At five o'clock in the morning of August 10, the artillery bombardment of the steppe front began, and the roar of artillery broke the silence of the early morning. After an hour and a half of non-stop shelling, the German positions north of Kharkiv were shrouded in fire and smoke.

Just as my ears were buzzing with the sound of the platoon shelling, the shelling suddenly stopped. Seeing that the entire battlefield had fallen silent again, Chistyakov curiously asked Managarov: "Comrade General, since the shelling has stopped, why didn't you see your troops attacking?" ”

Managarov smiled at him and said, "General Chistyakov, don't worry, the best is yet to come." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the twenty Guards rocket artillery battalions assigned to the Steppe Front also opened fire. Once again, the endless flames tore through the Russian night sky and roared towards their goal. Soon it landed on the enemy's position, with a dazzling fire and an earth-shattering boom.

Looking at the reddish sky in the distance, I thought to myself that when this round of shelling was over, the attack should begin.

When the distant explosions ceased and the battlefield fell silent again, I saw Managarov leave the lookout, walk to a table in the middle of the observation post, and shout at one of the lieutenant colonels standing there: "Let's start!" ”

The lieutenant colonel agreed, picked up the headphones that were resting on the table, put them to his ear and said equally loudly: "Comrade commander, order, the offensive begins!" ”

As the order was given, three red flares rose in the sky at the same time, which was the signal for the attack.

As thousands of commanders and fighters shouted out of their trenches and charged at the German positions thousands of miles away, I suddenly heard the melody of "Holy War". At first I thought it was an auditory hallucination, but when I listened carefully with my ear sideways, I realized that it was not an auditory hallucination. Instead, in the loudspeaker on the position of the 53rd Army, this song is being broadcast that makes people's blood boil after listening to it.

Looking at the attacking troops rushing to the front like a tidal wave, Chistyakov excitedly said to me: "Comrade commander, you see, our troops rushed up, rushed up!" A few more minutes. The vanguard was able to break through into the German defensive positions. ”

Managarov, who had just walked back to the lookout, also smiled and said with a smile after hearing Chistyakov's words: "General Chistyakov, you see, the forward positions of the German army have basically been destroyed under our shelling, and I don't believe that many Germans can survive under such intensive artillery fire." ”

Hearing such an optimistic conversation between the two, my heart really cried and laughed. If only the Germans were really so vulnerable. Then they would have been driven out of the territory of the USSR by us long ago. I vividly remember that each time the Germans retreated to the rear before the Soviet shelling began, and when the shelling was over, the infantry charged, and then they entered positions along the communication trenches and wounded our charging troops with dense fire. Although the Soviet army suffered many such losses, the commanders did not seem to have learned this lesson at all, and they still made the same mistakes again and again.

Chistyakov approached me and asked, "Comrade commander." Do you think friendly forces will be able to break through the German defenses? ”

I just smiled faintly when I heard his question. Then he whispered: "Comrade Deputy Commander, this is not too easy to say. Although the heavy shelling was carried out, it is still unknown how much damage was inflicted on the Germans. ”

Although my statement is already very euphemistic, Chistyakov is still a little upset for Managarov and puts back what he has just heard. Repeated: "Comrade commander, I think you have just seen the effect of the shelling, the forward positions of the German troops were almost destroyed by our artillery fire, and I do not believe that on such positions there will be any enemy who will survive. ”

"There are no enemies who have survived. The answer will soon be revealed. As soon as I had said this, I raised my binoculars and carefully examined the German positions in the distance, which had been almost destroyed by artillery fire, and wondered in my mind that the enemy would wait until where our troops had rushed before firing.

When our commanders and fighters rushed to less than a hundred meters from the German positions, the German positions, which had been silent, opened fire. Bullets fired from dozens of machine guns, if dozens of flaming whips swept through the ranks of our troops. The momentum of the rush was violently blocked in the rain of bullets, and the commanders and fighters fell in patches in pools of blood.

"Hell," Chistyakov scolded in a low voice, "I didn't expect the Germans to fire so fiercely, and in just this minute, we suffered at least more than one battalion casualties." ”

The commanders and fighters, who were so pressed by the fire that they hid in the crater, returned to normal after a short panic. They either lay down in the craters and shoot at the enemy's firing point, or they threw batches of grenades, and when they used the smoke of the explosion to block the enemy's view, they jumped from one crater to another, and approached the enemy's position little by little.

Behind the enemy's position, suddenly there was a flash of fire, and then one after another the shells fell on the hidden areas of our soldiers and exploded. Seeing this, Managarov's eyes widened, and he said in an incredulous tone: "This is impossible, this is impossible, where did the enemy's artillery come from?" Knowing where they are now, they have just been hit by our intensive artillery fire, how could the Germans still have artillery and survive such intensive shelling? ”

"Comrade General," although I did not want to strike at Managarov, in this case something had to be said: "The Germans, when our troops were shelling, hid their artillery and troops in the rear. Wait for the end of the shelling, and move the troops along the communication trenches to the front ......"

"No way, absolutely impossible. Isn't the enemy worried that our troops will rush into their lines before they can re-enter their positions? Before I could finish my sentence, I was interrupted by Managarov, who said eloquently: "The Germans must have built strong fortifications in their defensive positions that our shells could not destroy, so that when we attacked, they were able to strike back at us in such a timely manner." ”

Seeing that Managarov was so stubborn, I didn't argue with him, after all, I came here with Chistyakov today just to watch the battle and not to direct the battle, and there was no need to take his place as a command, so I raised my binoculars again and continued to look at the movement in front of me.

