Chapter 1364

  In fact, Sokov really wanted to use those 12 special rockets to see what kind of bears those Germans hiding in the solid fortifications looked like after being ignited by napalm bombs. But after thinking about it, it's not right to do this. The battle has just begun, and I hastily showed my cards, so how will I fight the next battle?

In his heart, he defined special rockets as the killer weapon when attacking Kharkov, and he would never use them lightly until the critical moment. As for the battle to seize the fruit cannery, General Poluboyarov's tank troops would assist Marine brigade done.

After receiving the order from Sameko, General Poluboyarov immediately ordered the tanks parked by the river to cross the river through the bridge just occupied, and rushed to the fruit cannery to reinforce the marine brigade fighting there .

Just as the tanks of the Tank Army drove across the bridge at full power, the Steppe Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army stopped their shelling. With the launch of a red signal flare, tens of thousands of commanders and fighters who had been on standby for a long time, all of them were like tigers descending the mountain. Belgorod attacked.

The attacking force from the northwest of the city is the 53rd Army under the command of Lieutenant General Managarov, and the main offensive task is the 241st Infantry Division; the attack from the north is the 23rd Army of the 6th Guards Army 375th Infantry Division.

  The commanders and fighters of the 241st Infantry Division carried the river-crossing equipment, rushed to the river, put the carried river-crossing equipment into the river, and braved the enemy's bullets on the other side, they began to board the boat, preparing to launch a strong attack on the enemy on the other side.

  Seeing that the Soviet army started to cross the river, the enemy's firepower on the opposite bank immediately fired like a storm, and the dense bullets knocked down the commanders and fighters who boarded the ship in pieces. Some of the commanders and fighters who were shot fell on the bank, while others fell headlong into the river and were washed away by the rushing water.

  The head of the leading regiment immediately organized fire cover to suppress the firepower on the other side and cover his soldiers boarding the ship. But the enemy's firepower was so fierce that a few machine guns could not suppress it at all. The first batch of commanders and fighters who took on the assault mission finally completed boarding the ship after paying nearly half of the casualties.

Listening to the bullets from the opposite bank whistling past their heads, the soldiers pressed their bodies against the hull of the ship and paddled desperately sideways, hoping to rush through the section blocked by the enemy's firepower in the shortest possible time. river surface.

  The German army saw the small boats of the Soviet army coming from the opposite bank, which could not be suppressed by machine guns alone, so they used mortars to bombard them. For a while, the river water seemed to be boiling. From time to time, mortar shells hit the boat full of soldiers. Amidst the loud noise and flames, fragments of the human body and the boat were mixed together and blasted into the sky.

   The small boat of the 1st Battalion of the Pioneer Regiment had just crossed the center of the river. Under the attack of German artillery and machine gun fire, one-third of the boat was lost. The river was full of floating corpses and the wreckage of the boat that was still burning.

   Fortunately, the river is not too wide. After the soldiers suffered huge casualties, some of them still stubbornly boarded the river bank. But as soon as they landed, they were ruthlessly shot by German machine guns. They could only lie down on the spot and mechanically fight back at the German firepower. As for whether they could hit the target, it depended on their luck.

  The division commander who stayed in the temporary observation post saw that his subordinates had suffered huge casualties when crossing the river, and finally boarded the opposite bank, but were suppressed by the enemy's firepower and couldn't move.

  He put down the binoculars and said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately connect me to the commander of the group army. I want to report our situation here to him."

   Regarding the division commander's statement, the chief of staff agreed very much: "Comrade division commander, you are right. Without the support of artillery fire, I don't think we can occupy the German positions at all."

  The division commander said thoughtfully: "When the commander conveyed the spirit of the meeting to us two days ago, he inadvertently mentioned one thing."

"what's up?"

"The friendly army attacking the city from the west is General Sokov's 27th Army." The division commander replied: "It is said that General Sokov once publicly stated that his troops could successfully capture the enemy's army within a quarter of an hour. position along the river."

