In June in Russia, the sky starts to light up at four o'clock in the morning, and the night does not really fall until eleven o'clock in the evening. Therefore, Zhukov chose the time of the attack at four o'clock in the morning, because the Germans were still sleeping in the shelter at this time, and the attack
The troops can clearly see the target to attack.
As soon as the time came for the attack, Kazakov ordered the artillery of the group army to fire at the enemy's position. In an instant, the enemy's position was shrouded in smoke. Zhukov stood in the observation post and raised his telescope to look at the enemy's position.
, although the smoke obscured his sight, he could still feel that the German troops on the position were scurrying around after being suddenly bombarded.
Sokov and Chief of Staff Potukin stayed in the observation post and were observing the shelled German positions through binoculars. After looking at it for a while, Potukin put down the binoculars and asked Sokov: "Comrade division commander, do you think the Germans will
Could it be that we have withdrawn to the second line of defense and our artillery is bombarding unoccupied positions?"
"It's possible." Since the attack was launched in a hurry, Sokov didn't know whether the Germans had noticed the Soviet attack was about to launch, so he said in an uncertain tone: "But our attack was launched successfully.
Suddenly, the Germans, perhaps without knowing it, were in their shelters being bombed."
Sokov did not continue to struggle with Potukin on this issue, but asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is the 1139th Regiment ready for an attack?"
"I just called the regiment leader, Colonel Mamendov," Potukin quickly replied after hearing Sokov's question: "He said that the entire regiment has made all preparations and can go into battle at any time."
The former commander of the 1139th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Ajik, made command errors during the battle to liberate Zizdra and was dismissed from his post. His replacement was the former commander of the 322nd Division, Colonel Mamendov.
His poor performance on the battlefield made Zhukov furious and threatened to assign him to Sokov's staff as a battalion commander. But how could Rokossovsky let a division commander become a battalion commander? So he let him
He took over Ajik's position and served as the commander of the 1139th Regiment.
After Mamendov learned that he was about to launch an attack in the direction of Bryansk, he was eager to make atonement and immediately found Sokov and offered to let the 1139th Regiment serve as the vanguard of the division and take the lead in attacking the enemy. Seeing that he was eager to fight,
After some thought, Sokov agreed.
As soon as the shelling stopped and the smoke covering the German positions had not dissipated, Mamendorf jumped on a tank, raised his assault rifle high, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, for the motherland, for Stalin
~!Forward~!”
As soon as his shouts ended, the soldiers climbed out of the trenches where they were hiding, shouting "Ula!~" and rushed forward behind the tanks.
Through the telescope, Zhukov saw the charging 1139th Regiment. On top of the tank charging at the front, there was actually a commander holding a spear in his hand. After seeing the opponent's military rank clearly, he couldn't help but frowned.
, turned to Rokossovsky and asked: "Rokossovsky, I want to ask you, when did your army group start and the colonel also led the charge?"
Rokossovsky quickly raised his telescope and looked at it for a moment, then replied: "Comrade General, the person on the tank is Colonel Mamendov, the commander of the 1139th Regiment."
Zhukov said displeasedly: "As a regiment commander, his duty is to stay in the rear and command the troops in combat, not to charge into the battle like an ordinary soldier."
"Comrade General," Rokossovsky quickly explained to Zhukov, "perhaps he is trying to make atonement for his sins."
"What about meritorious service?" Zhukov looked at Rokossovsky and asked in confusion: "Did he make any mistake?"
Rokossovsky felt a little speechless when he saw Zhukov looking like a noble man and forgetting things. Fortunately, Malinin, who was standing aside, said in time: "Comrade General, have you forgotten that we attacked Zizdra last month?"
In the battle, because Colonel Mamendorf performed poorly, you relieved him of his position as commander of the 322nd Infantry Division and assigned him to the 31st Guards Division as battalion commander."
"Even if he is the battalion commander, it is inappropriate for a colonel to lead the troops to charge into battle like this." Zhukov muttered quietly: "Besides, he is not the battalion commander now, but the regiment commander."
