As soon as dawn came, the city of Hama was bombed by German planes. At the same time, the "Imperial Division" and the "Skeleton Division" simultaneously launched an offensive against Zaporosh.

Hearing the sound of dense explosions coming from two directions at the same time, I couldn't help but feel anxious, standing in the middle of the command headquarters and shouting: "Operator, why haven't you contacted the political commissar yet?" And you, Major Pugachev, immediately got in touch with the 308th Division and the 22nd Guards Division, and by the way, asked General Bandereev: Did the Germans, in addition to the bombing of the Air Force, send ground troops? ”

At my urging, the operator hurriedly raised his voice and shouted into the microphone to call the operator who remained at the military headquarters in the city. Pugachev, on the other hand, hurriedly turned around and ran out, to the makeshift telecommunications room next door, to get in touch with Pantai Laiev and Gurdiev.

When the operator finally got in touch with the city and handed me the microphone and headphones, I noticed that he had raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, apparently he had just been frightened by me.

Hearing Vitkov's familiar voice coming from the earphones, I suddenly felt a lot more at ease in my heart, and hurriedly asked nervously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how is the situation in the city?" ”

"Reporting to the commander, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, simultaneously launched a fierce assault on the city from two directions. Within a quarter of an hour of the battle, several defensive positions of the 171st Division were lost, and the regimental commanders had to order their troops to withdraw to reserve positions to continue resisting the German offensive. ”

From Vitkov's report, I knew in my heart that the lost positions were all field fortifications outside the city. Although there were quite a few civil and engineering firepower points in the trenches, it was okay to block the attack of the enemy infantry without sufficient anti-tank weapons. For the kind of tanks that can't even penetrate the frontal armor of anti-tank guns, the defenders can't deal with them at all except to send anti-tank grenades or Molotov cocktails to blow them up. However, the German tanks were covered by infantry, and it was estimated that our soldiers who broke out of the trenches would suffer heavy casualties. Instead of having them fight the Germans on the plains, let them retreat into the city and let our commanders and soldiers fight close combat with the German soldiers, so that the enemy's tanks and artillery can be useless.

Come to think of it. I spoke into the microphone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, order Colonel Andreushchenko to withdraw the troops to the city. Use the fortifications in the city to fight street battles with the Germans. Now Godunov's new third regiment still has a battalion remaining in the city. This is a specially formed unit for street fighting, and with their cooperation, the 171st Division can be around the city with the enemy for a longer period of time. ”

Hearing me say this, Vitkov cautiously asked: "Comrade Army Commander. As far as I know. The situation on your side is not so good either. Look, am I going to spend a few more days in the city with the 171st Division? ”

I understand that Vitkov meant to hold back the main forces of the German army so that we could have more time to consolidate the positions we occupied on the west bank of the Dnieper. If he really implements his proposal, we will have a lot more time to consolidate and occupy positions in the West Bank, but the troops remaining in the city are in danger of being completely annihilated. In view of this, I coughed and said to him tactfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff. The attack on Zaporosh was carried out by the elite units of the German army, with our defenders in the city. It is difficult to resist their attack for a long time. In any case, after dark to-day, you will withdraw the remaining troops from the city with the commissar and cross the river to join us. ”

"But our troops are entangled with the Germans, and when they retreat, will they not be discovered by the enemy?" Vitkov asked with some trepidation, he seemed a little worried that the troops would not be able to get rid of the entanglement of the Germans.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't have to worry about that." Although I also knew that our transfer might be discovered by the Germans, I comforted Vitkov at the moment: "You can greatly reduce the danger of being detected by the Germans by breaking up the troops into pieces and evacuating them in alternate batches." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought why I didn't hear Kirillov speak, so I asked again, "By the way, where did the commissar go?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Hearing me ask about Kirillov's whereabouts, Vitkov quickly explained to me: "The casualties of the 115th regiment were heavy, and even the regimental commander was seriously wounded. The commissar heard the news and took several fighters to the station of the 115 regiment, where he saw the wounded regiment commander and appointed a temporary regimental commander. ”

"Well, I see." After saying this, I also specially told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell Andreushchenko and the regiment commanders below that it is not possible to fight street battles with the enemy in the city, and to fight and rush violently, first, our weapons and equipment cannot be compared with the enemy, and second, the technical and tactical level of our commanders and fighters cannot be compared with the elite infantry of the German army." So in this way, it was decided that our battle in the city would be fought only to delay the enemy, and not to destroy the enemy. So don't make unnecessary sacrifices, first of all, it is important to keep yourself. ”

After learning about the situation in the city, Pugachev also came in from outside and reported to me about the situation of the Pandereev and Gurtiev divisions: "Comrade commander, according to the information fed back by the two divisions, the Germans dispatched twelve planes to bomb the city of Hama, which was occupied by the 22nd Guards Division. And near the defense zone of the 308th Division, only sporadic small German units were found. ”

Hearing that the enemy situation faced by the two divisions was not serious, I ordered Pugachev: "Comrade Major, immediately inform the two division commanders and let them rush to my headquarters, and I will discuss with them the next battle plan." ”

The two division commanders came faster than I expected, and it took twenty minutes from Pugachev's announcement to the time the two division commanders arrived at my headquarters. As soon as the two of them arrived, I didn't talk nonsense, and took them directly to the map hanging on the wall. At this moment, the German map had been removed, replaced with our own map, and the division of forces between the enemy and ours had been remarked.

I pointed to the map and said to the two, "Comrade generals, please see. Since the main forces of the German army were crossing the river in Dnepropetrovsk, they were trying to move north from there to attack our Voronezh Front, which was occupying Kharkov. According to the documents we captured, the enemy simply did not have much forces left on the west bank of the Dnieper, that is, there was an emptiness in their rear. ……”

When I said this, I stopped, looked at the excited Gurtiev and asked, "General Gurdiev, what do you think of the current situation?" ”

"Comrade Commander, allow me to share my thoughts." Gurtiev said emotionally: "Since there are no German troops in the vicinity of the main forces of our army, then we are free to attack any city occupied by the Germans and overwhelm them with one side and the other." ”

"Good idea." I first praised him, and then asked, "Which city do you think we should attack first, occupied by the Germans?" ”

"Comrade Commander, please look!" Gurdiev took a step forward towards the location of the map, pointed to it and said: "Dnepropetrovsk is almost two hundred kilometers from us, I can send a regiment to find a suitable position in the middle to build a defensive position to prevent the Germans from suddenly stopping crossing the river and turning south to attack us." And the nearest city to us is Kafbas, about a hundred and thirty kilometers from us, this is a large city in Ukraine and a transport hub for the German army. Once we take this place, we will not only be able to capture a large amount of much-needed supplies, but also cut off the supply of the German army. ”

Seeing the position of his finger, I frowned and thought for five minutes, thinking about the forces I could use at the moment, as well as the difficulties I might encounter, and finally made up my mind and said decisively: "Okay, General Gurdiev, I agree with your suggestion. Our next target will be Kafbas, the transport hub of the German army. (To be continued......)