Chapter 1483

After we sent off Zhukov, the military commissar of katukov said with some chagrin, "if we turn to defense, I don't think we can launch a new attack on the enemy for ten days and a half months."

"Comrade military commissar, didn't you hear the marshal say that during the period of your defense, the higher authorities will supply you with new soldiers and technical equipment?" As for the concerns expressed by the military commissar, I said with a smile: "due to the frequent and long-term fighting, not only the soldiers and technical equipment have been greatly lost, but also the commanders and fighters are very tired. We can take advantage of this period of time for defense, so that the commanders and fighters can have a good rest. "

"Comrade deputy commander of the front army," as soon as the chief of staff listened to what I said, he immediately expressed his own view: "I think even if our army wants to turn to defense, it can completely advance the front line to the border line. You know, we are only 30 kilometers away from the border. As long as we build a defense at the border, we can also block the German attack. "

After the chief of staff finished complaining, I asked with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, I don't know if you have found any difference between the terrain of Romania and that of Ukraine?"

As for my question, the chief of staff frowned for a moment and then replied, "Ukraine's terrain is mainly plain, which is suitable for large-scale use of tank troops; Romania is mountainous, which is not conducive to the assault of our mechanized troops. But what does this have to do with the position of our defense? "

Pointing to the map in front of me, I patiently introduced to the chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, please see, if we build a defense on the border line, it will be difficult for us to allocate enough troops at a depth of 30 kilometers behind us to protect this area. Once the German forces detour from the two wings, our troops deployed on the border line will be in danger of being encircled. However, the situation will be much better if the defense line is set to the south of chernofse. Our troops can rely on fortifications inside and outside the city to establish a perfect defense system. "

Katukov, who did not speak for a long time, continued: "Rita is right. After a long period of fighting, our troops have been seriously reduced, and the number of tanks that can be used for fighting is very limited. Even if we reach the border with such a force, it will be very difficult for us to block the German counterattack. "

At first, the chief of staff and the military commissar were full of expectations for arriving at the border line as soon as possible. Hearing what katukov said, they immediately thought of the current situation of the army and shut up one after another. After a while, the chief of staff tentatively asked katukov, "Comrade commander, after months of fighting, we have lost more than half of our troops, and there are not many tanks left. If we turn to defense on the spot, can we block the counterattack carried out by the strengthened German army?"

After listening to the chief of staff's worry, I turned to katukov and said with a smile, "general katukov, I am full of confidence in your troops' adherence to chernofse. I believe your commanders and fighters can not only block the enemy's crazy attack, but also fight the enemy in the shortest time after completing the replenishment. "

"Comrade deputy commander of the front army," the chief of staff asked unexpectedly when he saw that I had so much confidence in katukov, "I want to know why you have so much confidence in our commander?"

"It's simple, because your commander is known by the Germans as the commander of the" slippery general. " I know that the chief of staff and katukov have been working together for less than a year, so I don't know enough about many of katukov's heroic deeds, so I take this opportunity to popularize science to him: "in October 41, when general katukov just took over the fourth brigade of tankers, he had only 45 old tanks and not enough ammunition. With such troops and technical equipment, it seems an impossible task to complete the order issued by the higher authorities to block the Guderian armored cluster and defend the west gate of Moscow.

But general katukov was very clever. He knew that hard work was not the way. He urged the soldiers to repair the fake bunkers day and night, and to deploy a large number of fake tanks made of plywood inside, while deploying the real tank positions thousands of meters away.

A lot of officers and men resented him for his hard work. They called him "a German spy general who wants to kill everyone.". However, as soon as the battle started, we found that we had wronged him. Following this slippery brigade commander, we could at least save our lives and win the battle.

Because of the limited military strength, general katukov had to use every soldier carefully, and ordered each tank to have at least three or four firing points. He fired a few shots at the enemy and then changed to another place, thus giving the Germans the illusion that the Soviet army was very powerful. Facts have proved that his tactics have indeed worked. When the Germans reported to the higher authorities, they all said that they found thousands of tanks of our army in the area.

After eight days of fighting, the tank brigade under the command of general katukov destroyed 133 German tanks and two planes, but his own troops suffered little loss, and successfully completed the defense task assigned to him by his superiors. "

After I introduced katukov's brilliant achievements, katukov waved to me with a smile and said with a little embarrassment, "Rita, it's all years ago. What do you want to do with it at this time. Chief of staff, "he said to the chief of staff in his last sentence," go and give orders to the troops immediately, and let general dlyomov's guards mechanize the Eighth Army and build a defense in the south of the city; General Guttman's bodyguard tank 11th army and infantry 24th division are responsible for the city's defense. "

After learning about katukov's great achievements in the past, the chief of staff readily followed his instructions and issued orders to the two commanders of the guards through the telephone of the headquarters.

When the chief of staff sat back at the table, katukov suddenly looked at me and said with great interest, "Rita, there won't be any war now. I want to hear your judgment of the next war situation!"

"Yes, yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." When katukov said that, his chief of staff naturally added, "let's talk about your analysis."

