Chapter 1225

The Zhouqiao camp sent by watu Jing arrived at dusk. As for the bridge building, I gave akhromeyev full responsibility and repeatedly told him: "major, our attack on the peripheral positions of Kharkov will start after dawn. So I hope to build no less than three pontoons on the river tonight that can pass tanks, understand? "

After hearing this, akhromeyev assured me: "don't worry, comrade commander, I have inquired with the local people. There are many places where bridges can be built on the Wude river. Before dawn, I will help Zhouqiao camp to complete the construction of the floating bridge."

As soon as akhromeyev left, I dialed povsky again and asked, "Hello, comrade artillery commander, how many artillery regiments do you have now?"

Povsky replied: "with the artillery of the 53rd army, there are seven artillery regiments and six close guard rocket battalions. At present, the troops have sufficient ammunition and high morale, and they are ready to fight at any time. "

"Good." When I heard that there were so many artillery I could use now, I felt more confident. Then I said, "I order you to set up artillery positions near the river and deploy at least four artillery regiments and three close guard rocket barracks."

"To prepare for the shelling before tomorrow's attack?" Povsky asked tentatively.

"The Zhouqiao battalion sent by the headquarters of the front army will set up a floating bridge on the Wude River overnight." In order to make povsky aware of the situation, I told him the truth: "if the German army discovers our action of erecting a floating bridge, it may bombard the area where the bridge is erected. I ask you, as soon as you find the enemy's artillery firing, immediately use more powerful artillery firepower to suppress them and protect Zhouqiao battalion's action of erecting a floating bridge. "

"Don't worry, comrade commander." After povsky found out what was going on, he said with great interest, "as long as the Germans dare to fire, we will certainly clear up all their artillery."

Then, I called berey and asked about the tank army. As soon as I got on the phone, without waiting for me to speak, he said, "Comrade commander, you are calling me now to ask how many tanks can take part in the battle tomorrow?"

"Yes, don't thunder general," I didn't expect that he could guess the purpose of his call, so he said with a smile, "I just want to ask about this matter, then you can talk about it!"

"In addition to the original 93 tanks of the two tank brigades, two tank battalions of the 53rd army have been added," said berey, his voice suddenly lowered, as if he was looking at the data: "there are 108 tanks in total, of which 27 are new-type tanks. Even if they encounter German Tiger or leopard tanks, they can still be defeated."

"I've arranged for the new Zhouqiao camp to build a floating bridge over the UD river." I then said, "I ask them to set up at least three pontoons that can pass through tanks. That is to say, your tank army should be divided into at least three units in tomorrow's battle to guide the infantry to attack the German peripheral positions."

"Comrade commander, please rest assured." "My tank troops will be able to guide some of them to break through the German defense line in the shortest time," he assured me

After I made a series of phone calls, managarov, who was sitting next to me, nodded and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I believe what chief of staff bzikov said now. Although the attack will not start until tomorrow, you have considered all the problems that should be considered and even pointed out the solutions." At this point, he looked sideways at his military commissar and chief of staff and said, "how do you two feel now? Do you think it is the most correct decision for the superior to assign us to the sixth group army of the guards for combat?"

Major general volgeng, chief of staff, nodded and said with approval, "yes, commander oshanina's deployment is quite thorough." After a moment's pause, he hesitated and said, "but I'd like to make a suggestion to you. I don't know whether to say it or not."

"Go ahead, chief of staff." I know that every time he puts forward a proposal, it has been carefully considered, and I believe this time will be no exception“ If you see anything unreasonable in my deployment, just put it forward and I will try my best to correct it. "

"It's like this." Seeing that we asked him for advice, volgeng said without hesitation: "at present, the reduction of the 299th division on the south bank is close to half. If the German army launched a counterattack, it would be very difficult for them to hold fast with their current strength. I wonder if you could change your branch to take over their defense..."

"Enough, general volgeng!" Before he finished speaking, managarov interrupted him in a loud voice, and then said apologetically, "Comrade commander, my chief of staff saw that there were too many casualties in the army, so he thought like this. Please don't blame me."

I was filled with guilt when I thought of ordering the 299th division to attack the enemy's peripheral positions without knowing the details. Seeing that managarov apologized to me, he quickly waved his hand and said, "Comrade General, don't blame chief of staff volgeng. He's right. The 299th division suffered too many casualties. It's time to withdraw and make corrections. It's my thoughtlessness. I'll make arrangements now."

With that, I asked bezikov, "chief of staff, which unit is closest to the 299th division?"

After looking at managarov, bezikov replied, "is it the 84th infantry division of the 53rd army?"

When he said this, I immediately remembered that I had indeed transferred the 84th division to the rear of the 299th division, but if I let them take over the defense now, even if managarov didn't say it, he would have a thorn in his heart. If there is a thorn in their heart, they will be in trouble. When they want to mobilize their troops in the future, they may encounter delays, which will lead to the situation of delaying their fighters. So I said to bezikov without hesitation: "chief of staff, the friendly forces suffered too many casualties in the offensive battle. Let's use our troops. Which unit is closest to our position on the south bank? "

Bezikov didn't expect me to say that. He could not help looking surprised, but he quickly replied, "general govoruninenko's 375TH infantry division is less than two kilometers away from them."

"Call commander tavartkiraze immediately and ask him to send the 375TH and 299th divisions to change guard overnight." After giving this order, I added: "at the same time, I would also like to remind general govorunanko to take the time to build fortifications, so as to prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall and launching counter attacks before our attack."

