Burning Moscow

Regarding the deployment of the 4th Tank Army, I had put forward a different view to Zhukov two days ago, saying that their defense front is a wide plain, which is conducive to the assembly and deployment of enemy tank troops; while the rear is rugged. Mountain roads and difficult-to-pass fields will be a very difficult task once they are attacked fiercely by the German army, whether it is reinforcements from the rear or retreat.

Regrettably, Zhukov’s comments on me did not cause the necessary measures. He believed that after the German defense group was divided into two parts by our army, it had become panicked for the rest of the day, and it was difficult to organize a decent offensive. Liushenke's troops are enough to smash the dying struggle of the German army, so I don't have to worry about it.

And Lelyushenko did not pay the necessary attention to this issue. His tank army and mechanized army were laid out in an area of ​​two to three hundred kilometers in an unorganized manner. They did not establish a solid defense, not to mention. The focus of defense is on the east, ready to smash the Hubei Tank 1st Army's breakthrough.

After the battle, the captured German commander only learned that the enemy had grasped the loopholes in the defense of Lelyushenko’s troops. Therefore, after the start of the night battle, it was possible to quickly pierce through the imperfect defenses of our troops and successfully dash. When he arrived near Lelyushenko's headquarters, he almost dismissed the senior commander of the group army.

After hearing what I said, Zhukov stared at me for a long time, and then said to me with a complex expression: "Lida, I'm sorry!" His thoughtless words made me feel extremely surprised, and said Zhukov. Why did you suddenly apologize to me, what is going on?

Before I could understand, I listened to Zhukov continue to say: "In the past, I always thought that when your fantastic ideas were implemented, there was a lot of luck that made you step by step from an ordinary soldier. You’ve come to where you are today. Even when you were the commander of the group army and achieved a series of achievements, I felt a little disapproving. I thought it was just your luck. Even if someone else is not in your position, you can still achieve the same glory. Record.

But after this time of getting along, I found that I didn't know you at all. All actions taken by the German army seem to be carried out in accordance with your orders. You said that the German 48th Panzer Corps would break through from the front of our army, and they did so; you said that the direction of the German tank 1st Army's breakthrough is no longer in the mountains to the south but to the north. You are also right. Even two days ago, it was pointed out that the defenses established by Lelyushenko’s troops had huge loopholes. Once they were attacked by the German army, the command headquarters might be dismissed. Now it seems that you are right again. . "

"Comrade Marshal," I saw Zhukov talk so much in a spiritual way, and suddenly an ominous feeling surged in my heart. I felt that Zhukov was confessing his last words to me. I couldn't help asking strangely: "Why do you suddenly remember Tell me this?"

Zhukov saw that Sokolovsky was busy amongst a group of staff members. He smiled bitterly, and then said: "I have a bad feeling. After this offensive campaign is over, my position as commander of the front will be Comrade Stalin will personally order the removal, and then I will be assigned to relatively less important positions."

I frowned and tried to recall what position Zhukov held in the early 44 years. But after thinking about it for a long time, what I remember after Zhukov took over the position of Vatutin is very brief: "On March 4, 1944, the unit of the Ukrainian First Front under the command of Marshal Zhukov, and Kogne The units of the Ukrainian Second Front under the command of Marshal Marshal, and the units of the Ukrainian Third Front under the command of General Malinowski have all turned to the offensive." Then the content that can be remembered is Zhukov and Stalin and a gang. Senior generals sat in their offices to discuss where the main direction of the Belarusian offensive should be chosen.

But discussing the Belarusian campaign, it was in June. In the two months from now to that time, where and what position did Zhukov hold? Has he been punished by Stalin for any mistakes in the command of the campaign? Is not known.

Seeing Zhukov frowning, I quickly comforted him: "Comrade Marshal, you think too much. If the Supreme Commander himself is not satisfied with you, he will definitely be angry with you when he talks with you not long ago. You are talking and laughing."

Maybe it was my words that played a role. The expression on Zhukov’s face softened. He nodded and said, “That’s also true. The German tank 1st Army is still in our encirclement. As long as they are eliminated, it will be Another'Stalingrad' victory."

…………

The 153rd Infantry Division of the 1st Guards Army strengthened its defenses near the headquarters of Lelyushenko. The Germans, who knew nothing about this, were still using the tactics just now to divide their forces to contain the main force of the 4th Tank Army, and then an armored unit to cover the infantry, along the original route, continued to Lelyushenko The command rushed over, in a posture that he would never give up unless his command was terminated.

But what they didn't expect was that there were already heavy soldiers gathered near the headquarters at this moment. When the German tanks rushed to more than 300 meters from the trenches, following the order of Lelyushenko, who was staying in the forward command post, more than 20 anti-tank guns that had been prepared fired at the same time. After a volley of fire, the seven or eight tanks that rushed to the front were ripped apart by the oncoming armor-piercing projectiles. After the earth-shattering explosion, they stopped in place and burned.

As the anti-tank artillery strikes one after another, the more than twenty tanks that opened the way for the infantry have successively become burning torches, illuminating the vicinity like daylight, and exposing the infantry following behind to our army.

Seeing this situation through the observation port, Lelyushenko immediately ordered all the light and heavy machine guns on the position to fire immediately, using intensive firepower to destroy the German officers and soldiers exposed on the open ground.

Hearing the order to fire, the machine gunners who had been suffocating for a long time immediately pulled the trigger at the German soldiers who had been aiming for a long time. More than a hundred light and heavy machine guns on the field fired at the same time. The long muzzle of fireworks flicked back and forth like dark red fire whips, and the woven layers of fire nets swept away one figure after another. The offensive queue has played one gap after another.

