beyond my imagination. According to the original plan, only one division was sent to clean up the German stronghold along the UD river. Is this kind of force enough?

Thinking of this, I asked chisgakov and managarov to sit down at the table, asked babashin for a map, spread it on the table and said to them, "two generals, you two have witnessed how tenacious the German defense is."

When I say this, I pause to see how they react. "Yes, we thought we could easily take this forest controlled by the German army with one division under the cover of artillery and tanks," chisjakov said. As a result, the 71st division of the guards fought hard for a day and night, and only drew with the Germans. If the 90th division of the guards didn't fight in time, I don't know when it would win here. "

"That's right," managarov added after chisjakov finished: "after today's battle, let me understand that if we want to solve the enemy quickly, we must increase our military input. Comrade commander, in yesterday's plan, did you not intend to send three divisions of our group army to cut off the German army When he said this, he stopped for a moment. I nodded my head, which was approval. Then he said, "in this way, the task of cutting off the German army's rear road will be completed by the 48th infantry army from the 69th group army, while my three divisions and the 90th guard Division will clean up the German stronghold along the UD river. Do you think that's appropriate? "

In fact, even if managarov does not say so, I intend to use his troops to take part in the attack on Kharkov. As for the remaining divisions, I intend to wait until Kharkov is about to be broken through, and then put them into battle, so that the troops can achieve great results at a very low cost. After all, after the end of the Kharkov campaign, there will be a series of battles to follow. Without a well-informed army in my hand, I have never been steadfast.

I went on to say to managarov, "Comrade General, there are too many numbers of troops at present. If there is no unified command, then the troops may fall into a state of chaos in the fight against the German stronghold in the Wude river."

"General managarov, I have a suggestion." Chisjakov said: "let major general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, command these troops in a unified way. How about this? "

After listening to this suggestion, managarov looked at chisgakov, then at me, and finally said very frankly, "well, since both of you mean that, then it's settled."

When I saw that managarov agreed to chisjakov's proposal, I called sivakov to the headquarters of the 71st division of the guards. After listening to my deployment, he politely asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any other instructions?"

I thought about it and then added two words: "general sivakov, I just want to remind you to remember that when you clear the German strongholds along the UD River, you should try your best to be steady, and once you occupy a point, you should immediately consolidate it. In this way, even if the German counter attack, you will not be expelled from the German position. Only when you have complete control of the north bank can we boldly attack the south bank. Do you understand? "

"I see, comrade commander." When sivakov finished this sentence, he asked respectfully, "will you allow me to leave and call some division commanders for a pre war meeting?"

"Go, go, general sivakov." I waved to him, and finally nagged: "give the division's tasks as detailed as possible, so that in the battle, the division's teachers can be clear about their responsibilities."

After sivakov left, chisjakov asked me, "Comrade commander, shall we stay here or go back to the headquarters of the group army?" Before I could answer, he went on, "you see, the space here is too narrow. Obviously, our headquarters is not suitable for setting up here."

I looked at the division headquarters, which can only accommodate seven or eight people, and felt that what chisjakov said was very reasonable. I nodded and said, "OK, let's go back to the group army headquarters."

When the jeep passed through the city of jergach again, chisjakov, who was sitting in the co driver's seat, suddenly turned back and said to me, "Comrade commander, I'm worried about one thing now."

"What's the matter?" His words surprised me. My heart said, is there any negligence?

"Here, look at the citizens outside." "Kharkov is the fourth largest city in our country, and there are not a few residents in the city. If we shelled the city, it would certainly cause a lot of accidental injuries," chisjakov said to the residents with a wooden expression on the side of the road

"Do you have any good way to avoid this?" When I asked this, I muttered to myself, please don't mention the suggestion that our army should not use heavy weapons such as cannons in the lane war, otherwise this battle will be impossible.

But sometimes he was more and more worried about what happened. He just said: "I think in street fighting, try not to use artillery..."

"What, what?" Before he had finished speaking, managarov quickly retorted, "Comrade chisjakov, I don't know what kind of equipment the Germans are, even if I don't tell you. If we give up heavy weapons such as artillery and only let infantry equipped with light weapons attack the fortified positions, how much will it cost, do you know? "

"I know, general managarov." Chisgakov responded with a strong attitude: "have you ever thought about how much casualties would be caused to civilians if we used artillery in street fighting? If your family is also in the city, do you have the heart to give orders to fire? "

"You...!" Managarov choked on this remark by chisgakov. He wanted to refute it, but he couldn't find the right words in a hurry. Finally, he could only turn to me for help and said angrily, "Comrade commander, it's up to you to make up your mind about this."

The focus of their argument is whether to use heavy weapons including artillery in the city, which makes me feel in a dilemma. From my heart, I don't want the residents in the city to pay too much for the casualties, but if we don't use artillery, we can only take human lives to conquer the German firepower support point.

Maybe I've been thinking for a long time, and managarov was impatient. He raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder, urging: "Hello, comrade commander, tell me about it, how do you think about it?"

"The use of tanks and cannons in the lane war will indeed cause heavy casualties to the residents of the city." I said carefully: "but if we don't use heavy weapons, but only use infantry to attack, then it is possible that the army will suffer heavy casualties, but still be unable to conquer the German defensive positions..."

The more I listen, the more confused I am. After I finished, chisjakov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, I've been listening to you for a long time, but I don't understand. Do you agree to use heavy weapons in the city or not?"

Seeing that both of them were staring at me nervously, waiting for my final answer, I laughed, and then said: "in street fighting, it is necessary to use heavy weapons, because it can reduce the casualties of our attacking troops, and at the same time, it can destroy the German resistance in the shortest time. Only when we liberate Kharkov in the shortest time can we minimize the casualties of the residents. "

After my words, chisjakov frowned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Comrade commander, you and general managarov are right. In order to liberate this important industrial city of our country quickly, it is inevitable to pay a certain price." Back at the headquarters, kirilov and I had a brief talk about the fighting in the forest. Then we started to discuss how tanks and artillery can provide firepower support for infantry in attack. Berey first reported to me the achievements of the tank Army: "in the battle just ended, our army destroyed six German tanks and seven assault guns, and lost twelve tanks, almost all of them T-34 tanks." Hearing this, chisjakov couldn't help interrupting and asked, "Comrade General, as far as I know, your army is equipped with a lot of new tanks. Why didn't you put them into battle?"“ Well, comrade deputy commander. " Berey patiently explained to chisgakov: "as the supporting ammunition for the new tank was not available, the departure time was delayed again and again, so that he did not have time to take part in the battle. But now, the new tanks are in a state of sufficient ammunition. I believe they will have a good performance in the next battle. " After hearing this, chisjakov nodded and then asked povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, I don't know when we can complete the ammunition supply to the artillery regiment?" When povsky heard chisjakov's question, he quickly got up from his seat and replied respectfully, "report, comrade deputy commander, the supply of artillery ammunition should be completed before 10 a.m. Then the artillery position will be moved forward to the UD River to suppress the enemy on the south bank. "“ "Very good, very good," chisgakov said. After two very good words, he turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, I'm finished. Do you have anything else to ask?" I shook my head and said to them, "I have nothing to add. General sivakov's attack on the banks of the UD river is about to begin soon. You all go and prepare." Then I turned around and said to akhromeyev, "major, call general tavartkiraze and ask him to take some of his division commanders to the headquarters for a meeting before noon."