Chapter 1569

  The commander of the guards was overjoyed when he learned that there were still surviving commanders and fighters in the second battalion's position, and even helped the attacking troops regain the position. The chief of staff of the division reminded him: "Comrade commander, I think this good news should be reported to comrade commander."

  The proposal of the division chief of staff, the division commander agreed without thinking, and even called Derevyanko himself. As soon as the phone call was made, he reported excitedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to report two good news to you. One is that our counterattack force successfully recovered the lost position after a fierce battle."

  For Derevyanko, regaining the lost ground is a very common thing. He was eager to know another good news, so he couldn't wait to ask: "What about the other good news?"

"Not all the commanders and fighters of the second battalion were killed in battle. Some of them were temporarily trapped because the hole in the air-raid shelter was blown down. When we launched an attack, they got out of the hole and assisted the friendly forces in the front and rear attack on the German army. They successfully recovered position."

  The phone fell silent, and after a few seconds, Derevyanko's voice sounded again: "Comrade Colonel, are you telling the truth?"

   "Of course it's true." Commander Jin Wei said excitedly: "At first, I also thought that all the commanders and fighters of the Second Battalion died heroically when the position fell. I didn't expect so many people to survive."

  After showing off the matter, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, my subordinates are currently full of fighting spirit. Do we need to continue to attack in order to further expand the results of the battle."

"No, absolutely not, Comrade Division Commander." Derevyanko vetoed the other party's proposal without hesitation: "The task of your division is to restore the lost positions, and hurry up to repair the reinforcement fortifications to prevent the first attack that the Germans may launch. Attack round."

   "Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." The commander of the guard said in a low mood: "I will order the soldiers to hurry up and repair and consolidate the position, so as to prepare for the enemy's attack."

  The Guards Division regained the lost position, and on the landing site, the bombardment was coming to an end.

  Sokov asked Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any latest intelligence from the front?"

   "No." Sameko shook his head and replied, "The smoke from the explosion blocked the sight of our military observers, making it impossible for them to see clearly what was happening on the German positions."

   "What about our troops?"

"The three troops at the front, except for a small number of security troops left behind, the main force is quietly advancing forward when the enemy is bombarded and unable to observe." Sameko replied: "It is estimated that the bombardment will be completed before the end of the bombardment." , they can reach a distance of three hundred meters from the enemy's position."

Sokov is very satisfied with the data mentioned by Sameko. Now the heavy artillery regiment is constantly bombarding the enemy's position. If the first counterattack troops stay too close to the enemy's position, they may be attacked by their own side. The case of accidental fire.

Seeing Sokov nodding in approval, Sameko asked again: "Comrade Commander, General Solomatin asked on the phone if he needed to dispatch the 219th Tank Brigade, the three tanks under the brigade The battalion is equipped with T-34 tanks, which is a huge threat to the enemy."

Sokov thought for a while and nodded in agreement with Solomatin's request: "The tanks of the tank brigade can go around from the two wings of the high ground and cut off the retreat of the enemies who fled from the position. In this way, after our infantry occupies the high ground, If you charge down again, you may be able to destroy more enemies."

   "Comrade Commander," Sameko said cautiously: "Didn't we order the troops to follow the fleeing enemy to attack the enemy's position before? Look, is this tactic also used this time?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, we understand what you mean." Sokov shook his head and said, "The Germans have suffered from our losses several times, and they have already had countermeasures. If such tactics are used this time, I am afraid the enemy will not be able to deal with it." It is better to shoot at the soldiers who fled to the position without hesitation, and kill a few of your own colleagues than to have the position broken by our army."

   "Then what do you mean?"

"The tanks detoured to the rear of the high ground, cut off the retreat of the defenders, and tried to wipe them all out." Sokov's attitude was very firm, and everything went according to the plan. As long as the designated positions were seized and a sufficient number of German troops were wiped out, victory would be won. Blindly expand the results of the victory, so as not to chew too much, and in the end, play a good hand of cards to pieces.

The Soviet army was about to launch a counterattack in the direction of the landing field. Blaskowitz did not see this at all. He still smiled and said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, I am right. The Russians are at the bridgehead. The bombardment in this direction is just a way to deceive people, we must not be fooled."

"You are right, Your Excellency Commander." The chief of staff finally found an opportunity to flatter Blaskowitz, but he was willing to give up easily, and said repeatedly: "The Russians just want to attract me by shelling in the direction of the bridgehead. corps' attention in an attempt to buy them valuable time to build up their defenses by deploying troops on the left bank."

