In June in Russia, it will be dawn at 4 a.m., and it will not be until 11 a.m. when the night will really come. Therefore, Zhukov chose the attack time at 4 a.m., because the Germans are still sleeping in the cover, while the attacking troops can clearly see the target they are going to attack.
As soon as the attack time came, Kazakov ordered the group army artillery to fire at the enemy's position. In an instant, the enemy's position was shrouded by gunpowder. Zhukov stood in the observation center, raised his telescope and looked at the enemy's position. Although gunpowder blocked his sight, he could still feel that the German army on the position was running around after being suddenly bombarded.
Sokov and Chief of Staff Portokin were staying in the observation center and were also observing the German positions that were shelled through the telescope. After looking at it for a while, Portokin put down the telescope and asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think the Germans have retreated to the second line of defense, and our artillery is bombarding unmanned positions?"
"It's possible." Since the attack was launched in a hurry, Sokov was not sure whether the Germans had noticed the upcoming attack by the Soviet army, so he said in an uncertain tone: "But our attack was launched very suddenly, and the Germans might not know anything and were staying in their cover and being bombed."
Sokov did not continue to get entangled with Portukin on this issue, but asked back: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is the 1139th Regiment ready for attack?"
"I just called the regiment commander Colonel Mamendov," Potukin replied quickly when he heard Sokov's question: "He said that the entire regiment has made all preparations and can be put into the battle at any time."
Lieutenant Colonel Ajik, the former commander of the 1139th Regiment, was removed from his post because of his miscommand in the battle of Liberation Zdra. The former commander of the 322nd Division, Colonel Mamendov. The colonel was furious for his poor performance on the battlefield and threatened to send him to Sokov's men to be the battalion commander. But how could Rokosovsky let a division commander be the battalion commander? So he asked him to take over Ajik's position as the commander of the 1139th Regiment.
After Mamendov learned that he was about to launch an attack in Bryansk, he was eager to make meritorious service and atone for his sins. He immediately found Sokov and offered to let the 1139th Regiment be the vanguard of the entire division, and took the lead in attacking the enemy. Seeing that he was eager to fight, Sokov agreed after thinking about it.
The shelling had just stopped and the smoke that had covered the German positions had not yet dissipated. Mamendov jumped onto a tank, raised the assault rifle high, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, for the motherland, for Stalin~! Go forward~!"
As soon as his shout fell, the soldiers crawled out of the trench where they were hiding, shouting "Ula!" and rushing forward after following the tank.
Zhukov saw the 1139th Regiment charging through the telescope. Seeing the tank rushing in the front, there was a commander holding a spear in his hand. After seeing the other party's rank clearly, he couldn't help but frown and turned his head to ask Rokosovsky: "Rokosovsky, I want to ask you, when will your army start? The colonel is also taking the lead in charge?"
Rokosovsky quickly raised his telescope and looked for a moment, then replied: "Comrade General, the tank is Colonel Mamendov, the leader of the 1139th Regiment."
Zhukov said unhappily: "As a regiment commander, his duty is to stay in the rear to command the troops to fight, rather than charge like an ordinary soldier."
"Comrade General," Rokosovsky quickly explained to Zhukov: "He may have atone for his meritorious service."
"What kind of meritorious service?" Zhukov looked at Rokosovsky and asked in confusion: "Has he made any mistake?"
Seeing Zhukov's look of being so noble that he forgot about things, Rokosovsky felt speechless. Fortunately, Malining, who was standing aside, said in time: "Comrade General, have you forgotten that in the battle against Rizdra last month, Colonel Mamendov performed poorly. You removed him from his position as commander of the 322nd Infantry Division and was assigned to the 31st Guard Division as battalion commander."
"Even if it is a battalion commander, a colonel, led his troops to charge into battle like this, it is not appropriate." Zhukov muttered in a low voice: "Besides, he is not the battalion commander now, but the regiment commander."
Zhukov held up his telescope and stared at Mamendov for a while, and suddenly asked curiously: "What weapon is he holding? Why have I never seen it before?"
"It is the automatic rifle provided by the Weapons and Equipment Department for us." Rokosovsky quickly replied, "At present, Major Sokov's troops are equipped with fifty units. Judging from the effects on the battlefield, the performance of this weapon is quite good."
"What's the name of this weapon? Automatic gun?" Zhukov frowned: "It sounds like the name of a submachine gun. Is there any better name?"
"Yes," Rokosovsky replied, nodding, "Major Sokov said that this new type of firearm was successfully combined with the best tactical and technical performance inherent in the rifle and the submachine gun according to the requirements of modern warfare, so it is called an assault rifle."
"This name is quite appropriate." Zhukov nodded after hearing this and asked back: "Why are there only Sokov's troops equipped with a small amount of equipment? What's going on?"
"That's right, comrade General." Rokosovsky explained to Zhukov: "This weapon was invented by Sokov, so Comrade Ustinov decided to hand over the first batch of guns produced to Sokov's troops for use, and test the performance of this weapon on the battlefield."
Rokosovsky's words surprised Zhukov: "What, this kind of rifle was invented by Misha? Are you kidding me, are you?"
"No, comrade General, I definitely didn't joke with you." Rokosovsky replied: "In addition to this assault rifle, he also invented a new type of rocket launcher, but it is still under intense development and is not equipped with troops for the time being."
"I have seen that our army had rocket launchers long before the war. What else did he study?" Zhukov criticized with some dissatisfaction when he heard this: "It's simply not doing his job."
Just as Rokosovsky was about to continue defending Sokov, Malining, who was standing beside him, suddenly shouted in surprise: "Two commanders, look, you rush forward, our troops are rushing forward."
