I strode into the headquarters and saw Chistyakov and a group of commanders gathered around the table looking at the map. In order to attract their attention, I raised my voice and asked: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what is the situation, when will our troops be able to join forces with General Chuikov's troops?" ”

After I finished speaking, I saw Chistyakov's face turned pale, and after staring at me for a while, he shook his head and said helplessly: "The situation is very bad, Comrade Commander, almost all of our troops and General Chuikov's have not moved in their original positions. ”

Chistyakov's words gave me a hint of foreboding, and I walked quickly to the table, glanced at the commanders who were staying in the room, and found that not only several division commanders of the 23rd Guards Army were there, but even Kravchenko, Berey, Povsky and others were here. I turned my gaze back to Chistyakov and asked sharply: "Comrade Deputy Commander, please tell me, what is really going on here?" ”

"Comrade Commander, allow me to report to you!" Next to him, Kravchenko stepped forward, straightened up and said in a pleading tone: "I'll tell you what happened!" ”

"All right, Comrade General," I said, sitting in a chair at the table, looking up at Kravchenko, "and let me tell you about the current situation." ”

Kravchenko was heard: "Although General Chuikov launched a fierce attack on the enemy's line during the day, and achieved great results. But in the battle, whether it was the preparation of artillery fire before the attack, or the bombardment of the enemy's positions, they did not wait to destroy the enemy's artillery. As a result, when our troops began to assemble in the east of the city, they were attacked by German artillery fire, and the troops suffered heavy casualties. ”

"What, in the process of massing, the troops were attacked by German artillery fire?!" Hearing this astonishing news, I immediately jumped up from my seat and asked in amazement, "What are the casualties of the divisions?" ”

"The 51st and 52nd Guards Divisions suffered more than a thousand casualties in total, and General Kravchenko's tank corps also lost fifteen tanks in the enemy's artillery fire." Chistyakov reported to me with a blank face: "We may not be able to launch an offensive against the enemy before tomorrow morning. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander," I heard Chistyakov say, and simply asked coldly: "When will our troops complete their build-up and storm the enemy's defensive positions?" ”

"Comrade commander, as I just said, our troops have suffered heavy casualties in the enemy's artillery fire, and they must rest." Chistyakov, thinking that I had not heard what he was saying, repeated what he had just said: "I do not think that the troops will be able to attack the enemy's defensive positions until tomorrow morning. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander," seeing that he still insisted on launching another attack tomorrow, I couldn't help but raise my tone again: "Didn't you hear me clearly?" What I ask is, when will our troops be able to complete their build-up and launch an offensive on the enemy's defensive positions? ”

There was silence in my answer, not only Chistyakov, but also all the commanders in the room. Seeing this, I pointed with my hand at Povsky, who was standing not far away, and asked: "Comrade Artillery Commander, where is our Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion?" ”

"It's all deployed in the eastern part of the city." Povsky glanced at Chistyakov, and then cautiously said: "We are ready for battle and ready to fight." ”

I saw Povsky's reaction, and I guessed in my heart that he might have advocated continuing the offensive, but his proposal was involuntarily rejected by Chistyakov. That's why after hearing my question, I behave so hesitantly.

From the moment Chistyakov repeatedly stressed that the troops would not be able to attack until tomorrow, I decided to take command from him and personally direct the troops to attack the enemy's defensive positions. I turned my gaze to Tavart Kiradze and asked in an accentuated tone: "Comrade commander, can you tell me how many troops your army has in the east of the city?" ”

"The 51st and 52nd Guards Divisions, as well as a regiment of the 375th Infantry Division, are in that direction." Tawart Kiradze cautiously replied: "As soon as you give the order, I believe that our commanders and fighters will rush to the enemy's positions without hesitation. ”

"Comrade commander, it's good that you have this kind of awareness." I ignored Chistyakov and said to Ta****** Kiradze: "Immediately gather the troops, and in half an hour we will launch an attack on the enemy's defensive positions." Fortunately, it was now starting to get dark, and the enemy's air force could not be dispatched. ”

After Tavart Kiradze had left, I instructed Bovsky: "Comrade Artillery Commander, immediately organize the Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion to fire a salvo at the enemy's exposed artillery positions, and then bombard the enemy's defensive positions after the enemy's artillery has been dumbfounded." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Povsky said yes, turned and walked out of the headquarters.