The German infantry, who lost the cover of the tank, had to temporarily retreat to their starting position after paying a heavy price. Silence resumed near the headquarters of Lelyushenko's group army.

After learning that the situation in Lelyushenko has stabilized here, Zhukov and I both breathed a sigh of relief. But after a while, Sokolovsky suddenly remembered something that was forgotten by all of us: "By the way, where is the 18th Army of the Tanks of the 1st Guards Army?"

"According to General Grechko's report, after the 153rd Infantry Division entered the defensive position near General Lelyushenko's headquarters, the 18th Tank Army detoured from the north of the defensive zone to the rear of the enemy, preparing to encircle the enemy. "I pointed to the map and explained to Sokolovsky: "If nothing happens, they can go around the enemy's back smoothly before dawn."

"Although I said that, I am still very worried in my heart." Sokolovsky said with an anxious look: "If the tanks of the Tank Army get stuck in a quagmire on the road, will it affect our encirclement plan soon? "

"Probably not." Hearing Sokolovsky's concern, Zhukov pointed to the map and said confidently: "As long as our tanks pass through this section, they can start a battle formation and move towards the rear of the Germans. Launch an assault."

Sokolovsky looked at the map, looked up at Zhukov, and continued to express his views: "This section of the road is about eight kilometers long, and it is all forests and fields that are difficult to pass. I am worried that they will not be able to complete the roundabout before dawn. The mission to the rear of the German army. In this way, our plan to wipe out this kind of German army will be completely wiped out."

"Since you know that there are forests in this area, you should know that our soldiers can chop down trees to pave roads so that our tanks and trucks can pass through this area smoothly." Zhukov looked at Sokolovsky with an expression. Seriously: "If the commander of the tank army can't think of this way to make the tank pass this area smoothly. Then, when the battle is over, I will withdraw his post."

…………

At dawn, the commander of the 18th Tank Corps directly sent a telegram to the headquarters, reporting to us that it had successfully reached the rear of the German army and had successfully cut off the back of the German army that had attacked the Lelyushenko defense area at night.

Then General Pukhov, the commander of the 13th Army, also called and reported to Zhukov that his main force had joined the 18th Tank Army and completed the siege of the two German divisions, and asked when it would be possible. Launch an attack.

Zhukov raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said into the microphone: "General Pukhov, it is half past four, and the offensive will officially start at five o'clock. Let your soldiers be ready for the offense."

After Zhukov put down the phone, he called Sokolovsky over and said: "Give Krasovsky a call and order him to dispatch an aviation division to carry out air strikes on the German troops trapped in our army."

Regarding Zhukov’s order, Sokolovsky did not recover for a while, and asked inexplicably: "Comrade Marshal, did he give General Krasovsky an order last night to let him after dawn? , Adopt the tactics of the four-plane formation to carry out air strikes against the German troops marching in the mountains?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, it is not for the air force to air raid the German troops in the mountains." I saw Zhukov frowned, and I was afraid that he would get angry. The Germans surrounded by General Levy’s troops. Last night they frantically launched an attack on General Lelyushenko’s defense area. Now that it’s dawn, it's time for them to bear our thunderous fury."

"Understood," Sokolovsky smiled gratefully at me after listening, then turned to Zhukov and said, "The marshal, I will call General Krasovsky and ask him immediately Send the air force to attack and cooperate with our ground forces to annihilate this besieged German army."

Half an hour later, the fighters and bombers of the Air Force's 2nd Army passed over our headquarters and directly attacked the besieged German army.

Seeing the plane flying over his head, Sokolovsky was still whispering: "The German army has no air defense capabilities. How can it send so many fighter jets to escort?"

Unexpectedly, Zhukov's ears were pointed and Sokolovsky's words were heard by him. He looked away from the map, looked at Sokolovsky, and said in a stern tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I remind you to be careful, even if the German army is a wounded beast, it is also a beast that can hurt people. It When biting people, they become more fierce. As a commander, a little negligence or underestimation of the enemy in organizing battles may cost the troops a huge price. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Although Sokolovsky was an admiral, after being criticized by Zhukov, he still blushed and admitted his mistake to the other party: "I will pay attention to it in the future~www.wuxiaspot.com ~Never make this mistake of underestimating the enemy."

The report from the Air Force was placed on Zhukov's desk twenty minutes later. According to General Krasovsky's report, when his bomber was bombing the Germans on the ground, a dozen German fighters suddenly appeared in the sky. The fighter planes escorted by our army immediately stepped forward to meet the enemy and fought against the enemy fighters. After being shot down by five and wounding three, the German fighters fled the battlefield griefly. Four of our bombers were shot down, and two fighters were also lost.

I thought Zhukov would get angry when he saw such a battle report. After all, we had more fighters than the Germans, but after some battle, the loss was even greater than the opponent. Unexpectedly, after Zhukov read the battle report twice, his face unexpectedly showed a smile.

He put down the battle report and said to the two of us: "Our air force is fighting very well. The German pilots are veterans who have experienced many battles, and our pilots have far less flying time than them, and there is no battle yet. Experience, to achieve such a record, is already very good."

After saying this, seeing that the two of us were still standing in front of him, he stared at Sokolovsky and said: "Chief of Staff, what are you still doing here? Hurry up. Go and call Lelyushenko and order him to attack all the lines immediately, be sure to wipe out all the German forces surrounded by them in the shortest possible time."

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