Chapter 1476

Although the flood receded in two days, the original road became more difficult. It took the 11th army of general Gutman's bodyguard tank a full day to get to Mosha station, join the 64th brigade of tanks who had been here for three days, and be ready to cross the Prut River and attack chernovitzer.

After the successful capture of kitzman, general dlyomov's mechanized 8th Army of guards reached the North Bank of the Prut River from the northwest of chernovitzer.

For katukov, who has always been adventurous, since kitzman, which is only tens of kilometers away from chernovitzer, has fallen into the hands of our army, as the commander of the group army, there is no reason for him to stay 100 kilometers away from the first line. Therefore, on the second day after he captured kitzman, he could not wait to move his headquarters here.

To the north of chernovitzer, there is a German airport, and the location of katukov's new headquarters is just within the radius of German bombers. Because the interval is only a few tens of kilometers, the enemy's aircraft only need a few minutes to fly over us, and there is no time for early warning.

I tried to persuade katukov to set his headquarters away from the enemy's airport, but he countered me and said, "Rita, do you forget what general rokosovsky once said? As a commander, he should always stay with his troops, instead of hiding in the rear, so as to be recognized by the soldiers. "

Seeing katukov's obstinacy, I could only turn to Zhukov and ask him to send more planes to patrol over kitzman in case of possible German air strikes.

But it soon turned out that I was worried. During the two days when the headquarters was stationed in kitzman, there was no German plane at all. I think the reason for this is that the German army did not find that there was a headquarters at the level of our group army; Second, the German aircraft was short of ammunition and fuel, so that they had to reduce the number of liftoff operations.

On the afternoon of the 27th, two commanders, gertman and deliomov, who had arrived at the Bank of Prut, directed their troops and launched an attack on the German army on the other side.

After the battle, katukov didn't want to stay in his headquarters any longer, so he tentatively asked me, "Rita, I plan to go to the front to see how our troops cross the Prut river. Do you want to stay here or go to the river with me?"

To be honest, for personal safety reasons, I'm very happy to stay in the headquarters. I don't want to be killed by a bullet coming from somewhere when the war is drawing to a close. But at the moment, katukov is going to the front. If I still swagger in the headquarters, maybe I will leave a bad impression on Zhukov. Based on this consideration, I hesitated for a moment, then nodded my head and said, "general katukov, I'm going to the river with you to see for myself how our brave commanders and fighters broke through the German defense and crossed the Prut river."

I heard that I was going to follow katukov to the river to supervise the battle. His military commissar was a little worried. He grabbed my arm and said anxiously, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, the river is too dangerous. You can't go there."

I saw his worried face and knew that he was worried about my safety. I couldn't help saying gratefully, "thank you, comrade military Commissar. But since general katukov is not afraid of danger, what can I fear? " With that, I gently broke my arm out of his hand, grabbed his hands and added with a smile, "don't worry, I will pay attention to safety, and it's not the first time I've been on the battlefield."

Seeing his military commissar's desire to talk and stop talking, katukov added: "my military commissar comrades, don't worry about it. Rita has grown from an ordinary soldier to a general step by step. She has experienced many dangers. I'll be responsible for her safety. You can rest assured. "

Seeing that katukov said so, the military commissar could not say anything more. He had to hold my hand and shake it a few times. He told me, "pay more attention to your safety."

…………

By the time katukov and I got to the Guttman command by the river, the crossing had already begun.

I saw our tanks lining up by the river, shelling on the other side of the river. Behind them were our artillery, which bombarded the German positions on the other side all the time. There were countless boats and kayaks on the river, and they were rowing rapidly to the other side.

In the face of our army's forced crossing, the German army would not wait to die. The firepower points on the south bank, which were not destroyed by the artillery fire, were shooting madly at our warships on the river. At the same time, their long-range artillery fire is also constantly bombarding the river, the river from time to time raised a column of water into the sky.

Our soldiers cling to the boat and paddle their oars to avoid bullets from the other side. From time to time, shells hit the boat full of soldiers. How can the wooden boat resist the steel shells? The human body and the fragments of the boat were mixed together and blasted into the sky.

The ships rushing in front of them were blown up and scattered. They were still on the shaking water. The burning wrecks were emitting black smoke. The overturned ships were sinking rapidly. The bloody river was filled with fragments of ships and the bodies of soldiers. In the cold river, the soldiers who fell into the water were pounding like boiling dumplings. Some of the boats behind continued to row bravely to the opposite side, while some slowed down and rescued the fallen comrades on the river.

"General Guttman," katukov said angrily as he saw the scene. He put down his telescope and turned to Guttman, who was standing nearby? When did our river crossing commando team become a rescue team? Don't you know that if our ships don't get close to the south bank quickly, but huddle in the river, they will be the target of German artillery? Do you think the flesh and blood of the commanders and fighters can block the German bullets and shrapnel? "

When I heard katukov scold gertman, I was stunned for a moment, and then I understood why he said so. Our army is crossing the Prut River by force. If the ships of the shock troops do not rush to the other side quickly, but stay in the river to save people, it will not only lead to the confusion of the attack formation, but also become the target of the German attack because of the crowd. At this moment, my heart suddenly has a further understanding of the idiom "Ci Bu Zhang Bing".

