In the days that followed, our entire army group did not take any military action, except to build fortifications in the occupied areas in order to prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall and carrying out a possible counterattack against us.

Colonel Sedjerikov's 51st Guards Division is now stationed in the cities of Smilla and Spora. Two days ago, after receiving my orders, he evacuated the overcrowded Spora, and all the rest of the people, except for the original residents, moved to Smilla, where only troops were stationed.

This order I gave was endorsed by everyone in the headquarters. Kirillov was even more impressed, and he said to me: "Lida, you have given this order very correctly. Spola is a small city, with a population of just over 10,000, but now it has increased to 80,000 due to the Germans, and it is estimated that many residents have to sleep on the streets. Now that the weather is getting colder, if they don't arrange a place to stay as soon as possible, they may freeze to death after a few snowfalls. ”

Kirillov was originally praising my evacuation of the population, but he invisibly reminded me: The winter in Russia began in October, and now October has passed for several days, and it may snow tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but the vast majority of our commanders and fighters are still wearing thin summer military uniforms.

Thinking of this, I immediately instructed Bezikov: "Chief of Staff, please contact the logistics department of the front army as soon as possible, and ask them to replenish us with winter clothing as soon as possible. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Betzikov replied respectfully: "I will call the logistics department of the front army and ask about replenishing our winter clothes." ”

When Bezikov went to make a call, my eyes were looking around the room, and I was surprised to find Chistyakov sitting at the table, staring intently at the floor of the table, looking lost in thought. I walked up to him and sat down, and asked in a low voice, "Comrade Deputy Commander, what are you thinking?" ”

As soon as I asked this, Chistyakov immediately came to his senses in deep thought. He looked at me and smiled, and then said: "Comrade commander, I am thinking about when the troops of the Front will launch a full-fledged offensive against Kyiv. ”

His words aroused my curiosity, and I looked at him and asked with a smile on my face: "Comrade Deputy Commander, when do you think we will launch an attack on Kyiv?" ”

"There is still a month left, and it is the October Revolution Festival." Chistyakov stared at the map and said without raising his head: "According to the tradition of our army, the Supreme High Command may make November 7 the day of the reconquest of Kiev to celebrate our great holiday. ”

"That's right, I think Comrade Deputy Commander has a reasonable analysis." "In the recent period, our army has won victories of varying degrees in various theaters of the country. So next, the liberation of Kyiv will be a gift for the celebration of the great October Revolution. ”

"The Germans are massing heavy forces in the Kyiv region to confront us." I only remember that the liberation of Kyiv in history took place after the Battle of Kursk, and as for the specific time, I don't remember very well. So I can only say vaguely: "If you want to take this heavily guarded city, I think it will take at least half a month, that is, the time for the front army to launch an offensive will not be later than October 23." ”

Speaking of this, I stopped, and secretly thought in my heart: if the attack on Kyiv is really going to be launched on the 23rd, then the front command should convene a military meeting ten days before the campaign is launched to deploy the combat missions of the various army groups. But it's the 9th today, but there is no movement at all, could it be that I misjudged?

Before I could come up with a reason, the phone in front of us rang suddenly, startling me. Just as I raised my hand to grab the microphone, Chistyakov grabbed the microphone first, put it to my ear, and said loudly: "Hello, I am Chistyakov, deputy commander of the army group!" ”

Then I heard him keep saying, "Yes!" "Got it!" Clichés like "Okay, I'll obey your orders". I carefully observed his expression, and when I saw his eyebrows fluttering, I guessed that nine times out of ten this matter had something to do with the attack on Kyiv.

As soon as he put down the phone, I asked straight to the point: "Comrade Deputy Commander, is it a call from the Front Army Headquarters informing us to go to a meeting?" ”

Hearing my question, Chistyakov's smile immediately froze on his face, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked curtly: "Comrade commander, how did you guess." ”

I smiled and did not answer his question, but said to Bezkov, who came over: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I will go to the headquarters of the Front Army with the deputy commander and the military commissar later, and I will leave all the work here to you." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Hearing my work arrangement, although a trace of displeasure flashed on Bezikov's face, he quickly returned to normal, "The work here will be handed over to me, you can go to the meeting with confidence." ”

After four hours on the road, the jeep we were in finally arrived at Priluki, where the headquarters of the Front Army was located, in the evening. We passed through the anti-aircraft positions made up of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns outside the city and entered the city. Although it was already some distance away from the anti-aircraft artillery position, Chistyakov, who was sitting next to me, kept looking back at the neatly arranged self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in the distance.

"Comrade commander," Chistyakov asked with some curiosity, "do you think these anti-aircraft guns outside the city can intercept the enemy's planes?" ”

"That's for sure, Comrade Deputy Commander." After glancing behind me with the help of the rearview mirror, I said to Chistyakov: "At the time of the Battle of Kursk, our army group was attached to a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment. As long as there is a place for them, for the enemy's aircraft, it is a nightmare. In each anti-aircraft operation, in the end, except for a few aircraft, the rest were shot down by intensive artillery fire. ”

Due to the strength and structure of the Voronezh Front today, as many as forty or fifty commanders came to attend the meeting. After entering the conference room, the commanders of the various armies sat in two rows at the long conference table where the teacups were placed.

