After Rokossovsky had finished assigning the task and asked the commanders to return to their units, Kazakov suddenly said to him: "Comrade commander, I think that in addition to building regular artillery positions, we should also use the terrain along the river to set up false targets and firing points to induce the German artillery to waste shells. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

Rokossovsky agreed to Kazakov's proposal almost without hesitation, and urged him: "Comrade artillery chief, it is important to let the artillery commanders and fighters speed up the construction, because the group of the enemy on which we attack depends entirely on when the artillery fires at the enemy. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Kazakov assured Rokossovsky: "Although our artillery was put together on an improvised basis, they were all rigorously trained and of a high technical and tactical level. At present, more than half of the artillery has entered the designated position, and the muzzle of the gun has been raised high, pointing directly at the German defensive position. As long as the artillery observers can transmit the observation data back in time, then when all the artillery is in position, the shelling of the enemy can begin. ”

While the artillery was building up positions, Rokossovsky instructed Malinin to send a telegram to Timoshenko, in addition to reporting to him that the troops had occupied positions on the west bank of the Vopi River, and at the same time imploring him to send a telegram to the commanders of the besieged 16th, 19th, and 20th armies, asking the friendly forces to cooperate with the night battle and jump out of the enemy's encirclement as soon as possible.

When the telegram drawn up by Rokossovsky was sent, the deputy commander, Major General Vinogradov, said with some concern: "Comrade commander, do you think that our offensive tonight will be able to reach the envisaged goal and rescue all the besieged friendly forces?" ”

Rokossovsky was silent for a long time before he spoke: "General Vinogradov, I think it is difficult for me to answer this question of yours. Although Comrade Marshal could inform several commanders of the group armies about our attack tonight, it is not very clear whether they will be able to cooperate with us in the battle. We can only do our best to launch an attack on the enemy's defensive positions, and we can save as much as we can. ”

Lukin, who was holding on to the south of Kiev, immediately summoned Lobachev, the military commissar of the army group, and Major General Shalin, the chief of staff, to the temporary headquarters for a meeting after receiving the telegram forwarded by Timoshenko.

The first to speak was the military commissar Lobachev, the divisional commissar who said slowly: "Comrade commander, although in the telegram sent by the marshal, it was mentioned that General Rokossovsky's troops launched a surprise attack this evening from the defensive positions east of Yaltsevo, first recovering Yaltsevo, then forcibly crossing the Vopi River and establishing a consolidated position on the west bank of the river. On the surface, the situation seems to be very favorable to us, but the commanders and fighters of the friendly forces should have become very tired after the fierce fighting, and they need to rest now, not continue fighting. ”

After Lobachev's words, Shalin continued: "Comrade commander, I think the military commissar has a good point. Regardless of General Rokossovsky's troops, the offensive launched in the evening achieved a lot of success, but it was not so easy to take advantage of the victory and break through the encirclement formed by the German army east of Smolensk in one fell swoop. ”

After listening to the somewhat inappropriate remarks made by his military commissar and chief of staff, Lukin couldn't help but be stunned, "Lobachev, Shalin, I don't understand what you mean?" ”

Lobachev smiled and glanced at the chief of staff, then looked at Lukin and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how strong the enemy's defensive positions are, I just don't say it, you should also understand. In addition to our army group, the 19th and 20th armies launched more than a dozen assaults on the enemy's defensive positions, but in the end they all ended in failure. Since neither of the two elite army groups could open a gap in the encirclement of the German army, could a temporary patchwork unit like General Rokossovsky open the gap? Moreover, his troops had just gone through a fierce battle, and their overall strength must have been greatly reduced. ”

