Chapter 923

Wittkov's words, let me come up with two idioms: shut the door to beat a dog and catch a turtle in a jar. If our whole army enters zaborosh, then Manstein's plan will be half successful. As long as his troops come up from all directions to encircle us and annihilate us, it is only a matter of time. After much deliberation, I finally told my chief of staff the truth: "yes, comrade wittkov, this situation is bound to happen."

"Comrade commander, even if our army is surrounded by German troops," wittkov said carefully, "can't we just stick to Stalingrad, when the enemy stands firmly out of the city. We have to know that our troops in Ukraine are several times more than those of the Germans. As long as we stick to the city for about a week, our main forces will be able to come and carry out anti encirclement against them. "

"Comrade chief of staff, you have considered the problem too simply." As for Vitkov's unrealistic idea, I mercilessly refuted it: "zaborosh is just an ordinary city. It can't be compared with Stalingrad. The city named after the supreme commander has its own special meaning, Not to mention the wide Volga River ensures that Stalingrad's defenders will not be threatened from behind. It is the great sense of honor to defend the city ordered by the commander-in-chief, and it gives all the commanders and fighters the determination to fight to the end. Therefore, we can persist in the fierce German offensive and finally encircle and annihilate the enemy! " Although I said so much at one go, there is still one key thing that I didn't say. The wide Volga River makes it difficult to retreat. Therefore, the defenders in the city can only choose to fight against the enemy's back water, while they have to face the German attacks from all sides when they stay in zaborosh. With our current strength and equipment, we can't defend them at all.

"I see, comrade commander." After listening to me, vetkov did not hold his own opinion, and then said: "I will convey your order to the following units as soon as possible."

After I finished the call, kirilov, who had been standing in front of the window looking out at the frozen river, suddenly said, "Comrade o'shanina, I have a bold idea to reduce the defensive pressure in the West and north of the city."

"Oh, comrade political commissar, what do you think of it?" Kirilov said that there was a good way, which immediately aroused my interest. I hastened him to say, "let's talk about it."

Kirilov pointed out the window and said, "if we bombard the river with cannons, can we blow up the ice? In this way, the German infantry can't rush over the ice. We will correspondingly reduce the defensive forces in these two directions and deploy them to important areas."

Kirilov's proposal really made me laugh bitterly. I had to explain to him, "Comrade political commissar, your idea is really good. Unfortunately, we can't do it now." Seeing his puzzled look on his face, I further explained to him, "with such a thick ice layer, the mortar's power is too small. One shot at most is an ice hole. It's a pity that the heavy artillery of lieutenant colonel kaverin's artillery regiment can shatter the ice. Unfortunately, their shells are limited at present, so they need to be reserved for the use of city defense in wartime. They can't be wasted on such meaningless things. "

After hearing what I said, kirilov sighed helplessly, and then said, "Comrade oshanina, if what you said really happens, then even if we deploy a division by the river, we will not be able to block the German attack."

"Comrade commissar, it's time for us to go back to major Godunov's command post." The terrain of the city has been almost checked, and it's meaningless to stay. It's time to go back to Godunov's command post in the center of the city. "We've been outside for so long, comrade major, they should be worried."

"Well, let's go back to the command post and wait for wittkov and other comrades in the military command." Kirilov finished, gestured to Yushchenko, asked him to send someone to help the operator put away the phone, then waved his head at me and said, "come on, comrade oshanina."

An hour later, I stood in front of the map on the wall of the army headquarters with Vitkov and bandeleev, who had just arrived. Witkov pointed to the map and reported to me the deployment of the divisions. After that, he asked: "Comrade commander, at present zaborosh has only the 22nd division of general bantailiev's guards. How do you plan to deploy the city's defense?"

As I was about to begin to deploy the mission, I suddenly thought of the third regiment of major kosga, who was still far away from us and was charged with the task of defending the long traffic line. I rushed to Pugachev, who was standing on one side, and said, "major, you should immediately send a telegram to major kosga, so that he can gather troops immediately and arrive at Kuban overnight, Take over the defence of the region from the hands of Colonel andrushenko. "

"Comrades commander, the third regiment of Col. kosga is defending the long traffic line of our army at present," wittkov told me carefully after listening to such an inexplicable order from me, saying: "if we withdraw them, the safety of the traffic line of our army will not be guaranteed."

"Chief of staff," I said with a shrunken mouth, "if our army is surrounded by the German army in zaborosh, do you think the weapons, ammunition and supplies in the rear can smoothly pass through the layers of German encirclement and enter the city? Since we can't guarantee it, instead of letting a strong fighting force idle in the rear, we'd better transfer them to strengthen the defense force in the city. "

"I see, comrade commander." After listening to my explanation, wittkov immediately told Pugachev: "major, immediately send a message to lieutenant commander kosga, so that he can immediately assemble the troops on the long traffic line, and rush to Kuban overnight to take over the defense of the 171st division while most of the towns are still in our hands."

When Pugachev went to send a telegram, I pointed to the map and said to bantailiev: "Comrade division, the north and west sides of the city are rivers. Although the German army destroyed two floating bridges that can pass through heavy weapons, their infantry can rush to the city from any place through the frozen river, so the defense on the river must be strengthened."

