Burning Moscow

As the order was issued, the division commanders soon came to my headquarters. I originally thought there were only three division commanders, plus a few tank brigade commanders and artillery regiment commanders at most. Unexpectedly, the four commanders of the 52nd, 8.9th, and 90th Guards Division and the 375th Infantry Division also came. So many people rushed into the headquarters, and the room suddenly became crowded.

I stood in front of the map hung on the wall, looking at the many commanders, brigades, and regiments sitting in front of me. I was still a little excited. After all, so many people are my subordinates. After a light cough, I began to say: "Comrades, commanders, we are here today to deploy the next combat mission. The front army command will take the mission of Kalinkovic and Puziri. , Handed over to our army."

As soon as I said this, the commander sitting below began to talk. I listened attentively, mainly the few teachers who had just arrived, and were asking the three teachers who came first.

After several minutes, seeing the following signs that the discussion had not stopped, Kistyakov slapped **** the table, and then said loudly: "Quiet, quiet, comrades commanders, please keep Be quiet, let Comrade Commander continue to assign tasks to everyone."

The commanders who were whispering and talking, heard Kistyakov say this, immediately fell silent, and cast their eyes on me. I picked up an explanation stick and pointed to the map on the wall, and said to everyone: "The task given to us by our superiors is to capture Kalinkovic and Puziri. At present, our main force is stationed near Kalinkovic. Therefore, this city will be our priority. If we want to liberate this city, we must first remove the firepower deployed by the Germans on the high points on the outskirts of the city."

"Comrade Commander," said Chernoff, the commander of the 90th Division of the Guards sitting below, suddenly loudly: "I observed the battlefield when I came. There are no solid fortifications on those commanding heights, as long as we concentrate on our advantages. There was a burst of artillery fire, and when the shelling was over, the infantry would be sent for a charge, and they would surely be able to seize these positions."

After listening to Chernoff’s words, I walked two steps earlier and came to the table, put the explanation stick in my hand on the table, supported the edge of the table with my hands, leaned forward slightly, and then faced him with a serious expression. Said: "General Chernoff, due to problems with our logistics supply, the offensive troops were not supported by artillery when seizing these commanding heights."

"What, no artillery support?" Chernov was taken aback by what I said, and he said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, if our offensive troops cannot be supported by artillery, then when we seize these commanding heights, we will Pay huge casualties."

"Comrade General, I have already considered the question you mentioned." After I said this, I swept my eyes from the commanders present, and continued to say: "That's why I called everyone together. Get up and study a practical plan to eliminate the enemies from these commanding heights."

After I finished speaking, the whole command center suddenly fell into silence, and the commanders sitting below were all frowning and thinking hard. After waiting for a long time, seeing that no one was speaking yet, Bezikov picked up the explanation stick on the table, got up and walked to the map, pointed at the map with the tip of the explanation stick and said, "Comrades commanders, the commander is It is conceived like this that at night, a company-unit squad will be sent to sneak attacks to seize these high ground occupied by the enemy. Now what makes us headache is that the enemy is facing our direction at the commanding heights and planted mines. Districts and barbed wire, if our sneak attack troops want to open up a channel without being noticed by the enemy? Any good ideas can be discussed."

I saw that after Bezikov finished speaking, there was still no one in the room talking, so I stood up again, using a calm voice, as if talking about one of the simplest and most common things, "Comrades, maybe everyone will be surprised. , When our army is dominant, why would I choose a sneak attack instead of a force attack?"

"But have you ever thought about it. If we attack in the daytime, if there is no artillery cover, how much casualties will the condescending enemy cause us?" I continued to follow my own thinking: "According to our reconnaissance, the German army is in each place. On the high ground, only one or two platoons are deployed. Even if we take a company-scale sneak attack, we can still have an advantage in terms of strength. More importantly, we can reduce the casualties of our troops."

After I elaborated on my point of view, all the commanders who participated in the meeting remained silent. I don't mean to blame them for this kind of reaction. On the contrary, I am still very clear in my heart that people will always spend more time thinking about them whenever they are faced with a major decision.

The first to break the silence was Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin, commander of the 375th Infantry Division. He stood up and looked at me and said, "Comrade Commander, can I talk about my opinion?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Seeing that someone finally stood up to respond to me, my face couldn't help but smile. I nodded at him and said casually: "If you have any thoughts, please tell everyone. ."

Lukin raised his hand to the big map hanging on the wall, and asked respectfully: "Can you?" Seeing my nodding in agreement, he walked quickly to the wall and took it from Bezikov. The explanation stick, turned sideways to me, and talked to all the commanders about my plan: "...I have two plans. One is to bombard the front of the German high ground with tank fire and clear the enemy’s minefields and barbed wire. Our sneak attack troops opened the way. However, this plan has a shortcoming. Not only will it consume our existing precious shells, but it will also be prone to stun the snakes and arouse the alertness of the Germans."

"Tell me about your second plan." I think Lu Jin's good idea may be in the second plan, so I urged: "Then everyone will make the final choice based on your two plans."

"The second plan is very simple," Lu Jin grinned upwards, and continued: "Didn't the enemy set up minefields on the front of the commanding heights? Well, our sneak attack troops do not attack from the front, but Detour back to the back and touch it from the other side of the high ground. I don't believe the enemy has mines and barbed wire in this direction."

