Evgeny rubbed his eyes, and then stretched his waist beautifully, the rapid march of the previous section had exhausted him terribly. The day and night march with the occasional battle can be devastating to the biological clock. Anyway, Evgeny doesn't have any sense of day and night now, as long as he sits down, he will immediately doze off.

But what made Yevgeny extremely painful was that he couldn't sleep, as the second-in-command of the company, he had to be responsible for more than 100 soldiers up and down, and he had to arrange the soldiers to take a breath, anyway, all kinds of trivial things inside and outside made him have no time to breathe.

Speaking of which, Evgeny is really a little envious of Fat Ivan and the armored train, one of these two people is the shopkeeper, Fat Ivan is very good at simplifying the work in his hands, anyway, any work in his hands will be assigned in less than two minutes, and then this dead fat man can find a sheltered place to sleep beautifully.

As for the armored train, although he doesn't have the ability to simplify the complicated like Fat Ivan, this person also has an advantage, that is, he can sleep at any time. The first kick repelled the enemy's sneak attack, and the second kick started snoring as soon as he got a blanket and closed his eyes, and the efficiency was really super high.

And Evgeny does not have the ability of the above two, he himself is a particularly meticulous and delicate person, and he also wants to do a little bit of success in the work of political commissar, the result is that there are a lot of things very complicated, and the soldiers are also accustomed to his meticulousness, and when there is a problem, they are more willing to find him as a political commissar, rather than a dead fat man who is particularly good at playing ball.

Furthermore. Yevgeny also did not have the big heart of an armored train. At the end of the day, he's still a rookie. This is the first time he has been on the battlefield, even if he usually seems calm and calm, but in fact, he is just as scared in his heart. So after Evgeny was awakened, he couldn't sleep. After constant repetition, there must be a nervous breakdown.

"Comrade Political Commissar, you can't do this, if you go on like this, you have to be tired to death!" Fat Ivan said.

The armored train also said: "You can't hold out like this for a few days." I judge that there will be a big battle next, and something will happen to you in your mental state in wartime! ”

In fact, Evgeny was also anxious in his own heart, he knew that he had to rest well, and if he continued like this, he would have to be dragged to death. But the psychological factor is not what you want to do, the more you want to sleep, the more anxious you are, the more your grandmother can't sleep.

In fact, Fat Ivan and the armored train also know that this is a hurdle, and in the future, they will be veteran oilers, not to mention the sound of gunfire. It's like the sky is falling apart, and you can't sleep properly. But you can't get over this hurdle, you don't need the sky to fall apart, and you don't need gunshots. Even a gust of wind can scare the sleepy bugs away.

In the words of Fat Ivan: "There is no rule of law for this disease, it would be good to fight more wars and scare your courage!" ”

Speaking of which, Fat Ivan is also anxious that Evgeny can't sleep! Why? Because it is so rare for a political commissar like someone to do this, he does not fight for power and profit, does not make small reports, does not engage in class struggle, and is very careful and patient with him, and handles all kinds of small things in the company in an orderly manner. When it came time to fight, he was also born in a professional class and was good at accepting the opinions of others.

Let's put it this way, if the most beautiful political commissar is to be selected in the Red Army, Fat Ivan must have booked his vote, his wife's vote, his child's vote, so to speak, the ticket for their whole family and the ticket for the armored train, and he has booked it all for Yevgeny.

In his words: "Comrade Evgeny is real! We can't bully honest people! ”

Therefore, he attached great importance to the problem of Yevgeny's sleep, and even convened a meeting of the whole company to speak: "The work of the political commissar is already very tired, and the big guy can't bear to trouble him with some trivial things." The political commissar is the backbone of our company, and we can't exhaust him, so I said that the platoon commanders and squad leaders can't make it easy for themselves, and put all the burden on the political commissar. Know no! ”

As he spoke, he paused slightly, and then ordered very sternly: "From today onwards, general affairs are not allowed to trouble the political commissar, let him also sleep well, and only when he has enough spirit can he better serve his comrades!" ”

After Fat Ivan's reprimand, Evgeny has less than half of the at hand, but this does not mean that he can sleep well, he is still nervous, and he wakes up with a little wind and grass. This situation continued until a new combat order was issued.

On 20 May, not long after the Red Army's 6th Army had built a blocking position at Southka, Ubolevich's new order arrived, and the 4th Mechanized Army, which belonged to the 6th Army, broke away from the defense and went to the attack, along the railway line to the Konotop line, and cooperated with the 5th Army to hold Konotop.

To understand this order, it is necessary to start with the arrangement of the mustache in the previous chapter, where he concentrated Manstein's 11th Army and Moder's 9th Army in preparation for the recapture of Konotop in order to ensure Paulus's successful capture of Kursk.

So in Konotop, Zhukov, who had just recaptured the city, was under a lot of pressure for a while. Both Manstein and Moder are masters, especially the former, who is very good at acting as a firefighter. In order to relieve Zhukov's pressure, Ubolevich could only draw troops from Shostka for reinforcements.

