Povsky's hand shook Katukov and then let go. He asked uneasily: "Comrade General, what is the current situation outside?" ”

Katukov turned to the side, gave way to the lookout, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a solemn expression: "Not very well, Comrade Colonel." The Germans were constantly bombarding our defensive positions with long-range artillery fire, and now it was not only tank units that attacked, but also a large number of infantry. With another two or three more attacks like this, I don't think we can hold our position outside the city. ”

Povsky walked briskly to the lookout hole, leaned over the trench and looked out with a periscope. After looking at it for a while, he rushed to the door and said, "Operator, come here!" ”

With his shout, the telegraph operator who had come with us from the headquarters of the group army walked quickly into the observation post with a walkie-talkie on his back. Povsky instructed him: "Get in touch with the rocket artillery battalion immediately." The operator agreed, sat down in a corner, took the microphone and shouted.

While Povsky was talking to the commander of the rocket artillery battalion below, I also came to the lookout hole, and then the periscope looked out. I saw that our position was shrouded in gunsmoke, and in the open field in the distance, the German tanks were in a neat offensive formation, rushing forward with great force, and the infantry was closely following the tanks like ants.

I turned the camera back to see what was going on with the anti-tank trench in front of the position that bears my name. When I saw the results, I couldn't help but gasp, perhaps because they had been covered by artillery fire more than once, and the anti-tank trenches had almost been filled with floating soil. It was simply impossible to hold off the German tanks, as it had been.

Seeing this, I straightened up and turned my head to ask Povsky, who was shouting: "Comrade Colonel, have you made contact with the rocket artillery battalion?" ”

"Got in touch, Comrade Commander." Povsky straightened up and reported.

"Order the artillery to open fire immediately!" I'll be brief.

"Yes. Order the artillery to open fire immediately! After repeating my words, Povsky shouted at the microphone: "The commander ordered, the rocket artillery battalion fired!" ”

As the order to open fire was given, rocket shells whistled down on the charging German tanks and infantry. Pieces of falling shells blasted the open plain like a volcano erupting violently, and the infantry was swept into the explosion range. In an instant, it turned into a shapeless lump of meat. And the German tanks, these unstoppable steel monsters, were torn apart in the explosion like toys. The crumbling steel plates, mixed with human fragments and weapon parts, swept out like a disemboweling bullet, knocking down more soldiers in the distance without mercy.

Seeing the tragic situation of the German attacking troops, Katukov could not help but applaud again and again. I patted him on the shoulder and asked loudly: "Hey, Comrade General, where is my 20th Guards Tank Brigade?" ”

Katukov shook his head and said loudly: "No. Lida, it's gone. To make it clear to me what was going on, he explained to me in a loud voice, "After the first German attack was repulsed today, the tank brigade counterattacked and chased the German tanks in pursuit. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a trap, and when they left our position about two kilometers, they were bombarded by German long-range heavy artillery. They haven't had time to retreat yet. The enemy's bombers were dispatched again, bombarding our tanks indiscriminately. Even the tanks, which had been fleeing, rushed back. In this way, after half an hour of fighting, only five of the eighty tanks of the tank brigade were evacuated by luck, but each of them was wounded. ”

I listened to what Katukov had to say. My heart was really angry, and I said viciously: "I remember this hatred of the tank brigade." Today I must teach the Germans a lesson that they will never forget, and make them regret that they should not have come to our land. ”

Before the shelling had stopped, Katukov's telegraph operator suddenly reported to him: "Comrade commander. I received a strange call, as if I was looking for General Oshanina. ”

"Looking for me?" When I heard the newspaper operator say this, I was quite surprised, and I thought to myself, who would be looking for me at this time. I hurriedly took the headset handed over by the operator, put it on, and asked loudly into the microphone: "I'm Oshanina, where are you?" ”

"Comrade Commander, it's me. I'm Colonel Bere! "Bere's voice came from the headphones.

"Comrade Colonel, where are you?" I thought of ordering the 101st Tank Brigade of the Belei to cover the 90th Guards Division and attack the enemy along the road, while he reported directly to the headquarters of the army group. "Is it on the way back to the headquarters of the army group?"

"No, Comrade Commander, I did not return to the headquarters of the group army." Colonel Bere replied quickly: "My 101st Brigade and I are heading along the road towards Oboyan. ”

"Where is the 90th Guards Division?" Hearing that the tank brigade was moving towards Oboyan, I immediately asked again about the infantry, "Where is Colonel Chernov?" ”

"Comrade commander, I'm Chernov." A slightly unfamiliar voice immediately came from the headset, "My troops are advancing on Oboyan in trucks, under the cover of tank brigades. In a maximum of another hour, our troops will be able to reach Oboyan. ”

"How's it going on the road?" Hearing that they were marching by car, I couldn't help but think of the German Air Force and hurriedly asked: "Didn't you find enemy planes in the sky?" ”

"No, no, please rest assured, comrade commander." Chernov said with a smile: "Now there are our fighters patrolling above our heads, although there are only two of them, but they can also drive away the German bombers that appear." ”

"That's good, that's good." When I heard him say this, my heart was a little more steady. But for the sake of safety, I told him on point: "Colonel, remember to send a reconnaissance unit, for you may soon enter the starting point of the attack of the German armored forces, and if you are caught off guard because you are not prepared, you will suffer heavy losses." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Chernov confidently said to me: "Both Colonel Bere and I have sent scouts on motorcycles, and if anything happens, they will report to us in time." ”

I had just returned the headset and microphone to Katukov's radio operator when suddenly a soldier came in from outside, raised his hand to salute Katukov, and reported: "Comrade commander. A general has come out and wants to see you immediately. ”

