After Apanashchenko's body was carried into the car, and the surviving soldiers of the guard platoon were also in the car, I walked up to the second lieutenant and said to him with a blank face: "Second lieutenant, let the driver follow my car." ”

Hearing my order, the second lieutenant didn't ask anything, but mechanically agreed: "Yes!" ”

After I got into my jeep, I gritted my teeth and gave the order to the driver: "Go to the headquarters of the front!" ”

After the car started, Basmanov turned around and asked with some weakness: "Comrade commander, is it appropriate for us to go to the headquarters of the front army at this time?" ”

Apanashchenko's death made me feel very passive, although I didn't know what the result would be if I went to the front headquarters, but I could only go hard. I said to Basmanov word for word: "Comrade Major, the deputy commander of the Front was killed by enemy planes while patrolling the front line with us. This matter must be immediately reported to the headquarters of the Front Army and to General Vatutin. ”

Basmanov wanted to say something, but opened his mouth and said nothing. I had to turn around again and look out the window to hide my nervousness.

When we got to the place, we waited for the guards to carry Apanashchenko's body out of the car and then led the way towards the headquarters, while Basmanov and the second lieutenant and several fighters followed behind on stretchers.

The commanders and fighters we met on the road flashed to both sides to make way for us. Although the guards had already covered Apanashchenko's head with a shirt, the epaulettes on his uniform revealed his identity. The war has been going on for two years, and it is no longer the era when division commanders take the lead in charging, and the casualties of commanders at the level of generals are rare.

Came to the door of the headquarters, and the major on duty outside the door saw that so many people were pouring in. I didn't know what was going on, so I hurriedly greeted me and asked me politely: "General Oshanina, what's wrong, why are so many people here?" As he spoke, he tilted his head and looked behind me. When I saw the corpse lying on the stretcher, I was dumbfounded.

I turned around and waved my hand at the Basmanov and commanded, "Put it down." Then I turned around and asked the major who was standing in front of us: "Major, is Comrade General inside?" ”

"Yes," the major on duty did not leave Apanashchenko's body, and replied in a somewhat panicked manner: "Comrade commander and marshal are in the room, you can go in!" ”

I nodded gratefully at Major and strode into the spacious headquarters. After entering the door. I first glanced around with my eyes, and found that I didn't see the shadow of Vatutin, except for the busy staff officers at all levels, and it might really be in the room inside, as the duty said.

As soon as I approached the door of the inner room, I heard Vatutin's loud voice coming from inside: "...... In preparation for this big war, we conducted thorough pre-war training. In order to overcome the infantry's fear of tank attacks, we have opened a special training ground. Infantry training was 'crushed' with T-34 tanks. That is, let the infantry squat in the trench and let the T-34 tank drive over the trench. Except, of course, infantry training. There was also the training of artillery and tank crews. Artillery is trained to quickly change firing positions, while tank crews are trained to focus on accurate shooting from bunkers and tank encounters......"

When I got to the door, I found that there were quite a few people sitting in the room, in addition to Vatutin, Vasilevsky, and Khrushchev, and seven or eight men and women in civilian clothes, who were bowing their heads. Quickly recorded what Vatutin said in a notebook, apparently a group of reporters from Moscow.

Vatutin was talking about his excitement when he suddenly noticed that Vasilevsky and Khrushchev were staring straight at the door, and he instinctively glanced at the doorway, and then turned his gaze back to Vasilevsky and them. He also casually asked, "What are you looking at?" Before he could finish speaking, his body shuddered violently, and he turned his gaze to mine again.

After a moment of distraction, he rushed to my door. After looking me up and down covered in blood, he stretched out his hands and grabbed my arm, and asked excitedly, "Comrade Oshanina, what's wrong with you, are you injured?" ”

I shook my head and said with a dejected expression: "Comrade General, I am not injured, I have other people's blood all over me. ”

Vatutin, as if sensing that something was wrong, looked over my shoulder, looked outward, and asked anxiously: "Your military commissar reported to me that you and Comrade Apanashchenko had gone to the front to inspect the front. Now that you're back, where is the deputy commander? ”

"Sacrificed!" I lowered my head and said with difficulty: "On our way to Yakovlevo, we were attacked by enemy aircraft, and Comrade Deputy Commander unfortunately died!" ”

"What, sacrificed!" As soon as Vatutin finished saying this, he was pulled aside, and then Vasilevsky's burly body appeared in front of me, he grabbed my arm vigorously, shook it vigorously and asked, "What did you say, General Apanashchenko died?" ”

I endured the pain in my arm, gritted my back molars and replied: "Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army was attacked by German air strikes at the front and died honorably. ”

Vasilevsky shoved me hard and asked viciously: "Where is his body?" ”

I staggered back into the middle of the outer room, and cautiously replied, "Right at the door." ”

"Then don't bring it in quickly." Vasilevsky, who has always been mild-tempered, yelled at me.

"Major, bring in the stretcher." When I saw Basmanov standing in the doorway, I shouted at him, "Put it in the middle of the room." ”

Seeing several fighters placing the stretcher on which Apanashchenko's body was placed on the ground, Vatutin immediately pounced, squatted on the ground and carefully uncovered the shirt covering his head, and when he saw Apanashchenko's iron-blue face, the muscles on his face began to twitch violently. He took out a snow-white handkerchief, gently wiped the blood stains that had long dried, his eyes began to moisten, tears swirled and turned in his astringent red eyes, and finally he couldn't help it, and fell drop by drop on Apanashchenko's blood-soaked military uniform: "Comrade Apanashchenko! My deputy commander, comrade. You...... Why did you just leave like that...... I'm sorry for you! Didn't send someone to protect you......"

Khrushchev looked up at the ceiling and did not say a word for a long time.

