I returned to the headquarters, and before I could even take a sip of water, the phone on the table rang. Bezikov was closest to the phone, and grabbed it casually. After listening for a moment, he got up from his seat, smiled and said respectfully, "Hello, hello! Do you have any instructions? …… Yes, yes, I understand,...... Okay, I will convey your order to Comrade Commander. ”

As soon as he put down the phone, he reported to me: "Comrade commander, I have just received a call from the headquarters of the front army, ordering you, the military commissar, and the deputy commander to rush to the temporary field headquarters of the front army immediately. ”

After hearing this, Danilov looked at me blankly and asked, "It seems that the front command has never summoned the three of us at the same time, is there something serious?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander, something must have happened." Kirillov smiled and said, "Think about it, if it wasn't a big deal, how could you summon all three of us over?" ”

"What's going to happen?" Danilov frowned and pondered, and after a moment, his eyes suddenly widened, and he said in surprise: "Could it be that Vatutin, who thinks that we have not behaved well in the recent battle, wants to call the three of us to be scolded and scolded, and maybe we will be demoted?" Comrade Military Commissar, have you heard any rumors? ”

"Okay, Comrade Military Commissar, don't tease Comrade Deputy Commander anymore." I saw that Danilov began to think crankily, and quickly stopped Kirillov's joking behavior, and took the initiative to explain to the other party: "I think that Commander Vatutin's call for the three of us to go to the headquarters must be a military meeting." As for the content, there's no need to guess. It must have something to do with the big counteroffensive. ”

"Great counteroffensive?!" Danilov listened to me say so. Suddenly, my eyes lit up. After getting my confirmation. He immediately stood up, put the notebook and pencil in front of him into his briefcase, and began to urge us: "Commander, military commissar, if there is nothing to do, let's go." ”

The three of us huddled into the same jeep and, escorted by two other jeeps, headed towards the location of the headquarters of the Front. Kirillov and Danilov, who had not been outside for a long time, looked at the vehicles and commanders moving on the side of the road. As well as various fortifications, I couldn't help but point out the window and start talking.

Sitting in the passenger seat, I heard Danilov say: "Comrade Military Commissar, look at the position on that hillside, the terrain is dangerous and difficult to defend, and the field of vision in front has also been cleared, and the Germans may not be able to take it even if they pay a heavy price." ”

Kirillov modestly said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I am a layman in military affairs. However, as early as the Battle of Stalingrad, Leda commanded a division to hold on to Mamayev Heights. For several months, the Germans could not move forward. ……”

I heard Kirillov's compliments. I couldn't help but feel a blush, and quickly turned around and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, don't praise me, that's not my credit at all. If it weren't for the bravery of the warriors, we wouldn't have been able to hold out for months, let alone hold back the enemy like a floodgate, so that they could not move a single step. ”

Kirillov turned his head to look at Danilov next to him, and said with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Commander, look, Leda is too modest. At that time, not far from Mamayev Heights, there was a high ground, which was also the focus of contention between the enemy and us. The troops holding the high ground were exhausted almost every day by a company, a battalion, or even a regiment, and they changed hands several times, but by the end of the battle, the high ground was still in our hands. ”

"That's right, Comrade Military Commissar," Danilov echoed Kirillov, "I used to think that war was a man's business, and women could not participate in it at all. To tell the truth, Comrade Oshanina came to the post of commander of the group army, and I had an opinion in my heart. But as an old Bolshevik, although I had a lot of grievances in my heart, I resolutely obeyed the orders of my superiors. After the outbreak of this battle, I was not satisfied with many of the commander's arrangements before the battle, and felt that according to her deployment, it would not be possible to stop the enemy's attack at all. At this, he smiled a little embarrassedly, "But it was only after the battle began, when I saw that the enemy was restrained and slow in the face of these defensive deployments, that I reversed my opinion of her." ”

The compliments of the two of you made me feel a little embarrassed, so I had to turn my eyes out the window to get rid of my embarrassing situation. At this moment, I suddenly heard Danilov say: "I don't know if I can see General Apanashchenko at today's meeting?" ”

I hurriedly turned around and asked Danilov: "What's wrong with the deputy commander of the Front?" ”

When Danilov heard me ask, his eyes widened and he said in surprise: "Why, you don't know yet? ”

Confused, I asked, "What should I know?" ”

"I heard from Commander Vatutin that he had recently been running around in the defense areas of the various army groups. The commander was worried about his safety, and called me to keep an eye on him, and if I met him, I would never let him go to a dangerous place. Speaking of this, he looked at Kirillov and said in surprise: "Didn't you tell Oshanina about the last time Comrade General went to the headquarters of the army group?" ”

"No," said Kirillov, waving his head, "I thought Commander Vatutin would tell her about it, so I didn't tell her about it." ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, do you know where Comrade General has been lately?" I know that in real history, Apanashchenko was killed by German air raids in the past few days, so I was particularly concerned about his safety, so I couldn't wait to ask Danilov: "How many guards are there around him now?" ”

"How many can there be?!" Danilov shrugged his shoulders and said: "I took a driver and a guard with me. Just the three of them, even if they encounter a small force of the German army, they will be in danger. ”

Although I don't know where Apanashchenko is, I still instructed Danilov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, when you get to the headquarters of the Front Army in a moment, if you don't see Comrade General, you can call Bezikov." Let him inform the commanders of the divisions to find out the whereabouts of the comrade general. And to ensure his safety. If there is an accident in which division of the defense zone of the comrade general. The division commander will be removed from his post. ”

When we arrived at the headquarters of the Front, there was a special officer on duty who guided the three of us to the reception room. At the moment the room was packed, at least twenty or thirty people, some of them standing, some sitting on benches against the wall and chatting. As soon as I entered the house, I heard someone greet me and take a closer look. It turned out to be the commander of the Seventh Guards Army, General Shumilov.

