Burning Moscow

Hearing this order from me, Kistyakov immediately frowned. He said with some worry: "Comrade Commander, you must know that there has been no decent fortifications in the defense zone of the 375th Infantry Division. Even if we rushed for repairs overnight, I was worried that the fortifications that were hurriedly repaired would not be able to resist the German attack?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you are worrying too much." In response to Kistyakov's worrisome thoughts, I comforted him and said: "Although our scouts have discovered that the enemy is gathering in the Uman area, we have to wait for them to act. At least It's four or five days later. Maybe the 53rd Army has taken Alexandria down by then."

Kistyakov stared at the map and said: "If General Managarov's troops can really take down the city, even if the Germans attack from the flank, it may not be easy to defeat them. what?"

I waited for him to finish, and said bitterly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, although I don’t know how many troops the 53rd Army has added in this month or so, I can guess that it’s capturing Asia. After Alexandria, the troops will definitely be unable to continue their attacks due to heavy casualties. If the Germans rushed back at them at this time, would they be able to stop them with their strength?"

After I said these two sentences, I stared at Kistyakov intently to see how he reacted. Unexpectedly, he stared at the map for a long time, and then threw the question to Bezikov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

"In my opinion, the 53rd Army will continue to attack Kirovgrad after the liberation of Alexandria. Due to the heavy casualties in the battle, their remaining forces in the city must be very limited, and they will have to meet the Germans. They really couldn’t stop the counterattack.” After Bezikov finished his analysis, he turned to look at me and said, “Comrade Commander, since we found that the German army is gathering, then we can preemptively take advantage of it. Their assembly is still going on, so they attacked Uman decisively and completely shattered their counterattack conspiracy."

"However, we currently don't have the troops and technical equipment to attack." I immediately and unequivocally rejected Bezikov's proposal: "We used three guards to attack Krost. Weave, the remaining troops can be used for defense, if used for offense, it will be too far."

Although my opinion was rejected by me, Bezikov still reluctantly said: "Maybe we can try our luck, maybe the Germans didn't think we would suddenly attack them like this?"

Regarding Bezikov’s insistence, I did not argue with him. Instead, I pushed the map in front of him and pointed at the location of Uman with a pencil: "Chief of Staff, please see, Uman is a big city. The German army originally had a lot of troops here. If a skeleton division is added, even if we are lucky enough to defeat the skeleton division’s tank unit, using our existing strength to attack the fortress is tantamount to hitting the rocks with pebbles."

After I finished speaking, the entire command center fell into silence. Except for Kirilov, everyone's eyes were fixed on the map on the table, thinking hard about how to deal with the German troops in the Uman area.

"Comrades, can I make an opinion?" Akhromeyev, who has never had a say in such meetings, asked suddenly timidly.

It was the first time that Akhromeyev interjected at such a meeting, so I said with tolerance: "Please speak, Comrade Major, speak your thoughts and let everyone discuss it."

After getting my permission, Akhromeyev pointed to the map and said to us: "Comrades commanders, I think the situation may be more serious than we thought. Although there are only German skeletons assembled in the Uman area. Division, but I am worried that they will still quietly transfer excess troops from other directions in order to achieve the purpose of gaining an advantage in the local area."

"Well, it makes sense." Hearing Akhromeyev's words, I thought it was really possible, so I urged him: "Major, please go on."

"If the enemy's troops in Uman, apart from the original defenders and skeleton divisions, the threat to us is not too great. But if they secretly transfer other troops into Uman, the situation will be the same for us. It seems very serious." Akhromeyev said nervously, "So, I suggest that in addition to strengthening the defense of the 375th Infantry Division, so that the Germans will not rush to us along the road. At the same time, we should also order the Spora and The defenders of Smila took the time to rush to repair the fortifications to avoid being caught off guard when they were attacked by the Germans."

I waited for Akhromeev to finish talking, staring at the map, and desperately recalling the history of the Battle of Kiev in my mind, but after thinking about it for a long time, I didn't come up with a reason. Later, I comforted myself, saying that maybe this battle was conducted in a short time and the battle was not fierce enough, so in the history books of the Soviet Union, this piece of historical knowledge was only taken away.

Although I don’t remember the specific plot of the Kiev battle, for the sake of safety, I agreed with Akhromeyev’s opinion: "Major, you will call General Seleukin and Lieutenant Colonel Lukin later and ask them to do so. Tianjiang’s training was temporarily suspended and concentrated on rushing to repair the fortifications."

After Akhromeyev passed my order through the phone, Seryujin called quickly. He complained in the microphone: "Comrade Commander, we did not send us to participate in the attack. The whole division's commanders and fighters were very emotional. Now you have notified the troops to build fortifications on the existing defensive positions, commanders and fighters. Is even more grumbling."

"Enough, Comrade Xie Liujin." Before I waited for Xie Liujin to finish speaking, I interrupted his words loudly. No. It’s up to me. You have to know that the commander of the group army is me, not you, do you understand?"

"Understood" Xie Liujin replied weakly: "If this is the case, then I will try my best to do ideological work for the commanders and fighters, so that they can feel at ease."

Xie Liujin's phone number just hung up, and then Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin's phone called. He complained about the same thing on the phone, so he was unfortunately scolded by me, and then honestly directed the troops to build fortifications.

The troops who went to sneak attack on Krostwiv were not discovered by the Germans along the way due to their concealment. On the evening of the 18th, I received a telegram from Colonel Babaxin, commander of the 71st Guards Division. He wrote in the telegram: "Our army has reached a place only five kilometers away from Korostviv. Do we need to send manpower to conduct reconnaissance?"

