On the eve of the start of the offensive of the Steppe Front on Kharkov, I called Konev.

Maybe I didn't call at the right time, but at the busiest time in Konev. Maybe the communications soldier who asked him to answer the phone didn't make it clear to him who called, so he spoke in a very impulsive tone: "Hey, I'm Konev, who is it?!" ”

"Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front." I could hear the impatience in his tone, and I said cautiously but politely, "I am Oshanina." ”

"It turned out to be Comrade Oshanina." Konev heard that it was me, and his tone became much softer, "You call me at this time, is there anything wrong?" Without waiting for me to speak, he added, "In addition to letting your group army serve as the main attacker, I can agree to your other requests." ”

I called Konev at this time, not to fight for the task of the main attack for the troops, but to personally go to the positions of friendly forces to see their offensive and the German defense, so as to know that the enemy would not be defeated in a hundred battles. As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately continued: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am calling you because I want to go to your forward positions to have a look. ”

"Go to the front line?" Puzzled, Konev asked: "What is there to see at the front?" ”

"I want to see how the commanders and fighters of the Steppe Front bravely broke through the German defenses and rushed into Kharkov." In order to make Konev readily agree to my request, I deliberately put a high hat on him: "I believe that the troops under your command will surely achieve brilliant results in this offensive battle." ”

Konev heard me say this, and after laughing twice, he said: "Well, since you want to go to the front, then go to Managarov's 53rd Army." I'll call him beforehand. Nothing else, right? If not, I'll hang up! ”

"There is nothing else, thank you, Comrade Commander of the Front." I politely said, "You can continue to be busy, and I won't bother you." ”

After I put down the phone, I said to my colleagues here: "Comrade commanders. I was going to go to the 53rd Army and see how they broke through the German defenses. ”

When Chistyakov heard me say this, he couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked strangely: "Comrade commander, didn't you say that the frontal offensive of the steppe front would be difficult to break through the German defenses north of Kharkov?" Why is it ......"

Although he stopped only halfway through his words, I fully understood what he meant, and explained to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, it is precisely because of the steppe front in tomorrow's battle. It is difficult to break through the German defenses, we have to go and see. At least understand the characteristics of the German defense, and when our army group is put into battle, it will be possible to crack the German defense in a targeted manner. In the ancient Oriental military book, it was written: 'Knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent will not be defeated in a hundred battles'. It means that if you have a thorough understanding of the situation on both sides of the enemy, you will not be in danger of fighting even a hundred battles. ”

Perhaps it was my last words that convinced Chistyakov, who got up from his seat and resolutely said: "Comrade commander. I, like you, went to the 53rd Army. I also looked at how the Germans defended themselves in the face of a ferocious attack by friendly forces.

When we came to the defense zone of the 53rd Army by car. He was stopped in front of a checkpoint. The lieutenant on duty walked to the car, bent down to look inside, and then said: "I'm sorry, comrade commander, the road ahead has been blocked, and you can't pass. ”

I pushed the car door open. Leaning out half of his body, he said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant, I am Oshanina, the commander of the Sixth Guards Army, and next to me is my deputy commander, and we are going to see your commander Managarov." ”

Hearing me say this, the lieutenant had a look of embarrassment on his face. He murmured, "But, Comrade General, I have received an order that no one is allowed to pass." ”

After listening to his words, I wanted to jump out of the car and beat him up. Even though your superiors have given you an order not to let anyone pass, can't you be flexible? Even if you can't call the shots, you can always give us a call, right?

"Lieutenant, give your superiors a call." Chistyakov, who was sitting next to me, said to him in a stern tone: "Explain our identity to your superiors and tell him that we went to see General Managarov with the permission of Commander Konev." ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade General." The lieutenant with a pimple in his head was still stunned and said, "But the order I received is that no one is allowed to pass." ”

"Fools, idiots." I cursed him viciously in my heart as my mind raced about how to get through the level. I'm not afraid of heaven and earth, but I'm afraid that such a tendon person doesn't know how to be flexible at all.

"Comrade Lieutenant," a soldier's shout suddenly came from the sentry box not far away: "Your phone." ”

The lieutenant left us and ran towards the post. After handing over the phone to him, the soldier inside came to our car. He raised his hand and saluted me, then politely said, "Hello, General Oshanina!" ”

I glanced at the soldier's epaulettes and saw that it was a sergeant, and when I looked at his face closely, I realized that it was quite unfamiliar. I asked in amazement, "Comrade Sergeant, have I seen you before?" ”

The sergeant nodded, and said with excitement on his face: "That's right, Comrade General, we have met before. ”

I looked at him again, but I didn't remember him at all. So I could only shake my head and say apologetically: "I'm sorry, Comrade Sergeant, I really can't remember where I saw you!" ”

The sergeant coughed and said a little embarrassed: "Comrade General, maybe you didn't see me clearly at that time, and it is normal that you can't recognize me because of the long time gap." ”

Just when I was at a loss, Chistyakov smiled and asked the fighters: "Comrade Sergeant, what is your name?" ”

"My name is Floen." The sergeant replied: "Previously similar to the Leningrad Front, not long ago was assigned to the 53rd Army. ”

When the words Fronin and Leningrad were joined together, I had a strong premonition that I must have seen the sergeant before, and even spoke. But for a moment I just couldn't remember under what circumstances I had seen him. So I asked tentatively: "Sergeant Floning, you were in Leningrad before, that is, it is possible that we met there?" ”

