Instead of listening to how Askarebov taught his men the techniques of street fighting, I left the division headquarters with Kirillov, intending to go to the 90th Guards Division to have a look. Not far from coming out of the building, Kirillov suddenly stopped, turned to me and said: "Lida, are we going to Colonel Chernov's division headquarters like this?" ”

"yes." Although I didn't understand why Kirillov asked this, I replied truthfully: "General Shumilov's troops are storming the east of the city, and I intend to have the 90th Guards Division attack from the rear of the German army, so that they can attack the friendly forces so that they can enter the city as soon as possible." ”

"Can you wait a minute, Leda?" Kirillov said to me in a pleading tone: "I would like to go and see the street that Colonel Askarepov spoke of. ”

His request made me hesitate for a moment, but I soon readily agreed to his request, after all, there was no need to conflict with him in such a trivial matter. I turned to the officer who was leading the way and asked, "Where is there an observation post nearby?" ”

The officer pointed to a half-blown building not far away and said, "Comrade Commander, on the second floor there, there is one of our observation posts, and you can clearly see the street you are talking about. ”

Led by the officer, we made it to the observation post. When the three commanders and fighters inside saw us enter the door, they hurriedly raised their hands and saluted, and then turned sideways to give us a place so that we could observe the situation of the geese outside from the window.

I stood at the window and looked blankly at the stretch of road between our troops and the German positions. Although the interval was only two or three hundred meters, it was like a moat in front of us. Layers of corpses on the ground. I can't help but feel like a knife.

Seeing that the commanders and fighters hidden behind various bunkers did not make an offensive for the time being, I urged Kirillov: "Comrade Military Commissar, can you leave?" We have to rush to the divisional headquarters of Colonel Chernov as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late. ”

"Okay. Lida. Kirillov, who had seen the battlefield, turned pale, and when he heard me say this, he immediately replied without hesitation: "Let's go now." ”

We followed the streets, which were controlled by our troops, to the building of the radio station, which was occupied by the 272nd Guards Regiment. Kirillov looked up at the red flag fluttering in the wind on the roof, and couldn't help but burst into tears, and his voice trembled a little and said, "Leda." I haven't seen our flag flying over the German-occupied city for a long time since we last captured Kyiv. ”

I waited for him to finish, and then said with a smile: "Comrade Military Commissar, although the occupation of Belgorod today is of extremely important political significance, it is only a medium-sized city after all, so you should wait for us to liberate the big cities of Kharkiv, Kiev, and Minsk, and then express your feelings." ”

Kirillov's face flushed slightly. Then he changed the topic and said: "Let's go, Lida, let's go to the division headquarters, Colonel Chernov is still waiting for us." ”

Chernov did not know that we would come, and naturally did not wait for us with anticipation. But I followed Kirillov's words and said, "Yes, yes, the colonel must be in a hurry, so we'll go see him." ”

Chernov was set up in a conference room on the second floor, and the officer on duty at the entrance of the radio station politely led us out. Then he said respectfully: "Commander, military commissar, division commander is inside." Come in! ”

When Kirillov and I walked in, we saw a group of commanders gathered around the table, and no one noticed our arrival. I called out to them: "Hello, comrades commanders! ”

Hearing my voice, all of them stood up straight to face me and responded politely, "Hello." Comrade Commander. ”

I walked over to the table, sat down on an empty chair, pulled the map that was placed on the table in front of me, and asked: "Colonel Chernov, what are you studying?" ”

Chernov hurriedly replied: "Report to Comrade Commander." We are looking at the next offensive direction. ”

"Comrade Colonel, I want to hear what you are going to do next?" Before I gave Chernov a task, I wanted to hear what he thought, "Tell me what you are going to do." ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Chernov pointed to the map and said to me: "Our 272nd Regiment is deployed in a few blocks centered on the radio station, and to the west it is connected to the troops of the 77th Guards Division. The 271st Regiment was to the north of the radio building, in the same area as Colonel Seryukin's 270th Guards Regiment. Our 273rd Guards Regiment was to the south of the division, and I was planning to let them strike south to cut off the German retreat. ”

"Why cut off the retreat of the German troops, Comrade Colonel?" I waited for him to finish, and then just asked lightly.

