After everyone read this telegram, the atmosphere in the command headquarters suddenly became relaxed, and everyone was very happy and relieved. Butovo was southwest of Oboyan, and once the Germans gained a foothold there, it would be an excellent starting point for them to recharge their batteries and prepare for an attack on Oboyan.

Although Vatutin ordered me to report to him at two o'clock in the afternoon on the counterattack on Butovo, now that the lost city had been regained, there would be no need to wait so long, and I would tell him the good news as soon as possible.

Vatutin, hearing my voice, asked lazily: "Comrade Oshanina, you are calling at this time, is there anything wrong?" Do you need me to send an air force to cover your attack on Butovo? ”

I did not pay attention to this attitude of Vatutin, but reported to him with a smile: "Comrade commander, not so long ago our 67th Guards Division drove the Germans out of Butovo and managed to regain the city. ”

"What, Butovo regained?!" Vatutin asked in surprise: "Less than an hour after the last call, you actually managed to recapture Butovo?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." I was truly speechless at his skeptical attitude. However, I replied truthfully: "Although I have not yet received a detailed picture of the battle, Colonel Baksov's troops have succeeded in retaking Butovo and driving or destroying the German troops in the city." ”

"Now that you have taken the city back, let's hold on to it." Vatutin said in a steady tone: "To know that if the German 'Grodeutschland' division wants to rush to Oboyan, it must first take Butovo, and the rest of the place is either a small river or a swamp. It is also full of landmines. Not conducive to the development of their mechanized troops. ”

Vatutin's words. It made me understand why he was furious at me when he heard about the loss of Butovo, because Butovo was like a floodgate, firmly blocking the German road to Oboyan. Once the Germans had occupied it, their large forces would flood Oboyan and open the way to Kursk.

After finishing the call with Vatutin, I suddenly remembered something and immediately asked Bezikov: "Chief of Staff." Is there an update on the battle report of the 52nd Guards Division? ”

Bezkov shook his head and replied: "After the first wave of the German offensive was repulsed, it never launched a new offensive against the 52nd Guards Division, but turned the main forces in the direction where the 51st Guards Division was located. It seems that they want to concentrate their forces to break through a little first, and then form an encirclement of the 51st and 52nd Guards Divisions. ”

"It doesn't matter, those two guards divisions have hoarded a large amount of weapons, ammunition and supplies in their key defensive positions, which is enough to support a week or two of high-intensity battles." In response to Bezikov's concerns, I said disapprovingly: "The Germans even if they are encircled." It's not a big deal. In a week at most, we can beat them and run away. ……”

Speaking of which. I suddenly noticed that all the people were looking at me strangely, and immediately realized that I was so quick that I said everything I shouldn't have said, and quickly closed my mouth, pretending to be nothing, and looked down at the map that was spread out in front of me.

But my words caught the attention of Kirillov, who had been with me for a long time, and knew that I was never without a point, so he asked with concern: "Lida, if I hear me correctly, do you think that in a week at most we will be able to repel the German attack?" ”

All of them focused their attention on me because of these words from Kirillov. Seeing that this question could not be avoided, I thought about it quickly for a moment, then thought of a countermeasure, and replied with a haha: "Commanders, comrades, don't look at the menacing German army this time, and look like you are unwilling to take Kursk. But they forgot that we had a million soldiers here, and not only did we get three months of rest and recuperation, but we had built a well-developed defense. The ferocious offensive of the German army will be weakened little by little in the face of our strong defensive system, and their vital strength will be greatly depleted. It was on this basis that I judged that the German offensive would last at most about a week before we would be defeated by exhaustion of our strength. ”

After I finished speaking, Danilov unexpectedly agreed, nodded and said: "That's right, I think Comrade Commander is very reasonable. In the course of more than three months, we built a total of 400 kilometres of trenches and communication trenches, laid 80,000 mines and blast mines, and erected 60 kilometres of barbed wire. ……”

Although Danilov is not suitable for the position of commander in his own right, as a deputy commander, he is undoubtedly very qualified. All kinds of data in the defense area, he didn't need to look at the records in his notebook at all, and he could say that he was ugly when he opened his mouth.

