Burning Moscow

Chapter 1649 Unexpected victory

Rokosovsky told me more than once that Malinen was the most capable staff officer he encountered, none of them. At this moment, I finally realized how correct his summary was.

Malinen pointed to the map and said to me: “Lida, General Batov’s forces will be assembled and it will take some time. If the Germans attack at this time, the two sides may encounter encounters on the road. Therefore, I suggest that in order to give the first The troops of the 65th Army have gained valuable time. We should send a unit to ambush near Naschelsk.”

I looked at the markers on the map and knew that the place Ma Lining was referring to was a forest, which was very suitable for troop concealment, so I nodded, and then asked, “Comrade Chief of Staff, I don’t know which troop you plan to send to carry out this glorious mission. What about the task?”

“The 33rd Brigade of Motorized Infantry Guards of Colonel Cleves,” Malinin knew that I was not familiar with this unit, and he gave a detailed introduction: “The designation of this brigade was originally the 57th Brigade of Motorized Infantry. There are three motorized infantry battalions, mortar battalions, artillery battalions, and anti-aircraft artillery battalions. They have been fighting in the formation of the 3rd Tank Army since December 42.

Because the officers and soldiers of the brigade performed bravely and tenaciously in the battle against the German army, they achieved great results and had a high degree of organizational discipline. They were awarded the title of Guards and were renamed the 33rd Guards Motorized Infantry Brigade. ”

“Where are they now?” I asked after Ma Lining finished speaking.

“Here!” Malinen said to me, pointing to a position northwest of Serotsk’s 6th game: “Originally their mission was to capture Wizhbica, but because of the enemy’s bombers in the previous day’s battle, the enemy’s bombers destroyed it. It lost its defense in the area, so the town was liberated by other troops.

They are less than 20 kilometers away from Naschelsk. We can order them to advance a distance of five to eight kilometers and choose a suitable location to arrange an ambush. ”

Seeing that Malinin is so familiar with the troops below, I feel relieved and boldly say to him: “Chief of Staff, since you are so confident, then do what you said, let Colonel Klevs’ troops station in the area and prepare to ambush. Enemies from Naschelsk.”

…………

At dawn, the German forces in Naschelsk had completed their assembly, and marched vigorously along the street toward the outside of the city. After arriving outside the city, the original mechanized column changed from one road to two roads. On the right side of the road were tanks one after another, and trucks full of soldiers were responsible for driving on the left.

Just as they were heading towards the 6th field of Serotsk, more than a dozen bombers of our Air Force suddenly appeared in the air, diving against tanks, trucks, motorcycles, and armored vehicles on the ground, dropping bombs and strafing. Suddenly fires burst into the sky in the middle of the enemy’s queue, and smoke billowed. The German soldiers in the truck jumped out of the truck one after another, scattered on the side of the road, firing at the air with various weapons in an attempt to shoot down the bombing group.

Before the enemy’s anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns were in place, our military planes that completed the bombing mission climbed to a safe height, hovered in the air, and flew toward the east airport.

In just a few minutes of airstrikes, the Germans were bombed with more than a dozen tanks and armored vehicles, as well as more than 20 trucks, and caused more than two hundred casualties early.

The German army regrouped after waiting for our plane to fly away. This time they were worried that they would be attacked by our army, so they changed the marching team into a one-way column, with tanks as the leader to open the way, armored vehicles and trucks followed closely, and continued along the road to Serotsk for 6 games. Advance.

They advanced seven or eight kilometers. Although they were not attacked by our air force again, they were caught in an ambush circle of the 33rd Brigade of Guards Motorized Infantry. Following an order from the brigade commander Colonel Klevs, the anti-tank, cannon, and anti-aircraft guns lying 500 meters away on both sides of the road fired at the tank in the middle of the road.

Our artillery first destroyed a few tanks in front of the Germans, blocked their way forward, and then fired on the tanks at the end of the line. After the tanks were destroyed one after another, the German tank column was blocked on the road. In order not to stay on the road and serve as a target for our artillery, the tankers turned around and drove off the road into the muddy area, trying to eliminate the artillery troops ambushing on the roadside.

