On October 16, the offensive of the Voronezh Front on Kiev officially began.

Hearing the rumbling of artillery from the north, Chistyakov could no longer sit still, he stood up and walked back and forth in the headquarters. From time to time, he paused and looked out the window, as if he could see the battlefield from which the battle was raging.

"Comrade Deputy Commander, stop walking back and forth. You've been walking back and forth like this, and it's all dazzling my eyes, so how can I still work? Seeing Chistyakov's distraught look, Kirillov said a few words teasingly, then pointed to the vacant seat next to him and said: "You just stepped out of a trench in the house, and you can't see the battle going on in front of you." Okay, don't be impatient, sit down first,"

After Chistyakov sat down, he said to Kirillov a little embarrassed: "Comrade Military Commissar, I'm also in a hurry." I was anxious to see other armies fighting the Germans in front, while we had nothing to do here. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander," I was a little unhappy when I heard Chistyakov's words, so I said in a dissatisfied tone: "Although we do not have any combat missions now, we are not idle, and what we are doing now is to prepare for the next battle. ”

After saying these words, I called Akhromeyev over and asked: "Major, how are the fortifications of the 89th Guards Division in Spola being repaired?" ”

Hearing my question, Akhromeyev immediately replied respectfully: "I have just called General Seryukin, and he said that two defensive positions have been built to the west and south of Spola, and barbed wire has been drawn and minefields have been laid in front of them. ”

"Comrade commander, I don't understand." After listening to Akhromeyev's report, Chistyakov asked a little puzzled: "Knowing that the main forces of the German army are in Kiev in the north and the Zaporosh region in the south, why should we build fortifications to the west of Spola?" ”

In response to Chistyakov's question, I looked at him and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, although the main forces of the enemy are in the two directions you mentioned, they are highly mobile, and Manstein may at any time transfer troops to areas where our defense is weak. ”

After listening to my explanation, Chistyakov shrugged his shoulders, pursed his mouth, and said a little disappreciatively: "If I were Manstein, I would never send troops to attack Spola, this is a small city, surrounded by forests and swamps, which is not conducive to the deployment of large forces. ”

"You're right." As soon as he had finished speaking, I continued: "Although Spola has the characteristics you mentioned, it does not mean that the enemy will not use this place as a target for attack. ”

"Why?" Puzzled, Chistyakov asked rhetorically: "Can you give me a reason?" ”

"Quite simply, General Managarov's troops, since yesterday, launched an offensive against Alexandria." Pointing to the map, I explained to him: "After taking the city, they will continue westward to capture Kirovgrad and threaten Uman." The Germans are not fools, they will not sit idly by and will definitely carry out a counterattack. In addition to meeting the 53rd Army from the front, they would also attack from the flanks of the army, and Spora was undoubtedly the best starting point for the attack. ”

Chistyakov looked down at the map in front of him and pointed at it with his hand, presumably deducing the situation I was talking about. After about five or six minutes, he pushed the map away, raised his head and said to me: "Comrade commander, I think what you said is reasonable, according to the information we have in the past two days, the Germans have several infantry divisions and one armored division in Uman, and if they really rush to Spora regardless of it, it is estimated that our defenses may really be broken through by them." ”

"Comrade Commander, a regiment of the 89th Guards Division, which was originally stationed in Zolotonosha, is now crossing the Dnieper." Bezikov asked me: "Where are you going to deploy them?" ”

"Then I don't need to say, Comrade Chief of Staff." I looked at Beziakov and said, "Of course, deploy them in Smilla." In this way, the entire 89th Guards Division was deployed on the front line of Smilla and Spora and was responsible for ensuring the security of the western side of our defense area. ”

After waiting for me to finish, Bezkov then asked: "Comrade commander, do we need to report our plan of sneak attack to our superiors immediately?" ”

"Not yet." I waved my hand at Bezikov and said: "Now that our army's attack on Kyiv has just begun, it is still unknown whether friendly forces can break through the German defenses. ”

