Chapter 1462

I once heard people ridicule that "after the battle of Kharkov, the German army forgot how to launch an attack." I used to listen to this as a joke, but today's situation has proved that it is very reasonable.

The German counterattack against the 60th group army, after being bombarded by the air force, was like a small shrimps who could not turn over a huge wave, throwing down countless corpses and destroyed technical equipment, and returning to the starting point of the attack. Chernyahovsky seized the opportunity in time to allow the army to launch a comprehensive attack again.

The main direction of attack went well, and the 18th group army, which carried out auxiliary attack in hmelinik, also showed remarkable performance. In particular, the main force of the group army, the 17th infantry army, was on the offensive, constantly seizing the villages and settlements occupied by the German army, and deeply wedging the attack arrow into the defense depth of the German army.

Seeing the war report from the 18th group army, Bogoliubov, chief of staff, could not help but say with emotion: "marshal, general zhulaviov has done a good job, and he has beaten the Germans so badly."

"Yes, the 18th Group Army played well this time, especially the 17th infantry army As soon as he finished, Khrushchev said with approval: "as far as I know, in the early days of the war, before the army was incorporated into the group army, this army, together with the border forces, had a hard defensive battle in the border area of Bukovina in order to cover our troops in the direction of chernofse. It is a pity that since the 18th group army was incorporated into the southern front army, its achievements have been mediocre, so its achievements have been very limited. "

While they were chatting, Zhukov, sitting on one side, was silent, just holding the war report in one hand and marking it on the map in front of him with a red and blue pencil in the other. After the marking, he raised his head to Bogoliubov and said, "chief of staff, call general pokhov, commander of the 13th group army, and order his troops to stop advancing and use the main force of the group army to defend the existing line of defense."

Bogoliubov hesitated for a moment about Zhukov's sudden order, and then euphemistically said, "Comrade marshal, our troops are advancing to the depth of the enemy's defense. Is it a bit inappropriate to order one of them to stop attacking at this time?"

"There's nothing inappropriate." Zhukov waved his hand to him and said carelessly, "even if the 13th group army turns to defense on the spot, aren't our 60th group army and the 1st group army still advancing in depth towards the enemy?"

Seeing that Bogoliubov opened his mouth, he seemed to want to say something else. He added: "Comrade chief of staff, the German counterattack today reminds me. If we do not prepare for a rainy day and do not defend well in advance, and if our attack is frustrated and the enemy turns to attack in a certain area, what forces should we use to stop them? "

"I see, comrade marshal." Zhukov's words convinced Bogoliubov that he was willing to call general pokhov.

After staring at the map on my desk for a while, I found that in front of the area now occupied by our army, the roads that can pass became narrower. In such an area, it would be too crowded to launch three army groups at the same time. Today, Zhukov decisively orders the 13th army, which is the slowest to advance, to turn to defense on the spot, in order to prevent the troops from being frustrated in attack and to rely on solid defensive positions to block the enemy when they are attacked by the German army.

After a few minutes, Bogoliubov came back and reported to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, the order has been given. General pokhov's troops will stop attacking in ten minutes and turn to defense on the spot." After the report, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked carefully, "does general Moskalenko's 38th army really have to wait a few days for them to attack?"

"Do you have any questions?" Zhukov looked up at Bogoliubov standing in front of him and asked, "don't you know that in such a large-scale offensive campaign, reserve forces must be left? Judging from the current situation, the 38th group army, which has not yet been put into combat, is the most suitable. "

In the evening, just as we were jubilant about today's achievements, general Antonov, the first deputy chief of general staff and head of the combat department, called Zhukov. He said to Zhukov in a relaxed tone: "Marshal Zhukov, please allow me to pay homage to you and your Ukrainian first front army, and congratulate you on the results of the two days of fighting. In two days, you crossed almost impassable fields and swamps, broke through the German solid defense 180 kilometers wide, and advanced 50 kilometers.

In order to pay homage to all the commanders and fighters of Ukraine's first front army who have achieved brilliant results, comrade Stalin ordered that 224 cannons be fired 20 times at Red Square in Moscow at 8 o'clock tonight. "

Zhukov was surprised for a moment by what Antonov said. Then he said in a loud voice to the microphone, "thank you, comrade Antonov. Thank you for telling me such good news."

"There's another piece of good news." Antonov continued: "your troops and general konev's troops have made great achievements in these two days of offensive campaigns. In order to allow you to continue to expand your achievements, the general staff decided: General Malinowski's Ukrainian third party army will be advanced on March 6, that is, tomorrow, Launch the offensive campaign of bereznegovatoya snigiliovka. "

"Great, that's great." It is said that another front army has joined the industry of beating the German army. Zhukov's face shows a sincere smile. He even said: "we attack the German southern army group from three directions at the same time. The German army is expected to be overwhelmed."

…………

In the next few days, the offensive of the front army was still vigorous. Under the command of Zhukov, the troops crossed the swamps in the muddy area of Ukraine and marched towards the border line. They successively captured the volodysk cherne Ostrov region, cut off the Lvov Odessa railway line, pushed the defense line forward for nearly 100 kilometers, and separated the defense lines of the German tank 1st group army and the German tank 4th group army.

At the same time, general konev's Ukrainian second front army, after smashing the German 8th Army Group, arrived at the South Bouguer river with the advance troops of various fast corps, cutting off the South escape road of the German tank 1st army group.

