As soon as the attack time came, the artillery troops, which had already been on standby, opened fire on the German defensive positions.

In an instant, the German army's positions were like an erupting crater, wrapped tightly by rising black smoke, and the smoke exploded inside. One by one, one by one, one by one, and one by one, bursting everywhere. The explosion was full of flames.

Listening to the movement outside, Rebarco smiled and said to me: "Lida, I think the German position could not withstand such fierce artillery fire. Once the artillery fire stopped, our tanks would rush again, and the German defense would be completely destroyed."

Compared to Rebarco's optimism, I was extremely calm. As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately said coldly: "Comrade General, the situation may not be as optimistic as you imagined. Just now, on the way to negotiate in the city, I saw that the German troops were concentrated on the second line of defense, and there were only a few troops serving as guards on the first line of defense."

My words surprised Rebarko. Before he could speak, Melinikov asked first: "Did the Germans plan to give up their first position?"

"It's not like this, comrade of the military committee." I repeated what I said to Panfirov just now to the two of them, and finally said: "You must know that Tarnobol is a fortress, and the fortifications outside the city are mainly reinforced concrete. If our artillery does not use special special shells, it will be difficult to destroy these fortifications."

"Lida, if I don't understand it wrong, you think it's very difficult for us to seize Tarnobol." Rebarco asked slowly: "Is it a painful price to even seize the first line of defense?"

"Maybe not." I remembered that I had not decided on my own, and had already communicated with Rebarko and the others, and quickly said, "On the way back, I met General Panfirov. I told him that if I wanted to seize the first line of defense of the German army at the fastest speed, I had to move the tank troops to a position two hundred meters away from the enemy's position before the artillery was over. Once the artillery was over, I would immediately launch a tank assault, so that the German troops could seize their positions first when they returned to the front line."

"Let our troops, when the shelling is bombarded, are they two hundred meters away from the German positions?" Melinikov was startled again by my words. He asked in surprise: "In this way, aren't the troops that are outgoing easily injured by artillery fire?"

"No, comrade of the military committee." This time it was Rebarco who took the lead in answering me and replied: "Our tank soldiers are all in the tanks, and the flying shrapnel will not cause any harm to them."

"If this is the case, that's great." After Melinikov said this, he turned his eyes back to me and said flatteringly: "It's still General Oshenina who has rich combat experience and can come up with such a good way. If I were to command, I would probably have to wait until the artillery bombardment is over before the officers and soldiers of the tank army will leave their positions to attack the German army."

In order to take care of the face of Melnikov, I blew up and said, "Military Comrade, you can't say that. You are a political cadre. If you talk about political and ideological work, I can't compare with you."

Melnikov seemed to be very helpful to my words. After listening to my praise, he said a few words in person, and even poured a cup of hot tea, put it in front of me, and said friendly: "General Oshanina, you have been busy all morning this morning and must be tired and hungry. Have a cup of hot tea first, and I will let the comrades below prepare food for you immediately."

Since it was Melinikov personally, the table was soon filled with sliced ​​sausages, biscuits, black bread slices, canned American braised meat, and a can of homemade pickled mushrooms.

I couldn't eat alone, so I greeted Rebarco and others: "The shelling has just begun and it will take an hour to end. Everyone should sit down and eat something first. Even if you have to command the battle, you have to eat enough first."

Hearing me say this, Rebarko and Melnikov looked at each other, then sat down from my left and right, and the Chief of Staff sat opposite me. After eating two biscuits, I took another sip of tea and said casually: "I seem to hear you say that there are more than 100,000 residents in the city, but when I entered the city, I didn't seem to see anyone on the street."

I was just chatting, but who knew that when Melnikov heard me say this, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked in surprise: "Comrade Oshenina, what did you just say? When you entered the city, you didn't find any residents in the city?"

"Yes," I nodded and replied, "I don't know if it was the Germans who were the residents who cooperated with our actions and were not allowed to go out; or if the residents in the city had moved to other places."

"It is unlikely to ask the residents of the city to help us." Melinikov shook his head and said, "You know, the residents of Western Ukraine have not recognized the Soviet Union because they have been joining the Soviet Union for a short time. It is said that when the German army occupied these areas, the local residents even welcomed the streets with flowers in their hands, treating these fascist invaders as their liberators."

"So, were the residents moved to other places by the Germans?" After Melnikov finished speaking, I carefully expressed my opinion: "If this is true, then our tactics of siege can be adjusted accordingly."

After hearing what I said, the Chief of Staff, who was eating, stopped, helped swallow the bread in his mouth with tea, looked at me and asked, "How to adjust the tactics?"

"After entering the city, we generally do not use heavy artillery in densely populated areas to avoid accidentally hurting the residents of the city." I said according to my previous experience: "But if the German army evacuated them from the city, the situation would be different. For those strong fortresses, we can use artillery with confidence."

"Lida, can you drink some wine?" Just as the Chief of Staff and I were arguing about how to use artillery in the city, Rebarco asked suddenly: "The weather is cold, drink a little to warm up."

"Thank you, Comrade General." I waved my hand at Rebarco and said apologetically: "I won't drink."

"Where are you, comrade of the military committee?" Seeing that I rejected my friend, Rebarko was not angry, but turned to Melinikov and said, "Only one small cup will not only not affect your normal judgment, but will also make your body warmer."

