After listening to what the fighters had said, Tavart Kiradze immediately turned around and said to me excitedly: "Comrade commander, did you hear me? Right here, where we and our allies meet. ”

"Comrade warrior," I also pushed the door open and asked the fighters outside, "which part are you?" ”

Hearing my voice, the soldier hurriedly turned to me and replied with the same respect: "Report to Comrade Commander, I am from the 39th Guards Division of the Eighth Guards Army. ”

"The 39th Guards Division!" Hearing this number, a sense of intimacy came to my face. I turned my head and smiled and said to Chistyakov: "It was Major General Guryev's troops, and when we were in Stalingrad, we used to fight side by side. After saying that, I looked at the fighters outside again and asked cordially, "Comrade soldiers, where are your division commander, Major General Guryev, and the divisional political commissar Chernyshov?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander, our division commander is in the nearby temporary command post. As for the divisional commissar, Colonel Chernyshov, "the soldier said this with a proud expression on his face:" He has been transferred to the headquarters of the army group to take up the post of member of the military council. ”

"Yo, Colonel Chernyshov promoted?" I was a little surprised to hear that Chernyshov had actually become the leader of the army group. But on second thought, such a transfer is also common, and my former divisional commissar Kirillov, if not also the military commissar of the Sixth Guards Army. Thinking of this, I paused slightly, and then asked politely: "Comrade soldier, can you take us to your division headquarters?" ”

"Comrade commander, I will be happy to serve you!" After the warrior said this politely, he leaned sideways and stretched out his hand to make a gesture of please: "Please come with me!" ”

The three of us followed behind the fighters and walked towards the division headquarters in the distance. On the way, I took the initiative to ask the soldiers: "Comrade soldiers, you fought well yesterday, and in just a few hours, you broke through the German defenses." ”

Hearing me say this, the soldier grinned, and then replied in cliché: "Comrade commander, our commanders and fighters have behaved very bravely in battle. After saying this, he closed his mouth and silently led the way ahead of us.

After walking some distance forward, the soldier stopped, pointed to a row of tents in the distance, turned to me and said: "Comrade commander, the temporary headquarters of the division commander is there, you can go there yourself." After that, he straightened up to me and replied, "Allow me to leave?" ”

"Thank you, comrade warrior." After saying this, I reached out and shook his hand, and then led Chistyakov and them towards the tent area.

Guided by several other fighters, we made it to the outside of Guriev's tent.

I lifted the tent and walked in, immediately drawing the eyes of everyone in the tent. I hurriedly raised a hand to greet them: "Hello, comrades commanders. ”

Guriev, the owner of the tent, immediately greeted me, raised his hand to salute me, and said: "Hello, General Oshanina, it is a pleasure to meet you here. ”

"Hello, General Guryev." After returning the salute, I shook his hand and said, "We have met for the first time since the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, and I really miss the days when we fought side by side." ”

"I miss the old days, too." Guriev smiled and said: "At the beginning, the two of us were of the same rank, but now you are already the commander of the army group, and I am still serving as the commander of this division." ”

After Guriev and I let go of my hand, they turned to the side, pointed to one of the commanders next to me, and said to me: "Comrade Oshanina, do you remember my chief of staff? ”

I glanced at the medium-sized commander beside him, then smiled and stretched out my hand to the other person, and said with a smile: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Zaliyuk, it's a pleasure to meet you here!" ”

The lieutenant colonel stretched out his hands to hold my hand and said respectfully: "Hello, General Oshanina, welcome to our division headquarters. ”

Then I introduced Chistyakov and the others who had come with me to Guriev and Zalizhuk, and sat down around the improvised wooden table in the middle of the tent. I looked up at Guryev and asked, "General Guryev, I would like to ask, what is the next task of your division after the meeting?" ”

When Guriev heard my question, he shook his head, and then said: "I'm sorry, General Oshanina. If it had been yesterday, maybe I would have been able to answer your question. But now," he shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands out, "I really can't answer you yet." ”

"Why?" This answer from Guriev aroused my great curiosity.

"Before the start of the offensive yesterday, our division received a combat mission to launch a direct attack on Izyum after breaking through the enemy's defensive line." The chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Zalizyuk, relieved Guryev from the siege and said: "But now Izyum has been recaptured by your troops, so the order we received has been canceled. ”

"Oh, I see." After listening to this, Chistyakov and I nodded in unison.

"Can I come in?" Just then, a familiar voice sounded outside the tent.

Before I could figure out whose voice it was, Guriev shouted outside: "Please come in!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the tent curtain was lifted, and two men walked in. When I looked closely, it turned out to be all my own subordinates. Walking to the front was Major General Seryukin, commander of the 89th Guards Division, and behind him was Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, commander of the 309th Guards Regiment.

When the two of them came in, they were stunned when they saw me and Chistyakov and their commander there, but they quickly came to their senses, raised their hands and saluted us, and reported loudly: "Comrade Commander, the 89th Guards Division ......"

