According to the plan, Balzen's troops will go to Homnich again after Christmas. Their task is still to find usable metal, but also to work with the militiamen staying there to pull away the removed steel bars.
.
Because the German army increased its troops along the road, Homnage, a strategic salient, became even more important.
For the 284th Division, it can be used as an observation post to monitor the movements of the German army. The German army can also occupy this place and turn it into their observation post.
Balzen had to prepare carefully again. The weather was not very good now. There were snowflakes in the sky, but they had not turned into heavy snow yet. The cold wind was howling, and the people left behind in Homnich must have been holding on hard, even if they said
No complaints.
The day after receiving news of the German troop surge, Balzen came to the new division headquarters.
He and his soldiers are temporarily stationed in the Blacksmith Village. The troops will be deployed again, and these operations will inevitably bring more supplies.
In yesterday's division meeting, due to concerns that the German army would adopt a high-pressure posture, Homnich's defense must be strengthened to a certain extent.
Yevlov gave an order to Balzen: "This time, you will bring a large number of weapons and ammunition into Homnich. We must strengthen the defense of the ruins of this city. If the enemy continues to attack here, we will also have to fight back.
."
If the battle situation were like this, it could easily turn into a tug-of-war between the two sides. Yang Mingzhi knew that a war of attrition was meaningless to him, but the enemy's capture of Homnage was really like an iceberg hanging overhead in the swamp.
Even if Homnich is reduced to ruins, it must not be captured by the enemy.
Yang Mingzhi emphasized again: "Barzen, just go ahead. Don't be too nervous. Your task in this operation is still to transport the scrap steel bars sorted by the militiamen. This time you can bring our latest research results.
Now three recoilless guns have come off the production line and have been tested, and they are fully ready for actual combat."
"Is this true?!" Balzen was extremely surprised.
"Of course it's true. You just transport these three cannons to Homnitch, deliver them to the local militia, and then unload the food, weapons, ammunition and daily necessities. Then you transport the steel bars back. The task is
It’s done,” Yevlov continued.
The workload seemed to have increased, and Balzen was given more sleds.
Due to another snowy day, the ground that had begun to thaw froze again and was covered with a layer of snow. Compared to a wheeled carriage, a sleigh was more suitable.
The mission had been assigned, and Yevlov breathed a sigh of relief. Even with the bad news that the enemy had increased its troops, he was still optimistic and hoped that the enemy would not cause trouble at this stage.
After dinner, as the division commander, he continued to stay at the division headquarters. Everyone in the division went about their duties, which made Yevlov a little leisurely. Therefore, he simply called Yang Mingzhi, who was also relatively free, to the division headquarters for no purpose.
He just wanted to sit together and talk.
Yang Mingzhi also knew that this old guy was bored. He left the weapons design bureau and went to the division headquarters just to chat with Yevlov about military matters.
The weather was very cold. During the whole day, in addition to giving orders to Balzen during the day, I spent the whole day accompanying some geniuses in the weapons design bureau to do design work. As for my wife, Yang Tao, she spent part of the day helping at the hospital in Blacksmith Village and part of the time at home.
Self-study cultural knowledge.
Yang Mingzhi jogged all the way into the division headquarters, stamping his feet fiercely to shake off the snowflakes on his body. He immediately closed the door, took off his hat, and enjoyed the warmth of the room.
"It looks like you have a lot of work today. Come on, sit down quickly," Yevlov said, putting down the expired copy of Pravda.
"You are also very leisurely. I originally planned to finish the drawing work and quickly go home to be with my wife. But you, an old guy, just said a word and called me to the division headquarters." Yang Mingzhi rubbed his nose, took off his coat and hung it up.
On the wall. "Why, is there anything important again? Yelentina is not here either."
"Are you talking about her? Isn't that woman continuing to teach her new political commissar?"
When Yevlov spoke, he seemed a little unhappy.
He liked Yelentina, and he didn't even care about her status as a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Even Yang Mingzhi had to admit that the young woman, who would be twenty-six years old after the Chinese New Year, was very feminine, and her figure and appearance were
They are all very good, but any normal man will have wild thoughts when he sees such a woman. It's just that she is a Cheka and now works for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This status makes most men shun her.
But Yang Mingzhi also knew that Yelentina was a normal woman who longed for love. Now that she had the courageous Yevlov, who was also the commander of the Guards, it was natural for the two to hook up.
"Oh, my division commander seems a little unhappy. Is it about our political commissar? Yelentina is not as relaxed as us. She must train new political commissars in order to fundamentally transform our latest troops into strong soldiers.
."
"You're right." Yevlov cheered up, "I called you here tonight because I wanted to talk to you about the future of our army."
"The future of our army, the entire Soviet Red Army? This topic is too big."
