I heard that some troops were besieged by the Germans. I couldn't help but grab Vitkov's arm and asked nervously: "How many of our troops are surrounded by the enemy? Do they have any hope of getting rid of the enemy?"

After hearing this question from me, Vitkov shook his head and said regretfully: "Comrade Commander, according to the telegram I received, there were only 33 people left in the company after the severance, and five of them had little combat effectiveness. It’s impossible for the communications soldiers to escape from the hands of enemies several times more than them. Novel/"

"33 people!" After I read the number silently, I couldn't help but sighed a long sigh. I knew that this force was not enough to feed the chasing soldiers. I just hope they can persist in the battlefield. For a while, a little precious time can be bought for the retreating troops. The top priority is to establish the necessary defensive positions outside Smila's city to resist attacks from the east and south. Therefore, after taking a look at the map, I told Vitkov: "The Chief of Staff, when the Fourth Regiment of Gydar and the troops withdrawn from Alexandria arrive, let them be responsible for the defense of the south of the city."

"Yes!" Vitkov agreed and turned to leave, but I stopped him.

"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff, I still have something to tell you." I reorganized what I wanted to say in my head, and then continued: "Send a report to Major Perskin and let him lead The tank troops stopped advancing towards Kiev and changed to Kaniv, fighting to capture the city and occupy the bridge over the river."

"Comrade commander, why do you want to issue such an order?" Hearing this order from me, Vitkov immediately reminded me: "Since the superior has ordered us to attack Kiev, if our tank troops can approach Kiev, and If we occupy the starting point of the offensive, we can greatly shorten our offensive distance."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think the Germans are all fools. Will you let us wedge a nail in their defense zone? I can tell you responsibly that as long as the tank brigade seizes any city near Kiev, it will attract The Germans counterattacked frantically. With the limited strength of the tank brigade, it was impossible to hold the position." Seeing that he did not understand the intention of this order, I had to tell him my intention: "The reason why I let them Stopped forward and turned to Kaniv. It was to paralyze the German army and make them think that our combat goal was not to capture Kiev, but to cross the river to escape."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." That's all for me. Vitkov finally realized that, "First, let the enemy have an illusion that we are just trying to cross the river to escape, rather than continue northward. They will relax their vigilance, and when our battle is launched, the resistance they receive will be reduced. Weakened a lot."

When Vitkov urged the telegraph operator to send a report, Kirilov asked thoughtfully: "Lida, we just sent a telegram to the front army headquarters and Marshal Zhukov at the same time. Now the marshal's telegram has been received, but There is no news from Commander Vatutin. I don't know how he thinks about it?"

I was puzzled about Vatutin’s delay in replying to the telegram, but as a subordinate, I couldn’t send a telegram to urge, so I had no choice but to say: "Comrade Political Commissar, wait a minute, I guess Commander Vatutin will answer. After arriving in our telegram, I couldn't control myself, so I had to ask the superior for instructions. I guess he is also waiting for orders at the moment. Read the full text of the latest chapter

We are talking. Standing next to the walkie-talkie, Vitkov suddenly let out a "Huh" in surprise, and then walked over quickly, with a faint uncontrollable excitement on his face.

Seeing the expression on his face, I asked jokingly, "Comrade Chief of Staff. Seeing how happy you are, is there any good news to tell us?"

Vitkov immediately said triumphantly: "Of course there is good news. It is a telegram personally sent by General Vatutin, commander of the Front Army. Congratulations, Comrade Commander!"

After hearing what Vitkov said, I couldn't help but stunned, and then said: "What commander. Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you kidding us?"

Vitkov handed me the telegram and said, "You better watch it yourself."

While Vitkov and Kirilov were whispering around, I took the telegram to my eyes. The content of the telegram was only one thing: in order to facilitate the start of the Battle of Kiev, from now on, the 79th Infantry Army and the tanks of the Voronezh Front. The 3rd Army was merged to form the Dnieper River Battle Group, with Major General Oshanina as the commander of the Battle Group Han Yuzhixun. Read the full text.

After reading this telegram, I couldn't help wondering why this promotion order was sent to me by Vatutin instead of Zhukov? What's more, Vatutin is the commander of the Southwest Front Army. He has no right to mobilize the Voronezh Front Army?

Seeing my gloomy look, Kirilov also walked over and asked with concern: "Lida, your superiors asked you to be the commander of the cluster, why are you so unhappy?"

I handed the telegram in my hand to Kirilov, and replied with a bitter face: "Comrade Political Commissar, please take a look. The telegram sent to me by General Vatutin said that it is necessary to connect our army and the Voronezh Front. The 3rd Army of Tanks merged to form the Dnieper Battle Group."

"What's wrong?" Kirilov took the telegram in my hand and asked curiously: "The telegram is very clear. You are appointed as the commander of the campaign cluster. In this way, you don't have to worry about commanding. It’s a question of rights."

"That's not the case, Comrade Political Commissar." I think Kirilov had misunderstood what I meant, and quickly explained: "General Vatutin is now the commander of the Southwest Front Army, and the 3rd Tank Army is under Goliko. The Voronezh Front under the command of General Hussein. If I only rely on this telegram, I think this tank army, I’m afraid I can’t command it.”

Hearing what I said, Kirilov frowned. He thought for a while, and suggested to me: "Look, are we sending a telegram to Marshal Zhukov to confirm this matter to him, how about it?"

"Okay," I immediately replied as soon as Kirilov said: "Just send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov and report this appointment to him."

Before we could send the report, Razumeyeva rushed to me with a telegram and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, this is a call from Marshal Zhukov."

