"Comrade Chief of Staff," although Samyko assured himself, Sokov still felt uneasy. After all, there were many uncertain factors in the battle that would affect the final result. In order to make his subordinates take it seriously
On this matter, he also specifically emphasized to Sameko: "Although our army has many troops, so far, no division or brigade has the name of a city in front of its designation. I hope this battle will be won."
Come down, at least one unit must be able to win such an honor."
Sokov's words confused Samyko, and he asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, what does it mean to have the name of the city in front of the unit number?"
Hearing what Samyko said, Sokov raised his hand and slapped himself hard on the forehead. He thought angrily: He only remembered that the numbers of all the Guards divisions were preceded by the names they had liberated.
city, and the title of the medal, but the practice of forgetting to add the city name to the unit designation was only officially implemented in August 1943 after the Steppe Front liberated Belgorod and Kharkov.
Seeing Sokov hitting his forehead with his palm for no apparent reason, Samyko asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, what's wrong with you?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I forgot to tell you." In order to cover up his gaffe, Sokov could only pretend to be mysterious and said: "I got a piece of gossip. As long as Belgorod and Kazakhstan can be liberated,
Erkov, the Supreme Command will award honors to the units that have made meritorious service in the battle to liberate the city. That is to say, before the number of this unit, add the city they liberated."
"Comrade Commander, are everything you said true?" Samyko's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard what Sokov said: "I think if the commanders at the grassroots level know this news, they will definitely be able to behave on the battlefield.
Have to be more brave."
"I hope so." Sokov knew that after the offensive against the city began, he, the commander of the army, could only control one general direction. The specific progress depended entirely on the command of the commanders at all levels below. "I very much hope.
Every unit that participates in the war will have the honor of having the name of the city in front of its designation."
The attack launched by Sokov's troops from the west of the city went smoothly, but the situation of the 241st Infantry Division, which successfully crossed the river under the cover of the 384th Infantry Division, was not good.
After the entire division crossed the river, the 771st Regiment, which originally served as the vanguard, suffered too many casualties and was left by the division commander to hold on to the captured German positions on the bank. The task of attacking the city was handed over to the 772nd and 775th Regiments that later crossed the river.
At the forefront were the commanders and fighters of the 772nd Regiment. They rushed toward the city along Highway 14. Since most of the troops were new recruits who had just been recruited half a month ago and lacked sufficient combat experience, they rushed to the city on the street.
They still maintained a dense formation when charging.
The intersection was a barricade built by the German army with sandbags and wood. When they saw the Soviet troops coming in like a tide, they immediately started shooting with machine guns. The Soviet commanders and fighters at the front were quickly knocked down by machine guns, and those who followed closely behind
The soldier was unable to dodge, and the corpse tripped under his feet, causing the pile of people and corpses on the ground to get higher and higher.
The soldiers who were not tripped were hit by machine guns and fell to the ground. Because the streets were too crowded, some of the soldiers who were shot could not even fall to the ground, but leaned directly on their comrades behind them. The German machine guns
The fatal bullet shot penetrated the body of the dead soldier and hit the soldiers behind, stabbing both dead and living soldiers to their cores.
Although the casualties of the Soviet army were extremely heavy, the soldiers saw their commander rushing at the front of the team despite the enemy's bullets, and they bravely followed him.
After a fierce battle, the Soviet commanders and fighters, who suffered heavy casualties, finally succeeded in capturing the enemy's barricades. After a short rest, they continued to attack forward along the streets.
After Holt learned that the Soviet army had rushed into the city, he discussed with his chief of staff, General Merinjin, and decided to adopt a defensive posture in the west and try every means to slow down the advancement of Sokov's troops. In the northwest and north,
In both directions, they adopted tactics that combined defense and counterattack in an attempt to drive the Soviet troops that had rushed into the city out of the city.
