Chapter 1341 Closing the net

  After dawn, Zhukov fulfilled his promise and sent an aviation division's bombers and fighters to bombard the area where the German 255th Division was assembled, blowing up the enemy's hiding place into a sea of ​​flames.

   Uzakov, who was staying in the village, saw that the enemy who had just been repulsed by his troops was actually attacked by the air force fiercely, and he couldn't help applauding. He said to his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, look at how violent the bombing is in the distance. It is estimated that after two or three rounds of bombing, there will not be many enemies left."

"You can't say that, Comrade Brigadier." Unexpectedly, the brigade chief of staff saw that Uzakov was a little flustered and worried that he underestimated the enemy, so he reminded him: "You also participated in the defense of Stalingrad, and you know the enemy's bombing of the city. It was so fierce, but they still failed to wipe out the defenders in the city. Now the bombing in the distance looks fierce, but the enemy's distribution is too wide, and the air force can only severely damage them but cannot completely destroy them. It must be completely resolved To fight, we can only rely on our infantry."

After being reminded by the chief of staff, Uzakov immediately realized that he had underestimated the enemy, and quickly said seriously: "Comrade chief of staff, you are right, it is our infantry who finally solve the battle, and the air force can only severely injure the enemy. "

"Comrade Brigadier." Although the enemy was under fierce air strikes, the chief of staff still said to Uzakov out of safety: "Although we have repelled many enemy attacks, the casualties of our troops are not small. If they launch another strong attack, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to withstand it."

After thinking for a long time, Uzakov said to the chief of staff: "I think it is necessary to contact the commander immediately and tell him the situation here, saying that although the enemy has been attacked by the air force, it is still possible to break through our position." , asking him to send reinforcements."

  After recording Uzakov's order, the chief of staff asked with some concern: "Comrade brigade commander, do you think the commander will send troops to reinforce us?"

   "Since the air force has been dispatched for support, it is not a big problem to send infantry reinforcements."

   Uzakov was worried about the long nights and dreams, so he picked up the phone on the table and asked the communications soldier to help him connect to the army headquarters.

  The call was connected, but the person who answered the call was Sameko, Chief of Staff of the Group Army: "I am Major General Sameko, where are you?"

   "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Hearing Sameko's voice, Uzakov said respectfully: "I am Uzakov."

"It's Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, how is the situation there?" Sameko figured out that the caller was Uzakov, and he didn't talk nonsense, but went straight to the point: "The people who provide you with air support Has the Air Force arrived yet?"

"Yes, we have already arrived, and we are bombing the enemy indiscriminately." Uzakov said to Sameko: "But I am worried that although the enemy has been attacked by air, with their strength, they still have the ability to break through. Our defense. I therefore take the liberty of imploring you to convey my request to Comrade Commander."

   "What request?"

"Of course it is to send us more reinforcements." From the outbreak of the war to the present, Uzakov has experienced many cruel battles. Naturally, he knows that many troops have suffered heavy casualties and it is difficult to continue. He asked his superiors for reinforcements and was rejected. Worried that his request would be rejected, he said euphemistically: "Although the commanders and fighters of our brigade performed very bravely in battle, we are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers."

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Sameko smiled and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, it turned out to be this request. Don't worry, Comrade Commander has said that you will never be allowed to fight alone, except to provide you with artillery support , air cover, and also sent troops to drive to your defense area. I believe that it will not be long before you can see reinforcements."

   "Are there reinforcements?" Uzakov knew that Sameko couldn't lie to himself about this kind of thing, but he still asked: "Is it true, Comrade Chief of Staff?"

   "Of course it is true." Sameko said in a positive tone: "Comrade Commander has given orders to the two marine brigades, asking them to drive to reinforce you immediately after completing the replenishment of troops."

  Uzakov noticed that in Sameko's words, the phrase "replenishment of soldiers" appeared, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are they recruiting recruits?"

