I stared at the name "Kuban" on the map, although it was only eighty kilometers from Zaporosh, but from what we had, there were an unknown number of German armored units stationed in Tokmak on the south side of the city and Vosrivka on the southwest side. As soon as we take the Kuban, Manstein, in the event of a direct threat to his own command, will certainly mobilize the armored forces of these two cities and pounce on our flanks. In the face of the enemy's powerful offensive, the 308th Division, which lacked heavy weapons and the necessary air support, was unable to hold back the enemy's onslaught. As soon as they were repulsed, then the left flank of the 22nd Guards Division was completely exposed to the Germans.

In fact, the most dangerous thing is not only the German armored forces deployed in these two cities. On the way from the Kuban to Zaporosh, there were two more small towns blocking our way. If our attack is thwarted here, then not only the enemy from the south will rush over, but also the enemy from the north, and then we will be attacked on three sides. If we could not quickly disengage from contact with the enemy, we would be surrounded by the Germans.

Perhaps I stared at the map for so long that Kirillov specifically asked me: "Comrade Oshanina, what are you thinking?" ”

I stopped thinking, looked up and saw Kirillov and Vitkov sitting at the table, and told them what I had just considered.

After listening to this, Vitkov said disapprerovitically: "Comrade commander, I think you are too worried. Even if the assault of the 22nd Guards Division on the city of Zaporosh was blocked by the Germans, the enemy's troops pressed in from both the north and the south. It's not like there's no way to deal with it. ”

Vitkov's words immediately intrigued me. I asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff." If you have a good idea, let's hear it. ”

Vitkov nodded, pointed to the map with his finger, and said to me with confidence: "Comrade commander, please look. When the German panzers pounced from the south, we could transfer Andreushchenko's troops and reinforce the Gurtiev division to secure the left flank of the 22nd Guards Division. ……”

I hear this. Without waiting for Vitkov to finish speaking, he interrupted him and asked dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if the 171st Division is transferred to the left flank of the 22nd Guards Division, then who will resist the enemy rushing from the north?" In this way, the right flank of the Pantai Leev division was completely exposed to the Germans. ”

In response to my interjection, Vitkov smiled a little awkwardly and continued: "Comrade Army Commander, we can report this battle plan to the army group headquarters and ask them to send troops to pin down the enemy from the north. Provide us with the necessary support for the assault on Zaporosh. ”

As soon as I waited for him to finish speaking, I immediately shook my head and retorted, "Chief of Staff." Perhaps you haven't noticed that both the main forces of the 6th Army and the main forces of the Front Army are currently in a very chaotic situation, and it is impossible for them to send troops to cover the flanks of the 22nd Guards Division. ”

"But, Comrade Commander," said Vitkov, who tried to convince me, despite hearing that I had rejected his proposal, "we will make our request to Comrade Commander after we have submitted our battle plan." If he is willing to say yes, of course it is better; If we don't, it's not too late for us to adjust our plans. ”

After listening to Vitkov's words with little confidence, a bold thought suddenly struck me. So I waved my hand and said decisively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't need to say any more. If it is really necessary to capture the Kuban and attack Zaporosh, our army will become a lone army. In order to ensure the suddenness of the start of the battle, I decided not to report this operation to the army group headquarters for the time being, so as not to leak our battle plan. ”

"Comrade Oshanina," Kirilov asked worriedly, hearing me say this, "is it appropriate to do this?" ”

I replied to Kirillov with a smile on my face: "Comrade commissar, there is nothing inappropriate. As an independent combat unit, we are so far away from the headquarters of the group army, and if we report everything to our superiors, we may delay the fighters. Therefore, this assault on Zaporosh will be a lone battle for our army, without the artillery and air support of friendly forces, and we can only rely on our existing forces and technical equipment to complete this difficult battle. ”

My words silenced the two of them, both staring intently at the map, thinking without saying a word, weighing the risks of my plan. At this moment, I heard a rush of footsteps coming from the door, and quickly turned my head to look over, saying in my heart Who is so ignorant of the rules, actually running around outside my headquarters.

Soon, the figure of Akhromeyev appeared at the door, waving a telegram in his hand and excitedly shouting: "Comrade commander, good news, good news, Captain Travkin did not die." ”

"What? Captain Travkin hasn't died yet? I turned around and looked at him in astonishment, and asked, "Comrade Major, who sued you that Captain Travkin is still alive?" ”

Akhromeyev came to me, gave me the telegram in his hand, and said: "Comrade commander, this is a telegram from Captain Travkin just now, with information they have newly detected. ”

I took the telegram, and before I could wake up from the shock, an hour earlier, Major Akhromeyev had reported to me about Travkin's death, but now he said that the captain was still alive, which was a little difficult for me to accept. So I didn't bother to read the telegram, but continued to ask Akhromeyev curiously: "Major, hurry up and tell me, what the hell is going on?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Army Commander, Political Commissar and Chief of Staff." After greeting all of us, Akhromeyev began to tell how Captain Travkin "came back to life". "When Second Lieutenant Grettka arrived at the site of the captain's accident, he took over the command of the reconnaissance unit. Seeing that it was getting dark, he thought that if anything was done, the Germans in the position would not find out, so he sent a soldier to collect the captain's body.

The warrior propped his elbows on the smooth snow and ice and carefully crawled towards the German position. After crawling for a while, he suddenly heard a heavy, muffled breathing sound from in front of him. It seemed like someone was crawling towards him. He was deeply afraid of being German. And he stopped going. Lying motionless, he gently pulled out the dagger on his body and waited quietly.

