Chapter 94: New Operation
As the war progressed in all directions, time soon came to early December. According to regulations, the 133rd Division, which Yuri was responsible for reorganizing, should have gone to the front line one day later. But at this time, the situation changed again. Sollochnogorsk, where Yuri received training a month ago, fell into the hands of the German army. The city of Klin, where the temporary transit camp was located, was directly facing the attack of the German army.
On December 1, Yuri received an order to complete the reorganization of the 133rd Division one day ahead of schedule. The temporary transit camp would be moved to the rear, and the various units of the 133rd Division would need to enter the city of Klin overnight and build defensive positions in the western suburbs of the city to resist the German attack.
At this time, the 133rd Division had actually completed all the reorganization work. The regimental headquarters of each regiment were all in place, and the soldiers, weapons and equipment, and logistical supplies were all sufficient. Yuri even took over some tank troops retreating from the Sollochnogorsk direction. These tanks were directly incorporated into the tank company directly under the division headquarters. With a scale of nearly 40 tanks, this nominal tank company swelled into a regiment.
For this, Yuri was reported to Zhukov, but the front headquarters only sent a member of the Military Commission to question him, but did not give any advice on how to deal with the matter, and the matter was eventually left unresolved.
In fact, many people reported Yuri during this period. His direct superior in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, Comrade Abakumov, called to criticize him because he had committed adultery with a married woman and was reported to the supervision department. At the end of November, the supervision department verified the matter. The scout even saw Yuri and the woman named Gerlyosha hanging out together.
This matter was quite a big deal and had a bad impact, but the supervisory department at that time did not have the power to directly arrest a front-line general for such a matter, so they reported it to Stalin through Comrade Bulganin.
However, what happened later was both laughable and sad, because after listening to the report, Comrade Stalin not only did not get angry, but also smiled and said: "Young people are full of energy." This reaction, which was completely off the topic, actually explained Comrade Stalin's attitude. Now is wartime, and he needs commanders who can win battles, not the time to dwell on personal style issues.
So, the matter was eventually left unresolved. But when a problem arises, it must be addressed, and Abakumov's verbal criticism was considered a form of punishment.
It is not entirely a bad thing for someone to report you. It means that someone is targeting you. The reason why someone is targeting you is because you perform too well in certain aspects, which makes people jealous.
Yuri doesn't care if someone makes trouble for his lifestyle now. After all, his two direct superiors have problems in this regard: Comrade Rokossovsky's mistress is still in the headquarters; Comrade Abakumov's two secretaries are incredibly beautiful; Comrade Beria...is there any need to say more?
Not only did he not care about people making trouble for his lifestyle, Yuri even abused his power for personal gain. With the resources in his hands, he successfully brought Geryosha's family from Leningrad to Moscow at the end of November.
Of course, although Yuri had been secretly hanging out with Geryosha while going to Moscow to get equipment recently, he did not neglect Not only that, he also formulated a very bold battle plan.
Yuri clearly mentioned in the battle plan submitted to the army headquarters: the German troops resisting the assault on the suburbs of Moscow in the northwest have become weak after continuous fighting in November. This can be seen from many aspects. For example, before their assault, the artillery preparation time is getting shorter and shorter; the number of reorganized armored units put into battle is getting smaller and smaller, and many German tank units fighting on the front line lack corresponding equipment. Sometimes, a tank regiment even has only a dozen tanks put into battle; in addition, the German troops fighting in the same area are no longer rotated, which shows that their reserve forces are insufficient or even scarce.
Taking this situation into consideration, Yuri planned to use the newly reorganized and fully equipped 133rd Division to launch a tentative counter-assault against the German army in the northwest of Klin City, trying to recapture Sollochnogorsk, which had fallen for less than a week.
It must be admitted that Yuri's plan is very convincing and tempting. You know, since the start of the Moscow defense war, the Soviet troops have been retreating and passively defending. Although the Soviet army has launched counterattacks in several directions before, they have basically achieved no results. If the 133rd Division can really push the German army back 10 to 15 kilometers after the counterattack, and recapture the fallen Sollochnogorsk in one fell swoop, even if it is only for one day, it will have a powerful effect on boosting the morale of the Soviet army.
