Burning Moscow

Chapter 1708 Qiao crossing the Spree

After learning that Krivošein’s troops had established a foothold in the north of the city, I hurriedly returned to the headquarters of Trikov’s 8th Guards Army. Because in my memory, after Hitler’s suicide, Hans Klebs, the German chief of staff, went to Trikov’s defense zone to negotiate surrender. The senior commander who hosted the negotiator with Trikov at the time was Sokolovsky, the deputy commander of the front army. Now history has shifted here. In other words, the person who received Krebs will become me and Trikov. .

However, before leaving, I deliberately asked Zhukov for instructions: “Comrade Marshal, I have something to ask you.”

Zhukov was immersed in the map. Hearing what I said, he said without looking up: “Lida, what’s the matter, just tell me that you are also the deputy commander of the front army. Don’t be so restrained.”

“Comrade Marshal, if, I mean if,” Although I knew that as soon as Hitler died, Klebs, as a representative of the German side, went to Trikov’s defense zone to negotiate, but the time for attacking Berlin at this moment is earlier than in history. For two months, I don’t know if Hitler will stay in Berlin like in history, and finally choose to commit suicide, so I can only ask in a hypothetical tone: “The German army sends representatives to negotiate with us. How will we deal with it? ”

Zhukov probably never dreamed that I would ask him this question. He raised his head and stared at me for a long time, then turned to look at Terekin standing next to him, and then smiled and said: “Comrade Military Commissioner, You see, as soon as our troops arrived in Berlin, Lida had already thought about how to suffer the surrender.”

“Lida, you are too impatient.” Terekin also said with a smile: “Berlin is a big city, let alone our army has not completely besieged it, even if it is besieged, it is not necessary to seize the city. It can be beaten in ten days and a half. It is indeed too early to talk about accepting the German surrender.”

I can’t tell them that it only takes ten days at most for us to take this city. While I was thinking about how to reply to the two of them, Malinin hurried over with a telegram and reported to Zhukov: “Comrade Marshal, I just received a report from the base camp saying that the British and American air forces will be at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning, yes. Berlin carried out a large-scale bombing, and then did a good job of identifying friend or foe to avoid accidental bombing.”

Zhukov took the telegram and checked it, and then told Malinin: “Chief of Staff, you go and inform the troops that have entered Berlin. Tomorrow morning, the British and American Allied Air Forces will bomb the city. No troops are allowed to enter the city until the airstrike is over. , So as not to cause unnecessary accidental injury.”

The artillery commander Kazakov, who was sitting in the corner, heard Zhukov’s order and quickly stood up and asked: “Comrade Marshal, the shelling we planned, will we continue?”

“Of course we must continue,” Zhukov said, nodding his head: “The British and American air forces bombed them, and we bombed ours without interfering with each other. Comrade Kazakov, remember that during the shelling, let the artillery strike as accurately as possible. Never hit a building where civilians live.”

I disagree with Zhukov’s statement, because we simply cannot know exactly which buildings are the German defensive positions and which buildings are populated by civilians. If bombing and shelling work together, a lot of civilians will surely be injured by accident. The best way for them is to escape the city or hide in the subway, so as to ensure their personal safety.

I took advantage of the time Kazakov turned to call, and said goodbye to Zhukov: “Comrade Marshal, if there is nothing else, please allow me to return to the 8th Guards Army.”

“Wait a minute, Lida.” After Zhukov stopped me, he walked out from behind his desk, “If a representative of the German army really appears and asks you to surrender, you immediately report to me, and I will tell you what to do. How to deal with it.”

“Yes!” I promised, and just about to leave, I heard Zhukov continue to say: “Also, according to the latest information we obtained, Konev’s two tank armies were covered by swamps, rivers, and densely packed tanks on their way to the north. The minefield and the German defensive positions are blocked, and it may not be possible to reach the southern suburbs of Berlin tomorrow. Therefore, the 1st Army of Guards Tanks of General Katukov should stay with the troops of Cuikov to fight.”

I heard that Katukov’s troops could be kept, and my heart felt a lot more at ease. Although the role of tanks and self-propelled artillery in urban street fighting cannot be compared with that in field battles, it is better than nothing.

After I returned to Trikov’s headquarters, I first told him that Katukov’s troops would stay with us to fight side by side, and then asked about the situation in the southern suburbs of the city: “General Trikov, I remember our convoy advancing south. , Encountered a large number of refugees on the road, how did you deal with them?”

“What else? I have asked people to set up a card on the road to prevent any refugees from entering Berlin, and sent someone to a small city nearby.” Cui Kefu looked at me and specifically explained to me: “At this time Letting them into the city is tantamount to letting them die in vain. We Soviet soldiers did not come to Berlin for destruction and massacre. We have gone through a difficult path to liberate the land of the motherland and the people of fraternal countries from the hands of the fascist invaders. We have come to Berlin now to rescue the German people from the rule of darkness, to eliminate the fascist system in Germany, and to eliminate the most dangerous source of aggression forever.”

I heard that Cui Kefu had arranged for someone to **** the refugees to a nearby small city, and the rock hanging in my heart fell to the ground. If thousands of refugees are really allowed to enter the city, they will definitely become the victims of our army’s attack on Berlin. They will either be killed by artillery shells or bombs, or they will not be killed by stray bullets. Cui Kefu sent them to the nearby city, which is also a great deed of immense merit.

Early the next morning, densely packed British and American bombers appeared over the city and dropped countless bombs on the city. Group Army Artillery Commander Pozharsky also asked Trikov for instructions: “Comrade Commander, since the Allied aircraft is bombing the city, do our scheduled artillery preparations continue?”

