I received a call from the observation post saying that a large convoy was coming towards us from the west of the city.

When Managarov heard this report, he was taken aback and nervously asked me: "Comrade commander, could this be a German breakout force?" ”

"How is this possible, Comrade General?" Seeing Managarov's noisy move, I couldn't help but smile and say to him: "You must know that for the Germans, the best way for them to break through is not to the west but to the south. Because there are many forests, lakes, and swamps west of Kharkov, their mechanized troops cannot spread out and cannot quickly get rid of the pursuit of our army. Therefore, in the existing situation, they can only choose to break through to the south. ”

After listening to my explanation, Managarov's mood was a little more normal, but he still asked uneasily: "But with such a large convoy, who will come?" ”

"Comrade General, there is something I haven't had time to tell you yet. I have asked Chistyakov to move their headquarters to the city, and I guess this is their convoy. As I spoke, I shook my head at him, "Let's go, let's go out and meet them." ”

When I came out of the headquarters, I immediately felt the atmosphere of the battlefield. Although the commanders and fighters have cleaned up the corpses on the battlefield, the troops who cleaned the battlefield have collected and transported the weapons and equipment that can still be used. But the collapse of the houses everywhere, the repeated green smoke everywhere, still tells us that there was a fierce battle here not so long ago.

I stood on the side of the road and watched quietly as the inhabitants emerged from their hiding places, searching through the ruins for something they could use in their daily lives. Just then, a jeep stopped behind me, and Kirillov's familiar voice came over: "Hey, Leda, what are you looking at again?" ”

I turned my head to look at Kirillov, who was walking by, and greeted him politely: "You are here, Comrade Military Commissar." When he came to me, I nodded at the unkempt and ragged residents who were busy on the ruins, and said, "Look, how can we help these homeless residents?" ”

"We don't have a lot of tents." Chistyakov, who had just walked over, continued: "And I don't think it's a wise choice to set up a large number of tents in a city full of ruins. ”

I waited for him to finish, waved my hand, and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander, it's summer, and even if there are no tents, they can find a place to rest at night." What they need is not tents, but food that will keep them alive. ”

"According to my estimates, there are at least hundreds of thousands of residents in this Kharkiv city." "It is almost impossible for us to provide food and other household items for so many residents," said Chistyakov, with some embarrassment. ”

Chistyakov's words silenced me, and I felt that he was very reasonable, although our army group had abundant supplies, it was simply impossible to ration food to hundreds of thousands of people. But I can't be indifferent to watching the inhabitants starve to death.

Just when I was in a dilemma, I suddenly heard Kirillov say: "Lida, I have an idea, but I can solve the problems of the lives of some residents, especially women and the elderly. ”

When I heard Kirillov say that he had a solution, I was overjoyed and hurriedly urged him: "Comrade Military Commissar, if you have any good ideas, just say it quickly!" ”

"That's right," Kirillov said in a careful manner, "and in this battle we have a large number of commanders and fighters killed. It is better to gather a group of women and old people, take off the uniforms of the fallen and wash them, and repair the places that have been pierced by bullets or shells so that they can be worn by new soldiers in the future. Of course, we don't make these residents work for free, and we provide fifty grams of bread for every uniform washed and gapped. Leda, what do you think of my approach? ”

"What, to get the residents to recycle the uniforms of the fallen soldiers?" Kirillov's words scorched me out, and for the first time I heard of the need to recycle the worn uniforms of the fallen commanders and fighters. When the women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment was seen in Stalingrad burying their fallen comrades, the living took off their best clothes and put them on the dead. At this moment, I suddenly heard that I had to take off the uniforms of all the victims, and I felt very awkward.

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Managarov said on the sidelines: "The recovery of the uniforms of the victims has always been clearly regulated. Besides, we are short of supplies right now, so everything that can be reused must be reused. ”

Listening to Managarov's explanation, I figured out what was going on. Since this is the tradition of the Soviet army, I could not raise objections in public, so I had to reluctantly say: "Okay, then organize the residents to collect and wash the uniforms of the victims, but only fifty grams of bread are given for each set of clothes, which is a little too little." So let's do it, and give two hundred grams of bread without three pieces of clothing. ”

"Okay, just do as you say." Kirillov first expressed his approval of my proposal. He then summoned Akhromeyev and instructed him to arrange for men to organize the collection and cleaning of old military uniforms by the inhabitants in exchange for food and necessary daily necessities.

Bands of soldiers walked past us in orderly steps, the soles of their boots tapping on the rubble-strewn streets, making rhythmic grinding sounds. I looked at these soldiers of different ages and heights, and thought to myself: Today they are here to take over the posts of those sacrificed comrades, so will there be the same troops tomorrow to replace them?

"Comrade Commander, what is the next task of our group army?" As I watched the steady stream of soldiers pass in front of us, Chistyakov asked: "Do you stay in the city, or do you want to pursue the Germans?" ”

"This is not a good place, let's go back to the headquarters first." As soon as I had finished speaking, I quickly passed through the troops that were advancing through the streets, and walked briskly towards my headquarters.

A dozen or twenty commanders poured in at once, making this originally spacious headquarters crowded. Seeing that there were too many people in the room, Bezkov asked the operator to go to the next room with his communications equipment to make more room for us commanders.