Briefly speaking of the enemy-friend situation, Zhukov's 5th Army had the 22nd and 27th Infantry Corps, the 9th Mechanized Army and the 1st Guards Mechanized Army, a total of four corps. It should be noted that the 1st Guards Mechanized Army was only temporarily strengthened for the use of this army group, mainly to prevent the main German forces from escaping from the Konotop line. On this point, Ubolevich was quite accurate, and he calculated that the Germans would move along the railway line.

As for the 6th Army, at this time it was commanded by Lieutenant General Lukin, which commanded the 6th, 15th and 37th Infantry Corps and the 9th Mechanized Army. Among them, the 37th Infantry Corps was transferred by Rokossovsky to strengthen the 6th Army through gritted teeth. It can be seen that Rokossovsky also knew that the Battle of Kursk was of great significance, even if his troops were very tight, he went out to reinforce them.

As for the Germans. The commander of the 9th Army was Moder. It has five infantry corps, the 5th, 6th, 8th, 30th, and 42nd, and the 102nd, 900th and 403rd Infantry Divisions. Of course. It must be noted that there were no such troops involved in the Battle of Kursk, after all, the German army was not under pressure on the Nirzhan front, and this time the 9th Army invested three infantry corps and two infantry divisions (the 5th, 8th and 42nd Infantry Corps and the 102nd and 900th Infantry Divisions).

The 11th Army also transferred part of its forces, including the 11th and 30th armies and the Romanian part of the cavalry directly under the command of the headquarters.

The overall ratio of forces between the two sides was 6 to 8, with the Red Army having the upper hand. But when it came to the Konotop battlefield, the ratio of forces between the two sides became 6 to 5, and the Germans had the upper hand.

The first German to go on the offensive was Manstein's 11th Army. The 11th Army was the first to attack Konotop, because the Führer, after learning of the loss of Konotop, was extremely angry and personally sent a telegram to Manstein, demanding that he retake Konotop at all costs. Of course, the Führer's telegram alone did not make Manstein particularly nervous, and the greater spur came from the Führer's command, who ordered the shooting of Colonel Heinze, the former commander of the Konotop city defense. This undoubtedly gave a great shock to the front-line commanders, because it fully shows that the Führer is playing for real and cannot be taken lightly!

"The enemy is coming up again!"

Shi Neng opened his eyes, these days it is a rapid march and a war. Tired of him, taking advantage of the gap in the battle. He took the time to take a nap. But the Germans hated it, so it stopped for a few minutes and began to attack again.

"Let the platoons hold steady, don't rush into position, wait for the enemy to come within 500 meters before calling me!"

After saying that, Shi Neng closed his eyes again, and the state was simply treating the German as a local chicken. Look at the moment when your eyebrows are burned, you still dare to take a nap, isn't this death!

The conscience of heaven and earth, liberation and holding this is definitely not death. The modern battlefield is completely different from what ordinary people imagine, and there are no scenes of enemies screaming and charging at you. Because that is equivalent to sending people to death, machine guns and mortars can teach such fools how to behave in minutes.

On the battlefield, the attacking side will not be lined up in groups to be shot in front of you, the attack formation will be scattered, and there is no such thing as a decisive charge with your head held high, you think everyone is an invulnerable immortal!

The real offensive advance was slow and layered, with one team moving forward, one team covering, alternating and slowly leaping forward. For the infantry, it is awesome to be able to advance seven or eight kilometers in a day's battle. So don't laugh at the distance of hundreds of meters on the battlefield, sometimes don't say hundreds of meters, dozens of meters are moats!

Moreover, there is also a reason why the Relief Commander ordered the troops not to enter the position in advance, the artillery fire is too fierce, and too many troops cannot be placed in the front-line trenches and fortifications, otherwise it will be easy to be wiped out in the enemy's rapid fire.

The general situation is that only a few observation posts are left on the front line, and only when the enemy is sure that the enemy is coming up, the main forces behind will advance from the communication trenches to the first-line positions, which is the so-called no rabbit and no eagle.

Ten minutes later, when the communicator woke up the Relief for the second time, the main force of the German army had already entered within 500 meters. At this time, he unhurriedly ordered the main force hidden in the second-line communication trenches to enter the position.

By the time everything was ready, the Germans were within three hundred meters, and this distance was just right for infantry firepower.

"Hit! Hit me hard! ”

Shi Neng picked up an SKS30 soldier and began to shoot, and the soldiers opened fire one after another, and at the same time, the Germans on the opposite side immediately reacted. But this reaction was different from that on television, where the Germans did not quickly get on their feet and immediately return fire.

The Germans were not so unprofessional, although they lay down at the first time, they did not choose to stand still, it is absolutely wrong to stand still, once you are crucified in place, then even if you can dodge the whizzing machine gun bullets, after a while the mortar will be blown to pieces. Therefore, the correct technical and tactical action is to lie down first, and then quickly find concealment - such as a crater, a dirt bun, or something. If you can't find it, don't worry, take out your sapper shovel and get to work, and hurry up and dig a foxhole for you that can shrink your head is better than anything else.