"I see. I'll call right now." With these words, bezikov got up and went to the nearby telephone, where he was going to call tavartkiraze.

At the beginning of the bridge building activities, Zhouqiao camp was discovered by the German army. In order to prevent our army from erecting a floating bridge over the UD River, the German army kept firing flares into the air. With the guidance of the bright flares, the enemy artillery observers provided the artillery with firing parameters and shelled on the Wude river.

When I heard povsky calling to report to me that the enemy was shelling on the river, I gave him a direct order: "Comrade artillery commander, follow the order I just gave, shelling the exposed German artillery positions immediately, and we must destroy them all."

When I put down the phone, I still felt insecure. I was afraid that the German artillery was too cunning. After two rounds of design in one place, I immediately transferred the position. In that case, our artillery would not achieve the desired effect. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone, shook the handle a few times, heard the voice of the signalman, and immediately told him: "connect me with the headquarters of the front army."

Perhaps this signalman is a new comer. After hearing my order, he hesitated and asked, "Comrade commander, is it the headquarters of the grassland front army?"

"It's not the grassland front army, it's the Voronezh front army headquarters." I said sternly, "don't you know that we are like Voronezh's army?"

"I see, comrade commander." The signalman replied in a hurry, "please wait a moment. I'll connect you to the headquarters of Voronezh's front army immediately."

After connecting the headquarters of the front army, the person who answered the phone was Khrushchev. When he heard my voice, he was surprised and asked, "Rita, I didn't expect you to call so late. What's the matter?"

"Hello, comrade military Commissar." After giving him a polite greeting, I said, "is senior general here? I have something important to report to him

"He is discussing the next battle plan with Marshal Zhukov. Just a moment. I'll call him Soon, I heard him calling watujing to answer the phone.

"Hello, comrade o'shanina, is there anything important about calling so late?" Maybe I interrupted his and Zhukov's work, so there was a trace of dissatisfaction in my tone.

"Comrade General," in order to avoid him getting angry with me, I had to speed up my speech so that I could finish what I was going to say as soon as possible. "When Zhouqiao camp was erecting a bridge on the river ude, it was found by the German army. At present, German artillery is shelling the river continuously. "

"Comrade oshanina, the German strongholds along the UD River have not yet been completely cleared. As long as the Germans are not blind or deaf, they will be able to find such a big bridge building operation." When watujing heard that I had reported such a thing to him, he said impatiently, "the enemy has artillery, don't you have artillery? Immediately order the artillery to fight back and keep down the enemy's fire. Do you think I have nothing to do every day, even such trifles bother me? "

I felt that he was going to hang up, so I hurriedly said, "senior general, please don't hang up. I haven't finished my words yet."

"What else do you have to say?" Although there was dissatisfaction in his voice, he didn't hang up immediately.

"As soon as the enemy fired, our artillery began to suppress fire." I explained to him, "I'm worried that the German artillery will change firing positions at any time, so I want to ask the air force to go out and bomb the exposed German artillery positions overnight."

When I finished, there was silence in the receiver. Seeing that watujing didn't speak, I couldn't help worrying and asked in a hurry, "Comrade General, can't our air force dispatch at night?"

"It's no problem to send out the air force at night. If there is a night bombing pilot in the air force under the front army, they can carry out the night bombing mission." "But if they go out at night, I'm afraid they won't be able to find the bombing target. If they throw the bomb on their own head, they will be in trouble," watujing said hesitantly

"Don't worry, senior general. There will never be a mistake." When I heard that vatukin was worried about this problem, I immediately felt more confident and assured him, "the enemy keeps firing flares into the air. The whole west side of Kharkov is illuminated like daylight. Our air force will never be unable to find the bombing target."“ Well, in that case, I'll call the air force and ask the night bombing pilots to go out immediately. " After these words, vatukin asked me with some worry: "oshanina, I want to hear your truth. How long will it take you to rush to the city of Kharkov?" Although I know in my heart that as long as the enemy's artillery is eliminated, a few infantry divisions under the guidance of the tank army can break through the German army's peripheral positions in half a day at most, rush to the city of Kharkov, or even break into the city. However, in front of vatukin, I couldn't say too much, lest I didn't finish the task at that time, and there was no room for me to turn around. So I cautiously said, "Comrade General, if the bombing of the air force tonight can destroy the German artillery, then we can rush under the city of Kharkov in two to three days." As soon as I finished, Zhukov's low voice came from the earphone: "what, it takes two to three days to rush to the city of Kharkov? It's too slow, Rita. Your attack speed is too slow. " I was startled when I heard Zhukov's voice, but I soon recovered. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I saw that it was August 20 now. In order not to let Zhukov look down on himself, I said decisively, "marshal, I have just entered the 20th. I promise you that my troops will rush to the city of Kharkov before noon on the 21st."“ Well, since you are so confident, I'll wait for your good news! " Hearing my statement, Zhukov's tone softened: "konev's Grassland front army also has a night bomber regiment. I will let them go out at the same time." It is said that the air force will soon appear to bomb the artillery positions in the enemy's city. As soon as I put down the phone, the people in the headquarters cheered. Because we all know that even if the bombing at night can not completely destroy the German artillery positions, it will cause a lot of casualties to the enemy. In that way, the pressure we will bear in the attack tomorrow will be greatly reduced.