Starikov had long received the order from the front army headquarters, but the reason why he had not mobilized the troops was that it was raining heavily and the visibility was limited. If he sent troops hastily, he might cause unnecessary chaos. Therefore, he decided to wait for the heavy rain.
After the rest, it is not too late to let the troops set off.
In his understanding, heavy rains of this scale usually don't last too long. The rain will gradually become lighter in half an hour at most, and within two hours, the rain will stop completely. Those who are blocked in front and chased after
The German army is now at the end of its tether. Even if it sends troops two hours late, it will not have any adverse impact on the war situation.
But God's calculations were not as good as fate's. The heavy rain lasted for more than an hour before it began to gradually weaken. The 10th Infantry Corps, which was responsible for the pursuit mission, was unexpectedly attacked by the Germans before they even had the fortifications dug.
, the enemy was calculated mentally and unintentionally, and it was strange that the unprepared troops could block it.
It was a little late to send troops for reinforcements at this moment, but it was better than nothing. But after listening to the reminder from the chief of staff, Starikov realized that the original plan needed to be slightly adjusted. If the enemy was still attacking at this moment, then an infantry division
With the addition of a tank brigade, there shouldn't be much of a problem.
But now among the two infantry divisions chasing the Germans, one of them has been disrupted by the enemy, and the remaining one is also struggling to support itself. If we still follow the original plan and only send one infantry division and one tank brigade for reinforcements,
The military strength does appear to be a bit weak.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. Under the current circumstances, if we still follow the original order and send out an infantry division and a tank brigade, the strength of the troops will indeed be a bit less." Starikov, who is always good-hearted, asked himself
Chief of Staff: "Which other unit is closest to the fighting site?"
The chief of staff looked at the map and reported to Starikov: "The location of a division of the 12th Mechanized Corps and the 9th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade is less than ten kilometers away from the battle site. If they are ordered to set off immediately, it will be completely
We can rush to the fighting area within an hour."
"Okay then," Starikov said: "In addition to the infantry division and tank brigade departing as planned, we will also order the 12th Mechanized Corps to dispatch a division and the 9th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade to rush to the battle area to support it."
When the infantry reinforcements were being mobilized in full swing, Starikov felt it was necessary to report what happened to Tolbukhin so that the other party could be mentally prepared.
When Tolbukhin learned that the call was from Starikov, he quickly took the phone from Bilyuzov and asked with a smile: "General Starikov, are you calling me?"
What good news is coming?"
After a brief silence, Starikov's deep voice came from the receiver: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I think I brought you bad news."
"Bad news? What bad news?"
"The enemy launched a counterattack against my troops without any warning. One of my infantry divisions has been defeated, while the other division is still struggling to hold on."
After hearing this, the smile on Tolbukhin's face gradually disappeared. He could not accept this reality for a while. It was his own troops who were blocking the front and chasing the German army. Seeing that the enemy was about to be destroyed, Starikov
Tell yourself that the troops on the southern front suffered heavy losses due to the enemy's counterattack.
Although he knew that Starikov could not deceive him about this kind of thing, he still asked with a sense of luck: "General Starikov, are you telling the truth, or are you kidding me?"
After listening to Tolbukhin's question, Starikov replied in a panic: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, what I reported to you are all facts, and I am absolutely not joking. Besides, I don't know how to deal with such a major matter.
Dare to joke."
After confirming that the enemy had launched a counterattack on the southern front, Tolbukhin's expression became solemn and he suddenly asked with a straight face: "General Starikov, what measures have you taken?"
"In addition to mobilizing an infantry division and a tank brigade to rush over for reinforcements in accordance with the order of the front army headquarters, I will also transfer a division of the 12th Mechanized Army and the 9th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade to the area."
"General Starikov, you did the right thing." Tolbukhin was still very satisfied with Starikov's remedial measures. After all, his troops were cooperating with the troops of the Southwest Front to attack Dunton.