"A general?" The warrior's words stunned Katukov for a moment, and then asked rhetorically: "What kind of general?" ”

"A general in a tank uniform," the fighter shrugged his shoulders and continued, "a tank general, to be exact, he said he wanted to meet the supreme commander here. So I'm going to report it. ”

"Then what are you still doing in a daze?" Katukov saw that the soldier was still standing still after his report, and hurriedly urged him: "Why don't you go and invite the general here." ”

After a while, the soldier led a general into the observation post. When I looked closely, it turned out to be Lieutenant General Kravchenko, the commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army. I hurriedly greeted him: "Hello, Comrade General, I didn't expect to see you here." ”

Kravchenko had just raised his hand to salute Katukov when he heard my voice and turned his head to look this way. Seeing that it was me who greeted him, I couldn't help but smile on my face. He turned his head again and reported to Katukov: "Comrade General, Lieutenant General Kravchenko, commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army, reports to you that we have been ordered to reinforce you. I am at your command, please instruct! ”

Katukov stepped forward and shook his hand, shook his hand, looked at me and said, "I know. You must have come to our aid on Oshanina's orders, right? It's great. We have enough tank troops, and those German armored units that attack us will definitely be defeated by us. ”

The three of us stood at the simple wooden table, staring at the large map on the table. Katukov pointed to a position south of Oboyan and said to both of us: "According to our reconnaissance, the artillery positions of the German troops and the starting point of the offensive are here. If it weren't for the fact that our artillery was all lost yesterday. We can suppress this place with artillery fire, and then launch a full-scale counterattack with tank troops. ”

Kravchenko glanced at the position, nodded as well, and said approvingly: "That's right, if you don't kill the artillery positions here." Even if our army is equipped with the latest tanks, if we want to completely annihilate the German armored forces, we will pay heavy casualties. ”

After waiting for Kravchenko to finish, Katukov turned his gaze to me and asked me with a smile: "Lida, do you have any good ways to deal with the German artillery?" As he spoke, he nodded at where Povsky was standing, and said, "It's a pity that your artillery positions are too far away from here and the range is not enough, otherwise with the artillery strength of your army group, you can completely destroy the enemy's artillery positions." ”

"Although our artillery cannot take out the enemy's artillery positions, it does not mean that there is no other way." Regarding Katukov's scruples, I said lightly: "Commander Vatutin's promise to send twenty planes to support our operation, eight of which are bombers, I want to use them to take out the enemy's artillery positions, there should be no problem." ”

"What, the Front Command also provided us with the support of the Air Force?" Hearing this unexpected news, Katukov's mouth was almost grinning to his ears, "No matter how powerful the enemy's artillery is, can it still knock our plane down from the sky?" Don't know when they will be able to dispatch? As long as the enemy's artillery is taken out, our tank forces can launch a full-scale counterattack. ”

I looked up at my watch and replied, "According to the agreement I had agreed with General Vatutin, the bombers of the Air Force would arrive in an hour and bomb the German units that were massing along the road. I turned my head to look at Kravchenko and asked, "Comrade Kravchenko, how many tanks does your tank army currently have?" ”

"The remaining two tank brigades combined, there are still ninety tanks." Kravchenko replied: "Among them are seventy of the newest tanks, and the rest are also T-34s, which are somewhat more powerful than the enemy's tanks." ”

"General Oshanina." I was about to say another few more words when Katukov's operator called me again: "The commander just now has something urgent to look for you. ”

I rushed over, took the microphone and asked loudly, "Hey, Comrade Colonel, what's going on?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander." Colonel Bere's anxious voice came from the headphones, "According to the report of the scouts, about five kilometers ahead of us, an artillery position of the German army was discovered, there was about a regiment, almost all heavy artillery. I ask you, what are we going to do, are we going to go around it or kill it? ”

I really wanted to doze off, and someone immediately sent a pillow. We were discussing how to take out the German artillery positions, and the scouts of Colonel Berey over there discovered the location of the artillery positions. Immediately, without hesitation, I said, "Colonel, do you need to talk about this?" Immediately assemble your tank forces and continue the assault on the enemy's artillery positions. This artillery position doesn't seem to have infantry cover, so even if you use tank tracks, you can crush all their artillery, understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Colonel Bere replied resoundingly: "I immediately organized a surprise attack of tank units in an effort to destroy the German artillery positions in the shortest possible time." ”

When I returned to the table, I excitedly said to Katukov: "Comrades two generals, the troops transferred from Yakovlevo have discovered German artillery positions on the road, and I have ordered them to attack and try to destroy the enemy's artillery positions in the shortest possible time. ”

"Comrade Commander, this is wonderful." Kravchenko said with a smile: "As long as the enemy's artillery is killed, then the battlefield will be the world of our army's tanks." You'll just have to wait to see how our tanks take out the enemy tanks one by one, just like a target. ”

"Let's go and gather our troops," I said to Kravchenko with a smile, "I'm waiting to see how your tank army performs, and maybe your battle today will go down in history." ”

After ten minutes or so, a deafening roar of tank motors could be heard outside the observation post, and I knew that it was the Guards Tank Army that was beginning to advance. The German artillery fire on the heights in the distance also stopped suddenly, and it seemed that their artillery positions had been taken out by Colonel Bere.

The German armored units, having lost the cover of artillery fire, after regrouping, again rushed murderously towards our positions. When they saw that the smoke of gunpowder had cleared from the position, countless new tanks of our army were speeding towards them, and it was too late to turn around and escape.

The tank battle under Kravchenko's personal command lasted less than half an hour before it ended, and all kinds of tanks destroyed by the Germans were burning in front of the position, while only a dozen or so of our tanks were slightly damaged, which did not affect the next battle in the slightest. (To be continued.) )