When I came to Kravchenko, before I could say anything, he preemptively said: "Comrade commander, rest assured, I will go and gather the remaining tanks now, and as soon as our shelling is over, I will immediately lead the troops to launch a full-scale attack on the enemy's defensive positions." ”

Seeing that Kravchenko understood my intentions, I smiled and nodded, and then said: "Comrade General, without further ado, you can go back to the army and arrange it now." After saying this, I said to Bere, who was standing next to me without saying a word, "And you, General Bere, should also go with your commander to make preparations for the attack." ”

When only me and Chistyakov were left in the command, I walked up to him, and just as I was about to speak, he nodded, and then said: "Comrade commander, maybe I'm too old, so I've become cautious. You are right, although we were under heavy German fire when we were assembling, we should not postpone the regrouping until tomorrow morning. ”

When I saw that Chistyakov could think like this, my heart was much more steady. I walked back to the table and sat down, looked up and asked him, "Is there any news from General Chuikov?" ”

"Yes." As he spoke, Chistyakov picked up a piece of paper from the table, handed it to me, and at the same time said: "Comrade commander, look at it, this is a telegram from General Chuikov not long ago. ”

I took the telegram, glanced at it a few times, and found that Chuikov's message was not short, so I calmed down and looked at it carefully. It reads: "After a short artillery preparation, the army group attacked again, cleared the village of Dolgenikoye from all the defenders, and advanced to the western edge of the forest, south of the village. By order of the commander of the Front, Rusyanov's mechanized corps, in dense battle formation, launched an attack on the enemy's defensive positions.

As soon as our tanks crossed the heights south of the village of Dolgenikoye, they fell into the network of enemy tank fire that was lying in ambush and hidden in the bushes. The enemy's anti-tank fighters used direct aim fire, which hit our tank and caught fire. For the first time, I saw how the enemy used anti-tank torpedoes against our tanks, which were fired from trenches and guided by wire. The explosion of the torpedo tore the tank into several large pieces of steel and flew out of ten or twenty meters.

Before our artillery could carry out a powerful fire rush on the enemy's tanks and trenches with great firepower, we could only watch with a heavy heart as our tanks were destroyed by the Germans one after another......"

After reading this telegram, my heart became heavy, I did not expect that the German defense would be so tenacious. Chuikov and they opened the way with hundreds of tanks, but they couldn't get a passage out of the German defenses, so with a few dozen tanks, can we overcome the well-fortified positions of the German army?

At this moment, I suddenly felt that I had just made a mistake with Chistyakov, who did not postpone the attack because of timidity, but wanted to prepare more well before the battle. Thinking of this, I said to him apologetically: "I'm sorry, Comrade Deputy Commander, I just blamed you. I thought ......"

Before I could finish my sentence, Chistyakov interrupted me with a smile: "You still think that I was frightened by the strength of the German army, which is why I postponed the attack. Is that what you think? ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander," I confessed with some embarrassment, "that's what I thought. ”

"It's a small thing, you don't have to worry about it." After Chistyakov said this, he began to persuade me again: "Comrade commander, the situation in the east of the city is very complicated at the moment, and I advise you not to go there for the time being until our troops start an offensive. ”

I knew that he was thinking about my safety, but in order to show his heroic and fearless image in front of his subordinates, I stubbornly said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, since I am the commander of the army group, then I should stay with my soldiers. When the fighters know their commander, watching their every move from behind, it can certainly play a morale-boosting role. ”

Although I verbally said that I was going to the forward observation post and saw with my own eyes how the fighters charged the enemy's positions. But by the time I arrived at the forward observation post where Tawalt Kiradze was located, the commanders and fighters of the 51st and 52nd Guards Divisions, guided by our tanks, had rushed to the enemy's position.

