Chapter 113 A Critical Moment
Shabalin naturally knew Yuri, and because of this, his attitude changed from disbelief to half-belief.
In order to confirm the news, he called the 5th Tank Army Command, but the call was not connected. After consulting Rokossovsky, he risked contacting the 5th Tank Army Command by radio, but the call received no response and the 5th Tank Army Command lost contact with the front command.
Everything that happened seemed to prove the accuracy of the news, but if that was the case, the matter would be serious. Everyone in the front command, including Shabalin, knew very well how passive the situation the front would face would be once Novosili fell into the hands of the German army.
Yes, if the news is accurate, there are still Soviet troops defending the front of Novosili. However, there is only a brigade commanded by Yuri, and it is an infantry brigade that has never been involved in a battle and is not equipped with any heavy firepower. No one can be sure how long he can hold out in that direction.
At this time, the defects in the front's troop deployment were instantly exposed. That is, there were no reserve forces at all in the position adjacent to the Southwestern Front. Once the German army broke through any line of defense in that direction, the Bryansk Front would be cut into two.
As the commander of the front, Rokossovsky quickly made two decisions: first, to continue contacting the 5th Tank Army and to understand the current situation faced by the army; second, to draw reinforcements and dispatch them to the Novosibirsk direction in the shortest possible time.
At this time, most people in the front command, including Rokossovsky, still had a glimmer of hope that the situation encountered by the 5th Tank Army was not too bad, and its headquarters had only temporarily lost contact with the front command. If that was the case, the situation seemed to be salvageable.
But less than ten minutes later, intelligence confirming the situation of the 5th Tank Army was sent back, and it turned out that the situation there was worse than the worst prediction of the front command.
The headquarters of the 5th Tank Army had been broken up, the army commander Comrade Lizukov was killed, the chief of staff Comrade Antonov was killed, the military commissar Comrade Ozemiets was killed... Most of the 5th Tank Army had been defeated, and some of the scattered troops fled to the defense direction of the Southwestern Front, while others crossed the Korobka River and went to the Novosili area. As for the 5th Tank Army's defense line, it completely collapsed, and a large number of German armored forces had rushed through the gap and poured into the defense line of the Bryansk Front.
The expected bad situation occurred. No matter how strong Rokossovsky's command ability was, he could not save the 5th Tank Army from destruction. All he could do now was to send additional troops to the Novosibirsk area to threaten the flank of the attacking German army, making it impossible for them to make a deep detour to the western front of the Bryansk Front and encircle the fortified troops on the western front.
At present, the only force that the Bryansk Front can mobilize is the 38th Army commanded by Chibisov. But after the phone call, Rokossovsky received the reply from Chibisov that it would take him 6 hours to transfer the troops to the Novosili region.
6 hours! With these 6 hours, the German tanks could have made a round trip to Moscow. How could Rokossovsky not be angry?
In fact, Rokossovsky had always been dissatisfied with Chibisov. In his opinion, this commander was very unreliable. As the commander of the front, Rokossovsky required his subordinates to react quickly, but this comrade Chibisov was completely the opposite of this requirement. His reaction was almost slow and he was always unhurried in doing things.
Just a while ago, when Rokossovsky had just taken over the Bryansk Front, the German army once broke through the defense line on the flank of the 38th Army. After learning of this situation, Rokossovsky personally rushed to the headquarters of the 38th Army, but saw Comrade Chibisov leisurely drinking tea. He asked him about the situation on the flank of the troops, but he said he didn't know. After making a phone call, he learned that the defense line on his flank had been lost.
With dissatisfaction accumulating for a long time, Rokossovsky has begun to consider replacing Chibisov.
However, replacing Chibisov is not something that can be done right now, as Rokossovsky has many other things that need to be arranged urgently.
After confirming the situation of the 9th Tank Army and learning that the 38th Army could not reach Novosil in time, Rokossovsky submitted a withdrawal application to the Supreme Command without hesitation. He believed that the Bryansk Front must abandon the defense zone on the Korobka River line and retreat to Tula in the north to avoid being surrounded by the German army .
After submitting the application, Rokossovsky soon received a call from Comrade Stalin himself.
On the phone, after Stalin confirmed the accuracy of the intelligence, he hesitated for a long time before asking Rokossovsky to confirm again whether the situation in the Novosibirsk direction was indeed irreversible. If it was indeed irreversible, the Supreme Command would, in principle, allow the Bryansk Front to withdraw.
