Chapter 1581 Broken City

   After the two army commanders Zadov and Shumilov received Konev's face-to-face instructions, they changed their offensive mode against Poltava. The infantry no longer carried out futile shelling before launching a charge, because the walls of the fortress were so thick that it was difficult to destroy them even with heavy artillery.

In order to break through the German defenses as soon as possible, Shumilov moved the heavy artillery that was originally deployed several kilometers or even more than ten kilometers away to the vicinity of the city, deployed them one kilometer away from the fortress, and adopted the gunner's direct aiming method. , bombarded the city's fortified walls.

At the beginning, Shumilov didn't take this style of play seriously, thinking it was a waste of time, but considering that it was explained by Konev himself, even if there was resistance in his heart, he could only bite the bullet and try it. .

After a round of bombardment by more than 20 heavy artillery, Shumilov's thoughts changed. He saw with his own eyes that the city wall that could not be bombarded by thousands of shells was bombed after only being bombarded by more than 20 shells. There is a gap.

Shumilov put down his binoculars and turned to ask his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the city wall in front has been hit by at least a thousand rounds of shells, but it has never been bombarded by shells. Today, only more than 20 heavy artillery shells have been bombarded. In one round, a huge gap was blown out of the city wall. Tell me, what is going on here?"

"The reason is very simple, Comrade Commander." After some observations, the chief of staff had already figured out what was going on. Hearing Shumilov's question, he quickly replied: "When our heavy artillery bombarded the city wall before, it was only artillery fire." Covering, don't look like it is in full swing, but the number of bullets hit by the city wall is limited, which is not enough to destroy it. Although there are not many heavy artillery participating in the bombardment, the shells fired by these artillery are directly bombarding the city wall, blowing the city wall out. A gap, no wonder."

  While Shumilov was talking to the chief of staff, the heavy artillery was still bombarding, blasting a bigger gap in the city wall. When he saw that even tanks could pass through the gap, not to mention infantry, the chief of staff couldn't bear it any longer, and asked Shumilov anxiously: "Comrade commander, the gap has been opened. Do you want to order the infantry?" Attack?"

  If it was before, Shumilov would definitely order his troops to charge without hesitation. But after this period of offensive setbacks, he felt that if he continued to fight according to the old routine, he would definitely suffer a big loss, so he rejected the chief of staff's proposal: "Comrade chief of staff, don't be in a hurry, I think we can wait a little longer." .”

"Wait again?!" Seeing that the front wall had been blasted to open a path, but Shumilov uncharacteristically refused to let the troops attack, the chief of staff was anxious: "Comrade commander, such a good fighter is on the way." What are we waiting for?"

  After pondering for a moment, Shumilov unexpectedly said to the chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, order the signaler to connect me to the headquarters of the 27th Army. I want to speak to General Sokov."

   Sokov, who received a call from Shumilov, looked dazed, thinking that he and the other party were both army commanders, and they had no affiliation with each other. What would he do if he asked him? After the simple greetings, Sokov asked his own question: "General Shumilov, what do you want from me?"

Shumilov called Sokov to ask him for advice, but because of face, he couldn't just say: "My troops have encountered some difficulties in attacking, and I want you to give me an idea." He said euphemistically, "General Sokov, I would like to ask you, if our army's artillery fire destroys the walls of the city during the siege, should we immediately order the infantry to attack?"

Hearing what Shumilov said, Sokov immediately realized that the place the other party was talking about was in Poltava. He thought that the two Guards armies had been fighting there for more than half a month, but the progress was slow. question. To Shumilov's question, Sokov thought for a long time before replying: "General Shumilov, if I were you, I would not order the infantry to attack at this time."

  Sokov's answer seemed to have been expected by Shumilov. He was not surprised at all, but asked instead: "Why?"

"The reason is very simple. The defenders in the city will definitely send troops to block the gap when they see such a big gap opened by artillery fire." Sokov explained to Shumilov: "If you order the troops to attack at this moment, It is possible to encounter the approaching German army in the gap and start a dogfight in a small area."

   Shumilov thought about it, and it seemed that this was really the case. Not to mention the Germans, even if one's own defense line is breached, the first thing to do is to send troops to the breach to block the attacking enemies and prevent them from entering the depth of one's defense through the breach. After trying to understand this truth, Shumilov asked Sokov humbly: "General Sokov, please tell me, how should we deal with the enemy?"

