The faint sound of explosions coming from the earpiece made me realize that perhaps the situation at the front was much more serious than I had imagined, so I nervously asked Tavart Kiradze: "Comrade General, can you hold your position?" ”

My words silenced Tavart Kiradze for a long time, and then he said word by word: "Comrade commander, I can only tell you that my men and I will defend three important positions to the death, while the rest of the positions can only be reluctantly abandoned. ”

"Even if you want to give up those inconsequential lots, you have to do it after the battle." I was deeply afraid that Tavart Kiradze would give the order to retreat casually, so I emphatically said: "Let the commanders and fighters, having exhausted the enemy's vital forces, abandon their positions on open ground and quickly withdraw to the high ground on both sides, in order to strengthen the defensive forces of the main defensive positions." ”

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard another violent explosion, and then the deafening sound rang out so that I could not hear what Tawart Kiradze was saying. After a few moments, all the voices in the microphone suddenly disappeared.

"Why is the microphone suddenly silent?" I held up the microphone and loudly questioned Major Lopukhov, the chief of communications, who was standing not far away: "Major, what the hell is going on?" ”

Lopukhov hurriedly walked over, took the phone from my hand and listened for a while, and then reported to me: "Comrade commander, it is supposed that the telephone line has been blown up. ”

"Can it be fixed?" Kirillov asked with concern: "If we don't recover quickly, we won't be able to keep abreast of the situation at the front." ”

When Lopkhov heard Kirillov say this, an expression of embarrassment appeared on his face, and he muttered: "Comrade Military Commissar, here is dozens of kilometers from the front line, and we cannot determine which section of the telephone line was blown up, and who should be responsible for repairing it. Therefore, it is not realistic to restore telephone communication in a short period of time. Speaking of this, seeing that the faces of several of us were not good-looking, he felt that he continued, "Of course, if you want to keep abreast of the situation at the front. Also by telegram. As long as the divisional radio stations are not destroyed, then communication will not be interrupted. ”

I saw that Major Lopukhov had been standing there talking to Kirillov, put the microphone on the telephone base, and said impatiently: "Major Lopukhov, what are you doing here?" Why don't you hurry up and report it to the 51st Guards Division and find out what just happened. ”

Watching Lopukhov's back disappear from the doorway, I suddenly thought of the mechanized 3rd Army of my friendly neighbors, the positions of the 51st Guards Division were attacked, and their defense zone was probably not left alone. It was necessary to study a good charter with Katukov, so he picked up the microphone and instructed the signal soldier: "Give me access to the 1st Tank Army and find General Katukov." ”

The call reached the headquarters of the tank army, but Katukov was not at the command, and I anxiously asked the chief of staff who answered the phone: "Do you know where Comrade Commander went?" ”

After the other party was silent for a moment, he said hesitantly: "General Oshanina, because there is no fighting in the defense area. So Comrade Commander went on vacation for the past two days. ”

"What, went on vacation?" Hear the words of the chief of staff of the army group. I could not help but be taken aback, thinking that if Katukov could not return to his command quickly, the Mechanized Third Army would not be able to provide us with the necessary help while our troops were under heavy German attack. So when I heard that Katukov was going on vacation, I couldn't help but be a little confused, and hurriedly asked: "Do you know when he will be able to return to the headquarters?" ”

"Comrade General. Please don't worry, we are already within the range of the tank army, a battle alarm has been raised, and someone has also been sent to inform Comrade Commander. I'm sure it won't be long before he can ......," he said. Suddenly stopped, and then I heard his surprised voice coming from the headphones: "Comrade commander, you are back!" ”

"Come back," I heard Katukov say with great majesty, "and as soon as I heard your battle alarm, I rushed back." By the way, Chief of Staff, who are you talking to? ”

"It's General Oshanina of the friendly forces, she seems to have something important to say to you." The chief of staff quickly replied: "She is still waiting for you online." ”