Because it was getting late, the specific battle situation was not clear. All you can see is the fire in the distance, and the crowd swaying in the firelight. Compared to my nervousness, Tavart Kiradze looked very calm, and he even smiled and said: "Comrade commander, you see, our troops are rushing forward. It's amazing, our troops rush forward and are sure to kill the enemy to the ground. ”

After looking at it for a while, I put down my binoculars, turned my head and asked Tavart Kiradze: "Comrade Commander, can you contact General Chuikov here?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Tavartkiradze led me to a walkie-talkie and said to me: "This walkie-talkie can talk to General Chuikov wirelessly, but the signal may not be very good." ”

Hearing him say this, I thought to myself, even if the signal is not good, it is better than sending a telegram. So he instructed the soldier sitting in front of the walkie-talkie: "Operator, immediately contact the commander of the Eighth Guards Army, General Chuikov, and say that I have something urgent to find him." ”

After a few minutes, I put on my headphones and started talking to Chuikov. As Tavartkiradze said, the signal was not very good, and the sizzle of electricity was constantly coming from the headphones, and I had to tear my throat open and shout loudly when I was talking to Chuikov: "Hey, General Chuikov, hello, I'm Oshanina." ”

"Hello, Leda, it's nice to hear from you." Chuikov also said loudly: "I heard from my observation post that there were fires and explosions to the west of the enemy's defensive position, so you should have launched an attack from the enemy's west, right?" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." I was deeply afraid that if Chuikov and them did not move, then the enemy would be able to put the focus of defense in my direction, so I hurriedly urged: "My two guards divisions, under the cover of tanks, are launching a fierce attack on the enemy's positions under the cover of tanks. Please also attack at the same time, and contain the enemy's forces so that they cannot withdraw their forces for reinforcements. ”

"Don't worry, Leda." Chuikov said confidently: "As soon as I received the information, I was ready to attack. I intend to let the tanks of the 1st Guards Mechanized Army rush in front of our army group to clear the way for the infantry. ”

"I hope we can meet before dawn." I really couldn't stand it yelling and talking like this, so I hurriedly said: "General Chuikov, I wish you good luck!" ”

"We'll see you then, Leda." Chuikov said politely: "I also wish you good luck!" ”

After I finished talking to Chuikov, Tavartkiradze cautiously asked: "Comrade commander, do you really think that we will be able to meet General Chuikov's troops before dawn?" ”

"It should be possible, Comrade Commander." According to the history I know, after a failed Soviet offensive in one location, it usually does not launch another offensive in the same area for the next few hours. The Germans mastered this offensive law of the Soviet army, so they usually shifted the focus of defense to other places after repelling the Soviet attack. And this time, according to this law, I judged that after repelling the attack of Chuikov's troops and carrying out a rapid artillery attack on us, they would think that we were not capable of attacking again. That's why he categorically ordered the troops to attack again, so that the Germans could be taken by surprise. "Everything will be clear after dawn."

Fierce fighting continued all night, and it was not until dawn that the sound of gunfire outside became sparse. A telegraph operator suddenly shouted at me excitedly: "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, commander of the 309th Regiment, wants to speak to you. ”

I put on my headphones and said loudly into the microphone, "Hey, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin?" I'm Oshanina, what's going on ahead of you? ”

"Report to Comrade Commander," Lukin reported to me in an excited voice, "that after a night of fierce fighting, our regiment has cut through the three lines of German defense and joined forces with the tank detachment of the 1st Guards Mechanized Army, which has rushed from the opposite side!" (To be continued.) )