A few minutes before the start of the shelling, Vatutin called me again and anxiously asked: "Comrade Oshanina, how are you preparing there?" ”

"Report to Comrade General," although I was busy at the moment, I tried to keep my composure when I heard Vatutin's voice, and reported to him in a calm tone: "In a few minutes, our shelling of German positions will begin." At present, all the attacking units are in position, and they will launch an all-out counterattack only after the artillery fire is ready. ”

After being silent for a moment, Vatutin asked a little hesitantly: "Comrade Oshanina, how sure are you of this counterattack?" Can the enemy be driven back south of Yakovlevo? ”

I thought about it for a moment and replied, "Fifty percent sure." ”

"What, only fifty percent sure?" When Vatutin heard me say this, he couldn't help but exclaim. After a brief silence, he asked me tentatively, "Oshanina, do I need to do something for you if I want to increase the success percentage?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General." Although we currently have a great advantage in artillery and tanks, I am still worried that we will cause a lot of casualties to our troops due to the bombing of German aircraft during the attack. I was hesitating to ask Vatutin to send air support, but now that he offered to help me, I said, "If possible, I hope you will dispatch attack planes and bombers to cooperate with our counterattack." ”

This request of mine immediately made Vatutin embarrassed. Hearing that there was no movement on his side, I even thought he had hung up. "Comrade General, are you still there?" I asked tentatively, saying to myself that if he didn't reply, it would mean that he had hung up.

"I'm still here." Vatujing said angrily. After a moment of silence, he continued: "Oshanina, I don't know if I can provide you with air support. You must know that today our army launched a counteroffensive in the Orel direction, and all the assault forces were concentrated in that direction, and in addition to the Air Force, several artillery regiments of the Front Army were also temporarily transferred to that assault direction. ”

Vatutin's words. It chilled my heart for a while, if there was no cover from the air force, our attack on all fronts was very likely to be heavy casualties under the combined attack of the German air force and artillery, and even if the troops barely advanced to the Yakovlevo area, they would lose the ability to continue the assault because of the heavy casualties.

"Oshanina, why don't you speak?" Vatutin, who may have heard that I was suddenly silent here, hurriedly asked with concern: "Are you unhappy because you don't have air force support?" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." I said with a little disappointment: "If there is no cover from the Air Force." If our troops are bombed by the German Air Force in the course of their assault in the direction of Yakovlevo, then the tank units participating in the counteroffensive will pay a great price. ”

Perhaps hearing that the tank troops would pay a heavy casualty, Vatutin hesitated, and after a while, he said, "Well, Oshanina, to ensure the success of your counterattack." I'll send a squadron of attack planes to patrol the skies over the battlefield later. If you spot enemy planes, you will resolutely drive them away. ”

As soon as I put down the phone, I heard Bezikov next to me asking: "Comrade commander, is the time up, start shelling?" ”

I turned my gaze to Povsky, who was standing in front of a walkie-talkie, and saw him holding the microphone in his hand. He was looking at me anxiously, waiting for my final order. I nodded at him and said lightly, "Let's start!" ”

Povsky immediately shouted at the microphone: "The commander ordered, towards the area occupied by the enemy, open fire!" ”

Stay in the headquarters. The effect of the shelling could not be seen, nor the earth-shattering sound of the shells falling on the enemy's positions. I moved a bench and sat in front of the map hanging on the wall, staring at the red and blue arrows on it in a daze, silently thinking about the battle in my head.

As the shells of our army fell on the enemy's positions in batches, the explosions were already connected, the shells fell one after another, the explosions were so tight that it was impossible to distinguish the impact points, and the panicked German soldiers were like a nest of ants that had been blown away, and they were swept up everywhere by the air waves of the explosion. In the smoke and dust in the sky, thousands of shrapnel burst out from the shells, intertwined into layers of impermeable nets, harvesting fresh lives. In the rising black smoke, the torn fragments of the military uniform were like mustard, and before they could fall to the ground, they were mixed with the fragments of the shattered limbs and then collapsed into the sky.

The shelling stopped, and the battlefield fell into a sudden silence.

Then, a red flare flew into the sky, signaling the beginning of the attack.

The first to break the silence of the battlefield was the rumbling motors of hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles forming an assault formation. Then, under the leadership of commanders at all levels, several thousand commanders and fighters who had been gathered in a crowded manner in the trenches and communication trenches, left their positions, straightened up with their weapons in their hands, shouted slogans loudly, and rushed to the front. ……

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander!" I was fantasizing about the scene of the counterattack, but I felt someone gently slapping my shoulder, and when I turned my head, it turned out to be Bezkov. I felt particularly uncomfortable with the Chief of Staff who interrupted my daydreaming, so I spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction in my tone: "Is there something wrong, Chief of Staff?" ”

Betzikov handed me a piece of paper he was holding and said: "Comrade commander, a telegram from Colonel Chernov of the 90th Guards Division that his troops have successfully broken through the positions of the German troops on the October State Farm, which is currently engaged in a fierce battle with the Germans to the east of Oboyan. ”

I took the telegram, and after reading it, I nodded, and then asked, "Do the other divisions have battle reports?" ”

"Not yet." After answering this question, Bezikov probably saw the disappointed expression on my face and hurriedly said to me: "Comrade commander, maybe the other three divisions are advancing too fast, so they don't bother to contact us. ”

"I hope so." Although I knew that he had comforted me a lot, I still followed his meaning and said, "Maybe they will report to us on the progress of the battle after they have established a solid support point." ”

As soon as the words fell, Akhromeyev ran up to me with a telegram and excitedly said to me: "Comrade commander, the telegram from the tank army has arrived. They were a few minutes ago. The 19th tank division, which had just routed the German army, destroyed more than forty tanks of the opposing side, is currently in pursuit. ”

"What, the 19th tank division of the German army was routed?" I listened to Akhromeyev's report and did not react, but Bezikov snatched the telegram from his hand. Take a closer look.

