Red Moscow

Konev received a report from Sokov and saw that the unit had completed its intended combat objectives and inflicted significant damage on the enemy. In the battle that ended not long ago, a total of 25 German tanks and 32 armored vehicles were destroyed, and more than 100 other combat vehicles were destroyed. More than 1,240 German soldiers were eliminated, and more than 400 prisoners were captured.

Seeing such a result, Konev couldn't help but smile. But the smile stayed on his face for only a moment, then disappeared without a trace. He put the battle report he had just read on the table, his eyes were fixed on the map on the table, and he fell into deep thought.

Seeing Konev's expression, Zakharov asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what's on your mind?"

Konev looked up at Zakharov and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am thinking about a question. If Sokov's troops are allowed to participate in the attack on Poltava, can you tell me whether the city has been destroyed?" Did we take it?"

Regarding this question from Konev, Zakharov frowned and thought for a moment, and then expressed his thoughts: "Comrade Commander, it is hard to say whether Poltava can be taken. But with the first With the participation of the 27th Army, our battle to attack Poltava will be much smoother than it is now."

"Comrade Sokov once proposed to me that he personally lead a part of the group army to participate in the attack on Poltava, but I refused without hesitation." Konev said with a bitter face, annoyed: " If only I had agreed to his request at the time. Even if we can’t get Poltava for the time being, the progress of our army will definitely be much better than it is now.”

Seeing that Konev wanted to mobilize Sokov's troops, Zakharov asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, since you said that Sokov's troops participated in the attack on Poltava, the chances of taking the city are relatively high. Why don't we take advantage of the relatively stable situation in Klemenchug, transfer him over first, and take Poltava first."

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Konev suppressed the tempting thought in his heart, and said to Zakharov: "Now Sukov's task is to do everything possible to firmly defend the landing field on the right bank. As long as the Lemenchug and the landing field on the right bank are in the hands of our army. Once the enemy in Poltava is eliminated, our army can smoothly cross the Dnieper River and establish a wider landing field on the right bank."

Zakharov knew that what Konev said was very reasonable, although the transfer of Sokov's troops at this moment could increase the chances of capturing Poltava. But Sokov is a man, not a god. Although it can increase the chance of capturing the city, no one can guarantee that after Sokov comes, he can liberate Poltava in a very short time, so it is better not to let He's come for an adventure.

After a pause for a while, Konev continued, "Chief of Staff, call Zadov and Shumilov and ask them to come to the headquarters as soon as possible."

Hearing that Konev was going to summon the two commanders of the Guards Army, Zakharov couldn't help being taken aback, and then asked, "Comrade Commander, what did you ask them to come here for?"

Konev sneered: "The offensive of our two Guards armies has not been smooth during this time, and they have not taken Poltava so far. Should we invite their commanders over and study what they are doing now?" Are there any problems in the usual command operations?"

Hearing what Konev said, Zakharov suddenly felt that he should chat with the two commanders to see if there was any way to reverse the current unfavorable situation and win Poltava earlier.

After receiving the call, Zadov immediately handed over all the matters in the headquarters to his chief of staff, and he took a jeep, accompanied by two soldiers and a driver, and quickly rushed to the front army. headquarters.

When the car arrived, Zadov just got out of the car, and saw Shumilov getting off from another car at a glance, and quickly greeted him: "General Shumilov, I really didn't expect to meet you here."

Shumilov was also surprised when he saw Zadov appearing in front of him. He said very unexpectedly: "General Zadov, why are you here?"

Zadov spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a look of embarrassment: "No way, it was Chief of Staff Zakharov who called me and said that Commander Konev needed to see me urgently. Shumi General Love, did you also receive a similar call?"

"That's right, I also received a call from General Zakharov, asking me to hand over command to the chief of staff immediately, and then rush here to see the commander."

Knowing that Shumilov only appeared here after receiving a call from Zakharov, Zadov murmured in his heart: "Could it be that we were recruited here to attack Poltava? thing?"

Shumilov saw the doubt in Zadov's heart, and walked in with him, and said, "General Zadov, you don't have to guess. I think Commander Konev suddenly found the two of us here. , it must be about Poltava."

Seeing that Shumilov had the same thoughts as himself, Zadov sighed softly, and said helplessly: "General Shumilov, when we attacked Poltava, our commanders and fighters were quite heroic, but they still It was impossible to break through the solid German fortifications."

"Yes," Shumilov agreed with Zadov's statement: "After the Germans occupied Poltava, they remodeled the fortifications in the city, which added to our offensive. Difficulty. When I meet Commander Konev later, I will definitely talk about the difficulties we are facing.”

When the two entered the headquarters, Zakharov just looked up and saw them entering the door, he smiled and said, "Two generals, did you come here by appointment, or did you meet on the road?"

As soon as Zakharov's words fell, Zadov and Shumilov replied in unison.

"I met at the door."

"I met at the door."

After Konev greeted the two to sit down, he asked straight to the point: "Do you know what the purpose of calling you today is?"

Shumilov asked tentatively: "Is it related to the attack on Poltava?"

"That's right." Seeing that Shumilov had already guessed why he called him here, Konev said straight to the point: "I called you two here just to discuss the liberation of Poltava."

As soon as Konev really mentioned the issue of liberating Poltava, Shumilov and Zadov looked at each other, and they both saw helplessness in each other's eyes. Shumilov coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and said, "Report to Comrade Commander, it's not that our soldiers are not brave enough, but that the fortifications in the enemy's city are too dense. If you advance one meter, you will have to pay a lot of casualties."

