Stalin did not answer immediately, but put his pipe in his mouth and took a sip, and then said slowly: "Since Lida is only working temporarily at your place, there is no need to arrange any specific positions. As a commissioner, she went to the defense areas of Rokosovsky and Vatuting to supervise and inspect the construction of the fortifications. We don't know when the Germans will launch a sudden attack on us, so the construction of the fortifications is the current priority."

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov answered quickly. "I will officially announce this to Rokosovsky and the others later."

Stalin nodded slowly, looked at me and asked, "Lida, you have no objection to this arrangement, right?"

Dissent?! It would be strange if I dare to have any objections to his old man’s arrangement. I quickly pretended to be ecstatic and replied: “No objection, Comrade Stalin, I firmly obey your arrangements!”

Stalin was very satisfied with my respectful attitude. He turned to Khrulev and said to him: "Comrade Logistics Minister, you must make a plan for the allocation of US aid materials as soon as possible."

Khrulev nodded and agreed when he heard the sound. Suddenly he remembered something, and quickly stood up and said, "Comrade Stalin, there is another important thing that I want to report to you."

"What important thing?" Stalin asked in a daze: "Didn't you inform me in the telegram in advance?"

"No, Comrade Stalin." Khrulev replied truthfully: "What I said has something to do with the Pacific Fleet."

"Pacific Fleet?" Zhukov couldn't help but frown when he heard Khrulev say this and asked dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Minister of Logistics, I don't know what complaints General Yumashev, the commander of the fleet, has made to you?"

"Comrade Zhukov," Khrulev heard Zhukov's words, and quickly turned his eyes from Stalin and looked at the other party and said, "General Yumashev did not complain to me, but mentioned some of the difficulties faced by the Pacific Fleet." Then, he reported everything we knew in Vladivostok, to Stalin and Zhukov in detail.

After hearing this, Ustinov said in surprise: "General Khrulev, are you saying true? The Pacific Fleet actually lost most of its combat effectiveness due to lack of supplies?"

"Yes. Comrade of the People's Committee, what I said is the truth." Khrulev replied with certainty about Ustinov's question: "When our plane was shot down by Japanese fighter jets, we came to rescue our Marines, which are one of the elites of the Pacific Fleet. However, the commanders and soldiers still hold old weapons used in World War I. It is okay to use them to deter Belarus in the Far East. Once we go to war with Japan, we will be unable to stop the enemy's fierce attack."

Hearing that the matter was so serious, Ustinov's face became particularly ugly. He turned his head and looked at Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, if this is true, we must make corresponding adjustments to the distribution plan of weapons and ammunition. We cannot reduce the supply they deserve just because the troops in the Far East are strategic reserves."

"Comrade Ustinov. You make a lot of sense. Our war with the Germans has entered a critical moment. There must be no problems in the Far East. By the way, the Japanese ambassador came to visit me last night and expressed his official apology to us for the incident of their mistaken strike at your landline."

"What, our landline was shot down by the Japanese fighter jets. They actually wanted to use a simple apology to pass on the matter." If the previous words were not said by Stalin, Khrulev might be furious, but even so, his tone was full of gunpowder. "Does that mean that after our bomber bombed the Japanese mainland, apologized to them, saying that the pilot was drunk and threw the bomb in the wrong place, and that it would be left alone?"

"Comrade Khrulev, don't be so angry. We have a friendly treaty with Japan at present, so we cannot easily break up. We will fall into the danger of fighting on both sides. But don't worry, I remember this matter in my heart. We will settle this account with them sooner or later." After Stalin comforted Khrulev, he turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, there is nothing wrong here. You should take Lida back to your headquarters first. If I guess correctly, Rokosovsky and Vatutin should still be waiting for you."

Zhukov took me away from the Kremlin and came to his command. As Stalin guessed, Rokosovsky and Vatuting, the commanders of the two fronts, were sitting in the office and drinking tea with the two generals. When Zhukov entered the door, the two stood up quickly, straightened their backs and greeted Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, you are back."