The enemies of Bass are limited in the amount of troops they can mobilize. In addition, it is raining and the air force cannot be dispatched. Whether they can stop the enemies trying to retreat to Donbass can only depend on the performance of the commanders and fighters of the 8th Group Army: "Can
It's all up to you whether you can block the enemy or not."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Starikov breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Tolbukhin did not blame himself, and said to him: "We will definitely do our best to stop the enemy from going south.
Let them return to Donbass."
Tolbukhin knew that if the enemy returned to Donbas, it would have a great impact on the subsequent battle, so he told Starikov: "General Starikov, you must do your best to stop the enemy.
Prevent them from returning to Donbas." In order to let Starikov have no worries, he also specifically added, "Don't worry, you are not fighting alone. I will soon order the 2nd, 5th and 5th troops on the northern line.
The 17th Army attacks the enemy to relieve the pressure on you."
As soon as the call with Starikov ended, Tolbukhin said to Bilyuzov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation has changed. The enemy will no longer continue to advance in the direction of Kharkov, but will turn around and try to return.
Donbass.”
Bilyuzov vaguely heard some conversations between Tolbukhin and Starikov, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, shall we order the three armies on the northern front to attack the enemy now?"
"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Tolbukhin nodded and said in a positive tone: "Let the three armies on the northern front launch an attack, forcing the Germans to divide their forces to deal with them, thereby reducing the burden borne by the 8th Army.
The pressure allowed General Starikov's troops to hold on longer."
Not long after, the commanders of the 2nd, 5th and 17th Group Armies received calls from Biruzov one after another. They learned that the German troops they had intercepted would no longer continue to move north, but would attack southward. Now the 8th Group Army was
When the army group was in danger, they couldn't help but be frightened.
Lieutenant General Polenov, commander of the 5th Army, saw that his troops were closest to the German army, and immediately called the commander of the 133rd Infantry Division and the 20th Tank Brigade commander, and ordered them to immediately launch an attack on the German army.
After the tank brigade commander waited for Polenov to finish speaking, he took the lead in raising the question in his mind: "Comrade Commander, this heavy rain has made the road muddy. If our tanks are to be put into battle, they may be slow to move. We need to
We know that during an attack, if a tank moves too slowly, it will become a target for enemy anti-tank fighters."
"Comrade Colonel," Polenov didn't wait for the other party to finish speaking, raised his hand to interrupt him, and said impatiently: "I understand what you said, but if our offensive force does not have the cover of tanks, it will
It's difficult to break through the enemy's defense line, do you understand?" After he finished saying this, he saw the embarrassed expression on the tank brigade commander's face, and then added in a slower tone, "Don't worry, I will let the infantry follow the tank, so
Before the enemy anti-tank fighters could get close to the tank, the infantry following the tank could destroy them."
The troops of the 5th Army were closest to the German army. Soon after Polenov's order was issued, the attack on the German army began. The commanders and fighters of the 133rd Infantry Division followed the tanks of the 20th Tank Brigade and headed towards the German army in the distance.
The defense line rushes away.
As the heavy rain had made the road muddy, the infantry following the tanks were soon turned into "mud figures" by the mud raised by the tracks. However, the soldiers did not stop and wiped it away with their hands.
With mud on his face, he continued to follow the tank and rush towards the German defense line.
Seeing the Soviet troops rushing over, the German troops hiding in the simple fortifications began to fight back. The machine guns, submachine guns and rifles in the foxholes fired at the same time, and the dense bullets jingled on the armor plates of the Soviet tanks. Occasionally there were some jumps.
The bullet will hit the Soviet soldiers following the tank.
At this time, the Soviet tank will stop and slowly rotate the turret to aim at the German firepower point. If it hits the enemy's firepower point with one shot, it will kill the enemy's firepower point. If it fails to destroy it with one shot, it doesn't matter.
Just one more shot.
After taking out the enemy's fire points, the tanks will continue to lead the infantry to charge forward. They will not stop again until new fire points appear, and use tank artillery to blast away these fire points that threaten the infantry.
