As soon as the pre-war mobilization meeting was over, Bandeleyev and Gurdiev returned to the unit with their extremely emotional commanders. According to my order, as soon as the troops had completed their build-up, they set out for Kafbas. In order to give the troops a unified command, I handed over the command to Bandeleyev, after all, he had served as my deputy before, and I knew his situation better, and in addition, his seniority was older than Gurdityev, and Gurtiev would not have any complaints if he was asked to command the troops. As for the avant-garde units, naturally, it was the new third regiment of Major Godunov.

Kirillov and I remained in the headquarters, waiting for the arrival of the mysterious partisan leader Romanov. Seeing me walking back and forth in the command headquarters restlessly, Kirillov couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Oshanina, this upcoming partisan leader Comrade Romanov was only a divisional commander before, and you have seen commanders of higher rank than him, so you don't need to be so nervous." ”

Hearing Kirillov say this, I realized that I had lost some of my temper, and hurriedly walked back to the table and sat down, coughed, cleared my throat, and pretended to be calm: "Comrade commissar, do you know that with the combat effectiveness of the partisans, although it is impossible to destroy the German troops in an organized manner, it can cause endless troubles to the enemy. And although this comrade Romanov is not of high rank, after all, he commanded the troops to maneuver around the enemy's rear for a year or two, and he must be much more familiar with the terrain of Ukraine than we are. With such a guide, we are even more comfortable in moving in the rear of the enemy. ”

When Kirillov heard me say this, he frowned and thought about it. Then he said thoughtfully, "Yes." You have a point. Although we are now in the rear of the empty German army. But if we are not familiar with the terrain and the distribution of the enemy's forces, we will feel constrained when we start a war. ”

"yes, that's it." In order to conceal my true thoughts, I followed Kirillov's words and said: "If there are no suitable guides, then we will send scouts to reconnoiter every time we take a town of the enemy." This is not only a waste of time, but also an easy delay in the fighter. Hence the arrival of this Romanov comrade. It can greatly improve the efficiency of our attack. By the way, Comrade Political Commissar, what kind of position do you think would be more appropriate for him to hold in our army? ”

Kirillov thought for a moment, then looked up and said to me: "Comrade Oshanina, what do you think of making him the deputy chief of staff of the army?" ”

"Deputy Chief of Staff in the Army?!" After listening to Kirillov's mention of this position, I immediately shook my head and denied: "No, Comrade Commissar, if this Comrade Romanov was really a general before, let him take the rank of deputy under a colonel." Do you think it's appropriate? ”

"Yes, the chief of staff of Vitkov is only with the rank of colonel. It would be a bit disrespectful to Romanov, a former general, to be his deputy. Kirillov frowned and thought for a while, and then said: "Otherwise, since he is a general, if you want to keep him in the army headquarters, let him be the deputy commander." ”

"Deputy Commander?" When Kirillov said this position, I was still a little hesitant, don't look at me as the commander of the first army, but who can be appointed as the deputy commander, I really don't have this power. I was about to shake my head and reject Kirillov's proposal, but when I saw him staring at me intently, waiting for me to make a final decision, I couldn't help but change my mind again, "Comrade Political Commissar, you also know that with my authority, I have no authority to appoint deputy commanders. In this case, I will temporarily appoint him as the acting deputy commander of the 79th Infantry Corps, and then report this appointment to the higher authorities until a formal reply from my superiors. ”

"All right, Comrade Oshanina." As soon as Kirillov finished speaking, he immediately nodded in agreement and said, "Just do as you say." ”

Without waiting for the Romanovs to arrive, Vitkov, who remained in the city, appeared at the command first. From his face blackened by gunpowder smoke and his dusty coat, I could imagine how brutal the fighting in the city was. Watching him enter the house, I quickly stood up and walked briskly to greet him, and before he could raise his hand to salute, I had already held his hands and shook them vigorously, and asked nonsense with emotion: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you back?" ”

"It's back!" Although I asked more, Vitkov answered truthfully.