"Well, since that's the case, I'll have a glass." After Melnikov said that, he called a soldier and told him to pick up the wine glass.

When the wine glass was taken, Rebarco poured wine into the wine glass, while seemingly casually: "To seize Tarnobol, we must first remove all the German positions outside the city. This task will take at least four or five days. As for whether heavy artillery should be used in the city and how to use heavy artillery, we will talk about it when the German army's periphery is cleared."

Rebarco's words made me realize suddenly. I asked him why he suddenly asked me if I was drinking? It turned out that he was worried that the Chief of Staff and I had an unnecessary dispute over irrelevant things, so he used drinking to divert our attention. However, his method was indeed very effective, at least we did not mention the issue of using artillery again.

With the last five minutes left before the shelling was over, Rebarco stood up and walked to the position where the phone was played. He picked up the microphone and clicked it in his ear and dialed a number. After a while, I heard him say to the microphone: "Hey, is it General Panfirov? I am Rebarco."

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, and then continued: "According to the order of the Deputy Commander of the Front Army, your tank troops should now advance to the German positions that were being bombarded. Have you implemented this order?"

Rebarko quickly put down the phone and walked back, and said to me with a smile: "Lida, General Panfirov, are following your troops and leading the tank troops to advance to the first line of defense of the German army."

I felt very satisfied when I heard Rebarko say this. At least in the 3rd Army of the Guards Tank, what I said was as good as Rebarko's words. So I replied with a smile: "Comrade General, let's wait for good news. If you are lucky, ten minutes, at most ten minutes, General Panfirov's troops can occupy the first line of defense of the German army."

A quarter of an hour later, Panfirov personally called and reported good news to Rebarko: "Comrade Commander, my tank army has occupied the first line of defense of the German army, and the infantry is currently cleaning up the remaining enemies in the fortifications."

"Good job, Comrade Panfirov." Rebarko gave me a wink and signaled me to go over and listen to the other party's report. When I walked to his side, he continued to say to the microphone: "I think the German army on the second line of defense is ready. It may not be that easy for you to seize the position as easily as before. Now there are two things you need to do: one is to send troops to eliminate the remaining enemies in the first line of defense; the other is to re-adjust the deployment of troops after eliminating the remaining enemies, let the tanks guide the infantry and launch an attack on the enemy's second line of defense."

After Rebarco put down the phone, the Chief of Staff immediately came over and asked for instructions: "Comrade Commander, do you see if you order the artillery to launch another shelling attack on the second line of defense?"

"No," Rebarko waved his hand at the Chief of Staff and said, "The distance between the first line of defense and the second line of defense is only 500 meters, and the nearest one is only 300 meters. If our artillery bombards, it is easy to cause unnecessary accidental injuries. Let General Panfirov's tank army complete the attack on the second line of defense alone."

"Since General Panfirov captured the first line of defense of the German army so easily, the performance of the attack in the north should not be too bad, right?" Melnikov approached me and whispered: "Do you see if you call General Afuning to find out the progress in the north."

In fact, even if Melnikov doesn't say it, I will call Afuning next. After all, I am now in charge of the coordinated work between several troops. After I called the 18th Army Command of the Guard Infantry, I heard Afuning's voice and asked directly: "Comrade General, how is your situation there? Have you launched an attack on the German peripheral positions?"

"Yes, comrade, deputy commander of the Front." Afuning replied respectfully: "As soon as the shelling was over, the 121st Guard Infantry Division, under the guidance of the tanks of the 61st Guard Tanks, launched an attack on the German peripheral positions."

From Afuning's tone, I guessed that there may not be any results yet, but in order to verify my judgment, I continued to ask: "How is the current progress?"

"Our assault troops have reached only three hundred meters away from the German fortifications, but due to the suppression of German artillery and machine gun fire, the troops suffered some losses." Afuning reported to me in a tactful tone: "Although no results have been achieved for the time being, our officers and soldiers were very brave."

Now I am most afraid of hearing clichés like "the soldiers are very brave". Usually when someone reports to me, it means that their offense has not made any progress. Since the battle has just begun, I can't urge Afuning too much, so I can only say casually: "Okay, Comrade General, if you have any latest results, report to me at any time."

After I put down the phone, I said to Rebarco: "Comrade General, Afcon's playing style is too stable. It was only after the artillery was over, that the infantry attacked the German defensive positions under the cover of the tank. Now it is suppressed by the enemy's artillery fire and machine gun fire, and cannot continue to move forward for the time being. It seems that in order to conquer this fortress, we can only place hope on you."

"Don't worry, Lida." Rebarco immediately replied with a smile when he heard me say this, "Our commanders and fighters will definitely not disappoint you."

Now I am most afraid of hearing clichés like "the soldiers are very brave". Usually when someone reports to me, it means that their offense has not made any progress. Since the battle has just begun, I can't urge Afuning too much, so I can only say casually: "Okay, Comrade General, if you have any latest results, report to me at any time."

After I put down the phone, I said to Rebarco: "Comrade General, Afcon's playing style is too stable. It was only after the artillery was over, that the infantry attacked the German defensive positions under the cover of the tank. Now it is suppressed by the enemy's artillery fire and machine gun fire, and cannot continue to move forward for the time being. It seems that in order to conquer this fortress, we can only place hope on you."

"Don't worry, Lida." Rebarco immediately replied with a smile when he heard me say this, "Our commanders and fighters will definitely not disappoint you."
Chapter completed!