Chapter 1415

Since kalinkovich had been occupied by our army, there was no need for the headquarters of the group army to stay in the eastern suburb of the city, so they moved to the former headquarters of the German army in the city.

I was sitting in a jeep, looking through the window at the city we had just liberated. Although we did not use artillery in the siege, there are still collapsed buildings on both sides of the street. This should be the result of mortars or rocket launchers used by both sides in the fight. In these ruins, there are civilians and soldiers are constantly busy, presumably trying to find some daily necessities.

The headquarters of the German army is located in a department store in the center of the city. Seeing the pockmarked bullet marks on the walls and the smoke blackened walls, I can imagine how fierce the battle was last night. It's obvious that this place has been cleaned by the people of shejerikov, because there is no dead body of an enemy or our soldiers on the street except for the craters.

As soon as our car stopped, sjerikov, who was waiting in front of the building, ran over and opened the door for me. Then he stepped back, raised his hand to salute me, and loudly reported: "Comrade commander, when the guards heard that there was a report asking the superior to award the red flag medal, sjerikov immediately looked down and quickly looked through it, Seeing that there was a close guard on it, shijerikov looked up and said to me, "Comrade commander, it's really great. If all the troops are awarded medals by the superior, Lukin's division can also be awarded the title of close guard division. In that case, our group army will be a close guard force worthy of the name. "

"Comrade Colonel, this report will not be handed in until we have successfully captured moziri." Kirilov withdrew the report in front of shejerikov, stuffed it into his briefcase and said, "so we must fight better in the battle of liberating moziri a few days later."

"Comrade commander, I have an idea. I don't know whether to say it or not?" After kirilov finished speaking, he turned to me and said cautiously, "it's about this siege."

"Comrade Colonel, I now order the forces in the west of the city to build a line of defense on the East Bank of the Pripyat river." According to my understanding of shejerikov, I could easily guess what he wanted to say, so I said in advance: "when the fortifications are almost finished, I will call all the division leaders here to hold a battle summary meeting to summarize the battle last night."

"Great, that's great." Shejerikov looked at me in awe and said, "Comrade commander, I just wanted to say this. I didn't expect that you had thought about it first."

…………

In the evening, the commanders of all divisions and divisions, as well as the commanders of tank brigade and artillery regiment, came to my headquarters one after another to participate in my temporary postwar summing up meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, kirilov first announced the order of Jin rank issued by the group army: Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, commander of the 375TH infantry division, was promoted to the rank of colonel; And captain gramus of the guard regiment was promoted to the rank of major because of his outstanding military achievements.

The commanders attending the meeting had no objection to their promotion. After all, their contributions to the liberation of kalinkovic were obvious to all.

Then, we had a heated discussion about the problems in this battle. As for your opinions, I did not express them easily. I just put them on record one by one so that they can be used for future inspection of your commanders.

Just as the discussion was in full swing, the telephone rang in the headquarters. Bezikov, who was closest to the phone, went up and picked up the phone, but because of the noise in the room, he couldn't hear what the other person was saying. So he covered the microphone with his hand and yelled at the commanders who were discussing fiercely: "be quiet, everyone. I can't hear what's on the phone."

With his roar, the headquarters, which was as lively as the vegetable market, suddenly became silent. Then bezikov put the microphone back to his ear and said aloud, "I'm Colonel bezikov, chief of staff of the group army. Where are you?" What, what did you say Again At the end of the day, he said, "I see."

After he put down the phone, he reported to me: "Comrade commander, frontier report, a German army has crossed the pripyaji River and launched a fierce attack on my troops stationed on the east bank."

"The enemy crossed the Pripyat?" The news that bezikov reported surprised all of us. I didn't expect that the German army would be able to launch a counterattack against us so soon after the defeat. I asked in a hurry, "where is the battle going now?"

