Burning Moscow

I once heard people jokingly said: "After the Battle of Kharkov, the Germans forgot how to launch an offensive." I used to listen to this as a joke, but today's situation proves that this statement is still very reasonable.

The German counterattack against the 60th Army, after being bombarded by the air force, was like a small shrimp that could not overcome a huge wave, dropping countless corpses and destroyed technical equipment, and retreating sullenly back to the starting point of the offensive. Chernyakhovsky seized the opportunity in time to let the group army relaunch a full-scale offensive.

The main direction of the attack progressed smoothly, and the 18th Army that carried out auxiliary attacks in Khmelnik also performed well. In particular, the 17th Infantry Corps, the main force of the group army, is on the offensive like a rainbow, constantly seizing villages and settlements occupied by the German army, and wedging the attack arrow deeply into the depth of the German defense.

Seeing the report sent by the 18th Army, Chief of Staff Bogolyubov couldn't help but said with emotion: "Comrade Marshal, General Zhuravlev performed well and beat the Germans so embarrassingly."

"Yes, this time the 18th Army has played very well, especially the performance of the 17th Infantry Army is even more eye-catching." Khrushchev waited for him to finish, and agreed: "As far as I know, in the early days of the war, Before the army was incorporated into the group army, along with the border guards, in the border area of ​​Bukovina, in order to cover our troops in the direction of Chernivtsi, they fought arduous defensive battles. Unfortunately, because the 18th army is being incorporated Since the Southern Front, the record has been mediocre, so the results achieved by this army are very limited."

When the two were chatting, Zhukov, who was sitting on the side, was silent, only holding the battle report in one hand and marking the map in front of him with a red and blue pencil in the other. After finishing the labeling, he raised his head and said to Bogolyubov: "The chief of staff, call General Pukhov, commander of the 13th Army, and order his troops to stop advancing and use the main force of the Army to deploy defenses against the existing lines of defense. "

Regarding Zhukov’s sudden order, Bogolyubov hesitated for a moment, and then said tactfully: "Comrade Marshal, our troops are advancing deep into the enemy’s defenses. At this moment, we order one of the troops to stop the offensive. A little inappropriate?"

"There is nothing inappropriate." Zhukov waved at him and said with a grin: "Even if the 13th Army turns to the defense on the spot, our 60th Army and the 1st Guards Army are still advancing toward the enemy's depths. ?"

Seeing Bogolyubov’s mouth opened, he seemed to want to say something. He added: “Comrade Chief of Staff, today’s German counterattack reminds me of this. If we don’t plan ahead and don’t take precautions, once Our offensive is frustrated, and if the enemy turns into an offensive in a certain area, what force shall we use to block them?"

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Zhukov's words convinced Bogolyubov, and he willingly called General Pukhov.

I stared at the map on the table for a while, and found that in front of the area currently occupied by our army, the passable road became narrower. In such an area, three army groups were deployed at the same time, which was a bit too crowded. Now Zhukov decisively orders the 13th Army, which is advancing the slowest, to defensively on the spot, in order to prevent the troops from being frustrated in the offensive. When the Germans counterattack, they can rely on a strong defensive position to block the enemy.

After a few minutes, Bogolyubov came back and reported to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, the order has been issued. General Pukhov's troops will stop offensive in ten minutes and turn to defense on the spot." After the report, he After hesitating for a while, he asked carefully, "The 38th Army of General Na Moskalenko, do you really have to wait a few days before letting them attack?"

"Do you have any questions?" Zhukov looked up at Bogolyubov standing in front of him, and asked, "Don't you know that in such a large-scale offensive campaign, a reserve team must be left? From the current situation From this point of view, the 38th Army, which has not yet entered the battle, is the most suitable."

In the evening, just as we were rejoicing for the results achieved today, General Antonov, the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Head of Operations, called Zhukov. He said to Zhukov in a relaxed tone: "Marshal Zhukov, please allow me to pay tribute to you and your Ukrainian First Front Army, and congratulate you on the results achieved in the two days of fighting. You will travel through two days. After breaking through the almost impassable fields and swamps, it broke through the strong German defenses of 180 kilometers wide and advanced 50 kilometers.