General Malinowski's troops also liberated the city of new Bouguer, divided the German sixth group army into two parts, and blocked the retreat of the group army with a fast corps to bereznegovatoya snigiliovka.

Seeing that the situation was very good, the supreme command was not calm. After some discussion, it formulated new strategic tasks for all front forces. The latest resolution was passed down by the general staff. As vasilevsky was in the third front army of Ukraine, and deputy chief of general staff Ivanov was not welcomed by Stalin, this order was conveyed by the first deputy chief of general staff Antonov.

He told Zhukov on the phone: "marshal, in view of the success of the battle, the headquarters of the supreme command has redefined the tasks for the troops today, even on March 11: the first front army of Ukraine forcibly crossed the Dniester River from the March, and made a surprise attack on chernofse with its main force, while the right wing, in coordination with the second front army of Belarus, made a new attack on Broder and the Russian army Lvov develops attack. The second front army of Ukraine should forcibly cross the nanbuge River and Dniester River, capture the belizi and kishniov regions and advance to the Prut river. When the front army attacked the Dniester River, it should cooperate with the first front army of Ukraine, the first group army of German tanks, and then turn its main force to the south to cooperate with the third front army of Ukraine to crush the German Binhai group. The task of the Ukrainian third front army is to stop the German army from retreating to the South Bouguer River, seize the ferries of the river in konstantinovka, wozneshinsk and new Odessa, and then attack Tiraspol and Odessa.... "

After putting down the phone, Zhukov repeated the new order of the supreme headquarters to several of us and said: "comrades, in the face of our fierce offensive, the German headquarters has been panicked. According to the latest information they got today, they quickly deployed 15 divisions to deal with our first front army in Ukraine. What measures should we take to smash the German plot

First of all, Bogoliubov said, "marshal, I think it's time to put general Moskalenko's 38th army into combat."

"Well, I think so, too." As for bogoleubov's proposal, Zhukov nodded his head and said: "after a week's attack, individual troops have become tired. It's time to put the 38th army into battle. Chief of staff, you immediately prepare an order for general Moskalenko to put the main force of the group army into battle at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. "

When bogoleubov left, Zhukov looked at me again and asked, "Rita, don't you have any idea?"

When Zhukov asked me, I was just looking at the big map on the wall, the red and blue arrows representing our army and the German army. Hearing Zhukov's question, I quickly turned my eyes to him. After thinking for a moment, I began to reply, "Comrade marshal, judging from the current situation of our army, the 48th armored army of the German army will soon be surrounded."

Hearing what I said, Zhukov knew the map of the war zone like the back of his hand, but instinctively looked back at the map, then turned to look at me and said, "yes, it is. Did you find any problems? "

"I've dealt with Herman balk, the commander of the army. He's a very cunning opponent." After the liberation of Kiev, it was this balk who commanded the troops and continued to fight back against Kiev. As a result, the troops of the front army were gradually defeated. When it was his turn to be the target of attack, with his character, he would not wait to die. "I think he would definitely take some measures to get rid of the current predicament."

"What measures will he take to get rid of the current predicament?" Zhukov looked sideways at the map on the wall and asked me with interest, "Rita, tell me what you think."

I nodded, quickly walked to the wall, picked up the stick, pointed to the map and said: "marshal, please look. Because our army is advancing too fast, a no man's land with a width of four or five kilometers has appeared between the 60th group army and the 1st group army of Jinwei. If I were general balk, I would risk passing through the area and retreating towards tarnopol. "

After hearing what I said, Zhukov held his chin in his right hand and paced back and forth in the room, as if he was thinking about the questions I raised and what decision he was making.

Seeing Zhukov's reaction, Khrushchev came up to me and asked me in a quiet voice, "Rita, are you wrong? The German army is badly beaten by our army at the moment. Even if they want to retreat, they will only retreat towards the back. How can they pass through our defense area from the front?" Zhukov stopped, looked at me coldly, and asked very seriously, "Rita, I want to hear how you come to this conclusion?" As for Zhukov's question, I have already figured out the answer. When I heard him ask, I simply answered, "according to our habitual thinking, the German army will surely be defeated when it is attacked by our army. If they do the opposite at such a time, they will be far beyond our army's expectation and reach the target of their successful breakthrough. " After listening to what I said, Zhukov did not express any opinions, and began to pace the room with his hands behind his back. Seeing Zhukov's reaction, Khrushchev was a little anxious. He said to me, "Rita, I think you must have made a mistake. Although there is a gap as wide as four or five kilometers between our two army groups, the Germans do not necessarily know it. Since they don't know that there are loopholes in our defense, they certainly don't want to break through from the front. " As soon as Khrushchev finished, Zhukov stopped, turned to me and said, "Rita, I think your judgment is reasonable. With balk's character, he will not wait to die. He will certainly try to rescue the troops from the danger of encirclement. Chief of staff When bogoleubov came to him, he told him directly, "chief of staff, go and call chernyahovsky and glicko, and ask them to pay attention to their left and right wings respectively, so as to prevent the German army from really taking advantage of the gap between their two groups." When Bogoliubov turned around and wanted to leave, he added: "in addition, let the reconnaissance office send competent personnel to scout the German 48th armored force and closely monitor their movements. If there is anything unusual, report it to me immediately."“ I understand From Zhukov's serious expression, bogoleubov realized the seriousness of the problem and immediately turned to make a phone call. He first conveyed Zhukov's order to the reconnaissance office, and then informed the two group commanders to provide vigilance to prevent the German army from taking advantage of the gap between the two armies to break through.