Chapter 1246

After constant telegraph exchanges with trakov, we finally agreed on a joint operation. His troops will attack the German defensive position at 7 p.m. At the same time, in addition to the eighth group army, the first mechanized army of general rusyanov's guards will also be engaged in offensive combat, and its 200 tanks will become the main assault force.

Bezikov took the telegram from me, read it carefully, and then asked curiously, "Comrade commander, I don't understand why general trakov chose the attack time at 7 p.m., knowing that it will be completely dark in two hours at most, and then our troops will have to fight fiercely with the German army in a strange area."

In response to bezikov's doubts about the timing of trakov's attack, I explained to him, "Comrade chief of staff, this is the situation. Because of general trakov, they will concentrate a large number of tanks to carry out armored assault on the enemy's defensive positions. It is estimated that the reason for choosing this time period is that it will be completely dark after about two hours of fighting, and the enemy's air force will not be able to pose a threat to our tank forces. "

"How many tanks can we use now?" After I finished, bezikov suddenly asked, "after several fierce battles, the number of tanks left by the Fifth Army of the close guard tanks should not exceed 50. Even if they were all put into battle, would they be able to break through the German defensive positions? "

Bezikov's words gave me a headache. Although judging from the number of the troops, the sixth group army of the guards is still a powerful army. With such strength, even if we hit the Dnieper River, there is no problem. However, as a matter of fact, the whole group army has been reduced by more than half as a result of the successive battles to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov, as well as today's battle to recover ijum.

Although I heard from the words of bezikov that I should apply to the higher authorities for additional troops and technical equipment. But I know in my heart that it can only be a good wish now. Even if the superior wants to supply our group army, it will not officially start until after the end of the battle of dunbas.

After much deliberation, I raised my head and asked bzikov, "where are general Kravchenko and general bere?"

"They have arrived at ijum, and they are probably with Comrade deputy commander at the moment."

After listening to bzikov, I went to the table, picked up the phone and dialed chisgakov's headquarters. As soon as I heard his voice, I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, are the two commanders of the tank army in your headquarters?"

"Yes, comrade commander, they are both at my side. Would you like to speak to them?"

When I heard that both the chief and Deputy commanders were in the headquarters, I hesitated for a moment, and then resolutely said, "Comrade deputy commander, please give the phone to general Kravchenko. I have something to say to him."

"Comrade commander, I don't know when the attack of general trakov's troops will begin?" Before handing over the phone to Kravchenko, chisgakov asked: "at present, I have transferred the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards to the east of the city. We can launch a full-scale attack on the German army only after the friendly attack begins."

"At seven o'clock, general trakov's forces will attack the enemy from the east at seven o'clock." I briefly introduced to chisgakov: "they will take general rusyanov's mechanized first army as the leader to launch a fierce attack on the enemy's defense depth. Comrade deputy commander, I hope our troops can launch attacks at the same time. Is there a problem? "

"Yes, we still have a lot of difficulties at the moment." Although chisgakov said that the troops were facing many difficulties, he did not say anything about the difficulties and handed the phone directly to Kravchenko.

When I heard the voice in the receiver, I suddenly changed from chisgakov to Kravchenko. At first, I was stunned. Then I remembered the purpose of calling. Besides telling chisgakov the time of their attack, another thing I wanted to know about the tank army from Kravchenko.

"Hello, comrade Kravchenko." After greeting Kravchenko politely, I asked directly, "how many tanks do you have in your tank army?"

"Report to commander," Kravchenko said slowly, "there are still 65 tanks left in the army, but due to the shortage of ammunition and fuel, only 40 can be put into combat."

"What, only forty?" Hearing this figure, I was extremely disappointed. I didn't expect that after the merger of the two tank armies, the number of tanks that can be used is still very small. I said with some regret, "Comrade General, can you find a way to get the remaining tanks to fight?"

"I'm afraid it can't be done." For my question, Kravchenko answered helplessly: "the rest are almost new tanks, but we only have the shells used by T-34 tanks. We can't let our tank soldiers drive tanks without shells to hit the enemy's tanks or firepower points, can we?"

"The number of tanks is limited. Don't we still have artillery?" "We can order general povsky's artillery troops to speed up the March and get to Izumi to participate in the artillery preparation before the attack," bzikov whispered to me

"Comrade commander." Before I could reply to bzikov, I heard chisgakov's voice again: "now you know what problem we are facing. Not only the number of tanks is small, but also there is no artillery support. If we want to attack, we can only use the flesh and blood of our commanders and fighters to fight through the enemy's bullets. In this way, even if we win, it is estimated that the casualties of the troops will not be too small. "

"Wait a moment, comrade deputy commander. Please wait a moment." I covered the microphone, turned to ask bzikov: "chief of staff, you just said artillery, where are they now?"

"Probably on the way from Kharkov to chuhuyev." When bezikov said this, he shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "this road is too narrow, so the artillery had to set out at the end in order not to rush the infantry."

"If they're going to arrive at Izumi, when will they arrive?"

