When the rumbling of artillery came into the command headquarters from outside, Danilov became uneasy. After walking back and forth in the house with his hands behind his back a few times, he finally stopped and asked worriedly: "Comrade commander, do you say that our troops can successfully take Belgorod?" ”

I know that the Soviet offensive on Belgorod was not smooth at first. The German 168th and 198th Infantry Divisions, as well as a part of the 6th Panzer Division, held on to the city, repelled several Soviet attacks with their strong defensive systems. Only after Shumilov's Guards 7th Army joined the battle would the situation on the battlefield turn in favor of our army.

After a moment of silent silence, I shrugged my shoulders and spread my arms, and said with a helpless expression: "Comrade Deputy Commander, although I also hope that our troops will capture Belgorod in one fell swoop, judging from the information we have so far, this possibility is very small. The enemy had built a strong defensive system on the periphery of the city, and the mere capture of these positions would cost our troops dearly. There is also General Shumilov's troops, if they want to attack from the east of the city, they still need to brave the enemy's artillery fire to force the Severodonets River, the situation is not optimistic! ”

Danilov was particularly surprised when he heard my answer, and he asked in surprise: "Do you mean that our attack on Belgorod will end in failure?" ”

I shook my head and said, "No, in the face of our powerful offensive, if the Germans want to hold the city, they will have to send troops to strengthen the defenses." But where else can Manstein transfer troops to strengthen Belgorod's defenses? Transfer troops from Kharkov?! This is unrealistic, because the next offensive target of our army. There it is. The existing defenses of the Germans were not enough. How could it be possible to transfer these limited defenders away? The only place where troops could be transferred was the Tomarovka Line, because this was the junction of Manstein and the German Army Group Center, and in order to prevent their own deliberate exposure to our troops, they would definitely draw troops from here to reinforce the Belgorod defenders. ”

Danilov was still a little skeptical about my analysis: "So to put it this way, cut off traffic from Tomarovka to Belgorod." Just to prevent German reinforcements from entering the city? ”

"That's right, that's it." I commanded a day's battle in Tomarovka, and I knew the situation there very well, so it was easier to explain to him: "Don't look at the fact that our army group has invested four divisions, and the 1st and 5th Guards Tank Armies have been involved in the battle, but it is really not easy to eat this German unit deployed in the joint in one bite. Our 32nd Guards Army, the 3rd Mechanized Army and the Germans fought for a day and a night, and only advanced three to five kilometers on the German defensive positions. ”

Danilov, who had heard my words, seemed even more uneasy, and he picked up the phone. Grabbed the handle on the telephone and shook it a few times, then hurriedly said: "I'm Danilov." Give me close to the commander of the 13th Guards Division, General Rodimtsev. Soon I heard him ask in a loud voice, "Comrade General, are all your troops in the designated positions?" ”

He listened for a while, put down the phone and said to me: "General Rodimtsev reports that his 41st Guards Regiment has set up minefields on the road and has built fortifications on both sides of the road. ”

When I heard Danilov talk about the minefield, he secretly screamed badly, and I remember that later history books said that in order to hold Belgorod, the Germans dug anti-tank trenches up to ten kilometers long outside the city, and at the same time laid 50,000 mines. Although we did not have the support of tanks in this attack, and we did not need to consider the impact of tank trenches on us, the tens of thousands of mines were not vegetarians, and there was no problem at all in killing the thousands of people who blew us up.

