Vatutin's telegram soon came. In his telegram, in addition to praising the tenacious fighting spirit displayed by our two armies in the battle for the liberation of Belgorod, he also informed us that according to the order of the Supreme High Command, our two armies, after handing over the defense to the steppe front, immediately deployed their troops in the direction of Kharkov in the south of the city to prevent a possible counterattack by the German army.

After seeing this telegram from Vatutin, Shumilov asked me thoughtfully: "Comrade Oshanina, what do you think of this telegram, why did you cede Belgorod to the steppe front?" You must know that it was the first to attack the city, but it was our two army groups. ”

Listening to Shumilov's resigned words, I knew in my heart that he was not convinced by this order, and at the same time felt unworthy for the commanders and fighters who died in the forced crossing of the Severodonets River or the siege of the city. But in this case, if I echo him and attack the orders of my superiors, I am very likely to be calculated by people with ulterior motives, so I thought about it for a while and persuaded him with a plausible reason: "Comrade General, I think that the reason why the superiors gave such an order may be to give the steppe front a place to rest, and you must know that they have always been responsible for frontal offensive tasks during this period of attack. You see, our two armies paid such a big price just for the task of assisting, so we should be able to judge how big the casualties of General Konev's troops were. ”

After listening to my analysis, the anger on Shumilov's face weakened, and he asked in an uncertain tone: "Is that so?" ”

"General Shumilov. I think Leda's analysis. It makes a lot of sense. Kirillov also helped me to analyze to Shumilov: "As far as I know. The 53rd and 69th armies of the Steppe Front are both newly formed units, with a large number of recruits and relatively weak combat effectiveness, so it is entirely possible that they will pay a greater price in battle. ”

"But the casualties of our two armies are not small," Shumilov said depressedly, "Why didn't you even give us time to rest, and ordered us to go to the south of the city to deploy the troops?" ”

"Comrade General." I organized the vocabulary in my head, and then said: "Although the Germans have been driven out of the city, they will surely not die and will strike back at Belgorod at any time." Think about it, in the face of the frantic counterattack of the German army, do you think it is the 53rd and 69th armies, or our two armies, that can stop them? ”

After I finished speaking, Shumilov fell into deep thought. After a while, the expression on his face became relaxed: "I see." It seems that I am wrong to blame Commander Vatutin. That's right, Comrade Oshanina. When do you think the higher authorities will order us to launch an offensive on Kharkov? ”

"Why, Comrade General, as soon as Belgorod was liberated, you can't wait to go and liberate Kharkov?" Seeing that he no longer took Vatutin's orders to heart, I laughed and teased him: "You must know that in the last military meeting, the superiors only mentioned that the most recent priority was the liberation of Belgorod. As for the liberation of Kharkov, it may take a few more days for the higher authorities to make a new decision. ”

"Since that's the case, then I should go and go back to carry out the order to move troops." Shumilov got up from his seat, stretched out his hand to Kirillov and me, and politely said: "Then we will meet later, I wish you good health!" ”

As soon as Shumilov left, I immediately dialed the command and asked Bezikov, who answered the phone: "Chief of staff, do you know how the fighting is going on the Tomarovka side?" ”

According to the telegram sent by the headquarters of the Front, "I heard the sound of turning paper in the earpiece, and it was supposed that Bezikov was reading the battle report he had just received: "Our army has taken the initiative in Tomarovka, and three German infantry divisions and one armored division have fallen into our encirclement, and at this moment the encirclement and annihilation battle is underway, and it is estimated that the final battle will be resolved by tomorrow morning." ”

"Then we have four infantry divisions and two tank brigades in the city of Tomarovka." Although I now have three Guards Divisions in my hands, I still feel that the forces are too weak. With such a small number of troops, it is enough to say that it is enough, and it is not enough to say that it is not enough. If you want to hold the line, the strength is enough; But if an attack were to be launched on Kharkov, it was estimated that such a force would be lost in the three-dimensional defense of German aircraft, tanks, and artillery before it could break into the city. "Do you have any up-to-date arrangements for them?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Bezikov replied simply, "Although our army has the upper hand, the battle is not finally over. In order to prevent uncertainties from affecting the final outcome of the battle, I estimate that the higher authorities will not let us move these troops casually for the time being. ”

Hearing Bezikov's answer, my heart couldn't help but feel cold, with this little force in my hand, I can only fight a defensive war, and it seems a bit unrealistic to participate in the offensive on Kharkov.

