Steel Soviet Union

The baby's matter has been resolved, but Malashenko still has things to do next, which does not mean that he can rest now.

"Is there any news? How are Comrade Political Commissar and their current situation?"

Even though they are so far apart, Malashenko is still worried about the situation on the North Road of Comrade Comrade Political Commissar. I believe this is the same for Political Commissar Petrov.

The radio station temporarily installed in the station can contact the political commissar. In the form of a telegram, Malashenko can learn about the latest first-hand situation of the political commissar.

"There is a reply. Comrade Political Commissar and the others are doing well. They asked us how the situation is here."

Holding the telegram Varosha handed him in his hand, he read it quickly at a glance.

The general content of the telegram stated that the troops on the northern route have now arrived near the protrusion, and Commissar Petrov, together with Kulbalov and Lavrinenko, are beginning to prepare for the first phase of the initial offensive. .

Also due to Malashenko's absence, the command of the troops on the northern route was taken by Lavrinenko, the deputy division commander, and political commissar Petrov, who was the political deputy commander, and worked with the front army headquarters in Va. Keep in touch with Tu Jing.

Because the war is tight, it is necessary to pull out the nail planted by the Germans as soon as possible and push the entire Bagration operation to the next stage as soon as possible. The overall strategic schedule cannot be delayed, so the order issued by Vatutin It was also urged very hard.

Originally, after long-distance cross-country maneuvers, the tanks were supposed to undergo an overall overhaul and maintenance. However, when Political Commissar Petrov and his troops arrived at the target area, the Baltic Front troops who had been rendezvous were already waiting there, waiting for the heavy armored troops to arrive. The first phase of the offensive can then be launched.

This group of guys, supported by the powerful naval guns of the Baltic Fleet, indeed advanced very fast, rushing all the way along the coastline. All German sticks in the way were blasted into slag by the naval guns and sent to the sky.

In the end, when the main force of the German army was defeated, the remaining small groups of German troops, consisting of cats and dogs, did not dare to move up at all. Even if they did, they would be used as cannon fodder for the naval guns, so they had to retreat.

It sounds like good news, but Comrade Political Commissar also told Malashenko the bad side of this matter in the telegram.

A considerable part of the German fleeing troops who were chased away by the powerful naval guns of the Baltic Fleet retreated to the northern protrusion where a large number of German reinforcements were already stored.

This place is just outside the gun range of the Baltic Fleet, and it is the closest to the front line. Of course, it is also a solid foothold with the most solid defense and the most reliable backup. Many of the defeated German troops who were bombarded ran to this place in a panic to seek shelter, fearing that if they continued to run, they might be intercepted by the enemy and die on the way.

Although most of the German troops that poured in later were defeated troops that had already been defeated once, they could not withstand the large numbers.

Intelligence provided by the Baltic Front showed that at least 7 Wehrmacht division-level units with different designations had fled into the salient. This did not include other independent German units that were at a lower level than the divisions that had fled, nor did they include the original German units. Those stationed here hoarded German troops.

Based on preliminary estimates based on the information available at hand, Commissar Petrov felt that in this conical protrusion with a width of less than 12 kilometers from north to south and a depth of only 27 kilometers, there are at least 5 fully equipped infantry divisions and 2 infantry divisions. A relatively complete armored division, as well as 7 incompletely routed infantry divisions, 1 partially routed armored division, and an unknown number of other lower-level German combat units, along with a small number of servile troops and Ukrainian puppet troops.

According to a rough estimate, the total strength of this sizable enemy force must start at at least 150,000, with no upper limit of 200,000. There is no larger group of enemy forces on the entire frontal battlefield than this group of enemies. The density of German troops in the salient was unprecedentedly high, and some of the severely damaged German troops may have withdrawn to rest outside the salient and farther back.

However, Comrade Political Commissar's judgment is that as long as the war situation becomes tense and necessary, these German troops may be reorganized at any time and return to the battlefield with a little replenishment. The Germans will maintain this final land hub connecting the two northern and southern army groups at all costs.

Therefore, we must not underestimate the enemy in strategic prediction, and we must be prepared to fight with the enemy in the largest number and in the worst-case scenario at any time.

The good news is that the headquarters of the Baltic Front and the Third Belarusian Front have been informed of the news and are dispatching more follow-up reinforcements to help.

But it needs to be pointed out that there are not a large number of tank troops among these reinforcements. Now the entire Bagration operation has entered the climax of the war. Almost all tank troops have tasks or are still fighting with the enemy. Unable to escape from the fierce fighting, they could not rush to the northern salient to join the battle.

In other words, the tank unit that took the lead in the encirclement, suppression and annihilation campaign in the northern salient was the invincible and meritorious 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division. A heroic unit with the designation of a division, but actually used by Vatutin as a tank army.

The actual situation in the northern protrusion is far more serious than expected. This is the most direct meaning expressed by the political commissar to Malashenko at the end of the telegram.

If possible, Malashenko had better finish taking care of things in the south as soon as possible, rush north, and lead the main force of the division to join him as soon as possible. The most important thing is that the division commander must be in charge of the next battle. After the first phase of the peripheral clearance battle, we will soon face a real in-depth fight to the death. This must have the division commander Malashenko personally commanding and coordinating the overall situation.

"The situation is worse than expected. The Germans in the northern protrusion have a big pot of fat waiting for us to stew. Comrade Political Commissar alone cannot eat so much. We must return to the team as soon as possible to join them."

After putting away the telegram, Malashenko was still thinking about one last thing. After handling this last troublesome matter, he could immediately lead his troops to the north to meet up with the political commissar comrades.

"How's the baby doing? We'll leave as soon as the truck is loaded. It's been almost forty minutes since the battle ended, and there's not much time to waste."

Just when Varosha was about to report the latest situation after listening to Malashenko's words, a messenger who quickly ran into the room suddenly interrupted the conversation.

"Comrade leader, it's an emergency!"