Burning Moscow

Chapter 1680 Lonely

At dawn, General Rezhov, commander of the 28th Guards Corps, reported to us a good news. He excitedly said to Cui Koff on the phone: “Comrade Commander, I want to report you a good news. My Guardsman. With the support of the tank brigade, the 112th Regiment rushed into the German airport in Poznan. After a brief exchange of fire between the enemy guarding the airport and us, they lay down their weapons and surrendered. Forty aircraft were parked next to the airport’s runway. I captured all the undamaged Heinkel He111 bombers. However, according to the captive’s confession, these planes were abandoned by the German pilots because they had no fuel.”

“It’s great, General Rezhov, this is really great.” Hearing that the German bombers had been captured, Cui Koff told the other party excitedly: “Immediately report the names of the commanders who participated in this operation, and I will give them. Remember the merits, I want to honor them.”

After putting down the phone, Cuikov still couldn’t calm down for a long time. He told me, Pronin and others: “We have successfully seized the German airport in Poznan and captured the bomber parked on the airport. This way. The air supremacy over Poznan is firmly in our hands.”

After everyone cheered for this victory, I reminded them: “Comrades, although Poznan’s air supremacy is in our hands, the Germans will not easily admit their defeat. I think the enemy of the fortress will not If you surrender easily, you will definitely continue to resist to the end.”

Just as we were preparing to keep the troops under the siege of Poznan according to the original plan, and the main force of the 8th Guards Army, along with the 1st Guards Army of Katukov’s Guards Tank, continued to advance westward, Zhukov called. , Bluntly ordered: “Lida, except for Katukov’s troops continuing to advance westward, Trikov’s troops stayed and attacked Poznan.”

“Attacking Poznan?” Hearing Zhukov’s words, I said with some embarrassment: “Comrade Marshal, the enemy has a tight defense in the city. If we want to take this city in a short period of time, we will inevitably pay a huge price.”

“Poznan is an important railway and highway hub. If we don’t seize the city, even if our troops advance to the Oder River, the railways and highways will still be blocked by the Germans.” Zhukov said to me on the phone. “Any convoy of trains or trucks transporting supplies cannot directly pass through the city. They can only find other roads to detour. This will directly affect the supply of the leading troops. In addition, even if we surround the fortress, a lot of troops will be restrained. , Making them unable to participate in battles in other regions, thus weakening our army’s ability to attack fortifications. Understand?”

“Understood, Comrade Marshal.” Zhukov’s stern tone made me understand that the capture of Poznan is a non-bargaining task that can only be carried out unconditionally. But in order to let Zhukov understand the actual situation on the battlefield, I continued: “Because Poznan’s streets are narrow and tanks cannot be deployed, I suggest leaving the 8th Army of Guards of General Trikov and launching an attack on Poznan. , And General Katukov’s Guards Tank 1st Army continued to advance westward to seize the fortified area of ​​Messeritz and advance towards the Oder River.”

“This is the best of both worlds.” Regarding my proposal, Zhukov said approvingly: “While leaving enough troops to seize the city, there will be troops to continue to defend the Germans. Okay, I agree with your plan. From now on, you can go to Katukov’s 1st Guards Tank Army and advance westward with them.”

Hearing that Zhukov’s order was in line with me, he quickly agreed: “Understood, Comrade Marshal. We will resolutely follow your order.”

After I put down the phone, I immediately said to Cuikov: “General Cuikov, according to Marshal Zhukov’s latest order, your guards of the 8th Army do not need to continue to advance west. Instead, stay here in Poznan and confront those who are standing in the fortress. The German army launched an attack and seized the city in the shortest time.”

Cui Koff didn’t ask much, but said solemnly: “We will resolutely implement the order of the front army command to liberate Poznan from the Germans in the shortest time.”

“General Trikov, according to the order, I will go to the 1st Guards Army of General Katukov, and accompany them to advance to the Messeritz fortification area. Here in Poznan I will ask you.” I am not a bit uncomfortable. Said with confidence: “Because the main force of the German army is concentrated in the fortress in the center of the city, when you seize the outer residential areas, I suggest that you do not need to seize every building. This will not only delay a lot of time, but also It will also disperse our forces.”

After Cui Kefu wrote down what I said in the notebook, he then asked: “Lida, do you have anything else to explain?”