Since I am about to mobilize the troops in the city and go to the south of the city to set up defenses, it is obviously inappropriate to leave the headquarters of the group army alone far away from the troops. So I ordered Bezikov again: "Chief of Staff, the troops in Belgorod have been moved to the south of the city, and the headquarters should be moved over as soon as possible." ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Bezzikov readily agreed: "We are ready to transfer immediately." ”

"Don't rush yet, Chief of Staff." Seeing that he was acting so positively, I hurriedly stopped him: "We haven't decided on a new location yet, so the transfer of the headquarters will wait until tomorrow daytime." ”

"Okay," Bezikov said on the phone, "I'll use this time to see if I can gather some more troops and move with us to the south of Belgorod." ”

If he didn't talk about collecting troops, I would have almost forgotten about Rodimtsev's 13th Guards Division. As soon as he said this, I hurriedly and eagerly added: "Chief of Staff, when you transfer tomorrow, it is estimated that the battle in Tomarovka should also be over." By then, the 13th Guards Division, which was responsible for cutting off Tomarovka's connection with Belgorod, should also end their task. Since they don't have anything to do for the time being. You are at the time of transfer. By the way, take this unit with you. ”

Bezikov may have been playing the idea of this force for a long time. It's just that he, as my deputy, doesn't dare to assert many things. At this moment, when he heard that I had taken the initiative to raise this matter, he immediately and simply agreed: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander. I'll bring you the 13th Guards Division tomorrow. ”

Kirillov and I were in a jeep to transfer the division to the south of the city, and when he saw that it was only us and the driver in the car, he asked with some concern: "Lida, without consulting the superiors, the 13th Guards Division was included in the formation of our army group without authorization." Is it really appropriate to do this? ”

"It shouldn't be a problem." I said with some humility: "Since Commander Vatutin has put General Rodimtsev's troops under my command, I guess there are also plans to let them join the formation of our army group." ”

When Kirillov heard me say this, he did not dwell with me on this issue anymore, but asked about his concerns: "When do you think the higher authorities will send us to attack Kharkov?" ”

I don't think it's easy to answer Kirillov's question. Because as far as I can remember, it was only after the victory in the liberation of Belgorod that Vatutin and Konev reported their specific campaign plans to Stalin, which was approved on August 6 and 8. When I think of these two dates, I actually think of these two days in two years. Two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese country. These two atomic bombs and the subsequent declaration of war by the Soviet army on the Japanese greatly accelerated the surrender of the Japanese invaders.

I was thinking back to the spectacular scene in the documentary where tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers surrendered to the Soviet army. The jeep stopped suddenly. I came back from my contemplation and asked the driver dissatisfied, "Why did you stop?" ”

The driver turned his head to look at me and said a little aggrievedly: "Comrade commander, there is a car in front of us blocking our way. ”

"Do you know who it is?" Kirillov asked.

The driver shook his head and said, "I don't know, it doesn't look like someone from our army group anyway." Suddenly, he pointed his hand to the front and said loudly: "A commander came out of the car and was walking towards us, maybe there was something." ”

I saw the officer walk up to our car, bend down and look inside, and asked, "May I ask General Oshanina of the Sixth Guards Army, is he in the car?" ”

I pushed open the door, leaned out, glanced at his rank, and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, which part are you?" ”

The lieutenant colonel hurriedly stood on the spot, raised his hand to salute me, and reported: "Hello, Comrade General. I am the adjutant of the commander of the 53rd Army, Lieutenant General Managarov, and our commander has a few words to say to you. ”

When we heard that the commander of the 53rd Army was blocking our way, Kirillov and I got out of the car. Walking towards the front, Basmanov, who was in the car behind, also got out of the car and followed with a few guards.

