Meretskov had just finished his phone call with Stalin when a staff officer approached him and handed him a telegram. He read the phone, and his face showed excitement rarely seen since the beginning of the campaign. He walked up to Starikov, who was standing in front of the map and intently studying the situation of the two armies, handed him the telegram, and said: "A telegram from the Leningrad Front, the fighter formation of the air force has departed, and it is estimated that it will arrive at the battlefield in a few minutes. The naval guns of the Baltic Fleet, braving the frenzied air raids of the fascist air forces, suppressed with artillery fire the German artillery that was shelling the heights of Sinavino. You call the chief of staff, Golovchner, and ask him how the situation is there? ”

Starikov agreed, walked to the table and used the phone to contact the forward command. As soon as the phone was connected, he asked loudly: "Hey, Comrade Chief of Staff, how is your situation there?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander, the shelling of the heights by German artillery has stopped. Our fighters are fighting the enemy planes that are circling, dropping bombs, and strafing over the high ground. Just now I saw through the binoculars that a fighter pilot of our army was very brave, and after he was shot and wounded in a fighter plane, he did not immediately withdraw from the battle, but drove the fighter plane bravely into the enemy's plane, and died together with the enemy. ”

After hearing this, Starikov nodded vigorously and said: "I will report the deeds of the pilot to the commander of the front, and ask him to give this hero the honor he deserves." Have you been in touch with the Highlands? ”

Meretskov heard Starikov mention himself and asked me in a low voice: "Lida, what's the matter?" I quickly repeated what I had just heard. He listened. He nodded too. Say: "I will contact the commander of the Leningrad Front, General Govorov." Ask him to award the hero the honorary title of pilot. ”

As Meretskov spoke, I pricked up my ears to listen to the voice coming out of the microphone: "...... The telephone line between my headquarters and the heights was blown up several times by heavy German artillery fire. In order to maintain uninterrupted communication with the high ground and to convey orders to the troops in a timely manner, I had to send signal corps to and fro between the two places. At present, more than 20 commanders and fighters of the communications company have died on the hillside. Comrade Commander, I have one more thing to tell you. ”

"What's the matter? Say, Comrade Chief of Staff. ”

"After suffering from German shelling and bombardment. The defenders on the high ground were already dead. If the Germans had launched a counterattack at this time, the positions we had worked so hard to gain would fall back into their hands. ”

"Wait a minute, don't hang up the phone yet, I'll discuss it with Comrade General and see where to transfer troops to you." Speaking of which, Starikov looked up at Meretskov, who was not far away, and waited for his reply. Meretskov also heard the words of Chief of Staff Golovchner, thought for a moment, and said lightly: "Let the troops of the 19th Guards Division go up first." Although there were not many people, it was still possible to block one or two counterattacks from the Germans. At the same time, the 22nd, 23rd, and 137th Infantry Brigades were urged to enter the high ground. Take over the defenses, while fortifications are reinforced to cope with a larger German counterattack. After listening to this, Starikov immediately relayed Meretskov's order verbatim through the microphone to Chief of Staff Golovchner.

At this moment, there was a voice shouting a report at the door, and I followed the prestige to see Lieutenant General Krekov, who had been in contact with each other, striding into the headquarters. He walked up to Meretskov, stood upright, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Report to Comrade General, Commander of the 2nd Assault Army Krykov, who has been ordered to report to you and listen to your instructions. ”

After Meretskov raised his hand and returned the salute, he beckoned him to sit down and began to introduce him to the situation: "Comrade Krykov, time is pressing, I will not say more polite words. In order to strengthen the unity of command of the troops, Major Oshanina proposed that the 4th Guards Infantry Corps and the 6th Guards Infantry Corps be placed under your command, and this proposal was reported to the Supreme Command and approved by the Supreme Commander himself. I wonder if you have any objections to this new appointment? ”

When I heard Meretskov's last words, I couldn't help but want to laugh, joke, who would have the courage to oppose anything that had been agreed to by the Supreme Commander himself, and besides, it was a good thing to have Krykov in command of the former enemy, he would not object.

Krykov was a little surprised to hear this, he turned his head to look at me, then turned back to Meretskov and said: "I have no objections, I resolutely obey the orders of my superiors. After such a few simple words, Krykov took over the command of the troops.

