Chapter 1339 Hold the enemy

While the infantry of the 46th Infantry Brigade was rushing to the outpost, Sokov was also actively dispatching troops: "Chief of Staff, order the 84th and 254th Infantry Divisions to quickly detour to the enemy's two wings. Since If they want to attack the town of Yakovlevo, they don't want to go back in full."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko reminded Sokov upon hearing this order: "The 84th and 254th Infantry Divisions will have to walk at least ten kilometers to the enemy's flanks. Forests and swamps criss-cross, I am afraid our tanks and artillery will not be able to pass through."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, even without tanks and artillery, I don't think it will be a big problem for an infantry division of the German army." Sokov said to Sameko: "Don't forget, there are still a certain number of these two infantry divisions. The new rockets are more than enough to deal with the Germans."

   While Sameko assigned tasks to the division commanders below, Zhukov called Sokov. He asked straight to the point: "Misha, I heard that the enemy is attacking your outpost south of the town of Yakovlevo?"

   "Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied respectfully: "According to the information we have, the enemy dispatched the 255th Infantry Division to attack my outpost."

   "What measures have you taken?" Zhukov asked briefly.

"I have ordered Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov's 46th Infantry Brigade to provide reinforcements." Sokov knew very well in his heart that Zhukov's purpose of asking this question was not to know whether he had sent reinforcements, but whether he was sure Annihilating the enemy, he went on to say: "At the same time, I ordered the 84th Infantry Division of Major General Fomenko and the 254th Infantry Division of Colonel Shechtman to adopt a rapid march through forests and swamps, detour to the enemy's flanks, and attack him. Close up."

   Knowing that Sokov had dispatched troops to detour to the German flanks, Zhukov had a smile on his face: "Misha, then I wish you victory in advance!"

After putting down the phone, Zhukov called Vatutin to him and said to him: "Comrade Vatutin, Misha's troops are preparing to encircle and attack the enemy at the outpost. Shouldn't the troops in the north also make some feints to distract the enemy's attention?"

   "Comrade Marshal," Vatutin said with some embarrassment when he heard the task assigned by Zhukov, "Our troops are gathering. If we act prematurely, the enemy may be alerted..."

   "I'm asking you to feint, not to actually attack the enemy." Zhukov said with displeasure, "Are you planning to let Sokov's troops fight alone?"

"That's not true," Vatutin saw that Zhukov was angry, and quickly argued: "Comrade Marshal, you also know that my troops have suffered huge casualties in the battles of the previous few days. , to attack the enemy, even if it is a feint, I am afraid it will lead to some variables."

"Comrade Vatutin," Vasilevsky saw Zhukov's face turned frosty, and knew that Vatutin's further words would definitely arouse the other party's fury, so he hurried out to smooth things over: "Marshal Zhukov means to let you Belgorod's northern feint is not really asking you to attack. The ground troops can stay still, but you can use artillery fire to bombard the German positions that have already been locked."

   "Bombard the locked target with artillery fire?" Vatutin said dumbfoundedly after hearing Vasilevsky's words: "Marshal Vasilevsky, doesn't this reveal our combat intention?"

   But Vasilevsky's proposal made Zhukov's eyes shine: "I think Comrade Vasilevsky is right, you can consider shelling those targets that have already been locked."

Seeing that Zhukov and Vasilevsky had the same opinions, Vatutin said with a wry smile: "Comrade Marshals, if we really bombard the locked target, we will expose our intentions and let the enemy prepare ahead of time." Prepare."

"Comrade Vatutin, you are mistaken." Seeing that Vatutin did not understand his and Vasilevsky's intentions, Zhukov explained to him: "You shelled the enemy's position this time, but did not launch an attack. ...on the day our offensive begins, when the enemy's defensive position is under heavy artillery fire, the enemy will take it for granted that we are only bombarding their position and will not launch an attack. Attacking at such a time may be able to It had an unexpected effect."

   "Is this really the case?" Vatutin asked in an uncertain tone: "Can our bombardment of the enemy's position really play a role in confusing the enemy?"

