Seven Hundred and Fourteen Weather

"We have stronger beliefs than our enemies! This allows us to endure heavier losses than our enemies." Rokossovsky stood in front of the blood-stained map of Germany with his hands behind his back, calmly Said such a sentence in a tone of voice. His troops captured this heavily defended German position more than half an hour ago, but they paid a heavy price for a full 20,000 soldiers.

The two sides fought repeatedly on nearby positions, and finally the Soviet Red Army won the biggest victory since the beginning of the war. They captured almost 3,000 German soldiers, and captured 4 150mm heavy guns, 4 105mm cannons, plus 2 75mm caliber anti-tank guns and other weapons.

The military band set up their own equipment on the position where the gunpowder smoke had not cleared, and then played and sang to the exhausted soldiers below who were still on their way. If Akado came here, he would hear a familiar melody, a very familiar song.

"Whenever the pear blossoms bloom all over the sky, and the gentle veil floats on the river, Katyusha stands on the handsome bank, singing like the bright spring." A group of female college students from the Soviet Union stood on the top of the trench, standing in a neat queue , sang this just-written love song to the Soviet Red Army heading further. First sung in Soviet troops on New Year's Day, January 1, 1939, the song became an instant hit and became one of the most popular songs of the Red Army.

Rokossovsky is very satisfied with the current attack speed of his guards. The Soviet meteorological department predicts that the bad weather will last for about 10 days. This is undoubtedly a very favorable condition for the Soviet Red Army that is about to attack Kyiv. After all, their air force is really not the opponent of the Luftwaffe.

"We have survived on this land for thousands of years, this is our advantage! We know the cold here, we know the snowfall here, stand here and feel the cold wind pouring down my neck, I know the terrible snowfall At least it will last for a few more days." He said confidently to his assistant: "And our opponent obviously still underestimated the severe weather here in the Soviet Union."

Even if the preparations are better, the German army can barely make it so that the coming of winter will not affect their combat operations, but the Soviets can take advantage of this bad weather. They know how to use these weird weather. It is the extension of geographical conditions, and this is the terrible thing about local advantages.

Although he already had the upper hand, Korosovsky was still shocked by the tenacity and strength of the Germans. He carefully prepared the attack that he thought could tear the German defense line, but now he only broke through the German defense line, making the attack difficult. It has far exceeded his plan, and even he still can't figure out how many such difficult opponents the Germans have.

He knocked out a German infantry division at the cost of losing two divisions. Although he achieved the greatest victory since the war began, he knew that this exchange was not enough to boast of a big victory. The Soviet Red Army had to invest more troops. Make greater sacrifices to completely tear apart the German defense line on the opposite side.

Rokossovsky walked out of the underground bunker that was originally the German frontline headquarters,

Feeling the cold wind blowing on his face: "Liszt... this German general is really a difficult opponent. He has not given up his position until now. What are you waiting for? Waiting for the distant one Guderian? Or are you waiting for Kluge, who has no skills?"

The news from the other direction is not very reassuring. Guderian's troops have captured a large area of ​​Soviet territory like a race, and the most powerful German armored army, the G Army, has cut into Kharkov and Donnie. Between Tsk, Timoshenko, who is now in charge there, is still unable to judge whether the Germans are going north or south.

Kluge's army group has been doing nothing on Liszt's flank, and it is hard to think that there is still a general who does nothing there. This man, who became a front-line general of the empire by relying on his advice to Akado, is still a meek old man so far. Even the Soviet Red Army on the opposite side of him can breathe a sigh of relief. ambassador of peace.

"Send a telegram to General Zhukov and assure him that before noon tomorrow, my troops will attack Kalinkovic." As he walked in the trenches that had been cleared out but were still covered with blood, He ordered the deputy behind him: "Order the whole army to speed up the attack! Above the regiment commander, you must go into battle in person when you charge! Division commander and army commander, if you can't capture the target on time, you don't need to interrogate, and the military law will be enforced immediately!"

