Chapter 884 Air Force Dispatch

"I see, I will notify the commanders in the factory area." Chuikov readily agreed to Sukov's suggestion, but before hanging up the phone, he said with some hesitation: "I have something to think about. I beg you."

  Hearing Cuikov's words, Sokov's first reaction was that he had made a mistake. Cuikov is his superior. If there is anything that needs to be done, he only needs to give him an order. How could he beg himself? He collected himself and asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander, do you mean to ask me for help?"

   "That's right, Colonel Sokov." Chuikov on the other end of the phone lowered his voice and whispered, "If you have the latest news about the friendly forces on the south side, I hope you can tell me in time."

   Sokov did not dare to agree to Chuikov's request easily, but instead glanced at Golikov who was sitting next to him with a guilty conscience. Although Golikov didn't hear what Chuikov said clearly, seeing Sokov's flustered expression, he guessed what was going on, smiled, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, you can promise him."

"Yes!" Seeing that Golikov offered to let Chuikov know about the war on the southern front, Sokov excitedly agreed, and then said loudly into the microphone: "Please rest assured, Comrade Commander, I will definitely report to you in time. The battle on the southern front will be reported to you."

  ...

The attack of the 4th Mechanized Army continued, although Volsky allocated part of his forces to contain the German 29th Motorized Infantry Division on the flank, and relieve the pressure on the 13th Tank Army advancing northward. At the same time, they continued Advance to the intended target in the north - Shet.

   Standing in front of them was the troops of the Romanian Sixth Army. The Romanian commander hiding in the trench, seeing the Soviet tanks rushing over, immediately ordered the anti-tank artillery to enter the position hoarsely, using artillery fire to prevent the Soviet assault.

Although the equipment of this unit cannot be compared with that of the German army, the quality of the artillery is not bad. Hearing the commander's shout, it only took them two or three minutes to aim the muzzle of the anti-tank gun at the advancing army. The Soviet tank fired without hesitation according to the shooting parameters provided by the artillery observer.

  The shells fell into the ranks of Soviet tanks and exploded. Columns of mud with snow powder shot up into the sky, and the flying shrapnel hit the tank's body and jingled. It's a pity that they have too few anti-tank guns. Although more than a dozen guns are firing desperately, the damage to the Soviet tank troops is minimal. Except for one unlucky tank whose track was blown off, the rest of the tanks are still at full speed rushed to the position of the Romanian army.

  When there were still 300 meters away from the Romanian position, the Soviet tanks stopped one by one, aimed at the anti-tank guns in the distance and fired back. Dozens of tanks fired at the same time, and the artillery fire immediately covered the exposed Romanian anti-tank artillery positions. After only two rounds of bombardment, all the anti-tank guns on the position were wiped out, and the shells that exploded shattered the artillery near the blast point. The farther you want to escape, the better.

  The anti-tank artillery position was destroyed, and the infantry hiding in the fortifications became lambs to be slaughtered. As soon as the machine gun in the civil firepower point fired half a shuttle bullet, it was bombarded by Soviet tanks into the sky. Seeing their comrades being thrown up into the sky by the blast of shells, and then thrown down in pieces, the living Romanian soldiers either curled up in the trenches and shivered, or stretched out a white flag to shake desperately, signaling that they would surrender to the Soviet army. .

   Seeing a white flag raised in the trench ahead, the Soviet tanks that stopped shooting started up again, quickly crossed the enemy's position that stopped resisting, and continued to advance towards the enemy. As for these Romanian officers and soldiers who surrendered, they were received by the following infantry.

The smooth advance of the Mechanized 4th Army made the German officers and soldiers of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division panic. They were afraid that the Soviet Army would detour to their rear and cut off their retreat, so they mobilized more troops to strengthen the rear defense. . Colonel Thanashishin, who had just commanded the troops to break through the enemy's line of defense, saw that the enemy's strength in the front was beginning to decrease, and felt that this was the best opportunity for an all-out attack, so he issued combat orders to several brigade commanders by radio. And the motorized infantry brigade made a frontal breakthrough, and the other two tank brigades detoured from the left and right wings, trying to break through the German defenses in the shortest possible time and wedge into the enemy's defense depth.

