"Well, general Batov." Seeing that he didn''t understand the situation, I quickly explained to him, "my artillery regiments will arrive in zlobin tomorrow, and I intend to put them into the battle of liberating svelogorsk. However, because they came on a light March, the amount of ammunition they carried was limited. If you have surplus shells, can you lend me some first and return them to you as soon as my supplies arrive? "


    After finding out why I need shells, Batov said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, I really don''t know about the artillery. Just a moment, please. I''ll ask my artillery chief and chief of staff to see if we have any extra shells After a few minutes of silence in the receiver, Batov''s voice came again, "I have asked, in the military warehouse of zhylobin, there are three thousand 122mm and 152mm shells, each of which can be used by you."


    "Great, that''s great." Although the number is a little less, it should be enough for siege. After thanking Batov, I said, "tomorrow I''ll send someone to collect the shells from you."


    Hearing that I was going to hang up, Batov suddenly said, "by the way, comrade oshanina, I have something to inform you. Just now, I talked to the commander of the front army by telephone. He said that in order to have a unified command in the battle of seizing svelogorsk, he suggested that we form a joint command to formulate a combat plan. "


    Bartov''s words solidified my smile on my face. It is natural for the two forces to fight together and set up a joint headquarters. But I know very well that my own headquarters is only a front-line headquarters at best. If it is to be merged, it will certainly be under the leadership of Batov.


    To tell you the truth, Batov''s fighting style is quite different from mine. If I let him take the overall responsibility, I''m afraid that my troops will not be able to adapt to his fighting style. Maybe they won''t even be able to play half of their fighting power. It was on this basis that my heart sank when I heard about the establishment of the joint headquarters.


    "Comrade o''shanina, why don''t you speak?" Seeing that there was no movement on my side, Batov immediately asked, "did you hear what I said?"


    "Yes," I asked Batov with a wry smile, "general Batov, I don''t know how the commander of the front army arranges the candidates for the joint headquarters, and where will the headquarters be located?"


    He hesitated for a long time before he replied, "the commander of the front army has not given any instructions as to where the joint command is located and who is in charge of it."


    After I finished my call with Batov, akhromeyev asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, does the higher authorities want our two army groups to set up a joint headquarters?"


    "Yes," I replied, nodding my head, "the commander of the front army does mean that."


    "So who should lead who?" Without waiting for my answer, akhromeyev said to himself, "you know, we have more troops than them. If they are allowed to command, I''m afraid the commanders and fighters will have opinions."


    "I think it''s more likely that general Batov will be in charge." I explained to akhromeyev, "after all, zhilobin is the headquarters of their group army. Besides, his entire headquarters are here. At best, we are just a forward headquarters without a complete leadership. Therefore, I think it is quite normal for the superior to appoint general Batov as the supreme commander of the joint forces. "


    As rokosovsky has not given the final order, I do not want to entangle with akhromeyev on this matter, because I changed the topic in time and asked, "major, have you contacted general povsky?"


    "No Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "but I asked Comrade razumeyeva to continue calling and report to me as soon as he got in touch."


    I heard that I didn''t wait to get in touch with bofsky, the artillery commander, for the time being. I said with disapproval, "well," and then asked, "have both echelons stopped attacking?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev replied positively: "not only did the two echelons stop advancing and build simple fortifications in the existing areas, but also the tank battalion and self-propelled artillery regiment were temporarily withdrawn. After all, in today''s battle, their ammunition and fuel were consumed so badly that they could not participate in tomorrow''s attack if they did not replenish immediately."


    Thinking that although today''s counterattack was progressing smoothly and the troops of several divisions were advancing rapidly, my heart was never secure, so I ordered akhromeyev: "call several commanders at the front, and let them rush to the headquarters as soon as possible to discuss the situation between ourselves and the enemy on the battlefield."


    An hour later, four division commanders, tank battalion commanders and the head of the self-propelled artillery regiment all came to my headquarters. I stood up with my hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said to them with a smile, "comrades of the commanders, you have done a good job today, beating the enemy to pieces."


    As soon as my voice fell, the commanders in this room began to laugh. After the laughter stopped, nikolasov, the commander of the 52nd division of the guards, stood up and said, "Comrade commander, while our division was advancing in depth towards the German army, we unexpectedly received your order and had to give up attacking the enemy temporarily. I want to ask, "what''s going on?"


    One stone aroused a thousand waves, and the question of nikolasov immediately aroused the resonance of the other three teachers, who also sent their own opinions. "If you hadn''t given the order to stop the attack, we might have all advanced to the city of svelogorsk. Now that the troops have stopped advancing, the enemy will have a chance to breathe. They will certainly take advantage of this evening to reinforce their defensive positions and increase the pressure on our attack tomorrow. "


    As for Xie Liujin and his questions, I immediately explained: "comrades, although our counterattack today is going very smoothly, we can''t take it lightly, which leads to the idea of belittling the enemy. We should know that the enemy didn''t use the air force at all. Once our troops are attacked by the enemy''s aircraft, they are bound to pay a huge price. In addition, the reason why I ordered you to stop attacking today is that the 52nd division of guards and the 375TH division of infantry have just arrived in zhylobin, and the commanders and fighters are very tired. If they are allowed to fight in low spirits for a long time, it will have an adverse effect on the morale of our army. "


