Chapter 205
(First of all, let me explain that the protagonist’s name has been changed to Yuri Arkhipovich. Don’t be confused when you watch it next time… There is nothing we can do about it, please understand.)
On the Bakhmut River, Artyomovsk, the German 43rd fortified defense area, the position of the 17th Infantry Army.
Although it is called a fortified defense area, in fact, because it was built in a hurry and the logistics support was insufficient, this section of the defense area was very weak and crude. The entire fortified area only had a line of defense along the Bakhmut River, and lacked a complete trench and permanent launch fortification system. The engineers responsible for building the defense position only arranged some anti-tank obstacles on the river bank. The minefield was very wide, but it was difficult to predict how much defensive effect it would have.
The 17th Infantry Army responsible for the defense of this area had been crippled in the previous battle. Although some new recruits were added and a Romanian division was transferred to strengthen the defense, the total strength was less than 50,000. This 50,000-man defense force was distributed on a 2.7-kilometer-long defense position along the Bakhmut River. Opposite them were the 51st Army and the 9th Assault Army of the Soviet Ukrainian 4th Front and the 9th Guards Army of the Soviet Ukrainian 3rd Front.
In the battle plan formulated by Tolbukhin, the Soviet army's first attack direction was the weak defense zone of the German 17th Army.
After the campaign was launched, the first to attack was the 51st Army. This Soviet army would launch a concentric assault in the direction of Stalino. After achieving the first step of the operational plan, it would continue to advance in the direction of Volnovana, threatening the right wing of the German 9th Army in the south. The attack direction of the 9th Army was Gornovka, north of Stalino. The purpose of the operation was to outflank the flanks and rear of the German 9th Tank Army and the 4th Infantry Army, forcing the German army to retreat in the direction of Dnepropetrovsk, thus creating favorable conditions for the 3rd Ukrainian Front to encircle and annihilate the German 9th Army.
The ultimate goal of this campaign was to liberate large areas of southern Ukraine including Zaporizhia and Melitopol through one to two months of continuous fighting, cut off the land route of the Crimean Peninsula, trap the German 17th Army on the peninsula, and at the same time pose a threat to the Romanian border.
Zhukov's combat thinking at this stage was to achieve the greatest possible results in southern Ukraine. As long as Melitopol was captured, the Soviet Red Army's Air Force could take off from the area and bomb the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania.
Initially, Zhukov's proposal was not approved by Stalin, because Stalin's greatest interest now was to recover the right bank of the Dnieper River as soon as possible and liberate Kiev. Such an outcome would have greater political significance.
But just a dozen days ago, the Americans suddenly took action against Romania. They dispatched 177 aircraft from their military base in Benghazi, flew nearly 2,000 kilometers across the Mediterranean, and carried out a large-scale bombing on the Ploiesti oil field.
The results of this bombing were very great. Nearly 40% of the refining facilities in the entire Ploiesti oil field were destroyed. Four of the 12 large refineries were completely paralyzed, and the casualties were incalculable.
Of course, the US military suffered astonishingly heavy losses in this bombing. Among the 177 fighter planes that participated in the bombing, 52 failed to return, and among those that returned, more than half were directly scrapped.
Subsequently, major Western media outlets rushed to report the incident. They did not mention the losses of the US military, but only boasted that this bombing was equivalent to paralyzing nearly a quarter of the German armored forces.
After seeing the relevant reports, Stalin was very angry. He believed that the Americans had stolen the Soviet Union's limelight. The attack on the Romanians should be the responsibility of the Soviet Red Army. This was a political issue and had nothing to do with military affairs.
It was based on this that the southern front combat plan was pushed to the top of the list, and Yuri was assigned to the southern front as a representative of the headquarters to supervise the battle.
Before leaving, Stalin gave him a special timetable, which was the highest instruction to the troops participating in the war on the southern front. They must achieve the corresponding combat objectives before each deadline, otherwise the corresponding commanders will bear the responsibility.
To be frank, the entire Ukrainian 4th Front's combat commanders, including Tolbukhin, are under great pressure. Once military issues are linked to politics, there is no point in talking about it. Completing the mission is politically correct, and failing to complete it is a political problem. No one can predict what the consequences will be.
It was late at night, already three o'clock in the morning, in the village of Volynsarny, on the left bank of the Bakhmut River, less than 9 kilometers away from Artyomovsk, a convoy of four or five military jeeps was driving slowly along the muddy country road outside the village towards the Yepetsk Forest on the west side of the village.
