Burning Moscow

The German army took advantage of the majority of stone buildings in Lviv to build a solid defense system. The attacks launched from the east and south by Lelyushenko and Kurochkin did not achieve any ideal results. After paying a lot of casualties, our troops retreated outside the city.

After the offensive was defeated, Lelyushenko wiped the sweat on his head while awkwardly explaining to me: "Comrade Deputy Commander, because the enemy is sticking to the buildings on both sides of the street, there are a lot of anti-tank weapons and machine guns. Position. When the tank we opened was destroyed, they hid in the building and used machine guns to shoot at the infantry following behind, causing heavy casualties to our army."

Listening to Lelyushenko’s report, my mind was at the same time replenishing the scenes of the battle: Our army had just destroyed the German barricade position at the intersection. Under the guidance of the tank, it rushed forward along the street and suddenly moved from the road. A soldier carrying an iron fist anti-tank bazooka appeared in a window of the building next to him. He aimed at the tank of our army and opened fire. Seeing fire from our tanks, the German soldiers who had fired their rocket launchers disappeared from the window, and then soldiers with machine guns or submachine guns emerged from the other windows, shooting violently at our commanders and fighters exposed on the streets. The Germans had disappeared without a trace when the Chinese tanks that followed just aimed their muzzles at these windows...

　　 Seeing that I didn't speak, Lelyushenko thought it was a sign that I was going to get angry, so he closed his mouth in time and looked at me with some flustered expressions.

　　 Although I can imagine the tactics used by the German army in street fighting, I can't think of a good way to crack it. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of residents in the city. I can't let the artillery razed the city to the ground without any explanation. This kind of rat-infighting war is really hard to fight.

　　 "Comrade Deputy Commander, what should we do?" Major General Belov asked nervously.

　　 "Comrade Commander," I did not answer his question, but looked at him and asked, "Are there still our troops in the city?"

"Yes," Belov replied, nodding his head, "Captain Potapov of the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade, with a tank platoon, joined forces with Sergeant Hudyakov who was trapped in the city yesterday. He is currently holding on to the occupied position."

　　 I heard that there is still a tank platoon left in the city. My heart was overjoyed, and I hurriedly asked: "Can I get in touch with them?"

　　 "Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander, we can get in touch with Captain Potapov."

　　 "Connect me to Captain Potapov immediately. I want to talk to him."

　　 A few minutes later, a walkie-talkie temporarily placed on the conference table contacted Captain Potapov who was trapped in Lviv. I said into the microphone, "Hey, is it Captain Potapov? I'm Oshanina, deputy commander of the front."

After I finished speaking, there was a long silence on the other side before an excited voice came from the headset: "Yes, yes, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I am Potapov, do you have any instructions? ?"

　　 I heard the fierce gunfire coming from the headset at the same time, and I couldn’t help asking worriedly: "Comrade Captain, how much force do you have, should you stick to it?"

"We still have five tanks and twenty soldiers." Potapov reported to me loudly: "The Germans are under the cover of heavy tanks, attacking the area where we are holding, but we are confident that we can continue. Stick to it."

"Very well, Comrade Captain, you did a great job." Although I know Potapov and the others are fighting alone, I can't help them at this moment. I can only encourage them to say: "During the Defence of Stalingrad , A'Pavlov Building' appeared; today, I hope that in Lviv, there will be a'Portapov Position' that can be recorded in the annals of history."

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, this...is this all true...really?" Potapov became so excited when he heard me say that, he stammered and asked: "If we really Is it true that you can persist until the liberation of Lviv...really...will be recorded in the annals of history."

"Don't worry, Captain Potapov, since I have said so, I will definitely cash it out." In order to strengthen their confidence in defending, I simply wrote him a few more empty checks: "As long as you can persist to Livo For the husband’s victory, I will let the superiors grant the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the rest of the fighters will also receive medals and medals."

