Originally, I thought that a commander of the rank of Apanashchenko would take at least one platoon of guards with him when he traveled, divided into trucks and jeeps, to protect him. Who knew that after getting into the car, I realized that there was only one jeep, with the driver and Kazakov in the front, and me and him in the back, and there was not even a guard.

After our car had traveled some distance, Apanashchenko suddenly leaned forward, patted the driver in front of him on the shoulder, and ordered: "Stop!" ”

Because he gave the order suddenly without warning, the driver of the car was nervous and immediately came to the brakes sharply. I was caught off guard and slammed my body into the front, and if I hadn't held on to the back of the chair in time, I would have been bruised and swollen. After the thrill, I nervously asked Apanashchenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what happened. ”

"What's going on with that truck in the back?" Apanashchenko's eyes looked at Kazakov in the front row and asked.

Kazakov glanced behind him, then shook his head and said: "Comrade General, I don't know. Sitting in the car may be the guards and fighters sent to you by the comrade commander. ”

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." Hearing what Kazakov said, Apanashchenko said angrily: "We are not behind enemy lines now, where do we need someone to protect us." After complaining, he instructed Kazakov, "General Kazakov, you go and inform the commander in the car behind you and let them go back, just say that we can protect ourselves." ”

When I heard Apanashchenko say this, I couldn't help but look back curiously, just in time to see a commander coming out of the cab of a truck parked not far behind. I looked at it and it turned out to be my "guard squad leader" Captain Yushchenko, so I hurriedly stopped Kazakov, who was pushing the car door and preparing to get out of the car: "General Kazakov, please wait a minute." ”

"Comrade Oshanina. Is there anything you can do? Seeing that Kazakov was still sitting in his seat after listening to my words, Apanashchenko asked curiously: "Why didn't you let General Kazakov get off the bus?" ”

I raised my hand and pointed to the truck behind me, as well as Yushchenko, who was walking towards us, and explained to Apanashchenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, on that truck is my guard squad. I saw a displeased expression on his face. Hurriedly added, "Marshal Zhukov specially sent it to protect my safety." ”

When Apanashchenko heard me say this, he didn't want to get angry again, so he waved his hand and said helplessly: "Since it is the guard squad sent to you by Marshal Zhukov, let them follow." ”

I nodded, turned and pushed the door open, leaning out half of my body. Yushchenko, who had just walked to the side of the car, said: "Captain, you and your people are following behind, responsible for our safety, understand?" ”

"Understood." Yushchenko was going to ask me why I stopped, but when I said something so clueless, he glanced into the car with a puzzled face, and after a loud yes, he turned and walked towards the truck behind.

The car continued to drive forward. In my heart, I was disgusted by Apanashchenko's arrogant character, even though the area we were driving on belonged to the defense zone of our army. But not a single guard is a bit too much. Not to mention the last attack, even if three or five stragglers threw a grenade at us, they could have reimbursed us all.

Thinking of this, I tentatively asked Apanashchenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander. Don't you take a guard with you every time you go out? ”

"Guards? Why bring a guard? When Apanashchenko heard my question, he raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise: "Comrade Oshanina, why did you suddenly ask that?" ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, this is the front line after all." I didn't expect him to ask such a question. couldn't help but smile bitterly, shrugged his shoulders, and replied a little helplessly: "Because we don't know if we will encounter an attack by the Germans on the way out, we should still bring a few guards." ”

"Comrade Oshanina, you are wrong." As soon as I finished speaking, Apanashchenko unceremoniously retorted: "Even if there is danger, when we go out to inspect, we should not take a group of fighters out with us." In this way, if you are seen by the commanders and fighters below, they will think that you, the commander, are cowardly and afraid of death, and they will not really respect you......"

Listening to Apanashchenko's tirade, although I always kept a smile on my face, pretending to listen to the teachings, I was smiling bitterly in my heart, it turned out that he didn't bring guards with him every time he traveled, just didn't want the commanders and fighters below to think that he was greedy for life and afraid of death, it is estimated that Vatutin is also a similar character, no wonder both of them died young.

Today's discovery of the Germans in the 69th Army, I don't think it was done properly by either Vatutin, Khrushchev, or Apanashchenko. The main commander of the front army, you must at least wait for the people below to figure out the situation, and then decide what to do, how can you be so hasty as Apanashchenko, without even a single guard, and hurried to Prokhorovka.

In addition to Apanashchenko, I was also dissatisfied with Kazakov, who was sitting in the front, as the commander of the 69th Army, when you heard that traces of German troops had been found in your own jurisdiction, the first thing you had to do was to call your deputy or chief of staff to find out the general situation. Instead of asking nothing, he rushed back after Apanashchenko like a follower. He may have forgotten that he was the commander of the army group, and thought of himself as an ordinary infantry squad leader, who had to go and see for himself where the enemy was.

Regardless of the fact that Apanashchenko is known as the "Tsar of the Far East" and is one of the five generals who received the rank of general before the war, his combat thinking still follows the same style as during the civil war decades ago, and he always thinks that he should lead by example, and stay in the most dangerous places like ordinary soldiers. In particular, he had never dealt with the Germans, and if he copied the same way he had dealt with the Japanese, he would definitely suffer a great loss.

I was thinking about my own thoughts as I looked out the window. When entering the area of Prokhorovka, I found that there were many hills on both sides of the road, and the thickets on the hills were simply the best positions for the concealed anti-tank guns of our army, from which it was possible to strike hard at the flanks of the enemy's armored forces. But due to the fact that the terrain here is very open, after the anti-tank guns hidden in the bushes opened fire. will be counterattacked by the enemy, and if possible, the self-propelled anti-tank guns currently equipped in the army should be used as much as possible.

