"That's right, Comrade Rokossovsky." Putukhin was so excited that his voice trembled: "Just got in touch with the radio station of a field airfield near Dubno. According to the report of the airport commander, they now have 36 planes of various types, including reconnaissance planes, attack planes, ground attack planes, and light bombers. I have ordered reconnaissance planes to be dispatched to conduct reconnaissance within our borders. ”

After Putukhin finished speaking, Rokossovsky couldn't help but ask: "General Putukhin, more than a day has passed since yesterday morning, how did you get in touch with a field airfield?" What the hell is going on? ”

Putukhin shook his head and said helplessly: "As you know, due to the disruption of communication links, all the communication with all airports has been cut off. According to the regulations, communication between airports and higher authorities can only be done by telephone, so these airports can only remain on standby without being notified by phone. The person in charge of this airport ordered the operator to use the radio station to communicate with the outside world at the risk of going to court-martial."

"General Putukhin, although my position is lower than that of you, and I have no right to dictate the affairs of the Air Force, I firmly suggest that you immediately send someone to the field airfield, inform all the airport commanders, and let them contact you by radio, quickly!" Rokossovsky did not have time to comment on the sluggish order of the Soviet troops, but hurriedly said: "If our ground forces are not supported by the air force, there is a possibility of being routed." ”

"Is it really that serious?" When Putukhin heard Rokossovsky say this, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face: "Do you know that our army, the most powerful army in the world, will it also lose the battle?" ”

"General Putukhin, according to credible intelligence, our troops heading to the border are constantly being bombarded and strafed by the enemy from the air." Rokossovsky knew that from the beginning of the war to the present, Putukhin had been in the telecommunications room almost all the time, in contact with the field airfield, and did not know the specific situation at present. Therefore, he patiently said: "You should immediately get in touch with Comrade Commander of the Front and, with his consent, send the air force to cover our troops on their way to the border, and carry out a concentrated assault on the airfield nearest to the German tanks and motorized machines for several days." ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, what you said is quite reasonable." Perhaps out of trust in Rokossovsky, Putukhin simply continued: "I will go to the telegraph room and contact the commander of the front and relay your proposal to him." With that, he turned around and was about to walk out of the command headquarters, but was stopped by Rokossovsky.

Putukhin didn't know why Rokossovsky suddenly stopped him, and quickly stopped and looked at the other party in surprise. With a smile on his face, Rokossovsky pulled him to the table, pointed to the map spread out on it and said to him: "General Putukhin, my troops and Fedyuninsky's are preparing to attack Vladimir Volynsky. The biggest headache for us now is the enemy's artillery. Had it not been intercepted by their powerful artillery fire, the attack launched by our 124th Infantry Division in the early hours of the morning would have been victorious. ”

"What do you need me to do?" Putukhin asked briefly.

"It's very simple, you first send reconnaissance aircraft to find out the location of the German artillery positions." Rokossovsky knew that the final victory of the offensive of the troops depended entirely on the ability of the air force to take out the enemy's artillery positions, so he stated his requirements in detail: "As soon as the enemy's artillery position is ascertained, bombers will be dispatched to bomb it." In addition, I would like to ask you to send out ground attack aircraft to attack the enemy's positions and cover the offensive of the ground forces. ”

After listening to this, Putukhin stared at the map for a while and added: "To be on the safe side, I will send all the attack planes out to escort the bombers." ”

A few hours later, with the order of Rokossovsky, who had just reached the front, the Soviet offensive on the German positions began again. Novikov ordered the tanks of the vanguard regiment to form a battle formation, riding the infantry of the 45th Division, and launched a rapid assault on the enemy's positions.

Rokossovsky was well aware of the casualties caused by Novikov's tactics, but he remained silent, because in order to get as fast as possible to approach the enemy's position, it was effective to charge with tanks and troops. And the infantry on the tank, which can also destroy the enemy's anti-tank crews.

As soon as the tanks of the tank division approached the first line of the enemy, the enemy's artillery opened fire to intercept them. Rokossovsky's heart felt as if someone had been struck at him when he saw the shells constantly falling around the tank and exploding, raising clouds of black smoke and flying shrapnel to tear down the infantry one after another.

