As soon as Travkin left, Chistyakov looked at me and asked: "Comrade commander, do you want to get a replenishment of troops and supplies from Spora?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander." To Chistyakov's speculation, I replied in the affirmative: "The Germans must have made these areas angry, and as long as our troops reoccupy Spora and set up a few recruiting points, I think those who have signed up for the army will be able to form long lines." ”

"Spola is a small city, and the defenders in the city are limited." Bezikov stared at the map and said: "Although the closest to this area is the 23rd Guards Army, they have lost a lot of troops in these two days of fighting, and besides, the 51st Guards Division is still attacking Smilla, and it is really impossible to draw extra troops, but it liberates Spola and the prisoner of war camp, so I propose to transfer General Sivakov's 22nd Guards Army to participate in this battle." ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." As soon as his words came out, Chistyakov vigorously objected, "You see, the 22nd Guards Army is almost one hundred and twenty kilometers from Kanivo to Spora, which is nearly twice the distance we have here. After a long march, the troops needed to rest for a while before attacking again, which gave the Germans a chance to breathe, so I felt that General Tawaltkiradze's troops should be left to do the task. ”

I didn't comment on the controversy between the two, but quietly looked at the map, weighing in my head which force was suitable for the task. After looking at it for a while, I straightened up and looked up at the two of them and said, "Although the 23rd Guards Army of Kanifu is fully formed, their task is to defend the north of the entire army group. You must know that the Germans can have heavy troops stationed in the Kiev area, and once they find that our troops in Kanifu are showing signs of movement, they may directly move their troops south and launch an attack on the Kanifu area. We can't take this risk, so the 22nd Guards Army can't move. ”

After listening to my statement, Bezikov couldn't help but ask: "Comrade commander, then what are you going to do with that division?" ”

"At present, the 52nd Guards Division and the 375th Infantry Division cannot be used for the time being, and Sederikov's 51st Guards Division is attacking Smilla, and even after they capture the city, they are not capable of continuing the attack on Spora, so we can only consider transferring other troops."

"Mobilize other troops?" After repeating my words, Bezikov's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked me with a look of surprise: "Comrade commander, are you planning to use Seryukin's 89th Guards Division?" ”

"That's right," I replied with a smile, seeing that Bezikov had guessed my intentions so easily, "anyway, on the other side of the Dnieper, there are no more German troops, and the main forces of our army are moving towards the river one after another." The commander of the Seryugin division left one regiment to hold on to the outside of Zolotonosa, and the rest of the troops immediately crossed the river and moved towards Spora overnight, striving for a surprise attack on the Germans at dawn. ”

"Do you need to send tank troops to cooperate?" After recording my order, Bezikov asked cautiously: "I am afraid that the enemy has strong fortifications in the city, and if there is no cooperation of tanks or artillery, we will take the city, and it is estimated that we will pay a large number of casualties." ”

"If you want to send tank troops to support, you have to go through Smilla." Chistyakov explained to me: "Our infantry can pass directly through the forest, but not tank units. So I suggested that after Smilla had been liberated, the tank units that were fighting with Colonel Sederikov should rush along the road to Spora. ”

"Yes." Judging by the terrain marked on the map in front of me, Chistyakov is telling the truth. The cities of Smilla and Spora are surrounded by forests, and it will be difficult for tanks to pass through the nearby forests and swamps without first capturing Smilla. So I nodded and said affirmatively: "Just do as Comrade Deputy Commander said, first let General Seryukin's troops move towards Spola, and at the right time launch an attack on the city and the prisoner of war camp." The tank units supporting them will drive along the road to the Spola area after the liberation of Smilla. ”

The pronunciation of the two cities was very close, and in order to avoid unnecessary mistakes when Bezikov recorded the orders, I deliberately slowed down the pronunciation of the names of the cities and tried to pronounce the names of each city accurately.

After deploying the mission, he looked at Bezkov and asked: "Chief of Staff, have the orders been recorded?" Seeing that he nodded in approval, I held out my hand to him and said, "Show me it." ”

I took his notebook, examined it carefully, and seeing that there were no mistakes, I returned it to him, and at the same time ordered: "All right, Comrade Chief of Staff, give an order to General Seryukin and let his troops begin to cross the river within an hour." ”

"Yes!" Bezzikov agreed, and turned to leave.

I glanced at Akhromeyev, who was busy not far away, and asked him in a loud voice: "Comrade Major, is there any latest progress in the Shederikov Division?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Akhromeyev came over in agreement, put a battle report in front of me, and continued: "The troops under the command of the colonel have entered the city from the northeast of Smilla, occupied three streets, and are engaged in street fighting with the Germans. ”

As he spoke, he placed a topographical map of Smilla in front of me, pointed to it, and said, "These are the three streets, as long as they have a firm foothold, they can quickly rush to the center of the city after clearing the enemy's resistance." ”

"Comrade Major, where did you get this map from?" Chistyakov looked at Akhromeyev and asked strangely: "Why is it all German, when did you capture it?" ”

Chistyakov didn't warn me that I hadn't noticed that what I was doing was a German military map in front of me, so I turned my curious eyes to Akhromeyev to hear his explanation.

