Chapter 1551

Seeing that our troops were being mobilized in a high-profile manner, the German troops on the other side of the border immediately entered a state of high alert to prevent possible attacks by our troops.

After dark, I got a call from konev's headquarters. He said to me with a smile, "Rita, there's a lot of noise there. According to the reconnaissance, the German troops in Lvov are moving. They can move to the Romanian border."

"That's very good, comrade marshal." Knowing the news that the German army was really confused by our army, I was very happy. I also said with a smile, "as long as the German army does not mobilize troops to the north, then the counterattack launched by our army in Belarus can achieve great results."

After a pause, I asked again, "Comrade marshal, what's the progress of our army today?"

"Under the command of bagramijan and chernyahovsky, the troops fought quite well," konev said excitedly. "The first front army of the Baltic Sea, in collaboration with the third front army of Belarus, encircled five German divisions to the west of Vitebsk, and is now in the final battle of annihilation.

The Belarusian second front army under the command of general zaharov has also broken through the German defenses along the pronyah, Basha and Dnieper rivers and is developing in depth to the enemy's defenses. "

I heard that among the serial numbers reported by konev, there was no first front army of rokosovsky alone. As soon as he finished, he immediately asked, "what about the first front army of Belarus of general rokosovsky? How are they doing so far? "

Hearing my question, konev was silent for a moment, and then replied, "according to the war report I got, although rokosovsky's troops have successfully passed through the swamp, they have met with tenacious resistance from the German army in the process of continuing to move forward, so their achievements are limited."

"Oh, so it is." Although konev put it mildly, I know very well in my heart that maybe rokosovsky's troops were intercepted by the heavy German troops just after they passed through the swamp, so they could not win at all. I couldn't help wondering whether I would encounter a similar situation if I were still under rokosovsky's command to launch an attack from this area.

"Rita, don't worry." Seeing that I was suddenly silent, konev guessed that I might be disappointed that rokosovsky's troops did not achieve any results, and comforted me, saying: "the German army does not have enough reserves in Belarus. There are only 11 divisions in all the group armies and army groups. As long as your actions can attract the main force of the enemy in Ukraine and prevent them from going north to support, then our four front forces in Belarus will be able to completely eliminate the enemy in Belarus. "

After I put down the phone, I stared at the map in front of me and thought about it carefully. Although the task I have received at present is to feint along the border between Ukraine and Romania, which makes the German army have the illusion that the main attack direction of our army is Ukraine, while Belarus is only the auxiliary direction. But in order to be more like it, I need to do something else.

"Comrade deputy commander, what are you looking at?" Maybe I've been staring at the map for a long time. Shumilov, who was sitting on one side, couldn't help but ask curiously.

I always have great respect for this old superior. When he asked me a question, he immediately replied with a smile: "general sumilov, I'm considering whether I should take any action to make the Germans believe that our initiative is in Ukraine rather than Belarus."

"Unless we take the initiative to attack the enemy across the border." Shumilov casually expressed his opinion, and then immediately denied it: "it seems that this is not feasible. With our current strength, it seems that it is too risky to take the initiative to attack the German army."

"Yes, as long as we launch an attack, the German army can find our real strength. At that time, let alone continue to contain the enemy, there is even the possibility of being seriously damaged by the enemy." I said carefully: "so we can only put on a ready to attack appearance, so that the German army can eat and sleep."

After I finished this sentence, I thought about it. I pointed to the German defense area southwest of chernofse and asked schumilov, "Comrade General, this is where we are most threatened at present. What the Germans are deploying here is the German armed SS forces. If they suddenly attack us, can your deployed forces stop them? "

After listening to my question, shumilov said with some disapproval, "Comrade deputy commander, I think you have given too much consideration. As long as we don't attack, the Germans think it's God's blessing. How can they take the initiative to attack us? "

Seeing shumilov's attitude, I could not help but worry when I asked him casually. With a serious expression, I asked again, "Comrade General, please answer me, if the German army attacks chernowitzer from this direction, can our troops block it?"

"I can't stop it." Seeing that I was serious, shumilov knew that I was not joking with him. He also restrained his smile and said, "I only have two infantry regiments and one tank brigade in this direction. If the German troops attack with heavy troops, I think it is very difficult for us to stop them."

"Comrade General, please have a look." I pointed to the map and analyzed to him: "according to the intelligence, the German army is dispatching troops from Lvov to move towards the Romanian border. If they suddenly attack chernovitzer on the way down south, we will be in danger here. "

"No?" After listening to me, shumilov asked suspiciously, "didn't the German troops going south reinforce the border area? How could they attack us suddenly?"

At this moment, I suddenly understand why this commander, who had served as commander of the group army in the defense war of Stalingrad, was only a general after the war. He had no chance with the rank of general, let alone the rank of Marshal. It seems that his limited ability has something to do with his rank.

I didn't have the patience to explain to him. Instead, I exercised my right and decisively ordered: "general sumilov, I now order you to immediately deploy two infantry divisions and two tank brigades on the two wings of the southwest defense force. At the same time, an additional infantry division should be deployed in the western suburbs of the city to establish a defense in depth. "

"I see, comrade deputy commander." Although shumilov didn't quite agree with the order I gave him, the obedience habit he had developed during his long military career made him readily agree to it and began to arrange the army's defense work.

