Chapter 1474

The other two tank brigades of the 11th army also accelerated their advance speed after the infantry made way for themselves. With the cooperation of the mechanized 6th brigade, they pushed forward to Mosha station while clearing up the German remnants along the way.

General Guttman reports the progress of the troops to the headquarters at any time by telegram. Every time katukov receives information, he will mark the position of the troops on the map with red and blue pencils. Seeing the red arrow on the map and getting closer and closer to Mosha station, his chief of staff could not help saying happily: "Comrade commander, if our tank troops can maintain this speed, they can join the 64th brigade of tanks occupying Mosha station before dark."

Today's weather is long day and short night. It won't get dark until around nine o'clock. Now it's just after four o'clock in the afternoon. As long as there is no accident, Gutman's two tank brigades and a mechanized brigade will arrive at Mosha station in five hours.

Just when we thought that the main force of the 11th army of close guard tanks would join the tank brigade that occupied Mosha station in the dark, something unexpected happened.

A communications officer came over in a hurry with a telegram. After handing it to the chief of staff, he turned and left. As the chief of staff looked at the telegram with his back to me and katukov, we could not see the expression on his face. However, katukov seemed to be aware of something wrong, so he asked first: "chief of staff, what's the matter?"

Hearing katukov's voice, the chief of staff turned and handed the telegram to katukov. At the same time, he said solemnly, "Comrade commander, our radio operator has just received a telegram of unknown origin. This is the content of the telegram."

After reading the telegram, katukov's face became serious. He looked at the chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, how much do you think this telegram is true?"

Without waiting for the chief of staff to answer, I reached out and took the phone from katukov's hand. When I saw the contents clearly, I was stunned. It said: "please pay attention, please pay attention, the German army is about to flood the South Bank of the Dniester river. Please be alert to our troops in this area."

There was no signature on the back of the telegram. After reading this telegram, I was also at a loss. I said in my heart who sent the telegram, why the contents of the telegram were vague, and where the German army was going to submerge the area on the South Bank of the Dniester river.

I put the telegram on the table. Just as I wanted to ask a few questions, I heard the chief of staff say, "Comrade commander, I think this may be a conspiracy of the German army. They couldn't stop our advancing troops, so they sent out such a fake telegram in an attempt to stop us

After listening to the chief of staff's analysis, I felt in my heart that what he said was very reasonable. We crossed the Dniester River from many places and came to the south bank area. Even if the German Army wanted to flood our way forward, they didn't have the ability to do so. They couldn't break their dikes and flood the area hundreds of kilometers wide, could they?

Just when I thought that katukov would be our same judge, I heard him say, "chief of staff, go to the communication room and check who sent this telegram."

With regard to katukov's order, the chief of staff may feel that katukov is a bit superfluous, so he stands still. Just when he began to persuade katukov, katukov raised his hand to stop what he was about to say, "chief of staff, no matter where this telegram comes from, we can't take it lightly. So you should find out the source of the telegram as soon as possible, so that we can deploy the next combat mission according to the specific situation. "

Since katukov had said that, his chief of staff also realized that he had done something against the wishes of his superiors, which was a little inappropriate. After nodding, he turned and walked out.

After the chief of staff left, I tentatively asked katukov, "general katukov, do you really think the German army will flood our way forward?"

Katukov heard my question, looked up at me and said solemnly, "yes, Rita, that's what I think. The Germans are very cunning. Although they are defeated by us at the moment, we should be on guard against them jumping over the wall and doing something unexpected. "

"Where do you think the German army will submerge the roads?" After listening to his judgment, I asked a little dubiously, "there are so many roads leading to chernovitzer on the South Bank of the Dniester river. How can the German army know which one our army will take?"

Katukov's eyebrows were locked, his eyes fixed on the map in front of him, and he thought bitterly: "if the German army wants to blow up the levee, it will surely choose a suitable place to bury explosives and blow up a gap in the levee. Where will they choose this blasting point? "

Just as katukov was pondering, his chief of staff rushed in like a gust of wind. When he came to us, he said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the source of the telegram has been made clear."

Katukov raised his head, raised his eyebrows and urged: "chief of staff, tell me quickly, which reconnaissance team sent this valuable information?"

The chief of staff turned to look at me, and then replied: "it's a reconnaissance team under the Reconnaissance Office of the front army..." when I heard the reconnaissance office, I couldn't help but clap. I quickly concentrated on what the chief of staff said: "there were six people in this reconnaissance team, who were found by the German army when they returned after completing the reconnaissance mission. As the retreat was cut off, they were forced to move to the depth of the enemy. The operator died in the process of transfer. The telegram was sent by the group leader. Because he was not proficient in sending the telegram, the content was a little vague. "

"Did they say who he was?" As soon as the chief of staff finished, I couldn't wait to ask.

"They said he was major travkin, deputy director of reconnaissance." After the chief of staff said this, he looked at me and asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, do you know them?"

"Yes, chief of staff, I know them." As for the chief of staff's question, I nodded my head and said, "major travkin was my reconnaissance battalion commander before he was transferred to the Reconnaissance Office of the front army. Since he provided the information, I believe the information that the enemy is preparing to flood our army must be true. "

"Chief of staff." When I finished, katukov asked his chief of staff, "did the major say where the enemy is going to submerge?"