　　 Potapov was silent again for a long time, and then cautiously said: "Comrade General, although the soldiers behaved very stubbornly, because our troops are too small, we may only last two days at most..."

"Okay, Captain Potapov, you don't need to say, I know this in my mind." I know that with their existing forces and equipment, it is the limit to be able to last two days in an enemy's besieged environment, so decisively Said: "I will send you reinforcements."

　　 After finishing the call with Potapov, I directly told Belov: "Comrade General, Captain Potapov and their situation is very bad at the moment, I hope to get your help."

"It's difficult, Comrade Deputy Commander." Belov sighed and said embarrassedly: "If we could really send troops to reinforce Captain Potapov, we would have made it the starting point for our army's offensive. Up."

"Yes, Lida." Lelyushenko waited for Belov to finish, and echoed: "The position of Captain Potapov is only five kilometers away from us to support, but due to the tight defense of the Germans, we The troops simply can't get up."

"If we don't have reinforcements, we can only watch Potapov and they ran out of ammunition and were wiped out by the Germans." After I said these few words expressionlessly, I directly gave Belov. Give the order: "Comrade commander, immediately draw up the forces of two companies, and after dark, use the method of breaking up into parts and infiltrate the city to strengthen the defense of Captain Potapov and the others."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Belov said with a wry smile to the order I gave: "Even if it is dark, the German defense will not relax. If we enter the city by means of a small team infiltration, it will be easy to be occupied. The German forces with superior strength and terrain were wiped out one by one."

　　 "Anyway, we must try." I said in an unquestionable tone: "Comrade Commander, this is the decision. Let's implement it!"

　　 After arranging the reinforcement of the city squadron, I called Kurochkin of the 60th Army. As soon as I heard Kurochkin's voice, I asked straightforwardly: "Comrade General, have you found out the reason for the failure of the offensive?"

　　 "Comrade Deputy Commander," Kurochkin said respectfully: "When we attacked the city, we were suppressed by artillery fire from Mount Saint George..."

I patiently listened to him explain the reason for the failure of the offensive, and asked angrily: "Since you are suppressed by enemy artillery, why don't you use artillery to fight back? There are more than a dozen artillery regiments and guard rocket artillery battalions under your group army. Are you all fools who only know how to eat?"

"That's not the case, Comrade Deputy Commander." Kurochkin explained to me in a flustered manner: "Marshal Konev once said hello to us before the battle started, and I might have broken Lviv. Because the city will soon return to the hands of the people."

　　 "Yes, Marshal Konev once gave such an order." At this moment, I knew what to do with self-restraint, and the plan I proposed became a stumbling block that restrained the troops from attacking. In order to reduce the casualties of the troops and seize the city early, I decisively ordered: "But as a high-level commander, you must know how to respond on the battlefield. If you attack tomorrow, you will be attacked by artillery fire from Mount Saint George. , They fired decisively to fight back."

“But there is the famous St. George’s Cathedral on St. George’s Hill, which is a typical Baroque-Rococo style church.” Kurochkin quickly explained to me: “If we destroy this famous church by firing a cannon , If the superior is to blame in the future, how should we answer?"

"Despite the firing, as long as the gunfire of the Germans can be suppressed, it doesn't matter if the top of the mountain is razed to the ground." In order to successfully capture Lviv, I was cruel: "If there is a higher-level blame, I will bear it. "

　　 I was sitting at the table, thinking about the history of Lviv in my head. Lviv was originally a principality of Kievan Rus. In 1256, Grand Duke Haripopolini built a city named after himself. It is Lviv City. In the centuries after the founding of the city, in addition to Ukrainians, Poles, Austrians, Germans, Hungarians, Italians, French, Greeks and Jews also lived on this land. Gradually developed into the central city of Western Ukraine. At the same time, other European nations also brought their own culture, art, tradition and religion to Lviv. The unique conditions have enabled Lviv to integrate the profound historical accumulation of Central and Eastern European and Western European countries. Therefore, the architecture of Lviv has both Gothic and Baroque, Renaissance and Romanesque styles. In this sense, Lviv can also be called a condensed "little Europe". Today such a great city may be destroyed by war because of my orders.