Chernov, perhaps dreaming, did not expect that I would suddenly ask such a question, and could not help but be stunned. After a long time, he muttered: "Comrade commander, I think that by attacking south along the streets, we can cut off the road for the retreat of the German troops to Kharkov." In that case, our troops would have a chance to annihilate the Germans in the city. ”

"It may not be possible that before you can cut off the retreat of the German army, your troops will be eaten by the German army." I said unceremoniously: "There may be more than 5,000 people left in your division now, and a regiment is only a thousand people when it is full, and with those logistics personnel, do you think it will succeed in attacking the enemy who is several times more than you with such a force?" ”

Chernov was speechless by my words, he turned his head to look at his subordinates, and then nervously asked: "Comrade commander, then what should we do?" ”

"At present, the task of your division is to consolidate the defense line of the 272nd Guards Regiment and hold it here at all costs." Pointing to the map, I began to assign tasks to Chernov: "At the same time, transfer the 273rd regiment and launch an attack in the direction of the east of the city." ”

"Attack in the direction of the east of the city?" Chernov's chief of staff was puzzled and said: "Comrade commander, this is the offensive area of the Seventh Guards Army, if we go to attack there, will we clash with friendly forces because we cross the line?" ”

I glared at the chief of staff viciously, and I wanted to kick him in the foot. But I still managed to control my emotions, and tried to say in a calm tone: "I asked you to attack to the east to help the troops of the Seventh Guards Army enter the city. Think about it, as long as they enter the city, then the comparison of the enemy's forces in the city. It will be able to develop in a direction that is beneficial to our army. As for the cross-border issues that you are worried about, don't worry at all. When the friendly forces enter the city, you can return to your original defense zone. ”

Chernov's brain is not too stupid after all, and when he heard me say this, it suddenly dawned on him. Slapping the table hard, he said excitedly: "Comrade commander." I get it, I get it. You asked us to attack the east of the city so that the enemy there could not take care of each other, so that the friendly forces could break through the German defenses as soon as possible and rush into the city to join us. As long as there are many troops in our army that rush into the city, then the initiative on the battlefield will be completely in our hands. ”

I waited for him to finish, nodded, and then said lightly: "Comrade Colonel, since you have understood my combat intentions. So why don't you hurry up and set it up? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Chernov agreed, turned around and called a lieutenant colonel, and began to assign tasks to him: "Lieutenant colonel, in addition to leaving two companies of your regiment to serve as guards in place, the rest of the troops immediately turned to the east to help the friendly troops break through the German defensive positions. ”

"Yes!" The lieutenant colonel agreed, turned and walked briskly out of the headquarters.

By the time there were only me, Kirillov, Bernov and his chief of staff in the command. I asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, where is your commissar?" ”

"He's out of the troops." Chernov finished. Seeing my dazed look, he quickly explained: "Every time there is a big battle, the political commissar will go to the grassroots troops to do political agitation work. He said that doing so will be very helpful in boosting morale and enhancing the combat effectiveness of the troops. ”

"That's right. Comrade Colonel, that's it. Kirillov continued: "We were able to win the battle for Stalingrad because the politicians played a major role. If it were not for them, they would not have been in the army all the time to carry out political agitation work to the commanders and fighters, and to inspire everyone's confidence in victory. It's hard to say what the outcome of the final battle will look like. ”

"By the way, Comrade Colonel." While Chernov and Kirillov were talking, I suddenly remembered something, and as soon as they finished speaking, they hurriedly asked: "Have you found any inhabitants of the city in the place occupied by your division?" ”

Chernov listened to my question, first shook his head, then nodded after a while, frowned and said: "Comrade commander, I am also aware of the question you asked. Of the dozen or so streets we occupied, no more than fifty local residents were found, and the rest of the residents were missing. ”

"Have you ever interrogated a German prisoner?" Kirillov also asked curiously: "Did they confess where they got all the inhabitants of the city?" ”

