Following Morgan, Marshall also stepped forward to take my hand and said sincerely: "General Oshanina, I want to say the same thing as Sir Morgan, and I am very glad that you are our ally and not an enemy, otherwise our landing force will face a one-sided slaughter the moment it sets foot on the beach." On behalf of the officers and men who have survived because of this, I would like to express my gratitude to you! With that, he let go of my hand, took a step back, and raised his hand to give me a solemn military salute.

As soon as I finished saluting, Barton came up. "General Oshanina," I had the impression that Patton, who had always been unruly, seemed to speak in a somewhat trembling voice, but he quickly calmed down, "I used to think that women could not enter the army, let alone be qualified to be officers. Because I always believe that they are always at a disadvantage compared to men, and in this war that belongs to men, they should go far. But judging by your performance, I see that I was wrong, and quite outrageously wrong. I believe that if you were a man, you would have become a great commander like Kutuzov. ”

Even if a bomb had landed next to us and exploded, it would have been no more noisy than Patton had apologized to me in public, especially since Marshall, who knew him, looked at his subordinate with his mouth wide open as if he were a stranger. I wanted to respond with a smile, but unfortunately I found myself so excited that I couldn't speak for a while.

"Now, General," said Patton, seeing that I had not responded to his words, said hurriedly, "if you think my apology is sufficient, please extend your hand to me." I think that a person will always make some mistakes, and when he realizes his mistakes, he always hopes to be forgiven by others. ”

Struggling to control my emotions, I reached out to Barton, who shook it with an expression that resembled awe. Then he turned to Marshall and said, "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, if General Oshanina can become the commander of the landing operation, then I am willing to be her deputy." ”

Patton's words made me feel dizzy, my God, Patton, the famous general in the American army, was willing to be my deputy. I'm not dreaming. I kept saying to myself: hallucination, hallucination, this must be an illusion. A commander of my level probably won't be able to get into Patton's eyes at all, and where can I expect to be his superior, it must be an illusion caused by my recent journey too much.

Just as I was still thinking about it, I heard Marshall's voice: "General Oshanina, I have never heard little George take the initiative to say that he is willing to be someone else's subordinate, and this is still the case with my own generals." Not to mention a foreign general. ”

Marshall's words brought me to my senses of reverie, and I stabilized myself a little, and said with a smile in a steady tone: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, don't you hear that General Patton is joking with me?" He's been in the army longer than I've ever been, and he's commanding me about the same. ”

After listening to the translation, both Marshall and Barton had discouraged smiles on their faces. Morgan, on the other hand, packed up his papers and notebooks in front of him. He stood up between his armpits and said politely to Marshall, "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, I'm sorry. I'm going to be out of company. I need to go back and rework on a new battle plan and report back to Ike sooner. ”

The translator may have been worried that I didn't know that Ike was someone else's affectionate name for Eisenhower, so when he translated me, he deliberately translated this title as Eisenhower.

After hearing this, Marshall nodded, and also said to Morgan, "Sir Morgan." If Ike thinks there is no problem, please report it to the president immediately, because this plan also involves communication with Prime Minister Churchill in your country, so the sooner you report it, the better. ”

Sir Morgan agreed very dryly, and walked out with his things in his hands. When passing by my side. He also took the initiative to stretch out his hand and politely said to me: "General Oshanina, we will meet later!" ”

I have no fear that Sir Morgan's reformulated plan on the basis of my proposal will be rejected by Eisenhower, because what I propose is the final version of what he has made. Seeing that Morgan was about to shake hands with me, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to shake it and said politely: "Sir Morgan, I hope we still have a chance to meet, goodbye, I wish you all the best!" ”

After Morgan left, Marshall beckoned me to sit down again, glanced sideways at Patton, who was sitting on his right hand, and then said, "General Oshanina, after you left yesterday, George Jr. and I studied your case of holding the Mamayev Hill in the Battle of Stalingrad. After much deliberation, we have not been able to understand how you relied on an ill-trained and under-equipped infantry division to hold the heights north of Stalingrad, thus avoiding the fate of the defenders of the city being cut off from the lines of communication on the river. Can you give us an answer? ”

