Yevlov was not very interested in Fomin's logic, he emphasized: "We are the 63rd Army under the South-Western Front, and what we need is an order from the command of the South-Western Front!" ”

Fuming insisted on his attitude and continued to explain: "But! We must give priority to the execution of the orders of the command of the partisan movement! It was Comrade Ponomarenko who sent the telegram first! ”

"Perhaps, in a few hours, Comrade Timoshenko will give us an order to fight!" Yevlov shot back.

Seeing that the two had a tendency to quarrel, Yang Mingzhi didn't believe that Fuming could explain clearly to Yevlov, a rough man.

He knew Yevlov too well, and even the reason why he was so eager now.

Yang Mingzhi suddenly asked coldly: "Comrade Yevlov! Do you want to fight Kyiv so much? ”

"Aren't you?"

Yang Mingzhi was stunned for a moment, and said slowly: "Your question is very good!" I really want to hit Kyiv, but as a general, how can I disobey orders? Now we were ordered to liberate a small city on the left bank of the Dnieper, called Slavdish, to meet the comrades of the 17th partisan brigade. Military men have a vocation to obey orders, and we have no choice! ”

"But! I still want to hit Kyiv! Yevlov knocked on the table and said in an aggravated tone: "Berekov, your rocket artillery is already capable of real combat!" If you want me to say, you might as well give me a part of the troops, I will take the rocket artillery, go and occupy the Cherobi, build launchers here, and fire at Kyiv! I think that at this point in time, isn't it particularly significant to shoot at Kyiv and install that high-energy fuel warhead, as long as a rocket explodes in the city? ”

Yang Mingzhi was startled, he quickly glanced at Fu Ming and noticed the man's furrowed eyebrows.

He quickly vetoed Yevlov's proposal, saying: "I am the commander-in-chief of the military, and everything is up to me!" Even if we once made Kyiv the next target and actively prepared for it. But isn't Chernihiv also a second-tier offensive target? ”

Yang Mingzhi knew that he had to find ways to ease Yevlov's mentality, and the reason why he wanted to attack Kyiv was to achieve significant political influence, as long as an equivalent structure could be obtained, it was feasible to attack elsewhere.

Just a few dozen minutes before the arrival of these officers, Yang Mingzhi was already actively preparing the battle plan and had a preliminary plan after reading the telegram.

These things can't be explained with just one mouth, and it's not as simple as a map.

The table where everyone was sitting would have had a map on it, but now, Yang Mingzhi ordered everyone to take away the teacups and ashtrays, and the rolled up map of the area was relaid.

Some points on the map had already been marked with a pencil, and he took out some deliberately carved small wooden blocks from the wooden box and placed them on the map to mark the location of the troops.

All the officers poked their heads and listened to the commander himself, and Yevlov was not surprised.

With a hint of anger, he stared at the wooden stick in Yang Mingzhi's hand and listened carefully to the explanation.

Gradually, the anger subsided, and Yevlov grew happy.

"Berekov, aren't you also disobeying Ponomarenko's orders? We cross the Dnieper, then this forest Slavzich occupies, and then take that partisan brigade away, and the task is accomplished. But you'd better shell the city of Chernihiv directly! ”

"Of course! Will you give up this fight? Yang Mingzhi smiled and speculated: "I estimate that Marshal Timoshenko may not have planned to involve us in the battle to attack Kharkiv, our group army is still not worthy of the name, and it is too far away from becoming the main force!" The mediation of the higher authorities is likely to be carried out by the guerrilla movement command in the end.

The message on the telegram was vague that we were going to bring the 17th guerrilla brigade back to the guerrilla republic. My guess is that this force is likely to have suffered huge losses and had to be strategically shifted, and we must save them.

But if we just accomplish the task, it doesn't seem like we're doing much, and it's not honorable at all.

The Southwestern Front has not disclosed to us about the offensive, and there is a great possibility of secrecy. They may attack in a few days, and then we certainly have a reason to cooperate with the main force! Because we are also part of the South-Western Front!

What are we going to do? Right! It was the bombing of the big city of Chernihiv. We have reason to be sure that as soon as the battle breaks out, the Germans will inevitably gather forces in the direction of such large cities as Sumy and Chernihiv, and even they are already doing it.

In this way, with just a few long-range rocket launchers, you can achieve great results! ”

It was not a good idea to hold a meeting at 3 a.m., and Yang Mingzhi had reason to do so, because the time given by his superiors for the troops to act was very harsh - May 18.

The higher authorities did not say whether the lower limit of the troops' dispatch would be the morning or evening of the 18th, and the higher authorities should have sent a follow-up telegram, at least at four o'clock in the morning, and the telegraph operator did not receive a new one.

The Arctic begins to enter daylight from the vernal equinox, Belarus has a high dimension, and after the onset of spring, its daylight hours are getting shorter and shorter. At four o'clock in the morning, the sky turns blue, and soon the sun will rise.

As the commander, Yang Mingzhi planned to bombard Chernihiv with rocket artillery, he was the commander of the group army, and no one could stop him. What's more, the attitude of these officers was completely unified, that is, if there was a plan to beat the German army, they would pursue and attack them fiercely. Even if Fuming deliberately appealed to everyone not to be occupied by the desire to fight, only Yang Mingzhi appreciated his kindness.

Most of the officers obeyed their commanders if they were not convinced. The so-called staff departments of the group armies, those staff officers are at best miscellaneous, and at most they plan small-scale battles, and when it comes to large-scale military operations, the commander himself has to draw up plans.

Yang Mingzhi set the ultimate goal of this battle as the bombardment of Chernihiv, and the tasks before that such as making systematic planning.

He simply divided the operation into five parts:

One: the troops organized the strength of two regiments and crossed the Dnieper with equipment. The crossing point was set at the Missy Ferry.

Two: After completing the river crossing operation, the troops quickly entered the forest and liberated Slavdish.

Three: the troops were temporarily stationed in Slavdzich, waiting for the transfer of the 17th partisan brigade and proceeding to transport its personnel back to Novgomel.

Four: set up launchers and fire at Chernihiv.

Five: Troops fortified around Slavzich in preparation for a possible German offensive.

It is impossible for Yang Mingzhi to set a detailed combat target within a few dozen minutes of seeing the telegram. Each of the five tasks he set for the operation should be carefully studied.

And so the meeting went on until the sky was blue and the sun was rising.

The majority of soldiers did not know that the order from their superiors had come down, and their minds were more focused on the training that had begun to resume this morning. Regardless of the recruits and veterans, they ate a lot of potatoes during the rainy days, and everyone gained a lot of weight. The extra fat is by no means a burden, and the soldiers will be more stocky and energetic to devote themselves to training.

The meeting was not disturbed by the sudden sound of the morning horn, which at best reminded everyone that it was morning. The stomachs of the crowd rumbled with the sound of the trumpet, and in a few moments, it was time for breakfast.

No one wanted an abrupt pause in the meeting, because only the first part of the combat mission was met with great resistance - the troops were going to cross the Dnieper! This big river is not the Pripet, how can it just be crossed?!