In the early morning of July 18, I was sitting in front of the map with Danilov and Bezikov, studying the upcoming attack of the 67th Guards Division on Kryukovo and Tomarovka, when the telephone on my desk suddenly rang.

Akhromeyev, who answered the phone, reported to me that the call was from Ivanov, the chief of staff of the Front, and that I had to rush to the headquarters in Kursk for a meeting before 10 a.m. Finally, he added that the meeting was chaired by Marshal Zhukov, who had just returned to Kursk.

Hearing that the meeting was chaired by Zhukov, I guessed that a new offensive must be deployed, so I ordered Bezikov to stay and take charge of the internal affairs of the army group, and then urged Danilov: "Let's go, Comrade Deputy Commander!" ”

While on the way, Danilov asked me tentatively: "Commander, do you know why Marshal Zhukov suddenly held a meeting today?" ”

"What other reason can there be, of course, to prepare for the attack. Haven't you heard that where Marshal Zhukov arrives, it means that we are going to start an offensive there. At this point, I pointed out the window of the car to the lined infantry platoon opposite us, and the truck with the cannon towed, "You see, so many troops, constantly moving to the front, just to prepare for our attack. ”

Danilov's face flashed with joy when he saw so many teams on the road, and then he leaned in front of the window, looked at the sky, and said worriedly: "Won't the troops be attacked by the Germans when they march so swaggeringly in broad daylight?" ”

"No," I said, looking at the endless stream of troops outside, "since the superiors dare to order the troops to march during the day, there must be a way to deal with the German air raids." "Perhaps to verify my claim, as soon as I finished speaking, two of our warplanes flew over the jeep. Fly into the distance,

By the time we arrived at the conference room of the headquarters of the Front, it was already crowded with people, not only from the Voronezh Front, but also from the Steppe Front. Danilov and I sat down in a corner and looked left and right to see if we could find an acquaintance. The result of this search. I really found an acquaintance - Katukov.

When I saw a vacant seat next to me, I beckoned him to come and do it. After Katukov sat down next to me, he asked straight to the point: "Lida, did your attack on Butovo yesterday go well?" ”

I nodded vigorously and said affirmatively: "Yes, Comrade General, after a hard battle yesterday in the 67th Guards Division. Successfully recaptured Butovo. An offensive will also be launched today against Kryukovo and Tomarovka. ”

After listening to what I said, Katukov said thoughtfully: "If these two small cities are captured again, then your army group will have a frontal and wide offensive starting point, which is very conducive to the deployment of the attacking forces. ”

Danilov couldn't hear the word "offensive" now, and when he heard Katukov also saying it, he immediately grabbed the other party and asked: "Comrade General, do you know something about the upcoming offensive of our army?" ”

Katukov gave him a strange look. Then he shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands out. Somewhat helplessly, he said: "General Danilov, I think I should know as much as you do. I also received a call from General Ivanov, so I hurried here from my headquarters. As for the plans of the superiors to attack, I don't know anything. ”

As I listened to the two of them chatting, I suddenly remembered that I had seen a movie before. At the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, Katukov was leisurely fishing by the pond and could not help but ask curiously: "Comrade General, have you been fishing again recently?" ”

Hearing my question, Katukov smiled and shook his head. He said: "I don't have time, Leda, I am busy fighting with the Germans every day, where is there any time to go fishing." Let's wait until this battle is over, and then find a chance to go fishing. ”

"That's right, Comrade Katukov. After this battle, we went fishing on the Dnieper River together. As soon as Katukov's words fell, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind me.

I quickly jumped up from the table, raised my hand to salute the speaker, and said loudly: "Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!" ”

The person who spoke was Zhukov, and behind him stood Vatutin and Konev, who raised his hand to return the salute, looked at me and said with a smile: "Lida, you have done well during this time." I've read some of the confessions of the captives, and the Germans are now terrified of you. With that, he and the two commanders of the Front, Vatutin and Konev, walked towards the conference table.

After the meeting began, it was Zhukov who stood up and spoke first, who, after looking around, said with a smile on his face and in a loud voice: "Hello, comrades commanders! ”

When the commanders present heard Zhukov say this, they all moved involuntarily and straightened their waists, which were already straight.

"I'm glad to see you." Zhukov continued: "In this battle of Kursk, the comrades of both the Voronezh Front and the Steppe Front behaved very well, and it was your excellent performance on the battlefield that smashed the German conspiracy to attack Kursk from the south. ”

At this point, Zhukov suddenly stopped, and he slowly looked around the people again. I guess he's organizing the vocabulary in his head and is going to go on.

After a pause, Zhukov began to speak again: "Comrades, we have called you here today because the High Command has approved the 'Rumyantsev' campaign, which will be fully transferred to the offensive in southern Kursk. The basic intent of the campaign was to launch an offensive on the left flank of Manstein's Army Group South with the Voronezh Front and the Steppe Front and to eliminate the Belgorod-Kharkiv salient south of Kursk. ”

At this point, Zhukov paused again, threw a meaningful glance at Vatutin, and then continued: "General Vatutin has suggested to the High Command that we encircle the German heavy army group in this area. And the commander of the 40th Army, Comrade Moskalenko, even suggested closing the encirclement at Poltava, west of Kharkov! At this point, his expression became serious, "But the General Staff of the Red Army, after repeated studies, resolutely opposes the plan of large-scale encirclement. We believe that the Germans have strong positions in this area, and Kharkov itself is a huge fortress that can be held for a long time. Relying on these fortifications. The besieged German army will hold back the main force of our army for a long time and buy time for the German army to establish a strong defense on the Dnieper line.

