"Two days?!" Hearing the time I was talking about, Vatujin hesitated for a moment and then asked tentatively, "Can't it be advanced to tomorrow?" ”

"No, Comrade General." Although I could tell from his tone that he wanted us to pursue the victory, I resolutely rejected him: "In the two cities we occupied, all the inhabitants were displaced by the Germans. In this way, not only did we not have any reinforcement of troops, but at the same time we could not grasp the movements of the Germans. Therefore, we must pause for a moment and wait until we have figured out the strength and distribution of the enemy in the vicinity before we can proceed to the next step. ”

This far-fetched reason of mine made Vatutin silent again. After a while, he spoke, "Well, since that's the case, we'll wait two more days." During this time, we were sending troops to occupy the areas that had been ceded by the Germans. ”

From Vatutin's tone, I heard a lot of helplessness, so I continued: "Don't worry, Comrade General, as soon as the intelligence of the reconnaissance detachment is returned, I will immediately launch an attack on the Smilla area. ”

As soon as I put down the phone, Chistyakov asked me: "Comrade commander, Smilla is a medium-sized city that cannot deploy too many troops, which unit do you plan to give this main attack?" ”

I did not immediately answer his question, but turned my gaze to Bezikov and asked with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, which unit do you think is the most suitable for the main attack?" ”

Listening to my question, Bezikov thought for a moment and replied: "I think that this attack can be carried out by Colonel Sederikov's 51st Guards Division. ”

"No, no, no, resolutely." As soon as his words fell, Chistyakov vigorously objected: "You must know that Colonel Sederikov has just taken over the command of the 51st Guards Division today, and if he goes into battle before he has time to familiarize himself with the troops, the command system may fall into chaos. At this point, he glanced at me and said in a flattering tone, "I think Lieutenant Colonel Lukin's 375th Infantry Division is very suitable for the task of the main attack." ”

"Comrade Commander, what do you think?" Bezikov asked with concern.

"Although Sederikov has just taken over the post of division commander, he fought here a few months ago and is familiar with the terrain here." Although both Sedjerikov and Lukin were old subordinates of mine, I decided to choose the former after weighing it up: "I think it would be appropriate for his troops to take the initiative. ”

Hearing that I have already made a statement, Chistyakov is not good to object anymore. He thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Well, since Comrade Commander has made a decision, I will reserve my opinion. ”

As soon as I had decided which unit would be responsible for attacking Smilla, I saw Bere, who was the deputy commander of the tank corps, come in from outside. Seeing Bere's appearance, I couldn't help but glance at Chistyakov and Bezikov in surprise, and said in my heart that I didn't summon him, could it be that one of the two of them called him over.

I was about to ask who had called Bere, but Bere had already spoken first: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, when will we start our attack on Smilla?" ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Kirillov, who was sitting next to him, stood up and said to him with a smile, "What, isn't it a revisit to the old land, and you want to behave well?" ”

Kirilov's words confused Chistyakov and Bezikov, but it was clear to me that Smilla had been captured a few months earlier when we crossed the Dnieper from Zaporosh to the north. However, at that time, Belei was seriously injured and did not participate in the battle himself, so I guess I always felt regretful in my heart. Now that he sees the opportunity to recapture Smilla, he must not be able to hold back, and wants to lead the troops to establish meritorious deeds.

After waiting for Kirillov to finish speaking, Berey also smiled and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, the last time I liberated Smilla, I could only lie on a stretcher and watch with my eyes as you made meritorious deeds. Now that I finally have the opportunity to liberate this city, you must let me personally command the troops in battle. ”

"No problem." After glancing at me, Kirillov said, "I grant your request on behalf of Lida, and in two days' time, when our assault on Smilla begins, you will personally command a tank brigade to cover our infantry for the assault on the city." ”

Although Kirillov had already stated that he had agreed to Bere's request on my behalf, Berey was still a little uneasy, and he looked at me and asked: "Comrade commander, can you really let me command the troops to attack Smilla?" ”

"That's right, General Bere." In order to reassure him, I also said with a smile: "I know that you didn't participate in the attack last time, and I always feel sorry in my heart, so I will definitely let you do it this time." ”

"Great, that's great." After saying these two words, Bere raised his hand and saluted us, turned and walked outside. After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at me.

I saw that he wanted to speak and stopped, and hurriedly asked, "General Bere, do you have anything else?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Berey said with some embarrassment: "Do you remember how many of them were my Captain Shamrich? He was afraid that he would not be able to remember who this man was, and he specially reminded me, "It is the commander of several tank units who fought guerrilla here." ”

In fact, as soon as he said Captain Shamrichh's name, I knew who he was talking about, but I could tell from his words that he had more important things to say, so I continued: "General Bere, I remember Captain Shamrichh, and he also took out their well-preserved military flag and asked us to rebuild a tank brigade. Do you have something important to tell me about them now? ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander, you are right, I have something very important to tell you." Bere walked a few steps towards me and came to the table, where he pointed to the map and said: "According to Captain Shamrichh, there should still be a presence of our partisans near Kosson, a small city west of Cherkasy. ”

"Guerrillas?!" Hearing Beray say this, Chistyakov couldn't help but exclaim: "I really can't imagine that there are still our partisans here!" At this, he turned to me and said, "Comrade Commander, we should send someone to get in touch with them and learn from them about the enemy's strength and defenses." ”

I nodded at Chistyakov's proposal, and then said to Bere: "Comrade General, you immediately arrange for Captain Shamlikh to go to Kosson to see if you can contact the partisans active in the vicinity of the city. If we can get in touch, in addition to gathering information about the enemy, it is best to get them to fight with us when we attack the city. ”

"Okay, Comrade Commander, I'll arrange it." After Bere finished saying this time, he decisively turned around and left the headquarters.