"General bantailiev, zaborosh is not a city suitable for defense. How do you plan to defend it?" After what I said, the next one to ask was Vitkov.

Bantaileiev frowned and looked at the map for a while, then replied, "I'm going to dig a circular trench outside the building next to the river and connect it with the building behind. In this way, when the German forces attack, we can use the high buildings and trenches to form a strong cross fire and eliminate those enemies who dare to rush to the city. "

"The East and south of the city are plain terrain, and the German army will certainly use armored forces to carry out assault." I waited for them to finish, and then said, "if my estimation is correct, the main forces of German attack will be the skull division and the imperial division. Although the "skeleton division" has not played well recently, it is because their teachers fall into our hands that they feel constrained in fighting. This attack on the city will be different. As an elite German army, they will never see another "imperial division", which is known as an elite army, rush into the city before them. "

"So what we're going to fight next is going to be a fierce battle?" Kirilov asked nervously: "I remember that the regiment of lieutenant colonel shejerikov, which had more than 3000 people, could be transferred to the factory area. In less than one day, it was almost completely annihilated. I don't know how many days our army will be able to hold on under the fierce attack of the German army? "

I took my eyes away from the map and looked at Bantai. Leiev said, "Comrade division commander, don't deploy all the troops on the hard front line. We should keep the reserves properly, because we are going to fight a cruel war of attrition."

I don't want to say too much, otherwise I will interfere with the command of Bantai leiev. In that case, I might as well be the commander of the 22nd division of the guards. What I have to consider now is how to use the three divisions of the 79th infantry army to deal with them for a longer time without being destroyed by the German army. At this point, I waved my hand to Bantai leiev and ordered him to say, "general Bantai leiev, please go back to the division first, and seize the time to build the fortifications in the city. If you are not finished by the time the German forces encircle us, you will have to continue to work in the German bombardment and bombing. "

Bantai leiev raised his hand to salute me and turned away.

In the next few hours, based on the feedback, I will know where andrewshenko's 171st division, gurdyev's 308th division and commander kosga's third regiment have arrived and whether they have completed the defensive deployment I have designated.

It wasn't until dark that I received a call from bandeleev from his division headquarters. I knew that he was reporting to me about the construction of the fortifications, so I asked frankly, "Sir, how are the fortifications in the city?"

"Report to the commander," bantaileiev respectfully reported, "as captain mihayev's engineering troops have played a great role in the whole construction process, we have built effective fortifications or barricades in most blocks at present."

"You've done a good job," I said after praising him. "As the German army will definitely use armored forces to rush into your defensive positions, the fortifications you build should be able to limit the movement of the enemy's armored forces as soon as you enter the city."

After I finished, bandeleev went on to introduce: "the East and south sides of the city are commercial areas and office areas, so we used these solid construction departments to build a large number of solid firepower support points, and deployed major gordonov's new third regiment in these areas. As long as the German armored forces rush into the urban area, they will be unable to move. I've deployed one regiment of Colonel shejerikov in the west of the city, and four regiments of Colonel gedar in the north of the city. They are building fortifications by the river nervously. "

In such a short period of time, bandeleev can do so well, which is very good. So I nodded and said with satisfaction: "Mr. Bantai leyev, in this battle, I will not interfere with your command. Except for reporting the battle report in time or contacting me when you need the help of friendly forces, you can treat me as if I don't exist in the rest of the time, and the whole city defense war will be carried out according to your idea." When I finished, I felt a little uneasy, so I added two words to remind him: "I remind you that this battle is related to the life and death of our new infantry army, so we should not blindly fight with the German army. As long as we can eliminate the enemy, it is necessary to retreat appropriately."

"Yes, comrade commander!" Bantai leiev replied loudly at the other end of the line The next morning, before my troops were fully deployed, the German counterattack against zaborosh began. They shelled the riverside positions in the West and north of the city. When I heard the rumble of guns, I did not immediately contact Bantai leiev, because I had promised him that I would not interfere with his command. About ten minutes after the gunfire outside, gurdyev called and reported to me that there were German SS troops in front of them. According to the observation from the front, it should be the German "German division" of the German army, which is currently fighting. When I heard that the German army was coming up from the East, I called Col. andreushenko of the 171st division again after the call with gurdyev. I wanted to know about the situation in the south of the city. Hearing andreushenko's voice coming from the receiver, I immediately asked, "Hello, Colonel andreushenko? I'm o'shanina. What's the situation there? " Andreushenko said in a loud voice in the microphone: "Comrade commander, a German armored force has emerged from somewhere and is attacking our defensive position from the southwest of the airport."“ Is it the 11th panzer division and the 336th infantry division that are following you? " As the fighting between these two forces and the 171st Division has never stopped, the first thing I think of when I hear about the presence of German troops is them“ No, comrade commander. " Andreushenko replied somewhat flustered: "it's not the 11th panzer division and the 336th infantry division. It's a SS unit. Their firepower is so strong that they can't hold up our commanders and fighters in the position. Comrade commander, we are short of anti tank weapons now. If the enemy's tanks rush up, we can't stop them at all. "“ Is there a tank in major akhromeyev's hand? " Although andrieusenko was constantly complaining, I thought of akhromeyev who was with him, so I asked: "if there is any, let major akhromeyev lead his troops around the flank of the German army, and teach them a lesson so that they can't attack us without fear."