I was a little embarrassed by everyone's gaze, and quickly coughed and cleared my throat. If I were in that mysterious ancient country in the East at this moment, perhaps I would say a few modest words, but here, there is no need for this at all. So I cheekily said: "This is not surprising, I have long estimated that my superiors will have such an arrangement in terms of tactics, and all the decisions I have made are just to realize the intentions of my superiors in advance." After saying this, I felt my face heat up, and I hurriedly waved my hand and said to Vitkov, "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, hurry up and send a report to General Gurtiev to find out how the battle is going there." As soon as they succeeded in capturing Alexandria, they immediately reported the results to the Front command. ”

I sat at the table, and although my eyes were fixed on the map on the table, I listened to the small talk between Kirillov and Romanov: "Comrade Deputy Army Commander, after General Gurtiev has completed the task of seizing the city, he can send people to contact the partisans operating nearby, so that the strength of the 308th Division can be improved. ”

"Commissar, that's how I think about it." Romanov continued: "After the 308th Division captured Alexandria, it could be thought of threatening Kremenchug and Komsomolsk, which were occupied by the Germans. Then the 22nd Guards Division cannot be idle, I think they should also move in a north-western direction and occupy Smilla. With this foothold, we can pose a threat to Kyiv. Even if we are not capable of capturing Kyiv, the troops of General Bandeleyev will be able to attack Cherkasy. As soon as we can destroy the enemy here, then we will establish contact with the Voronezh Front on the other side of the Dnieper. Become a nail in the wedge of our troops into the heart of the German army. ……”

Romanov said a place name for each. My fingers would move to that position. At the same time, seriously consider the feasibility of the ideas he said. When he finished speaking, I sighed, straightened up and said to him, "Comrade Deputy Commander, the idea you just said is very good. However, we now have limited forces, and if we use our forces evenly on such a wide front, it is easy to be broken by the Germans one by one. ”

"But aren't the main forces of the German army all held back by the main forces of our army near the Dnieper?" Vitkov didn't know when he came over, and when he heard what I said, he couldn't help but interject.

"yes. Comrade Oshanina. Kirillov also agreed with Vitkov's opinion: "The main forces of Manstein have been pinned down by our two fronts on the other side of the Dnieper, and in order to resist the fierce offensive of our troops, the troops on this side of the river have been almost completely withdrawn, which means that there are hardly any formed German units around us." ”

After I waited for Kirillov to finish, I nodded and said: "Political commissar, deputy army commander, chief of staff, you are all right, you all have a point. Don't underestimate this sentence. This is a very powerful speaking skill. None of what they said was the answer I was looking for, but I was affirming what they said. It is important to know such affirmations, because it is a crucial step in getting them to accept my ideas.

Even if they were all wrong, if they were to deny their words immediately, the result of this conversation would be either bad words or unhappy parting. Although it is impossible for them to speak ill of me in my capacity, they will still be upset. I don't want to quarrel with them, I just want to reason with them, and of course, it's not wrong to say that I want to brainwash them.

"But," I said with a twist, and then began to say what was in my mind: "Although the German forces are weak in the few places we have occupied, we have no idea how many enemy forces there are in these cities at Uman to the west of Kirovgrad, Pavomysk to the southwest, and Nikolaev to the south, so the 22nd Guards Division must leave enough troops for defense in Kirovgrad." As a result, the forces they can use to advance north will be very limited. If there were only a small number of defenders in the area just mentioned by the deputy commander, they still had a chance of victory, and if they encountered the heavy German group, then they were in danger of total annihilation. ”

As I finished speaking, there was silence in the command. After a long while, Vitkov coughed and asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, if we do not attack these cities of the German army, how can we complete the task assigned to us by the command of the Front to contain the German troops?" ”

"In order to contain the German troops, it is not necessary to attack the enemy's cities everywhere, and if you encounter well-fortified cities and our troops lacking heavy equipment, there is no point except to pay unnecessary sacrifices in vain." As for how to contain the German army, I have long made a wishful calculation in my heart, but I just took this opportunity to explain to them: "Kafbas is an important hub on the German army's transportation and supply line, and our occupation of this place is equivalent to cutting off the main artery of the German army, food and ammunition cannot be transported, and the wounded cannot be transported, I see how long Manstein can support it." ”

