As the rumbling of artillery came from outside, I had just spoken to Yegorov, the commissar of the 8th Guards Division, and learned that his troops, under the cover of the remnants of the 389th Tank Division, had now attacked and advanced to the starting position east of the city of Klin, ready for battle. I finally said, "Wait for my orders." He put down the phone.

The salvo of more than 200 cannons of our army is really not small. Standing at the observation point, you can feel the ground trembling slightly. Shells exploded on enemy positions, and even without binoculars, you could see pillars of black earth and white snow rushing high into the sky. Of course, if you look at it with a telescope, you can also see human stumps and broken weapon parts that fly up from time to time.

Seeing that our artillery poured so many shells on this defensive position, which was no more than two kilometers wide and less than a kilometer deep. Colonel Chistyakov, who had been standing next to me, asked with some concern: "Comrade division commander, isn't it a bit of a fuss to use more than 200 artillery pieces to hit such an enemy position?" It is important to know that the artillery shells of the Ludao Artillery Regiment are not unlimited, and if they are all finished, it will be very troublesome to replenish them with the current transportation situation of our army. ”

I continued to look at the enemy's position, which was under heavy artillery fire, and said lightly: "If we don't destroy all these enemies in the trenches outside the city, we will pay a great price when attacking the city." As for the shells, there is no need for you to worry, as long as Kling is liberated, the front command will find a way to replenish it for us in time. ”

After listening to me, Chistyakov stopped talking, and like me, raised his binoculars to watch the German army crying and crying under the heavy artillery fire of our army. Some German troops who were originally hiding in the trenches, but under the overwhelming artillery fire of our army, they actually jumped out of the trenches and ran towards the city regardless of it. They probably forgot that the shells are talking about covering, not hitting. The shells of this heavy cannon of our army exploded a few meters away, and the flying shrapnel could still kill them. So these enemy soldiers didn't have to go far before they were blown to pieces.

At the end of the 40-minute bombardment, almost all the German fortifications outside the city were blown up, many logs with a diameter of several tens of centimeters used to build the fortifications were blown into sawdust, the ground was full of craters with wisps of green smoke, and even the two- and three-story buildings on the edge of the city were blown down.

Although the sound of the cannon stopped, my ears were still buzzing, and suddenly I heard the loud sound of a military horn. At first I thought it was an auditory hallucination, but soon I saw a red flare rise into the sky, and then thousands of soldiers who had been hidden in the forest rushed towards the city.

The shelling just now has cleared all the minefields and barbed wire fences in front of the trenches, and there are even roads for infantry in some sections, so the route to the city in this attack is not limited to that road.

The flag-bearer, holding aloft the military flag, rushed to the forefront of the ranks and was the first to set foot on the streets of the city, followed by his comrades. From time to time, people were shot and fell, but many more followed.

In the trenches, there were German soldiers who had survived by the bombing and were dizzy, waving white flags tied to their rifles, and obediently surrendered to our soldiers who rushed forward.

The engineering units followed behind the attacking troops and began to nervously repair the roads that had been bombed and riddled so that our tanks could enter the city as quickly as possible to cover the infantry for the capture of the city.

Seeing this, I put down my binoculars and said to Chistyakov, who was watching with blood boiling next to me: "Comrade Colonel, you go and call the political commissar and ask him to immediately lead the troops to launch an attack on the city of Kling from the east. ”

"Yes!" He excitedly agreed, turned and trotted all the way back to the tent.