“Comrade Artillery Commander,” I replied before Cui Koff: “Although the Allied bombing was fierce, they were not clear about the German defense in the city. The bombing may not achieve the desired results. If you want to destroy the Germans. Fortifications, we still have to rely on ourselves.”

“I understand!” After I finished speaking, Pozharsky nodded and said, “I will order the artillery to fire on the city!”

The shelling and bombing were not over yet, but Katukov ran to Trikov’s headquarters first. Seeing that I was there, he asked me straightforwardly: “Lida, my tank army is about to attack the city, but the task we face is very difficult. In the street fighting, the square and the streets were empty. The enemy hides in buildings, the top floors of houses and basements to organize defenses. Tanks cannot see the enemy, nor can they enter buildings, roofs and basements. At the same time, tanks are the living targets of anti-tank fighters. They use burning {burning} bottles , Especially long-handled anti-tank rockets against our tanks.”

The problem that Katukov mentioned is also what I am worried about. Although I have taught many middle and high-level officers at the Frunze Military Academy the theory of street fighting, when encountering actual combat, I will still be concerned about sudden incidents. And headache.

Perhaps it was the expression of my frowning and thinking that made Katukov misunderstood. He quickly explained to me: “I am not saying that our tanks and tank soldiers cannot participate in the battle in the city. What I want to express is not this. Meaning. In urban street fighting, tanks are also needed, but I don’t think it should be used as an independent unit, but should be assigned to infantry to fight together.”

“General Katukov,” I took Katukov to the front of the map and pointed to the eastern suburbs of Berlin and said to him: “You see, the streets of Berlin are very spacious, and they are completely suitable for our tank operations. In order to prevent When the situation you mentioned occurs, we should group tanks and infantry together and let them conduct coordinated operations.

During the offensive, the infantry should search and advance about 30 meters in front of the tank, and now and promptly eliminate the German anti-tank fighters; while the tank uses two parallel vehicles to advance, and the two tanks can cover each other during the march. On the other side’s flank, this tactic was used in the battle to liberate Poznan.

When the enemy’s firepower point in the building is discovered, our tank fire should immediately destroy it, cover the infantry and commanders to rush up, and wipe out the remaining enemies…”

After listening to the theory of street fighting that I introduced, Katukov discussed with Cuikov about coordinated operations, and then left. At this moment, the shelling came to an end.

I heard Vladimirov asking Trikov: “Comrade Commander, where should we attack?”

“We have to cross the River Spree from here and set up 6 games on the opposite bank, and then the troops can attack the urban area of ​​Berlin.” Cui Koff clicked on the map with his hand and said: “The origin is from Laussy in the southeast. At the northern foot of the Ibaraki Mountains, it flows northward through wide swamps, forming many lakes, which merge into the Havel River in the Berlin area. Every spring is its flood season, and it is not known whether our troops can cross this river smoothly. .”

“Comrade Commander, don’t worry, our troops will definitely be able to cross the Spree River smoothly.” At the door came the voice of Engineer Tkachenko, who walked in with him, and the logistics minister of the Army Group Bo Major General Kaznikov. After the two came to Trikov’s presence, Tkachenko said excitedly: “We have transported ten motorboats equipped with Maxim heavy machine guns by truck. Comrades from the Dnieper Fleet helped us. With these motorbikes, Boat, we can quickly send our troops across the river.”

“What? You got a motorboat.” Trikov jumped up from his seat excitedly when Tkachenko said that. “This is really great. The River Spree is only two hundred meters wide. If we use a motorbike, In the case of a boat, it only takes a few minutes at most to send the troops to the other side. This is really great, and I want to help you both!

Hearing that Cui Kefu wants to ask for his own merits, smiles appeared on the faces of both of them, but Tkachenko said modestly: “Comrade Commander, we just did what we should do. Do we want to ask for merit? We should appeal to these commanders who shed blood and sacrificed on the front line.”

There are always discrepancies between the plan and the actual situation. Both Cui Kefu and I think that if the troops want to successfully cross the Spree River, they can only rely on the ten motorboats and some wooden boats collected by the engineers and logistics departments. Unexpectedly, after our offensive troops arrived at the river, unexpectedly they were now on our side of the river, docked with a large number of kayaks and motor boats available for transportation, and even a few barges with a large load. .

After receiving the report, Cui Koff immediately ordered the commander on the front line: “Immediately order the infantry to board the ship and attack the opposite shore. We must establish our 6 games in the German defense line in the shortest time.”

The troops receiving the order boarded the ship immediately, and under the cover of machine guns and mortars, they attacked the opposite shore.

The battle lasted for only ten minutes before it was over. We learned from the frontline reports that the Germans thought that our army would not cross the river from here, so only a weak garrison team was left to defend on the other side of the river. In the face of our army’s swift and violent offensive, these units with extremely low fighting will, after only a weak resistance, put down their weapons and surrendered to our army.

After getting the troops to successfully cross the Spree River Trikov immediately ordered Pozharsky: “Comrade Artillery Commander, our troops have already established the Dungeon 6 on the opposite bank of the Spree River. You can also use these barges to cross the river with our artillery and establish an artillery position on the other side.”

Hearing that the artillery could cross the river, Pozharsky immediately smiled and nodded and said: “Understood, Comrade Commander, I immediately notify the artillery to rush to the Spree River to be safe, and from there board the boat to cross the river to the other bank.”

After Pozharsky left, Trikov called Tkachenko to his front and said: “Comrade Chief Engineer, although we have motorboats and barges that can transport infantry and artillery, the speed is still too slow. You organize immediately. Manpower, erect a pontoon bridge on the Spree River so that our troops can advance quickly to the opposite bank.”

After finishing the assignment, Cui Koff turned his head and looked at me and said, “Lida, as long as our troops have a firm foothold on the other side of the Spree River, our headquarters can move there.”

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