Burning Moscow

Less than two minutes later, Basmanov appeared in the headquarters. ★く★√く√く After he saluted us, he walked to the wall, pointed at the map on the wall with the explanation stick, and began to introduce us to the German defense situation on the west side of Fastif.

Basmanov stared at the map and said: "...In order to prevent the enemy from being attacked by our new tanks, an anti-tank trench with a length of seven kilometers was built on the west side of the city. The width and depth of the anti-tank trench are distributed. For five meters and three meters, the Germans also filled the trenches with water about one meter deep. It can be said that the trenches not only play an anti-tank role, but are also an insurmountable barrier against infantry. In the anti-tank trenches close to our army On one side, the Germans also planted a large number of anti-tank mines.

On the inner side of the trench is the German fortifications. Their shelters are constructed of solid materials, and the top can defend against our 76.2mm artillery and small aerial bombs. At the same time, their firepower configuration can block trenches. "

After listening to Basmanov's introduction, Seryukin asked tentatively: "Comrade Major, if we cover the enemy's positions with intensive artillery fire before the attack, can we destroy their fortifications?"

Basmanov shook his head and said politely: "Comrade commander, for the enemy’s strong firepower and civil engineering, the most destructive technical equipment is needed, such as our army’s 122mm or 152mm howitzer, before it is possible to destroy They are completely destroyed."

After Askarepov waited for Basmanov to finish speaking, he turned his head and looked at me and said, "Comrade Commander, it seems that when we attack Fastiv, we still need artillery support, otherwise we will rely solely on infantry. With a few tanks, it’s impossible to break through the enemy’s position."

"Relax, General Askarepov. I will provide you with the artillery you need." I stared at the map and said, "The friendly forces will prepare for an hour or two before attacking Fastiv. We Although the current reserve of artillery shells is limited, there should be no problem in covering the enemy's position with artillery fire for half an hour."

At this moment, I saw Povsky, the commander of the artillery of the Group Army, walked in, stopped him quickly, and pointed to the map and asked: "General Povsky, we will start the battle against Fastiv the next morning. The offensive, the offensive troops may need your artillery support at that time, are you okay?"

After listening to Povsky, he asked, "Comrade Commander, I don't know how long our artillery will need to shell the enemy's defensive positions?"

"Of course the longer the time, the better." After I said this, I felt a little bit overwhelmed. Since the line of communication between us and Kiev was cut off, a lot of supplies were not available, so I quickly changed my words and said: "At least It takes half an hour to prepare for artillery fire."

Povsky thought for a while, then scratched the back of his head and said, "Comrade Commander, I think you should be very clear that the line of communication between us and Kiev was cut off by the enemy, and only by the enemy from Cherkassy. Materials can not make up for our daily consumption. If we want to guarantee half an hour of shelling before the attack on Fastiv, the artillery support to the west of Zhytomyr must be temporarily stopped."

Povsky's statement is tantamount to posed a new problem for me. For example, today the west of Tomir is attacked by the Germans every day. If there is no artillery support, it is a question of whether it can be defended. It is obviously impossible not to leave enough artillery shells for half an hour to attack Fastif's troops.

Seeing me staring at the map and staying silent, Bezikov walked over and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas?"

When I heard Bezikov asked this, I couldn’t help laughing. This very opinionated colonel, now and a few months ago, is so different. He has to ask for my opinion on everything. It seems that I can definitely think about it. It's like a good solution.

Before I could speak, Kistyakov spoke first. He said to Povsky in a negotiating tone: "Comrade Artillery Commander, can you see if this is the case. The artillery support to the west of Zhytomyr will continue, but I ask you to have at least one heavy artillery regiment and one guards rocket battalion. , Don’t participate in such artillery support, but save the shells for use in the bombardment of Fastifs. Look, okay?"

Regarding Kistyakov’s proposal, Povsky only thought about it for a moment, and then readily agreed: "Well, Comrade Deputy Commander, just do as you said. I will send one after I go back later. The heavy artillery regiment and a guards rocket artillery battalion were transferred to Korostviv, ready to provide artillery support for the troops attacking Fastiv."

We chatted for a while, and seeing that all the commanders who came to the meeting were almost there, Bezikov said loudly to them: "Comrade commanders, please sit down. We will have a meeting right away."

After everyone was seated, I stood up and looked at the dozen or so commanders in front of me. I was extremely excited. This was the first time I met them all after crossing the Dnieper River. I tried my best to squeeze a smile on my face, raise my voice and say to everyone: "Hello, comrades commanders! I am very happy to see you all here today. This is the first time since our group army launched a cross-river operation. Commander’s meeting above the division level."

I stopped here, my eyes swept over every commander, and then I continued: "In more than a month, we liberated Cherkassy, ​​Kaniv, and Zhytomyr. It also assisted the main front army to liberate Kiev. All the commanders and fighters of our group army have made great achievements in the battle.

Since the front army has consumed a lot of strength and weapons and ammunition after continuous combat, after the liberation of Kiev, they had to stop and rest for a while. However, the enemy was unwilling to give us time to recover. They gathered a dozen divisions and furiously counterattacked Kiev and Zhitomir, where we were standing.

Although they have made some progress in the direction of Kiev, they have not reached their strategic goals. Especially in Zhytomyr, the alternate attacks of five armored divisions and infantry divisions were all crushed by our brave commanders. We have been playing with them for such a long time, and it is time to settle the ledger with them. Next, Colonel Bezikov, Chief of Staff, will tell you about the big counterattack that will be launched the day after tomorrow. "

Bezikov stood up, walked to the wall, picked up the explanation stick, pointed to the map on the wall and said to everyone: "Comrades, the troops of the front army are about to turn offensive in Kiev and Zhytomyr and Cherkasy regions. , To smash the enemy's heavy forces in the above-mentioned areas, and complete the task of liberating all Ukrainian territory on the right bank of the Dnieper.

