"Damn Germans, I can't spare you!" Seeing his own fighters fall under the butcher's knives of the Germans, Sivakov roared angrily, "I must kill you all!" ”

I hated it too, but I tried to keep my composure. I waited for Sivakov to calm down and then said to him: "Remember, comrade commander, this is the 8th SS Cavalry Division of the Germans. Tell the soldiers that all officers and soldiers who catch the division on the battlefield will be shot on the spot, and we will never accept their surrender! ”

Sivakov, who was still furious, gradually stabilized his mood after hearing my order. After raising his hand and saluting me, he picked up the phone on the table with his hand trembling with excitement, and asked the signal corps to pick up the headquarters of the 299th Division and find the division commander. After the phone rang, he said in a voice that was still slightly trembling: "Comrade division commander, the commander has just given an order that all the officers and men of the 8th SS Cavalry Division who are captured will be shot on the spot, and we will never accept their surrender!" Remember, immediately convey this order to all your commanders and fighters! ”

Since the German cavalry was coming too quickly, I had not yet had time to give the order for the commanders and fighters in the bridgehead to rescue the wounded. At this time, they saw the enemy's cavalry rushing towards them, and immediately fired with dense fire, knocking down quite a few cavalry from their horses. Seeing that the German cavalry could not take advantage, they made a circle in front of our positions and returned.

Seeing the cavalry moving away, a dozen warriors immediately ran out of the trench to check on the cavalry who had fallen from their horses. Several of the horsemen, though they had fallen from their horses, were wounded and were carried by our warriors towards the trenches. When I saw this, I couldn't help frowning slightly, and said in my heart, "Haven't my orders been conveyed yet?"

That's when it happened. Out of the trench came a man who looked like a commander, and he raised his hand to stop the warriors who were carrying the captives back, and after a few words, the soldiers let go of the prisoners in their hands, let them stand in their place, and ran aside. He picked up his weapon and opened fire on them. The captives, who had been hit by the bullets, shook their bodies a few times as if they were electrocuted, and then fell limply to the ground.

From the failure of the first offensive, I realized that the Germans were still very skilled in the use of artillery fire, and if our army attacked only with infantry without the cover of tanks and artillery, it would pay huge casualties. Thinking of this, I again ordered Sivakov: "Comrade Army Commander, today's offensive is suspended. Let the commander of the 299th Division call and ask them to pull up barbed wire and lay minefields in front of the trenches, so as not to be attacked by the Germans at night. ”

When I returned to the army headquarters in Sivakov from the observation post, I was surprised to find Bere, Povsky, and Nekrasov sitting there. Seeing me enter the room, the three of them quickly got up from their seats and raised their hands to salute me.

After returning the salute, I asked Belei curiously: "General Belei, why are you here?" ”

Bere heard my question. With a serious expression, he replied: "Comrade commander, I know that the German positions on the opposite side are not easy to fight. So come and see for yourself. I didn't expect to rush to see that the Germans actually covered the breakthrough opened by our army with indiscriminate firepower, which was really ruthless. ”

Povsky waited for Beray to finish, and then said: "Comrade commander, according to my observations. Although the Germans suffered a series of blows from us, most of their heavy weapons were preserved. As soon as they see that their soldiers cannot withstand our attack, they will carry out indiscriminate shelling. Today this situation is not only encountered by one of our troops, during the attack on Belgorod. The same situation happened to the 69th Army. ”

"Is there any way to deal with them?" I also have a headache for the elusive artillery of the German army, because I don't know when he will come to you coldly and completely disrupt our offensive plan.

The telephone of the command rang, Sivakov picked it up and listened to it, and immediately handed it to me, while whispering: "It was a call from the commander of the front." ”

I had a headache when I heard that it was Vatutin, and I knew that he was calling to know if we had begun to attack the German positions on the south bank. I took the microphone and put it to my ear, and said stubbornly: "Hello, Comrade General! ”

"Comrade Oshanina, have you launched an offensive against the outlying positions of the German army?" Vatutin didn't go around the bush either, and asked him questions of interest to the point.

"We just launched an offensive." Anyway, the ugly daughter-in-law will see her in-laws sooner or later, and even if I don't report the failure of this attack, he will soon find out, so I simply let it go and truthfully report: "At one point, I tore a few holes in the enemy's defense line, but ......" Speaking of this, I couldn't help but think of the tragic situation at that time, so I couldn't help but stop.

Vatutin, who had just heard that I had just finished halfway through the report, actually stopped, and said with some impatience: "Since you have once tore a hole in the enemy's defensive line, why don't you continue to attack." Maybe if you attack again, the Germans will retreat because they can't support it. ”

"Comrade General, this is the case." I patiently explained to him: "With the strength of a regiment, we launched an assault on the German positions. When our heroic commanders and fighters tore many openings in the enemy's defense line and tried to continue to expand the results of the battle, the enemy's artillery suddenly carried out indiscriminate shelling of the breakthrough. Our attacking troops were completely lost in the shelling, and all but two dozen wounded died heroically. On the way back to their positions, the wounded were pursued by the German cavalry, and all of them were killed. ”

"German cavalry?" Vatutin hesitated for a moment, and then asked me tentatively: "Comrade Oshanina, is it the 8th Cavalry Division of the German SS?" ”

"I think so, Comrade General." I replied vaguely: "I have not heard of any cavalry units of the Germans other than this one." ”

"I see," said Vatutin, after figuring out what was going on, and comforted me in turn, "Comrade Oshanina, you may not have heard of this cavalry before, they have been in the Plippiat swamps on the task of clearing the guerrillas, and they owe us a great deal of blood. Sooner or later, we will pay them for their blood. Then he changed the subject and asked, "When are you going to attack again?" ”