"But all our sorties have been assembled," Bezikov asked, somewhat anxiously, "should we just let them stay there and wait?" ”

I sighed and said with some helplessness: "Comrade Chief of Staff, judging by the current situation, all they can do is continue to wait, and only when the enemy's attention is completely attracted by the friendly forces attacking Kyiv will be the best time for us to set off." ”

By noon, we received a telegram from the headquarters of the Front, which gave a detailed account of the morning's fighting. Although the 27th Army, which was the main attacker, launched a fierce attack, in the face of the strong German fortifications, the bravery and self-sacrifice shown by the commanders and fighters would be of no avail, and their attacks were crushed by the Germans again and again.

After seeing the battle report, Chistyakov said to me with a grim face: "Comrade commander, it seems that you are still right. The terrain south of Kyiv is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and even with the support of aircraft, artillery and tanks, it will not be easy to overcome the enemy's strong fortifications in one go. ”

"Yes," Bezkov waited for Chistyakov to finish, and then added: "Judging from the battle report, whether it is the artillery preparation before the attack or the bombing of the air force, the damage caused to the enemy's fortifications is very slight. In just one morning, our casualties amounted to more than 6,000 people, which means that a division has been disabled. If the fight continued like this, if it wanted to break through the German defenses, the 27th Army would probably be completely wiped out. ”

"Comrade Colonel," Chistyakov had a dissatisfied expression on his face when he heard Bezikov say this, and he unexpectedly did not have a position, but addressed the other party by military rank, which shows how angry he was in his heart: "As long as we can destroy the enemy, even if we pay a great price, it will be worth it." But please don't overestimate the enemy's strength, no matter how strong they are, we will not break through the enemy's defensive positions after losing an army. ”

I saw that the two of them might quarrel, so I quickly interjected and said, "Okay, don't talk about it." Chief of Staff, please immediately report our plan for a sneak attack to the Front Command. ”

"Do you want to escalate your plan at this time?" Bezikov asked with some surprise: "You must know that the battle to attack Kyiv has just begun, and it will take at least a few days to attract the enemy's attention from other directions." ”

"Report it!" I didn't explain why, just gave a brief command.

When Bezikov went to send a telegram, Chistyakov asked curiously: "Comrade commander, I think this sneak attack plan should be reported at least two to three days after the battle to attack Kiev begins, because the battle situation is clear at that time, and it is easy for the superiors to make correct judgments." ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, our sneak attack unit has been assembled near Kozon." I smiled at Chistyakov and followed his tone: "We can't let so many troops huddle together and do nothing." ”

Half an hour after our sneak attack plan was reported, Vatutin's phone call reached the headquarters. He asked me on the phone: "Comrade Oshanina, why did you suddenly think of making such a plan?" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." From his tone, I could tell that he was not interested in this plan, after all, there were now four army groups, which were now gathering in the south of Kiev, taking turns to attack the German defensive positions. I hurriedly explained to him: "At the last meeting, I proposed to you and Marshal Zhukov that the terrain south of Kiev is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and that even if our troops pay heavy casualties, it may be difficult to break through the enemy's defenses, so we must think of other ways to deal with the Germans. ”

"So you came up with this sneak attack?" Vatujing asked lightly.

"Yes." I replied in the affirmative: "As long as our sneak attack forces can cut off the Kiev-Zhytomyr line of communication, the enemy in Kyiv will soon be in a situation where he will run out of ammunition and food, and then the main forces of the front, whether attacking from the south or from the north, will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort." ”

"When are you going to go?" Vatutin then asked.

