Burning Moscow

　　 December 16, in an unnamed small village on the outskirts of Suvolovo.

　　 In the command post set up by the small church in the village, the sound of telegrams, telephone calls, and the shouting of the communicators came one after another.

　　 A picture of Suvolovo’s city defenses was spread out on a huge wooden table. Vlasov was pointing his hand on the map, as if he was studying where to open the breakthrough. President Lin sat next to him, but didn't say a word, but from time to time he twisted a soybean out of a small cloth bag in front of him and put it in his mouth to chew it slowly. Shi Zhe, acting as a translator, straightened his body and stood behind Lin.

I stood at the table, holding two copies of the battle report that I had just received in my hand. I was considering whether to report to the two commanders immediately, because the Far East Independence Division and the Seventh Guards Division’s attack on Suvolovo ended in failure. Up.

　　 A week ago, when we left Klin for Botowo, the political commissar of the 7th Guards Division, Bakkanidze, struck mine and died. I immediately reported this bad news to Zhukov. Perhaps Zhukov knew about the friendship between Bakanidze and Stalin. After learning the news, he was silent for a long time before he said leisurely: "I know, I will report this to Comrade Stalin at an appropriate time."

The battle for the attack on Botowo started at 10 o'clock that morning. After an hour of shelling, the commanders of the 7th Guards Division shouted revenge for the political commissar. They followed the tank brigades and cavalry regiments and entrenched the Germans. Botovo launched a heroic attack and fought for two hours, successfully seizing this important German supply base and seizing nearly 60 tanks, 120 cars, many artillery, ammunition and other military materials.

After leaving the necessary garrisons, I led my army to Suvolovo. In the afternoon, I met with the main force of the group army led by Vlasov and Lin, and encircled a German armored division and several infantry divisions with serious losses. In the Suvolovo region.

　　 Although the battle I commanded in the early stage was exceptionally smooth, my good luck seemed to run out from the moment the soldiers approached Suvolovo. Due to the excessive consumption of ammunition in the early battles, the stock of artillery shells in each artillery regiment was less than a base, especially the Katyusha artillery regiment, which only fired three volleys, and the artillery shells were all shot out. Since our army's artillery fire failed to cause effective damage to the enemy's viable forces, the attack launched that day was repelled without any suspense.

　　 The next day, without artillery preparation, Vlasov mobilized three tank brigades, one cavalry division, two ski brigades, and two infantry divisions to attack the besieged enemy from all four sides at the same time. As a result, the counterattacked tank units repelled one by one.

From the third day on, under Lin’s suggestion, the troops stopped the attack on the besieged enemy in the Suvolovo area and adopted the tactics of siege instead of attack. At the same time, they used the opportunity to wait for ammunition supplies from the rear to allow the participating troops to proceed. Rest.

Regarding our group army’s sudden cessation of the offensive, Zhukov was furious and ordered Vlasov and Lin to die. If Suvolovo cannot be taken by the 17th, they will be sent to a military court for trial. .

　　 Facing Zhukov's strict order, Vlasov had to order the severely attenuated and insufficient ammunition troops to re-enter the offensive. The results of such an offensive can be imagined. Apart from the increase in many unnecessary casualties, the results of the war were minimal.

　　 Originally, Zhukov promised to send us planes yesterday to cover the army's offensive. However, when Major General Dovator, commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, led his troops to attack the enemy in the Ruza River, he was shot and sacrificed in the enemy's counterattack. The cavalry unit of the army was also hit hard. In order to prevent the 16th Army’s offensive sequence from collapsing, the Air Force turned to the area and indiscriminately bombed the German troops on the ground, finally stopping the enemy’s counterattack and turning the 16th Army into peace.

　　 Starting from dawn today, the various troops launched an offensive against the besieged German army regardless of casualties, but with little success. The two telegrams I just received were reports of failed attacks.

　　 Vlasov, who was looking at the map, suddenly raised his head and saw that I was standing beside me. He frowned slightly and asked, "Our attack has failed again?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." I took a step forward and passed the telegram in my hand. At the same time, I said in a painful tone: "The attack of the Independent Division and the Seventh Guards Division was repelled by German tanks. During the battle. The division commander, Colonel Harpsaf, was wounded and has retired from the battle. The deputy division commander has now taken over the command and is blocking the counter-attack German troops."

　　 "Comrade Commander," President Lin suddenly said in his low voice: "You can't fight like this anymore. The troops should be stopped immediately."

After listening to Shi Zhe’s translation, Vlasov said in a bit of surprise: "However, the deadline given by Comrade Zhukov is tomorrow. If we can’t get Suvolovo, the consequences..." Although he only said half of it, We all understand that he is afraid that he will not be able to complete the task and therefore go to a military court.

　　 "Deputy Commander Lin, do you have any good ideas?" I knew Mr. Lin must have some new ideas, so I asked them first.

　　 Lin always put a soybean into his mouth, and then said casually: "One is missing from three."

　　 "The three are missing one." After listening to the translation, Vlasov asked blankly: "What do you mean, I don't quite understand."

　　 "Remove troops in one direction, and then launch a violent attack on the enemy from the other three directions at the same time."

"What?" Vlasov had just sat down. Hearing Mr. Lin's words, he jumped up again and shouted loudly: "No, withdraw one aspect of the troops, then the enemy will all run away. ?"

"Comrade Commander, don't worry, listen to my detailed explanation." President Lin also stood up, pointed to the map in front of him and said to Vlasov: "Look, Suvolovo has perfect defenses on all sides. The system includes not only the defense fortifications built by our army, but also many firepower points reinforced by the German army after occupying the city. In our anti-sky and sea operations, the enemy's armored units transferred from the Chismena area because of deception are currently in the city. Summary The lessons learned from the failure of the offensive in the past few days can be seen that this armored force is a deadly threat to our offensive. And we lack sufficient artillery firepower and the support of the air force, if we want to forcibly seize the city, UU看书www. uukanshu.com not only has to pay a huge price, but it also takes a long time." At this point, he paused and waited for Shi Zhe to fully translate his words to Vlasov before continuing: " All the retreat of the German army has been cut off by us. In order not to be annihilated by us, they will inevitably resist desperately. But if we open the net, then the German army will think that there is a chance to escape safely, and only think about how to get out of us. If they leave quickly in the passageway, their resistance will be much weaker in the face of our three-sided offensive. With the tactics of siege, I don’t care how much the Germans will escape, I only hope that our army can capture Suvolovo as soon as possible. Occupying Suvolovo is a victory for us. As for the German troops who fled, they can send highly mobile troops to follow and pursue them, causing severe damage."

After listening to President Lin’s explanation, Vlasov suddenly realized. He nodded thoughtfully and said, "Deputy Commander Lin, you are right. I will adjust the combat deployment and launch the whole line at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. Total attack, to ensure that Suvolovo can be taken down before dark."

　　 Lin also nodded and said, "Yes."

　　 Vlasov looked at me again and asked, "Leda, what do you think?"

I looked at the map in front of me, and said confidently: "I suggest that before the general attack tomorrow, we should hit all the artillery fire and violently bombard the defensive positions south of Suvolovo. At the same time, I call the front army headquarters to send a plane to the city. Military targets inside and outside were bombarded in turn to accelerate the determination of the German troops to flee. Mobile units were also deployed to pursue the German troops who fled west."

　　 Vlasov slapped the table and said excitedly: "Okay, that's it. I'll report this plan to the Front Army Headquarters immediately."