Akhromeyev smiled and said to me: "Comrade commander, didn't we liberate Smilla a few months ago, this map was captured by me at that time, and it has been preserved until now. ”

"Not bad," Chistyakov gave Akhromeyev a thumbs up and praised, "Major, I didn't expect you to save this map so well, it seems that you, the chief of operations, are very competent." ”

I glanced at the map in front of me, then looked up and asked Akhromeyev: "Major, there are no of our inhabitants in the city except for the enemy, right?" ”

"Nope." Shaking his head, Akhromeyev said: "According to our reconnaissance, our inhabitants were not found in the city at all, except for an infantry battalion and a tank company. ”

"That's good, that's good." Chistyakov said happily: "As long as there are no inhabitants in the city, our commanders and fighters will not have so many estimates when they are fighting. I reckon that Colonel Sederikov will have no problem settling the battle by noon tomorrow. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone on the desk rang. I thought that it might be Shederikov who had called back from the front and reported the situation to me, so I grabbed the phone. But it was Seryukin's voice coming out of the earpiece, and he reported to me with some excitement: "Comrade commander, I asked the divisional commissar, Lieutenant Colonel Yermokhin, to lead a regiment and stay in Zolotonosha, while the rest of the troops are currently moving towards the river. ”

Seryukin's words startled me, and I raised my hand to look at my watch, and they were already moving towards the river less than ten minutes before I gave the order. I hurriedly asked, "Master Xie Liujin, can you not predict the prophet?" You know, it's been less than ten minutes since I gave you the order to cross the river and advance into Spora? ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Seryugin smiled and explained to me: "I know that there was an attack during the day and almost a German division was annihilated, so I guessed that you would definitely assign tasks to our division, so I sent a battle alert to the regimental commanders and made them ready to go." ”

"I see." After listening to Seryukin's explanation, I couldn't help but laugh dumbly, it seems that my subordinates now know more and more about my character, and can actually guess from a battle to my next move. I then asked, "How are the fighters?" ”

"Comrade Commander, don't worry." Seryukin assured me that "the fighters are in high spirits and are eager to fight the Germans at once." As long as our troops reach their destination, we are sure that we will destroy all the enemy, even without the cooperation of tank troops. ”

"Comrade Seryukin," I told him, hearing that he was so confident, that "in order to prevent the Germans from slaughtering our comrades in the prisoner of war camps, the first target of your division is the prisoner of war camps. Do you understand? ”

"Understood." Seryugin replied loudly: "When the troops arrive at Spola, I will leave my troops to monitor the defenders of the city, and then concentrate the main forces to attack the prisoner of war camp first and free all the commanders and fighters imprisoned inside." ”

"Well, Comrade Seryukin, since you are so confident, then we are waiting for your good news."

After I put down the phone, I looked up and asked Akhromeyev: "Major, how long will it take for the troops of the 89th Guards Division to get to Spora?" ”

Having carefully calculated the distance on the map, Akhromeyev replied: "Comrade commander, it will take them about two hours to rush from the river to the Smilla area. Although it was only a dozen kilometers away from Spola, it would take at least five hours because they could not move along the road and could only walk through the forest to get close to the target. ”

"Seven hours?" After listening to this, Chistyakov stared at the map and said thoughtfully: "When we get to the vicinity of Spora, we will rest for another two hours, that is, they can launch an attack on the enemy before eight o'clock tomorrow morning." ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, that's it." Akhromeyev replied respectfully: "As long as they do not get lost while crossing the forest, then there is no problem in attacking at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." ”

When Akhromeyev finished speaking, I suddenly interjected: "If Colonel Shederikov's troops managed to capture the city before they reached Smilla, would it be possible to shorten their march?" ”

"Do you need to talk about that?" After listening to me, Chistyakov said with a smile: "If Smilla had been liberated by us before Seryukin's troops arrived." Then perhaps the troops of the 89th Guards Division will not be needed at all, and it will be completely possible for Colonel Sederikov to take advantage of the victory to pursue, and under the cover of the tank troops, he will be able to rush directly to Spora, and at most in an hour, he will be able to rush to the city. ”

When Bezikov, who had just come over, heard these words of Chistyakov, he couldn't help but feel moved, he looked at me and asked: "Comrade commander, do you need to call Colonel Sederikov and ask him to speed up the attack?" ”

Although I also wanted to call Sederikov and ask him to speed up the attack, try to take Smilla in the shortest possible time, and then wave his army west to capture Spora. But on second thought, if I really called him, it would inevitably disrupt his combat deployment and cause unnecessary losses to the troops.

Seeing that Chistyakov, Bezikov and the others were focused on me, and when I made a final decision, I resolutely shook my head and said, "Forget it, let's let Sederikov attack according to his plan." If I had called him, I would have planned for his scheduled attacking rhythm, and maybe he wouldn't be able to liberate Smilla before noon tomorrow. ”

Hearing that I actually had this attitude, the few people around me couldn't help but sigh in disappointment, and then went about their own work. I walked up to Kirillov and sat down, looked at him who was constantly filling out the application form for the award, and said jokingly: "Comrade Military Commissar, in the past few days, you have filled out thousands of such forms, right?" ”

Kirillov heard my voice, looked up at me, put the pen down in his hand, and said to me with a smile: "Yes, Leda, although I have filled out so many application forms, I have found that I have not filled out more. With so many commanders and fighters who have made meritorious contributions, I can't do it alone, you can find someone to help me. ”

"That's fine." I was just going to have a small talk with Kirillov, but I didn't expect him to make such a request to me. However, I saw that he had been working too much recently, and that one person could not be busy at all, so I readily agreed: "I will ask each division to recommend suitable political workers to come here to help you." (To be continued.) )