I saw that everyone was already in place, but there were still many people muttering to each other. A general, who was sitting not far behind Zhukov, stood up and loudly announced: "Comrade commanders, please be quiet!" The military conference is about to begin. ”

There was a sudden silence in the room, and I heard someone next to me whispering, "Who is this man who is speaking?" ”

"You don't even know him, do you? This is the Chief of Staff of the Front, General Sokolovsky. ”

Seeing that no one spoke in the room, General Sokolovsky continued: "Commanders and comrades, you have been summoned to this meeting today to deploy the counteroffensive campaign of the Western Front against the German army under the city of Moscow. Seeing that someone took out a notebook and spread it on the table to record, he immediately raised his voice and said, "No recording." After he stopped drinking, the commanders immediately put the notebook back away.

Sokolovsky saw that no one was going to record it anymore, and said in a calm and clear tone: "Now I invite our commander of the Western Front, General Zhukov, to speak. ”

Zhukov took two steps forward, leaned forward slightly, propped his hands apart on the table, slowly looked around at the audience, and then shouted with a smile: "Hello, comrades commanders! We have gathered you here today to prepare for our upcoming counteroffensive campaign under the city of Moscow."

As soon as his words fell, the audience burst into thunderous applause. After enduring months of humiliating retreat, everyone finally saw the hope of washing away the shame, and this excitement was immediately expressed through warm applause.

After the applause stopped, he continued: "As everyone knows, due to the brutal fighting, our troops have suffered a great attrition, and not only the proportion of ordinary commanders and fighters in casualties is high, but even the commanders of the group armies are frequently changing for various reasons. "First of all, I pointed to Rokossovsky, who I am most familiar with, and introduced to everyone:" Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, commander of the 16th Army. ”

"The commander of the 5th Army, Lieutenant General Govorov, he was a well-known artillery commander."

"Commander of the 20th Army, Lieutenant General Vlasov."

Each of the commanders whose names were called stood up and nodded in salute.

After introducing the two commanders, Zhukov added: "At present, the 16th Army, as the main defensive force of the front, is under great pressure, and their defense line is like a western front, which is in danger of breaking down at any time. Therefore, the Front will deploy the reinforced 16th Army on the right flank of the 20th Army; The 30th Army on the left flank was slightly weaker, so we would put the newly acquired 1st Shock Army at the junction of the two armies. ”

"Commander of the 30th Army...... "When I heard this, I couldn't help frowning, and said in my heart that the combat effectiveness of this army was really poor, and it was actually about to collapse on the battlefield, if it wasn't for the timely reinforcement of the troops of the 16th Army last time, the defense line would have been broken through by the Germans, and their commander would not be much stronger. Unexpectedly, when the commander of this army group stood up, I couldn't help but be taken aback that the new commander was actually General Lelyushonka.

Just when I was stunned, after Zhukov finished introducing the commanders of the various group armies, he had already walked to the map, pointed to the map and explained to everyone: "...... At present, the German assault groups were too scattered on this vast front, and the iron arms of their flanks were too long, resulting in an overstretched force in the course of the battle at Moscow. In this way, they lost their main breakthrough power in the decisive battle close to Moscow. The enemy's supply lines of communication are more than a thousand kilometers long, and they are constantly being attacked by guerrillas. The huge losses of Hitler's army, and the fierce resistance of the Soviet army, greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the German troops and the strength to continue the breakthrough," he paused and coughed lightly before continuing: "Of course, the Soviet troops also suffered huge losses. But they constantly received assistance from the motherland and maintained their combat effectiveness. ”

With that, he walked over to the table, pulled the chair out, and sat down. After looking around again, he continued: "The command of the Western Front is ready to take advantage of the situation which has been formed under the city of Moscow and which is advantageous to us, and the present situation of the Germans, and we have decided to turn to a full-scale offensive on December 6, 1941. ”

As soon as the words fell, all the participants in the meeting breathed a sigh of relief, and finally looked forward to the day of the great counteroffensive, so the thunderous applause rang out again.

"The task of the counteroffensive was to crush the German assault groups and drive them out of the vicinity of Moscow." Speaking of this, Zhukov couldn't help but stand up again, looked at the people present with his hands behind his back and asked, "How can we attack?" Comrades generals! Seeing that although everyone was eager to try, no one had stood up to speak for the time being, Zhukov reminded in a stern tone: "Please note that although we have been replenished with three army groups, the Western Front and the enemy do not have any advantage in terms of numbers. The tanks, as in the previous situation, still had the advantage of technical equipment on the side of the enemy, and this situation was the main feature of our counteroffensive under the city of Moscow. Now listen to your opinions. With that, he sat down again.