Before I could get to the jeep, another general in a brand new uniform got out of the car, and he greeted me with a smile: "Hello, General Oshanina. I'm Managarov. ”

"Hello, Comrade General." Seeing that the other party did not salute me, I directly stretched out my hand to him and said politely, "It's a pleasure to meet you here." ”

After shaking hands with me and Kirillov in turn, Managarov did not go around in circles, but said straight to the point: "General Oshanina, we are ordered to take over your defense. I have a special request that I hope you will grant me. ”

Special request, his words made me frown. The heart said, does he still want me to leave him all the captured German prisoners and captured weapons and ammunition? As soon as I thought about it, my tone naturally became cold: "Comrade General, if you have any requests, just put them forward, as long as I can do it, I will definitely fulfill your wishes." ”

"That's right, General Oshanina." Managarov may have sensed the change in my attitude, and said with some embarrassment: "I heard that the city radio station was captured by your 272nd Guards Regiment, right?" ”

"That's right, that's right." I replied briefly.

"Since it's the radio station building they occupy, then I want them to keep this honor alive." Managarov said unexpectedly: "I don't know if you left this regiment and continued to hold on to the radio station building, I don't know what you think?" ”

"This ......" Managarov's proposal made me at a loss, and I had to turn my eyes to Kirillov, who was narrating, for help: "Comrade Military Commissar, what do you mean? ”

Kirillov thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile and said: "Since it is the kindness of General Managarov, then I will be in charge, and the 272nd Guards Regiment will stay in the city for the time being and continue to be responsible for the security of the radio station building." ”

When we parted ways with Managarov and moved on, Kirillov, who was sitting next to me, said with deep feeling: "This General Managarov is not simple. Knowing that the superiors asked us to hand over the defense of Belgorod to them, there will be some emotions. Now he took it upon himself to leave the 272nd Guards Regiment to hold on to the radio station building, and easily resolved the contradiction between our two armies. It's not simple, this person is really not simple. ”

Our temporary headquarters is located in a fortified fortification two kilometers southwest of Belgorod. This is an underground fortification made of reinforced concrete, which can withstand the bombardment of heavy artillery, and as for whether it was built by the German army or our army, it is impossible to verify it in a hurry.

When I arrived at the new defensive zone, the division commanders were busy deploying troops, and it was getting late, so I did not call a few division commanders for a meeting. I think it's not too late to convene a meeting after the rest of the command has arrived.

As soon as we arrived at the new command, a telegram was sent to Bezikov, informing them of where we were. Bezikov was also an acute subordinate, although the headquarters was not transferred for the time being, but many personnel and equipment of the communications office were sent by him first.

By 1 a.m., the communications equipment in the new headquarters was ready for use. Just as I was considering whether or not to contact the troops remaining in Tomarovka, the chief of communications, Lopukhov, suddenly came up with a telegram and said to me with a look of joy on his face: "Comrade commander, this is the telegram that I have just received. This is a news message, which says that an hour ago, at 0:00 on August 6, on Moscow's Red Square, 120 salutes were fired in unison to celebrate the victory of the reconquest of Oryol and Belgorod on the same day, which was the first time since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War that the Soviet people celebrated the victory with a salute. ”

Kirillov took the telegram from Lopukhov's hand with his hands, which were trembling with excitement. After a quick glance, he excitedly said to me: "Lida, this telegram should be conveyed to all divisions immediately, so that all commanders and fighters know such encouraging good news." (To be continued.) )