Thinking of this, I hurriedly asked Danilov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, are our offensive units equipped with sappers?" ”

Danilov obviously misunderstood what I meant, he shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, comrade commander, since we are not the main attack force, the assault sappers sent by these front armies are all equipped with the 53rd and 69th armies. ”

As soon as he said Assault Sappers, I immediately remembered this type of unit in steel armor, holding a submachine gun, and looking like a magnetostorm infantry in the game. I used to wear steel armor for a while, and although it could play a certain role in bulletproof, it was just too heavy, and I felt tired and panicked after wearing it for a while. I waved my hand at him and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander, it's not the kind of sappers you say, twenty sappers who specialize in demining. ”

"Demining?" Danilov asked with some surprise: "Couldn't our heavy shelling destroy all the German minefields?" ”

"Most of them can be destroyed, but it's impossible to destroy them all." Thinking that his troops might be blown up by German mines, he felt quite uncomfortable: "So it is still up to the sappers to carve out a way in the enemy's minefields for our infantry." ”

As I spoke, I grabbed the phone and went to Seryukin's headquarters. Hearing his voice coming from the earphones, I immediately nervously asked, "Comrade Colonel, are your offensive units equipped with sappers?" ”

"Equipped with sappers?!" When Seryukin heard me ask, he couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked rhetorically: "Comrade commander, from our offensive starting position to Belgorod City, there is a plain in between, so there is no need for sappers to erect pontoon bridges." ”

Just now Danilov understood what I meant by sappers as assault sappers in steel armor; And now Seryukin treats them as sappers of the boat bridge battalion who specialize in erecting pontoon bridges. I suppressed the anger in my heart and said, "Comrade Colonel, please listen to me carefully. By sappers, I am neither assault sappers for street fighting, nor sappers for erecting pontoon bridges, but sappers specializing in demining. Do you understand what I mean? ”

"But, but, comrade commander." When Seryukin heard me say this, he looked a little flustered, "The offensive will start immediately, where should I go to find the sappers?" ”

"I don't care about that." I didn't want to talk nonsense with him, so I ordered directly: "Whether you borrow it from another unit or take a sapper shovel yourself to clear the mines, you must find a way to open up a safe passage for the attacking troops." ”

"Yes. Comrade Commander. Seryukin said helplessly: "I will arrange for the sappers to send out the mines on the charging road." ”

I put down the phone. Yu said angrily: "What's the matter with these division commanders. Could it be that they, having been commanders in their teens and twenty, did not understand that before the attack, sappers should be sent to open a passage in the middle of the enemy's minefield? ”

"Comrade commander, please don't be angry, I don't blame the division commanders below for this. If you're to blame, blame me. Danilov saw that I was angry, and hurriedly took the blame on himself: "It was I who didn't think about it and thought that the shelling would be preceded by an hour or two. And minefields are usually after the shelling is over. There were very few mines left, so I did not arrange for the divisions to send sappers to clear the mines. ”

Seeing that Danilov took the responsibility on himself, I couldn't continue to blame him, so I could only sigh and say helplessly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you may not know that although our army is well prepared for artillery fire before each attack, there are very few shells that fall in the minefield and explode. So much so that after the end of the shelling, our troops launched a charge. There will also be a large number of casualties in German minefields. If there were tanks assaulting in front this time, I wouldn't say anything yet. Because the tracks of the tank can clear a lot of mines. But now we are all infantry, and the flesh and blood of our soldiers cannot stop the flying shrapnel. ”

"So what to do, what to do?" Danilov was so anxious that he turned around the room again, "There is an engineer battalion at the headquarters of the group army, but the far water cannot save the near fire, and by the time they arrive, our army's offensive has begun." ”

"There's no way, now only dead horses are treated as live horse doctors." As soon as I finished speaking, I picked up the phone and called Bezikov, who remained at the headquarters. "Chief of Staff, I order you to immediately send the engineer battalion belonging to the group army to the position of the 89th Guards Division and help them clear the mines on the offensive road."

Bezikov, perhaps, rarely heard me speak to him in such a stern tone, so he replied without hesitation: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I immediately ordered them to rush to the Seryukin Division and open a passage for the troops in the minefield. ”

"Very well, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Bezikov had promised to send an engineer unit immediately, I still reassured: "Move quickly, the attack of Seryukin's division will begin immediately." ”

Although I gave the order in time, and Bezkov quickly sent the sapper troops, by the time the sappers' trucks arrived at the Seryukin division, the vanguard of the division had already attacked. As a result of the fact that the minefields and barbed wire fences on the offensive roads were not cleared, the troops paid a third of the cost of casualties when they passed through the above-mentioned areas. In addition, the offensive of the 53rd and 69th armies was frustrated, and the vanguard regiment, which barely approached outside Belgorod, also had to retreat.

