Chapter 1459

Unfortunately, when I arrived at the reconnaissance office, a reconnaissance staff officer told me, "excuse me, comrade deputy commander. Major travkin has gone to wallensky new town for more than half an hour. He will come back tomorrow evening. Do you have anything urgent to ask him?"

When I heard that travkin had left, I was a little disappointed. However, on second thought, it doesn't matter if I ask about the specific circumstances of gretka's death. So I waved to the staff and pretended to be nothing. I just didn't see him for a long time and wanted to talk to him. Since he's not here, I'll come back to him another day. "

I went back to my room, and soon after I fell asleep, I was awakened by the fierce knock on the door. I vaguely opened my eyes, looked at my wrist watch, and found that I had slept less than five hours. I sat up and asked impatiently, "who's out there?"

"Comrade deputy commander," after the knock stopped, there was a timid voice: "Comrade marshal is going to hold an emergency meeting. Please go and attend it."

"I see. I'll go right away." As soon as my voice fell, the sound of footsteps came from outside.

As I put on my clothes, I thought that Zhukov would hold an emergency military meeting in the middle of the night, and there would be something important to discuss. Let's call a meeting. I have met with most of the leaders of the group army during the day; As for the military conference, it is even more unlikely. The campaign was launched a week later, and now it is too early to discuss it.

I came to Zhukov's office full of questions. As soon as the door was opened, all around the long conference table were filled with senior commanders. Seeing me enter the door, Zhukov pours at the empty seat beside him and says, "sit down and wait for you."

When I was seated, Zhukov stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said in a loud voice, "comrades commanders, your troops will all take part in the battle of proskurov chernovitzer in a few days. I have just received a call from Comrade Stalin, who said that it is a bit too late to launch a campaign in a week's time, so our offensive campaign must be advanced. "

Zhukov's words were like throwing a handful of salt in a hot iron pot, which suddenly burst open. Seeing his subordinates talking, Zhukov unexpectedly kept silent and didn't stop them. After the meeting became quiet again, he asked, "well, who has any questions?"

"Marshal," rebalko said at first, "the 3rd group army of our close guard tanks is ready to fight at any time."

"Good." Zhukov was very satisfied with rebalko's statement. Then he turned his eyes to katukov and lelushenko: "are your two commanders' troops ready?"

"Yes, comrade marshal." The tall katukov stood up and replied with a smile, "the first group army of our tanks is ready to fight at any time."

Then lelushenko also made a statement: "Comrade marshal, my fourth group army of tanks is ready for all battles."

After hearing this, Zhukov nodded with a smile, and then asked lelushenko, "general lelushenko, your predecessor Comrade badanov was wounded in the battle. How's the situation?"

"It's said that the injury is very serious," said lelushenko with a curl of his mouth. "At least in the first half of this year, he won't be able to take part in any major battle."

"Comrade lelushenko, according to the rank system of our army, the position of commander of the tank group army you are now holding is equivalent to demotion." "Don't you have any emotions?" Zhukov asked in a friendly manner

"No, comrade marshal." "I like this position very much, so that I can run around with the right name," he said with a smile

After the polite remarks, Zhukov restrained his smile and said to the three: "three tank commanders, it is the first time in the war for us to concentrate the three tank groups on the main attack direction of the front army at the same time. You should overcome the disadvantages of muddy roads and flooding rivers in spring, and cooperate with infantry to break through the German defense area. Are you confident? "

"Yes!" "We have confidence," the three replied in unison

Zhukov asked the three to sit down and continued: "according to the instructions of the Supreme Commander himself, our attack will start at 8 a.m. on March 4. At the end of the artillery preparation, the 13th and 60th army and the 1st army of the close guard first carried out major raids on the German defensive positions in the chortkov area. The 18th and 38th army carried out auxiliary attacks. So, are you all ready to fight? "

As soon as Zhukov's words came to an end, the five commanders of the Group Army stood up and answered neatly, "we are ready for all battles and can attack at any time."

After listening to the answers from the eight commanders of the group army, I felt a lot more at ease. Although the campaign was launched in a hurry, the good news is that all the troops are ready to fight and can fight at any time. I believe that with their efforts, we will be able to complete the campaign.

After the meeting, Zhukov's office was left with me, the chief of staff and Khrushchev. Khrushchev carefully reminded Zhukov, saying: "Comrade Zhukov, since we have determined the specific attack time, we should immediately report this to Comrade Stalin."

"Well, comrade Khrushchev, you are right." Zhukov quickly walked to the table, picked up the high-frequency telephone, dialed a number, and added: "it's time to report the preparations for the campaign to the Supreme Commander himself."

When I got through, I listened attentively to the conversation between Zhukov and Stalin. Stalin asked, "well, comrade Zhukov, did you have any results in the discussion of the emergency military meeting you convened?"

"Yes, comrade Stalin, the results have come out." Zhukov reported to him the results of the meeting and the preparations of the participating troops.

After listening to Zhukov's report, Stalin said slowly: "konev called me not long ago and said that they were ready to fight at any time. He is confident that in the shortest time, he will destroy the German fortifications and tear a hole in the enemy's line of defense. "

After a moment's silence, Stalin said slowly, "well, comrade Zhukov, I'm waiting for the good news of your victory."

