Chapter 1343

Although katukov sent me a telegram saying that his two tank brigades and a mechanized brigade would arrive at noon the next day and take part in our offensive against fastif. But the plan couldn't keep up with the change. Until 3 p.m., I still didn't receive the message of friendly troops arriving. So I called major general berey in korostvev, and he replied that he had sent people to scout in the direction of the friendly forces, but he had not received any report so far.

Chisgakov was a little worried when he learned that the reinforcements had not arrived. He carefully reminded me: "Comrade commander, do you want to send a telegram to general katukov to ask what happened and why the troops had not arrived at the designated position in the afternoon?"

Although I was worried about the delay of the troops, I also knew that it was useless to send a telegram to katukov at this time. In the case of wind and snow, if the troops want to march for hundreds of kilometers in the forest, they are bound to encounter many unexpected difficulties. It's perfectly normal when they can't arrive on time. It's like when we go to express delivery and deliver the things to express delivery company, when we can reach the destination, to a large extent, we can only let fate decide.

However, seeing that chisgakov was in such a hurry, I would like to say a few words: "Comrade deputy commander, you see the wind and snow outside is so heavy, even if you march on the road, you will inevitably be affected, let alone in the forest. Moreover, general katukov's support for our troops has not been considered in our operational plan at all, so even if they can't arrive before the battle, we will launch the attack on fativ according to the original plan. "

Listen to me, chisgakov's face was full of disappointment. He sighed with regret and said, "it's a pity. Unfortunately, I thought that general katukov had supported our two tank brigades. Our armored assault strength could be greatly improved, so as to conquer the German defensive positions in the shortest time. Now it seems that whether they can take part in this battle is a question. "

After he finished, I said with a smile, "don't worry, comrade deputy commander. We haven't launched an attack on the enemy yet. Maybe they can arrive before the battle starts."

After that, I called bzikov over and said to him, "chief of staff, it seems that the snowstorm outside can't stop for a while. In addition, the weather is too cold. If the troops enter the attack position too early, it will lead to a large number of non combat casualties. You should inform the commanders of all the departments participating in the war that the troops will wait until one o'clock in the morning tomorrow before they start to attack the positions. "

When bezikov called to convey my order, I asked akhromeyev again, "major, does the reconnaissance battalion have the latest information about fastyv?"

Akhromeyev nodded and said, "I received information from the reconnaissance battalion a few minutes ago. At present, there is a silence in the west of farstev. It may be because of the heavy snow and wind. The enemy's position can't see any movement. They may be hiding in a warm shelter. "

After listening to akhromeyev's report, I turned my face to look at chisgakov and jokingly said, "Comrade deputy commander, if the Germans will not come out of the warm shelter when we attack tomorrow, our attack will be as easy as a drill."

As for what I said, chisgakov just grinned, then changed the topic and asked me, "Comrade commander, who are you going to send to the front to command the battle tomorrow, are you or me?"

Because of the large number of troops participating in the war tomorrow, we can't do without unified command. At present, there are only two military commanders in the group army, tavartkilaze and bere. The former shoulders the heavy responsibility of defending Zhitomir and can't get rid of it at all; The latter is only a tank commander, who is asked to command all kinds of operations, but his ability is slightly insufficient. Therefore, we can only send people from the headquarters to command in the middle.

After thinking about it, I answered him, "Comrade deputy commander, if you stay at the headquarters tomorrow, I'll be in charge of the battle at the front line of fativ."

After listening to my proposal, chisgakov said nothing, but nodded his head and agreed. After a while, he asked me, "will general Svoboda's Czech first brigade also let them take part in tomorrow's battle?"

"The 89th division of general seleucin's guards has been transferred to korostwev, and there is only one motorized infantry regiment left at the base. The troops are too weak." I calmly replied, "it's still according to the original plan to let the first Czech brigade take over the defense of the sherekin division."

"But, comrades commander," chisjakov said with some embarrassment, "general Svoboda is quite dissatisfied with our arrangement of their defense base. He said that shortly after the new expansion of the army, most of the soldiers have not participated in combat. In order to make the army form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, he proposed to let them exercise in tomorrow's battle. "

"No, no," I said with an extremely arduous attitude, "Comrade deputy commander, I think you should understand in your heart that tomorrow's battle will be a fierce one. If the Czech first brigade is transferred up rashly, once the new soldiers are frightened by the sound of guns and the cruel and bloody scenes in the battle, they will turn around and run back, which will lead to our demoralization and demoralization. "

"Well, comrade commander, since you say so, I'll go and persuade general Svoboda later so that he can change his mind." "In fact, it's a very important responsibility to be responsible for the defense work here, and I will make it clear to him about the interests of this," chisgakov said

In the evening, I called Yushchenko in and ordered him to assemble a company of guards, led by major bukov, the deputy commander, to follow me to the front of farstev.

As soon as we left the base, we saw a jeep coming in front of us. I stared at the jeep that was getting closer and closer. I thought that if I was driving so fast on a snowy day, I must have some important information to send to the headquarters, so I immediately told the driver, "stop!"

"I understand!" The driver agreed, honked the horn twice, and then pulled the car to the side of the road. The following trucks first stopped in turn, and then the trucks in front of them stopped one after another because they heard the driver's horn.