He ordered the 3rd Armored Division, affiliated to the 48th Armored Corps, to counterattack the Soviet army in the northwest direction. After receiving the order, the commander of the 3rd Armored Division immediately dispatched more than a dozen armored vehicles and an infantry battalion to attack the Soviet 772nd Army.
The group launched a counterattack.
The German armored vehicles were arranged in a row of three and formed an offensive formation on the street. After the German officers and soldiers who were fighting and retreating ran past the vehicles, they immediately opened fire on the rushing Soviet troops. The armored soldiers fired machine guns at the same time.
While slowly driving forward along the street. Facing such intensive German firepower, the crowded Soviet commanders and fighters were unable to effectively fight back. After the machine guns on the armored vehicles swept through, no one could stand anymore.
Under the attack of the German machine gun fire, a large area was felled, and most of the commanders and soldiers were shot and fell to the ground without firing a shot.
As the German armored vehicles approached step by step, the surviving Soviet commanders and fighters in the front row took the initiative to retreat in the face of such heavy casualties. As they retreated step by step, their comrades behind were also squeezed back.
.It didn’t take long for the disorderly retreat to turn into a hasty escape.
Seeing the Soviet commanders and fighters retreating along the street, the infantrymen following the armored vehicles took the opportunity to swarm forward and retake the barricades that had been occupied by the Soviet troops not long ago.
Although the attacking Soviet army was repelled, it did not mean that they would give up the attack. Seeing that the 772nd Regiment's attack was not going well, the commander of the 241st Division quickly ordered the 775th Regiment to take over their attack and be sure to capture the enemy-occupied areas.
street.
When the officers and men of the 775th Regiment stepped over the corpses of their comrades everywhere and attacked the barricades at the intersection, they not only suffered machine gun fire from the front; at the same time, the enemies stationed in the buildings on both sides of the street also suffered from
Leaning out the window, he used machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles to shoot at the Soviet commanders and fighters on the street from a high position.
The 775th Regiment, which was hit by crossfire from the front and sides, was repelled by the enemy in less than five minutes. Not only did they fail to make progress, but they left an increasingly thick pile of corpses on the streets.
Upon learning that his troops' attack had been frustrated, Managarov quickly sent an infantry division to reinforce him, trying to use his strength advantage to open a gap in the German defense area.
Sokov quickly learned about the battle of the 241st Division through special channels. After seeing the report, he was so angry that he slapped his face on the table and said angrily: "Nonsense, this is simply nonsense.
.Charging in a dense formation on the street, doesn’t this mean that the commanders and soldiers are going to die?”
He raised his head, looked at Sameko who was standing aside, and asked in a stern tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our troops will not also use this offensive method to advance towards the city center, right?"
"No, no." Sameko shook his head quickly and said, "Comrade Commander, you once instructed the commanders of each division on how to fight street fighting. I believe they will not make such stupid mistakes."
After a brief pause, Samek asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, now that the 53rd Group Army's offensive has been frustrated, do you think we should send troops to help them?"
"No, absolutely not." As soon as Samek finished speaking, Sokov shook his head and said resolutely: "The superiors had divided the combat areas for each unit long before the war. Without the authorization of the superiors,
We cannot fight across regions casually."
Sokov is not a rigid person. He knows that he should provide some help to friendly forces at this time. The reason why he disagrees with Samyko's reinforcement plan is because the area where the 241st Division was frustrated is the combat area of the 53rd Group Army.
.I am not familiar with Managarov. If I rush to send people to support without getting orders from my superiors, I am afraid there will be complaints.
"Then what should we do?" Seeing that Sokov rejected his proposal, Samyko couldn't help but said anxiously: "Are we just going to watch the friendly attack fail?"
Sokov lowered his eyes and stared at the map in front of him and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I also want to help the friendly forces. But you should know that the front army headquarters divided the combat areas before the war. If we don't get it before
If you send troops to cross-regional operations without permission before you get permission, I'm afraid you will be criticized by your superiors."