Without waiting for Seryukin to finish speaking, I raised my hand to interrupt his words, got up and took two steps towards him, held his hand tightly, and said approvingly: "General Seryukin, your division has behaved well. I believe that the series of brilliant victories achieved by your division in the battle will go down in history in the future. ”

"Going down in history?!" When Seryukin heard me say this, his eyes lit up, and he asked in an uncertain tone: "Comrade Commander, are all what you said true?" ”

When I heard him say this, I deliberately said with a straight face: "Why, Comrade General, don't you believe what I say?" ”

"Where, comrade commander, you misunderstood." Seeing my serious expression, Xie Liujin suddenly became a little flustered, and hurriedly explained to me: "I didn't mean that, I believe everything you say. It's just that something like this going down in history felt like a dream when I first heard it. ”

I let go of his hand and took Lukin's hand again. While shaking hands, I raised my left hand and gently patted him on the shoulder a few times, and then said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, good job. Your regiment distinguished itself not only in the battle for the defense of Yakovlevo; In last night's battle, your regiment was even more prominent. Don't worry, in two days, I will personally award medals to all the commanders and fighters of your regiment. As for you, the command of the army group will award you the Order of the Red Banner. ”

Lukin's face was flushed with excitement, and after he let go of my hand, he raised his hand to salute me, and said excitedly, "Thank you, Comrade Commander." ”

After sitting down again, I first asked Seryukin: "Comrade General, how many people are left in your division?" ”

After the muscles on Seryukin's face twitched violently a few times, he said with a little embarrassment: "Report to Comrade Commander, there are currently 3,700 people left in the whole division, and at the same time, the ammunition is almost exhausted. If we don't make a rehab as soon as possible, I don't think our division will be able to participate in the next battle. ”

I wrote down what Seryugin had said in the notebook in front of me. Then he looked up and asked Lukin: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how many people are left in your regiment and what is the ammunition situation?" ”

Lukin is the lowest rank, and when he hears my question, he definitely can't answer it in a position like Seryukin. He stood up and respectfully reported to me: "Comrade commander, there are still more than 700 people left in the regiment, and a third of them are wounded. As for the ammunition situation, it is also very bad. The fighters ran out of grenades, and there was less than a base of bullets left. ”

After listening to Lukin's report, Tavart Kiradze couldn't help but frown. He turned to me and said, "Comrade Commander, I think that the 309th Guards Regiment will not be able to participate in the next battle due to the current situation, and I suggest that they be withdrawn immediately for rectification. ”

"Not only the 309th Guards Regiment needs to be withdrawn for rectification, but even General Seryukin's 89th Guards Division should also be withdrawn for rectification." I said with some distress: "At present, the losses of the entire group army are very large, and after repeated battles, the commanders and fighters are very tired, and they are a little unable to participate in the next battle." ”

As soon as I finished speaking, someone behind me heard someone behind me: "What's the matter, Comrade Oshanina, why did you retreat?" You know, that's not like your personality. ”

I followed the sound and saw that Chuikov was standing in the doorway at some point, looking at me with a smile. I exclaimed, quickly jumped up from my seat, walked in front of him in a few steps, stretched out my hands to him, and said excitedly: "Hello, General Chuikov, it's a pleasure to see you again!" ”

Chuikov shook my hand, looked me up and down, and said, "Oshanina, you are good. Your subordinates are all good, too. From the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, I have been constantly hearing about a series of brilliant victories achieved by your army group. Every time I look at the map and study your results, I feel like I'm not going to do better than you if I was in the position you were in. ”

"General Chuikov, you are too modest." Hearing Chuikov's compliment, I was a little embarrassed, and I quickly flattered and said, "Actually, many tactics were learned when I was your subordinate. If it weren't for your guidance, I don't think I would have been able to get to where I am today. ”

"Okay, okay, you two former superiors and subordinates, don't praise each other like this anymore." Just as Chuikov and I were complimenting each other, another voice suddenly came from outside the tent: "Block the door of the tent, so that we can't get in even if we want to." ”

When Chuikov heard this, a strange smile appeared on his face, and he turned to the side to let the people outside in. With a finger in his hand, he asked me with a smile: "Comrade Oshanina, do you still know him?" ”

I looked up and down in the future, and I thought it was familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it for a while. I tried hard to remember the commander I knew, but I still couldn't match anyone, so I shook my head and said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, General Chuikov, I really can't remember who this commander is?" ”

When the man heard me say this, his face showed a disappointed expression, and he looked up to the sky and sighed and said, "Alas, I really didn't expect it. I haven't seen me for just over a year, and Comrade Oshanina doesn't know me. Comrade Chuikov, it may be that her current position is too high, so it is not surprising that she does not recognize me, an old superior. ”

Old superiors?! This strange title made me look at the other person again, and finally overlapped him with the image of a person in my mind. I pointed my finger at him and asked tentatively: "Are you General Lelyushenko?" At the beginning of the Battle of Moscow, you were the commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Army and the commander of the 5th Army, and later you were wounded in battle, and after recovering from your wounds, you became the commander of the 30th Army. ”

"Isn't that me," Leryushenko spread his hands out, made a helpless expression, and then said: "Comrade Oshanina, I thought that after you became a commander, you would not remember my old friends. ”

"Look, dear Dmitry Danilovich, I'll just say that Oshanina will not forget you. You see, she even remembers the positions you have held. Chuikov on the side gloated and said: "You still have to bet with me, you are convinced of the loss!" ”

"It's a pleasure to see you here, Comrade Oshanina." Lelyuschenko shook my hand vigorously and said, "I can't imagine that we can fight side by side again now." ”

"General Lelyuschenko," I asked tentatively, shaking hands with him, "I wonder which unit you are holding the post of commander now?" "Because I know that he is Stalin's favorite general, with the dignified rank of lieutenant general, I will not let him be a corps commander or division commander again, at least at the level of a commander of a group army.

Originally, I was just guessing, but I didn't expect what he said next to confirm my guess: "Comrade Oshanina, I am now the commander of the Guards Third Army, and General Chuikov's Eighth Guards Army belong to the operational sequence of the Southwestern Front. ”

"Okay, okay, don't stand here and catch up." When Chuikov saw that we had started chatting, he was afraid that we would not finish talking, so he urged: "Hurry up and sit down and study our next move!" (To be continued.) )