Hearing what the other party was worried about, Sameko quickly comforted him and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, don't worry, the two marine brigades are not recruiting recruits with no combat experience, but just like your brigade. They are commanders and fighters who have just been rescued from a prisoner-of-war camp. Due to the critical situation in your place, the commander is worried that your position will be breached by the enemy, so that he has not even completed the screening and review, so he has incorporated more than 5,000 commanders and fighters into the Marine Brigade , rushed over to reinforce you."

If it is said that before the enemy attacked the outpost, Uzakov still had prejudices against the commanders and fighters from the prisoner-of-war camp, but when Lieutenant Paul led a small force, he stubbornly resisted the German invaders with ten times the strength. Uzakov completely changed his view of prisoners of war.

At this moment, when he heard that the recruits of the two marine brigades were all commanders and fighters rescued from prisoner-of-war camps, he even said with some excitement: "Comrade Chief of Staff, these commanders and fighters rescued from prisoner-of-war camps not only have technical and tactical skills Skilled, and full of hatred for the German Kou, if they are armed, it will definitely be a nightmare for the German Kou."

"Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, let me tell you another piece of good news." Sameko said into the microphone: "Half an hour ago, the 84th and 254th Infantry Divisions, which detoured to the left and right flanks of the enemy, had completed their attack on the enemy. Close the siege. As soon as the bombing is over, they will attack the enemies in the encirclement at the same time."

  Knowing that the friendly army had completed the encirclement of the German army without him noticing, Uzakov couldn't help being overjoyed. But not long after he was happy, he began to worry again: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy attacking us is very close to Belgorod. Once in danger, the enemy in the city will definitely come out to reinforce them. At that time, the friendly army will come out to reinforce them." There is a danger of being attacked."

"You don't have to worry about this." Sameko did not tell Uzakov the truth, but said vaguely: "The friendly forces in the north of Belgorod are taking some diversion actions against the enemies in the city, so that they There is no way, nor dare to deploy troops to reinforce."

   "So it is."

"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov." Sameko felt that it was time to end the call, so he said briefly: "When the reinforcements arrive, you will launch a full-scale counterattack, and you must cooperate with friendly forces to annihilate the German 255th Infantry Division .”

  If in other units, the orders issued by the superiors to the grassroots units are to do everything possible to crush the enemy's attack. Only in Sokov's troops, the commanders at all levels considered not only how to smash the enemy's attack, but also how to annihilate the enemy.

   "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff. As soon as reinforcements arrive, we will immediately launch a full-scale counterattack."

Sameko put down the phone, quickly called the chief of staff, the commander of the first battalion, and the commander of the second battalion to the front, and said to the three: "comrades, commanders, I tell you some good news. The commander sent us reinforcements, or else How long will it take to get to us?"

   "Reinforcement!" "Reinforcement!"

  When Uzakov uttered the word, everyone present felt very cordial. Everyone turned their heads to look at their companions, and they all saw surprise expressions in each other's eyes.

"Commanders, don't get excited, there is better news to come." Uzakov had expected the reaction of everyone, and he continued triumphantly: "We are here to fight against the enemy's attack." At the same time, the two friendly forces have penetrated to the enemy's two wings and completed the encirclement of the enemy. As soon as our army's bombing of the enemy stops, they will launch a full-scale attack on the enemy."

After a short period of happiness, the chief of staff of the brigade was worried about the friendly forces who encircled the 255th Infantry Division: "Comrade Brigadier, the 255th Infantry Division is very close to Belgorod. Come out to meet them? I am worried that not only will we not be able to eat the enemy, but the friendly army will also fall into the situation of being attacked by the enemy."

What the chief of staff said was not groundless worry. There were too many similar situations. Every time the Soviet army encircled the German army with several times its strength, but at the end of the battle, the German army either formed an organized system to break through or cooperated with reinforcements to fight back. , Annihilated the Soviet army attempting to encircle and annihilate itself. If this happens this time, it will be nothing but joy.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you can rest assured about this." In order to dispel the doubts of his chief of staff, Uzakov said to him: "Chief of Staff Sameko told me that the main force of the front army is posing in the north of Belgorod. If they move, they will create a false situation for the Germans, making the enemy think that we are about to attack Belgorod. In this case, the enemy will certainly not send troops to reinforce the 255th Infantry Division, and then we will If there is a chance, we will annihilate this German army with our friendly forces."