In order to pay tribute to all the officers and men of the Ukrainian First Front Army who have achieved brilliant results, Comrade Stalin ordered a salvo of 20 shots with 224 cannons on Moscow's Red Square at 8 o'clock tonight. "

The news Antonov said surprised Zhukov for a moment, and then he shouted into the microphone: "Comrade Antonov, thank you, thank you for telling me such good news."

"There is another good news." Antonov continued: "Between your troops and General Konev's troops, in these two days of offensive battles, they have achieved great results, so that you can continue. To expand the results, the General Staff decided: General Malinowski’s Third Ukrainian Front will launch Bereznegovatoye-Snigilevka on March 6, which is tomorrow. Offensive battle."

"It's great, it's really great." Hearing that another front army has joined the industry that beats down the German army, Zhukov's face showed a heartfelt smile, and he even said: "We are right from three directions at the same time. The German Army Group in the South launched an attack, and the German army estimated that it would be overwhelmed."

…………

In the next few days, the front army's offensive remained vigorous. Under Zhukov's command, the troops passed through the swamp in the muddy area of ​​Ukraine, marched towards the border line, and successively seized the Volochsk-Cherne-Ostrov region and cut off Lviv-Oder. The Sarawak Railway line pushed the defense line forward by nearly a hundred kilometers, splitting the defense lines of the 1st Army and the 4th Army of the German Tanks.

At the same time, General Konev’s Ukrainian Second Front smashed the German 8th Army and used advance troops from the rapid corps to reach the South Bug River, cutting off the German tank 1st Army’s route to the south.

The forces of General Malinowski also liberated the city of New Burg, divided the 6th Army of the German Army into two parts, and proceeded to Bereznegovatoye-Snigigli with the rapid corps. Fka, blocked the retreat of the group army.

Seeing that the situation was very good, the Supreme Command could not hold back his breath. After some discussion, he formulated new strategic tasks for all fronts. The latest resolution was passed down by the General Staff. Since Vasilevsky was in the Ukrainian Third Front and the Deputy Chief of General Staff Ivanov was not seen by Stalin, the order was the first. Deputy Chief of Staff Antonov came to convey.

He said to Zhukov on the phone: "Comrade Marshal, in view of the results achieved, the headquarters of the Supreme Command is today, even on March 11, the task of the troops has been redefined: the Ukrainian First Front Forced Transnez from the march. The Ukranian Second Front, in coordination with the Belarusian Second Front, developed an offensive against Brod and Lviv. The Ukrainian Second Front should forcibly cross the South Bug River and Germany while on the move. The Nistres, captured the Belizy and Kishnev areas, and advanced to the Prut River. When the front army attacked the Transnistria, it should cooperate with the Ukrainian First Front Army German Tank 1st Group Army with the main force Afterwards, the main force was turned to the south to cooperate with the Ukrainian Third Front Army to crush the German Binhai Group. The task of the Ukrainian Third Front Army was to stop the German army from retreating to the South Bug River, and in Konstantinovka and Voznesen The area of ​​Skok and New Odessa seized the ferry crossings of the river, and then attacked Tiraspol and Odessa..."

After Zhukov put down the phone and repeated the new command of the Supreme Command to several of us, he said: "Comrades commanders, in the face of our fierce offensive, the German command has been panicked. According to the latest information obtained today, They quickly mobilized 15 divisions to deal specifically with our Ukrainian First Front. Tell us, what measures should we take to smash the German conspiracy?"

The first thing to say was Bogolyubov: "Comrade Marshal, I think the 38th Army of General Moskalenko should be put into battle."

"Well, I think so too." Regarding Bogolyubov's proposal, Zhukov nodded and said: "After a week of offensive, individual units have become tired. It is indeed time to put the 38th Army into battle. Chief of Staff, you immediately prepare an order for General Moskalenko to put the main force of the army into battle at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."

