The Guards Division Commander was overjoyed when he learned that there were still surviving commanders and fighters on the Second Battalion's position, and even helped the attacking troops retake the position. The Division Chief of Staff reminded him: "Comrade Division Commander, I think this good news should be reported to the Commander.
Comrade’s report.”
The division commander agreed to the proposal of the division chief of staff without hesitation and even called Derevyanko himself. As soon as the phone call came through, he reported excitedly: "Comrade chief of staff, I want to report to you two pieces of good news. One is our
The counterattack troops successfully recovered their lost positions after a fierce battle."
For Derevyanko, regaining the lost position was an ordinary 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 officers and men of the second battalion were killed. Some of them were temporarily trapped because the entrance to the air raid shelter was blown down. When we launched the attack, they got out of the hole and assisted the friendly forces in launching front and rear pincer attacks on the Germans, successfully regaining the
We have taken the position.”
There was silence on the other side of the phone. After a few seconds, Derevyanko's voice rang again: "Comrade Colonel, is everything you said true?"
"Of course it's true." The Guards Division Commander said excitedly: "At first, I thought that all the commanders and fighters of the Second Battalion died heroically when their positions fell. I didn't expect that so many people survived."
After showing off this matter, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, my subordinates are currently very motivated. Do you need to continue the offensive in order to further expand the results?"
"No, absolutely no, Comrade Division Commander." Derevyanko rejected the other party's proposal without hesitation: "The task of your division is to restore the lost positions and seize the time to repair and reinforce the fortifications to prevent the first possible attack by the Germans.
Attack round."
"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." The Guards Division Commander said in a low mood: "I will order the soldiers to seize the time to repair and consolidate their positions and prepare for the enemy's attack."
The Guards Division regained its lost positions, and at the landing site, the artillery bombardment was nearing its end.
Sokov asked Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any latest intelligence coming back from the front?"
"No." Sameko shook his head and replied: "The smoke from the explosion blocked the sight of our observers, making it impossible for them to see clearly the movements on the German positions."
"Where are our troops?"
"The three troops at the front, except for a few guard troops, are quietly advancing forward while the enemy is under shelling and unable to observe." Sameko replied: "It is estimated that before the shelling ends,
, they can reach a position three hundred meters away from the enemy position."
Sokov is very satisfied with the data that Samyko said. Now the heavy artillery regiment is constantly bombarding the enemy's position. If the troops that are the first to launch a counterattack stay too close to the enemy's position, they may be attacked by their own side.
The situation of accidental damage from artillery fire.
Seeing Sokov nodding in approval, Samyko continued to ask: "Comrade Commander, General Solomatin asked on the phone if he needed to dispatch the 219th Tank Brigade and the three tanks under the brigade.
The battalion is equipped with T-34 tanks and 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 circle around from both sides of the high ground and cut off the retreat of the enemies who escape from the position. In this way, after our infantry takes over the high ground,
If you charge further, you may be able to eliminate more enemies."
"Comrade Commander," Samek said cautiously: "Didn't we order our troops to follow the fleeing enemy and attack the enemy's position before? Do you think we will adopt this tactic this time?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, we understand what you mean." Sokov shook his head and said: "The Germans have suffered several losses from us and have already prepared countermeasures. If such tactics are adopted this time, I am afraid that the enemy will not
It is better to shoot at the soldiers who fled towards the position without hesitation and kill a few of your colleagues than to have the position broken through by our troops."
"What do you mean?"
"The tanks circle back to the rear of the high ground, cut off the defenders' retreat, and strive to annihilate them all." Sokov's attitude is very determined. Everything goes according to plan. As long as the designated position is captured and a sufficient number of German troops are annihilated, it is victory. There is no need for it.
Expand the results blindly, lest you bite off more than you can chew and end up blowing a good hand to pieces.