I hurriedly raised my hand to salute him and said in a friendly manner: "Hello, Comrade Commander, it's a pleasure to meet you here!" ”

Shumilov raised his hand to return the salute, and when he reached out to shake me, he whispered: "Lida, you guys played very well." It was enough to hold back eleven of the most elite German divisions, so that they could not move their troops in other directions. Otherwise, Korocha might have been lost a long time ago. ”

"Comrade Commander," I replied with a smile, "you have won the prize!" The Seventh Guards Army under your command. Didn't it also contain a large number of German divisions? If you hadn't covered our left flank, we would have fallen into the encirclement of the Germans. ”

Then the door next to the reception room opened. A lieutenant colonel officer stood at the door and shouted at everyone: "Comrade commander, please come in, Comrade Commander is waiting for you inside!" ”

Hearing this, all the people stopped talking and rushed to the door.

Before I walked into the conference room, I thought that I would see Vatutin, Khrushchev, the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ivanov, and even the representative of the base camp, Vasilevsky. Unexpectedly, after I entered, the first person I saw was actually the commander of the Steppe Front, General Konev, and his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zakharov, and the lieutenant general next to the two, although I didn't know him, but I guessed that it might be his military commissar, Lieutenant General Suselkov tank corps.

Vasilevsky sat in the middle of the table facing the door, Vatutin sat to his left, and Konev to his right.

Seeing that all the people were seated, Vasilevsky stood up, with a smile on his face, and said in a loud voice: "Hello, comrades commanders! ”

I saw that the first person to stand up and speak was Vasilevsky, and guessing that what he was going to announce next would definitely be about the counterattack in the south of Kursk, my heart beat faster.

"Comrade commander, you may wonder why General Konev is here, since it is a meeting of the Voronezh Front?" Without waiting for everyone to react, he continued: "Everyone knows that General Konev is the commander of the Steppe Front, and they are the base camp reserve of the Supreme Command. He is here today because we have received an order from the High Command to prepare for a full-scale offensive against the enemy south of Kursk in the near future, driving Manstein and his lackeys away from here. ”

Vasilevsky suddenly fell silent and began to scan slowly with his gaze at everyone present. I think he must have thought of the defeat in the Battle of Kharkov a few months ago, which is why he disrupted the speech he had prepared in advance.

After a while, he finally spoke again: "Comrade commanders, almost all of you here have dealt with Manstein's troops, so you should remember very well that a few months ago we fought with them in Kharkov. Although our two fronts had the advantage in strength at that time, it was a pity that in front of the cunning old fox Manstein, we were defeated in the end. ”

As he said this, a sigh was remembered in the room, apparently from the generals who had suffered defeat under Manstein, and Vasilevsky's words resonated with everyone.

"Okay, let's let Commander Vatujing assign combat missions to everyone." After saying this, Vasilevsky sat back in his place.

I quickly searched the room with my eyes, found no trace of Apanashchenko, and hurriedly approached Danilov and whispered to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I have not seen Senior General Apanashchenko, it is estimated that he is still on the front line, and after the meeting is over, you go and call Bezikov and convey my intention to him." ”

Danilov nodded and whispered: "Comrade commander, I understand. As soon as the meeting is over, I'll go call. ”

At this time, Vatutin began to explain the tasks to everyone, and he pointed to the map hanging on the wall with his interpretive stick and said to all of us: "Comrades, according to the order of the Supreme High Command, we, the Voronezh Front and the Steppe Front, will in the near future switch to a counteroffensive and completely repel the troops of Army Group South of the German army Manstein, which is attacking Kursk from the south. ”

He then gave a detailed explanation of the areas for which the armies were responsible, as well as the routes on which the counteroffensive was to be carried out. While listening to Vatutin's explanation, Danilov leaned close to my ear and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, what about the Prokhorovka region?" Do you know that it was also within the defense scope of our group army at the beginning? ”

I replied in a low voice: "Comrade Deputy Commander, didn't you see General Konev sitting on it?" This means that the defense and counterattack in the Prokhorovka area are the responsibility of the Fifth Guards Tank Army under his command, and it has nothing to do with us. ”

Danilov heard me say this, hummed softly, and sat back upright to listen to Vatutin's explanation.

From Vatutin's explanation, I saw that the counterattack route of the Sixth Guards Army was almost always along the Belgorod-Kursk road. As I listened, I was planning how to adjust the current deployment of forces in order to better launch an all-out counteroffensive against the German army.

When Vatujin finished speaking, he put down his explanation stick and asked everyone: "Comrades, if you have any other opinions, you can put them forward." ”

"Comrade Commander," Shumilov immediately raised his hand to speak, and he stood up and asked: "I would like to ask, judging by the extent of the German offensive in the past two days, their strength has not been completely weakened. Is it a little too early to launch a counteroffensive at such a time? ”

"Not early, Comrade Shumilov." Vatutin smiled and said to everyone: "Maybe everyone wonders, why did we launch such a full-scale counteroffensive when the German offensive was at its fiercest? Isn't this a war of attrition with the enemy that is worth the cost? Seeing that everyone nodded, he continued, "I have good news for you, that the Allied forces have landed in Sicily, and the Germans have had to send troops back from the Kursk region. In this way, our opportunity has come. (To be continued.) )