Hearing that Uzakov said that his superiors had already considered this issue, the chief of staff did not continue to worry about the safety of the friendly troops, but asked instead: "Comrade Brigadier, when should we participate in the counterattack? It is also after the bombing stops. start?"

   "As I said just now, the superior has sent us reinforcements. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, we can immediately launch an attack on the enemy."

"Comrade Brigadier, I would like to ask." The first battalion commander interrupted and asked, "Which unit is the reinforcement sent to us by the superior? As far as I know, after more than ten days of fighting, the number of divisions has been severely reduced. , I am afraid that it will affect the combat effectiveness of the troops to some extent."

"First battalion commander, don't worry." Uzakov said to the first battalion commander: "The superior sent us two marine brigades. Before they set off, they had just replenished more than 5,000 soldiers. A force to be reckoned with."

"Comrade Brigadier, where are the five thousand people?" The first battalion commander asked worriedly: "If it is a soldier who has just put on the uniform, not only does he not have any combat experience, but even when he hears the gunshots, he will become ashamed." Panicked, no matter how many people there are, I’m afraid it won’t be of much use.”

   "First battalion commander, you can rest assured about this." Uzakov said: "The newly added soldiers to the two marine brigades are not newly recruited recruits, but prisoners of war rescued from prisoner-of-war camps."

   After realizing that the supplementary soldiers of the friendly army were from prisoners of war, everyone was immediately relieved. Because not long ago, they also added more than 2,000 prisoners of war who were rescued by themselves. After fighting all night, several commanders clearly saw that those commanders and fighters who were looked down upon by them not only had rich combat experience, but also performed extremely bravely on the battlefield. Even if they were outnumbered, they did not take half a step back.

   "This is really great." The first battalion commander said: "The addition of such a combat backbone to the Marine Brigade will definitely improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. In the next battle, I believe they will be able to achieve good results."

  ...

  The Soviet bombing had just ended. The 84th Infantry Division, which had already been ready to go, went from east to west, and the 254th Infantry Division went from west to east, and launched an attack on the German 255th Division at the same time.

  As the battle progressed, the commander of the German 255th Infantry Division no longer had the arrogance of last night, but was replaced by frustration, loss and some feelings of being overwhelmed.

  Why do you feel overwhelmed?

  That's because he found that the continuous attack was frustrated, and capturing the town of Yakovlevo had become an impossible task. Originally, he found that his troops were encircled and subjected to fierce air strikes by the Soviet Air Force, so he proposed to his superiors to retreat. Unexpectedly, the superior told him that the defensive position in the northern suburbs of Belgorod was being bombarded by Soviet artillery, and it seemed that the Soviet army would soon launch an attack on the city. So he was ordered to continue to carry out the original order to capture the town of Yakovlev, and form a corner with the defenders in Belgorod.

When the German division commander received the task of capturing the town of Yakovlevo last night, he still felt that it was a good job, because according to the reconnaissance, the Soviet army only deployed one infantry brigade in the town, and it was not enough. . Compared with his own 255th Infantry Division, not only is the opponent's strength at a disadvantage, but he doesn't even have any decent heavy weapons. Using his own troops to deal with such an enemy is simply overkill.

  Unexpectedly, the commander of the German army was soon slapped in the face by reality.

When he dispatched the most elite troops to attack the outpost, there was only one company of the Soviet army on the ground. Facing an attack of ten times his own strength, not only did he not escape, he even launched a desperate charge and started a hand-to-hand battle with his own soldiers. .

   When the main force of the infantry brigade arrived, the German commander was even more confused, feeling dizzy and black-eyed.

Now the request to return to Belgorod has also been rejected. The only way is to continue to implement the original order and launch an attack on the frontal Soviet army, hoping to break through their positions and successfully occupy Yakov Levo Town, so that your troops can have some hope of turning the tide of the war.

  (end of this chapter)