"We have taken several SS prisoners," Chernov said word for word, "and according to their confessions, the SS chief Himmler has issued a new order to impose a scorched earth policy on us." Command them to take everything and destroy everything. As early as July 29, the Germans set about moving the inhabitants of Belgorod and blew up all the factories and civilian facilities in the city, destroying almost all the buildings. ……”

Hearing Chernov say this, I was very shocked in my heart, I didn't expect that the Germans had just suffered a defeat at Kursk, and they actually began to use this scorched earth strategy against our army. I began to pray in my heart that the 273rd Regiment would move swiftly and that it would be able to receive the Seventh Guards Army into the city sooner, so that we could quickly get the Germans out of the city.

It was only forty minutes between the departure of the commander of the 273rd Regiment and his call to us, but for me it was as long as a century. On the phone, the lieutenant colonel emotionally reported to Chernov: "Comrade division commander, the 15th and 36th divisions of the 7th Guards Army have successfully stormed the city and are developing southward. ”

Chernov covered the microphone and, after reporting this information to me, asked: "Comrade commander, what should we do next?" ”

"Ask the lieutenant colonel," I asked, thinking, "have the friendly forces sent troops to take over his defense?" ”

Chernov let go of the hand covering the microphone and said loudly: "Comrade commander asked, did the friendly troops enter your defense zone?" ”

"No, friendly troops did not enter our defensive zone, and then they turned south and attacked the German defensive positions." Perhaps the guns over there were so loud that the lieutenant colonel had to report loudly at the top of his voice, "Comrade division commander, what is the next task of our regiment?" ”

"Let them stay where they are!" This time, without waiting for Chernov to ask me again, I preemptively gave the order. "Make sure that the gap that was torn open by friendly forces will not be plugged by the Germans again." My order, immediately and faithfully conveyed by Chernov.

The battle continued for more than four hours, and the sound of gunfire outside finally became thin. Kirillov listened attentively for a while, and said curiously: "Why is the sound of gunfire gradually weakening, is it possible that the German troops in the city have almost been wiped out?" ”

Listening to his speculation, I smiled and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, the situation may be as you guessed. As the main force of our army enters the city, the stubborn enemy is gradually being wiped out by us, so I think it will not be long before the battle is over. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, an officer hurriedly walked in from outside, raised his hand to salute us, and reported: "Report to Comrade Commander, a general has come outside, and he says it is General Shumilov, the commander of the Seventh Guards Army. ”

"General Shumilov is here?!" When I heard this, I immediately jumped up from my seat and walked briskly towards the door, intending to meet my former superiors in person.

As soon as he walked to the door, he saw the dusty Shumilov walking in from outside. As soon as he saw me, a smile appeared on his face, and after stretching out his hand to shake my hand, he said proudly: "Comrade Oshanina, as soon as I heard that the commander of the 273rd regiment said that you are here, I immediately rushed over. He inadvertently looked up, saw Kirillov, and stretched out his hand to him with a smile, "Hello, Comrade Kirillov, I didn't expect us to meet here." ”

"Nothing unexpected, General Shumilov." Kirillov also replied with a smile: "I was originally Lida's military commissar, so it is not surprising that I appeared in the same place as her." How is it, have all the troops entered the city? ”

"Yes, they're all in." Shumilov said with relief: "After the 15th and 36th Guards Divisions rushed into the city, the 78th and 81st Guards Divisions also entered the city one after another and were launching a fierce attack on the German troops south of the city. I believe that it will not be long before we can destroy or drive away the enemy entrenched in the south of the city. ”

The Germans, who were holding on to the south of the city, received an order to retreat from Manstein, and except for a few troops left to cover, the remaining large forces were methodically withdrawn from Belgorod and retreated to Kharkov.

With the withdrawal of the main German forces, the battle south of Belgorod, which lasted for more than an hour, ended with the complete victory of our troops. Shumilov and I sent a joint telegram to the command of the Front, reporting the good news to Zhukov and Vatutin. (To be continued.) )