"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Zadov echoed from the sidelines: "The street fighting is not much worse than last year's Stalingrad defense battle."

"Enough," Konev saw the two coming, instead of actively trying to solve the current difficulties, but looking for reasons for his own offensive failure, he slammed the table angrily, and said sharply: "Enough, don't Moreover."

When the two of them calmed down, he continued angrily, "I want to ask you, whose subordinates were the first troops to rush into Belgorod?"

The two thought for a while and replied in unison: "It's Sokov's 27th Army."

"Where were the first troops to storm Kharkov?"

"It's still General Sokov's 27th Army."

"Melifah Fortress, who took it?"

After listening to Konev's three consecutive questions, all of which were related to Sokov's troops, Shumilov felt an ominous premonition. He felt that the other party might list Sokov's series of victories next. Come to criticize yourself and Zadov, and strictly order your troops to seize Poltava as soon as possible.

"Comrade Commander," Shumilov said first: "Although in the battles for the liberation of Belgorod and Kharkov, Sokov's troops were the first to enter the city; General Sokov's troops also showed impressive results in the battle to open the passage to the south of the French Fortress. But even if they are allowed to participate in the attack on Poltava, I am afraid there is no good way."

"That's not necessarily true, General Shumilov." Unexpectedly, just as Shumilov finished speaking, Konev interrupted him, and said in a stern tone: "Judging from the achievements of Sokov , His troops have almost never lost any battles. No matter how difficult the position is, his troops can hold it; no matter how difficult the position or city is, his troops can be the first to break into the city.

You only need to consider how long it took his troops to capture the fortress of Merefa to see how effective they were. If his troops had participated in the attack on Poltava, he might have captured half the city. "

Zadov originally wanted to refute, but after reviewing Sokov's record in his mind, he realized that he really couldn't compare with him. At least when his own troops participated in the attack on Kharkov, they failed to break through the outer German positions after two days of fighting, while Sokov's troops rushed into the city in less than a day.

Seeing that both Shumilov and Zadov were silent, Konev said in a slow tone: "I called you two here today to discuss with you and see if there is any way to break through as soon as possible." The enemy's perimeter defenses allow more troops to enter the city and start street fighting with the enemy."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Shumilov waited for Konev to finish speaking, and said in a somewhat depressed mood: "We have exhausted all methods, but we have not been able to effectively break through the outer positions of the German army. Last time we finally had troops rushed to the edge of the city, but was beaten back by the Germans with a counterattack."

Konev looked at Shumilov, thinking in his heart that his subordinate, although he is a commander with rich command experience, sometimes sees things too pessimistically. During the defense of Stalingrad last year, he used to be the commander of the 62nd Army, but because he had no confidence in holding the city, he was dismissed by his superiors and was replaced by Chuikov, otherwise he would not be a lieutenant general today.

"General Shumilov," Konev felt that he should give the other party confidence, and said seriously: "Although the enemy's defensive positions are strong, but your two armies have a large number of heavy artillery, and you can use fierce artillery fire. A hole was torn in the human line of defense."

"However, every time we bombarded, the cunning Germans hid in the second line of defense." Zadov said distressedly: "After our army's artillery fire extended, the enemies hiding in the second line of defense came along again." The traffic trenches re-entered the front-line positions to block our offensive troops."

"As far as I know," said Konev, "Sokov's troops never made any artillery preparations before attacking. According to him, when our artillery fired, the enemy hid in the second line of defense. Our shells landed on positions that were barely deserted."

Although Zadov knew that Sokov's troops often won battles, he really didn't know that Sokov's troops never prepared for artillery fire before attacking. He was a little surprised and asked Konev: "Comrade commander, without artillery cover, wouldn't they have to pay huge casualties when they attacked?"

"That's not necessarily true, General Zadov." Konev said with a smile: "Usually behind the attacking infantry, some artillery battalions of 76.2mm field guns will be deployed. If the troops pose a threat, these artillery battalions will take direct fire to destroy the enemy's firepower points."

"Direct shooting?" Zadov asked with wide eyes, surprised: "Comrade commander, is this shelling effective?"

"The effect is very good." Konev nodded and said: "After the general shelling, there must be many firepower points that survived. When our army's offensive starts, these firepower points will shoot crazily, causing huge damage to our army. Casualties. The advantage of direct shooting is that it can directly destroy these firepower points of the Germans like shooting a target.

Sokov gave this kind of direct shooting of the cannon an interesting nickname, "Bayonet on the Cannon". "

"Bayonets on cannons?!" Zadov repeated this unfamiliar word, and said with some surprise: "Comrade commander, don't tell me, this word is really appropriate. Artillery is originally a weapon for long-distance use. Now it is used to destroy the enemy's firepower at close range, isn't it similar to infantry fighting with bayonets."

"General Shumilov," Konev saw that Zadov had grasped the essence of the bayonet on the cannon, and turned to Shumilov, "what do you think about this?"

"Comrade Commander of the Front," Shumilov, who was deep in thought, replied in a panic when he heard Konev call his name: "I am thinking, since the artillery can adopt this tactic to destroy the enemy at close range." outlying positions, can it be used in the same way in the city?"

Hearing what Shumilov said, Konev showed a gratified expression on his face: "General Shumilov, you are right, the best place to use this kind of bayonet-on-cannon tactic is in the city." in the street fighting."