After Bogolyubov left, Zhukov paid attention to me again, looked at me and asked, "Lida, don't you have any opinions?"

When Zhukov asked me something, I happened to be looking at the big map hanging on the wall, looking at the red and blue arrows representing our army and the German army. Hearing Zhukov’s question, I quickly turned my gaze to him, and after thinking about it for a while, I began to answer: "Comrade Marshal, judging from the current situation of our army, the German 48th Panzer Corps will soon Will fall into a siege."

Hearing me say this, although Zhukov knew the map of the war zone well, he instinctively looked back at the map, then turned to look at me, and said, "Yes, it is true. Did you find any problems?"

"I have dealt with the commander of the army, Hermann Bark, and this is a very cunning opponent." After the liberation of Kiev, it was this Bark who commanded the troops and continued to counterattack Kiev. As a result, they defeated the front army. His troops are retreating steadily. At this moment, when it is his turn to become the target of the attack, he will certainly not sit back and wait for death because of his character. "I think he will definitely take some measures to get rid of the current predicament."

"What measures will he take to get rid of the current predicament?" Zhukov looked sideways at the map on the wall and asked me with interest: "Lida, let me hear your thoughts."

I nodded, walked quickly to the wall, picked up the explanation stick and pointed at the map and said: "Comrade Marshal, please see. Because our army is advancing too fast, it is between the 60th Army and the 1st Guards Army. In the meantime, a no man's land with a width of four or five kilometers has appeared. If I were General Bark, I would risk letting the troops pass through this area and retreat towards Tarnopol."

After hearing what I said, Zhukov was pacing back and forth in the room with his chin in his right hand, as if he was thinking about the question I raised, and he seemed to be making a decision.

Seeing Zhukov’s reaction, Khrushchev walked to my side and asked me quietly: "Lida, are you making a mistake? The German army is embarrassed by our army at this moment. Even if they want to retreat, It will only retreat towards the back, how can it be possible to pass our defense zone from the front?"

Zhukov stopped, looked at me with a stern look, and asked with a serious expression: "Lida, I want to hear how you came to this conclusion?"

For Zhukov’s question, I have already figured out the answer. Hearing his question, I replied bluntly: "According to our inertial thinking, the German army will definitely retreat while being violently attacked by our army. If they do the opposite at this time. If it does, it will greatly exceed our army's expectations and reach their goal of successfully breaking through."

After Zhukov heard what I said, he didn't make any comments~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and started walking around the house again with his hands behind his back. Seeing Zhukov’s reaction, Khrushchev was a little anxious. He said to me: "Lida, I think you must be mistaken. Although there is a gap of four or five kilometers between our two armies. , But the Germans don’t necessarily know. Since they don’t know there are loopholes in our line of defense, they certainly won’t have the idea of ​​breaking through from the front."

As soon as Khrushchev finished speaking, Zhukov stopped and turned to me and said: "Lida, I think your judgment has a certain truth. With Bark’s character, he will not sit and wait, he will definitely find ways to deal with it. The troops were rescued from the danger of encirclement. Chief of Staff!"

When Bogolyubov came to him, he bluntly commanded: "Chief of Staff, you go call Chernyakhovsky and Grechko and ask them to pay attention to their left and right wings. To prevent the German army from really taking advantage of the gap between their two armies to break through.” Seeing Bogolyubov turned around and wanted to leave, he added another sentence later: “In addition, let the Reconnaissance Department send a competent man to the German 48th armor The army conducts reconnaissance and closely monitors their movements. If there is any abnormality, report to me immediately."

"Understand." From Zhukov's serious expression, Bogolyubov realized the seriousness of the problem and immediately turned to call. He first conveyed Zhukov's order to the reconnaissance office, and then notified the two commanders of the army to provide vigilance to prevent the German army from using the gap between the two armies to break through. (To be continued.)