Hearing me say this, Kirillov excitedly slammed his fist on the table and said happily: "Yes, instead of scattering forces to attack other cities, it is better to build fortifications in Kafbas to deal with a possible German counterattack." ”

"By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff," I suddenly remembered something, and without listening to Kirillov, I turned my head and asked Vitkov: "How is the situation in the north of the city, has the German convoy appeared?" ”

Vitkov shook his head and replied: "Before you returned, I called Travkin, who was still in ambush on both sides of the road, and he said that he had not noticed any movement of the enemy, and that he suspected that the captives had lied to us. ”

"Since no enemy has been found in the north, let the captain keep watch." After I said this, I looked sideways at Romanov and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, we have captured a lot of supplies, and I think we should hurry up and build fortifications in the city and arm the workers and citizens to defend Kafbas." I'm going to leave this to you, don't you have a problem? ”

"No problem, Comrade Commander." Romanov agreed to stand up, clasped his belt with both hands, and readily agreed: "You can rest assured that I will be responsible for this matter." ”

Just as Romanov was about to walk outside, suddenly Major Pugachev rushed in with a panicked face, and at the same time shouted: "Comrade commander, it's not good, it's not good!" ”

Vitkov, who was closest to him, grabbed his arm and asked nervously: "Major, don't be so flustered, hurry up and tell us, what's wrong?" ”

Pugachev steadied himself, took another deep breath, looked at me with his eyes, and reported to me: "Comrade commander, I have just received a telegram from Lieutenant Colonel Sverin, the political commissar of the 308th Division, that they have just captured the city and are cleaning up the battlefield, when the Germans sent planes to bomb the city, and two battalions rushed to Alexandria from the north. About a company of Germans in it, with their familiarity with the terrain, rushed to the side of the division headquarters.

General Gurtiev immediately organized a counterattack by the staff officers of the division headquarters. Due to the enemy's heavy firepower, Comrade General had to lead more than 20 staff officers of the division headquarters to fight and retreat. At this moment, a German plane swooped down from the sky and swooped down on them. The general raised a machine gun and fired into the air, and the enemy plane exploded in the air after being hit in the fuel tank. At this moment, a shell flying from a distance fell beside him, and with an explosion, Comrade General died heroically on the spot. ”

"What? General Gurtiev died? This bad news made me feel like I had been struck by lightning, and I was stunned on the spot, thinking in my head: "No, no, how could Gurdiev die so easily?" The person who sent the telegram must have made a mistake, no, I want to find out about it right away. ”

When I regained my sanity, I found that all eyes were on me, as if waiting for me to make a final decision. In this case, I hurriedly coughed and said to Pugachev, who brought bad news: "Comrade Major, you send another telegram back to Lieutenant Colonel Sverin to confirm whether the telegram just sent is wrong, I don't believe that General Gurtiev will die like this?" After speaking, he pushed him with his hand and raised his voice sharply, "Hurry up and figure this out, go quickly!" ”

Then I instructed Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to the command of the Front and report to Commander Vatutin, that our troops have succeeded in seizing Kavbas, an important transport hub of the German army, yesterday, and today send troops to capture Kirovgrad and Alexandria one after another. ”

"Comrade Commander," Vitkov looked at me, then at Kirillov and Romanov, who were standing nearby, and cautiously reminded me, "Is it not necessary to send this telegram to the front headquarters after the news of whether General Gurdiev has been sacrificed?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," perhaps because I heard the news of Gurdiev's death, my mood was so irritable that I couldn't help but shout at Vitkov: "Whether General Gurdiev died or not, and we report our battle report to the front command, there is no conflict at all. As a soldier, don't you know that orders from your superiors can only be obeyed? ”

After yelling at Vitkov, I regretted it a little in my heart, so I then said to Vitkov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm in a bad mood right now, so I'm angry with you, please forgive me." ”

Seeing that my emotions were a little out of control, Kirillov hurriedly came out to be a peacemaker, he patted Vitkov on the shoulder and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you just listen to Oshanina, and hurry up and report to your superiors the results of our army." (To be continued......)