The main force of the German army has been transferred to the south. At this moment, the force in the north has become weak. Facing the Soviet offensive, they can only use the tactic of fighting and retreating to slow down the Soviet advance and gain valuable resources for the breaking out troops in the south.
time.
It has to be said that in such bad weather, the German tactics were very limited. Because the rain kept falling, the visibility on both sides was very low, and the attacking side had to slow down to avoid an accident.
I accidentally fell into the enemy's encirclement, so the advancement speed was extremely slow.
The German troops on the northern front are defending, while the German troops on the southern front are desperately attacking, trying to open a road to Donbass in the shortest possible time and withdraw as many troops as possible to this area.
After the initial chaos, the commanders and fighters of the 10th Infantry Corps gradually stabilized their position. They used the ravines and forests on both sides of the road to build simple blocking positions and fired at the approaching German troops. They tried every means to delay the German troops.
advance speed in order to wait for the arrival of reinforcements. Although the commanders and soldiers performed extremely bravely and tenaciously, the German troops who broke through were equipped with tanks, which caused a lot of casualties to the Soviet army which lacked anti-tank weapons.
In this way, the German troops on the northern front retreated southward step by step under the attack of the Soviet army; while the German troops on the southern front desperately launched an attack on the troops of the 10th Infantry Corps blocking the front, forcing the Soviet army to fight
Step by step backward.
The battle continued until three o'clock in the afternoon, when the rain finally stopped, and all the Soviet reinforcements from the southern front arrived and started a fierce battle with the German troops who were trying to break through.
As soon as Starikov saw that the rain outside had stopped, he hurriedly called Tolbukhin: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I see that the rain has stopped. I wonder if you can send the air force to provide air support for our troops."
?”
Unexpectedly, as soon as Starikov finished his request, Tolbukhin rejected him without hesitation: "No, General Starikov, it's not that I don't want to send out the air force to provide you with air support, but
The rain had just stopped, and the heat generated by shooting and explosions at the battle site turned the water on the ground into mist and rose into the air. Even if our pilots rushed to the fighting area, they could not clearly see the resistance on the ground. In this case,
They can't provide you with any air support."
Tolbukhin's words made Starikov feel cold: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, are we just going to watch the enemy break through our defense lines and successfully retreat to Donbas?"
If all the enemies who left Donbass could be eliminated, it would reduce the need for help in the subsequent liberation of Donbass. Tolbukhin knew this very well. But under today's climate conditions, it is impossible to dispatch the air force.
, providing air support to the 8th Army, which had only light weapons. He turned to look at Bilyuzov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have any good suggestions?"
"Comrade Commander," Bilyuzov seemed to have been waiting for Tolbukhin to ask him, and replied confidently: "Although we are unable to provide air support to the 8th Army, we are deployed five or six kilometers away from the battlefield.
There are several heavy artillery regiments, so it is better to let the heavy artillery regiments directly bombard the enemies in that area to reduce the pressure on the 8th Group Army."
"Then use artillery fire to support Starikov and the others." After Tolbukhin finished speaking to Bilyuzov, he released his hand covering the microphone and said to Starikov: "Starikov
General Cove, although we cannot provide you with air support, several nearby heavy artillery regiments can provide you with artillery support and intercept artillery fire against the enemy who is attacking."
Not long after, groups of artillery shells roared down and exploded in the German ranks. Pillars of mud rose into the sky. The German officers and soldiers near the explosion point were either blown away by the air waves or knocked down by flying shrapnel.
For a time, in front of the Soviet army's simple position, there were only German officers and soldiers running away like headless flies.
After the German attack was crushed, the Soviet artillery also stopped shelling, preparing to give them a lesson with artillery fire when a new German attack began. But at this moment, something unexpected happened.
A force from Donbas launched an attack from the rear of the 10th Infantry Corps. The Soviet army was caught off guard, and a huge gap was opened in the hastily established defense line by the enemy.
The German officers and soldiers who were originally in despair became excited when they saw a gap in the Soviet defense line being torn open by reinforcements. They rushed towards the torn gap, preparing to escape from there.
sky.
This chapter has been completed!