Chapter 1233

I received a phone call from the observation office saying that I found a huge motorcade coming towards us from the west of the city.

When managarov heard the report, he was shocked and asked me nervously, "Comrade commander, is this the German breakout force?"

"How is that possible, Comrade General?" When I saw managarov's frightening behavior, I couldn't help laughing and saying to him, "you know, for the German army, the best way to break through the encirclement is not to the west, but to the south. Because there are many forests, lakes and swamps in the west of Kharkov, their mechanized forces can not be developed and they can not get rid of our army's investigation quickly. Therefore, under the existing circumstances, they can only choose to break through southward. "

After listening to my explanation, managarov's mood was a little bit normal, but he was still worried and asked: "but who will come to such a big team?"

"Comrade General, I haven't had time to tell you something. I've asked chisgakov to move their headquarters to the city. It's supposed to be their convoy. " Then I waved my head to him and said, "come on, go out and meet them."

Coming out of the headquarters, I immediately felt the atmosphere of the battlefield. Although the commanders and fighters have cleaned up the corpses on the battlefield, the troops cleaning the battlefield have collected and carried away the weapons and equipment that can still be used. But the collapsed houses everywhere and the smoke everywhere still tell us that there was a fierce battle not long ago.

I stood by the side of the road, quietly watching the residents coming out of their hiding places, looking for something useful for life in the ruins. Just then a jeep stopped behind me, and kirilov's familiar voice said, "Hello, Rita, what are you looking at?"

I turned to look at kirilov, who was coming, and said politely, "here you are, comrade military Commissar." When he came to me, I nodded at the residents who were busy in the ruins, unkempt and ragged, and said, "look, how can we help these homeless residents?"

"We don't have many tents." "And I don't think it's a wise choice to put up a lot of tents in a city full of ruins," chisjakov, who just came by, said

When he finished, I waved my hand and said, "Comrade deputy commander, it's summer now. Even if there is no tent, they can find a place to rest at night. They don't need tents, they need food to survive. "

"According to my estimation, there are at least hundreds of thousands of residents in this Kharkov city." "It's almost impossible for us to provide food and other daily necessities for so many residents," chisgakov said with some embarrassment

Chisjakov's words made me silent. I think what he said is very reasonable. Although our group army is abundant in materials, it is impossible to ration hundreds of thousands of people. But if I want to watch the residents starve to death, I can't face it coldly.

When I was in a dilemma, I suddenly heard kirilov say, "Rita, I have an idea, which can solve the living problems of some residents, especially the elderly women."

When I heard kirilov say that he had a way, I was overjoyed and urged him to say, "Comrade military commissar, if you have any good way, please tell me quickly."

"Well," kirilov said carefully, "a large number of our officers and men were killed in this battle. It's better to call on a group of women and old people to take off the uniforms of the dead and wash them, and mend the places where they have been hit by bullets or shells, so that they can be worn by new soldiers in the future. Of course, we won't let these residents work for free. Every time we wash a uniform and fill the gap, we will provide 50 grams of bread. What do you think of my method, Rita

"What, let the residents reclaim the uniforms of the dead soldiers?" Kirilov's words made me very angry. It was the first time I heard that I wanted to recover the worn uniforms of the sacrificial commanders and soldiers. When I saw the women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment burying their dead comrades in arms in Stalingrad, the living people took off their best clothes and put them on the dead. At this moment, I suddenly heard that I was going to take off the uniforms of all the victims, which made me feel very twisted.

"Yes, comrade commander." "There has always been a written provision for the recovery of uniforms from victims," managarov said. What's more, we are short of materials now, so everything that can be reused must be reused. "

After hearing managarov's explanation, I found out what was going on. Since this is the tradition of the Soviet army, I could not raise any objection in public, so I had no choice but to say, "OK, then organize the residents to collect and clean the uniforms of the victims, but only 50 grams of bread is given for each suit, which is a little too little. Well, I don't have three clothes for 200 grams of bread

"Well, do as you say." Kirilov first agreed with my proposal. Then he called akhromeyev over and told him to arrange the manpower to organize the residents to collect, clean and repair the old military uniforms in exchange for food and necessary daily necessities.

Teams of soldiers walked past us with neat steps, and the soles of their boots stepped on the streets full of bricks and stones, making a rhythmic rubbing sound. Looking at these soldiers of different ages and heights, I thought to myself: if they come here today to take over the posts of those who sacrificed their comrades in arms, will the same troops come to take over them tomorrow?

"Comrade commander, what is the next task of our group army?" Just as I was watching the soldiers continue to pass in front of us, chisgakov asked, "will you stay in the city or pursue the German army?"

"This is not a good place. Let's go back to the headquarters first." After I finished, I quickly passed through the troops advancing in the street and walked towards my headquarters.

Ten or twenty commanders poured in, making the originally spacious headquarters crowded. Bezikov saw that there were too many people in the room, so he asked the operator to take the communication equipment to the next room, so as to make more space for our commanders.

