Chapter 1419 Escape from birth

   Starikov had already received an order from the Front Army Command, but the reason why he did not mobilize his troops was because of the heavy rain and limited visibility. If he sent troops rashly, it might cause unnecessary confusion. Therefore, he decided that it would not be too late for the troops to set off after the rainstorm subsided.

  In his cognition, the duration of this scale of rainstorm is usually not too long, at most half an hour, the rain will gradually become smaller, and within two hours, the rain will completely stop. The German army, which was blocked and chased, is now at the end of its strength. Even if I send troops two hours late, it will not have any adverse impact on the battle situation.

But people are not as good as God. The torrential rain lasted for more than an hour before it gradually weakened. The 10th Infantry Army was in charge of the pursuit mission. At this moment, the fortifications had not even been dug, and they were attacked by the Germans unexpectedly. , the enemy is doing mental calculations without thinking, it is strange that unprepared troops can block it.

  At this moment, it is a bit late to send troops to reinforce, but it is better than nothing. But after listening to the chief of staff's reminder, Starikov realized that the original plan needed to be adjusted slightly. If the enemy is still being attacked at this moment, then an infantry division plus a tank brigade should not be a big problem.

But now among the two infantry divisions chasing the German army, one of them has been disrupted by the enemy, and the remaining one is still struggling. If the original plan is still followed, only one infantry division and one tank brigade will be sent for reinforcements. The military strength does seem a little weak.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. Under the current circumstances, if you still follow the original order and send out an infantry division and a tank brigade, the strength of the troops will indeed be a little less." The kind-hearted Starikov asked himself Chief of Staff: "Which other unit is closest to the engagement?"

The chief of staff looked at the map and reported to Starikov: "A division of the 12th Mechanized Corps and the 9th Brigade of Anti-Tank Artillery are located less than ten kilometers from the battle site. You can reach the battle zone within an hour."

   "Okay then," Starikov said: "In addition to the infantry division and tank brigade moving out as planned, order the 12th Mechanized Army to deploy a division and the 9th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade to support the battle area."

  When the infantry reinforcements were mobilized in full swing, Starikov felt that he had to report what happened to Tolbukhin so that the other party could be mentally prepared.

Knowing that it was Starikov who was calling, Tolbukhin quickly took the receiver from Biryuzov and asked with a smile, "General Starikov, are you calling me?" What good news has come?"

  After a brief silence, Starikov's deep voice came from the receiver: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I think what I brought you is bad news."

   "Bad news? What bad news?"

  "The enemy launched a counterattack against my troops without any warning. One of my infantry divisions has been defeated, while the other division is still struggling."

  Hearing this, the smile on Tolbukhin's face gradually disappeared, and he couldn't accept this reality for a while. Obviously his own troops were chasing after the German army, seeing the enemy's destruction was imminent, but Starikov told himself that the troops on the southern front suffered heavy losses under the enemy's counterattack.

  Although he knew that it was impossible for Starikov to deceive himself in such a matter, he still asked with luck: "General Starikov, is what you said true, or are you joking with me?"

After listening to Tolbukhin's question, Starikov replied in a panic: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, what I have reported to you are all facts, and I am absolutely not joking. Dare to joke."

  Confirming that the enemy launched a counterattack on the southern front, Tolbukhin's expression became serious, and he suddenly asked with a straight face, "General Starikov, what measures have you taken?"

   "In addition to mobilizing an infantry division and a tank brigade to rush there for reinforcements according to the order of the Front Army Command, I will also transfer a division of the 12th Mechanized Army and the 9th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade to the area."

"General Starikov, you are doing the right thing." Tolbukhin is still very satisfied with Starikov's remedial measures. After all, his troops are coordinating with the troops of the Southwest Front Army to attack the Bath's enemies have limited troops that can be deployed. In addition, it was raining and the air force was unable to dispatch. Whether it could block the enemy trying to retreat to the Donbass could only depend on the performance of the commanders and fighters of the 8th Army: "Whether you can block the enemy or not depends entirely on you."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Starikov said to the other side while seeing that Tolbukhin did not blame himself, he breathed a sigh of relief: "We will definitely do our best to block the enemy going south. Let them return to Donbass."

