Chapter 87: Bombardment
The surprise attack launched by the German advance troops in the direction of Sychevka ultimately failed. However, it was obviously only a tentative attack by the Germans, and they did not have the determination and confidence to capture the bridge near Sychevka.
The blocking battle organized by Yuri lasted only half an hour before the German troops on the other side of the river retreated. Their tanks hidden in the jungle never appeared, and they did not even launch an attack on the bridge - of course, this also showed the caution of the German army, after all, Yuri had buried explosives on the bridge.
The whole battle started off well but ended badly. Captain Gerasim, who had just captured some prisoners and made meritorious contributions, felt very sorry. He was still thinking about fighting a big battle in Sychevka and winning a medal for himself. The young captain had not yet experienced the cruelty of war, but he would soon experience it.
The vanguard sent by Colonel Livkov's motorized infantry division arrived at Sychevka at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. A motorized regiment equipped with 6 tanks began to set up defensive positions on the Vazuza River line. At dusk, as the subordinate units of the motorized division arrived one after another, the division headquarters also arrived at the Birebizi collective farm east of Sychevka.
Lobachev, the military commissar of the army, arrived at Zhernovka at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. At that time, Colonel Livkov was arranging to move out. Hearing that the German vanguard had already reached the Vazuza River, Livkov was shocked and immediately sent a motorized regiment to support him. According to the previous order of the army headquarters, Livkov should have arrived in Sychevka yesterday and built a position in the area. However, due to the heavy snow, his troops obviously failed to arrive at the designated area on time. If nothing went wrong, he could still find an excuse to get away with this problem. However, once the German army successfully entered Sychevka and crossed the Vazuza River, Livkov would definitely not have a good ending. He would be sent to the military court.
While still in Zhernovka, Lobachev reported to the army headquarters the news that the vanguard of the German army had appeared on the Vazuza River line. This news surprised the army commander Rokossovsky. He was silent for more than ten seconds on the phone, and finally asked Lobachev to give an order to Livkov to blow up all the bridges on the Vazuza River and then retreat to the Vishenki area on the east bank of the Gzati River.
Yuri was relieved to hear the news of retreat from Lobachev, and at the same time, he was a little complacent. There was no doubt that Rokossovsky's combat arrangement was consistent with his previous idea - the Vazuza River line was no longer conducive to the Soviet defense, and the 16th Army needed to exchange depth for a solid defense line, so retreat was necessary.
It was already nightfall, and the heavy snow that had been falling for nearly two days finally stopped. The dark clouds covering the sky quickly dissipated, and the stars in the sky appeared. Under the bright moonlight, the snow-covered wilderness was well lit, and even human figures could be seen swaying from a distance.
Livkov's troops have completed their assembly, and the troops sent out to blow up the bridge have also returned. According to the previous arrangement, the troops will retreat to the Vishenki area in ten minutes. Vishenki is part of the Mozhaisk defense line, where there are strong fortifications that have just been built. With these fortifications as support, Livkov is full of confidence in this defensive battle.
On the moonlit river bank, Yuri stayed beside Lobachev, gazing at the dark jungle across the river.
"Yuri, where do you think the Germans are now?" Lobachev asked curiously, throwing away the cigarette butt in his hand.
"We have interrogated the prisoners before. They belong to Erich Hoepner's 4th Tank Group," Yuri said with his arms folded across his chest. "Hoepner is a cunning man. His previous deception has caused us to suffer a great loss in Vyazma. Moreover, he is very efficient in using troops and is famous for his rapid assaults and surprise attacks."
At this point, Yuri was silent. He pointed towards the jungle opposite and said with a smile: "For people like this, we can only guess their advancement speed from the worst perspective. So, if you let me guess, I will tell you that maybe they have already reached the other side of the river and are hiding in that endless forest."
Lobachev burst out laughing. Of course he would not believe such speculation.
"If that's the case, we can blow him up," Livkov was in high spirits. He laughed and said to the guards beside him, "Notify Balenin and tell him to fire at the woods opposite. 0...1 base number."
Livkov is now wealthy and powerful. The Moscow Motorized Division under his command is well-equipped and has sufficient ammunition. It is an absolute elite force in the Moscow area. Although it is a joke, he will not feel sorry for firing a few artillery shells.
Lobachev obviously disapproved of his behavior, but he would not say it to his face. Livkov was from the Internal Guard and had a strong background. If there was nothing wrong, no one would want to mess with him.