He pointed at the chief of staff with his hand and ordered: "Call the two division commanders at the front and order them to ignore the Russian shelling. When the Russians have fired all the shells, they will stop bombarding the bridgehead." .”

   According to the tradition of the German army, every time they were shelled by the Soviet army, they would leave a few observation posts to closely monitor the movement of the Soviet army. But now it is connected to several orders from the chief of staff of the group army, saying that the Russian shelling is to divert attention and relieve pressure on the troops on the left bank of the Dnieper River.

The two division commanders who received the order only ordered the troops to retreat to avoid the attack of the artillery fire, and did not arrange observation posts to monitor the movement of the Soviet army, so that they did not find the large Soviet army, which was quietly moving under the cover of artillery fire. Approaching German defensive positions.

  When the artillery fire ceased, the German officers and soldiers who retreated to avoid the shelling lazily prepared to return to their defensive positions, but found that the Soviet army appeared on the positions where the gunpowder smoke had not yet dissipated, and they were shocked. Before they could react, the other side had already fired first, which caught the unprepared Germans by surprise.

Seeing their companions fall in pieces, the rest of the Germans realized that something was wrong, and figured out that the Russians in the smoke were not their own hallucinations, but a real existence. Many companions lost their lives as a result.

   Just when the Germans were preparing to organize resistance, the Soviet commanders rushed out of the smoke like tigers descending the mountain, holding assault rifles while rushing and shooting crazily, defeating the Germans.

  The surviving German officers and soldiers saw that the situation was not good, and ran back scrambling. Unexpectedly, they didn't run far, when suddenly a shell landed in the queue and exploded. A dozen soldiers near the explosion point were immediately blown to blood. The Germans took a closer look, and it turned out that the Soviet tanks blocked their retreat, firing wildly with tank guns and vehicle-mounted machine guns.

  When some German veterans saw this scene, they couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Once upon a time, the Russians who were chased by themselves would always encounter their own tanks and armored vehicles in the process of escaping. Every time this happens, the Russians have only two choices: one is to lay down their weapons and become a prisoner, or the other is to be wiped out by themselves.

   Unexpectedly, two years later, the same thing happened to me. I saw tanks blocking the way in front, and Soviet troops rushing down from the hillside like wolves and tigers behind. Except for a few stubborn soldiers who tried to break through the defense line established by the Soviet tanks, the rest of the soldiers threw away their weapons and lay obediently on the ground waiting for the Soviet army to come up to capture the prisoners.

   The unit responsible for the counterattack in this area is Solomatin's mechanized army. Some time ago, in order to block the German attack, they paid heavy casualties. Seeing the German army lying on the ground surrendering at this moment, some soldiers wanted to go forward to replenish their guns, but their commanders stopped them and told them that since the Germans put down their weapons, they cannot kill prisoners of war casually.

  The offensive section of the mechanized army is progressing smoothly, entirely because of the support of the tank brigade. However, Major Guchakov's infantry brigade encountered tenacious resistance from the German army during the counterattack. Relying on the concealed fortifications, the enemy fired wildly at the charging soldiers, causing considerable casualties to the troops.

When the third battalion, which served as the vanguard, was suppressed by the German firepower on the hillside and could not move, the battalion commander personally called Guchakov for help: "Comrade brigade commander, the enemy's firepower is too strong, causing me great casualties." , I ask for support, ask for support!"

"Commander of the Third Battalion," but Guchakov said angrily after receiving the distress call from the Commander of the Third Battalion, "Don't you have a few bazookas in your battalion? Why don't you take them out and use them? Why don't you just keep them here?" ?”

  The third battalion commander who was criticized quickly defended himself and said: "Comrade brigade commander, the enemy only has a few firepower points. I think it is a bit wasteful to use the rocket launcher. We should keep the rocket launcher to deal with the German tanks."

"Third Battalion Commander, what's the matter with you?" Seeing that the Third Battalion Commander was so stubborn, Guchakov became even more furious: "It's because you are reluctant to use the rocket launcher, and as a result, our soldiers continue to sacrifice. If everyone dies It's all gone, what's the use of leaving the rocket launcher? I order you to immediately use the rocket launcher to destroy the enemy's hidden fortifications and open a passage for our attacking troops."

