As soon as our car started, we had not gone far when we heard the roar of the tank's motor. I looked out the back window and saw Katukov's tank coming towards us. The hatch on the turret was open, and Katukov peeked out of it, shouting loudly about what? I hurriedly asked Grissa to stop and parked the car on the side of the road to wait for Katukov.

The tank quickly drove parallel to my car, and when I heard someone outside shouting my name, I pushed open the door, poked my head out to look up at Katukov, who was high above, and asked: "Comrade General, what is the matter?" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Katukov said loudly, looking down at me, "go back to the regimental headquarters first." After today's fighting, ammunition and fuel consumption is very high, and I am going to take the troops to replenish it. At this point, he raised his hand and looked at the watch on his wrist, and then continued: "It is twelve o'clock at noon, and my troops will arrive at the regimental headquarters to meet you at four o'clock in the afternoon, and no later than five o'clock." ”

"Good!" I said yes, waved at him, and then closed the door and told Grissa to drive.

There was no heating in the jeep, and there was ventilation everywhere, and although I was wrapped in my military coat tightly, when the car stopped in front of the 1073rd regimental command department, I felt like I was about to turn into frozen meat that I had just taken out of the refrigerator.

Stepping into the room of the regimental headquarters, I caught a glimpse of two heating stoves in the corner, but I didn't dare to sit down directly for fear of being frozen. So he went to the table and sat down, intending to wait for his body to warm up, and then squat down by the stove to warm up.

Chistyakov was not as idle as I was, and from the moment he entered the door, he kept calling and giving all kinds of orders to the troops below him.

Seeing that he was busy, I didn't bother him, and after looking left and right, I found that a staff officer seemed to be doing nothing, and hurriedly beckoned him to come. When he came over, he asked: "Why didn't I see Major Yevremenko of the anti-tank artillery regiment, where did he go?" ”

The staff officer straightened up and reported: "Comrade Division Commander, just a few minutes before your return, Comrade Major received an order from the headquarters of the group army and has already rushed to the city of Sun Hill. ”

"What? Cumbre del Sol?! "It seems that Rokossovsky is still stubborn and transferred the anti-tank artillery regiment, and the next thing to be transferred is General Katukov's tank brigade. Thinking of this, I stood up suddenly, grabbed the staff officer's shirt and asked, "Is there a way to get in touch with General Katukov's tank brigade?" ”

"No way!" The staff officer shook his head and said: "General Katukov's tanks do not have a car radio, and they cannot be contacted unless they are stationed and have laid telephone lines." ”

When I heard that I couldn't get in touch for the time being, I felt a little more relieved. Katukov led his tanks to refuel, Rokossovsky probably didn't know, as long as he couldn't contact the tank brigade, I could continue to deploy this unit. I loosened the placket of the staff officer's shirt, waved my hand, and said, "You go and get busy first." ”

Chistyakov, who had just finished making a phone call, didn't know what was going on, and when the staff officer had walked away, he came over and quietly asked: "Comrade division commander, what happened?" ”

I sighed and told him about the transfer of the anti-tank artillery regiment to Cumbre del Sol. When he heard this, he was also anxious and said: "Comrade division commander, the reason why our position was broken through by the enemy so quickly two days ago is because we lack sufficient anti-tank weapons. Now there is no more anti-tank artillery regiment, and if even the tank brigade is transferred, this battle will not be able to be fought in the future. ”

"No tanks, no war?!" Although I was dissatisfied with Rokossovsky's actions, I could not complain in front of my own subordinates, so I could only pretend that nothing had happened, "Even if we don't have anti-tank weapons, we can use cluster grenades to blow them up." Just now we were in the position of the third battalion of the 1075th regiment, and you also saw that Major Shedurin was organizing the fighters to tie up cluster grenades. ”

"But ......," Chistyakov wanted to say something, but I stopped him, and I said in an official tone: "The transfer of the anti-tank artillery regiment is an order from the superiors, and as for what to do, the superiors have the consideration of the superiors, and there is no need to explain the viciousness to us." What we can do is to resolutely carry out the order. ”

Just as I was talking nonsense, the phone rang on the table, and Chistyakov picked up the microphone, and as soon as he had said two words, he handed the phone over and reported in a low voice: "It's the commander of the Front, General Zhukov!" ”

