"What, you found enemy artillery positions?" Rokossovsky had just sat down, and when he heard the exciting news that Felip said, he immediately jumped up from his seat, and he nervously asked: "In what position, how large, how many alert troops are there?" ”

Before Rokossovsky led his troops to Shepetovka to set up defenses, he wishfully thought that there were quite a few hillsides here. In this way, he could build most of his defensive positions on the slopes of the hills. When confronted with the enemy's frenzied artillery bombardment before the attack, he left only a few observation posts in the frontal position, and the rest of the troops moved to the anti-slope position. When the enemy attacked, they entered the position from behind the hillside and gave the enemy a head-on attack. But when he arrived in Shepetovka, he found that the terrain around the city was flat, not to mention the mountains, and even the hills could not be seen twice. All fortifications could only be built on unobstructed plains, and when the enemy shelled or bombarded, the commanders and fighters could only huddle in their positions and be bombarded.

True, seeing the constant casualties of the troops in artillery fire and bombardment, Rokossovsky thought in his heart that the enemy's airfield was too far away to send people to attack, it was obviously unrealistic. The only thing that could be done was to destroy the enemy's artillery positions, which would also greatly reduce the casualties of the troops. He was planning to send out a reconnaissance detachment after dark to find out the location of the enemy's artillery positions. Unexpectedly, now I actually heard Captain Fripp say that they had discovered enemy artillery.

Hearing Rokossovsky's barrage of questions, Felip hesitated for a moment, then replied: "Comrade Army Commander, the enemy's artillery positions are about ten kilometers from here, arranged near a forest. According to the number of artillery, it should be two artillery battalions. There are not many troops on guard, probably only about one company. ”

"Where?" Rokossovsky shoved the map on the table in front of Fripp, and then ordered: "Comrade Captain, please show me that position." ”

Perip leaned his head over, stared at the map for a long time, then pointed to a location and said decisively: "Comrade Commander, here it is." That's right, right here. ”

Rokossovsky looked at the position that Felip was pointing at, and then looked up and asked Lyon, who was standing next to him without saying a word: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if you send your first battalion of tanks to attack, will you be able to take out the enemy's artillery positions?" ”

As soon as his words fell, Liao En shook him like a rattle: "No, Comrade Commander, this will definitely not work!" Seeing Rokossovsky's displeasure, he hurriedly added: "You must know that this is all plains, and if we send tank units to attack the German artillery positions, it is estimated that we will be discovered by the enemy four or five kilometers away." At such a distance, our tank guns could not reach the enemy, while enemy shells could hit us. Perhaps the attacking troops were completely wiped out, and the enemy's artillery positions remained unscathed. ”

Originally, Rokossovsky couldn't help but want to get angry when he heard his previous words, but when he heard his later words, he tried to suppress the anger in his heart. He walked back and forth in the observation post a few times with his hands behind his back, and then asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, since you can't send tanks to attack, do you have any other suggestions?" ”

"Air Force, unless the Air Force is dispatched." Liao En said without hesitation: "As long as our bombers are dispatched, let alone one artillery position, even ten artillery positions, they can be razed to the ground." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you must know that what we lack now happens to be air supremacy." Rokossovsky said with a bitter face: "From the outbreak of the war to the present, almost all the planes that have appeared in the sky are Germans, and our planes were either blown up on the airfield at the moment of the outbreak of the war, or because there was no fuel and ammunition, so that they could not take off to meet the battle. ”

Captain Fripp suddenly spoke: "Comrade Commander, I have a suggestion that perhaps the enemy's artillery positions can be destroyed. ”

"Really, Comrade Captain?" When Rokossovsky heard Felip say this, he stopped abruptly and said in surprise: "Hurry up and tell me what you think." (To be continued.) )