"Comrade commander, this is obviously bragging." After listening to the teacher's words, the chief of staff said disdainfully: "It has been almost half an hour since our division attacked, but our assault force has only sparsely Several boats docked, and the commanders and fighters who barely landed were suppressed by enemy fire and lay on the river bank unable to move."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't say that." Although the division commander didn't feel that Sokov's troops could capture the enemy's coastal positions within a quarter of an hour, he heard the chief of staff complaining like this, and he was worried that the other party's words would be spread and he would give himself He caused unnecessary trouble, so he said to stop it: "You must know that General Sokov not only has a higher rank than us, but also is very good at combat. Maybe he really has a way to seize the enemy's position within a quarter of an hour. indefinite."

"This is impossible." The chief of staff of the division said loudly, relying on his own people in the temporary headquarters: "If his troops can really take down the enemy's position along the river within a quarter of an hour, I will personally lead the Soldiers charge."

   As soon as the words fell, the division commander, who was holding up his binoculars to observe, saw lumps of dirt rising up from the German positions on the opposite bank. He couldn't help saying in amazement: "What's going on here? Is the superior providing us with artillery cover?"

   "It's not like it." Hearing what the teacher said, the chief of staff quickly raised his binoculars and looked towards the distant river bank. After observing for a while, he replied: "Comrade commander, I see that the shells seem to be flying from the rear of the German positions."

   "What, the shells are coming from the enemy's back?" The division commander turned around with a puzzled face, and ordered the radio operator: "Connect me to the vanguard immediately. I want to find out what's going on."

  The radio operator quickly contacted the head of the leading regiment who was directing the battle ahead through the radio. The division commander asked loudly into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what's going on with you, where are you shelling the enemy's positions?"

   "Report to Comrade Division Commander," the head of the leading regiment quickly replied, "The shells seem to have come from behind the enemy's position."

   "Flying from behind the enemy?" Seeing that what the subordinate reported to him was exactly the same as what he had observed, the division commander continued to ask: "What is going on here? How could someone fire from behind the enemy's position?"

   "Could it be guerrillas..."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't talk nonsense." The regiment commander had just finished speaking, but was interrupted by the division commander: "How could the guerrillas appear behind the enemy's rear, and dare to bombard the enemy with artillery fire? Were the German troops wiped out?"

   "Comrade Commander," just after the division commander finished speaking, he heard the head of the regiment cheer and say, "It's our people. Our people launched an attack behind the enemy's position."

   "How many people are there?" Holding the earphone and the microphone, the division commander quickly turned his head and looked out of the lookout opening. Unfortunately, the distance was a bit far away. He vaguely saw the battle behind the enemy's position, but he couldn't see it clearly.

"A lot of people, at least one battalion, no, it's a regiment's strength." The commander's excited voice came from the headset, "Judging from their clothes, they are our regular army, and they are attacking from behind the enemy's position. ..."

"Comrade Commander, hurry up and take a look." The chief of staff who was standing in front of the lookout to observe the battle also shouted excitedly at this moment: "Friendly army! Our friendly army launched an attack from the rear of the enemy's position, apparently to assist us The army crosses the river."

The division commander dropped the headset and microphone, walked to the lookout, raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, frowned and said: "Where did the friendly army come from? Could it be the 375th Infantry Division that launched an attack from the north? Only theirs The attack zone is closest to us."

"No, absolutely not." Although the chief of staff of the division did not know the number of the friendly troops who attacked from behind the enemy, he still said in a positive tone: "Although I can't recognize their numbers, I can tell you with certainty that they will come to support Our troops are definitely not the 375th Infantry Division."

  Seeing that his chief of staff was so sure, the division commander asked, "Why?"

   "The 375th Infantry Division is on our left flank, but this friendly army that came to support came from the right flank."

"From the right wing?!" The division commander raised his eyebrows and said with some surprise: "Isn't that the attacking area of ​​General Sokov? Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't think that the troops who came to support us are from General Sokov." The 27th Army, right?"

  Although the chief of staff of the division was unwilling to admit that it was Sokov's troops who came, what happened before him told him that his guess was probably correct. Fortunately, he quickly adjusted his mentality. Regardless of whether the troops coming were Sokov's 27th Army or not, the opponent's intention was obvious, which was to destroy the German defenses along the river and cover his troops to successfully cross the river.

  After trying to understand this point, he put down his binoculars and said to the division commander: "Comrade commander, while the friendly forces are attacking from the enemy's rear, we should put all our troops into battle immediately and strive to complete the river crossing in the shortest possible time."