I was a little nervous when I answered the phone, and I didn't know what Zhukov would say to me. I took a deep breath before I spoke: "Hello, Comrade General! I'm Oshanina! ”

"Well done! Leda, you're good! Zhukov didn't say anything else, but as soon as he came up, he praised me fiercely, and immediately confused me, and I didn't know what he meant by this. But he quickly continued: "Rokossovsky has already told me about you. Today's two battles, together with the holding battle in the city of Volosramsk, are enough to establish your absolute prestige in the 8th Guards Division, and let all the fighters understand that you, the division commander, have real skills, and you did not come up on the basis of nepotism. ”

"Thank you for your compliment." Zhukov's words made my heart flutter, and I couldn't help but thank him again and again.

"And," he continued, "the 78th Infantry Division, which on November 19 was also awarded the honorary title of the Ninth Guards Division for its outstanding performance in battle. The division commander, Colonel Beloborodov, was also promoted to major general for his military exploits. Lida, what I mean by saying these words to you is to let you understand that although you are still a small lieutenant colonel, as long as you achieve brilliant results in battle, let alone promote you to colonel, it is possible to become a general. ”

Checkmate!!! The big cake that Zhukov painted for me made my eyes light up, and I hurriedly expressed my determination to him: "Comrade General, please rest assured, as long as I am here, I will definitely guarantee that I can hold my position, and I will definitely not let the German devils take a step forward in Moscow." ”

He finally got down to business, and talked about the purpose of making this call: "The current offensive and defensive battle in Cumbre del Sol is very difficult, and I heard Rokossovsky say that he originally wanted to transfer General Katukov's tank brigade over, but who knew that you were holding on to it. This is not good, you have to know how to obey the overall situation, the city of Sol City needs tank troops more than you. ”

"Comrade General, please listen to me." I told Zhukov what Chistyakov had just said, with a little polish: "The reason why the defense line of our division was easily broken through by the Germans two days ago was that in addition to the excessive casualties of the troops and the disrupted structure of the troops, the lack of anti-tank weapons was also the main reason. And today I was able to easily destroy the two German units that broke through the lines, and the tank brigade played a decisive role. I did not cling to the tank brigade, but wanted to take advantage of the current favorable situation to launch a limited counterattack from the defense area of our division, contain the enemy's forces, disrupt the enemy's deployment, and advantageously support the counteroffensive operation of Sun Hill City. ”

Zhukov was frightened by my words, and perhaps it should be said that these words, supported by today's brilliant results, frightened Zhukov. He thought for a long time before asking, "Tell me about your plans?" ”

"Do you have reserves?"

"Nope! I don't have reserves on my hands! He uttered this sentence almost without thinking, and judging by the proficiency with which he answered, there were definitely not a few commanders who came to him every day to ask for reserves.

"I have two options, one with reserves and one without reserves. Which one would you like to hear? ”

"Leda, where did you come from so much nonsense, come and hear it! Let's start with the one with the reserves. ”

I coughed, cleared my throat and said, "If you can give me a regiment of infantry, I can launch an attack on Cumbre del Sol." My idea is: In the early hours of tomorrow morning, the tank brigade will take the lead and launch a surprise attack on the German tank units entrenched in Cumbre del Sol, and the infantry will immediately follow up to expand the results. If our troops, who are now occupying the three settlements, can cooperate in their attack, it is entirely possible to quickly regain the city of Cumbre del Sol. ”

"What about the second one?" He asked noncommittally.

"Because there are no reserves, and the forces that our division can use are effective, I can only consider a small attack on the German 23rd Infantry Division in front of me, and the results that can be achieved are limited." I spoke briefly and plainly about the second option, and Zhukov was a man of understanding, and he should be able to clearly hear that I was focusing on the first option.

"If I give you reserves, are you sure that the sneak attack will be successful?" Zhukov asked in a skeptical tone.

"This," I hesitated, but replied decisively, "Comrade General, please rest assured, the chances of success are very high, and even if you can't drive the enemy out of the city, you can inflict heavy damage on them and relieve the pressure on our army's attack in the later stage." "I don't say this in words, because I know in my heart that the sudden cold weather is enough to make the German army, which lacks winter preparations, lose its original combat effectiveness.

Zhukov thought about it again, and then replied: "I'll think about it again and I'll answer you later." After saying that, he hung up the phone.