After listening to my question, bzikov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and replied, "I guess our artillery can't arrive at Izumi until 8 p.m. at the latest. And not all of them have arrived. At most, there are only one or two artillery regiments. "

If it's just one or two artillery regiments, even if they arrive at ijum, the artillery support they can provide for the offensive troops is very limited. At this time, I suddenly thought of the famous "Katyusha" and said to bzikov: "chief of staff, contact General povsky immediately, let the towed artillery regiment stop advancing temporarily, and give up the road to the close guard rocket battalion. We need to know that although our rocket barracks are small in number, their speed of action is fast, and the effect of shelling is far better than that of the artillery regiment. Let them go to ijum first to participate in the artillery preparation before the attack. "

"That's right, that's right." When bezikov heard what I said, his eyes suddenly brightened. He immediately said aloud to lophov in the distance, "Hey, comrade major, send a message to general povsky immediately, and order him to let the guard rocket battalion of the group army rush to Izumi as soon as possible. The rest of the artillery regiment, for the time being, stopped to make way for the rocket battalion. After all the rocket barracks have passed, the artillery regiment will continue to advance. "

"I see. I'll send it right away." With a resounding promise, lophoff began to send out his message.

After arranging this, I released my hand to cover the microphone and said to the microphone with a smile, "OK, deputy commander, I have ordered general povsky to speed up the march of all the close guard rocket barracks, and get to ijum as soon as possible to participate in the artillery preparation before the attack."

"Great, that's great." When chisjakov heard that there was a rocket battalion participating in the war, he immediately called out. He said excitedly, "even if the rocket can only destroy half of the enemy's firepower, it will be easier for us to attack."

At the end of the call with chisgakov, I turned to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, where are the comrades of the military commissar?"

"Didn't he go to the division below to do battle agitation for the commanders and fighters?" After looking at me strangely, bezikov replied truthfully: "I think he is talking to the political workers of various divisions or the soldiers in the company at the grass-roots level."

"Comrade chief of staff." As soon as bezikov finished, I immediately said, "I'm going to visit Izumi in person, and you and the military commissar will be responsible for everything here."

"What?" When bizikov heard that I was going to the front line again, he quickly stopped me: "Comrade commander, isn't ijum under the command of a deputy commander? You don't have to run there any more. It's too dangerous

I shook my head and said, "no, comrade chief of staff. Although the deputy commander was in command there, he didn't see our troops attack the enemy's positions with his own eyes, so I couldn't feel at ease, so I had to go there myself. "

Bizikov understood my character, knew that once I made a decision, even if the superior appeared, it would not necessarily make me change my mind, so he nodded. Then he picked up the phone and said, "Hello, guards? My chief of staff, Colonel bzikov, immediately asked the two chief and Deputy commanders to come to the headquarters. "

When I heard him call Yushchenko and bukov, I was surprised and asked, "chief of staff, what are you going to do? I'm going to Izumi, and it's enough to take major busmanov and a guard company. It's not necessary to disturb the two leaders of the guard regiment for such a small matter. "

"Comrade commander, your safety is no small matter." After listening to me, bzikov said solemnly, "although I can't stop you from going to Izumi, I can still ensure your safety along the way."

Just then, Yushchenko and bukov walked into the headquarters, came to our front and back, raised their hands to salute, and neatly reported: "Comrade commander, chief of staff, head (deputy head) of the security corps, Yushchenko (bukov) has been ordered to come, we are waiting for your orders, please give us instructions!"

Bezikov raised his hand to me, and then said: "two chief and Deputy commanders, comrades of the commander plan to go to ijum. In order to ensure her safety along the way, I plan to send a guard camp to protect her safety. Which one of you would like to lead the team?"

When they heard what bezikov said, they looked at each other and took a step forward. Then they said with one voice, "Comrade chief of staff, I'd like to lead the team to ijum." When bizikov saw that they were both volunteering, he chuckled, then turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, they are both willing to lead a team to accompany you to Izumi. It's up to you to choose one." After listening, I didn't speak. I just went forward and shook hands with them one by one. After shaking hands, I stepped back and said to them, "Yushchenko and bukov, I thank you for your concern for me. But in the past, there should be no danger in ijum. You don't have to go out in person. I'll take a guard company with me“ Comrade commander, "as soon as I finished, Yushchenko continued," although our army has occupied ijum, there will certainly be German scattered soldiers along the way. For your safety, you'd better take a guard camp. As for you don't want us to go together, why don't you... "He stopped and turned his eyes to bukov. Bukov nodded at him, and then said, "Comrade commander, I suggest you take major busmanov's camp. The battalion is well-equipped and has a strong fighting capacity. Even if you are attacked by German troops on the road, they can ensure your safety. "“ It seems that if I don't bring a guard camp, all of you will not be at ease? " After I asked tentatively, I observed the expressions of all the people and saw that they all nodded their heads in recognition. In this case, I can only follow their meaning and say, "well, in that case, I'll take busmanov and his guard camp. Now, can you rest assured? " Seeing that all the people nodded in surprise, I directly told Yushchenko: "well, two leaders of the guard regiment, time is pressing, you go back to arrange it immediately." I raised my hand, looked at my watch and added, "I hope I can start in twenty minutes." The two commanders agreed loudly, raised their hands to salute me, then turned around and walked out of the headquarters. It took me nearly two hours to get to Izumi in front of and behind the guard camp under the command of basmanov. By the time our team arrived at the headquarters of chisgakov under the guidance of the commanders and fighters along the way, the offensive battle had begun for half an hour.