In June in Russia, the sky starts to light up at four in the morning, and the night doesn’t really fall until eleven in the evening. Therefore, Zhukov chose the time of the attack at four o'clock in the morning, because at this time the Germans were still sleeping in the shelter, but the attacking troops could clearly see the target to attack.
As soon as the time came for the attack, Kazakov ordered the artillery of the group army to fire at the enemy's position. In an instant, the enemy's position was shrouded in smoke. Zhukov stood in the observation post and raised his binoculars to look at the enemy's position. Although the smoke obscured his view, he could still feel that the German troops on the position were scurrying around after being suddenly bombarded.
Sokov and Chief of Staff Potugin stayed in the observation post and were observing the German positions that were under shelling through binoculars. After looking at it for a while, Potukin put down his telescope and asked Sokov: "Comrade division commander, do you think the Germans have withdrawn to the second line of defense and our artillery is bombarding unmanned positions?"
"It's possible." Since the attack was launched in a hurry, Sokov didn't know whether the Germans had noticed the Soviet attack was about to launch, so he said in an uncertain tone: "But our attack was launched successfully. Suddenly, the Germans, perhaps without knowing it, were in their shelters being bombed."
Sokov did not continue to struggle with Potukin on this issue, but asked instead: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is the 1139th Regiment ready for an attack?"
"I just called the regiment leader, Colonel Mamendov," Potukin quickly replied after hearing Sokov's question: "He said that the entire regiment has made all preparations and can go into battle at any time."
The former commander of the 1139th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Ajik, was dismissed from his post because of his command errors during the battle to liberate Zizdra. He was replaced by Colonel Mamendov, the former commander of the 322nd Division. The colonel's poor performance on the battlefield made Zhukov furious and threatened to assign him to Sokov's staff as a battalion commander. But how could Rokossovsky let a division commander be the battalion commander? So he was asked to take over Ajik's position and serve as the leader of the 1139th Regiment.
After Mamendov learned that he was about to launch an attack in the direction of Bryansk, he was eager to make atonement and immediately found Sokov and offered to let the 1139th Regiment serve as the vanguard of the division and take the lead in attacking the enemy. Seeing that he was eager to fight, Sokov agreed after some thought.
As soon as the shelling stopped and the smoke covering the German positions had not dissipated, Mamendorf jumped on a tank, raised his assault rifle high, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, for the motherland, for Stalin ~! Forward~!"
As soon as his shout ended, the soldiers crawled out of the trench where they were hiding, shouting "Ula!~" and rushing forward behind the tank.
From the telescope, Zhukov saw the charging 1139th Regiment. On the tank charging at the front, there was actually a commander holding a spear. After seeing the opponent's rank clearly, he couldn't help but frowned. , turned to Rokossovsky and asked: "Rokossovsky, I want to ask you, when did your army group start and the colonel also led the charge?"
Rokossovsky quickly raised his telescope and looked at it for a moment, then replied: "Comrade General, the person on the tank is Colonel Mamendov, the commander of the 1139th Regiment."
Zhukov said displeasedly: "As a regiment commander, his duty is to stay behind and command the troops in combat, not to charge into the battle like an ordinary soldier."
"Comrade General," Rokossovsky quickly explained to Zhukov: "He may be trying to atone for his sins."
"What about meritorious service?" Zhukov looked at Rokossovsky and asked in confusion: "Did he make any mistakes?"
Rokossovsky felt a little speechless when he saw Zhukov looking like a noble man and forgetting things. Fortunately, Malinin, who was standing aside, said in time: "Comrade General, have you forgotten that in the attack on Zizdra last month, Colonel Mamendov performed poorly and you exempted him from the 322nd Infantry Division? He held the position of division commander and was assigned to the 31st Guards Division as battalion commander."
"Even if he is the battalion commander, it is inappropriate for a colonel to lead the troops to charge into battle like this." Zhukov muttered quietly: "Besides, he is not the battalion commander now, but the regiment commander."
