Chapter 1403

Looking at the red flag's height, Jerry cofton got excited. He put down his telescope, looked at me, pointed to the front with one finger, and said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, as you can see, my troops have rushed to the high ground. I believe they will be able to wipe out all the enemies above in a short time."

But when I saw more and more officers and men rushing to the Highlands, I didn't cheer as much as shejerikov, because I saw the corpses of our officers and men everywhere in front of the highlands. These soldiers who fell down during the charge are doomed to no longer stand up. But they lay on the ground, their heads still facing the high ground. It seems that as long as they have a breath, even if they climb, they will climb up the high ground and wipe out all the enemies.

It pains me to think that in order to win this highland, we should pay several times more than the German army. I turned to look at shejerikov and coldly said, "Colonel, when the highlands are all occupied by our army, order the army to stop advancing. Build fortifications in place to prevent a possible German counterattack. "

"But, comrade commander." Shejerikov was stunned when he heard what I said. He pointed to the front and said reluctantly, "our division's officers and men have just captured a high ground. It's the time when our morale is high. We should take advantage of the victory and pursue the enemy's high ground as much as possible."

"Don't you see the bodies lying in front of the high ground, Colonel?" I pointed out with my hand to the outside and said impolitely, "you know, an hour ago, they were able to talk and laugh with their comrades in arms; But now, they lie on the ground and become lifeless and cold bodies. Don't you feel sad when you see the heavy casualties of your subordinates? "

My words immediately silenced shijerikov. After a while, he said with difficulty, "Comrade commander, I understand what you mean. If we fight like this, even if we capture all the Highlands outside kalinkovic, the troops will lose their fighting capacity because of heavy casualties. "

When I returned to my observation post, I first asked bzikov, "chief of staff, the 51st division of the guards of Col. chejerikov has successfully won the highland in front of them. How about the attack of the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards?"

"After fierce fighting, these two highlands were captured by the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards respectively." When reporting the war situation to me, bezikov's face was very serious. "Although we occupied the Highlands, we paid too much. According to the reports of the two divisions, their casualties were nearly one thousand, while the garrison in the Highlands was only one hundred and twenty. "

"Yes, comrade commander." After bezikov finished, chisgakov also said: "without heavy artillery support, the price we paid for launching such an attack is really too high. It seems that we should adjust our tactics, change the attack to night, and minimize the casualties of the troops. "

"Now that the battle is over, call all three division commanders to the headquarters." I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and then said, "I think after this terrible win, they should no longer be stubborn and have to attack in the daytime."

A quarter of an hour later, in my headquarters, I met three infantry division commanders, i.e. shejerikov, baksov and babashin, as well as the commander of the 82nd tank brigade. When I saw that all the members of the meeting had come together, I said frankly, "comrades of commanders, I called you here to make a summary of the just concluded offensive."

"Comrade commander," the first speaker was Colonel babahin, who said with great pride, "after the tenacious fighting of our division's commanders and fighters, we have successfully captured the high ground in front of our division's defense and completely annihilated two enemy platoons."

"It's a great victory to annihilate two enemy platoons." After he finished, I snorted and said in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade Colonel, please tell me the number of casualties in your division?" Seeing that the other party was red faced and bowed his head, I continued, "according to your report, 153 people were killed and 329 injured. If we take down one highland, we will pay such a price. How much will we pay to take down all the more than ten highlands? "

After a short silence, the tank brigade commander tentatively asked me, "Comrade commander, can I have a word?"

"Yes," I nodded and agreed to the request of the tank brigade commander, "if you have any ideas, just let them know."

"Comrade commander, according to our reconnaissance, after crossing several occupied Highlands, there are not only rivers but also many swamps in front of us. Our tanks can't be launched on such terrain at all. That is to say, our tanks will not be able to provide more effective firepower support to the infantry in the next battle to capture the highlands. "

"Comrade commander." Barksov glared at the tank brigade commander and asked in a bad manner: "you said that the river and swamp in front of us are impassable for tanks. But when the German troops attacked us last night, they used a lot of tanks? They can do it. Why can't you do it? "

"Comrade General." As for baksov's recklessness, the tank brigade commander patiently explained to him: "the German tanks came through the bridges on the river, and now these bridges are under the German fire control. If the enemy finds that we have an attempt to seize the bridges, they will immediately destroy them without hesitation. If our troops want to build a floating bridge for tanks under the enemy's eyes, it is bound to cause heavy casualties. "

"All right, general baksov, don't say any more." I was deeply afraid that the argument between baksov and the tank brigade commander would be endless, so I interrupted them first and said in accordance with my own way of thinking: "I have decided to temporarily stop attacking during the day in order to reduce the casualties of the troops and adopt the method of sneak attack at night."

