On the evening of the 8th, Zakharov, chief of staff of the steppe front, called me with an order from Commander Konev: before 19 o'clock this evening, go to Belgorod to attend a military meeting.

When Chistyakov and I were traveling to Belgorod by car, he asked me curiously: "Comrade commander, did you say that General Konev informed us to come to the city for a meeting at this time, is there anything important?" ”

"Then I don't need to say, Comrade Deputy Commander." I pointed out the window to the infantry and tank units that were moving south, and said, "It looks like the offensive on Kharkiv is about to begin." ”

"Are you really going to attack Kharkov?" Chistyakov asked with some suspicion.

"That's right," I replied in the affirmative, "in two or three days at most, the offensive on Kharkov will be in full swing." "I say this with certainty because I know that in real history, Konev's troops launched an offensive against Kharkov on the 10th.

Although the Belgorod-Kharkiv campaign launched by the Soviets was only one component of the Battle of Kursk, I like to refer to it as a separate Kharkiv campaign. The Soviets and Germans had fought three battles in this important industrial city of the Soviet Union, each of which ended in a German victory. And in the upcoming Fourth Battle of Kharkiv, the Soviet army will change the fate of losing every battle and become the final winner of the battle.

The specific operational plans for the capture of Kharkov, which were reported to Stalin by the Voronezh Front and the Steppe Front, were approved by Stalin on the 6th and 8th, respectively. In the plan approved by the High Command, Konev's troops attacked Kharkov from the front, while Vatutin's troops made a detour of great depth to Kharkov from the west, seeking to eat the heavy left-wing group of Army Group Manstein South here.

Chistyakov looked out the window at the troops that were constantly passing by and asked in wonder: "Comrade commander, why did General Konev inform us to participate in such a meeting?" To know. Although the 7th Guards Army was incorporated into the Steppe Front, we are still subordinate to the Voronezh Front? ”

I really don't know how to answer Chistyakov's question for a while. Because I did not receive a notification from Vatutin that our army group was merged into the Steppe Front. I thought about it for a long time, but I didn't come up with a reasonable answer, so I could only say vaguely: "Comrade Deputy Commander." Don't be in a hurry, when we get to the headquarters, everything will be clear. ”

Since most of the buildings in the city were destroyed, Konev set up his headquarters in the radio station building. When I walked into the conference room, I saw that the room was almost full, and I was going to find a corner with Chistyakov to sit down, but I didn't expect to be seen by Konev.

Konev stood up, pointed to the vacant seat next to him, and called out to me: "Comrade Oshanina." You and Comrade Chistyakov come here to sit. ”

I saw that on the side of the long side of the large conference table, very close to him, there were two empty seats, which should have been reserved for me and Chistyakov, so I did not refuse, and hurriedly walked over. After politely thanking him, he sat down.

Seeing that the commanders of the various units were almost here, the military commissar of the Front, Lieutenant General Suseikov, stood up and said to the commanders present with a smile: "Comrades. Now that everyone is almost here, let's have a meeting. ”

Almost at the same time as he spoke. The conference room became silent, and only his voice echoed throughout the room: "The reason why we have called a meeting today is because a few hours ago, the Supreme High Command had just officially approved the operational plan for our front's attack on Kharkov. Next, the Chief of Staff, General Zakharov, will give you a detailed introduction to our battle plan. ”

Zakharov stood up and strode over to the wall where the huge map was hung. Picking up an explanation stick, he pointed his finger at the commander present and said: "Comrades, according to our reconnaissance, the German troops defending Kharkov are the 'Kempf' battle cluster. The department has the 167th, 168th, 198th, 106th, 320th, 282nd, 39th, 161st Infantry Divisions, and the remnants of the 6th Armored Vehicles. To the north of the city, they built a defensive position fifteen kilometers deep, with a total of seven lines, each consisting of several continuous trenches...... The German civil and engineering fire points, which were covered with two or three layers of logs...... Almost all of the stone buildings were used as strongholds, with artillery on the lower floors and machine guns and submachine guns on the top......"

After listening to Zakharov's data, Chistyakov leaned towards me and said in a voice that only the two of us could hear: "Comrade commander, what the chief of staff said is basically consistent with your inference. I listened to Chistyakov say this, did not speak, just turned back to him and smiled faintly, turned my head again, and continued to listen to Zakharov's explanation.

After presenting the enemy's forces and defenses, Zakharov put down his baton and walked back to the table and sat down. Konev looked around and said to everyone with a smile: "Comrade commanders, through the explanation of the chief of staff, you should already have some understanding of the enemy's situation, tell me what you think." ”

After he finished speaking, there was silence in the conference room, and no commander spoke first. Seeing that he didn't answer his words, Konev restrained the smile on his face, and his eyes swept over the commanders present one by one, as if he was pondering who to call to get up and talk back first.

I hurriedly coughed lightly, and then said to Konev with a smile: "General Konev, let our army group take up the task of the main attack on Kharkov!" ”

Konev's eyes were fixed on the commanders near the door, and when he heard my words, he didn't look at me, so he refused: "What are you kidding, General Oshanina, your army group is only subordinate to our front army to fight, and the main attack task is not your turn." ”

His words made me feel a little embarrassed, and he had already turned to me when I was thinking about what to say to defuse this humiliating matter. Probably thinking that his tone was too heavy, he explained to me in a low voice: "Comrade Oshanina, your Sixth Guards Army is not part of our formation, so your task is only to pin down the German army, and cover the southern side of Belgorod, so as to ensure that the German army can no longer attack the city. ”

I knew it in my heart. At the beginning of the Kharkov offensive, the troops of the Steppe Front fought hard, and although they inflicted considerable casualties on the Germans, in the space of a week, they advanced only a few kilometers. Therefore, Konev did not give me the task of the main attack. That's not a bad thing. When his troops suffered heavy casualties and were unable to attack again, our army group would join the battle again, and the honor of being the first to storm the city would still be ours.

