Chapter 103 Popkov
Popkovo is a large village not far from Sukhinich. Through analyzing the map, Yuri found that it was not so easy to conquer this place, because this large village was located on a hilly highland with an average altitude of more than 70 meters.
Rokossovsky said there was a German artillery stationed there. Yuri certainly would not be foolish enough to think that there was only one artillery stationed there. The Germans might be arrogant and might underestimate the enemy, but they were definitely not stupid, let alone fools. Artillery without infantry protection was meat, given to the enemy for free. How could the Germans not know this?
Sure enough, in the subsequent battle situation briefing, Rokossovsky told Yuri that the German army also had an infantry unit stationed in Popkovo, probably more than a regiment of soldiers, more than 2,000 people. In addition, they also established a circular defense position on the high ground around the village to resist the Soviet attack.
Although the content marked on the military map is very detailed, Yuri still hopes to go to Popkovo for on-site observation. He hopes to find the weak link in the German defense position and then attack the area with strong forces.
The specific reconnaissance was carried out at night. Yuri personally sneaked into the Popkovo area and used one night to conduct a detailed reconnaissance of the terrain outside the village. The results of the reconnaissance made him feel a little disappointed.
There is a main road leading to Popkovo, but the German army also knows the importance of this channel. Therefore, they deployed heavy troops at the nodes on this channel. If they want to launch an offensive directly from here, they will inevitably have to pay a heavy price.
In addition to this main road, the other two paths leading to the village were buried in snow. Moreover, no one knew whether the Germans had laid mines on these two roads. If an offensive was launched rashly from these two directions, unexpected situations might occur.
If Yuri did not take these passages and launched an offensive directly towards the village from the wild, he would lose the support that the 146th Tank Brigade could provide. After all, the snow was more than one meter thick and tanks could not pass through at all.
Finally, after careful consideration, Yuri submitted a combat plan to Rokossovsky. In this combat plan, Yuri's offensive strategy was still a sneak attack, and a sneak attack at night.
The specific combat deployment is divided into two parts:
The first part was to use night marches to move the combat troops of the 328th Division and the 146th Brigade to Popkov's front position and prepare for the attack.
The second part was that the 97th Infantry Division took the lead in launching an offensive towards Maklaki, 15 kilometers southwest of Popkov, in order to attract the attention of the German army in Popkov.
According to Yuri's estimation, once Maklaki was attacked by Soviet troops, the German troops of Popkov, who mainly provided artillery support for the combat troops in the area, would inevitably launch artillery attacks on the Soviet troops in the direction of Maklaki . At this time, the Soviet troops lurking in the front direction of Popkov could accurately mark the positions of the German artillery.
In addition, the loud noise produced by the artillery bombardment would also create conditions for the Soviet lurking troops in front of Popkov. During this stage, the Soviet infantry could use some effective means to clear some passages for the tanks to move in the area in front of Popkov.
When all battle preparations are ready, the artillery attached to the 328th Division will take the lead in artillery preparation, focusing on bombarding the German artillery positions marked before to create panic. Afterwards, tanks will carry infantry into battle and storm the German defensive positions.
Although this offensive plan was not flawless, it was the safest approach under the current battlefield conditions. Therefore, after a brief review, Rokossovsky approved the plan and scheduled its execution for the night of the 24th.
From the day the battle plan was approved, Yuri began to arrange the deployment of his troops: all soldiers were dressed in white camouflage uniforms, and the bodies of artillery and tanks were also painted white. In order to prevent the soldiers' breathing from forming mist, each soldier was also issued a cloth wrap, which was mainly tied on the face to isolate the heat.
When the troops moved towards Popkov, they always chose to march at night. The temporary camp implemented a blackout and even soldiers were prohibited from smoking.
Under these confidentiality measures, the troops of the 328th Division finally arrived at the preset positions before the attack in the early morning of the 23rd, and lay in ambush quietly.
Perhaps it was because of the previous series of setbacks that the morale of the German soldiers was unstable, or perhaps the weather was too cold, causing them to lose their vigilance. In short, even on the 24th, the German troops stationed in the village of Popkov did not find anything unusual throughout the entire day, and they did not even send scouts to the area outside the village.