After Lobachev's explanation, Lukin finally understood what was going on. He smiled bitterly and said, "Comrade Military Commissar, I understand what you mean. You are worried that the offensive of General Rokossovsky's troops tonight will not achieve any results at all, so it is not advisable to send troops to cooperate, lest we consume all the little troops we have in vain. Am I understanding correctly? ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander, that's what I meant." Since there were no outsiders in the house, Lobachev, as the military commissar of the group army, did not hide his opinion at all, "The higher authorities also ordered us to retake Smolensk in the short term, if we consume our forces in a hopeless breakthrough battle, then where will we have the troops to counterattack Smolensk?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." As soon as Lobachev finished speaking, Chief of Staff Shalin continued: "Although our army group has three divisions in name, the actual combat strength is only more than 5,000 people. Even if this amount of troops is fully filled, I don't think I can tear through the enemy's encirclement. ”

"However, the military commissar, chief of staff, General Rokossovsky was ordered to rescue us after all." Although Lobachev and Shalin agreed and Lukin became a minority, he insisted: "Even if his forces were severely weakened in the evening battle, if we had come to his aid, we might have succeeded in breaking through the German defenses." ”

"Comrade Commander......" Seeing Lukin's resolute attitude, Shalin opened his mouth to continue persuading, but was interrupted by Lukin raising his hand.

Lukin looked at the two and said, "Since General Rokossovsky is here to rescue us, no matter what his strength is, whether he can break through the German defenses, I will send troops to cooperate with them." Since you don't think it's appropriate to transfer the main forces of the group army over, then I'll send a regiment to support him, even if it's a little bit of pressure on him. ”

Seeing that Lukin was so stubborn, Lobachev couldn't oppose it anymore, so he had to nod his head and say a little helplessly: "Okay, comrade commander, since you must send troops to cooperate with General Rokossovsky, then let the chief of staff arrange this matter." ”

The same discussions took place at the headquarters of the 19th and 20th armies.

The commander of the 19th Army, General Konev, after listening to the speeches of his military commissar and chief of staff, said with a resolute attitude: "Comrade commanders, although you all believe that with the strength of Rokossovsky's troops, it is simply impossible to break through the enemy's defenses, you all advocate not sending troops to cooperate with their offensive battles. ”

Seeing that several of the deputies below nodded in approval, Konev, who was smoking, threw the unfinished cigarette butt to the ground, stepped on it with his boots, stood up and glared at everyone and said: "It doesn't matter whether Rokossovsky's troops have the strength to break through the German defenses." But if we fully cooperate with him in the battle, then the troops have a chance to break out of the German encirclement. If we do not cooperate, when Rokossovsky's troops are repulsed, the enemy will turn around and turn against us. ”

In this way, under Konev's tough attitude, everyone finally had to reluctantly agree to Konev's decision, and in the form of an order, it was issued to all units.

The command of the 20th Army, after a brief discussion, quickly reached a consensus that since Rokossovsky's troops did not have the strength to break through the German defenses, there was no need for us to send troops to cooperate in the operation, so as not to expend our precious forces in meaningless battles.

Rokossovsky, who was far away on the west bank of the Wopi River, had no idea what was happening in the three command positions, and after giving the battle order to the troops participating in the battle, he sat at his table and stared at the map, thinking about where to choose the next course of action after rescuing the friendly troops.

Kazakov walked up to him, bent down slightly, and whispered to him: "Comrade commander, the artillery is all in place, and I don't know when the battle will begin." ”

"Comrade Kazakov, now order the artillery to open fire!" After saying this, Rokossovsky added: "Remember, we should send more observers at the front and keep in touch with the artillery in the rear at all times, so as not to accidentally injure our own people." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Kazakov assured Rokossovsky: "I will definitely bring this to the attention of the artillerymen, and I will definitely not let the artillery fire injure our own people." ”

With the order to open fire, all the artillery on the artillery positions opened fire at the same time. The shell exploded at a location that had long been marked on the map by the artillery spotters, and the enemy's position was instantly enveloped in smoke and fire.

Seeing the start of the shelling, the tank crews of the 101st Tank Division, which had long been ready to go, immediately launched their tanks, formed a battle formation, and under the guidance of the tanks piloted by the division commander Mikhailov, they roared and rushed to the German positions in the distance.

