Chapter 404

Meletzkov had just finished his call with Stalin when a staff officer came up and handed a telegram to him. He read the phone, his face showing the excitement rarely seen since the beginning of the battle. He went to starikov, who was standing in front of the map and was concentrating on studying the situation of the two armies. He handed him the telegram and said: "the telegram from Leningrad's front army, the fighter formation of the air force has set out. It is estimated that it will arrive at the battlefield in a few minutes. The naval guns of the Baltic Fleet braved the crazy air raid of the Communist air force to suppress the German artillery who were shelling the heights of sinavino. You call the chief of staff, gorovchner, and ask him what's going on there? "

Starikov agreed, went to the table and contacted the front headquarters by telephone. As soon as the phone was put through, he asked aloud, "Hello, chief of staff, what's the situation there?"

"Report to the commander that the German artillery bombardment of the Highlands has stopped. Our fighters are fighting the enemy planes circling, dropping bombs and strafing over the highlands. Just now I saw through the telescope that a fighter pilot of our army was very brave. After he was wounded by a bullet, he did not withdraw from the battle immediately. Instead, he bravely ran into the enemy's plane and died with the enemy. "

After listening, starikov nodded his head and said, "I will report the pilot's deeds to the commander of the front army and ask him to give this hero the honor he deserves. Have you got in touch with highland? "

When meletzkov heard starikov mention himself, he whispered to me, "Rita, what's going on?" I quickly repeated what I just heard. After hearing this, he nodded and said, "I'll contact General govolov, commander of Leningrad's front army, and ask him to give this hero the honorary title of pilot."

As meletskov spoke, I stood up to hear the voice coming from the microphone: "the telephone line between my headquarters and the highland was broken several times by heavy German artillery fire. In order to keep the contact with the Highlands uninterrupted and the orders could be sent to the troops in time, I had to send signalmen between the two places. At present, more than 20 officers and men of the communication company have died on the hillside. Comrade commander, I have something else to tell you. "

"What's the matter? Go ahead, chief of staff. "

"After being shelled and bombed by the German army, the defenders on the Highlands have been killed and injured. If the Germans launch a counterattack at this time, the positions we have painstakingly seized will fall back into their hands. "

"Wait a minute. Don't hang up. I'll discuss with the senior general to see where to transfer troops to you." At this point, starikov looked up at meletskov not far away, waiting for his reply. Meletzkov also heard the words of chief of staff golovchner, thought for a moment, and said faintly: "let the troops of the 19th division of the guards go up first. Although there are not many people, it is still OK to block the German counterattack once or twice. At the same time, the 22nd, 23rd and 137th infantry brigades were urged to enter the highlands to take over the defense, while fortifying fortifications to cope with the German counterattack on a larger scale. " After listening to this, starikov immediately relayed meletzkov's order to chief of staff golovchner verbatim through the microphone.

At this moment, a voice calling for a report came from the door. I followed my steps and saw lieutenant general krakov, who had met for a long time, walking into the headquarters. He went up to meletskov, raised his hand to salute after standing at attention, and reported: "report general Comrade, commander of the second shock group army, kraikov, has been ordered to report to you and wait for your instructions."

After meletzkov raised his hand to salute him, he asked him to sit down and began to introduce the situation to him: "Comrade krakov, time is running out. I won't say more polite words. In order to strengthen the unified command of the troops, major o'shanina proposed that the Fourth Infantry army and the sixth infantry army of the guards should be under your command. This proposal has been reported to the supreme commander in chief and approved by the Supreme Commander himself. I wonder if you have any objection to this new appointment? "

When I heard meletskov's last sentence, I couldn't help laughing and joking. It's all agreed by the Supreme Commander himself. Who has the courage to object? Besides, it's a good thing to let krakov be the commander of the former enemy, and he won't object.

Krakov was a little surprised to hear the news. He turned to look at me, then turned to meletzkov and said, "I have no objection. I firmly obey the orders of my superiors." After a few simple words, krakov took over the command of the army.

