Chapter 1078

At noon the next day, accompanied by bezikov and Yushchenko, I arrived at the group army headquarters in kilovsky. Major general Danilov, the deputy commander who received the notice, was waiting for me at the door with several commanders.

As I was sitting in the car, I saw the group of commanders standing at the door of the building. Then I turned around and asked bzikov, who was sitting next to me: "Colonel, I don't know which one is general Danilov?"

Bezikov glanced out of the car window, then pointed to a small middle-aged man with the rank of lieutenant general on his shoulder and said to me decisively, "look, Rita, among the people who are welcoming you, he has the highest rank. He should be deputy commander Danilov."

The car we took stopped seven or eight steps away from the crowd. As soon as the car stopped, bzikov opened the door, jumped out of the car, went around the back of the car to my door, and opened the door for me.

When I got out of the car, a group of people standing at the door welcomed me. It was the small general who took the lead. He held out his hand to me with a smile and said in a friendly way, "Hello, comrade commander! I'm deputy commander Danilov. Welcome to the sixth group army of the guards. "

"Hello, general Danilov!" I held his hand tightly and said flatteringly, "I am really happy to hear that you, an excellent commander with rich combat experience, will assist me in my work in the future. In the future, if I don't know anything about my work, I will consult you a lot. "

Although the Russians didn't say anything modest, my compliments still made Danilov happy and said repeatedly, "Comrade commander, you are very kind. I'm your subordinate. If you have any questions, just give me orders. I'll try my best to do it for you. "

I kept holding his hand and continued to say with a smile, "Comrade General, we are partners from now on. You always call me commander, it seems a little too unripe, otherwise, you'd better call me by my nickname - Rita

"Since you say so, I'll call you Rita." Danilov was obviously an easygoing man, and when I said that, I immediately changed my name. Then he turned to one side and said to me, "Rita, let me introduce them to you. They are all teachers of different divisions. I'd like to take advantage of the opportunity to welcome you to take office today. I'd like to call them all to get to know you, which is also conducive to the future work. "

The first is a tall, thin looking major general, Danilov said: "Rita, this is general Nicholas talielovic tavartkilaze, division commander of the 51st division of the guards."

"Hello, general tavartkiraze." I smile and reach out and shake each other.

The second was a medium-sized Colonel, Danilov said: "this is the commander of the 52nd division of the close guard infantry, Colonel Ivan mihayravic Nekrasov."

"Hello, comrade commander, I'm glad to accept your command." Without waiting for me to speak, Colonel Nekrasov had reached out his hands first, and said in a friendly way: "my subordinates and I hope that under your leadership, we will make immortal contributions in the future."

After listening to what niekrasov said, I felt very happy. I secretly said that this teacher is good, he is very good at speaking, and I can deal with him more in the future.

When I saw that the third one was an elderly Colonel, I thought to myself that this might be the commander of the 67th or 71st division of the guards. Just thinking about this, Danilov said, "Rita, this is the commander of the 375TH infantry division, Colonel Peter dmitrijevich govorunanko."

The remaining two colonels, Danilov, introduced me in turn: "they are the commander of the 67th division of the guards, Colonel baksov, and the commander of the 71st division of the guards, Colonel Ivan prokofievich sivakov."

After Danilov introduced all the commanders who came out with him, I could not help frowning, because I had not seen the military commissar and chief of staff except a few division commanders.

Seeing his displeasure, Danilov asked me in a flurry and low voice, "Rita, I think you look very unhappy. What's the matter?"

"Why don't you see the military commissar and chief of staff?" Since Danilov took the initiative to ask, I would not hide my dissatisfaction. On the first day when my commander took office, the two military commanders of the group army did not show up. Did they have a grudge against me?

"Oh, so it is." When Danilov found out what was going on, he quickly explained to me, "Rita, the military commissar and chief of staff, had a car accident when they went out with commander chisgakov some time ago. They are still lying in the hospital now."

After figuring out what was going on, my dissatisfaction suddenly disappeared. Instead, I comforted Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, don't worry too much. Although there is no military commissar or chief of staff in the group army, you are familiar with the situation of the army and can concurrently serve as a military commissar for the time being; As for the post of chief of staff, for the time being, our deputy chief of staff, Colonel bezikov, will assume it. "

"Is that all right?" Danilov seemed hesitant about my arrangement.

"Don't worry, comrade deputy commander." In order to get rid of his scruples, I said carelessly, "you are only acting for the time being. When the superior sends a new military commissar and chief of staff, you can hand over the work. "Bezikov," I said, turning to bezikov behind me. When he stood in front of me, I turned to Danilov and said, "deputy commander, I'd like to introduce you. This is colonel bezikov. He's from the central guard of the Kremlin."

When they heard the words "Kremlin" and "Central Guard Corps", the commanders around them took in air-conditioning, but at the same time, they also showed respect for bezikov. Danilov took bzikov's hand and said with a smile, "Hello, Colonel bzikov. Welcome to be one of us."

After the meeting, Danilov guided me to a spacious office. He asked everyone to sit around the delicate long wooden table in the room, looked at me and asked, "Rita, do you have anything to say to the commanders here on your first day in office today?"

