Our car drove for more than two hours and stopped on the side of the road. Since I had been closing my eyes and recuperating, I felt that as soon as the car stopped, I immediately opened my eyes and asked nervously, "What's the matter, why did you stop?" Is there another telegram? ”

Kirillov smiled and said, "Oshanina, you are too nervous. We stopped, not because the communications staff had come to deliver the telegram, but in Surovikno, where there was a newly established supply point, and we went down to get something to eat, and by the way asked the driver to refuel the car. ”

When I heard Kirillov say this, I quickly turned my head to look out the car window, and saw more than a dozen tents on the side of the road, and a few simple wooden tables on the roadside, on which were placed a large steaming basin, and several cooks were holding large spoons and pouring the hot soup from the plates into the lunch boxes of the soldiers who were walking in line. The warrior took a few more steps forward with the hot soup in hand, took the rusks from the other cooks, and then found a place to squat or sit and began to enjoy his simple lunch.

A few minutes later, I was sitting in a tent with Kirillov and Vitkov, eating the same lunch as the commanders and fighters outside, except that the chef put a few thin strips of beef in the soup. After taking two sips of soup, Vitkov said with emotion: "I didn't expect that this Colonel Bere's subordinates are really capable." You see, this supply point, in addition to refueling tanks and cars, also prepared hot beetroot soup for each commander and fighter. ”

Even though we were sitting in the tent, the cold wind blowing in from the door still made me shiver at the thought of how cold it was during the day. If the commanders and fighters were allowed to sleep in tents at night, I don't know how many people would freeze to death overnight. Thinking of this, I'll wait for Vitkov to finish. He immediately added: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the weather is too cold, and when camping at night, the soldiers cannot be allowed to live in these tents that are ventilated on all sides, as they will freeze to death, it is better to place them in civilian houses." ”

"Comrade Oshanina is right." As soon as I finished speaking, Kirillov continued: "The beginning of February is the coldest day of the year. I estimate that the temperature will drop to about minus 40 degrees tonight, so I need to do a good job of keeping the commanders and fighters warm. Don't think that building a few bonfires will keep your commanders warm. You should know that your chest is warm before the fire. The wind blew and the back was cold, and the German prisoners we guarded some time ago would freeze to death every night, and some even sat near the campfire and froze to death. ”

"Understood." Vitkov apparently has experience in this area as well. He hurriedly replied: "I will send a telegram to the commanders of all divisions, asking them to arrange the accommodation of the commanders and fighters at night, and there must be no non-combat attrition due to the cold weather." With that, he picked up his lunch box, drank all the soup left in the lunch box in one gulp, and then got up and walked out of the tent.

After Vitkov left, Kirillov, when he saw that only the two of us were left in the room, lowered his voice and said to me: "Comrade Oshanina. We're old friends, and I have a question for you. Hope you can answer me truthfully? ”

I nodded, gestured at him, and said politely, "Excuse me, Comrade Commissar." ”

Kirillov hesitated for a moment, and finally asked tentatively: "Do you think that this campaign can wipe out all the German troops in Ukraine?" ”

"It's impossible, Comrade Commissar." When I heard his question, I immediately replied without hesitation: "This battle may be able to inflict heavy losses on the German army, but to destroy the German army in the Ukrainian region," at this point, I shrugged my shoulders and added with a look of regret, "It is simply impossible." ”

"What do you say?! It is impossible to destroy the German troops on the territory of Ukraine? My words startled Kirillov, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face: "Comrade Oshanina, have you made a mistake in judgment this time, you must know that the German army is losing ground on both sides of us, and perhaps in another ten days or less it will be possible to completely annihilate Manstein's troops, just as we did in Stalingrad the other day when we annihilated Paulus's troops." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commissar." Although I do not know the final outcome of the Kharkov campaign, I remember that the Soviets pushed the war abroad in order to completely drive Germany out of their territory, and forced Germany's client states to withdraw from the war. Beginning in mid-January 1944, 10 successive annihilating strikes were inflicted on Germany and its client states on a defensive line of about 4,500 kilometers from the Barents Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, known as the "Ten Strikes". Since the Germans were only completely driven out of the country in 1944, it proved that this campaign would be short-lived, so I said with great certainty: "According to my feeling this time, although our army currently has the upper hand, it is still impossible to completely defeat a famous German general like Manstein for the time being." ”

