Chapter 576

After finishing my arrangement, trikov asked Zhukov curiously, "Comrade General, how could the headquarters suddenly send you to Stalingrad?"

To his old friend's question, Zhukov replied with a smile: "I was sent by Comrade Stalin to replace Comrade vasilevsky and take charge of leading our army in the whole Stalingrad area. This is because the general staff and the supreme command are in great need of vasilevsky, a "resourceful star", to coordinate and deploy the war situation of the whole country. As for the specific command of operations, comrade Stalin seemed to think that I was better than the chief of the general staff who was a staff officer, so he sent me here. "

Just now, several generals mentioned that wherever Zhukov went, he would attack. Although Zhukov does not comment on this statement, trakov, the commander of the 62nd army, who is about to take office, is still curious to ask him about the next deployment.

After a moment's silence, Zhukov said calmly, "before I left Moscow, the Supreme Commander himself told me that he would immediately deploy the 24th and 66th army and the 1st army of the guards to Stalingrad. So the first thing I did after I arrived at Stalingrad was to immediately begin to deploy the counterattack of the three army groups. "

When trakov wanted to say something else, suddenly someone rushed in from outside the house. After glancing at the people present, he quickly walked to trakov's side, leaned down to his ear and whispered a few words.

Zhukov saw the sudden intruder with a serious look. He looked at the man and asked sternly, "who are you?"

When Zhukov asked this question suddenly, he found that there was a general sitting in the room. He was so frightened that he didn't know how to answer this question, so he had to turn his eyes to trakov. And trakov was obviously still digesting the news he just got, and he didn't notice his subordinate's dilemma.

I don't know anyone who just came in, except me and trakov. Seeing that he was at a loss, I just wanted to stand up and answer Zhukov. Unexpectedly, Zhukov repeated his question again: "what did you not hear me say, comrade private? I just asked you, who are you and why did you come in without a report? "

Zhukov's voice awakened him from his meditation. He quickly stood up and introduced Zhukov to him, saying, "Comrade General, this is my messenger, sidtorin." Then he took a step towards Zhukov, lowered his voice and said, "he's the son of my former chief of operations, Lieutenant Colonel sidolin. He's been with me ever since the Colonel died on the river

Chukov's words made Zhukov silent. He went to little sidtorin and patted him on the shoulder. He asked kindly, "little sidtorin, how old is this year?"

Little sidtorin bowed her head and replied timidly, "I'm 16 years old now."

After hearing this, Zhukov nodded and said, "although it's small, it's also a glorious Red Army soldier. Why didn't you call for a report when you came in just now? "

Hearing Zhukov's words, little siduolin quickly raised his head and explained, "sorry, comrade general, I didn't know you were here, and my sister oshanina and I were very familiar with each other, so I didn't bother to call for a report, so I broke in directly."

When Zhukov heard that, he couldn't help looking at me and asked curiously, "is that right, Rita?"

I quickly stood up and said, "yes, comrade commander, I am very familiar with little sidtorin. When he comes to my headquarters, he almost doesn't have to shout a report. He comes in directly."

After hearing this, Zhukov lowered his head and asked sidtorin, "little sidtorin, you are in a hurry to find general trakov. Don't you know what's the matter?"

Seeing Zhukov's kind attitude, sidtorin was not so afraid as he had just been. He quickly stood at attention, straightened himself up, and loudly reported: "just got the report, the German army is launching a fierce attack on the meishkova river. The battle is very fierce."

Little sidtorin's words surprised everyone in the room, except Zhukov and trakov.

Zhukov glanced at the map and then asked sidtorin, "how many German troops are there?"

"Under the cover of airplanes, the Germans sent out more than 200 tanks and armored vehicles, as well as about one regiment of infantry to attack our defense line. The 126th infantry division defending the area is fighting tenaciously with the Germans."

"Comrade trakov," after listening to little sidtorin's report, Zhukov told trakov standing in front of him, "this may be your last battle under the command of the 64th army. Go to the front line immediately. In a word, we should stick to the meshkova river at all costs and never let the Germans go forward. "

Trikov quickly agreed and left the headquarters with sidtorin.

