After receiving face-to-face instructions from Konev, the two army commanders Zadov and Shumilov changed the mode of attack on Poltava. The infantry no longer carried out futile artillery attacks before launching a charge, because the walls of the fortress
It is so thick that even with heavy artillery, it is difficult to destroy it.
In order to break through the German defenses as quickly as possible, Shumilov moved the heavy artillery that was originally deployed several kilometers or even more than ten kilometers away to the vicinity of the city. He deployed them one kilometer away from the fortress and used direct-aiming shooting by the gunners.
, bombarding the city's solid walls.
At the beginning, Shumilov was not convinced by this style of play, thinking it was a waste of time. However, considering that Konev personally explained the matter, even if there was resistance in his heart, he could only bite the bullet and try it.
.
After a round of bombardment by more than 20 heavy artillery pieces, Shumilov's idea changed. He saw with his own eyes that the city wall that could not be destroyed by thousands of artillery shells was now destroyed after only receiving more than 20 artillery shells.
There was a gap.
Shumilov put down his telescope and turned to ask his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the city wall in front has been hit by at least a thousand artillery shells, but it has never been destroyed by artillery fire. Today, it was bombarded by only more than 20 heavy artillery pieces."
In one round, a huge gap was blown out of the city wall. Tell me, what is going on?"
"The reason is very simple, Comrade Commander." After some observation, the Chief of Staff already figured out what was going on. When Shumilov asked, he quickly replied: "In the past, when our heavy artillery bombarded the city wall, it was just artillery fire.
Although the battle was fierce, the number of bullets hit the city wall was limited and not enough to destroy it. Although there are not many heavy artillery participating in the bombardment, the shells fired by these artillery shells directly bombarded the city wall and blew it out.
It’s not surprising that there is a gap.”
While Shumilov was talking to the Chief of Staff, the heavy artillery bombardment continued, blasting a larger gap in the city wall. When he saw that the gap opened by the blast was not only suitable for infantry, but even tanks could pass through, the Chief of Staff
Some An couldn't bear it anymore and asked Shumilov anxiously: "Comrade Commander, the gap has been opened. Do you want to order the infantry to attack?"
If it had been in the past, Shumilov would have ordered his troops to charge without hesitation. However, after the attack was frustrated during this period, he felt that if he continued to fight according to the old routine, he would definitely suffer a big loss, so he denied it.
He responded to the Chief of Staff’s suggestion: “Comrade Chief of Staff, don’t be in a hurry, I’ll wait.”
"Wait a minute?!" Seeing that the city wall in front had been blasted open, but Shumilov uncharacteristically refused to allow the troops to launch an attack, the chief of staff became anxious: "Comrade Commander, such a good fighter plane is here.
What are we waiting for in front of us?"
After Shumilov thought for a moment, he unexpectedly said to the Chief of Staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, order the communications troops to connect me to the headquarters of the 27th Army. I want to speak to General Sokov."
Sokov looked confused when he received Shumilov's call. He said to himself that he and the other party were both group army commanders and had no reporting relationship with each other. What could he do to him? After a brief greeting, Sokov asked
He asked his own question: "General Shumilov, do you have anything to do with me?"
Shumilov called Sokov because he wanted to ask him for advice, but because of his face, he couldn't just say: "My troops have encountered some difficulties in attacking, and I want you to give me an idea."
He said euphemistically, "General Sokov, I would like to ask you, if artillery fire destroys the city walls when our army is attacking the city, should we immediately order the infantry to attack?"
When Sokov heard what Shumilov said, he immediately realized that the place he was talking about was in Poltava. He thought that the two Guards Army groups had been fighting there for more than half a month, but the progress was slow. Maybe there was something wrong with their tactics.
Question. After thinking about the question raised by Shumilov for a long time, Sokov replied: "General Shumilov, if I were you, I would not order the infantry to attack at this time."
Sokov's answer seemed to have been expected by Shumilov. He was not surprised at all, but asked: "Why?"
"The reason is very simple. When the defenders in the city see such a big gap opened by artillery fire, they will definitely send troops to block the gap." Sokov explained to Shumilov: "If you order the troops to attack at this moment,
It is possible to encounter the approaching German troops in the gap and start a melee in a small area."
