Chapter 1491

As soon as the time for the attack arrived, the artillery units, which were already ready to stand by, opened fire on the German defensive positions.

In an instant, the German position was like an erupting crater, wrapped in the rising black smoke, which exploded one by one, one by one, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.

Listening to the movement outside, rebalko said to me with a smile, "Rita, I think the German position can't withstand such heavy artillery attack. As soon as the artillery attack stops and our tanks rush again, the German defense will be completely destroyed."

Compared with rebalko's optimism, I was extremely calm. As soon as he finished, I immediately said coldly, "Comrade General, the situation may not be as optimistic as you think. Just now, on my way to the city for negotiation, I saw that the German forces were concentrated in the second line of defense, and the first line of defense had only a few troops on guard. "

My words surprised rebalko. Before he spoke, melinikov asked, "are the Germans going to give up the first position?"

"It's not like that, comrade military Commissar." I repeated to them what I had just said to Panfilov, and finally said, "you know, tarnopol is a fortress, and the fortifications outside the city are mainly reinforced concrete. If our artillery does not use special shells, it is very difficult to destroy these fortifications."

"Rita, if I don't get it wrong, you think it's very difficult for us to take talnopol." Rebalko asked slowly: "even if you win the first line of defense, will you have to pay a heavy price?"

"Maybe not." At this moment, I remembered that I hadn't made my own decision. I communicated with rebalko and said, "on the way back, I met general Panfilov. I told him that if I wanted to capture the first German line of defense at the fastest speed, I had to move the tanks 200 meters away from the enemy's position before the end of the shelling. As soon as the shelling is over, a tank assault will be launched, so that when the German troops return to the front line positions, they can occupy their positions first. "

"Let our troops, when shelling, be within 200 meters of the German position?" Meilinikov was startled by what I said. He was surprised and asked, "in this way, the troops coming out of the front are not easily injured by gunfire?"

"No, comrade military Commissar." This time, rebalko took the lead and answered, "our tank soldiers stay in the tanks. The flying shrapnel will not do any damage to them."

"If so, that would be great." After finishing these words, melinikov turned his eyes back on me and said in a flattering way, "it's general o'shanina who has rich experience in fighting and can come up with such a good idea. If I'm in charge, it's estimated that after the shelling is over, the commanders and fighters of the tank army will leave the starting position to attack the German army. "

In order to take care of melinikov, a layman, I gave a ha ha, and then said, "Comrade military commissar, you can't say that. You are a political cadre. If we talk about political and ideological work, I can't compare with you."

Melinikov seemed to be very helpful to me. After listening to my praise, he said a few words on the scene. He even went to pour a cup of hot tea in front of me and said in a friendly way, "general oshanina, you must be tired and hungry after you have been busy all morning. Have a cup of hot tea first, and I'll ask the comrades below to prepare something for you. "

As melinikov himself told me, there were sliced sausages, biscuits, black bread slices, American canned stewed meat, and a can of homemade pickled mushrooms on the table.

I couldn't eat alone, so I said to rebalko: "the shelling has just started. It will take an hour to finish. Let's sit down and have something to eat. Even if you want to command a battle, you have to have enough to eat first. "

When I said that, rebarko and melinikov looked at each other, then sat down to my left and right, and the chief of staff sat opposite me. After eating two biscuits, I took another sip of tea and said casually, "I seem to hear you say that there are more than 100000 residents in the city, but when I entered the city, I didn't seem to see anyone on the street."

I was just chatting. Who knew that when melinikov heard me say that, he couldn't help but widened his eyes and asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, what did you say just now? When you entered the city, you didn't find any residents in the city?"

"Yes," I nodded and replied, "I don't know that it was the German who acted as the resident to cooperate with us and forbid them to go out; Or have they moved the inhabitants of the city to other places? "

"It's impossible for the residents of the city to help us." Melinikov shook his head and said: "you know, the residents of western Ukraine do not have a high degree of identity with the Soviet Union because they joined the Soviet motherland for a short time. It is said that when the German army occupied these areas, the local residents went to the streets to welcome them with flowers in their hands, and regarded these Communist aggressors as their liberators. "

"So the residents were moved to other places by the Germans?" I wait for melinikov to finish, carefully expressed his views: "if it is true, then our siege tactics can be adjusted accordingly."

Listening to me, the chief of staff who was eating stopped, swallowed the piece of bread in his mouth with tea, looked at me and asked, "how to adjust tactics?"

"After entering the city, we generally do not use heavy artillery in densely populated areas, so as not to hurt the residents of the city by mistake." According to my own experience, I said: "but if the German army evacuated them from the city, it would be different. For those strong fortresses, we can safely and boldly use artillery fire. "

"Have a drink, Rita?" Just as I was arguing with the chief of staff about how to use artillery in the city, rebalko asked coldly, "it's cold. You can get warm with a drink."

"Thank you, Comrade General." I waved to rebalko and said apologetically, "I don't drink."

"And you, comrade military commissar?" Seeing that I refused my best friend, rebalko was not upset. Instead, he turned to melinikov and said, "just a small cup will not affect your normal judgment, but also make your body warmer."

"Well, in that case, I'll have a drink." With that, melinikov called a soldier and told him to get his glass.