The Soviet army was about to launch a counterattack in the direction of the landing field. Blaskowitz did not notice this at all. He was still smiling to his chief of staff and said: "Chief of Staff, I was right. The Russians are at the bridgehead.
The shelling in this direction is just to deceive others, we must not be fooled."
"You are right, Commander." The Chief of Staff finally found an opportunity to flatter Blaskowitz, but he was not willing to give it up easily. He kept saying, "The Russians just want to attract me through shelling in the direction of the bridgehead.
Attention was drawn to the army in an attempt to deploy troops on the left bank and gain valuable time for them to establish defenses."
He pointed his hand at the chief of staff and ordered: "Call the two division commanders at the front and order them to ignore the Russian shelling. Once the Russians have fired all the shells, they will stop bombarding the bridgehead."
.”
Originally, according to the tradition of the German army, every time they were bombarded by the Soviet army, they would leave a small number of observation posts to closely monitor the movements of the Soviet army. But now they received several orders from the chief of staff of the group army, saying that the Russian artillery attack
It was to divert attention and reduce 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 artillery fire. They did not arrange observation posts to monitor the movements of the Soviet army. As a result, they did not discover that the large Soviet army was quietly moving under the cover of artillery fire.
Approaching German defensive positions.
When the artillery fire stopped, the German officers and soldiers who retreated to avoid the artillery fire were lazily preparing to return to their defensive positions. They found traces of Soviet troops on the positions where the smoke had not yet dissipated. They were suddenly shocked. Before they could wait,
In response, the other side opened fire first, catching the unprepared Germans by surprise.
Seeing their companions falling in pieces, the rest of the Germans realized something was wrong and figured out that the Russians in the smoke were not their hallucinations, but real existences. They even fired at them first, allowing them to
Many companions lost their lives as a result.
Just when the Germans were preparing to organize resistance, the Soviet commanders and fighters rushed out of the smoke like tigers descending from the mountain, charging with assault rifles and shooting wildly, beating the Germans to a rout.
The surviving German officers and soldiers saw that the situation was not good and ran back on their feet. Unexpectedly, not far away, a shell suddenly fell on the queue and exploded. A dozen soldiers near the explosion point were immediately blown to pieces.
The Germans took a closer look and found that it was a Soviet tank blocking their retreat, and they fired 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 them and fled in embarrassment would always encounter their own tanks and armored vehicles during their escape. Every time they encountered this situation,
The Russians have only two choices: one is to lay down their weapons and become prisoners, the other is to be eliminated by themselves.
Unexpectedly, two years later, the same thing happened to me. I saw tanks blocking the road in front, and Soviet troops rushing down the hillside like wolves and tigers behind. Except for a few stubborn soldiers, they also tried to break through the Soviet Union.
Outside the defense line established by the military tanks, the remaining soldiers dropped their weapons and lay obediently on the ground waiting for the Soviet troops to come up and capture the prisoners.
The force responsible for the counterattack in this area was Solomatin's mechanized army. In order to block the German attack some time ago, they paid heavy casualties. At this moment, seeing the German army lying on the ground and surrendering, some soldiers wanted to step forward to replenish their guns.
, but were stopped by their commander and told them that since the Germans had laid down their weapons, they could not kill prisoners of war casually.
The mechanized army's offensive section progressed smoothly entirely because of the tank brigade's assistance. However, Major Guchakov's infantry brigade encountered stubborn resistance from the German army during the counterattack. The enemy relied on hidden fortifications and rushed toward the charging soldiers.
The shooting caused considerable casualties to the troops.
When the third battalion, serving as the vanguard, was suppressed by German firepower and unable to move on the hillside, the battalion commander personally called Guchakov for help: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the enemy's firepower is too fierce and has caused us huge casualties."
, I ask for support, I ask for support!”
"Third Battalion Commander," but after Guchakov received the distress call from the Third Battalion Commander, he said angrily: "Don't your battalion have a few rocket launchers? Why don't you use them? Why don't you keep them?