Unexpectedly, the infantry soldiers of the Motorized Brigade were hiding more than two hundred meters away from the road. When they saw the enemy’s tanks slowing down because of the muddy roads, they rushed out of their hiding places and used anti-tank grenades and rocket launchers. Destroy the huge tanks one by one.

The German truck loaded with infantry was originally blocked far behind. But when the German commander learned that the armored unit had been ambushed, he immediately ordered the infantry to get off and rushed to the ambush position of the motorized brigade along both sides of the road.

After reading the latest battle report, I turned to ask Kazakov: “Comrade Artillery Commander, is our breakthrough artillery division in place?”

“Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander.” Kazakov nodded and said: “The artillery has completed the construction of the artillery position five minutes ago, and can go into battle at any time.”

“The German marching column was ambushed by the motorized brigade,” I said to Kazakov, pointing to the map. “According to the battle report, there is already thick smoke on this section of the road. Our artillery can use this as a reference for the enemy. Carry out shelling.”

“Don’t worry,” Kazakov assured me: “Our artillery will teach the enemy a lesson that will never be remembered for life.” After speaking, he walked to the telephone next to him, ready to give the artillery an order to fire.

“Chief of Staff,” after Kazakov walked away, I turned my gaze to Malinin again: “Where are the troops of General Batov?”

“Because the assembly of the 65th Army is too slow, they have just left the garrison not long ago.” Malinin smiled bitterly and said to me: “It will take half an hour at the earliest to reach the combat area.”

After listening to Malinin’s report, I secretly called a fluke. Fortunately, Klevs had arranged ambush in advance. Otherwise, before Batov’s troops arrived at the designated position, I would encounter the enemy’s marching troops. But fortunately, Kazakov’s artillery is about to go into battle. You can buy a little more time. When the enemy is dizzy by the heavy artillery bombardment of our army, when Batov’s troops arrive on the battlefield, they can just start the pursuit.

With an order from Kazakov, the artillerymen, who were already ready to shoot, immediately fired at the German formation rushing to the motorized infantry position. With dozens of heavy guns aiming at the same time, even if the bullet hits and then scattered, the German soldiers covered by the cannonballs, even if you can hide again, will never escape the end of the bones. After the two rounds of artillery bombardment, one or two hundred meters in front of the motorized infantry brigade’s position, no more moving objects were seen.

After destroying the German infantry, the artillery turned its fire to the tanks that were still running around. In the sound of explosions one after another, the German tanks were destroyed one after another. Some were thrown off the turret directly, while others were overturned by the blast. The surviving tankers inside scrambled to get out and ran to the back with their hands and feet. They felt safe only if they fled to the infantry. .

After Batov’s troops arrived at the designated position, the German troops had already begun to flee backwards, so the artillery fire began to fire. As the road was blocked by the burning German tank wreckage, our tank brigade had to stop temporarily, waiting for the engineers to re-pave the road on both sides of the road, and the infantry could only chase the fleeing German troops on foot.

Seeing the situation moving in the direction I envisioned, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I told Orel: “Comrade General, the enemy has begun to rout, and immediately put your two guard tank regiments into battle. Let the Motor Infantry Brigade send you a battalion of infantrymen to round the sides of Naschelsk to cut off the German retreat.”

“Lida, there is a tank regiment and an infantry battalion on each of the two wings of Naschelsk. Is the force too small?” After listening to me, Malinin kindly reminded me: “If the enemy moves towards these two If they make a crazy breakthrough, they can’t stop it at all.”

“Chief of Staff, I understand what you said, but in a hurry, we did not have more troops to perform this task.” I explained to Malinen: “I just want to create an illusion for the Germans, we Troops are deployed on three sides of the city, and they can choose any direction to attack at any time. If they can’t defend, they can only withdraw from Naschelsk along the passage we left for them.” I put my hand on the map. I knocked on it, “If after taking Naschelsk, our army will go northeast to capture Winnitsa, then we will be able to play 6 games with Puutusk from the Second Front. .”

Malinen stared at the map for a while, and said with a hint of regret: “Unfortunately, even if we take Naschelsk, we can’t take the Chexon in the southeast direction, because in that direction we will be met by the Modlin Fortress. Fire.”