"Of course." Seeing that his opinion coincided with Zhukov's, Vasilevsky urged Vatutin: "Comrade Vatutin, don't dawdle, and order the artillery to prepare. Otherwise, the enemy has completed the assembly, and I will tell Ya When the troops are increased in the direction of Kovlevo Town, it will be too late, and not only Sokov’s encirclement plan will fail. They will also face the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy when they detour to the troops behind the enemy.”

"General Ivanov," now that Zhukov and Vasilevsky had reached an agreement and agreed to bombard the enemy's defensive positions, Vatutin no longer hesitated, called Chief of Staff Ivanov, and ordered He said: "Call the artillery commander immediately, tomorrow they will bombard the enemy's defensive positions with heavy artillery fire in ten minutes."

Ivanov, who had just walked over, did not hear the conversation between Vatutin and the two marshals, so after hearing the order, he asked in confusion: "Comrade general, what targets should our artillery fire on?" Woolen cloth?"

"Where else can it be? Of course, those targets that have already been locked." Vatutin didn't care to explain more to Ivanov, and urged him: "Order the artillery to start shelling as soon as possible. It is necessary to use violent artillery fire to destroy the enemy. defensive positions."

   "Comrade General," Ivanov said cautiously: "It is about three hours before dawn. We are shelling the enemy's position so early. I am afraid that there will not be enough time to complete the assembly of the infantry."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Vasilevsky said on the side: "It's just shelling the enemy's position, there is no need for a ground attack, so there is no need to gather infantry at all."

   "Just shelling the enemy's position?" Ivanov was dumbfounded: "Marshal Vasilevsky, what is going on? Since the enemy's position is going to be bombarded, why not attack it?"

"Sokov's troops are attacking the German 255th Infantry Division from the west. The two marshals fear that the enemy in Belgorod will rush to reinforce them, so they order us to bombard the enemy's positions." See Ivan Novov kept asking, and Vatutin could only explain to him: "As soon as our shelling starts, the Germans will have an illusion that we are about to launch an attack on the city. I dare not act rashly, let alone send troops to reinforce it."

   After figuring out what was going on, Ivanov nodded, and asked the question he was worried about: "Will our shelling the locked target today reveal our intentions?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Ivanov still had doubts about the matter, Vatutin explained to him: "We only bombard but don't launch a ground attack, which will create a kind of attack on the Germans." Illusion, thinking that we are not capable of launching a ground attack. On the day when the offensive is launched, when the enemy is bombarded in the position, they will think that we are only bombarded again, and they will send troops to reinforce the direction we are going to break through."

  After Ivanov figured out what was going on, he immediately happily called the artillery commander.

  ...

   Besides, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, the commander of the infantry brigade, received Sokov's order to do everything possible to hold back the German 255th Infantry Division attacking the outpost. Therefore, after the main force entered the villages and defensive positions one after another, he did not immediately order the troops to launch a counterattack, but seized the time to rush to repair the fortifications, and made a posture of preparing to rely on the village for defense.

  Through the binoculars, the commander of the German army was stunned when he saw the Soviet commanders and fighters who were repairing the fortifications outside the village. According to his thinking, the moment his troops were frustrated and retreated, if the Soviet army took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, their troops would definitely be beaten to pieces.

Facing this strange scene, he put down his binoculars, turned his head and asked his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, tell me, what the **** are the Russians doing? Their newly reinforced troops are fully capable of counterattacking, but why don't they How about a counterattack?"

The chief of staff raised his binoculars, looked at the Soviet commanders and fighters who were building fortifications in the distance, and said thoughtfully: "Your Excellency, I have a bold idea. The reason why the Russians are rushing to repair fortifications is not To launch a counterattack against us, could it be that they don't have many troops, so they can only choose to stand by and wait for help."

  The words of the chief of staff made the German division commander fall into deep thought. He raised his binoculars again and looked towards the Soviet positions in the distance. He saw that the busy Soviet commanders and fighters were indeed building fortifications, and there was no sign of attacking at all.