?”
The third battalion commander who was criticized quickly defended himself and said: "Comrade Brigadier, the enemy only has a few firepower points. I think it is a waste to use the rocket launcher. We should save 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 themselves. If everyone dies,
If 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 a strict order from Guchakov, the third battalion commander had no choice but to order someone to fetch the bazooka hidden like a treasure, and approach the German fire points to shoot. With the bazooka, the enemy's fire points were attacked one after another.
Knock it off and the attacking troops can continue to advance forward.
Guchakov held up the telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield, then put down the telescope and said to Chief of Staff Askel: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the advancement speed of the third battalion is too slow. I think it is better to move the fourth battalion up.
Take over their attack."
Askel was also very dissatisfied with the performance of the third battalion. He did not see the fierce rush and fighting he had imagined. He only saw the commander's indecision and the soldiers' disorganized attacks. Several times, he thought that the troops
In the next second, he would rush into the enemy's trench and drive the enemy out of their position. As soon as they got close to the position, they were driven out by a small-scale German counterattack.
It is precisely because of this that after hearing Guchakov's order, he immediately nodded and said: "Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will immediately notify the Fourth Battalion to take over from the Third Battalion and launch an attack on the highlands."
The commanders and fighters of the fourth battalion were always on standby. Seeing the tepid fighting style of the third battalion, everyone stamped their feet anxiously. When the commander of the fourth battalion received the call from Askel, he jumped up and down with excitement.
After Gao put down the phone, he said to the soldiers waiting in the trench: "Comrades, I have just received an order from the brigade headquarters to immediately take over the attack on the high ground from the third battalion."
After hearing the fourth battalion commander's words, the commanders and soldiers cheered immediately.
As the commander of the fourth battalion said: "Let's go!" all the commanders and soldiers turned to the right in order, left the position along the gap in the trench, and quickly rushed towards the distant area where the third battalion was fighting.
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 have been ordered to take over your battalion's combat mission. Now, you can retreat to the back to rest and recuperate."
The commander of the third battalion knew that his performance on the battlefield today was really disappointing. When he saw the commander of the fourth battalion coming to take over his offensive mission, he didn't talk much. After a few brief explanations, he took the remaining subordinates with him.
Withdrew.
When Guchakov saw that the fourth battalion entered the position, its performance was very different from that of the third battalion. When encountering a fire point that blocked the way forward, the commanders and soldiers did not send people to carry explosive packages to conduct close-in blasting, but used rocket launchers to directly destroy them.
When the enemy rushes out to counterattack, just use grenades or assault rifles to greet them.
In this way, in less than twenty minutes, the commanders and fighters of the fourth battalion rushed into the German position and started close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemies in the trenches.
Seeing this scene in the distance, Guchakov nodded 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, not sloppy at all. When they encountered the enemy's firepower point, they did not waste time and used soldiers to carry explosive packages close to blast.
Instead of directly using rocket launchers to destroy the enemy's firepower points at long distances, it not only reduced the casualties of our troops, but also greatly accelerated the speed of attacking the enemy."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Guchakov said to Askel, looking at the high ground where the fierce fighting was still taking place in the distance: "When the fourth battalion takes over the position, we will move the second battalion up and let them take over the attack from the fourth battalion.
Continue to advance forward to consume the effective strength of the German army."
"What about the battalion?"
"One battalion?!" Guchakov shook his head when he thought that Mikhailev's first battalion had suffered a lot of casualties in the early defense battle. It was really unnecessary for them to participate in such an attack.
Said: "Forget it, the first battalion has lost more than 60% of its strength in the recent battles. Let's let them stay in the existing position and repair it. The offensive task will be completed by the other three battalions."
"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 him
They are ready to take over the attack." When he was about to make a 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 performed poorly in the battle, Guchakov understood that this was entirely due to the commander's problem, so he ordered Askel: "But let them accept the second battalion.