Nekrasov called again when he was almost noon. He reported to me excitedly on the phone: "Comrade Commander, the Germans attacked the No. 4 position. After their fifth attack was repelled by us, they have all retreated to their positions. It seems that they will not continue to attack today."

"Comrade Colonel, fight well. But you can't be proud. You must order the commanders and fighters to seize the time to strengthen the fortifications and be prepared to continue fighting." After I explained to Nekrasov a few words, I suddenly remembered an important thing and asked again: "By the way, have you captured the prisoners in the battle?"

"Catched, Comrade Commander." Nekrasov replied excitedly: "When the enemy retreated for the last time, I ordered the troops to attack once, and captured more than a dozen prisoners, one of them lieutenant."

"Great, this is great." I was overjoyed when I heard that the captives were captured, especially an officer. After praising him a few words, I ordered: "Send this German lieutenant to the Army Command immediately. I will conduct an interrogation in person. By the way, you can come together."

After putting down the phone, I immediately ordered Bezikov: "Chief of Staff, call all the division commanders and inform them to come to the meeting at 10 o'clock in the evening."

After I ordered Bezikov, Kirillov interrupted and asked, "Lida, how is the situation in the No. 4 position?"

"According to Colonel Nekrasov's report, all the enemies attacking the No. 4 position have been wiped out by us." Seeing that Kirillov and Danilov's faces appeared with joy when they heard the news, I quickly added: "A dozen prisoners were captured, one of them was also a lieutenant. I have ordered him to send the officer over to see if I can ask something from the enemy's mouth."

As soon as I finished speaking, the phone ringing on the table rang. I picked up the microphone and before I could speak, I heard a sound coming from it: "Hey, is Oshaninna? I am Vatujing!"

When I heard that it was Vatujing's voice, I quickly stood at attention. At the same time, I said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I don't know what instructions do you have?"

"How is the situation in the No. 4 position?" Vatujing didn't go around the circle and asked straight to the point.

"Report to Comrade Commander." Since I had just received good news from Nekrasov, I couldn't help but feel a hint of joy in my tone: "The German troops attacking the No. 4 position have been completely repelled by our army, so that we have captured several prisoners. I asked Nekrasov to send the prisoners to the Army Command for interrogation, and if I can get any useful information."

"The officers and soldiers of the No. 4 position performed well." Watujing was also very happy to hear this good news. Before hanging up the phone, he also specifically reminded me: "If you learn any useful information from the prisoner's mouth, report it to me immediately."

At 1:00 noon, Nekrasov personally escorted the captured German lieutenant to our command center. Long before the prisoners arrived, Danilov volunteered to take on the work of interrogating the prisoners. I had no objection to this, and I also called Lieutenant Gretka to be an interpreter.

The German lieutenant walked into the command center and saw so many middle and senior officers sitting inside. He was stunned for a moment. Then he stood straight in the middle of the room and swept around us with a vigilant look.

Nekrasov introduced us to: "Comrades Commander, this is Lieutenant Gengzel of the 197th Division of the German Army, and was captured by our army in today's battle."

Danilov stood up without moving, walked to Gengzel, looked him up and down, and asked expressionlessly: "How did you get the Iron Cross?" Gretka next to him quickly translated his words to the other party.

When I heard Danilov's question, I noticed that there was an iron cross hanging on the ragged and dirty uniform of the German lieutenant. I quickly focused my attention and tried to figure out how he received the medal.

"In Stalingrad." Lieutenant Gentzel replied without any concealment: "I led my platoon at the Central Railway Station and repelled your several counterattacks."

"Stalingrad?!" Danilov sneered after repeating the name of the place: "Sir Lieutenant, you are so lucky. For you, the war is over."

Unexpectedly, after listening to Danilov's words, Gengzel sneered and said a lot. When Gretka translated, I realized that what he said was: "Although I became your prisoner, your fate is not much better. Because tomorrow you will be beaten up by us like Stalingrad. It won't be long before we will arrive at the city of Moscow again. We have received the order from Yuan."

"What command?" After listening to Gretka's translation, Danilov and I asked in unison.

Danilov asked this question because he was curious and wanted to find out what the German army had next. But my heart skipped a beat. I thought, is it really like in history that the German army will fight the Kursk early tomorrow morning?

Geng Zeer snorted coldly and said disapprovingly: "According to the order, we will launch a powerful attack in the early morning of tomorrow, which is also the final decisive attack."

"When will it start?" Hearing this news, although Danilov tried to remain calm, there was a hint of tremolo in his voice.