Lobachev didn't say anything , and Yuri certainly wouldn't say anything either. To be honest, he didn't like Livkov because he always felt that he was brave but not a good human being, especially because he spoke too bluntly, which was very annoying.
Not interested in lingering on the riverbank any longer, Yuri followed Lobachev up the riverbank, crossed the road and walked towards the parking lot.
Just as a few people crossed the road and walked to an armored vehicle specially prepared for them, several loud roars were heard not far away. It was several howitzers firing at the jungle on the other side of the river.
Hearing the sound of the cannon, Lobachev stopped walking, turned his head to look at the forest on the other side of the river, and shook his head slightly. But before he could stop shaking his head, something horrifying happened.
First, several shells fell into the woods, exploding into balls of fire. Then, in just a few seconds, a huge ball of fire suddenly rose from the woods. Immediately afterwards, several burning figures flashed in the darkness, and the shrill screams could be heard clearly on this side of the river.
Yuri and Lobachev reenacted the scene that happened in the morning. They looked at each other face to face. Needless to say, the ball of fire just now was definitely not the effect of the artillery explosion, but it should be the explosion of the artillery shell that ignited the oil tank of the lurking German army or the fuel barrel of the flamethrower, which caused the fire.
There really were German troops hiding in the woods! It was scary to think about it. After all, just a moment ago, Yuri and the others were standing on the riverbank, which was only about 200 meters away from the woods on the other side of the river.
Livkov immediately urged Yuri and the others to board the armored vehicles, while he stayed where he was to observe the situation on the other side of the river. He needed to determine whether to increase the intensity of the artillery attack based on the situation of the German counterattack - this was a very good opportunity. The German mechanized troops could not cross the river, and the artillery could not make an effective counterattack. If there were German tanks counterattacking in the woods, Livkov would not mind wasting a few more artillery shells.
But unfortunately, the German troops in the woods did not launch any artillery counterattack. Even though Levkov increased the shelling to 0...5 bases, there was no movement in the woods. Because it was impossible to determine whether there were large-scale German troops lurking in the woods, Levkov had to give up the plan to continue the shelling and instead ordered the troops to officially set off and move to the Mozhaisk defense line.
Marching in knee-deep snow is very difficult, especially for tanks and motorcycles, which would break down in the snow. Tanks were still a little easier to deal with, but motorcycles in particular could not be ridden at all in many cases and could only be pushed by several soldiers.
The distance from Sychevka to Vishenki is only 30 kilometers. The motorized division set out at 9 o'clock on the previous night and did not arrive until 3 o'clock in the morning of the next day. Even so, two tanks and six trucks were blown up and abandoned along the way. Their faults could not be repaired for the time being, so they had to be blown up in order to avoid leaving them to the German army.
When the motorized division arrived at Vishenki, a troop had already been stationed there. What surprised Yuri was that this troop was the 4th Tank Brigade commanded by Mikhail Yefimovich Katukov. He had wanted to adopt his anti-tank tactics before, but now he saw him in person. This inevitably made Yuri feel a little emotional.
At this time, Katukov had just said goodbye to his newlywed wife and rushed from Moscow to join the 16th Army with his troops. However, because the course of history had changed, the battle that made him famous did not take place, and it was unknown what his future fate would be or what opportunities he would have.
In front of Yuri, Katukov expressed his dissatisfaction with the troops he was commanding, because the tank brigade was not fully staffed and all of them were old-fashioned tanks. He said he had reported this to his superiors, but they replied that no new tanks could be assigned to him. Therefore, he believed that without new tanks, his troops would not be able to counterattack the German armored forces that were attacking head-on.
However, Yuri was obviously unable to help his emotions. After all, he was only the combat staff officer of the army group, not from the equipment department. In fact, even if he was from the equipment department, he could not solve this problem.
As a combat staff officer, Yuri took on his work even though he had not yet completed his report to the headquarters. In Vyshenki, he inspected the fortifications and anti-tank bunkers built along the entire front, and after careful study, he made his deployment suggestions to Livkov, who was in charge of the defense here. Suggestions like this are to be kept on file and will be used as evidence to evaluate his work performance in the future.
At seven o'clock in the morning, Yuri, who had not yet had time to catch up on his sleep, received another notice that Comrade Rokossovsky, the commander of the army group, had arrived.
