Since with the current strength and equipment of our department, it is impossible to launch a direct assault on the central department store where Paulus is located, so I can only retreat to the next best thing. The German garrison at the railway station is currently a lone army, and there must be no problem in eliminating them. As long as we retake the railway station, it will be tantamount to successfully pulling out a nail that the Germans have wedged into our defense line and connecting the scattered defense areas into pieces.

Thinking of this, I looked up from the map again and said to Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please call Colonel Bere of the 84th Tank Brigade and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately. ”

"Comrade Commander," Vitkov asked me tentatively, standing still, "did you ask Colonel Bere to come over with the intention of letting his tank units cover our infantry charge?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." I nodded and said in affirmativeness, "That's how I thought about it." ”

"But Comrade Commander," Vitkov muttered with a look of embarrassment on his face, "Colonel Berey's tank brigade suffered heavy losses in the previous battles, and there are only two tanks left in the brigade at the moment. "But don't worry, as far as I know, new tanks have now reached the east coast, and perhaps Colonel Bere's tank brigade will be replenished in the next two days." ∫◆”

Hearing Vitkov say this, I couldn't help but feel worried, and said to myself: "Hell, without the cover of tanks, let our infantry charge under the dense fire of the enemy, wouldn't that send them to their deaths?" No, we must not fight like this, otherwise we will be wasting our troops in vain. ”

That's when it happened. My ears suddenly remembered Vitkov's voice: "Comrade Army Commander. I have a building yì. ”

"Say it. Comrade Colonel. Thinking that I had become an unworthy army commander, and the troops and weapons and equipment that I could use in my hands were not even comparable to those of the independent division in its heyday, I said impatiently: "If you have anything to do, just say it." ”

Vitkov sensed my dissatisfaction, so he spoke carefully: "You see, should we call the division commanders to a meeting, first, to get to know each other better, and second, to discuss how to carry out the next combat operation. ”

I'll hear it. This one is not bad. Since I became the army commander last night, I haven't seen a few division commanders under me, let alone understand the strength of the other three divisions, so I readily agreed: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is a good suggestion of yours, I agree." You can call a few division commanders and ask them to rush to the corps headquarters for a meeting. ”

Half an hour later, the four division commanders who received the call came to my headquarters. After I beckoned them to sit down, I didn't go around in circles, and said straight to the point: "Comrade division commanders. We will soon launch an attack on the German-occupied railway station, and we intend to send a division to take on the main mission. I don't know what you think, you can say it boldly. ”

Colonel Gurdiev of the 308th Infantry Division spoke first: "Comrade Commander, I am sure you have seen all the battles that have been fought in the city in the past few months. In the brutal battles of the divisions, the original combat backbone was almost completely lost, and although many soldiers were added one after another, they were all new recruits who had not undergone any training, and they could not be compared with the veterans at all. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Vachuk, commander of the 284th Division, who was sitting next to him, continued: "Although the newly recruited fighters have participated in a lot of battles, they have also accumulated some combat experience. However, the training of the troops was still too poor, and in the battle, the forward troops were too slow to deploy, and the assault was not decisive enough, and the support units in the rear were either too far away from the front, or they were simply crowded together with the slow forward troops. ”

I saw that the newly appointed commander of the 171st Division, Colonel Anderyushchenko, did not speak, but was frowning and thinking about the question, so I turned my head and asked Bandereev, who was sitting on the left: "Colonel Bandereev, tell me what you think!" ”

Bandereev nodded, thought for a moment, and then said: "Comrades commanders, in the brutal battles of the previous months, quite a number of troops have suffered heavy losses, so they have been transferred back to the rear for reorganization. Generally speaking, even if a unit loses most of its strength in battle, as long as new recruits are added, veterans who have experienced vicious battles before can play the role of the backbone of the battle, so that this unit can quickly form combat effectiveness. The annihilation of the formation means that this force has completely disappeared. ”

As soon as Bandereev's words were finished, Andreushchenko, who had not spoken, said angrily: "Colonel Bandeleev is right, my 115th Motorized Rifle Brigade, in the early battle, there are only more than 120 people left, of which there are less than 10 combat soldiers left, and later, although the group army supplemented us with 500 recruits, it was not able to form combat effectiveness at all, so that our brigade has now been reduced to a garrison. ”

The four division commanders took turns expressing their opinions, and after listening to them for a long time, I heard one thing, except for Bantai Leyev, the other three division commanders all euphemistically said that their troops were too poor in combat effectiveness to take on the task of attacking the railway station.