When Katukov's voice came out of the earphones clearly, I couldn't help but perk up and excitedly said: "Hello, General Katukov, I look forward to your return." ”

Katukov is also a smart person, knowing that when I called him at this time, it was definitely not for the sake of catching up on the old days, but for more important things, and he did not go around in circles with me, but said straight to the point: "Lida, let's not talk about polite words, does your unit need support from our department?" ”

"Yes, General Katukov, the commander of the 51st Guards Division, Tavart Kiradze, reported to me that large forces of the Germans were rushing towards his position." Because I needed Katukov's support, I didn't hide from him what was happening on the battlefield: "I was talking to him when the phone suddenly cut off, so we couldn't figure out what the situation was on the battlefield for the time being. ”

"Leda, please wait a minute, I'll ask the Chief of Staff what kind of situation we have here." After saying that, he didn't wait for me to answer him, but muttered to the chief of staff next to him in a low voice. I tried hard to hear what they were saying, but I couldn't make a single statement.

After a while, Katukov's voice became clear again: "Leda, I just asked the chief of staff, the situation with the mechanized Third Army is not optimistic, individual defensive strips are being attacked by the Germans. Therefore, I can only draw twenty tanks and one battalion of infantry to support your 51st Guards Division and jointly defend the Belgorod-Kursk road and prevent the Germans from passing through it. ”

Hearing that the reinforcements were equipped with twenty tanks, I did not show a look of joy on my face, but asked cautiously: "General Katukov, I don't know what model these twenty tanks are?" ”

"There are fifteen T-34s and five KV-1s, and the drivers are all excellent tank crews."

"Why aren't there new tanks?" I couldn't help but be secretly disappointed when I heard Katukov's reported tank models, both of which could be destroyed by the Tiger tank with an 88mm gun and a long-barreled 75mm gun, the Panther tank or the latest model of the No. 4 tank, at a distance of 1,000 meters or more. And these tanks of ours, even if they go into a distance of five hundred meters. The 76-mm tank guns equipped with them also hardly pose a threat to the Tiger and Panther tanks. I asked in a complaining tone: "Comrade General, as far as I know, your group army is equipped with nearly 500 new tanks, why don't you use them today?" ”

I would have thought that Katukov would have said to maintain his strength and wait until the time of the counterattack. Then put into battle the main forces equipped with new tanks. Unexpectedly, he said: "Lida, do you know, because of the excessive losses of our tank troops in the early stage, coupled with the constant attrition in the war, so far, most of the tank soldiers in the army are lacking training. Moreover, the new tank has been equipped with troops for some time, and there are not many tank crews who may be proficient. And if in this case, let the tanker drive a tank that is not yet fully familiar with the performance. In the absence of terrain cover, engaging German armored forces could become a one-sided massacre. ”

At this moment, a communications staff officer appeared at the door, walked quickly up to me, raised his hand and saluted, took out a telegram from a folder under his armpit and handed it to me. I took it and saw that it was a telegram from General Tawart Kiradze. I saw that it read: "...... The Germans sent their air forces to support the offensive of the ground forces, and they were in formations of 20 to 50 aircraft. Constant bombing of our positions. …… At present, the commanders and fighters of our division are engaged in a fierce and tenacious battle with the enemy, they use 40 rocket launchers and anti-tank grenades against the enemy's tanks, and with machine gun fire and mortars they fire at the attacking enemy...... "

Danilov stood beside me, tilted his head, and after reading the telegram, he said to himself: "Our commanders and fighters fought well. All behaved tenaciously. ”

It may be that I was so patronizing the telegram that I ignored Katukov that he anxiously asked on the other end of the phone: "Hey, Leda, Lida." Are you still there? Why don't you speak? ”

"I'm here, General Katukov." After a hurried answer, I explained the reason to him, saying, "I'm reading the telegram from the front. At present, in addition to sending a large number of tanks to cover their infantry to attack our positions, the Germans have also dispatched a large number of bombers to bombard our positions indiscriminately. Our commanders and fighters are still holding their positions, engaged in fierce battles with the invading enemy. ”

