Although Chistyakov understood my intentions, Kirillov and Bezikov were confused by his explanation. Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on me again, I had to explain to them again: "After the Germans were repulsed by our 40th Army, they retreated along the road to Kiev. Although their morale is low, if they encounter stubborn resistance from our army, in order to escape, their desire to survive will be aroused, and in this way, their combat effectiveness will increase exponentially, like a torrent of unstoppable power. If we rely on a defensive position that is not strong enough to block the attack in this situation, even if we barely block them, we will pay huge casualties. ”

At this point, I deliberately pause to see how everyone reacts. Bezikov looked at me, nodded thoughtfully, and then said: "Comrade commander, what you said is quite reasonable. The madness of the German attack completely exceeded our imagination, otherwise the 1243 Regiment would not have been disabled by the Germans in such a short time. ”

Seeing that Bezikov understood what I meant, I continued: "If the enemy is a flood, then our army is a dike." Once the levee is no longer able to support the impact of the flood, the best thing to do is to discharge the flood. As the flood rushes out of the gap we have opened, the impact will soon wane, and we can slowly pick up the pieces. ”

Hearing this analogy I made, Kirillov's face showed a sudden realization. He nodded and said, "Lida, your analogy is very vivid, I see what you mean." When the Germans saw that the passage in front of them was opened, they immediately saw the hope of life, in this case, even if they knew that there was still an enemy nearby, but everyone's heart thought, since there is a chance to live, then run forward, rush forward, as long as they rush out of this death zone, even if they escape. ”

"That's right, that's what it means." Chistyakov added: "In the process of fleeing the enemy, our troops who have long been ambushed and launched a surprise attack on them, they are simply not able to organize effective resistance, and the troops may collapse in an instant." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone on the desk rang. After listening to the microphone for a while, Bezikov said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, it was General Nekrasov who called, he said that the enemy had entered the ambush area of the 52nd Guards Division, and he asked if it was possible to strike immediately. ”

"Let's strike!" After I said it lightly, I felt that it was too brief, and Nekrasov might not be able to understand my intentions, so I specially added: "Tell the division commander Nekrasov that when the troops attack, they should be vigilant and prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall and turning around and biting us when we attack or pursue." ”

"Understood." Bezkov agreed, and then said into the microphone: "Comrade division commander, the commander ordered you to attack immediately. However, when attacking, you must be vigilant enough to avoid the Germans jumping over the wall and biting you. ”

As soon as Nekrasov's phone hung up, Lukin's call came in. He said with some emotion: "Comrade commander, the Germans have almost completely passed through the defense area of our division, and I beg you to allow me to lead the commanders and fighters of the other two regiments to pursue the fleeing Germans. ”

"No, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." To this request of his, I immediately denied it in an unquestionable tone: "If you all go after the enemy, then who will defend the position?" ”

"A division of the 40th Army has just been stationed in the defense area of our division, and they can take over our defense." Lukin was afraid that I would not agree, and he played the emotional card to me: "Comrade commander, our 1243rd Regiment almost suffered casualties in the blocking battle, and the whole division was holding back anger in their hearts, wanting to repay the blood debt from the Germans. ”

When I heard that friendly troops had entered Lukin's line, my heart was much more reassured. Thinking of having such a force to help us hold our positions, it would be impossible for the Germans to turn around and go south even if they found that the road ahead was impassable. Moreover, the commanders and fighters of the 375th Infantry Division are eager to fight, and they should also be given a chance to vent their emotions. Thinking of this, I nodded slightly, and then said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, as long as you can convince the friendly forces to help you hold your position, you can lead the troops to attack for so long." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander," Lukin said to me with an oath, "I will convince the commanders of the friendly forces to let them take over our defense." ”

After finishing the call with Lukin, I sat at the table for a moment, then got up and went to the wall to pour tea, but as soon as I picked up the teacup, the phone on the table rang again. I glanced over to the position where the phone was set up, and saw that Akhromeyev had picked up the phone, so I continued to pour my own tea.

Before I could fill the cup with tea, I heard Akhromeyev call me: "Comrade commander, it's your phone." I put down the teapot, took the half-filled teacup, and walked slowly towards the table, thinking to myself: "I wonder if the person who called me was Nekrasov or Lukin?" ”

Seeing my unhurried appearance, Akhromeyev's face showed a nervous expression, he covered the microphone with his palm and whispered to me: "Comrade commander, it is General Moskalenko who is looking for you!" ”

Moskalenko?! I think the name sounds familiar, but I just can't remember who it is. Seeing my dazed look, Chistyakov, who was standing at the table, reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, General Moskalenko is the commander of the 40th Army. ”

Oh, it turned out to be the commander of the 40th Army! After Chistyakov's reminder, I immediately remembered who this general was, although I had known him as early as the Battle of Stalingrad, but because of the disgraceful role he played in the fall of Zhukov in the history I know, I have always had a bad impression of him. 、

I put the teacup on the table, took the microphone from Akhromeyev's hand, took a deep breath, put it to my ear, and said politely: "Hello, Comrade General, I'm Oshanina, may I ask you something?" ”

This politeness and a somewhat distant tone of mine was heard by Moskalenko, who, after a moment of silence, said in a deep voice: "General Oshanina, my troops have crossed the Dnieper today and successfully captured two German cities. At present, one of my divisions has followed the fleeing enemy into the defense zone of your army. As the commanders and fighters are already very tired from continuous fighting, I would like to ask you to let your troops take over the task of pursuing the Germans, so that my commanders and fighters can have a good rest. May I? ”

"No problem, no problem, General Moskalenko." I was worried about how Lukin would be able to convince the commanders of the friendly forces to take the defensive position on their behalf. At this moment, when I heard Moskalenko's request, I really wanted to doze off and someone sent a pillow, so I hurriedly pushed the boat down the river and said: "We are friendly troops, I will immediately explain these small things to the commanders below, you can rest assured." ”

Moskalenko also knew that I had some problems with him, and probably prepared a lot of things to say in advance, but I didn't expect that I would agree so happily that he didn't even have a chance to speak. However, he probably felt that it was a bit rude to hang up the phone in such a hurry, and he talked to me for a long time.