When there was only a group of commanders left in the room, I said, "comrades, although we have recovered Kharkov, the battle against the Germans is not over. Kharkov is an important strategic point. As long as we occupy this area, our troops can advance boldly to the West Bank of the Dnieper River and liberate those areas occupied by the Communist aggressors. "

When I was talking happily, I found kirilov frowning slightly, and immediately realized that he was talking too much nonsense, so I quickly went back to the point: "Marshal Zhukov once called to ask our army group to stay in Kharkov for rest. After completing the replenishment, we will carry out more important combat tasks. "

"Comrade commander, may I ask, what is the combat mission?" What I said aroused the curiosity of chisgakov, who asked as soon as I finished.

I shook my head with a smile and said, "sorry, comrade deputy commander, I don't know. Marshal Zhukov said on the phone that it was an important combat mission, but he did not elaborate on what it was

Bezikov got up and went to the table where the maps were stacked. He took a roll of maps and spread it out on the table. Then he said, "although the marshal didn't say anything about the task, we can analyze it."

Managarov looked down at the map and said to himself as if he were asking someone else, "is there any place where there is fierce fighting besides us?"

"Yes, comrade commander." As soon as managarov's words came to an end, his chief of staff, general volgeng, stood up, pointed to Kharkov's southwest position and said, "according to the war report, our southwest front army and millions of troops of the southern front army are engaged in fierce fighting with the German army in the Donbas area."

"Donbas area?" Volgeng's words attracted everyone's attention in the past. A group of people gathered around the table, huddled their heads together, looking down at the new battlefield that might send us to.

I don't know how long it took, but after everyone sat down again, I wiped the sweat on my forehead with my hand and asked, "comrades, tell me, can we really be transferred to Donbas next?"

The first person to talk about his own point of view is, of course, my deputy commander, chisgakov: "commander, apart from Donbas, I really can't imagine where we will be transferred. After all, our troops are the closest to Donbas."

As soon as his words were finished, chief of staff bzikov immediately continued: "Comrade deputy commander, I don't think so. We should know that the reason why our group army took part in the battle of attacking Kharkov was that we were deployed close to the city. I think if the superior wants to send troops to strengthen the Donbas area, the first choice must be general konev's Grassland front army. So I think that even if the troops are transferred to the south, they may only be the 53rd army of general managarov. "

"That's right," managarov added immediately after listening to bzikov's words: "if you don't take the lead in marching towards Kharkov, I estimate that the task of attacking Kharkov from the west of the city will also be accomplished by our group army. So as long as your troops are not under the command of the grassland front army, if the superior wants to transfer troops to the south, it must be our group army. "

"General managarov," chisjakov asked politely, "if you go south to reinforce the dunbas front, what kind of task will our group army get?"

"Westward, across the Dnieper." When managarov heard this question from chisgakov, he immediately and unequivocally replied, "go and recover Kiev." At this point, he turned to look at me and said in a flattering tone, "you know, a few months ago, comrade commander led the 79th infantry army to recover Kiev. This time when Kiev is liberated, I think the higher authorities will still let you take up the main task."

Many things are very close to the truth when they are analyzed. When managarov said that, the commanders of the sixth group army, including me, focused on Kiev on the West Bank of the Dnieper River. Everyone was excited at the thought that our troops might be the main force for the liberation of Kiev. Kirilov, in particular, once took part in the battle to recover Kiev, and Kiev would not have been abandoned again if it had not been for the fact that we were outnumbered. I didn't expect that the glorious task of recovering Kiev was placed in front of us again. It's strange that he was not excited

I looked at the map carefully again and found that the main force of Voronezh's front army has been staying in the direction of tomarovka, and from there to Kiev, we can save a lot of road. Thinking of this, I waved my hand and said, "no, no, general managarov, I don't think your analysis is accurate."“ Ah, why? " Hearing that his analysis was denied by us, managarov was surprised and asked, "is there anything wrong with my analysis?"“ Look, Comrade General. " I pushed the map in front of him, and then said: "at present, the main force of Voronezh's front army is concentrated in tomarovka and the area to the West. At the same time, general rokosovsky's central front army is also located in the northeast of Kiev. If we want to liberate Kiev, as long as they send any troops, it will save time than starting from us. " After listening to my brief analysis, I again focused on the map. After repeated studies, they all believed that since it was impossible for us to be sent to Kiev, we had to go south to help the southwest front army and the southern front army and strike them hard from the flank of the German army. We were in a heated discussion when the telephone rang in the room. Bezikov got up to answer the phone, quickly turned his head and said to me with a pale face: "Comrade commander, it's general konev who called. He asked general managarov's 53rd army to return to the city center and take over the defense of our army."“ what? The army returned to build? " Hearing this news, managarov jumped up from his seat. He rushed to bezikov, grabbed the phone from him, and then said to the microphone, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, this is managarov. It seems that I have just heard that you intend to return our troops. Is that the case? Ah?! It's true. Why I see. I obey orders