Burning Moscow

I heard that Zhukov was willing to make an exception to equip our group army with two flying regiments, and I was overjoyed. I understand very well in my heart that in the next battle, if you can’t control the air dominance on the battlefield, no matter how many tanks and artillery there are, the enemy only needs to dispatch a few bombers to blow up our weapons and equipment into a pile of scrap iron. .

After I put down the phone and saw Akhromeyev was the nearest to me, I quickly called him over and asked bluntly, "Major, do you know how many planes there are in a flight regiment?"

Akhromeyev suddenly heard this question from me, and he was dumbfounded for a long time, before hesitatingly said: "There should be more than two to thirty planes."

I saw that he was the same layman as I was, so I stretched out my hand to pull him aside, and then asked the group of staff members: "Major Akhromeyev doesn't know how many planes there are in a flying regiment. Who knows?"

The staff members stopped their work one after another and focused on me, but no one spoke. I don’t know if they didn’t know or did not hear what I was saying, so they raised their voice and asked the question again: "Who can tell me how many planes are in a flight regiment?"

When I asked the question for the second time, a young staff officer took a step forward and replied loudly: "Report to Comrade Commander, the Air Force's flight regiment is composed of three flight groups and one maintenance group. Each flight The brigade has three flight squadrons, and the maintenance group consists of three outfield maintenance squadrons and one infield maintenance squadron. A fighter regiment generally has 2,427 aircraft, and a bomber regiment has 12 bombers."

After I waited for the staff to finish speaking and thanked him, I turned around and walked back to the table to write down what I had just heard in the notebook. When Akhromeyev watched me closing the notebook, he asked me tentatively: "Comrade Commander, isn't it because the superior is preparing to assign our group army to the air force?"

"Yes, Major, that's what you guessed it." The thought of the two flying regiments that were about to be under the command of our army made me feel particularly happy, so I didn't hide some things from Akhromeev: "The superior is going to send us two flying regiments. Major, tell me, where should we deploy them?"

"Comrade Commander, there is a military airfield in the north of Smolensk," Akhromeyev pointed to the map and said to me: "We can deploy the flying regiment there."

"Is the airport still usable?" I heard that there is an airport in the north of the city. I quickly asked nervously, "Did the Germans not destroy it when they evacuated?"

"No." Akhromeev shook his head and said, "Perhaps they thought they would be able to return to Smolensk again soon, so when they evacuated, they only moved some equipment and did not control the runway or the airport control tower. Destroy it."

I heard that the Germans did not damage the airport outside the city, so I felt much more at ease. As long as the airport is intact, I don't need to use troops to repair the runway or repair some infrastructure. After the two flight regiment leaders report to me, I can make the plane transfer as soon as possible.

Kirilov and Kistyakov, who went to the hospital to visit, did not come back until noon. As soon as the three of them entered the door, Bezikov said first: "Comrade Commander, fortunately you did not go to the hospital today, otherwise you will be terrified by the tragedy of the wounded. It's really too miserable. Almost everyone is covered in horror. blood."

After Kistyakov waited for Bezikov to finish speaking, he said slowly: "Comrade Commander, when the Germans evacuated Smolensk, they wrecked the city and planted bombs in many places. I want to create panic among the residents and create conditions for them to fight back. I suggest that engineers should be dispatched immediately to investigate the ruins in the city, remove hidden dangers of insecurity, and ensure that today's tragedy will not repeat itself."

I waited for Bezikov and Chistyakov to finish, and asked Kirilov sideways: "Comrade Military Commissioner, how are the wounded? Can they recover in a short period of time?"

"People with minor injuries will recover in about ten days. I don't think there is a big problem. But when it comes to those seriously injured," Kirilov shook his head reluctantly when he said this: "Some people don't care. Well, there will be disabilities in the future."

I thought of the report I just received saying that nearly a hundred people were killed or injured, so I couldn’t help but curiously asked: “The bomb exploded in the ruins of the factory building. It should have been a blockbuster. The power is so powerful that it has caused us such a great deal Casualties."

