When they learned that the Germans had fled after a little resistance from our army, Kirillov and Vitkov could not help but be overjoyed, but I had an ominous premonition in my heart. What they saw was how many miles our troops had advanced, occupying a few towns or settlements; But what I saw was that the Germans were gradually shrinking their forces, and our supply lines were getting longer and longer as our troops advanced rapidly, and with each place we occupied we had to leave our troops on defense, so that the main forces we were using to attack the fortifications were inevitably weakened.

Kirillov was very good at observing words and feelings, and when he saw that I looked depressed, he walked up to me and sat down, and asked with concern: "Oshanina, why did you look unhappy when you heard the report of Comrade Pantaireev?" ”

I pushed the map in front of him, and looked up to Vitkov, who was still standing aside: "Chief of Staff, please come over as well, and I will tell you what I am worried about now." ”

After Vitkov was seated, I pointed to the map and said to the two men: "Commissar and Chief of Staff, although General Bandeleyev is moving very quickly, it worries me, because in the battle to capture the three towns, they have annihilated only a small part of the German troops. What do the insignificant results of these small battles indicate? "Seeing that neither of them spoke, I asked myself and gave the answer." I came to the superficial conclusion that since Paulus's forces were annihilated at Stalingrad, the Germans had become non-combative, and the soldiers were demoralized and discouraged. There is no intention of fighting at all. That's why it will collapse at the touch of a button in battle. ”

"Of course. We succeeded in encircling Paulus's troops, which caused a great shock to the German officers and soldiers, and made them understand that they could not do whatever they wanted on our territory. Vitkov misunderstood what I meant, and said with great interest: "If we continue to advance at the present pace, I think that in a week our troops will be able to occupy the Kuban and directly threaten the Zaporosh region, where the German headquarters is located." ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Kirillov saw the indifference on my face as I listened to Vitkov, and guessed that I was definitely not satisfied with Vitkov's statement, so he kindly reminded the other party: "I think you may have misunderstood what Oshanina meant, even if the Germans lost Paulus's 6th Army, it would not become vulnerable all at once, and I think there must be some unknown reason for this." ”

"The commissar is absolutely right." I promptly echoed Kirillov's observation: "If the enemy is always touching away, then our logistical supply lines will be longer and longer, and we simply will not be able to draw enough troops to protect this long supply line." In the event of a large-scale detour by the Germans, our army may be cut off. It was surrounded by German troops. ”

After listening to these words, Vitkov scratched the back of his head. In an uncertain tone, he said: "Comrade Commander, the situation is not as bad as you think. You know, our army currently has three fronts in Ukraine, and the strength is several times more than that of the German army, even if Manstein is a famous commander of the German army, but in the case of absolute disadvantage in terms of troops and equipment, do you think he still has the possibility of winning? ”

"Come and see," I did not dwell with Vitkov on specific issues, but pointed to the map and analyzed them for them: "According to intelligence, the main forces of the Voronezh Front and the Southwestern Front are on our northern flank. And General Malinovsky's Southern Front, having carried out the Battle of Rostov, managed to recapture Rostov and will successfully cross the Mius River with its troops. At the moment their main forces are stationed in Taganrog, and the closest to our army is the 2nd Guards Army, which has successfully captured Mariupol on the territory of Ukraine. ”

Vitkov and Kirillov looked at each other, and after exchanging a meaningful look, he asked: "Comrade Army Commander, we can all see what you said from the battle report provided to us by the army group headquarters. However, I can't think of any connection to what you think is unusual for the Germans? ”

"Quite simply, my Comrade Chief of Staff." I couldn't laugh or cry at his stubbornness, so I had to point to the map and analyze it to him: "Take a good look at the map, there is a gap of more than 100 kilometers wide between the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front, and the reason why our army was transferred here from the 62nd Army is probably to plug this gap." At the moment, the situation of the war is extremely favorable for our army, and I believe that both the command of the front army and the command of the army group are thinking of a quick victory, advancing the troops to the Dnieper River as much as possible, cutting off the connection between the German army and friendly forces in Ukraine. Speaking of this, I couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, looked up and looked around, in addition to the three of us, near the walkie-talkie placed by the wall, there were two other operators, but they both wore headphones on their heads, so they should not be able to hear our conversation, so they boldly analyzed: "The two flanks of our army are very far away from friendly forces, and once we advance rapidly, it is easy to be cut off by the German roundabout troops, and thus fall into a heavy encirclement." ”

"However, Comrade Commander" Vitkov, although he patiently listened to my analysis, still insisted on his opinion. "The Germans, under the blows of our armies on three fronts, are rapidly retreating. In this case, I can't think of where the Germans can draw their forces to outflank our army? ”

I continued: "According to the report of General Bandereev, maybe tomorrow they will be able to capture Fleda. Next, seeing that our attack is progressing rapidly, the group army headquarters will give us a series of offensive tasks. If we continue to move forward at the current pace, we will soon be alone. The Germans were not fools either, and as soon as they found out that we were breaking away from the main forces of the Front, they would concentrate their forces exclusively against us. Now the supply line behind us is only one or two hundred kilometers, and when the supply line reaches more than four hundred kilometers, do you think that the guards we left behind will be able to hold back the enemy's fierce attack? ”

Hearing me say this, Vitkov thought for a moment and then shook his head and said: "If our supply line exceeds four hundred kilometers, then there will be only a few defenders per kilometer. It will not be able to stop the enemy's attack no matter what. ”