  Due to the support of friendly forces, the firepower of the German army to block the river was greatly weakened. Those soldiers who were crossing the river sat up straight and accelerated their rowing speed, striving to board the opposite bank in the shortest time.

  The boat approached the other side of the river, and before it stopped on the bank, the soldiers on board jumped into the water impatiently, rushing towards the bank with knee-high water. The soldiers driving the small boat saw that the soldiers who landed and fought had disembarked, so they hurriedly turned around and rowed back, preparing to cross the river with new troops.

   The unit that launched the attack from the rear of the enemy's position was Major General Gritsenko's 384th Infantry Division. Gritsenko saw that his troops had successfully rushed into the enemy's coastal position and fought against the enemy who was standing in the trenches, so he called Sokov to report: "Comrade Commander, my troops have already attacked the enemy's The position along the river has launched an offensive, and the friendly troops on the other side who are forced to cross are gradually boarding the river bank."

   "Good job, General Gritsenko."

   "After the friendly troops cross the river, what is our task?"

   Facing the question raised by Gritsenko, Sokov began to think about it. If two troops belonging to different armies are fighting in the same area, confusion will easily arise due to the lack of a unified command. After thinking about this, Sokov told Gritsenko resolutely: "Comrade General, after the friendly forces have completed crossing the river, you immediately hand over the occupied positions along the river to them, and then you return to the west of the city. Combat in a given area of ​​attack. Do you understand?"

  Gritsenko was also worried in his heart that if the two sides launched an attack from the northwest together after the friendly troops crossed the river, how would the combat area be divided? Who would decide to solve unexpected problems during the battle would be a big problem. Now that Sokov ordered himself to return to the original combat area after completing the response mission, Gritsenko was naturally overjoyed, and quickly replied: "Understood, Comrade Commander. Wait for the friendly troops to land safely. After that, I will immediately return to the original combat area and attack the enemy."

  After putting down the phone, Sokov asked Sameko: "Chief of Staff, has the fruit cannery been taken down?"

"After General Poluboyarov's tank army entered the fruit canning factory, it has successfully destroyed the German firepower, and the commanders and fighters covering the Marine Brigade rushed into the factory building. Now the battle is going on in the factory building." Sameko said. He looked at his watch and added: "I estimate that the battle can be resolved in an hour at most."

   "Didn't I also order the troops to attack the enemy from the ground through the sewer?" Sokov then asked, "Have they made any progress?"

"The enemy has long guessed that our army may attack through the sewer, so they have deployed firepower points at every exit. Our commanders and fighters were killed by the enemy's firepower as soon as they got out of the sewer, and they paid a big price. .”

"I really didn't expect that the enemy had suffered similar losses in Stalingrad and learned to be smart." Although Sokov had already guessed that the enemy might have a way to deal with the commanders and fighters from the sewer, he heard that the commanders and fighters launched through the sewer. The attack failed, and I was somewhat disappointed: "It seems that we will find a new way to deal with the enemy in the future."

   "Comrade Commander," Sameko asked tentatively after Sokov finished speaking: "The first and second echelons of the group army have all crossed the river, and I am arranging the third echelon to cross the river..."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that there are already two marine brigades and two infantry divisions in the attacking troops at this moment, Sokov shook his head and rejected Sameko's opinion: "If we take all All the troops have been put into battle. First, the troops cannot be fully deployed, and second, supplies are also a problem. I think that before tomorrow, the main job of the hovercraft is to deliver ammunition and supplies to the combat troops, or to evacuate the wounded from the opposite bank."

   "Okay." Sameko quickly wrote down Sokov's order: "I will arrange this right away."

"There is one more critical issue," Sokov recalled the dumb losses he had suffered before, and told Sameko: "Every army participating in the war must prepare enough red flags. Every time an important building is occupied, it will Plant our red flag."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." As an old commander, Sameko naturally understands the significance of planting red flags on important buildings. Each red flag on a building represents which branch occupied the building. force. Now many troops are fighting in the city at the same time, and whoever is the first to plant the red flag on the top of the municipal building means which army has captured the city. He assured Sokov: "I will definitely let our red flag be the first to be planted on the top of the municipal building."

  (end of this chapter)