According to the headquarter’s report, our front army has assembled the 27th and 4th armies in Cherkassy. Their targets are Uman and Vinnytsia; while in the direction of Kiev, they have assembled the 18th and 38th armies. With the 6o Army, the 1st Guards Army, the 1st Guards Tank Army and the Third Army, they will carry out major assaults in the central area to crush the German heavy forces in the Fastif area. The main force will be after joining our army. , Will continue to attack in the direction of Berkichev; while the 13th Army's troops will be deployed on the right flank of the front army to ensure the implementation of the campaign and be responsible for assaults on Korosten, Voronsky New City and other places..."

When Bezikov introduced the mission to everyone, the commanders who participated in the meeting bowed their heads and quickly recorded something in the notebook. Only when they heard Bezikov mention a specific place name, they looked up at the map to confirm where the place name was on the map.

After introducing the situation of the front army, Bezikov began to arrange the task: "... we must first cooperate with the friendly forces to attack the enemy in the Fastiv area, and strive to annihilate or severely inflict them. According to the orders of the superiors, from Kiev The main force will attack from the east and north of Fastiv, while our army will attack from the west.

In order to strengthen the attack force, Comrade Commander decided to transfer the 89th Division of the Guards of General Seleukin to Krostwiv to participate in the attack on Fastiv. In this way, the Fastif troops that we participated in the attack consisted of the 77th Guards Division, the 89th Guards Division, the Cavalry Division and the 22nd Guards Tank Brigade. "

"What kind of situation will our offensive forces encounter?" Kistyakov continued: "According to our reconnaissance, the enemy has built a relatively large scale on the west side of the city in order to prevent our sudden attack. Perfect defensive positions, just the seven-kilometer anti-tank trench, has become an insurmountable gap between infantry and tanks. Behind the trench, the enemy has not only built a large number of shooting bunkers, but also established strong fortifications. , Can block trenches with firepower..."

I listened carefully to every word Kistyakov said, and realized in my heart that if we can't find an effective way to break through the German defense, then our cooperation with the friendly forces can only become empty talk. At this moment, I heard Kistyakov raise his voice and say: "...Comrade commander, although we and our friendly forces attacked Fastiv at the same time, the enemy was not decent because of the friendly forces’ attack. It’s fortifications, so in the end, the first to rush into the city may be the friendly forces."

Sitting in the commander below, someone suddenly asked loudly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, can I ask a question?"

I looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that it was the cavalry division commander who was speaking. Kistyakov turned his head to look at me, solicited my opinion with his eyes, and asked if I agreed with the cavalry division's commander's statement. I nodded slightly and signaled that Kistyakov could ask the other party to ask his own questions.

Kistyakov, who got my hint, nodded, then reached out and pointed to the cavalry division commander, and said, "Comrade commander, if you have any questions, just ask."

The cavalry commander stood up and asked politely: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I would like to ask, why the Fastiv German army is only building fortifications in our direction? We must know that our strength is far greater than that of Kiev. The main force of the German army is small, even if the German army wants to defend, it should defend the east. How can it build a position on the west that is irrelevant?"

"Comrade commander, I think this question, as long as it is a divisional commander of the Sixth Guards Army, should be able to answer you." Kistyakov smiled and said this to the cavalry commander, turning his head to Bie Ji. Cove said: "Chief of Staff, I think it's up to you to answer this question."

Bezikov stood up again, facing the cavalry commander and said: "Comrade commander, the enemy is building fortifications on the west side of Fastif for nothing more than two reasons. The first is that we stayed in Krost some time ago. Weave’s tank brigade once had a battle with the German tank divisions. Our new tanks defeated the German Tiger and Panther tanks. They might be afraid that we would carry out armored assaults on them, so they built it. Fortifications to prevent our attack.

The second point, I think it might be because of our commander. We must know that her reputation in the German army is not small. The enemy we were besieged last time was originally in the Ningyu. But as soon as she heard the name of Comrade Commander, she immediately stopped resisting and surrendered to our army. If I were a German commander and had such a powerful opponent close at hand, I would also strengthen my defense. "

Bezikov answered the question from the cavalry commander~www.wuxiaspot.com~, raising his voice and asking: "The task has been explained. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Tawart Kiradze asked first: "According to the order, our troops should hold on until the friendly forces arrive. I have a question. After joining the friendly forces, should we join forces with them? Where, continue to attack the enemy's depths?"

"General Tavart Kiradze, your task is to defend Zhytomyr resolutely." Bezikov replied briefly and clearly: "As for the future actions of the friendly forces, you will be notified by the headquarters."

After Tavartkilasze asked the question, Bere also stood up. He said to me with a sad expression: "Comrade Commander, my tank corps is currently dominated by T-34s. These tanks have 76mm main guns. , It is impossible to penetrate the frontal armor of Tiger tanks and Ferdinand self-propelled artillery, but the enemy’s 88mm guns can easily destroy our tanks."

"General Biele, you are more experienced than me in dealing with enemy tanks." I smiled and said to Biele: "Since the frontal armor of enemy tanks cannot penetrate, then we will change our tactics and let enemy tanks pass through our combat team. Form, let the infantry use 4o rocket launchers, anti-tank guns, anti-tank grenades and bombers to deal with them. Your tanks only need to deal with the infantry following behind.” (To be continued.)