On the wide battlefield frontage. The commanders and fighters, who were pinned down in the crater by German artillery and machine-gun fire, threw grenades like drops at the enemy's position, blasting the open space in the middle into flames. Taking advantage of the rising smoke, many soldiers, under the leadership of the commander, bravely rushed towards the enemy's position.

It is a pity that in front of the dense fire network composed of German machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles, the commanders and fighters showed bravery. No progress was made, but they were defeated by enemy bullets in droves and lay in front of the position.

After more than ten minutes of fighting, it was clear that the troops could not continue to advance in front of the enemy's dense fire. The commander of the front, after consulting Managarov, gave the order to the troops to retreat.

Managarov's face turned blue when he saw the commanders and fighters carrying their weapons, crawling out of the craters and running backwards with their bent over. It was thought that after the end of the intensive shelling. The troops could break through one or two lines of German defense with just one charge, but now they did not even approach the enemy's first trench, and paid the price of thousands of men.

At this point, Chistyakov was truly convinced of my judgment, leaned slightly towards me, and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, if you are in command of this offensive battle." How will you fight? ”

Before I spoke, I glanced to the side. Finding that Managarov had walked back to the table in the middle of the room, he whispered to Chistyakov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, first of all, when shelling, I will not stare at just one position for non-stop shelling. Because the Germans are not stupid, they know that under such intensive artillery fire, as long as it is flesh and blood. They will definitely retreat to the second line of defense to hide before the shelling begins. Therefore, our artillery preparation should be after the end of the bombardment of the first line of defense. Carry out extended fire, continue to bombard the enemy's second line of defense. When the fight is almost over, kill another rifle and re-bombard their first line of defense. At this time, even if the Germans re-enter the position, they will be caught by surprise. ”

"Although artillery can destroy the enemy's defenses, to solve the battle, it is still up to the infantry." Anyway, there were only two of us left at the lookout, so Chistyakov humbly asked me for advice: "How should our infantry attack in that situation?" ”

"It's very simple," since Chistyakov's attitude was very sincere, I did not hide anything from him in terms of tactics: "The attacking force should be divided into parts, with three people in groups and three groups in one, and then divided into assault groups, fire groups, and support groups, each group alternately covering in battle, constantly suppressing the enemy's fire points in high-speed running, in order to achieve the purpose of breaking through the position." ”

After listening to my words, Chistyakov pondered for a long time, then nodded at him slowly, and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I have never heard of this tactic you are talking about before. But soon he cautiously asked, "Have you ever tried this tactic?" ”

"Needless to say, Comrade Deputy Commander." I looked at him and said with a serious expression: "Whether it is in Stalingrad or in Kiev, this offensive tactic we have adopted has achieved great results. At the same time, the casualties of the troops were greatly reduced. ”

At this moment, a group of commanders walked in from outside the observation post. My sharp eyes immediately recognized these commanders as the ones we met when we first arrived, presumably to report to Managarov.

Thinking that it was not my business, I looked through my binoculars at the smoke of the battlefield in the distance, and listened to how Managarov was teaching his men. First I heard a loud bang, probably Managarov slapping the table, and then he began to roar and yell at the commanders, saying that they were all wretched, that they had suffered so many casualties, that they had not even approached the first line of German trenches.

After a seizure, Managarov's mood finally stabilized, and then he asked the commanders: "Do you have any good ideas?" ”

"Comrade Commander," a colonel asked cautiously, "may I make a request?" ”

"What a request, hurry up." Managarov said impatiently.

"The machine-gun fire on the German positions was too fierce for the infantry alone to rush through." The colonel cautiously asked, "Can we ask the comrades of the tank corps to send a few tanks to cover the infantry charge." ”

Managarov thought for a while about his subordinates' request, then nodded and agreed: "Okay, I'll call the commander of the tank corps and ask him to send a tank battalion to cooperate with our attack." ”

"Comrade Commander," said the colonel again, "a tank battalion is a little too little, how can you get a tank brigade?" ”

After hearing what the colonel said, Managarov was so angry that he slapped the table hard, and then pointed to the other party's nose and said: "Isn't it shameful enough for our three divisions to attack at the same time and be repulsed by the Germans who have suffered heavy losses?" If you ask the commander of the tank corps to provide us with a tank battalion, I am already very faceless, and you still want a tank brigade. ……”

When I heard Managarov teach his subordinates this lesson, I couldn't help but be confused, and I thought to myself, what kind of logic is this? Is there any difference between looking for a tank battalion and a tank brigade for a tank army? Isn't it all about tanks and infantry attacking enemy positions? If the number of tanks dispatched is larger, the success rate of seizing positions is much higher.

When Chistyakov saw the commanders leaving again, he asked me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, we have all seen the same content, is it time to go back?" ”

"Wait a minute, Comrade Deputy Commander, please wait a little longer." If Managarov hadn't said that he would have asked the tank corps to cooperate with the attack, maybe at this time, I would have really said goodbye to Chistyakov and left. In order to see how the 53rd Army coordinated its infantry, I decided to stay and see. "They're about to launch a new offensive again, and we'll see what kind of effect it will have with the help of tanks this time."

"Well, then we'll stay and see how they, under the cover of tanks, broke through the German positions." Chistyakov may have had coordinated his infantry many times when he commanded his troops, so as soon as he heard that tanks were in battle, he was immediately confident that the friendly forces would carry out a new offensive next. (To be continued.) )

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