Chapter 1352

I was a little disappointed to hear that all the German armored divisions had run away and only two and a half infantry divisions were surrounded by us. After staring at the map for a while, I looked up at akhromeyev and asked, "major, if you were the commander of the German army, which route would you take to break through the siege?"

"That's not to say, comrade commander." Akhromeyev looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, shrunk his mouth, and said, "now the north and east of fastiev are heavily oppressed; To the West are our two infantry divisions, a mechanized brigade and three tank brigades. No matter which direction they break through from, they will be blocked by our superior forces. Therefore, they can only choose the south direction, because along this road, they can retreat into their defense area in the shortest time, join with other forces, and form a heavy group confronting our army. "

"Your analysis is accurate, comrade major." I nodded with satisfaction at akhromeyev's analysis, and then asked, "if the German forces concentrate on breaking through, do you think that the tank brigade and cavalry division arranged by our department in the southwest direction are capable of blocking the enemy who fled south with all his strength?"

Akhromeyev thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don't think I can stop it. The cavalry division is good at attacking rather than defending. Moreover, there are no decent fortifications in the south of the city. If they want to block the German army's breakout by force, they will inevitably suffer heavy casualties and even the whole army will be destroyed. "

For akhromeyev's view, berey agreed: "although it is only the German infantry division that is surrounded, if they try their best to break through, let alone a cavalry division, even if they add the tank brigade, it will not help."

"What shall we do?" Povsky also broke in and said, "is it necessary to transfer an infantry division to build fortifications and fight a close positional war with the Germans?"

"But where shall we send infantry to reinforce us?" Akhromeyev looked at me and said to the other two: "although the main force of the group army is in Zhitomir, they are under attack from the German army and obviously cannot be mobilized; And the two close guard divisions, one mechanized brigade and three tank brigades that participated in the fastif attack could not be drawn out. "

After listening to akhromeyev's words, I knew that he was trying to tell me that although we have a lot of troops under our name, we can't find any troops that can be mobilized at the moment. After I went over the situation of several divisions in my mind, I found that he made a very reasonable statement. Under the current situation, it is really impossible to use these troops. The only force that can be used is major general Svoboda's Czech first brigade, but I have no bottom in my heart to let them carry out such a combat mission.

Just as I hesitated, chisgakov called me from the headquarters. He first said by telephone: "Comrade commander, the German attack on Zhitomir has been smashed by us. The German forces to the north of the city have retreated to their starting point of attack. "

"What, the German army in the north of the city has withdrawn?" Although all the German attacks from the north of the city of Zhitomir were repulsed by the commanders and fighters of the 51st division of the guards without exception, they were still a great threat to us. Now I can't help but feel relieved to hear that they have retreated. But I still asked: "did the enemy retreat?"

"Yes, comrade commander." "I've sent scouts to check it out. The German camp in the north of the city is empty. They also carefully searched the nearby areas and found no trace of the Germans. They can be sure that the enemy has all retreated from the north of the city. "

If I had not been born, the commander of the sixth group army of the guards would have said that chisjakov, as a commander of the group army with a very long term of office, is still very capable. When he called me at such a time, it must be more important than just reporting the German retreat. So after a pause, I asked frankly, "Comrade deputy commander, what do you think of this?"

"We launched a large-scale attack from several directions at the same time, which certainly aroused the vigilance of the German army," chisjakov said cautiously. "In order to prevent our encirclement and annihilation, I think they are ready to shrink their forces."

As for this analysis of chisgakov, I agree: "yes, the Germans may find that our offensive is unprecedentedly strong, so they should adjust their deployment in time to minimize losses."

When I said this, my eyes were fixed on the map on the table, and I was thinking that rokosovsky's tactics this time could be called a magic stroke. The 27th and 40th group armies launched attacks on uman; In the southwest of Kiev, the 38th and 60th group armies kept the two German armored divisions in check through constant counterattack; The first group army and the third group army bypassed the battle site and made a direct attack on fastif. By storming the city, they threatened the flank rear of the German Panzer Division that was attacking Kiev.

"Comrade commander, I have another question." After I finished, chisgakov suddenly said, "I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead, comrade deputy commander." I said politely, "if you want to ask anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

Chisgakov was silent for a while, then asked slowly: "according to the battle report provided by the headquarters of the front army, after 50 minutes of artillery preparation and bombing, the main assault group of our front army turned to comprehensive attack, broke through the German defense in a very short time, and successfully developed in depth. I want to ask, "why did this all-round attack progress so successfully?"

"Very simple, comrade deputy commander." I heard clearly that he was still entangled in this matter, so I said to him with a smile, "don't forget that the person in charge of making the battle plan and commanding the battle is general rokosovsky. Because of the good secrecy work, Manstein obviously didn't know that the commander of our front army had been temporarily replaced, and he was still using the same way to deal with watujing to deal with rokosovsky, so he didn't suffer a big loss. "

"So it is." After listening to my explanation, chisjakov suddenly realized: "it's like two chess players are playing chess. They've played for a long time. One of them suddenly changes players, while the other doesn't realize it. He still follows the original steps. It's strange that he doesn't lose."

"This metaphor is very vivid." After I finished this sentence, I turned the topic to the encirclement and annihilation of the German forces in fativ: "at present, the primary task of the front army is to completely annihilate the German forces in fativ and eliminate their threat to Kiev, so that the main force can be quickly transferred to the direction of hitomir and continue to advance in depth to the German forces."

