Zhukov heard my answer with an annoyed expression on his face, his eyes staring at me as if they were about to spew out fire. Just as I was frightened, he made an unexpected move. He reached out and grabbed the teacup on the table and fell to the ground severely.

The glass in the silver cup holder smashed to pieces on the hard ground. While the trouser legs were soaked by the tea, a few drops of the tea with the remaining warmth splashed on my face, causing me to instinctively retreat back. A step away.

Zhukov angrily pointed his finger at my nose and cursed: "Oshanina, I really misunderstood you. I gave you the 6th Guards Army, which has a total strength of nearly 80,000 people, just to hope you can be like it. Like Stalingrad, your defensive zone became like Mamayev Hill, a gate that the Germans could not pass. Unexpectedly, you told me that you could not hold the line of defense at all. The battle has not yet begun, you He has even considered giving up the first and second lines of defense. In this case, how to fight this battle and how to fight it?" He may be so angry that he always calls me "Li "Da" has become a slightly rusty "Oxianina".

Zhukov, who is furious at this moment, is no different from the calm and calm person in the weekdays. Because I was so close, my eardrums were almost pierced by his loud voice. Although he said a lot of bad things, out of respect for him, I didn't care what he said at all, but silently endured his thunderous anger.

After he lost his temper and calmed down again, I said to him unhurriedly: "Comrade Marshal, can you listen to me explain?"

He glared at me and said angrily: "Just say anything!" After speaking, he sat down at the table.

I didn't explain to him immediately, but walked to the place where the teapot was placed by the wall. Pour a cup of tea again and put it down in front of him. And Povsky, who was so scared next to him, saw that the atmosphere in the room eased. He squatted down and started to clean up the mess underground.

Zhukov took a sip of his tea, screaming dryly, and then put the cup on the table. Asked in a much calmer tone: "Let's talk about it, what do you think?"

"Comrade Marshal," I said, staring at Zhukov, "Although the strength of our 6th Guards Army sounds like a lot, but because the front of the defense is too large, evenly distributed to the three lines of defense, it seems a little weak. So here In this case, we can only weaken certain areas and conduct key defenses."

"Yes. Our defensive warfare is often to weaken one direction and strengthen another direction." Zhukov agreed with me very much, because he used the same approach when he was the commander of the Leningrad Front. way of doing. He then asked: "But, does this have anything to do with your plan to give up the first and second lines of defense?"

"Because I have strengthened the main force to important locations, the defenses of individual areas appear weak. In this way, once the Germans launch an offensive, then our defense line will appear to be broken through at more points." I know if not. Tell Zhukov clearly what you really think. It is entirely possible for him to "extreme my relatives righteously" and remove me from my post and send me to a military court. Therefore, I said: "Our purpose is to consume the vital power of the German army. So we don't care about the gains and losses of one city and one place. So even The Germans broke through our first and second lines of defense, and there is nothing to worry about. Not only can we block them in front of the third line of defense, but the defensive points of the first two lines of defense are still in our hands. , So that the Germans did not dare to use all their power to attack Kursk. As long as their power is consumed almost, we can launch a full-scale counterattack."

"Don't care about the gains and losses of one city and one place?" Zhukov read my sentence up and down several times, and finally asked in a puzzled manner: "This statement is incompatible with the guiding ideology of our army. I really I don’t know how you came up with it. You know. We have been educating the commanders and soldiers even if the bones are exposed in the wilderness. They must be nailed to the ground like a nail, and you can’t retreat one step. Now we will advertise to them that you don’t care about a city or a place. The gains and losses. Will this cause confusion among the commanders and fighters?"

"Comrade Marshal," I explained seriously about his doubts: "For what you are worried about, I think I only need to send political workers to the army to do political propaganda work."

After listening to Zhukov, he didn't answer my words, but turned away from the subject and asked: "Why are you so optimistic about this tactic, and listen to your reasons."

Seeing Zhukov's questioning, I had no choice but to bring out the famous point: "If you save people and lose land, you will save people and land; if you save people, you will lose people and land. Although from a tactical point of view, we will lose some positions. But we have preserved our vitality, and one day we will be able to regain the lost ground."

I can’t remember if I had said the same argument to Zhukov or anyone else before. Anyway, when I said this, Kirilov took over and said: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, I think Lida is right. The Germans occupied ours. After the position, they are bound to divide their forces to guard. In this way, their frontal offensive force will be weakened invisibly."

What Kirilov and I said made Zhukov lost his thoughts. After a long time, he slowly asked: "Lida, if you were the commander of the Voronezh Front, what would you do in the current situation?"

Hearing Zhukov’s question, I immediately understood that he wanted to examine my resilience, and quickly threw out his already thoughtful answer: "Comrade Marshal, since we know that the German army is ready to launch a powerful offensive against our defense area, then the troops belonged to the front army. All should be prepared for the battle. In addition to the artillery, the Air Force Group should also be ready to launch operations at any time.

In order to better command the battle, commanders of all group armies, infantry corps, and divisions must be stationed in the front-line command post. At the same time, from now on, political workers belonging to the political departments and political divisions of various armies, corps, and divisions will immediately go to the grassroots units to help commanders at all levels and party cadres to carry out ideological and political work. mobilization. In order to increase the vigilance of the troops, to encourage the officers and men to fight for victory and vow to deal with the enemy to the end. Commanders and political workers also need to make exciting mobilization speeches before the battle begins. "

Zhukov listened to me and nodded in satisfaction. Said: "Unexpectedly, your thoughts are exactly the same as Vatutin. By the way. Do you still insist on allowing the Germans to break through our defenses?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." While answering his question, I once again emphasized my defensive thinking, so as not to leave a thorn in his heart: "I just said our first and second lines of defense. Being broken by the Germans does not mean that we will not fully defend. It means that in some unimportant areas, we will not invest too much force to defend. Even if the position is lost, we will not organize troops to carry out casualties. A huge counterattack. And those main defensive positions are our top priority. In addition to sending heavy troops to guard, we must also strengthen the firepower of the defenders. Even if the Germans break through our defenses, they can also play in the enemy’s rear. The role of containment."