The chief of staff nodded, then pointed to a dot on the map and said, "Comrade commander, here it is. There is a reservoir here. As long as the German army opens the gate, it can completely submerge the road of our army. "

After I saw the position of the chief of staff clearly, I was surprised: "what, the enemy's reservoir is near the Mosha station? If they open the gate to let the water out, don't they want to submerge all the stations? " At this point, I couldn't help rubbing my forehead in a cold sweat. I said in my heart that the Germans were really cunning. When I first stood at mamayev post, I thought about replacing soldiers with water, but for various reasons, I didn't implement this plan in the end. But now the German army tried to use the same tactics to block our way forward.

I looked up at katukov and asked, "general katukov, what are you going to do? To be on the safe side, let the troops rushing to Mosha station suspend operation; Or take a risk and let the troops move on? "

"Comrade commander," as soon as I finished my words, the chief of staff began to persuade katukov, "I looked at the map. The reservoir is still several kilometers away from Mosha station. Even if the Germans release water, it may not submerge the station. At most, it will make the station an island in the flood. Why don't we take the risk and let general Guttman's main force continue to move closer to Mosha station? "

Katukov looked at me, then at the chief of staff, and finally slapped him on the table and said decisively, "OK, that's it. Let's move on. As long as the German army opens the gate to release water, the garrison of the station will become a lone army, but at the same time, their troops will not be able to launch a counterattack against the station in a short time because of the barrier of the flood. "

…………

Although katukov's order was conveyed in time, it did not wait for general Guttman's main force to arrive at the station. As the German army opened the floodgate, all the tanks of the 300th brigade, which were at the front, were immersed in the turbulent flood. Fortunately, the flood only submerged the track and did not cause any casualties to the brigade.

After learning the news, the chief of staff said happily to katukov, "Comrade commander, although the flood has flooded the way forward and made our tanks unable to move forward, it has not caused any casualties. This is a great misfortune."

"Yes, as long as there is no loss of personnel and equipment." After a sigh of relief, katukov continued: "after two days, when the flood recedes, our tank brigade can continue to move forward. By the way, chief of staff, I'm worried that the tank soldiers don't carry too much supplies. After the flood recedes, you should arrange special personnel to send supplies to them. "

"Don't worry, comrade commander." The chief of staff said confidently, "I'll call general Guttman later and ask him to arrange special personnel for the tank soldiers of the 200th brigade who are trapped in the flood."

"What's going on at Mosha station?" Katukov was always more concerned about the 64th brigade of tanks in Mosha station. As soon as the chief of staff finished, he immediately asked, "is the water depth in the station?"

"Not bad." The chief of staff nodded his head and said with disapproval: "according to the report of Colonel Boyko, the deepest part of the water in the station is just above the knee, which has little impact on the troops."

After nodding, katukov said, "Mosha station is only a few kilometers away from chernovitzer city. Let Colonel Boyko take air defense measures to avoid sudden German air attack."

…………

Katukov worried that Mosha station would be attacked by German planes from chernovitzer City, but the actual situation surprised us. The German army sent out six bombers to fly over Mosha station at an altitude beyond the range of the ground anti-aircraft machine guns to bomb the 200th brigade of tanks besieged by floods.

Because the tanks of the 200th brigade were trapped in the flood and unable to move, they became the targets of German bombers. When katukov heard that the German army was attacking the tank brigade, he was furious. He directly called Bogoliubov, chief of staff of the front army, and said in a hurry: "chief of staff, my 200th tank brigade was attacked by the German army 20 kilometers north of Mosha station. He asked for air force support and air force support."

Bogoliubov was also startled when he heard the unexpected news and said in a hurry, "general katukov, don't worry. Are you sure the enemy is bombing your tank brigade?"“ Yes, of course. " Seeing that Bogoliubov still didn't believe his report, katukov became more and more worried. "On the way to Mosha station, the 200th tank brigade was trapped by the flood because the German army opened the gate and flooded the road. The enemy's bombers take these immobile tanks as targets. If you don't send any more planes to volunteer, they are in danger of destroying the whole army. " Seeing that katukov was in such a hurry, Bogoliubov realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly said, "general katukov, don't worry. I'll call the air force immediately and ask them to send fighters to support you." Seeing katukov put down the phone, the red eyed chief of staff asked nervously, "Comrade commander, can our air force arrive in time?" Katukov sighed and said helplessly: "now we can only let fate decide. No matter how fast our air force comes, it is estimated that the loss of the 200th brigade will not be small." When the fighters arrived at the battlefield, the six German bombers had already dropped all the bombs, fired all the bullets of the airborne machine guns, and were preparing to return. Our fighters rushed up and swept at the enemy's bombers, successfully shooting down two and injuring one. The remaining three scattered and fled to chernovitzer. After the air battle, Guttman called katukov to report the loss of the tank brigade: "the brigade has 21 destroyed tanks and 3 existing tanks. The brigade commander died in the air raid, and lieutenant nikitin will temporarily take over the command of the brigade." When I heard Guttman's report, I couldn't help laughing bitterly in my heart and said: "it seems that the 200th brigade has suffered heavy losses. Not only almost all the tanks have been destroyed, but only one lieutenant is left in the commander of the whole brigade. If it can't be replenished in time, the brigade can only be cancelled."