Struggle in Soviet Russia

Zolochev, the logistics camp of the 15th Army Mechanized Soviet Army.

Victor curled up in an artificially dug air-raid trench in the jungle, frowning and thinking about how the report in hand was drafted, while gnawing on a hard bread.

In the entire woodland, the rumbling of 37 mm anti-aircraft guns resounded, and the harsh roar of fighters was intermittently mixed. On this **** front line, the Soviet aviation had completely lost air supremacy, which made the German fighters dare to be in one place. Throughout the day, he continued to come here to harass.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, Victor accompanied the troops retreating from the border area and moved to Winnipeg, where he encountered a mechanized 15th Army transport unit that was retreating eastward. Following this force, he retreated again. Zolochev.

It was not until he arrived at Zolochev that Viktor figured out the current situation in the entire Western Ukraine.

Just four days ago, in accordance with the order issued by Moscow, the Southwest Front Army headquarters rebuilt from the Kiev Special Military District issued an order to launch an offensive towards Rivne, annihilate the German forces, and push the front line back to the border area.

The German army in the direction of Rivne was on the third day of the outbreak of the war. It was invaded by the joint of the Soviet 5th and 6th armies. They opened a 50-kilometer-wide gap in the joint area. Swiftly advance in the direction of Lutsk.

As a result, the German army formed a protrusion that penetrated the border of the Soviet Union on the line of Rozhche, Lutsk and Dubno. The German army that formed this protrusion was mainly composed of its first armored group and sixth A part of the group army.

For the Soviet army, this is really an opportunity to launch counter-assault operations. If the Soviet army can launch a powerful pincer offensive on the two wings of this protrusion, it is expected to encircle and annihilate the German forces in this protrusion.

Obviously, the Soviet Command also considered this way. Therefore, the command received by the Southwest Front Army Command was to concentrate the powerful forces of six mechanized armies and three infantry armies to launch an offensive on the north and south wings of the salient at the same time to annihilate this. The unit penetrated into the German army cluster in West Ukraine.

However, the development of the follow-up war completely exceeded the expectations of Moscow and the Southwest Front Army headquarters. Because the actions of the various units participating in the battle were not synchronized, and the lack of necessary contact with each other, the time when the participating units entered the battle was not consistent. Some have fought fierce battles with the German army from the 23rd, and some even have not moved in place until today. Therefore, a siege battle became a refueling tactic, and an opportunity to counterattack has completely evolved into a disaster of defeat.

Victor finally understood why he could safely withdraw from Rudki, because during his retreat, the main German forces in the direction of Lviv were all concentrated in the direction of Brod and Dubno. No one paid any attention to their group of small trash fish.

At the same time, he also understood how thoroughly the 4th Mechanized Army sold him. Just when he received the order from the military headquarters and had to stay with Rudki for two more days, the entire 4th Mechanized Army had actually In the direction of Broad.

However, these things have passed after all, and Victor has no time to think about these issues. This morning, he received an order from the Kiev People’s Committee of the Interior. According to this order, he must arrive in Kiev by tomorrow night and submit a written report on his work in the previous days to the Kiev People’s Committee of the Interior. .

The German air strikes finally ended, and tranquility was restored in the jungle.

Victor got out of the low air-raid trench, folded the report in his hand, and put it into the pocket of his uniform jacket.

In the open space of the jungle, busy soldiers are carrying **** corpses. The Soviet army has set up six anti-aircraft gun positions in this jungle. In the air strike just now, these gun positions were the key targets of German fighters. In the air strike that lasted less than twenty minutes, four gun positions were damaged, and as a price, four German fighters were shot down.

Although the 37mm anti-aircraft gun has a limited range, it is still very effective in prevention and control. This is Victor's view.

"Comrade Captain, the hot water is ready," Varenka said as he trot all the way from the jungle on the right, pressing his hat on his head with one hand and a towel in the other.

Victor nodded, reached out his hand to take the towel, and said, "Go and check the condition of some cars. Let's leave when I finish taking a shower."

"Yes, Comrade Captain," Varenka gave a military salute and left happily. He didn't want to stay in this place that was troubling all day long. Although Kiev is not that safe, it is at least better than here. Much stronger. However, what he didn't know was that, as his direct leader, Victor also didn't want to stay in this place anymore. The bad situation told him that the Soviet army could not hold on to this place for long. At most, it was two days before retreating. The order will be issued.