"In that case, is it necessary for our troops in Zhitomir to take some action?" "For example, a small-scale counter offensive, the restoration of some positions occupied by the enemy, and their main force firmly contained here?" he asked tentatively

"Not for the time being." Although this proposal of chisgakov is extremely attractive, I know in my heart that it is not appropriate to adopt such tactics with the existing strength of our group army“ At present, the artillery shells are exhausted, so it is impossible to provide the necessary firepower support for the troops when they attack. It is difficult to seize the enemy's position only by relying on limited tanks to guide the infantry to charge. "

Hearing what I said, chisjakov was somewhat disappointed. However, he did not refute me, but said helplessly: "well, comrade commander, since you say so, I will let the troops of Zhitomir continue to maintain the status quo." After a moment's pause, he continued, "I heard that you sent the tank brigade and cavalry division to cut off the road of the South escape of the German army of fastif?"

"Yes, under the cover of the air force, we temporarily cut off the road for the German army to flee south." When I answered his question, I intentionally emphasized that it was with the support of the air force. At the same time, I also told him the current difficulties: "however, only cavalry divisions and tank brigades are not enough. Once the German forces break through again with all their strength, I am worried that their defense line will be broken by the German."

"Your concerns are quite right." "When it comes to attack, it's the strength of the cavalry division and the tank brigade," chisjakov echoed. But when it comes to defense, it's obviously not what they're good at. Therefore, I suggest that an infantry unit should be dispatched immediately to build field fortifications by using the terrain there to prevent possible German breakout operations. "

As for his proposal, I complained endlessly: "our troops are mainly in titomir and fastiev. Even in korostevev, there are only battalion level formed units in defense. How can we draw troops and strengthen the defense of cavalry division?"

"Comrade commander, in fact, we still have an army that has not been used." When I finished, chisgakov reminded me carefully.

Although I guess what he said may be the first Czech brigade in Svoboda, I still tentatively asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don't know which army you are talking about?"

"General Svoboda's first Czech brigade." Chisjakov's answer was exactly what I expected.

I said cautiously, "but now they are in charge of the defense of the base. If they are transferred away, the defense of the base will become weak."

"Don't worry, comrade commander. I have taken into account all your concerns. " Chisgakov said confidently: "even if the Czech first brigade is transferred, we still have commander Carmela's close guard motorized sixth regiment here. With them, there should be no problem with the security of the base."

Seeing that, I knew that he must have thought it over. Originally, he immediately agreed, but he thought that he did not know the situation of the Czech first brigade, so he asked: "what is the strength of the Czech first brigade?"

"The brigade consists of three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment, as well as some other units, with a total of 6000 troops." On hearing my question, chisgakov immediately reported it to me as if it were his own. "In their equipment, there are 2000 assault rifles, 1000 bobosha submachine guns, and 100 light machine guns..."

When I heard the series of data reported by kisjakov, I felt a lot more at ease. Since they have such equipment, their combat effectiveness must be about the same. Besides, there will be the cooperation of cavalry division and tank brigade at that time. It should be no problem to block the German breakthrough. Thinking of this, I immediately and decisively replied, "well, comrade deputy commander, since that's the case, you can tell general Svoboda that he will immediately lead his troops to the southwest of fastif, join the cavalry division and tank brigade that are there, and seize the time to build fortifications."

Berey, who was standing nearby, listened to my conversation with chisgakov, and his face was full of joy. When I put down the phone, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, it's very right to send the first Czech brigade to the southwest to stop the German army from breaking through. Although the number of them is small, their combat effectiveness will never be worse than that of one of our divisions. I believe they can resolutely smash the German attempt to break through the encirclement. " The battle of fativ did not stop because of the coming of night, but became more intense. Our twelve tank divisions and infantry divisions are in the final battle with the German two and a half infantry divisions. In the southwest of fastif, although I only invested in two infantry divisions, one mechanized brigade and three tank brigades, thanks to the rich experience of street fighting in the front command, sherekin has achieved far more results than the friendly forces. At the moment, they are advancing towards the city center at an amazing speed. Xie Liujin called from the front edge to announce his good news. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. My vanguard is less than two blocks away from the church in the center of the city. In an hour at most, we can put the red flag at the highest point of the church." From his tone, I recognized that he was a little complacent, and immediately reminded him, "Mr. Xie Liujin, although you are going well now, you can't take it lightly. Although the German armored division has jumped out of our encirclement, they still have a lot of tanks and cannons in the city. These technical equipment will cause great casualties to our attacking troops. Therefore, when you attack, you should keep a high degree of vigilance and try to minimize the casualties of the troops. Do you understand? "“ I see, comrade commander. " Xie Liujin confidently said to me: "it's not the first time for me to command the troops to fight in the street. Our tactics are steady and steady. Every time we occupy a street, we will consolidate one street. We will never give the Germans a chance to make a comeback."“ Well done, Comrade General. You and your men are well done. " After praising him, I asked, "by the way, how did general babajanian's mechanized 20th brigade perform?"“ Although I sent a lot of grassroots commanders to assist him in the past, the speed of the brigade was not ideal. " "When they attacked the bus station, they lost more than a battalion of troops and failed to take down the ticket hall of the station. In the end, the 77th division of the guards sent a company and launched two charges in a row. Only then did it eliminate the enemy inside and successfully win the ticket hall. "