Chapter 1425 The Burning City (Part 2)

   The German army, which had lost its fighting spirit, could not organize a decent resistance, and was defeated by the Soviet army. The attacking Soviet troops took turns, rushing and fighting behind the German army, which accelerated the chaos of the German army.

The first to go into battle was the 188th Division of Koida. This division paid a high price in the battle to defend the compass town of Kazakhia. Therefore, after they attacked and advanced five kilometers, Major General Fomenko The 84th Division took over the attack.

  When the 84th Division attacked and was fifteen kilometers away from Jergach, it encountered an enemy who relied on fortifications to resist. The defenders here are not the defeated soldiers who were beaten and fled in embarrassment by the Soviet army, but the 320th Infantry Division in charge of city defense. Their tenacious defense shattered Fomenko's intention to seize the outer positions of the German army during the attack.

  However, the 84th Division's attack had just been frustrated, and the 254th Division immediately followed took over the attack. Colonel Shechtman, the commander of the division, personally came to a place less than 800 meters away from the German position, found a place with a wide view and established an observation post, where he directed the attack of the troops.

  First, there was a round of rocket attacks. Before the smoke cleared, the commanders and fighters of the 254th Division followed the tanks and spread towards the outer positions of the German army like a tide.

   Shechtman originally thought that fighting for the outer positions would be an extremely tragic war of attrition, but what he didn't expect was that his troops rushed into the trenches, and the enemies in the trenches retreated after a little resistance.

  Seeing that his troops easily occupied the outer positions of the German army, Shechtman couldn't help being overjoyed. But his political commissar, Colonel Billing, said to him with a puzzled look: "Mr. Comrade, I feel something is wrong."

   Shechtman, who was still immersed in the joy of victory, asked casually: "Comrade political commissar, what's wrong?"

   "Is it too smooth for us to seize the enemy's outer positions?" Colonel Billing expressed his doubts, "Is there any conspiracy in this?"

"Can there be any conspiracy, my Comrade Commissar." Shechtman replied with a smile: "Didn't you see that we smashed the rockets and stunned the enemy, and saw our tanks and infantry rushing up , the only thing they can do is turn around and run backwards."

  Maybe he was too excited to speak, after Shechtman finished speaking, he laughed a few times. Shechtman's optimism inspired the emotions of the commanders and fighters in the observation station, and joyful smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

"Comrade Commander," Colonel Billing couldn't tell what happened, but he always had an ominous premonition in his heart. He reminded Shechtman: "I think it's better to send the information here to the Army Group Command." Report it, and let the comrade commander judge what's going on."

"Comrade political commissar, what's the matter with you?" Seeing that Colonel Billing has been entangled in this issue, Shechtman was a little unhappy, and he said with a straight face: "The enemy retreated so quickly, I think it may be our army's The combat power and equipment far surpass them. They know that if they hold on, it will be a ruined ending, so they can only choose to retreat."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Shechtman said, turning to his Chief of Staff and ordering him to say, "Order the 762nd Regiment to hold on to the occupied outlying positions while the other two infantry regiments continue toward Dergach. advance."

"Comrade Commander," upon hearing Shechtman's order, the chief of staff reminded him: "According to the information we obtained in advance, the enemy may have one or two divisions in the city, so we will attack with two regiments. Nothing will go wrong?"

"What could go wrong?" Shechtman said displeasedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget that we still have two divisions, the 84th and 188th, and two tank brigades behind us. The enemies in the city will not be in any danger."

"Comrade Commander," Colonel Billing interjected when the chief of staff didn't know how to respond to Shechtman's words, "you are right. We do have two infantry divisions and two tank brigades behind us. But you Don't forget that the troops of these two infantry divisions have been seriously weakened after a long period of fighting. To put it bluntly, their combat effectiveness may only be equivalent to one of our regiments. If our attack is frustrated , When the enemy counterattacks, they can't help us at all."

   Seeing Colonel Billing standing on his side, the chief of staff hurriedly continued: "Comrade commander, I think we should hand over the outlying positions to friendly forces, and then the whole division will launch an attack on the city, so that our chances of winning will be greater."

  When Shechtman heard it, the chief of staff said it was very reasonable. Using three regiments to attack the city, the results achieved and the speed of advancement are definitely better than using only two regiments.

Wanting to understand this, he nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, I agree with your suggestion, immediately notify our troops, and hand over the occupied outlying positions to the 84th Division, and then the whole division will launch an attack on Gyre. Gach attack."

   While the chief of staff called to inform the troops, Colonel Billing once again proposed to Shechtman: "Comrade Commander, I feel that the fighting has reached the current level, and our offensive momentum has begun to weaken. It is necessary to ask the superiors for reinforcements."

  Shechtman originally didn't want to share the credit for occupying Jergach with other troops, but when he thought about it carefully, it was very difficult to capture the entire city with the strength of his own division. Because of this, he reluctantly agreed to Colonel Billing's proposal: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, it's up to you to send a telegram to the Army Group Command to report the situation here to the commander."

A few minutes later, Sameko handed over the telegram he had just received to Sokov, and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, good news, our troops have occupied the outer positions of Jergach, and now The 254th Division is continuing to advance, and they are preparing to charge into the city before dark."

Seeing the telegram in his hand, Sokov also showed a smile on his face. He also said with emotion: "Colonel Shechtman's troops performed well, and they easily took down the enemy's army in the first attack." outlying positions."

   "Comrade Commander, isn't the strength of the three divisions of our army outside Jergach a bit too weak?" Sameko cautiously reminded Sokov: "Do you think we should send troops for reinforcements?"

"The 384th Division has now moved to the vicinity of Compass Town in Kazakhia. I think they can participate in the siege battle." Sokov said this very simply, and told Sameko: "Chief of Staff, Immediately send a telegram to the commander of the division, ordering them not to stop in the compass town of Kazakhya, but to go straight to Jergachi."

"Okay, I will send a report to the 384th Division immediately and let them rush to Dergach as soon as possible." After recording Sokov's order, Sameko tentatively asked: "Chuvashov's 98th Guards The division is still on standby in the depths of the enemy's defense, when can they be put into battle?"

"Wait a little longer, Comrade Chief of Staff." The surprise soldiers that Sokov placed in the depths of the enemy were not yet ready for use, so he reminded Sameko: "You tell Colonel Chuvashov to let them grow old." Honestly stay where you are, and wait until the main force of our army breaks through the German defenses and approach the city of Kharkov, then cooperate with the troops that captured Dergach and seize the bridge over the Ud River."

  Sameko called the director of the communications corps, and gave him the recorded order, asking him to immediately send a report to the 384th Division and the 98th Guards Division, and let them follow Sokov's order. After doing all this, Sameko asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, how many days do you think the main force of our army can reach outside the city of Kharkov?"

   "It's hard to say." Sokov knew that since the German army recovered Kharkov at the beginning of the year, they had built a large number of fortifications and laid minefields in the north of the city. Although the Soviet army has a large number of people, it may not be easy to break through the German defense system: "I think it will take a week at the earliest before the main force of the Steppe Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army can reach the outside of Kharkov. .”

   "Ah, it will take such a long time?" Sameko said in surprise: "The 98th Guards Division has been lurking in its current position for such a long time, won't it be exposed?"

  Sokov couldn't help falling silent when he heard Sameko's question. Although today's 98th Guards Division pretended to be the enemy, it also occupied a section of fortifications and successfully deceived the enemy. But after all, it won't last long. If one day Huot or Kenfu find out that there is a relatively well-organized army here and plan to transfer them to areas where the fighting is fierce, then Chuvashov and the others will be completely exposed.