"What, the Germans sent out the Air Force?" Hearing this unexpected news, Katukov couldn't help but worry, "If I don't have air supremacy, no matter how many tanks I send, I will become the target of German aircraft." No, I'm going to call Commander Vatutin and ask him to send the Fifth Army of the Air Force to attack and drive the German planes out of our defensive zone. ”

I thought Katukov's proposal was good, so I hurriedly echoed and said, "General Katukov, I will ask you to negotiate with Commander Vatutin. ”

Less than ten minutes later, Bezikov, who had gone outside to observe the situation, returned to the house and reported to us: "...... Our air force was dispatched, and according to my observations, each flying formation consisted of six to eight attack aircraft and bombers at the first level. It seems that they were not only planning to drive German planes away from the battlefield, but also to attack German tanks, artillery, and infantry. ”

After hearing this, Kirillov said in a skeptical tone: "We have a limited number of planes, even if we target German tanks, how many can we destroy?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, you are lonely and unheard." Danilov, who had been smiling all the time when he heard about the dispatch of our Air Force, interjected when he heard Kirillov say this: "As far as I know, our Air Force has just been equipped with a new type of anti-tank bomb. Although it weighs only 1.5-2.5 kilograms, it will not bounce off when thrown on a German tank, but will stick to the tank body and explode, causing the enemy's tank to burn in an instant. ”

While I was still wondering whether this anti-tank bomb was the work of Engineer Floning, another communications staff officer walked over and handed a new telegram to Bezikov, who was closest to the door.

After taking one look, Bezkov walked back to the table and read the telegram aloud to us: "...... Our warriors have an iron will and defend their positions without hesitation. In the battle for the defense of position No. 4, the reinforced company on the high ground engaged in a fierce battle with the German infantry, which was covered by 28 tanks. …… Although there were only 17 men left on the high ground at the end of the battle, they stubbornly held off the German attack, destroying 18 German tanks and more than 300 soldiers. ……”

Every word in the telegram represents a bloody battle, and every word means the death of hundreds of people, and when Bezikov handed the telegram to me, he also said in a low voice with emotion: "Lida, your speech at the pre-war meeting was like a drill, as if you had estimated everything to ......."

Before Bezikov's words were finished, Kirillov interjected: "Lida, it seems that your judgment is completely correct, position No. 4 is the focus of the German offensive, and Colonel Nekrasov should be ordered immediately to send reinforcements to position No. 4." ”

Nekrasov's report made my heart ache as if it had been pulled by something, and I thought that there was a perfect defense system on the No. 4 position, and it was more than enough for a reinforced company to hold it for ten days and half a month, but in less than an hour, only one-tenth of the people were left in the whole company. If this continues, sooner or later this place will become a "flesh mill".

Danilov looked at me and asked, "It seems that it is not enough to defend the position with infantry alone, the casualties are too great." Comrade commander, do you think it is possible to use artillery to intercept the enemy in the next German offensive, and at the same time send tank battalions to strike from the flanks of the German troops and destroy their tanks? ”

I thought about Danilov's proposal, shook my head and refused, and at the same time explained my reasons to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, wait a little longer and see how our Air Force performs." If we do not have air supremacy, no matter how thick the armor of our new tank is, it will not be easy to survive under the indiscriminate bombardment of the enemy's air force. ”

"But, comrade commander, if we rely solely on the infantry to hold our positions, then we will pay a huge number of casualties." Although my proposal was rejected by me, Danilov still reluctantly said: "Shall we just watch our commanders and fighters use their own flesh and blood to resist the enemy's attack?" ”

Without waiting for me to speak, Bezikov took another telegram from the communications staff officer who entered the door, walked quickly towards me, and at the same time said: "Comrade commander, there is finally good news. (To be continued.) )