When I heard him say this, I knew that he acquiesced in my plan, and hurriedly replied: "Since the battle to attack Kyiv has just begun, the enemy's attention has not yet been fully attracted by the friendly forces. So I plan to wait two more days, until more German troops have been transferred from some small and insignificant cities to the south of Kiev, and then let the troops set out for a sneak attack. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, there was suddenly no sound in the earpiece. After waiting for a while, I didn't hear Vatutin's voice, I was worried that the line was broken, and I was about to tell Lopukhov to check the phone line, when a familiar voice suddenly came out of the receiver: "Hey, is it Lida?" ”

"Yes, it's me. Comrade Marshal! I was really surprised to hear Zhukov's voice through the earpiece, and after a short period of panic, I stabilized my emotions: "It's nice to hear your voice!" ”

"I just read your sneak attack plan," Zhukov said slowly: "The plan is very detailed, and it seems that this Colonel Bezikov is really the material for being the chief of staff." ”

Seeing that Zhukov did not show his attitude, but was asking about irrelevant matters, I hurriedly replied: "Comrade Marshal, the battle plan was drawn up jointly by the Chief of Staff, Colonel Bezikov, and the Chief of Operations, Major Akhromeyev. ”

"Three Guards Divisions and a Tank Army," I heard the sound of flipping paper coming from the earpiece, presumably Zhukov looking through my plan, "Leda, according to your judgment, how long will it take for so many troops to pass through an area full of forests and swamps?" ”

Hearing Zhukov's question, I thought about it, and then replied: "Comrade Marshal, although it is only about one hundred and twenty kilometers from Kozon to Korostviv, due to the difficulty of the road, even if it starts tomorrow, it will take at least the 20th to reach the destination. ”

"More than 100 kilometers, but it takes four days?" Zhukov said in a dissatisfied tone: "It's too slow, Lida, your speed of action is too slow. If this is the case, even if the attention of the German army is attracted to the friendly forces attacking Kyiv, the Germans will notice such a slow pace of marching. For such a long time, they could have set up several defensive positions along your path, and then you would have to switch to attacking and marching. ”

Zhukov's words made me break out in a cold sweat, ginger is still old and spicy, and he pointed out the shortcomings in the sneak attack plan, if not overcome, our sneak attack may really turn into a strong attack. But on second thought, even if the speed of infantry movement could be raised, it would take at least a few days for the two hundred tanks of the Fifth Guards Tank Army to completely pass through this deep forest and swampy area. Thinking of this, I said to Zhukov with a sad face: "However, Comrade Marshal, the tanks of the Tank Corps are not able to quickly advance due to the limitations of the terrain, and this will inevitably affect the speed of the entire army. ”

"Leda, I think you used to be very smart, why are you so confused this time?" Zhukov said angrily: "You can completely let the three Guards Divisions go first, but seize those cities where the German defense is empty, and then the tank army will follow slowly and march slowly, and when they reach Korostviv, I believe that the city has long been captured by the soldiers of the Guards Division." ”

Zhukov's words, such as Daigo's empowerment, suddenly made my eyes shine, and when making plans, I unconsciously fell into a misunderstanding, always thinking that the infantry should be cooperated with tanks, so the speed of the infantry will be determined according to the speed of the tanks in the forest and swampy areas. "Understood, Comrade Marshal, I put two Guards Divisions at a rapid pace of march towards Korostviv, leaving one Guards Division to assist the advance of the Tank Corps. In this way, it will only take us two days at most to reach our destination. ”

"That's right." Zhukov's tone became softened again, and then he asked again: "General Konev's 53rd Army launched an attack on Alexandria yesterday, you must ensure the safety of their flanks, and do not expose their flanks to the enemy." ”

I waited for Zhukov to finish, grinned silently, and then replied: "Comrade Marshal, you can rest assured. At present, I have placed the 89th Guards Division of Major General Seryukin in the vicinity of Smilla and Spora and have built the necessary defensive positions to fully withstand the German troops from the Uman direction. ”

"Looks like you're very thoughtful." Zhukov said with a smile: "Since this is the case, then I will wait for the good news of your victory in the headquarters of the Front!" (To be continued.) )