When the troops lurked outside Popkov's front, Yuri also entered the hidden position with the troops. In the following cold day, he stayed in the jungle without any shelter like the soldiers, freezing all day. The most difficult thing was that in order to avoid being discovered by the German army, the army could not even light a campfire, and there was not even hot water. The soldiers could only eat dry macaroni on the snow. As a result, after a whole day of lurking, before the battle started, more than a dozen soldiers in the army were frostbitten and lost their combat effectiveness.
It was a starless night, with the temperature of more than 20 degrees below zero, which seemed to freeze the entire forest. What worried Yuri the most were the tanks that had been parked for a day. He didn't know how many of them could be put into battle immediately after the battle started.
At nine o'clock in the evening, Yuri left the woods and stopped at a position less than 200 meters away from the German village entrance. He looked at the brightly lit village through a telescope.
The Germans seemed to be celebrating something tonight. They lit many bonfires on the streets of the village. What made Yuri curse inwardly was that these bastards used not only wood to light the bonfires, but also barrels of gasoline.
But on second thought, it's not really the Germans' fault for being extravagant. After all, they also needed heating, and most of the houses in the village had been destroyed in previous battles. Those open-air tents obviously couldn't keep out the cold, and the temporarily cut down trees were difficult to burn because of the moisture. So, in order to avoid freezing to death, they seemed to have no other choice but to burn gasoline.
Just like the previous battles, the German troops stationed in Popkov had very poor vigilance. At least from them, Yuri did not see the kind of strict discipline and self-discipline that later generations talked about. They were completely a group of loose sand.
After staying at this observation point for more than ten minutes, Yuri moved back into the woods and ordered the infantry that had been arranged earlier to secretly clear the snow on the road leading to the village from the woods.
Don't think that snow removal is easy. In fact, it is a very difficult job. In order to avoid being discovered by the German troops in the villages and towns, the soldiers responsible for snow removal had to start digging from the outside of the forest and push the passage to the village little by little. With one meter of snow, they had to open a passage at least four meters wide. This was a huge workload and could not be completed in a short time.
Starting from nine o'clock, the soldiers responsible for snow removal began to work secretly. By ten o'clock, after a full hour, the passage had only extended less than 200 meters forward. At this time, they had to stop and wait for the sound of German troops running in the villages and towns.
Yuri was also very anxious, because the temperature in the forest was lower at night. If the soldiers stayed here for too long, they would probably be frozen to death. They would not be able to fight, let alone crawl.
It was past ten o'clock, and after waiting for more than ten minutes, the village suddenly became noisy. Yuri understood that Popkov's German army had received the battle report and was preparing to fire in the direction of Maklaki.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the sound of artillery fire resounded throughout the wilderness and woods around the village. From afar, one could see that the village of Popkov was brightly lit, and it was unclear whether it was the lights or the flames from the artillery firing.
Hearing the German artillery firing in the villages and towns, the artillery observers who had been prepared in advance began to climb up the trees to observe the artillery firing in the villages and towns. They had to make estimates and accumulate data for subsequent artillery preparations.
Taking advantage of the sound of artillery fire in the villages and towns, the Soviet soldiers who were clearing the snow sped up the process. They only had half an hour left, because in half an hour, the artillery of the 328th Division would fire into the villages and towns. At the same time, tank troops would also carry soldiers and launch an offensive into the villages and towns through these passages.
For Yuri, this was his third time commanding an offensive operation at the front line. However, he did not feel any fluctuations in his heart at this moment. He was surprisingly calm, as if commanding operations had become an important part of his life and there was no novelty at all.
At 10:45, a shrill whistle suddenly sounded in the woods where the 328th Division was lurking. Immediately afterwards, more than 20 artillery pieces roared at the same time, pouring shells one after another at the location that had been calculated before.
This sudden bombardment obviously stunned the German artillery in the village. Their shelling in the direction of Marklach stopped instantly, and they were unable to find the direction and target of the counterattack in a hurry.
At the same time as the artillery bombardment began, the tanks that had been in position began to fire. Just as Yuri worried, seven tanks of the 146th Tank Brigade failed to move, probably because they were frozen somewhere.
However, the remaining tanks finally started moving, carrying the first wave of offensive infantry and roaring towards the entrance of the village.
