"What, Commander Konev looking for me?" Hearing Akhromeyev's report, I was a little surprised and said: "We are not fighting with his troops now, what is he looking for me?" ”

Hearing my question, both Chistyakov and Bezikov shook their heads blankly, while Kirillov said: "Lida, if there is anything, you will know when you go and answer the phone." ”

I walked over and took the microphone from Akhromeyev's hand, took a deep breath, and said politely: "Hello, General Konev, is there anything wrong?" ”

"Hello, Comrade Oshanina." Konev heard my voice and said with a smile: "I have good news for you, my 53rd Army is crossing the Dnieper and preparing to take over Kremenchug, which General Moskalenko has ceded, so that you can fight side by side with General Managarov again." ”

"Great, that's great." When I heard that I could join hands again with the troops who had fought side by side in Kharkiv, I couldn't help but be overjoyed and said: "Comrade General, thank you for telling me this good news. ”

"General Managarov, as soon as they took over Kremenchuk, they will launch an offensive on Alexandria and Kirovgrad." Konev continued: "I hope that your troops will be able to cover his right flank and not be attacked by the Germans. Is there a problem? ”

"Don't worry, Comrade General." I stared at the map in front of me and said, "At present, in addition to Kanifu and Cherkasy, our army has also captured the cities of Smilla and Spora, and has connected the entire defense area. The remnants of the German army between us are now too busy to take care of themselves and simply do not have the energy to take the initiative to attack. ”

"If that's the case, that's great." Konev then added: "Comrade Oshanina, do you know? Our five fronts are now converging on the banks of the Dnieper and are about to launch a final onslaught on the enemy. I believe that it will not be long before the Germans in the entire Ukrainian region will be completely driven out of our territory by us. ”

"Yes, Comrade General, the situation must be like this." I flatteringly said: "We have more than two million troops, and the enemy has only a few people, they will definitely not be able to stop our fierce offensive, or it will not be long before they will be driven out of the territory of Ukraine by us." ”

After the end of the call with Konev, I felt more and more confident. I said to Chistyakov and Bezikov: "Deputy commanders, chiefs of staff, you have seized the time to draw up a plan for the capture of Kolosteviv so that we can cut off the enemy's line of communication from Kiev to Zhytomyr in the shortest possible time after the battle begins. ”

Chistyakov nodded, and then asked: "Comrade commander, I don't know which unit you plan to send to take up the main attack mission this time?" ”

I thought about it, and then said: "The troops participating in the battle were the 71st Guards Division of Colonel Babachin, the 77th Guards Division of Major General Askarepov, and the Fifth Guards Tank Army of General Kravchenko. Well, with these three forces, I am sure that they will be able to accomplish the task of cutting off the Kiev-Zhytomyr line of communication. ”

When Chistyakov, Bezikov, and Akhromeyev went to draw up a battle plan, Kirillov leaned his head over and said with some excitement: "I never thought that we could actually gather more than two million troops on the five fronts along the Dnieper River. This time, even if Manstein's troops can fight again, it is estimated that he will not be able to stop the simultaneous attack of our five-way army. ”

"You're right, Comrade Military Commissar." I echoed Kirillov's statement, and then continued: "Our army has been constantly tempered in the war, and now its combat effectiveness has been greatly improved, and the initiative on the battlefield is gradually in the hands of our army. It would be really strange if the Germans could not be defeated in this way. ”

I gave the task of cutting off the Kiev-Zhytomyr line of communication to General Sivakov's 22nd Guards Army, and the commander of the 23rd Guards Army, General Tavart Kiradze, heard about it somewhere, so he ran directly to the headquarters and asked me for battle.

In the face of the many commanders of the group army, he said to me with a look of grievance: "Comrade commander, although the troops of our army have suffered great losses in the battles of the past few days, you can't just hand over the task of cutting the Kiev-Zhytomyr road to the 22nd Guards Military District, right?" ”

Instead of answering his question, I asked, "So what are you going to do?" ”

"Does this need to be said, Comrade Commander?" When he heard me say this, he thought he had seen a glimmer of light, and then said with a hippie smile: "Let's leave this important task to our army." I assure you that we will succeed in our mission. ”

"No," I waited for him to finish speaking, and immediately said in an unquestionable tone: "Your army has suffered too much losses in the early battle, especially the 375th Infantry Division of Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, which has just been replenished with 3,000 recruits, and the combat effectiveness of the troops has not yet been formed, so it cannot participate in the battle for the time being. ”

"Even if the 375th Infantry Division can't participate in the war, then Colonel Sederikov's 51st Guards Division can always participate in the war, right?" Speaking of this, Tavart Kiradze lowered his voice and said: "Comrade commander, I know that Colonel Sederikov is your old subordinate, don't you give him a chance to make meritorious contributions?" ”

Hearing Tavart Kiradze say this, I was really moved by the idea of letting Shedelikov do something, and the order almost blurted out. But when I thought about it, I immediately rejected Tavart Kiradze's request again without hesitation: "No, more than 2,000 recruits have been added to the Shederikov division, and I will not consider sending them into battle until they have completed their training and made them combat effective. ”