Bezikov glanced at the commander sitting below, then went to the map, pointed to it with a stick and said, "according to the observation post, the enemy crossing the river is attacking the defense area of the 52nd division of the guards. In the defensive areas of the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division, we also found signs of German troops gathering on the West Bank. It seems that their friendly troops preparing to cross the river will attack the positions of our two divisions after they occupy the bridgehead on the east bank. "

When I heard that the enemy suddenly launched an attack, I didn't have the heart to hold any more summing up meeting, so I stood up, put my hands on the edge of the table, looked at the many commanders sitting below, and said, "well, comrades commanders, because the German suddenly launched an attack, our meeting today will be here for the time being. The commander of the 52nd and 90th guard divisions, and the 375TH infantry division, immediately returned to the troops to block the German attack. "

"Yes The three teachers who were ordered by me immediately stood up, agreed neatly, turned around and walked out of the headquarters“ Tank 82nd and 101st brigades. " I think that since the German army dares to launch such a counter offensive, it must have used a lot of tanks and motorized troops. If it only relies on infantry to resist, it is estimated that the casualties will be small. So I think of the two existing tank brigades“ Your task is to cooperate with the garrison by the river to counterattack the German troops crossing the river. Do you understand? "“ I see After the two tank brigade commanders made a firm promise, they also learned from the three division commanders, saluted us, turned around and walked out of the headquarters to carry out my orders. I looked at the rest of the commanders. Except for the four division commanders, the rest were all artillery regiment leaders. Although I also want to send artillery to help, bombard those German troops crossing the river with cannons, and blow them all to death in the river, but in this case, I can only think about it, because in these days of fighting, all the artillery shells have been consumed. Just as I was about to announce the end of the meeting, major shuklin, who had been neglected by me for several days, suddenly stood up and asked aloud, "Comrade commander, what is the task of our self-propelled artillery regiment?" Originally, the commanders sitting below were all packing up and ready to leave at any time. Suddenly, they heard someone asking a question. They unconsciously stopped their work and looked up at the rash ghost in surprise. When shuklin saw that everyone's eyes were focused on him, his face turned a little red, and then he repeated the question to me: "Comrade commander, I don't know what the task of our self-propelled artillery regiment is?"“ "Comrade major," I said, looking at the commander who took the initiative to fight, "although I also want to assign tasks to your regiment, it's a pity that since you don't have any shells, even if you're sent up, you won't be of any use."“ Comrade commander, if it had been yesterday, perhaps our regiment would not have been able to take part in the battle. " After I finished speaking, shuklin said unexpectedly, "but we found a batch of shells in the German warehouse today, with 800 shells, which is enough for us to use for a while."“ What, found shells in German warehouses? " When I heard shuklin say this, I was immediately delighted and asked, "does the caliber of the shells match?"“ It's a perfect match. It's a 152mm shell. " Shuklin nodded his head and said: "I think that the shells in the German warehouse were captured by them before. Because there were no suitable caliber cannons, they kept throwing them in the warehouse and did not use them."“ That's great. That's great. " When I heard that a shell suitable for our artillery was found in the German warehouse, I was overjoyed. I immediately told shuklin, "since you have enough ammunition now, go to the pripyaji river immediately and deploy in the rear of the three divisions to provide them with the necessary artillery support."“ Yes Shuklin agreed and was ready to turn away“ Comrade major, please wait a moment At this moment, chisgakov suddenly stopped him. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, the number of shells seized by the self-propelled artillery regiment is limited. I think we should keep them for use when attacking moziri?"“ Comrade deputy commander, our attack on moziri will take place in three days. By that time, the shells from the rear will have arrived. Now the German army is attacking our defensive positions in the pripyaji river area. If we do not provide the necessary artillery support for the garrison, the army will pay a huge price. If the casualties of the troops are too large, it will also have an impact on the subsequent operations to capture moziri. " After clarifying my idea, I said decisively, "I have made up my mind. You don't have to persuade me any more." Then I waved to major shuklin and said, "major, carry out the order." Shuklin saluted me, turned and walked out of the headquarters. I took a look at the four teachers sitting below, thought about it, and then called out, "general baksov, Colonel babashin." The two teachers named by me immediately stood up, straightened up and waited for me to give orders“ You two divisions, as reserves, are deployed behind the three divisions. " I looked at the two men and said, "as soon as we find that the situation there is dangerous, we will send troops to support immediately. Never let the Germans break through our defenses on the Pripyat, understand? "“ I see! " The two teachers answered neatly. After listening to the two people's reply, I nodded, then waved to the people below, and said loudly: "farewell!"