Hearing Seryukin's report of casualties, I was so angry that I slammed my fist on the table, but I still tried my best to keep calm and asked: "Colonel, did you send sappers to clear the mines?" ”

"Not yet, Comrade Commander." Seryukin replied embarrassedly.

"What, no sappers were sent." The anger that I had been trying to suppress suddenly rose again, and I immediately asked viciously at the microphone: "Comrade Colonel, do you intend to let the troops attack again a second time, and there will be a large number of casualties in the minefield?" ”

"Not so, Comrade Commander. Not what you think. Seryukin said in a panic: "I originally sent sappers to clear the barbed wire and clear mines. However, due to the blockade of the minefield by German fire, the sappers sent out retreated after suffering more than a dozen casualties. ”

"Even so, you'll have to figure it out!" Although I heard that the Germans were blockading the minefields with firepower, making it impossible for the sappers to approach them, I still said to him in a tone of hatred: "We can't wait for the second attack to start and let our soldiers clear the mines with their flesh and blood, right?" ”

"Please rest assured, Comrade Commander." Xie Liujin's voice suddenly became loud, showing a confident look. "We've thought of a better way to do remote demining."

"Remote demining?!" Hearing this strange term, I sneered and said angrily: "Are you planning to use artillery fire to clear mines?" ”

As soon as the words fell, I was stunned. I secretly said in my heart: yes, why did I only think of demining with sappers, but I didn't think of using artillery fire to clear mines? Each division had a mortar company, and it only needed a mortar to blast at the minefield, which could not only detonate the mines, but also blow down the stakes with the wires pulled, so that wouldn't open up a way for the infantry to charge?

I didn't say anything because I was thinking about things. And Seryukin, who was on the other end of the phone, did not speak. After a while, he stammered, "Si...... The commander is ...... Comrade, unexpectedly, you ...... You've thought of this for a long time! ”

Hearing that his thoughts coincided with mine, the stone hanging in my heart was temporarily put down, and I said in my heart: Fortunately, this Colonel Seryukin's brain is not too stupid and knows how to be flexible. Knowing that under the blockade of German firepower, sappers would not only suffer heavy casualties in demining, but also could not achieve the desired effect, they switched to artillery demining.

I was just about to compliment him when suddenly there was a dense burst of gunfire and the explosion of tank shells. When Danilov heard this, he immediately ran to the door and asked outside, "What's wrong?" ”

I listened to the sound of gunfire and explosions not far from here, and knew that something must be wrong, so I briefly said into the microphone: "Okay, Comrade Colonel, just clear the mines the way you say." Good luck! ”

As soon as I put down the phone, I rushed to the door and listened to the conversation between Danilov and an officer who came to report the news: "...... What's the matter, don't we have a heavy tank at the entrance of the village, how can we still let the Germans touch the village? ”

The officer said with a sad face: "This German unit came out of nowhere, perhaps lost its way, and broke into the village by mistake. As a result, it was discovered by the tank men guarding the entrance of the village, so a battle broke out. Comrade commanders, it's too dangerous here, so you'd better move first, right? ”

"Transfer, where to transfer?" After listening to the officer's words, I couldn't help frowning, and now that the enemy situation outside is unknown, I rushed out recklessly, isn't that sending me to death? I shouted loudly outside: "Major Basmanov! ”

He shouted twice, but he didn't see Basmanov. Just as I was about to get angry, the officer cautiously explained to me: "Comrade commander, the major has gone with his troops to meet the enemy, and he ordered me to report to you. (To be continued.) )

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