On October 16, Foxiao, the Voronezh Front's attack on Kiev officially began.

Hearing the rumbling cannons coming from the north, Chisdakov could no longer sit still. He stood up and walked back and forth in the command center. From time to time, he stopped and looked out from the window, as if he could see the fierce battle field from there.

"Comrade Deputy Commander, stop walking back and forth. You keep walking back and forth like this, dazzling my eyes. How can I do it?" Seeing Chisdakov's absent-minded look, Kirillov said jokingly, then pointed to the empty seat next to him, saying, "Even if you step out of a trench in the house, you can't see the battle going on ahead. Okay, don't be impatient, sit down first."

After sitting down, Chisdakov felt a little embarrassed to say to Kirillov: "Comrade Military Commissioner, I am also anxious. Seeing other armies fighting fiercely with the Germans in front, while we are doing nothing here, I am anxious."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," I felt a little unhappy when I heard Chisdakov's words, so I said in a dissatisfied tone: "Although we do not have any combat missions now, we do not do anything. What we are doing now is to prepare for the next battle."

After saying these few words, I called Akhromeyev over and asked, "Major, how are the fortifications of the 89th Division of the Guards in Spora?"

Hearing my question, Akhromeyev immediately replied respectfully: "I just called General Xieliujin, and he said that two defensive positions were built on the west and south of Spora, and barbed wire was drawn in front of the positions and minefields were laid."

"Comrade Commander, I don't understand." After listening to Akhromeyev's report, Chisdakov asked in confusion: "You must know that the main force of the German army is in Kiev in the north and Zaporos in the south. Why do we need to build fortifications west of Spora?"

Regarding this question from Chisdakov, I looked at him and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander, although the enemy's main force is in both directions you have mentioned, they are very mobile. Manstein may transfer his troops to a weak area at any time."

After listening to my explanation, Chisdakov shrugged his shoulders, slapped his mouth, and said a little disapprovingly: "If I were Manstein, I would never send troops to attack Spora. This is a small city, surrounded by forests and swamps, which is not conducive to the development of the large army."

"You are right." As soon as he finished speaking, I continued: "Although Spora has the characteristics you mentioned, it does not mean that the enemy will not regard this place as the target of attack."

"Why?" Chisdakov asked in confusion: "Can you give me a reason?"

"It's very simple. General Managarov's troops have launched an attack on Alexandria since yesterday." I pointed to the map and explained to him: "After capturing this city, they will continue to go west to capture Kirovgrad and threaten Uman. The Germans are not fools, they will not sit and wait for death, and will definitely launch a counterattack. In addition to facing the 53rd Army from the front, they will also launch an attack from the flanks of the Army, and Spora is undoubtedly the best starting point for the offensive."

Chisdakov looked down at the map in front of him and pointed with his hand on it. He was probably deducing the situation I mentioned. After about five or six minutes, he pushed the map away and raised his head to me and said, "Comrade Commander, I think what you said makes sense. Based on the information you have obtained in the past two days, the German army has several infantry divisions and an armored division in Uman. If they really rushed towards Spora regardless of the situation, it is estimated that our defense will be really possible for them to break through."

"Comrade Commander, a regiment of the 89th Guards Division, which was originally stationed in Zorotonosha, is now crossing the Dnepr River." Bezikov asked me for instructions: "Where are you going to deploy them?"

"That's all right, Comrade Chief of Staff." I looked at Bezikov and said, "Of course they were deployed in Smila. In this way, the entire 89th Guard Division was deployed on the front lines of Smila and Spora, responsible for ensuring the safety of the west side of our defense zone."

After I finished speaking, Bezikov asked, "Comrade Commander, do we need to report our sneak attack plan to our superiors immediately?"

"No need for now." I waved my hand at Bezikov and said, "Now our army's attack on Kiev has just begun. Whether friendly troops can break through the German defense line is still unknown. If our plan is reported at this time, it may be rejected by superiors."

"But all our troops that attacked were assembled," Bezikov asked anxiously, "Do you just let them stay there and wait?"

I sighed and said helplessly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, from the current situation, all they can do is to continue to wait. Only when the enemy's attention is completely attracted by the friendly forces attacking Kiev will it be the best time for us to set off."

At noon, we received a telegram from the Front Command, which introduced the battle situation in detail in the morning. Although the 27th Army, who was the main attack, launched a fierce attack, the bravery and self-sacrifice displayed by the commanders and fighters in the face of the German strong fortifications would be useless, and their attacks were shattered again and again by the German army.

After seeing the battle report, Chisdakov said to me with a pale face: "Comrade Commander, it seems that you are right. The terrain south of Kiev is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if we have the support of aircraft, cannons and tanks, it is not easy to conquer the enemy's strong fortifications in one go."

"Yes," Bezikov and others said that after saying that, he also added: "From the battle report, whether it is artillery preparations before the attack or the bombing of the air force, the damage caused to the enemy's fortifications is very minor. In just one morning, our casualties reached more than 6,000, which means that one division has been destroyed. If we continue to fight like this, if we want to break through the German defense, the 27th Army will probably be completely destroyed."

"Comrade Colonel," Chisdakov said, and he showed a dissatisfaction on his face. He unexpectedly had no position, but called the other party by military rank, which shows how angry he was in his heart: "As long as the enemy can be eliminated, it is worth it, no matter how much the price we pay. But please do not overestimate the enemy's strength. No matter how strong they are, we will not break through the enemy's defensive position after losing an army."

I saw that the two of them had a chance of arguing, so I quickly interrupted and said, "Okay, don't talk about it. Chief of Staff, please report our sneak attack plan to the Front Command immediately."

