I looked in the direction of his finger and saw that Novomoskovsk was actually next to Dnepropetrovsk, and I couldn't help but feel a sigh. But then there was a burst of joy, and if the war reports on the radio were true, the German units that had been heavily damaged by the Voronezh Front were most likely Manstein's troops, who had just crossed the Dnieper and tasted defeat in Novomoskovsk.

Also influenced by the battle report of our army, Kirillov came over with a smile on his face, and after sitting down beside me, he looked at me and asked: "Comrade Oshanina, do you have any thoughts after listening to the battle report of the Soviet Intelligence Service just now, and should we study the next direction of the troops' actions?" ”

"Comrade Deputy Army Commander, please tell me your feelings first." Instead of answering Kirillov's question right away, I kicked the ball at the feet of Romanov to hear what he had to say. "The most important thing is what the political commissar just said, to study the next operational direction of our army."

"Comrade commander, I think so......" Romanov frowned and thought for a moment, then picked up a red and blue pencil on the table, drew a line from Kavbas's position to the northwest, and said according to his train of thought: "Judging by the battle reports of our army, the main forces of the German army will be pinned down by General Golikov's troops on the other side of the Dnieper, and it will be difficult to find the heavy German army in our vicinity." So I planned to divide our troops into two routes, to capture the cities of Kirovgrad and Alexandria. Most of the inhabitants of these two cities were not evacuated, after the seizure of the city. We can pick the right people from among the residents and workers to replenish our troops......"

"Wait, wait, please." Before Romanov's words were finished, Kirillov suddenly interrupted him. Curiously asked, "How do you know that the inhabitants of these two cities have not been evacuated?" ”

To Kirillov's question, Romanov smiled and replied politely: "Comrade commissar, you may have forgotten my troops, but you have been fighting guerrillas in Ukraine, and you know more or less about the situation in various cities. ”

"Yes, yes, yes. Comrade Deputy Commander, if you don't say it, I almost forgot. Kirillov listened to Romanov's explanation. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, "Go ahead." ”

Romanov nodded, and continued: "The troops occupying Alexandria, in addition to being replenished from the city, can also send people to contact the partisans operating near Znam Kaduha. "Speaking of which. He straightened up. "There are probably a thousand guerrillas here," he added with some pride, almost all of them; From the scattered regular army, the combat effectiveness was stronger than that of the average guerrillas. ”

"Guerrillas?!" Romanov's remarks intrigued me, and for the first time I had heard a suggestion that I should be incorporated into the partisans to replenish the troops. However, the composition of the partisans active in Ukraine is too complicated, both fighting the Germans and the Soviet army. Vatutin was later on the territory of Ukraine. He was attacked by the so-called guerrillas and died of his injuries. So I cautiously asked, "Comrade Deputy Commander." Do you understand the commander of this partisan detachment? ”

Romanov was a smart man, and when he heard my question, he immediately understood and hurriedly replied: "Comrade commander, please rest assured, the partisan force I am talking about, like us, is composed of small units that have retreated from Belarus, and there is absolutely no problem in terms of loyalty to the Motherland. ”

Hearing that it was a trustworthy partisan, I nodded in satisfaction, then raised my chin at Romanov and motioned for him to continue. Romanov continued: "As long as we control Alexandria, we can threaten Kremenchug and Komsomolsk on the other side of the Dnieper at any time, and contain the German forces in these two cities. Once our troops have gained a foothold here, we can send our troops to occupy Kirovgrad and continue to advance in a north-western direction towards Kyiv. ”

Hearing Romanov talk about Kyiv, I couldn't help but sneer a few times in my heart, saying that with our current forces and equipment, it was okay to make trouble in the enemy's rear, and if we went to attack Kyiv, which was heavily fortified by the German army, it would be pure death. However, I was too embarrassed to discourage the enthusiasm of the Romanovs, so I had to divert the topic: "Comrade Deputy Army Commander, wouldn't it be better if we did not develop in the north-western direction, but attacked Nikolaev in the south, and then threatened Odessa and cut off the supply of the German army from the sea?" ”

"Comrade commander, it is not advisable for us to attack to the south." After saying this, he paused to observe my reaction, and seeing that I was just staring at him with a blank face, he continued: "If Nikolaev is captured, our troops will have to withstand attacks from several directions. One was the German troops on the other side of the Dnieper, and the other was the German army from Romania. Moreover, the German warships anchored near the harbor would also bombard us with naval artillery. ”