When Shumilov thought about it, it seemed that this was really the case. Not to mention the Germans, even if his own defense line was breached, the first thing to do was to send troops to the breach to block the attacking enemy and prevent them from passing through the breach.
Entering the depth of his own defense. After thinking about this, Shumilov humbly asked Sokov for advice: "General Sokov, please tell me, how should we deal with the enemy?"
"General Shumilov, I have an idea." Sokov had a way in mind to deal with the enemies rushing towards the gap. If his troops were fighting, he would definitely give the order without hesitation, but at this moment he
I can only say in a consultative tone: "It's just my personal idea. Let me tell you. As for whether you adopt it or not, it's up to you."
"Speak, General Sokov."
"Order the artillery to stop firing." Seeing that the other party was willing to listen to his suggestion, Sokov said confidently and boldly: "When the enemy's troops coming to block the gap arrive, then bombard them with artillery fire. After several rounds of shelling, I
I believe that the enemies who have rushed to the gap have already suffered heavy casualties. When the time comes, if you send infantry to attack, the resistance you will encounter will be greatly reduced."
"This is a good idea, General Sokov." After hearing what Sokov said, Shumilov suddenly felt his eyes light up. When the enemy reinforcements arrived at the gap, he let the heavy artillery bombard them indiscriminately.
, blow them all to their backs, wait for the bombardment to end, and then order the infantry to attack, the resistance they will encounter will be greatly reduced: "I am ready to try it your way. Thank you, on behalf of all the commanders and soldiers of the 7th Guards Army
Thank you."
As soon as Shumilov put down the phone, he happily said to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, immediately inform those heavy artillery involved in direct fire to stop firing and stop wasting shells."
"Why?" The chief of staff did not hear the conversation between Shumilov and Sokov, so when he heard this order, his face was full of doubts: "If the heavy artillery continues to bombard the city wall, it will blow up the city wall."
Create a bigger gap.”
"I think there is no need to bombard anymore." Shumilov replied: "The gap opened by the heavy artillery is now big enough for our tanks to cover the infantry into the city."
Seeing that the chief of staff was still standing in a daze, Shumilov added: "I just asked General Sokov for advice. He said that he might order the artillery to temporarily stop shelling and wait for the German reinforcements to arrive at the gap before launching a violent attack."
The shelling will kill and injure a large number of German troops. In this way, when our infantry launches a charge into the city, the obstacles they encounter will be greatly reduced."
After understanding Shumilov's intention, the chief of staff couldn't help but applaud: "Comrade Commander, this tactic is really wonderful. According to the Germans' ideas, after our army blows the gap in the city wall, it will definitely send infantry immediately.
We launched an attack, and they sent troops to intercept us at the gap to achieve the purpose of repelling our army."
As soon as the chief of staff finished calling the artillery and ordering them to stop shelling the city wall, Major General Denischenko, commander of the 36th Guards Division, called the headquarters: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am the commander of the 36th Guards Division.
Major General Denischenko, I saw that the artillery has blown a gap in the city wall, why has our division not received the order to attack yet?"
The chief of staff, who had already considered the offensive steps, heard Denischenko's question and said with a smile: "General Denischenko, don't be anxious. The headquarters has a thorough attack plan. Just wait patiently for the time being."
Well. When the time is right, I will send your division up."
What happened next was just as Sokov expected. The Germans saw that the Soviet artillery fire had destroyed a city wall. Worried that they would break through their defense line from there, the Germans hurriedly dispatched two tanks and four armored vehicles to cover the two sides.
More than a hundred infantrymen rushed towards the gap, trying to block the Soviet troops rushing in from there.
However, what the Germans did not expect was that when their reinforcements arrived at the gap, they unexpectedly found that except for the smoke, everywhere was quiet, and no attacking Soviet troops were seen at all. Just when the German officers and soldiers felt puzzled
At that moment, the scream of artillery shells piercing the air was heard in the air, and then heavy artillery shells fell one after another on the German ranks and exploded.
In the violent explosion, the German officers and soldiers were lifted up by the blast and thrown into the air, and then fell heavily to the ground. When they were thrown up, they were intact people, but when they landed, they turned into a pile of minced meat. For a moment,
, the vicinity of the gap is full of broken limbs and broken arms of Germans, as well as the remains of tanks and armored vehicles.