When he got the glass, rebalko poured it into the glass and said casually: "to capture talnopol, we must first clear all the German positions outside the city. It will take us at least four or five days to complete this task. As for whether heavy artillery should be used in the city and how to use heavy artillery, let's wait until the periphery of the German army is cleared. "

Rebalko's words made me suddenly realize that I said how he suddenly asked me if I was drinking. It turned out that he was worried that I and the chief of staff would have unnecessary disputes over unimportant matters, so he used drinking to divert our attention. However, his method is very effective. At least we have not mentioned the use of artillery.

With the last five minutes to go before the end of the shelling, rebalko stood up and went to the place where he put the phone. I picked up the receiver, put it to my ear and dialed a number. After a moment, I heard him say to the receiver, "Hello, is that general Panfilov? I'm rebalko

At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said, "according to the order of the deputy commander of the front army, your tank troops should now move towards the German position that is being shelled. Have you carried out this order? "

Rebalko quickly put down the phone, came back, and said to me with a smile, "Rita, general Panfilov, is leading the tank troops to the first line of defense of the German army according to your troops."

I am very satisfied with what rebalko said. At least in the 3rd group army of the close guard tank, what I said is as good as what rebalko said. So I replied with a smile: "Comrade General, let's wait for good news, if we are lucky. Ten minutes, ten minutes at most, general Panfilov's forces will be able to occupy the first German line of defense. "

A quarter of an hour later, Panfilov called in person and congratulated rebalko: "Comrade commander, my tank army has occupied the first line of defense of the German army. At present, the infantry are cleaning up the remnant enemy in the fortifications."

"Well done, comrade Panfilov." Rebalko winked at me and motioned to me to come and listen to the report. When I came to him, he continued to say to the microphone, "I think the German troops in the second line of defense are well prepared. It may not be so easy for you to capture the position as easily as you did just now. There are two things you need to do now: first, send troops to eliminate the remnant enemy in the first line of defense; Second, after eliminating the remaining enemy, we should readjust the deployment of our forces and let the tanks guide the infantry to attack the enemy's second line of defense. "

After rebalko put down the phone, the chief of staff immediately came to ask for instructions: "Comrade commander, do you want to order the artillery to bombard the second line of defense again?"

"No," rebalko said, waving to the chief of staff, "the farthest distance between the first line of defense and the second line of defense is only 500 meters, and the nearest one is only 300 meters. If we allow our artillery to carry out shelling, it is easy to cause unnecessary accidental injuries. Let general Panfilov's tank army complete the attack on the second line of defense alone. "

"Since general Panfilov captured the German first line of defense so easily, the northern attack should not be too bad, should it?" Melinikov approached me and suggested in a low voice, "would you like to call general afuning and find out what's going on in the north?"

In fact, even if melinikov doesn't say anything, I will call afuning next. After all, I am responsible for the cooperation between several troops. After I dialed the command headquarters of the 18th army of the guards, I heard afuning's voice and asked directly, "Comrade General, what's the situation over there? Have you attacked the German periphery

"Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." Afuning respectfully replied: "as soon as the shelling was over, the 121st division of the guard infantry, guided by the tanks of the 61st brigade of the guard tanks, launched an attack on the German peripheral positions."

From afuning's tone, I guessed that there may not be any achievements at present, but in order to verify my judgment, I continued to ask, "how is the current progress?"

"Our shock troops have reached a distance of only 300 meters from the German fortifications, but they have suffered some losses due to the suppression of German artillery and machine gun fire." Afuning reported to me in a euphemistic tone: "although we have not achieved any results for the time being, our commanders and fighters are very brave." I'm most afraid to hear the saying "the soldiers are very brave" now. Generally, this word is used when people report to me, which means that their attack has not made any progress. As the battle has just started, I can't push afuning too hard, so I can only casually say, "well, comrade general, if you have any latest results, please report to me at any time." After I put down the phone, I said to rebarko, "Comrade General, the way of fighting on afuning's side is too safe. It was only after the shelling that the infantry attacked the German defensive position under the cover of tanks. Now it was suppressed by the enemy's artillery and machine gun fire, and it was temporarily unable to move forward. It seems that the only way to conquer this fortress is to place your hopes on you. "“ Don't worry, Rita After listening to me, rebalko immediately replied with a smile, "our commanders and fighters will not let you down." Now in front of this fortress city, which is called "jernopol" in later generations and "tarnopol" at the moment, I am going to take a step-by-step and steady way to consume the garrison in the city and achieve the goal of capturing the fortress. However, some people are extremely impatient, hoping that we can take this fortress in one day. While rebalko and I were talking and laughing, Zhukov called. He asked bluntly, "Rita, have you started your attack on tarnopol?" After receiving my affirmative reply, he continued to ask, "what's the current situation?"“ In the south of the city, the Sixth Army of Panfilov's close guard tanks has successfully captured the first German line of defense. " I truthfully reported to Zhukov that "the progress in the north of the city is not very smooth. Due to the suppression of German artillery fire, general afuning's troops have not made any decent progress."“ It's too slow. It's too slow. " Zhukov was calm when he began to hear the result of the battle in the south. But when he heard that there was no progress in the north, he became a little impatient: "you call afuning immediately and ask his troops to speed up the attack. You must seize the German position in the shortest time."