When I was about to call Lukin, I suddenly remembered something. I put the receiver I had picked up on the base of the phone again, looked at Batov and asked curiously, "general Batov, I want to ask you how you drove away the enemy in the city when you captured svelogorsk some time ago."
Batov shook his head and said with a smile: "when we attacked, the German army ran away. It can be said that without fighting, we successfully entered svelogorsk."
After listening to Batov's words, I can't help feeling a little unbalanced. These damned Germans ran away without firing a shot when they were fighting with the 65th army; Now my troops have laid heavy troops outside the city, and they are ready to fight against me.
Perhaps aware of my mood swings, Batov quickly added: "at that time, the German forces were too limited to stop our attack, so they had to retreat. But in the process of retreat, they used special railcars to cut all the sleepers on the railway into two sections, which made it impossible for us to transport troops and materials through the railway for quite a long time. "
The German army's practice is very vicious. They cut off the sleepers, which is much better than simply blasting the roadbed or scraping the rails. If our army wants to resume the railway transportation, it needs to lay the rails and sleepers again. That's a lot of work. At least in a month or two, we will no longer be able to use the railway for transportation, but we will not be able to transport the soldiers and materials, It can only be carried out through roads with poor road conditions.
Without waiting for me to call Lukin or nikolasov, rokosovsky called first. He asked bluntly, "Rita, are you close to Batov in svelogorsk?"
I took a look at bartov sitting next to me. He obviously heard rokosovsky's voice. He immediately focused on me and looked at me quietly without saying a word. I rushed to the microphone and said, "yes, comrade commander of the front army, general Batov and I are in the forefront."
"Tell me about your situation there." Although rokosovsky received our report, in order to grasp the situation on the front line more accurately, he asked with concern: "when can you launch an attack on the enemy?"
"The artillery will bombard the German positions on the outskirts of the city at four o'clock." I took no time to report to rokosovsky our operational plan: "after the shelling, the 52nd guard division and the 375TH Infantry Division will attack from the north and east of the city respectively; The three divisions of the 65th army launched attacks from the south of the city. "
After I finished my report, rokosovsky asked directly, "Rita, it's getting dark early now. It will be completely dark around six o'clock. Are you going to let our five divisions fight the German army at night in the city? Svelogorsk is a small city. It is estimated that it will be difficult for so many of our troops to enter it. At that time, it will not only affect the fighting process, but also cause unnecessary casualties. "
"Comrade commander, I have taken into account what you said." "Although I gave orders to the troops to attack, they would not fight at night with the Germans," I said
"Not to fight at night with the Germans?" My words confused rokosovsky. He asked, "Rita, I'm confused by you. Please explain to me what's going on?"
"Well, comrade commander of the front army." I politely replied, "you should know that there are still 30000 residents in the city. Their houses are too crowded to withstand our shells. Besides, the population in the city is so dense that if a shell goes down, it will cause many casualties. Of course, there are Germans, but more of them should be our civilians. "
After listening to my explanation, rokosovsky hesitated for a moment, and then said with deep feeling, "yes, it's not easy to fight this battle, not only to destroy the enemy, but also to preserve the city and ensure the safety of civilians. Do you have any good ideas? "
"That's my plan. As soon as the shelling is over, I will order the troops to launch a fierce attack on the German defensive positions outside the city, seize the first German line of defense before dark, and then stop the attack. "
"Stop attacking?" Rokosovsky asked in a puzzled way: "since you have successfully captured the first German defense line, why don't you take advantage of the victory, continue to capture their second and third defense lines, and then rush directly into the city?"
"Comrade commander of the front army," seeing that rokosovsky did not guess my intention, I was slightly disappointed, but patiently explained to him, "if we stop attacking after seizing the first line of defense of the German army and reinforce the fortifications in place, the German army will certainly concentrate its superior forces to carry out the counterattack. We can rely on our positions and consume a large amount of the enemy's living strength. When we run into the city again when their strength is exhausted, the resistance we encounter will be greatly weakened. "
"Well, you have a good plan." After my words, rokosovsky immediately agreed, "if we do this, we can annihilate a large number of enemies outside the city, making our next siege easier. Good, good, just do as you say. "
The plan was supported by rokosovsky, which made me more confident. After I put down the phone, I said to Batov with a smile, "general Batov, the commander has agreed to our plan, striving to destroy the enemy in large numbers outside the city, so as to prepare us for seizing svelogorsk."
Next, I called nikolasov and Lukin respectively to inform them of the new plan. Lu Jin is good to say that, after all, he is my old subordinate for many years. As soon as I finish, he immediately and unambiguously said that he would follow my instructions.
After listening to my explanation, he said carelessly, "Comrade commander, if you are worried that there are too many troops swarming into the city and you can't do it, you might as well send our division to fight alone in the street. I promise you that we can wipe out the enemies in the city."
