Hearing this order from me, Chistyakov immediately frowned, and he said with some concern: "Comrade commander, you must know that there have been no decent fortifications in the defense area of the 375th Infantry Division, even if we rush to repair them overnight, I am worried that the fortifications that were hastily repaired will not be able to resist the German attack?" ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you are too worried." In response to Chistyakov's unfounded thoughts, I comforted him and said: "Although our scouts have discovered that the enemy is massing in the Uman area, it will be at least four or five days before they can move. By then, perhaps the 53rd Army had already taken Alexandria. ”

Chistyakov stared at the map and said, "If General Managarov's troops can really take the city, even if the Germans attack from the flank, it may not be easy to defeat them, right?" ”

After I waited for him to finish, I said with a bitter face: "Comrade Deputy Commander, although I don't know how many troops the 53rd Army has replenished in the past month or so, I can guess that after capturing Alexandria, the troops will definitely be unable to continue the attack because of heavy casualties. If the Germans launched a counterattack against them at this time, would they be able to stop them with their strength? ”

After I said these two sentences, I stared intently at Chistyakov to see how he reacted. Unexpectedly, he stared at the map for a long time, and then threw the question to Bezkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?" ”

"In my opinion, the 53rd Army, after liberating Alexandria, will continue to attack Kirovgrad. Due to the heavy casualties in the battle, their remaining forces in the city must be very limited, and they really can't stop the German counterattack. After finishing his analysis, Bezkov turned to look at me and said: "Comrade commander, since we have discovered that the German troops are massing, then we can completely preemptively attack Uman while their build-up is still going on, and completely crush their counterattack plot." ”

"However, we do not have the troops and technical equipment to attack now." I immediately and unequivocally rejected Bezikov's proposal: "We used three Guards Divisions to attack Korostviv, and the rest of the troops were used for defense, and if they were used for attack, it would be too far behind." ”

Although my opinion was rejected by me, Bezikov was still unwilling to say: "Maybe we can try our luck, maybe the Germans didn't think that we would suddenly give them such a sneak attack?" ”

I didn't argue with Bezikov's insistence, but pushed the map in front of him and pointed to Uman's location with a pencil: "Chief of staff, please see, Uman is a big city, and the German army originally had a lot of troops here, if there is an additional 'skeleton division', even if we are lucky, we will defeat the tank troops of the 'skeleton division', and to attack the fortification with our current strength is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg." ”

After I finished speaking, the entire command fell silent. All but Kirillov were glued to the map on the table, trying to figure out how to deal with the German forces in the Uman area.

"Commanders, can I make an opinion?" Akhromeyev, who had never had a say in such a meeting, suddenly asked timidly.

It was the first time that Akhromeyev had interjected at such a meeting, so I said with tolerance: "Please, Comrade Major, tell us what you think and let everyone discuss it." ”

With my permission, Akhromeyev pointed to the map and said: "Comrades, commanders, I think the situation may be more serious than we think. Although only the German 'skeleton division' is currently assembled in the Uman area, I am worried that they are quietly transferring surplus troops from other directions in order to achieve local superiority. ”

"Well, that makes sense," I thought it was really possible to hear Akhromeyev say this, so I urged him: "Major, please continue." ”

"If the enemy's forces in Uman, apart from the original defenders and the 'Skeleton Division', the threat to us is not too great. But if they secretly move other troops into Uman, the situation will be particularly dire for us. Akhromeyev said nervously: "So, I suggest that in addition to strengthening the defense of the 375th Infantry Division, the Germans will not rush to us along the road." At the same time, the defenders at Spora and Smilla should be ordered to hurry up and repair the fortifications to avoid being caught off guard by a surprise attack by the Germans. ”

After I waited for Akhromeyev to finish, my eyes were glued to the map, and my mind was desperately recalling the history of the battle of Kyiv, but I thought about it for a long time and did not come up with a reason. Later, he comforted himself, saying that maybe the battle was short and the battle was not fierce enough, so in the history books of the Soviet Union, this historical knowledge was only brushed aside.

Although I don't remember the specific plot of the battle of Kyiv, for the sake of safety, I agreed with Akhromeyev: "Major, you will call General Seryukin and Lieutenant Colonel Lukin later, and ask them to temporarily stop training in the next few days and concentrate on repairing the fortifications." ”

After Akhromeyev conveyed my order by phone, Seryukin quickly called. He complained in the microphone: "Comrade commander, we were not sent to participate in the sneak attack this time, and the emotions of the commanders and fighters of the whole division were big enough. Now that you have told your troops to build fortifications in their existing defensive positions, the mood of the commanders and fighters is even more grumbling......"

"Enough, Comrade Seryukin." I didn't wait for Seryugin to finish speaking, then I loudly interrupted his next words, and said dissatisfiedly: "Whether it is offensive or defensive, it doesn't matter what your warrior says; Personally, it doesn't count. It's up to me to have the final say, to know that the commander of the army group is me, not you, understand? ”

"I understand," Seryukin replied weakly: "Since this is the case, then I will try my best to do ideological work for the commanders and fighters so that they can calm down." ”

As soon as Seryukin's phone hung up, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin's phone rang in. He complained about the same thing on the phone, and he was unfortunate enough to be scolded by me, and then honestly commanded the troops to build the fortifications.

To sneak up on Korostviv's troops, due to their concealed whereabouts, they were not discovered by the Germans along the way. On the evening of the 18th, I received a telegram from Colonel Babachin, commander of the 71st Guards Division. In the telegram, he wrote: "Our troops have reached a point only five kilometers from Korostviv, do we need to send men to conduct reconnaissance?" ”

"Needless to say, Comrade Colonel.?" Although I heard the good news, I was not happy in my heart at all, because Babahin commanded the battle more than 100 kilometers away from me, and he did not dare to make his own decisions, and even sent scouts to reconnoiter the enemy's movements, and even asked me for instructions on such a small matter, which made me very dissatisfied with him in my heart.

