Burning Moscow

While we were having lunch, the cavalry division commander hurriedly walked into the headquarters and reported to me: "Comrade Commander, my cavalry division has all crossed the Dnieper River and is driving along the road towards Kosong. No. Do you know if you have any more instructions?"

I stood up from the table, walked over to shook hands with him, and said enthusiastically: "Comrade Master, you haven't had lunch yet. Since it's here, sit down and have a bite."

Bezikov moved his body to the side to make room for the cavalry commander, and then greeted: "Comrade General, you can sit here."

Seeing our enthusiastic invitation, the cavalry commander hesitated for a moment, then readily agreed: "It just so happens that I am hungry too. Let's taste the food in your headquarters."

After he sat down, Bezikov pushed a bag of bread slices wrapped in paper and a plate with sliced ​​sausages and shredded cheese in front of him, and turned towards Akhromeev who was sitting opposite. Winked. The commanding commander immediately jumped up from his seat, walked quickly to the wall, picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea, then brought it back and placed it in front of the cavalry commander.

I saw that the cavalry commander was still a bit restrained. Although there were tea, bread, and sausages in front of him, he still didn't do anything. In order to let him relax a little, I deliberately raised my hand to look at the watch, and then said loudly to everyone: "Start eating, comrades! After eating later, we have more important work to do. "After that, I grabbed a slice of bread, put it in my mouth, took a bite, and then took another sip of tea.

When the cavalry commander had almost wiped out the slices of bread and sausage and cheese in front of him, I smiled and asked him: "Comrade commander, I don't know where your troops fought before?"

Hearing my question, the teacher swallowed the food in a few mouthfuls and wanted to stand up to answer my question, but I immediately stopped him: "Comrade teacher, you don't have to stand up, just sit and talk."

The cavalry division commander replied: "Report to Comrade Commander that my troops were just transferred from the Far East last week. The whole division has been formed just a month ago and has not participated in any battles."

Last night I saw a red star medal hung on the chest of the division commander, thinking that he and his troops must have experienced a lot of battles. Asking them to fight with the infantry in Korostviv was a bit wronged. Up. Unexpectedly, their troops were just formed, which is really unexpected.

Kistyakov slammed the medal on the teacher's chest and asked curiously: "Comrade General, please forgive me to ask, where did you get your medal?"

The cavalry commander lowered his head and glanced at the medal on his chest, then raised his head to look at Kistyakov, and replied proudly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I won this medal in the Battle of the Haraha River. At the beginning of the battle, I was a battalion commander. During the seven days of battle, I led a dissatisfied cavalry battalion, and repelled more than 30 squadron-level assaults that had defeated Japanese pirates. In the counterattack, I led the cavalry battalion. An infantry brigade that defeated the Japanese pirates. After the battle, Comrade Zhukov personally awarded me the medal."

After listening to the glorious history of the cavalry division commander, I nodded with satisfaction. Although the cavalry division is newly formed, as long as the division commander is a commander who has fought and has rich combat experience, this is enough.

"It's great, Comrade General, you are really great." After Kistyakov praised the other party, he turned to ask Kirilov: "Comrade Military Commissioner, can you take out your wine and let us respect him." What about this hero of the Haraha River?"

Kirilov had a bad night's sleep due to neurasthenia, and usually relied on drinking alcohol to help sleep. However, in order to prevent accidents, he usually doesn't drink alcohol. Hearing what Kistyakov said at the moment, he immediately got up and walked to the wall, and took out a stainless steel hip flask from his briefcase hung on the wall.

Kirilov walked over with a hip flask, poured wine into the cups of everyone except me, and then took the lead in raising the cups, and after scanning everyone with his eyes, he said loudly: "We anticipate I wish Comrade General this time to send troops a great victory and establish new merits."

"A great victory and a new meritorious service." Everyone echoed loudly.