"Comrade Commander," seeing that my other proposal was vetoed by me, Tavartkiradze was a little anxious, "Although our troops have paid a lot of price in the battle, our combat effectiveness has not been affected, after all, there are still so many fighting backbones left. If you get them into the fight, I'm sure they won't disappoint you. ”

"Comrade commander, I think that since the generals are so eager to fight, we can't let him chill." Perhaps seeing Tavart Kiradze pleading with me, Chistyakov was a little overwhelmed, and he also helped the other party and said: "Although we have sent two guards divisions with a tank corps, although the troops seem to be quite numerous, they have to penetrate deep into the enemy's rear, and this point of strength is a bit weak. So I suggest that the 51st Guards Division also be included in the offensive list this time. ”

"Chief of Staff, what is your opinion?" I asked, looking at Bezkov.

Bezikov looked at me, then looked at Tavart Kiradze, who was looking anxious next to him, and after thinking for a moment, replied: "Comrade commander, I agree with the deputy commander to let the 51st Guards Division also participate in this battle, right?" ”

"Major Akhromeyev." After listening to Bezikov's statement, I still did not express my opinion, but looked at Akhromeyev next to me: "How do you think about it? ”

"Comrade commander, my opinion is the same as that of the Chief of Staff," Akhromeyev replied without hesitation: "You must know that the Kiev-Zhytomyr line is, after all, the lifeline of the German army, and in the event of an attack, it is estimated that German soldiers will come from all directions and surround our surprise troops." If we had a strong army, we would not have to worry about this siege and wait patiently for reinforcements to arrive while we deal with them. ”

Seeing that everyone's opinions were agreed, I didn't continue to insist, but said smoothly: "Okay, General Tavart Kiradze, since everyone agrees with the participation of the 51st Guards Division in this battle, you should go back as soon as possible and inform Colonel Sederikov, so that he can hurry up and train his troops and strive to make more meritorious contributions in this battle." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I will definitely convey your words to him." After Tawart Kiradze said these words excitedly, his expression returned to normal: "Allow me to go back to the army?" ”

"Go ahead!" I waved at him and motioned for him to leave.

After Tavartkiradze left, I said to Chistyakov: "If we are going to transfer three guards divisions at once this time, the deployment of troops in the defense zone may have to be adjusted appropriately. ”

"Of course, that's as it should be." Chistyakov took over and said: "Since the defense area of the Steppe Front now borders on us, then we don't need to deploy so many troops in the south, and the extra troops will just fill the void after the departure of the 51st Guards Division, so as not to let the Germans find out about our strangeness." ”

"Commander, deputy commander." After waiting for Chistyakov to finish, Akhromeyev cautiously said to us: "I think we should send a few more reconnaissance teams to conduct uninterrupted reconnaissance of the Kiev-Zhytomyr region to prevent accidents." ”

"Accident?!" Hearing Akhromeyev say this, Chistyakov couldn't help but sneer, and then said contemptuously: "Comrade Major, what do you think will happen?" ”

Hearing Chistyakov ask such a tricky question, Akhromeyev looked at the other party without changing his face and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, although we have gathered more than two million troops along the Dnieper River, there are many German defenders near Kiev, and there are quite a few armored divisions among them. If we don't find out in advance where these panzer divisions are, I'm afraid that even if our troops capture Korostviv, it will be difficult to hold there. ”

"Could it be that one of our elite Guards tank corps can't defeat a few incomplete armored divisions of the German army?" Chistyakov shrugged off Akhromeyev's concerns and said: "You think too much. ”

The sudden argument between the two made me stunned, and I said to myself, didn't I just ask you to make an attack plan together, why did such a big disagreement suddenly arise now? Thinking of this, I hurriedly raised my hand to stop the two, and then said, "Okay, deputy commander, major, you don't argue anymore." ”

After the two of them had quieted down, I first said to Chistyakov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think the major is quite right, we must send a large number of reconnaissance teams to reconnoiter the situation of the German army, so that we can have a clear idea of what is going on in our actions. ”

Then I turned to Akhromeyev and said, "Major, in order to find out the distribution of the enemy's forces as soon as possible, in addition to sending Travkin's reconnaissance battalion, we must also have each division send its own reconnaissance unit. The situation detected should be reported to the group army headquarters in a timely manner, and I will leave this matter to you with full responsibility. ”

Knowing my resolute character, Akhromeyev immediately went to call the division commanders and asked them to immediately send a reconnaissance detachment to reconnoiter the movements of the German troops in the northwest.

After everyone got busy again, Kirillov said to me with emotion: "Lida, when I broke through from Kyiv with my troops, I never dreamed that I would be able to fight back so soon. At that time, when we broke through the siege, we did not have time to bury the remains of many of the sacrificed commanders and fighters because we were fighting and retreating. I hope that after the liberation of Kyiv this time, their remains can be collected and buried properly. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar." If I hadn't been transferred back to Moscow, I might have been able to break out of the encirclement with more commanders and fighters when the Germans re-encircled Kyiv. "When Kyiv is liberated, I will send someone to do this, and I must let the bones of the heroes be buried in the ground." (To be continued.) )