After waiting for Danilov to express his opinion, Bezikov looked at me and asked: "Comrade commander, I have a proposal, should Colonel Bere move his command to us?" ”

After listening to Bezikov's proposal, I couldn't help but wonder: "Chief of Staff, why did Colonel Beray move his command here?" ”

"Comrade commander," Betzikov replied solemnly, "at the moment in our defense zone there are three tank brigades. Nowadays, every time a tank unit is mobilized, an order must first be given to Colonel Bere, who then conveys it to the tank brigades. The enemy situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and every minute is precious, so with Colonel Bere here, every command you give can be directly transmitted to the tank brigade without wasting time turning around. ”

I thought carefully about what Bezikov had said, and felt that he was very reasonable, so I raised my hand and pointed at him and said: "Chief of staff, this is a good proposal of yours. Then immediately call Colonel Bere and ask him to move the command of the tank corps here. ”

Bezikov was on the phone, and Lopukhov came in from the outside again. Looking at the telegram he was holding in his hand, I felt very uncomfortable, because it meant that a certain area was attacked by the Germans again. When he walked up to me, I frowned and asked, "Major, what's the bad news this time?" ”

Lopkhov handed me the telegram. While replying: "Report to Comrade Commander." The Germans again launched an offensive on Yakovlevo. It is currently in front of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Guards 51st Division. A large number of enemies have been found. ”

I took the telegram, glanced at it casually, and saw that it was similar to what Lopukhov had said, so I casually handed it to Danilov behind me, and asked casually: "Major, have the telephone lines with the 51st and 52nd Guards Divisions been repaired?" ”

Lopukhov shook his head and said: "Judging by the current situation, the telephone lines of the forward troops and the command. It hasn't been completely repaired yet, so our contact can only be done by telegram for the time being. However, when he saw me, he frowned, and hurriedly added, "But please rest assured, our communications troops here and at the front have sent communication troops to check the line, and perhaps in another half an hour, or even less, we will be able to resume telephone contact with the front line." ”

After I sent Lopukhov away, I greeted Danilov and Kirillov. Gather around the map at the table and study what General Tawart Kiradze will do. to stop the German attack on Yakovlevo.

After repeated deductions by several of us, we felt that in any case, the 51st Guards Division of Tavart Kiradze was fully capable of blocking the German attack, so we were all relieved. At this moment, the phone on the desk rang, and I grabbed the microphone at any moment, put it to my ear, and said loudly: "Hey, I'm Oshanina, where are you?" ”

A moment later, I heard the voice of the commander of the 51st Guards Division coming out of the earpiece, and he said excitedly: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Tavart Kiradze. ”

"Hello, Comrade General." I could not suppress the joy in his business, and I asked in a good mood: "Have your troops repelled the German attack again?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander, you guessed too right. One of the enemy's attacks was repulsed by us. Tavart Kiradze excitedly recounted to me how they fought: "When the enemy rushed towards us, our artillery, mortars, Katyusha rockets and machine guns gave the enemy a head-on attack with heavy fire. Directly aimed artillery and anti-tank guns at close range of enemy tanks. Our Air Force is also very active.

In the battle, both sides fought very hard and stubbornly. When the enemy tanks entered our minefield, one by one was blown up, but the tanks behind continued to rush forward, trying to open a way for the follow-up troops to open a way in the minefield. Their Tiger tanks and Ferdinand self-propelled guns, which covered the impact of medium tanks and infantry with artillery fire.

In the face of this steel frenzy, our troops fought valiantly, using all their weapons against the enemy. The fighters used 40 rocket launchers to fire from the tracks at close range, and some brave fighters risked their lives by rushing to the enemy tanks, stuffing mines, grenades and Molotov cocktails under the tracks. Our commanders and fighters took advantage of the confusion of the enemy's tanks and could not take care of the opportunity of the infantry, and rushed out with new assault rifles to wipe out all the infantry who had lost the cover of the tanks. ”

I was listening happily when I suddenly saw the Chief of Intelligence, Rasmikhin, running in, clutching a newspaper in his hand and looking very ugly. Seeing this, I hurriedly covered the microphone and asked him nervously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what happened?" ”

Before Rasmikhin could get in front of me, he raised his hand and handed me the telegram, and at the same time said with a blank face: "Comrade commander, I have just received the latest information, and the Germans have rushed into Butovo again. ”

As soon as Rasmikhin's words came out, the air in the command headquarters immediately froze. (To be continued.) )

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