Although Vatutin told me that it would only take a few days of rest before our troops would be transferred to the Priluki region. However, until the end of September, the main forces of the Sixth Guards Army remained in Chuhuev.

However, it is gratifying that during this time, we have been replenished with soldiers, weapons, ammunition and various materials, commanders and fighters of all ranks have received their own medals, and I have also received my seventh medal - the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.

The most noteworthy is Seryukin's 89th Guards Division. For their outstanding performance in Belgorod and Kharkov, they were awarded the Order of Suvorov and the Order of the Red Banner respectively by the Supreme High Command, and the place name "Belgorod-Kharkiv" was added to the number, and the full name of the division was changed to: "The 89th Infantry Division of the Guards Red Banner Belgorod-Kharkov awarded the Order of Suvorov"

The only regret is that the application for the promotion of the 375th Infantry Division to the Guards Division was not approved by the Supreme High Command. Perhaps to appease the division's commander, Major General Pyotr Dmitrievich Govorinenko, his superiors appointed him commander of the 18th Tank Army, who could take up his post in a week.

Immediately after receiving this letter of appointment from my superiors, I summoned Govorunenko to the headquarters of the army group and had the necessary conversation with him. Judging by all indications, after Govorinenko's departure, the higher authorities would not send a new division commander to the division, so I would like to seek his opinion to see who would be more suitable to take over the post of division commander.

However, our conversation was not pleasant, and Govorinenko proposed to replace him with the deputy division commander, but we rejected it on the grounds of incompetence; The two candidates for regiment commander proposed by Chistyakov were also vetoed by Govorinenko on the grounds that they lacked a sense of the overall situation.

Just when the atmosphere in the command became dull, Kirillov, who had gone to inspect the political propaganda work in the divisions, returned from outside. When he saw a room of people sitting without talking, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's wrong with you, why don't you speak?" When I was just outside the door, I thought there was no one in the house. ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, here's the thing." When Chistyakov saw Kirillov asking, he told him exactly what we were discussing.

After listening to this, Kirillov couldn't help but smile and said to Chistyakov: "I said Comrade Deputy Commander, since there are no suitable candidates in the 375th Infantry Division, then why don't we take them out of other divisions?" ”

When I heard Kirillov say this, my eyes lit up, yes, why do we always think about the division commander in the 375th Infantry Division, and do not focus on the scope of the entire army group? I was about to speak, but I heard Chistyakov preemptively say: "Comrade Military Commissar, at present, the divisions have just been replenished, and the division commanders and deputy division commanders are very busy with their work, where can I assign the right person to serve as the commander of the 375th Infantry Division?" ”

"Since there are no people from the division commander and deputy division commander, then we can consider selecting from the regiment commander." Kirillov said confidently: "In the fighting from July to the end of August, there were not many regimental commanders with outstanding abilities, who were fully qualified for higher-level work. ”

"Comrade Military Commissar," Chistyakov heard Kirillov say this, looked at him with wide eyes, and asked curiously: "Do you have a suitable candidate?" ”

"Of course, his ability is good, and the troops under his command have achieved considerable results in these two months of fighting. It's just that the rank is a little lower, and it's only the rank of lieutenant colonel at the moment. Kirillov did not immediately name the person he had in mind, but first identified the man's shortcomings. After saying that, he turned his head to look at me and smiled.

When I saw this expression on his face, and then thought of the rank of lieutenant colonel he was talking about, my heart couldn't help but move, and the names of the candidates he might recommend immediately came to my mind.

"Alas, I said Comrade Military Commissar, don't play dumb riddles, who the hell is, you should tell it quickly." Chistyakov asked a little anxiously: "You must know that the whole army group plus artillery and tank corps, there are dozens of regiment commanders, I can't guess the candidate you want to recommend from so many people!" ”

Kirillov pouted at me and said, "Okay, Comrade Deputy Commander, I think Lida has also guessed who I want to recommend, you can ask her." ”

Hearing Kirillov say this, Chistyakov immediately turned his gaze for help to me, and at the same time asked anxiously; "Comrade Commander, do you guess who Comrade Military Commissar is going to recommend?"

I looked at Kirillov and asked tentatively: "Comrade Military Commissar, if I am not mistaken, you plan to recommend Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, commander of the 309th Regiment of the 51st Guards Infantry Division, to be the commander of the 375th Infantry Division, right?" ”

Kirillov waited for me to finish, nodded with a smile, and then said, "That's right, I think Lieutenant Colonel Lukin is the best candidate for division commander." After saying this, he turned his head and asked the commander of the 23rd Guards Infantry Army, who was sitting at the table without saying a word: "General Tavart Kiradze, do you agree with my recommendation?" ”

When Tavart Kiradze heard that Kirillov actually recommended one of his regiment commanders to be the commander of the 375th Infantry Division, he was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses, nodded vigorously and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, the candidate you recommended is good, and he is fully qualified for the post of commander of the 375th Infantry Division. Speaking of this, he smiled at me and said kindly, "Comrade commander, in fact, I would like to wait a little longer, if the higher authorities have not appointed a new division commander of the 51st Guards Division, they will recommend Lieutenant Colonel Lukin to the post of division commander. ”

"General Tavart Kiradze," Chistyakov waited for him to finish, and immediately said to him with a serious expression: "Just like Comrade Military Commissar just said, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin's military rank is too low and his qualifications are not enough, and he is the commander of the Guards Division, maybe the Front Command will not approve it." Since he is capable, let him be the commander of the 375th Infantry Division. ”

Naturally, I like to see Lukin take up the post of division commander, so as soon as Chistyakov finished speaking, I asked while the iron was hot: "Do you have any different opinions about Lieutenant Colonel Lukin's appointment as the commander of the 375th Infantry Division?" ”

"Nope!" Kirillov replied first.

"Neither do I!" The next answer was Tawart Kiradze, who was naturally very happy that his subordinate could become the commander of the division, so he agreed without hesitation.

Then Chistyakov, Bezikov and Govorinenko also expressed their attitudes and agreed to make Lieutenant Colonel Lukin the commander of the 375th Infantry Division.

After the motion to appoint Lukin as commander of the 375th Infantry Division was passed, I picked up the phone and asked the communications corps to connect with the Front Command, intending to report the appointment to the higher authorities, and when I got permission, I could let Lukin officially take office.

Who knew that as soon as the phone was connected, I heard Vatutin hurriedly say: "Comrade Oshanina, this is really good, I just wanted to call you, but I didn't expect you to call first." ”

When I heard Vatutin's tone of urgency, I knew that something important was going on, and hurriedly asked, "Comrade General, I don't know what important tasks I want to give us." ”

"According to intelligence, the Germans are retreating in a big way, and it seems that they want to withdraw across the Dnieper immediately." Vatutin ordered me on the phone: "Your army group should immediately move and launch a pursuit of the Germans in the shortest possible time." If it is possible, they should be wiped out on the banks of the Dnieper, and if they cannot, they should immediately force their way across the Dnieper and establish a landing ground on the west bank of the river, so that the main forces of the Front can cross the river and launch a full-scale attack on the Germans. (To be continued.) )