"You are all still here?" Zhukov said to the two while taking off his military coat, "I happen to have something to do to you. Since you are all here, there is no need to call you specifically."

When I took Zhukov's coat and hung it on the coat rack, I heard Rokosovsky ask Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, don't you know any important instructions?"

"No," Zhukov whined to me who had just hung up his clothes and said, "Comrade Stalin appointed Lida as the special commissioner of the base camp to go to the defense zone of your two fronts to supervise and inspect your fortifications."

"Welcome, it's so welcome!" Rokosovsky said happily when he heard Zhukov say this: "Lida knows many commanders of our Central Front, and I believe she will not encounter any obstacles when carrying out her work."

"Comrade Marshal, the situation of our Voronezh Front is the same." Vatutin continued: "You must know that General Oshanina's original 79th Infantry Army had been under my command before. When she visited our Front Army's jurisdiction, I would definitely let the officers and soldiers below provide her with enough convenience."

Zhukov stood in front of the map hanging on the wall, turned around and waved to me, "Lida, come to me and tell us how you thought about it."

I stood in front of the map and quickly looked at the many place names near Kursk. Looking at the familiar place names, my vague memories of the Battle of Kursk became clearer little by little.

Perhaps seeing the smile on my face, Zhukov asked first: "Lida, I see you so happy. Have you thought about what location to focus on defense?"

"Yes, comrade Marshal." After answering Zhukov politely, I clicked on the place where the largest tank battle broke out, and said confidently: "It's here. Prokholovka."

"What, Prokholovka?!" Before Zhukov or Rokosovsky could speak, Vatutin had already said first: "Comrade Oshenina, what you are talking about is in the defensive zone of the Voronezh Front."

"Yes. Comrade General." I said to Vatutin with a smile: "In my judgment, if the German army wants to launch a new offensive on our defense line, the Prokholovka area will become the German army's primary target of attack."

After hearing my words, let alone Vatutin was puzzled, even Rokosovsky frowned and couldn't help asking: "Lida, I think you might have made a mistake this time. To the south is Manstein's troops. After a series of battles with our army, they have been greatly weakened. I think it is unlikely that they will take the lead in attacking us. On the contrary, on the west side of our Central Front, the German Central Army Group entrenched in Orel, may take the lead in attacking us."

"Comrade Vatujing," Zhukov held his hands in front of his chest, staring at the map in front of him, and said dryly to Vatujing: "Introduce Lida about the situation in the Prokholovka area."

Vatutin nodded and then introduced to me the situation of Prokholovka: "Prokholovka is a terrain that combines mountains, plains and forests. Our defense zone has a broadband of 30 kilometers on the front and a depth of 35 kilometers, which is inconvenient for us to maneuver with firepower. There are railways and highways in the middle, and it is impossible to form a complete defensive position. It is easy to be cut off by the German army's defense system and encircle."

After Vatuting finished speaking, Zhukov continued: "Yes, Prokokovka's terrain is an open hilly area, divided into two by an important railway. It is not conducive to our construction of a complete defense system and may become the primary target of the German army. Comrade Vatuting, I think what Lida said is completely correct. Once the battle begins, this will become the main attack point of the German army." After saying this, he turned around and asked me. "Do you have any good ideas?"

"Comrade Marshal," although I had a plan for defense deployment in my mind, I did not say it immediately at this moment, but said carefully: "The specific defense deployment will only be formulated in a targeted manner after I arrived in Prokholovka and continued to carefully survey the local terrain."

"Okay, tomorrow morning, you and General Vatujing will return to the Voronezh Front Command to complete the survey of the Prokholovka area as soon as possible and formulate corresponding defensive deployments." After saying these words to me, he said to Vatujing: "Comrade Vatujing, you still have a lot of things to deal with in the command. Accompany Lida to investigate the Prokholovka, so leave it to the Chief of Staff or other staff."

