Early the next morning, the 2nd Assault Army on the right launched a fierce artillery bombardment on the positions of the German 7th Infantry Division.
After an hour and a half of artillery preparations, the 11th and 18th Infantry Divisions of the group launched an attack on the German positions where the smoke had not yet cleared. The enemy, who was stunned by the artillery fire, had no courage to resist when faced with the influx of Soviet commanders and soldiers. After firing a few shots indiscriminately, they fled towards the rear position like a bereaved dog.
Seeing that the German army began to retreat, the tank brigade covering the infantry attack accelerated the attack. According to the tank brigade commander's vision, with the speed of the tank, the Germans could cut off their escape path before they could escape back to the second line of defense. As for what dangers he may encounter, it is not within the scope of his consideration at all. After all, his tank brigade is equipped with 30 of the latest JS-2 heavy tanks, all equipped with 122 mm artillery. If the German tanks dare If you come out to fight, you will make them doubt their life.
But what was unexpected was that the Soviet tanks had just approached the German second line of defense, and a group of German tanks suddenly rushed out from the side, many of them Tiger tanks. After occupying favorable terrain, they fired at the moving Soviet tanks.
Don't forget that the Soviet JS-2 tank is equipped with a 122mm cannon, but the last part of the armor of the entire vehicle is only 132mm. It cannot withstand the bombardment of the German Tiger tanks. In less than two minutes, five JS-2 heavy tanks were hit and stopped in place and began to burn.
The Soviet tanks discovered that German tanks appeared on the flanks, and immediately stopped their assault on the German positions. They stopped on the spot and turned their muzzles to start shooting with the Tiger tanks. Although the js-2 tank has a 122 mm large-caliber gun, its disadvantage is that the rate of fire is too slow and it has only 28 rounds of ammunition. It seems to be at a disadvantage when it is bombarded by the Tiger tank that is waiting for work.
Don't see that during the design of the Tiger tank, mobility was deliberately sacrificed in order to enhance firepower and protection. But it still has great advantages against the slow-shooting JS-2. After they fired two shots in a row, they moved their firing positions in time and chose a suitable location to target the Soviet tanks again.
This tank battle lasted only a quarter of an hour. Of the 30 JS-2 heavy tanks in the tank brigade, 22 were destroyed by the Germans, but the Germans did not lose a single tank. Seeing that the tank battle turned into a one-sided massacre, the Soviet tank brigade commander felt that if the battle continued, his troops might be wiped out in the future, so he quickly issued a retreat order.
After Feijuninsky learned the news, he couldn't help being shocked, and then asked his director of armored forces: "Comrade director of armored forces, do you know the designation number of the German armored forces?"
Fortunately, the director of the armored forces knew the situation of the German armored forces in advance, so when he heard Fejuninsky's question, he could answer without hesitation: "I know, Comrade Commander. The armored forces that severely damaged our tank brigade are The German 507th Heavy Armor Battalion, which is equipped with a large number of Panther and Tiger tanks."
"This is a powerful enemy." Fedyuninsky, who had just suffered a big loss, said cautiously: "We have to find a way to deal with them."
"Artillery, Comrade Commander." The Chief of Staff said quickly: "We can use intensive artillery fire to destroy the German heavy armor battalion."
"It's useless, Comrade Chief of Staff." But the artillery director waved his hand and said: "The Germans have built a lot of underground fortifications in this area. Every time our shelling starts, they hide in these fortifications. Wait for our shelling After it was over, they came out of the fortifications and entered their respective defensive positions."
"Then what should we do?" the chief of staff asked: "Are we going to watch the German army block our progress?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't be anxious." The artillery director said to him: "The artillery can't deal with their tanks, but our air force can. As far as I know, the air force's fighters are equipped with a rocket that can attack the ground. , which is specially designed to deal with German tanks. If we launch an attack next time and request the front army headquarters to dispatch the air force to cooperate, we will definitely be able to completely destroy the German armored forces."
"This is a good idea." Fedyuninsky nodded and said, "Then I will call Comrade Marshal immediately and ask him to dispatch the air force to cooperate with our attack."
