After listening to this, I frowned and asked, "Then what measures did you take?" ”

Beray replied with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, we have just studied it, and there are so many tank wreckage piled up in the square, it is almost impossible to use other tanks to push them apart. So I think it is better to inform the comrades at the tank repair station and let them tow the wreckage away with a tractor. ”

I snorted and said angrily: "Comrade General, do you think that the Germans are fools, and that they will stay opposite us and wait like a gentleman for us to pull away the broken tanks in the square?" ”

Hearing me say this, Bere's face showed an embarrassed expression. Seryukin hurriedly stepped forward and said to me with a sincere attitude: "Comrade commander, our troops will not be able to advance without first cleaning up the wreckage of the tanks in the square. ”

"Where is the observation post?" I knew that if I hadn't seen the scene in person, it would be like staying here to discuss what to do. In order to find out what was going on, I said to Seryukin: "Take me to see." ”

Seeing that Seryukin nodded in agreement, I said to the two division commanders Nekrasov and Askarebov who were standing next to me: "When Seryukin is not there, you two will be in charge of commanding here." After saying that, I shook my head at Beilei again, "Let's go, Comrade General, come with us to the observation post to see the situation on the battlefield." ”

Ten minutes later, we came to the top floor of a building not far away that had been half destroyed by the bombing, and there was an observation post of the 89th Guards Division. There were five people in the observation post, an officer and four fighters, two of whom were standing in a blown gap, observing the situation outside with a periscope with a trench, and one more was standing behind them, recording something with a pen. The officer and another soldier sat at the dining table in the room.

Seeing a few of us walk in the door, the commander sitting at the table hurriedly stood up, and at the same time shouted in a stern voice: "Lizheng!" When all the fighters were in an upright position, he pulled the hem of his uniform, ran up to us quickly, raised his hand and saluted, and said: "Comrade generals, Second Lieutenant Borowinsky reports to you that we are on an observation mission!" ”

I waved at Borowinsky and said kindly: "Please continue to observe, Comrade Second Lieutenant. ”

"Keep watching!" Borovinsky turned his head and shouted at his men, and the three fighters standing in the gap resumed their work.

When I saw a sketch on the table, I politely said to Borowinsky: "Comrade Ensign, tell me about your observations." ”

Polovinsky moved the map on the table to me, pointed it with a pencil and said: "Look, Comrade Commander, we and the Germans occupy the east and west sides of the square, respectively, and have built simple fortifications. As for the square in the middle, it is currently filled with destroyed tanks, and thanks to the presence of these obstacles, the enemy is not attacking us again. ”

Seryugin also walked over, pointed to a few small squares on the west side of the square, and said: "Comrade commander, you see, these are the buildings occupied by our troops, and I have deployed machine guns in these places, and once the German infantry attackes, we can condescendingly strafe them with machine guns." ”

After listening to Seryukin's introduction, I walked towards the gap to see what was going on outside. He took two steps and suddenly heard Bolovinsky call me: "Don't go over, Comrade Commander!" ”

"What's the matter, Comrade Second Lieutenant?" I didn't know why he called me suddenly, so I stopped, turned my head to look at him, and asked in wonder, "Can't I go and see the enemy outside?" ”

"Not so, Comrade Commander." Hearing my words with serious dissatisfaction, Borovinsky quickly explained: "There are German snipers outside, who have been firing cold shots at us all the time. ”

Hearing Polovinsky say this, Seryukin was a little unhappy: "Second lieutenant, since you found the German snipers, why didn't you report to your superiors, or send someone to clear them out?" ”

Porovinsky replied with a wry smile: "Comrade division commander, I reported this to the company, but they were also helpless, because the German snipers were in the buildings on the other side of the square. ”

"Hell!" When Seryukin heard Borovinsky say this, he couldn't help but exclaim, "From the opposite side of the square to here, at least three hundred meters away, can the German snipers fight so far?" ”

"Comrade division commander, if you are a good sniper, you can hit a target three hundred meters away." Speaking of snipers, I can't help but think of Vasily's superb shooting skills, but unfortunately his eye was injured and he can no longer be a sniper in the future, otherwise he can easily take out the opposite sniper at such a distance.

However, thinking of snipers like Vasily and Lyudmila, it is hard to find, so I said lightly: "Don't worry, today's German snipers can't hit the target at such a long distance, because the good snipers are all killed by us." ”

I walked to the gap and carefully hid my body behind the wall, looking out with the help of a periscope. Not far ahead, in the square, there were all kinds of destroyed tanks, both German and ours, and the wreckage of many tanks was still burning. Behind the square, half-collapsed buildings, German infantry had formed a line of defense in the rubble.

I took my eyes off the periscope and turned my head to ask Bere: "Hey, Comrade General, can't your tank units get around from other lots?" ”

Bere shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I sent someone to reconnoitre, and there is a wide street to the south of the square, where tanks can pass. But on that road, the Germans laid a large number of anti-tank mines, and at the intersection in the middle of the street, the Germans also erected a lot of anti-tank guns. If we charge hard, the Germans only need to destroy the tank column, one in front and one in the back, then our remaining tanks will be blocked and unable to move, becoming a target for German artillery. ”

I thought about the difficult question posed by Bere, and then said to him: "Comrade General, if our artillery fire destroys the German anti-tank gun positions, will you be able to continue to rush forward?" ”

Berey said with some reluctance: "Comrade commander, as long as our artillery fire can destroy the German anti-tank gun positions and clear the obstacles in the way of advance, then our tank column can continue to rush forward." ”