"It was three o'clock in the morning on July 5th." Gengzeer said the final answer lightly.

My reaction after hearing this intelligence was in sharp contrast to the shocks expressed by Danilov and Kirillov. I waved my hand and ordered the soldiers standing behind the prisoners to take the prisoners away from the command center. Then I ordered Bezikov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please contact me immediately for the Front Command. I will report this important information to Commander Vatujing."

"Ah, report it immediately?" When Bezikov heard my order, he did not execute it immediately, but stood there without moving. At the same time, he kindly reminded me: "Lida, see if you can verify the authenticity of this news again. If we report this unverified information, it will be just a trap of the German army, then it will be troublesome."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't look back." I said to Bezikov in a stern tone: "Immediately connect to the front headquarters' phone number and I will report to Commander Vatujing personally. If any accident occurs, I will bear all the responsibility. If you do not report it in time, it will delay the opportunity to fight and lead to the breakthrough of our defense line by the German army, then we will all be sent to the military court."

Since I met me, it is probably the first time that Bezikov has seen me speak to him in such a stern tone, so he had to agree helplessly, then picked up the phone and asked the operator to connect to the front headquarters.

After the phone was connected, it was not Vatujing who answered the phone, but Military Commissioner Khrushchev. Hearing that it was my voice, the other party smiled and asked in a friendly tone: "Lida, do you have anything to ask Comrade Vatujing?"

"Yes, comrade of the military committee." Since Khrushchev is the future commander, I maintained enough respect when dealing with him, so that even if he was not valued by him in the future, he would not be deliberately suppressed. Hearing his questions, I quickly reported truthfully: "We have just interrogated a captured German officer. According to his confession, the German army will launch a full-scale attack on us."

"A comprehensive attack." Khrushchev repeated my words and asked solemnly: "When and where?"

"At 3:00 a.m. on July 5th." After reporting the exact time, I added with what I knew about history: "The enemy will take a clamp attack from north to south. At the same time, we attacked the defense areas of our Central Front and Voronezh Front from both the north and the south."

"Lida, are all the information you said true?" After listening to my report, Khrushchev's voice became nervous, and he asked seriously: "Can you guarantee that what you said is true?"

"Yes, comrade Military Commissioner." I replied in a firm tone: "The information I report to you is absolutely true. Please believe me."

"Lida. Please wait a moment." After Khrushchev finished speaking, I vaguely heard his shouting from his headphones: "You go and invite the commander to come immediately, and you will say that there are 100,000 urgent military information waiting for him to deal with. Go quickly."

Then Khrushchev's voice became clear: "Lida, I have sent someone to call Commander Vatujing, and he will come over soon. After he comes, you report the information just now to him and believe he will make corresponding arrangements."

Not long after, Vatujing came. He might have been coming from somewhere nearby. He was a little breathless when he spoke. He asked nervously: "Oshaninna, I heard from the military committee that you have 100,000 urgent information. What happened?"

"It's like this, Comrade Commander." In order to attract the attention of Vatujing, I repeated the words just now and finally added: "Since we know that the enemy is gathering, should we do something to delay the enemy's attack."

I thought that after I said this, Vatujing would say a few clichés such as making me more vigilant to prevent the German attack. Unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, he slowly said: "Comrade Oshenina, this matter is of great importance. I cannot make any decisions and must report it up immediately."

"Comrade Commander," Seeing that he was still hesitating at this moment, I couldn't help but feel a little anxious. I ignored the differences in the upper and lower levels, but directly urged him: "Now there are only about ten hours left before the German attack, so you can make a decision early."

"You don't have to worry about this matter." Perhaps because I said something a little too much, Vatujing said impatiently: "You have to figure out whether you are the commander of the Front Army or I am the commander of the Front Army. It's not your turn to point fingers here. Also, although the information you reported is important, it cannot be believed without the final verification. Maybe the German prisoners you questioned, I believe you and your subordinates have lied."

Faced with the responsibility of Vatujing, I could only laugh and cry, thinking that I was still too naive, thinking that if I reported such an important intelligence forward, my superiors would immediately take targeted measures. Unexpectedly, others would not believe my intelligence at all.

"Whose phone number is it? Comrade Watujing." Just when I was desperate, I suddenly heard another familiar voice sound in the microphone. When I heard this voice, I couldn't help but feel secretly happy, thinking that things might turn around.

