Chapter 1687

After listening to my report on the phone, Zhukov was silent for a long time before he said, "it's a good method of fighting, and it's really worth promoting in the whole front army. Well, you'll ask trakov to write a report later and send someone to the headquarters of the front army immediately. "

After talking about the new tactics, Zhukov continued: "Rita, your attack in Poznan is too slow. Now general katukov's forces have established a landing site on the West Bank of the Oder River, but they can't move forward without the cooperation of friendly forces. "

"Where are the 5th shock group army and the 61st group army?" I've been studying with trekov how to conquer Poznan fortress these two days. I don't have any spare energy to pay attention to the progress of the left and right wings.

"In the process of advancing, they were blocked by the German reserve, and their progress was very slow." Zhukov said on the phone: "so you need to get rid of the enemy of Poznan as soon as possible, so concentrate the main forces, quickly push towards the Oder River, and strengthen the 1st group army of katukov's close guard tanks."

I glanced up at the calendar on the wall and saw that there were still two weeks to go before the end of the Arden counterattack launched by the German army. However, the attack time of our army was half a month earlier than that in history. At this moment, the main force of the German army should be held in Arden area by the allies and could not be transferred to support the east line for the time being. Thinking of this, I tentatively asked: "marshal, because of the suddenness of our army's attack, the main force of the German army should still be held in Arden by the Allied forces. At this time, the resistance to the westward advance of the troops should be far less than we expected?"

"Oh, forget it." Zhukov said angrily: "I didn't expect that the Allies had so many planes and cannons, but they were vulnerable to the German attack. So far, they have killed more than 10000 people and lost hundreds of tanks and anti tank guns. If our army had not launched an attack ahead of time, they would have been driven out of the sea by the Germans. "

"Comrade marshal, although the German counterattack caused great losses to the allies, their resilience is amazing." I saw that Zhukov was not optimistic about the Allied forces, so he could only euphemistically say: "but it seriously weakened the German defense forces in the west line and the mobile forces in the east line, and there was no reserve force to supplement the troops. Now they have not only completely lost their counter offensive ability, but also have difficulty in carrying out lasting and effective defense. I don't think it will be long before our troops can enter Berlin smoothly. "

When Zhukov heard me talking about the allies, he also mentioned the special forces that we had deployed German speaking commanders and fighters at that time. This force of thousands of people had been sent behind the enemy lines before our attack. Unfortunately, because the advancing speed of our army far exceeds their penetration speed, their achievements are very limited.

After we talked about our respective concerns for a while, Zhukov asked, "Rita, how long will it take you to win fortress Poznan completely?"

"Marshal, you don't know that Poznan fortress is far more solid and defensive than we thought." I cautiously said to Zhukov, "it took us two days just to destroy the wall outside the German fortress. If we want to seize the core fortress occupied by the German army, I estimate that not only the troops will have to pay a huge sacrifice, but also the time will not be too little."

"You give me a definite word." Zhukov asked bluntly, "when is the quickest time to take the fort?"

"Give me another week," I assured Zhukov, staring at the calendar on the wall. "We will be able to take the German core fortress by the 15th of this month."

"Well, since you say so, I'll give you another week." Before putting down the phone, Zhukov emphasized to me: "time is equally precious to both the enemy and us. The longer we spend in Poznan, the stronger the enemy's defense along the river oder will become. "

After waiting for trakov to come down from the roof, I repeated Zhukov's original words to him, and finally said, "general trakov, we have only one week left to seize Poznan. What's your good way?"

Trikov sat at the table, one hand on the table, chin supported, the other hand gently patting the table, thinking about how to capture boznan, who was heavily guarded by the German army, within the prescribed time. After a long time, he stopped knocking on the table, sat up straight and said to me, "Rita, that's what I think. It's hard to predict how long it will take to liberate the city by military attack alone. But if we launch a political offensive at the same time and persuade the enemy to surrender by shouting, we will surely be able to speed up the process greatly. "

Political offensive and military offensive are two ways at the same time, which I always advocate. Now that trakov has come forward on his own initiative, I have no reason to object. I nodded and said with approval: "yes, general trakov, we should take this way to disintegrate the German defense and speed up the liberation of Poznan."

Pronin, who was sitting next to him, took the initiative to ask for orders and said, "comrades commander, I am in charge of political work. Let me be fully responsible for the German army's persuasion. I wonder if you have any comments? "

"I don't have a problem," trikov said first. Then he asked me, "what do you mean, Rita?"

Although last time I personally went out to persuade them to surrender, I achieved certain results. I asked hundreds of German officers and soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender to us. However, it is not clear whether the same effect can be achieved if I go out again. At this moment, since Pronin volunteered and trakov agreed to his request, I naturally said, "I have no opinion. Let general Pronin take full responsibility for this matter."

In fact, the attack in the fortress area was more difficult than I thought. The German army occupied every building and used their firepower to block the way of our soldiers. It took the 39th division of the guards a full day to occupy several houses in a street and build fortifications here.

After learning the news, I personally called the division commander marchenko who was commanding the battle in the fortress area. I said to him, "Comrade Colonel, the German army occupied the buildings on both sides of the street and blocked our way forward with commanding firepower. At this time, if we continue to launch attacks from the Street, it is bound to cost our troops huge casualties."