In addition, the two flanks of the Voronezh Front and the Steppe Front were also very weak and unable to carry out a large-depth outflanking. And if we want to adjust the deployment of troops, it will inevitably take a lot of time. So. The Germans, whose strength had been greatly weakened after Operation Bastion, would also have the opportunity to increase their strength.

After much deliberation, we finally decided: to use the two tank armies concentrated north of Belgorod -- the 1st and 5th Guards Tank Armies -- to rush into the depth of the German defenses, cut off the enemy's reinforcement routes, and at the same time divide them and destroy them one by one. ”

Zhukov walked to the large map hanging on the wall and picked up the stick, which was leaning against the wall. I was wondering why I didn't see Vasilevsky today, when I heard Zhukov say: "According to the plan of the General Staff: the Voronezh Front south of Kursk will launch an assault from the north to the south, directly clashes with the flank of the department. Insert the junction of the German 4th Panzer Army and the 'Kempf' campaign cluster, and cut off the retreat of the army west of Kharkov.

The main attack of this front was carried out by the 5th Guards Army on the left flank, and the 6th Guards Army was supported on the right side. Two armies were to open a breakthrough in German positions, and then the 1st Guards Tank Army would enter the breach from 4 km on its right flank, and the 5th Guards Army from 6 km on the left flank. After the two tank armies rushed into the depth of the German flank, they would make a detour to the left and encircle Kharkov: Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Army formed an outer encirclement of Kharkov. Rotmistrov's Fifth Guards Tank Army formed an inner encirclement of Kharkov. ”

When Zhukov was explaining, everyone, including me. The atmosphere didn't dare to come out, but he quickly recorded what he said in a small notebook.

"According to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief himself, the operation should begin on July 23. However, we found that the Voronezh Front, after the onslaught of Manstein, suffered quite heavy losses and needed some more time to rest. After the efforts of Comrade Vasilevsky and me, Comrade Stalin gave you another 10 days to repair and prepare. So. The date of the attack was postponed to 3 August.

On the right flank of the Voronezh Front was the 27th Army and its attached 4th Guards Tank Army and 10th Tank Army; The 40th Army and the attached Second Guards Tank Army, the 38th Army. The 40th and 38th armies were to attack on 5 and 8 August, respectively.

The Steppe Front was responsible for attacking the Belgorod-Kharkiv salient from the front. The 53rd, 69th and 7th Guards Armies were deployed for this purpose. The main enemy in front of you is the 'Kempf' battle cluster. For the commander of the Front, General Konev, the task was rather daunting. Because his most elite units had already been handed over to the Voronezh Front at the defensive stage. The remaining strength was not particularly sufficient, and the only assault force, the 1st Mechanized Army, was used to strengthen the 53rd Army.

In addition, the Southwestern Front to the south of the Steppe Front will also attack Kharkov with the 57th Army, and their immediate enemy will be mainly the 42nd Army of the German 'Kempf' battle group. ”

After explaining the whole plan, Zhukov leaned his explanation stick against the wall, walked back to the table, propped his hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and said with a serious expression: "Comrade commanders, the war has been going on so far, and the situation has become more and more favorable to us, and if we can win this offensive battle, then the situation on the battlefield will take a huge turn. When he said this, a look of joy appeared on his face unexpectedly, "That is to say, the situation in which the Germans attacked our defense in the past will be completely reversed." It will turn into our offense, and the Germans will have to switch to a full-fledged defense. ”

Before Zhukov sat down, he said with a smile: "If you have any questions, you can ask me." ”

As soon as his words fell, the commander of the 40th Army, Moskalenko, stood up and asked loudly: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask, how much artillery fire support can we get in the offensive?" ”

Hearing his question, Zhukov looked at him with squinted eyes and said: "General Moskalenko, before the offensive begins, the high command will also strengthen the artillery units of the Voronezh Front. As for how much it can be strengthened, I can't say yet, but what I can tell you is that at least on the frontal of the battlefield, our artillery density can reach more than a hundred guns per kilometer. ”

"More than a hundred!" As soon as Zhukov finished speaking, there was an exclamation among the commanders sitting below. You must know that in the early days of the Battle of Kursk, when our army carried out a preemptive artillery attack, the most dense artillery pieces were only about 80 guns per kilometer. And in the upcoming offensive, the average density can reach more than 100 gates, how can everyone not be surprised.

Then another commander asked: "Can we get the necessary air support?" When I heard his question, I thought it was secretly amused, and I guessed that they might have suffered a lot of losses from the Germans. Who knew that the smile on my face had just bloomed, and it froze on my face because of the words of this tenacious commander. Just listen to him say: "If we don't have air support, then the troops will inevitably suffer heavy casualties." You must know that the deputy commander of the Front, General Apanashchenko, was killed in an air raid by enemy planes while inspecting the front line......"

I didn't hear what the man was saying later. Had it not been for Katukov and Danilov, who had discovered my anomaly and grabbed my hands from both sides in time and pressed me firmly to the table, I would have picked up the stool and smashed it at the commander.

"Calm down, Leda." Katukov leaned into my ear and whispered a reminder: "Don't forget that this is a high-level military meeting, and you are still a commander of an army group. If you make any mistakes on impulse, it will be difficult for even Marshal Zhukov to defend you in public. ”

Katukov's words calmed me down again, I leaned against the wall and gasped, staring at the commander who was talking endlessly, and cursed in my heart: "Boy, today is your fate, if you fall into my hands one day, I will never spare you." ”

After the commanders present had asked all the questions that should be asked, Zhukov stood up and announced: "Now that the tasks are clear, comrades commanders, you should all go back to the troops at once, and seize the time to prepare for the attack." ”

The commanders present stood up in unison and replied neatly: "Yes!" (To be continued.) )