When Fedyuninsky answered the phone from the Front Army Headquarters, he expressed his thoughts to Rokossovsky who answered the phone. The latter said with some laughter and tears: "Speaking of Yin Wan, when did you become impatient? You know, I have issued a combat order to the Air Force. Starting from nine o'clock, we will carry out non-stop intensive bombing of the German defensive positions. Completely destroy the German defensive positions and open up a channel for our offensive troops. I didn't expect you to be so impatient. Before our air force launched an attack, you actually launched another attack on the German defensive positions, and suffered unnecessary losses as a result. .”
After hearing this, Fejuninsky couldn't help but feel upset. If he had communicated with Rokossovsky before the attack today, his tank brigade would not have suffered heavy losses in the duel with German tanks. He took two deep breaths and tried to ask in a calm tone: "Koschka, so you can wait until after nine o'clock to launch another attack on the enemy's position?"
"That's right. After our army's bombing, I'm afraid there won't be many solid fortifications left on the enemy's defense line. If you launch a new round of attacks under such circumstances, the obstacles you will encounter will be greatly reduced."
While Fedyuninsky and Rokossovsky were on the phone, at the 48th Army headquarters, Sokov and others were discussing when to launch another attack.
Sidorin was impatient. He advocated launching an attack on the German positions as soon as the bombing began, catching the enemy by surprise.
But Ponejelin first expressed his objection to his statement: "Chief of Staff, I don't think there is any need to be so anxious. The commander has said that we must carry out continuous and intensive bombing of the German positions to completely destroy the German positions. The remaining fortifications on the defense line. If the bombing had just begun and the German fortifications had not been destroyed in large numbers, we would have rashly launched an attack, and I am afraid we would have suffered huge casualties."
"I just received a call from General Kirillov." Sidorin looked at Sokov and said: "He said that the troops of the 2nd Assault Army on the right wing had launched an attack on the enemy's position after a long period of artillery preparation. He called to ask for instructions whether he should also launch an attack to help the friendly forces in this attack."
"Chief of Staff, tell General Kirillov that the time is not yet ripe." Sokov said: "Let him stay on the position with peace of mind and don't just think about attacking the enemy. You know, the enemy's If the defenses are not destroyed, it will cause huge losses to our offensive forces."
While everyone was talking, the phone on the table rang.
After Sidorin picked up the phone and listened for a while, a strange expression appeared on his face, and then he said somewhat insincerely: "I understand, thank you, General Bogolyubov."
Seeing Sidorin put down the phone, Sokov asked with some urgency: "Chief of Staff, what happened? What did General Bogolyubov say to you on the phone?"
Sidorin looked at Sokov, then at Ponedelin, and finally rested his eyes on Sokov, and replied with a strange expression: "General Bogolyubov said on the phone that the superiors gave us The military commissioner sent will be arriving soon, so let us be ready to receive him."
"Military Commissar?!" Sokov thought that from the day he arrived at the 48th Group Army, there had been no military commissar in this unit. Now, a military commissar was suddenly sent. What does it mean? Could it be that he didn't trust himself and sent someone to monitor him? With these questions, he asked with some displeasure: "Chief of Staff, has General Bogolyubov said what kind of person our new military commissar is?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Sidorin shook his head and said: "General Bogolyubov only said that he sent us a new military commissar, and said nothing else."
"Comrade Commander, what's going on?" Ponejelin asked nervously: "The superiors didn't send one sooner or later, but they sent us a military commissar at this time. What are they going to do? What? Also, they didn’t say who came, could it be..."
Sokov raised his hand to stop Ponedelin and did not let him say what he was complaining about: "Since the superiors have sent us military commissioners at this time, they must have considered everything, so we will follow the order and prepare a good reception. Get ready for the military commissar."
At noon, when the cook put lunch on the table and was about to leave, a staff officer ran in from outside and reported to Sokov breathlessly: "Comrade Commander, the military commissar sent by the superior has arrived. At this moment Right at the door."
Knowing that the military commissar assigned by his superiors had arrived at the door, Sokov did not dare to neglect, and quickly stood up and said to the subordinates around him: "Since the comrade military commissar has arrived, don't wait here anymore, come with me and go out to greet them. .”