After sending away the cavalry division commander, in order to understand the situation of the main front army's offensive in the north of Kiev, I specifically called Vatutin to ask about this. Unexpectedly, Vatutin was very busy. The correspondent who answered the phone just said indifferently: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander is directing operations. If there is nothing important, please call back later!" After that, He hung up without a word.

When I put down the phone, Bezikov saw my dissatisfaction and asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, what's the matter, the phone is not connected?"

I smiled bitterly, and said: "The communications soldier said that Comrade General is commanding operations and that there is nothing important, so I don't want to disturb him."

"What?" Bezikov heard me say this, and immediately became anxious: "Which signalman said it? I'll call the chief of staff of the front army and ask him to teach this impolite guy severely." When you say, you have to reach out to grab the phone.

I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and asked, "Chief of Staff, how is the paving of the 225th Guards Regiment going?"

Hearing my question, Bezikov immediately forgot to troubleshoot the correspondent. He reported to me: "Lieutenant Colonel Yersov called just a few minutes ago, saying that their regiment has been completed. Paving the 15-kilometer road. He asked me to tell you that they will be able to complete the task within the stipulated time."

"Where is the tank unit?" I then asked, "have the tanks of the two tank brigades arrived?"

"No," Bezikov said with some regret: "According to the pontoon defender's report, so far, there has been no sign of tank troops. I am now worried that the German army will be defeated too quickly, and they will even join the war. There is no chance."

"Relax, Comrade Chief of Staff. The battle to liberate Kiev will not end so soon. The Germans are not reconciled to defeat, and they will resist frantically. Without four or five days, our army will not be able to occupy the city."

After finishing speaking, I walked quickly towards Akhromeyev who was sitting by the wall and said loudly to him: "Major, send a telegram to General Tavart Kiradze and ask him what's going on there. How is it?"

Akhromeyev stood up, picked up a telegram from the table and handed it to me. At the same time, he said: "Comrade Commander, General Tavart Kiradze has just arrived with a telegram, saying that except for the Germans in the direction of Zhytomyr While still launching an offensive, the enemy on the Kiev side did not move at all. It is estimated that they were held back by the main attack of our army."

Kistyakov heard Akhromeyev’s words, walked over, took the telegram from my hand, read it carefully, and then excitedly said to me: "Comrade Commander, This is good news. As long as the German army in Kiev does not attack, then we only need to place some security forces on the east side of Koroslav, and concentrate the main force on the west side to fight against the enemies from Zhytomyr. "

"Although the German troops in the direction of Kiev are unable to attack Korostlev because of their overwhelming attention, we can't take it lightly." I stared at the big map on the wall and said: "If we only leave a small amount of troops for surveillance And to alert the direction of Kiev, once the German army retreats westward on a large scale, if we rush to deploy our troops for defense, it will cause chaos."

"But, Comrade Commander..." Kistyakov said a little worried, but when he opened his mouth, I raised his hand and interrupted him. I looked at him and said, "I estimate that the cavalry division will be able to arrive in Korostviv before noon tomorrow, so that General Tavartkilasze will have enough troops to deploy reasonably."

We were talking when the phone on the table in the middle of the room rang. I quickly walked over and picked up the phone, and heard Vatutin's voice from inside: "Hey, is it Oshanina? Did you call me just now?"

"Yes, Comrade General." I replied respectfully: "I called you just now, but the correspondent who answered the phone said that you are commanding operations, so I didn't bother you."

Vatutin heard what I was saying, and was afraid of my emotions, so he hurriedly said good things to the correspondent: "Yes, Comrade Oshaninna, I did order the correspondent to say that I am busy. When it's not an important call, don't answer it. Don't be too worried!"

I did not bother with this matter, and took the opportunity to ask: "Comrade General, can I ask, how is our progress?"

Hearing my question, Vatutin said in a good mood: "It is progressing very smoothly. General Rebarko’s tank army, covering the 47th Army, has continuously broken through the three lines of defense of the German army and has reached a distance of five kilometers from the northern suburbs of the city. Place. I guess as long as there is no accident, I can rush into the northern suburbs by noon tomorrow."