After Konev finished his conversation with me, he turned to Zakharov and said: "Chief of Staff, announce to the commanders the combat missions of the troops!" ”

Zakharov picked up a folder in front of him, opened it, took out a document, stood up, and began to read aloud to everyone: "Take on the task of frontal attack." It will be held by the 53rd, 57th, and 69th armies; General Shumilov's Seventh Guards Army, which was to launch a full-scale attack from the east in parallel with the launch of the frontal offensive......"

Since our army group was a soy sauce player in the early stage of offensive operations, after listening to it for a while, I began to get distracted, thinking in my heart about how Tomarovka's four infantry divisions, two tank brigades, and several artillery regiments and guards rocket artillery battalions could be built. If there are these troops, even let me launch an offensive on Kharkov alone. I am sure that I will take the city, but only if the troops of the steppe front hold back the main German forces in the north.

I don't know how long it took. I suddenly felt Chistyakov, who was sitting next to me, lightly touch my arm, quickly turned his face to him, and asked him with his eyes: "What is it?" ”

"Comrade Commander," he whispered to me, "is it true that our army group does not participate in this offensive?" ”

I first turned my head to look at Zakharov, and saw that he was still assigning tasks to the troops, putting his body back close to Chistyakov. He said in a low voice: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the superiors must have taken their consideration for doing this, so let's honestly obey their orders." ”

When Zakharov read out the order, he finally said: "...... The artillery will be at five o'clock in the morning on the 10th. Two hours of artillery preparation for the German defensive positions. After the end of the shelling, the troops serving as the main attack should not hesitate to storm the enemy's positions......"

After the meeting ended, Chistyakov and I walked out of the conference room with the crowd. After getting into the jeep, he couldn't help but ask me again: "Comrade commander, did you pay attention to the last words of General Zakharov?" ”

Thinking that the offensive war that began the day after tomorrow had little to do with me, I was almost in a state of distraction in the second half of the meeting, so I did not understand what Chistyakov was asking, so I asked in wonder: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder what words you are referring to by the chief of staff?" ”

When Chistyakov heard me say this, although full of doubts, he still said truthfully: "General Zakharov said that when the offensive on Kharkov begins, the entire artillery will be broken into pieces and scattered among the infantry divisions to help them break through the German defenses in street fighting. Do you think that's appropriate? ”

"It's hard to say. You have to try something before you can come to the right conclusion. After I had said these two sentences briefly, I gently patted the driver on the shoulder with my hand and commanded, "Drive!" ”

When the jeep drove out of the city, I continued: "Comrade Deputy Commander, when fighting in the streets, I also like to break up the artillery units into pieces and hand them over to the assault units. In this way, even if you encounter a strong German fortification in a street battle, you don't have to worry, because our artillery can easily destroy it at close range. However, I am not very clear what effect can be achieved by allocating all artillery to infantry divisions, as General Konev did. ”

"Comrade commander, when you say this, I remember that you once proposed a tactic called 'bayonets on artillery', that is, to allocate artillery to the infantry to use in street battles, and it is not clear that Commander Konev borrowed this tactic from you." Speaking of this, Chistyakov said thoughtfully: "In the face of Kharkov, which is heavily defended by the German army, will such tactics achieve the desired results?" ”

I didn't pick up his topic, but diverted the topic: "We must pay close attention to the reconnaissance of the west and southwest of Kharkiv, and we must let the scouts find out the number of the enemy's troops and the detailed deployment of the defense......"

Before I finished my words, I was interrupted by Chistyakov, "Comrade commander, the Steppe Front will launch an offensive against the Germans in the front of Kharkov with three army groups, do you still think that the enemy can block their attack?" Moreover, General Shumilov's Guards Seventh Army launched an attack from the east of the city, and even if the frontal attack was thwarted, the attack in the east could be successful. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, you are thinking too optimistically." As soon as I waited for him to finish, I immediately retorted: "Kharkov, in addition to a strategic point, is also an important industrial city. Once our army liberated the city, in a few months we would be able to resume production at the tank factory here, and the Germans, not wanting to see a steady stream of new tanks coming into battle from here, would certainly put up the most stubborn resistance. ”

After listening to my explanation, Chistyakov finally came to his senses, and he nodded and said, "I understand. The reason why the Germans wanted to build a stubborn defense in Kharkov was not only because it was a strategic point that could directly attack Kyiv, but also because it was an important tank production base in our country, and even if they destroyed all the plants and facilities, we could resume tank production in just a few months. It seems that the battle in Kharkov will be extremely brutal. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, although our group army was only a soy sauce ...... in the early stage of the offensive battle," I was just halfway through my words, when I suddenly remembered that Russia did not have soy sauce, and hurriedly changed my words: "We are just a bystander, but we must not relax, and we must pay close attention to the reconnaissance of the western and southwestern parts of Kharkov to prepare for the later stage of the war." ”

"Is the existing force enough?" Chistyakov asked with some concern: "You must know that we now have only four Guards Divisions, and all of them are infantry divisions, and there are no tank and artillery units, and the offensive force is somewhat insufficient. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Chistyakov." After listening to his concerns, I smiled and said to him: "I hope that it will not be long before the four infantry divisions in Tomarovka, as well as the tank brigade artillery regiment and other units, can be rebuilt one after another." After all the troops are rebuilt, even if we launch an attack on Kharkov alone, we will still be sure of victory. (To be continued.) )