Scratching the back of my head at Marshall's question, I replied, "Probably it has something to do with the fortifications we have built on the high ground." ”

After Marshall and Patton glanced at each other, they continued to ask: "I don't know what kind of fortifications can resist the repeated attacks of several German divisions?" ”

In view of the war that took place on the peninsula a few years later, in order to prevent the American side from grasping the method of countering the fortifications from my account, I deliberately avoided mentioning what kind of fortifications there were on the Mamayev Heights, and only said in general terms: "...... Although our commanders and fighters are not afraid of death, but flesh and blood can never compete with steel, in the face of the German army's superior ground-to-air firepower, only the construction of all kinds of underground and semi-underground civil fortifications on the Mamayev Gang has naturally become an effective means for our commanders and fighters to maintain themselves and destroy the enemy. In particular, as far as we are concerned, which rejects passive defense, the construction of positions should not only facilitate the long-term and stubborn resistance to the enemy's attack, but also facilitate our army's counterattack and advance to attack the enemy by relying on the position......

…… In the overwhelming artillery fire and incessant bombardment of the German army, the fortifications on the high ground not only saved the precious lives of countless of our commanders and fighters, but also caused the enemy to pay a heavy price for attacking the high ground, so that in the entire defense of Stalingrad, the German army could not seize our position with all their might. ”

After listening to what I had to say, Barton took a cigar in his mouth, but it didn't light it. He asked me thoughtfully: "You have been fighting with the Germans for two years, and you must have accumulated a lot of valuable experience. And we have just started the war with the Germans, and we need to know about this, I wonder if you can tell us something? ”

I did not refuse Patton's request, after all, the USSR and the United States were allies. Each time they destroy an enemy, the pressure on our side decreases. So I was very happy to pass on to Patton the valuable experience I had accumulated on the battlefield: "The German offensive had the following characteristics: First, they were well prepared before the attack, and they had always ascertained the defensive situation of our army by means of tanks, airplanes, photographs, and reconnaissance detachments. Their main offensive areas are usually selected in open areas of the highway and in the junction of various units of our army. They are good at encircling our army's defensive forces in a roundabout way, repeatedly fighting for the key points of defense and the commanding heights on both sides of the highway, and they will never give up until they achieve their goal.

They often carry out continuous, echeloned assaults, and when the first echelon attack is unsuccessful, the second echelon carries out further assaults. As a result, our defensive units did not have a chance to breathe, and the casualties rose in a straight line, achieving the goal of capturing our army's positions in one fell swoop. However, after the breakthrough of our army's position is torn apart, it will adopt the tactics of advancing in unison and fighting steadily and steadily to expand and consolidate the occupied position.

…… Before the attack, there will be artillery observers to mark the target to be attacked, so that when the artillery is ready, the shelling will be carried out suddenly and accurately. Attacks are usually carried out by air force bombing. Then bombarded with artillery from a distance in order to achieve the destruction of the forward fortifications of our army. and suppress the reserve and artillery positions in the depth of the defense, massively kill and wound the vital forces of our army, and then cover the infantry for a continuous charge on multiple lines. If the attack fails, the enemy will retreat his troops to a distance of 100 meters, quickly fire our positions with heavy artillery fire, and then attack......

…… When attacking. German tanks will generally occupy favorable terrain 300 to 500 meters from the front of our army, aim at the fire points on our positions, destroy the fire points of our front line, and then cooperate with the infantry to make a detour to the flank and rear of our troops......

…… The enemy's defense depth and communication arteries of our army are mostly blocked by the air force and artillery in turn. In particular, it is even more smoky at night, in order to disrupt the adjustment of our army's deployment and cut off our army's logistical supply and the transfer of the wounded......"

