Chapter 2007

  After the preparations for the artillery fire of each unit were completed, they all launched an attack on the enemy's defensive positions according to the original plan.

  The 3rd Army, which Marshal Zhukov personally supervised the battle, mobilized the forces of the two armies at the same time, and launched attacks on the two areas of Ozeranje and Kostyashevo respectively.

  At the beginning, the battle went smoothly, but the German army, which came back to its senses, used tanks to cover the infantry and carried out a crazy counterattack, repelling the Soviet troops who were attacking the third trench. The troops of the 3rd Army were forced to retreat to the first and second trenches, and defended on the spot.

  The attack of Batov's 65th Army appeared relatively smooth. With the support of the air force, the 18th Infantry Army broke through all five enemy trenches in just one morning.

By noon, their battle line had advanced another 5-6 kilometers and seized two strong points of support, Rakovich and Petrovich. This enabled General Batov to make up his mind and throw Pano at the breakthrough The 1st Guards Tank Corps of the husband, the tank corps quickly advanced and penetrated directly into the rear of the German Palić Group. The infantry of the 65th Army took full advantage of the success of the tank corps and occupied Grach, Chem before dark. Zha, Seki Riqi area.

  The performance of Rokossovsky's 28th Army Group was not too bad. They successfully smashed the enemy's resistance and moved forward to Brocha, Ospino, and Rogu.

   According to the statistics of the battle results that night, the four armies participating in the offensive broke through the front of the German defense for 30 kilometers, with a depth of 5 to 10 kilometers. In particular, the tank soldiers reached a depth of 20 kilometers and reached the Knesevich and Romanyche areas.

   "Comrade Marshal," Rokossovsky asked Zhukov with a smile after reporting the results of the day, "How do you think we played today?"

   "I really didn't expect that the first day of the attack would be so smooth." Although Zhukov thought that Operation Bagration would be a success, he was a little surprised that such a result was achieved on the first day of the battle.

"The results achieved today are indeed quite satisfactory." Rokossovsky pointed to the map and said to Zhukov: "This will allow us to invest in General Pliyev at the junction of the 65th Army and the 28th Army the next day. The cavalry mechanized group created favorable conditions.

   As long as this rapid group advances west of Glusk as far as the Pujic River, and takes a part of the force to cross the river, it will be able to force the enemy to retreat north and northwest. At that time, we will be able to push rapidly towards Bobruisk with all our strength. "

"Koschka, I have commanded many major battles." Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky's words to come to an end, and continued: "However, if you achieved such brilliant results on the first day of the war today, I still This is the first time I saw it. Although our army suffered a tenacious counterattack from the Germans in the offensive section of the 3rd Army, I could see that they were weak in follow-up. As long as they blocked their counterattack and consumed their vital strength as much as possible, then The next battle will be much easier.”

   "Comrade Marshal, I think today's attack went so smoothly, and one person deserves the most credit."

Zhukov didn't ask who it was, but he said bluntly, "Koschka, are you talking about Misha? That's right, in today's battle, because his troops took the lead in breaking through the German defense line, the morale of the German army appeared. The resistance in many areas is not as tenacious as it used to be. By the way, how many kilometers has his troops advanced today?"

   "15 kilometers, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky may be worried about Zhukov's misunderstanding, and explained to him specifically: "Since tanks are not available in the area where he is located, these offensive battles are all completed by infantry."

"Among the four armies participating in the battle, his troops are in the worst position." Zhukov nodded and said, "If someone else commanded this army, he could break through the enemy's first and second trenches before dark." , are not bad. But his troops managed to break through five German trenches and consolidate their positions in just three hours."

He picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, drew a few red circles on the map, and continued: "If it wasn't for the fear that the friendly forces on the left and right would be out of touch, and that the attacking troops that went deep alone would be in danger of being surrounded by the Germans, he might be able to Push forward further. At least these villages and small towns will be occupied by his troops."

"Comrade Marshal, today is the first day of Operation Bagration, and we still have plenty of time." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "If we don't let Misha control the speed and let him play freely, I'm afraid Our troops are still struggling in the swamp, while his troops have rushed to the city of Minsk."

   "If his troops can rush to the city of Minsk within three days." Zhukov said jokingly, "I can make my own decision and give his troops the honorary title of Minsk."

"Comrade Marshal, I can say these things in private, but don't let Misha hear them." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "If he knows what you said, he may personally lead the two divisions." , rushed directly to Minsk. When the time comes, will you grant this honorary title to the troops, or not?"

"I believe that with Misha's ability, if he leads two divisions to play freely, he may really be able to rush to the outside of Minsk within three days." Although he won a big victory today, Zhukov still remained sober. "But next, they will face attacks from all directions. No matter how powerful his troops are, they may not be able to stop the successive attacks of several German divisions, and they may be completely wiped out."

   "Then do you have any instructions for him, Comrade Marshal?"

  Zhukov thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "I think at present, it is best not to interfere with the actions of the front-line commanders, and let them freely use their command capabilities according to the actual situation on the battlefield."

  "That's right." Rokossovsky agreed with Zhukov's statement: "I believe that Misha, who has not been disturbed in any way, may be able to create more miracles."

"Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky finished speaking, turned around and called Malinin, and ordered him to say, "Immediately send today's battle report to the commanders of the various armies so that they can understand the progress of the whole day today, and then Get ready for tomorrow's attack."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Ma Linin nodded and said, "I will immediately arrange for someone to distribute today's battle report to the commanders of the various armies so that they can have an overall understanding of the results achieved today."

After receiving the battle report from the Front Army Command, Sokov said to Ponejielin and Sidolin: "Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff, look at today's battle report. On the first day of Bagration's operation, It is a good sign that such a significant result has been achieved.”