Zhukov and Rokosovsky both raised their telescopes and looked at the German positions in the distance. They saw Soviet tanks parked in front of the German trenches. Mamendov, who was standing on the body of the chariot, aimed at the enemy in the trench and fired the machine gun, jumped off the tank and jumped into the trench. The soldiers following behind saw that the commander had taken the lead in jumping into the trench, and jumped into the trench like dumplings.
"Performed very bravely," Zhukov was very satisfied with Mamendov's performance. He turned his head and asked Rokosovsky: "Who is the commander of the 322nd Division at present?"
"Due to the lack of commanders, the Army Command has not yet appointed a new division commander." Ma Lining said carefully: "The work in the division is the responsibility of the chief of staff."
Zhukov nodded and raised his telescope again: "The punishment given to him is almost done. If he is still alive at the end of the battle, let him go back and continue to be his division commander."
While the 1139th Regiment captured the German positions, the commanders and soldiers of the 323rd Division, which belonged to their right-wing infantry army, also successfully rushed into the enemy's first position, jumped into the trenches and launched melee and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
Seeing that the 323rd Infantry Division and the 31st Guard Division both seized the enemy's defensive positions in a very short time. Zhukov nodded and said with satisfaction: "Good, our soldiers are all good! If this trend continues, I think our troops will reach the suburbs of Bryansk at the latest at noon tomorrow."
After occupying the first line of defense of the German army, the troops continued to advance towards the second line of defense. Just when everything seemed to be extremely smooth, the mutated suddenly broke out. The German army deployed in the distant artillery position and opened fire suddenly, building a fire net in front of the second line of defense. Tanks that had just made a passage for the infantry in the barbed wire and minefields became the priority target of artillery fire. Seeing tanks getting fired in front of the German positions, Rokosovsky couldn't help but feel so angry that he was itchy.
After seeing this situation, Zhukov calmly ordered the staff he brought: "Immediately contact the Air Force and let them enter the battle immediately. The bomber was responsible for attacking targets in the depths of the German army, and the striking aircraft attacked the German infantry positions."
As Soviet fighter jets entered the battle, the German artillery fire became sparse. Soviet soldiers, who were originally suppressed by artillery fire, got up from the ground, crossed the burning tanks, and bravely rushed towards the German positions.
The German officers and soldiers who were standing in the position were not willing to let the officers and soldiers rush into the position easily. They used machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and even pistols to form a firepower net to block the Soviet army's way forward. The Soviet soldiers fell in front of the enemy's positions in large numbers, but the rest still rushed forward bravely.
"Damn, what's going on?" Sokov couldn't help frowning when he saw his troops fighting head-on and fiercely fight with the Germans. He knew very well that this kind of fighting style was very unfavorable to his troops, but under the current circumstances, he could only watch and could do nothing.
Soviet bombers bombed the German artillery positions, making them unable to concentrate on artillery attack soldiers; regardless of diving from high altitude and firing the German attack aircraft with airborne machine guns, it also weakened the German firepower to a certain extent.
When Potukin saw the 1139th Regiment suffered heavy casualties, but he was unable to break through the German position, he felt a little anxious. He turned his head to ask Sokov for advice and said, "Comrade Commander, please send the 1135th Regiment and the 1137th Regiment. Maybe they can break through the German defense as soon as they go up."
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, we cannot send the other two regiments now." Sokov carefully observed the enemy's resistance and said to Potukin: "The enemy's firepower is very cute and the fighting is very tenacious. Don't you see that when they are strafed by planes, there are still many soldiers who dare to stand up and shoot at the soldiers rushing to the trenches? Not to mention the two regiments, even if they send two divisions forward, it will be difficult to break through the enemy's defense."
The same problem was also placed in front of Orlov. Ratsev, a political commissar who watched the battle with him, asked: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's firepower is too strong, and our troops cannot rush forward. Do you see if another division is sent to reinforce?"
Perhaps because of the lesson of the failure to attack Zedra, Orlov did not easily put the remaining two divisions into battle. Instead, he ordered the Chief of Staff to answer the call from the Army Command. He was about to ask Rokosovsky for instructions before deciding whether the other two divisions should be put into battle.
Rokosovsky was also a little embarrassed after receiving Orlov's call. Although there was air force support, the firepower on the German positions was still very fierce, making it difficult for the offensive troops to continue to advance. If more troops were hurriedly invested in this time, the next battle would be difficult.
Seeing Rokosovsky's hesitation, Zhukov asked, "Comrade Rokosovsky, what are you worried about?"
"Comrade General," Rokosovsky replied, "If we invest more troops now, then when our army arrives in Bryansk, there will be few troops to fight."
"Our current task is to break through the German defense and rush towards Bryansk quickly." Zhukov looked at Rokosovsky and said, "Sometimes the necessary sacrifices are completely worth it."
Seeing that Zhukov advocated putting more troops into battle, Rokosovsky did not refute, but said to the microphone: "General Orlov, immediately put the 97th Infantry Division into battle, and strive to break through the second line of defense of the German army in the shortest time."
"Also, the regiment of the 31st Division of the Guards fought hard in the front." Zhukov waited for Rokosovsky to put down the phone and said without looking back: "Call Sokov and ask why he didn't send the reserve team up. Are you going to watch the regiment be wiped out?"
The reason why Sokov was slow to put the other two regiments into the battle was that he did not want to consume his troops in this meaningless war of attrition. However, after receiving Rokosovsky's severe attack order, he could only grit his teeth and give orders to Pavel, asking the opponent to immediately lead the 1137th Regiment to reinforce the 1139th Regiment, which had heavy casualties.
Chapter completed!