The jeep coming from the opposite side saw our motorcade stop and slowed down. Because of our team, the only car I took was jeep, and the rest were trucks, so the jeep stopped next to us.

Bukov, who had been getting off from the co driver's seat for a long time, saw the other party's car stop and rushed to the front of the car. Then the back door of the jeep rang, and a commander in general's uniform got out. When I looked at each other carefully, bukov had come up to him, raised his hand and politely asked, "Hello, Comrade General! What part are you and why are you here? "

The general of medium build and thin face raised his hand and politely said, "Hello, comrade major! This is major general babajaniyang, commander of the 20th brigade of the mechanized guards of the Eighth Army. Who is this As he said this, he took a quick glance at our car. "Where are you going?"

"I'm major bukov, deputy head of the group's military and police regiment." After listening to the other party's identity, bukov truthfully answered the other party's question: "I was ordered to escort the commander to the front."

I sat in the car, and after hearing babajanian's name, I frowned and thought for a moment, vaguely remembering that katukov had mentioned him to me. At this time, I felt that it was not suitable to sit in the car again, so I pushed the door open and got out of the car. With a smile on my face, I reached out to babajanian and took the initiative to say hello to him: "Hello, general babajanian, I'm oshanina. Nice to meet you here."

Babajanian saw me coming out of the car and quickly saluted me. Then he took my hand and politely said, "Hello, comrade general, I have heard our commander and commander mention you many times. It's my honor to fight with you tomorrow. "

"How's general klivaschein?" I asked politely, "I haven't seen him in four months since the battle in Kursk."

"He's fine." Babajanian replied, "he often mentions you in front of me. He says that the troops under your command have made many achievements on the battlefield, which has made the Germans scared."

I don't know whether his praise comes from the heart or from the common courtesy. When he finished, I asked, "general babajanian, where are your troops?"

Babajanian raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "it's time for them to drive into korostrev." Maybe he guessed that I was going to ask about the tank brigade next, and he quickly added, "because the roads in the forest are not completely frozen, it is very difficult for the tanks to drive, so the tank brigade gave way to the motorcade of our brigade's commanders and fighters."

"When will they arrive?" I continued.

Babajanian shook his head and said helplessly: "it's hard to say. If the road is frozen, I think they should be able to arrive in the middle of the night, otherwise they will be waiting for tomorrow afternoon at the most."

I was very disappointed to hear that the tank brigade could not arrive in a short time. But in front of babajanian, I tried to hide my disappointment. I tried to say in a calm tone, "Comrade General, are you going to the headquarters to find me?"

"Yes, general oshanina." Babajanian said politely, "according to the order I received, the troops must report to you immediately after they arrive at their destination." At this point, he grinned and said, "I'm lucky. I met you on the way."

"Comrade General, please get in the car and go with me?" Finish saying, I then the body side, stretched out a hand to do a please posture. He was not polite, nodded at me, then limped to the open door, helped the door and got into the car.

After the jeep was restarted, in order not to be cold, I intentionally talked about babajanian's past achievements: "Comrade General, if I remember correctly, in the battle in early July, your tank brigade successfully blocked the German 48th armored army, and beat back the attacks of the Hitler division and the great Germanic division. But at that time, your serial number didn't seem to be the 20th brigade of guards mechanization? "

Babajanian's mouth tilted slightly when I mentioned his past achievements. After a while, he replied, "yes, at that time our serial number was still the mechanized third brigade. After the capture of tomarovka in October, our army was renamed the mechanized eighth close guard army because of its military achievements, and our brigade was also renamed the mechanized 20th close guard brigade."

I remembered that babajanian was a little lame when he was walking on the bus, so I asked with concern, "Comrade General, I think your feet are a little inconvenient when you walk. Have you ever been injured?" Babajanian replied with a smile: "general oshanina, you have observed it very carefully. Not long after the battle in Kursk, I was seriously injured in my left leg and spent four months in the hospital Four months later, when I heard what he said, I immediately calculated it silently in my heart and found that even if he was injured in early July and stayed in the hospital for four months, it should be not long after he was discharged. Thinking of this, I immediately asked with concern: "Comrade General, the injury on your leg will not affect the command of operations, will it?"“ Don't worry, general oshanina Babajanian patted his chest to give me a reassurance and said, "after lying in the hospital for four months, my leg has been healed a long time ago. Although it's a little inconvenient to walk, it's no problem for me to drive a tank to charge the enemy. " After expressing his determination to me, he asked curiously, "general oshanina, I don't know what our brigade's mission is in tomorrow's battle?"“ Since we did not know that general katukov would send you when we formulated the combat mission, we did not include you in the list of offensive forces. " When I finished these two sentences, I saw that he looked disappointed and said in a hurry: "of course, with the participation of your brigade, we have a higher chance of winning. After tomorrow's battle, your brigade will stay in the rear as a reserve. When there is a shortage of troops along the line, you will join the cavalry division in the battle. "“ Since your operational plan has been worked out for a long time, I will obey your arrangement. " Babajanian's mood soon returned to normal, and he said in a flat tone: "however, general oshanina, I beg you to put my troops into battle, no matter whether the troops at the front are tight or not. We walked for almost a day and a night, from Kiev through the snow covered forest to korostev, 200 kilometers away. We didn't come to be a reserve team