Looking at the back of Bere's departure, Chistyakov said with emotion: "I really didn't expect to meet the partisans here, if we can get their help, we will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort in the next battle." ”

Seeing Chistyakov's face of joy when he talked about the Ukrainian partisans, I could only smile bitterly, and then said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, although there are many partisans in Ukraine, there are not many troops that can be trusted, because many of them are pro-German, and in addition to assisting the Germans in attacking our army, they often go to rob villages. For such troops, not only can we not accept them, but on the contrary, we must destroy them all. ”

When Chistyakov heard me say this, the expression on his face suddenly became serious. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and said thoughtfully: "It seems that after going deep into the territory of Ukraine, we will also organize special troops to eliminate these scum who have betrayed the motherland." ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander is right." As soon as he finished speaking, Bezikov continued: "I propose to take a battalion of troops from General Seryukin's troops and devote them exclusively to the liquidation of these scum troops. ”

"Chief of Staff, don't be in a hurry." Seeing the two of them put on a look of doing what they said, I hurriedly raised my hand to stop it and said, "At present, our first task is to destroy the enemy in Smilla. As long as those scum troops who are doing evil on the territory of Ukraine, we will slowly clean them up later. ”

Since our troops had just captured Cherkasy and Kanivo, there was a lot of work to be done, and we were kept busy all night. Seeing that it was bright outside, I was just about to find a place to rest, but I saw Akhromeyev, who had gone to the headquarters of the front to deliver a report, striding outside and walking in.

I nodded at him and asked politely, "Major, you are back, did you have a smooth journey?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander, the journey went well." After answering my question, Akhromeyev suddenly came up with an astonishing piece of news: "Comrade commander, I was on my way from Kanifu to here, and I heard from the fighters along the way that we managed to recapture the small city of Kozon from the enemy in the early hours of this morning. ”

"What, recovering Kozon?" Akhromeyev's words startled me. I glanced at Chistyakov and saw that he was also puzzled, but I still asked casually: "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you know what is going on?" ”

"I don't know......" Chistyakov just shook his head twice, and suddenly there was a look of sudden realization on his face, "Wait, comrade commander, it can't be General Bere, who commanded the troops and went to take Kozon overnight, right?" ”

I heard Chistyakov say this, frowned and thought for a moment, and felt that this possibility was completely possible, compared to yesterday it was Beray who took the initiative to mention the small city of Kozon, but it was recovered by our army in the early hours of this morning, which is also a bit too coincidental. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone on the desk and instructed the operator: "Pick me up the tank corps command." ”

After the phone was connected, I heard Kravchenko's voice on the other side, so I politely said: "Comrade General, is Major General Berey?" I have something important to ask him. ”

A moment later, Bere's voice came from the earpiece: "Hello, Comrade Commander, may I ask you for what is the matter with me?" ”

"Comrade General, I congratulate you." Although it was a good thing to capture Kozon, I could not tolerate him acting on his own without asking me for instructions, so I said coldly: "I congratulate you on your successful capture of Kozon. ”

"What, captured Kozon?" Unexpectedly, when Bere heard my words, he was also taken aback. He asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, what did you just say, our troops have captured Kozon, what the hell is going on, you have confused me." ”

When I heard Beret say this, I could not help but doubt my own judgment, and I asked tentatively: "Why, comrade general, didn't you send the troops attacking Kozon?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." Bere said with some grievances: "If you want to capture the city, you will definitely not be able to rely on tanks alone, and you will also need the cooperation of infantry." You didn't send us infantry to cooperate, how could we possibly attack Kozon? ”

"Comrade Commander, I can testify for Major General Bere." Kravchenko's voice came again from the earpiece: "He was in the command with me all night last night and didn't go anywhere. The troops attacking Kozon certainly have nothing to do with us. ”

"I know, I'll find out which force it was that captured Kozon overnight." After I finished speaking, I hung up the phone without waiting for the two of them to talk again.

After I put down the phone, I looked at Akhromeyev who was standing in front of me, frowned and asked: "Comrade Major, who did you listen to about the liberation of Kozon by our army?" ”

"Of course, the comrades of the tank army told me about this." Akhromeyev said with some surprise: "You also know the commander, Captain Shamlikh, who used to fight guerrillas in this vicinity. When I met him on the road, he was walking back to the tank corps' station, and I gave him a ride. ”

As soon as Akhromeyev finished speaking, Chistyakov thought of me and proposed: "Comrade commander, it seems that we have called Captain Shamlikh and asked what is going on. ”

But before I could call the tank army again, their call came first. It was Kravchenko who gave me the good news, and he said excitedly: "Comrade commander, it is all clear that it was indeed our own men who succeeded in capturing Kosson in the early hours of this morning. ”

"Which force captured Kozon?" I frowned at the question.

"Not the regular army, according to the report of Captain Shamrich, it was the local partisans who attacked Kozon at night and liberated the city from the Germans." Kravchenko went on to report: "Since there were only a hundred German soldiers in the city, seven or eight partisan detachments operating in the vicinity formed a force of more than eight hundred men, and they penetrated in the darkness of the night, eliminated the defenders of the city, and succeeded in liberating the small city. (To be continued.) )