Chapter 1681

At dawn, the 28th army commander of the guards, general Ralph, reported us a piece of good news. He said excitedly to trikov on the phone: "Comrade commander, I want to report you a piece of good news. With the support of the tank brigade, the 112th regiment of my guards rushed into the German airfield in Poznan. After a brief exchange of fire with us, the enemy guarding the airfield laid down their arms and surrendered. Next to the runway of the airport, there were 40 intact Henkel HE111 bombers, all of which I seized. However, according to the prisoner's confession, these planes were abandoned by German pilots because they had no fuel. "

"Great, general Ralph. That's great." When he heard that the German bombers had been captured, trakov excitedly told the other party: "immediately report the names of the commanders who participated in this operation to me, I will record their merits, and I will honor them."

After putting down the phone, trakov was still in a bad mood for a long time. He told me and Pronin and others, "we have successfully captured the German airfield in Poznan and captured the bombers parked at the airfield. In this way, the air supremacy over Poznan will be firmly in our hands. "

After cheering for this victory, I reminded them: "comrades, although Poznan's air supremacy has been in our hands, the Germans will not easily admit their defeat. I think the enemy of the fortress will not easily surrender, and will certainly continue to fight to the end."

Just when we were ready to leave troops to besiege Poznan according to the original plan, and the main force of the 8th group army of the guards, the 1st group army of the tanks of katukov's guards, continued to advance westward, Zhukov called and directly ordered, "Rita, in addition to katukov's troops, trakov's troops left to attack Poznan."

"Attack Poznan?" When I heard Zhukov say this, I said with some embarrassment: "Comrade marshal, the enemy's defense in the city is tight. If we want to seize the city in a short time, we will certainly pay a huge price."

"Poznan is an important railway and road hub. If we don't capture this city, even if our troops advance to the Oder River, the railway and road are still under the blockade of the German army." Zhukov told me on the phone: "any train or truck convoy carrying goods and materials can not directly pass through the city, but can only find other roads to bypass, which will directly affect the supply of the leading forces. In addition, even if we encircle the fortress, many troops will be restrained, so that they will not be able to take part in the fighting in other areas, thus weakening our army's ability to attack difficult positions. Do you understand? "

"I see, comrade marshal." Zhukov's stern tone made me understand that seizing Poznan is a non-negotiable task and can only be carried out unconditionally. But in order to let Zhukov understand the actual situation of the battlefield, I went on to say: "because Poznan is a narrow street, the tank troops can not be launched, so I suggest that general trakov's close guard 8th group army be left to launch an attack on Poznan, while general katukov's close guard 1st group army continue to push westward to capture the area of mesaritz, Into the Oder River

"It's a way to get the best of both worlds." As for my proposal, Zhukov said approvingly: "enough troops have been left to capture the city, while some troops can continue to defend the German army. Well, I agree with your plan. From now on, you can go to the 1st group army of katukov's close guard tanks and push westward with them. "

When I heard Zhukov's order, I immediately agreed, "I understand, comrade marshal. We will resolutely follow your orders. "

After I put down the phone, I immediately said to trikov, "general trikov, according to the latest order of Marshal Zhukov, your 8th group army of guards doesn't have to continue to push westward. But stay here in Poznan, attack the German troops who stick in the fortress, and seize the city in the shortest time

Instead of asking more questions, trakov said solemnly, "we are determined to carry out the order of the headquarters of the front army and liberate Poznan from the German hands in the shortest time."

"General trakov, according to the order, I'm going to go to general katukov's first group of close guard tanks, and follow them to the area where mesaritz is built. Poznan, please." I said to trikov a little uneasily: "as the main force of the German army is concentrated in the fortress in the center of the city, when you capture the residential areas outside, I suggest that you do not have to seize every building, which will not only delay a lot of time, but also disperse our forces."

After writing down what I said in his notebook, trekov asked, "Rita, what else do you have to say?"