I said to Akhromeyev: "Major, call Colonel Babakhin back. Let him immediately send men to reconnoiter Korostviv and, if the Germans are limited, immediately launch a full-scale attack in order to gain control of the Kiev-Zhytomyr communication line in the shortest possible time. Do you understand? ”

"Understood," Akhromeyev replied decisively, "I'm going to send him a telegram urging him to send someone to reconnoiter sooner." ”

"Go quickly, Major." I waved my hand at Akhromeyev and urged: "Hurry up and send him a report, let him adapt to the situation, and make the correct adjustment in time according to the expression of the enemy's situation." Do you understand? ”

"I see." Akhromeyev replied briefly: "I will go and telegraph back to Colonel Babakhin and convey your intention to him." ”

Colonel Babachin, who received the telegram, immediately sent several reconnaissance detachments to reconnoiter the defense of Korostviv. When he found that there was only one battalion of German troops in the city, he did not even have time to ask me for instructions, so he decisively gave the order to attack the troops.

In the face of the ferocious attack of our troops, the German troops holding on to the city of Korostviv were taken by surprise by us. After two hours of fierce fighting, the troops of the 71st Guards Division stormed the city, dividing the defenders into two disconnected areas.

Our offensive, naturally, alarmed the enemy in the Zhytomyr region. An infantry regiment of the enemy, under the cover of a tank battalion, rushed to Korostviv in an attempt to join forces with the defenders of the city and annihilate our 71st Guards Division. But fortunately, at this time, Shederikov's troops arrived. Seeing the danger of the situation, the 51st Guards Division did not have time to rest at all, and immediately plunged into battle, attacking from the flanks of reinforcements.

But after the reinforcements from Zhytomyr were repulsed, the remnants of the German army holding on to Kolostevli could not help but be disorganized when they saw that the reinforcements were all repulsed. At such times, the troops of the 71st Guards Division increased the intensity of the offensive and ate the encircled defenders little by little.

At one o'clock in the morning of the 10th, the gunfire in the city of Kolosteviv became sparse, and some German officers and men saw that there was no hope of breaking through the encirclement, so they laid down their arms and surrendered to our troops.

When I received a telegram from the front, reporting to me that Korostviv was in the hands of our troops, I could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then ordered Akhromeyev: "Major, call back to the two division commanders, Babakhin and Sederikov, and ask them to build fortifications overnight in the direction of Zhytomyr and Kiev in order to prevent a possible German counterattack." ”

When Akhromeyev went to send the report, Chistyakov, who knew the battle report, excitedly asked: "Comrade commander, I didn't expect our sneak attack plan to be really successful. After a moment's pause, he cautiously asked: "Is it necessary to report immediately to the command of the Front?" ”

"Needless to say, Comrade Deputy Commander!" Although the offensive from the south of Kiev has not stopped in recent days, the friendly forces have made little progress except for the loss of troops in front of the German fortifications. For this, Vatutin is anxious, and the slightest dissatisfaction will be angry at others. Now that we have achieved such a victory, we should report it to him immediately, so that he can be happy as well. "Such good news, of course, must be reported to General Vatutin."

After that, I picked up the high-frequency phone on my desk that had just been installed and called Vatutin. As soon as I heard Vatutin's voice, I said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade General. ”

"Oh, it's Oshanina!" Vatutin's lazy voice came from the earpiece: "You call me at this time, is there anything important?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General, I do have something important to report to you." "I have the honor to report to you that the 51st and 71st Guards Divisions, to which our army group belongs, managed to capture Korostviv and eliminate the defenders of the city after several hours of fierce fighting. At present, the commanders and fighters of the two divisions are building the necessary fortifications in the direction of Zhytomyr and Kiev respectively to prevent a possible counterattack by the German army. ”

"What?" After listening to my report, Vatutin was stunned for a while before he asked in surprise: "Oshanina, if I am not mistaken, has the sneak attack force you sent successfully captured Korostviv and successfully cut off the communication line between Kiev and Zhytomyr?" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." I repeated what I had just said, adding: "The 77th Guards Division and the 21st Guards Tank Brigade are still on their way to Korostviv, and as soon as they arrive, the troops holding on to the city will be confident that they will be completely cut off from the Germans in Kiev and Zhytomyr." ”

As long as you hear the news of the victory, everyone will be in a good mood, and Vatutin is no exception. It turned out that he was still worried about the failure of the troops to attack Kyiv, and at this moment he heard me say that Korostviv had been taken, and his mood suddenly became happy. His voice, which trembled a little with excitement, came out of the earpiece: "Well done, Oshanina, you guys are really good!" Please express my gratitude to the commanders and fighters for their bravery and tenacity in the battle, which has given hope of breaking the stalemate that is now in the vicinity of Kyiv. This good news, I will immediately report to Marshal Zhukov! ”

Hearing the blind sound coming from the earpiece, I couldn't help but smile and shake my head, then put the microphone down. Gathering the smile on my face, I asked Bezikov: "Chief of Staff, is there any news from Uman today?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Bezikov got up and went to the table by the wall, picked up a few pieces of paper, then walked back and said to me: "Two hours ago, we received a call from Captain Travkin that the Germans in Uman had a new number. Since their final reconnaissance results have not yet arrived, I will not report to you for the time being! (To be continued.) )