In the face of katukov's criticism, gertman blushed and said, "Comrade commander, I am wrong. I will immediately stop the rescue operation tomorrow."

After that, he called the chief of staff and said, "Comrade chief of staff, call the commander of the 6th brigade of motorized infantry and ask him to order the troops in the middle of the river to stop rescue and continue to attack the south bank."

After Guttman finished, the chief of staff glanced at us with a guilty heart, and then asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, what about those officers and men who fell into the water? There are hundreds of them

Guttman sighed softly and then said, "it's not that we don't rescue the fallen officers and men, but that we can't affect our forced crossing operation by rescuing them. Well, another fleet will be sent to rescue the fallen officers and men

Katukov's order was soon conveyed to the fleet in the river through the flag. After seeing the signal from the north bank, the ships that were slowing down and were rescuing their fallen comrades stopped the rescue operation immediately. The officers and men on the ships waved their oars desperately and rowed toward the other bank.

More than ten minutes later, the small boat of the shock troops finally came to the shore. The officers and men jumped out of the boat and rushed forward. The machine gunners, on the other hand, seize the favorable terrain, set up the light and heavy machine guns, and provide fierce fire support for those comrades who are charging forward.

Seeing our troops on the other side and developing in depth, gertman breathed a long sigh of relief and said to katukov, "Comrade commander, do you see that? Our soldiers have set foot on the land on the other side and are heading towards the city of chernovitze. "

"I see it." After katukov said this lightly, he put down the telescope in his hand, turned around and said to some complacent gertman: "since our commanders and fighters have boarded the south bank, you immediately order the Zhouqiao battalion to come and set up the floating bridge, so that our heavy equipment can pass in the shortest time."

"But, comrade commander." Hearing the order from katukov, gertman hesitated and said, "our troops have just landed on the south bank, and we haven't had time to build a solid beachhead. At this time, we will set up a floating bridge..."

Before Guttman finished speaking, katukov said with a discontented face: "general Guttman, don't you know the reason why troops are expensive and fast? If we have to wait for our army to gain a firm foothold on the other side before erecting a floating bridge on the river, how much time will it take, do you know? "

Katukov's series of questions, let Gutman obediently shut up. He came to his chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, have you heard the command of the commander? Immediately order Zhouqiao battalion to set up a floating bridge here. It is necessary to set up a floating bridge for heavy equipment in the shortest time. "

When Zhouqiao battalion set up a floating bridge on the river, although Gutman urged them to speed up again and again, it still took them about two hours to build a floating bridge for tanks on the Prut river. At the same time, the commanders and fighters of the seventh brigade of motorized infantry set up a beachhead with a width of three kilometers and a depth of two kilometers on the south bank.

As soon as the pontoon was set up, all the tanks stopped shooting, shifted their positions, formed a long snake line, and fished through the pontoon to cover the infantry for the German defense.

Looking at the far away tank troops, katukov asked me with great interest, "Rita, do you think our troops can reach chernovitzer today?"

"No problem." according to the information I have in recent days, the German army is heavily guarded by the Prut river. Since their south coast defense line has been broken through by us, it is almost difficult to encounter large-scale resistance on the road to chernovitzer. Therefore, I confidently replied, "I believe in general Guttmann's troops, I'm sure I can get to chernovitzer today and make a final attack on the German army in the city. "

After looking at me gratefully, gertman patted his chest and assured katukov, "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that our army not only broke through the German defense line of Prut river today, but also cleared the peripheral positions of chernovitzer and launched an attack on the city."

As whether our army can successfully capture chernovitzer is directly related to whether the defense lines of the German tank 1st group army and the tank 4th group army can be separated and started, Zhukov is very concerned about the battle progress of katukov's troops. The 100th brigade of veradelle's tanks had just crossed the Prut river when Zhukov's phone call reached Gutman's headquarters.

Zhukov was stunned when he heard that I was the one who answered the phone. He asked strangely, "Rita, what are you doing here and there when you don't stay in the headquarters of the group army?"“ Well, marshal, "when I heard Zhukov criticizing me, I quickly explained," I went to the front with general katukov to command the battle. "“ Nonsense. It's nonsense. " When Zhukov heard that katukov was also in the forefront, he could not help saying two nonsense. Then he turned the topic and asked, "did general Gutman's troops succeed in crossing the Prut river?"“ Yes, comrade marshal, the unit of the 11th army of general Gutman's close guard tank has successfully completed the task of forced crossing. " I took a look at katukov and gertman, who were standing nearby, and said with a smile to the microphone, "the pontoon bridge on the Prut river has also been set up. The 100th tank brigade has successfully crossed the river and is guiding the infantry towards the defense depth of the German army."“ Well done, "Zhukov said with approval after hearing of the success of the forced crossing." Rita, please tell katukov that his attack speed should be fast. Only by seizing chernovitzer in the shortest time can we really cut off the connection between the first and fourth army of German tanks. " I took another look at katukov, who was standing next to me. Then I cautiously said to Zhukov, "marshal, general katukov is next to me. If you have anything, you can tell him in person." Zhukov listened to me. After a moment of silence, he decisively ordered, "give him the microphone." I took the microphone away from my ear, handed it to katukov and said, "general katukov, marshal wants to speak to you."