Chapter 1309

When akhromeyev handed the telegram to me, he solemnly reported that "the reconnaissance team found a large number of German tanks unloading at the railway station outside berkichev."

"How many tanks did the German army unload?" When I heard the report, I was shocked and asked, "have you got the serial number clear?"

Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "we haven't got the name of the enemy yet, but it's estimated that it's at least an armored division of the German army."

Chisgakov took the telegram in my hand, looked at it, and then asked in a suspicious tone: "Comrade major, is this reconnaissance intelligence reliable? Isn't it because our scouts got it wrong? "

"No, comrade deputy commander." Akhromeyev argued: "this information was sent back by the reconnaissance team led by major basmanov himself."

When basmanov's name came out of akhromeyev's mouth, all doubts disappeared. After all, the commander is a familiar and trustworthy person, and the information he reported is undoubtedly true and reliable. Therefore, after a moment of silence, chisgakov asked akhromeyev, "major basmanov, when can they find out the name of the enemy?"

Akhromeyev shook his head again and replied, "the major said that the enemy's guard is very strict and they can't get close. But he will find a way to capture a valuable prisoner and find out the situation of this German armored force. "

After staring at the map for a long time, I raised my head and asked, "comrades commander, what do you think will happen next when the German army gathers an armored division in berkichev?"

"Needless to say," said bezikov, "when they gather as usual, they will certainly go north to attack Zhitomir and try to reoccupy the city."

"Chief of staff, you are quite right." Bezikov's judgment coincided with my conjecture. After praising him, I went on to say, "since the German army is sure to win against Zhitomir, the troops they used will never be just an armored division."

"It seems that we need to increase our reconnaissance in other directions." As soon as chisgakov finished his sentence, he told akhromeyev, "major, go and send a telegram to the garrison of Zhitomir, and ask them to send reconnaissance troops to increase the reconnaissance area around the city."

"Wait a minute, major." I saw that akhromeyev was about to leave the headquarters. I quickly stopped him and said, "this is the most important thing. The telegram is too slow. I'd better call commander tavartkilaze myself."

When I got through to the headquarters in Zhitomir, I heard tavartkilaze's voice coming out of the receiver and asked directly, "Comrade commander, what's the situation there?"

"All is well, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze replied in a smooth tone: "there is no movement of the enemy within ten kilometers around the city. It seems that there will not be any large-scale fighting in the near future. I strongly suggest that one or two divisions should be transferred from the city of Zhitomir to korostwev to defend the German forces in the fastif area."

As soon as tavartkilaze finished speaking, I said to him sternly, "Comrade commander, I am very disappointed in your reconnaissance ability. The enemy's Armored Division has already arrived in berkirchev, but you are still at a loss. Are you going to fight in a hurry after the German troops come to the city?"

My words flustered tavart killazer. "Comrade commander, is this true? But my first scout reported to me that he had not found the whereabouts of the Germans at all. Maybe you have received the wrong information... "

"Enough, general tavartkiraze." Without waiting for him to finish, I angrily interrupted him and impolitely said: "the intelligence gathered by the German armored division in berkichev was personally reported by major basmanov, the new battalion commander of the reconnaissance battalion. What kind of commander he is, I don't say, you should know, he will never give back the false information that has not been proved."

Fortunately, tavartkilaze knew busmanov and knew what kind of person he was, so he could understand what kind of situation he was in now without my much explanation. After another silence, he asked, "Comrade commander, what should we do?"

"General tavartkiraze, listen to me." As I slid my finger across the map, I said to the microphone, "send your scouts immediately to the new city of warrensky in the West and crosten in the north as soon as possible. We must find out in the shortest possible time whether the enemy has assembled troops in these two directions. Do you understand? "

"I see, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze solemnly replied, "I'm going to send scouts to the enemy's defense area for reconnaissance."

In order to be on the safe side, I also told him to say, "also, seize the favorable time when there is no battle, repair and reinforce the fortifications outside the city, and be ready to fight against the German attack."

Just after calling tavartkiraze, vatujing's call came in. Since I haven't had time to report to him about the German armored division's assembly in berkichev, he thought that we are still safe here. After reporting the information that the 60th group army was transferred to the southwest of Kiev, he said lightly: "oshanina, your task is to defeat the enemy of farstev by our new force, Cut off their escape to the West. "

"Comrade General, the situation here may be much worse than you think." As soon as he finished speaking, I quickly gave him a detailed report on the intelligence of the German armored division in berkichev.

After hearing this, he was surprised: "what, is there a German armored division gathering in berkirchev? It's only tens of kilometers away from Zhitomir. If the enemy wants to launch an attack, it can rush under the city of Zhitomir in two hours at most. By the way, have you taken any measures? "

"In addition to informing general tavartkilaze to repair the fortifications, I also asked him to send a reconnaissance team to reconnoiter warrensky new town and crosten respectively, so as to quickly find out whether there are large-scale German troops in the above two areas."

After hearing this, vatukin said, "it's not enough to send scouts on the ground. Well, I'll order the air force to go out later and conduct reconnaissance in the two areas you mentioned to see if there are any signs of German troops gathering. "

With vatukin's support, we found out the enemy's troop build-up more than an hour later: in addition to the German armored troop build-up found in the new town of vorensky, we also found signs of movement of the German regiment near crosten.