When Sokov led a group of members of the headquarters out of the headquarters and went outside to greet the new military commissar, Sokov saw a familiar figure from behind. He stopped and asked hesitantly: "Is it Comrade Lunev?"
Hearing Sokov's voice, the commander who had his back to the door slowly turned around. Sidorin and Ponedelin took a look, wasn't this Sokov's former partner Lunev? If he is not working as his deputy minister in Lubyanka, what is he doing here?
"It's just me, Misha." Runev opened his arms and said to Sokov: "Long time no see!"
The two gave each other a warm hug and suddenly slapped each other on the back, feeling happy for this unexpected reunion.
Everyone accompanied Lunev back to the headquarters. After they sat down respectively, Lunev said: "Comrade commanders, I think everyone must be very strange. If I don't stay in Lubyanka as my deputy minister, how can I run away? Coming to the front. Right?”
"That's right, Lunev." Sokov nodded and replied on behalf of everyone: "The front army headquarters called and informed us that a new military commissar was coming. At that time, I was still wondering how the superiors could do this in such a way. When will we send a military commissioner? But now that I have seen you, I think I probably understand."
Lunev stared at Sokov for a while, then nodded slowly and said: "Yes, Misha, the situation is just as you guessed."
Sokov knew very well that his deputies Ponedelin and Potapov, as well as several commanders assigned to the troops, had all been captured by the Germans. It seemed that his superiors were not at ease with him, so he asked Lunev, who served as deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to be transferred to the front line to partner with him again. He and Lunev have been partners for a long time, and they have already formed a tacit understanding. Even if they don't speak, they can understand each other's meaning with just a few glances.
The riddle-like conversation between Sokov and Lunev puzzled Sidorin and Potapov, but Ponedelin guessed the other person based on his understanding of Lunev. The real reason for returning to the front line to partner with Sokov.
"Misha," Lunev asked Sokov while eating, "How is the war going here?"
"After breaking through the German defensive positions, I ordered the troops to temporarily stop the attack, switch to defense on the spot, and prepare to resist the German attack."
Lunev knew Sokov well and knew that he must have his own reasons for making such a decision. Therefore, he did not blame the other party, but asked humbly: "Misha, can you tell me why you want the troops to temporarily stop attacking?" You know, at that time, your troops had just broken through the German defenses. The morale of the troops was high and they could continue to attack, but they stopped inexplicably. This makes me very puzzled. "
"Lunev, there is a reason why I ordered the troops to stop attacking." In order to prevent Lunev from misunderstanding, Sokov explained to him: "At that time, the progress of our army was very smooth, but the 3rd Army on the left and right flanks However, the 2nd Assault Army encountered stubborn resistance from the German army, which resulted in our unit being out of touch with friendly forces. If we continue to attack, once the Germans come to their senses, we are in danger of being encircled. Once the troops are encircled, they will be completely Disrupt the combat deployment formulated by the front army headquarters."
"Misha, I understand you." Lunev nodded after hearing this and said, "You must have made such a decision after careful consideration. I fully support your approach."
"Lunev, I'm so happy that you can come back." Seeing that his new partner was actually Lunev, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. In any case, the other party was his old partner, and there was no cooperation in terms of cooperation. any problem. Not only do you not have to worry that he will hold you back, you can even make up for it if you make any mistakes: "From now on, you will be responsible for the propaganda and agitation work."
"There's nothing wrong with doing some propaganda and agitation work." Lunev looked at Sokov and asked, "Do you have any deeper considerations?"
"Deeper considerations?" Lunev's words confused Sokov. He asked in confusion: "Lunev, I don't quite understand what you said. Can you explain it in more detail?"
Lunev nodded, and then explained to Sokov: "Misha, I think we should not only fight military wars, but also learn to fight political wars. Through the comrades of the Anti-War Alliance, we should shout to the defenders on the German positions, Let them stop working for Mustache. Even if only a small number of people lay down their weapons and stop hostilities against us, many precious lives can be saved."