I thought about it, and then said: “Don’t attack from the west, leaving a gap for the Germans. As long as the enemies in the fortress find that their retreat has not been completely blocked by our army, maybe their resistance will They will not be too resolute. Once the situation is unfavorable for them, they will choose to evacuate the fortress from the passage we have left.”

In order to prevent Katukov from waiting for me, he followed the troops to the front. Before leaving the Cuikov headquarters, I called him specifically and asked him to wait for me.

Katukov received my call, thinking that I have some important task to give him, and hastily said respectfully: “Lida, do you have any new orders to give?”

“General Katukov,” I asked first before answering his question: “Has your troops advanced westward?”

“Yes,” Katukov replied affirmatively: “Babajanyan’s 11th Guards Corps, as the first echelon, is now advancing rapidly to the west. Diegomov’s 8th Guards Mechanized Corps serves as the first echelon. The second echelon keeps a distance of 30 kilometers from them.”

Hearing that the distance between the two echelons is 30 kilometers apart, I hurriedly said into the microphone: “General Katukov, please immediately order General Babajanyan’s troops to slow down and at the same time make Diegomov The major general’s mechanized army speeds up its march. The distance between the two echelons should not exceed five kilometers.”

Katukov heard me say this, and said in a puzzled way: “Lida, if the vanguard slows down, it will give the Germans more preparation time. Once they have established a strong defense, then we will attack. , It will pay a greater price.”

Seeing that Katukov was a bit disapproving of what I said, I said anxiously: “Comrade General, I don’t know if you have thought about it. If the first echelon advances too fast, it crosses the Messeritz fortification area, and the troops behind But it was blocked by the German army. What kind of unfavorable situation will happen then?”

“Well, Lida, since you said that, I will give Babajianyan an order to slow down his advancement.” Katukov said reluctantly, “To ensure the first and second echelons There will be no disconnection.”

“Comrade General, I will come to you soon, please wait for me in the command post.”

A few hours later, my armored vehicle bypassed Poznan and came to Katukov’s station. At this moment, Katukov was already impatient to wait. As soon as he saw me, he immediately greeted me and got into his command car, and then ordered the troops to move forward.

In the car, he raised the question he had said on the phone: “Lida, I have ordered Babajianyan to slow down the propulsion speed, but his 40th guard tank brigade has successfully reached Messerry. The area of ​​the fortifications. According to the report, no German troops were found in the area, so they continued to move forward.”

After listening to Katukov’s report, I stared at the map placed on the table in a daze, and muttered to myself: “Is it really that I am too suspicious? The Germans did not deploy any defenses in the area where Messerritz was built. Power?”

But in front of Katukov, I was reluctant to admit my mistakes easily. Instead, I bit the bullet and said: “General Katukov, behind the 40th Guards Tank Brigade, are there our troops? ”

“Behind are the 44th and 45th Guards Brigade, and the 27th Guards Mechanized Brigade.” Katukov replied: “The distance between the main force of the army and the vanguard is ten kilometers.”

“The distance between the troops is too far.” I heard that the 40th Guards Tank Brigade was already in a lonely deep state, and my mood suddenly became irritable: “If the Germans cut off their retreat Can the troops behind provide them with timely support?”

“Lida, I think you seem to be a little nervous.” Katukoff and I are familiar with each other, so they speak very casually. Seeing that I am always a little uneasy, he said softly: “You Didn’t find that since we launched the offensive campaign until now, the Germans are almost always collapsed, and there is no decent resistance at all? If we do not seize this favorable opportunity in time, but stay here and look forward to the future, then we will miss the opportunity. of.”

Just when I felt I was persuaded by Katukov and prepared to admit my mistake to him, a communications staff sitting not far away stood up, walked quickly in front of Katukov, and gave a copy of The telegram received was handed to him.

After quickly browsing the above content, Katukov’s expression suddenly became serious. He stared at me and said, “Lida, it seems that you are right. The connection between the 40th Guard Tank Brigade and the rear that went deep behind the Messeritz fortification area was cut off by the Germans. In other words, they Now he is trapped in the encirclement of the German army.”

“What, our tank brigade is in a siege?” Although I have been worried about this happening, but when it really happened, it surprised me and asked quickly: “General Katukov, what happened? ?”