Hearing what Sokov said, Samyko couldn't say anything else, because Sokov told the truth. In order to prevent the superiors from claiming credit due to the unclear attack area during the siege,
appeared and specially divided the combat area. If troops were rushed to send reinforcements, they might not only get no benefits in the end, but also end up with a lot of complaints.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said, not wanting to waste time on such inconsequential matters, so he promptly changed the subject: "How is the progress of our troops?"
Samyko quickly reported: "Now that Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin's 62nd Marine Brigade has captured the fruit cannery, it is advancing towards the bus station in Belgorod. Colonel Chuvashov's Marine Brigade
The 84th Brigade is on their right..."
While listening to Samyko's report, Sokov looked up the location of the troops on the map. After reading it, he threw the red and blue pencils on the table and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, both of you
A Marine Corps brigade should not be dispersed like this. Their troops are not large to begin with, let alone reserves. Once the enemy's defense force is too strong, they will not be able to continue to advance."
"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured of this." Samyko said with a smile: "General Polubyarov has assigned a tank battalion to each Marine Corps brigade. Even if he encounters the German army during the attack,
Strong fortifications can also be destroyed with tank guns to open the way for our offensive troops."
Sokov was very satisfied with Samyko's answer. He nodded and continued: "During the attack, the troops must pay attention to the coordination of infantry and tanks. Of course, tanks can destroy enemy fire points along the way for the infantry, but for the enemy's counterattack,
The tank crews are powerless, so the infantry following the tanks are needed to eliminate the enemy anti-tank crews in a timely manner to ensure the safety of the tanks."
"Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin reported to me not long ago that the streets near the bus station are very wide. Several tanks were attacked by anti-tank guns from buildings on both sides of the street while traveling. Three tanks have been attacked.
Destroyed. Fortunately, our tank crews were lucky, half of them successfully escaped from the burning tanks."
"If the street is wide, then two tanks can go parallel while advancing." Sokov picked up the red and blue pencils and drew a sketch on a piece of white paper. While drawing, he said to Samyko: "Two tanks can run parallel to each other."
A parallel tank, with the muzzle of the left tank pointed at the right side of the street, and the muzzle of the right tank pointed at the left side of the street, advancing forward using alternate cover. The infantry, on the other hand, marched in the middle of the two tanks.
, ready to attack the German anti-tank fighters rushing out of the buildings on both sides."
Samyko tilted his head after reading the sketch Sokov had finished, nodded repeatedly and said: "Comrade Commander, your method is good. When two parallel tanks are traveling, they can cover each other and at the same time reduce the number of tanks.
Casualties of commanders and combatants traveling between two tanks."
"Also," Sokov knew that his troops had little siege experience. Even if he taught the division commanders and brigade commanders the experience of street fighting, for them at that time, if they did a good job in their own defense, they would be able to
It is the top priority, and few people will really learn how to fight in the street. Therefore, he feels it is necessary to emphasize again: "If you want to destroy the frontal firepower point, the tank must fire from 150 meters away, so as not to
It gave the enemy's anti-tank crews an opportunity to take advantage of it."
"The coordinated operations of the two brigades require unified command." Samyko asked Sokov for instructions: "Should Colonel Chuvasov be put in charge of commanding the two brigades?"
"I think it's okay." Sokov drew a circle on the map with a red and blue pencil and said to Samek: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there is a church here. After the two Marine Corps brigades capture this place, we can
Let the two brigade commanders use the church as a headquarters to direct operations here."
"Okay, I will convey your intention to the two brigade commanders immediately." Seeing that Sokov agreed to his plan, Samyko breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "When they establish a headquarters here in the church,
You can contact them by phone, so that you can learn about the frontline battle situation in the shortest possible time."
The battle continued until noon. Colonel Chuvashov's troops occupied the church and established a new headquarters inside. Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin's troops also achieved results. They successfully occupied the bus station and captured