Chapter 512

Although the commander of the 64th army was general shumilov, trakov was only the deputy commander. But in my sense, trakov is more like a commander. Most of the time, he gives orders, and shumilov is almost a soy sauce player. The reason for this phenomenon may be that before the formation of the group army, when it was still a reserve force in the base camp, it was always under the leadership of trakov. Therefore, his prestige among the commanders and fighters was far higher than that of shumilov.

Hearing that trakov said to strengthen the defense forces in the renok orlovka area, I couldn't help but ask curiously, "Comrade commander, does our group army have two or three divisions and brigades in each section of the above area? Can't so many of our troops hold the existing line of defense? "

With a slight sigh, trakov said helplessly: "although these troops have been strengthened to a certain extent, their combat effectiveness has been weakened instead of enhanced because they have been supplemented by new recruits. In the days to come, we will face more brutal battles. I know you have many ideas. Do you have any good ways to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops in a short time? "

Staring at the serial number of 229th division in renok area on the map, I said thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, during the day before I followed Colonel sarren to break through the enemy's encirclement, I used a new tactic on the battlefield: wheel Warfare!"

"Wheel fight?" "It's the first time I've heard that," he asked. Tell me more about it. What's going on? "

The wheel fight, which was created in Shangganling and developed in the two mountains wheel fight, is still unknown at the present stage. In order to make this tactic available and popularized in advance, I began to spare no effort to publicize it to trikov: "at that time, I found that after the cruel battle, there were many numbers of troops under Colonel Saren, In order to avoid the command confusion caused by multiple organizational systems, I suggest to the colonel to take a wheel fight, one company by one to fight. No matter what the casualties are, each company will fight for only one day, and then withdraw to rest. The company commander will stay, as the consultant of the later company commander, and so on. In this way, we can not only avoid confusion in command, but also keep a number of backbone fighters in each company. Once new recruits are added to these companies, their combat effectiveness will increase rapidly. "

"What's the effect of this tactic?" trikov asked faintly as he wrote in his book

I quickly nodded vigorously, replied: "the effect is not bad. At that time, we only needed to hold on to that position for one day, so every company would retreat and recuperate after only one battle. As for the combat effectiveness of Colonel sarren's troops, you must have seen it in this counter attack. "

Trekov nodded approvingly and said, "we have fought and improved the combat effectiveness of our troops, but at the same time we can retain a number of valuable combat backbones. Good, good, this kind of play is really good! " After finishing his last stroke, he looked up at me and asked, "is there any other way?"

After thinking about it, I went on to say: "because the German army attacked too fast in the early stage, their armored forces are now facing the situation of no fuel and ammunition, and the soldiers are extremely tired. Therefore, they will not launch a large-scale attack on the defense area of our group army in two or three days. We can take advantage of this favorable opportunity to organize small teams to carry out uninterrupted night attacks on the enemy, so as to consume the tired enemy and gain time for the main force to adjust its deployment and prepare for large-scale counterattack. "

I thought that after I finished speaking, trakov would express his own opinions and point out the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of fighting to me. Unexpectedly, he asked, "is there anything else?"

It seems that the tactics I put forward have aroused trekov's interest, but they are not comprehensive enough. That's why he asked. Instead of answering his question immediately, I bowed my head and pondered, trying to recall the information I had seen in the afternoon.

Seeing that I didn't respond, trekov was a little worried and urged: "besides the two methods of wheel fight and night attack, are there any other ideas?"

In the short time just now, I have worked out a detailed plan in my mind based on the information I have learned in the afternoon. I said to trikov with a smile, "Comrade commander, I have a plan to report to you."

"Plan?" Trekov looked at me in surprise, reached out to me and asked, "what's the plan? Let's hear it. "

After I sat down next to him, I moved the map in front of him, pointed to the defense areas of each division, and introduced to him, "Comrade commander, please see, whether it is the renok area defended by the 214th infantry division and the 229th infantry division, or the orlovka area defended by the 70th close guard division and the 157 infantry division, except for a few hilly areas, almost all of them are grasslands, In order to block the German attack for as long as possible, we must increase their defense depth. The terrain of the spardanovka area is much more complex. Solid fortifications can be built on 158 and 165 Highlands in this area. If we put the focus of the group army's defense here, we will not only consume a lot of enemy forces, but also relieve the pressure on the troops defending Stalingrad. "

Trakov tilted his head and stared at spardanovka on the map. He looked left and right for a long time and didn't speak. After waiting for a long time, he took a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, took a deep breath, and finally said, "tell me about your plan!"