I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost noon, so I asked Zhukov, "Comrade General, it's late. Will you stay here for lunch?"

Zhukov also raised his hand, looked at his watch, nodded and said, "well, I'll have lunch with you, and then I'll go to Stalingrad to hand over to Comrade vasilevsky."

Hearing that Zhukov was willing to stay for lunch, I immediately ordered razumeyeva to go to the cooking class to make arrangements.

After razumeyeva left, Zhukov asked about our division's defense. After I introduced the situation to him in detail, he said thoughtfully: "judging from the current situation, the 4th tank group army of Hote has made no achievements in nearly a week's fighting. They have lost a lot of fighters and technical equipment. At present, they have no energy to move forward and have to give up attacking the Red Army city for the time being, Then advance to the Volga River and the plan to join the 6th army of Polus. "

When Zhukov finished, I asked him modestly: "although the German tank 4th group army temporarily stopped attacking, the attack of Paulus 6th group army is still very fierce. I would like to ask, under the current situation, what kind of action should our army take to suppress the German strong offensive?"

As soon as these words came out, I found that both krailov and kirilov's faces changed greatly, and immediately realized that they had asked questions they shouldn't have asked. Krailov took a look at the silent Zhukov, stood up and criticized me, and said, "please pay attention to your own identity, Colonel oshanina. You are only a division commander, not a commander of the front army. There is no need for Comrade Zhukov to report to you on how to deploy in the campaign. " Although his words are very heavy, I can still see from his expression that he deliberately stood up to criticize me because he was worried that I would offend Zhukov.

"Don't get excited, comrade krailov," Zhukov raised his hand and pressed down, motioning krakov to sit down. He added, "Comrade Rita's strategic vision and judgment of the situation are often unmatched by our senior commanders. If the base camp, reminded by Lida, decisively mobilizes troops to strengthen the defense forces in the Don River Basin and Stalingrad area, it is still unknown whether the German army can cross the Don river at this moment. "

Kirilov, who had not spoken for a long time, was surprised to hear Zhukov say so. He asked curiously, "senior general, when I was still in the Central Committee, I heard other colleagues say in private that a famous staff officer in the warhoff front army actually spoke to Comrade Stalin through senior general meletzkov about the targets of the German offensive in the summer, Neither Moscow nor the Caucasus. At that time, after listening to the report, comrade Stalin was very angry. After abusing general meletkov, he also said that he would send this staff officer to guard the mamayev post. As you know, a commander who has been transferred from a frontier area where there is no war is almost marginalized, and his official career in the army is over. Listen to you, is this the man who spoke to Comrade Stalin, Colonel oshanina? "

Zhukov looked at me with a smile, but I had to stand up and admit to kirilov with a red face: "you are right, comrade political commissar of the regiment level, that person is me."

After hearing this, kirilov stepped forward, reached out his hand to me, and said with a little excitement, "it's really you, Captain o'shanina. You're so amazing that you can judge the next German action only by some clues."

Kirilov's words seemed to remind Zhukov. He looked up at me and asked, "Rita, do you think the 126th infantry division can hold the position on the meishkova river?"

When I heard his question, I almost shook my head without thinking, and then answered decisively, "Comrade General, please forgive me for saying that the 126th division can't keep the river of meshkova."

"Why? Give me your reasons. " Asked Zhukov.

Having worked in the group army command some time ago, I have to answer Zhukov's question smoothly and naturally: "first of all, the 126th division suffered a large number of casualties in the early fighting, but it has not been supplemented in time. At present, there are only less than 4000 people left in the Division; Secondly, in terms of equipment, the 126th Division has no air defense weapons and lacks sufficient anti tank weapons. In the face of the three-dimensional offensive of the German army, no matter how tenacious our soldiers are, they will not be able to resist the strong offensive of the German army. "

After listening to me, Zhukov's eyes were looking at the roof, and his fingers were tapping gently on the table, as if he was digesting what I said. After a while, his fingers stopped, frowned, looked at me with inquisitive eyes, and asked unhappily, "Rita, according to you, we can only watch the Germans seize the position on the river meshkova, and there is no way to stop them?"

