Putting down the phone, Chistyakov, who was sitting on the side, looked at me and said worriedly: "Comrade division commander, can your plan work?" I didn't say anything, but walked around the room with my hands behind my back, thinking about the feasibility of the plan.

In the history I know, before the great Soviet counteroffensive began on December 6, the German army, which had been aggressive, slowed down the pace of the offensive on November 27. I used to be puzzled by this, but today I felt the sudden cold and heard Chistyakov say that there were no measures to protect against the cold, and people would freeze to death at night, and it suddenly became clear that it was the cold weather in Russia that prevented the German attack. The lack of winter clothes caused batch after batch of German officers and soldiers who were numb from the cold to freeze to death in the snow. Due to the increasing combat attrition, frostbite attrition, and severe logistical supplies, the German officers and soldiers were panicked, and many people were in panic, resulting in a plummeting decline in the combat effectiveness of the German army. In this case, if a sneak attack could be carried out on the German army, the results would be quite amazing, and there would be no need to fight for it as needlessly as in Cumbre del Sol.

My main consideration is whether Zhukov will be able to provide me with reserves, what kind of troops will be provided to me? In fact, not far from the village of Peshki, there is a regiment of troops, and if it can be assigned to me, my chances of victory will be much higher. But on second thought, no, that unit was directly transferred to the base camp, and Zhukov had no right to transfer it at all. It really can't be done, so we can only consider transferring the troops in the division.

Just when I was thinking nonsense, the phone rang again, and I quickly picked up the microphone and couldn't wait to ask: "I'm Oshanina, am I Comrade General?" ”

"It's me!" It was Zhukov who spoke, and he said: "I have thought about it, and your plan is feasible. However, I really have no reserves in my hands, and after consideration, I have assigned to you the mixed cadet corps of the military school named after the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, which was originally to be transferred from the 16th Army today, and now I will hand it over to you. The regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev, and Commissar Slavkin will soon report to you, hoping that your attack will not disappoint me. ”

"Understood, Comrade General." I quickly expressed my determination to him, "Rest assured, I will beat the Germans all over the ground." ”

Zhukov smiled and said, "Then I will wait for the news of your victory." At the end, he added: "I have already gotten angry with Rokossovsky about this matter, and you should remember to report it to him." Good luck! With that, he hung up the phone again.

With the reserves, I suddenly felt confident. Immediately said to Chistyakov: "Comrade Colonel, you immediately inform Lieutenant Colonel Cherniugov to come here, I have a combat mission to be assigned." ”

"Understood!" Chistyakov agreed, and then ran to the side to call his deputy regiment commander and commander of the third battalion.

I picked up the microphone of the phone in front of me, shook the handle vigorously a few times, and when I heard a voice inside, I immediately said: "Operator, I am Division Commander Oshanina, immediately pick me up from the 1075th Regiment and find Regimental Commander Serebryakov." ”

"Understood, comrade division commander, please wait a moment, I will connect you immediately." Hearing the sweet voice of the female operator, I couldn't help but guess that the other party must be a beautiful woman.

After a short wait, the phone was connected, and a thunderous voice came from the other side: "I am the regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Serebryakov, where are you?" ”

"I'm Commander Oshanina." I immediately reported my identity.

"Hello, Comrade Division Commander." He immediately lowered his voice and respectfully asked, "Is there anything wrong with you?" ”

"There is an important combat mission, you immediately take Major Sedulin and Major Kureshov to the regimental headquarters of the 1073 regiment."

As soon as I hung up, I began to call the division headquarters again, because the commander of the 1077th regiment, General Levyagin, was there.

The phone rang, and it was Rokossovsky who answered the phone, and I remembered what Zhukov had just said, and immediately reported to him his plan for a counteroffensive against the Germans. Rokossovsky groaned for a long time, saying that now the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, under the leadership of Pliev, was repeatedly fighting with the Germans for the three settlements. If I can attack in the direction of Cumbre del Sol, he will order the cavalry units to cooperate with my movements.

I asked him to hand over the microphone to Levyagin, and then gave an order to the general under my command: "General Leviakin, I have an important operational order to give, please rush to the regimental headquarters of the 1073rd Regiment as soon as possible, together with Major Dulov, Major Panishev, and Captain Lomov." ”

Chistyakov stood next to him, and after I finished making the call, he cautiously asked: "Comrade division commander, you are going to hold an operational meeting, why are you not in the division headquarters, but you want to call everyone here?" ”

I was afraid that he would misunderstand, so I hurriedly explained: "Now that the commander of the army group, General Rokossovsky, is there, the division headquarters is equivalent to the headquarters of the army group. I'm giving you orders at the headquarters, don't talk about you, even I'm nervous, that's why I've called everyone here. ”

With a report, Lieutenant Colonel Cherniugov strode in, saluted us, and reported loudly: "Report to the division commander, report to the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chernyugov, commander of the 1st battalion, have been ordered to come and wait for your orders!" ”

I gestured to the seat next to me and said, "You can sit down first, we'll have to wait for the other commanders." When everyone is here, we will have a meeting. There is a major combat operation tonight, so we will first convene everyone to discuss whether or not our division's existing defense area can be defended depends on the success or failure of tonight's operation. ”

Cherniugov let out a sigh and turned his head to look at Chistyakov, who was sitting next to him. His regimental commander did not speak, but only made a gesture to sit down, and he sat down obediently.

Half an hour later, Leviakin and Serebryakov, along with the commanders I had just named, arrived. After I beckoned everyone to sit down, Leviakin, who was sitting next to me, whispered to me: "Comrade division commander, everyone is here, let's have a meeting." ”

"Wait a little longer," I said, waving my hand, "we still have to wait for General Katukov, and Lieutenant Colonel Mlakintsev and Commissar Slavkin, who are mixed into the cadet corps." ”

Hearing me mention the name of the mixed cadet group, Leviakin was taken aback: "Isn't the cadet group about to be transferred, why did their regiment commander and political committee come here for a meeting?" ”

I explained to him in a low voice: "It was all because of the night operation, I asked General Zhukov to reserve the troops, and he temporarily assigned the cadet regiment to my division. ”

said that Cao Cao Cao arrived, and as soon as he talked about the cadet group, the head of the regiment and the political commissar arrived. Two medium-sized, chubby commanders came up to me and saluted, and reported loudly: "The commander of the mixed cadet regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Mlakintsev, and Commissar Slavkin, have been ordered to report to the commander of the division Oshanina. ”