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After I had said this, I sat down in my seat and thought for a moment, then stood up and announced to everyone: "Commanders and comrades, I have decided to go to the city myself. ”

"What?" Hearing this decision of mine, Danilov jumped up from his seat and said in surprise: "Comrade commander, what did you say, you plan to go to the city in person?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." I nodded, and said affirmatively: "I have decided to go to the city myself to see what is going on, and to encourage the commanders and fighters to continue their efforts to capture Belgorod before dark." ”

"Leda, know that we have three divisions of troops in the city, and even if you don't boost morale, they can take the city." Out of concern, Kirillov bitterly persuaded me: "It's too dangerous in the city, don't forget the lesson of the deputy commander of the Front, General Apanashchenko, for your safety, you should stay here and command." ”

As soon as Kirillov's words came out, Bezikov echoed and said: "That's right, Comrade Military Commissar is right. You are the commander of the army group, and you can't just go to a dangerous place to take risks, so you should stay here and command. ”

I waved my hand and said resolutely: "Although we have three divisions in the city, we do not have a unified command, and each division is now fighting separately, and it is difficult to form a strong combat force. It may be possible to gain an advantage in a local area, but it will be very difficult to drive the Germans out of the city. ”

"Since that's the case. Then I'll go with you. Kirillov finished listening. Suddenly, I said something unexpectedly.

"Okay. Comrade Military Commissar, let's go to the city together. "I knew that if I didn't agree to Kirillov and let him go into the city with me, he would be opposed to me going to the city to direct the battle, just like everyone else, so I readily agreed. Before leaving, he explained to Danilov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you and Colonel Bezikov will be in charge here. ”

"En. No problem. Danilov also readily agreed: "I will keep in touch with the front headquarters and the divisions below." ”

Ten minutes later, Kirillov and I entered the city in a jeep. I couldn't help but get irritated when I saw the bombed-out buildings on both sides of the street, smelling the unpleasant smell of burnt rust, charcoal, bricks, and blood.

Just as the jeep couldn't move forward because there was too much masonry and rubble on the street in front of me, I pushed the door open and got out of the car. I walked down the rubble-strewn streets, surveying the commanders and fighters who came into my sight, except for a few soldiers who were gathering the corpses on the street, and the others were sitting on the curbs of the road eating their lunches. Their lunch is simple. Just a few slices of dry bread and sausages, nibbling on a few bites of bread and taking a sip of water from the kettle. He didn't care about the piles of corpses next to him.

Seeing all this, Kirillov said indignantly: "Damned fascist invaders, look what they have made our city a scourge." How much manpower and material resources will we need to invest in the future to restore the city to its original state? ”

I didn't answer, but walked forward silently, when suddenly I saw an old man in rags sitting in a pile of rubble by the side of the road, with his back against a broken wall, staring blankly ahead. This was the first civilian I saw when I entered the city, so I quickly turned around and walked towards him.

Walking up to him, I leaned down to look at this frighteningly thin old man with sunken eyes, and asked with concern, "Uncle, why are you sitting here?" ”

He looked up at me and muttered expressionlessly, "It's all gone, there's nothing." The family is gone, the home is gone, there is nothing......"

Hearing these words of the old man, I couldn't help but have a feeling of emptiness, because this street was turned into ruins, eighty percent of which was caused by the shelling of our army, that is, we were the main culprits who made the old man homeless. I coughed softly, waited for my mood to stabilize a little, and then continued to ask, "Where is your home?" ”

The old man looked up at me again and began his story. Although his voice was muddy and even incoherent from time to time, I understood what he was saying. He was telling Kirillov and me about the situation in Belgorod, listing the streets that had become ruins. These street names, which we are not familiar with, have a special meaning to the old man, who tells us what kind of building this pile of masonry and rubble used to be, and what the ruins used to be. It was as if everything he told us happened not in this city, which had just been broken through by our troops, but in his own home, in which everything he was familiar with was destroyed beyond recognition.