  Although the officers and soldiers of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division of the German Army mobilized a lot of troops to consolidate their rear, they still had a lot of troops on the front. In addition, some Romanian soldiers who fled were driven into the trenches by them, so there were enough troops to resist the Soviet attack.

  Tanashishin divided into three groups and launched a fierce attack on the enemy's defensive positions at the same time. The German army standing on the ground not only bombarded the marching Soviet tanks with 75mm anti-tank guns, but also sent a large number of Romanian soldiers to rush up with explosive packs and die with the Soviet tanks.

  The German army's style of play regardless of casualties caused the Soviet army to lose more than 20 tanks and more than 300 commanders and fighters in less than a quarter of an hour. As for the enemy's losses, except for the nearly two hundred Romanian soldiers who died as cannon fodder, the German casualties were single digits. Seeing that the attack was not going well, Thanashishin ordered the troops to suspend the attack and retreat first to make adjustments.

After the tank army retreated to a safe place, Thanashishin summoned his four brigade commanders and asked with a straight face: "Brigade commanders, what did you do? It's been so long, why are you still here?" Didn't break through the German defenses?"

  The commander of the motorized infantry brigade said with a bitter face: "Comrade commander, the enemy's artillery fire is too fierce, which poses a great threat to our trucks carrying soldiers. If the tanks cannot kill the enemy's artillery, our motorized infantry brigade will not be able to charge up at all."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." A tank brigade commander also cried bitterly, "Our failure in the morning attack had a great impact on the morale of the soldiers. They were worried that the situation in the morning would reappear, so during the attack, It seems a little bit unrepentant.”

"I don't want to hear about your difficulties, but I just need to know, when will you be able to break through the enemy's defenses, move forward to the designated position, and occupy the overnight position?" Tanashishin said dissatisfiedly: "If it gets dark, will you still be able to fight?" If you can't break through the enemy's line of defense, then wait for the military court."

  Seeing that the 13th Tank Army was unable to break through the enemy's defense and opened a gap for the follow-up troops, not only Tanashishin was anxious, but even Major General Tolbukhin, the commander of the 57th Army, couldn't hold back. He personally called Tanashishin and asked dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Colonel, when will your tank army break through the enemy's defense and open a breakthrough for the follow-up troops?"

"Comrade Commander," Tanashishin replied sheepishly, "the enemy has strong defenses in the sector we are advancing, so that our two assaults were unsuccessful. I am calling several brigade commanders at the moment. , Discuss what method to use to break through the enemy's defense."

"Comrade Colonel, it's getting late, I hope your army can move faster." Tolbushin said impatiently: "If you can't open a breakthrough in the enemy's defense line in the shortest possible time, then follow-up The army can only stay at the current position and do nothing. If I miss the opportunity, what kind of consequences will it bring, even if I don't say it, you should understand it in your heart, right?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Tanashishin became flustered when he heard Tolbukhin's words: "We will definitely break through the enemy's defenses in the shortest possible time and open a breakthrough for the follow-up troops of the group army. .”

   "It's good that you have such confidence." Tolbukhin said briefly on the phone: "I'm waiting for your good news."

Seeing Tanashishin put down the microphone, the tank brigade commander who was in charge of the frontal attack said quickly: "Comrade commander, if we don't get artillery support, it will be very difficult to break through the enemy's defense line. You know, they not only There are anti-tank guns, and a large number of Romanian soldiers are sent to deal with our tanks with explosive packs or anti-tank grenades..."

"Comrade Brigadier, I have eyes." Tanahishin waved his hand and interrupted him without waiting for the other party to finish speaking: "In order to deal with our tanks, the Germans used Romanian soldiers as cannon fodder, carrying explosives. Come and blow up our tanks. Although the machine guns on the tanks can destroy these enemies, the German anti-tank guns often destroy our tanks when we are dealing with Romanian infantry. If the German anti-tank guns are not destroyed, we must continue Breaking through forward is indeed a big problem."

