As soon as the advance of the troops approached the edge of the city, several points of fire on the German positions were revived, and the machine guns opened fire at the same time, and several fire whips swept across the charging crowd, and immediately beat the commanders and fighters who rushed to the front. But the commanders and fighters behind did not slow down their pace, and were still bravely charging forward.

"Comrade Colonel," I said to Baksov, pointing to the point of fire spewing the flames of death in the distance, "the fortifications built by the Germans are quite strong. You see, it is not easy for so many firing points to survive under such intensive artillery fire from our army. ”

Without waiting for Baksov to speak, his chief of staff came over and said: "Comrade commander, allow me to report to you!" ”

I glanced at the lean lieutenant colonel officer, nodded, and said, "You can report!" ”

"When the troops first stormed the city, I went to inspect the fortifications." The chief of staff of the division replied clearly: "The Germans built a large number of anti-artillery holes in the trenches. As soon as the shelling was encountered, they left a small number of observation posts, and the rest hid in the anti-artillery holes, and only when we charged, did they emerge from the holes to meet us. ”

"But at the beginning, our fortifications in Butovo also had a large number of anti-artillery holes, why did the troops still suffer heavy casualties under the enemy's artillery fire?" I asked rhetorically: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you tell me why?" ”

The chief of staff of the division could not answer for a while, and blushed and froze in a daze.

I was dissatisfied, and said: "The enemy has anti-artillery holes in the trenches, and we also have anti-artillery holes in the trenches, but when our troops are subjected to enemy fire, they often suffer heavy casualties. As for the enemy, there are so many points of fire that can survive. You have time to find the gap between us and the enemy. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff of the division replied awkwardly.

Then. Baksov suddenly called me again: "Comrade commander, you can see that the heavy machine guns that followed the charge have suppressed the German fire after establishing a good position, and the troops are rushing into the city one after another. ”

I raised my binoculars again, first looked at the fire point that was still raging just now, and found that I had already been dumb under the blow of our army's heavy machine guns. Then turn the camera to our troops. Some of the commanders and fighters entered and occupied the German fortifications, and the rest were rushing towards the city that had been bombed into ruins.

When I saw the commanders and fighters from outside the city almost rushing into the city, my heart began to worry again, and I was afraid that they would charge in a dense formation in the narrow streets. In this way, except for the fighters in the front row, who can shoot, the people in the back can only do it in a hurry. A few machine guns on the main roads were enough for the Germans to repel all of our charges.

After more than half an hour, the troops in the city were not seen beaten out by the Germans. On the contrary, the originally dense gunfire gradually became thin, and it seemed that the battle was nearing its end. Just then, the roar of the motor was heard louder and louder outside. When I first heard this, I thought that the German Tiger tank company was covering their goose troops to carry out a counterattack, but after listening to it for a while, I realized that the sound was not coming from the city. Rather, from our rear.

"Could it be that the enemy's tanks have gone back to the rear of our troops?" When I thought about it, I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. I was about to remind Baksov to be anti-tank ready.

But I heard the division chief of staff shouting happily: "Tank, it's our tank coming!" ”

I hurriedly walked out of the observation post, stood in the trench and looked in the direction from which the sound came, and saw a dozen T-54/55 tanks moving quickly towards us along the uneven road. See clearly that it is their own tank. I breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from my forehead, turned around and ordered Baksov, who came out: "Comrade Colonel, send a signal to the tank units so that they do not have to stop." Rush straight into the city and cover the infantry to drive the Germans out of the city. ”

"Someone," Baksov, who had received the order, turned his head and shouted to the side, and immediately an officer ran up, stopped in front of him, and stood up straight like a telephone pole. Only to listen to Baksov ordered him to say: "Immediately signal the tank units so that they do not have to stay, and rush directly into the city and cooperate with the infantry to drive the Germans out." ”

The officer agreed, climbed out of the trench, stood on a mound of dirt, pulled out two small flags, one red and one green, from the belt around his waist, raised them high above his head, and waved them at the rushing tank.

The tank unit saw his signal and rushed over the trench at an undiminished pace towards the city. When I saw the tanks driving into the city one after another, my heart suddenly became reassured. This time, even if the German army sends another Tiger tank company to attack, it will not escape the fate of total annihilation when it encounters our new tanks.

Nearly an hour after the tanks stormed into the city, a yellow flare rose from the city into the air. Baksov was relieved to see the flares, and then said to me: "Comrade commander, the enemy in the city of Butovo has been driven out by us. ”

Since I didn't see any phone calls from Baksov, I can only guess that he may have made the conclusion that the troops had captured Butovo based on flares from the air. "Very well, Comrade Colonel." Seeing that our troops had recaptured Butovo, my mood was much better, and I said to Baksov: "Order the fighters to hurry up and strengthen the fortifications in order to prevent a possible counterattack by the Germans." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Baksov replied crisply.

