MTL - Red Moscow-Chapter 2135
It is very risky to resume the attack without taking down the reservoir. If the Germans saw the 109th Division resume its offensive and blow up the reservoir dam desperately, the situation would be completely out of control. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to report the offensive operation to the headquarters before resuming the offensive.
After receiving the call from Braginsky, Sokov immediately asked instinctively: "Comrade Colonel, did your troops take down the reservoir?"
"Uh, not yet." Hearing Sokov's question, Braginsky replied with some embarrassment: "Although the battle for the reservoir is still going on, I can be sure that the Germans will not be able to blow up the dam of the reservoir. "
"Why are you so sure?"
"The situation is as follows, Comrade Commander," Braginsky explained: "My subordinates reported to me that they had blown up the wire that detonated the explosives with artillery fire. The area where the wire passed was blocked by their fire. Under the circumstances, the Germans simply did not have the ability to repair the blown wires."
Brazinski’s words reminded Sokov of the past of the Istria Reservoir. At that time, he was ordered to seize the reservoir and prevent the Germans from blowing up the reservoir to stop the pursuit of the Soviet army. At that time, in order to cut the detonation wire, several of his subordinates unfortunately died, and he stuffed a grenade under the wire to blow it up.
"So, it is impossible for the enemy to blow up the reservoir dam again?" Sokov asked tentatively.
Hearing Sokov's tone so flat, Braginsky felt that Sokov might not blame himself for his presumptuous assertion, and quickly replied: "Yes, Comrade Commander. As long as the Germans cannot repair the detonation wire , They can’t blow up the dam at all. So I think we should decisively attack the enemy’s position while the Germans are empty, so as to complete our combat intention.”
"Okay, Colonel Braginsky." Sokov also figured it out. The main reason why he ordered the 109th Division to switch to defense was because he was worried that the Germans would blow up the reservoir and flood the Seventh Army. But now this kind of worry no longer exists, and the troops on the original defensive position have become weak, it is a good time to attack, so he said smoothly: "I agree with your plan, and immediately resume the attack on the enemy. Take the position on the right wing in the shortest possible time."
"Comrade Commander," Sidolin clearly still has concerns about Braginsky's actions. As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he kindly reminded the other party: "Although what Braginski said is reasonable, the Germans cannot detonate the explosives on the dam without repairing the wires. But we should also Considering that if the Germans have a backup detonation line, when they see our army launching an attack again, they may take the risk and directly detonate the explosives in the reservoir."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation you mentioned does exist." Sokov looked at Sidolin and said, "But as commanders, when we make up our minds to fight, we can't be hesitant. It may delay the fighter plane. Do you understand?"
Without waiting for Sidolin to answer, he continued: "Although the reservoir dam has not been taken down, the enemy has already been alarmed. If Braginsky doesn't take action as soon as possible, maybe we will miss the opportunity."
In this way, after obtaining Sokov's permission, Braginsky ordered his troops to go into battle again. Regardless of the front of the right-wing attacking force, there are three lines of defense of the German army, but the number of German troops holding these positions today is only a mere two battalions. Facing the attack of a division and a brigade of the Soviet army, although they have fought tenaciously resistance, but still to no avail. The offensive battle lasted less than two hours, and all German positions were occupied.
Seeing that the red flag was planted on the roof of the German Army Command, Braginsky hurriedly called Sokov and reported to him excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I have good news for you, we have captured the right wing. All positions, including reservoirs."
When Sokov heard the news, he was not overjoyed, but asked cautiously: "Colonel Braginsky, please tell me clearly, have you occupied all the positions, or have you controlled all the positions?" ?”
Brazinski was taken aback for a moment, and then understood why Sokov asked. According to the tradition handed down by the Russian army, as long as a flag is planted on the commanding heights, the occupation of this place can be declared. And control means that the enemy in the area has been completely wiped out, and the entire territory actually belongs to our side. He quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, it is not only occupation, but also control. We have controlled all the positions on the right wing. "
"Very good, Colonel Braginsky, you have done a good job." Sokov praised the other party, and then said: "Now you leave some troops to stick to the controlled area, and the rest of the troops move to the left to support the troops from the Attacking troops on the left."