Shumilov from the distant headquarters saw this scene and applauded repeatedly. He put down his telescope, turned to the Chief of Staff and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have you seen this? The German troops who came for reinforcements were basically destroyed by our artillery fire."
Destroyed."
"Yes." The chief of staff who also saw this scene nodded and said: "If we send infantry to charge immediately after the gap is opened, we must be fighting the German army at the gap at this moment. Even if we can completely wipe out the enemy,
I'm afraid we will pay a high price. But by using General Sokov's tactics, we completely wiped out the German reinforcements without any casualties. This has a great impact on the morale of our army.
A big inspiration.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Shumilov coughed heavily, cleared his throat and said to the Chief of Staff: "Immediately call Major General Denischenko and order his 36th Guards Division to go into battle immediately.
Control the area around the breach until new reinforcements arrive."
"Understood, comrade commander." After the chief of staff agreed resoundingly, he picked up the phone on the table and said into the receiver: "Major General Denischenko? Comrade commander ordered that all commanders and fighters of your division immediately go into battle.
Before the enemy's new reinforcements arrive, we must control a certain effective area near the gap to provide a starting point for the follow-up troops to attack."
After receiving the order, Major General Denischenko immediately issued an order to attack. Under the cover of more than a dozen tanks, the commanders and fighters of the 36th Guards Division rushed into the gap opened by artillery fire and passed through the few vehicles on the road.
Burning German tanks and armored vehicles advanced deeper into the city.
As the commanders and fighters of the 36th Guards Division were divided into companies and started fighting with the German troops in the city, the German defense line became precarious.
After receiving the news, Konev personally called Shumilov and asked curiously: "General Shumilov, I received a report that your 36th Guards Division has successfully broken into the city.
They were broken into pieces and fought against the Germans in many places in the city. Are these true?"
"Of course it is true, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Shumilov replied excitedly: "Our 36th Guards Division rushed into the city through the gap of the artillery fire and is moving in depth."
After Konev waited for Shumilov to finish speaking, he asked with concern: "When the troops rushed into the gap, they must have been blocked by the German army. Were the casualties of the troops high?"
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, you may not believe it," Shumilov said proudly: "When the 36th Guards Division rushed into the gap opened by artillery fire, there were no casualties at all."
"There are no casualties?" Hearing what Shumilov said, Konev couldn't help but frowned. He had a suspicion about Shumilov's report and felt that the other party was falsely reporting the results of the battle. "General Shumilov
, what on earth is going on? Didn't your troops encounter any obstruction from the enemy when they rushed into the gap? "
"Absolutely correct, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Shumilov said: "It's not that the enemy did not intercept our offensive troops, but they were all wiped out by our artillery fire."
Konev, who had not yet received the report from the 7th Guards Army, was confused by Shumilov's words: "General Shumilov, what is going on? I am confused by you. Hurry up.
Explain it to me."
"The situation is like this, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Shumilov heard the confusion in Konev's tone and specifically explained to him: "When the city wall was breached by our army's heavy artillery, I originally planned to
For a moment, I ordered the infantry to charge and rush into the city through the gap. But then I thought, we have done this many times before, but we have never succeeded in breaking through the enemy's defense line. There must be many things we did wrong. Therefore, I
I made a special call to General Sokov and asked him for advice on what to do in this situation."
"General Sokov?!" Konev asked: "Is it Sokov of the 27th Army?"
"Yes, that's him."
After hearing this, Konev asked with great interest: "What idea did he give you?"
"He said that after the bombardment, the German army would definitely send troops to the gap for reinforcements. If we launched a charge at this moment, we would definitely have a fierce battle with the enemy at the gap. But not only would the troops pay a huge price, but whether we could rush in through the gap
The city is also unknown." Shumilov said with some excitement: "So he suggested that we not attack immediately after the bombardment ended, but wait for the German reinforcements to arrive near the gap before launching a violent attack on them.
Shelling, using artillery fire to kill and injure their living forces..."
After listening to Shumilov's story, Konev nodded and said thoughtfully: "General Shumilov, you can achieve such a record only because you followed Sokov's advice.
Very good. I hope that if you encounter anything you don’t understand in the next battle, you can ask Sokov, maybe he can give you more good suggestions."
Shumilov, who had tasted the sweetness, naturally would not object to Konev's proposal, and quickly replied loudly: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will keep in touch with General Sokov at any time so that I can get advice from him.