After holding up the telescope and staring at Mamendorf for a while, Zhukov suddenly asked curiously: "What weapon is he holding in his hand? Why have I never seen it before?"
"It is the automatic rifle provided to us by the Weaponry and Equipment Department." Rokossovsky quickly replied, "Currently, Major Sokov's troops are equipped with fifty. Judging from the effect on the battlefield, the effectiveness of this weapon The performance is quite good.”
"What is the name of this weapon? Automatic gun?" Zhukov frowned: "It sounds like the name of a submachine gun. Is there a name that is easier to remember?"
"Yes," Rokossovsky nodded and replied, "Major Sokov said that this new type of firearm successfully combines the best tactical and technical performance inherent in rifles and submachine guns in accordance with the requirements of modern warfare. up, hence the name 'assault rifle'."
"This name is quite appropriate." After hearing this, Zhukov nodded and asked: "With such good firearms, why are only Sokov's troops equipped with a small amount of them? What is going on?"
"That's it, Comrade General." Rokossovsky explained to Zhukov: "This weapon was invented by Sokov, so Comrade Ustinov decided to use the first batch of guns produced as It will be used by Sokov's troops to test the performance of this weapon on the battlefield."
Rokossovsky's words surprised Zhukov: "What, this rifle was actually invented by Misha? Are you kidding me?"
"No, Comrade General, I am definitely not joking with you." Rokossovsky replied: "In addition to this assault rifle, he also invented a new type of rocket launcher, but it is still under intense development. For the time being, No troops are equipped.”
"I've seen it. Our army already had rocket launchers before the war. What else is he studying?" When Zhukov heard this, he criticized with some dissatisfaction: "It's simply not doing its job properly."
Just when Rokossovsky was about to continue to defend Sokov, Malinin on the side suddenly shouted in surprise: "Comrade commanders, look, they are rushing forward, our troops are rushing forward."
Zhukov and Rokossovsky both raised their telescopes and looked towards the German positions in the distance, and saw Soviet tanks parked in front of the German trenches. Mamendorf, who was standing on the vehicle, held the assault rifle in his hand. After aiming at the enemy in the trench and firing a machine gun, he jumped off the tank and jumped into the trench. The soldiers who followed saw that the commander had taken the lead and jumped into the trench, and they jumped into the trench like dumplings.
"Performed very bravely," Zhukov was very satisfied with Mamendov's performance. He turned and asked Rokossovsky: "Who is the current commander of the 322nd Division?"
"Due to the lack of commanders, the Army Headquarters has not yet appointed a new division commander." Ma Lining said cautiously from the side: "The division chief of staff is responsible for all work in the division."
Zhukov nodded and raised the telescope again: "His punishment is almost over. If he is still alive at the end of the battle, let him go back and continue to be his division commander."
While the 1139th Regiment seized the German position, the commanders and fighters of the 323rd Division, which belonged to their right-wing infantry corps, also successfully rushed into the enemy's first position, jumped into the trenches, and engaged in close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
It was seen that the troops of the 323rd Infantry Division and the 31st Guards Division captured the enemy's defensive positions in a very short period of time. Zhukov nodded and said with satisfaction: "Well done, our soldiers are all well done! If this trend continues, I think our troops will be able to reach the outskirts of Bryansk by noon tomorrow at the latest."
After occupying the first line of defense of the German army, the troops continued to advance towards the second line of defense. Just when everything seemed to be going extremely smoothly, a sudden change occurred. The German artillery positions deployed in the distance opened fire fiercely, building a fire net in front of the second line of defense. The tanks that had just made a passage for the infantry through barbed wire fences and minefields became the priority targets of artillery fire. Seeing tanks being shot and on fire in front of the German positions, Rokossovsky couldn't help but feel angry.
After Zhukov saw this situation, he calmly ordered the staff he brought with him: "Get in touch with the Air Force immediately and let them go into battle immediately. The bombers are responsible for attacking targets deep within the German army, while the attack aircraft attack the German infantry positions."
