When the battle began, the first line of German defense was turned into a sea of fire by intensive artillery fire. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info From time to time you can see the smoke and dust rolled up, mixed with shredded stumps and weapon parts, and the Germans probably never dreamed that the Soviets would attack at this time, so that they simply did not have time, as usual, to transfer their forces to the second line of trenches to avoid the intensive shelling of the Soviet troops.

As soon as the shelling stopped, three red flares rose in the air. Seeing the signal of the attack, thousands of soldiers hidden in the trenches shouted "Ula", got up from their hiding places, and rushed towards the enemy's position with their weapons in their hands.

Because the shelling had almost wiped out all the German troops in the trenches, the Soviet commanders and fighters encountered only sporadic resistance when they entered the first line of trenches. The German soldiers, who were stunned by the shells, staggered to their feet, trying to stop the Soviet commanders and fighters who rushed into the trenches. But often they only shoot a single shot, and then the whole person is shot indiscriminately and turned into a sieve.

After clearing the enemy from the first trench, the Soviet commanders and fighters rushed along the communication trenches to the second and third trenches. The situation on the battlefield was particularly favorable to the Soviet army, and it only took more than half an hour for all three trenches of the German army's first line of defense to be occupied by the Soviet army.

Seeing this, Zhukov immediately ordered Rokossovsky: "Okay, Comrade Rokossovsky, let the tank corps come out and let them guide the troops to continue the offensive to the defensive depth of the German army." ”

After giving this order, Zhukov contacted the two army groups on the left and right flanks and asked the two generals about the progress in their areas of responsibility.

The commander of the 61st Army on the right flank, Popov, reported: "Comrade General, our troops have launched an offensive from the Lyutinovo area and are advancing towards Bertos, where the Germans are entrenched, without much resistance. ”

The commander of the 10th Army on the left flank, Popov, reported: "Our attack on Khotkovo was met with stubborn German defense, but our commanders and fighters have already rushed into the first line of German trenches and are engaged in close combat, and it is believed that it will not be long before we can occupy the first line of German defense." ”

Hearing that the left and right flanks were going well, Zhukov refocused his attention on the battle that was going on in front of him. The 328th Infantry Division, which had just won the honorary title of the 31st Guards Division, took a short break after occupying the German positions in front of it, and then launched an assault on the second line of defense of the German army a few kilometers away.

But that's when the unexpected happened. The German troops, who thought they would stay in the trenches, actually carried out a counter-assault on the Soviet troops under the cover of dozens of tanks.

Seeing this, Zhukov immediately turned his head and shouted at the commander of the Air Force, Kutsevalov: "Hey, I said Comrade Air Force Commander, how long will it take for your plane to reach the battlefield?" ”

Kutsevalov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said unhurriedly: "Comrade General, please rest assured, in five minutes at most, my flight formation will be able to reach the sky above the battlefield, and then it will give the Germans a lesson that will be remembered for a lifetime." ”

"It's going to take five minutes." Zhukov muttered, and then asked Rokossovsky: "Hurry up and transfer tanks to support, otherwise our attacking forces will be crushed by the Germans." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Zhukov." Rokossovsky said with full certainty: "I have ordered the 31st Guards Division to cover the retreat alternately, while the 90th Tank Brigade went up to block the enemy's tanks. ”

The commanders and fighters of the Guards Division, having paid a certain price, managed to retreat into the trenches they had just occupied, building a new defense here. The tanks of the tank brigade went up and fired at the German tanks, and after paying a certain amount of casualties, they successfully contained the German advance.

At this moment, a group of Soviet aircraft appeared over the battlefield. Attack aircraft swooped down from the sky and attacked the German tanks on the ground with newly equipped rockets. In the midst of the explosions one after another, the German tanks, which were still showing off their might, turned into burning scrap metal one after another. The burst of shrapnel also swept down the infantry following the tank piece by piece.

The German commander, who was staying behind, saw that his attacking troops had been attacked by Soviet air strikes and hurriedly issued an order to retreat. Let the troops withdraw to the second line of defense and regroup, ready to launch another counter-assault on the Soviet army.

Seeing that the Germans were defeated, the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division immediately left the trenches and, under the cover of tanks, rushed through the open field filled with choking gunpowder smoke and rushed towards the enemy's defensive positions.

The Germans, seeing that the Soviet offensive had begun again, immediately began to return fire fiercely. The bullets fired by the machine guns on the position were like dark red whips, swinging back and forth on the battlefield, and the layers of fire nets woven swept away the Soviet troops one by one. And the mortar shells that exploded in the attacking queue knocked out the gap in the queue from time to time.

In the face of the dense firepower of the German army, the Soviet commanders and fighters did not have the slightest timidity, and at the whistle of the commander, they constantly attacked the German defensive positions, slapping on the embankment like waves; Blocked back, slapped again......

Although the Soviet air force constantly bombed and strafed the German defensive positions, it had little effect. The smoke of gunpowder that permeated the battlefield greatly interfered with the air pilot's line of sight and affected the accuracy of the attack. As the bombs were dropped and the bullets were shot, more and more planes began to turn back.

At this moment, a dense black dot appeared in the sky to the west, which was the plane of the German army rushing to reinforce it. In the face of these enemy planes that had just entered the battlefield, the Soviet pilots were powerless, first, the ammunition had long been exhausted, and the fuel was also insufficient, so they could only turn around and fly away from the battlefield with regret.

After the Germans regained air supremacy, they bombarded the Soviet commanders and tanks that were attacking, forcing the Soviet troops to retreat to the first line of defense they occupied.

"Comrade Zhukov, the situation is not good." Seeing this, Rokossovsky immediately reminded Zhukov: "The enemy has dispatched the air force, has mastered air supremacy on the battlefield, and the situation is developing in their favor." I should immediately stop the offensive and switch to the defense on the spot to avoid suffering further losses. ”

Zhukov held up the binoculars and looked at them for a while, and finally said unwillingly: "Okay, Comrade Rokossovsky, order the troops to temporarily stop the offensive, and wait for our fighters to return to the battlefield, and then consider whether to launch a new offensive against the enemy." ”