"It was the phone call of Lieutenant General Oshanina, commander of the 6th Guards Army." Vatujing reported to the other party: "She reported to me that she learned from the German prisoners that the enemy would attack our Central Front and Voronezh Front from both north and south at the same time on July 5, that is, at 3 am tomorrow."

After listening to Watujing's report, the other party did not express any opinion, but said to Watujing: "Comrade Watujing, give me the phone number. I will talk to Lida in person."

Soon, a familiar voice came from the microphone: "Hello, Lida, I am Wasseyevsky!"

"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." When I heard Vasilevsky speak to me personally, the stone in my heart fell to the ground.

Huasilevsky asked in a friendly tone: "I heard Comrade Vatujing say that you learned from the prisoners the date of the German attack. Is this a matter?"

"That's right. Comrade Chief of Staff. According to the instructions of the German prisoners, they will launch a full-scale attack on our defense line from both north and south at 3 a.m. tomorrow."

After listening to my statement, Huaseylevsky asked carefully: "Lida, is your information true or false? Will the German prisoners be lying?"

"Comrade General Staff," in order to make him believe what I said, I had to analyze it to him: "I think this information is true. First, I talked with Marshal Zhukov two days ago, based on various intelligence analysis we have. The German offensive should be between the 2nd and 8th of this month; secondly, today Manstein's troops conducted pre-war fire reconnaissance on the No. 4 position on the first line of defense of our army; and, according to the report of our scouts, some of the enemy's division-level or army-level commands were moving to the front line. All this means that they are ready to start the attack."

"At three o'clock in the morning, if the captives are reliable." Vasilevsky said slowly after listening to my analysis: "Then in another thirteen hours, the enemy's attack will begin."

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." I believe that after listening to my brief analysis, he believed that the enemy would attack tomorrow, so he struck while the iron was hot, "If the German army really would attack at 3 a.m. tomorrow, what measures should we take?"

After a while of silence, Huasilevsky said decisively: "Of course, it is to concentrate all artillery fire from the front army and bombard the German assembly site. If I remember correctly, the artillery force of your army is also very strong. You can leave this matter to your artillery commander."

"I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff." The more I felt happy when I heard him say this, I replied very readily: "I will order the artillery to enter the firing position and be ready to fire at any time."

When I put down the phone, I looked up at the ceiling and thought that what happened in life now seemed to be different from what was born in history. In the movie, Rokosovsky learned from the prisoners about the time of the German attack and reported to Zhukov. Now this time, I got the information from the prisoners about their attack and reported it to Huasilevsky. I believe he would soon inform Zhukov of this matter. In the movie, when Zhukov learned the exact news, there were only two hours left before the war broke out, but at this moment there was thirteen hours of preparation.

Looking at me staring at the ceiling, Povsky hurriedly shouted to me: "Comrade Commander, don't know what our artillery mission is?"

Povsky's voice woke me up from my contemplation, and I quickly called him to myself, pointed to the two locations Tomarovka and Borisovka on the map, and said to Povsky: "Comrade Colonel, order all our artillery soldiers to aim at these two places and be prepared to open fire."

Hearing the order I gave, Povsky showed a surprise expression on his face: "So, Comrade Commander, our offense is about to begin?"

"It's not our attack, comrade Colonel." Seeing that Povsky was too excited, I quickly poured a basin of cold water on him. "We do not have the ability to attack the Germans yet. Fired fire at the places where they gather, and they can only delay their attack time. You must know that once the war machine is activated, no one can stop it."

When Povsky heard me say this, he nodded a few times, and then said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, because our artillery is too dispersed, the number of artillery that can participate in the artillery is limited."

"Why?" Povsky's words made me feel very strange. I said in my heart that the artillery was too dispersed, and it was not a bad thing. At least it would not be taken away by the German air force or artillery. Besides, what target should be shot? Just provide a parameter to each artillery regiment and let them fire in one direction, which can also ensure the dense coverage of the artillery.

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Povsky frowned and explained to me hurriedly: "Our artillery regiment and rocket artillery battalion are on three lines of defense. The artillery regiment on the third line of defense is unable to participate in the artillery because it is too far away from the shelling target you provide and the range is insufficient."

Hearing that this was the reason, I relaxed again and said to him with a smile: "Since that's the case, comrade Colonel, then you should arrange the artillery deployed on the third line of defense to move forward as soon as possible and establish artillery positions at the appropriate location. When the time comes, concentrate all the artillery fire and bombard the German assembly ground." (To be continued.)

Go to the clouds and come to the pavilion to get viewing]
Chapter completed!