After the old man had finished speaking, I straightened up and looked left and right, then beckoned to a sergeant who was sitting not far away eating. Seeing my gesture, the sergeant quickly stuffed the remaining pieces of bread in his mouth and ran briskly in front of us. After swallowing the rusk in his mouth vigorously, he raised his hand and saluted and reported in accordance with the order: "Comrade General, Sergeant of the Red Army of the 77th Guards Division Matvey reports to you, I am at your disposal, please instruct!" ”

Kirillov pointed to the old man sitting in the ruins and asked: "Comrade sergeant, do you see a civilian here?" ”

Matvey glanced at the old man, then nodded and said, "See." We also brought him food and water, but he must have had no reaction at the time. It may be that the movement of our army attacking the city is too great and frightens him. ”

Knowing that the sergeant must have done what he was supposed to do, I did not reproach him, but asked curiously, "When you enter the city, do you see more civilians?" ”

The sergeant shook his head and replied, "Report to Comrade General, after we platoon into the city, we didn't see any other civilians except this old man." ”

"Hell, where did everyone else go?" Kirillov said to himself, "How can there be more than 100,000 people in this city, how can it be said that it will disappear if it is not seen." ”

"Comrade Military Commissar. I guess Manstein did it again. He estimated that he had already moved the inhabitants of the city away. This old man only occasionally misses. This is the case with Tomarovka. But that's fine, we can be free and don't have to worry about injuring our civilians in battle. After I briefed Kirillov, I turned to Sergeant Matvey: "Comrade Sergeant, where is your division?" ”

"Follow this street, turn right at the intersection, walk another street, and you'll get there." Matvey, after showing us the way. also deliberately added: "Anyway, an hour ago, the division headquarters was there, and now whether it has been transferred or not, I don't know very well." ”

We followed the path indicated by the sergeant and came to the headquarters of the 77th Guards Division. When the division commander, Colonel Askarepov, saw our appearance, he was stunned at first, and then asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, comrade political commissar, why did you come here?" Don't you know that our troops are still fighting street battles with the Germans outside? ”

I didn't answer his words, but walked straight to the table where he had put the map. casually asked: "Comrade Colonel, where has your division progressed?" ”

Askarebov hurriedly walked up to me. Pointing to the map on the table, he said to me: "Comrade Commander, according to the information I have, the 89th Guards Division and the 305th Division of the 69th Army are converging and fighting the Germans in the north of the city. And Colonel Chernov's 90th Guards Division, which controlled a large area, including the city radio station. Originally, our division and their defense area were connected by two streets, but under the counterattack of the Germans, regardless of casualties, one of the streets was lost. ”

Hearing Askarebov, in such a calm tone, lightly say about the loss of the street, I was so angry that I slapped the table hard and roared at him: "Comrade Colonel, why didn't you organize the troops to counterattack? If the Germans had taken the second street as well, Colonel Chernov's 90th Guards Division would have fallen back into the encirclement of the Germans. ”

Before Askarebov could speak, Kirillov spoke first and persuaded me: "Lida, since the streets have been lost, it's useless for you to get angry, so let's listen to what the colonel has to say?" Then he asked Askarepov in my place, "Comrade Colonel, have you organized troops to counterattack?" ”

"Fought back." Colonel Askarepov replied weakly: "Not only our division has launched a counterattack, but even the Chernov division has launched a counterattack at the same time, but our four consecutive counterattacks have not been successful. The enemy hid in those fortifications that did not collapse, blocking the path of our charge with dense fire, and although this was so, our commanders and fighters bravely rushed forward, and the corpses covered the path of the charge. ”

"Didn't you prepare for artillery fire before the attack?" I know that although none of the three Guards Divisions are equipped with artillery regiments, there are still such formations as mortar companies. If they had been able to shell the enemy's hidden locations before the attack, the casualties of the troops would have been much smaller during the subsequent attack. "There are also anti-tank rocket launchers, which can also be used to hit German firepower points."