I shook his hand and continued to ask, "Have all the troops been withdrawn from the city?" ”

Hearing my question, he replied with a sad expression: "Yes, Comrade Commander, the troops have been withdrawn. However, during the daytime fighting, the troops suffered heavy casualties. Except for the battalion left by the new third regiment, the remaining strength of the 124th and 149th regiments was only more than 600 people. Due to the speed of the enemy's advance, some of the troops were divided and surrounded by the enemy, and they completely lost contact with us. ”

After listening to Vitkov's report, although I was sad, but also helpless, this is war, the enemy has an absolute advantage in terms of equipment and troops, and the 171st Division is still facing the two most elite armored divisions of the German army, and it is an extraordinary luck that the Germans have not been driven into the Dnieper River.

Kirillov also came over and shook hands with Vitkov, and at the same time asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, was your retreat discovered by the Germans?" ”

Vitkov shook his head and replied: "As soon as it was dark, the Germans stopped attacking. Perhaps fearing our night attack, their main forces had retreated to the starting position of the attack. ”

When I heard Vitkov say this, I didn't mention the troops who were divided and surrounded at all, and I knew that they must be unlucky, so I sighed and didn't ask any more questions.

My sigh was heard by Vitkov, who turned to me and asked: "Comrade commander, what is our next plan of action, to stay on the west bank of the Dnieper and confront the Germans across the river?" ”

Because I was worried that the new battle plan would be eavesdropped by the Germans, in the phone call with Vitkov during the day, I did not provide us with any new offensive plan at all, perhaps because the Germans did not eavesdrop on our next plan of action, thinking that we would fight them to the death in Zaporosh, so they dared to withdraw their troops to the starting position of the attack with confidence. Vitkov was heard asking about his next move. I pulled him to the map. I told him about my battle plan.

After listening to my plans. Vitkov nodded vigorously and echoed: "Comrade commander, this offensive plan of yours is very bold, but there is also great hope for success. But we don't have a suitable guide now, so we can let our troops fight in unfamiliar territory, and we will waste a lot of time just sending people to conduct reconnaissance. If we had been delayed here for a long time, the Germans, who were crossing the Dnieper, might well have turned around and pounced on us. On the plains where there is no danger to defend. We simply could not hold back the attack of the German armored forces. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Kirillov, having listened to his concerns, gave him a reassurance on the side: "The scouts we sent met a partisan detachment, and their commander was on his way to our headquarters. When we met, we asked him about the situation on the entire west bank of the Dnieper. ”

As soon as my words fell, Yushchenko's voice came from the door: "Report to the comrade commander, the comrades of the partisans are coming!" ”

Hearing that the partisans we were waiting for had arrived, I hurriedly ordered Yushchenko: "Hurry, hurry!" Comrade Captain, hurry up and invite the comrades of the guerrillas in! ”

Soon. Yushchenko walked in with a middle-aged man in civilian clothes and a cotton military cap. After the middle-aged man entered the door, he stopped after taking two steps earlier. After looking at the few of us, he raised his hand and saluted a solemn military salute, and at the same time said in a deep voice: "Hello, Comrade Commander! Major General Romanov, the former commander of the 172nd Division, came to report to you, I am waiting for your orders, please instruct! With that, he put his hand down and stood in the distance with his body straight.

