I heard that Zhukov wanted to arrange for me to meet Stalin, and my heartbeat couldn't help but speed up. I asked myself, facing a stubborn person like Stalin, even Zhukov could not convince him. Can a character like me who is a little slight and gentle can achieve better results than him? It was precisely for this consideration that I said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Marshal, is this appropriate?"

Zhukov waved his hand and said carelessly: "There is nothing wrong. Let Colonel Bezikov accompany you later. As long as he leads you, you can enter the Kremlin without being summoned."

"But, but what should I say after I met the Supreme Commander himself?" Although Zhukov acted very relaxed, I dared not take it lightly and could only ask cautiously: "If he asked him if he should fight back against the German army, how should I answer him?"

Zhukov only thought about this series of questions for a moment, and then said decisively: "As long as you think, you can answer whatever you think, and you don't have to worry." Seeing my worried look, he comforted me and said, "Don't worry, according to my judgment, Comrade Stalin is very willing to listen to your true thoughts, so I arranged for you to see him."

After dribbling in Zhukov's command for a long time and chatting about some irrelevant things, I came to the Kremlin accompanied by Bezikov.

Maybe Zhukov had called to communicate in advance. As soon as our car stopped in the square, a colonel ran over. After thinking about not having Jikov experienced it, he turned to me and asked, "Is it Comrade Oshenina?"

"Yes, comrade Colonel." I knew this might be coming to pick up my officer, and nodded. I asked tentatively, "Are you accompanying me to see the Supreme Commander himself?"

"That's right. Comrade General." The colonel said to me politely: "I'm ordered to take you up. Please come here."

When I walked under his leadership into the building where Stalin's office and went upstairs along the stairs, I walked cautiously because I was worried that the wound would hurt, so naturally I couldn't get faster. The colonel obviously knew about my situation, so when he saw that I was walking very slowly, he couldn't help but slow down.

As we walked slowly forward along the corridor, the colonel asked with concern: "Comrade General, are your wounds hurting?"

I nodded and replied, "Yes, Comrade Colonel. Although I had the surgery about ten days ago, the wound healing was not ideal. If I walked too fast, I was worried that the wound would collapse."

We soon walked to a tall door, and the colonel asked me to wait a moment, and he opened the door and walked in. I clearly heard him saying, "Report to Comrade Poskrebeshev. General Oshenina has arrived."

"Let him come in." The dull voice of Stalin's office director Poskrebeshev came from the door.

"Yes!" The colonel agreed and walked out of the door. He asked to the side and made a gesture to signal that I could go in.

After I thanked the colonel, I stepped over the gate and saw Poskrebeshev standing next to the writing desk. The office director who was not tall, shaved with his head and wearing military casual clothes, slightly pointed at me and said politely: "Hello, General Oshenina!" As he said that, he reached out to me.

I quickly reached out and held his hands and said politely: "Hello, Poskrebeshev, I'm glad to see you."

After letting go of his hand, he whispered, "The Supreme Commander is waiting for you inside, please come in." After that, he walked to another door leading to the room inside.

He walked in first, stood at the door and said to it, "Comrade Stalin, Comrade Oshenina is here!"

"Let her come in." Stalin's extremely majestic voice came from the room.

Poskrebeshev walked back to the door and said to me with a blank expression: "Please come in, Comrade Oshanina, the Supreme Commander is waiting for you inside."

After nodding to him, I stepped into this spacious office. The first thing that caught my eye was a capital desk, and a long table on the other side was supposed to be used for meetings. There were several portraits hanging on the wall, three of which I recognized in the shortest time as Lenin, Marx and Engels. Stalin himself was holding a pipe in his mouth, walking back and forth in front of the portrait.

Seeing Stalin appearing in front of me, I forcibly suppressed my inner excitement and walked forward quickly. I stopped five or six steps away from him, raised my hand to salute, and reported loudly: "Comrade Supreme Commander, Lieutenant General Oshenina comes with your order, and wait for your order, please instruct!"

Stalin stopped, moved his pipe away from his mouth, and said kindly with a smile: "Lida, you have been to many battlefields in the past year and have made great achievements. Thank you for your hard work!"

