The Southwest Front Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Vatutin.
This front should be said to be second only to the Stalingrad Front in strength in the original plan.
Its ground forces have only three armies, but they are all elite: the 1st Guards Army, the 5th Tank Army and the 1st Mechanized Army.
Since it was the main force of the original plan and was responsible for attacking the enemy's supply lines...the Southwest Front was located behind the German side, and fighter planes taking off from its position could bomb the German railways and roads.
Therefore, the air power of the Southwest Front consists of two armies: the 17th Air Force Group, which is equipped with more bombers and attack aircraft, and is mainly responsible for attacking German supply lines. The 17th Air Force Group, which is mainly equipped with reconnaissance aircraft, attack aircraft and attack aircraft, is responsible for covering ground forces.
Combat.
The Southwest Front's offensive was originally very smooth, but after Hitler transferred an assault group formed by Manstein to the north to prevent its advance, the Southwest Front's advance slowly slowed down.
"0 kilometers east of Milove!" Andrianka reported to Shulka: "The Southwest Front was blocked by the Germans and was in a stalemate!"
Shulka roughly measured the distance and said: "10 kilometers!"
The 10 kilometers was 30 kilometers longer than the 100 kilometers Sulka had previously estimated.
Although 0 kilometers is not a lot, it can be fatal for a battle.
Because 100 kilometers is about two days of marching speed for the Soviet army...Tanks and mechanized troops advancing on muddy roads can advance almost 50 kilometers a day.
Therefore, if there is an increase of 0 kilometers, it means that the Soviet army may advance 65 kilometers every day, or rest for one night and wait for the third day before advancing the 0 kilometers.
The former march was too intense and difficult to achieve, while the latter was too dangerous... On the third day, Manstein might have come to his senses and reacted.
"Is there no possibility of moving forward?" Shulka asked.
"I asked!" Andrianka replied: "The German army laid a large number of mines and barbed wire along Miloway. Forcibly breaking through will cause a lot of casualties!"
A large number of casualties is definitely not possible, because the Southwestern Front's ground forces only have three fronts in total.
Therefore, we can only forcefully march 10 kilometers in two days. At that time, the 51st Army will suddenly appear behind the German defense line and attack it from both sides.
But these are still minor issues.
While Shulka was frowning, Trufanov made a phone call.
"Shulka, although it is inappropriate, but..." Trufanov said: "The new political commissar will arrive tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?" This is three days earlier than Shulka imagined.
"Yes!" Trufanov replied: "He chose the fastest route!"
Shulka knew what the "quickest route" was, which was to take a plane and circle around from behind.
This was a luxury during wartime when gasoline was scarce, especially if it was just a political commissar who would not be of much real help to the battle.
But the High Command obviously doesn't think so.
In other words, Shurka must think of a way to break through the German defense line before tomorrow morning, otherwise, the 51st Army is likely to fall into the same predicament as before, which was to launch waves of attacks against the enemy's defense line.
However, Shulka and Trufanov were wrong again.
At two o'clock in the morning that day, Shurka had just laid down on the map and took a nap when Andrianka woke him up.
"Comrade Shulka!" Andrianka said: "Trufanov informed you to come to the headquarters for a meeting!"
Shulka felt bad when he heard this.
Because if it is not something important, Trufanov usually will not call the frontline commander to the headquarters for a meeting, especially a regiment-level officer like Shulka... Trufanov is the commander of the group army, and he is responsible for meetings.
It is enough to call a meeting with the corps commander or division commander to solve the problem. At most, Shulka's opinion is sought.
Shulka had a vague feeling that the political commissar had arrived early.
Sure enough, when Shulka walked into the headquarters, he saw an officer with a red collar getting angry at Trufanov.
"Don't you know that Karachi has been surrounded by the enemy?" the political commissar said: "Karachi is in danger, and all of us are fighting bloody battles with the enemy! The Southwest Front Army, the Don River Army, there are brave soldiers at the enemy's front at all times.
Fall in front of the muzzle and artillery fire! But you, here, did nothing. Not only that, but you kept reporting to your superiors that you were going on an all-out attack! This is a shameless lie! It is a shameful act of traitor!"
It turned out that the political commissar's statement to Trufanov that he was talented was false.
He actually arrived two hours ago... During this period, he took a bus from the Don River to Surovino.
This is because there are no airports on the front line for aircraft to land and aircraft do not dare to fly to the front line when the enemy has air superiority.
Then, the political commissar took this opportunity to inspect the situation on the front line.
For Trufanov, of course he wanted to delay it for as long as possible, so he did not launch an "active attack" on the enemy's defense line.
In fact, all the actions of the Soviet army that night were just lurking in front of the formation and sniping.
The political commissar also played a trick. He put on the uniform of an infantry major and went to the front line to talk to the soldiers.
The Soviet soldiers did not realize that it was a political commissar, so they told the full story of the actual attack...
"I will report all this to the Supreme Command!" the political commissar said: "Comrade Trufanov, I think you are no longer suitable for the position of commander of the 51st Group Army. I think you should go to Moscow.
Explain it to Comrade Stalin personally!"
As he spoke, the political commissar raised his head to the guard beside him, and the guard stepped forward and disarmed Trufanov.
There is no need to say more about what this means, especially "explain it to Stalin personally".
Everyone knows that explanations are useless. If he is found to be wary and disobedient, all explanations will become excuses, and Trufanov will have no excuse.
Other officers in the command headquarters did not dare to say a word, and many even pretended to be ignorant and distanced themselves from Trufanov.
Shulka stepped forward without thinking and said: "Comrade Political Commissar! We did not retreat. Comrade Trufanov did this in the hope of hitting the enemy better and more effectively! We have a plan..."
"That's enough, I don't want to hear your plan!" The political commissar interrupted Shulka: "Your plan is to use the plan as an excuse to hide in the trenches and cry like a coward!"
"No, Comrade Political Commissar!" Shulka said: "I have evidence. We have discussed it with Comrade Rokossovsky, and Comrade Trufanov also knows this!" (To be continued)