Major General Vinogradov, who was standing in front of the observation port with Rokossovsky and observing the battle situation with a telescope, saw the tank troops rushing up, and couldn't help but smile and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, this Colonel Mikhailov is really anxious, as soon as our artillery began to shell the enemy's positions, he led the tank troops to rush up. ”

Rokossovsky looked at the tanks full of commanders and fighters, rumbling towards the enemy's positions, nodded with satisfaction, and said: "Colonel Mikhailov is good, he adopts such a style of play, he can rush into the enemy's positions in the shortest possible time, so that our commanders and fighters can fight night battles and close combat with the enemy." ”

"Comrade Commander, I'm a little worried." Vinogradov said with some concern: "After all, our numbers are a little smaller, will the commanders and fighters rush into the enemy's positions and engage in close combat with the superior enemy?" ”

"Don't worry." Rokossovsky replied with a smile: "Don't look at our numbers less than the enemy, but when it comes to night battles and white-knuckle battles, the enemy is far inferior to us." I'm sure tonight's battle will be exciting. ”

After speaking, he put down the binoculars, turned around and told Kazakov, who was looking at the map: "Comrade Chief of Artillery, please remind the artillery to carry out extended firing in time, and do not let the artillery accidentally injure your own people." ”

"Comrade Commander, I suddenly remembered an important matter." Kazakov walked quickly in front of Rokossovsky and said with a serious expression: "If when the tank units rush into the enemy's positions and our artillery fire begins to extend, I wonder if it will accidentally hurt the friendly troops rushing from the opposite side?" ”

Rokossovsky's words were alerted by Kazakov's words, and he walked briskly to the table, stared at the map for a while, and then slapped himself on the forehead, scolding himself for not thinking it through. If it hadn't been for Kazakov's reminder, perhaps the extended artillery fire would have hit the heads of the friendly troops rushing from the opposite side. So he raised his head and instructed Kazakov: "Comrade Chief of Artillery, now the situation has changed. As soon as our tank units stormed the enemy's defensive positions, they ordered the artillery to stop firing. ”

"Yes!" As soon as Kazakov agreed, he called the artillery commander and conveyed Rokossovsky's order to the other side.

Soviet artillery fire covered the German positions and beat the unprepared German officers and soldiers to the point of crying wolf. Just when they felt that there was no way to enter the heavens and the ground, the Soviet artillery fire suddenly stopped.

Just when the German officers and soldiers hiding in the trenches breathed a sigh of relief and were about to hurry up to repair the fortifications, they heard the roar of huge tank engines. When they poked their heads out of the trenches, they were stunned by the black pressure of a tank. The soldiers, who reacted quickly, immediately put their guns on the trenches and fired wildly at the rushing tanks.

The charging tank was under heavy fire from the Germans, and several unlucky fighters were shot and fell off the tank body, and were soon crushed by the tank following under the tracks.

When Mikhailov learned about this situation from the tank men in the back, he immediately became furious, and he shouted into the throat microphone: "All the tanks stop, fire at the enemy's positions with tank guns and vehicle-mounted machine guns, and kill all the exposed firing points for me." ”

With the order given, all the tanks stopped, slowly turned their batteries, aimed at their chosen targets, and fired freely. Under the close range of tank guns, those firing points that were still raging in the firepower just now have become the focus of the attack without exception.

After a series of explosions, the corpses of the soldiers flew into the sky in the light of the fire, as the stumps scattered from the air and scattered all over the trenches. The soldiers, who were lucky enough to be alive, did not dare to shoot at the tanks in vain, but turned around and ran along the communication trenches to the back.

Mikhailov's tanks rushed to the edge of the trench and, as below, found that there were hardly any living people in the trench except for the corpses of the Germans, and hurriedly ordered all the tanks, "Stop and let the infantry fighters get off!" (To be continued.) )