Ponegerin took the battle report and browsed it carefully, handed it to Sidolin, and said: "Comrade Commander, today's offensive is generally not bad, but the performance of the 3rd Army is not ideal. It can be said that they dragged the entire attacking force back."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you can't say that." Sokov did not agree with Ponejielin's statement: "The 3rd Army's record today is not satisfactory. There are many reasons. But I think that Marshal Zhukov Staying in the army headquarters put a certain amount of psychological pressure on General Gorbatov, which caused him to make mistakes in command."

"I agree with Comrade Commander's statement." Sidolin echoed: "If I were to command an army to fight alone, if there was a senior commander sitting next to me, I would definitely be very nervous. Poor command will leave a bad influence on the opponent. As we all know, the more nervous people are, the more likely they are to make mistakes. The poor performance of the Third Army today may have something to do with General Gorbatov being too nervous."

   "Well, that's what I think." Sokov said: "Maybe in two days, when General Gorbatov is not so nervous in the face of Marshal Zhukov, his troops will be able to perform better."

"Comrade Commander, look here." Sidolin pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "Our troops are only more than 300 kilometers away from Minsk. If we let the hovercraft take part of the troops and rush directly to Minsk How nice."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, your suggestion is indeed very tempting." Sokov nodded and said, "But have you ever thought about how an army with only a thousand people and no heavy weapons can play its role when it rushes to the city of Minsk?" What effect. Maybe we will be surrounded by enemies from all directions before we enter the city, and then we can only watch the enemy devour the assault force we sent. "

   "I understand, Comrade Commander." Sidolin said with a wry smile, "I just feel that after the first day's assault, the hovercraft detachment is useless. It's a pity."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, it's not that the hovercraft is useless." As a guest, Belkin was not going to speak when Sokov and others were studying the deployment, but he couldn't help but speak when he heard Sidolin say this. Said: "Although the next attack does not require my hovercraft to charge forward, it can transport troops, equipment and various materials that are urgently needed at the front for you at the rear."

"Belkin was right. If it wasn't for the help of the hovercraft today, in just two hours, it would have helped us send 20,000 commanders and fighters to the other side of the swamp, and also helped us transport tanks, heavy artillery and various urgent needs. supplies. It is because of the help of the hovercraft unit that our attack today was able to go so smoothly.” Sokov looked at Belkin and said: “In the next few days, if we do not have the support of the hovercraft unit, I am afraid that the attacking force will soon have insufficient ammunition and supplies, and the attack will be weak."

Hearing what Sokov said, Belkin grinned, and suddenly changed the topic to an irrelevant place: "It's a pity that it's already June, and I missed the sowing season, otherwise in such a fertile land , Find a place to build a house and grow some vegetables, what a pleasant thing."

"I also feel the same about your words." Unexpectedly, as soon as Belkin finished speaking, Pornejelin also felt emotional: "If the war is over, I also want to find a place to build a house here, and wait until the spring of May every year." When you come, sow the seeds in the field, wait until autumn to harvest, and live a leisurely retirement life, no longer have to think about fighting the enemy to the death on the battlefield."

The words of the two reminded Sokov that he and Asiya had just met each other and had such a conversation, saying that when the war was over, they would build a small wooden house on the outskirts of Moscow and open up a vegetable field in front of the door. Sow the seeds, wait until autumn to harvest, and live a self-sufficient life.

"Hey, hello, comrades commanders." Seeing that the three of them were starting to wander, he tapped his fingers on the table a few times and said, "What we are going to discuss now is how to fight tomorrow's battle. How are you thinking about what you should do after the war in the future?"

   "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Pornegerin said to Sidolin with a smile: "Thinking about the future, I was too preoccupied for a while."

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin smiled sensibly at Ponejielin, looked at Sokov and asked, "How should we fight tomorrow?"

"It's still the same as today's style of play." Sokov said: "Occupy a position and consolidate a position. Adopt the tactics of step by step and steady and steady, and advance deep into the enemy's defense. Chief of Staff, you must tell the division commanders, No matter how great our advantage is, we must not rush forward easily. You must know that we have already left the friendly forces on the left and right wings far behind. If we advance too fast, we will become a lone army who advances aggressively, the Germans It is very easy to cut our attacking force in two and encircle it."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Facing Sokov's exhortation, Sidolin said with a smile: "You have said this many times. The division commanders below are not newbies. How to fight the next battle."

  Although Sokov knew that it was very annoying for him to emphasize one thing again and again, he had to be more cautious in order to avoid underestimating the enemy, leading to the upper hand in the battle, and finally being counter-killed by the enemy.

Sokov nodded, pointed to the map and said to everyone: "From the current situation, the troops of the friendly army will cross the Berezina River in the near future and form an encirclement trend towards Bobruisk. And our army group Its mission is to be the first of all attacking troops to break into the city."

"Comrade Commander, I have confidence in you." Sidolin waited for Sokov to finish, and said with a smile: "As far as I know, whether it is liberating Belgorod or Kharkov, your troops will They were the first to break into the city. Even in the previous months, during the battle against Uman, your troops were the first to break into the city. I believe that in the battle for the liberation of Bobruisk, The troops under your command can still be the first to rush into the city and insert them on the roof of the city hall."

Hearing what Sidolin said, Sokov also laughed: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to what you said, we should prepare more flags to ensure that after our troops rush into every attacking city, they can fly in the shortest possible time. Plant the flag on the commanding heights of the city within a short period of time."

"It's not a problem to prepare more red flags." Hearing this, Pornejelin couldn't help interjecting, "I'll contact the late minister immediately and ask him to prepare a few more red flags for the troops, so that our troops can rush into After the city, the task of planting the flag can be completed in the shortest time."

  (end of this chapter)