“Whether it is Cheksen or Modlin fortress, we will take it down sooner or later.” I said confidently: “Today’s main task is to capture Naschelsk. As long as we have a firm foothold in this area, then You can advance, attack, retreat, and defend, and firmly control the initiative on the battlefield in your own hands.”

It was too long because the engineers laid the road for tanks and artillery to pass. By the time the tank brigade and artillery units arrived in Naschelsk, the guards of the 65th Army had broken through the German defense and rushed into the city to start street fighting with the enemy.

The Germans originally concentrated all their forces in the south of the city, and tried their best to stop the attack of our infantry. When their two existing tank units were tortuous to the east and west respectively, they had to withdraw a considerable part of their forces to strengthen the defense in that direction, so that the pressure on the guards was greatly reduced.

Fortunately, Batov is not a mediocre person. When he learned that his troops had rushed into Naschelsk, he immediately mobilized two more infantry divisions and drove over by truck as quickly as possible. Reinforcements were in the city. Guard division fighting street fighting.

The commander of the 7o Army, General Hoffman, after learning that the 65th Army had begun a large-scale mobilization, also took the initiative to call me, willing to deploy troops to fill the defensive loopholes left by Batov’s troops.

In Naschelsk, there was only one German infantry division and two armored regiments. They were hit hard by our air force and artillery while they were marching. When they retreated, they were chased by the tail of our infantry. When they retreated to the city, only half of the original was left. In addition, after the soldiers had lost the battle, the morale of the soldiers was low. Facing the steadily advancing forces of our army, they could only fight and retreat, gradually being compressed by our army. To the north of the city.

As the sky was getting darker, Batov took the initiative to call me to ask for instructions: “Comrade Deputy Commander, it is getting late. The soldiers have been fighting for a day, and many people have not eaten yet. Do you want to stop the fighting first? Come down, wait until tomorrow morning before you continue to attack?”

“No, General Batov, resolutely not.” I resolutely rejected Batov’s request and said in a stern tone: “The offensive must continue, and the Germans must not be given a respite. As for those fighting for a day, still For fighters who don’t have time to eat, you can let the troops take over for them, so that they can take time to rest. In short, the battle must continue, and strive to take down Naschelsk before dawn tomorrow.”

Ma Lining, who was standing next to me, waited for me to finish the call, and said to me carefully: “Lida, we used several infantry divisions, tank brigades, air force, and artillery in today’s battle. The actions are not trivial. My opinion is Regardless of whether Naschelsk is taken tonight, it is necessary to report this to Comrade Marshal. After all, he is a commander of the front army and has the right to know everything about the army.”

“Well, Comrade Chief of Staff.” I thought about Malinin’s request and agreed decisively: “After the call is connected, I will report to him in person.”

After listening to my report, Rokosovsky was silent for a long time before asking: “Lida, let’s talk about it, how did you make up your mind to attack Naschelsk?”

“It’s like this Comrade Marshal.” I explained to him respectfully: “When I learned that the German army was starting to gather and prepare to attack Serotsk for 6 games, this happened suddenly. Thoughts. Because I know that since the Germans are preparing for offense, they will definitely not be prepared for defense, so I decided to attack first. Soon after they left the city, I used the air force to attack them, and then Ambush their moving convoy, and then bombard the enemy with heavy artillery, throwing them into complete chaos…”

“You are very considerate!” Rokosovsky waited for me to finish, and said admiringly: “It is precisely because you have accurately grasped the opportunity that our troops can rush into Naschelsk city so smoothly. Good. Now, since I said that you are responsible for all the affairs of the front army, you can handle this matter without reporting to me. However, once the city is occupied by our army, I still hope that you can get the good news as soon as possible. tell me.”

The fierce fighting continued at two o’clock in the morning, and the gunfire in the city gradually became thinner. Batov finally called me, and he reported excitedly: “Comrade Deputy Commander, our red flag has been planted on the roof of the municipal building, and Naschelsk has been captured by our army!”

Please remember the domain name of the book’s first publication:. Mobile version reading URL: