Chapter 1500 Fire Attack

"I mean Comrade Commissar," Fomenko said without waiting for Manoshin to speak, "you wouldn't suggest that we look for the blueprints for the fortress, would you? You know, this fortress was built hundreds of years ago. If there is some **** blueprint, I probably won’t be able to find it.”

"Comrade commander, you guessed wrong." Ma Nuoxin shook his head and said, "Even if there are blueprints left, it is estimated that they are in the hands of the Germans at this moment. We can only lock the underground passage through other methods." Location."

He picked up a pencil, drew a line between the two bastions on the map, and said to Sokov and Fomenko: "You see, the shortest distance between two points is undoubtedly a straight line. We should have learned that when we were reading."

  Sokov heard this, and immediately guessed what Manoxin wanted to express: "Comrade political commissar, what do you mean, the tunnels between these bastions are all in a straight line?"

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Ma Nuoxin said in a positive tone: "Although we can't know how many meters the tunnel built by the German army is from the ground, we only need to choose the middle of the two bastions and send people to dig it. Find the German tunnels."

"Comrade Commissar, I think your idea is really absurd." Fomenko expressed dissatisfaction with Manoshin's proposal: "Have you ever thought that if our soldiers carry out soil work between two bastions?" , it is possible to be attacked by firepower from two bastions at the same time, and a heavy price will be paid. For the sake of the safety of the soldiers, I cannot agree to your proposal."

   Seeing that Fomenko rejected his proposal, Manoshin could only turn to Sokov for help, hoping to get support from him: "Comrade commander, what do you think of this matter?"

"I think General Fomenko is right." Sokov stared at the map for a long time, and felt that if he really followed Manoshin's method and sent a group of soldiers to dig a tunnel between the two bastions, it would be purely for them to After dying, he echoed Fomenko's opinion: "We have no right to let soldiers die in vain."

  Seeing that Sokov rejected his proposal, Manoxin showed a disappointed expression on his face. He smiled bitterly and asked, "Comrade Commander, what can you do?"

   "I have two ways."

   "Oh, you have two good ways?" Fomenko's eyes lit up when he heard Sokov say that, and he asked quickly, "Tell me quickly, what are the ways?"

   "I agree with what Colonel Manoxin said. The shortest distance between two bastions is a straight line. As long as the center points of the two bastions are measured, the location of the German tunnel can be found."

   "But, didn't you just say that you don't want our soldiers to die between the two bastions?"

   "Yes, I did say that." Sokov never denied what he said to himself. He said truthfully: "We can use other methods to deal with the German tunnels."

   "Comrade Commander," Fomenko couldn't hold back when he saw that Sokov had been playing tricks, and kept urging him, "Say it quickly."

   "According to my observation, the distance between each bastion is five or six hundred meters?"

   "Yes, there are more than 530 meters."

"The Germans built such a long tunnel, so they must find a way to solve the ventilation problem, otherwise it will easily cause suffocation." Sokov picked up the pencil and clicked a few times on the position that Manoxin had drawn: "If I It's the Germans, and they're sure to build some vents along the way to get the air out of the tunnel."

One word awakened the dreamer. After listening to Sukov's words, Manoxin said excitedly: "Yes, yes, comrade commander, you are so right. If the Germans want to build such a long tunnel, it must be done at intervals. If there is a distance, there will be a vent hole to ensure the air circulation in the tunnel and avoid the occurrence of suffocation."

   But he was happy for a few minutes, and his expression darkened again, "Even if we found an authentic vent, what should we do with it?"

"It's very simple," Sokov had already had an idea in his mind: "Send someone to pour gasoline into the exhaust hole, and then throw a grenade down to detonate it. The violent combustion will exhaust the oxygen in the passage, making the Germans staying inside People are being suffocated to death."

   "Comrade commander, what if we don't find the enemy's tunnel?" Fomenko tentatively asked Sokov: "Then what should we do?"

"What else can we do, of course we can only attack by force." Sokov shook his head and said, "Launch new rockets near the bastion. I believe that after this weapon explodes in the bastion, it will also Because of the intense combustion, a large amount of oxygen was consumed, enough for the Germans in the bastion."