I pointed to spardanoka and said to him, "Comrade commander, in order to strengthen the defense system in this area, I want to organize a large number of people to excavate tunnels on the basis of the existing fortifications in 158 and 165 highlands. The tunnel can not only store materials, but also become a shelter for the commanders and fighters to defend air and artillery. The garrison mainly relies on the tunnel and uses the existing fortifications on the position to defend. Restricted by the terrain, the enemy's tanks can only provide artillery cover for the attacking troops at the foot of the mountain. Without tanks directly participating in the attack, we can quickly eliminate those infantry going up the mountain. "

"If the enemy attacks the mountain with superior forces and occupies our position, what should our troops do? Is it to retreat into the tunnel and wait to be beaten passively and be wiped out by the enemy bit by bit? " Trekov is worthy of being an experienced commander who pointed out the disadvantages of tunnel operations.

After saying his worry, trakov yelled out: "come on!" Then he told the staff who came in: "Comrade staff, go and call commander shumilov, as well as the military commissars serdyuk and Abramov, saying that trakov has something important to discuss with them."

After the staff officer left, he might have seen a disappointed expression on my face and specially comforted me by saying, "Comrade oshanina, I think your plan is operational to a certain extent. We will discuss it together when commander shumilov arrives."

The staff officer's action was quite fast. In less than five minutes, shumilov, serdyuk and Abramov arrived one after another. At this time, I certainly dare not sit still in toda and quickly get up to salute the three of them.

Shumilov walked up to trakov and asked strangely, "Comrade trakov, you are in a hurry to call us here. Is there anything important?"

After several people sat down, trakov highlighted some of the suggestions I just made, especially the excavation of tunnels in the 158 and 165 highlands of spardanovka.

After trikov finished, after the three men who had just arrived looked at the map for a long time, sergeuk took the lead and said, "Comrade oshanina, I want to ask a question: what should our troops do if the enemy occupies our fortifications? Should we retreat into the tunnel or continue to retreat into Stalingrad? If you retreat into the tunnel, you may be blocked in the tunnel by the enemy and wiped out little by little, as general trakov worried; If we withdraw from Stalingrad, the goods we hoard in the tunnels will not be cheaper for the Germans? "

"Yes, I also think the things that comrades of the military commissar are worried about are very reasonable." Shumilov immediately echoed serdyuk's statement.

Seeing that the four giants of the group army were all here and waiting for my answer impatiently, I said all my thoughts calmly: "commander, deputy commander, two comrades of the military commissar, I now give you a detailed introduction of my thoughts.

I think that in the future, the garrison will mainly rely on the tunnels and use the existing fortifications on the positions to defend. As for what comrades of the military commissar are worried about is where our troops will withdraw after the enemy has occupied our positions, I can give you a clear answer: withdraw into the tunnel.

Of course, holding fast to the tunnel is only a means that must be taken when the surface position is lost in order to preserve the living strength, exhaust the enemy and gain the necessary time for counterattack preparation. In addition, we must persist in the struggle for a certain period of time when the conditions of personnel and materials in the tunnel permit and the communication with the superior is smooth. We must seize the opportunity to replenish the fighters and materials needed in the tunnel in a timely manner. We must also have the strong support of the tactics, firepower, material and spirit of the troops in depth.

At the same time, the tunnel troops should also actively organize small-scale sneak attacks, strong attacks, harassment and other combat activities by taking classes and platoons as units to counterattack or contain the enemy occupying the surface positions. The troops in depth should organize snipers or artillery to suppress the possible destruction of the pit crossing by the enemy, so as to effectively protect the integrity of the tunnel.

As for the basic method of restoring the surface position, it is to organize a strong counterattack. The specific way can be that the troops in the tunnel cooperate with the reinforcements we sent, and cooperate with each other; You can also move the troops into the tunnel in advance, and then rely on the tunnel to launch a counterattack.

Of course, our counterattack against surface positions may not always be effective, so we should educate the troops who persist in fighting in the tunnels to have sufficient ideological preparation and sufficient material to repeatedly fight for positions, so as to ensure that our positions become an unbreakable fortress. "

After listening to my words, four people are stunned, four pairs of eyes staring at me, see me a little embarrassed to lower the head.

With a loud bang, I looked up and saw that it was schumilov who was applauding my plan: "genius, commander oshanina, you are a genius. If the plan you just mentioned can be put into effect immediately, I believe that the enemy's offensive will be effectively restrained by our troops in the spartanovka area." At this point, he turned and asked trekov, "Comrade trekov, what do you think?"