"Then the friendly army's offensive in the south of the city, do we still need to continue?" I waited for him to finish, and immediately said: "To be precise, do we need them to continue to contain the German forces in the south of the city?"

"This is affirmative." Vatutin's tone suddenly became serious: "If we stop our offensive to the south of the city at this time, then the enemy can easily deploy troops to strengthen the northern defense line."

When I think of Chengnan’s heavy casualty but unsuccessful offensive, I can’t bear it, so I bite the bullet and said, "Comrade General, can I make a suggestion?"

Vatutin said generously: "Oshanina, let's talk about it. If you have any thoughts, just talk about it."

"The 27th Army and the 40th Army currently deployed to the south of Kiev have suffered heavy casualties. If we continue to attack like this, many of our troops will be wiped out." In order to prevent friendly commanders and fighters from going to death in vain, I risked offending him. Tutin’s risk boldly said: “In fact, to contain the German army, it does not necessarily have to launch another attack on the enemy’s position. We only need to place the troops where the enemy can see, even if no military is taken. Action, but it can also have a deterrent effect on the German army, so that they dare not act rashly."

Regarding my proposal, Vatutin was silent for a long time, and finally said slowly: "Comrade Oshanina, the strategy of attacking Kiev from the south to contain the German forces was formulated by Marshal Zhukov and reported to the Supreme Commander himself for approval. I don’t have the right to stop the attack from the troops on the south side, and I must ask Marshal Zhukov for advice on this matter."

When Vatutin was about to hang up, he suddenly remembered something and quickly added: "By the way, I almost forgot to tell you one more thing. From now on, the two tank brigades newly equipped with you , It was officially placed under the command of the Fifth Guards Tank Corps."

Speaking of the tank army, I immediately thought that Kravchenko was injured in the battle two days ago and was unable to command the army at all, so I quickly reported this to Vatutin: "Comrade General, Commander of the Fifth Guards Tank Army, Kravchenko. General Fuchenko was injured. I don't know who will replace him?"

"The Fifth Guards Tank Army is your unit. Who will take over the position of the commander? You can decide on your own." After a moment of pause, Vatutin went on to say: "By the way, I remember the 33rd Tank Army. Major General Bielei, the commander, is now the deputy commander of the Fifth Guards Tank Corps, so he can take over as the commander of the army."

As soon as I put down the phone, I immediately told Akhromeyev: "Major, call General Bely immediately and ask him to report to the headquarters!"

When Akhromeyev called, I turned my head and asked Bezikov: "Chief of Staff, how is the situation in the southeast of Smila? Is there any movement from the enemy?"

"No, after the German army stopped its offensive, part of it evacuated to Alexandria, and part of it returned to Kirovgrad." Bezikov replied clearly: "In the short term, the enemy cannot be Smila or Cherkasser launched a new attack~www.wuxiaspot.com~Major General Berei came to the headquarters ten minutes later. I stepped forward and took his hand and said friendlyly: "Comrade General, You've worked hard. If it wasn't for the two tank brigades you commanded to deal a severe blow to the German offensive forces these days, they might have broken through Smila's direction. "

Although Beley did not know why I said this, he still replied in accordance with the regulations: "Serve the Soviet motherland!"

"It can be seen that you have served well." Kirilov stood over and reached out to Bere. "We can hold Smila, and your tank brigade is indispensable."

"Comrade General, how many available tanks are left in the tank brigade?" I thought that in the short term, the Germans might not be able to attack from our southeast direction. The tank brigade would be meaningless if they stay here. It would be better to send them to Koros. Tviv, to take on the task of cutting off the line of communication in Kiev Zhitomir. But before that, I want to understand the current strength of the tank brigade.

Biele frowned and thought for a while, and then replied: "Comrade Commander, the tank brigade has lost a lot of tanks after a long battle. At present, the total number of tanks in the two tank brigades is only 80, and they are all the same. T-34.” (To be continued.)