Red Moscow

  Chapter 1205 Attack from both sides (Part 2)

  The officers and soldiers of the Imperial Division did not know that their division commander had escaped, and they were still fighting desperately in the face of the Soviet troops pouring in from all directions.

  If only ordinary Soviet troops attacked them, encountering such tenacious resistance from them may cause the battle to fall into a stalemate, or even be repelled by their continuous small-scale counterattacks.

   But they met Sokov's troops, so they could only count themselves as unlucky. Once it is found where the German army is gathering and preparing to launch a counterattack against itself, the attacking force will use rocket attacks to destroy the enemies gathered together.

  As for the enemy's strong firepower, it is even more difficult for them. A machine gun fire point hiding in a bunker, if it is an ordinary army, needs at least a dozen lives to blow it up. As for Sokov's troops, they sent soldiers carrying bazookas to watch as they approached the bunker, and a single rocket would kill the enemy's firepower. If one rocket can't do it, use two rockets.

  According to Sokov's vision, if the infantry brigade of the first echelon advances less than five kilometers, they may need to be replaced by the marine brigade of the second echelon. Unexpectedly, when it was dark, the infantry brigade actually advanced eight kilometers. The commanders and fighters not only did not feel tired, but became more energetic as they fought.

Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, the brigade commander, even reported the battle situation to Sokov, and said confidently: "Comrade commander, don't worry, according to my observations, the enemy in front of us is simply vulnerable. You also Don't call any marine battalion to replace us, I am confident that I can fight until I meet my friendly forces."

   Although the infantry brigade is going well at the moment, as the German army begins to shrink in the same direction, the resistance they encounter will become more and more tenacious. Out of this consideration, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I solemnly tell you now that if your brigade advances two kilometers forward, you must stop and rest. The 62nd Marine Brigade Get through your offensive, understand?"

"I don't understand, Comrade Commander." Hearing Sokov's order, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov said aggrievedly: "My troops are progressing so smoothly, but you tell me to stop. If the commanders and fighters ask me , how should I answer them?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov said sternly into the microphone: "The enemy defeated by our army is gathering in one place. That is to say, the further you advance, the more German troops you will encounter. The more you fight, the stronger the resistance you will encounter. In this case, it will be necessary to temporarily stop your troops and let the brigade of marines who follows you take over the attack."

  Hearing what Sokov said, Uzakov realized that it would be a matter of time before his troops stopped attacking, and no matter how much he argued, it was useless. He asked unwillingly: "Comrade Commander, when the Marine Battalion's attack is frustrated, can we arrange for our brigade to continue the attack?"

"I have already said that the attack from north to south will be carried out by your three brigades in turn." Sokov continued: "That is to say, when the attack of the 62nd Marine Brigade is frustrated, the 84th Brigade will take over. Their attack. When the attack launched by the 84th Brigade fails, it will be your brigade's turn to fight. Now, you understand it?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander, I have figured everything out." Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov nodded and replied, "I will immediately assign the task and let everyone be mentally prepared."

   Sokov ended the call, and handed back the headset and microphone to the operator. Colonel Chuvashov standing aside suddenly said: "Comrade Commander, I have a problem with you."

   "Any opinion on me?" Sokov said in a daze, "Let's hear it, what opinion do you have on me?"

"You look down on our brigade." Chuvashov said unconvinced: "I heard you talking to Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, saying that if our brigade fails to break through the enemy's line of defense, we will send their brigade into battle again. Comrade Commander, is it possible that in your impression, the strength of our brigade is so weak?"

  Sokov heard what Colonel Chuvashov said, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart, secretly shouting that it's not good, he caused trouble. You know, in today's Soviet army, the most powerful troops are the water drawn from various fleets. Compared with ordinary army soldiers, sailors have a high degree of education, and generally have undergone professional military training, and their combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the army. But when I was on the phone just now, I mentioned that the two marine brigades may not be able to break through the enemy. Such a statement will definitely hurt Colonel Chuvashov's self-esteem.

After figuring out what was going on, Sokov quickly apologized to Chuvashov with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, in my mind, the most powerful unit in our army is your sailors. You know, in many battles The offensives launched by the army were repeatedly repulsed by the enemy, but as long as the sailors were put into battle, the enemy's defense line could be broken through quickly. The reason why I only used three brigades on the front side of this attack is that Just considering the combat effectiveness of the two marine brigades, and the two infantry divisions are stronger..."

Sokov's explanation finally made Chuvashov smile again: "Comrade Commander, when it's our brigade's turn to participate in the battle later, I will definitely let you see our true strength. I can't guarantee that we can fight more with less; but in the case of equal forces, we can definitely defeat the enemy."

  The attack from north to south went smoothly, but the attack from south to north by the 384th Division commanded by Major General Gritsenko was not smooth. Because they have to face not only the Imperial Division, but also two ordinary German divisions. After launching three attacks on the enemy's defense line without making any progress, Gritsenko became a little anxious. He called several regiment leaders under him and asked loudly, "What's the matter with you? How many times did the battle start?" It's been an hour, but you still haven't been able to take down the enemy's position. You know, the troops attacking from north to south have advanced a full ten kilometers. Our division's performance in the battle is so poor. How can you hold your head up in front of you?"

Facing Major General Gritsenko's roar, a lieutenant colonel said tremblingly: "Comrade commander, the enemy's firepower is too strong. We don't have artillery, so it is difficult to suppress them. So that the soldiers had to fight on the ground without any fire cover." Under such circumstances, launch an attack on the enemy's position."

"Bastard." Major General Gritsenko slapped the table in front of him angrily, and asked sharply, "Where are your regiment's new rockets, and where are the rockets? Why didn't you use them in the offensive? They were preparing to save the cubs." ?"