"It sounds attractive, but it's not that easy to implement." Trekov hesitated for a moment, but he poured cold water on all of us. "I believe you all know how much work is needed to excavate tunnels. If we excavate on the two highlands of 158 and 165, we can't finish it in ten days and a half months. After the completion of the tunnel, it will take another three or five days to transport materials inside. Do you think the enemy will give us such a long time? "

Trakov's words suddenly made everyone silent, because they all knew what he said was the truth. Although I think what trakov said is reasonable, I still don't want to give up easily. After all, I am copying a "Shangganling" for Stalingrad. Once it can be put into practice, it will become an impassable gate for the German army.

After a long period of silence, it was sheldyuk who first broke the silence in the headquarters: "although what Comrade trakov said is true, I think we should try the plan of commander oshanina. After all, such a defense system is far beyond our common understanding with the enemy. Even if the enemy invades the surface positions of our army, a large number of troops are bound to be trapped in this area. In this way, the pressure of the garrison in Stalingrad will be greatly reduced. "

At the end of serjiuk's speech, Abramov said carefully, "yes, I agree with Comrade serjiuk. Although our existing engineering force can't complete two high ground tunnels at the same time, we can choose one for construction. We can finish the rest step by step in the interval of fighting. "

After listening to the two military commissars, trakov did not express his opinions again. Instead, he asked sumilov, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"

Shumilov was sitting in his own place, staring at the map on the table, with a pencil in his hand. After hearing his question, he threw his pen on the table, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Seeing that the commander was thinking about the problem, no one bothered him. He just looked at him silently and waited patiently for his reply.

After a while, shumilov opened his eyes, sat up straight, glanced over everyone, and said, "I think this matter should be reported to the headquarters of the front army immediately to see the opinions of commander yelimenko and deputy commander Golikov." Hearing shumilov say so, my heart is half cold. It seems that he is a indecisive commander. He can't do anything under his command. If I have a chance, I'd better find a way to change my job.

Shumilov grabbed the phone on the table, dialed a number and politely said, "I'm general shumilov, commander of the 64th army. Please transfer me to Comrade commander of the southeast front army. I have something important to report to him immediately."

The operator also said politely, "general shumilov, please wait a moment. I'll connect you with general glikov, deputy commander of the front army."

After a short wait, general Golikov's familiar and strange voice came from the microphone: "is that general shumilov? I'm glikov. Is there anything important to call me so late? "

"Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." Shumilov replied politely: "we were just studying how to strengthen the defensive forces along the line of renok spardanovka orlovka."

"What's the result of the research?" Golikov asked coldly, perhaps dissatisfied with shumilov's disturbing him at such a time.

Shumilov did not care about his indifferent attitude. He told Golikov the plans I had just made. At the end of the day, he repeatedly stressed the importance of digging tunnels in the existing defensive positions, and added: "this plan of lieutenant colonel oshanina is to use tunnel struggle and small team counterattack as the main means to consume the tired enemy, It will gain time for the main forces of the group to adjust their deployment and prepare for a large-scale counterattack. "

Golikov did not immediately express his position after hearing this, but his attitude towards shumilov was much more relaxed. He said cautiously: "general shumilov, please wait a moment. I will report this plan to commander yelimenko immediately and ask for his opinions. I'll call you when he has specific instructions. " Then he hung up without waiting for shumilov to speak.

In the waiting for more than ten minutes, all five of us were staring at the phone on the desk. I'm looking forward to the phone ringing earlier, but I'm afraid it will ring. When the telephone rings, I can know whether my plan is approved in the headquarters of the front army; They were afraid of the phone ringing, but they were afraid of being rejected directly by their superiors. The Soviet army had no experience in relying on tunnels for defense. It's hard to say whether they could accept the way of fighting that appeared more than ten years later.

So when the phone on the desk rang again, I was so nervous that I could hardly breathe. I covered my chest with one hand and supported the edge of the table with the other, gasping heavily. Trikov patted me on the back and asked with concern, "what's the matter with you, o'shanina?"

I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and answered him calmly: "Comrade commander, I'm nothing but a little nervous."

Golikov's reply on the phone was also quite concise: "general shumilov, commander yelimenko, after listening to your plan, only said two words: absurd and confused!" Then he hung up. Shumilov put down the phone and said to me with an iron face: "Comrade oshanina, I'm sorry, your plan has been rejected by the commander of the front army."