"What's going on," Bezikov's reaction confused me, and I asked Akhromeyev in confusion: "Comrade Major, is this 19th tank division very powerful?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Akhromeyev replied in the affirmative: "This tank division once routed several of our infantry divisions. Because their combat effectiveness is so strong, it has been said that we have no chance of winning without tanks that outnumber the enemy several times. ”

I saw that Bezikov had finished reading his telegram, so I withdrew it from his hand. While looking at it, he said disapprehantly: "What's the use of the German tank division, no matter how powerful it is, now it is not the same as being defeated by General Gottman's tank army." I think that by the time it gets dark, this unit will be removed from the German formation. ”

From this time, the battle reports from the front line came back in a steady stream. Akhromeyev no longer bothered to send me telegrams in person, but on a map with several staff officers, marking the situation on the battlefield with us and the enemy.

Watching the red arrows on the map advance down little by little, I was overjoyed and at the same time, I also seemed to see the most brutal side of the battlefield: our commanders and fighters braved the enemy's bullets and artillery fire. Charge forward bravely. The road of the charge was paved with layers of sacrificed or wounded commanders and fighters. Everyone is rushing forward. The wounded soldiers had no one to care for them, so they could only stand on the battlefield and wait for death, or be rescued to the rear by the hygienists who happened to arrive at the scene.

When I heard that Bezikov had reported to me that the 51st Guards Division of Major General Tavart Kiradze had also decisively attacked from position No. 1 to meet the fleeing German troops. Suddenly, I saw thousands of brave commanders and fighters in front of my eyes. Against thousands of German routs who had lost their formations, it was a battle without suspense, a one-sided slaughter. In the past few days, the commanders and fighters who have been beaten to the extreme by the German attack have fought bravely to kill the enemy, and they do not accept surrender at all. Commanders and fighters do not need to shoot, they can directly use bayonets to pick and kill the enemy soldiers who were once invincible, and they want to use the blood and lives of the enemy to wash away the grievances they have suffered. And behind the enemy, the main force that followed was already covering from the front and outflanking from both flanks......

Just as the good news came one after another, Vatutin's call came again. As soon as the phone called, he preemptively said: "Oshanina, how is the situation there, have you broken through the German defenses?" ”

"Report to Comrade General." I clutched a thick stack of battle reports and said in a relaxed tone: "It is going very well, the 90th Guards Division has recaptured the October State Farm in the east of Oboyan, and is now advancing into the enemy's depth. General Gottman's tank army, which routed the German 19th tank division......"

"Wait a minute, Comrade Oshanina." As I was just saying this, I was suddenly interrupted by Vatutin, who asked in surprise, "What did you just say?" The German tank 19th division was routed? ”

"That's right, Comrade General." When I heard him ask, I couldn't help but mutter, what is the sacredness of this 19th Tank Division, and why everyone attaches so much importance to it. "General Gottman's tank corps, which destroyed more than forty tanks in the division, is currently in pursuit."

After I finished saying this, I heard Vatutin sigh a long sigh, and then said in a tone of raised eyebrows: "This 19th tank division is our old enemy, in the battle of Kharkiv, it once defeated several of our divisions and captured tens of thousands of us, and today it is finally revenge." After a pause, he said solemnly, "Comrade Oshanina, please convey to the commanders and fighters of the tank army that I, Vatutin, thank them, and that the commanders and fighters of the entire Voronezh Front thank them, and that they have washed away the shame of defeat for us." ”

"Comrade General, do you have any other instructions?" When I saw that Bezikov was also coming with a stack of telegrams, and knowing that there was a new battle report, I had no interest in continuing with Vatutin, and hurriedly said: "If not, I will continue to command the battle." ”

Maybe it was the news of the victory that made Vatujin happy. He did not pay any attention to the impoliteness in my tone of voice to him, and said reasonably: "Well, Comrade Oshanina, you go and continue to command the battle, and do not forget, as soon as there is any new good news, report it to me immediately." ”

"Chief of Staff, what's the good news?" I put down the phone and asked Bezakov with a smile.

"Comrade Commander, I don't think this is good news." After handing me a stack of telegrams, Bezkov said: "Although the troops continue to advance southward, the resistance encountered is not strong. But the battle report sent by General Kravchenko was not good, and the enemy sent more than fifty tanks to attack his position. Since the new tank did not have supporting shells, it could only rely on the anti-tank guns on the position to block the attack, and the casualties were not small. ”

After reading the telegram, I casually put it on the table and asked rhetorically: "Where is Captain Shamrichh's tank battalion?" ”

"They are entangled by the enemy and cannot turn back to support General Kravchenko for the time being." Betzikov asked worriedly: "Comrade commander, what should we do?" Will the tank unit be drawn from General Guttman for support? ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Before I could speak, Danilov preemptively said: "General Gottman's tank corps, which is pursuing the German 19th Tank Division, if we make such a U-turn to support General Kravchenko, once the enemy is relieved, then our attacking forces will suffer heavy losses." ”

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." I immediately expressed my support for Danilov's statement. "We have to believe that General Kravchenko, with his current strength, will not have much problem holding back the German tank forces. As for General Gottman's tank army, it is now in the critical assault phase, and if we withdraw from the battle, our counterattack is in danger of being lost. ”

"Good news, Comrade Commander." While our side was still discussing whether to send troops to reinforce Kravchenko, Akhromeyev came running up and excitedly reported to me: "The units of the 375th Infantry Division and the 51st Guards Division have successfully joined forces in the Yakovlevo region!" (To be continued.) )