I remember that in the movie, I saw that it was Lelyushchenka who first responded to Zhukov, so I turned my attention to him. I saw him look left and right for a moment, then stood up abruptly with his hands on the edge of the table, looked at Zhukov with his eyes, and asked politely: "Can I speak?" ”

Seeing Zhukov nodding, Lelyushka straightened up, looked at the commanders present, and said: "In order to counteract the German superiority over us in terms of technical equipment, I propose to attack at night!" Considering that our infantry fought against the attack of German tanks during the day, it was very disadvantageous for us. The enemy's tanks will easily crush our infantry, but in the dark of night, it will be difficult for the enemy to determine the situation. It is important that the Germans will lose their superiority in tanks and air forces, they will not be able to participate in the battle, and our infantry will approach the enemy in a surprise attack, forcing them to fight in close combat, with machine guns, rifles, grenades, submachine guns, and even white-knuckle combat. In a word, the night is an ally of courage and wisdom. Lelyushchenka gushed her opinions, and at the same time used a variety of corresponding body language, which mobilized everyone's emotions. As soon as his words were spoken, several generals echoed his views and made some additions.

Just as Lelyushchenka was proudly about to sit down, Zhukov, who had been listening to him, suddenly asked: "General Lelyushonka, I would like to ask you a question." How do you get directions in unfamiliar areas at night? ”

All eyes were on Lelyushchenka to hear how he answered this question. I saw him smile, bowed his head and asked Vlasov, who was sitting next to him: "Comrade General, do you have a lighter?" ”

"Yes," Vlasov said, pulling out a lighter, and handed it to him without hesitation, although he did not understand what Lelyushzyamka wanted this thing for.

Lelyushzyuka took his lighter, took it out of his trouser pocket, lit it one at the same time, and demonstrated to everyone: "In the rear of each attacking battalion, we will light two bonfires, which must be on the baseline of the direction of action, at a distance of one kilometer from each other. If the commander turns around and sees two fires in a line, it means that the direction of action is correct; If he finds that the campfires are separated, it means that he is moving in the wrong direction. After saying that, he extinguished the lighter and returned it to Vlasov.

Zhukov nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, and said in a deep voice: "So, well! Very good, I agree. Turning his head to the chief of staff next to him, Sokolovsky, he said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you write this down and convey it to the commanders of the troops participating in the offensive. ”

At this moment, the door of the previously confined room was pushed open, and General Carmela walked straight towards Zhukov with a narrow roll of telegraph rolled in a circle. Walking up to Zhukov, he bent down, leaned close to Zhukov's ear and whispered: "Comrade Zhukov, I received an urgent telegram, the enemy has just broken through the central section of the front line. ”

Zhukov grabbed the telegram, glanced at it a few times, and then stood up and announced to everyone: "The enemy suddenly broke through our line of defense in the central part of our line, at the junction of the 5th and 33rd armies, and advanced along the road to Kubinka. The commanders of the armies immediately returned to their units and immediately destroyed them," he said, crumpling up the telegram in his hand, throwing it on the table, and saying categorically: "This is their last assault. Comrades generals, the day of our full-scale counteroffensive remains the same, that is, December 6. ”

At the end of the meeting, everyone stood up and walked out, Rokossovsky stopped in his position, and when I passed by him, he suddenly said: "Lida, you go back to the army group with me immediately." The location of Cumbre del Sol is very important and must be defended at all costs. ”

I glanced at Zhukov, who was still standing at the table, and when I saw that he also nodded, agreeing with Rokossovsky's opinion, I immediately replied: "Yes!" Comrade commander, I will immediately return to the army group with you. Please rest assured, as long as there is a soldier of the Eighth Guards Division in the city of Cumbre del Sol, the city will never be taken by the enemy. ”

I walked out after Rokossovsky, and within two steps of my journey, Zhukov stopped me from behind, and after a moment of thought, he said: "Lida, I know that the 8th Guards Division of the Dao Dao is seriously attritional, and it is very difficult to hold the city with the existing forces. In this case, I asked Comrade Sokolovsky to transfer 2 infantry battalions and an artillery regiment from the reserve to replenish you immediately. Speaking of this, he sank his face and said solemnly: "Only by holding the city of Sun Hill can we ensure the safety of the flank of our counterattack Klin's troops." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade General." I straightened up, gave him a respectful salute, and asked, "Can I leave?" ”

"Go ahead!" Zhukov went up and patted me on the shoulder and said with concern: "Pay more attention to your own safety on the battlefield." ”

"Yes!" I said yes, turned around and went out after Rokossovsky.