The table in the headquarters was too small for too many people to sit around, so only the regiment commander and deputy regiment commander could sit down, and the remaining battalion commanders could only aggrieve them to stand and hold a meeting.

Except for one communications staff officer who was left on duty at the regiment headquarters, the rest of the people who were in charge of communications and liaison were all sent out by me. For the sake of secrecy, I also specially asked Chistyakov to add double posts at the door, so as not to have irrelevant people break in during the meeting.

After Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev and Commissar Slavkin were seated, Levyakin asked me in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, everyone is almost there, are we still waiting for General Katukov?" ”

I raised his left hand and looked at the watch on my wrist, the hour hand pointed to four o'clock, it was already the time Katukov had agreed, but I had not seen any sign of him. According to my understanding of Lao Maozi, they have never had any concept of time, and if they want to continue to wait, they don't know when they will have to wait. So I let go of his hand and said decisively, "Don't wait, let's have a meeting." ”

When I saw that everyone's attention was focused on me, I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to announce the agenda of this military meeting: "I have gathered you here today to assign you an important combat mission. I plan to launch an attack on the German army occupying the city of Cumbre del Sol at 11 o'clock tonight. ”

As soon as the words fell, the commanders attending the meeting immediately began to whisper. Although our division did not participate in today's attack on Cumbre del Sol City, everyone knew that the battle had fallen into a stalemate. From everyone's expressions, I can guess that the troops of several divisions have been attacking for almost a day without making substantial progress, and what kind of effect will our offensive achieve?

Still Leviagin couldn't stand it anymore, he knocked the table a few times with his fist, suppressed all the voices, then stood up and said dissatisfiedly: "If you have any ideas, just say them, don't mumble them below." ”

"Comrade division commander," said Lieutenant Colonel Mlakintsev, the commander of the mixed cadet regiment, who stood up first, and asked a question that everyone was concerned about: "How many troops do we have in this offensive and what kind of support will we receive?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to me again. I looked at Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev and replied unhurriedly: "The troops that can be engaged in this offensive: General Katukov's tank brigade, a mixed regiment of men drawn from each regiment of my division, and a mixed cadet regiment under the command of you and Political Commissar Slavkin. As for what kind of support we can get, I will first explain to you here, as soon as the offensive begins, Commander Rokossovsky will order the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps to attack simultaneously from the three settlements it occupies to cooperate with our actions. ”

"How are you going to launch this attack?" Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev continued to ask.

I looked at the map on the table, and fortunately, while I was waiting for everyone, I was not ashamed to ask Chistyakov for advice, so I easily pointed to the location of Cumbre del Sol and replied, "I intend to use the southwest direction of the city as a breakthrough point for the attack. The first to attack will be General Katukov's tank brigade, and when the tank units have tore through the enemy's defenses, the mixed regiments, as the second echelon, will quickly follow and tear the breakthrough even bigger. Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev, your mixed cadet regiment, as the third echelon, wait until somewhere the fighters are in a stalemate, and then you rush over to reinforce them. ”

"What troops will my division take part in?" This time it was General Levyagin who was questioned.

"That's how I think about it," I had just thought about which troops to be sent to participate in the war, and Cheng Zhu ordered in his chest: "All the first battalion of the 1075th Regiment, two companies of the second battalion of the 1075th Regiment, one company of the third battalion, all the first battalion of the 1077th regiment, one company of the second battalion, and all the third battalion." The total strength is about 1,500 people. Speaking of which, I suddenly asked a key question: "Which battalion's defense area is closest to Sun Hill City?" ”

"Report to the division commander," replied Captain Lomov, who stood in the back row with the lowest rank, "the position of our battalion is the closest to the city of Mount Sol, less than five kilometers away, which allows the troops to assemble in the defense area of our battalion and prepare for the attack. ”

"Is there a forest there?"

"Do you need to talk about that? Moscow is a city surrounded by forests, and everywhere there will be forests. "It was General Katukov who said this, who had not arrived for a long time.

"Hello! General Katukov. Leviagin stood up and shook his hand amicably.

"Hello, General Leviakin, we meet again."

"General Katukov, you have come just in time, I am arranging tonight's combat mission." I was also not polite, pointing to Captain Lomov, who was standing next to me, and said to him: "After the meeting, you will hide the tank brigade in the forest of the captain's defense area and prepare for the attack at night. ”

"Understood!" Katukov readily agreed.

"Now," I asked, looking around, "who's going to talk about the situation in Cumbre del Sol?" Let everyone know what to do at night. ”

"I'll come," said Captain Lomov, who, although facing a group of commanders with higher ranks than him, spoke without stage fright: "At noon, several citizens of Sun Hill City fled from the city to the defense area of our battalion. According to them: Yesterday afternoon, a detachment of German submachine gunners entered the city, and after the defenders of the city exchanged fire with them, they withdrew from the city. It was not until evening that German tanks and large forces were seen entering the city. ……”

"Rumors! This is a rumor! Lieutenant Colonel Cherniugov jumped up and interrupted the lieutenant: "It's impossible, just fight a few submachine gunners and you can drive our defenders out of the city, how is this possible?" Nine times out of ten, the people who tell you this are German spies. Where are they now, they should be arrested and shot immediately. ”

"Enough, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please pay attention to your identity." Chistyakov interrupted his deputy regiment commander, "It's not your turn to give orders here, listen to the division commander and continue to assign tasks." ”

"That's where the combat mission is arranged. Everyone immediately went back to the troops, and after dispatching elite troops, they assembled in the defense area of Captain Lomov, and in addition to moving quickly, they also paid attention to air defense when marching, and never were discovered by enemy reconnaissance planes. ”

Everyone left one after another, but Cherniugov was still standing there and refused to leave. I looked at Cherniugov suspiciously, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, didn't my order be clear?" ”

"Clear." He replied to me with a blushing face, and then mustered up the courage to ask, "Evacuate all the troops, don't you need to defend here?" ”

"If we can't drive away all the enemies in Sun Hill City, we won't be able to hold the defense line even if we have this little force." As he spoke, he waved his hand and said, "Don't rub it off, hurry up." ”

"Yes!" He said yes, saluted, and turned to leave.

Seeing that Katukov, who had just arrived, was about to go out, I hurriedly stopped him: "General Katukov, please stay, I have important things to discuss with you." ”