"Does this need to be said, comrade colonel.?" Although I heard a good news, my heart was not at all happy, because Babaxin was commanding operations at a distance of more than 100 kilometers from me, and he did not dare to call the shots without authorization. , Even if you send scouts to scout the enemy's movements, you have to ask me for instructions, which makes me very dissatisfied with him.

I said to Akhromeyev: "Major, call Colonel Babahin. Let him immediately dispatch personnel to conduct reconnaissance on Korostviv. If the German forces are limited, then immediately launch a full-scale attack and strive to make the shortest time possible. Control the transportation line of Kiev Zhitomir within a period of time. Do you understand?"

"Understood," Akhromeyev replied decisively, "I will send him a telegram, urging him to send someone to conduct a reconnaissance soon."

"Go ahead, Major." I waved to Akhromeyev and urged: "Hurry up and send him a report so that he can respond to the situation and make correct adjustments in a timely manner based on the situation of the enemy. I understand. Yet?"

"I understand." Akhromeyev replied briefly: "I'll go back to Colonel Babahin by telegram and convey your meaning to him."

Colonel Babahin, who received the telegram, immediately dispatched several reconnaissance squads to conduct reconnaissance on the defense of Korostweiv. When he found that there was only one German battalion in the city, he didn't even have time to ask me for instructions, so he decisively issued an offensive order to the troops.

In the face of our army's fierce attack, the Germans who stood firmly in the city of Krossdorf were caught off guard by us. After two hours of fierce battle on the offensive, the 71st Guards Division stormed into the city, dividing the defenders into two unconnected areas.

Our offensive naturally alarmed the enemies in the Zhytomyr region. An enemy infantry regiment, under the cover of the tank battalion, rushed towards Krostwirt, attempting to cooperate with the city's defenders inside and outside, and wipe out our 71st Guards Division. Fortunately, at this moment, Sergeikov's troops arrived. Seeing that the situation was dangerous, the 51st Guards Division had no time to rest, so it immediately went into battle and launched an attack from the reinforced flanks.

However, after the reinforcements from Zhytomyr were repulsed, they stuck to the remnants of the German army in Korostvevri. Seeing that the reinforcements had been repelled, the army was in a state of confusion. At this time, the guards of the 71st Division increased the intensity of the offensive, and bit by bit the besieged defenders were eaten up.

As the battle progressed at 1 am on the 10th, gunshots in the city of Krostwiv became sparse, and some German officers and soldiers dropped their weapons and surrendered to our army, seeing that they had no hope of breaking through the siege.

When I received a telegram from the front line reporting to me that Korostlev was in the hands of our army, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then ordered Akhromeyev: "Major, to Babahin Call back with the two division commanders Sergeikov, asking them to build fortifications facing Zhytomyr and Kiev overnight to prevent possible German counterattacks."

When Akhromeyev went to send the report, Kistyakov, who knew the report, asked excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I didn't expect our sneak attack plan to be really successful." After a short pause, he Then he asked cautiously: "Is it necessary to report to the front army headquarters immediately?"

"Does this need to be said, Comrade Deputy Commander?" Although the offensive from the south of Kiev has not stopped in recent days, the friendly forces have made no progress at all except for damaging their troops in front of the strong German fortifications. For this matter, Vatutin was very anxious, and if he was dissatisfied, he would get angry. Now that we have achieved such a result, we should report to him immediately to make him happy.

Colonel Babahin, who received the telegram, immediately dispatched several reconnaissance squads to conduct reconnaissance on the defense of Korostweiv. When he found that there was only one German battalion in the city, he didn't even have time to ask me for instructions, so he decisively issued an offensive order to the troops.

In the face of our army's fierce attack, the Germans who stood firmly in the city of Krossdorf were caught off guard by us. After two hours of fierce battle on the offensive, the 71st Guards Division stormed into the city, dividing the defenders into two unconnected areas.

Our offensive naturally alarmed the enemies in the Zhytomyr region. An enemy infantry regiment, under the cover of the tank battalion, rushed towards Krostwirt, attempting to cooperate with the city's defenders inside and outside, and wipe out our 71st Guards Division. Fortunately, at this moment, Sergeikov's troops arrived. Seeing that the situation was dangerous, the 51st Guards Division had no time to rest, so it immediately went into battle and launched an attack from the reinforced flanks.

But after the reinforcements from Zhytomyr were repulsed, they stuck to the remnants of the German army in Krostvevri. Seeing that the reinforcements were all repelled ~www.wuxiaspot.com~, the army was upset. At this time, the guards of the 71st Division increased the intensity of the offensive, and bit by bit the besieged defenders were eaten up.

As the battle progressed at 1 am on the 10th, gunshots in the city of Krostwiv became sparse, and some German officers and soldiers dropped their weapons and surrendered to our army, seeing that they had no hope of breaking through the siege.

When I received a telegram from the front line reporting to me that Korostlev was in the hands of our army, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then ordered Akhromeyev: "Major, to Babahin Call back with the two division commanders Sergeikov, asking them to build fortifications facing Zhytomyr and Kiev overnight to prevent possible German counterattacks."

When Akhromeyev went to send the report, Kistyakov, who knew the report, asked excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I didn't expect our sneak attack plan to be really successful." After a short pause, he Then he asked cautiously: "Is it necessary to report to the front army headquarters immediately?"

"Does this need to be said, Comrade Deputy Commander?" Although the offensive from the south of Kiev has not stopped in recent days, the friendly forces have made no progress at all except for damaging their troops in front of the strong German fortifications. For this matter, Vatutin was very anxious, and if he was dissatisfied, he would get angry. Now that we have achieved such a result, we should report to him immediately to make him happy. To be continued.