Tolbukhin knew that if the enemy returned to the Donbass, it would have a great impact on the next battle, so he told Starikov: "General Starikov, you must do your best to block the enemy. Don't let them return to Donbass." In order to let Starikov have no worries, he also deliberately added, "Don't worry, you are not fighting alone, I will soon order the 2nd, 5th and The 17th Army is attacking the enemy to relieve the pressure on you."

As soon as the conversation with Starikov ended, Tolbukhin said to Biryuzov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation has changed, the enemy will no longer continue to advance in the direction of Kharkov, but will turn around and try to return Donbass."

Biryuzov vaguely heard some conversations between Tolbukhin and Starikov, and tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, shall we now order the three armies on the northern front to attack the enemy? "

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Tolbukhin nodded and said in an affirmative tone: "Let the three armies on the northern front attack and force the Germans to divide their troops to deal with them, thereby reducing the burden on the Eighth Army. Pressure, so that General Starikov's troops can hold out longer."

Not long after, the commanders of the 2nd, 5th, and 17th armies successively received calls from Biryuzov, and learned that the German troops they had intercepted no longer went north, but attacked southward. Now the 8th When the group army was in danger, they couldn't help being taken aback.

   Lieutenant General Polenov, commander of the 5th Army, saw that his troops were closest to the German army, and immediately called the commander of the 133rd Infantry Division and the 20th Tank Brigade, and ordered them to attack the German army immediately.

The tank brigade commander waited for Polenov to finish speaking, and took the lead in raising the question in his heart: "Comrade commander, the heavy rain has made the road muddy. If our tanks are to be put into battle, they will be slow to move. Know that in an offensive, if a tank is moving too slowly, it is tantamount to becoming a target for enemy anti-tank fighters."

"Comrade Colonel," Polenov raised his hand and interrupted him without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, and said impatiently, "I understand what you said, but if our attacking force is not covered by tanks, it is It's hard to break through the enemy's line of defense, do you understand?" After he finished speaking, seeing the embarrassment on the face of the tank brigade commander, he slowed down and added, "Don't worry, I will let the infantry follow the tank, so that Before the enemy's anti-tank fighters can get close to the tank, the infantry who follow the tank can destroy them."

  The troops of the 5th Army were closest to the German army, and shortly after Polenov's order was issued, the attack on the German army began. The commanders and fighters of the 133rd Infantry Division followed the tanks of the 20th Tank Brigade and rushed towards the German defense line in the distance.

As the heavy rain had made the road muddy, the infantry following the tanks were soon turned into "mud figurines" by the mud raised by the tracks, but the soldiers did not stop, but wiped off the mud with their hands. With mud on his face, he continued to follow the tank and rushed towards the German defense line.

  Seeing the rushing Soviet army, the German army hiding in the crude fortifications began to fight back. The machine guns, submachine guns and rifles in the foxholes fired at the same time, and the dense bullets jingled on the armor plates of the Soviet tanks. Occasionally some ricochets would hit the Soviet soldiers following the tank.

  Soviet tanks will stop at this time and slowly turn the turret to aim at the firepower of the German army. With a single bombardment, the enemy's firepower point can be killed; if the first shot is not destroyed, it doesn't matter, just make up another shot.

  After killing the enemy's firepower points, the tanks will continue to guide the infantry to charge forward until new firepower points emerge, and then they will stop again and use tanks to bombard these firepower points that threaten the infantry.

  The main force of the German army has been transferred to the south, and at this moment the strength of the north has become weak. Facing the offensive of the Soviet army, they could only adopt tactics of fighting while retreating to slow down the advance speed of the Soviet army and buy precious time for the troops breaking out from the encirclement in the south.