After holding up the telescope and staring at Mamendorf for a while, Zhukov suddenly asked curiously: "What weapon is he holding in his hand? Why have I never seen it before?"
"It's the automatic rifle provided to us by the Weaponry and Equipment Department." Rokossovsky quickly replied, "Currently, Major Sokov's troops are equipped with fifty. Judging from the effect on the battlefield, this weapon's
The performance is quite good.”
"What is the name of this weapon? Automatic gun?" Zhukov frowned: "It sounds like the name of a submachine gun. Is there a name that is easier to remember?"
"Yes," Rokossovsky nodded and replied, "Major Sokov said that this new type of firearm successfully combines the best tactical and technical performance inherent in rifles and submachine guns in accordance with the requirements of modern warfare.
up, hence the name 'assault rifle'."
"This name is quite appropriate." After hearing this, Zhukov nodded and asked: "Why are Sokov's troops only equipped with such good firearms in small quantities? What is going on?"
"That's it, Comrade General." Rokossovsky explained to Zhukov: "This weapon was invented by Sokov, so Comrade Ustinov decided to use the first batch of guns produced as
Give it to Sokov's troops to test the performance of this weapon on the battlefield."
Rokossovsky's words surprised Zhukov: "What, this rifle was actually invented by Misha? Are you kidding me?"
"No, Comrade General, I am definitely not joking with you." Rokossovsky replied: "In addition to this assault rifle, he also invented a new type of rocket launcher, but it is still under intense development. For the time being,
There are no equipped troops.”
"I've seen it. Our army already had rocket launchers before the war. What else is he studying?" Zhukov heard this and criticized with some dissatisfaction: "It's simply not doing its job properly."
Just when Rokossovsky was about to continue to defend Sokov, Malinin on the side suddenly shouted in surprise: "Comrade commanders, look, they are rushing forward, our troops are rushing forward."
Zhukov and Rokossovsky both raised their telescopes and looked towards the German positions in the distance. They saw a Soviet tank parked in front of the German trenches. Mamendorf, standing on the tank,
With the assault rifle in his hand, he aimed at the enemy in the trench and fired the machine gun, then jumped off the tank and jumped into the trench. The soldiers who followed saw that the commander had taken the lead and jumped into the trench, and they felt like dumplings.
As if, he jumped into the trench with a plop.
"Performed very bravely." Zhukov was very satisfied with Mamendorf's performance. He turned to Rokossovsky and asked: "Who is the current commander of the 322nd Division?"
"Due to the lack of commanders, the Army Headquarters has not yet appointed a new division commander." Ma Lining said cautiously from the side: "The division chief of staff is responsible for all work in the division."
Zhukov nodded and raised the telescope again: "His punishment is almost over. If he is still alive at the end of the battle, let him go back and continue to be his division commander."
While the 1139th Regiment captured the German position, the commanders and fighters of the 323rd Division, which belonged to their right-wing infantry corps, also successfully rushed into the enemy's first position, jumped into the trenches, and engaged in close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
Seeing that the troops of the 323rd Infantry Division and the 31st Guards Division had captured the enemy's defensive positions in a very short period of time, Zhukov nodded and said with satisfaction: "Well done, our soldiers are all good."
Like this! If this trend continues, I think our troops will be able to reach the outskirts of Bryansk by noon tomorrow at the latest."
After occupying the first line of defense of the German army, the troops continued to advance towards the second line of defense. Just when everything seemed to be going extremely smoothly, something unexpected happened, and the German artillery position deployed in the distance opened fire fiercely.
A fire net was built in front. The tanks that had just dug a passage for the infantry through the barbed wire and minefields became the priority targets of artillery fire. Seeing tanks one after another being hit by bullets and bursting into flames in front of the German position, Rokoso
Fsky couldn't help but feel angry.
After Zhukov saw this situation, he calmly ordered the staff he brought with him: "Get in touch with the air force immediately and let them go into battle immediately. The bombers are responsible for attacking targets deep within the German army, while the attack aircraft attack the German infantry positions."
