Chapter 1213 Breaking through the enemy formation skillfully

  The estimated attack time was delayed by an hour. Because after Poluboyarov's subordinates took over the German equipment, they still need to spend some time getting used to it, and they need to get in touch with their cooperation during the attack.

Knowing that the friendly troops could not reach the battlefield on time, Katukov couldn't help but frowned, and he turned to look at Sokov who was also anxious: "Comrade Sokov, the arrival of your troops on the battlefield will be delayed, which means Our planned attack will also be postponed. Do you have any good idea to prevent the Germans from using this time to strengthen their fortifications?"

"Comrade General, the best way to prevent the Germans from using this period of time to build fortifications is to shell the enemy's positions." Sokov didn't know whether Katukov knew that the Germans would attack the enemy's positions when they encountered shelling. Transferred to the second line of defense in time, and also specifically explained to him: "Every time the enemy is bombarded by our army, they will only leave a few soldiers as observation posts, while the other soldiers are transferred to the second line of defense. Line of defense. If we keep bombarding the enemy's positions, they risk retreating to the second line of defense, and our shells hit empty ground."

   "Comrade Sokov, I somewhat understand what you said." Katukov asked Sokov curiously: "Do you have any way to break the enemy's move?"

"Comrade General, this is how I think about it." Sukov felt that the next plan would be successful only if he had to find a way to make the Germans dizzy: "First order your artillery to shell the enemy's position. Shelling five After 10 minutes, the bombardment stopped, and the bombardment resumed every quarter of an hour, and it also stopped after 5 minutes. The Germans would be confused by us because they did not know whether our army was preparing for the artillery fire before the attack or whether it was Just want to suppress them with artillery fire."

"Well, this is a good idea." Sokov's bad idea made Katukov's eyes shine: "We used to bombard the enemy's positions, and each time we shelled for more than an hour, the enemy had enough time to move to the rear. But if the bombardment takes a few minutes at a time, the enemy will be a little confused, and they will not know whether we want to attack or are bluffing."

After saying this, Katukov stood up straight, called the chief of staff to him, and told him: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately call the artillery commander of the army group and ask him to use two artillery regiments to bombard the enemy's position." .According to what Comrade Sokov said, shelling every quarter of an hour, every five minutes, so that the enemy can't figure out our intentions."

When Sokov gave Katukov an idea, the chief of staff was standing not far away. Hearing what Sokov said, he thought to himself that if he really bombarded the enemy's positions in this way, the enemy would definitely be killed. Confused. After Sokov finished speaking, he stared at Katukov nervously, fearing that his commander would reject Sokov's suggestion. Hearing Katukov's order at this moment, he immediately agreed excitedly, turned around and called the artillery commander.

   Shelling soon began.

   The two infantry battalions of the German 230th Infantry Division stationed on the position, commanded by a lieutenant colonel and deputy head. He heard the whistling of shells in the air, and quickly ordered the troops to retreat into the second position in an orderly manner, intending to let the Soviet army waste shells on the position where there were no people. But what surprised them was that shortly after they withdrew to the second position, the shelling of the Soviet army stopped.

  The German lieutenant colonel was very puzzled when he heard that the shelling of the Soviet army had stopped. He also found a position with a wide view and carefully observed the movements of the Soviet army. After watching for a while, although he didn't find the slightest sign of the Soviet army attacking, he didn't dare to take it lightly, and quickly ordered the troops to withdraw to the second line of defense, and returned to the first line of defense along the traffic trench.

  Unexpectedly, the German army had just slowly entered the first line of defense, and the Soviet artillery bombardment started again, killing many unprepared German officers and soldiers in one fell swoop. Seeing that the situation was not good, the German lieutenant colonel quickly ordered the troops to withdraw to the second line of defense to avoid the Soviet artillery bombardment.

