"Since it is Comrade Lukin, he will always have a way. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" - Stalin once said.

It is hard to imagine what the army could do at the junction of the Volyn-Podol Plateau, which is almost like a plain, with the highlands along the Dnieper River, when the roads are muddy and the rivers are flooded.

But it's still the same sentence: as long as Lukin is here, he will always have a way!

When Lin Jun arrived in Fastov, not long after leaving the train station, he saw soldiers pushing cars stuck in the mud deep in the full carriage, as well as the T34 tanks that had been flooded with muddy water and covered in black mud, and were about to break out of the muddy quagmire.

There are no whistling bullets, no sudden explosions, but this is the battlefield, the battlefield of the struggle between man and the climate!

Without thinking too much, Lin Jun jumped on the top of the turret of a tank that rushed out of the mud, and shouted loudly in the rain to cheer for the commanders and fighters!

"Well done boys! What are the mud afraid of, we are not even afraid of the shells of the Germans! Work harder and drag the gear up...... I'm going to beat the Germans so much that they don't even know his mother....."

Manpower will become the main force of transportation, whether you are on four wheels or two tracks, this will be in Ukraine, at the critical moment, it will still be a two-legged person to drag and push everything forward!

For a full hour, Lin Jun had been acting as a cheerleader on top of this tank belonging to the glorious "Fastov Tank Brigade" (52nd Tank Brigade), and it was originally expected that it would take two hours to completely pass through an entire brigade of troops in the area, but it took only an hour to pass through all of them under the strong appeal.

Lin Jun felt that his voice was hoarse, and when he saw the infantry troops coming from behind, he jumped out of the tank.

A colonel identified himself as the commander of the tank brigade, Voyeykov, and Lin Jun asked him: "How can your troops need such a transfer?" ”

Very strange transfer, Lin Jun had already asked an officer just now, and knew that this unit was involved in the early operation to recapture Fastov, and the original defense area was 20 kilometers northwest of the city.

"According to the order of the command of the group army, the troops went to the town of Komsomol members, 30 kilometers south of the city, to assemble, and the others have not yet been notified."

"And what about your original defense zone?"

"It's over to the 5th Separate Infantry Brigade." The young comrade brigade commander reported.

Lin Jun motioned to Comrade Colonel to leave to command his troops, and asked the guards to take out the map and look carefully to find some fame.

The largest German-controlled city in front of Fastov was Kazatin, about 80 kilometers southwest in a straight line, which was also an important railway junction.

Mobilize the attacking troops, "Could it be that Lukin, who has just been replenished, wants to attack?" ”

The transfer of the tank defense zone to the infantry, which had an important road to Zhytomyr, would not have been possible for the Germans to massively use their armored forces to attack Fastov along the line of the road, where the infantry defense could be fully utilized.

But the tanks are going to be able to travel like this, what the hell is Lukin going to do?!

Let people put away the map, step on knee-deep mud, and step on one foot into the city.

Finally on the relatively solid asphalt road, the buildings on both sides are dilapidated: it was briefly occupied by the Germans, and the Soviets and Germans fought two tug-of-wars in this area, and the city was bombed to the bottom by shells and bombs, and was full of collapsed buildings and huge craters that had not yet had time to be filled.

Lukin set up his group army headquarters in the original district agricultural office, which was kind of sheltered from the wind and rain.

"Hello, Comrade Marshal. I sent people to the train station more than an hour ago, but they came back and said they couldn't find you and your guards. Lu Jin said as soon as he saw Lin Jun.

I haven't seen him for more than a year, and Lukin still looks simple, but he has nothing to do with being fat: he can almost be described as skinny.

"I'm going to be a cheerleader for your troops." Lin Jun explained, "How did you do this?" He pointed to his face: the big nose on his face had shrunk.

Lu Jin smiled bitterly, "I didn't care about it, I was overweight, but now it's okay." ”

Among the conscientious representatives of the commanders of the Red Army, since the transfer to Ukraine, the 16th Army has always been at the forefront, and as a commander, Lukin does not care about himself at all. Some commanders adjust their work in the intervals of battles, but Lukin does not, he is like a never-ending engine, running all the time.

When we arrived at the army group's war room, it was busy, as if a big war was going on. The staff officers were constantly on the phone, and the heralds were in and out.

"On your way here, I made a report to the front army that it was planned to attack Kazatin in two days, and the troops were being moved, and the front army had approved my plan."

Apparently, Lukin was moving troops before he could approve it.

When Lin Jun heard this, he said: "There is no need to report to me, I am only in charge of political work, and I will command you to listen to Zhukov and Blyukher."

However, Mikhail Fedorovich, how do you allow the troops to attack in such traffic conditions?