Zhukov patiently listened to my explanation of my point of view, unexpectedly did not interrupt me, until I finally said: "My words are finished." He said unhurriedly: "Since you have carefully considered, Then I believe that in the next battle, your 6th Guards Army will definitely perform well."

Seeing that Zhukov's attitude became calm again, Kirilov missed the opportunity to propose: "Comrade Marshal. The commanders of our divisions are here. We are waiting outside at this moment. Can you meet them?"

Zhukov heard Kirilov's suggestion. My brows furrowed, and after thinking for a while, he nodded and said: "Well, since Comrade Kirilov brought up this matter personally, then I will see you. Anyway, many people are old comrades-in-arms. Take advantage of this. Opportunities can also reminisce about the past."

Seeing Zhukov agreed to his proposal, Kirilov winked at Povsky, who was standing next to him, and the latter understood. I walked quickly to the door and said to the outside: "Come in. Comrades, come in. Comrade the Soviet marshal will meet you."

A dozen people rushed in. The room suddenly became crowded. Several older teachers are obviously familiar with Zhukov. They kindly called Zhukov's real name and father's name, saluted and shook hands, and asked about each other's current situation. They seemed very close. I just heard Zhukov say Many of his old comrades thought he was talking casually, and seeing this, he knew that what he said was true.

Due to the limited space in the room, Bezikov, the chief of staff, arranged for someone to move in a few benches so that all division leaders could sit down and listen to Zhukov's speech.

After everyone was seated, Zhukov, who was sitting at the table, said with a smile: "Comrade commanders, hello. I am here today, one is to check the preparation of the troops, and the other is to take a look at everyone by the way." Having said that, he suddenly increased his tone and asked: "Are you all ready for battle?"

After a short pause, the teachers present here replied in unison: "Ready."

Zhukov heard everyone’s answers, his face did not show any joy, but sternly said: "Comrade commanders, we may be fighting a big battle soon, so you usually have to go deep into the grassroots company to understand the truth. The situation of preparation for war depends on what problems still exist and should be resolved immediately. Otherwise, once a big battle is encountered and the shortcomings are exposed again, everything will be too late."

Danilov waited for Zhukov to finish and added: "Comrades, although most divisions of our group army are guards, their combat effectiveness is stronger than ordinary troops. But everyone should understand in their hearts the reason why they are stronger than others. , That’s because the guards have a high proportion of veterans, a large number of combat backbones, good weapons and equipment, and rich combat experience. However, in the early stage, in order to make up for the battle damages of the guards, we also added a lot of new recruits to you. Experienced recruits, you must seize the time to train and improve their combat effectiveness as soon as possible. Don't let them pee on their pants when they hear the gunshots. Such troops are unreliable."

After Danilov's words were finished, it caused a burst of laughter from the commanders present. After the laughter, Colonel Nekrasov, the commander of the 52nd Guards Division, stood up and echoed: "Comrade Deputy Commander is right. The position we lost some time ago was because there were too many recruits in the defending army. Listen. When the guns fired, many people panicked and didn't know how to occupy favorable terrain to resist. They either ran around on the ground or followed the panicked cowards."

"Colonel Nekrasov," I heard this, raised my hand to interrupt the words behind him, and asked, "Have the recruits in your division been fired with live ammunition?"

Nekrasov didn't know why I asked, but he answered honestly: "Report to Comrade Commander, most of the recruits in my division have not fired live ammunition. But I believe they are in battle..."

"Recruits who have never even experienced live ammunition, can you expect them to exert extraordinary combat effectiveness in battle?" Seeing that Nekrasov was a little disapproving, I pointed out to him unceremoniously: "What's more, your division and The 51st Guards Division sticks to the first line of defense of the group army. If the fighting quality of the unit is not strong, how long can you hold on when you are deeply behind enemy lines?"

The blamed Nekrasov blushed, and a little convincingly argued: "Even if the recruits are allowed to shoot with live ammunition, they will still not be able to reach the level of veterans of the Guards."

"It doesn't matter if you can't reach the level of a veteran for the time being, but the training of live ammunition must be carried out immediately." I said in a commanding tone: "I will give you two days, and must ensure that every recruit has at least one round. The live ammunition fired so that they would not panic when they heard the fire of the enemy’s gun."

"Two days is too short, right?" Colonel Nekrasov said blushingly~lightnovelpub.net~ I think this kind of training is difficult to achieve the effect you want. "

At this moment, I suddenly thought of the story of the devil instructor of the country in the Liuban area, helping me train new recruits, so I said with a straight face: "For extraordinary things, you must use extraordinary training methods. Let your recruits squat. In the trenches, people were then shot into the trenches, so that they could truly experience the feeling of bullets swishing over their heads. In addition, let each recruit throw at least five grenades to let them hear I will not be afraid of the explosion."

My training method stunned Nekrasov. After a while, he murmured: "Comrade Commander, is this appropriate?"

"Appropriate. Under the current circumstances, it is more appropriate." After I said these few words to Nekrasov, I said to all the commanders: "This training method must be immediately within the scope of the entire army. Promotion. However, you must remember that you must ensure safety, because the life of each of our fighters is precious. Our training is to reduce unnecessary casualties caused by panic in the battle. Do you understand? ?"

"Understood!" All the teachers shouted in unison. (To be continued.)