Scherstyuk, who was at the observation post, was also heartbroken to see the constant casualties of his troops in the enemy's shelling. He couldn't help but suggest to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, do you see if you let the tanks stop for a while?" Let them stop where they are and shell the enemy's positions with tank artillery to cover the charge of our infantry? ”

"It's useless, Commander Scherstyuk." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "Even if the tank stops in place and covers the infantry charge with artillery fire, it is useless." You know, they are really under the bombardment of enemy artillery, and these artillery positions are far beyond the range of our tank divisions. ”

"Comrade commander, at such a time, we can only continue to rush forward." Novikov was deeply afraid that Rokossovsky's idea would be shaken, so he hurriedly pointed to the burning tanks on the battlefield in the distance and said to him: "You see, we already have more than a dozen tanks, destroyed by enemy fire. If we withdraw from the battle at this time, more tanks will be destroyed, so we can only continue to rush forward, as long as we break through the enemy position and become entangled with the enemy defenders, we will not be hit by artillery fire again. ”

Rokossovsky looked up into the air, hoping that the air support promised by Putukhin would arrive sooner. As long as the enemy's artillery positions are destroyed, the several defensive positions in front are irrelevant, and the tanks of the tank division can be lined up in a dense formation, without firing at all, and directly run over the German ranks, while the infantry men follow behind, chasing and destroying the fleeing German soldiers.

As soon as the thought came to mind, the roar of airplanes was heard in the air. When more than two dozen planes passed over the observation post, Rokossovsky, when he saw the red five-pointed star symbol on the fuselage with his telescope, suddenly understood in his heart that it was the air force sent by Putukhin to support him.

After the planes reached the German position, some of them continued to fly forward, while others circled in place. Rokossovsky knew that the planes that were going away must have bombed the German artillery positions, while the remaining planes were preparing to launch a ground attack to cover the troops to break through the German defensive positions.

It didn't take long for the shells falling in the tank squadron to become sparse, and black smoke rose in the distance, and Rokossovsky knew that it was our air force that was bombing the enemy's positions. The planes hovering over the battlefield apparently noticed this, so they began to dive, their on-board machine guns screaming loudly, trying their best to chase the figures of the German soldiers on the position, frantically harvesting their lives.

The German officers and men, who had been hiding in the fortifications and watching their own artillery show, were blinded by the sudden air attack, and they ran around in panic in an attempt to escape the blow from the air. But often they don't get far before they are either killed by machine-gun bullets from airplanes or blown up into the sky by shells fired by tanks.

Seeing that the planes that had gone away were flying back again, Rokossovsky knew that the German artillery positions had been completely destroyed, and the remaining enemy was nothing to worry about. So he put down his binoculars and said to Novikov and Scherstyuk, who were standing on the right and left: "Comrade two division commanders, our air force has destroyed the enemy's artillery positions. I order, the whole army to attack at once! ”

"Yes!" The two division commanders replied in unison.

With the order to attack Rokossovsky, it was lively outside, except for all the tanks that were carrying infantry, the trucks that were originally used to transport troops were also crowded with infantry. Before the smoke and dust on the battlefield had cleared, Novikov and Scherstyuk personally commanded the troops, with tanks in front and trucks behind, rumbling towards the enemy's positions.

In the face of the Soviet army's air-ground coordination in the offensive, the German resistance in the defensive position was somewhat insignificant. A machine-gun fire point had just fired a few shots before a shell shot into the sky; A German commander managed to gather a dozen soldiers in one place, and before he could decide whether to fight or flee, a bomb fell from the sky and blew up his flesh and blood, and before the surviving soldiers could stand up, they were shot into a sieve by the commanders and fighters in the truck that rushed up......

Half an hour later, Novikov sent a staff officer to report to Rokossovsky that the troops had broken through all German defensive positions, joined up with the 87th Division in the city, and were engaged in street battles with the enemy.

Rokossovsky knew in his heart that although his troops had broken through the German defenses and achieved a rendezvous with the defenders of the city, there were more brutal battles waiting for him. He instructed his staff officers: "Comrade Staff Officer, go back and tell General Novikov that he should take advantage of the favorable opportunity when the enemy is in chaos, cooperate with friendly troops to drive the enemy out, and quickly regain control of the city in our hands." ”