As soon as the order here was issued, Zhukov called in: "Misha, I congratulate you, you have successfully captured half of the triangle area."
Sokov was taken aback for a moment, and turned his head to look at Sidolin, trying to figure out if he reported the news to Zhukov. But when Sidolin saw Sukov's gaze on him, he immediately understood what the other party meant, and shook his head slowly, indicating that he had not had time to report the matter to the Front Army Command.
"Misha, I saw this news from the intercepted German telegram." Zhukov praised Sokov on the phone: "You guys did a great job. The German army decisively launched an attack not long after the troops were transferred. , seized the favorable opportunity when the German positions were empty, and successfully captured important areas."
When he learned that Zhukov learned about the results of his troops through the intercepted telegram, he couldn't help laughing, and said modestly: "Comrade Marshal, you are really flattered. The battle in the triangle area is not over yet. Now There is still a third of the territory that is still under the control of the German army. If we want to completely wipe out the enemies in this area before dark, we will obviously not show it."
"If the enemy cannot be cleared before dark, then continue to fight after dark." Zhukov said heavily on the phone: "The attack on Modlin Fortress failed. The direction of the artillery strike."
"What, the attack on the Fortress of Modlin failed?" Although Sokov already knew that the attack on the Fortress of Modlin would not achieve the desired results, but at this moment when he heard that the operation failed, he felt a little disappointed. If you don't take advantage of the darkness, as soon as possible to those remaining areas, when the day dawns, the enemy's fortress artillery fire will be overwhelming, and the troops still fighting in the area will be wiped out on the way to attack.
"It can be said that." Zhukov continued: "The enemy's defense is stronger than we imagined. Although the participating troops tried their best, they still couldn't win."
The German officers and soldiers caught in the two-sided attack are fighting trapped animals. Although the Soviet commanders tried their best, they still couldn't win the last fortification group, and instead paid a lot of casualties here.
When Sidolin received a call from Lyujikov and learned that the 211th Infantry Division had also failed to attack, he asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, the enemy may feel that they cannot escape our encirclement." , is now engaged in frenzied resistance. Although the 211th Infantry Division and other troops fought very tenaciously, they still could not break through the last German defense. You see, should the troops be temporarily stopped from attacking? After a night of rest, go to the The enemy launched a new attack?"
"No, absolutely not." Regarding Sidolin's proposal, Sokov denied it without thinking: "Under the attack of our army, the Germans are almost unable to withstand it. If they withdraw from the battle at this time, they will It is equivalent to giving the Germans a chance to breathe. I believe that with their ability, they can strengthen and improve more fortifications overnight. When they attack again at dawn, they will face enemies who rely on strong fortifications for tenacious defense. We will pay a higher price."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Although Sidolin felt that the troops fighting in unfamiliar areas at night would definitely reduce their combat effectiveness, but in order to avoid the worst situation, it is very necessary to attack overnight: "Then I will give Several division commanders and brigade commanders ordered them to continue fighting at night until all the enemies were wiped out."
"That's right, that's how it should be done." After confirming Sidolin's statement, Sokov ordered: "Give them an order."
The Germans were defeated by Sokov's troops during the day, and when it got dark, they couldn't help but feel grateful. According to their experience, the Soviet army would stop attacking at night. In this way, they were able to adjust their deployment and strengthen their defenses Precious time for fortifications. More importantly, the Soviet army that attacked the Modlin Fortress during the day ended in failure, that is to say, after dawn tomorrow, they will be able to get artillery support from the fortress again.