  But the shelling time of the Soviet army was still short this time, and it only lasted for a few minutes before stopping again. The German lieutenant colonel had learned the lesson just now, and he dared not order the troops to return to the first line of defense casually, so as not to be bombarded by the Soviet army again. But after waiting for a long time, he saw that there was no movement on the Soviet position, so he could only order the troops to return to the first line of defense again. As soon as the troops were halfway through this time, Soviet artillery shells fell on the first line of defense and exploded again, scaring the German officers and soldiers who were returning to their positions and turned around and ran away.

   In this way, within an hour, the Soviet army bombarded the German positions four times, knocking out the officers and soldiers standing on the positions. When they heard the sound of the cannon again, the troops staying on the first line of defense were no longer in a hurry to withdraw to the second line of defense. They were worried that they might have just arrived at the second line of defense and needed to rush back again. Before the ground attack started, they were exhausted to death.

Katukov, who was staying in the observation post, saw the panic of the German army through the telescope, and patted Sokov on the shoulder excitedly: "Comrade Sokov, your method is really wonderful. After several rounds of The bombardment, the Germans are completely out of order, and I feel that if you attack at this time, you can successfully seize the enemy's position without using your plan."

   At this moment, Poluboyarov came over and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, our attack force has arrived at the designated position and is ready to fight at any time."

  Sokov nodded with a smile, and then said to Katukov: "Comrade General, my troops are in position, and your troops can attack the enemy."

  Katukov made a gesture to his chief of staff, who immediately gave an attack order to the attacking troops by phone. As the order was issued, more than 30 tanks of the 100th Tank Brigade immediately launched. Amidst the huge roar, they drove towards the enemy's position, and an infantry regiment charged behind these tanks warrior.

   Seeing the start of the Soviet offensive, the German lieutenant colonel immediately began to issue orders, ordering the troops standing on the first line of defense to resolutely block the Soviet offensive. The German officers and soldiers who received the order entered their respective shooting positions one after another, set up their guns and got ready to shoot.

  The anti-tank artillerymen pushed out their anti-tank guns from hidden places, only exposing the muzzle and half of the guns, aiming at the rumbling Soviet tanks. When the Soviet tanks were four or five hundred meters away from the trenches, the German anti-tank artillery fired decisively.

   The roaring shells first landed on the moving tanks and exploded left and right, setting off waves of mud that soared into the sky. Then, their shooting accuracy became much better, and in a short while, three Soviet tanks were destroyed, standing on the battlefield and burning. After the tank soldiers covered in fire escaped, they either rolled and extinguished on the spot, or with the help of the infantry nearby, they extinguished the flames on their bodies and trotted back to the starting position of the attack.

Half of the tanks attacked by the 100th Tank Brigade this time had faults of one kind or another, so that when they were only three or four hundred meters away from the German positions, half of the tanks broke down and could only stay in place as fixed turrets. The artillery bombarded the firepower points on the German positions and covered the infantry advancing forward.

Seeing this, Sokov, who was staying in the observation post, said to Katukov: "Comrade General, can my troops come out?" Seeing that Katukov nodded and said yes, he turned around and stood behind him. Poluboyarov said, "Comrade Commander, pass orders to your men and let them go into battle immediately. Remember, the drama must be played in a similar way, so that the enemy will be deceived."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Poluboyarov said with a smile: "The Germans may not have imagined in their dreams that a German infantry armed with German tanks that came out from behind the Russians was actually ours." People in disguise. I believe that by the time they realize something is wrong, it will be too late."

Ten minutes later, a "German army" equipped with more than 20 tanks protruded from the rear of the Soviet army. First, the tanks lined up and fired at the Soviet tanks that were shooting towards the German positions. During that time, seven or eight Soviet tanks were hit and caught fire. Of course, if someone in the German army observes carefully, they will be surprised to find that those Russian tanks that were destroyed by friendly tanks, before being shot, there will be puffs of thick smoke on the body, as if someone put a bomb on it. Like a cigarette jar.

Soon after the tank battle began, the Soviet infantry, who were advancing towards the German positions, turned around to meet the "German troops" that appeared behind them. They all rolled into nearby craters.

The German lieutenant colonel, who was staying on the second line of defense, saw a friendly mechanized unit suddenly appearing from behind the Soviet army and started a fierce fire with the Soviet army. His eyes widened in surprise. He called the people around him. A staff officer asked, "Do you know where this army came from?"