"It's an ordinary aerial bomb." Kistyakov frowned and said: "It's just that the bomb exploded in the middle of the ruins. Except for a few wounded who were injured by shrapnel, the rest were broken bricks. Hurt by the stone."

"Well, I will send engineers later, let them check the ruins one by one for bombs." After I said these two sentences, I put a smile on my face and said to the three people who had just returned: "Now change to a lighter topic, I have good news to tell you."

Hearing that I have good news to tell them, the three of them suddenly felt their eyes light up, and immediately stared at me intently. Especially Bezikov urged anxiously: "Comrade Commander, what the **** is it? You are quick. Click on it."

On the other hand, Kistyakov had to be steady, frowned and thought about it, and then asked tentatively: "Does it have anything to do with the phone call when we left."

Regarding Kistyakov's guess, I did not speak, but smiled and nodded, indicating that he was right.

"Comrade Commander." Seeing that I agreed with his guess, Kistyakov began to feel a little anxious. "Hurry up, I believe this must be a news that will make everyone happy. Of course, Germany People are exceptions." His words immediately caused everyone to laugh softly.

After everyone calmed down again, I conveyed Zhukov's content on the phone to the three of them. As soon as I finished talking, Bezikov couldn’t wait to calculate: “Forty to fifty thousand soldiers and tens of thousands of light and heavy weapons could have brought our strength to a higher level. Now we have to add two flying regiments. , That is simply adding wings."

We chatted for a while, and Kistyakov suddenly pointed out to me: "Comrade Commander, did you not say before that after each battle, you have to sum up experience and lessons? In this way, you can make fewer mistakes in the next battle. And achieve the greatest results at the least cost."

"Yes, I said this before." I didn't know why Kistyakov said that today, so I asked curiously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I don't know if you plan to summarize the experience and lessons of that battle? "

Kistyakov announced in a shocking manner: "Battle of Smolensk!"

"Battle of Smolensk?!" I was surprised when I heard him say this: "Isn't this two-month battle carried out by the Western Front and the Kalinin Front?"

"That's right. The purpose of the Smolensk campaign was to crush the left wing of the fascist German central army group, prevent them from transferring their troops to the southwest direction of my main assault, and liberate Smolensk."

"Comrade Major, please bring us some cups of tea!" I saw Kistyakov's posture that he was going to give us a battle analysis class here, and it would definitely not be over for a while, so I asked Akhro Meyev went to help us pour tea. After Akhromeyev left, I politely said to Kistyakov, "Comrade Deputy Commander, please continue."

Kistyakov nodded, and then began to talk in a whisper: "According to the campaign plan, two fronts are required to carry out a series of simultaneous assaults in order to contain the enemy's forces on the broad front, divide them, and crush Dukhovshina. , Yaltsovo, Dorogobrzy, Yelnya, Spas Demensk and other regional German * team groups. The Western Front carried out the main assault with its center, and after smashing the face-to-face German * team, it should Roslavli’s offensive, an assault on the first wing of the German army group in the Bryansk front in the southwest. The right wing of the Western Front and the left wing of the Kalinin Front in coordination, after completing the current task, should develop an offensive in the general direction of Smolensk If the Bryansk Front’s offensive goes smoothly, the main force of the Western Front will be turned to Smolensk...."

While Kistyakov was talking vigorously, Akhromeyev came in from outside carrying a tray in which there were four cups of steaming tea. As soon as he came to me, I dropped one end of the tea cup from the tray and placed it in front of everyone, and then continued to listen to Kistyakov's advice.

"...In the first more than a month, the fascist army relied on strong and layered defenses to fight stubbornly, and our army progressed not only slowly but also with huge casualties. Until Model south of Smolensk was repelled, plus the general situation on the eastern front. Deteriorating, the fascist army was unwilling to fight, so that our army had the opportunity to advance 135~145 kilometers in the last half month. The whole battle progressed 200~250 kilometers, and it took back one part of Kalinin Oblast and the entire Smolensk Oblast Circumstances, to establish a base to regain the entire Belarus in the future...