   "Chief of Staff, it seems that what you said makes sense." The German division commander put down his binoculars and approved the statement of the Chief of Staff. The reason why the Soviet army did not launch an offensive was entirely because of insufficient troops. "Since the Russians are short of troops, we can attack them again. As long as we break through their defense line, we can hope to take the town of Yakovlevo."

   "Your Excellency, Division Commander," the chief of staff was worried that the division commander would change his mind, and hurriedly reminded him, "We must make a quick decision. Otherwise, when the Russian reinforcements arrive, if we try to take the town again, we may suffer huge casualties."

   "What you said makes sense." The division commander made up his mind decisively, and ordered the chief of staff: "Immediately order the infantry regiment to go into battle, and be sure to take down their outposts before the Russian reinforcements arrive."

   In this way, the Germans attacked again.

  However, due to fear of being retaliated by artillery fire from the Soviet army, their attack did not receive any artillery cover. The two battalions were divided into two echelons, and launched a new round of attacks towards the position where the 46th Infantry Brigade was stationed.

   Uzakov, who set up his headquarters in the village, couldn't help but smile when he learned that the enemy had launched an attack on his position again. Although he didn't know Sokov's specific battle plan, he knew that Sokov ordered himself to do everything possible to hold back the German army. After defeating the enemy's attack, the second battalion will take over their defense."

  When the enemy was 150 meters away from the position, the light and heavy machine guns on the position fired at the same time.

   The enemies who were buried in the charge immediately fell down in the dense bullet rain. The rest quickly lay down on the spot, relying on the crater to fight back.

When several MG42 machine guns were mounted on the edge of the crater and fired at the Soviet position not far away, the German soldiers who were suppressed by the firepower used short leap tactics to jump from one crater to another and quickly shot towards the Soviet army. The positions are approaching.

In the headquarters, Uzakov saw through the binoculars that the enemy was approaching his position little by little, so he quickly called the artillery company commander and told him: "Comrade company commander, order the mortars to fire and destroy the troops who are approaching our army. Enemy of the field."

   Following the order, the nine mortars that had been placed at the entrance of the village fired at the enemies who rushed up. The enemy hid in the bomb crater, although he could escape the bullets fired by the Soviet army, but he could not escape the mortar shells falling from the sky.

  These mortarmen are artillerymen with rich combat experience. Under their operation, countless shells flew from the entrance of the village to the crater where the German army was hiding.

  After a series of explosions, the German soldiers hiding in the crater were pulled up from the crater by the blast wave, thrown high into the air, and finally fell in pieces.

  Seeing that the Soviet artillery shells seemed to have eyes, the German soldiers behind couldn't help becoming timid. In particular, after the MG42 machine guns that provided them with firepower were destroyed by Soviet mortar shells, the German soldiers who lost their firepower cover knew that it would be difficult to succeed if they continued to attack, so they chose to retreat one after another.

Knowing that the enemy's attack was repelled, Uzakov quickly ordered the second battalion commander: "Second Battalion Commander, the enemy's attack has been repelled, and the men who took you immediately took over the defense of the first battalion. The enemy has no artillery fire." Cover, the offensive strength will not be too strong, it is a good time for you to train your troops."

When the commander of the second battalion led the troops to replace the first battalion, the commander of the third battalion walked in from the outside and reported to Uzakov: "Comrade brigade commander, there are still 19 people left in the ninth company, including the deputy company commander. The soldiers who reported the news in the town."

Knowing that there were only 19 people left in the Ninth Company, which originally had more than 100 people, Uzakov felt very heavy: "If they hadn't stubbornly resisted the German attack, the enemy would have rushed out of the town at this moment. Yes Now, how is Lieutenant Paul, is he still alive?"

   "Yes, he is still alive." The third battalion commander nodded and said, "Although his injuries are serious, after the military doctor treated him, he found that he has a high probability of surviving."

   "Third Battalion Commander, send someone to sort out their heroic deeds, and I will prepare to report to the Group Army Command."

  (end of this chapter)