"Comrade Marshal," Vatujing said to Zhukov with a smile: "I think it is inappropriate to send only one or a few staff officers to accompany General Oshanina to survey the Prokholovka area. I plan to send Deputy Commander General Apanathenko with her. After he becomes familiar with the terrain, he will be of great help to command the troops in the future."

"That's right," as soon as Vatutin said, Zhukov said: "Comrade Stalin transferred General Apaneseko from the position of commander of the Far Eastern Front and served as deputy commander of the Voronezh Front, in order to make him familiar with the environment of the Western Front as soon as possible so that he can entrust him with important responsibilities in the future."

"Yes, yes, General Apanashenko was already in the rank of general before the war broke out." Vatujing continued with a smile on his face: "It will only take one or two months for me to be the superior of such a qualified general. I feel very stressed. So I also hope that he can continue to be familiar with the environment here and the way we fight now so that he can stand alone as soon as possible."

"Do you have any difficulties?" Zhukov looked up and asked the two of them after Vatujing finished speaking.

Rokosovsky thought for a while and replied: "Comrade Marshal, the road is muddy at present, and our transportation is inconvenient. If the road is not repaired as soon as possible, the speed of our troops' assembly and weapons and ammunition storage will be affected."

I feel sympathetic about what Rokosovsky said. Not to mention now, even sixty or seventy years later, many roads outside Moscow are still sunny and covered in dirt and mud. In some areas, roads in some areas will become difficult to pass after heavy rain for days.

After hearing Rokosovsky's words, Zhukov frowned. After a while, he said to Rokosovsky: "Comrade Rokosovsky, I can't help you with the road. However, after you return to the army, you can organize people to cut down trees and pave timber roads in difficult-to-pass areas."

"Oh my God, Comrade Marshal." Rokosovsky's face showed a cryless expression on his face when he cried, and he said with a sad face: "If I had to mobilize troops to pave the way in such a wide area, there would be no guarantee that there would be enough people to build fortifications."

Seeing that Zhukov was helpless against this difficulty, Vatujing turned his attention to me, and he asked in a kind tone: "Comrade Oshanina, I heard from Marshal Zhukov that you have always been resourceful. Is there any good way to solve this problem for us?"

After hearing Vatutin say this, Zhukov and his friends turned their attention to me, making me feel Alexander. I scratched the back of my head and was about to push the problem back to Rokosovsky and others, they accidentally saw the heating stove in the corner of the office. A staff officer squatted in front of the stove and stuffed the coals in the basket into the furnace one after another.

Seeing this, I immediately thought of a good idea. I pointed at the stove and asked Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, do you use coal for heating in the city?"

Zhukov looked back at the staff who was adding coal to the stove, nodded, and said, "Yes, the city uses coal for heating. The remaining cinders are the most troublesome, and it is difficult to find a suitable place to pile them up. The leaders of the municipal department in Moscow need new places to deal with these annoying cinders every winter... Well?! cinders, cinders?"

When he said this, he stopped suddenly, looked at me and asked, "Lida, do you want to make a fuss about this cinder?"

"Yes, comrade Marshal." Seeing that Zhukov guessed my intention, I also smiled and said, "Instead of letting comrades in the municipal department worry about the pile of these cinders, it is better to use waste and use these cinders for paving the road. I estimate that the manpower used must be less than the manpower required to cut trees, and the cinder road is definitely more suitable for the passage of tanks and trucks than timber roads."

"Genius, genius!" After hearing this, Watujing slapped his thigh, gave me a thumbs up, and praised him, "Comrade Oshaninna, you are simply a genius. In this way, not only the problems of the municipal department have been solved, but the road conditions in our defense zone can also be greatly improved."

Speaking of this, he turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade Marshal, I plan to take General Oshanina back to the Front Command overnight to strive to complete the survey of the Prokholovka area as soon as possible?"

"I agree with your proposal." Zhukov waved his hand to agree to Vatujin's proposal, and then announced to me: "Lida, you should take office now. Just go to the Voronezh Front with General Vatujin overnight."
Chapter completed!