Of course, shrinking is not the way to go, it's just to gain a foothold. You can't stay where you are next. After finding the concealment. Officers and sergeant majors are coming into play. They need to redistribute firepower, and assign attack missions, similar to:

"The third squad covers, and the second squad attacks and leaps forward!"

Or, immediately shout to the supporting artillery over the radio: "Dumb the enemy's machine gun to Lao Tzu, quick!" ”

All in all, once you've established yourself, you need to strike again. It is best to rush into the enemy line in one go and kill all sides. Of course, the latter is very unlikely, because the enemy cannot be made by faces. As you figure out how to attack, they'll also adjust their defensive setups.

"Alternate transfer of machine guns, be prepared for shelling!"

If it was a World War, then the machine gunners would have a pain, the heavy machine guns at that time were clumsy and heavy, and the movement was one or twenty kilograms, and after adding the gun carriage and cooling water, it was common for the whole weight to weigh forty or fifty kilograms. At that time, the position of heavy machine guns was undoubtedly coolie. Or that there is no possibility of transfer at all.

With the popularity of air-cooled machine guns, and especially with general-purpose machine guns. That's a big difference. Of course, in this respect, the Red Army and the German army were in the same grade, whether it was PK or MG-34, it was easy to transfer. Unless the Heavy and the Commander are idiots, or the other side is completely devoid of artillery support, it is unlikely that the Heavy will be able to fire continuously from one position, and frequent shifts are king.

A few minutes later, the German mortar shells arrived as promised, and the heavy fire temporarily suppressed the Red Army, which relieved the German soldiers who had just crawled on the ground, and took advantage of this opportunity to find a better cover or dig a foxhole. Because soon, it was the turn of the artillery of the Red Army to counterattack.

Sure enough, before the German artillery suppression was over, and the Red Army's artillery fire had also arrived, the cover was strong enough or the foxhole was dug The German soldiers could hold their heads and pray that their luck would not be too bad, and those who did not find strong enough cover or the foxhole was not completed were probably a dead end.

By the time the smoke cleared, some of the attacking Germans had fallen in pools of blood, and those who were still alive would tear open their throats and shout: "Medic! Or: "Help!" ”

Generally speaking, this is a respite for both sides, and everyone is too busy licking the wounds of the last time to take care of the enemy on the opposite side for the time being. But Luneng was no ordinary commander, and under his order, the company's artillery soon opened fire again, blowing up a man from the Germans who had just raised their heads.

And this surprise shelling also caught the Germans by surprise, they were just about to save people, only to be hit by a second batch of shells, serving the medical staff who had just stood up and moved.

Not only did it hit the German medical personnel, but it also directly disrupted the German offensive deployment, and according to the requirements of the German company commander, after "saving the dead and helping the wounded", they would immediately continue to attack. But now he can't do it. He had to again order himself to open artillery fire and again attack fire suppression.

It was another indiscriminate bombardment, but the losses of the Red Army were much lighter in comparison, after all, they had strong fortifications to rely on, and their ability to resist attacks was much better than that of the Germans in the field.

Shi Neng confessed to his warriors along the trenches and told them to prepare for battle: "Get ready, the enemy will come up soon!" ”

Not at all bad as he had estimated, not long after the end of the second round of shelling, the Germans got up again, some of them leaping forward, and the other part was in place to provide fire support. When the first part of the enemy has advanced 100 meters, they will immediately look for cover again or dig foxholes in place again. All they need to do is protect themselves and then cover their comrades behind them to leap forward.

Shi Neng immediately adjusted his deployment: "The machine rifle suppresses the enemy soldiers in front, and the mortar runs to give me a fierce attack on the enemy on the second line, and resolutely does not allow them to rush up!" ”

After a fierce exchange of fire, the Germans' attempts to continue their leap forward failed, and the company of the release pinned them firmly in place, leaving them completely disconnected from the cover of fire. The German commander, having suffered more than a dozen casualties, had to abandon the attack.

"Release the smoke and retreat! Fall back! ”

The German artillery built a wall of fog between the Red Army and their comrades, and they were able to escape safely by using the smoke to cover them. Usually at this time, it can be concluded that the enemy attack has been successfully repulsed, which means that the release can squint for a while......

"The enemy's resistance was unusually stubborn," Manstein wrote in his daily battle report to Army Group Center Command, "and the offensive of our troops on the first day did not make much progress, and the only thing to be happy about was the preliminary understanding of the enemy's defensive configuration." I've adjusted my offensive plan to try to open a breakthrough tomorrow. ”

It should be said that Manstein was still very confident at this time, and although he also admitted that the Red Army was difficult to entangle, he still believed that the Red Army still had many shortcomings, especially that the defensive configuration of the Red Army generals who fought with him was problematic.

So is there a problem with Zhukov's defensive configuration? To be honest, there are, but this is not a problem of his ability, but it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice. His troops also made a long journey to Konotop, and at this time it was actually part of the 22nd Infantry Corps and the 4th Mechanized Corps that had actually arrived on the battlefield, and the main force was still behind. Isn't there a flaw in the lack of troops? (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to Comrade CJSKY, hzwangdd and Juventus!