    "Didn''t the enemy plane show up and be chased away by our fighters?" Xie Liujin said reluctantly: "now our air force is in charge of the air control of the battlefield. We don''t have to worry about the enemy''s air force at all. Even if they show up, our air force will kick them out. "


    "There is one more point, and the most important one." I saw that everyone''s faces were indifferent. I said with a straight face and no expression: "the ammunition we brought here from Smolensk is not enough to support us in a big battle. If we blindly rush forward, once the supply line is cut off by the German army, our commanders and fighters fighting in front of us may run out of ammunition. "


    My words silenced everyone.


    After a long time, the first to break the silence of the 51st division commander of the guards, shigerikov: "Comrade commander, when are we going to launch an attack on sveltorogorsk?"


    After shejerikov asked his question, everyone turned their eyes on me and waited quietly for me to announce the answer to them.


    Then I announced to you, "comrades, our superiors have asked us to form a joint headquarters with general Batov to complete the attack on svelogorsk. By the way, general Batov has drawn three divisions from their left wing and has rushed to svetogorsk from our southwest. "


    "Comrade commander, may I ask," Lu Jin asked cautiously after I finished saying, "does the superior intend that commander to be the person in charge of this joint headquarters?"


    "Although the superior has not made a final decision on the selection of the person in charge, I think general Batov will definitely take up the post." I carefully said: "after all, the 65th army has a complete headquarters in zhylobin, and we, only major akhromeyev and I, plus a communication class, any superior who sees this situation knows what kind of decision to make."


    "However, our group army''s combat style is quite different from that of other troops," he muttered. "If we change our commanders rashly, I''m afraid they will be at a loss on the battlefield."


    "General Nekrasov is right." As soon as his words were finished, Xie Liujin echoed: "I don''t think it''s appropriate for this army to change the top commander. What do you say, Colonel chejerikov? "


    "We won Kiev at the beginning of this year," he said with a wry smile. When the German army launched a crazy counterattack against us, the commander was transferred back to Moscow. Although the troops who had changed their commanders were very tenacious in the battle to defend Kiev, they won less and lost more. In the end, the city we had painstakingly captured was recaptured by the Germans. "


    In his words, although he was only talking about the Kiev campaign at the beginning of the year, everyone understood him. He was also echoing Xie Liujin''s opinions.


    "Well, let''s not talk about it any more." I''m afraid that if I don''t speak any more, people will complain more. I don''t like their words. They spread to belia''s ears through special channels, so I interrupted what you wanted to say later: "who will be in charge of the joint command, you don''t count, I don''t count. The decision is up to the commander of the front army."


    After I finished, akhromeyev asked carefully, "if the superior really decides to let general Batov take the post of commander, what should you do?"


    "It''s the bounden duty of soldiers to obey orders," I replied in an official voice. "As long as it''s orders from the higher authorities, I will resolutely obey them. You have not been in the army for one or two days. You should know that the orders of your superiors are not allowed to be discussed. Therefore, no matter who is appointed by your superiors to take up this post, we should resolutely obey them. "


    In order not to let you talk about it again, I patted the map in front of me with my hand and announced to them, "I''m going to talk about the battle deployment tomorrow."


    When all the people were quiet and focused on me, I pointed to the map and began to give orders: "as the current position of the first echelon is behind the second echelon, I ordered: after dawn tomorrow, the troops of the second echelon will continue to march towards svelogorsk, ten kilometers away from the city, Stop and build simple fortifications where you are. The first echelon, on the other hand, followed closely and quickly filled the vacant position of the second echelon, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Germans. "


    When they heard of my arrangement, Nekrasov and Lukin were overjoyed, but sheiliujin and sheijerikov were not. Xie Liujin complained to me: "Comrade commander, we are the first echelon. You should give us the first echelon the task of launching the first attack on svelogorsk."“ Comrade Xie Liujin, "I pointed to the map, then looked at him and asked," how far is your first echelon behind the second echelon? " After glancing at the map, Xie Liujin replied, "if I remember correctly, it should be no less than eight kilometers."“ Yes, Comrade Xie Liujin, you remember very correctly. " I said to him and to everyone, "if I want to order the first echelon to take the lead in advancing towards svelogorsk, it will take you at least one and a half hours to complete the eight kilometer journey, and then you will have to cross the second echelon''s line of defense. Am I right? "“ Yes, it is The other teachers replied in unison“ Have you ever thought about how much confusion your 10000 officers and men of the first echelon will cause when they cross the defense line of the second echelon? " I stared at scheliujin and asked sternly, "if the German troops attack you under the cover of planes and tanks at this time, do you think the organizational structure of the troops can remain intact?"“ Comrade commander, I am wrong. " After my words, after thinking about the cause and effect, he apologized to me in time and said, "I will obey your order. Tomorrow, when the second echelon moves forward, our troops will take over the defense area vacated by them and stop the German army''s attempt to cut off our rear route."