The serious expression on Zhukov's face made me nervous for the first time. I answered nervously: "yes... Yes, Comrade General. As far as I know, not to mention the 64th army, even our front army is at a disadvantage compared with the German army in terms of technology and equipment. In order to reverse this unfavorable situation, we can only divert the attention of the German army, divert their forces and reduce the positive pressure of our defense forces by attacking in other places. " With these words in one breath, I felt that the back of my uniform was soaked in cold sweat.

Krailov and kirilov, after listening to what I said, unexpectedly no one made a statement. Instead, they all turned their eyes to Zhukov to see how he would react.

Zhukov didn't stand up or change his posture. He just frowned and thought.

Looking at Zhukov lost in thought, for a long time there was no response, next to krailov could not help but whisper his name: "Georgi konstantinovic, what are you thinking?"

Zhukov suddenly woke up, he changed a relatively comfortable position to sit well, and then said to several of us: "in the current situation, I will not hide from you. According to the information obtained by the headquarters, Hitler's headquarters redeployed the German troops attacking Stalingrad on August 27 and 28. They ordered the right-wing forces to move to the Left-wing Movement, or more precisely to the regions of abuganerovo and kapkinsky in the middle of the front. The 14th and 24th German tank divisions, the 60th motorized infantry division and the 6th and 20th Romanian infantry divisions were deployed to the area. The task of these forces is to carry out raids in zeta and Nariman areas, pass through these two villages, join the 6th group army in Paulus, and encircle the two divisions of the 62nd and 64th group army in the area. "

Zhukov's words made us all take a breath of cold air. If these troops were really surrounded by the German army, then the battle of Stalingrad would not continue. You know, in the later period, the 62nd group army was the main force sticking to the north of the city.

Fortunately, Zhukov's next words made us feel relieved again: "after receiving the above situation, the general headquarters issued an alarm to the front army in time, so Yeliao Menko, commander of Stalingrad's front army, immediately ordered the possible encircled units of the 62nd and 64th army to withdraw to the new defensive area quickly." When listening to Zhukov's words, I thought to myself that no wonder the main force of the group army had to withdraw some time ago. It is estimated that shumilov and trakov had noticed the German army's intention long before the headquarters discovered it, so they ordered the main force to withdraw in time.

At this time, a voice calling for a report came from the door. Before I could speak, Zhukov raised his voice and called out to the door, "come in!"

The soldier who came in was not one of my men, but a lieutenant commander. It seems that Zhukov brought his men from Moscow. He strode up to Zhukov, raised his hand to salute him, took out a folder under his arm, opened it and handed a piece of paper to Zhukov. It looked like he had just received the war report.

Zhukov took the report and waved to the commander. The commander put the folder under his armpit again, raised his hand to salute, and then turned to leave.

After reading the report in his hand, Zhukov put it on the table with a little smile on his face. He said to us, "comrades, I have good news for you. The northern army group of Stalingrad's front army, under the unified command of Colonel gorohov and composed of the 124th and 149th independent infantry brigades, carried out a fierce counter attack on the German army this morning. Due to our brave and indomitable fighting, the German main attack troops in the north of Stalingrad suffered great casualties. Although our counterattack was finally restrained by the German army, they also lost the ability to continue to attack the urban area of Stalingrad in a short period of time, thus gaining valuable time for our army to gather the necessary defensive forces in the urban area of Stalingrad. "

Krailov picked up the report on the table, looked at it, and said excitedly: "yes, because of our tenacious attack, the enemy had to spread its forces on the broad front, thus weakening the fierce attack that the enemy might launch directly against Stalingrad."

"Colonel oshanina." When krailov finished speaking, Zhukov suddenly called me, not my nickname as usual, but my surname. I heard him call it this way. Knowing that there must be an important task, I got up from my seat and answered loudly, "here we are!"

