-- Defense area of the 16th Army

Colonel Lidyukov's 1st Motorized Infantry Division and Kirillov's 38th Infantry Division, shortly after retreating to the east bank, the Germans, unwilling to accept defeat, continued to launch a fierce attack on the Soviet positions with the support of aircraft, artillery and tanks. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The battle lasted for a day and a night, and the troops holding their positions suffered heavy casualties due to heavy German artillery fire. In order to prevent the troops from being completely annihilated by German artillery fire and bombardment, Rokossovsky decisively gave the troops the order to retreat after repeated reflections.

After Rokossovsky gave the order, Malinin tried to persuade his superiors to retract his order and change the tactical plan: "Comrade commander, I think that our commanders and fighters are tenacious enough to block the German attack, and if they retreat at such a time, it is easy to cause the morale of the army to waver......

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, needless to say." Rokossovsky didn't wait for him to finish, then interrupted his later words and said with a blank face: "I know that our commanders and fighters have shown great bravery in the battle, but we can't just order them to stay in their positions in order to hold their positions, and let the German artillery fire wipe them out little by little." ”

"But Comrade Commander," Ma Linin continued, "our commanders and fighters are not afraid of sacrifice, and even if there is only one person left, they will never give up their positions." Their slogan is: It is better to leave the bones exposed in the wilderness than to take a step back. ”

Rokossovsky stared at Malinin for a moment, then smiled. He said with a relaxed expression: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the contest between us and the Germans is like two fighters fighting on the stage. If you want to knock down the opponent, you must first withdraw your fist, so that the force of the punch can be large enough. Okay, no more talk, you go and give orders. ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky's attitude was so resolute, Malinin had to reluctantly agree, and then went to call Lidyukov and Kirillov and inform them to abandon their existing positions, withdraw their troops, and rebuild a new defense in a new section.

As soon as Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to leave, he looked up and asked Kazakov, who was standing next to him, who was silent: "Comrade Chief of Artillery, how many artillery pieces can you use today?" ”

When Kazakov heard Rokossovsky ask, his eyes lit up: "Comrade commander, are you going to immediately launch a flash artillery attack on the Germans?" ”

"There will be no artillery use today for the time being." After Rokossovsky said this, seeing the disappointed expression on Kazakov's face, he continued: "But sooner or later, it will be used." By the way, you haven't answered my question yet. ”

"There are sixty artillery pieces of various calibers, as well as the same number of mortars." After reporting these data, Kazakov thought for a moment and added: "There is also a rocket artillery battalion, but if you want to use it, you need to apply to the front command." ”

Lobachev and Rokossovsky haven't been together for a long time, but he has heard something special from their conversations. After waiting for Kazakov to finish speaking, he asked Rokossovsky with a smile: "Comrade commander, are you planning to wait for more German troops to cross the Wopi River, and then use our artillery fire to teach them a hard lesson?" ”

Seeing that Lobachev saw through his intentions, Rokossovsky smiled slightly, and then said: "That's right, last time we let Colonel Orlov's 108th Division retreat, but it only attracted one regiment of German troops, this time I hope the Germans can be generous and send more troops over, preferably a division, so that we can give them a profound lesson that they will never forget." ”

"How?" Lobachev asked curiously.

"It's very simple," Rokossovsky said after calling Malinin as well, and when he returned to his side, he took the opportunity to tell several people about his plan: "I intend to draw as many Germans as possible from the west bank of the Wopi River and hold them back in a small area." Then we will bombard them with all our artillery by surprise, and when they have been dizzy, we will order the troops in the front line to counterattack. By the way, Chief of Staff, is the cavalry regiment that the Front Command allocated to us yesterday in place? ”

"It's all in place, Comrade Commander." Malinin pointed to the map in front of him and said to everyone: "This cavalry regiment is from the 50th Cavalry Division under the command of General Pliev, and they are currently deployed in the forest here. ”

After Rokossovsky figured out the position of the cavalry, he continued: "After the counterattack battle begins, while we let the infantry launch a counterattack from the front, the cavalry will fight out from the flank of the German army, cutting the enemy into two sections, so that they cannot look at each other, so that we can speed up the destruction of the enemy by our army." ”