After hanging up the phone, Rokossovsky was in a heavy mood. He could tell that Stalin's tone was very bad. He certainly did not support the Bryansk Front's retreat to Tula, but because of the previous disastrous defeat of the Southwestern Front, Stalin became cautious. He knew that at this time, the Soviet army could no longer afford to lose.
"What is the opinion of the Supreme Command?" Shabalin asked anxiously after watching Rokossovsky hang up the phone.
Rokossovsky did not reply. He shook his head, tried to open his eyes, and tried to wake himself up. He said, "Can we try to get in touch with Yuri? We need to know the situation there."
"He only has one infantry brigade, and...those new recruits can only hold off the Germans for an hour or two at most." Batov said with a frown.
"No, we should have more confidence in him," Rokossovsky said, shaking his head in desperation. "Comrade Yuri is good at commanding troops in passive conditions, especially at commanding defensive operations. This has been proven by past facts."
After saying this, he paused for a moment, as if to give himself confidence , or as if to emphasize it, and added: "We must understand the situation there before making a decision."
Batov stopped talking. In his previous remarks, he only mentioned that Yuri had only one infantry brigade, which was full of new recruits, but he did not have the heart to say that this brigade did not have any heavy firepower equipment. In fact, he did not think that Yuri could hold out in his position for two hours.
"I'll call Novosili," Shabalin said hesitantly.
"You can let the transit camp in Novosili send troops to Yuri. We need him to hold on there," Rokossovsky said. "Also, call Chibisov and tell him that he only has four hours. If his troops cannot reach Novosili within four hours, he will be brought to court-martial!"
Shabalin licked his lips, feeling a little bitter in his mouth. There was nothing he could do, since he was the military commissar. It was most appropriate for him to make such a threatening call to Chibisov, and of course, it would be the most deterrent.
…
On the Kosomovo Heights, the fourth wave of German dive bomber formations flew away in billowing smoke. Yuri, with a wound bandage wrapped around his lower abdomen, stood up from the trench dug temporarily by the soldiers with the help of Arseni, and looked towards the front of the position through a telescope.
"Cough cough cough..." The violent coughing interrupted his lookout. Arseni, whose hand was also wrapped in a bandage, looked at him worriedly and wanted to say something, but held it back.
When the Germans launched the second wave of offensive, a shell exploded less than 3 meters away from Yuri, and the shrapnel hit Yuri's upper abdomen. Perhaps it was injured somewhere, he began to cough continuously, and blood appeared in his saliva. As for Arseni, the ring finger of his right hand was taken away by a bullet.
"Ahem..." After another violent cough, Yuri put down the telescope in his hand, glanced at the position on the right wing, and said, "Let's go over there... ahem, let's take a look. The Germans have obviously increased... ahem, increased their offensive over there. We need to adjust our deployment."
Arseni did not say anything, but gritted his teeth, propped up Yuri's body, and helped him walk to the right.
"boom!"
A shell exploded in a trench about ten meters in front of the two men. A Soviet soldier was blown up and fell out of the trench. Not even a scream was heard during the whole process. It is estimated that the soldier died the moment he flew out.
Yuri pursed his lips tightly. Through previous observations, he could judge the strength of the attacking German army. It should be an armored division equipped with a small number of infantry. Perhaps because they were eager to break through the Soviet defense line, their offensive was fierce from the beginning. Coupled with the bombing of German dive bombers, the Soviet army suffered heavy losses.
However, Yuri also used tactics to make the German army suffer a lot. In the previous attack, Yuri hid four tanks under the slope behind the second line of defense of the Soviet army. After breaking through the second line of defense, the German tanks encountered a sneak attack from the Soviet tanks under the slope when they rolled over the ridge. The chassis of a German tank was penetrated by the shells of the Soviet tanks and exploded and caught fire on the spot. However, due to the obstruction of vision, the tank crews of the German follow-up tanks failed to find the Soviet tanks ambushed under the hillside at the first time. It was not until another three tanks that rushed down the slope were destroyed that the German tanks that followed discovered the abnormality. They hurriedly turned their guns and tried to counterattack, but it was too late. In this battle, the Soviet army destroyed 9 German tanks at the cost of only two tanks and successfully repelled this wave of German attacks.