"Don't worry, General Bere." Fortunately, I had already instructed Bovsky to send a capable artillery observation team to the Lyubotin area to guide our artillery in the direction of the shelling, and now they could come in handy: "General Povsky has sent artillery observers, and with the firing parameters they provide, I believe that our artillery will soon be able to destroy all these pesky enemies." You can then command your tank forces and attack from the flanks of the Imperial Division, giving them a taste of your power and revenge for the day. ”

Bere nodded expressionlessly, and then continued: "Comrade commander, I will never forget that my 84th Tank Brigade was completely wiped out in the battle with the Imperial Division. Now that I have the opportunity to compete again today, I will definitely be ashamed. ”

"How many new tanks are there?" I knew that the Imperial Division was equipped with either Tiger or Leopard tanks, and if we used the T-34 to meet them, we would definitely suffer a big loss, and I thought that on the way here on foot, I had seen at least ten new tanks, so I then asked: "Do you have enough ammunition?" ”

"Comrade commander, we now have 37 tanks left, of which 15 are new tanks with plenty of ammunition." Before I could rejoice when I heard his report, I heard him continue: "But according to the confessions of the prisoners we have captured, they belong to the 2nd SS Tank Regiment, which still has 71 tanks left, and the 42 Panthers and 8 assault guns that have been put into our area alone have a numerical advantage. ”

"How many German Leopard tanks did we destroy in the battle just now?" Thinking that there were at least twenty tanks belonging to the Germans in the wreckage of the tanks in the square, I thought with some wishful thinking that if the Germans were left with only twenty or so Leopard tanks, the next battle of Major General Bere would be much easier.

Unexpectedly, Bere smiled bitterly again and replied: "I have carefully examined and there are only five destroyed Leopard tanks, and the rest are ordinary No. 4 tanks." In other words, in the next battle, we will use 15 new tanks to deal with the 37 Leopard tanks of the German army, and the odds are really not good. ”

"Don't worry, General Bere." Although I knew that the Germans on the other side of the square still had a large number of Leopard tanks, I still said with confidence: "Now that we know where the German tanks are, let our artillery teach them a hard lesson later." By the time the shelling was over, General Kravchenko's 20th Guards Tank Brigade should have arrived, so they were all T-34 tanks, but it should not be much of a problem to deal with the German tank units that had been heavily damaged by our artillery fire. ”

As soon as we returned to the headquarters, we saw several unfamiliar commanders standing inside. Nekrasov hurriedly pointed to a colonel and introduced me: "Comrade commander, this is the commander of the 20th Guards Tank Brigade. ”

Looking at this somewhat faceless commander, I still nodded politely, and then took the initiative to extend my hand to him: "Hello, Comrade Colonel, welcome to Liu Bojing." ”

The colonel first raised his hand to salute me, then shook my hand twice vigorously, and said, "Hello, Comrade Commander. I am here to assist your troops on the orders of the Commander. ”

"Comrade Colonel, you're new here, aren't you?" Bere walked up to me, looked the colonel up and down, and said, "How come I haven't seen you before!" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." The colonel gave a quick glance at the epaulettes of a bere, and although he did not know who he was, he replied truthfully: "The original brigade commander was seriously wounded in the battle at Tomarovka and was returned to the military hospital in Kursk, and I was appointed to the brigade commander only two days ago. ”

After finding out the identity of the other party, Bere also stretched out his hand to the other party, and at the same time said politely: "Hello, Comrade Colonel, I am Major General Bere, commander of the 33rd Tank Army, and in a while your tank brigade will launch an attack on the German positions together with my troops." ”

After listening to his words, the colonel replied politely: "Comrade General, it is an honor for me and my subordinates to fight side by side with your troops. ”

Nekrasov then pointed to another lieutenant and said to me: "Comrade commander, this lieutenant is an artillery observer who has come from General Povsky, and they will be in the city to provide our artillery with firing parameters and guide the direction of the shelling. ”

"Great, that's great." When I heard that the lieutenant in front of me was an artillery observer sent by Povsky, I felt a burst of ecstasy in my heart, and I stepped forward to hold his hand and shook it vigorously, and said excitedly: "Comrade lieutenant, I can look forward to you." Now I have an important task for you! ”

The lieutenant gently let go of my hand, took a step back, straightened his waist and said, "Comrade commander, time is pressing, please give an order!" ”

"Division Commander Seryukin," I called Seryukin, and then ordered, "You send someone to take this artillery lieutenant to the observation post and show him the place where we intend to shell." Do you understand? ”

"Understood," Seryugin agreed loudly, and then called a staff officer to leave with the artillery lieutenant.

I looked at the four generals and a colonel standing in front of me, and then said in a loud voice: "Comrades commanders, as soon as our artillery bombardment of the Germans is over, immediately divide the troops into two directions." All the way, the 77th Guards Division was the main and launched an attack on the German positions opposite the square; On the other hand, the 89th Guards Division, led by General Seryugin, followed General Bere's tank troops, launched an attack from the flank of the German army. ”

"Comrade Commander, what about our division?" Nekrasov couldn't help but be a little anxious when he saw that I had assigned tasks to Seryukin and them, but he had missed him, "What is the task of our division?" It can't be that other troops are attacking while we are watching the excitement, right? ”

"Commander Nekrasov, don't worry." In order to stabilize Nekrasov's mood, I reassured him by saying: "Any position in the war is important. Have you ever wondered what would happen if our troops were all on the offensive and the enemy had taken the back route? And who will stop them? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." After listening to my explanation, Nekrasov was immediately relieved, and he replied to me with a calm expression: "I immediately gave an order to the troops to strengthen their fortifications and prepare for a possible counteroffensive by the Germans. (To be continued.) )