Starikov stepped forward, saluted Krakow and reported, "lieutenant general, starikov, commander of the eighth group army, reports to you. I'm at your command."

Krakov nodded and said, "Comrade starikov, please quickly convey this appointment to commanders at all levels, so that when I command them, they can carry out my orders to the letter."

When starikov went to call his subordinate troops, I also stepped forward and raised my hand to salute kraikov: "report commander comrade, major oshanina, combat staff officer of the front army command, report to you and wait for your order!"

"Operational staff?" Krakov looked at me suspiciously, then turned to meletzkov and asked, "senior general, I remember that when the last battle preparation meeting was held, this female major from my second shock group army, or the acting division commander of the 378th infantry division, how did she become a combat staff officer now?"

Meletzkov replied vaguely, "this is an order given by Comrade Stalin himself to be a combat staff officer in the headquarters of the front army. Maybe it's to let her accumulate experience as a staff officer." After listening to meletskov's reply, general Krakow looked at me with great interest and asked, "major oshanina, I'd like to know. Can you comment on the ongoing battle?" For a moment, I didn't know how to answer Krakow's question, so I turned my eyes to meletskov. He gave me a smile and said encouragingly, "come on, Rita. I also want to know what mistakes I made in this campaign. " Now that he has said so as commander of the front army, I will give up my scruples and say my true opinion directly: "this campaign is far from the original target of our campaign from the current situation. First of all, we made mistakes in planning. It is a big mistake to attack the German fortified area at the same time when the two front forces that should have cooperated did not attack at the same time. In this way, it is not only possible for the Germans to concentrate their forces on the attacking forces of the two front forces, but also to lose the abruptness of the attack of the later attacking forces, giving the Germans in front of them time to strengthen their defense. Secondly, in terms of tactics, the coordination between the troops is poor, and the orders of the superior commanders can not be carried out well in the troops. For example, the unit of the fourth close guard army can not arrive at the designated position late, which is the most prominent example. In addition, the campaign was launched too hastily, and there was a serious shortage of weapons and ammunition. Due to the lack of artillery shells, the artillery that should have been provided by infantry had to play the role of spectators after the campaign was launched. " Having said these two points, I closed my mouth and waited for krakov's response. After hearing this, he closed his eyes and thought for a while. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me and said, "major oshanina, what you said is reasonable. Let me ask you if you are interested in returning to the second shock group army. I can let you take the post of commander first. " Before I could speak, meletzkov had interrupted him: "general Krakow, your idea is impossible. Just now Comrade Stalin said on the phone that major oshanina will be transferred to Stalingrad soon. "“ Stalingrad? What did Comrade Stalin send major oshanina there to do? " As soon as krakov finished his sentence, he suddenly thought of something and was shocked. Then he tentatively asked, "Comrade General, do you mean that the Germans may launch an attack on Stalingrad in the near future?" Meletzkov waved his hand and said, "it's not possible, it's certain. Well, let's not talk about that. General Krakow, you should start to deploy the troops quickly. " Just as krakov and starikov were giving orders to the troops by telephone, the telephone in front of meletzkov rang. When meletskov picked up the receiver, I heard a familiar voice inside: "Comrade meletskov? I'm Zhukov. " Hearing this name, I couldn't help feeling a little excited. My nose was sore. If he hadn't sent fijiuningsky to save me, I would have died. Meletzkov quickly got up from his seat and politely said, "it's me, comrade deputy commander. Hello. Do you have any instructions? " Instead of being polite to meletskov in the microphone, Zhukov said frankly, "Comrade meletskov, I just read the war situation report of the front army of Volkhov. Here, I would like to remind you that during the attack, you put the reserve team too far ahead. As a result, the second and third echelons of the army have actually become the first echelon, which is easy to cause serious losses to the army. In addition, for the use of the reserve team, I suggest that you should not invest in every corner of the whole front, but in the most critical area at the critical moment, so as to achieve the greatest results. My opinion is over. Good luck to you With that, Zhukov hung up.