"General Nekrasov." I don't support whether sherekin has passed through the gap with Nekrasov. However, seeing that he is a little ungrateful at the moment, I can't help but say angrily: "don't forget that the German army still has a division in the city. Although they have been weakened in the battle, I don't think they have any problem in dealing with your division. If this battle is affected by your disobedience, I will punish you severely. "
Nikolasov may have never seen me angry. At this moment, he was a little flustered when he heard my tone was very severe. He said quickly, "Comrade commander, you misunderstood me. I didn't mean that I also want to wipe out a few more Germans... Well, I will obey your order. When the troops have captured the first German line of defense, we will stop attacking and reinforce the fortifications in place. "
When the roar came from outside, Batov was somewhat worried about gain and loss: "Comrade oshanina, if the German did not fight back against my position, but chose to retreat directly? What shall we do then? "
"It would be great if the Germans could take the initiative to withdraw from swetrogorsk." As for Batov's worry, I said with disapproval: "in this way, we don't have to worry about destroying the buildings in the city and causing huge casualties to the civilians in the street fighting."
After receiving a phone call, akhromeyev turned to me and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, the convoy carrying shells has arrived. Let them stop here, or send them directly to the artillery position? "
"It's no use saying that, comrade major." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The shelling had been going on for more than ten minutes. The artillery regiment used the little shells they were carrying. If they didn't replenish them in time, the artillery preparation would have to stop. So when I heard that the convoy was arriving, I immediately ordered: "let the convoy send the shells to the artillery position. General povsky should be worried about the shortage of shells. These shells can just solve his urgent need."
"I see." Akhromeyev released his hand on the microphone and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander has an order that the convoy immediately send the shells to the artillery position."
The shelling of the German army lasted for 40 minutes, followed by another salvo from the rocket battalion, enveloping the enemy's position in flames and smoke.
Batov turned to look at me and said solemnly, "can we start?"
I didn't speak, just nodded slightly.
After Batov got my instructions, he turned to ahlomeyev, who had been holding the microphone, and said, "major, let's go!"
Akhromeyev immediately said in a loud voice to the microphone: "Comrade commander orders: attack all lines!"
After less than a minute, there was a tsunami like "Wula" outside the headquarters, which was the roar of the commanders and fighters who took part in the attack.
At the beginning of the attack, Batov and I stood at the lookout, raised our binoculars and watched the attack nervously. In my view, the unit that launched an attack on the German position where the smoke of gunfire had not yet dissipated was lieutenant colonel Lukin's 375TH infantry division. As the starting point of the attack was more than two kilometers away from the enemy's position, the soldiers rushed straight forward and tried to rush to the enemy's position as soon as possible. At the back of the army were soldiers with Maxim heavy machine guns or mortars, whose speed was seriously affected by the heavy equipment.
The German army kept silent until our troops were 500 meters away, and the mortar on the position opened fire first. The shells fall in the attack line and explode, resulting in the air waves and flying shrapnel, which will lift or directly knock down the commanders and fighters near the explosion point.
The speed of charge of the commanders and fighters did not slow down at all because of the enemy's shelling, and they continued to rush bravely to the enemy's positions. When they were still 100 meters away from the enemy's position, all kinds of weapons on the position opened fire together and stormed the attacking soldiers, forcing them to lie down on the spot.
The mortars behind the attack team immediately set up the mortars and fired at the rampant fire points. As the German machine gun fire point after point was killed by our mortars, the German position's firepower weakened. The soldiers who had to crawl because the enemy's firepower was too fierce jumped up from the ground one after another and rushed to the enemy's position with weapons.
"Good job!" Seeing this, Batov put down his telescope, turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, the tactics are good. I don't think in a few minutes, they will be able to rush into the first line of defense of the German army and fight with the enemy in the trench." As long as the troops can rush into the German trenches, I believe it will not be difficult for them to seize the enemy's positions with their existing equipment and the ability of white-edge warfare. After I nodded, I told akhromeyev, "major, call general Nekrasov and ask how they are doing?" As akhromeyev went to make a phone call, Batov gave me a smile and then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I'll also call those teachers and ask them how things are there."“ Well, go and fight. " When I saw Batov pick up the phone, I specially added: "let them not attack too hard, just occupy the first line of defense of the German army, and don't go on."“ Don't worry, comrade oshanina. " Bartov said with a smile, "I'll let them take it easy. I won't scare the Krauts out of town." I watched from a distance as akhromeyev put down the phone and walked towards me. Although I didn't hear what he said, I knew from the joy on his face that he must have brought me good news. Sure enough, he came up to me and said with a happy face: "Comrade commander, general nikolasov has reported that his vanguard regiment has rushed into the enemy's trench and is now engaged in a white-edged battle. In half an hour at most, they will be sure to seize the position." After listening to his report, I smile, then look down at the map in front of me, thinking to myself: "now we have occupied the first line of defense in the north, and Lukin's troops can also rush into the enemy's position. As for the south side, I don't have to worry any more. After all, there are three divisions there. There is no problem in completing the offensive task I set. In this way, the German forces besieged on three sides were forced to make a choice, either to counterattack us or to retreat from the west without our army. "