Chapter 1374

The German vanguard arrived in the west of the city in the evening, following the defeated allies. Perhaps they underestimated the enemy too much and thought that the Soviet troops defeated by them would not have much fighting power, but they bumped into the solid defensive position of the 89th division.

After an hour of fierce fighting between the long-distance German troops and the leisurely sheriujin division, they dropped more than a dozen burning tanks and more than 200 corpses in front of the position, and then retreated in ashes.

When he learned that our army had successfully repulsed the German attack, Batov called me. He said excitedly on the phone: "general oshanina, your troops are really good. They let the enemy get a head in front of your position."

I know very well in my heart that the reason why we can easily beat back the German attack is that the German army is very tired after a long-distance attack and repeated battles; Second, relying on solid positions, our army is waiting for work with ease. So after listening to Batov's praise, I just smile, and then understate: "general Batov, the Germans will never be reconciled to their failure. I believe they will carry out crazy revenge tomorrow."

"What can I do for you?" Batov asked politely.

I thought that the fuel of the tank battalion was limited, and our fuel would have to wait at least a few days to arrive, so under the current situation, I had to ask Batov for help. I tentatively asked, "general Batov, I don't have much fuel for my tank battalion. I wonder if you can provide us with the fuel we need?"

"Tank fuel?"

"Yes, tank fuel."

"No problem." After getting my definite reply, Batov told me very simply: "in the southwest of the city, there is an oil depot with six tanks full of fuel. Your tanks can go there to replenish fuel."

It was said that there were six oil tanks, and my heart was at ease. In this way, let alone one tank battalion, even if there were ten or eight more, the fuel supply would not be a problem.

After informing shamrih to go to the oil depot in the south of the city to replenish fuel, I called sherekin again. I could tell from his voice that his fighting enthusiasm was high at the moment, so I said with a smile, "general Xie Liujin, although you have won today, you can't be proud. The Germans have suffered a great loss today, and they will certainly take revenge on you tomorrow. You should be prepared for it

"Don't worry, comrade commander." Maybe it was the victory in the evening that made Xie Liujin confident. He patted his chest and assured me, "when did our division let you down?"?! If the enemy doesn't come, it will. As long as they come, we will surely teach them a lesson that will never be forgotten. Let them tremble as soon as they hear our name

Self confidence is good, but overconfidence is pride. It's easy to suffer big losses. So as soon as Xie Liujin finished, I immediately reminded him in a serious tone: "Comrade Xie Liujin, although you have won a battle, you can't be complacent. You know, the German is not as bad as you think."

"Comrade commander," Xie Liujin said respectfully after receiving my criticism, "there are a lot of concrete blockhouses in the west of the city. If the enemy wants to open a channel from them, it will take at least four or five days. In such a long period of time, not only the other divisions of the group army can arrive at zhylobin in time, but with good luck, the Fifth Army of the close guard tank can also arrive here. If we add many artillery regiments and rocket barracks, we can launch a comprehensive counter offensive as long as we repel the enemy's attack. "

"All right, all right, general Xie Liujin." I didn't wait for him to finish his YY, so I directly interrupted his words: "when to counter attack the enemy is not what you should consider. Your first task now is to let the commanders and fighters reinforce the fortifications overnight, resolutely block the German attack, and gain precious time for our army's assembly. "

As soon as I got through with sherekin, rokosovsky's call came in. He said, "Rita, your troops are fighting very well today and have prevented the enemy from rushing to zhylobin. Please express my thanks to your soldiers for their great contribution to the defense of our motherland."

"Comrade commander of the front army," since he officially became a member of the Belarusian front army, my name for rokosovsky has changed, "please rest assured that we will guard zhylobin at all costs and never let them cross the city for a step."

"I'm mobilizing the 11th army to attack from the flank of the attack on zhylobin." "However, it may take two or three days to assemble the troops because they are too scattered at present," rokosowski said slowly. What I'm asking you now is to stay in zhelobin for three days and fight for precious time for the assembly of troops. "

When I heard the name of the 11th army, I immediately thought of feijiuningsky, who had saved my life, and asked with concern: "Comrade commander of the front army, are you talking about the troops of general feijiuningsky?"

"Fejaninsky was transferred to the Leningrad front army just two days ago," rokosovsky said with a bit of depression, probably because his good friend had been transferred away. "The troops are under the command of the deputy commander at present, but according to the information I have, they will be withdrawn soon, and the troops will be divided into the 48th and 63rd army groups. That is to say, this is the last battle of the group army. "

I recognized that rokosovsky was in a bad mood, so I quickly changed the topic and said, "don't worry, comrade commander of the front army, with our existing strength, it's no problem to stick to zherobin for three days." Because I was worried about what would happen, which would lead to the failure of the follow-up troops to arrive on time, I did not report to rokosovsky about my plan to launch a counterattack against the German army.

"If so, that would be great." After listening to my statement, rokosovsky immediately said in a relaxed tone, "Rita, I believe in your promise."

Considering that the successive victories of the German army are in a stage of high morale and still have an advantage in strength and equipment, we are bound to pay a high price if we fight them hard. After thinking for a long time, I called razumeyeva over and told her to say, "Captain, send a telegram to the air force and let them be ready to attack tomorrow. Once you receive an order to attack, you must rush to the battlefield for air support in the shortest possible time. "

When razumeyeva went to the communication room to send a report, akhromeyev suddenly said to me, "Comrade commander, I just heard that the 11th army will be withdrawn in the near future, right?"