When I heard that it was the Romanov general I knew, I hurriedly took a few steps forward, grabbed his hands and shook them vigorously, and said with a smile on my face: "Hello, Comrade General, I am Major Oshanina, commander of the 79th Infantry Corps, and I welcome you on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the whole army!" ”

"Hello, Comrade Division Commander." Vitkov, who was still standing in front of the map just now, came to my side at some point, and when he raised his hand to salute Romanov, he unexpectedly shouted: "Do you remember me?" I'm the commander of the 4th Battalion, Senior Captain Vitkov, and I'm glad to see that you're alive and healthy. ”

When he heard Vitkov's name, not only Kirillov and I were surprised, but even Romanov was surprised, he squinted his eyes and stared at Vitkov for a long time, and at the same time frowned, as if he was thinking about the clues that he could get in touch with the colonel in front of him. After a while, there was a look of sudden realization on his face: "It turned out to be you, Comrade Captain." I remember that not long after the start of the battle, you withdrew from the battle wounded and were taken to a military hospital in the rear. I didn't expect to see you here. At this, he stared at the rank on Vitkov's collar badge and added with a smile, "You have behaved well, you are already a colonel." ”

Seeing that the two turned out to be superior-subordinate relations, the smile on his face became even bigger, he took a step forward and introduced Romanov: "Comrade General, let me introduce to you, Colonel Vitkov is now the chief of staff of our 79th Infantry Corps. Speaking of this, he took the initiative to extend his hand to Romanov and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade General, let me introduce myself, my name is Kirillov, and I am the political commissar of the 79th Infantry Army. ”

Hearing Kirillov's identity, Romanov hurriedly saluted again. At that moment, an earth-shattering explosion came from outside, and even the ground beneath my feet trembled slightly. Before I could ask what the explosion was about, a second explosion was heard.

"Comrade Commander," Vitkov explained to several of us in a raised voice, "the explosion was caused by our fighters who blew up the pontoon bridge over the river to prevent German tanks from rushing over the bridge. ”

"You blew up the pontoon bridge, and while the German tanks could not rush over the bridge for the time being, their infantry could rush across the river from the ice." It was Romanov who said this, and he asked with some concern: "Did you leave a defensive force on the river?" ”

"Comrade division commander, please rest assured of this, I left a guard unit by the river." Regarding Romanov's concerns, Vitkov said with a smile: "And due to the rise in temperature, the ice in many sections of the river has thinned, and when my troops withdrew from the city, several commanders and fighters who crossed the river from the ice broke and fell into the water." By the way, Comrade Division Commander, have you been doing well in the past two years? ”

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, let's talk about the old story between you and General Romanov later." Since I had important things to discuss, I didn't wait for Romanov to answer, but preemptively said: "Let's discuss the plan if we capture Kafbas." ”

"Comrade Commander." Romanov waited for me to finish and said politely: "I don't think it's difficult to capture Kafbas. It only takes one battalion to take the city. ”

In response to this attitude of the Romanovs, I asked a little strangely: "Oh, Comrade Romanov, do you think that the seizure of the city will be an easy thing to do?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Romanov still said politely: "It turns out that the German army has two battalions of troops stationed in Kafbasli, but I don't know why, the German army suddenly transferred most of its troops during the day yesterday, leaving only two platoons in the city." ……”

"What? There were only two platoons of the Germans in the city of Kafbas? I was stunned by this information from the Romanovs, and Kirillov and I asked in unison: "You can't be mistaken, right?" ”

Romanov shook his head and replied: "It can't be wrong. There were quite a few of our people among the inhabitants of the city, and it was only when I got the information that I led my troops to the vicinity of Kafbas, intending to sneak into the city and destroy this German army. I didn't expect to meet your reconnaissance unit outside the city. ”

Hearing this information, I hurriedly called Pugachev over and hurriedly instructed him: "Comrade Major, you immediately send a telegram to Major Godunov so that his troops can reach the outside of Kavbas, and after converging Captain Travkin's reconnaissance detachment, they will immediately take offensive action against the city without waiting for the arrival of other troops." ”

"Yes!" When Pugachev heard this order, he happily agreed, then turned around and went out to give the order.

Since there were no defenders in the city, our battle went unusually well. Before dawn, a joint telegram from Godunov and Travkin arrived, which read simply: "Our troops have eliminated the defenders of the city, successfully captured Kavbas, and captured a large amount of military supplies that the Germans had hoarded here. (To be continued......)