Chapter 1372

Although the condition of my special carriage is much better than that of the stuffy tank carriage where the commanders and fighters stay, I still feel backache when I get off the train after seven hours.

As soon as I got out of the car, a burly commander came up to me, raised his hand and politely asked, "is that general o'shanina?"

"Yes, it's me." After looking up and down the strange commander, I asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, I don't know what part of you are?"

"Comrade General," the commander replied with a smile, "I'm lieutenant commander Matvey, general Batov's adjutant. I've been ordered to take you to the headquarters of the group army."

"Matvey." After repeating the name, I said with a smile, "Matvey means" the gift of the Lord. "It's a very good name."

When Matvey heard me comment on his name, he grinned and said, "Comrade General, you know a lot." Said, the body side, made a please posture, "Jeep waiting for you outside the platform, please!"

I looked left and right for a moment, but I didn't see Xie jielikov's figure, so I asked razumeyeva to stay so as to inform Xie jielikov of my whereabouts. After all this, I said to lieutenant colonel Matvey with a smile, "OK, comrade lieutenant colonel, let's go to general Batov's army."

The city of zhylobin is full of scenes of the coming war. I look out through the window. From time to time, I can see soldiers building barricades in the street and a small army in a hurry. I took my eyes back from the window, looked at Matvey and asked, "Comrade commander, what's the situation like now? How far is the enemy from zhylobin?"

Matvey, sitting in the co pilot's seat, leaned over and said, "Comrade General, the situation is very bad. Under the cover of tanks, the enemy is pushing our army's defense in depth and tenaciously. Now it is nearly 60 kilometers away from the city. Perhaps in this evening or tomorrow morning, the shells of the enemy's tanks may fall on the streets of the city and explode. "

It would take a week or two for our army to break through the enemy's defensive position six kilometers deep. According to the lieutenant commander, it only takes a few hours for the German army 60 kilometers from the city to advance to the city of zhylobin. This variance is too large. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but ask myself, "how could this happen?"

Matvey didn't answer my question. He just gave me a wry smile, and then said euphemistically, "Comrade General, it's better to wait until the headquarters and let the commander explain it to you in person."

The jeep stopped next to a church near the center of the city, and lieutenant colonel Matvey guided me into the group headquarters here. From the respectful attitude of the soldiers we met on the way to Matvey, I guessed that the comrade commander who led me must be a man whom Batov trusted deeply.

We walked through the noisy hall and came to a corner. Matvey suddenly quickened his pace, walked behind several commanders around the long wooden table, raised his hand to salute, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, I have been ordered to take general o'shanina to the area!"

Hearing Matvey's voice, the commanders straightened up and looked at me. Then Batov, who was of medium build and thin face, came up to me. At the same time, he took the initiative to extend his right hand and said in a friendly way, "Hello, general oshanina, welcome to my headquarters."

When I shook hands with Batov, I politely said, "Hello, general Batov. I'm glad to meet you here, too. I hope that in the next battle, our two troops can fight side by side. "

Batov let go of my hand and made a gesture to me sideways. When I came to the table, he took the initiative to introduce to me: "general oshanina, I don't think you know my deputy. I'll introduce you: This is my military commissar..., this is the deputy commander..., this is my chief of staff..., this is my artillery chief..."

Every time he introduced me to someone, I would step forward, hold each other's hand, and politely exchange greetings. After the introduction of all the commanders, I turned to look at him and asked, "general Batov, we are all old acquaintances. We used to fight side by side outside Stalingrad, so I want to ask you a question. I hope you can answer me truthfully."

When Batov heard me say this, he flashed an uneasy expression on his face, but he soon recovered his calm and said faintly, "excuse me, comrade oshanina, as long as I know, I will answer you truthfully."

"General Batov, how did all this happen?" I thought to myself, according to the war report, the 65th army has been going smoothly on the battlefield in Belarus. How could it be suddenly defeated by the German army? There must be some reasons, so I asked, "according to the war reports I have seen, isn't the progress of your group army very smooth? How could they be defeated by the German army in such a short time

"Well, comrade o'shanina, you don't know something." Batov sighed and said: "yes, our group army is progressing very smoothly on the battlefield. In order to defeat kalinkovich's German army as soon as possible and join the 61st group army which is close to moziri, I will concentrate the main forces of the group army on the left. Because our progress was too smooth, we did not send scouts in time to investigate the German deployment. The Germans took advantage of our negligence and concentrated a large number of troops on the right side of our army. When the left wing of our army was restrained by a German army, the enemy suddenly launched a fierce attack on our right wing. "

When Batov said this, he stopped and sighed. Fortunately, his chief of staff saw that I was eager to know what happened next, so he took the initiative to introduce to me: "our army has only one division on the right wing, with a tank brigade outside. How can we block the strong attack of two German armored divisions and three German infantry divisions? Besides, the main force of the left wing is also contained, Even if you want to transfer troops, you can't do it. "

"Our soldiers are very tough." Batov's military commissar went on to say: "although the German troops are several times more than us, and their technical equipment is also better than us, after a long period of fighting, the already exhausted soldiers are fighting tenaciously. With their own blood and life, they are delaying the German army's advance to zhylobin."