Over the next few days, the Belarusian battlefield was filled with good news. First, five German divisions encircled by our army to the west of Vitebsk were eliminated; Then came the decisive action of the Belarusian third front army, which cut off the links between the German tank group 3 and the group 4. Rokosovsky's troops have also successfully encircled six German divisions in the borowsk area and are in the final battle of annihilation.

All the German troops on the Romanian border have entered the first level of combat readiness and are ready to fight against the possible attack of our army. At that moment, the German army, which had gone south from Lvov, launched a surprise attack on the troops deployed in the southwest of shumilov.

Under the cover of aircraft, artillery and tanks, the German army broke through our two lines of defense within an hour and approached chernowitzer step by step.

After receiving the war report from the front, shumilov looked a little flustered. Holding the telegraph, he asked nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, what should I do now?"

As I prepared for the rain a few days ago, I was particularly calm about the sudden attack on the German army. I pushed the current map towards shumilov and said with a relaxed expression, "Comrade General, tell the comrades on the front line to take a step-by-step fight against the fortifications and slowly retreat to chernovice."

"Comrade deputy commander, Germany is less than 30 kilometers away from us," shumilov said in a flustered voice. "If our troops retreat further, they will soon be able to rush under chernovitzer, and then we will be in danger."

"Don't worry," I comforted shumilov with a smile. "We've already laid a deep defense under chernovitzer. It's not so easy for the Germans to rush into the city."

When I said this, shumilov's nervous expression eased. He looked at me and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what shall we do next?"

"The feint in the direction of the border continues. As long as we do not stop mobilizing troops, the enemy deployed in Romania will not know our details, so they will not dare to act rashly. The enemy from the southwest will have to fight alone. " I pointed to the troops deployed on the left and right wings of the defense line and said, "when our counter attack forces are assembled, we will order the troops here to carry out assault and resolutely cut off the retreat of the German army."

"Comrade deputy commander," shumilov said, still a little uneasily, "if I transfer all my troops to the southwest of chernofse, then the north and east of the city will become empty. Is that right?"

"General sumilov, I would like to remind you that your group army is on the border with the troops of the second front army of Ukraine. They can take over the defense area you vacate. Your task now is to transfer all the troops you can mobilize to the southwest of chernovitzer, and have a close offensive and defensive battle with the German troops who take the initiative to attack. Do you understand? "

Seeing that the members of the group army headquarters are busy, I think we should report this to konev so that he can have a clear idea. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone on the desk, dialed the headquarters of the front army, and said to the microphone, "I'm oshanina. Please connect marshal konev to you."

"What can I do for you, Rita?" Asked konev.

"Well, comrade marshal." I hastened to give konev a detailed report on the German attack from the southwest of chernofse. At the same time, I also introduced my own countermeasures.

After listening, konev said with satisfaction, "well done, Rita. As long as you can completely smash the German offensive on the outskirts of chernovitzer, you will further deepen the German army's illusion that we are now at the Romanian border with a large number of troops, and that we may launch a new offensive at any time. "

Seeing that konev supported my deployment, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. Thinking that our air force now controls the air control in Ukraine, as soon as they move out, they can speed up the collapse of the German assault forces, so I specially put forward to konev: "marshal, in order to smash the German attack as soon as possible, I think we should ask the air force to move out to provide the necessary air cover for our counterattack forces."

"I see. I'll contact the air force commander immediately." "I wish you success in advance," konev said in a smooth voice After I put down the phone, I immediately said to shumilov, "Comrade General, the marshal has agreed to our counter offensive plan. He will soon send the air force to provide air support for our counter offensive forces. Now I order you to let the deployed group artillery fire immediately and use the heavy artillery fire to suppress the German troops who are frantically attacking. " As the order was issued, the artillery units that had already been designated to shoot at the data were heavily shelled on the German units that were charging towards chernovitzer. In the dense artillery fire, one after another German tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed, stopped and burned, emitting thick smoke. However, the situation of the infantry who followed was not much better. They were swept down in batches by the flying shrapnel. But before they received the order to stop the attack, they had to take the lead, carry weapons and continue to charge forward under the fierce fire of our army. After receiving the report from the frontier observation post, shumilov immediately asked me, "Comrade deputy commander, the German army is suffering heavy casualties under our artillery fire. Should we order the troops ambushing on both sides of the defense line to attack?" I looked up at him and asked with a smile, "has the air force that marshal konev promised us arrived?"“ This one? " When shumilov heard my question, he was stunned for a moment. Then he turned to the chief of staff behind him and asked, "chief of staff, is the air force here?"“ Not yet, comrade commander. " Answered the chief of staff, shaking his head. After listening to the chief of staff's reply, shumilov quickly turned his head to look me in the eye and replied solemnly, "the air force hasn't arrived yet, comrade deputy commander of the front army." I nodded slightly: "let the observation station observe. As soon as our air force arrives at the battlefield, it will immediately order the troops ambushing on both sides of the defense line to attack and cut off the retreat of the German army."“ Yes Shumilov replied loudly.