   Seeing that the brigade commanders under him were silent, Tanashishin realized that his tone might be too harsh. Who wouldn't want to quickly break through the enemy's defenses and rescue the precarious Stalingrad? They have tried their best, but he is still demanding them. He slowed down and said to the four brigade commanders: "Brigade commanders, you all go back to your respective troops. After fighting for so long, the commanders and fighters should be hungry. Now, let them hurry up and eat something, drink some water, and prepare to continue fighting the enemy." He raised his hand and looked at his watch, "The next round of attack should start in one hour and thirty minutes."

   "Yes!" After the four brigade commanders agreed in unison, they turned and returned to their respective troops.

  The news that Tolbukhin's offensive was not going well here was quickly fed back to the Front Army Command. After reading the battle report, Yeremenko handed it to Khrushchev who was sitting opposite him, looked at Major General Varennikov who was standing aside and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how do you think we should help the 57th Army?" Army group, to break through the enemy's defense?"

"Comrade Commander." Varennikov replied respectfully: "It takes too long for the artillery to move forward. I am afraid that by the time they feel the designated position, the formation of the 13th Tank Corps will no longer be complete." Therefore, I suggest dispatching the air force to attack the enemy's fortifications and cover the forward assault of the 13th Tank Army."

   "Sent out the air force?" After reading the battle report, Khrushchev turned to look at Varennikov and asked, "Is the weather suitable for the air force to participate in the war?"

"Comrade Military Commissar!" Hearing Khrushchev's question, Varennikov quickly replied in a respectful tone: "The fog outside has cleared, and although the sun has not yet risen, the visibility is still very high. Fit for the Air Force to put into combat."

"Well, since Comrade Chief of Staff said that the Air Force can be dispatched, let the Air Force help the 57th Army." After Khrushchev finished speaking, he turned to Yeremenko and asked, "Comrade Commander, what are you doing?" Look, can you call General Khryukin, the commander of the 8th Army of the Air Force, and ask him to dispatch one or two attack planes of the aviation division to assist the 57th Army to break through the enemy's defenses?"

   "No problem." Yeremenko nodded and said, "I will call General Khryukin and ask him to dispatch the air force to attack the enemy's defensive positions and cover the 57th Army's assault to the north."

   A few minutes later, General Khryukin, who was staying at his headquarters, received a call from Yeremenko. When he heard Yeremenko's voice from the receiver, he instinctively glanced out the window to see if the weather outside was suitable for the fighter plane to take off. After seeing clearly that the sky outside was still gloomy, there shouldn’t be much problem in launching the fighter into the air for combat. After confirming this, he asked confidently: “Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, may I ask what you have? instruct?"

"Hello, General Khryukin!" Yeremenko said politely, "Major General Tolbukhin's 57th Army was stubbornly blocked by the enemy when it was advancing northward. I would like to ask, can you send out attack planes? , rushed over to support them?"

   "May I ask how many attack planes need to be dispatched?"

"If possible, it is best to dispatch one or two aviation divisions." Yeremenko saw that Khryukin did not complain, and knew that today's weather was completely suitable for fighter jets to fly into the air, so he boldly said: "Because you not only To support the frustrated 57th Army, and at the same time, provide air cover for the sluggish 51st Army."

"No problem, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Khryukin replied straightforwardly: "I immediately dispatched Colonel Mironenko's 290th Assault Aviation Division and Colonel Vitruk's 290th Assault Aviation Division to the support at the battle location."

  After Khryukin put down the phone, he immediately said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, inform Colonel Mironenko and Colonel Vitruk to come to me, and I will assign combat tasks to them."

   After receiving the call, the two aviation division commanders hurried over with their adjutants, ready to accept combat missions from Khryukin. Seeing the two division commanders appear, Khryukin got up and went around the desk, went up to shake hands with them one by one, and asked with a smile: "Mr. commanders, you must be in a hurry since you haven't participated in the battle for so long."

Mironenko said anxiously: "Comrade commander, the weather has been bad recently, and the fighter planes cannot take off, but the pilots are all anxious. If you have any mission, please explain it quickly. I express my opinion on behalf of the pilots of the whole division." , we will definitely successfully complete the combat mission you entrusted to us."

  (end of this chapter)