In addition to Vatutin, the meeting was presided over by Zhukov and Vasilevsky. After Vatutin's brief opening remarks, he got down to business. The Chief of Staff, Major General Korzenevich, pointed to the map and said to everyone: "...... According to the plans of the high command, our front was supposed to seize the landing field of Lyujiezh north of Kiev and the landing field of Bukrin south of Kiev. And then add the troops from Priluki and at once carry out a storming of Kyiv from three directions. ……”

In the course of the narration of the chief of staff of the front army, I keenly noticed that there were some differences among the upper echelons on the direction of the attack. Zhukov, for example, advocated a breakthrough from the Lyukierh landing site in the north to the south, which was his usual style. Stalin, on the other hand, believed that the direction of the assault of our front should be closer to Konev's troops, so that the four fronts currently fighting in Ukraine could line up and attack side by side, so he ordered our front to gather the main forces and technical equipment at the Bukrin landing site to launch an offensive against the defenders in Kiev.

When Major General Korzhennevich said the end, he turned his gaze to my position and continued: "Thanks to General Oshanina's Sixth Guards Army, which successfully captured the cities of Kanivo and Cherkasy, it played a role in pinning down the German army. Because of this, we met much less resistance than we estimated when we built the Lyudezh landing field north of Kiev, and we succeeded in establishing a landing field north of Kiev at a very small cost.

The Buklin landing ground to the south became insignificant with the successful crossing of the Guards Sixth Army. At this point, Korzenevich picked up the baton again, walked to the large map hanging on the wall, pointed to it and said to us: "Now our main forces can cross the river from Kanifu to our offensive starting position. Therefore, the Front Command made a decision to let General Moskalenko's 40th Army, transfer the existing defense area to General Konev's troops, and then move north as a whole, and after passing through the defense zone of the Sixth Guards Army, covertly enter the offensive position. ”

During the hour-long meeting, I heard Vatutin's assignments to the 27th Army, the 40th Army, the 47th Army, and the 3rd Guards Tank Army, but they did not say a word as if they had forgotten us.

Chistyakov, who was sitting behind me, was a little breathless, leaned forward slightly, leaned close to my ear and whispered: "Comrade commander, what is the task of our army group?" ”

Under the gaze of Zhukov and Vatutin, I didn't have the courage to turn around and whisper something to Chistyakov, so I could only shake my head lightly, indicating that I didn't know.

At this moment, I heard Vatutin calling my order: "Comrade Oshanina. ”

I quickly got up from my seat, straightened up and replied loudly, "Here!" ”

Vatutin smiled and asked, "Do you know why I assigned tasks to almost all the troops, but not to you?" ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade General, I don't know." I replied loudly. 、

After looking at each other with Zhukov, who was sitting next to him, Vatutin turned his face to look at me, smiled and said: "At present, your Sixth Guards Army is in control of the landing ground south of Kiev, and our main forces will pass through you, and will continue to drive to the other side of the river, and be ready for all battles. Your task, in addition to arranging the accommodation of these participating troops, is also responsible for protecting the landing ground. ”

"Protecting the landing ground?" When I heard Vatutin's question, I couldn't help but be stunned, and said in my heart, in the face of such a powerful offensive from us, could the Germans still draw up extra forces to attack our Kanifu and Cherkasy? I muttered in a whisper: "Our army group was the first to rush across the Dnieper and destroyed so many enemies, and now we have switched to a passive defense, and I am afraid that it will affect the morale of the troops." ”

Zhukov's ears were sharp, and when he heard my whining words and saw the disapproving look on my face, he restrained the smile on his face and said to me with a straight face: "Leda, the Germans will never be willing to be exterminated by us, and they will definitely carry out a crazy counterattack." If we do not leave behind a strong and trustworthy force in the Kanivo area, then when our attacking forces are defeated, we risk being driven back to the other side of the Dnieper by the Germans. ”

Seeing that my face was flushed with shame, he slowed down and said, "Lida, when you go back, tell the soldiers that although you did not participate in the main attack, you did not participate in the battle passively. By holding on to your existing positions, you are creating a solid rear for our attacking forces, so that they can attack the defenders of Kyiv with confidence and courage until they destroy the enemy and free the great city of Kyiv from the clutches of the enemy again. ”

As soon as Zhukov finished speaking, I hurriedly replied loudly: "Please rest assured, Comrade Marshal, that when I return, I will convey your words to the soldiers, so that they can understand the importance of holding the existing defensive zone and ensure that the friendly forces can successfully liberate Kyiv." ”

"Not bad at all." After Zhukov waited for me to finish, he nodded and added: "Also, the troops of your group army suffered large casualties in the early battle, so you can take advantage of this time to rest and recuperate, so that the troops can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, so that they can play a greater role in the next battle." ”

When Zhukov had finished speaking, he raised his hand and pressed it downward, motioning for me to sit down. Then he turned his head and asked Vasilevsky: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, do you have anything else to add?" ”

"No, Comrade Marshal." Vasilevsky said politely to Zhukov: "What should be said, you and the chief of staff of the front army have just finished speaking, I have nothing to add. ”

"Now that everything that needs to be said has been said," Zhukov said to Vasilevsky with a smile, turned his gaze and scanned the audience, and announced, "Then dismiss the meeting!" ”

At his command, the commanders attending the meeting all stood up, raised their hands to salute him, and then turned around and slowly left the conference room. I was about to leave when I heard Zhukov calling me from behind: "Lida, you stay, I have something to tell you." ”

Chistyakov, who was walking beside me, heard Zhukov's words, and hurriedly approached me and whispered: "I am waiting for you outside with Comrade Military Commissar." With that, without waiting for me to say anything, he quickened his pace and left the conference room with the other commanders. (To be continued.) )