Two days after the plan was submitted, the final reply came directly from the Western Front Command, a handwritten order from Comrade Zhukov, which required the commanders of the 133rd Division to launch an attack on the weak areas of the German defense line when conditions permit, but the premise of all this was that the city of Klin must be guaranteed to be foolproof.
Yuri guessed that his battle plan must have been discussed by the Supreme Command, and the meaning of this order was to tell him that he could launch a counterattack, but the premise was that Klin City could not be lost. In addition, there were several hidden meanings in the order: first, the Supreme Command did not approve of this counterattack plan, mainly because it did not have enough confidence; second, the 133rd Division could suffer losses in the counterattack, and even larger losses would not matter, as long as Klin City was not lost.
With the warrant in hand, Yuri began his plan without delay.
On the night of December 5, the third day after the 133rd Division officially entered Klin City, Yuri convened a meeting of commanders at the battalion level and above in the division headquarters to officially release combat missions. Most of the commanders and military commissioners of the 133rd Division attended the meeting, including the military commissioner of the 133rd Division, Mikhail Konstantinovich Chemirnov, deputy division commander Victor Victorovich Pitakov, director of the communications corps Andrei Ivanovich Belov, artillery and tank corps directors, Georgy Yefimovich Peredelski, who had just been transferred from Leningrad, and Joseph Iraklievich Gusakovsky, the division chief of staff who had just been promoted. Of course, in addition to these commanders at all levels and departments, there were also trainee staff arranged by the front headquarters.
As the commander of an infantry division, Yuri's treatment was immediately different, including two fur coats just donated by the British, a monthly quota of 6 cartons of American cigarettes, an average of one bottle of premium vodka every two days, etc. In terms of combat command, he also had his own sand table topographic map.
The headquarters was located in the city theater in Klin. In order to prepare for the upcoming war, everything here was emptied. In order to prevent the German army from leaving dry wood for heating, the Internal Guards even removed all the rows of chairs. Therefore, there were not only no tables available in the headquarters of the 133rd Division, but also no stools to sit on.
The sand table topographic map was placed next to the theater stage. Yuri and his subordinate commanders stood under the stage, surrounding a semicircle and first listened to Chief of Staff Gusakovsky introduce the general operational ideas of the entire battle.
In fact, this operational idea was very rough. When Yuri made the plan and applied to the superior command department, he had to explain the starting point and basis of the operational idea, and make a detailed analysis to evaluate the feasibility of the plan. But when facing his subordinate commanders, he did not need to explain in such detail. Gusakovsky's introduction only roughly explained the tasks of each unit.
This counter-attack mission, which was concentrated on the right wing of Klin City, had to take into account both defense and offense. The defense was mainly in the urban area of Klin City, and the forces of two regiments would be deployed to this battlefield to prevent the German army from capturing the urban area. At the same time, in order to strengthen firepower and paralyze the German army, Yuri concentrated the main artillery units under the 133rd Division on the defense of the urban area.
As for the main breakthrough direction of the counter-assault operation, Yuri chose the area near the Lower Misanesko Railway Station, about 6 kilometers northwest of Klin City.
Nizhnemisaneskoye railway station is a station on the railway line from Leningrad to Moscow, which is currently controlled by the German army.
Yuri believed that the main German forces near Lower Misanesco must be stationed near this train station. This was inevitable because key strategic strongholds such as train stations have always been the main offensive and defensive locations of the German army.
The troops carrying out the counter-assault mission will first attack the areas that the German army may have heavily defended. If they can successfully break through, then the subsequent advancement will become smooth. On the contrary, if they encounter setbacks, Yuri will still have time to choose whether to cancel the plan. After all, this battle is mainly exploratory.
In order to defeat the possible German resistance in one fell swoop, Yuri prepared two infantry regiments in the direction of the assault. At the same time, his almost unreasonably bloated tank company would also participate in the battle in this direction and would serve as the core force for the breakthrough.
At present, the tank company directly under the 133rd Division is still on standby in the southwest area of Klin City. Considering the German reconnaissance capabilities, Yuri believes that the Germans on the other side must know the existence of this tank unit. Therefore, what the 133rd Division has to do now is to conceal the German reconnaissance and secretly move this tank unit directly under the division headquarters to the Lower Misanesco area.