Seeing katukov's gracious attitude, and my desire to build up a tall image in front of commanders who were not familiar with me, I did not refuse, but took the history I knew as my own analysis: "according to my analysis, the reason why we launched a series of offensive campaigns on the right bank of the Dnieper River is that I think there are mainly two main campaign targets. First, our army wants to liberate all the territory occupied by the German army in the south of the Soviet Union and threaten the Romanian oil fields; Second, although the supreme command also understands that our launching of this series of attacks does not necessarily make the German army believe that our army will attack Romania in the summer, it can make the Russians feel that the focus of our next attack will be the northern region of Ukraine, so as to achieve the goal of covering the offensive campaign in Belarus. "

Katukov was stunned by what I said. He looked at the map silently for a long time, nodded slowly and said, "that's right, Rita. From the current attack direction of our army, not to mention the German headquarters, even I think the focus of our next attack is the north of Ukrainian." At this point, he looked around and saw that except for me and him, as well as the chief of staff and the military commissar, the rest of the staff were far away from us. They should not hear what I said just now. Then the chief breathed a sigh and solemnly told the chief of staff and the military commissar, "what Lida said is the absolute secret of our army. I hope you don't let it out, Do you understand? "

"I understand." At the same time, the military commissar and chief of staff said, "don't worry, we will abide by the confidentiality regulations."

"Good, good!" After listening to their answers, katukov nodded with satisfaction, and then turned to look at me, "Rita, there are no outsiders here anyway. Can you give us some more important information?" Deeply afraid of my misunderstanding, he specially explained, "I don't want to know what you and Zhukov are talking about, but I want to hear you judge what the German army will do next?"

I stood up, picked up a red and blue pencil on the table, pointed to the map spread out in front of me, and said to the three men, "comrades, from the current battlefield situation, it is very dangerous for the German army. In order to save the crisis, the only way out for the Germans is to maintain a defensive line in the east line to block our fortifications.

According to my judgment, the enemy has two directions to ensure: one is Belarus or northern Ukraine, because our army can enter Poland through these two directions, and then rush to the German mainland; The second is the south of Ukraine, because our army can enter Romania through it.

The first direction is directly related to the safety of Germany; The latter direction is related to the Romanian oil field, which is very important to the German army. Once it is occupied by our army, the German army will lose its main source of energy. "

At this point, I put down my pencil and said to them with a smile: "once the main source of energy is lost, the German tanks and planes will become immovable scrap iron, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly weakened."

Katukov looked at the map and then asked a question: "if we want to defend both directions at the same time, the German army will need a lot of troops. But can they deploy enough troops on both fronts after repeated failures? "

After katukov finished, I shook my head and continued: "if they had enough troops in both directions at the same time last year, it would be possible. However, with successive losses in the Soviet German battlefield, they have lost a large number of elite troops. In the north of Ukraine, let alone in the south, they have to rely on their allies: Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to ensure that our army can not seize the large oil fields in Romania. But as the German army lost on the battlefield, their allies began to become less reliable. "

Katukov looked at me with a mysterious smile on his face. After a little meditation, he carefully asked, "Rita, I know you have many ideas. Do you want to make ideas on German allies?"

"Yes, general katukov, that's what I think." Seeing katukov, I guessed my intention, and I said without concealing: "although the fighting capacity of these servants' armies can't be compared with that of the German army, our army will pay a great price to destroy them. But if we can bring these enemies to our side, it will not only reduce our casualties, but also greatly weaken the enemy. "

I thought my theory would win everyone's applause after it was put out. I didn't expect that when I finished, katukov looked down at the map and said nothing; The chief of staff looked at the ceiling of the church and seemed to appreciate the painting carefully.

The military commissar looked around for a moment. After seeing the reaction made by katukov and the chief of staff, he said with a bitter smile to me, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, although I think your formulation is very novel, please forgive me for being frank. I don't think the superior will agree with it."“ Why? " I was surprised by the military commissar's words and asked, "why do you say that?"“ It's very simple. " Katukov could not avoid this problem, so he could only stand up and explain on behalf of the military commissar: "whether it is Romania, Hungary or Czechoslovakia, they did a lot of bad things with the Germans during the Great Patriotic War. Now their master can't hold on any longer, so he wants to change his family. There's no such easy thing. At least let them pay enough for the bad things they have done before they can consider joining our camp. " Katukov's words made me feel a little taken for granted. Did Stalin, who was above me, not consider the problems I considered? Have the senior leaders of the supreme command not considered it? Even Zhukov, who was just sent away by us not long ago, may not have considered this matter. But why didn't anyone take the initiative to woo these servants? However, I was still a little unconvinced and said: "although the Germans occupied these countries, the people of these countries never gave in. The resistance movement against the German occupation has been going on and on."“ All right, Rita, no more Katukov waved to me and sidestepped the subject: "we are soldiers, so don't bother to think about the issues that should be considered by politicians. It's more practical for us to study how to resist the possible anti assault of the German army. "