With the Allied landings in Sicily and the attack on German supply warehouses in mind, I didn't sleep well all night. As soon as it was dawn, I got up, washed up briefly, and walked out of the headquarters alone.

Bukov, who was on duty outside, saw me coming out of the wooden house, and hurriedly greeted me and politely asked: "Comrade commander, where are you going?" ”

I casually pointed forward and said, "I can't sleep, go ahead." ”

When Bukov heard that I was going to the forest, he looked a little nervous, and he hurriedly asked me for instructions: "Do you need me to bring a few more guards with you?" ”

"No, no," I waved my hand at his kindness, and said, "It's all our people around here, and the Germans can't get here, so there's no need to send guards to follow me." After saying that, I was going to continue walking, but seeing his worried face, I quickly added, "If you are not at ease, come with me." ”

Seeing that I agreed to let him follow, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and before leaving, he specially told a soldier standing guard at the door: "I will accompany the commander to walk around the commander casually, and if anyone asks about the whereabouts of the commander, you can report it truthfully." ”

As soon as the soldier standing guard stepped forward, he replied loudly: "Yes!" ”

The forests of Russia are almost all primeval forests, which look quite quiet from the outside, but if you don't go far inside, you will feel eerie. Luckily I had Bukov with me, otherwise I would have turned around and run back to the headquarters. In order to divert my attention and not to be afraid, I deliberately asked Bukov without words: "Comrade Major. After the end of the war. What are you going to do? ”

Bukov heard me this question. He just smiled faintly and said: "Comrade commander, if I can live to the day of victory, then I plan to return to the factory and continue to be my worker." ”

Hearing his answer, I smiled and said, "Don't you plan to stay in the army?" ”

He thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "After the war, maybe the army will be reduced. Let the veterans return to the factories and collective farms to engage in construction and grow food, so that our country can quickly recover from the wounds of war. ”

I wanted to have a casual chat with him, but I didn't expect that after chatting for two words, he talked to me in an official tone, which immediately made me lose the interest to continue. So, I stopped, turned and walked back.

Bukov followed up again and asked curiously: "Comrade commander, are you going back?" ”

I nodded in agreement. Casually said: "Comrade Major, I would like to ask you a question. ”

"Say it, please. Comrade Commander. He didn't know why I said that, and said with some nervousness. As long as I know, I will answer you truthfully. ”

"Major, if you were the commander of the German armored forces, where would you store the fuel and ammunition needed for the tank?" I was afraid that he would casually promise me that he would store it in the camp, and he made a point of emphasizing: "Remember, these ammunition and fuel are not just for one armoured division, but for three, four, or even more armoured divisions." ”

To my question, Bukov thought only for a moment, and then replied decisively: "Comrade commander, if I were the commander of the German army, then I would definitely set up a warehouse for fuel and ammunition in the forest near the camp. ”

"Why?" Hearing his answer so crisply, my eyebrows went up, and I immediately couldn't wait to ask, "Tell me your reason, why did you set up the warehouse in the forest?" ”

"The reason is simple." Bukov pointed to the forest behind him and said: "On the vast plain, building a warehouse to store materials is not only a huge amount of work, but also easy to become the target of the air force. On the other hand, the forest area is large, and if you are not familiar with the road, it is easy to get lost if you rush into it. ”

"Makes sense, it makes sense," I listened to Bukov's analysis, and couldn't help nodding my head repeatedly, I had been worried that the reconnaissance troops would be detected by the Germans when they searched the warehouses of the Germans on the open plain. Unexpectedly, he unknowingly walked into a misunderstanding, and even thought about the location where the enemy might set up a warehouse. I looked up at Bukov and smiled slightly, and said gratefully: "Thank you, Comrade Major, for your analysis is very reasonable. ”

When I walked into the command headquarters, I saw that Danilov, Kirillov were there, and even Akhromeyev, who had just returned last night, was there. A few people were discussing something around the table, and when they saw me enter, they stopped and turned their eyes on me. Kirillov also asked with concern: "Leda, where have you been?" We didn't see you just now, and we were about to send someone to find you. ”

"I'll go outside and take a walk." As I spoke, I walked over to the table and asked them curiously, "What were you discussing when I walked in?" ”

Bezkov shrugged his shoulders and replied, "What else can be discussed, of course, to study where the Germans will set up their warehouses." ”

"Did you come up with anything?" I asked with interest.

Bezzikov shook his head and said regretfully: "We have studied all the places where the Germans might set up warehouses, but according to the information we have obtained from the front headquarters, the air force has conducted reconnaissance of those areas, but unfortunately there is no sign of the Germans establishing warehouses." ”

"Captain Travkin, any news?" I was afraid that during the time I was away from the headquarters, the reconnaissance detachment would have the latest information coming back, so I asked before I made my own inferences.

"No, the reconnaissance detachment didn't have any information coming back." "We have been in contact with Captain Travkin, but we have never been in touch. ”

Hearing Akhromeyev say this, my heart tightened, and I hurriedly asked: There will be no accident with them, right?