No one objected to Rokossovsky's statement, on the contrary, several people nodded in unison. Kazakov even put forward his own opinion: "Comrade commander, when our troops carry out a counterattack, I think that the artillery fire should not be stopped, but should concentrate on bombarding the rear of the German troops and cut them off from the west bank of the river." ”

Ma Linin, as chief of staff, thought about much more things than others, he stared at the map for a while, and then asked: "Comrade commander, I don't know if we will be able to get cover from the air force when the shelling begins?" If the Germans have air supremacy on the battlefield, then our artillery will be bombed by German aircraft and countered by artillery after the target is exposed, which may cause serious consequences. ”

Although Malinin's words were very tactful, everyone knew that the serious consequence he was talking about was that all the artillery of the 16th Army would be lost in this battle. Kazakov looked up at Rokossovsky and asked with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, is it worth it for us to take such a risk without the cover of the Air Force?" ”

"It's worth taking the risk, and it has to be taken." As soon as Rokossovsky waited for Kazakov to finish speaking, he immediately replied without hesitation: "At present, Zhukov's troops are counterattacking Yelnya, holding back a large number of German troops, so that they cannot spare more places to encircle Kiev. And the harder and better we fight here, the pressure on Comrade Zhukov will be relatively weakened. ”

…………

In the early morning of September 2, all the artillery of the 16th Army began shelling the German troops on the east bank of the Wopi River. When the shelling just began, the fighters of the 152nd Infantry Division, who participated in the counterattack, had already entered the sortie position, and as the artillery fire unfolded, the density of the shelling became more and more dense, and the shells crossed the heads of the fighters in pieces and groups, and flew towards the area where the Germans were assembled.

In the rolling thunder, the enemy's position was blown to the ground, accompanied by a faint tremor from the feet of the Soviet soldiers, and the sand and gravel clods rolling down from the side walls of the trenches from time to time. As patches of orange exploded in the distance, and black smoke clouds rose under the flashing fireballs that exploded, the recruits who had just replenished had never seen such a spectacular scene, they were stirred up by the fierce artillery fire, and they were eager to kill them immediately, and at the same time hoped to see it for a while. Under the torment of waiting for this contradiction of mutual protection, the soldiers stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks from the trenches to look around, and whispered their views on the shelling.

Commanders and veterans at all levels, however, did not have the time to spare, they walked back and forth in the trenches, beating and kicking again loudly reminding these recruits: "Be ready for battle, and attack as soon as the artillery stops." … If you don't want to die, follow the veterans for a while... Even if a shell explodes nearby, don't run around... Once the attack begins, they can only rush forward, and anyone who retreats will be treated as deserters..."

Fortunately, the waiting time was not long, and after ten minutes, the soldiers jumped out of the trench and advanced forward under the guidance of the whistle and the commander. The soldiers bent down and advanced in the direction of the shelling, the movement of the shell explosion became louder and louder, even if they were upwind, the soldiers could smell the pungent smell of gunsmoke, the commanders pinched the time to lead the team, the veterans shouted at each other, so that the recruits below began to distance themselves, they leaned down and began to run slowly, and the queue of sorties in the run was gradually unfolding.

In the division headquarters a few hundred meters away, Colonel Chernyshov, the commander of the 152nd Division, looked at the advancing commanders and fighters with a telescope, and complained to the chief of staff of the division standing next to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me, what tactics did Comrade Commander use?" Let the counterattacking forces, at the risk of accidental bombing, charge before the shelling has stopped, and without outflanking, without assist...... All-out charge and frontal assault without any secondary tactics. To put it mildly, this is simply a tactical plan for blind fighting. ”

Hearing Chernyshov say this, the chief of staff of the division also said with deep emotion: "That's right, comrade division commander, I don't dare to agree with this tactic used by the commander. Although to a certain extent, we may be able to achieve some unexpected effects, but the price paid is too great to outweigh the losses, not to mention that there are so many new recruits in our troops, and there is a danger of being blown up by our own artillery fire at any time. ”