After listening to the military commissar's euphemistic description, I immediately understood what happened. One of the factors was that they were caught off guard by the German army; What's more, it may be that after a long period of fighting, not only the troops and weapons and ammunition were consumed seriously, but also the commanders and fighters were exhausted.

Now that I know the reason why Batov lost, I have some idea whether I can stop the German attack. I was silent for a moment. Then I asked Batov, "general Batov, I don't know where the leading division of our army is?"

"Comrade o'shanina, look here." Batov pointed to the map in front of him and said to me, "there was only one mixed brigade of more than 3000 people in zhylobin. I was worried that the troops were not enough and it was difficult to keep the city. When your 89th guard division arrived in time. At present, I have deployed them in the west of the city, where there are relatively perfect defensive positions. If they rely on their positions for defense, they can completely block the strong attack of the German army. "

After staring at the map for a while, I raised my head and said to Batov, "don't worry, general Batov, the 89th division of general Xie Liujin's close guard is a group army directly under the central government. Their combat effectiveness is second to none in the whole group army. Moreover, with the assistance of a tank brigade, I believe they have no problem in guarding the position in the west of the city."

"Comrade General, I'm sorry. Can you listen to me?" As soon as I finished, the deputy commander took the initiative to speak. With my permission, he said awkwardly, "the tank brigade you sent is not deployed in the west of the city."

"What, the tank brigade is not deployed in the west of the city?" I thought that I would arrive at the 82nd tank brigade in zhylobin with the 89th guard division. Although they were only equipped with 30 tanks, they were all new tanks. With the cooperation of infantry, they were fully capable of competing with the 100 or 200 tanks of the German armored division. But now I heard that the tank brigade and the guard division were deployed separately. I couldn't help but ask in exasperation, "so where are they deployed?"

"South of the city, your tank brigade is now deployed in the south of the city." The deputy commander probably saw that my face was very ugly, so he quickly explained to me with fear: "our defense in the south of the city is quite weak, and the Germans may know this loophole in our defense. In order to avoid their detour from here, I will deploy your tank brigade there. "

After listening to the deputy commander's explanation, my mood became worse and worse. Without the cooperation of infantry, the tank brigade would be easily killed by the enemy's anti tank men. But in front of so many commanders at the same level, I can't get angry with the deputy commander.

I took two deep breaths and tried to calm myself. Then I turned to Batov and said, "general Batov, I want to discuss something with you."

"Go ahead, general oshanina." Batov said politely.

"The troops of our group army will continue to march into zhiluobin. In order to avoid causing confusion, I suggest that we divide the defense areas as soon as possible." I picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, pointed to the position of zhylobin and said, "our army is responsible for the West and south of the city; Your troops are responsible for the defense of the north and east of the city. Do you think that's all right? "

"Comrade o'shanina, may I ask why the defense areas should be divided in this way?" Batov questioned my simple and direct way of dividing defense areas.

"General Batov, your troops are limited at present. It is obviously inappropriate to use your troops for defense in key directions." Although I was standing in Batov's group army headquarters, I seemed to say to a group of my subordinates as if there were no one else: "the enemy can't come from that direction because it borders on general fijiuningsky's 11th group army in the north; In the East, it belongs to the rear of our army. Our troops are entering the city one by one along this direction, and it is even more impossible for the enemy to attack the city in that direction. "

When I finished, all the commanders around the table were silent. After a long time, Batov's chief of staff first spoke and broke the silence. He carefully asked, "general oshanina, I can ask, why do you divide the defense area like this?"

Hearing that he repeated Batov's question again, I knew in my heart that they were not satisfied with the answer I had just given. I organized some words in my mind, and then I said, "Comrade chief of staff, please forgive me for saying that it is very difficult to compete with the enemy with the existing forces in your city. Instead of letting you sacrifice in vain, we should let our troops, who have been keeping their energy and energy, go ahead. After we have blocked the enemy's attack and consumed a lot of their living strength, it will not be too late for you to take part in our counter offensive. "

Before I came in, everyone was discussing how to block the enemy's attack, but at this time I talked about the counter attack to them without shame. In addition to Batov, several of his deputies showed disdainful expressions on their faces. Although they flashed by, they were clearly seen by me. When I saw that all the people were silent, I raised my voice and asked, "I don't know if you have any different opinions on my defense division plan. If there is no objection, it will be settled." As soon as the voice fell, I saw the deputy commander's mouth open, as if he wanted to say something. Before he spoke, I hastily added: "since there is no objection, then we should report this plan to the headquarters of the front army immediately. I believe general rokosovsky will certainly support my proposal. " Seeing that I carried out rokosovsky, the deputy commander who was about to speak quickly closed his mouth and turned to Batov for help, obviously hoping that his superior would come forward to oppose my proposal. But after staring at the map for half a day, Batov looked up at me, tried to squeeze a smile on his face and said, "Comrade oshanina, I know you are doing it for our sake. To tell you the truth, I really want to refuse you. There is no reason why we need friendly forces to protect ourselves in our own defense zone. However, after repeated consideration, I have decided to accept your proposal. After all, our troops are not only severely reduced, but also the soldiers are exhausted. It is almost impossible to block the enemy with superior strength and equipment. So I finally decided that the division of defense areas in the city should be as you said! "