　　…………

The troops sent to reinforce Potapov were only half-returned by daybreak. The commander leading the group reported to Belov that they had just approached the streets of the city when they were spotted by the enemy’s secret guard. After the sound, the machine gun arranged in the building opened fire, causing many casualties to our army.

　　 I walked up to the officer and frowned and asked, "Comrade Major, how many people did you visit last night, and how many are you back now?"

Although the officer did not know my identity, after seeing the military rank on my epaulettes, he respectfully reported: "Comrade General, we infiltrated the city in batches of 167 people last night, and only 71 came back this morning. , The remaining people may have sacrificed."

　　 "Ah, so many casualties?" After listening to this data, I was taken aback. After a short pause, I asked with a hint of luck: "Did anyone successfully sneak into the city?"

　　 "It shouldn't be." The major shook his head and replied: "Our people were almost just close to the edge of the city. They were spotted by the enemy, and then they were fired wildly. I guess no one can successfully enter the city.

　　 After the major finished speaking, I waved at him and said weakly, "Well, comrade major, you have worked hard all night, go and rest."

　　 After the major left, I said to Lelyushenko standing aside: "Comrade General, order the troops to prepare to attack Lviv again. In order to seize the city as soon as possible, I authorize you to use all weapons, understand?"

From what I said, Lelyushenko understood that they will no longer be bound by Konev's order in today’s offensive. As long as they can destroy the enemy, they can use any heavy weapon in any area, so he readily agreed. :"understood."

When Lelyushenko issued an offensive order to his troops, I remembered Captain Potapov who were staying in the city, and quickly called the Director of Communications over and told him to connect me with Potapov. , I am eager to understand the situation in the city.

　　 After connecting to Potapov, I asked anxiously: "Comrade Captain, our attack on Lviv is about to begin. How is your place and how many people and technical equipment are left."

　　 "Report to Comrade Deputy Commander," Potapov heard my voice and immediately replied excitedly: "We now have three tanks and fifty soldiers left."

　　 "What, do you still have fifty soldiers?" I was a little surprised and asked, "Where do you come from so many people?"

"Didn't you send it?" Potapov heard me ask, and said strangely: "I asked the platoon leader who led the team~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and he said that you ordered them to be broken into pieces. , Scattered and sneaked into the city. Fortunately, forty soldiers came, otherwise I would not be able to stop the enemy's attack with only three tanks and ten soldiers."

　　 After knowing that Potapov’s troops are sufficient, my heart feels a lot more at ease. I then said to him: "Comrade Captain, after our troops launch an offensive, you must find ways to cooperate with them. If possible, I hope you can take the lead in putting the red flag on the roof of the municipal building."

　　 "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Army, please rest assured." Potapov assured me: "I will be the first to put the red flag on the roof of the municipal building."

After I finished the call with Potapov, I smiled and said to Lelyushenko who came over: "Comrade General, forty soldiers successfully sneaked into the city last night and joined Potapov. Wait for you. After attacking the city, the captain will take the initiative to send someone to cooperate with you in the fight."

　　…………

　　 Our offensive from the east and the south, because of the tenacious defense of the German army, progressed very slowly. The battle lasted until noon, but only two or three streets were occupied, and it was far from the city center.

　　 Fortunately, Moskalenko's troops finally arrived at their starting position for the offensive. Their participation became the last straw to crush the defenders. Under the strong blow of our army, the enemy retreated to the center of the city steadily.

In the evening, General Belov, who rushed to the south of the city to command the battle, called us and told me excitedly: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I used a telescope in the command post to see the rise of the municipal building in the middle of the city. There is a red flag, which means that our army has occupied Lviv."