When there was only a group of commanders left in the room, I said: "Comrades commanders, although we have recaptured Kharkov, the battle against the Germans is not over. Kharkiv is an important strategic point, and once it is occupied, our troops can confidently and boldly advance to the west bank of the Dnieper to liberate those occupied by the fascist invaders. ……”

When I was talking happily, I accidentally noticed Kirillov frowning slightly, and immediately realized that my nonsense was a bit too much, and hurriedly got back to business: "Marshal Zhukov once called and said that our army group should stay in the city of Kharkov for rest. After completing the replenishment of troops, we will carry out more important combat missions. ”

"Comrade commander, may I ask, what is the combat mission?" My words aroused Chistyakov's curiosity, and as soon as I had finished speaking, he immediately asked.

I smiled and shook my head and said, "I'm sorry, my deputy commander, I don't know either." Marshal Zhukov only said on the phone that it was an important combat mission, but he did not elaborate on what the specific task was. ”

Betzikov got up and walked to the table where the maps were stacked, walked over with a roll of maps, spread them out on the table, and said: "Although Comrade Marshal did not say any tasks, we can analyze it. ”

Managarov looked down at the map and said, "Is there any place where fierce battles are going on but ours?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." As soon as Managarov's words fell, his chief of staff, General Volgeng, stood up, pointed to the southwestern position of Kharkov and said: "According to the battle report, more than a million troops of our Southwestern Front and the Southern Front are engaged in fierce battles with the German army in the Donbas region. ”

"Donbass region?!" Volgeng's words attracted everyone's attention. A crowd gathered around the table, their heads crammed together, looking down at the new battlefield they might send us to.

I don't know how long it took, but after everyone sat down again, I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my hand and asked, "Comrade commanders, tell me, is it really possible for us to be transferred to the Donbass region next?" ”

The first to talk about his point of view was, of course, my deputy commander Comrade Chistyakov: "Comrade commander, apart from Donbass, I really can't think of where we will be transferred, after all, our troops are the closest to Donbass. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the chief of staff, Bezikov, immediately continued: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I don't think so. You must know that the reason why our army group participated in the battle for the attack on Kharkov was because of the position in which we were deployed, which was relatively close to the city. I think that if the higher authorities want to send troops to strengthen the Donbas region, the first choice will definitely be General Konev's steppe front. So I think that even if the troops are transferred south, it will probably only be General Managarov's 53rd Army. ”

"That's right," Managarov immediately added, hearing what Bezikov said, "if you had not taken the lead in marching towards Kharkov, I estimate that the task of attacking Kharkov from the west of the city would have been fulfilled by our army group." Therefore, as long as your troops are not assigned to the command of the Steppe Front, then if the superior wants to transfer troops to the south, it will definitely be our group army. ”

"General Managarov," Chistyakov asked politely, "if you go south to reinforce the Donbass front, then what kind of tasks will our army group get?" ”

"To the west, cross the Dnieper." Hearing this question from Chistyakov, Managarov immediately answered unequivocally: "Go and recover Kyiv." Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at me and said in a flattering tone, "You must know that a few months ago, Comrade Commander led the 79th Infantry Corps to regain Kyiv, and this time to liberate Kyiv, I think the superiors will still let you take on the main attack mission." ”

As soon as many things are analyzed, they are very close to the truth. Hearing Managarov say this, the commanders of the Sixth Guards Army, including me, focused their attention on Kiev on the west bank of the Dnieper. The thought that our troops could serve as the main force in the liberation of Kyiv made everyone excited. In particular, Kirillov, who had participated in the battle to regain Kyiv, would not have been abandoned again if it had not been for the fact that he was outnumbered by the enemy. I didn't expect that now the glorious task of recovering Kyiv is once again in front of us, and it is no wonder that he is not excited. 、

I looked at the map again and saw that the main forces of the Voronezh Front had been staying in the direction of Tomarovka, and from there it would have saved a lot of time to move towards Kyiv. Thinking of this, I waved my hand and said, "No, no, General Managarov, I don't think your analysis is accurate. ”

"Ah, why?" Hearing that his analysis had been denied by us, Managarov was surprised and asked, "Is there something wrong with my analysis?" ”

"Look, Comrade General." I pushed the map in front of him, and then said: "At present, the main forces of the Voronezh Front are concentrated in Tomarovka and the areas west of it, and at the same time, General Rokossovsky's Central Front is also deployed in the northeast of Kiev. If Kyiv is to be liberated, as long as they send any troops, it will save time than from us. ”

After listening to my brief analysis, you can once again focus on the map. After repeated studies, they all decided that since we could not be sent in the direction of Kiev, then we could only go south, to help the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front, and to strike hard at them from the flank of the German army.

We were in the middle of a heated discussion when the phone rang in the room. Bezikov got up and went to answer the phone, quickly turned his head and said to me with a pale face: "Comrade commander, it was General Konev who called General Konev, and he asked General Managarov's 53rd Army to immediately return to the city and move towards the center of the city to take over the defense of our troops. ”

"What? The troops are back to be built?! Hearing this, Managarov suddenly jumped up from his seat, he rushed to Bezikov, snatched the phone from his hand, and then said into the microphone: "Hey, Comrade Commander of the Front, I'm Managarov. I just heard that you're going to get our troops back together, is that the case? Yes?! Is it true and why? …… Understood, I obey orders! (To be continued.) )