As the Soviet fighter planes entered the battle, the German artillery fire became sparse. The Soviet soldiers, who had been suppressed by the artillery fire, got up from the ground, jumped over the burning tanks, and bravely rushed towards the German position.
The German officers and soldiers who stood firm in the position were unwilling to let the commanders and soldiers easily rush into the position. They used machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and even pistols to form a firepower network to block the path of the Soviet army's advance. Soviet soldiers fell in pieces.
In front of the enemy's position, the remaining ones still bravely charged forward.
"What the hell, what's going on?" Seeing his troops engaging in a head-to-head battle with the Germans, Sokov couldn't help but frowned. He knew very well in his heart that this attrition style of play would have a negative impact on his own health.
The troops were at a disadvantage, but under the current circumstances, he could only watch helplessly and could do nothing.
The Soviet bombers were bombing the German artillery positions, preventing them from concentrating on bombarding the attacking soldiers; regardless of the attack aircraft swooping down from high altitudes and using their airborne machine guns to straf the German positions, they also weakened the German firepower to a certain extent.
.
Potugin felt a little anxious when he saw that the 1139th Regiment suffered heavy casualties but was still unable to break through the German positions. He turned to Sokov for instructions and said: "Comrade Division Commander, please send the 1135th and 1137th Regiments up as well.
Maybe they can break through the German defenses once they get up there."
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, we can't send the other two regiments up now." After carefully observing the enemy's resistance, Sokov said to Potukin: "The enemy's firepower is very cute and they fight very tenaciously.
Didn't you see that when they were strafed by aircraft, there were still many soldiers who dared to stand up and shoot at the soldiers rushing towards the trenches? Let alone two regiments, even if two divisions were sent forward, it would be difficult to break through the enemy's defenses
."
The same problem also faced Orlov. Ratshev, the military political commissar who was watching the battle with him, asked: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's firepower is too strong and our troops cannot rush up. You see?"
Should we send another division up for reinforcements?"
Perhaps because of the lesson of the failed attack on Zhizdra, Orlov did not easily put the remaining two divisions into battle. Instead, he ordered the chief of staff to get through the phone call of the group army headquarters, and he was going to call Rokossov.
After asking for instructions, Ski decided whether the other two divisions should be put into battle.
Rokossovsky was in a bit of a dilemma after receiving Orlov's call. Although there was support from the air force, the firepower on the German positions was still very fierce, making it difficult for the attacking troops to continue advancing. If more troops were rushed in at this time,
If there are too many troops, the next battle will be difficult to fight.
Seeing Rokossovsky's hesitation, Zhukov asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what are you worried about?"
"Comrade General," Rokossovsky replied: "If we invest more troops now, then when our army reaches Bryansk, there will not be many troops capable of fighting."
"Our current task is to break through the German defenses and quickly rush to Bryansk." Zhukov looked at Rokossovsky and said: "Sometimes the necessary sacrifices are completely worth it."
Seeing that Zhukov advocated putting more troops into the battle, Rokossovsky did not refute, but said into the microphone: "General Orlov, immediately put the 97th Infantry Division into the battle, and strive to win the battle in the shortest possible time.
, break through the German second line of defense."
"Also, the regiment of the 31st Guards Division is fighting very hard in the front." Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky to put down the phone and said without looking back: "Call Sokov.
Ask him why he didn't send the reserve team up, are he prepared to watch this regiment being wiped out?"
The reason Sokov has not put the other two regiments into battle is because he does not want to waste his troops in this meaningless battle of positional attrition. However, after receiving Rokossovsky's stern order to attack,
He could only bite the bullet and give an order to Pavel, asking him to immediately lead the 1137th Regiment to reinforce the 1139th Regiment which suffered heavy casualties.
When the troops led by Pavel set off, he smiled bitterly and said to Potukin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although orders from superiors can only be carried out unconditionally, regardless of whether they are right or wrong, I can tell you in advance that what we are launching today will