Yang Mingzhi moved the chairs and made them with great interest. The guard brought the tea cup and poured black tea with some sugar.
"No. What I'm talking about is the future of our 284th Division. It's because of you, Berekov, that this unit is fundamentally different from other units."
Yang Mingzhi lowered his head and smiled, "It is indeed different. Our current military equipment, basic infantry soldiers, and even the organization of the company are completely different from those of friendly forces."
Yevlov has never doubted that Yang Mingzhi, the chief of staff, has an infantry squad of ten people, a platoon of more than thirty people, a company of more than ninety people, a battalion plus three standard companies, and others.
The company with special duties has a full strength of about 600 people. The army implements a new type of combat group model. A squad has a triangular offensive formation, and at the battalion level, it is a huge triangular formation. Actual combat has been repeated again and again.
, it shows again and again that this formation is perfect for both offense and defense.
Now the army has undergone new changes, and some new heavy weapons will be equipped with the army.
Yevlov said meaningfully: "We will recreate the glory of our army half a year ago. We can defeat a German tank regiment in an instant, all because we are equipped with individual rocket-propelled grenades. In the future, we will not only
Just by having it back, along with short-barreled infantry guns and recoilless rifles, we can actually do larger operations."
These words gave Yang Mingzhi a wake-up call, and he raised his head suddenly, "What? Are you planning to conduct another large-scale military operation?!"
"That's not a bad idea!" Yevlov said with a smile, "As you said in the last action, if you want to fight, then have a large-scale battle. So I thought about it, we can actually go there
Attack the city?”
"Do you really think so?"
Yang Mingzhi really knew that it was wrong to resort to force. At present, the logistics of the 284th Division are still fragile, and large-scale battles are too challenging. Unless the battle can lead to a large number of seizures, only successful war-supported war can maintain the operation of the swamp control area.
.
So he didn't immediately question it, but asked in a persuasive way: "I wonder where the division commander chose the attack target?"
"It's Slutsk."
"Slutsk? That's the city further north of Lechica? It's really far there. I thought you wanted to bomb Mozyr again!" Yang Mingzhi didn't think this plan was reliable, and he worked hard on it.
It just stayed on Yevlov's lips.
"So you don't agree with this plan."
"That's not true." Yang Mingzhi didn't say anything. He immediately laid out a series of practical problems. "Our army needs to carry a large amount of dry food and ammunition for an expedition. Furthermore, when we attack that city, we must also carry a large amount of dry food and ammunition."
New weapons, otherwise with the current situation of our light infantry, the results we can achieve are destined to be very small."
"So, we may not be able to attack there in the future?"
"Yes, we can expand our results this year. We have been entrenched in the swamp, which is not what you and I want to see. Now the Southwest Front hopes that our troops trapped in the swamp can achieve greater results, and we cannot let down our superiors.
trust, and Stalin commended us."
Yevlov understood, "What do you mean, we are now accumulating strength immediately and everything is prepared for war. After our army has prepared a large amount of supplies and equipped with new weapons, we will immediately launch a large-scale active combat?"
"Yes! We want to become the leader of the entire battlefield behind enemy lines. Maybe in the spring, we can launch a strategic counterattack."
This conversation was inspiring, and Yevlov liked these lofty remarks the most. It sounded hopeful, but also reasonable, as if the future would move forward on this path that is extremely beneficial to the Soviet Union.
"Okay, let's talk about something else, like Natasha?" Yevlov smiled.
After talking about the military, let's talk about life. I'm afraid that's all we can talk about military life. Yang Mingzhi smiled and said, "Natasha, what else is there to talk about? She came to Blacksmith Village, but her home in Catfish Village was...
Empty. That girl really likes it here."
"I guess I like being with you." Yevlov teased.
"Maybe it's that simple. That girl's mind is really transparent. This child needs a spiritual sustenance very much. Since I behave like her relative, in the eyes of her and her brother, I, Belekov, then
That’s Uncle Berekov.”
Natasha has grown into the best sniper in the division, and her many tactical experiences are worth learning from. So can she be a teacher and train a large number of snipers? Yevlov changed the topic here.
"Natasha is our hero. We can let her lead and train a sniper unit, and then assign it to each company. An elite sniper can roll call the enemy's machine gunners from a long distance. In a certain sense,
, a sniper is no less than an artillery piece.”
"Haha, that's not a bad idea." Yang Mingzhi straightened his chest, "Snipers can sometimes be very useful. The terrain of our generation is very complex and is most suitable for sniper attacks. The German army will suffer huge casualties.
Your words reminded me."
"How about I ask Natasha to come over another day, and some of our commanders will discuss with her to see if this girl is willing to be an instructor." Yevlov suggested.
"That's not a bad idea. I personally estimate that Natasha will seize this opportunity." (To be continued.) 8