But what happened next greatly exceeded the expectations of the Germans. After dark, the Soviet offensive not only did not stop, but even intensified. Due to the low visibility at night, the firepower of the machine gun lost its accurate target. The machine gunner could only hide in the fortifications and shoot in one direction according to the direction of the sound.
Although the enemy's machine gun firepower point, it still caused casualties to the Soviet army. However, because it was shooting at night with extremely low visibility, most of the bullets flew to nowhere, and the casualties caused to the Soviet army were naturally reduced.
Facing the flood of Soviet troops, the Germans finally couldn't stand it anymore and had to give up their positions and retreat.
When the battle lasted until four o'clock in the morning, the gunfire on the battlefield suddenly became sparse. It was obvious that the organized resistance of the German army had been shattered, and the rest were stragglers, struggling for the last time.
Brazinski found two other division commanders and a brigade commander, and said to them: "Commanders, the battle is coming to an end. Tell me, who should report this good news to the commander?"
"In my opinion, the infantry brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Victor, will report." Liuzhikov said with a smile: "In any case, he and our commander were classmates at the Frunze Military Academy."
Don't see that Victor's position is the lowest, but his relationship with Sokov is clear to all the commanders present. Therefore, as soon as Liuzhikov said his words, he was immediately echoed by several people: "Yes, I think it is undoubtedly appropriate for Lieutenant Colonel Victor to report the results of the battle, and we will not have any objections."
The phone was connected, and Victor reported victory to Sokov on behalf of everyone: "Comrade commander, I am Lieutenant Colonel Victor, commander of the 122nd Infantry Brigade, and I am honored to report to you. The enemy has been wiped out, and all positions are occupied by our troops."
Sokov just heard Victor report his name, he couldn't help but hesitated for a moment, thinking what was going on, among the four troops participating in the battle, there were three division commanders and one brigade commander. It was a teacher who came to report to himself, when will it be your turn to report to the lowest rank?
Just when Sokov was about to ask what was going on, he heard Victor continue to say: "The three division commanders entrusted me to report to you the battle situation in the triangle."
After finding out that the other three division commanders entrusted Victor to report victory to him, Sokov dismissed the idea of blaming the other party, and said kindly: "Tell me, Lieutenant Colonel Victor, tell me about your results."
"Report to Comrade Commander, after a night of fierce fighting, we have controlled all the positions in the triangle area and wiped out all the enemies." After repeating what he said just now, Victor added: "We have captured about 500 soldiers. the enemy, and seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition..."
"Good job." Sokov was still worried that after this battle, many troops would be short of ammunition, but when he heard that a large number of weapons and ammunition had been seized, his worries eased a lot. Some troops were replaced with German equipment to alleviate the shortage of ammunition. He told Victor: "Lieutenant Colonel Victor, please tell the other three division commanders that each division should replace part of their establishment with German equipment to make up for the weapons and ammunition consumed by our army in battle."
When Sidolin heard what Sokov explained to Victor, he felt reminded him: "Comrade commander, if the troops are replaced with German equipment, what will happen to the ammunition replenishment in the future? We can't let the logistics troops at the same time Send us two types of ammunition? You know, these ammunition are of different sizes, and if they are sent to the wrong place, they will not be usable."
"Don't worry about this." Sokov said to Sidolin: "If you want to change some of the troops, there is at most one regiment per division. After they change their clothes, they can be captured from the hands of the Germans." The weapons and ammunition they want."
Ponegerin looked up, then smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we only took 18 hours to successfully capture the triangle. When the battle is over, I think there will be many Everyone gets a medal."
"You are right, Comrade Deputy Commander." Ponegerin's words reminded Sokov, and he quickly said: "The reason why we have achieved such a great victory is that there are many meritorious persons who need to be commended. For example, the sneak attack The commander of the German Army Reservoir, if he hadn't relieved our worries, our army might still be stagnant."
"I see, Comrade Commander." Pornegerin nodded, and said, "I will sort out the list of those who have won awards for their meritorious deeds based on the battle reports of each unit."