Captain Chernishov sighed and said: "Forget it, Comrade Chief of Staff. Since it was a tactic set by the superiors, we just did it. Don't forget that, according to the regulations, the orders of the superiors are not allowed to be discussed and can only be executed. Let's hope our troops don't get too miserable later. ”

The twenty-minute shelling had just stopped for a moment, and most of the German soldiers who had survived the shelling were still sitting on the ground in a daze, and before they could react, the heavy shelling once again streaked across the sky. The veterans of the 152nd Infantry Division knew that this was an extension of artillery fire, and according to previous training, it was almost time to charge.

Sure enough, the shrill whistle and the shouts of the commander suddenly sounded, and the soldiers immediately launched a tsunami-like charge towards the German position. The artillery fire was extending, the soldiers were charging, and the two infantry battalions fully equipped with light machine guns and submachine guns, as the arrows of the entire attacking force, and the "pin" shape formed by the two main regiments behind them, like a sharp knife, quickly penetrated into the German defense line, and they risked being accidentally bombed by their own artillery fire, jumped into the trenches, aimed at the enemy and poured a dense rain of bullets, sweeping over the German soldiers who were still in the fog.

Although the Soviet army took the initiative from the very beginning of the battle, the German army that conquered the whole of Europe was also quite powerful, especially those German commanders, who had extremely rich experience in leading troops and fighting all year round, so that they could make correct judgments in time according to the situation on the battlefield. Even if their own troops were dizzy by the Soviet army's tricks and fierce artillery fire, they still relied on their keen sense of smell to quickly send troops to reinforce against the extended artillery fire.

However, in the face of the barely organized defensive line of the surviving German troops, and the enemy troops who had already been reinforced, the two battalions as arrows attacked each other alternately, smashing them like two sledgehammers in succession, and under their superior firepower and extremely ferocious attacks, the German soldiers were beaten back one after another.

At the same time, thousands of cavalry of the Soviet cavalry regiment suddenly burst out of the oblique thorns. They were the first to insert diagonally from the flank of the German army, turning the German troops who were reinforced afterwards upside down. Although the cavalry began to decline gradually after the advent of automatic firearms, it is undeniable that the Soviet cavalry, which has always been valued, has a very good effect on the charge launched by the infantry without a preset position in this kind of field battle.

The riders clung to their horses and stretched their sabers forward, and the cold light flashed through the blades, causing a rain of blood to explode in the sky. The German soldiers were chopped and knocked into the air in extreme fear, they were cut in two and trampled into flesh under the high-speed impact of their horses, and the cavalry was rolling over their heads, and the flesh and blood were splattered on the horses' hooves. The riders leaped over the corpses of the Germans on the ground, like a red-hot knife cutting through the pieces of butter. The invincible cavalry, using the enemy's flesh and blood to pave a red road for the infantry, did not stop after cutting through the rout, and went straight to the depth of the German defense.

Under the influence of their cavalry comrades, the attacking infantry soldiers erupted into waves of higher and higher waves, and soon crushed the enemy in front of them. After defeating the enemy in front of them, the Soviet commanders and fighters became more and more courageous, and the first two infantry battalions were rapidly deployed in companies, and they relied on their superiority in firepower to form a number of arrows, and they fought and rushed all the way, not entangled with the rout, and did not give the enemy any respite, tearing open the way from the intercepted enemy troops, and killing one bloody road after another, and the battalions of the main force of the regiment followed closely behind and quickly divided, driving hundreds of defeated and fleeing enemy troops to the Wopi River.

The German commanders never expected that the Soviet army would be so crazy, and even launched a counterattack at the time of the shelling, and followed by the extended artillery fire to charge, especially the Soviet cavalry completely ignored the accidental damage of the artillery fire, and rushed straight from their own rout, they were caught off guard by this unprecedented tactic. Just as the dense artillery fire had just fallen, the earth had already begun to tremble slightly under the trampling of thousands of iron horsemen. (To be continued.) )