Chapter 196: Supervising the Battle
The mill, which had been repaired urgently, was lit with dim lights. The roar of the diesel generator came from behind the mill. After a long time, it was inevitable that people would feel restless. What was even more unbearable was that the current generated by the diesel generator was very unstable. The lights hanging on the walls of the mill would flicker with the intervals of the roar. The fluctuation of the brightness would make people feel uncomfortable with sore eyes.
There are three gasoline barrels placed near the east wall of the mill. The gasoline barrels are empty and are now used as stoves. Split dry firewood is burning in the barrels, making the entire empty mill warm like spring.
On the opposite west wall, there is a huge table assembled from logs. A high-power light bulb is hung on the wooden beam just above the table. The dim light that flickers on and off is projected from above, illuminating the entire table.
"At the beginning of the battle, at least in the first few hours, our offensive was successful, there is no doubt about that. Especially in the battle to capture the Oranienbaum landing site, our offensive broke through the German defense line in just two hours." Under the dim light, Govorov, holding a cigarette, drew on the map with the pencil in his hand, drew a circle somewhere on the coast of the Baltic Sea, and said.
"If we follow a prudent way of thinking," Govorov continued, drawing a scissors head to the right of the circle with the tip of the pencil, "it seems that we should intensify the offensive in the direction of Oranienbaum, or even transfer the Ninth Assault Army under the direct command of Comrade Fezuninsky from the direction of Krasnoyarsk, so as to tear the German defense line in the direction of Oranienbaum in the shortest possible time."
His eyes focused on the location of Govorov's pencil, Yuri listened to his introduction and shook his head disapprovingly.
"However, Comrade Yuri, I don't think that is a safe choice, at least, not the best choice." Govorov said. He used the pencil in his hand to draw two large circles on the right side of the arrow and said, "East of Oranienbaum, all the way to Krasnoyarsk and Lopsha, the German army deployed two main forces, the 3rd SS Tank Army and the 18th Army. If we take Oranienbaum as the main direction of attack, it means directly attacking the German 3rd SS Tank Army with strong mobility, and directly attacking its flank. Such an attack may be able to successfully break through the German defense line and even force the German army to retreat, but it is unlikely for us to achieve the goal of effectively annihilating the main force of the German army."
Yuri was holding a cigarette in his hand. The light blue smoke with a hint of purple was swirling in front of him, making his face look a little blurry.
However, deep down, Yuri still agreed with the battle plan formulated by Govorov.
The offensive direction adopted by the Leningrad Front at the beginning of this campaign was the Krasnoyarsk and Lopsha areas where the German Northern Army Group was heavily concentrated. Almost the entire German 18th Army and part of the 3rd SS Tank Army were concentrated in this area. As the supreme commander of the Leningrad Front, Govorov did not choose Oranienbaum, which was easier to break through, as the main offensive direction after the campaign was launched. Instead, he took the Krasnoyarsk and Lopsha areas as the main offensive direction of the troops, completely confronting each other head-on.
Such a combat plan will indeed have the most direct consequence, that is, it is not easy to break through the enemy's defense in a short period of time, and at the same time, the casualties of the enemy will be relatively large. However, while having these disadvantages, this offensive method will also bring an equally direct consequence, that is, this direct, regardless of the cost of the frontal attack, can tie down the enemy's forces to the greatest extent, making it impossible for the main force to leave the battlefield within a certain period of time, thus creating conditions for an effective encirclement and annihilation war.
According to Govorov's combat arrangement, the Leningrad Front's offensive towards Krasnoyarsk and Lopsha areas will effectively contain the main force of the German 18th Army, forcing it to be unable to escape within a certain period of time after the battle begins. At the same time, the Second Assault Army, commanded by General Fezuninsky, should launch an offensive on the flank of the German 18th Army near Novgorod and quickly advance in the direction of Kingisepp, on the one hand oppressing the German 3rd Tank Army and forcing it to be unable to provide reinforcements to the German 18th Army, and on the other hand threatening the flanks of the 18th Army. According to the plan, the offensive of the Second Assault Army should be coordinated with the Volkhov Front, so as to encircle the German 18th Army in the Kingisepp and Luga directions.