"That's right." I saw that he agreed with me. Continue to patiently convince him: "Comrade Chief of Staff. Don't just see that the Germans are abandoning their positions and fleeing under the attack of our army, and feel that the enemy has no combat effectiveness. The enemy retreated, perhaps because Manstein was adjusting his deployment, and he used Guò to abandon some insignificant settlements, small towns, and even small cities to achieve the goal of shrinking his forces. And after our army regained these places. A considerable part of the troops had to be transferred to serve as guards. When Manstein felt that our main logistical supply lines were too long and the flanks were quite weak, he might have seized the opportunity to catch us off guard, which is probably the 'space for time' tactic he learned from us. ”

After I finished speaking, Vitkov raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and his voice became hoarse because of excitement: "Comrade commander, if the situation you analyzed really arises, what should we do?" ”

"Comrade Oshanina. It's too dangerous if things really turn out the way you've analyzed. Kirillov, who had been observing, also expressed his opinion at this moment: "I think it is necessary to call the commander of the army group, Comrade Kharytonov. Give him a wake-up call to avoid such a tragedy. ”

I nodded my head at Kirillov's suggestion, and then instructed Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since the commissar thinks so too, then please call Commander Kharitonov and report to him the results of the analysis just now." ”

Looking at Vitkov, who was on the phone, Kirillov quietly asked me: "Comrade Oshanina, do you think the commander of the army group will believe your analysis?" ”

If the troops I am in at this moment are still the Don Front, then I am eighty percent sure that Rokossovsky will be able to trust my judgment; In the 62nd Army, I was at least fifty percent sure that I would be able to say a French Chuikov. But in Kharytonov's 6th Army, I had a gambling mentality and asked Vitkov to try it. But according to my intuition, Vitkov will hit a nose nine times out of nine.

Sure enough, after a while, Vitkov came over with a sad face. Kirillov preemptively asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how did Commander Kharytonov reply after listening to your report?" ”

Kirillov replied with a wry smile: "The commander's answer is simple: absurd! Then he asked me: "Comrade commander, what should our army do in the future?" ”

I had been prepared for Khalitonov's reaction, and when I was the commander of the army group, I saw that the troops were in full swing, and suddenly a subordinate called me, saying that the enemy might attack our weak flank, and it was estimated that I would be bloodied by the other party's scolding. At this moment, when I heard Vitkov's inquiry, I made my plan clear: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we can't control other troops, but our army must advance westward in a steady and steady way. Again, as I said, the Pandereev Division, reinforced by tank brigades and artillery regiments, was the main attacker, while the 308th and 171st Divisions were responsible for protecting the two flanks of the division, and the necessary fortifications had to be built. ”

"Oshanina, if we do this, our army's advance will be greatly slowed down." Kirillov asked with some concern: "Maybe you will be criticized by your superiors for this." ”

"Comrade Political Commissar, even if you are criticized, there is nothing you can do." I let out a long sigh and continued: "For the past two days, a voice in my head has been constantly reminding me that although we have won the Battle of Stalingrad and wiped out hundreds of thousands of German troops and their client state troops, the strength of the German army has not been greatly reduced. They will certainly not be resigned to the defeat they suffered some time ago, and they must still be planning to get revenge. ”

Seeing that Vitkov had written down what I had said in his notebook, I continued: "In addition, we cannot blindly rely on the information provided by the headquarters of the group army for the enemy's intelligence, but we must send more of our own reconnaissance units to the enemy's defense areas to conduct reconnaissance and obtain first-hand information. ”

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Vitkov nodded and agreed: "Later, I will give Captain Travkin an order to personally lead a team with a radio station to infiltrate the enemy's rear to conduct reconnaissance." ”

"Also," I suddenly remembered the former German officers of the Grams, Gretka, and other former German officers who had been hidden by me again, so I specially emphasized: "A part of the German officers and soldiers who surrendered to Cheng were transferred from the guard camp to cooperate with our scouts to complete the reconnaissance mission." ”

"German officers and soldiers who surrendered?" After repeating my words, Vitkov asked in amazement: "Nothing will happen to let them join our reconnaissance team as well, right?" ”

"Chief of Staff, you don't have to worry about this." Kirillov next to him said with a smile: "As early as during the defense of Mamayev Heights, we used the joint reconnaissance detachment composed of the officers and soldiers of the surrender and our commanders and fighters on many occasions, and they provided us with a lot of valuable information, which was of great help to us in formulating the next battle plan. ”

The task of going behind enemy lines to reconnoiter was soon given to Travkin by Vitkov. After receiving the order, Travkin formed a reconnaissance group of seven 10 people, each of which was composed of Defection officers and soldiers and our commanders and fighters, and carried the necessary communication tools to give feedback on the reconnaissance information in a timely manner. In order to speed up the march, Vitkov also equipped each reconnaissance group with motorcycles, so as to ensure that they could reach behind enemy lines as much as possible.

As soon as it was dawn, Travkin's first reconnaissance report came back. In his report, he said: "We attacked a German company command post in a small town and captured a lot of Wenjiàn. It was learned through the identification of the former German officers and soldiers of the group and our interrogation of the German prisoners. They all received an order from their superior commanders that in the event of an attack by our troops, except for a few troops left behind, the rest of the troops should immediately move to the rear and rush to larger strongholds or cities to assemble. ”

After reading this telegram, Vitkov slapped it on the table with a bang and said to me loudly: "Comrade commander, it seems that your analysis is completely correct. The reason why the Germans were about to collapse at the slightest touch was not because of their low morale and discouragement, but because they deliberately abandoned their strongholds and towns on the orders of their superiors to induce us to disperse our forces. This is simply a big conspiracy against our army. (To be continued......)

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