I'm just asking. "Curiosity.

"The weather forecast says that there will be a short good weather process in two days, which will last about three days." Led Lin Jun to the map, "You see, my troops and the entire front of the 38th and 40th armies of our friends and neighbors, there are three large cities occupied by the German army, Korosten, Zhytomyr and Berdichev. But if Kazatin can be captured, the entire southern part of the front of the front, all the way up to Vinnytsia, the Germans will not have a campaign support point capable of supporting a large-scale military operation.

We are now in the mud, and so are the Germans. Take Kazatin and hold on, and it will be easy to go south to engage in a skirmish with the forces of the second Ukrainian front; And in the west and north, you can land at least a left hook with a depth of more than 150 kilometers and a width of at least 200 kilometers! ”

Under the threat of encirclement, the German forces in the vicinity of the cities of Korostian, Zhytomyr, and Berdichev would not be on the same level as the frontal assault.

"If you think about it this way, the Germans will have the same worries, three days of good weather will not make the roads hard, it will be extremely difficult to attack, and it will be even more difficult to hold Kazatin!"

"Marshal, please believe in the 16th Army, we are capable of this. Now my forward troops are stationed less than thirty kilometers from Kazatin, and the offensive will be launched on the third day of good weather. Two days, two days at most we can take there. ”

"Even Blyukhel and Zhukov believe that you have this ability, I believe it!"

Lukin is to be a master attacker, but when the attack is successful, the next thing is a desperate German counterattack - and that small city will become a nail embedded in the German army! The Red Army stationed there will also become the focus of the entire western part of Ukraine in the summer campaign: Lin Jun seems to see that it will be the bullseye area of a Kursk-style tank battle, whether it is a frontal assault, a scattered assault or a flank encirclement, and all military operations on both sides will take Kazatin as the bullseye of the battle!

The "Master of Defense" will face an unprecedented test.

、、、、、、

An officer wearing a pullover raincoat and covered in muddy water walked into the army group's war room with the wind, and before he took off his raincoat, he shouted: "Mikhail Fedorovich, when will the rocket artillery regiment you assigned to me arrive?" ”

The raincoat blocked his view, and Landeskozy, who was leading the team on duty outside, recognized the person, so he did not stop him: this comrade commander, who was a little anxious by the troop movement, did not notice that the guards at the gate of the war room had been replaced by fighters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Ivan Vasilyevich, when did you become so popular?"

Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, who had just taken off his raincoat and had not yet raised his head, immediately raised his head, "Hello Comrade Marshal! ”

Seeing this Turkic face in front of him, Lin Jun would think of the classic movie line: "Oh! What password do I say to you, young man? We just got off the train -- from Central Asia Minor -- and told me where the front line was. ”

The poor comrade sentry was attacked not so long ago by the man of the commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Army, Lev Mikhailovich Dovatol, and turned his head helplessly: "Forget it, let's go." ”

"What, your troops are going to be on the main mission?"

Panfilov smiled embarrassedly: "Marshal, the four-legged ones and those tanks are not as good as our infantry this time, and my troops are at the forefront of attacking Kazatin, and the tank troops are to cooperate with me." ”

The four-legged one, of course, meant the cavalry corps commanded by his old friend Dovatore, who was usually faster than Panfilov, but this time the four-legged one was significantly higher than the infantry in terms of unit pressure, and was not used.

"How many people are left in your division?" Lin Jun asked.

"As when I first arrived, 18,000 men, but two-thirds of the troops were supplements. Marshal, the combat effectiveness of the 8th Guards Infantry Division is as strong as last year! ”

He replied with great self-pride and pride: This infantry division, which was originally composed entirely of personnel of all nationalities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was outnumbered by the newly formed Red Army division last year, and after continuous fighting, because of its tenacious style and significant contributions, it has always taken care of it when replenishing it.

Having lost about two-thirds of its veterans, it is now still extremely combative.

After Lin Jun finished asking, Lu Jin said: "The 94th Guards Rocket Artillery Regiment can arrive in Fastov before nightfall, and it will be under your command before tomorrow afternoon." ”

Now Panfilov was pleased, and did not let him step on the mud to run a bad trip to the headquarters of the army group.

In the Bershady region last July, Panfilov's troops withstood the onslaught of German troops three times their own for half a month, buying valuable time for the newly arrived 16th Army to gain a foothold in Ukraine. It was at that first battle that Panfilov's unit received a new designation for the 8th Guards Infantry Division.

But in that short half a month, the whole division suffered nearly 10,000 casualties! Even Panfilov's own command was hit by German shells, and if it weren't for the timely rescue of nearby personnel, the comrade division commander who was directing the troops inside would have been buried alive. (To be continued.) )