   "General Shumilov, I have an idea." Sokov had a way in mind to deal with the enemies rushing to the gap. If his troops were fighting, he would definitely give orders without hesitation, but at this moment he could only say in a negotiating tone: "It's just my personal idea, let me tell you. As for whether you adopt it, it's up to you." Make up your own mind."

   "Please speak, General Sokov."

"Order the artillery to stop shooting." Seeing that the other party was willing to listen to his advice, Sokov said confidently and boldly: "After the enemy's troops who came to plug the gap reach their positions, they will be bombarded with artillery fire. After a few rounds of shelling, we I believe that the enemy who has rushed to the gap has already suffered heavy casualties. At that time, if you send infantry to attack again, the resistance you will encounter will be greatly reduced."

"This is a good idea, General Sokov." After hearing what Sokov said, Shumilov suddenly felt his eyes light up, and when the reinforcements arrived at the gap, he would let the heavy artillery bombard them indiscriminately , Blow them up alone, and after the shelling is over, order the infantry to attack, and the resistance they receive will be greatly reduced: "I am going to try it in your way. Thank you, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 7th Guards Army Thank you."

  As soon as Shumilov put down the phone, he happily said to the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately inform the heavy artillery participating in the direct fire to stop firing, and stop wasting shells."

"Why?" The chief of staff did not hear the conversation between Shumilov and Sokov, so when he heard the order, his face was full of doubts: "If the heavy artillery continues to bombard, it will blow up the city wall." Make a bigger gap."

   "I don't think there is any need for bombardment at all." Shumilov replied: "Now the gap opened by the heavy artillery is big enough for our tanks to cover the infantry rushing into the city."

Seeing that the chief of staff was still standing there in a daze, Shumilov added: "I just consulted General Sokov, and he said that he might order the artillery to stop shelling temporarily, and wait for the German reinforcements to arrive at the gap before launching a violent attack. The bombardment killed and wounded the German army in large numbers. In this way, when our infantry charged into the city, the obstacles they encountered would be greatly reduced."

After figuring out Shumilov's intentions, the chief of staff couldn't help applauding: "Comrade Commander, this tactic is really wonderful. According to the idea of ​​the Germans, after our army blasts a gap in the city wall, it will definitely send infantry immediately." Launch an attack, and they send troops to intercept us at the gap in order to repel our army."

As soon as the chief of staff finished calling the artillery and ordered them to stop shelling the city walls, Major General Denishenko, the commander of the 36th Guards Division, called the headquarters: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am the commander of the 36th Guards Division." Major General Denishenko, I saw that the artillery had blown a breach in the city wall, why hasn't our division received an order to attack yet?"

The chief of staff, who had already considered the offensive steps, heard Denischenko's question and said with a smile: "General Denischenko, don't worry, the headquarters already has a careful offensive plan, you just wait patiently for the time being." Right. When the time is right, I will send your teachers up."

What happened next, just as Sokov expected, the German army saw that the artillery fire of the Soviet army destroyed a city wall, worried that they would break through their defense line from there, and hurriedly dispatched two tanks and four armored vehicles to cover the two. More than a hundred infantry rushed to the gap, trying to block the Soviet troops rushing in from there.

  However, what the Germans didn't expect was that when their reinforcements arrived at the gap, they were surprised to find that except for the smoke, there was silence everywhere, and no attacking Soviet troops were seen at all. Just when the German officers and soldiers were wondering, there was a scream of shells piercing the air, and then heavy artillery shells fell one after another in the German queue and exploded.

  Amidst the violent explosion, the German officers and soldiers were lifted up by the explosion and thrown into the air, before falling heavily to the ground. When it was thrown up, it was a complete person, but when it landed, it turned into a pile of minced meat. For a time, the gap was full of German limbs and arms, as well as the wreckage of tanks and armored vehicles.

  Shumilov at the command post in the distance saw this scene and applauded repeatedly. He put down the binoculars, turned to the chief of staff and said, "Comrade chief of staff, have you seen it? The German troops who came to reinforce them were basically wiped out by our artillery fire."