In a clearing deep in the jungle, there are several small roofless houses surrounded by rolled petrol drums and iron sheets. This is a "bathroom" specially prepared for the officers. Several days of fighting and trekking make Victor not only feel Tired, and his body is almost rotten, he can bear the exhaustion, but can not bear the sloppy, so before going to Kiev, he must take a bath and change his clothes.

While Viktor was busy cleaning up his personal hygiene, a serious-faced Comrade Khrushchev, hundreds of kilometers away in Ternopil, the temporary station of the Southwest Front Army headquarters, was looking at a report at hand.

The battle in the direction of Dubno has been fought so far, and the "No. 3" combat order issued by Moscow has actually failed. The Southwest Front Army has failed to achieve the combat goal of encircling the German forces in the area, let alone the liberation of Lublin in the order. The ultimate goal.

In the summary of the operation, Kilbonos, the commander of the Southwest Front Army, listed many reasons, such as the insufficient preparation of the troops, the large number of tanks still in maintenance, and the lack of logistical supplies, etc., but in Khrushcho Comrade Husband’s view is that these are objective reasons, and mere listing of these objective reasons cannot satisfy Moscow.

Why? The reason is simple. If all this failure is attributed to objective reasons, it means that Moscow’s newly established Supreme Command with Comrade Stalin at its core had a great deal of importance in formulating the "No. 3" combat order. The problem is, at least, out of date, without considering the specific situation on the front line.

Therefore, in this combat summary, objective reasons can exist, but they cannot occupy the main part. Subjective reasons are the most important factor in the defeat of the battle. This is necessary and is the main thrust of this report.

So, what are the subjective reasons that led to the defeat of the battle? Quite simply, from the commander's point of view, some commanders are inadequate in technical and tactical abilities, and they are negligent, careless, even timid and fearful in their command positions, and lack sufficient loyalty to the Soviet motherland. At the level of soldiers, some soldiers are greedy for life and fear of death, fleeing before fighting, and even spread theories of defeat and disintegration in the army, which seriously affects the morale of the army.

That’s right. As a member of the Southwest Front Army’s Military Committee, Khrushchev’s questions all exist, and he can even easily cite examples. After the defeat, hundreds of people in the subordinate units fled in one day.

It must be admitted that the subjective reasons that Comrade Khrushchev mentioned that led to the defeat of the battle are indeed real. After all, the Soviet army suffered a sudden attack from the German army. Before the outbreak of the war, the Soviet army did not accept any form of attack. Before the war was mobilized, no one even knew that the war would break out. Therefore, in the face of sudden wars, normal people will feel fearful, which is inevitable.

However, it is obviously biased to characterize subjective reasons as the main reason for the loss of the battle, but in the current context, no one will carefully consider these issues.

Now, the report in front of Comrade Khrushchev is from the various combat units of the front army. To be precise, it is the military commissars and political commissars from the various combat units. According to the order issued by the military committee of the front army, all units need to submit such a report. A report pointed out that in the battle of border defense, who has fear and avoidance of war, who is spreading the theory of defeat and defeat, and who has fled without fighting or left the army without authorization.

Of course, while collecting these bad examples, the Front Army Military Committee also requires the grassroots units to submit positive examples. The political work of the army is always divided into two aspects. If there are bad examples, there must be good examples. If there are only good models, it will paralyze the commanders and fighters, and if there are only bad models, it will also make the troops full of pessimism.

There were many reports sent by the troops, a thick pile, but Comrade Khrushchev didn’t mean to be impatient at all. He read every report very carefully, and he even classified most of them. record.

When he saw the report submitted by the 21st Tank Division under the 4th Mechanized Army, he paused. At the end of the report, he saw a very familiar name in a paragraph that was almost taken over. ——Viktor Viktorovich Tarashev.

With the appearance of this name, Comrade Khrushchev had a calm, young face in his mind. Yes, it should be the young man. He had a very good impression of that young man.

"The internal guards under the command of Captain Viktor Viktorovich Tarasev, the defensive operations in the Rudki area, bought time for our operations."

The report mentions Victor's name, and that's just one sentence. It neither said how many internal guards he commanded, nor how long he held on. As for the situation of the battle, he didn't even mention it.