"Yes, it is." I don't think akhromeyev can ask about this without any reason. He must have some thoughts. He asked curiously, "major, do you have anything to say to me?"

"That's right." Akhromeyev nodded and admitted my conjecture, "as far as I know, the troops under the command of general fejiuningsky are still quite powerful. Now that they have withdrawn, I don't know if I can ask the superior to assign some commanders and fighters to us, even if an infantry division or a tank regiment is not full. "

If akhromeyev didn't mention it, I haven't really thought about it. After hearing him mention this, I feel a little excited: Yes, there should be a lot of experienced veterans in the 11th group army. If we can add them to our group army, it will be very helpful to enhance the combat effectiveness of our army.

However, considering that rokosovsky is not in a good mood at the moment, if he calls rashly to discuss this matter with him, he may be rejected. Why don't we wait until tomorrow's battle is over, and when I call him to report the situation, I'll tell him something about it and see how he will react at that time.

When I made up my mind, I said to akhromeyev, "major, thank you for reminding me of this. However, it is not the best time to mention it to the commander of the front army. Or when I call him to report to him after tomorrow's battle, I'll mention it. I think he may readily agree to it

There is a church near the headquarters. Although it is not as good as the one in the center, you can still see the defensive positions in the western suburbs from the bell tower.

As soon as it was light, akhromeyev and I came to the bell tower. I raised my telescope and looked at our army array a few kilometers away. I found that there were many concrete fortifications, as Xie Liujin said. These fortifications should have been built before the war. Unfortunately, the speed of German attack was too fast, and our army was defeated by the enemy before they could use these fortifications. Now we just use this fortification to compete with the German army.

Akhromeyev, standing next to me, saw these fortifications and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, do you know? At the beginning, after general Petrovsky's troops successfully occupied zhylobin, the German army launched a crazy counterattack against the city. A battalion of the 437th infantry regiment, under the command of batarov, the battalion commander, persevered for half a month. "

When akhromeyev told the glorious history of the 63rd infantry army, I just listened in silence. From time to time, I gave a "grace" or nodded to show that I was listening.

Finally, akhromeyev concluded to me: "since a battalion of friendly forces could hold out outside the city for such a long time, it should be no problem for us to use the strength of a division to hold the old defense line."

As for akhromeyev's statement, I immediately agreed: "major, what you said is very reasonable. At the beginning, our troops were able to hold on for such a long time under the condition of backward equipment and little experience in fighting with the enemy, not to mention being one of the most effective troops in our group army, I'm sure general sherekin won't let me down. "

At that time, when the needle pointed to eight o'clock, the enemy began to bombard the western suburbs. In an instant, the whole position was enveloped by fire and smoke.

I stood on the clock tower, listening to the endless explosion in the distance, one by one, and the floor under my feet was shaking slightly. Although I can't see the position clearly, I can also guess that most of the commanders and fighters should have gone into the blast hole. The soldiers who stayed as observers should also be hiding in the trenches, with their mouths open, their bellies retracted and their backs arched slightly to reduce the vibration of the ground.

I turned to akhromeyev and said, "major, ask razumeyeva to send a message to the air force, so that they can attack the German artillery positions immediately."

After akhromeyev left, I raised my telescope and looked at the smoke filled position for a while. I found that I still couldn't see anything. I went to the nearby phone, grabbed the phone, stuck it to my ear, and quickly dialed Xie Liujin. As soon as I heard his voice, I said to him in a loud voice, "general sherekin, the Germans are shelling your position. Can you contact the front now?"

"No problem, comrade commander." "Even if the telephone line is broken by the bomb, we can still keep in touch through wireless communication," Xie said with a clear mind“ Good, good. " After two good words, I said to seleucin, "I have given the air force an order to carry out air strikes on German artillery positions to relieve your pressure. Please inform the commander of the front line that when our fighters appear, they will direct the attack targets for them. "“ No problem. I'll get in touch with the frontier right away. " After these words, Xie Liujin said with some regret: "unfortunately, the planes allocated to our group army are all fighters. If there are several bombers, it will be a disaster for the German artillery."“ It would be nice to have a fighter. " As for Xie Liujin's greedy statement, I said with a slight smile, "don't forget that in the early days of defending Zhitomir, our troops were bombed in the city every day, so that even the artillery didn't dare to use them casually. We are deeply afraid that once we are locked in the direction by the enemy's reconnaissance plane, we will be bombarded by bombers. " As soon as I put down the phone, akhromeyev with a happy face came up with a telegram and told me excitedly, "Comrade commander, the air force has called back."“ So fast? " I thought that it was less than five minutes before akhromeyev's return when I gave the order. So when I received the telegram from him, I couldn't help asking, "how can the air force react so quickly?"“ I think the air force operator should always be in front of the telegraph, "akhromeyev told me, knowing that I didn't have the patience to read the contents of the telegram carefully." Colonel bovishchenko said that at dawn today, his pilots were sitting in their own planes waiting for the order of attack. As soon as they received the telegram, they immediately took off and came to us as fast as they could. It only took them 40 minutes at most to reach the sky above the enemy artillery position. "