Fomenko was overjoyed after hearing this, and quickly ordered the chief of staff to call the heads of the regiments, and asked them to send people between the two bastions to look for authentic vents. Detonated, suffocating the Germans inside from lack of oxygen.

Sokov waited for Fomenko to complete the task, and said to him: "Comrade General, your headquarters choice is not very good, and you were discovered by the Germans. When I came in just now, I was almost hit by a shell. If it wasn't for Samoy Lieutenant Love threw me down just in time, and I'm probably having coffee with God right now."

   "Oh, is there such a thing?" Fomenko said in surprise: "Why didn't I know?"

Manoxin learned that Sokov was almost hit by a shell when he entered the door. He said in surprise: "Comrade commander, is this true? If it is true, it proves that the location of our division headquarters has been discovered by the German army. It must be transferred immediately." , it’s too late.”

"I don't think it's necessary." Sokov waved his hands and said, "When your artillery enters the fort, I'm afraid the enemy's artillery will have no chance to fire. Don't pay attention to it. Let's discuss how to capture the fort." matters."

   It is said to discuss the details, but in fact there is not much to discuss. After all, at the pre-war meeting, Sokov let the commanders participating in the war speak freely, ask their own questions, and formulate relevant countermeasures one by one. If Fomenko and the others encountered any problems during the offensive, they just had to follow these rules and regulations.

  Sokov thought that the troops attacking the fortress were not limited to the 84th Division. They knew how to deal with the German tunnels, but other troops did not know. In order to avoid detours for other troops, Sokov used the phone here to get through to the headquarters of the Army Group. He said to Sameko who answered the phone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately record my order."

   "Comrade Commander," seeing Sokov urging him so urgently, he quickly took out a pen and paper, and asked nervously, "I'm ready, please tell me."

   "When the 84th Division attacked the German bastion in the fortress, it encountered a problem." Sokov told Sameko about the problems encountered by the 84th Division during the battle. Then, he talked about his own countermeasures. Finally, he told Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately teach these methods to the division leaders of several other divisions, and let them use the same method to deal with the German tunnels."

"Okay, Comrade Commander, I will immediately transfer these measures to deal with the Germans to the subordinate units." After Sameko promised Sokov, he added at the end: "Commander Konev just fought over the phone."

   "Any latest instructions from him?"

   "He asked when we would be able to take the Merefa fortress and the railway junction." Sameko asked tentatively, "Can it be done today?"

"No, definitely not." Sokov shook his head and replied, "There are five bastions in the fortress, plus the railway hub outside the fortress. Although we have basically invested all our troops, we have to take down so many targets , still takes a lot of time.”

   "Comrade Commander, how long do you think we will be able to take down the Melliefa Fortress and the railway junction?"

  Sokov thought for a while, and replied: "I think according to the current style of play, 30 hours should be able to resolve the battle."

  As Chief of Staff, Sameko naturally understands how difficult it is to take down a fortress. The time required for other commanders to seize a fortress is basically in weeks. If the attack is not smooth, even if it takes two or three months, it is normal. After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, he asked cautiously, "Comrade Commander, can our troops really take down the Meriefa Fortress within 30 hours?"

   "Of course." Sokov gave the other party an affirmative answer.

   "Then if Commander Konev calls again to inquire, can I report to him for 30 hours to resolve the battle?"

"No, I don't think I can report this number to him." Sokov explained to Sameko: "The 30 hours I said is quite compact. Once there is a small problem, Commander Konev asked You remember to tell him that we hope to resolve the fighting in three days."

Sameko is also a smart man, knowing that Sokov said this to leave room for himself, he quickly echoed: "Understood, Comrade Commander, when Commander Konev calls again, I will tell you He, we need three days at the fastest to deal with the enemies in the fortress."

  After the German army drove the commanders and fighters of the 84th Division out of the bastion, the commander of the fortress suddenly became arrogant. According to their thinking, the Russians had no way to deal with such a strong fortification.

   But the good times didn't last long. Not long after he was happy, the commander of the fortress received a call from his subordinate: "Your Excellency, Commander, something is wrong!"

  After hearing this, the commander of the fortress said disapprovingly: "Why panic, our fortress is so strong, even if the Russians attack it for a hundred years, they still don't want to occupy my bastion."

   "Your Excellency, Commander," the subordinate said in a tearful voice, "the Russians have discovered our tunnel vent and are pouring gasoline into it. If they ignite it, we will all be ruined."

   "What, the Russians poured gasoline into the vent?" The report of his subordinates scared the fortress commander out of his wits, and he shouted in a panic: "Hurry up, kill these **** Russians with machine guns."

   "No way." The subordinate replied: "The Russians sent snipers as cover. As long as our people show up, they will be killed by their snipers."

   Knowing that while the Soviets were pouring gasoline into the vents, they also sent snipers as cover, which made the commander of the fortress very worried. He knew very well that if the Russians ignited the gasoline poured into the tunnel and caused a raging fire, the officers and soldiers in the basement and the tunnel would suffocate to death due to lack of oxygen.

   "Mortars, hurry up and use mortars." The commander of the fortress shouted hoarsely: "We must wipe out all those **** Russians."

  In order to use mortars to destroy the gasoline-filled Soviet troops, the Germans must establish firing positions on the top of the bastion. Therefore, as soon as the order was received, several mortar teams immediately walked along the stone ladder to the top of the bastion.

   Before the German mortar team ran to the roof, the Soviet army had already finished filling the vent holes with gasoline. When all the soldiers moved to a safe area, a soldier who stayed behind pulled a grenade, quickly threw it into the exhaust hole, and then ran away.

He didn't run very far, when a dozen or so fire snakes sprang out from behind him, leaping up to a height of 20 to 30 meters. After a few seconds, the flames gradually weakened and slowly retreated to the position of the exhaust hole. , continue to burn.

Colonel Rusuf, the commander of the 254th regiment who was commanding the troops nearby, saw the flames rising and waved his fist excitedly. gasoline."

   "Is this true?" Fomenko asked excitedly: "Comrade Colonel, isn't this a rumor you deliberately fabricated to make me happy?"

"Of course not, Comrade Commander." Rusuf, who had just been appointed as the head of the 254th Regiment, quickly replied, "What I said is true. You didn't see the spectacular scene at that time. A dozen flames were like a fire snake. At that moment, I knew in my heart that the Germans hiding in the tunnels were finished."

  After reporting the situation to Sokov, Fomenko asked him for instructions: "Comrade Commander, what should we do next, should we continue to attack the bastion?"

"It is definitely necessary to continue the attack, but don't be in such a hurry." Sokov said to Fomenko: "For the sake of safety, I think I will fire a few new rockets into the bastion, so that the Germans in the bastion People will also taste our strength."

"Did you hear that, Comrade Colonel?" Fomenko didn't deliberately cover the microphone with his hand when talking to Sokov, but let the other party hear the conversation between himself and Sokov clearly, and finally said emphatically into the microphone : "Immediately launch new rockets at the German bastion. Remember, you must enter from the door. This will easily cause a fire, which will lead to hypoxia in the bastion occupied by the German army."

  Sokov's tactics, while wicked, were very effective. In this way, not only the German officers and soldiers in the bastion or tunnels faced two choices, one was to stay put and wait patiently for the fire to be extinguished. Whether they survived depends on their luck; Second, if you don't want to sit still, you have to rush out and fight yourself. At that time, the firepower network that has been set up will ruthlessly massacre the enemies who escaped from the bastion.

  The location where the Soviet army set fire was many times. As a result, black smoke billowed from all the bastions. Anyone with a little common sense knows that strong bastions and basements can certainly block the attack of Soviet infantry. But if the oxygen inside is exhausted due to the fire, the chances of survival for those who stay inside, whether soldiers or civilians, are very small.

However, when the commanders and fighters of the 188th Division were about to launch an attack on the bastion, a large number of people poured out inside. After seeing the situation clearly, Koyda couldn't help the blood rushing to his head. Feel free to shoot at the target.

  (end of this chapter)