The changes in personnel on the German side and the change of defense were not noticed by the Soviet army in the swamp. Timoshenko led the Southwest Front Army and cooperated with the Southern Front Army. Millions of troops fought against each other step by step, and some areas achieved certain breakthroughs and counterattacks. At present,
The overall war situation is still very unfavorable to the Soviet army.
The war in Crimea is just like what happened in history. The Soviet army is retreating steadily, and some new weapons and equipment troops still cannot complete the transformation from quantity to quality.
Timoshenko looked solemnly around the sand table. This was a topographic map of the Soviet Union in the northern part of the Black Sea. It was covered with black and red flags. From the overall situation, the macro-level strategic focus of the German army had obviously moved southward.
At this time, Tupikov finally received the latest battle report from the swamp, which was exciting. After reading it briefly, his heart was pounding, and he immediately ran to the office in a gust of wind.
"You're so panicked! Could it be that our defense of Crimea has improved the situation?" Timoshenko reminded him to pay attention to his appearance.
However, this person was not more reserved. He walked over with the document and said: "It is indeed a piece of good information, but it is not our encirclement of Crimea. To be precise, it is the latest victory of our first infantry division.
"
"An infantry division? We now command dozens of divisions! I really hope all divisions have victory reports." His implication was nothing else. The victory that a division can achieve is extremely limited. As the front army headquarters, it needs to coordinate
All troops achieve strategic victory.
Take a closer look at Tupikov. His energetic look is confusing. Timoshenko immediately asked: "If a division has achieved an eye-catching victory, it should be rewarded. Tell me the number of this division and their
The teacher’s name.”
"You'll know just by looking at it. It will definitely interest you."
The suspicious Timoshenko received the information. He easily saw the words "284th Guards Infantry Division". His mind suddenly buzzed and the blood in his body surged.
"This infantry division has always stayed in the swamp. They frequently attacked the enemy's rear in previous battles and achieved great results."
Tupikov excitedly added: "After all, this unit has the title of Guards. Your predecessor, Kirponos, who has died, liked them very much. He even told me that if all the divisions under his command were
With even half of their combat effectiveness, the war in Ukraine would not be what it is today."
This division is well-known among the Soviet army because they independently defeated a German armored division at the beginning of the war. The rocket-propelled grenade that made them successful was actually invented by them privately, and new weapons began to be equipped with troops.
However, as the scale of the war expanded, a large number of heroic troops sprung up, and the name of the 284th Division quickly faded.
Timoshenko continued to look at the document. The numbers were written clearly - 7,000 enemy soldiers were wiped out.
Staying alert, he immediately frowned and asked Tupikov: "You asked me to believe that this Guards unit attacked the enemy's division headquarters, and I believed it. Because I resented the enemy's atrocities and was driven by hunger to eat the enemy's corpses, I also
Letter. However, their remnants restored their strength by absorbing militiamen and stragglers from various units, and then launched a large-scale battle. It was called the Second Battle of Homnich. They wiped out 7,000 enemies and only suffered 1,700 casualties! How can I believe it?
This?! Even if they, Yevlov and Berekov, were heroes of the Soviet Union, they couldn’t make such a big joke on me!”
Tupikov burst into laughter: "It seems that you know them very well. You also know the names of the division commander and division chief of staff."
"Of course!" Timoshenko recalled what happened a few months ago. "It was still in winter. This unit achieved great results. We took the risk of airdropping supplies to it in late autumn. In the following battle, the enemy
The two infantry regiments were defeated, and they also suffered a lot of losses. The war had just passed, less than two months! They carried out another larger-scale battle, and this time the enemy lost 7,000 people! Such high intensity
The battle was actually completed by them?"
"It sounds far-fetched, as if it's a fantasy." Tupikov approached, took the piece of information, and pointed to a few lines of text. "Let's take a closer look. This information was prepared by our military commander.
Members of the Meili Municipal Committee recognized it.”
In terms of planning military operations, Timoshenko is far more capable than Tupikov. This man is also guilty of meritorious deeds. He knows that talking about strategies with Timoshenko is tantamount to playing tricks on others. Therefore, his responsibility is more focused on intelligence.
Collect, find advantageous information in the massive amount of information, and then adjust the deployment of the army.
In early February, the Gomel Underground Municipal Committee faced an increasingly bad situation and decided to lead its members to evacuate. Where to evacuate? One option is to the guerrilla areas of Babruisk or Slutsk in the north, and the other
One is to go south to the Pripyat Swamp. Due to the German occupying forces and slave troops in the north, the puppet army has increased its clearance of guerrillas, and the situation in the guerrilla zone there is just as bad.
Tupikov had already received the information that the Gomel Municipal Committee decided to go south to the swamp. Since it was not important to the Southwest Front, Tupikov did not mention it.
Now he decisively revealed the matter. "The Gomel Municipal Committee is completely legal. They have entered their guerrilla zone under the escort of the 284th Division."
Timoshenko nodded. Officials don't have to say good things for soldiers. They always have their own opinions.
Tupikov continued to point out: "Our eyes are always on Odessa, Savastopol and Kharkov and other places, and it is really easy to ignore the 284th Guards Division that has been assigned to us.
They are not a mob at all. Since they were able to defeat the attack of two German regiments in December last year, this time they defeated four regiments! I think that their division commander Yevlov and chief of staff Berekov are both important to us.
The talents they have obtained. If they have 20,000 troops under their command, I am afraid that the enemy's rear will really be destroyed quickly!"
There are always many miracles in military history. Timoshenko recalled many of them. He still remembered that he had promised to continue airdrops to the 284th Division. Almost half a year had passed, and his promise had not been fulfilled at all. It is rare to fight in such a difficult and difficult war environment behind enemy lines.
Next, they can still create military miracles on their own.
Taking a closer look at this information, the certificate from the Gomel Municipal Committee was written in black and white, plus the guarantee from the 284th Division. He didn't believe it at the beginning, thinking it was bragging, and now he believes it more or less.
"They said in intelligence that they collected thousands of enemy helmets, 6,000 soldier dog tags, and thousands of firearms of various types, including more than 400 general-purpose machine guns. If calculated according to the statistics of such results
, it’s not impossible for them to wipe out 7,000 enemies.”
"But it's incredible that they only suffered 1,700 casualties, right?" Tupikov smiled.
"Of course!" Thinking of casualties, this is Timoshenko's eternal pain. If you think about it carefully, there is a difference between the current Soviet regular troops and the current patchwork troops of the 284th Division.
"I'm afraid our soldiers were farmers or workers in the city a month ago. They only received the simplest military physical training. They can basically walk in a queue. In target shooting training, each person may only have fired a few bullets. Relying on this
Soldiers, the casualties will be huge! Unless the 284th Division can quickly train ordinary people into excellent soldiers."
How they managed to train ordinary villagers into the most elite troops, Tupikov did not know, but in terms of casualties, the number of dead (including the wounded who were transported home who died of injuries) was only 1,200 in total.
The wounded can still be rescued, but it is difficult to go back to the battlefield after recovery. The casualties are relatively small, which shows that their combat effectiveness is so powerful!
Tupikov said: "Now I think we should not worry about whether the results of this unit are glorified and boasted, but think about the next countermeasures. As far as the latest intelligence I know so far, the German army has carried out an offensive in southern Belarus.
The movement of troops does not mean that the enemy's infantry division facing the swamp has indeed suffered heavy losses, because only this reason will force them to withdraw immediately."
Timoshenko nodded: "Assign people to do the intelligence work. I must find out what happened in southern Belarus!" (To be continued.) 8