Starikov stepped forward, saluted Krykov and reported: "Comrade Lieutenant General, the commander of the 8th Army, Starikov, reports to you, I am at your disposal. ”

Krykov nodded and said, "Comrade Starikov, please quickly convey this appointment to the commanders at all levels, so that when I command them, they can carry out my orders to the letter." ”

When Starikov went to call his subordinate troops, I also stepped forward and raised my hand to salute Krykov: "Report to Comrade Commander, Major Oshanina, Operational Staff Officer of the Front Command, report to you and listen to your orders!" ”

"Combat staff officer?" Krykov looked at me suspiciously, then turned to Meretskov and asked: "Comrade General, I remember that when the last battle preparation meeting was held, how did this female major who came out of my 2nd Shock Army, who was still the acting commander of the 378th Infantry Division, now become an operational staff officer?" ”

Meretskov replied vaguely: "This was an order from Comrade Stalin himself to make her an operational staff officer in the headquarters of the Front, perhaps in order for her to accumulate experience in staff officers." ”

After listening to Meretskov's reply, General Krykov looked at me with interest and asked: "Major Oshanina, I would like to know you, can you comment a few words on this ongoing battle?" ”

I didn't know how to answer Krykov's question, so I turned my attention to Meretskov next to me.

He smiled at me and said in an encouraging tone, "Tell me, Leda." I also want to know what mistakes I made in this battle. ”

Since all the people he was the commander of the front army had said so, I no longer had any scruples and directly stated my true opinion: "Judging from the current situation, this campaign is far from the campaign goal we originally set. First of all, mistakes were made in the formulation of the plan. For attacking such a fortified area as the German army, it was a big mistake that could not be saved if the two fronts, which were supposed to work together, did not attack at the same time. In this way, it was not only possible for the Germans to concentrate their forces on the attacking forces of the two fronts to break them individually, but also to make the attack of the attacking troops that launched later lose their suddenness, and gave the Germans who were in the way to strengthen their defenses.

Secondly, in terms of tactics, the coordination between the troops is poor, and the orders of the superior commanders are not well executed in the troops, for example, the troops of the 4th Guards Army are not able to reach the designated positions for a long time, which is the most prominent example. In addition, the campaign was launched too hastily, and there was a serious shortage of weapons and ammunition, and the artillerymen, who should have been provided with artillery fire by the infantry, had to play the role of spectators after the campaign was launched due to the lack of shells. ”

After saying these two things, I obediently closed my mouth and waited for Krekov's reaction. After listening to this, he closed his eyes and thought for a while, then opened his eyes and looked at me and said, "Major Oshanina, there is some truth in what you said. Let me ask you if you are interested in returning to the 2nd Assault Army, and I can let you take the position of regimental commander first. ”

Before I could speak, Meretskov had already interrupted him: "General Krykov, your idea is unrealizable. Just now Comrade Stalin said on the phone that Major Oshanina would soon be transferred to Stalingrad. ”

"Stalingrad? What did Comrade Stalin transfer Major Oshanina to do there? As soon as Krykov finished saying this, he suddenly thought of something, and was shocked, and then asked tentatively: "Comrade General, do you mean that in the near future, the Germans may launch an attack on Stalingrad?" ”

Meretskov waved his hand and said, "Not possible, for sure." Well, without further ado, General Krykov, you should hurry up and start the deployment of your troops. ”

Just as Krykov and Starikov were giving orders to the troops on the phone, the phone in front of Meretskov rang. When Meretskov picked up the microphone, I heard a familiar voice coming from inside: "Is it Comrade Meretskov?" I'm Zhukov. "When I heard this name, I couldn't help but get a little excited, and my nose was sour, if he hadn't sent Fedyuninsky to save me, I would have died.

Meretskov hurriedly got up from his seat and said politely: "It's me, Comrade Deputy Commander-in-Chief, hello." Do you have any instructions? ”

Zhukov did not speak politely to Meretskov in the microphone, but said straight to the point: "Comrade Meretskov, I just read the briefing on the battle situation of the Volkhov Front. Here, I would like to remind you that in the offensive, you placed the reserve too far ahead, with the result that the troops of the second and third echelons actually became the first echelon, which could easily cause serious losses to the troops. As for the use of reserves, I suggest that you do not scatter them to all corners of the entire front, but devote them all to the most critical areas at critical moments to get the most results. My opinion is finished, good luck! With that, Zhukov hung up. (To be continued......)

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