Hearing him say this, I quickly replied habitually: "I am willing to serve the Soviet motherland!"

Stalin nodded with satisfaction, put his pipe back on his mouth, and said, "It seems that you have served well, and you have so many heavyweight medals."

I didn't say anything about his praise, but just smiled politely.

Perhaps seeing my restraint, Stalin asked me to sit down at the table and said slowly: "Lida, I'll bring you here today. I have something to do to hear your opinions!"

As soon as he finished speaking, I quickly stood up from my seat and said respectfully: "I will follow your instructions!"

"This is the situation," Stalin raised his hand to press the pressure and signaled me to sit down, saying to himself: "Comrade Vatuting, the new commander of the Volonov Front Army, and Comrade Khrushchev, called me and suggested to me that he would launch a counterattack against the German army in the near future and to recapture Kharkov while they were not firmly established."

He paused for a moment, as if waiting for me to speak. Seeing that I was just staring at him without saying a word, he continued to say: "But Zhukov and Vasilevsky and others put forward completely opposite opinions, suggesting that I defend in the existing defensive zone and wait until the German troops are exhausted before carrying out a final counterattack. I don't know what you think about this matter, I want to hear your opinions."

Although Stalin said he was asking for my opinion, I knew in my heart that he probably had plans long ago. Asking me this way was just to find someone to agree with his opinion. Thinking that before the Battle of Kursk in history, the Soviet army did not have any major military operations, so I said boldly: "Comrade Stalin, please be honest, I think our army is not suitable for launching a counterattack against the German army under the current circumstances."

Hearing me say this, Stalin's face did not show any surprise. He sat down on the empty chair next to me, pointing at me with his pipe-holding finger, "Tell me what you think."

"Comrade Stalin," I said tactfully: "From the current situation, although we have more troops than the Germans, the Germans have an advantage in weapons and equipment. In addition, our front-line airport was destroyed by the Germans, and the backup airport was too far from the front line, so air supremacy was basically in the hands of the Germans. In this case, I don't think I can win."

"Do you agree with Zhukov and the others?" Stalin asked without hesitation after hearing this: "Do we really have to wait until the enemy Kharkov gains a foothold before we can fight them with a big battle?"

"I think it is not appropriate for General Vatukin to make a rash decision to attack when he had just taken over the Voronezh Front and even the troops below were not familiar with it." I guess that although Stalin was hesitant, he did not want to launch a counterattack without his confidence in victory, so he said boldly: "I suggest to you that Marshal Zhukov and General Vatukin inspect all the troops of the Voronezh Front, help the commanders of each unit estimate the situation and formulate future combat plans. I believe that through this inspection, Marshal Zhukov can compare the situation between the enemy and us, and prepare a new pre-plan for the battle plan."

After I said this, I immediately looked at Stalin intently and waited for his comments to me. Stalin took a sip of his pipe and said, "Lida, your view is more appropriate. I will immediately arrange for Zhukov to inspect the troops, and after I figured out the situation of the enemy, I will decide whether to launch a counterattack."

When I heard Stalin agree with my words, I couldn't help but feel relieved. Before I could come out, he suddenly asked again: "Lida, let me talk about it again, if the German army was going to attack the Kursk area occupied by our army, where should we build the main defense area?"

Although I am not a roundworm in Manstein's belly, I remember the general process of the Kursk Battle in history, so I answered confidently: "Comrade Stalin, I think we should arrange a heavy army group in the Prokorovka area, because this is the barrier south of Kursk. The German army from Kharkov will definitely seize this place and turn it into a starting point for attacking Kursk."

"Yes, your analysis coincides with what the General Staff analyzed." As soon as I finished speaking, Stalin agreed with my analysis. "Wascelevsky said that if the enemy and us really want to start a war in the direction of Kursk, then the Prokorovka region will become the focus of the competition between the enemy and us."

After Stalin finished speaking, I said carefully: "Comrade Stalin, according to my judgment, although the German army forced our Voronezh Front and the Southwest Front to retreat, they did not have the ability to launch a large-scale battle in the short term, so we have enough time to mobilize troops and strengthen and improve our defense system." (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!