Just then, he heard a familiar voice whispering softly: 'Hey, who's up ahead?' Don't shoot, my own people, I'm Captain Travkin. The soldier heard the captain's voice and quickly responded in a low voice. Then I heard the captain say in an impatient voice, 'What are you doing there, come and help me drag it out.' This damn German guy is too heavy. ’”

Hearing this, Kirillov couldn't help but interrupt Akhromeyev's words and asked curiously: "Comrade Director, please wait a minute, if I heard it correctly just now, you mentioned that Captain Travkin asked the fighters to come over and help them drag the prisoners?" Seeing that Akhromeyev nodded in the affirmative, he continued to ask, "I'm curious, how did he capture the German prisoners?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commissar." Akhromeyev politely replied: "According to Captain Travkin's own report." He knew the importance of the mission, so he was determined to take a risk. That's what he intended. First sneaked up on the German trenches, then deliberately revealed his whereabouts, and as soon as he heard the Germans shooting, he immediately fell down and played dead. When it gets dark, a German will come and take his body, and he can pounce on the guy and catch him. ”

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." After hearing Akhromeyev talk about Travkin's motives, I also scolded angrily: "Didn't he know that he was sending him to death for this kind of behavior? What if the Germans, seeing him fall, were not at ease and shot him in the body a few more times? Or after dark, the Germans who went to fetch his body, not one but two or three, what should he do, is he obediently a prisoner? ”

While I was angry, Akhromeyev stood silently next to me, and only after I had finished speaking did he add: "Comrade Commander, I also know that this move of Captain Travkin is too risky. But as an experienced scout, he must have mastered many reconnaissance methods beyond our imagination, such as catching the 'tongue', which we never imagined. ”

When I heard Akhromeyev say this, the anger in my heart calmed down a little, I nodded, and said to him: "Comrade Director, you can go on. ”

"Captain Travkin said that he had dealt with the Germans many times and had a clear sense of their tempers. As long as the bodies of our soldiers who died were found, the Germans would search them to see if there were watches, cigarette cases, jewelry, wallets, etc., which they were very interested in. ”

I nodded again, and then looked down at the telegram that Akhromeyev had just handed me, which contained the general information that Travkin had obtained from their reconnaissance and interrogation of German prisoners. According to intelligence, the Germans had only one company of strength in the cities of Huli Eberlaus and Poloy, and they were not yet fully formed. The defenders of the Kuban, although somewhat larger, had only two newly transferred infantry companies. The main forces of the German army, all of which were moving north, reinforced the defenders of Kharkov, or moved northeast to block the advance of our Southwestern Front. All in all, the periphery of Zaporosh, where the Manstein command is located, is unusually empty, and even if we launch a single assault, we can rush into Zaporosh and rush to the door of the Manstein command.

After reading the telegram, I handed it to Vitkov at any time, and after sighing, said to Kirillov: "Comrade commissar, I will wait for Travkin and his reconnaissance unit to return and award him a medal for bravery in recognition of his past merits; In addition, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star in recognition of his merits this time. ”

"Comrade Oshanina, I agree with you." After listening to my commendation to Travkin, Kirillov immediately replied dryly: "I will go and prepare the medal and the commendation order." ”

At this moment, Vitkov had finished reading the information sent back by Travkin and asked me for instructions: "Comrade commander, what should we do next?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, do you need to talk about this?" Now that I have a certain understanding of the enemy's defenses, I am naturally handy when I assign tasks. "The Bandereev Division was ordered to leave a small number of troops behind and continue to attack the city of Fleda, while the rest of the main forces, together with the tank brigade and artillery regiment, turned west and attacked Huli Ebol. At the same time, the 308th Division also had to take active action and march to the city of Poloy overnight, striving to launch an attack on the city before dawn. ”

After listening to my series of deployments, Vitkov said with a look of embarrassment: "Comrade commander, is it true that such a big operation is not reported to the army group headquarters?" ”

"The fighter plane is fleeting, and it's too late to report." Although I knew in my heart that the existing communications equipment in the Israeli army could be reported to the headquarters of the group army, and even if it was reported to the headquarters of the front army at a higher level, it would not be a problem, but I said with strong words: "Therefore, we should immediately take action, seize the great opportunity of the enemy's defenses, and decisively launch an attack on the predetermined area." After we have captured the above-mentioned starting position, it is not too late to report to the higher authorities according to the specific situation. ”

Listening to what I said so firmly, and knowing that opposition would be of no avail, Vitkov tore off the paper on which he had finished recording the order from his notebook, handed it to Akhromeyev, and instructed: "Comrade Director, immediately send the latest order of the commander to the divisions in the form of a telegram. They are required to arrive at the designated place within the specified time and quickly launch an attack on the enemy's empty defensive position. ”

After Akhromeyev left, the pale-faced Vitkov said to me: "Comrade commander, your order will soon reach all divisions and brigades, and as for what results can be achieved in the end, we can only gamble on luck." ”

Hearing Vitkov say this, Kirillov stood up, raised his hand and gently patted the nervous Vitkov on the shoulder, comforting him and saying: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry. From what I know about the commander, she will not be wrong in her decision. Once our troops have occupied the predetermined starting positions, you can wait to receive awards for meritorious service. ”

"But, Comrade Commissar." After listening to Kirillov's words, Vitkov still asked unsteadily: "Even if the enemy's forces are empty, we can smoothly occupy the starting position." But what should we do if the enemy from other directions comes over? ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," I saw that Kirillov was stopped by Vitkov, and hurriedly stood up to relieve him of the siege and said: "We are now competing with the Germans for time, and before they have come to their senses, we will quickly pounce on Zaporosh, finish off the headquarters in Manstein, and disrupt the command system of the German army, so that even if we are alone, we will have a glimmer of life." (To be continued......)