Seeing the reconnaissance information forwarded by watujing, the faces of all the people in the headquarters changed. After looking over the information several times, chisgakov said to me, "Comrade commander, we have only four close guard divisions and two tank brigades in the city of Zhitomir. We are going to face two German armored divisions and several infantry divisions. They can block the enemy's attack."

"The situation is very bad, comrade deputy commander." Staring at the map, I said solemnly, "I think the enemy's purpose of gathering such forces is not only to capture Zhitomir, but also to capture Kiev."

If I put forward such a view a few days ago, it would certainly be refuted by everyone. However, the iron facts in recent days tell us that although the German army was driven away from Kiev and Zhitomir by us, they still have the strength to seriously damage or even destroy our army, and we must not take it lightly.

"What shall we do?" Asked chisgakov.

"If the German forces attack from three directions at the same time, it is a question whether we can keep Zhitomir." As soon as chisjakov finished speaking, bezikov immediately expressed his views: "in my opinion, we should send troops to the north, West and south respectively to set up blocking positions and prevent the enemy from advancing towards hitomir."

"Chief of staff, have you ever thought that the enemy's recommendation to hitomir is not a small force." As for bezikov's proposal, chisgakov first retorted: "if more troops are sent to block, our defense force in the city will be weakened; If we send fewer troops, we will not be able to stop the enemy. On the contrary, we may be completely annihilated by the German army. "

"What shall we do?" Hearing that his proposal had been rejected, bzikov could not help but be a little worried. He said in a loud voice: "even if our troops stay in Zhitomir, if the enemy encircles us in three directions, it is uncertain whether we can hold the city."

During the fierce debate between the two of them, I didn't express my opinion. At least I kept glancing at the door from the corner of my eye. I was anxious that akhromeyev, who was in the next telecommunication room, would come back soon and report to me the latest situation of the reconnaissance troops.

When I saw akhromeyev appear at the door, I immediately stood up from my position and asked him in a loud voice, "major, have you received the latest reconnaissance information?"

"Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev nodded and agreed. He walked around the table to me and handed me a fresh telegram. At the same time, he said, "I've just received a telegram from major basmanov. They have found out the German number in berkichev."

"Which army is it?" Asked chisgakov and bzikov in one voice.

Akhromeyev turned to look at the two men, still turned to look at me and said, "it's the first German armored division. According to major basmanov's report, the division is from Greece, with 95 long barrel No. 4 tanks, 76 leopard tanks, 7 fire breathing tanks and 7 command tanks, with a total of 185 tanks. "

"My God." When bezikov heard this, he couldn't help exclaiming. Then he said to himself, "the first armored division of the German army is second only to the great German division and the 130th armored instructor in the German defense forces. In '41, they were the first troops to attack Leningrad and occupied several settlements in the suburbs. When they were transferred to the midline, they were also pushed to the nearest force to Moscow. We have only two incomplete guard tank brigades in Zhitomir with such a strong fighting force. It is estimated that they are not their opponents. "

I very much agree with this statement of bezikov, so I told akhromeyev: "major, you should immediately send a telegram to major general Berek, so that he can come to the headquarters immediately." Then I explained to them, "with the tank brigades hidden in the forest, we can use up to four brigades in Zhitomir, but it is still far from enough. Because in addition to the first armored division in berkichev, the German army also has an armored unit in wallensky new town. Although we don't know the number of the other side for the time being, we believe that their combat effectiveness will not be too weak. "

Chisgakov suggested to me: "Comrade commander, I think we should call general tavartkilaze and ask him to dig more anti tank trenches in front of the defensive positions, so as to prevent German tanks from rapidly advancing under the city of Zhitomir." After akhromeyev left, kirilov, who sat next to him and did not speak, kindly reminded me: "Rita, do you need to report to commander vatukin immediately about the news that the German army stationed in berkirgizev is the first armored division?"“ Just a moment. " Although I am anxious to report the news to the higher authorities, considering that there are still two directions where the number of the German army is not clear, if I report it rashly, it is very difficult for watujing who has received an incomplete report to make a correct response“ We will report to the senior general after we have found out the number of German troops in the two directions of wallensky new town and crosten. " Not long after we waited, akhromeyev came in in a hurry. From the stern expression on his face, I know that the situation is very serious. The enemies in the East and North may be more serious than we think. When he came up to me, without waiting for him to speak, I raised my hand to stop him and said, "major, please read the message to us." Ahlomeyev took a deep breath, picked up the telegram and read aloud: "after our reconnaissance, it is now clear that the commander of the seventh German armored division, Lieutenant General von mantefield, is in the new town of wallensky. In addition to the earlier 208th infantry division and 340th infantry division, the eighth German armored division was found in the direction of crosten“ What? " After listening to the telegram read by akhromeyev, bzikov rushed over and snatched it. As he looked at it, he said in an unbelievable voice: "how can it be, how can it be sure that there are three German armored divisions at the same time?" Originally, I knew that Zhitomir would be attacked by the first and seventh armored divisions of the German army, which was enough to make me uneasy. Now there is an eighth armored division. In this case, can Zhitomir still hold on? Thinking of this, I told akhromeyev: "major, call the headquarters of the front army for me, and I will personally report the intelligence to the general."