"Are you reporting the plan at this time?" Bezikov asked in surprise: "You must know that the battle to attack Kiev has just begun, and it will take at least a few days to attract the enemy's attention from other directions."

"Report!" I didn't explain the reason, but just gave a brief order.

When Bezikov went to send the telegram, Chisdakov asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, I think this sneak attack plan should be reported two to three days after the battle to attack Kiev started, because the situation at that time was clear and the superiors could easily make correct judgments."

"Comrade Deputy Commander, our sneak attack troops have been assembled near Kosson." I smiled at Chisdakov and said in his tone: "We can't let so many troops squeeze together and do nothing."

Half an hour after our sneak attack plan was reported, Vatujing's phone call came to the command center. He asked me on the phone: "Comrade Oshanina, why did you suddenly remember to make such a plan?"

"That's right, comrade general." From his tone, I heard that he was not interested in this plan. After all, there are four armies now gathered in the southern part of Kiev and took turns to attack the German defensive positions. At this time, a sneak attack plan was superfluous. I quickly explained to him: "When the last meeting, I once asked you and Marshal Zhukov that the terrain south of Kiev is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even if our troops suffer major casualties, it may be difficult to break through the enemy's defense, so we must think of other ways to deal with the Germans."

"So you thought of this sneak attack plan?" Vatujing asked lightly.

"Yes." I replied with certainty: "As long as our sneak attack troops can cut off the traffic line in Kiev's Zhitomire, the enemy in Kiev will soon be in a situation where the ammunition and food are exhausted. At that time, the main force of the front army will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort, whether it is attacking from the south or the north."

"When are you going to set out?" Vatujing continued.

When I heard him say this, I knew that he had agreed to my plan and quickly replied: "Since the battle to attack Kiev has just begun, the enemy's attention has not been completely attracted by friendly forces. If you attack at this time, it will be easy to be noticed by the enemy. At that time, the sneak attack will turn into a strong attack. So I plan to wait for two more days, and after the German army's more troops will be transferred from some small cities of irrelevant importance to the south of Kiev, then let the troops set out to carry out sneak attacks."

After I finished speaking, there was a sudden sound in the receiver. After waiting for a while, I didn't hear Vatujing's voice. I was worried that the line was broken and was about to instruct Lopkhov to check the phone line, a familiar voice suddenly came from the receiver: "Hey, is it Lida?"

"Yes, it's me. Marshal!" Suddenly I heard Zhukov's voice from the receiver, which really surprised me. After a brief panic, I stabilized my emotions: "I'm glad to hear your voice!"

"I just read your sneak attack plan," Zhukov said slowly. "The plan is formulated in detail. It seems that this Colonel Bezikov is really the material for being the chief of staff."

Seeing that Zhukov did not express his attitude, but was asking about irrelevant things, I quickly replied: "Comrade Marshal, the combat plan was jointly formulated by Chief of Staff Colonel Bezikov and Chief of Operations Major Akhromeyev."

"Three Guard Divisions and one tank army," I heard the sound of paper flipping out from the earpiece. It was probably Zhukov who was looking through my plan. "Lida, according to your judgment, how long does it take for so many troops to pass through areas full of forests and swamps?"

When I heard Zhukov's question, I thought about it and replied: "Comrade Marshal, although it is only about 120 kilometers from Kosun to Korostviv, due to the difficulty of traveling on the road, even if I set out tomorrow, it will take at least 20 to reach the destination."

"It's more than a hundred kilometers, and it's going to take four days?" Zhukov said in a dissatisfied tone: "It's too slow, Lida, your movements are too slow. If this happens, even if the Germans' attention is attracted by the friendly forces attacking Kiev, your slow marching speed will be noticed by the Germans. For such a long time, they can set up several defensive positions on your way forward, and then you will have to marching by attacking forward."

Zhukov's words shocked me and it was still so hot that he pointed out the shortcomings of the sneak attack plan incisively. If we were not overcome, our sneak attack could really turn into a strong attack. But then I thought about it, even if the speed of the infantry can be increased, the 200 tanks of the Fifth Guards' Fifth Tank Army would take at least a few days to completely pass through this deep forest and swampy area. Thinking of this, I said to Zhukov with a sad face: "But, Comrade Marshal, the tanks of the Tank Army cannot quickly attack due to the restrictions of the terrain, which inevitably affects the speed of the entire army."

"Lida, I think you were very smart before, why are you so confused this time?" Zhukov said angrily: "You can let the three guard divisions go first, but seize the empty cities of the German army's defense, and then the tank army followed behind and slowly moved forward. When they arrived in Korostviv, I believe that the city had long been captured by the soldiers of the guard division."

Zhukov's words suddenly made my eyes lit up. When I was making a plan, I was unconsciously caught in a misunderstanding. I always thought that infantry should be cooperated by tanks, so I decided the infantry's marching speed based on the tank's marching speed in forests and swamps. "I understand, comrade Marshal, I asked the two guard divisions to advance quickly towards Korostviv at a rapid march speed, leaving a guard division to assist the tank army in advance. In this way, we can reach our destination in only two days at most."

"That's right." Zhukov's tone became gentle again, and then he asked: "The 53rd Army of General Konev's jurisdiction launched an attack on Alexandria yesterday. You must ensure that their flanks are safe, and don't let their flanks be exposed to the enemy."

After Zhukov finished speaking, he grinned silently and replied, "Comrade Marshal, don't worry. At present, I have placed Major General Xieliujin's 89th Guard Division in the area of ​​Smila and Spora, and built the necessary defensive positions to completely resist the German army from the Uman direction."

"It seems you are very thoughtful." Zhukov said with a smile: "Since that's the case, I'll wait for the good news of your victory in the Front Command!"
Chapter completed!