   I have to say that in such bad weather, the German army's tactics are very limited. Because the rain kept scaring them, the visibility on both sides was very low, and the attacking side had to slow down, so as not to accidentally plunge into the enemy's encirclement, so the advancing speed was extremely slow.

  The German army on the northern line is defending, while the German army on the southern line is desperately attacking, trying to open a road to Donbass in the shortest time and withdraw as many troops as possible to this area.

   After the initial confusion, the commanders and fighters of the 10th Infantry Army gradually stabilized their positions. They used the ravines and forests on both sides of the road to build simple blocking positions and shot at the rushing German troops. They tried every means to slow down the German army's advance speed and wait for the arrival of reinforcements. Although the commanders and fighters were extraordinarily brave and tenacious, the German army that broke out was equipped with tanks, which caused a lot of casualties to the Soviet army that lacked anti-tank weapons.

In this way, under the attack of the Soviet army, the German army on the northern line retreated step by step to the south; while the German army on the southern line desperately launched an attack on the troops of the 10th Infantry Army blocking the front, forcing the Soviet army to fight back. Step back in the middle.

  The battle continued until three o'clock in the afternoon, when the rain finally stopped, and all the reinforcements from the Soviet army on the southern front also arrived, and fought fiercely with the German army who was trying its best to break through.

As soon as Starikov saw that the rain had stopped outside, he hurriedly called Tolbukhin: "Comrade Front Army Commander, I see that the rain has stopped. I wonder if you can send the air force to provide air support for our troops." ?”

Unexpectedly, as soon as Starikov finished his request, Tolbukhin refused him without hesitation: "No, General Starikov, it's not that I don't want to dispatch the air force to provide you with air support, but The rain had just stopped, and the heat generated by shooting and explosions at the battle site turned the water on the ground into mist and rose into the air. Even if our pilots rushed to the battle area, they could not see the resistance on the ground clearly. In this case, They can't provide you with any air support."

  Torbukhin’s words chilled Starikov’s heart: “Comrade Front Army Commander, are we just going to watch the enemy break through our defense line and retreat back to Donbas smoothly?”

  If all the enemies who left Donbass can be wiped out, it will reduce the assistance for the next liberation of Donbass. Tolbukhin understands this truth very well. However, under today's climate conditions, it is impossible to dispatch the air force to provide air support for the 8th Army with only light weapons. He turned to look at Biryuzov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have any good suggestions?"

"Comrade Commander," Biryuzov seemed to have been waiting for Tolbukhin to ask himself a long time ago, and replied confidently: "Although we cannot provide air support for the Eighth Army, we are five or six kilometers away from the battlefield. There are several heavy artillery regiments, it is better to let the heavy artillery regiment directly bombard the enemy in that area to reduce the pressure on the Eighth Army."

"Then use artillery fire to support Starikov and the others." After Biryuzov finished speaking, Tolbukhin released his hand covering the microphone and said to Starikov: "Starikov General Cove, although you cannot provide air support for you, several heavy artillery regiments nearby can provide you with artillery support and intercept the attacking enemy with artillery fire."

   Not long after, swarms of shells roared and landed in the German army's formation and exploded. Pillars of mud shot up into the sky. The German officers and soldiers near the bombing point were either directly blown away by the air waves or knocked down by the flying shrapnel. For a while, in front of the simple Soviet position, only German officers and soldiers fled in all directions like headless chickens.

  After the German offensive was shattered, the Soviet artillery also stopped shelling, preparing to wait for the new German offensive to start, and then use artillery fire to teach them a lesson. But at this moment, something unexpected happened. A unit from the Donbass launched an attack from the rear of the 10th Infantry Army. The enemy has torn a huge gap.

The German officers and soldiers who were in despair saw a gap in the Soviet defense line being torn open by the reinforcements, and they immediately became excited like chicken blood. They scrambled to the torn gap, preparing to escape from there. sky.

  (end of this chapter)