"Comrade Oshanina, I think what Comrade Deputy Commander said is very reasonable." After waiting for Romanov to finish speaking, Kirillov slowly expressed his opinion: "In addition to the reasons he just said, I would like to add that we are now fighting alone behind enemy lines, without any support from the outside world, and everything can only be done on our own. Again, there is no rear operation, and I very much agree with the deputy commander's proposal, although moving in the northwest direction, there will also be fierce battles, but after all, it is relatively close to the area under our own control, even if we are surrounded by German troops, we can break through in the direction of Moscow. As for Nikolaev," he shook his head and said in a low tone, "once our troops are surrounded by the Germans here, let alone break through, even if the enemy gives way for us to retreat, we will not be able to reach our army's defense zone in three or five days." ”

As soon as Kirillov finished speaking, I immediately nodded and said: "Political commissar and deputy commander, you two are very right, going south is a dead end, and attacking in the northwest direction can have the effect of disrupting the rear of the German army and grasping the initiative on the battlefield." Where to fight and how to fight, it will be up to us, and not the Germans, to decide. Next, what to do with Colonel Andryushchenko's 171st Division, as well as our two regiments that we have placed on the banks of the Dnieper? Will we continue to stay and hold our existing positions, or will we withdraw, join forces with us, and concentrate our forces to attack in the northwest direction? ”

As soon as my question came out, Kirillov and Romanov were silent. After the two of them looked at each other, neither of them spoke, just looked at me with their eyes, as if waiting for my final decision.

Although my first impression of Romanov was good, I don't know much about his command skills. In order to find out what his level was, I deliberately asked him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what do you think?" ”

After a moment of silence, Romanov said calmly: "Comrade commander, at present our strength is limited, and I think we should concentrate all our troops and use them. ”

"Oh, get all the troops together." Hearing that his idea was close to mine, I asked with great interest: "What if all the troops on the river are withdrawn, and the German troops on the other side take the opportunity to cross the river and chase after them?" ”

Hearing my question, a smile suddenly appeared on Romanov's face. Seeing my blank look on his face, he then explained: "Comrade commander, you may have forgotten that there is no road from the island to Kafbas, and the reason why our troops were able to reach the outside of the city and attack in such a quick time was because this road that was otherwise impossible to walk was frozen. Now that the weather is getting warmer, perhaps by tomorrow evening, or even in the afternoon, the roads here will be muddy and impassable again. ”

"I see, Comrade Deputy Commander." When Kirillov heard this, he couldn't help but interject: "You mean to tell our troops to hurry up and pass through this area quickly while the road is not thawing, and come to Kafbas to join us." Even if the Germans were to cross the river in pursuit, they would be slowed down by the muddy roads, so that we would have plenty of time to build our defenses and implement the next step of our battle plan. ”

"Exactly, Comrade Commissar." To Kirillov's addition, Romanov nodded approvingly and said with certainty: "We are going to skillfully play a time difference while the enemy is not aware of it." When the Germans come to their senses and try to pursue our troops again, they will find that it is simply too late. ”

Seeing that everyone was unanimous, I shouted at the door: "Major Pugachev." ”

At my shout, Pugachev quickly ran into the command headquarters, stood in front of us and asked: "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?" ”

"Send a telegram to the Chief of Staff immediately," because time was pressing, and I didn't say any nonsense, and said to Pugachev bluntly: "Let him immediately lead the 171st Division and the two regiments that were placed on the defensive duty by the river, and withdraw to Kavbas before dark." ”

"Yes!" Pugachev agreed, did not leave immediately, but stayed where he was and reported to me: "Comrade Army Commander, the troops led by Generals Bandeleyev and Gurtiev have arrived, and I believe that it will not be long before they will come to the army command to report to you." ”

"Got it." I waved at Pugachev and instructed him: "Major, don't stand here stupidly, immediately go and send a telegram to the chief of staff, so that they can hurry up and gather their troops and prepare for the transfer." ”

This time, Pugachev did not hesitate, raised his hand and saluted the three of us, then turned and left the headquarters and went back to the telecommunications room next door to send a message. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you yxzr and look at the two votes of Shanshui for your support! Thank you stanic, mfujianwx, allih, and RexKidd for all your votes!