"Comrade commander," the chief of staff of the division summoned up courage to report to me, "before the attack, we fired several rounds of rapid fire at the places where the Germans might be hiding, with the fire of two mortar batteries. The goal of this was to destroy all the buildings used by the Germans for concealment, so that they had to retreat under our counterattack because they had no available shelter and firing points. ”

"As a result, the German troops who were hit by your artillery fire not only did not retreat, but also repelled your charge." I walked back and forth in the room a few times with my hands behind my back, then stopped, stared at Askarebov and asked: "Comrade Colonel, I would like to ask you, are your troops in a dense formation, blindly rushing forward with guns in hand?" "Did you know that this suicidal charge allowed the Germans to hide in the ruins or in those undestroyed firing points, and calmly fire and strafe our attacking troops. ”

Hearing my criticism, Askarepov also defended aggrievedly: "But every time we attack, we use this style of play." ”

"So the casualties of your division in every battle are high." Listening to his answer, I said angrily: "If we continue to be beaten like this, before our troops reach Kharkov, your division should be withdrawn to replenish." ”

At this time. Kirillov came out again to play the round. He gestured at me first. Motioned for me not to speak for a moment. Then he said to Askarepov: "Comrade Colonel, I have to say that our commanders and fighters showed great courage in battle. Although the comrades in front kept falling during the attack, the fighters in the back still stepped over the corpses of their comrades without fear and continued to charge forward. As a divisional commander, it is not enough for you to be brave and tenacious. We also need to know how to adjust our offensive tactics according to the different terrain. ”

"Adjust offensive tactics?" Colonel Askarebov looked at Kirillov blankly and asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, can you elaborate on this?" ”

Hearing the colonel's question, Kirillov turned his face sideways and said to me with a smile: "Lida, you are better at military affairs than me, so you should teach them the skills of street fighting." ”

"Okay, Comrade Military Commissar, I'll tell them about it." Originally, I wanted to get angry at Askarepov, but for Kirillov's sake. I suppressed the anger in my heart and began to explain to them the precautions of street fighting: "...... Invest a lot of troops in the narrow streets for the offensive. Then our troops will not be able to develop any tactical formation, and can only huddle into a pile shoulder to shoulder and charge. In the face of the dense firepower network of the German army, it is not difficult for us to imagine how bloody such a scene would be: the soldiers who rushed to the front were swept to the ground by the German machine guns, and the crowd that followed closely behind could not dodge and tripped over the corpses, making the piles of people and corpses higher and higher; The soldiers who were not tripped were strafed head-on by machine guns, and some of them did not even have room to fall to the ground after being shot, and leaned directly on the bodies of their comrades behind. And the lethal bullets fired by the German machine guns will penetrate the bodies of the soldiers who have been sacrificed, and enter the bodies of the fighters behind, piercing the dead and the alive. ……”

My recounting made cold sweat break out on the foreheads of the commanders present. Wait until I'm done. While wiping the sweat from his forehead, Askarepov humbly asked me: "Comrade commander, then how should we attack?" ”

"In squads, in a scattered formation, relying on piles of rubble and craters in the streets, approaching the firing points occupied by the Germans." In order to ensure the success of the counterattack, I took the patience to explain to them the techniques of street fighting that I knew: "Be careful about the route you take, and you must know how to use the terrain...... For points of fire that cannot be destroyed by grenade or machine-gun fire, destroy them with bazookas......"

When I had finished talking about the street fighting techniques I knew, I turned to Kirillov and asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you have anything to say?" ”

Kirillov nodded, took my words and said to the commanders present: "Comrade commander, I have two good news to tell you. The first good news, Marshal Zhukov himself said that as long as you perform well in this battle, as soon as the battle is over, the division commander will be promoted to general in addition to the medal; The second good news is that our Central Front has succeeded in liberating Orel, and if Belgorod is liberated today, it will be of great significance, proving that our troops are capable not only of attacking in two directions at the same time, but also of great victories in both directions. ……”

After Kirillov's words, the already quiet room became even more silent, and everyone struggled to digest what they had just heard. After a while, Askarepov, whose face was flushed with excitement, suddenly turned to his chief of staff and shouted: "Comrade Chief of Staff, gather the commanders of the offensive battalions, and I will personally assign offensive tasks to them!" ”

[It's about to be 515, I hope to continue to hit the 515 red envelope list, and the red envelope rain will be able to give back to readers and promotional works on May 15. A piece is also love, and it must be better! (To be continued.) )

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