I thought about it and then said, "don't attack from the west, leave a gap for the Germans. As long as the enemies in those fortresses find that their retreat is not completely blocked by our army, perhaps their resistance will not be too firm. Once the situation is unfavorable to them, they will choose to withdraw from the passageway we left behind. "

In order to prevent katukov from following the troops to the front without waiting for me, I specially called him and asked him to wait for me before leaving trekov headquarters.

Katukov got my call, thought I had some important task to give him, and said politely, "Rita, do you have any new orders to give?"

"General katukov," I asked before answering his question, "has your army moved westward?"“ Yes, "katukov replied positively," the 11th army of babajanian's close guard tanks, as the first echelon, is advancing rapidly westward at the moment. As the second echelon, Diego Moff's 8 mechanized guards keep a distance of 30 kilometers When I heard that the distance between the two echelons was 30 kilometers, I said to the microphone in a hurry: "general katukov, please immediately order general babajanian's troops to slow down the advance speed, and at the same time, let major general Diego mov's mechanized army speed up the March. The distance between the two echelons should not exceed five kilometers. " Katukov listened to me and said, "Rita, if the advance troops slow down, it will give the Germans more time to prepare. Once they build a strong defense, then we will pay a greater price when we attack Seeing that katukov didn't agree with me, I said anxiously, "Comrade General, I don't know if you have thought about it. If the first echelon advances too fast and passes through the area of mesalitz, and the troops behind are blocked by the German army, what kind of adverse situation will happen then? "“ Well, Rita, if you say that, I'll give babajanian an order to slow down "To make sure there is no disconnect between the first and second echelons," katukov said reluctantly“ Comrade general, I will come to you soon. Please wait for me in the headquarters. " A few hours later, my armored car bypassed Poznan and arrived at katukov's station. At this moment, katukov was already impatient. As soon as he saw me, he immediately called me into his command car, and then ordered the troops to continue to move forward. In the car, he asked the question he had said on the phone: "Rita, I have ordered babajanian to slow down, but the 40th brigade of his close guard tank has successfully arrived at the mesaritz building area. According to the report, no German forces were found in the fortified area, so they moved on. " After listening to katukov's report, I stared at the map on the table in a daze and muttered to myself: "is it really that I am so suspicious that the Germans have not deployed any defensive forces in the area where the mesaritz was built?" However, in front of katukov, I didn't want to admit my mistake easily. Instead, I said, "general katukov, are there any troops behind the 40th brigade of the close guard tank?"“ Behind them are the 44th and 45th brigades of the close guard tank, and the 27th brigade of the close guard mechanized tank. " Katukov replied, "the main force of the army is ten kilometers away from the leading force."“ The distance between the troops is too far. " I heard that the 40th brigade of the close guard tank was already in the situation of being alone and deep, and my mood suddenly became irritable: "if the German army cut off their retreat, can the troops behind provide support for them in time?"“ I think you're a little nervous, Rita Katukov and I were familiar with each other, so they spoke very casually. Seeing that I was always in a state of uneasiness, he said politely, "don't you find that since we launched the offensive campaign, the Germans have almost all been on the verge of collapse, and there is no decent resistance at all? If we do not seize this favorable opportunity in time, but stay here and look ahead, we will miss the opportunity. " Just when I felt convinced by katukov and ready to admit my mistake to him, a communication staff officer sitting not far away stood up, quickly walked up to katukov and handed him a telegram I had just received. Katukov's face suddenly became serious after quickly browsing the above content. His eyes were fixed on me and he said, "Rita, it seems that you are right. The contact between the 40th brigade of the close guard tank and the rear, which goes deep into the area of mesalitz, has been cut off by the German army. In other words, they are now surrounded by the German army. "“ What, our tank brigade is in a siege? " Although I have been worried about this kind of thing, when it really happened, it still surprised me and asked, "general katukov, what's the matter?"