In this battle, our army advanced 200 to 250 kilometers westward in a 400-kilometer-wide zone, eliminating a part of Kalinin Oblast and the entire territory of Smolensk Oblast, laying a good foundation for our liberation of Belarus. In order to prevent our army from attacking in the direction of Smolensk, the fascist army was forced to transfer 13 divisions from the Orel-Bryansk direction and 3 divisions from other directions, reducing the pressure of our army on other fronts. So as to help our army successfully end the Kursk counterattack..."

When Kistyakov sat down to drink tea, I asked Bezikov and Kirilov politely: "Do you have anything you want to say about the battle of Smolensk?"

"Let me just say a few words," Kirilov, who has rarely expressed his opinion, said: "Our army failed in the early attack on Smolensk. There are also reasons. You must know that the Dnieper River is the same as all rivers in Russia. , The west bank is steep, and the east bank is flat. Kiev, Smolensk, and Mogilev are all on the west bank of the river, because these cities are backed by the river. It seems very difficult; and in the future, when our army crosses the river, it will feign attack on the enemy entrenched on the high ground by the river, which will inevitably cause great casualties..."

The city on the west bank of the river was easy to attack and hard to defend when it was defended; when it was recovered, it happened to be upside down, making it easy to defend and hard to attack. This was the first time I heard this, so I quickly took out a pen and paper to write down what Kirilov said in a notebook.

After I wrote down what I heard in the notebook, I looked up and said to everyone: "Everyone is very reasonable, so let me add a few words: German commander Kluge can stay in Smolensk for so long. Time, and caused huge casualties to our army, first of all benefited from the strong defensive position they established. Then after withdrawing from the Orel Bulge, Mordel provided him with a lot of mobile force. As the German defense line When we broke through and the enemy had to retreat, Klug and Model's troops still maintained a strong fighting capacity, which can be seen from their ability to reorganize the new line of defense at an extremely fast speed. In my opinion, Klug Grid's depth preset position seems to be more perfect than Manstein, and his delayed counterattack from the defender, although not as strong and concentrated as Manstein, has more comprehensive protection for the retreat. Considering Clu The armored force and air force that Ge and Model mastered are far less than that of Manstein. I think that even from the standpoint of the enemy, his tactical success should be affirmed...

Just as we were expressing our views on the battle of Smolensk against the friendly forces, Major Bukov came in and reported: "There are two commanders outside, saying they are from Moscow."

"From Moscow?" Upon hearing Bukov's words, the first person I thought of must have something to do with the newly added troops or technical equipment, so I hurriedly told Bukov: "Major, hurry up and invite them in!"

"Yes!" Bukov agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters.

As soon as Bukov left, Bezikov couldn't wait to ask: "What is the origin of these two commanders from Moscow?"

"Does this need to be said?" Kistyakov immediately expressed his opinion: "It must be the commander who was added to us by the superior ~ www.wuxiaspot.com~ Maybe it was the two flight commanders who came. "

Without waiting for Bezikov to say anything, Bukov entered the room with two commanders. Seeing someone coming in, I couldn't sit still, and quickly got up and greeted me.

The uniforms worn by the two commanders are completely different. The colonel with the Chinese character face on the left wears a common school officer's military coat and a big brimmed hat with a red hat; while the lieutenant colonel on the right, who looks extraordinarily thin, wears a uniform. In a black uniform, the military cap on his head is black, not to mention, the hood ring is also white.

After the two raised their hands to salute me, the colonel first reported to me: "Comrade General, Colonel Bovyshenko, commander of the 287th Division Fighter Regiment of the Air Force, is here to report to you!"

After the colonel finished the report, the lieutenant colonel in the strange uniform next to him said in a strangely accented Russian: "Comrade General, Lieutenant Colonel Bliss, commander of the French Flying Regiment of the 287th Division of the Air Force, is here to report to you! The regiment’s pilots are all anti-fascist fighters from France."

I heard that the lieutenant colonel said he was French, and I understood why the military uniform he was wearing looked so strange. I shook hands with the two one by one, and said politely: "Welcome, welcome to you!" (To be continued.)