Early the next morning, I was summoned to his headquarters by Zhukov.

When I entered the large room of the headquarters, I found that in addition to Zhukov, there was another general I did not know, who was leaning over the table and looking at the map. When they heard the door, they both looked up and came to me.

After Zhukov saw that it was me, he pointed his hand at the general beside him and introduced him to me: "Lida, come and get acquainted, this is Comrade Khrulev, the head of the logistics department of the Red Army. Khrulev, this is General Oshanina. With that, he continued to stare at the map in front of him.

I saw the rank on Khrulev's shoulders and hurriedly took a few steps forward and came to him. Although I had never met this general, I had long admired his name, so after raising my hand and saluting, I respectfully said, "Hello, Comrade General! I have long admired your great name, and it is an honor to meet you here today. ”

Khrulev, who was in his early fifties, looked like a kind old man, and when he shook hands with me, he smiled and said: "Hello, General Oshanina. I have long admired you, and you are the only female general in our Red Army. ”

Zhukov waited for us to greet each other and then greeted: "Since we all know each other, then let's all sit down." Next, we have more important things to discuss. ”

After I sat down, Zhukov looked at me and said, "Lida, I have called you here today to inform you of something important. Originally, the Supreme High Command had intended for you to visit the United States in mid-April with a friendly delegation. But now that things have changed, your itinerary has to be adjusted. ”

When I heard what Zhukov said, I couldn't help but panic a little in my heart, and I said in my heart, Is my trip to the United States just like this? But Zhukov's next words surprised me again. I only heard: "Comrade Stalin intends for you to follow Comrade Molotov to the United States, accompanied by General Khrulev." Saying this, he looked at Khrulev with a smile on his face, and continued, "All three of you have their own division of labor, and Comrade Molotov is responsible for the consolidation of diplomatic relations between the two countries. General Khrulev was in charge of negotiating with the military for a new round of US aid. And you, as the representative of the base camp, have to work with those American generals to study when and where to launch the second battlefield. ”

Zhukov's last sentence once again made me suffer from gains and losses, I am just an ordinary person, let me deal with the generals in the United States who are more hairy than monkeys, doesn't it make me embarrassed? Thinking of this, I quickly stood up and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal. I've never been involved in this kind of work and I don't have any experience in it, and I'm worried that I won't be able to do it......"

Before I could finish my words, Zhukov waved his hand to interrupt my later words: "Your task was personally assigned by Comrade Stalin, and no one has the right to change it. ”

As soon as Zhukov's words came out, I knew that the arrangements for dealing with the American generals were ironclad. There is no possibility of any change. I had to say yes and sit back in my place.

And Zhukov after explaining this to me. Then he turned his attention to Khrulev and said in another tone: "Dear Andrey. Vasilyevich, let's discuss what needs to be requested from the US allies. First of all, tanks, anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft guns, a large number of armor steel plates and various types of aircraft are also needed. In addition, we need American cars. ”

Hear here. Khrulev interrupted Zhukov's words and asked politely: "Comrade Deputy Commander-in-Chief, with all due respect, the off-road performance of our domestically produced Gaz cars is not at all worse than the multi-purpose off-road vehicles of the American Willis Automobile Company. I think transport vehicles. It is more appropriate to use a domestic car, so that at least you will not have to worry about spare parts. ”

Unexpectedly, Zhukov shook his head and immediately rejected his proposal: "Comrade Khrulev, all our current automobile factories are producing tanks or armored vehicles, so transport vehicles can only be supplied by our allies. ”

Khrulev read in a low voice while quickly taking notes in his notebook: "Tanks, anti-aircraft guns, airplanes, armored steel plates, cars." After writing this, he looked up at Zhukov and asked, "Is that all?" ”

Zhukov frowned and thought for a while, and said: "I think, we also need a lot of barbed wire, which will be used in the defensive zone of our army in Kursk. ”

"How much wire do you need?" Khrulev asked.

"At least five hundred tons." Zhukov slowly said a number, and just as I was calculating how wide an area so many barbed wire could be used, I heard his words come later: "Even if it is not 500 tons, but provide us with 400 tons of barbed wire every month, I think they should be able to do this." ”

After adding this variety to the notebook, Khrulev picked it up and read it to Zhukov: "Comrade Deputy Commander-in-Chief, I will read it to you and see if there is anything else that needs to be added." 500 tanks, 400 aircraft of all kinds, 5,000 jeeps, as well as anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank guns, armor plates, and 500 tons of barbed wire, were provided monthly. When he put down his notebook, he added, "By the way, do we still need armored cars from the U.S. military?" ”

Zhukov waved his hand and directly rejected his proposal: "No, that kind of car is of little use to us." With our strength, it is quite possible to create a more advanced armored personnel carrier. By the way, if it is possible, let the Americans provide us with transport trucks, our domestic production is basically one and a half ton trucks, and their three-and-a-half-ton trucks are urgently needed. ”

Khrulev nodded and wrote a few more strokes in his notebook.