Kirillov spent a lot of time dealing with me, and after listening to my words, he couldn't help but fall silent. After a long time, he cautiously asked, "What are you going to do if our battle ends in defeat?" ”

What am I going to do? Hearing this question from Kirillov gave me a real headache. The Sixth Army has just been rebuilt, and the coordination between the various units is certainly not ideal, and it is okay to fight a favorable battle, but it is really difficult to predict what the outcome will be if the offensive is frustrated or counterattacked, so I must take precautions and consider a way out for the future of myself and my troops.

After pondering for a long time, I looked up and said to Kirillov: "Comrade commissar, the 22nd Guards Division is our old unit, and from fighters to division commanders, you and I are familiar with each other. On the battlefield, the most reliable is such troops. Therefore, I intend to assign a battalion of the 84th Tank Brigade of Colonel Berey and the 266th Artillery Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Kavirin to the Pandereev Division and put them on the main offensive mission. Colonel Andreushchenko's 171st Division is the weakest in combat, and I intend to place it on the right flank of the Pandeleyev Division, which is surrounded by other units of the army group, and I believe that they will be able to defend themselves even if the situation on the battlefield changes. And the 308th Division of Major General Gurdiev was deployed on the left flank of the Pandereev Division. ”

Kirillov listened to my plan and thought for a while with his eyes closed. Finally, he nodded in agreement: "All right, Comrade Oshanina. Just do as you say. The two divisions, deployed on the left and right flanks, had to build the necessary fortifications while assisting friendly forces in battle. ……”

Before he finished speaking, Vitkov walked in, and just as he heard the next few words, he couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Political Commissar, what kind of fortifications did you say?" ”

Kirillov heard Vitkov's voice. Turning his head to look at him, he greeted him and said, "Chief of Staff, you have come best, hurry up and sit down." We have something to tell you. When he had sat down, Kirillov repeated to him what I had just mentioned.

After listening to this, Vitkov frowned and began to think. After a while. He cautiously asked: "Comrade Army Commander, do you really think that our battle will end in defeat in the end?" ”

"It's entirely possible, Comrade Chief of Staff." If I had just been unsure of my judgment, when I heard Vitkov's question, I became more and more convinced that my judgment was correct, and I confidently said: "Although we have just won the battle of Stalingrad, it does not mean that we will be in the next battle. We will be victorious. Don't forget the Battle of Kharkov last May. How did it fail? It was precisely because of that defeat that the Germans took the ideal offensive position, which methodically launched an offensive against Stalingrad with heavy troops. ”

Seeing that I was so sure, Vitkov no longer doubted my judgment. He nodded and said affirmatively: "Comrade Army Commander, although I have not worked with you as long as the political commissar has worked with you, I will also choose to believe in you unconditionally." When I was still the deputy chief of staff of the army group, I heard about the fortifications on the Mamayev post that you were holding. It is because of these fortifications that our troops were able to hold back wave after wave of enemy attacks. So I asked General Pandeleyev to send a group of experienced commanders to the other two infantry divisions to instruct them in building fortifications. ”

"I agree." I immediately agreed with his suggestion. Out of respect for Kirillov, I also deliberately asked: "Comrade commissar, what is your opinion?" ”

"I agree." Kirillov said, raised his hand to look at his watch, and said to me: "Oshanina, we have been here for a long time, shouldn't we go?" ”

"Let's go," I said, standing up and speaking to the two men, "try to get to your destination before dark." ”

Due to the heavy wind and snow, and the snow on the road was too deep to keep the speed up, we barely entered the territory of Ukraine before dark and arrived at a small city called "Krasnodon" in the easternmost part of Ukraine.