I turned to Povsky and said: "Okay, Comrade Artillery Commander, our mission here is complete, let's go back to the headquarters of the army group together." There's still a lot of work to be done. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Povsky smiled and said to me: "Before we go back to the headquarters, do we need to call the comrade commissar together?" ”

After thinking about it, I waved my hand and said, "No need, let the political commissar stay here for the time being and do political mobilization work for the commanders and fighters." I hope they can keep their fighting spirit high in the next battle! ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Baksov said to me with a smile: "I will order the political commissars and political workers at all levels to fully cooperate with the comrades of the military commissar and carry out political propaganda and agitation work among the fighters. ”

"Alright, I'm leaving." I shook my head at Bovsky and motioned for him to follow me out of the observation post. Then he said to Baksov: "Comrade Colonel, let the fighters rest well at night, there are still two more battles to be fought." ”

Baksov nodded and said, "Don't worry, in the next siege battle, we can still guarantee such a strong morale as today." ”

When we got back to headquarters. Danilov and Bezkov, who remained here, already knew the outcome of the battle. But the two of them were surprised to see that Kirillov did not come back with me. Danilov asked in wonder: "Comrade commander, why didn't Comrade Military Commissar come back with you?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." I politely said to him: "In order to ensure that the commanders and fighters of the 67th Guards Division will maintain their strong morale in the next two battles, Comrade Military Commissar has decided to stay and help the political workers of the division to carry out propaganda and agitation work. "After I finished explaining, I changed the subject." Is there an latest order from the Front Command? ”

"No," Bezikov shook his head, and replied, "after I reported to my superiors about the recapture of Butovo, I also specifically consulted Commander Vatutin, and he said that if anything happened, he would call us directly. ”

"What about friendly forces?" I asked again.

Bezikov, apparently knowing what I was asking, hurriedly continued: "Units of the Fifth Guards Tank Army, reinforcing fortifications on their defensive positions. replenishment of various supplies; And General Katukov's tank army is now also actively preparing for war."

"How is the supply of our troops?" Thinking about the big battle ahead. I was afraid that there would not be enough weapons, ammunition, and all kinds of supplies, so whenever I had time, I would ask, "How much material did the convoy send us today?" ”

Hearing my question, Bezikov immediately turned his head and asked Akhromeyev next to him: "Major, do you know how much supplies we received today?" ”

Akhromeyev took out a notebook and flipped through it for a while. Then he reported to me: "Comrade commander, so far today we have received seventy wagons of artillery shells of various types, forty wagons of materiel, and eight wagons of food and medicine. ”

Hear this data. I casually asked, "With this amount of transportation, how long will it take for us to stock up on enough supplies to start a big campaign?" ”

After hearing this, Akhromeyev replied with a bitter face: "Comrade commander, this more than 100 truckloads of supplies sounds quite a lot, but it is not enough to meet the consumption of the entire army group for one day. If you want to hoard enough combat materials in the shortest possible time, then the volume of transportation of logistics troops must be provided at least three times more. ”

When I heard him say this, I immediately felt that my head was big, and in the current state of the Belgorod-Kursk road, such a transportation situation was already good. It may be fine to increase the volume of transportation a little bit, but to increase it by two or three times is undoubtedly a fool's dream.

When I called Vatujin for help, I hesitated for a long time before I came up with my suggestion. Who knows that after listening to this, Vatutin replied almost without thinking: "Comrade Oshanina, in the current situation, it is obviously unrealistic to want to increase the volume of transportation by road......"

Before Vatutin's words were finished, my heart was half cold. Just as I was feeling hopeless, I suddenly heard him say again, "...... Although the volume of road transport cannot be increased, we can think of other ways. ”

"Is it an airdrop?" Hearing Vatutin say that he could think of other ways, the idea of getting the air force to support me suddenly popped up in my head.

After hearing this, Vatutin smiled and said: "Comrade Oshanina, your idea is really naïve. You're not surrounded again, and you don't need airdrops. Besides, you still have to spend a lot of troops and energy to collect the materials that were airdropped, which is really not suitable. ”

"And how do you transport it?" I asked, confused.

"Where is the headquarters of your army group located now?" Instead of answering my question immediately, Vatutin asked rhetorically, "What cities are there next to you?" ”

I looked at the map and replied: "Comrade General, as you know, our headquarters is now located in Ivnia, southwest of Oboyan. With the exception of Yakovlevo, the rest are small cities that are not well-known. ”

"Comrade Oshanina, to the northwest of your headquarters, there is a city called Beloye, do you see it?" Vatutin, waiting for me to say that I had seen the city, then continued, "It's a railway junction, and there are quite a few vacant military warehouses next to it. I can get the logistics department to deliver the supplies directly from Moscow there, and then you can have the divisions go there to pick up the supplies they need. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade General." If in this case, I still don't understand, I'm an out-and-out fool, and I quickly replied: "I'm going to send troops to guard these warehouses and ensure the safety of military supplies." ”

Hearing my assurance, Vatutin smiled and said, "I'll solve the matter of supplies for you." The cities of Kryukovo and Tomarovka, you have to take them down for me as soon as possible. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade General." I assured him in no uncertain terms: "You have given me a week, and I will surely take the two remaining cities from the enemy before the deadline comes." ”

As soon as I put down the phone, Bezkov excitedly asked: "Comrade commander, comrade general, what did you say?" ”

I pointed to the map and said to several commanders around me: "Comrade General told me that to the northwest of us, there is a small city called Beloye, which used to be a railway junction, and there are quite a few vacant military warehouses next to it. He planned to have the logistics department transport the supplies directly from Moscow there, which would facilitate the storage of the materials and the collection of the divisions. "Having searched for Akhromeyev with my eyes, I pointed at him and said: "Major, you call the commander of the 89th Guards Division, Colonel Seryukin, and ask him to send a battalion to Beloye to guard the material warehouse. ”

Akhromeyev said yes and was about to go to the side to make a call, but he stopped Danilov, who looked at me and said: "Comrade commander, one battalion is too little, at least two." ”

I agreed to Danilov's proposal almost without thinking, and then again instructed Akhromeyev: "Major, according to the advice of Comrade Deputy Commander, let Colonel Seryukin send two battalions to Beloye to guard the military warehouses." (To be continued.) )