Chapter 1495

"When can you finish your rest?" Zhukov asked finally.

Although we have captured jernopol, we have to take a short rest in order to encircle and annihilate the first group army of German tanks. That's why Zhukov asked this question. I covered the microphone and asked rebalko, "Comrade General, how long does it take for your troops to rest before they can fight again?"

"Two days." Rebalko stretched out two fingers and said solemnly, "if you want the troops to recover their combat effectiveness, you need to rest for at least two days."

"Marshal," I released my hand covering the microphone and reported to Zhukov, "it will take at least two days for the troops to return to battle."

After my words, Zhukov was silent for at least two or three minutes, and then said slowly, "well, rebarko, they have just gone through a fierce battle. The troops have suffered a lot of losses, and the ammunition also needs to be replenished. Then I'll give you two days to replenish your troops and ammunition. In two days' time, they will have to fight again. "

When I put down the phone, I was surprised to find that besides rebarko, there was melinikov standing in front of me. I was a little surprised and asked, "Comrade military commissar, when did you arrive?"

"I just arrived a few minutes ago, but seeing you talking to marshal, I didn't disturb you." After simply answering my question, melinikov asked curiously, "I don't know what Marshal said?"

After I repeated Zhukov's words, melinikov was surprised and said, "if we can eliminate the first German tank army, Ukraine will return to its motherland in a short time."

As for the joy on melinikov's face, I can't bear to pour cold water on him. I can only euphemistically say: "Comrade military commissar, judging from the current situation, it is only a matter of time before our army recovers Ukraine. But the German army will not easily admit defeat, they will certainly carry on the dying struggle. We must not take them lightly until we completely drive them out of our country. "

"That's right, that's right." "As long as there is an enemy in our country, I believe our soldiers will never lay down their weapons," he said, nodding his head vigorously

"Rita," rebarko said after melinikov finished, he then asked me, "what's the reply of Marshal? Does he agree with our rest plan?"

"Yes, the marshal agreed." I nodded my head and said, "he gave you two days to rest, and then put into the battle of encircling and annihilating the 1st group army of tanks."

I didn't expect melinikov to listen to me. He immediately turned to rebarko and put forward his own suggestion: "Comrade commander, I don't think our troops need to rest at all. In the siege battle, in addition to Novikov's close guard tank No.6 army and close guard mechanized No.7 army, the casualties of several other troops were still within the acceptable range. I think that Ivanov's 7th army of close guard tanks and the 9th army of marekin's mechanized close guard should be put into combat immediately. "

As a result of the battle to capture jernopol, I stayed in the headquarters all the time, so I knew the situation of the troops very well. At the moment, it is barely possible to put the two forces mentioned by melinikov into combat immediately. However, after such a fierce battle, the commanders and fighters become tired. If they are allowed to continue to fight, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

"Comrade military commissar," rebarko said patiently to melinikov without waiting for me to speak, "even if the losses of the two armies you mentioned are small, they can't fight until they replenish their troops and ammunition, otherwise their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced."

"If our troops were to fight earlier," melinikov said, "then we could defeat the German army besieged by our army earlier."

When they quarreled, I stood by the wall, looked at the map on the wall, looked at the red and blue arrows representing the enemy and ourselves, and thought about how to eliminate the German army besieged by our army.

"What do you think, Rita?" I was studying which direction Hube was going to lead the troops out of our encirclement when I heard the voice of rebalko behind me.

I turned and looked at him, a blank face asked: "Comrade General, what do you think?"

After listening to me, rebalko immediately understood that I certainly didn't hear the dispute between him and melinikov, so he explained to me, "well, I have a little disagreement with the military commissar on whether to send troops to fight immediately. I'm going to let the troops rest for two days and then fight according to the Marshal's arrangement. And he advocated immediately putting the two armies with little loss into battle. "

After listening to what rebalko said, I found out where their differences were. To tell you the truth, I don't agree that at such a time, the troops that have just been fighting will be put back into more exciting fighting. Therefore, I stood on the side of rebalko and said to melinikov, "Comrade military commissar, I agree with general rebalko that the troops should rest for two days and then fight again."

Seeing that melinikov opened his mouth and seemed ready to persuade me to change my mind, he continued: "Comrade military commissar, I do not deny that our commanders and fighters are fully capable of continuous combat. But don't you think that having the troops replenished with troops and technical equipment and put them into combat after two days' rest can make them play a greater role? "

As soon as my words came out, melinikov was speechless, and rebalko said while the iron was hot: "Comrade military commissar, let the troops rest for two days and then take part in the battle, which was agreed by Marshal Zhukov himself. According to the regulations, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed and can only be executed unconditionally. "

The words of me and rebalko made melinikov lose his temper. He had to nod his head and said helplessly: "since it's Marshal Zhukov's order, then I don't have any opinions."

…………

Two days later, rebarko left a brigade of the mechanized 7th army of the guards to take charge of the defense of jernopol. The rest of the troops rushed to the kamenitz podoliski area to encircle and annihilate the 1st German tank group army besieged in the area.

At the same time, I also completed my mission and went back to the headquarters of the front army to cooperate with Zhukov to command the battle that determined Ukraine's fate. After seven days and nights of fierce fighting, the besieged German army had been compressed by our army into a narrow section less than 100 kilometers long and 70 kilometers wide.