Seeing this, I patted Kazakov, who was sitting in front, and as soon as he turned around, I pointed to the bushes on the hills outside. I told him what I had just thought. After listening to this, he nodded his head in agreement, and promised me that I would deploy self-propelled anti-tank guns where fighting might break out.

When I finished speaking, I turned my head to look at Apanashchenko next to me, and found that he was staring at me intently, listening to my advice to Kazakov. Seeing that I turned my head to look at him, he smiled and said to me in a friendly way: "Comrade Oshanina, you said very well! If we really deploy our forces in this way, the pressure on our frontal defense will be greatly reduced. ”

For his compliments. I didn't speak, just smiled politely. Who knew that my reaction made him misunderstand, and he quickly explained to me: "Comrade Oshanina, don't be careful, I am talking from my heart. Don't look at my seniority than Marshal Zhukov, but I don't know anything about modern warfare in the true sense of the word. For so many years in the Far East, some people called me the 'Tsar of the Far East' and said how well I managed the Far East. It just made me feel like a perfect person. To be honest, after listening to such words for a long time. Even I myself was a little fluttering, thinking that if I came to the Western Front, I would be able to defeat the Germans easily, so I asked Comrade Stalin for a transfer. ”

Seeing that Apanashchenko actually opened up to me and talked about his own affairs, I quickly straightened up. looked at the veteran general in front of him and patiently listened to what he said next: "...... When I got here, I realized that everything was far from what I had imagined. If nothing else, even if a tank army were to be put under my command, I would not know how to assign tasks to my subordinates. Combat orders are issued. If you want to adapt to all this as quickly as possible, you have to learn from scratch, so even if my superiors appointed me as a deputy to Vatutin, who is much less senior than me, I have not complained in the slightest......"

At the end, he asked me rhetorically: "Comrade Oshanina, could you please tell me, as a friend, whether I have done anything wrong in the way this matter is handled today?" ”

When I heard this, my mind raced to wonder if I should tell Apanashchenko the truth. After thinking about it for a long time, I finally mustered up the courage to say: "Comrade General, I think what you are doing today is too reckless? ”

"Huh?! Comrade Oshanina, why do you say that? Puzzled, Apanashchenko asked: "When we learn that there is an enemy situation in our own territory, shouldn't we immediately deal with it?" ”

"Comrade General, to tell the truth, when there is an enemy situation, we will definitely not ignore it." I knew that my words might offend him, but the thought that he would die soon, even if he did, would have no effect on my future. If I can make some changes and let him escape, maybe it will be an obstacle to me in the future, because I will say bluntly: "But you are the deputy commander of the front army, and there is more important work than dealing with the enemy's situation. So the first thing you have to do when you encounter such a situation is not to stop important military meetings and rush with ordinary people to the place where the enemy appears to check the situation. Instead, order the person who reports the intelligence to find out the enemy's strength and equipment, and report it to you, and then you can make corresponding arrangements according to the situation. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Apanashchenko raise his hand and pat himself on the forehead, and then said with an exaggerated expression: "God, Comrade Oshanina, you are so right, why didn't I think of it." yes, it's something that can be figured out in just a few minutes with just a phone call, and running over like me in a reckless way may not only not solve the problem, but make it worse. After speaking, he stretched out his hands to me and said gratefully, "Thank you, Comrade Oshanina, for your guidance to me." When I encounter such a situation in the future, I will know what to do. ”

As I shook hands with him, I quickly glanced at Kazakov in the front row, and saw that his eyes were looking out the window, and I wondered if he would be inspired by what I had just said.

At this moment, Kazakov suddenly shouted: "Comrade driver, turn right at the fork in front of you later." ”

"Yes, Comrade General." The driver of the car agreed angrily.

Kazakov turned around and said respectfully to Apanashchenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, there is a regimental command post of our army group in front, and later we can be there and make a phone call to the army headquarters and ask the chief of staff about the discovery of enemy traces." ”

"Very well, Comrade Kazakov, you are doing the right thing." Regarding Kazakov's practical application, Apanashchenko said with satisfaction: "We will first go to the regimental command post to understand the enemy's situation, and then decide what to do next. ”

Our jeep drove down the uneven dirt road, past the hordes of commanders and soldiers, and finally stopped in front of a simple wooden house. Kazakov turned his head and said, "It's here." He pushed the car door and got out of the car first, went around the back of the car to the other side, respectfully asked Apanashchenko to open the car door, and respectfully asked him to get out of the car.

When the three of us walked into the regimental command post, we startled the commander inside. Seeing us enter the door, a lieutenant colonel who was sitting on the bed by the wall drinking tea hurriedly jumped up, grabbed the belt from the bed and tied it around his waist, and at the same time reported to us his rank and position.

Kazakov didn't say any nonsense either, but asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you contact the command of the army group here?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General." The lieutenant colonel replied with some panic: "We have walkie-talkies here to talk to the headquarters of the group army." ”

At this moment another well-groomed major came up to us, and by the report I knew that he was the chief of staff of the regiment. When he heard that we were going to contact the headquarters of the army group, he immediately took Kazakov to a walkie-talkie next to the wall and talked to the other party through the telephone microphone.

After Kazakov finished speaking, he returned to us and reported to Apanashchenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, everything has been figured out. It turned out that several German motorcycles, probably scouts, appeared at the front of our army, and after being discovered by our commanders and fighters, they fired a few shots and fled back to their defense area. Everything should be back to normal for now. ”

After listening to Kazakov's report, Apanashchenko turned to me and said: "Comrade Oshanina, you are still right, if we don't make this call, maybe we will have to run in vain." Then he said to Kazakov, "Comrade General, let's rest here for a while, and later go to survey the terrain." (To be continued.) )