He scratched the back of his head and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we can only resign ourselves to fate. It is certainly a good thing if they are not detected by the enemy. But at the same time, we must be prepared to be detected by the enemy and be attacked from all directions." Get ready. Tell Colonel Chuvashov that even if they are surrounded on all sides, they will hold out tenaciously until the troops who captured Dergach arrive."

  As soon as Jergachi was mentioned, the topic of the two couldn't help but return to Shechtman. "Comrade Commander," Sameko asked curiously: "If Shechtman's 254th Division can successfully capture Dergach this time, after our army has completely liberated Kharkov, his Is it possible for the troops to be reorganized into Guards Divisions?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think it should be very difficult to be reorganized into the Guards Division." Sokov smiled wryly and shook his head and said, "Chuvashov's three brigades can be reorganized into the 98th Guards Division. It was Marshal Zhukov who mediated, otherwise our army would not even have a guard division."

"Didn't the 81st Guards Division of Major General Marankin be placed under our command?" Sameko said regretfully, "It's a pity that after the Battle of Kursk, Marankin's troops were reinstated. If they Being able to stay with us will make us even stronger."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think so." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Marankin's troops have already suffered huge casualties in preventing Hoth from retreating from Oboyan to Belgorod. Afterwards, they were supplemented by their superiors, but it was impossible for them to replenish those veterans or combat backbones with combat experience like us. I think their current combat effectiveness should be similar to that of Khokhlov’s 182nd Division.”

  When Sameko heard it, Sokov seemed to make sense. After the Battle of Kursk, the 27th Army was able to restore its original combat effectiveness in such a short period of time, entirely because of the inclusion of a large number of commanders and fighters rescued from prisoner-of-war camps. These are veterans with rich combat experience. There are also many fighting backbones. With their joining, it is no wonder that the combat effectiveness of the troops cannot be improved.

In the evening, Sokov received a call from Shechtman. The above content was not much, but it was very exciting: Our division has successfully defeated the defenders in the north of the city, successfully occupied the municipal building, and sent the 254th Division The military flag was planted on the top of the building.

Seeing this telegram, Sokov excitedly patted the table several times with his hands: "Good job, Colonel Shechtman is really good job. I really didn't expect that they succeeded in such a short period of time." captured half the city..."

  However, Sameko acted calmly: "Comrade Commander, I think there is something wrong with this battle report."

   "Is there a problem?" Sokov asked with a look of astonishment: "What's the problem?"

"It was four o'clock in the afternoon when we received the last telegram from Shechtman, which is only three hours from now." Sameko explained to Sokov: "You know, they were still fifteen years away from the city. Even if there is no enemy blocking them, it will take about three hours for them to walk such a long distance on foot."

Before Sameko finished speaking, Sokov agreed with his doubts: "You are right, if you want to cover the 15-kilometer road in three hours, the commanders and fighters must be in a trotting state all the time. , they couldn’t waste time along the way. Not only did they arrive at Jergach within three hours, but they also captured the north of the city and the municipal building. Isn’t this attack speed too unbelievable?”

  "Yes, Comrade Commander, I think so too." Sameko said solemnly: "I think this may be a conspiracy by the Germans, and they will take some action after they are attracted to the city."

   "What action can be taken?" Lunev, who was sitting next to him without speaking, finally couldn't help asking after listening to the conversation between the two: "Are they planning to encircle Colonel Shechtman's 254th Division?"

   "It is entirely possible." Sameko continued: "As long as they can annihilate one of our divisions, it will be a fatal blow to our army's morale and morale."

Now that he knew that the Germans might have set a trap, Sokov naturally couldn't just watch his subordinates fall into the enemy's fire pit, and quickly ordered Sameko: "Chief of Staff, immediately send a report to Colonel Shechtman to remind him , the enemy may have some conspiracy, they must seize the time to improve the defense of the occupied area, so as not to be caught by the enemy by surprise."

Sameko waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately added his own opinion: "Comrade Commander, should we let Major General Gritsenko's 384th Division speed up the march so that we can rescue the 254th Division in time? "

  (end of this chapter)