Although the situation is very favorable to our army, Zhukov's face has never been relaxed, because the German reinforcements, including the elite SS 2nd army, have successively arrived in the Lvov area. At the same time, a Hungarian Army Group also came from the southwest in an attempt to rescue the besieged German army.

Sokolovsky, the new chief of staff of the front army, asked me in front of Zhukov, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of the Hungarian Army? If we don't mobilize our troops to reinforce the troops in the southwest, will they be able to block the enemy's attack? "

From sokolovsky's expression, I can see that he is dismissive of the Hungarian Army. In his eyes, the only force with combat effectiveness is the German army; The rest of the troops from Italy, Romania, Hungary and other countries are just playing the role of soy sauce, which is not worth mentioning at all.

In order to prevent the irreparable consequences of belittling the enemy, I specially stressed to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, we can't underestimate the Hungarian troops. I remember that in the battle of Stalingrad, the troops under my command had dealt with Hungarian troops. According to my judgment, the combat effectiveness of individual troops is not inferior to that of the German army at all. "

As soon as I finished, sokolovsky began to laugh. He looked at Zhukov and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, how can you build up the ambition of the enemy and destroy the prestige of our army. Yes, it is true that some Hungarian troops are not weak in combat effectiveness, but they have been exhausted in the battle with our army. Today's troops are all new recruits, and their combat effectiveness can't be compared with the old veterans. "

As soon as sokolovsky finished, I turned to Zhukov and wanted to hear what he said. Zhukov frowned and thought about it. Then he said to sokolovsky, "Comrade chief of staff, Rita is right. Although the combat effectiveness of Hungary is not strong, we should not take it lightly. You call general katukov and order him to move a mechanized army westward, but help the troops in the west block the Hungarian Army. "

When sokolovsky went to call katukov to assign a task, Zhukov suddenly asked me, "Rita, judging from the fighting in the past two days, the German army is not willing to lose and is in a desperate struggle. I think they will soon choose a direction and carry out a breakthrough operation. What line of defense do you think they will break through? "

I began to think about the question that Zhukov asked when he captured jernopol. At this moment, listening to him ask this question, I did not immediately answer, but first looked at the map for a while, and then cautiously said: "Comrade marshal, from the map, the terrain in the south is flat, and there are good roads, so we can use armored forces on a large scale. If I were Hube, I would choose this road first, because as long as I break through our army's defense, I can enter Romania along the road. The terrain of Romania is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We can't cross the border in a short time. "

When I said this, I stopped for a moment to observe Zhukov's reaction. Who knows he saw me listen down, looked up at me after a glance, light asked: "there are other possibilities?"

"Yes, comrade marshal." I quickly pointed to the north of kamenitz podolisky and continued: "there is another possibility that the German army will abandon the existing heavy equipment and cross the mountain road to the north."

After hearing what I said, Zhukov shook his head with a smile and said jokingly, "Rita, you are still too young to understand a lot of things." He pointed to the map and continued, "the German armored forces can't cross the mountains, so the most likely thing is to concentrate on the south. General Hube used powerful armored forces to break through our defense line on the South Road and enter Romania along the road. "

After that, he looked up at me and said, "I think your first analysis is completely correct."

After the phone call, sokolovsky came over, and Zhukov then gave him an order: "Comrade chief of staff, judging from the current situation, it is very possible for the German army to break through the encirclement to the south, so we should immediately dispatch troops to detour back to the retreat of the German army, and at the same time, let the air force be ready to carry out air strikes on the German armored forces. They must be wiped out on the way to Romania. "

Zhukov's words put me in a dilemma, because I didn't know which direction the German army would choose if they wanted to break through, because I didn't know much about this period of history. I hesitated for a moment, then summoned up courage, Zhukov said: "marshal, since we can analyze the direction of the German army's breakout, will they still rush in according to our imagination?" My words made Zhukov's face look discontented. He looked at me and said, "Rita, I just said that you are too young to understand many things. From the analysis of the current situation, the German army did not break through from the south, did it break through from the north? It's full of mountains, and the enemy's armored forces can't get through. "“ But, comrade marshal. " If Zhukov didn't speak to me in such a harsh tone, maybe I would have acquiesced in his decision. But when I heard him say this with such confidence, my heart became uneasy. So I said with a stiff head, "according to my judgment, the German army may be in danger this time. It will abandon heavy equipment and cross the mountains to break through to the north." Unexpectedly, after I finished speaking, Zhukov waved his hand and said with a strong voice, "Lida, don't forget, I am the commander of the front army. I has the final say. Since I think the German army will break through from the south, they will certainly break through from the south. As for the idea of breaking through in the north, only an inexperienced commander like you can think of it. " After that, he told sokolovsky: "well, comrade chief of staff, according to the instructions I have just given, give orders to the commanders of the following army groups, so that they can enter the designated position as soon as possible to stop the German army which is hard to escape, and make sure not to let a German escape." Although an ominous premonition welled up in my heart at the moment, I was helpless in the face of the domineering and stubborn Zhukov. I could only pray secretly in my heart that the German army would follow Zhukov's idea and choose the route to break through the encirclement to the south.