At dawn, three infantry division commanders and one artillery division commander gathered in the small village. Although many troops had not yet reached their designated positions, several commanders had a dispute over who would direct the attack.
The first person to speak was Fomenko: "Comrade commanders, this is the defense area of our 84th Division, and I still have the rank of major general. It is undoubtedly the most suitable for me to command the troops in combat."
But as soon as he finished speaking, Major General Gritsenko was unhappy: "General Fomenko, we both have the same military rank, why should you be the one to command the battle? I think I am fully qualified for this position. You
Everyone, please tell me." His last words were addressed to Koida, commander of the 188th Division, and Terenga, commander of the 1st Artillery Division.
Terenga is the commander of the artillery division, and he only cooperates with the infantry. No matter how high his rank is, he cannot command this attack. When he heard Gritsenko asking himself, he grinned, and then said: "General Gritsenko
, I am the artillery division commander, and I am only responsible for providing you with artillery support during the battle. As for who will command the battle, I have no say."
As for Koida, he knew that no matter who he supported, he would offend another person, so he chose to remain silent.
Seeing that neither Koida nor Terenga expressed support for him, Gritsenko couldn't help but be a little anxious, because soon his troops would reach the offensive position. If the commander has not yet been determined, the attack would be
May fall into chaos.
Seeing that the two sides were arguing, Manoxin stood up and said: "Comrade commanders, please be quiet. I will make a suggestion. You can see what you think."
When everyone heard what Manoxin said, they immediately became quiet and focused on him, wanting to hear what he had to say and whether there was really a way to resolve the conflict at hand.
Seeing that everyone was quiet, Manoxin said: "We have three infantry divisions and one artillery division here. Before the battle started, our superiors did not assign a person in charge to us, which led to some unhappiness between us. In order to solve the problem
Due to this conflict, I suggest calling the headquarters and asking the superiors to decide who will command this battle."
Regarding Manoxin's proposal, everyone expressed their approval after whispering.
Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus, Manoxin, as the advocate, naturally had the best task of calling the Army Headquarters. After the communications soldier answered the call to the headquarters, he picked up the phone and put a message on the phone.
Said in the ear: "I am Manokhin, political commissar of the 84th Division, please help me find Chief of Staff Sameko to answer the phone."
Samyko's voice soon came from the receiver: "I'm Samyko, Colonel Manokhin, what can I do for you?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation is like this." Manoxin explained to Samyko with a smile: "Now three infantry divisions and an artillery division have been assembled south of Chigilin City, preparing to launch an attack on the city."
"That's right." Sameko, as a participant, naturally knew about this. He nodded and said, "The combat order issued by Comrade Commander is the one I forwarded to you. What, is there anything wrong with it?"
"That's it, Comrade Chief of Staff." Manoxin said: "So many division-level troops are gathered here, but there is no higher-level commander to unified command the battle. I'm worried that once the battle starts, the troops will
Because there is no unified command, it falls into chaos."
After Manokhin reminded him, Samyko realized that he had made a stupid mistake. So many division-level troops gathered near Chigilin, but they did not arrange a high-level commander for them to uniformly command this battle.
. However, he did not dare to make any independent decisions on this kind of matter. He could only reply regretfully: "Colonel Manoxin, there are still several hours before the attack starts. Who will unified the command? I can do this."
If you don’t know what to do, you need to ask comrade Commander for instructions.”
When Manoxin heard this, he was a little surprised and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, isn't the commander at the headquarters?"
"No." After several conversations between Samyko and Sokov, they already knew the specific location of the other party, so they replied: "Comrade Commander went to the 7th Guards Army to discuss coordinated operations. I immediately contacted
He will get in touch and will let you know when he has the answer."
When Manoxin put down the phone, he said to the people gathered around: "Comrade commanders, unfortunately, since the comrade commander is not at the headquarters, who will unified command the troops, the chief of staff still needs to ask the commander for instructions.
"
"Comrade Commander is not at the headquarters?" Deputy Division Commander Belkin knew Sokov's character very well and knew that he could not stay at the headquarters and always wanted to run to the front. If he is not at the headquarters now, he would probably go to the front for something.
Place, thinking of this, he asked anxiously: "Where did you go?"
"It is said that he went to the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army to discuss joint operations with General Shumilov."
"Joint operations?" Belkin couldn't help but frowned after hearing this. "Isn't the 7th Guards Army still near Poltava? Is there anything we can coordinate with them?"
"I'm not sure about this." After Manoxin said this, he said to everyone: "Comrades, the chief of staff will contact the commander immediately, and he will notify us as soon as possible if there is any warning.
of."
Others remained silent after listening to Manoxin's words, but Koida said worriedly: "There is not much time left. Even if the headquarters urgently appoints a commander to uniformly command this battle,
Can they get here on time?"
Koida's words made everyone fall into deep thought. It is more than 70 kilometers from Kremenchug to here. Even if you take a car, it will take almost two hours to get there. The commander who arrived in a hurry has time to get familiar with himself.
The troops you are about to command?
Just when everyone was worried, a familiar voice suddenly came from the door: "Comrade commanders, hello! What are you doing?"
After seeing the person clearly, everyone couldn't help cheering, and then rushed over to greet him: "Hello, Comrade Commander, why are you here."
When Sokov heard this, he deliberately straightened his face and pretended to be angry and said: "Can't I come here?"
"No, no," Fomenko said quickly, "We really want you to come here. Once you come here, we will have a backbone and we will have more confidence in the next battle."
After Belkin and several other division commanders and political commissars shook hands with Sokov, they stepped forward to greet him: "Hello, Misha, nice to see you here."
When Sokov saw his partner, he was naturally in a good mood. He quickly opened his arms and gave him a warm hug, and then said: "Old man, I heard that the vanguard regiment you command was the first to rush into Qijilin.
Yes, they also occupied two streets."
Hearing what Sokov said, Belkin's old face turned red and he said with some embarrassment: "Yes, my troops were indeed the first to rush into the city, but unfortunately, before dark yesterday,
, were driven out of the city by the Germans.”
"Yesterday's defeat is not your responsibility." Sokov was worried about what burden the commanders and fighters of the 84th Division were carrying, and quickly comforted them and said: "In today's attack, we made the Germans pay with blood for those of us who sacrificed their lives."
Revenge of comrades."
"By the way, Misha, didn't you go to the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army?" Belkin asked curiously: "Why did you suddenly appear here again?"
"Yes, I was indeed at the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army yesterday to discuss coordinated operations with General Shumilov." Sokov said to Belkin: "But I thought that so many troops were gathered in Chigilin City.
However, there is no unified command. Once the battle starts, each unit may work independently. So after asking Commander Konev for instructions, he sent a plane to fly me here, and I will personally direct the battle.
