Chapter 159 The roar of artillery fire

From his chief of staff's mouth, he heard a hint of defending Major General Rakutin, the commander of the 24th Army. Zhukov, with an even more unhappy look on his brow, immediately knocked back the reminder.

"The artillery mistakenly hit the head of our own troops and I will remove the artillery chief from his post! But tell Rakutin that if he cannot complete the tasks I assigned him according to the planned combat plan, then I will have the ability and courage to remove him from his post." ! This is an order from the Front Army Headquarters, and I need him to carry it out!"

I saw with my own eyes that the former Chief of Staff of the Red Army who came down from Moscow had a temper that was as fiery as a front-line battle. The Chief of Staff was even more convinced of the rumor that Zhukov dared to have a big quarrel with Stalin in the Kremlin office. After saying more, he nodded to Zhukov.

"Understood, Comrade Commander, I will convey your order to the 24th Army Headquarters."

Soon, after receiving an order message from the Front Army Headquarters that was full of Zhukov's irritable atmosphere, Major General Rakutin, who was the commander of the 24th Army, naturally did not dare to neglect it at all.

The fact that Zhukov was Stalin's favorite general was as well known throughout the Red Army as Comrade Stalin's fondness for using pipes to relieve his boredom.

Although there are rumors circulating in the army that Zhukov fell out of favor after a big quarrel, and was demoted to the front line commander by Stalin, who was in anger.

But regardless of whether these rumors from the mouth of a caring person are true or not, Rakutin, who only holds the rank of major general and only serves as the commander of the group army, asks himself whether he is still in front of General Zhukov who was the chief of staff of the entire Red Army not long ago. It is an existence that is so small that it can almost be ignored.

Facing Zhukov's steely and tough order, Major General Rakutin, whose breathing became slightly thicker, quickly issued the order that was full of death and gun smoke.

"Order the artillery units of the group army and front-line divisions to immediately extend the barrage fire to the German second defensive position! Use all the artillery of various calibers that can fire! I only want the defense of the Germans to be blown into a wasteland Position, no matter the process!”

As the order of the group army commander Major General Rakutin was issued, two fully organized 203mm B-4 heavy howitzer battalions affiliated with the 24th Group Army immediately began loading projectiles, and they were also under the direct command of the group army. The four Katyusha vehicle-mounted rocket launcher battalions and the artillery units of each division once again began to vent their anger on the German second defensive position.

The two German infantry divisions, which had just established a foothold on the second reserve defense position and had not had time to breathe, were once again subjected to a baptism of crazy artillery fire from the most powerful field artillery group on the planet.

Just one shot of the raining 203mm high-explosive projectiles can create a huge crater the size of a pond in the German field defense positions.

The barrage of Katyusha rockets that swept across the sky and the earth with overwhelming force was simply more intense than the coldest ice and snow storm in Northern Europe.

Countless German position defense troops were buried alive in the mounds of earth after their position's artillery holes were blown down. Even the German infantry who were not directly hit by the shelling and luckily escaped the bomb holes were still not much better. . The symptoms of bleeding from all the orifices and deafness in both ears were the best results at the moment. Such ferocious bombardment was something the German army, which had conquered the entire Europe, had never encountered before.

Bathed in the terrifying sound of shelling that seemed to shake the whole world, pacing back and forth in their field command post, the two commanders of the German infantry division had no choice but to pin all their hopes on the 2nd Air Wing of the German Army Group Center. Above, but even worse bad news followed one after another in the fierce bombardment of the Soviet field artillery that showed no signs of stopping.

"The supporting air force was intercepted by the Soviet aviation force over the city of Yelniya. Its operations were blocked. It was unable to provide air support until the battle for air supremacy was completely guaranteed? Damn bastard, I knew this Herman Meyer would only brag as usual. The ground is unreliable, and now we have been abandoned by the air force!”

Reich Marshal Göring, who was shot even though he was lying far away in Berlin, was directly blamed by the furious German infantry division commander. However, Marshal Kesselring, who currently serves as the commander of the 2nd Air Wing of the German Air Force and is responsible for providing air support for the entire Army Group Center, is really powerless in the face of the frontline situation.

Due to Hitler's brutal intervention in the direction of the frontline war and strategic offensive, the 2nd Air Wing under Marshal Kesselin, which was originally planned to be used in the center of the attack, now had to accompany the center of the war south to support the Ukrainian theater. The ground forces of Army Group are responsible for providing main air support for the Kiev battle that has already begun.

As a result, Marshal Kesselin, the most powerful man with more than 1,600 combat aircraft of various types, had to face the embarrassing situation of fighting on two fronts. At the same time, he prepared for two large-scale battles on the central and southern fronts. Provide air support, which clearly exceeds the maximum combat load of the 2nd Air Wing.

In order to ensure that the Battle of Kiev is resolved as soon as possible, Marshal Kesselin, who transferred all the main forces of the 2nd Air Wing to the south, is obviously at his wits end.

The air force that can currently be used in the direction of the Yelnya theater is pitifully small compared to the entire strength of the 2nd Air Wing. To use such a small amount of air power to seize air supremacy from the Soviet aviation supported by the Moscow Fighter Aviation Corps is really not as difficult as when Operation Barbarossa was first launched.

The unreliable results of our own air support forced the German artillerymen, who were like younger brothers in front of the Soviet field artillery group, to bite the bullet and launch an artillery counterattack against the Soviet army in an attempt to reverse the situation.

But even this last hope, which was reported as a life-saving straw by the German infantry division commander, quickly disappeared amidst the rumble of Soviet artillery fire.

Compared with the Soviet field artillery group, the German artillery, which was not at the same level in terms of quantity or overall strength, quickly paid the price for its reckless actions.

The Soviet artillery, which was offended after being hit by the German reverse shelling, quickly drew out part of its artillery fire to launch a retaliatory counterattack. The Soviet field artillery group, with a range far beyond that of the German artillery, could defeat the German artillery under any circumstances. within the effective strike range.

The German artillery, which had been lively just a moment ago, was soon completely silenced under the dense barrage of the Soviet artillery 122, 152, and 203 heavy artillery groups.