  The staff officer looked in the direction of the "fierce battle" in the distance, and said thoughtfully: "I heard that part of the troops of the Imperial Division were cut off behind the Russians. I don't know if it is this army."

  The German lieutenant colonel carefully checked the symbols on the tanks and soldiers in the distance, and said pleasantly: "That's right, I saw their 'Wolf's Kiss' mark, it must be the imperial division that broke out."

  The staff officer waited for the German lieutenant colonel to finish speaking, and asked tentatively: "Mr. lieutenant colonel, do you want to order our troops to attack and take them into our position?"

"There is no need for this. Our people will continue to stand firm." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the German lieutenant colonel shook his head and said, "I believe they have the strength to break through the Russian encirclement and rush over to join us." The reason why he said so , because the officers and soldiers of the SS Army are too domineering, even if they go out to rescue them, the other party probably won't give him any good looks, so why bother to ask for boredom.

   It didn't take much time. The "German army" that rushed out from the Soviet position successfully pierced through the Soviet formation and rushed to the front of the German position. Although the Wehrmacht officers and soldiers staying in the position did not usually wait to see the SS, they couldn't help cheering when they saw that they had repelled the Soviet attack and successfully rushed over to join them.

   After the tank crossed the trench, it continued to drive towards the second line of defense at the rear. Some of the infantry who followed them jumped into the first trench, while others continued to follow the tank and rushed to the second line of defense.

"What's going on here?" The German lieutenant colonel saw the tanks driving straight towards his position, and asked the staff in a panic: "Why don't they stay on the first line of defense, but they want to drive towards us?" What about your second line of defense?"

   Although the staff thinks that the tanks are parked on the first line of defense, it is beneficial to attack during the counterattack. But when he saw the tanks coming towards the second line of defense, he thought in his heart that maybe these tank soldiers had just escaped from the Russian encirclement and were still in a state of shock and needed to find a safe place. The second line of defense is obviously safer than the first.

Seeing the tanks and infantry entering the German second line of defense one after another, Sokov put down the binoculars in his hand and said to Katukov: "Comrade General, the time is ripe for your troops to attack again. This time we will definitely take the enemy's position."

   Following Katukov's order, three red flares rose into the air, which was a signal to attack. Thousands of commanders and fighters who had already been ready to go on the starting position jumped out of the trench shouting and rushed towards the German position in the distance.

  Seeing that the Soviet army launched an offensive again, the German officers and soldiers in the position quickly prepared for battle, and even the anti-tank guns aimed at the Soviet tanks among the infantry. But at the moment when the German officers and soldiers were ready to fight, there was a sudden burst of gunfire behind them, and the submachine guns and rifles in the hands of the "SS officers and soldiers" fired together. This was a one-sided massacre. At today's short distance, the German officers and soldiers who were shot had no chance of surviving. In just one minute, the trenches were full of German corpses and weapons all over the ground.

The German lieutenant colonel discovered the internal strife in the first line of defense through the binoculars. He was stunned and murmured: "What is going on? Why did the officers and soldiers of the SS attack my soldiers?" ?”

  The staff officer who advised him was also dumbfounded. He didn't know why the SS who had just entered the position shot at his own people? It can't be blamed for his slow reaction, but the all-German tanks and the SS equipment made them mistakenly think that the troops from the rear of the Soviet army were the remnants of the Imperial Division.

   Just when the two were at a loss, the staff officer suddenly saw a tank parked in the position, the turret was slowly turning, and soon, the black muzzle was aimed at the headquarters. It was only then that the staff realized that the so-called remnant of the Imperial Division might have been disguised by the Russians. He quickly grabbed the German lieutenant colonel, dragged him and ran outside, shouting: "Mr. No, those SS soldiers are Russians in disguise..."

   Before he finished shouting, he heard a loud bang, and the command headquarters, which was full of gunpowder smoke, collapsed, burying the German lieutenant colonel, staff officer and several signal soldiers in the ruins.

  (end of this chapter)