However, the arrangement of the battle is just an arrangement after all, and it is impossible for it to be completely consistent with reality. The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, and no one knows how the situation will change on the next day.
In the Kingisepp direction, the attack of the Second Assault Army was not decisive enough, so that the attack encountered setbacks at the beginning of the campaign, while in the other direction, the attack of the Volkhov Front was very smooth. This created an embarrassing situation, which also made Yuri angry, that is, the Volkhov Front advanced too fast, while the Leningrad Front progressed slowly. Such a biased attack would inevitably create opportunities for the German army to retreat, thus making the entire campaign attempt fail.
Fortunately, the worst situation has not yet occurred. Perhaps it is because of the slow reaction or the fact that the German army has not changed its strategy of holding on. Anyway, the German 18th Army is still stranded on the north bank of the Luga River and shows no signs of escaping. Otherwise, if the German 18th Army escapes successfully, even if Yuri does not want to care about the mistakes of the Leningrad Front, Moscow will probably not let it go.
Speaking of which, as a front-line commander, Govorov had no obligation to introduce combat plans to Yuri, even though he was a representative of the headquarters. But now, Govorov thought that Yuri had found out his weakness, so he took over the job that should have belonged to the chief of staff and personally introduced his combat plans to Yuri, as well as his ideas when formulating these plans.
"I agree with your opinion, Comrade Leonid Alexandrovich ," Yuri nodded after listening to Govorov's brief summary of his ideas and plans. "This is undoubtedly a sound operational plan, and it is also completely in line with the headquarters' strategic thinking. As for the following problems, especially the setback of the 9th Assault Army's offensive, I think there are objective reasons. Of course, the most important thing is that so far, these minor flaws have not had a significant impact on the entire northern front, so we still have a chance and time to recover. Considering the entire Leningrad situation, I think the first problem that the Leningrad Front Field Command should solve is how to redeploy and solve some of the previous problems in order to bring the war situation back to the track of your planned plan."
This statement is very clear. Yuri's meaning is that bygone days should be forgiven, but there must be no more problems in future battles. Moreover, the field command of the Leningrad Front must come up with a set of practical solutions.
"Comrade General, we have already done the corresponding work," Fezuninsky, who had been standing on the side, added hastily, "Specific measures..."
"There is no need to report those overly specific measures to me," Yuri interrupted him with a smile, saying, "What I need is the results and the results of the deeds, Comrade Fezuninsky. I hope to get some more exciting good news."
"Yes, Comrade General," Fezuninsky nodded.
"Comrade Leonid Alexandrovich," Yuri turned his head and looked at Govorov again, saying, "In the next period of time, I plan to conduct some detailed inspections of the offensive forces on the Luga River front, especially the combat direction of the front. In this regard, I hope that the front command can provide some necessary cooperation."
"Of course, we will do our best to cooperate," Govorov nodded. He knew very well that this was Yuri's duty and something he had to do. "Comrade Fezuninsky can arrange guards for you. As for the specific arrangements for the inspection, you will decide."
His tone became solemn, and Govorov added: "However, Comrade Yuri, for your safety, I hope that your inspection arrangements will avoid those front-line locations as much as possible. Of course, those newly liberated towns also need to be avoided as much as possible."
"Haha, Comrade Leonid Alexandrovich, I am not a coward who can only sit in the office and give orders," Yuri laughed, "and, on the battlefield, I know how to take care of myself."
After hearing what Yuri said, Govorov didn't know what to say. After all, his troops had just run into problems, and Yuri was the representative of the headquarters. Although his dissuasion was well-intentioned, it might lead to misunderstanding. If Yuri suspected that he was trying to cover up something, it would be a waste of time.
Yuri's first meeting with Govorov lasted until 12 o'clock in the middle of the night. Just before dawn, it began to snow again. The snow came very fast, and the snowflakes were as big as white peach blossoms, fluttering down - for the Leningrad Front, this heavy snow falling late at night was definitely not a good thing. At least, in the next two or three days, or even longer, the Soviet Red Army would not be able to use the air advantage they had finally gained.
