Red Moscow

At dawn, three infantry division commanders and an artillery division commander gathered in the small village. Although many troops had not yet reached the designated location, several commanders had a dispute over who should direct the attack.

It was Fomenko who spoke first: "comrades, commanders, this is the defense area of ​​my 84th division, and I am still a major general. It is undoubtedly the most suitable for me to command the troops to fight."

But as soon as his words fell, Major General Gritsenko became displeased: "General Fomenko, we both have the same military rank, why should you command the battle? I think I am also fully qualified for this position, you guys Everyone said yes." He said the last sentence to Koida, the commander of the 188th Division, and Terenga, the commander of the 1st Pao Division.

Jierenjia is the commander of the artillery division, and he only cooperates with the infantry to fight. No matter how high his rank is, he cannot command this attack. When he heard Gritsenko asking himself, he grinned, and then said: "General Gritsenko, I am the commander of the artillery division, and I am only responsible for providing artillery support for you in battle. As for who will command the battle, I can decide." No right to speak."

As for Keida, he knew that no matter who he supported, he would offend another person, so he chose to remain silent.

Seeing that neither Koida nor Terenda expressed support for him, Gritsenko couldn't help but feel a little anxious, because his troops will reach the offensive position in a short time. May be thrown into chaos.

Seeing that the two sides were still arguing, Ma Nuoxin stood up and said, "comrades, commanders, please be quiet. I'm going to make a suggestion. Let's see how it goes."

After hearing what Ma Nuoxin said, everyone immediately fell silent, and all their eyes were focused on him, wanting to hear what he was going to say, and whether there was really a way to resolve the conflict in front of them?

Seeing that everyone was quiet, Ma Nuoxin said: "We have three infantry divisions and one artillery division here. Before the battle started, the superiors did not assign us a person in charge, which caused some unhappiness between us. In order to resolve For this contradiction, I suggest calling the headquarters and asking the higher-ups to decide who will command this battle."

Regarding Ma Nuoxin's proposal, after discussing in low voices, everyone agreed.

Seeing that everyone has reached a consensus, it is best for Manoxin to complete the task of calling the army headquarters as an advocate. After the communications soldier got through to the headquarters, he picked up the receiver and put it in his ear and said, "This is Ma Nuoxin, political commissar of the 84th Division. Please help me find Chief of Staff Sameko to answer the phone."

Sameko's voice soon came from the receiver: "I'm Sameko, Colonel Manoxin, what can you do?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation is like this." Manoxin explained to Sameko with a smile: "Today, three infantry divisions and one artillery division have assembled in the south of Chijilin City, ready to attack the city."

"That's right." As a participant, Sameko naturally knew about this. He nodded and said, "I forwarded the combat order issued by Comrade Commander to you. Why, is there anything wrong?"

"It's like this, Comrade Chief of Staff." Manuoxin said: "So many division-level troops are assembled here, but there is no commander with a higher rank to command the operations. I am worried that once the battle starts, the troops will Because there is no unified command, it is in chaos."

After being reminded by Manoxin, Sameko realized that he had made a low-level mistake. So many division-level troops gathered near Chijilin, but they did not assign a high-level commander to them to command the battle . However, he didn't dare to make a claim on this kind of thing, so he could only answer the other party with regret: "Colonel Manoxin, there are still several hours before the start of the offensive. Who will take the unified command? I can't do this." Lord, you need to ask Comrade Commander for instructions."

Hearing this, Ma Nuoxin asked in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, isn't the commander at the headquarters?"

"Not here." After several conversations, Sameko and Sokov already knew the exact location of each other, so they replied: "Comrade Commander went to the 7th Guards Army to discuss coordinated operations. I immediately communicated with the He got in touch and will notify you when he has an answer."

When Ma Nuoxin put down the phone, he said to the surrounding people: "Commander commanders, unfortunately, since the comrade commander is not at the headquarters, the chief of staff still needs to ask the commander for instructions who will be in charge of the unified command of the troops. "

"Comrade Commander isn't at the headquarters?" Belgin, the deputy division commander, knew Sokov's character very well. He knew that he couldn't stay in the headquarters and always wanted to run to the front. He is not in the headquarters at the moment, and he probably went to the frontier somewhere. Thinking of this, he asked anxiously: "Where did you go?"

"It is said that he went to the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army to discuss joint operations with General Shumilov."

"Joint operations?" Belkin couldn't help but frowned after hearing this. "Isn't the 7th Guards Army still near Poltava? Is there any synergy between us and them?"

"I'm not too sure about this." After Ma Nuoxin said this, he said to everyone: "Comrades, the chief of staff will contact the commander immediately, and he will notify us as soon as he is careful. of."

The others remained silent after listening to Manoxin's words, but Keida said worriedly: "There is not much time left, even if the headquarters urgently appoints a commander to unify the command of this battle, Will they get here on time?"

What Keida said made everyone fall into deep thought. It is more than 70 kilometers from Klemenchug to here, and it takes about two hours to arrive here even by car. The commander who arrived in a hurry, do you have time to familiarize yourself with the troops you are about to command?

When everyone was worrying, a familiar voice suddenly came from the door: "comrades, commanders, hello! What are you doing?"

After seeing the person clearly, everyone couldn't help cheering, and then rushed over to greet him: "Hello, Comrade Commander, why are you here?"

Hearing this sentence, Sokov deliberately put on a straight face, pretending to be angry and said, "Can't I come here?"

"Where is it?" Fomenko said hastily, "It is our wish that you can come here. Now that you have come, we will have the backbone, and we will have more confidence in the next battle."

Belkin and several other division commanders and political commissars shook hands with Sokov before he went up to greet him: "Hi, Misha, it's a pleasure to meet you here."

Seeing his partner, Sokov was naturally in a good mood. He quickly opened his arms and gave him a warm hug, and then said: "Old man, I heard that the vanguard regiment you commanded was the first to rush into Qijilin Yes, and occupied two streets."

Hearing what Sokov said, Belgin's old face blushed, and he said with some embarrassment: "Yes, my troops were indeed the first to rush into the city, but unfortunately, but yesterday before dark , was driven out of the city by the Germans."

"Yesterday's defeat is not your responsibility." Sukov worried about the burden on the commanders and fighters of the 84th Division, and quickly comforted them, saying: "In today's offensive, we will let the Germans pay with their blood and pay for our sacrifices." Revenge for comrades."

"By the way, Misha, didn't you go to the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army?" Belgin asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly appear here again?"

"That's right, I was indeed at the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army yesterday, discussing with General Shumilov about coordinated operations." Sokov said to Belkin: "But I thought so many troops gathered in Chijilin City In addition, there is no unified command. Once the battle starts, each unit may go its own way. So after asking for instructions from Commander Konev, he sent a plane to send me here, and I will personally command the battle .”