……

At 8 a.m. on March 4, our artillery began shelling the German defensive position in the chortkov area.

When I was the commander of the group army before, I felt that the artillery preparation before the attack was too far away from me. In my headquarters, I could only hear the faint roar and see the smoke rising in the distance. Now in the headquarters of the front army, we can't even hear the sound of the guns.

I walked back and forth in the headquarters, anxiously waiting for the war report from the front. When he saw me like this, Zhukov couldn't help laughing. He said to me, "come on, Rita, don't walk around in the room. It's killing my eyes. Just sit down and wait patiently for the news from the front. "

With a long sigh, I sat down next to Khrushchev, staring at the map lying on the table in a daze. Khrushchev looked at me and then asked Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, when will our tank troops go into battle?"

"It depends on the progress of our army." Zhukov patiently explained to Khrushchev: "you see, according to our operational plan, the 4th group army of tank of lelushenko and the 3rd group army of close guard tank of rebalko will enter into a state of engagement from the position of the 60th group army of chernyahovsky. Only this direction is suitable for the tank troops."

Although Khrushchev had heard all of Zhukov's remarks at the pre war military conference, he still asked uneasily, "can our tank troops quickly go out to the area of jernopol and proskurov and cut off the main traffic lines of the German southern army group?"

"There should be no problem with that." Zhukov confidently said: "we have established a strong assault group in the main assault direction, and we have an advantage in both military strength and technical equipment. Moreover, three tank armies were put into this main attack direction, which was totally unexpected to the German army. According to our reconnaissance, the enemy has no power to block such a large tank regiment. "

"Great, it's just great." Khrushchev pointed to the map and said triumphantly, "our army has invested so many tank troops in such a small area, which should exceed the scale of the decisive battle of tanks in the Kursk war?"

Instead of answering Khrushchev, Zhukov threw this question to me: "Rita, you once led the troops to the battle of Kursk. I believe you have a better say in this matter."

Seeing that Zhukov pushed the problem to me, I laughed awkwardly, and then said, "Comrade military commissar, the number of tanks put into our army may be similar to that in the Kursk war, but the number of tanks put into the German army can not be compared with that at that time. Even compared with us, they are at a disadvantage in quantity and quality."

After we had a demonstration on the map, chief of staff Bogoliubov came up with a war report and handed it to Zhukov. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, after the artillery preparation, the 60th army, under the cover of tanks, launched an impact on the enemy's position."

After reading it, Zhukov asked Bogoliubov without expression: "chief of staff, do you have any information about the 13th group army and the 1st group army of the guards?"

"No," Bogoliubov said, shaking his head, "I haven't received any reports from these two groups yet, but I think they are also attacking the enemy's positions."

"If you have any latest information, please let me know." Zhukov waved to bogoleubov and said, "remember, whether it's good news or bad news, you should report it to me at the first time."

As soon as Bogoliubov left, Stalin's call arrived.

The Supreme Commander himself asked in an excited voice that I had never heard before: "Hello, comrade Zhukov, has your attack begun?"

"Yes, comrade Stalin." Zhukov, holding the microphone in his hand and straightening his waist, said: "at present, general chernyahovsky's 60th army is under the guidance of tank troops, charging towards the German first line of defense. According to our latest battle reports, fierce fighting is unfolding in the front of the enemy. " Stalin was silent for a moment, then asked slowly, "Comrade Zhukov, do you think our troops can break through the German defense?" When he heard Stalin's question like Khrushchev's, Zhukov's face twitched. Then he said firmly, "Comrade Stalin, our army is absolutely superior in both strength and technical equipment in this offensive campaign. I believe our commanders and fighters will be able to break through the German defense."“ Well, I'm just confirming. " Stalin certainly knew what kind of forces we had put into the main assault direction, because Zhukov had reported these to him. The reason why he still called to ask about the launching of the offensive was undoubtedly that after the campaign goal was achieved, our troops could liberate the whole of Ukraine and push the front line near the border. When we think that after nearly three years of war, we can finally return to the border line, Stalin, who has always been calm, will also lose his position. Zhukov understood Stalin's mood very well, and he promised again, "Comrade Stalin, please rest assured. Although the offensive campaign was launched in a hurry, our troops are fully capable of crushing or destroying the enemy. You can rest assured. "“ Well, I wish you good luck When Stalin finished, he hung up. After Zhukov put down the phone, he called bogoleubov in front of him and said solemnly, "chief of staff, comrade Stalin has just called in person to inquire about the progress of our campaign. So let me remind you once again that no matter what happens on the battlefield, as soon as there is a battle report, you must report it to me immediately. Do you understand? "“ I see, comrade marshal. " Bogoliubov replied in a loud voice: "as soon as there is the latest war report, I will report it to you immediately." When I saw that other people in the headquarters were busy, but I was sitting next to Zhukov and Khrushchev doing nothing, I felt extremely uneasy. I stood up and asked Zhukov, "marshal, can you arrange something for me? I'm really not used to sitting around doing nothing like this. "