"There shouldn't be any accidents." Akhromeyev continued: "It may be that the radio is on the march all the time, and the radio is not turned on, so it is impossible to reach it for the time being. ”

Hearing Akhromeyev say that nothing will happen to the reconnaissance detachment, my heart is also steady. I waved my hand and said, "Since the reconnaissance detachment has no intelligence feedback. So let's first analyze the possible location of the enemy's warehouse. ”

As soon as my words came out. Akhromeyev's eyes lit up. Excitedly asked: "Comrade commander, do you know where the enemy's warehouses are?" ”

"I'm not completely sure," I said, pointing to Prokhorovka's location, "this is the Great Plains, with only a few hilly areas, and the Germans must have spent a lot of manpower and material resources to build such a large storage warehouse here." Judging from the current situation, they simply can't spare so many people to build such a warehouse. To know the warehouses that can supply fuel and ammunition for several armored divisions at once. In addition to the large area, air defense was also very important, because it was impossible for the Germans to place anti-aircraft artillery positions around the warehouses to prevent the attacks of our air force. ”

"Comrade commander, don't go around in circles, hurry up and say where the enemy's warehouses may be." Bezikov was in a hurry, and before I could finish speaking, he interrupted me impatiently and urged: "Let's start the deployment as soon as possible." ”

I looked carefully at the map for a while, and I did find the western side of Prokhorovka. There's a big forest, so I tap my finger twice at this point. He smiled and said: "Everyone, please see, this is a primeval forest, you say, will the Germans set up their warehouse in this forest?" ”

After staring at the map for a long time, Danilov slammed the table and exclaimed excitedly: "Oh, why didn't I think of this." Then he pointed to the map and said, "Everyone knows that the forest in the summer is cold and damp, and it is best for storing fuel and the like, so that there is no need to worry about fires, and it can also be used as a good concealment." ”

Akhromeyev continued: "Although the enemy's warehouse in the forest may be large, but how can we find the specific location of such a large forest? ”

"Major Akhromeyev," I said, looking at my chief of operations, "and when we have contacted Captain Travkin, tell him our speculations, and let them concentrate on searching for enemy warehouses near the forest." Regardless of the enemy's camouflage, in order to transport fuel and ammunition from the rear to the warehouses and from the warehouses to the various units, it is necessary to build roads for the passage of vehicles. ”

After I finished speaking, Kirillov suddenly interjected: "Lida, should we take into account the possibility that the Germans do not want to build warehouses in the Prokhorovka region at all, but to deliver fuel and ammunition directly from the rear to the various units?" ”

Kirillov's words sounded reasonable, but after thinking for a moment, I immediately retorted: "Comrade Military Commissar, although the German air force is still constantly present in the skies over Kursk, they cannot guarantee the smooth flow of transport lines, because in addition to our air force, there are three Guards divisions that still remain in the first line of defense today. Although they were not capable of driving the enemy away from the area they were now occupying, it was not much difficulty to harass and briefly cut off the enemy's lines of transport. I think Manstein will definitely take this into account, and in order not to cut off supplies for their troops at the front, he will definitely try to build a sufficiently large warehouse in the Prokhorovka area. ”

"That's right, I think Comrade Commander is quite right." Akhromeyev added: "In the battle of Kharkiv a few months ago, the reason why we lost to Manstein despite the superiority of our troops was that our troops were too far away from the logistics supply area to replenish the weapons and ammunition consumed in the battle in time. At this point, he gritted his teeth and said, "Now it's finally our turn to use the same method against them." ”

"Once we've determined the location of the enemy's warehouse, how do we go about destroying them?" Danilov asked cautiously.

"Once you know the exact location of the enemy's warehouse, there are many ways to destroy it." I already had in mind countless ways to deal with the enemy's warehouses, so I took this opportunity to say: "You can send the air force to bomb it, you can send Lei's tank detachment to make a long-range raid, and you can also cover it with our rocket artillery." ”

"That's right, there are many ways to destroy enemy warehouses." Bezikov echoed: "But our first task at the moment is to determine where the enemy's warehouses are. ”

"Where is Colonel Bere's tank detachment now?" Although I said that I could use the air force and artillery to attack the enemy's warehouses, in that case, I would not be able to grasp the accurate results in time, so I was inclined to send tank detachments to complete this task.

"Colonel Bere's tank detachment is here," said Bezikov, pointing to a small town southeast of Oboyan, "and they are running out of fuel, and we happen to have an oil base here, so they drove over overnight, and they should be replenishing fuel at the moment." ”

"How's the ammunition?" The problem of fuel is not big, as long as it is in the defense area of our army, it is still possible to find a supply point, but the supporting shells of the new tank cannot be replenished in the short term, which gives me a headache.

Akhromeyev shook his head and replied: "The higher authorities still have not sent us new shells, and at the moment Colonel Berey's tank detachment has an average of only five shells per new tank. However, the ammunition of the T-34 is relatively sufficient......"

Although Akhromeyev did not finish his words, I could hear the implication of his words, which was that if the shells of the new tanks could not be delivered, we might as well use the existing T-34 tanks to continue the enemy's attack mission. I waved my hand and said regretfully: "Comrade Major, don't you know that the Tiger tanks of the Germans can easily take out our T-34s?" Let the T-34 tanks form a detachment to attack and harass the enemy, once they are entangled in the Tiger tank, there is a danger of total annihilation. In this situation at hand, we must not afford to take that risk. ”

"Comrade Commander, what should we do then?" Akhromeyev said with a worried face: "You must know that in Colonel Berey's tank detachment, the proportion of new tanks is relatively high. If all the shells are gone, you can't let these tanks hit the German tanks at full speed, right? ”

Just when Akhromeyev's words put me in a dilemma, Danilov stood up and relieved me: "In this case, Comrade Commander, I will personally call Commander Vatutin, tell him about our situation here, and ask him to find a way to get the logistics troops to send us a batch of shells for new tanks. Do you think it's okay? ”

I didn't expect Danilov, who had always disagreed with me, to stand up and support me at such a time. I stepped forward to take his hands, shook them vigorously and said gratefully, "Thank you, Comrade Deputy Commander. If we succeed in destroying the German warehouses, you're in for it. (To be continued.) )

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