When I entered the city, I looked out the window and saw that the buildings on both sides of the street were relatively intact, proving that they had not been ravaged by war. However, our car walked for a long time, and we did not see a single resident of the city, which is estimated to have been evacuated shortly after the outbreak of the war.

After the troops had set up camp in the city, I summoned Bandereev to the temporary headquarters and asked him what the current situation of the troops was, and whether the commanders and fighters in the trucks had suffered from frostbite during the 300-kilometer march. However, the situation was better than I expected, because every 100 kilometers on the road, a supply point was set up to provide the commanders and fighters with food and hot beetroot soup, which increased the calories for them, so that until now, the division has not suffered from frostbite.

Next, we began to study the route of the march for the next day. Since the Front Command temporarily adjusted the location of our stationing, some of our original plans had to be adjusted accordingly.

While we were working on the map, I suddenly heard someone shouting at the door. Vitkov straightened up from the table, walked to the door, and shouted outside: "Come in!" ”

With his shout, a soldier covered in snow walked in from outside the door, his shoulders and steel helmet covered in thick snow. When he came in, he didn't care about dusting off the snow on his body, but raised his hand and saluted, and at the same time reported to Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Captain Travkin, deputy commander of the reconnaissance battalion, reports to you that I have successfully returned from the task of reconnoitring the surrounding enemy, please instruct!" ”

Travkin was a scout I had previously recruited from the Don Front, and when I was promoted to commander, I transferred him from Bandereev to the corps reconnaissance battalion as deputy commander, and at the same time promoted him to the rank of captain. Hearing that it was him, I raised my head and asked with a smile: "Comrade Captain, I don't know if you have gained anything from going out to reconnoiter this time?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Travkin said respectfully to me: "I found an old hunter in the forest southwest of the city, and according to him, there were quite a few Germans in their village, so I brought him here. ”

"Where's the old hunter?" Vitkov said in a loud voice: "Hurry up and bring him here, we have to ask him about the situation of the German army." ”

"It's right outside the building." Travkin shook his head outside and said, "With my men, I'll go and bring him here." With that, he turned and walked briskly out of the headquarters.

During the time that Travkin waited for the old hunter to return, the people in the command were silent. It took a long time for Bandeleyev to break the silence: "Comrade commander, since the enemy is stationed in the village, I estimate that their number will not be too much. ”

"How many Germans there are, who knows now, only after asking the old hunters." Vitkov said worriedly: "Although it is said that it is stationed in the village, I estimate that there are at least two companies or more troops. ”

Soon a snow-covered old hunter walked into our headquarters, led by Travkin. I was under the light of a gas lamp and saw the old hunter dressed in tatters, with a dogskin hat on his head and an old-fashioned shotgun on his shoulder.

Seeing the appearance of the old man, Kirillov hurriedly stepped forward, took the initiative to grab the old man's person, and said enthusiastically: "Hello, old man." Don't know where you're from? ”

The old hunter coughed, and after scrutinizing the few of us, he said unhurriedly: "My name is Matvey, and I belong to the Dawn Collective Farm. ”

"Dawn Collective Farm," said Vitkov, repeating the name, came to the table, leaned down and searched the map for the place the old man had said. But after looking for a while, he shook his head and said to himself, "Strange, why isn't this village on the map?" ”

"Comrade commander," said Matvey, expressionless, "our village is too small for you to find on such a small military map." ”

When Kirillov heard him say this, he hurriedly smiled and asked again: "Old man Matvey, can you tell us where the collective farm you are staying in?" ”

"Walk south out of the city, through a forest, and you will reach our village." The old hunter still said with a stiff expression, "It's about fifteen kilometers from here. ”

Kirillov didn't care about the expression on the old man's face, because he knew that it was not the old man deliberately putting up a fight, but because it was too cold, the muscles on his face had been frozen and lost their ability to adjust, and he still asked enthusiastically: "Do you know what kind of army it is and how many people there are?" ”

The old man frowned and thought for a moment, and replied, "I heard that it was a ski battalion of the German Mountain Infantry Division. I don't know how many people there are, because we are never allowed to go in their station. (To be continued......)