"Yes." The chief of staff who also saw this scene nodded and said, "If we send infantry to charge immediately after the gap is blown up, we must be fighting the German army at the gap right now. Even if we can wipe out the enemy, I'm afraid there will be a lot of price to pay. But with General Sokov's tactics, we wiped out the reinforcements from the German army without any casualties. This will greatly improve the morale of our army. Great encouragement."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Shumilov coughed heavily and cleared his throat to the Chief of Staff: "Immediately call Major General Denishenko and order his 36th Guards Division to go into battle immediately. Seize the vicinity of the gap until new reinforcements arrive."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." After the chief of staff agreed loudly, he picked up the phone on the table and said into the microphone: "Major General Denishenko? Comrade Commander ordered that all commanders and fighters of your division immediately go into battle. Be sure to control a certain effective area near the gap before the enemy's new reinforcements arrive, so as to provide a starting point for the follow-up troops to attack."

After receiving the order, Major General Denishenko immediately issued an order to attack. Under the cover of more than a dozen tanks, the commanders and fighters of the 36th Guards Division rushed into the gap opened by the artillery fire and passed through the few tanks on the road. In the burning German tanks and armored vehicles, marching towards the depths of the city.

  As the commanders and fighters of the 36th Guards Division broke up and fought with the German army in the city with companies as units, the German army's defense line became precarious.

Konev, who got the news, called Shumilov himself and asked curiously: "General Shumilov, I have received a report that your 36th Guards Division has successfully broken into the city and is about to enter the city." Breaking up and fighting the Germans in various parts of the city. Is this true?"

   "Of course it is true, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Shumilov replied excitedly: "The 36th Guards Division of our department rushed into the city through the gap opened by the artillery fire, and is developing in a deep direction."

   After Shumilov finished speaking, Konev asked with concern: "When the troops rushed into the gap, they must have been frantically blocked by the German army. Are there any serious casualties?"

   "Comrade Front Army Commander, you may not believe it," Shumilov said triumphantly: "When the 36th Guards Division rushed into the gap opened by the artillery fire, there were no casualties at all."

   "No casualties?" Hearing what Shumilov said, Konev couldn't help frowning, feeling a little suspicious of Shumilov's report, wondering if the other party was falsely reporting the results of the battle. "General Shumilov, what's going on here? Didn't your troops be stopped by the enemy when they rushed into the gap?"

  "Totally correct, Comrade Front Army Commander." Shumilov said: "It's not that the enemy is not like intercepting our offensive troops, but they were all wiped out by our artillery fire."

Konev, who had not yet received the report from the 7th Guards Army, was confused by Shumilov's words: "General Shumilov, what is going on, I am confused by you, hurry up Explain to me."

"The situation is like this, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Shumilov heard the doubts in Konev's tone, and explained to him specifically: "When the city wall was breached by our army's heavy artillery, I originally planned to For a while, I ordered the infantry to charge and rush into the city through the gap. But after thinking about it, we have done this many times before, but we have never succeeded in breaking through the enemy's defense line. There must be many things wrong. Therefore, I I made a special call to General Sokov and asked him what to do in this situation."

   "General Sokov?!" Konev asked back: "Is it Sokov of the 27th Army?"

   "That's right, it's him."

  Konev asked with great interest after hearing this: "What advice did he give you?"

"He said that after the shelling is over, the German army will definitely send troops to the gap for reinforcements. If we charge at this moment, we will definitely have a fierce battle with the enemy at the gap. Not only will the troops pay a huge price, but will they be able to charge through the gap? The inside of the city is also an unknown." Shumilov said with a little excitement: "So he suggested that we should not attack immediately after the shelling, but wait for the German reinforcements to arrive near the gap, and then carry out a violent attack on them. Shelling, using artillery fire to kill their vital forces..."

After listening to Shumilov's narration, Konev nodded and said thoughtfully: "General Shumilov, you can achieve such a record because you followed Sokov's advice. Very good. I hope that in the next battle, if you encounter something you don’t understand, you can also ask Sokov, maybe he can give you more good suggestions.”

Shumilov, who had tasted the sweetness, naturally would not object to Konev's proposal, and quickly replied loudly: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will keep in touch with General Sokov at any time, so that I can learn from him." Get more valuable advice there."

  (end of this chapter)