"Yes, comrade deputy commander, I do have a lot to say to the commanders here." With that, I stood up, supported the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and said to you, "comrades, although it is the first time that I have met all of you here today, I think you all know that I have been active in prohorovka some time ago to check the construction of the defense works in this area."

"Yes, comrade commander." The first speaker was Mr. sivakov of the 71st division of the guards. He said respectfully, "my subordinates have reported this to me in detail, so I know something about you. May I ask you another question? "

"Go ahead, comrade colonel." Although I don't know what questions he will ask, I still smile and say to him in a friendly way: "if you have any questions, just ask them. I will try my best to give you a satisfactory answer."

"I've heard it revealed vaguely," sivakov said after a moment's silence, seeing that he didn't object to his question. "Did general vatukin, commander of the front army, and Comrade Khrushchev, military commissar, suggest to the Supreme Commander himself that a preemptive assault should be carried out on the German troops deployed in the area of Belgorod + Kharkov? But now it's been more than a month, and there's still no movement. Has this surprise operation been cancelled? "

As for his question, I thought about it for a while and answered, "Comrade Colonel, as far as I know, the higher authorities did have such consideration, but after repeated weighing, the plan was cancelled. What we need to do next is to establish a solid and perfect defense system and organize strong defense to deal with the enemy's attack. Let the Germans consume their troops in our army's defense in depth and make them exhausted, and then strike the enemy with a strong counterattack in the direction of Belgorod Kharkov. "

"What should we do?" This time, the question was raised by the commander of the 378th infantry division, Colonel govorunanko.

"In addition to consolidating the existing defensive positions," I took this opportunity to present to the commanders the plan I had considered on the train back to Moscow: "the German assault was led by tanks, followed by infantry. Therefore, we should deploy enough artillery and anti tank guns along the more important direction, lay mines and explosives, so that the enemy can not easily rush in front of us. "

After talking about my defense plan, I began to instill in the commanders here the benefits of building tunnels and fortifications, and ordered the division commanders to build more fortifications and hiding caves according to their own conditions, so as to prepare for long-term combat.

When I finished, I took the tea cup in front of me and prepared to drink water. Division commander baksov of the 67th division stood up and asked, "Comrade commander, I want to ask, is there a time limit to complete such a large amount of work?"

"There must be restrictions, comrade colonel. Is that enough to say?" I understand the character of Russian people. They are very serious, but they are just too tardy. If we don't set a deadline for them, it is estimated that these projects will not be completed by the end of the year. With only two months to go before the outbreak of the Kursk war, I could not help saying anxiously: "in any case, this project must be completed within 40 days."

"Ah, forty days." My words not only surprised barksov, but also Danilov, who was sitting next to me. He asked in a low voice, "Rita, is this deadline too short?"

"It's not short at all." I looked down at Danilov and said that if you knew the specific time of the outbreak of the Kursk war, you would like to finish all the civil works tomorrow“ According to my estimation, the German army will not always stay at our opposite side and will attack us sooner or later. Therefore, we should make all combat preparations in advance to fight against the attack that the German army may launch at any time. "

After listening to me, Danilov was silent for a long time. Then he asked me cautiously, "Comrade commander, when do you think the German army will attack us?"

"It was on June 22, 1941 that the German army crossed the border and launched a bold attack on us." I did not immediately answer his specific time, but vaguely said: "moreover, the German army launched the battle of Stalingrad around June. This shows that the German army is used to attacking us when summer comes. "

"Will the German army launch a new attack on us in the middle and late June?" As soon as I finished, Danilov said casually, "in that case, we really don't have much time left."

"But will the German army really attack us in the middle and late June?" After listening to the dialogue between Danilov and me, the commanders in this room still couldn't help saying doubtfully: "if the commanders and fighters are exhausted because of the construction of fortifications, once the battle breaks out, I don't know if they have enough physical strength to take part in the battle."

"Comrades commanders," a loud voice suddenly came from the door, "if I were you, I would believe everything your commander said. You know, as early as a few months before the outbreak of the battle of Stalingrad, she had warned the Supreme Commander himself, so she was criticized. " I saw clearly that it was lieutenant general katukov who was standing at the door talking, followed by two other generals. I quickly walked around the table and joined Danilov. Shaking hands with him, he said unexpectedly, "general katukov, how can you come to my headquarters today?"“ Rita, I've heard that you're here today to congratulate you. " At this point, he turned to look at the two generals behind him, and added: "I also brought my two capable men to introduce you." After that, he leaned over and let the two generals out. He introduced them to me and said, "this is major general Guttman, commander of the 6th tank army. Next to him is major general krivoschein, commander of the 3rd Mechanized army. Both of them are my capable generals." Then he said to the two generals, "this is the general oshanina I often mention to you. Although she is a woman, ordinary men can't compare with her at all."“ Hello, general oshanina When katukov finished speaking, the two generals raised their hands in order to salute me and greet me politely. After giving katukov to his seat, I asked with concern, "Comrade General, I want to ask you, when will your tank group army be able to supply new tanks?" Without thinking, katukov replied, "I'm here to tell you this. I have just been informed that the first batch of tanks will be equipped with troops probably in May and next month. "