Zhukov waited for him to finish writing, and suddenly asked again: "How many armor plates can we get from our allies every month?" ”

"A thousand tons." Khrulev replied with a blank face.

"Only a thousand tons?" Speaking of this amount, Zhukov had a displeased expression on his face, "But as far as I know, the United States produces 50 million tons of steel every year. ”

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander-in-Chief, your data is accurate." After flattering him, Khrulev explained to him: "The United States is not only to provide us with military aid, but also to provide Britain with the necessary war materiel, and they are in the short term." Inability to increase steel production. ”

"The problem of increasing the production of armor steel plates is easy to solve, as long as the appropriate additives are incorporated." Zhukov said in a mocking tone: "Don't those capitalists in the United States understand this kind of thing that every steelmaker knows?" ”

At this time, I heard a noise at the location of the door, and quickly turned my head to look, only to see the officer on duty outside the door. He was standing in front of the open door. Seeing that the attention of the people in the room was focused on him, he hurriedly reported: "Comrade Marshal, two commanders of the Voronezh Front have arrived. ”

"Let them in!" Zhukov said in an extremely dignified tone.

The officer agreed, and then rushed to the people outside the door to make a gesture of invitation, and at the same time said: "Please come in, comrades generals!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, two large commanders in military coats and gray cylindrical beaver military caps strode into the headquarters. The officer saw that the two men had entered the room. He silently withdrew and closed the door.

The two generals came to Zhukov with a cold air and stood still, raised their hands and saluted, and reported: "Comrade Marshal, the commander (deputy commander) of the Voronezh Front, Senior General Vatutin (Apanashchenko), reports to you, we have come to report on your orders, please instruct!" ”

After Zhukov raised his hand and returned the salute, he thought about shaking hands with the two of them one by one and greeting them. Then Khrulev next to him also stepped forward to shake hands with the two. And chatted with the familiar Vatutin.

When they had finished greeting each other, I hurried over to Vatutin. Raise his hand to salute the burly new general, and politely say: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front!" ”

When Vatutin shook hands with me, he said complainingly: "Comrade Oshanina, although you have been in the Southwestern Front under my command for a while, I am your superior. I've never seen you before. At this point, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and at the same time he shook my hand vigorously and said, "You are good, Lieutenant General Oshanina, and that's what I want to tell you!" ”

Then he turned his head to Apanashchenko, who was next to him, and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander." This is Comrade Oshanina, whom I mentioned to you on the road, who led her troops in a stubborn battle on the right bank of the Dnieper, not only to mess up the enemy's rear, but also to successfully liberate Kiev. ”

"So you're Oshanina." After listening to Vatutin's introduction, Apanashchenko also took the initiative to extend his hand to me and said in a friendly and frank manner: "I envy you, Comrade General. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, I was ashamed to be in front of you, although I commanded a force of more than a million men, but I never fought. ”

Hearing Apanashchenko's words, I was speechless, I didn't know what to say in response to him, so I smiled bitterly and remained silent. Fortunately, Zhukov saw my embarrassment and came out in time to relieve me: "Comrade Apanashchenko, in the past two years, the Far Eastern Front under your command has loosened a total of 17 infantry divisions, 3 tank divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, 2 airborne brigades and 4 infantry brigades, dozens of bomber and fighter regiments for the front. The combat experience of these units and the role they played in the war were very considerable. Moreover, because of your excellent management, it provided a strong guarantee for our victory and avoided our army from falling into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts. ”

In response to Zhukov's compliment, Apanashchenko smiled honestly and said modestly: "Comrade Marshal, everything I do revolves around adapting to the requirements of the war, trying to turn the Far East into a fortress ready to fight at all times. Every unit and every soldier in our Far East is always ready to resist the Japanese offensive or rush to fight on the Western Front, which is the need of the leader, the army, and the country and the nation. ”

After listening to Apanashchenko's statement, Zhukov nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "General Apanashchenko, you are a very capable commander, and it is precisely because of this that Comrade Stalin personally ordered you to be transferred from the position of commander of the Far Eastern Front. He intends to give you the opportunity to command a fighting front, an army that is fighting, so that you can become a marshal when the war is over, because you have led a decisive front in the final stages of the war. ”

Speaking of this, Zhukov glanced at Vatutin next to him, raised his hand and patted Apanashchenko's shoulder, and continued: "Don't care that you are the deputy commander of the front army, although you were already a general long before the outbreak of the war, but you were born in the cavalry last night and did not experience the current war, and you still need to accumulate more experience by Comrade Vatutin's side so that you can command a front army alone in the future......"

While they were talking, I looked at the Voronezh commander and deputy commander in front of me, sighing for their future fate. Vatutin was attacked a year later on the territory of Ukraine and died. However, Apanashchenko was attacked by enemy planes at his forward command post during the Battle of Kursk for several months, and unfortunately died heroically. Otherwise, these two generals would definitely have received the rank of marshal after the war. (To be continued......)