Chapter 118 Unexpected Visitor
Dmitri's visit was just a common visit to Yuri. During the time he was in the hospital, many people came to visit him, and of course, he also called many people. For example, he called the alumni he met during the two training sessions in Moscow. Perhaps the change in his mood caused a behavioral reflection, and Yuri began to deliberately manage his interpersonal relationships.
He contacted his classmate who had been in a group with August, Peter Alexeevich Belik, and learned that Belik had been close to him. During the Battle of Moscow, Yuri was in Klin, and Belik was in the 20th Mechanized Army in the Kalinin direction. When Yuri was transferred to the Bryansk Front, Belik also went to the 5th Tank Army. Currently, he is serving as a commander of a tank regiment and accepting the reorganization of the reserve. According to him, the reorganized 5th Tank Army will be expanded into the 9th Tank Army.
Yuri also contacted two of his roommates from the Shaposhnikov Senior Officers School, Nedelin and Rotmistrov. Needless to say, before Yuri was injured, both of them served in the Bryansk Front. However, Rotmistrov was more capable than Yuri. With his outstanding performance in the previous Moscow counterattack, he was directly promoted from a tank brigade commander to the commander of the 7th Tank Army. Rotmistrov is a major general, one level higher than Yuri.
As for Nedelin, he is also fighting in the Stalingrad direction. However, he previously belonged to the 37th Army of the Southern Front . Now he has just been transferred to the Southeastern Front with the army command. His position is still the artillery director of the 37th Army... Oh, now he is called the artillery commander.
These former classmates obviously knew about Yuri's injury. They all asked about his injury over the phone and made an agreement with each other that they must sit down and have a drink together if they had the chance in the future.
In addition, Yuri also contacted Lieutenant Antip, who commanded the 209th Battalion. This lieutenant comrade who was very talented at the time was now a major. To Yuri's surprise, Antip had been transferred to the 51st Army. An infantry brigade he commanded had just retreated from the Kerch Peninsula and was currently resting in the rear.
Through Antip, Yuri also learned about the battle situation in the Sevastopol direction. Generally speaking, the situation there was very bad . Just over ten days ago, almost the entire Kerch Peninsula, including Sevastopol, was lost, and the Soviet army suffered heavy losses.
Because the war on the Kerch Peninsula had ended, the Soviet troops in that direction were unable to launch a counterattack in the short term, so the entire army entered a period of rest and recuperation. Antip heard on the phone that Yuri might go to the battlefield in the direction of Stalingrad, and directly stated that he would also submit a transfer application to the higher authorities and also command the troops in the direction of Stalingrad.
After making a round of phone calls, the people who could be contacted were basically promoted to some extent, while those who could not be contacted were either killed or missing in the previous battle, or had been captured by the Germans. The difference in life circumstances was vividly reflected in a few phone calls, which seemed to show the cruelty of this war.
In mid-July, Rotmistrov came to Moscow to attend the awarding ceremony held by the Military Committee. This awarding ceremony was mainly held for commanders who had outstanding performance in the fighting in the past month .
After the award ceremony, Rotmistrov made a special trip to the hospital to visit Yuri, and he was accompanied by Andrei Antonovich Grechko, who had just performed meritorious service in the Novorossiysk direction. This was also the first time Yuri met Grechko.
At this time, Grechko was less than 40 years old, but he was already commanding a battle group within a front. Therefore, among the three of Yuri, Grechko's rank was actually the highest. However, although Grechko had a hot temper when commanding operations, he was very easy to get along with in private. When he came to the hospital, he even secretly hid a small bottle of vodka in his military uniform. It was the appearance of this small bottle of vodka that almost made Yuri's injury worse.
It is said that marriage should be done with equal status, and the same is true for making friends. Before the Battle of Noziarsky, although Yuri had appeared on the radio and in newspapers several times and many people knew him, for some generals in the army, the battles he commanded were basically a matter of luck. Even the counterattack in Klin City was achieved with superior military strength, so even if he could be recognized by others, he would not be admired.