"What should we do then?" Malchenko asked cautiously.

"Change tactics immediately and let the soldiers go into the occupied buildings." I said in a loud voice to the microphone, "blow through the walls and approach the German occupied area in this way."

"However, comrade deputy commander of the front army," after listening to my order, malchenko said in embarrassment, "our soldiers found that there are still many residents in the building. If they do so, they will surely be killed and injured."

"Comrade Colonel, the residents of the city are not fools. When they fight, they will hide in the basement on the ground floor." I want marchenko to stress: "you only blow up the walls above the second floor, so that the casualties of the residents can be minimized. Do you understand? "

"I see!" Malchenko's joyful voice came from the receiver.

"Now that you understand me, please carry out my orders."

When I put down the phone, I saw that trakov was standing a few steps away from me to answer the phone. He said in a loud voice to the microphone: "I know that the fortification of the Gestapo building of the secret police is very strong. Since our army's attack is not effective, we should try to blow it up." It doesn't matter. Those who stick in the building are all diehard * * elements. They don't deserve to die. They immediately asked the shock engineer brigade to organize a blasting team to destroy the German building with explosives... "

As soon as trikov's phone call was over, the chief of staff, Vladimirov, reported a surprising news: "Comrade commander, the tank brigade reported that some of their tanks had been destroyed by the German inexplicably."

"Destroyed somehow?" Trikov frowned and asked, "chief of staff, tell me what's going on. The more I listen, the more confused I am."

"Well," Vladimirov reported, "several tanks supporting the infantry charge suddenly stopped in the street, their engines were still roaring, but they didn't fire or shoot with machine guns. However, the infantry who followed did not find that the appearance of the tank was good. There was neither fire nor explosion, and even no scars were found on the body of the tank. "

"What the hell's going on here?" trekov said, punching hard on the table angrily. "What about the tank soldiers in the tank? Is there no one speaking? Did they all die in the tank? "

"General trakov, I think these tankers have all died in tanks." After listening to the chief of staff's description, I immediately remembered that the German army had been equipped with an anti tank grenade launcher called "Faust" in the later period. After this weapon hit the tank, it would eject high-temperature metal liquid. The tank armor would burn a small hole. The metal liquid injected into the tank through the small hole would burn or burn the tank soldiers in the vehicle.

"It's impossible!" As soon as I finished, Vladimirov quickly retorted, "the infantry following behind the tank didn't hear the sound of the tank being hit and exploded. How could our tankers die inexplicably?"

I looked at trakov and asked, "general trakov, have you heard of Faust?"

"Faust?" Trikov frowned slightly and said, "Rita, we're talking about the tank accident. We don't have time to talk about Goethe's plays."

I saw that trakov really didn't know about the "Faust" anti tank weapon, and quickly added: "general trakov, what I want to tell you is not Goethe's" Faust ", but a new anti tank weapon of the same name launched by the German army."

"Antitank weapons?" Trekov and Vladimirov both looked at me in surprise and asked, "but our infantry didn't find the tank in front of us was hit by the German anti tank weapon?"

"According to the information I have, this kind of" Faust "anti tank grenade of the German army, after hitting our tank, will eject high-temperature metal liquid and burn a small hole in the tank's armor. And the liquid metal sprayed through this hole can easily kill our tank soldiers. "

"Is that true?" "It's incredible," said Vladimirov dubiously After listening, trakov said to Vladimirov solemnly, "Comrade chief of staff, please call the tank brigade immediately and ask them to check. Check if there are holes on the body of the tank and if the crew of the tanks are still alive. " Half an hour later, Vladimirov received a report from the fortress area. His face was livid and he told trikov, "Comrade commander, it seems that what Comrade deputy commander of the front army said is true. Our engineers pried open the hatch of a tank and lifted out the bodies of four tank soldiers. Although the doors of the other vehicles have not been opened yet, I think the situation inside should be similar. "“ Rita, what can we do to deal with the German antitank weapon? " After my words were confirmed, trakov asked me with a sad face: "in the fortress area, if there is no tank support, it is very difficult for the infantry to destroy the enemy's defense."“ Although this kind of "Faust" anti tank grenade can penetrate 140 mm thick armor, it has a fatal disadvantage, that is, its range is too short, only 30 meters. " While trying to recall the data I had seen, I said to trakov, "as long as our tanks stay in a position beyond the effective range of Faust, then we can ensure the safety of our tanks." After listening to my method, trakov immediately drew inferences: "if you need tank fire to cover infantry attacking the enemy's building, stop 100 meters away from the building, so that the German anti tank grenade can not be used. As for advancing in the street, as long as there is infantry cover, it can easily eliminate those anti tank hands hidden in the ruins on both sides of the street. Chief of staff, immediately inform the commander of the tank brigade of the results we have just worked out, so that no more tanks will be lost in vain. " Pronin, who was in charge of persuading the German army to surrender, called and reported to trikov: "Comrade commander, we found an underground Hospital of the German army on the edge of the fortress area. After our repeated persuading, all the doctors, nurses and the wounded in it have surrendered to us. What should we do with them? "