  Faced with such strict orders from Guchakov, the commander of the third battalion had no choice but to order someone to fetch the bazooka that was hidden like a treasure, and approached the firepower of the German army to shoot. With the bazooka, the enemy's firepower was knocked out one by one, and the attacking force could continue to move forward.

Guchakov observed the situation on the battlefield with his binoculars, then put down the binoculars and said to Chief of Staff Askel: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the advancing speed of the third battalion is too slow. I think it is better to transfer the fourth battalion up. Take over their offense."

   Askel was also very dissatisfied with Sanying's performance. I didn't see the expected rush and attack, only the indecision of the commander and the chaotic attack of the soldiers. Several times, he thought that the troops would rush into the enemy's trenches in the next second and drive the enemy out of the position. As a result, as soon as they approached the position, they were directly driven out by a small-scale counterattack by the Germans.

   It is precisely because of this that after hearing Guchakov's order, he immediately nodded and said: "Yes, Comrade Brigadier Commander, I will immediately notify the Fourth Battalion to replace the Third Battalion and launch an attack on the high ground."

  The commanders and fighters of the fourth battalion have been on standby. Seeing the tepid style of play of the third battalion, everyone stamped their feet anxiously. When the Fourth Battalion Commander received a call from Askel, he immediately jumped up and down excitedly. After putting down the phone, he said to the soldiers waiting in the trench: "Comrades, I just received an order from the brigade headquarters to immediately take over the third battalion to attack the high ground."

  After hearing the words of the fourth battalion commander, the commanders and fighters immediately cheered.

  Following the commander of the fourth battalion: "Let's go!" All the commanders and fighters turned to the right neatly, left the position along the gap in the trench, and quickly rushed to the area where the third battalion fought in the distance.

   In less than five minutes, the Fourth Battalion arrived at the designated attack position.

  The fourth battalion commander came to the third battalion commander and said carelessly: "Comrade third battalion commander, I was ordered to take over the combat mission of your battalion. Now, you can retreat to the back for rest."

  The third battalion commander knew that his performance on the battlefield today was really disappointing. Seeing the fourth battalion commander come to take over his offensive mission at this moment, he didn't talk nonsense, and after a few simple explanations, he withdrew with the rest of his subordinates.

   Guchakov saw that after the fourth battalion entered the position, its performance was quite different from that of the third battalion. When encountering a firepower point that blocked the way forward, the commanders and fighters did not send people to carry explosive packages to carry out close blasting, but directly destroyed it with rocket launchers. When the enemy rushes out to fight back, he greets directly with grenades or assault rifles.

   Just like that, in less than 20 minutes, the commanders and fighters of the Fourth Battalion rushed into the German positions and started close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemies in the trenches.

  Guchakov in the distance saw this scene, nodded his head and said to Askel: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the expression of the Fourth Battalion on the battlefield is much stronger than that of the Third Battalion."

"That's right, Comrade Brigadier." Askel echoed: "The Fourth Battalion's attack was clean and tidy, without muddling at all. When encountering the enemy's firepower point, they did not waste time and used soldiers carrying explosive packages to approach and blast Instead, directly use rocket launchers to destroy the enemy's firepower points at a long distance, which not only reduces the casualties of our army, but also greatly speeds up the attack speed."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Guchakov said to Askel, looking at the high ground where the battle was still raging in the distance, "when the Fourth Battalion has taken the position, the Second Battalion will be called up and let them take over the attack from the Fourth Battalion. Continue to push forward to consume the vital strength of the German army."

   "What about the battalion?"

   "First battalion?!" Guchakov thought of Mikhaiev's first battalion, which suffered a lot of casualties in the early defense battle. It is really unnecessary for them to participate in such a fortified attack. He shook his head and said, "Forget it, the first battalion has lost more than 60% of its personnel in recent battles. Let them stay in the current position and take care of it. The task of attacking will be handed over to the other three battalions." Finish."

"Okay, Comrade Brigadier." Seeing that Guchakov had already considered all the issues that should be considered, Askel did not disobey his order, but said truthfully: "I will immediately notify the Second Battalion and let They are ready to take over the attack." When he was about to make a phone call, he suddenly thought of a key question, so he stopped and asked, "What about the third battalion?"

"The third battalion also continued to participate in the battle." Although the third battalion did not perform well in the battle, Guchakov understood that it was entirely because of the commander's problem, so he told Askel: "But let them accept the second battalion. command."

  (end of this chapter)