I took a look, and the above content was first my appointment, and I was formally appointed as the commander of the newly formed Dnieper battle cluster. Then list the unit numbers of the battle cluster: Infantry 79th Army; Tanks 12th Army and 15th Army Tank 3rd Army; Major General Glebov’s Guards Infantry 27th Division; Major General Vachuk’s Guards 79th Division; Commander of the 321st Infantry Division of Major General Makarenko.

The final telegram also wrote: The 12th Tank Corps and the 321st Infantry Division will attack Priluki in the early morning of March 2. The 15th Tank Corps and the 27th and 79th Guards Infantry Divisions will also attack Priluki in the early morning of March 2. Will be at the same time. Attack Priti. Once they have successfully captured the above two places, the two forces will join forces and continue to attack Brovari. It formed a double-sided attack with the 79th Infantry Corps arriving south of Kiev.

I read Zhukov's telegram and handed it to Vitkov. Then he said: "In the evening, no matter how the fighting is going on everywhere, all division-level commanders must be called for a meeting to study how this Kiev should play?"

Vitkov read the telegram at a glance, and said with some worry: "Comrade commander. Although the superiors have equipped us with so many teams, they are too far away from us. These hundreds of kilometers, they can catch up in two days. Are you there?"

"Yeah, this is a problem." I thought of this question when I finished reading the telegram. But until Vitkov asked this question, I hadn't thought of a countermeasure, so I could only say vaguely: "When we meet in the evening, let's study this matter slowly."

Before dark, my army headquarters moved to a church in the city that had not been bombed. At the same time, various aspects of intelligence have also been fed back. The 171st and 308th Divisions have firmly controlled Cherkassy and built the necessary fortifications at the river’s ferry; the main force withdrawn from Alexandria and Gaidar’s four regiments At the moment, fortifications are being built in the city; Major Godunov, after completing the blocking task, is leading the remaining troops to move to Smila.

When the three division commanders I convened arrived at the army headquarters one after another, and was about to start a meeting, Major Pugachev suddenly rushed in from the outside holding a telegram, and at the same time shouted loudly: "Commander Comrade, good news, good news."

Seeing his face full of joy, the online game card master read the full text. I knew that what he had brought was definitely good news, so I smiled and asked, "Major, what good news is there? Just while the three teachers were there, I made everyone happy and happy to say it."

"That's it. Comrade Commander," Pougachev stood straight, but his smile still stayed on his face: "Didn't the troops who withdrew from Alexandria in the morning were pursued by the Germans? "Seeing me nodding, he went on to say, "Telegram. It was sent by the broken unit."

"Oh, a telegram from the small army?" Hearing Pugachev's words, I couldn't help but get excited, and quickly asked: "How's the situation, Comrade Major? How many fighters have they survived?"

Hearing what I said, Pugachev was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Comrade commander, they have all returned safely, without a sacrifice."

"What? No sacrifice?" When I heard Pugachev say this, my first reaction was that he must have made a mistake. The Germans were several times larger than the defenders, and they were also equipped with tanks and artillery. To stop such an enemy's offensive, even if the broken troops are not completely wiped out, at least they will suffer heavy casualties. Is it possible that there was not even a single sacrifice.

Except for me, the commanders in the military headquarters who participated in the meeting also had unbelievable expressions on their faces, as if they heard a fantasy. Seeing that everyone did not believe it, Pugachev hurriedly raised the telegram in his hand and said to us: "Comrade commanders, when I first received this telegram, I also thought it was a mistake, and planned to send a telegram back to verify. After I confirmed it was correct, I came to report to you."

"Comrade Major, don't worry." Seeing Pugachev's gaffe, Kirilov quickly comforted him: "Read the contents of the telegram so that we can understand what is going on."

Pugachev nodded, unfolded the telegram in his hand, and read to us: "...We occupied a small unnamed highland by the roadside, where we stubbornly resisted the German attack.

The Germans dispatched 30 tanks and a battalion of infantry to surround our highland regiment. In the face of the dominant enemy, the company commander, Captain Ji Mofu, was not afraid of danger. He summoned all the people together and cheered everyone up: ‘Hold your breath and fight closer. ’

The German army was getting closer and closer to our position. The company commander gave an order, and the soldiers with anti-tank grenades rushed out and blew up several tanks in front of them. Although the Germans lost their tanks at the beginning, the remaining tanks rushed up regardless.

The tank quickly rushed to the position, our warrior rushed out of the bunker again, chose a good angle and threw a Molotov cocktail in the past, and then rolled into the bunker.

One of the German tanks was hit and drove in heavy smoke for a while and stopped moving. Then the soldier used the same method to destroy two tanks.

Seeing that the German tanks were destroyed one after another, the commanders of our army who stood on the ground suddenly became more confident. They picked up the Molotov cocktail and smashed them at the enemy tank~lightnovelpub.net~ even the most effective combat force. The five poor communicators also picked up the Molotov cocktail and threw it at the enemy tank.

During the whole day, we killed 150 fascist invaders and destroyed 27 tanks. And only one of us was slightly injured..."

When Pugachev finished reading the telegram, Kirilov nodded repeatedly and said to me: "Lida, this is a great victory. We have to give credit to these warriors."

Regarding Kirilov’s proposal, I immediately expressed my support: "Yes, not only to record merits, but also to advance." Then, I turned and told Pugachev: "Comrade Major, you immediately go back and write the names of these commanders and fighters. It’s all clear that we will give honors to every commander who has participated in the battle. For those who have performed particularly outstandingly, we will also have to be promoted to their ranks. Go ahead."

"Yes!" Pugachev agreed upon receiving the order, turned and ran out of the headquarters happily.

As soon as Pugachev left, I turned to look at Romanov and Andryuschenko, smiled and said to the two of them: "Comrades, two commanders, it won’t take long before we will know this heroic army. Which of you belongs to a subordinate." (To be continued.)

(..)