At this moment, Liszt on the opposite side was facing the battle map in front of him with a sad face. It showed that two of his divisions had been defeated by the Soviet Red Army, and another one had been completely wiped out. The General Staff sent a telegram of the total destruction of the division.

Army Group E is gradually heading for destruction. In Liszt's jurisdiction, he has even organized the garrison troops in the rear into combat troops. These recruits with only rifles were organized into the front line to supplement the several divisions that suffered heavy losses. , but the entire e-group army is still unable to make ends meet, and the serious downsizing has reached an outrageous level.

Each division of this group army lost more than 5% of its personnel, and some even reached 20%. Two divisions lost more than half, and one was completely wiped out. This does not include the ammunition consumed on the front line, and the loss has reached a level that the German army has never seen before.

"Ring ring ring!" The phone rang suddenly, Liszt grabbed the phone, and Akado's voice came from inside: "Good afternoon, General Liszt, I am Akado Rudolph."

"Wow!" Liszt quickly stood at attention, and then replied respectfully: "Long live the great head of state Akado? Rudolf! My head of state! Do you have any orders for me to serve?"

"It's very simple! I just heard the report on the loss of Army Group E. I think it's necessary for me to call you personally. I want to know if I'm sure if I stand on the ground for 10 days?" Akado's voice came from the headset Obviously, he must also be concerned about the extent to which the war situation in northern Kyiv will deteriorate.

"My head of state! I can guarantee that my troops will continue to hold out for another 10 days, or even 11 days if necessary, but if the nearby reinforcements do not move in advance now, can they survive in this bad weather on time? Rush to reinforce the defeated Army Group E." Liszt said worriedly: "I'm afraid you will lose the entire Army Group E, and even Kyiv behind Army Group E."

Akado was silent for a while, and when Liszt thought the phone was dropped, he slowly said: "I have a way to reinforce you with 20,000 people within 10 days, and they are well-trained elites." , but this force will only appear in Kyiv, not anywhere else. You just need to continue to follow the plan and retreat little by little."

"Try to preserve your own strength, and then wait for the moment of victory, my lord general! Victory will definitely belong to the Third Reich!" Akado hung up the phone after finishing his sentence.

"I really want to know, if I can't stop the opponent's attack, then the next move we prepared will be useless... At this time, the head of state even called me personally, asking me to stick to this direction 10 days." Putting down the phone in his hand, Liszt once again moved his eyes away from the already chaotic maps, and then muttered to himself: "It's just that I insist here, and there is no follow-up support preparation. What's the use?"

Akado called Liszt and asked him to hold on for 10 days. Liszt is still a little sure, but he has not yet obtained the specific numbers of the troops that came to reinforce him, and there is no news of the actions of several nearby armies. , This made him very worried. He was worried that his group army would suffer unbearable losses, and he was also worried that his defeat would make the situation in the entire southern region unmanageable.

"Let the rotating 5 divisions go to the front line! Don't reserve ammunition reserves! Give me a ruthless blow on the last line of defense! Then give up Kalinkovic and retreat to Ovrucci!" called himself The chief of staff and some nearby army commanders and division commanders, Liszt issued an order according to Akado's request, and he was going to move his defense line between Korosten, Marin and Ivankov, so that Army Group E At least 2 days of rest time can be added, and it will also allow Liszt to calmly arrange his own defense lines in these cities.

"Let those supplementary soldiers watch the prisoners of war build a new line of defense! I will give you one day, and we must build a line of defense in these places that is enough for us to hold on for more than 3 days!" Liszt pointed at these cities and said to his men they said.

So a large-scale retreat began. The Germans abandoned the line of defense they had held for two days and retreated to Kalinkovich behind them. A brutal skirmish gave way at dawn to the important city of Kalinkovicz.

The Soviet Red Army was singing all the way on the northern front. It seemed that Kyiv was already under their attack. Rokossovsky gave the order to continue the attack, ignoring the full 200 vehicles that had broken down on the road and were abandoned. Model t-34 tanks and kv-1 tanks. The Soviet Red Army that occupied Kalinkovicz continued southward, rushing towards their new goal-Ovruch.