At this moment, the outer area of Yepetsk Forest had become an integrated artillery position of the front. Nearly 3,000 artillery and rocket launchers of various types were deployed along the outer area of the forest, preparing for large-scale artillery bombardment before the attack.
There was not a single light on the long artillery position. Due to the blackout regulations, the soldiers could not even smoke. The jungle was dark, but the bustling voices seemed unusually noisy.
The jeep stopped next to a tent with a concealment net hanging on it. Yuri pushed open the door and got out. He glanced at the people standing outside the tent in the moonlight, then turned around and waited for the people behind him to catch up.
The first person to follow was Biryuzov. As the chief of staff, he has now become Yuri's follower. What he needs to do every day is to follow Yuri around and be ready to answer any questions Yuri raises at any time.
Following him was a short, middle-aged man with a fair face. He kept looking down at a fluorescent watch on his wrist, looking like he was very concerned about the time.
This man's name was Alexander Kuzmich Chikolsky, the chief of artillery of the 4th Ukrainian Front, and this artillery position was arranged by him.
Walking quickly to Yuri, Chikolsky handed him two cotton earplugs before saying, "Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, it's almost time."
Yuri turned his head to look at him, took the two earphones, nodded and said: "Be prepared to issue orders."
Chikoliski nodded and waved to a major following behind him, who grabbed him and walked away quickly.
Yuri looked at his watch. It was 3:28 in the morning, less than two minutes before the scheduled shelling time.
This is the edge of the artillery position. A dozen steps away is a 152mm cannon. The gunner is already in position and the loader has a bare back. From a distance, you can see a white shadow.
Time passed by minute by minute, and when there were only a dozen seconds left, Yuri put the earplugs into his ear holes.
Just a few breaths later, the faint sound of air defense alarm seeped into my ears, and almost at the same time, the rows of trucks behind the artillery position suddenly turned on their headlights.
"boom!"
Even with earplugs, the dull sound of the artillery still made my eardrums hurt. At the same time, the ground beneath my feet suddenly trembled as if there was an earthquake. The dazzling red light tore through the dark night and illuminated the entire outer area of the jungle.
At the side of the 152mm cannon not far away, a shell had just been fired and the shell bounced out. The loader rushed forward with another shell. The commander on the side had already raised the flag in his hand, waiting for the alarm to sound.
The Soviet Red Army was now rich and powerful, and the entire Soviet Union's national strength was poured into the military industry. Countless arsenals were already in operation east of the Ural Mountains, from Nizhny Tagil to Siberia and then to the Far East. Now, even if the Germans occupied Moscow and pushed the front line to the Ural Mountains, the Soviet Union, which had lost half of its territory, could continue to fight, and its strength would not be greatly reduced.
As the Minister of Operations, Yuri knew very well what the problem of the Red Army was now, and that was logistics and transportation . Countless combat equipment needed to be transported from the rear, which was a huge project. In order to ensure military transportation, the railway transportation east of the Ural Mountains had basically closed its passenger projects.
"Everything for the Motherland, Everything for the Soviets!" This was the slogan that resounded throughout the Soviet Union at that time.
The deafening bombardment lasted for nearly an hour. Even though it was several kilometers away, standing on the artillery position and looking west, one could still see the flickering flames in the sky.
At 4:20 in the morning, the rumbling of artillery fire finally stopped, but the open Bakhmut River was filled with deafening shouts. Countless boats and kayaks, loaded with Soviet soldiers shouting "Ura", poured across the river in an endless stream, facing the hail of bullets from the German army on the other side of the river. The battle to liberate the coastal areas of the Sea of Azov finally entered the stage of close combat.
When Yuri arrived at the banks of the Bakhmut River by car, the attacking Soviet troops had broken through the riverside positions of the German 17th Infantry Army and were launching an attack on the city of Artyomovsk.
Engineers have built 12 pontoon bridges on the river. A large number of tanks, armored vehicles, and self-propelled artillery are rapidly passing through the bridges. The German counterattack artillery fire came from the direction of Artyomovsk city, blasting huge waves on the river.
The Bakhmut River was flowing, and the water had turned light red. From time to time, the bodies of soldiers and the wreckage of wooden boats floated down from the upper reaches. The corpse-collecting boats were busy on the river, pulling up the bodies of Soviet soldiers from the water and transporting them to the riverside. Many of these bodies were wearing black sailor uniforms. They were soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet who cooperated with the Ninth Assault Army. It seemed that the crossing operation in the direction of Slavyansk was not going smoothly.