"Comrade commander," said the lieutenant colonel who was criticized, "after we seize the enemy's position, we will definitely be hit by the enemy's crazy counterattack. Those new rockets are used to deal with the enemy's large forces. To deal with enemy tanks? How can it be used when we attack?"

   Hearing what his subordinates said, Major General Gritsenko wished he could raise his hand and slap him in the face. He said angrily: "That's right, the new rockets are the best against enemies on open ground. But now we don't have artillery, so when attacking, we can use rockets to destroy the enemies hiding in the fortifications." Also, that bazooka can not only hit enemy tanks, but also destroy those solid firepower points. Didn’t the troops send you a training manual when they were training a few months ago? Haven’t you read it? "

   "Comrade Commander," the lieutenant colonel said with some embarrassment when he heard this, "I don't know many words, so I haven't read the training manual handed out at all."

"What, you've never read the training manual?" Gritsenko was angry. He didn't expect his regimental commander to be so negligent. If he could read the training manual and learn about the new rockets and If there are multiple uses of rocket launchers, how much will the casualties of the troops be reduced.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath, and then said to the lieutenant colonel: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, from now on, I will relieve you of your post and let your chief of staff take over your command, and reorganize the troops to launch a new offensive. He looked up at his watch and said, "The new attack will start in half an hour."

The chief of staff of the regiment who took over the command changed his tactics when he knew what had happened in the division headquarters. First, he fired rockets at the enemy's positions, especially where the firepower was the strongest. center of gravity. After a burst of bombardment, the troops launched an offensive again, this time only seventy or eighty meters away from the German trenches, before encountering sporadic resistance.

  Seeing that the enemy's resistance was so weak, the commanders and fighters accelerated their charge, jumped into the trenches and started hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Many of the rifles of the German army did not have bayonets at all. Facing the flood of Soviet commanders and fighters, they could only fight each other with rifles without bayonets.

  The German army never dreamed that the Soviet army would launch such a fierce attack when it was already dark. In addition, this position had just been plowed by rockets not long ago, and the defenders inside had already suffered heavy casualties, and the battle soon became one-sided.

   After clearing the enemy in this area, the Soviet army continued to advance in depth towards the enemy, preparing to join forces with the friendly troops going south and wipe out the German Imperial Division again.

If Tansen did not flee in a hurry after being attacked, but found a place to re-establish the headquarters, commanded the troops to resist the Soviet attack, and coupled with the cooperation of friendly forces, even if it could not stop the two sides of Sokov's troops. Even if they are flanked, they will not be annihilated. However, since Tansen had already escaped, and the German officers and soldiers below did not know about it, facing the Soviet attack, they could only choose to fight on their own, without any support or supplement at all, so that they were attacked by troops from two directions. The Soviet army broke through one by one.

  At dawn, Sokov received a call from Katukov, asking him about the battle that took place at night. Was the troops under his command encircling and annihilating the enemy?

After reading the telegram, Sokov looked at the map on the hood of the jeep and thought to himself, part of Katukov's First Guards Tank Army is now in Oboyan. Taking positive actions may speed up the speed of annihilating the enemy.

Thinking of this, he called the operator in front of him and said to him: "Call back General Katukov immediately, saying that our army is encircling and annihilating the German Imperial Division, and asking them to take active actions to contain the rest of the German army." , to ensure that our department can wipe out the Imperial Division smoothly."

After receiving Sokov's call back, Katukov stared at the map in front of him and fell into deep thought. Just two days ago, the troops of the First Tank Army successively blocked the German 48th Panzer Army and the 52nd Panzer Army in the Oboyan area. All the assaults of the infantry corps ensured the second defensive position in the Krasny-Pochinok-Cherkaskoye-Arksevka area. The brutal battle has caused the troops to suffer huge losses, so that they can only defend but are unable to attack.

  The plan proposed by Sokov, if implemented, may attract more enemies to his position. The junction of the 3rd Mechanized Army and the 5th Tank Army of the Guards - Oboyan, is the focus of the German offensive. The only force I can use now is Colonel Inov's 100th Tank Brigade. I wanted to use it to strengthen Obo. However, now it seems that they can launch a feint attack to attract the attention of the enemy and ensure the smooth implementation of the plan of the friendly forces to encircle and annihilate the Imperial Division.

  Thinking of this, Katukov said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately call Colonel Inov and order him to lead his troops to launch a feint attack on the area controlled by the enemy to attract the enemy's attention."

"Comrade Commander, I think it is necessary to remind you." After hearing Katukov's order, the chief of staff said cautiously: "Our tanks have never attacked at night, and I am worried that they are in action. If they were thrown into disarray, the enemy anti-tank fighters could take our tanks out with ease."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I understand what you mean." Katukov pointed to the position of Oboyan on the map, frowning and said: "General Sokov's troops are launching a full-scale attack on the Imperial Division, and the troops near Oboyan The enemy will not just watch the Imperial Division fall, they will definitely dispatch a large number of troops to reinforce it. In this way, Sokov's troops may not be able to eat the Imperial Division, but will be surrounded by enemies coming from all directions.

  I ordered Colonel Inov's tank brigade to launch a feint attack on the enemy in order to attract the attention of some enemies, thereby reducing the pressure on General Sokov's troops and ensuring that they can complete their plan to annihilate the Imperial Division. "

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Although the chief of staff didn't feel that Sokov's troops could annihilate the Imperial Division, since Katukov issued such an order, as the chief of staff, he could only carry it out unconditionally: "I Immediately call Colonel Inov and order them to launch a feint attack on the enemy stationed in Oboyan."

  (end of this chapter)