"In two days, your troops will be put under the command of the 62nd group army. I hope that before your independent division leaves, you can carry out a counter attack on the 4th group army of hotter tanks on the south side of Stalingrad, so that they will lose the ability to advance into the urban area of Stalingrad in a short time. Can you do it? "

To counterattack the 4th group army of Hote's tanks, I was dumbfounded as soon as I heard this order. If I didn't provide additional artillery, tanks and air support, it would be no different from going to death.

Seeing that I didn't answer decisively, Zhukov was not happy. He raised his voice and asked, "what's the matter with you, Colonel oshanina? Are you deaf or dumb? Why don't you answer me?"

"Comrade General, I can't answer you accurately." I hesitated to reply. As soon as I said that, I realized that my answer was not decent, but I had to go on with it. "My independent division is poorly equipped and has no strong fighting capacity. If I can't get the necessary air support from artillery and armored forces, I don't think the counterattack against the German tank 4th Army will succeed."

Zhukov snorted heavily and said discontentedly, "if I can provide you with all the things you need, do you think I need to send your independent division to complete this task? The two divisions of the 64th group army on the right and the 57th group army on the left can be successfully assigned to accomplish this task. "

Zhukov's words made me speechless. I didn't know how to answer his words, and I didn't dare to promise him casually. So I had to lower my head and stare at the map on the table in a daze.

Zhukov waited for a moment. Seeing that I didn't speak, he sighed. He came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and said kindly, "Rita, I have always trusted you. That's why I give you such a hard and glorious task."

Hearing what he said, I almost jumped up to refute him: everyone knows that this kind of task of death is very arduous. If we are completely destroyed, what's the use of giving us more honor? However, in the face of Zhukov, a kind elder, I can only hide these words in my heart. Seeing that I didn't speak, he advised me: "I know that this mission is a near death mission for your independent division." Hearing this, I said in my heart, since you know it's the task of dying, what else can we do“ I only give you the task of counterattack. As for how to fight, it's up to you. No one will interfere in your decision. Finally, I would like to remind you that time is running out. Before your division moves, it is necessary to complete the counterattack against the 4th group army of tanks. " Zhukov's words have already been said for this reason. I have no chance of rejecting them at all, so I can only make a firm promise: "yes, comrade general, I will definitely carry out anti assault on the 4th group army of Hote's tanks within the prescribed time limit." When he heard what I said, Zhukov's face was smiling again. He patted me on the shoulder and said kindly, "I knew you would say that, Rita. I'm not sure that this task will be handed over to other troops, but with your ability, I'm sure it will be successfully completed. " Although my heart is bleeding, I still have to smile on the surface. After all, if Zhukov didn't show up in time, I would take the joint investigation team back to Stalingrad for trial. For a country like Lao maozi, which has no reason to say, in order to sacrifice dozens of soldiers, one of the main division's teachers should be arrested and charged; If I refuse Zhukov's order directly, he may take my life without going to the military court. I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said to Zhukov, "Comrade General, please rest assured that I will do my best to teach Hote and his subordinates a lesson and make them powerless. In the short term, we will launch an attack on the city of Stalingrad. "“ Good job, "Zhukov praised me, then raised his hand to look at his watch and asked strangely," Rita, what's the matter with your second lieutenant of the signalman? He's been away for almost half an hour. Why hasn't he brought us lunch yet? " Listening to what he said, I laughed with embarrassment and quickly said, "senior general, please wait a moment. I'll go to the cooking class to see what's going on and bring you lunch as soon as possible." Did not wait for me to go out, the late razumeyeva and two soldiers carrying a plate, trot all the way into the headquarters. When razumeyeva saw me, she was embarrassed and said, "sorry, sir, the cooking class didn't know that there were big people coming, so the prepared food was relatively crude. I asked them to make it again after I went." Just as we were sitting at the table, ready to enjoy a big lunch, Zhukov's lieutenant commander came in again and sent us the latest war report. After reading the war report, Zhukov slapped his knife and fork heavily on the table, looked at us in surprise, and said in a heavy voice: "the river meshkova is lost. The 126th infantry division, which held fast to the area, failed to stop the Germans despite the tenacious fighting under the three-dimensional offensive of the German army. Now the troops with heavy casualties have retreated to the rear. "