Marshall and Barton said from time to time as they recorded, "Great, that's great." Such an experience is really useful for our army. ”

After I finished speaking, I felt that my mouth was dry, and when I wanted to take another sip of the coffee cup in front of me, I found that it was already empty, and I didn't know when the coffee was gone. Just as I was hesitating to ask Marshall to have another cup of coffee brought to me, a young blonde female counselor walked up to me, placed a hot cup of coffee in front of me, and said in stiff Russian: "Coffee, please!" ”

Although her grammar was incorrect, I didn't correct her, but smiled at her and said "thank you" in English.

Just as I was taking a sip of coffee from my cup, I suddenly heard Marshall say again: "General Oshanina, we and the British troops are engaged in the 'Tunisian Campaign' in Africa, can you give us an analysis of the progress of the next battle?" ”

I choked on his words and coughed violently, and the beautiful staff officer who had just delivered coffee hurriedly came over to pat me on the back. When I stopped coughing, the female staff officer turned to leave. I looked up at Marshall, and I was very dissatisfied with his performance of "Winning Long Wangshu", and providing them with the final version of the "Overlord Plan" had already helped them open. If they had to point out the Germans and Italians in the "Battle of Tunisia" and let them kill the Germans and Italians, it would not have been a good thing, and if Britain and the United States had been stronger than they had been in history, the Soviet Union would have had a hard time.

With the mentality that I would no longer give advice to the US side, I resolutely refused, saying: "I am sorry, Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the 'Battle of Tunisia' was commanded by General Eisenhower of your country, and I believe that with his command ability, he will be able to command the Anglo-American forces to completely defeat the German-Italian forces." ”

Although I refused, Marshall still reluctantly asked, "What do you think we can achieve in this campaign?" ”

From Marshall's words, I heard that he had an element in testing my ability, but this is also understandable, the Normandy landings are a very important top-secret plan, although I have just said the truth, but many details need to be further refined before they can be finalized. And how credible my words are depends on how I evaluate the "Battle of Tunisia".

I thought for a moment, and then said slowly: "Your Excellency, the general military-political situation created by the annihilation of the German and Italian armies under Stalingrad and the winter offensive of the Soviet Red Army on almost the entire Soviet-German battlefield, as well as the great superiority of the Allies in terms of troops, have created extremely favorable conditions for the rapid annihilation of the enemy in Tunisia and the end of the war in the whole of North Africa. Once the Allies had captured the entire North African coast of the Mediterranean, they would be able to secure the lines of communication in the Mediterranean and create favorable conditions for an attack on Sicily and the Apennines. Through this campaign, the Anglo-American forces could gain experience in carrying out large-scale offensive campaigns and breaking through the enemy's preset defensive positions, and lay a good foundation for landing operations in the future when opening up a second battlefield. ”

"When do you think it's best for us to end this campaign?" Marshall continued.

I am reminded of the fact that the Anglo-American coalition forces in history repeatedly delayed the end of the "Tunisian Campaign", so that the German side did not feel too much pressure and was able to continue to deploy reserves from the west to the Soviet-German battlefield without hindrance. Thinking of this, I said bluntly: "Ideally, the campaign should be concluded by the middle of this month, and the offensive should be made in such a way that the Germans will not dare to transfer their reserves from these areas to the Eastern Front." ”

I've said everything I need to say, but I know in my heart that it's not useful. Not only can I not decide when the Battle of Tunisia will end, but even Marshall does not have the right to do so, and only by ensuring the maximization of the interests of Britain and the United States will this victorious battle end at the time they see fit.

When Marshall heard what I said, he just smiled wryly, but did not speak. After a while, he raised his hand and looked at his watch, and then said to me politely: "General Oshanina, the time is not early, I will send someone to send you back." ”

After the interpreter and I walked a few steps outside, we suddenly remembered that we had met Roosevelt yesterday, and wondered if we would have the opportunity to see the president and his wife again, so we stopped again, turned our head and asked Marshall: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, when will I have the opportunity to see President Roosevelt again?" (To be continued......)

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