And Vasilevsky, after raising his hand and wiping his eyes, took off the military hat on his head. As if it were a password, all the soldiers in the room wearing hats took off their caps and bowed their heads in silence to Apanashchenko.

Wait for Vatutin's mood to stabilize a little. Vasilevsky pulled him up from the ground and said to him solemnly: "Comrade Vatutin, this matter needs to be reported to Moscow immediately. Let's go, let's go together and call the Supreme Commander himself. ”

When the two of them entered the inner room, Khrushchev asked for a white cloth, covered Apanashchenko's body, and then called the group of reporters to his side and announced to them: "Comrade journalists. General Apanashchenko was bombed only when he was spotted by enemy bombers at a command post at the very front of the position. After being hit by the bomb fragments, the general died due to his injuries and failed to be rescued. Did everyone remember it? ”

"Remember!" Several reporters replied in unison.

After listening to their answers, Khrushchev nodded with satisfaction, and then called in the major on duty outside the door and asked him to lead someone to carry out Apanashchenko's body first and find a place to put it. And take the journalists to rest.

After the reporters and the fighters carrying Apanashchenko's body left, Khrushchev shook his head at me. He motioned for me to go back with him, and said that he would ask me for some details.

I followed Khrushchev and walked into the room just in time to hear Vasilevsky speaking into the microphone: "...... Yes, Comrade Stalin, we will return the remains of Comrade Apanashchenko to Moscow as soon as possible. What the? Let Oshanina be in charge of escorting the body? When he said this. He glanced at me, and then said in embarrassment: "The Sixth Guards Army is now counterattacking the German army, and if the commander is changed at this time, it will cause confusion in the command system of the troops, so I suggest that other commanders escort the coffin of Comrade General back......"

After Vasilevsky put down the phone. He said to me with a straight face: "Lida, Comrade Stalin was very angry when he learned the news of the death of General Apanashchenko, and if we let you escort Apanashchenko's coffin back to Moscow, you will have to endure his thunderous fury." For the sake of your future, I have persuaded him to escort the coffin back with someone else. ”

"Thank you, thank you, Comrade Marshal!" Although I had no responsibility in this matter, after all, it was Apanashchenko who had to go to the front to inspect it, and I had no choice but to obey his orders. But when I heard that Vasilevsky had defused a crisis for me, I still have to express my sincere gratitude to him.

Vatutin looked at me and said, "Comrade Oshanina, Deputy Commander Apanashchenko died in your defense area, in order to avenge him, do you have any new counterattack plans recently?" ”

When I heard Vatutin's words, I couldn't help frowning, and said in my heart that today's counterattack has used all my reserve forces, and if I want to counterattack again, then where should I mobilize my troops? Thinking of this, I shook my head and said regretfully: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, at the moment the strength of our army group is limited, and it is temporarily impossible to launch a new counteroffensive in other areas, except for the consolidation of the Yakovlevo region. ”

Hearing me say this, Vatutin sat down silently, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. After a long time, he spoke: "Comrade Oshanina, how many more troops do you need if you want to completely restore your first line of defense?" ”

I saw a map on the table, so I raised my hand and said cautiously, "Can I look at that map?" ”

"Look!" Vatutin said, pushing the map towards my location.

I hurriedly walked over and leaned down to look at the map that Vatutin was using. In addition to the location of our army, there are also all the defensive lines of the 1st Guards Tank Army, the 7th Guards Army, the 69th Army and the 5th Guards Tank Army, which gives me a more intuitive understanding of the entire enemy-friend situation in southern Kursk.

After looking at it for a while, I pointed to the map and said to Vatutin and Vasilevsky: "If General Rotmistrov's troops can launch a full-scale counterattack against the Germans tomorrow and repel the German SS Panzer Corps, then a joint sortie of our Army Group and the 1st Guards Tank Army will make it possible to restore the position to the state it was before July 5." ”

After hearing this, Vasilevsky raised his head and said to me: "Lida, the counteroffensive we launched today north of Kursk has achieved great results, and the attack of the German Ninth Army on our positions has been completely suppressed. Without Army Group Center, Manstein's offensive would not last long, and if Hitler had drawn troops from him to drive Italy, the Germans south of Kursk would pose no great threat to us. ”

While Vasilevsky spoke, Vatutin did not speak next to him. As soon as he had finished speaking, he immediately added: "Yes, according to what we know, with the successive victories of the Allies in Sicily, the German forces will become weaker and weaker. So we must not only restore our defensive positions until July 5, but also start thinking about the recovery of Belgorod and Kharkov. At this point, he pointed his finger at me, "Don't forget, the promise you made to the Supreme Commander that the liberation of these two cities will be the main task of your army group in the next stage. ”

"Comrade Commander of the Front," I waited for Vatutin to finish speaking, and immediately continued: "After a week of fighting, more than half of the casualties of individual divisions have been lost, and there is an urgent need to replenish the troops. ”

In response to my request, Vatutin thought about it and replied: "It will take three days at the earliest, that is to say, until the 15th, when the soldiers who are replenished to your group army can arrive in the troops one after another. ”

Khrushchev, who had not spoken all this time, also interjected and said: "Lida, almost all of the recruits who have been replenished to you this time are recruits, so we must also pay close attention to their training to ensure that the troops can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar." In response to Khrushchev's reminder, I said gratefully: "I will convey this instruction of yours to the commanders of the divisions." ”

Vasilevsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, raised his head and said to me: "Lida, it's not too early, you better hurry back to the army as soon as possible to set it up." As for the matter of General Apanashchenko, although everyone feels very sad, no one blames you, and you must not bear any psychological burden on your command and operation because of this incident. Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" Hearing Vasilevsky say this, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground, and after saluting the three of them, I turned and walked out of the room. (To be continued.) )