"I plan to launch an attack on the enemy's positions tomorrow after the tank units have crossed the river." I was afraid that my plan would be vetoed by Vatutin, so I quickened my voice and said: "With the cover of tanks. Not only can infantry reduce casualties when attacking, but it can also greatly increase the chance of breaking through enemy positions. ”

I knew that in the presence of such senior commanders as Vatutin, it was useless to say that there would be no use in reducing the casualties of the troops, so I made a point of emphasizing that with the cooperation of the tanks, we would be able to successfully break through the enemy's defensive lines. Perhaps it was this last sentence that moved him, and he hummed and said, "Well, then tomorrow after the tank troops have passed the pontoon bridge, we will attack the enemy." By the way, there's one more thing I forgot to tell you. In order to support the battle for the liberation of Kharkov, today the troops of the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front launched an offensive in the Zmiev region, pinning down the strength of the German army, and it was Manstein who could no longer send reinforcements to the Kharkiv region. ”

When I heard the name Zmiev, I immediately remembered the current campaign being fought by the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front, which was the "Battle of Donbass" at the same time as Kharkov. Although the fame of this battle is far less than that of the Battle of Kursk, and even the Kharkov offensive that is currently underway. But the results achieved are not small. After the reconquest of Donbass, Ukraine's important coal and metallurgical regions returned to Soviet control.

Since there will be no more attacks on the Germans today. I did not remain at the headquarters in Sivakov, but returned to the command of the army group under the protection of Major Basmanov.

The first thing I did when I returned to the headquarters, I gathered everyone together and repeated to everyone the failure of the 299th Division's attack. Finally, he asked, "Do you have any thoughts on the next attack?" ”

Hearing my question, Chistyakov looked left and right for a while, and when he saw that no one was speaking, he said: "Comrade commander. One defeat is nothing, we should continue to attack the enemy's positions. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, what should we do if our troops, when they again break through the enemy's lines, are again covered by enemy fire?" Unconvinced, Bezikov retorted: "If this happens a few more times, then the morale of the troops will be destroyed." The next time we attacked, our commanders and fighters would be cautious for fear of being shelled by the enemy. ”

"Could it be that our commanders and fighters are afraid of being shelled by the enemy, so they do not attack the enemy?" Hearing Bezikov's rebuttal, Chistyakov was also unconvinced and said: "What kind of logic is this? ”

Managarov's chief of staff, General Volgen, stood up from his seat and said cautiously: "We should extend the time for artillery preparation before the attack, destroy the enemy's positions and artillery as much as possible, so that when attacking, the casualties of the troops can be greatly reduced." ”

After listening to Volgeng's opinion, I think it is very reasonable, but when I think about it carefully, there is something wrong. The Germans were well aware of the Soviet style of artillery bombardment, and at the beginning of the artillery preparation before each attack, the Germans hid in the rear line of defense, and only after the shelling was over, did they return to their positions to inflict heavy losses on the attacking Soviet troops. If the German artillery is well concealed, even if we are well prepared for artillery fire before the attack, it will still be of little use.

What to do, what to do? When I think about this question, I feel like I am confused, do I really have to use people to fill it? Just when I had a headache, I heard Akhromeyev's voice: "Comrades commanders, I have a suggestion, I don't know whether to say it or not. ”

"If you have any suggestions, you can say it." Bezikov rolled his eyes at him and said dissatisfiedly: "Even if you say something wrong, no one will blame you." ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Akhromeyev walked to the map as he spoke, pointed to the west of Kharkov with his baton and said: "If we still use today's offensive position and attack the enemy's positions, we will definitely be killed by enemy artillery fire." So I suggested that after crossing the Oud River, the troops should start an attack on the Germans in divisions from three or four points at the same time. ”

"Comrade Chief of Operations," Managarov, who was speechless, finally spoke at this point, and he looked at the map and asked, "If we divide into several sections and attack at the same time, how can we prepare for artillery fire?" With just a few artillery regiments we have, we can't take care of so many places at the same time. ”

"Comrade General," Akhromeyev politely said in response to Managarov's questioning: "We do not need to prepare artillery fire for tomorrow's attack. It is only necessary to launch an attack on the enemy's defensive positions, guided by tanks. He saw that Managarov seemed to want to ask something, and hurriedly added, "According to the information I have, the German artillery has been fighting repeatedly, and there are few shells left, plus today another arms train was blown up by us, and the roads and railways were also cut off by the 252nd Division, and the German army will soon fall into an embarrassing situation of no ammunition and no supplies." So I boldly speculate that in tomorrow's offensive, the Germans will again bombard our troops with intensive artillery fire, and there will be no more such a situation. ”

"That's right, what Major Akhromeyev said makes a lot of sense." Seeing that Managarov still wanted to refute, I hurriedly helped Akhromeyev speak, "Judging from today's shelling density, the Germans have consumed at least four or five hundred shells, and it is estimated that the remaining shells for each gun are not enough for a base. With that, I jerked up from my seat and said decisively, "I have decided, and I will take the Major's proposal." After the pontoon bridge was erected tomorrow, the troops crossing the river were divided into divisions and simultaneously launched a fierce attack on the outlying positions of the German troops from several directions. Before noon, be sure to rush to the city of Kharkov. ”

"What, at noon you are going to rush to the city of Kharkov?" Managarov asked with some surprise: "Comrade commander, I heard you right, right?" You must know that our army group has been attacking continuously for a week north of Kharkov, and it has only advanced five kilometers, and it is still ten kilometers from the city. ”

"Comrade General, you heard me right." Bezkov smiled and said to him: "I believe Comrade Commander, she said that our troops can rush to Kharkov at noon tomorrow, then they will definitely be able to rush to the city of Kharkov." Then it will be up to the army to see which of the troops is lucky enough to be the first to storm into the city. (To be continued.) )