Chapter 1369

Originally, according to my assumption, the attack of rokosovsky's troops on kalinkovich and moziri would officially start in early January. After all, according to the information I have, the left wing of general Batov's 65th army has advanced near kalinkovich; General belov's 61st army also reached moziri's approach. The two groups are now fortifying the above-mentioned areas due to the excessive consumption of soldiers, weapons and ammunition in the early fighting.

Just when the situation looks good, something unexpected happens. The German army quietly gathered a large number of troops near kalinkovich and launched a surprise attack on the right wing of general Batov's 65th army. After our troops, who are now recovering, are attacked, it is very difficult to organize effective resistance in a hurry. They can only retreat to the rear continuously in the process of continuous resistance.

As the remaining troops were severely reduced in the early fighting, and the weapons and ammunition were not replenished in time, it was very difficult to provide effective support to the 65th group army which was under attack. At this time, rokosovsky called me for help: "Rita, at present, comrade Batov's situation is very bad. They were suddenly attacked by the German army, and the army suffered a lot of casualties. Although your group army has not been officially included in the composition of the Belarusian front army, can you send troops to support them? "

I looked at the map in front of me, and then answered, "Comrade General, it's more than 300 kilometers from Smolensk to zhylobin, where the headquarters of the 65th group army is located. If you add in more than 100 kilometers from zhylobin to kalinkovich, the whole journey will be more than 400 kilometers. Even if I immediately send troops to support general Batov day and night, it will take at least two to three days. I don't know if they can support that long? "

Rokosovsky listened to me and immediately fell silent. From the receiver came the sound of turning the paper, I guess he was calculating which route my troops should take. After a while, his voice came out from the receiver: "Rita, the railway traffic from Smolensk to zlobin has returned to normal. You can let a division of troops take the train to zlobin to cooperate with the local troops to build fortifications to stop the enemy rushing there."

I used my hand to draw a figure on the map. If the troops were to take the train to zlobin, it would only take six or seven hours on the road at most, which is much faster than taking the car from the road. So I readily agreed, "well, comrade general, I'll send troops to zhelopin by train at once."

When I put down the phone, I asked akhromeyev to contact the railway station and ask the station to prepare the car for us immediately and prepare to transport troops and tanks.

When chisjakov heard that I had to transport tanks by train, he persuaded me: "Comrade commander, a train can transport at most 30 tanks, but if it is used to transport infantry, it can transport at least 3000 more people."

"Comrade deputy commander, I see what you mean." I laughed at chisgakov, and then explained, "general Batov's 65th army is losing ground under the fierce German attack. If all our reinforcements are infantry, how can we resist the German armored forces?"

"Isn't our infantry equipped with 40 rocket launchers?" Chisgakov said strangely: "they can completely solve the German tanks."

"Rockets are enough for defense." I didn't beat around the Bush and made it clear to chisgakov, "but we should not only block the enemy's attack, but also counterattack the enemy when conditions are ripe. If we don't have the cooperation of tanks in counterattack, our troops will pay a high price, which I don't want to see

With these words, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, call the two flight commanders and ask them to report to me immediately. I will assign combat tasks to them."

When I heard that I would call the head of the regiment, chisjakov felt even more incredible. "Why, comrade commander, do you still want the air force to take part in the counterattack against the German army?"

"Yes, comrade deputy commander, that's how I think about it." I said confidently, "in the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, our newly recovered troops can not only tenaciously block the enemy's attack, but also have the strength to counterattack the enemy and return them to their original starting point. Of course, in order to do all this, we need not only the support of tank troops, but also the air force to control the air. "

As for my arrangement, chisgakov shook his head with a wry smile and did not speak any more. Instead, he looked down at the map and studied which division he was going to transfer to go to zhylobin by train.

Akhromeyev first came over and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the station master has said that in one hour, the locomotive head and carriage we need will be in place, and then our commanders and fighters and tanks will be able to wait for the train."

Then bzikov also came to me and reported, "Comrade commander, I have called the two heads of the flying regiment. They will arrive at the headquarters in half an hour to accept your orders."