Lu Jin's words made many commanders sitting below suddenly realize that a sneak attack can still be carried out in this way. Everyone, including me, fell into a fixed mode of thinking, just thinking about how to touch it from the front, but forgot that the so-called highland area of ​​the German army was not large, even if our troops went back to the back, It won’t take long.

Just as I was about to compliment Lu Jin, Colonel Ba Baxin, the commander of the 71st Guards Division, stood up and asked loudly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, allow me to ask you a question?"

The idea that Lu Jin just put forward has been recognized by most of the commanders. At this moment, seeing a person who was obviously about to hit the ground standing up and asking questions, everyone turned around and looked at him with some surprise.

"Comrade Commander." Before Lu Jin could speak, Ba Baxin asked loudly: "I have a question for Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin, do you allow it?"

Hearing Babaxin's provocative tone, I couldn't help raising my eyebrows, glanced at him puzzledly, and then turned my gaze to Lu Jin, the "initiator".

"Colon Babaxin." Lu Jin looked at Babaxin after seeing my acquiescence in his eyes and said: "I don't know if you have any questions, I can answer them one by one."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Colonel Babahin said with obvious dissatisfaction: "Although everyone feels that going around the enemy's high ground to sneak attack, the chance of success is greater. But I want to ask about the enemy's situation when our troops are near the city. Next, it must be heavily guarded. How do you ensure that our sneak attack troops will not be spotted by the enemy's sentry when they are moving?"

"Comrade Colonel, I have also considered the question you mentioned." Lu Jin replied without humbleness: "In front of the sneak attack troops, a leading force of five people will be sent, and their task will be to clear the enemy. The sentry of the enemy made it impossible for the enemy to notice that our troops were approaching their high ground."

"This kind of statement of yours only stays in theory." In response to Lu Jin's answer, Babaxin asked reluctantly: "Even if the pioneer team you send can eliminate the enemy's sentry, you have considered it. Is the enemy's secret guard? If we only clear the guard while ignoring the secret guard, causing him to sound the alarm while our army is moving, then our sneak attack will fail. Have you taken this into consideration?"

These sharp questions of Babaxin made Lukin speechless. After thinking about it for a while, I found that the questions raised by Babahin happened to be ignored by us. It is hard to imagine that when the troops were turning to the back of the high ground. At that time, it was discovered by the German secret guard and issued a combat alert. Our commanders and fighters will be exposed to the enemy's eyelids and become the targets of their slaughter.

After a long hush, I looked at Babaxin and asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you have any good ideas?"

"Comrade Commander," Babahin replied with a straight back: "I think we should still launch an offensive against the Germans during the day. For Lieutenant Colonel Lukin's first plan, I very much agree that when the troops are attacking high ground, our tanks We can provide them with artillery support from a distance, clear the minefield in front of the position, and blast the barbed wire through the gap so that our troops can rush to the high ground smoothly."

"Comrade Commander, I agree with Colonel Babashin's plan." Baksov, the commander of the 67th Guards Division, stood up and said to me sincerely: "We should try to attack during the day, and if it fails, we will attack at night. It’s not too late. I beg you, let our division take the lead in attacking the enemy’s high ground."

"Comrade Commander, and our division." Seeing that Baksov had agreed with his opinion, Babaxin seemed more confident. He also took the initiative to ask me: "If our two divisions attack the enemy's high ground at the same time, they It will definitely be overwhelming. Of course, if the 51st Guards Division can also attack, I believe the chances of success in capturing the high ground will be greatly increased."

"Colonel Sederikov, what do you think?" When I saw Baksov and Babaxin, I was anxious to command the troops to attack the highlands during the day, while Sederikov was still sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai. , He specifically asked: "Are you planning to join them in launching an offensive on the high ground during the day?"

Sederikov looked around and saw that in addition to the two division commanders, the other commanders also cast their eyes on him. Under this situation, he had to stand up and said reluctantly, "Yes, Comrade Commander, since the left and right wings are going to attack the enemy, our division certainly cannot stand by. I ask you to approve our division to participate. Attack during the day."

"Okay," seeing the three division commanders standing on the same front, I was unwilling to dampen their enthusiasm, so I nodded and bit the bullet and agreed: "You immediately return to your respective units, and the following commanders and fighters Explain the offensive task that will be launched.” At this point, I raised my hand to look at the watch and added, “Your offense will be launched in half an hour.”

"Comrade Commander~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and our division." Seeing that Baksov had echoed his opinions, Babaxin seemed more confident, and he also took the initiative to ask me: "If our two divisions confront the enemy at the same time If the 51st Guards Division can also attack, I believe the chances of success in capturing the highlands will be greatly increased."

"Colonel Sederikov, what do you think?" When I saw Baksov and Babaxin, I was anxious to command the troops to attack the highlands during the day, while Sederikov was still sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai. , He specifically asked: "Are you planning to join them in launching an offensive on the high ground during the day?"

Sederikov looked around and saw that in addition to the two division commanders, the other commanders also cast their eyes on him. Under this situation, he had to stand up and said reluctantly, "Yes, Comrade Commander, since the left and right wings are going to attack the enemy, our division certainly cannot stand by. I ask you to approve our division to participate. Attack during the day."

"Okay," seeing the three division commanders standing on the same front, I was unwilling to dampen their enthusiasm, so I nodded and bit the bullet and agreed: "You immediately return to your respective units, and the following commanders and fighters Explain the offensive mission that will be launched.” At this point, I raised my hand to look at the watch and added, “Your offense will be launched in half an hour.” (To be continued.)