I accidentally noticed that the commander of the cavalry regiment, Major Leutov, was also standing among the staff officers behind me, so I asked curiously: "Comrade Major, when did you come back?" ”

"Report to Comrade Chief of Staff, I have just arrived. I didn't bother you to see that you were intently admiring how our artillery was beating the Germans. Perhaps seeing that the infantry had successfully stormed the city of Kling made him a little excited, so he couldn't wait to ask me for battle: "Comrade Chief of Staff! You see, the infantry soldiers have stormed the city, and perhaps we should help them again. Did you send my regiment to rush forward as well, cooperate with the infantry and tanks, and teach the Germans a hard lesson? ”

"No way!" What happened next was a street fight, and I couldn't let the cavalry ride into the room on horseback and wield a saber to cut people, so I didn't give him a chance at all, so I shook my head and refused his request: "The cavalry doesn't play much role in the street fighting, so I'd better wait for the next field battle to let you go." ”

The battle had shifted from outside the city to inside the city, and I was secretly calculating in my heart: even if the Germans had 2,000 men, they would definitely not be able to defend such a large city, and they would definitely not be able to cover everything, so they could only choose to focus on defense. And the focus of the defense is in the south of where I am and the east of where the commissar is located. In the shelling just now, at least 1,000 enemy troops were killed, so the remaining troops of several hundred thousand people, under the attack of our army from both sides, it is a matter of time before the whole army is annihilated, depending on how long they can hold on.

At this time, a staff officer came up to me and reported: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the commander asks you to answer the phone immediately. ”

Vlasov called me at this time, did he ask if the city of Kling had been captured? When I thought of this, I was particularly nervous, although the troops had already entered the city, it was not so easy to eliminate the remnants of the enemy. If the Germans stubbornly resist house by house, with the combat effectiveness of our army and the level of street fighting, in addition to paying heavy casualties, it will take a long time.

As I expected, as soon as I heard my voice, Vlasov couldn't wait to ask me: "Lida, how is the battle going under Klin?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander!" I don't want to hide anything from him, lest the wrong information make him make the wrong decision: "After artillery preparations, the enemy's defenses outside the city of Kling have been destroyed, and the infantry of the 7th Guards Division has now entered the city. Sappers are rushing to repair the blown up so that the tanks of the tank brigade can enter the city as soon as possible to reinforce them. The 8th Guards Division, under the command of Political Commissar Comrade Yegorov, also launched a fierce attack on the Germans from the east of the city, and is now in a fierce battle, and it is expected that it will soon be able to storm the city. But ......"

"But what?" Vlasov said impatiently: "Leda, if you have anything to say, you can say it directly, don't always say it like this, so that people are anxious to listen to it." ”

"At present, the remnants of the German army have retreated into the city, and they will resist stubbornly with the buildings in the city, and I am afraid that our army will pay a lot of casualties and spend a lot of time to drive these fascist bandits out of the house."

Vlasov was silent for a moment, and then resolutely said: "I don't care what the cost of your troops is, I will drive the enemy out of Kling as soon as possible." Kashino has been captured by the troops under the command of Deputy Commander Lin, and I hope that you can withdraw the main force as soon as possible, and then go west with all your might. After joining forces with Deputy Commander Holin, they waited for an opportunity to seize the German supply bases in the cities of Suvorovo and Botovo, and cut off the logistics supply lines of the enemy forces that were fighting fiercely with the 16th Army. After this strategic goal is achieved, the main forces of the army group will be concentrated to attack westward, driving the enemy away from the outskirts of Moscow and destroying them. He paused, then asked, "When will you settle the fight?" ”

I made a silent calculation in my mind, and then replied: "I will try to settle the battle by two o'clock tomorrow afternoon." ”

"No, it's too slow!" Vlasov vetoed me in a tough manner and arranged a time for me on his own initiative: "The battle cannot be later than eleven o'clock tomorrow at noon, which is the last deadline." ”

Since he had already said this, I could only obey unconditionally, so I hurriedly agreed: "Yes, Comrade Commander!" I will settle the battle by eleven o'clock tomorrow afternoon. ”

After I ended the phone call with Vlasov, I had to call Colonel Kaliyev, the commander of the tank brigade who had just said nothing at the meeting. I order you, as soon as the road leading to the city is repaired, the whole brigade will attack and cover the infantry in the city to clear out the remnants of the enemy. Be sure to complete your mission by 10 p.m. tomorrow, or I will remove you. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff!"