After hearing the reports of akhromeyev and bezikov, I nodded with satisfaction. Then he turned to look at chisgakov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, have you considered it? Which army is going to reinforce general Batov? "

"What I am most optimistic about is the 51st division of the close guard of Colonel shejerikov, whose combat effectiveness is among the best in the whole group army. Unfortunately, they are currently stationed in yarcevo and can't catch up with Smolensk within three to four hours. And the most precious thing we have right now is time. " Chisgakov said helplessly: "I think it's better for major general Xie Liujin's close guard 89th division to go up first. As for the tank brigade that took part in the first battle, we sent the 82nd tank brigade, which was soon rebuilt. I believe that these two troops will perform well when they arrive in zhylobin. " Xie Liujin, who received the order, trotted all the way into the headquarters. He walked up to us, raised his hand and saluted everyone. Then he looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, major general Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th division of Jinwei, has been ordered to come. I'm at your service. Please give me instructions."“ Come to me, sir. " When sherekin came over, I pointed to the map and said to him, "the German army counterattacked our troops in kalinkovich. At present, general Batov's troops have suffered serious losses and are retreating towards zhylobin. The task of your division is to take the train to zhylobin as soon as possible, cooperate with the local garrison to build fortifications and resist the possible German attack. " Xie Liujin grinned after listening to my assignment, and then confidently said, "don't worry, comrade commander, our division has just completed the replenishment of troops and equipment, the morale of the commanders and fighters is high, and everyone is full of fighting enthusiasm. When we get to zhylobin this time, we will certainly defeat the enemy in the future."“ Your task is not just to block the enemy's attack. " When he finished, I immediately added: "when conditions are ripe, we need to fight back to the enemy without hesitation and drive them back to kalinkovich." As soon as I said this, Xie Liujin's face suddenly changed, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently. He said, "Comrade commander, please forgive me. Since the enemy can defeat general Batov's troops, they must be very strong. I have only one division in my hand. With the cooperation of friendly forces, it may not be a big problem to block the enemy's attack, but I think it is impossible to counter the enemy. "“ Comrade Xie Liujin. " Seeing his intention to shirk responsibility, I immediately put on a face and said in a serious tone: "do you think I will let your division die? In addition to a tank brigade, I will also send the fighters of the flying regiment to provide you with the necessary air support. "“ What, air support? " When Xie Liujin heard that I would send the air force to assist in the battle, his eyes suddenly brightened and he quickly asked, "is this all true?" I gave a wry smile and said, "Mr. Xie Liujin, when did I cheat you? I said that if there is air force support, there must be air force support. You just have to be confident and dare to launch a counterattack against the enemy. I assure you that your division will never fight alone, and there will be new troops coming to chilobin tomorrow to fight side by side with you. " While we were talking, the two flight commanders who received the notice came to the headquarters. They came up to me, raised their hands and said in a neat way, "Comrade commander, Captain bovishchenko (lieutenant commander Bliss) is here. We are at your disposal. Please give us instructions!" I called the two commanders to the table, pointed to the position of zhiluobin, and asked bovishchenko: "Comrade Colonel, I plan to let you two flying regiments arrive over zhiluobin tomorrow to provide air support for our combat forces. How about that? Is the range of our fighters enough? "“ That's enough. " Bowie first learned what I was like and drew on the map with his hands for a while. Then he said, "our jacques-7 fighter has a maximum speed of 560 kmh and a range of 643 km. There is no problem in a round trip."“ What kind of weapons do you have on your fighters? "Asked chisjakov, who, like me, knew nothing about airplanes." can you cope with enemy airplanes? "“ Don't worry, comrade deputy commander. " "Our fighters are equipped with a 20 mm gun, two 7.62 mm machine guns and six rs-82 rockets, which are specially used to deal with German aircraft," bovishchenko told chisgakov with a smile After hearing this, chisgakov turned to me and said with a smile, "this is really wonderful. In this case, I believe that the strength of the flying regiment is enough to provide enough air cover for the 89th division and tank brigade of the close guard on the ground." After all the tasks were deployed, I waved to Xie Liujin, who was standing on the side, and said, "Mr. Xie Liujin, it's getting late. Go back and organize the troops to board the car immediately. The troops of zhiluobin are still waiting for you."