Pantai Leev and I are more familiar, he can tell from my expression whether I am angry or not, seeing that I am sulking after listening to everyone's speeches, he knows that I am sulking, and hurriedly comes out to play a round: "Comrades of the division commanders, we are independent divisions...... No, now it should be called the 150th Red Banner Infantry Division, although we have suffered a lot of losses in the recent battles, but we are willing to take on the task of attacking the railway station. Here, I would like to express to the army commander that our division will successfully complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors. ”

I smiled gratefully at Bandereev's liberation, and then I stopped looking at the other division commanders, but looked at him with a smile and said: "Colonel Bandereev, tell me your plan, how does your division plan to attack the German garrison at the railway station?" ”

When Pandereev heard me say this, and knew that I was going to give him a chance to show his face, he stood up and said to several division commanders around him: "Comrade commander, my offensive plan is like this. In front of the railway station, where the fountain is located, cover the infantry with tanks for assault ......"

"Comrade Colonel," he interrupted Gurdiev before he could finish his sentence, and the other said in a mocking tone: "The streets and the square in front of the station are full of masonry, rubble and craters, and the tanks rushing up will not be able to increase their speed at all, and they will soon be killed by the German anti-tank ones one by one." Once the tank is destroyed, then the infantry that follows behind can be easily routed. ”

"Comrade Colonel," Bandereev immediately refuted Gurdiev's sarcasm, and after snorting heavily, he said confidently: "Since the formation of our division, we have conducted targeted training in urban fortification, and how to use tanks in the city, I think our experience in street fighting is no worse than that of any army. ”

"Colonel Bandereev, I remind you......" Gurtiev was very unconvinced by Bandereev's rebuttal, and also made a-for-tat rebuttal, "............"

While the two were arguing endlessly, Vitkov, who was sitting next to me, asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, Colonel Bere's tank brigade currently has only two tanks left, and it is still a question whether they can be used." How could Colonel Bandereev propose to send tanks as the lead to cover the infantry attack? ”

I smiled and whispered to him: "Chief of staff, don't you know yet, there is a tank battalion in the separate division, ten captured German tanks, and a similar number of armored vehicles. There were also two artillery battalions, several 155-mm heavy howitzers captured from the Germans, as well as a dozen anti-tank guns, and an anti-tank rifle company. ”

Listening to the series of numbers I reported, Colonel Vitkov was taken aback, and after a long while, he said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I didn't expect that the independent division had so much heavy technical equipment, no wonder when we held the Mamayev post, the Germans could not advance a single step no matter how they attacked. ”

After talking to Vitkov for a while, I jerked my head and found that Bandereev and Gurtiev were still arguing with each other. Seeing this, I raised my hand and slapped the table repeatedly, and at the same time shouted in my mouth: "Okay, stop arguing, be quiet, keep me quiet." ”

With my intervention, both Pantailyev and Gurdiev stopped arguing and obediently sat back in their places. I coughed and said to Bandereev: "Comrade Colonel, please go on with your plan of attack." Then he turned his head and warned Gurtiev: "Colonel Gurdiev, please listen quietly to Commander Pantaiyev after his plan, and don't interrupt him casually, okay?" ”

Guldiev, who was warned by me, blushed with shame, nodded embarrassedly, and then said in an inaudible voice: "Got it, Comrade Commander. ”

Seeing that Gurdiev was no longer singing against him, Bantai Leyev continued: "...... Since the German troops were hidden in strong fortifications or basements, our artillery bombardment did not do much damage to them, so we had to send tank units as the forerunner to cover the infantry and destroy those points of fire in the way with tank guns. In the event of a number of solid points of fire that cannot be destroyed by tanks, heavy howitzers of divisional artillery battalions are fired at close range......"

After Bandereev finished talking about his plan, Vitkov and I looked at each other, then looked up and asked Bandereev: "Comrade Colonel, I wonder how many days your division will take to capture the railway station?" ”

After frowning and thinking for a moment, Pantai Leev decisively raised his hand and stretched out two fingers, and said in an affirmative tone: "Two days." Comrade commander, in two days at most we will be able to recapture the railway station occupied by the Germans. ”

"Good!" I nodded with great satisfaction at Pandereev's statement, and then said: "Two days for two days, I am waiting for the good news of your victory!" (To be continued......)

PS: Heartfelt thanks to the book friend White Winged Demon Children's Shoes for their two votes! Thank you for your vote from the lone guest and hypp1014 children's shoes!