But the battle of Noziarsky was really different. Not to mention others, even Chuikov, who had met Yuri once before on the Soviet-Finnish battlefield but did not think much of him, completely changed his attitude towards Yuri after this battle. As Chuikov himself said when evaluating this battle: This can be regarded as a typical example of a sudden shift from an encounter battle to a defensive battle. The enemy and us are not evenly matched, and as the absolutely weaker side, he believes that except for Yuri, among the large number of Soviet commanders, no one can do so well.
Every Soviet commander who had a deep understanding of this battle admitted that in this battle, which could be said to be very sudden, Yuri's performance could be said to have perfectly demonstrated all the abilities that an excellent commander should possess, including: the ability to mobilize for combat, the ability to adapt on the spot, the ability to command comprehensively, the ability to observe the battlefield, etc. A commander who possesses these abilities, especially a young commander, undoubtedly has a bright future.
It was through the battle of Noziarsky that Yuri proved to everyone that he was not only lucky, but also could not only command operations when he had superior forces, but he could also defeat the strong with the weak in a passive situation. Facing such a young commander, no one would mind getting in touch with him and getting closer to him.
Through contact with Grechko, Yuri learned more about the war situation in the Black Sea and Transcaucasus. In the past month, the German army has also been unstoppable in this direction. It can be seen that Hitler has made up his mind to take the Baku oil field. In order to ensure that the German flank attacking the oil field is not threatened, it is estimated that the Germans will soon launch a full-scale offensive in the direction of Stalingrad. If nothing unexpected happens, the German Ninth Army may have a complete offensive plan. Paulus has confidently raised one leg and is ready to step into the big mud puddle of Stalingrad.
However, Yuri, who had been wounded for the second time, did not want to, nor could he, return to the army at this time. Perhaps he himself did not really feel that with the promotion of his military rank and the change of his status, he had gone around in a circle and returned to the starting point again - he once again began to deliberately avoid those dangerous battles, but the difference from when he was in Lutsk was that while he was seeking safety guarantees, he also set his sights on more military exploits.
No one's state of mind will remain unchanged. This is what is meant by the saying "the butt determines the head".
In the past half of July, Yuri has also gained something. Through a series of explicit teasing and almost persistent entanglement, he finally succeeded in "impressing" Suya, making this girl with outstanding appearance but mysterious background shyly open her heart to him. Although the relationship between the two has not progressed rapidly, it is also heating up rapidly.
After careful consideration, Yuri, who already had ambitions, finally decided to "place" Suya, the thorn, by his side. He was even ready to marry this woman and start a family.
To gain something, you must lose something. This is inevitable for everyone. After being tempered on the battlefield, Yuri, who has become more and more determined, has made the acquisition of power his most important goal. In order to achieve this goal, he is willing to pay any price, not to mention that what he has to sacrifice this time is just his marriage.
…
The third Sunday in July is the Soviet Union's statutory Metallurgical Workers' Day. However, there will definitely be no activities on Metallurgical Workers' Day this year. This is not only because of the war, but also because it is raining in Moscow, and the rain is heavy.
In the ward of Moscow State Hospital, Yuri, wearing a hospital gown, stood by the bedroom window, silently looking out at the heavy rain.
Looking down from this window, you can see the square in front of the inpatient building of the National Hospital. At this moment, in this square, a brown-gray umbrella is slowly moving towards the north entrance of the hospital - the person holding the umbrella is Suya, she is going to help Yuri collect this month's officer rations.
Watching Suya, who was holding an umbrella, disappear from sight, Yuri held the wound on his lower abdomen with one hand, and at the same time stood on tiptoe, struggling to take down a pack of cigarettes from a partition above the window - there was no other way, smoking was strictly prohibited in the hospital, and the nurses checked very strictly and showed no mercy, so Yuri had to hide it carefully.
Taking a cigarette from the box and putting the rest back where he hid it, Yuri found a match and was about to light the cigarette when he heard footsteps coming from the living room outside the bedroom. Then, before he could hide the cigarette, the door was pushed open and an unexpected person appeared in front of him.