As the Soviet fighter planes entered the battle, the German artillery fire became sparse. The Soviet soldiers, who had been suppressed by the artillery fire, got up from the ground, jumped over the burning tanks, and bravely rushed towards the German position.
The German officers and soldiers who stood firm in the position were not willing to allow the commanders and fighters to easily rush into the position. They used machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and even pistols to form a firepower network to block the Soviet army's path forward. Soviet soldiers fell in pieces in front of the enemy's positions, but the remaining ones still bravely charged forward.
"What the hell, what's going on?" Seeing his troops engaging in a head-to-head battle with the Germans, Sokov couldn't help but frowned. He knew very well in his heart that this kind of attrition style of play was detrimental to his own health. The troops were at a disadvantage, but under the current circumstances, he could only watch and do nothing.
The Soviet bombers were bombing the German artillery positions, preventing them from concentrating on bombarding the attacking soldiers; regardless of the attack aircraft swooping down from high altitudes and using their airborne machine guns to straf the German positions, they also weakened the German firepower to a certain extent. .
Potukin felt a little anxious when he saw that the 1139th Regiment suffered heavy casualties but was still unable to break through the German positions. He turned to Sokov for instructions and said: "Comrade division commander, send the 1135th and 1137th regiments up too. Maybe they can break through the German defenses as soon as they go up."
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, we can't send the other two regiments up now." After carefully observing the enemy's resistance, Sokov said to Potukin: "The enemy's firepower is very cute and they fight very tenaciously. Didn't you see that when they were being strafed by aircraft, there were still many soldiers who dared to stand up and shoot at the soldiers rushing towards the trenches? Let alone two regiments, even if two divisions were sent forward, it would be difficult to break through the enemy's defenses .”
The same problem also faced Orlov. Ratshev, the military political commissar who was watching the battle with him, asked: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's firepower is too strong and our troops cannot rush up. Do you think we should send another division up for reinforcements?"
Perhaps because of the lesson of the failed attack on Zizdra, Orlov did not easily put the remaining two divisions into battle. Instead, he ordered the chief of staff to get through the phone call of the army headquarters. He was going to ask Rokossovsky for instructions before deciding whether the other two divisions should be put into battle.
Rokossovsky was also a little embarrassed after receiving Orlov's call. Despite the support of the air force, the firepower on the German positions was still fierce, making it difficult for the attacking troops to continue advancing. If more troops are rushed in at this time, the next battle will be difficult to fight.
Seeing Rokossovsky's hesitation, Zhukov asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, what are you worried about?"
"Comrade General," Rokossovsky replied: "If we invest more troops now, then when our army reaches Bryansk, there will not be many troops capable of fighting."
"Our current task is to break through the German defenses and rush to Bryansk quickly." Zhukov looked at Rokossovsky and said: "Sometimes the necessary sacrifices are completely worth it."
Seeing that Zhukov advocated putting more troops into the battle, Rokossovsky did not refute, but said into the microphone: "General Orlov, immediately put the 97th Infantry Division into the battle, and strive to defeat the enemy in the shortest possible time. , breaking through the German second line of defense."
"Also, the regiment of the 31st Guards Division is fighting very hard in the front." Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky to put down the phone and said without looking back: "Call Sokov. Ask him why he didn't send the reserve team up, are he prepared to watch this regiment being wiped out?"
The reason Sokov delayed putting the other two regiments into battle was that he did not want to waste his troops in this meaningless battle of positional attrition. However, after receiving Rokossovsky's stern order to attack, He could only bite the bullet and give an order to Pavel, asking him to immediately lead the 1137th Regiment to reinforce the 1139th Regiment which suffered heavy casualties.
When the troops led by Pavel set off, he smiled bitterly and said to Potukin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although the orders from superiors can only be carried out unconditionally regardless of whether they are right or wrong, I can tell you in advance that what we are launching today will The attack will end in failure."