A smile appeared on Fronin's face when he heard me say this, and he nodded. Say with certainty: "That's right, Comrade General, we met in Leningrad." Seeing that I still looked dazed, he added, "Do you remember the robbery and patrols?" ”

Robberies and patrols?! When I heard these two words, I was stunned for a moment, and then I remembered that when I was the commander of an anti-aircraft artillery battalion on the ice transport line, I had gone to Leningrad to find the mother and child of the real Leda. On the way back, I saw an old lady selling old pants. While giving her bread, the bag containing the food was snatched by a hungry and irrational man, and it was a three-person patrol who happened to pass by and helped me catch the looter and retrieve the food bag. I also distributed food to the patrol soldiers, and I remember that the captain of the patrol at that time seemed to be named Floning.

"It's you, Comrade Sergeant!" At this point, all my memories finally came back, and I jumped out of the car. He stepped forward and shook the fighter's hand vigorously. said: "I didn't expect us to meet here. ”

"Comrade General." With tears in his eyes, Florin said, "I thank you on behalf of my whole family that my mother was saved from starving to death thanks to the few pieces of bread you gave me." With that, he let go of my hand, took a step back, and raised his hand to salute me solemnly again.

"Comrade Sergeant. It's all in the past, so don't mention it. I pulled his hand down from my forehead, glanced quickly at the lieutenant who was talking on the phone in the sentry box, and then faced Floning and said, "Comrade Sergeant, we are going to see your commander." Can you find a way to get us through? ”

As soon as I finished speaking, a smug smile appeared on Floning's face. He also glanced at the sentry box and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade General, I recognized you when I saw you stopped by the lieutenant. Because our lieutenant had been wounded in the head, he ......" At this point, he pointed to his head with his index finger and signaled that the lieutenant who had stopped us had a problem with his brain, "so I secretly called the company commander and reported your matter to him. ”

"Thank you, thank you, Comrade Sergeant." I said gratefully: "If we hadn't met you, I guess we wouldn't have been able to go to the headquarters of the group army today." ”

As he spoke, the lieutenant had put down the phone and walked out of the booth. He came to us, raised his hand and saluted, and said politely: "Comrade General, I have just received an order from my superiors to let you go. Please! With that, he turned and gestured to the warrior standing next to the railing, motioning for the other to lift the railing for us to let us go.

After our car was back on the road, Chistyakov said angrily: "I will see Managarov in a moment, I must talk about him well." The checkpoints on the road are so important, but he sent a commander with a problem in his mind to take charge of it, if we hadn't met that acquaintance of yours today, it is estimated that it would not be possible to move an inch by now. ”

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but be interested in the matter between me and Floning, so he asked curiously: "Comrade commander, how did you and that sergeant meet, let's hear it!" ”

Anyway, there was still some time to drive to Managarov's headquarters, and I was idle, so I told him what happened in Leningrad from beginning to end.

After listening to this, Chistyakov looked at the window in front of him for a while, and then said to me: "Comrade commander, I think this Sergeant Fronein is quite capable, and if possible, you can consider asking General Managarov to bring him over." After coming, let him first become a platoon commander in the guard regiment of the group army. ”

After hearing this, I said with some surprise: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you have only seen him once, how do you know that he is capable?" ”

"It's simple." Chistyakov told me: "When he was in Leningrad, he caught the gangsters who robbed your food bags and dealt with them immediately and decisively. Today, however, we were stopped at the checkpoint by a mentally problematic lieutenant, who did not immediately come up to help us with good words, but by overstepping the level to report, we were able to pass smoothly. Based on these two points, I think he is a very capable person. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, since you say so. When the time is right, I will consult with General Managarov to see if I can transfer this sergeant to our army group. As I was talking, I saw that the jeep began to slow down, and that a row of newly built wooden houses appeared in front of me, so I said to Chistyakov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, we have arrived. ”

When I arrived at the headquarters of the 53rd Army, I saw only their chief of staff, who told me: "General Oshanina, our commander Managarov, is now in the observation post of the 305th Division, and he wants to see with his own eyes how our troops are rushing into the city." ”

I waited for the chief of staff to finish speaking, then turned to Chistyakov and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, since General Managarov is at the forward observation post, then let's go there too." Seeing that Chistyakov nodded in agreement, he turned to the chief of staff and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, please send a soldier to us as a guide!" ”

Guided by the fighters sent by the Chief of Staff, we followed the criss-crossing communication trenches to the forward observation post located in the 305th Infantry Division. When we walked into the observation post, General Managarov was assigning tasks to several of his commanders. When he saw the two of us coming in, he waved at the commanders and said, "Okay, now that the mission is clear, let's all go to our own troops!" ”

The commanders raised their hands and saluted him, and turned to leave. I carefully looked at the epaulettes of these commanders, either colonels or lieutenant colonels, maybe divisional or regimental commanders of the 305th Division, who had come specifically to accept Managarov's mission.

Managarov came over, shook my hand, and said amicably: "Hello, General Oshanina. I had already received a call from Commander Konev and was about to send someone to pick you up, but I didn't expect you to arrive first. ”

After shaking hands with Chistyakov, he beckoned us and said, "Hurry up and sit down, hurry up and drink some water and eat something." Otherwise, when the battle starts in two hours, you probably won't have the heart to eat. (To be continued.) )