When I put down the phone, I rubbed my face, which was a little numb with a smile, then looked up at Bezkov and asked, "Chief of Staff, is there any news from the front?" ”

After hearing this, Bezikov shook his head and said, "Not for the time being, but I estimate that if I wait for another ten minutes, I should be able to receive the battle report from the front." ”

I nodded, picked up my teacup and slowly sipped my tea, staring at the map and thinking in my heart: the German troops who had rushed through the defense line of Lukin's division, in addition to the main force that would flee to Kyiv, might have small groups of troops fleeing to Smilla and Kozon respectively. There was a division of Colonel Sederikov in Smilla, to whom the enemy posed no threat; In Kozon, there was only a motorized regiment of the 5th Guards Tank Army, and if a large force of the enemy rushed over, they might have suffered.

I was considering whether I should call Kravchenko and ask him to send a tank brigade to reinforce Kozon, when Lopukhov walked up to me, handed me a telegram and said with a look of joy on his face: "Comrade commander, General Nekrasov called and said that the fleeing German army had collapsed directly after being hit by the 52nd Guards Division. ”

Hearing Lopukhov say this, my eyebrows rose up, and I was afraid that I had heard it wrong, so I asked again: "Comrade Major, what do you say, that after the enemy suffers a blow from us, the entire army will collapse directly?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Lopkhov looked down at the telegram and said: "General Nekrasov reports that after the enemy was hit by us, the entire army collapsed directly, and the soldiers did not run along the road in the direction of Kyiv, but broke up in all directions. ”

I took the telegram, read it carefully several times, then put it on the table, and said to Chistyakov and Kirillov, who were looking at me: "That's right, judging by this telegram from General Nekrasov, the enemy's troops collapsed directly after being hit by us. If they run along the road towards Kyiv, it can barely be called a retreat, and it is possible to regroup after running for ten or twenty miles, and then turn around and bite us back. Judging from the current situation, the enemy has become a scattered mess, except for a few who are rushing to Kyiv along the highway without hesitation, and most of the remaining enemies are running aimlessly in all directions. ”

"So what do we do next?" Bezkov asked, looking at me.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, since the enemy has become a mass of loose sand, it is time for us to beat the water dogs." With that, I stood up and gave the order to Bezikov: "You immediately call the commander of the 23rd Guards Army, General Sivakov, and ask him to send two Guards divisions to attack at once and let them participate in the battle to clear the remnants of the German army." ”

"That's right, since the enemy is discouraged, then we should pursue it fiercely." As soon as I finished speaking, Chistyakov agreed, and he continued: "I believe that as long as Kanivo's troops attack, the enemy who can safely escape back to Kyiv is estimated to be many." ”

"By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff, you call General Kravchenko again." At this time, I finally made up my mind to let the Fifth Guards Tank Army out, so I decisively gave an order: "Let him send a tank brigade to attack, and destroy all the enemy's armored forces as quickly as possible, and strive not to let one enemy go." ”

Although I also understand that the argument of not letting an enemy go is only to be said, after all, there are forests everywhere nearby, and if a desperate enemy burrows into the forest, unless we use several times the force to search for them, someone will definitely slip through the net. But when giving the order, he had to mention such a sentence, otherwise it would not be momentum enough.

For the next hour or so, Nekrasov and Lukin kept calling and sending telegrams to me to report to me about where they had broken the enemy's defenses, how many enemy they had captured, and so on.

Chistyakov asked for the battle report he had just received from Akhromeyev, who was in charge of recording the results of the battle, and after reading it for a while, he frowned and said to me: "Comrade commander, something is wrong with the situation?" ”

His words startled me, and I wondered if he had discovered some conspiracy of the enemy. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but ask with some humility: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what's wrong?" ”

He put the battle report in front of me, pointed to it and said to me: "Comrade commander, you see, in the battle report of the 52nd Guards Division, in addition to the number of enemies destroyed, the number of prisoners is also written. And in Lieutenant Colonel Lukin's battle report, apart from how many times the German resistance was destroyed and how many enemies were destroyed, there was no provision for prisoners at all. ”

I picked up the battle report and looked at it, and it quickly became clear to me that this was the case. So, I put down the battle report, sighed, looked up and said to Chistyakov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, in fact, the reason why Lieutenant Colonel Lukin did not mention the matter of prisoners is because they did not capture any prisoners at all. ”

"What, no prisoners were taken?" When Chistyakov heard me say this, he couldn't help but cry out: "Comrade commander, you see, in General Nekrasov's report, he has captured more than a thousand prisoners, and no matter how bad the combat effectiveness of Lieutenant Colonel Lukin and his division is, they won't be able to catch even one or two hundred prisoners, right?" ”

I smiled bitterly and replied: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think you have made a mistake, not because they could not capture the prisoners, but because they did not intend to capture them at all. (To be continued.) )