If there was no battle just now, baksov might still raise objection to my arrangement, but at this time, he could only reluctantly promise: "well, comrade commander, when I get back to the army, I will immediately arrange the troops for the night attack. We should strive to take these highlands from the enemy's positions with minimum casualties. "

As soon as he had finished speaking, a telephone by the wall rang. Bezikov was sitting close to him, so he got up and went to pick up the phone. He said in a loud voice, "this is the headquarters of the group army. Where are you?" What, what do you say, say it again? "

When I heard him say this, I knew that something must be wrong. Instead of talking, I focused on him. He covered the microphone with his hand and solemnly reported to me: "Comrade commander, major shumakov, head of the 309th regiment of the guards, reported that the German army had sent out troops and launched a counter offensive towards the highlands."

"What kind of forces does the enemy have?" When I heard the news, I was a little surprised, but I didn't panic. I asked as usual.

"Comrade commander, what kind of forces does the enemy have?" Bezikov released his hand on the receiver and conveyed what I said to shumakov truthfully. After listening for a while, he raised his head and reported to me, "the enemy has sent out about a battalion of infantry, and eight other tanks, which are rushing to the position of the 309th regiment."

"Tell shumakov," I said simply to bezikov, "to order him to hold the position firmly and never to step back. I will send someone to support him."

When bezikov was conveying my message to shumakov, I looked down and asked the tank commander, "Comrade commander, can your tank go up to the high ground?"

When the tank brigade commander heard that I was asking him a question, he immediately stood up and reported, "Comrade commander, our tanks are all the latest models. There should be no problem climbing such a slope."

"That would be great." When I heard that the tank could go up to the high ground, my heart immediately became more stable. I then said, "Comrade commander, immediately order your tank to go up to the high ground. And then, from a commanding height, destroy the enemy's tanks with artillery fire and strafe the enemy's infantry with machine guns, understand? "

"I see." After the tank brigade commander promised, he asked for my advice: "can I leave now?"

"Remember, not only in the Highlands occupied by the 51st division of the guards, tanks should be sent to support, but also in the other two divisions." After I gave the last few words, I waved at him and said, "Comrade commander, go back to the army immediately and arrange it."

After the tank brigade commander left, I saw that bzikov was also ready to hang up. I quickly stopped him and told him, "chief of staff, please tell major shumakov to report to us every ten minutes."

Then I discussed with some teachers about the details of the night attack and sent them away.

Just after a few people left, a telephone in front of me rang. I know that it's not the front-line units that can get through this high-frequency telephone. Usually only rokosovsky or Batov can get through. So I picked up the receiver and politely said, "Hello, I'm o'shanina. Where are you?"

"Hello, comrade oshanina." But a strange voice came out of the receiver: "I'm belov!"

"Belov, which belov?" Although I indicated my identity to the opposite direction, I couldn't remember who the other party was in a hurry, so I asked, "which company are you from?"

When the other party heard my question, he could not help sighing, and then said rather helplessly: "general oshanina, please allow me to introduce myself to you. My full name is Pavel alexeyevich belov, commander of the 61st army. You can call me by my full name or by belov. "

"It's you, general belov." Only after he explained his position did I know that the person who called me turned out to be the 61st army headquarters stationed near moziri. My face smile, and then apologetically said to him: "sorry, I did not recognize your voice, please forgive me. I wonder if you are calling at this time. Is there anything important

"Well, comrade oshanina." Belov said politely: "my troops have been stationed in the vicinity of moziri, but because in the early fighting, the troops were severely reduced and the ammunition was consumed very little. Therefore, although we have stayed here for a long time, we are unable to attack moziri's enemies because of the shortage of soldiers and ammunition. "

"I understand, general belov." I have learned something about the situation of the 61st army through Batov. Therefore, in the attack on kalinkovic and moziri in accordance with the order of the superior, I did not include the strength of the 61st army at all. I did not even care about the five divisions and one tank regiment of the 11th army. In today's situation, the troops with insufficient soldiers and ammunition are just like a toothless tiger, which can only scare people. At the moment, belov called me on his own initiative. Even if I looked down upon them again, I had to maintain the necessary respect on the surface. "I know something about you. You see, I was going to take time to see you, but because of the fierce war, I couldn't get away from it, so I haven't been able to do it up to now. "

"I know the fighting there is fierce." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, belov said in a reasonable way, "since you can't spare time, why don't I call on you tomorrow and talk about the cooperation between our two troops."“ Good, good, "I heard that the other party was coming. I said insincerely," welcome, welcome, welcome to my army. "“ By the way, our troops have been in this area for some time Belov continued: "I have a certain understanding of the situation here. I plan to bring a group of commanders to you to help you get familiar with the terrain here." If what I just said to belov was perfunctory, I was overjoyed to hear that he would send a group of commanders to help us, and my voice trembled with excitement: "general belov, is this true? That's great. As you know, my troops only entered Belarus for a few days, and they knew nothing about the situation here. If we can get your selfless help, I believe that in the next battle, we will achieve more brilliant results. " After another friendly talk with belov, I put down the phone and asked chisgakov, who was sitting beside me, "Comrade deputy commander, do you know anything about general belov?"“ I know some. "“ Can you tell me all you know? " I sincerely said to chisgakov, "I want to know what kind of person this general belov is going to fight with us."